Between Christmas and New Year

The time between Christmas and New Year always feels to me like a strange no-man’s-land, when it’s hard even to remember what day of the week it is. However during this time we were invited to some very pleasant social occasions.

On the 27th Heather and Ewan invited us to go for a walk and then for an early curry at 5 p.m. This sounded like a splendid idea and I suggested that we go for a walk in Mugdock Park. I even printed off a map but there was no need, Heather knew her way about very well and if there was any doubt James whipped out his phone and consulted his Ordnance Survey App. Although it was a dreich day the proper rain held off for about 95% of our walk which was very lucky. We walked for an impressive 14 km, by the end of which I was just beginning to feel my legs getting tired, so it was a good length. Near the end of the walk we found ourselves at a dead end where the road was blocked off with fencing and stone walls. Rather than walk all the way back to the way we should have gone (which admittedly wasn’t very far!) we opted to climb over the wall to the pavement of the main road. James went first and prepared to steady the rest of us as we dropped down. Heather and I scrambled over unscathed although we got our fleeces a bit dirty on the wall. However as Ewan swung his leg over the walk, he pulled a muscle in his thigh and had to retreat. I happened to take a photo at the very moment that this happened and it was unintentionally very amusing; in the snapshot James is oblivious, Ewan’s face is a study as he realises what has happened to his leg, and Heather (who doesn’t yet know what has happened) is laughing heartily in the background. Luckily the pain in Ewan’s leg eased off as he continued walking. Back at Heather and Ewan‘s we had pre-dinner drinks before heading down to our favourite Indian restaurant, Rasoi. Alistair and Andrew both joined us, and the six of us had an absolutely delicious meal, chatting and laughing all the way. It was really nice to spend the time with our close friends, walking and relaxing together at this festive time of year.

Christine and Gerry invited us to Dunlop for lunch on Tuesday 28th, and to an Archery session beforehand at Crawfurdland Castle. It was the perfect activity for a rather grey day at the end of December. There were eight of us including Cat’s lovely 82-year-old uncle Dave, who turned out to be one of the best of us at archery. Cats brother Euan is home visiting from Canada (for the first time in more than two years due to Covid travel restrictions) and he also turned out to be extremely good at archery, having used to compete in it at a high level. The rest of us just did our best! The instructor was very pleasant and encouraging, although she seemed a little nervous when she realised just what an expert Euan is and kept consulting him on whether she was doing things correctly. After a few practice rounds we entered into several different competitions which were great fun. James and I (we chose “The Hoods” as our team name) didn’t disgrace ourselves, however we were nowhere near the amazing score of the winning team of Gerry and Ewan, who had rather confidently (and prematurely) named their team “The Winners”, although it did turn out to be appropriate! The last competition was an elimination round where we had to aim for different circles on the target . It ended up being a shootout between father and daughter as Gerry and Cat were the only two left in. Cat was the eventual winner. Back in Dunlop we had a delicious lunch prepared by Christine and Cat and then repaired to the lounge for a very convivial afternoon beside the warm wood-burning stove, where there was much chat and hilarity. 

Christmas Cheer

“The best way to spread Christmas Cheer is singing loud for all to hear” as Buddy the Elf says in James’ favourite Christmas film, which we watched on Christmas Eve with Alasdair. Well, our Christmas has been filled with cheer and we had a lovely day yesterday. Santa visited Ally during the night and filled his stocking with gifts, which showed that Ally must have made it onto the “nice” list. In the morning we went round to visit Marjory and Forrest and had a convivial time with them and Jenny, Neil and Lucy, enjoying their generous amounts of champagne, mince pies and stollen cake. Back at home we checked on the turkey, which was cooking nicely, and then opened our presents in the lounge. We felt very lucky at the thoughtful presents that we received from friends and family. We were very surprised to receive an extra special present from Ally and Cat as a thank you for hosting them during all of the lockdowns; a trip to Dubai in February! Ally seemed very happy with his gifts too. At 3 p.m. we watched the Queen’s speech, as is traditional at Casa Anderson. Having lost her husband this year, the Queen seemed older and more vulnerable than usual, and her speech paid tribute to Prince Philip and was very touching.

