Clootie Dumpling

Today did not start well but it ended much better. I woke with a headache and felt quite nauseous. I took some paracetamol, put a cooling gel sheet on my forehead, and went back to sleep for a couple of hours. This did the trick and after a quick shower I felt brand new. Later on I decided to make a Clootie Dumpling using Grandma’s recipe, and assembled all of the ingredients before mixing them and putting them into a muslin cloth to boil for 4 hours. I’m glad to say that it turned out really well, it even had a nice skin on it, and James paid me the compliment of saying that it tasted just like Grandma’s. 

In the evening I watched a spooky film “You Should Have Left” which starred Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried. I watched it with Ally and Cat - James fell asleep within the first half hour so he sensibly took himself off to bed. Hmmm. Like many spooky films it seemed promising at first but the ending was a bit flat. 

In Covid news, Scotland has moved to a new 5 tier system of restrictions, rather confusingly numbered 0 to 4. *

Due to having the fastest growing number of cases in Scotland, South and North Lanarkshire were under threat this week of moving to the top level 4 which would mean almost complete lockdown again like in the spring, with non essential shops and services all closed, apart from the schools remaining open this time. We were already in level 3 which until this week meant that pubs and restaurants remained closed although under the new rules they are now allowed to open until 6 p.m. Yesterday however it was announced that we were allowed to remain in level 3 for the time being. All the councils in Scotland now have their own allocated level, for example Highland are currently level 1 and Dumfries & Galloway are level 2. It will be reviewed every week apart from the Lanarkshires which will be reviewed daily. There is much speculation on the media about the possibility of a month long national lockdown before Christmas. So that’s where we’re at just now.

* I saw on the internet a joke description of the 5 tier system based on the old “Oor Wullie” cartoon, with the levels in ascending order, “it’s aw braw”, “jings”, “crivvens”, “help ma boab” and finally level 4 “Get ben the hoose!” 

Grandma’s recipes

I have been working on a wee project over the last several weeks. I decided to sort out Grandma’s baking recipes, and compile them into a booklet which I will pass on to the whole family. This has been quite a task, because her recipes were written in several notebooks, along with some from her friends and some which she had cut out from newspapers and magazines. There was also a notebook with recipes in her mother’s handwriting. Grandma was a very good cook and especially an excellent baker. I remember at the show of presents before my wedding, one of her cousins saying “Jean always makes a good purvey.” 

I felt quite touched when James arrived home from her house one evening a couple of months ago, when he was clearing it with Forrest, and told me that Forrest had said that I should have Grandma’s recipe jotters.

It was then that I decided that I should compile the recipes for future generations of Grandma’s descendants. 

First of all I typed all the recipes into a word processing document, often assisted by James who is a faster typist than me. I decided to do this rather than scan the recipes, because although Grandma had rather beautiful writing, her books were well used and somewhat faded and marked. It also means that we can save the electronic copy of the recipe booklet. I have kept some of the best examples of her handwriting to use on the cover of the printed booklet. After typing up the recipes, I went through them all again and laboriously added metric quantities, because I thought that would make the recipes easier to use. This wasn’t as straightforward as it sounds because as well as ounces and half-pints the quantities included both cups and teacups and the oven temperatures were often described as “slow” or “quick” which I hadn’t come across before. I had to do a bit of research and draw up some tables of measurements before I could continue. Also, some of the recipes didn’t have full instructions, probably because, as experienced bakers, Grandma and her mother had no need for them, so for example, I had to look up the technicalities of how to tie up a clootie dumpling, and the amount of pastry needed for a black bun! 

I couldn’t find Grandma’s famous recipe for sherry trifle, however luckily James knows it by heart and I asked him to write it down for me. So that’s where I am now. I still have to finish the introduction and decide whether to print it at home or (more likely) arrange for it to be printed as a useful spiral bound notebook. 

When someone dies you feel that you can’t do anything for them any more, but I would like to think that Grandma would be pleased with this gift to her grandchildren. 