A flurry of kitchen activity led up to Christmas dinner being served at 4, and all went very well. The only thing was that the turkey was far too big for two, no matter how valiantly Ally and James munched away at it. Tom appeared at the table, and had to be told off several times for climbing on to the table, such was his enthusiasm for the turkey. He was delighted to be given some scraps of turkey. James told him that he should hunt 6 kg birds for us rather than the unfortunate tiny feathered creatures that he sometimes brings into the house. Strangely enough Flora is not interested in the food we eat, she never begs at the table like Tom does. I’m intending to freeze the remainder of the cooked turkey in small portions to make soups, sandwiches, risotto etc. so it won’t go to waste. 

Replete, we staggered through to the front room for a rest, because we couldn’t face Christmas pudding or trifle just yet. We decided to watch that most hotly-debated Christmas movie *, Die Hard. By Jove it was excellent; it really hasn’t dated at all, and Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman were both tremendous.

At this point we decided to tackle the trifle, lovingly made by James to Grandma’s recipe. It was very, very good. Too good as it turned out, because my second helping was my downfall. After a University Challenge contest with Ally, which he won hands down, I went to bed with an overly full tummy and had a terrible night’s sleep. Nothing was wrong apart from my intestines’ struggle to process the huge amount of rich food that I had guzzled. 

And so Christmas is over. Of course we missed Jamie and Davie, but spoke with both of them during the day, and we had a really lovely time with Ally who was on very good form. It has been an excellent Christmas. To quote Bruce Willis in Die Hard, Yippee-ki-yay! 

* the debate is whether it’s a Christmas movie at all, or just an action movie which happens to be set at Christmas time. My opinion is that of course it’s a Christmas movie! 

An evening with Rick Wakeman

James and I drove along a very cold and misty M8 on Saturday evening to see Rick Wakeman at the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh. James booked it because he is a big fan of the prog rock group Yes, with whom Wakeman has played keyboards for many years, on and off. He is a classically trained pianist and has played with other groups as well as with David Bowie and Cat Stevens. So he is an extremely accomplished musician and it was an absolute pleasure to listen to him as he played the piano and the keyboards. He played a selection of his well known works and interspersed these with Christmas tunes, all from memory without written music. He is also very personable and chatted easily with the audience in between his pieces, reminiscing about his music career and telling tall tales and corny jokes about village life. The audience were all at least our age and some were considerably older; Rick received several standing ovations from these stalwart superfans and deservedly so in my opinion.

We hadn’t really known where we should have dinner beforehand, so booked a nearby restaurant called “Blonde” which was quite a find; delicious food and attentive service, we will definitely be back. 

After the concert it was time to head home through the freezing mist, which was thicker than ever at Harthill. 

Not quite Christmas as usual

Yesterday we went for our annual Christmas lunch with Heather and Ewan, traditionally enjoyed on the last Sunday before Christmas. We went to the Italian Kitchen in Ingram Street and the four of us had a lovely meal, followed by drinks at Metropolitan with Andrew. 

Metropolitan was decorated in an appropriately festive fashion with lots of Christmas lights, but with the recent rise in Covid cases the Fruitmarket was just not as busy as it would usually be at this time of year, and as a result there wasn’t quite the same buzzing atmosphere as usual. Of course this didn’t bother us as we chatted away the afternoon, very happy in our own company. 

Today James and I noticed the same slightly toned down feeling at the Play, Pie and a Pint Christmas Pantomime; Cinderella 2, I Married a Numpty. Usually it’s completely sold out and very crowded, but today there were a few spaces in the audience. It was very funny and we thoroughly enjoyed it, but it wasn’t quite as exuberant as usual. 

Ally and Cat went to see The Prince of Egypt in London last week, and noticed the same thing: although fairly well attended there were still gaps in the audience and at the end of the performance the cast came back into the stage to thank the audience for turning up in these difficult times.

The government seem to be waiting to see just how overwhelming to hospitals the Omicron variant turns out to be, before imposing yet more restrictions. I understand their hesitation - if they lock down more than necessary people will be very angry and demoralised, but of course if they don’t lock down enough then they will be blamed if the daily death toll increases significantly. I would hate to have to make that call.  

Goodbye to Longannet

On the 9th December, before my visit to Manchester, James and I went on a trip near Falkirk to watch Longannet Chimney stack being demolished across the River Forth. Longannet Power Station was in service from the late 1960s until 2016, and most of it was demolished earlier this year. We have a personal connection to Longannet because James was the Station Accountant there for a couple of years in the 1990s.

The chimney stack was scheduled to be demolished at 9 a.m. so we set off in plenty of time. However three separate minor road accidents on the motorway delayed us and we ended up cutting it very fine. We arrived at the place James had selected just a few minutes before demolition, and not surprisingly the narrow lane was already lined with vehicles and people with cameras. James jumped out of the car with his camera to find a good viewpoint, and I drove slowly onwards to find a place to park. Just before 9 a.m. I noticed that the car behind me had stopped so I did too, and I wound down the window just in time to see the chimney come down. I also managed to film it on my phone. First of all a ring of smoke appeared round the middle of the chimney, and then it buckled and collapsed, as if in slow motion. 

I then noticed what I thought was a suitable parking space, so swung the front of the car round in order to reverse into it. But the lane was very narrow and one of my front tires went into the ditch of field that it bordered. I was completely stuck! How embarrassing, and also inconvenient for the rest of the drivers behind me, who had seen the chimney come down and were ready to drive away except that I was now blocking the lane. Luckily everyone was very pleasant to me, including the police who turned up to see what was causing the hold up. A helpful man attached a tow rope to the car and I was so relieved when James appeared to take the wheel when the car was finally pulled out of the ditch. With much thanks and apologies we drove away. 

James wasn’t really very angry at all, and we decided to go to see the nearby Scottish Kelpies; the giant metal statics of two horses’ heads which I have seen many times from the car on the M9. They are even more impressive close up, and were shining in the cold December sunshine. Even better, there is a lovely wee visitors’ centre where we had coffee and croissants before heading home. 

I love Manchester

I’m now on the train back from Manchester after an eventful and enjoyable week visiting Davie and Chanel. Since I set off, Covid restrictions have been tightening again due to the rise of the new Omicron variant. As the train set off from Manchester a police officer made his way through the carriages, checking that everyone is wearing a mask (or is in possession of an exemption certificate.) 

So, Manchester - what a fantastic city! Davie and Chanel took me to the Christmas market in the city centre and it all felt very festive. The market consisted of attractive stalls with much food, drink, Christmas ornaments and crafts, and it was situated along several of the pedestrianised shopping streets. I like the way the old traditional buildings in Manchester, built from red brick or red sandstone, coexist harmoniously with the brand new glass-fronted buildings. I noticed this throughout my stay.  On my first day Chanel and I went to a Spa whose owners had kept the bricks and beams of the interior of the old building alongside the new swimming pool and gym equipment. We had a lovely and relaxing spa day and Davie made dinner for us when we got back to the flat. The day that we went to the Christmas market we went to a very old pub called “Old Wellington” which was half-timbered with little mullioned windows, it was so traditional with great food, and it sat comfortably alongside smart new shops and offices. As well as visiting the centre of the city we went to Salford Quays to see Six the Musical at the Lowry Theatre which was brilliant. Salford Quays is a development located in what used to be the docks area right on the Manchester Ship Canal. It has a mall, outlet stores, restaurants and businesses such as media - the huge BBC building is among the modern, edifices overlooking the water. I would like to return in daylight to explore it further. I loved Six the musical although it was quite short at one hour and twenty minutes without an interval - I wished that it was twice as long!

Another place we went was the Trafford Centre, an impressively large shopping and leisure centre with lots of places to eat and a cinema, where we watched House of Gucci, which we enjoyed very much. The Centre was all decorated for Christmas with a life size Santa and his reindeer flying across the domed ceiling. 

During the days when Chanel was at work, David and I did some Christmas shopping, went to an Escape Room (great fun!) and visited Bridgewater RHS gardens, which were very interesting to visit even in the winter. 

David and Chanel were great hosts and I had a fantastic time - I can’t wait to visit Manchester again. 

Bookcases

I’m on the train to Manchester for a pre-Christmas visit to Davie and Chanel. It’s a really lovely day; sunny and cold with blue skies. The sun is very low and is slanting across the fields. James and I have been doing a lot of re-organising in the house. Now that his study has had its new furniture installed (although still not completely finished) James has been left with the old bookcases which are made of pine and still in very good condition. So we decided to move them into the room upstairs with the bed-settee, to replace several items of old and mismatched furniture. The good news is that they look lovely and smart and the room feels bigger and lighter. The downside is that this caused a huge amount of upheaval as books, folders, stationery and much more were emptied from the old furniture and then sorted and put into their new storage places. James worked very hard moving the furniture upstairs and it has taken us most of this week to get it done. 