Reverse! Reverse!

At the Rutherglen end of Kings Park Avenue about ten days ago, I saw an incident unfolding as I waited at the traffic lights before turning right. There was a car across at the other side of Mill Street which had crashed into a pedestrian light so hard that the pole was bent right down. There was a police car and a police van in attendance, and what particularly caught my eye was a tight circle of about five police officers facing inwards. As I watched, they all bent and then stood up again, having lifted a man in the centre of their circle to his feet. His hands were already handcuffed behind his back, and as the lights changed and I drove off I saw him being marched smartly towards the police van. Naturally I mentioned this to James, Ally, Davie and Cat at dinner time but then thought no more of it.
However the next day Ally showed me a short video film and asked if it was of the same man that I had seen being arrested. I recognised him immediately by the clothes he was wearing. The video had been filmed before either the police or I arrived at the scene. A passer by must have filmed it right after the crash. The driver was leaning on the bonnet of the car, trying fruitlessly to push it backwards away from the traffic light, and he was shouting to his friend who was still inside the car, “Reverse! Reverse!”
The voice of the passer by can be heard off camera, advising him that “The wheel’s aff mate! The engine’s smashed! You’re f***ed!” while the driver (clearly under the influence of drink or drugs, which was presumably why he was arrested later) keeps exhorting his passenger again and again to “Reverse! Reverse!” 
Ally explained to me that the video clip had gone viral on the internet with the title “Glasgow Bampots reverse reverse” and apparently during its brief moment of fame it was then used on a football website in a spoof commentary about a Celtic match! 

Sunny in Dundee

Today we drove to Dundee to transport all of David’s stuff to his new flat, where he will be living very near to his new Science technician job at the University of Dundee, starting at the beginning of November. I will miss him but I am very pleased for him that he has a job in science, which he loves so much. We borrowed Ally’s car as well, and I drove that while James and Davie went through in our car. Davie’s flat is lovely; very spacious and in really good condition. It’s in a quiet street with hardly any traffic and it’s very near to the city centre, with lots of cafés and restaurants close by. The weather was much better than at home with a beautiful blue sky. 
When we set off back home I noticed a man walking along beside the river dressed in a Spider-Man costume which I thought was very funny. I drove along listening to my audiobook and enjoying the good weather, but somehow I managed to miss the turn off towards Glasgow at Perth. When I realised my mistake I followed signs to Stirling along the A91. It was a pleasant drive through many villages such as Yetts o’Muckhart and Dollar and Tillicoultry, but of course it was much slower than the motorway and I got home more than half an hour later than I should have been!
After dinner David suggested that we watch the new Borat film which was released today. He also made popcorn with his kernels which had now dried enough, and they were delicious with a little butter. The film was very funny and also very cringey. It lacked the novelty and therefore the sheer shock factor of the first film, but it addressed current events, such as Covid and Trump, and the actress who played his daughter was very good. It was an excellent evening. 

Another Fall

Last week I was walking from my shed at the top of the garden back down to the house, when I suddenly slipped and fell. It’s that time of year when the leaves are lying on the ground and the paths are damp and mossy. It didn’t occur to me to be careful and I was taken by surprise when my left foot shot forward, bringing me down rather painfully onto the stone of the path. To make matters worse, my right knee (aka my “bad” knee) folded under me. Since breaking it in a motorbike accident forty years ago, it doesn’t quite bend fully. Well, it was forced to bend fully when I fell, and it was excruciating! I gingerly unfolded my leg but didn’t try to stand up straight away because I was terrified about how badly it might be hurt. Instead I burst into tears and sobbed for several minutes, which was actually quite de-stressing!
I then slowly got up and found that there was good news and bad news. The good news was that my leg could bear my weight normally, and the bad news was that my knee was sore and creaking and crunching, and a week later it’s still quite bad. I should be grateful to my knee for the forty years it has lasted since the accident, and I hope that it keeps going for a while yet. 