I have also written and posted all of the Christmas cards, and James is hand-delivering the Cambuslang ones today. We chose our Christmas tree from local business “Elfie Trees” and had it delivered, and we have ordered our Christmas turkey from the butcher’s. And yesterday we decorated the tree. Flora found a pile of tinsel in which she made herself a little nest, she was a bit annoyed when we displaced her so that we could use it. 

Among other pleasant social happenings I went to my EK book club’s Christmas meal yesterday evening. And very pleasant it was too, but it turned out that the restaurant was geared up for a party night rather than the quiet dinner we had envisaged. So the music and the other customers were very loud, and got even louder as the disco started at the end of the meal. We couldn’t hear ourselves speak let alone each other. It was still very nice to see everyone and I had a good chat with Elaine in the car on the way home. 

No-one Loves Me

Recently the father and step-mother of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes were convicted of torturing and finally murdering him in June 2020. They recorded audio and video of him in distress, and at one point the dying child cried “No-one loves me.” I found that very difficult to hear about. It got to me in the same way as the murder of James Bulger in 1993 or the murder of the children at Dunblane Primary School in 1996.  I love my three boys, and even when they are annoyed with me I am sure that they know it. I tell them that I love them and I hope that I show it. And the idea of that wee six year old boy dying at the hands of the people that should have loved and protected him, and in the end thinking that no one loved him, hurts my heart. 
I read a poem recently that I think balances the good in the world with the bad. It’s written from a new mother to her children. I think it’s very good.
Here it is: 

Good Bones by Maggie Smith

Life is short, though I keep this from my children.

Life is short, and I’ve shortened mine in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways, a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways I’ll keep from my children. 

The world is at least fifty percent terrible, and that’s a conservative estimate, though I keep this from my children.

For every bird there is a stone thrown at a bird.

For every loved child, a child broken, bagged, sunk in a lake.

Life is short and the world

is at least half terrible, and for every kind stranger, there is one who would break you, though I keep this from my children. 

I am trying to sell them the world. Any decent realtor, walking you through a real shithole, chirps on about good bones: This place could be beautiful, right? 

You could make this place beautiful. 

An unexpectedly excellent day

Racked with guilt for not accompanying James to Australian Pink Floyd yesterday, I was determined to accompany him to the Hill-walking club’s annual Mince Pies Outing today. I was worried that I would still be feeling under the weather after my Covid booster, but I woke up feeling much better. We met the others (there were fourteen of us) at the Faerie Tree Inn in Aberfoyle, and had breakfast rolls and coffee before setting out on our various walks. While the majority of the group set off to climb a nearby Marilyn up past the David Marshall Lodge, Iris, Hilary and I went on a very pleasant low level walk around picturesque Lochan Spling. Well not quite all the way around it, because there were quite a few trees blocking the path after the recent high winds. It was a beautiful day; cold and crisp with blue skies. As we walked along who did we meet but Liz from my book club, also out for a walk with two friends on this lovely morning. It’s a small world! We ended up walking about 8 km and arrived back at the Faerie Tree Inn not long before the others. And then of course we had mince pies and mulled wine and Santa even made an appearance! I gave my “Hill-walking Quiz” which I think went down well, and Bob did his raffle. It was a fun and festive occasion. When I got home I was absolutely exhausted and am blogging in my cosy bed. 

Out of sorts

I have been in bed nearly all day feeling very much under the weather. I got my booster Covid vaccination yesterday (in my left arm) and my flu vaccination (in my right arm.) My flu vaccine is completely unnoticeable. However my upper left arm is sore where my jag went in, and the pain has spread right round under my armpit. I have had a headache all day and felt so sleepy that I couldn’t keep my eyes open, so I sensibly took to my bed. I woke at 9 p.m. feeling much better so I got up, had a snack, and I’m now back in bed. 

Unfortunately this meant that I couldn’t go to Australian Pink Floyd this evening and James had to go without me. I was glad that he went because I knew that he would really enjoy it. 

On Thursday I went to the film Spencer at the Showcase Cinema, accompanied by Heather. I had been intrigued by it and Heather kindly agreed to come with me. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. Despite being full of well known luvvies like Kirsten Stewart and Sally Hawkins and Timothy Spall, it was a rotten film. It was factually inaccurate, from big things (like portraying Diana’s former home as derelict when in fact it was converted to a care home for the elderly) to small things like Diana sitting outdoors in broad daylight at 5.30 p.m. on Christmas Day, when it would of course have been dark. The Royal family were portrayed as sinister to the point of absolute silence, including the children; the servants were also gloomy, sinister figures; someone put a book about Anne Boleyn on Diana’s bedside as a sort of threat; and then the ghost of Anne Boleyn appeared and saved Diana’s life by persuading her not to throw herself downstairs. I don’t know if Diana was supposed to be a sympathetic figure compared to the ghoul-like royals, but the film made her out to be as mad as a hatter. It was all quite ghastly, and made worse by dreadful discordant music that made me feel quite ill. To make matters worse, I took a wrong turning on the way there (the route has changed since the motorway changed route but stupidly I thought that I could wing it without using Google maps) and ended up nearly ten minutes late, which made me feel very flustered. Luckily the film hadn’t yet started. And believe it or not I also took a wrong turning on the way home, adding another ten minutes into my journey. Heather was very pleasant about the film, but I felt bad for suggesting it! 

Bladesmithing

We booked a bladesmithing course for Gerry’s 70th, which was in September, and this morning James accompanied him to it. We had to be there bright and early. We met Gerry and Christine at the workshop, which was in a small street in Maryhill. The owner was a gruff but pleasant person who immediately started kitting James and Gerry out in leather aprons and goggles. Christine and I then went over to the David Lloyd club in her car, where we had a delightful morning in the swimming pool and spa. We met the boys for lunch at the West Brewery and they proudly showed us the sgian dubhs that they had made - they were very impressive, with very sharp blades set into wooden handles. They told us all about the process and both seemed to have enjoyed the experience very much. We had an excellent lunch together, the only slight issue being that it was rather cool in the restaurant and lots of people were wearing their jackets and one was even wearing a woolly hat! But the food was very good in a hearty Germanic way and James and Gerry had some beer to slake their thirst after their hard work in the forge. 

Dinner party and Sunday lunch

We had Michael, Lil, Steven and Hilary round for dinner on Saturday evening. I decided to use my Ottolenghi Simple cookbook for the first time, and made two dishes that turned out very well. The first course was butternut squash, saffron and orange soup, topped with pumpkin seeds toasted with chopped red chillies and maple syrup. It’s the first time I have used rose harissa in a recipe. It was really good if I say so myself; the flavours went so well together. Then we had haddock cooked in a tomato chilli sauce, drizzled with a tahini sauce. The fish broke up a bit when I served it but it was still tasty. It was nice to cook something different from my usual repertoire, although I was slow to finish my preparation and was rushing to get changed just before our guests arrived. A very pleasant and friendly evening ensued.

After my Saturday cooking it was very nice indeed to go to Heather and Ewan’s for Sunday lunch, where we had a delicious meal. It was great to catch up with them and we had a cosy afternoon chatting. When we got home we were too full to have dinner so we just had some toast while we watched the start of the Amazon adaptation of the Wheel of Time, based on the Robert Jordan books that James has read. I haven’t read them but I’m enjoying the television series so far. It’s a bit reminiscent of Game of Thrones in its setting in a fantasy medieval kingdom, and the characters are interesting. 

Storm Arwen

It has been very windy for the past few days, as Storm Arwen has crossed the country. So windy that the letterbox on the front door was rattling, something that I haven’t heard it do before. And last night when we opened one of the bedroom windows as usual, we had to close it because the wind was gusting right into the room! 

James’ new furniture for his study was installed this week. The two joiners really went at it and completed it in two days, they didn’t even stop for a tea or coffee despite many offers from me. There are still a few bits to be finished off because some parts were missing, but we’re nearly there. 

We went to a new restaurant on Monday with Gordon; the Partick Duck Club, which had been recommended to me by Philippa. It was really nice for our meet up, very friendly and the food was great. We had a good chat and made some exciting theatre and concert plans.

Cat and I went into town to shop for cutlery on Thursday (she bought a lovely set) and then we had dinner together and watched our old favourite “Queer Eye” while Ally and James were at the football. Marjory had let me know that word had gone round the Rangers fans that they should wear something orange to welcome their new Dutch manager, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, so Ally and James wore orange beanie hats!

Ally and Cat left yesterday morning, Cat by train and Ally by hired van with Iain, who helped him to load and unload at either end of the journey. They messaged later to let us know of their safe arrival, I’m so excited for them. 

The cats have a trying journey

We left Ullapool on Sunday after a Walking Club weekend in Newtonmore for James, and a delightful quiet weekend in the cottage for me and the kitties. Tom continued to be very relaxed and went outside to explore two or three times a day, however Flora refused to go outside at all. I don’t know what it is that has spooked her; perhaps it’s because the weather continued windy (but that doesn’t bother her at home) or maybe the smell of the sea and the local vegetation is too alien for her? 