David’s 25th Birthday

Yesterday was David’s 25th birthday and despite the lockdown I think that he had a lovely day. He had lots of presents to open in the morning, including the coffeemaker from James and me, for his new flat. We had asked him to choose the type that he wanted, so we knew that he would like it. The cats gave him a selection of pods for it, and I have ordered him a box of his favourite mocha flavour.

He tried it out straight away and the coffee tasted lovely.

For his birthday dinner we ordered burgers from his favourite restaurant, TGI Friday, who are currently doing a takeaway service since they are not allowed to have sit in customers during the two week lockdown. The burgers were good but the chips were a bit cold and chewy due to their journey from the Fort at Easterhouse. Then Ally and Cat brought through a huge birthday cream cake which they had ordered from a shop which advertises on the B4U Bollywood music channel that they and David like to watch. He really appreciated the reference and found it very thoughtful of them. 

After dinner it was time to try the popcorn which David has patiently grown from a corn kernel over the summer. The plant grew in a pot in the back room until it was more than six feet tall, and then David selected the best corn cob, which he hung up to dry. He then carefully picked off the corn kernels. When he started popping a few of them, they did pop successfully but not to their full size, which indicated that they need to dry out a bit more. However we all tasted them and they were good, hopefully they will pop more fully later in the week.

And then we had a hilarious games evening - Maponimoes and then Who Am I? while Ally played all sorts of unusual Eastern European music for us. It was a good day. 

IKEA Meatballs

Last night I played a lively session of “Who am I?” with Davie, Ally and Cat, after consuming a hearty meal followed by delicious pancakes made by Cat. It was such a fun evening. 
Davie and I went over to Ikea today, where he purchased some items for his new flat in Dundee, and on Ally’s orders we got more Swedish meatballs and sauce. It was a nice Autumn day for a wee road trip and we had a good chat. Back home James picked the last of the redcurrants with which we will attempt to make some more jelly. Will our jelly luck continue? 

Tagine and photo project

Last night I made a chicken and quince tagine using the last three of our crop of quinces. I also made a quorn and quince tagine for Cat and me. Quorince could be its name perhaps! It seemed to go down well with the family so I was pleased that all of our quinces have been used in useful and tasty manner.

The five of us, organised by Ally, have been spending the last few evenings sifting through Grandma’s photos, which were brought over from her house over the summer and occupy four large boxes. Despite spending hours on it, we have but scratched the surface, and I’m not quite sure how to proceed. I have started putting them in A5 envelopes by year, discarding blurry photos, duplicates, and really bad photos e.g. with peoples’ heads cut off, of which there are many. The idea will be to put the good photos into albums for the enjoyment of Grandma's grandchildren and perhaps one day great-grandchildren. I am however a bit daunted by the sheer volume. 

Quince Jelly

We finished making our quince jelly this morning, by adding caster sugar to the juice strained from the cooked and mashed quinces, and boiling it up until it thickened. Quinces have lots of natural pectin so we didn’t need to add any during the process. We used James’ sugar thermometer to make sure that it got to the right temperature. I wasn’t sure if it would set properly; testing it on a cold plate seemed inconclusive, but once it was poured into the sterilised jam jars, and carefully sealed by David and James, it set beautifully as it cooled. It is the most gorgeous rose colour. 

After lunch I walked along to Burnside where Catherine and I had a very pleasant coffee at Café Gelato. When I walked home via Cathkin, I passed the removal vans which were at Grandma’s house, waiting for the transaction to be completed so that they could unload. Just as I arrived home James got a message from the lawyer to say that everything was in order and that the keys had been handed over. So that’s that. End of an era. 