James came back to Ullapool to collect us on Sunday morning, we packed the car and closed up the cottage. The cats were very unhappy on the journey down to Glasgow, worse than in the way up. Tom cried for a lot of the time in his creaky little voice, and Flora did a poo and vomited (again), poor wee thing. I cleaned it up as best I could and they spent the rest of the journey crouched at the opposite end of the cat carrier from where the poo had been. 

However when we arrived home both cats were visibly delighted, running around the house and garden. Flora was jumping in and out of the cat flap happily and later she came to sit on my knee and purred loudly.

We were delighted to find that both Ally and Cat are back in Cambuslang for the week; they were at a wedding in Scotland at the weekend and are staying here because James and Ally are going to the football on Thursday. And then on Friday they will travel down to London to move into their brand new flat on City Island. So since it was Sunday we all had a curry and exchanged stories about what we have all been up to. 

Wind and gutters

It’s blowing a hoolie outside the cottage here in Ullapool but it’s nice and snug inside! We have been enjoying our enforced time indoors, spending time with the kitties, reading, chatting and going for short walks when the weather allows. 

Today James decided that he wanted to clear the gutters at the back of the house because they were full of leaves. I suspect that a large part of his enthusiasm for this task was because he has just taken delivery of a new super duper folding ladder, so he wanted to test it out. So out we went into the wind and I held the bottom of the ladder while James climbed up and scooped out the leaves into a bucket. It was raining, but it was so windy that the rain was blown away most of the time and hardly fell on us. We moved the ladder along the back of the house until the gutter was all clear; when we reached the living room window Tom was very surprised to see us and the ladder outside! 

Flora refuses to leave the house at all now, but Tom is very happy to slope off into the wind, especially in the evening. He doesn’t venture too far, but does leave the garden and goes down the path a bit, which is quite brave. Hopefully Flora will be more interested in going outside when the weather is less wild, for the moment there’s no point in trying to persuade her because she just runs back into the house and I don’t want to put her off going outside completely! 

From Ullapool to Edinburgh

This morning James and I strolled into the village to post Christmas presents to Jamie. It was an absolutely beautiful day with blue skies, and the loch was flat calm. We walked out on to the pier and watch a young seagull pecking valiantly at a starfish, which looked rather tough and unappetising. We also saw a seagull dropping a mussel onto the concrete of the pier to crack its shell open. While it was feasting on its snack another young seagull came loping up hopefully but the adult wasn’t interested in sharing!

Back at the cottage we refreshed the cats’ litter tray and piled up their food ready for 24 hours without us, and we set off for Edinburgh to the Marillion Concert. Like many of the concerts that we booked in 2020 we have no choice of when the rescheduled concert will pop up in late 2021 or in 2022. Some we will have to miss due to other plans, but James was very keen to go to Marillion, so we have travelled to Edinburgh, we’re staying overnight in a Premier Inn, and we will travel back to the cottage and the kitties tomorrow morning. James thought that he had booked the Premier Inn at Edinburgh airport so we drove there, but when we tried to check in we found out that in fact he had booked the Edinburgh Park Premier Inn which is three miles further along at South Gyle. It turned out to be even better because we could get the tram from right outside it, in to the City Centre! And that’s what we did; we had a tasty dinner at Topolabamba (again!) and then arrived at the Usher Hall. And now we are in our seats, very near the front and also very near some giant speakers (I have made myself some rudimentary ear plugs out of a torn up paper hanky) waiting for the concert to start. The guy sitting in front of us has seen Marillion many times and had flown from New York for this concert. Apparently he goes to Marillion conventions - they seem to have a very dedicated fan base. The couple beside him have flown from Belfast. 

* Update at 11 p.m. on the tram back to Edinburgh Park. The concert was excellent even though I recognised barely any of the songs! It seems that my knowledge of Marillion’s albums is sadly out of date. But the band were great, led by the charismatic Steve Hogarth, and the songs were good. My favourite of course was their final encore, one of their early songs, Heart of Lothian. 

Rainbow over Loch Dubh

Our next door neighbour Anne came round for coffee yesterday afternoon and amidst our other chat we were quizzing her on local walks. She recommended the “Dams Walk” which I had vaguely heard of, but had no idea of how to access it. Anne described how to get there; it’s between Ardmair and Strathcanaird. So this morning we set off to find it, taking with us a flask of tea. 

It was a fine morning, dry and quite sunny, which was great because when we arrived at the lower dam, we had great views over towards Cul Beag and Stac Pollaidh. We hadn’t been able to find a suitable parking space at the bottom of the hill or on the way up, so to my delight we drove almost all the way to the top before finding an area wide enough to park. James was visibly disappointed because there is nothing he likes better than slogging up a hill. However he soon cheered up when he saw the paths leading up to and around the dams, one of which is called Loch Dubh. We had a lovely walk and found a nice spot for our cup of tea. The clouds started to roll in and we were treated to another rainbow, of which we have seen several this week. 

We had wondered whether there would be a way to walk over towards Loch Achall and Ullapool Hill; the map shows that the path ends at the upper dam and doesn’t resume until near the recycling centre, so we didn’t know what the terrain in between would be like. We could see once we got there that it looked fairly walkable, so James extended his walk all the way to Ullapool Hill and then home, which pleased him mightily, while I headed back to the car and drove home. 

It’s another good place to take our visitors walking and picnicking next summer. 

COP26 continues

As I write, COP26 is still going on in Glasgow, even though it should have finished several hours ago. No formal agreement has been reached. Apparently the delegates are still wrangling over the details of how to limit the rise of global temperatures to less than 1.5 degrees C (we are already at 1.1 degrees since pre-industrial times) and hopefully there will be some sort of agreement by the end of the weekend. But finance for developing countries is an issue, as is the phasing out of coal. 

Over the last fortnight of COP26 there has been a feeling that this is a real chance to make a difference; if the 1.5 degrees limit isn’t met, climate change will be devastating for large swathes of the globe. 

Glasgow has also been full of demonstrations, with the unusual situation that the protestors have the same aim as the people that they are demonstrating against. However they don’t trust the official delegates, with their complex and often conflicting national loyalties, to get the job done. Last Saturday several of our friends were among 100,000 protestors who marched through the streets of Glasgow to George Square in torrential rain. They have certainly raised the profile of the climate summit even higher, and helped to put pressure on world leaders. 

In my usual fashion I don’t know what to think. It has to be a positive thing that climate change is being taken so seriously. But getting to a meaningful agreement and then sticking to it sounds like a massive task. Let’s hope that the delegates currently sequestered in the SECC succeed in their efforts. 

Armistice Day

The cats are still reluctant to go outdoors here in Ullapool so this morning I sat outside for a while reading my book, in order to show them that it’s not so scary. Tom came out straight away and has been roaming around the outside of the cottage. Flora was less keen, but she has now come outside and sat beside me, and has even gone down the steps a short way, miaowing all the way which shows she’s not very happy. I have temporarily closed the door so that she can’t dash back inside, and she is sniffing and staring around so she is showing some interest in the outdoors.

Anyway as I was sitting here I heard the church bell tolling at 11 o’clock, which reminded me that it’s Armistice Day. I looked out at the Loch and thought about James’ great-uncle Hugh, and my Grandpa and my Dad and all the other Scottish soldiers who fought in wars not of their own making, to protect our country. The birds were singing in the trees and ducks were quacking in the pond and I could hear the river rushing over the stones, so it certainly wasn’t a silent moment of reflection, but it did feel peaceful and good to be thinking of them outdoors in this beautiful place. 

The Pie Run

Today we headed to Lochinver to buy pies (of course) from Lochinver Larder. We bought pies for this evening’s dinner and also a selection of pies to freeze for future dinners. We usually just buy savoury ones, but today we treated ourselves to two “toffee apple” pies which I look forward to tasting. The village was very quiet with restaurants and cafés all shut today, although the An Cala café still opens from Thursdays to Sundays during the winter. I absolutely love Lochinver but I’m glad that our cottage is in Ullapool where there are quite a few restaurants and pubs that open year round. Luckily for James the Lochinver Chandlery and Hardware store was open for a quick browse, it’s one of his favourite shops - Alison and I once lost Hugh and James in there for some time! It’s not even that big but they just disappeared among the shelves! Hugh later suggested that James visit Highland Industrial Supplies (HIS) in Inverness which is so big that it has several buildings. James was overwhelmed with excitement when he went to HIS, quickly buying a hatchet and a log basket as well as other unidentifiable tools which he felt were essential for the maintenance of the cottage. 