Goodbye to No. 7

We have all been across at Grandma’s house today for the very last time. The new people will get the keys tomorrow morning. Ally, Davie and Cat walked around the empty rooms, which bring back so many memories, and also around the garden. I think that we all felt a bit sad to say goodbye. There were a few things to do; Forrest came round to pick up the last of his bits and pieces and we left a plant and a welcome card for the new family. It was a family house for the Andersons for many years with children and then the grandchildren running about; James and Forrest were only five and three years old when they moved there in 1967, so it’s nice that there will be young children living there again. 

Back at home, the quinces on our tree are ready. They are yellow and aromatic and beginning to split, so we picked them all. There are 1.6 kg of quinces in total, maybe about twenty of them. We are going to use most of them to make quince jelly, and keep a few to use in a tagine. Disaster struck when Ally sliced deeply into his finger while cutting them up, but Cat soon sorted him out with steri-strips and a bandage. Now the quinces are simmering away gently and the back room is filled with their aromatic scent. 

Versace

Although I miss Ullapool it’s kind of nice to be home too. Ally, Davie and Cat are lively and fun company and our dinner table chats can be hilarious. I miss Chanel, who is now doing her teaching probation in Manchester. Last night Davie and I finished watching a Netflix series called The Assassination of Gianni Versace (the spoiler is in the title!) Cat watched some of it with us even though she and Ally have seen it before. I remember it happening very clearly, in 1997, just a few weeks before the death of Princess Diana. But never having been a fashionista I didn’t understand what an iconic figure he was in the fashion world. The series was extremely detailed, going deeply into the background of the killer, Andrew Cunanan. It didn’t make excuses for his killing spree but tried to explain what might have happened in his life to lead to his actions. I say “might” because it’s a docu-drama rather than a documentary; much of it is speculation and it portrays many interactions and conversations that were not witnessed by anyone except the deceased killer and victim. In the last episode we saw the famous film clip of Princess Diana comforting Elton John at Versace’s memorial service, which I found very moving. 

Tightening the rules

Nicola Sturgeon announced today that, because hospital admissions are going up again, new Covid restrictions are to be implemented in Scotland, starting on Friday and then for the next two weeks. Pubs and restaurants are now going to be open only from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. however in the central belt (that’s us when we are in Glasgow rather than Ullapool) the restrictions are tighter. Pubs and restaurants are not to be open at all for the two week period. This doesn’t make a huge difference to us personally but will be very hard on the hospitality industry. I suppose the reason for this particular change is that too much mingling must have been happening inside and outside pubs, especially at closing time. There are a few other changes such as indoor sports being stopped again, but I’m actually quite relieved that it isn’t even worse.
In much less important news, James and I have finally finished watching the second season of Succession. I was a bit disappointed in the last episode, having expected a more dramatic ending. Strangely enough James, who didn’t warm to Succession at all, thought that it ended well. Although I think he was also just quite glad that it had ended! 

Rainy night in Ullapool

I’m tucked up in bed in Ullapool; we travelled up here today. It has been a rainy weekend and the rain is still pattering against the window now, but the forecast is better for tomorrow. We will be getting internet installed here on Tuesday. We hadn’t intended to, but the phone service is very variable here, and as well as WiFi for our laptops, it will be good to have Netflix etc on rainy days.

However it will still be quite a brief sojourn because James wants to be home on Thursday to sign documents for the handover of Grandma’s house. When we were at Grandma’s house on Friday, Tom followed us along the road and sneaked in through the open front door. Up the stairs he dashed, but came back down very quickly, meowing silently at us with big eyes. He must have got a shock to find out that there was no furniture in the house at all. First no Grandma, now everything else has disappeared too. He really did seem quite upset. 

In other news I have finally finished listening to the audiobook of “God is Not Great” by Christopher Hitchens and I look forward to discussing it with Ewan, who told me about it. Audiobooks seem to take me much longer than reading books. Maybe it’s because I don’t listen regularly, also I quite often have to rewind, because if I listen while I’m out walking I get distracted by the things I see. Anyway, I enjoyed the book and Hitchens made very good points, although I detected some bias, which is to be expected given the subject matter. For example, when he tackled the argument that secular tyrants have committed many atrocities over the years, not just religious tyrants, his response seemed to be that they get all of their ideas from previous religious bad behaviour. Hmm yes, but you could also argue that tyrants will be evil whether they use the excuse of religion or not, so religion is not necessarily the root cause. I found the book very thought-provoking and Hitchens does make a very clear and devastating case against religion. 

Turnberry Hotelier tests positive for coronavirus

This was the headline of the Ayr Advertiser today! It of course refers to President Donald Trump contracting Covid-19. I am no fan of Trump but I genuinely wish him well and hope that he makes a good recovery. He has been taken to hospital but his doctors say that he is getting on ok.
Meanwhile it was a rainy day in Glasgow, but I went for a walk anyway while listening to an audiobook, all the way up to Starbucks at Kingsgate where I had coffee and a blueberry muffin before heading home; a respectable distance of 10 km. Cat and I (and of course Flora) had a girls’ afternoon while Ally and Davie played computer games. We lit a lemon scented Carthusia candle, kept cosy under fleecy blankets, ate chocolate, and watched a French film. Flora of course didn’t eat chocolate and kept looking out sadly at the rain. Cat and I have notched up a good number of French films over the past few years, we both enjoy the language and the distinctive French atmosphere. Today we watched Truffaut’s homage to the film industry; La Nuit Americaine. I watched it many years ago but had forgotten many of the details, it was good to watch it again, although its didn't quite have the same magic for me as the first time that I watched it. 

Grandma’s Kitchen

James and I spent all day at Grandma’s today, doing a final clean before the new people get the keys on the 12th. I have to say that James had already done a huge amount of work in emptying and cleaning the house, but kitchens and bathrooms are my speciality so I brought my cleaning materials and got stuck in. The kitchen is at least 30 years old, so the new people will probably want to replace it very soon, if not straight away. This made me feel nostalgic; I remember when it was newly installed how excited and proud of it Grandma was. It was state of the art, with an eye level Neff cooker and grill which was very new in those days, and the brand new units and induction hob and sink all looked so smart. 

It now looks very old-fashioned, but still in good condition because Grandma always took good care of her house. I just wanted to give it a thorough spruce up, and James gave the oven a proper clean. By the time we were finished I was happy that it is ready for the handover. But I felt a bit sad; thirty years ago I never thought about this day coming. 

Six by Nico

Today James, Davie and I went for lunch to Six by Nico in Nithsdale Road. I have fancied trying one of these restaurants for a while and decided that it would be a great way for James and I to celebrate David’s MSc with him. I was also blatantly copying Ally and Cat who visited the west end Six by Nico recently, because they told us that the current menu is Sicilian and I couldn’t resist it. 

For those who don’t know, this popular (and now chain) restaurant has a six course tasting menu, with accompanying wines if desired, and it changes the theme of its menu every six weeks. Previous menus have included “New York”, “The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party”, and “Vietnamese Street Food.”

The Sicily menu certainly did not disappoint. I won’t list all of the courses but they were all delicious; small portions of beautifully prepared Sicilian food with every detail carefully thought out. For example our first course consisted of three tiny arancini, each one differently flavoured and exquisite. It is very difficult to choose a favourite course but if pressed I would have to say the saffron pappardelle with hazelnut ragu - it was perfect. The vegetarian menu (for me) tied in closely with the ingredients and flavours of the omnivores’ menu that was being enjoyed by Davie and James, which was good because we could discuss the tastes together. And Davie and James enjoyed tasting all the different wines.

The friendly staff explained the flavours of each course to us and also moved the meal along pleasantly but fairly smartly; we had a two hour time slot and by the time we left the next sitting of diners were gathering on the pavement outside. 

Feeling full, but not uncomfortably so, the three of us wandered through the autumnal sunshine around Maxwell Park. It was a truly lovely afternoon.