When we were in the area we went for a walk around some wee lochans near the River Inver; it’s an easy walk but very beautiful. The weather couldn’t make up its mind between sunshine and showers and hence we were treated to a rather lovely rainbow. 

Forest Walk

We’re having a lovely time at the cottage even though the weather continues fairly wild. James has kept the fire ablaze which is very cosy. The cats have settled in well indoors but Flora doesn’t want to go outdoors at all! This may have something to do with the weather because today the wind was blowing straight towards the front door of the cottage, but she’s also very nervous about the new surroundings. She went out briefly on the first day, but yesterday she was peeking out of the door when a lady with a bright blue jacket and bag came walking down the lane at a brisk pace. Flora got a fright and turned tail and dashed back into the cottage and has refused to go back outside ever since. It’s so unlike her to be - literally - such a scaredy-cat! And today Tom, who had been going out regularly for at least an hour at a time, didn’t want to go outside either. I’m not sure if it’s because of the wind or if he is reacting to Flora’s nervous behaviour. Well, I suppose it’s all very strange for them. 

Today we went for a walk in the forest at Inverlael and weee treated to sunshine, showers, dark clouds, crepuscular rays, and pale blue skies. It was a good walk and the path was covered in clover, although it was somewhat boggy in places and our trail shoes got rather damp. We went higher than we have before and we could see far up the valley towards Corrieshalloch Gorge. There was not a soul there except us, it was really peaceful. We had French toast for a late lunch in the Ceilidh Place and then back to the cottage to see the kitties. It’s so nice to have them here with us. 

Tom and Flora arrive in Ullapool

We have long planned to bring Tom and Flora to Ullapool with us for our longer trips. However with Ally and Cat and Davie kindly being our live-in cat-sitters for the past nineteen or so months, it seemed silly to uproot the cats when they could just as easily stay at home. Ally and Cat have now moved to London so the time has come for Tom and Flora to make the journey with us. 

We do have very nice back-up cat sitters; our niece Lucy and Tina who lives next door. But I prefer not to leave the cats at home without us for more than a week; if something (heaven forbid) were to happen to them, there would be no one in the house to deal with it. We will need to find a new cattery for when we go abroad; we used to use an excellent one but the owners have retired and it has closed. 

And anyway we miss Tom and Flora when we’re away, so if we’re going to Ullapool for two or three weeks, we want them to be with us. 

We tried to make the journey yesterday as relaxing as possible for them. We bought a new, larger cat carrier with a fleece liner, and set off mid-morning when they usually go for a sleep. Alas the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley. The cats stayed awake for the whole four hour journey although they did lie down after a while. Flora then did a poo, either through nerves or maybe she just really needed it; this necessitated a stop in a lay-by for a quick clean up. Then just as we approached Ullapool she was sick - poor wee soul. Tom seemed fine but whenever I turned round to look at him he would open his mouth in his strange silent miaow, so I knew that he wasn’t happy. 

When we arrived at the cottage they were absolutely amazed; they explored the house and Tom in particular stared out of the windows. He just couldn’t believe that the view was not of his own garden. They were both hungry and had a big feed. They seemed quite settled in the living room with us during the evening. It was very windy and rainy outside so we decided to wait until today to let them go outside; we had brought a litter tray with us. 

But then we had the most disturbed night ever! The cats ran up and down the stairs, jumped on and off the bed, Flora miaowed loudly and Tom climbed into the cupboards and knocked things about. They slept for a while but woke at five in the morning for more boisterous behaviour including Flora scratching the carpet on the stairs and Tom trying to open the door to the spare room. Meanwhile heavy rain battered the window and gale force winds raged around the cottage, probably the wildest weather that we have had here so far. In the morning the cats were very relaxed but James and I were quite exhausted! 

Catching up with a friend

EK Book club at Elaine’s last night was hilarious. Everyone was on good form and we had a really good laugh. Inevitably there was quite a lot of school talk, which still interests me, and it sounds like schools are having very difficult time just now regarding staffing and pupil assessments and behaviour. Pupils have missed so much school over the last couple of years that many have never learned properly how to study or what behaviour is expected in a secondary school. These stories were told in a very entertaining manner but were actually quite horrifying and the situation sounds extremely stressful for teachers. It’s all going to have huge repercussions for further education and the workplace. Conversations that I have had recently have also made me realise that Covid has and will continue to have a huge effect on people’s physical and mental health. Physically there is “long Covid” and also delays in treatment of surgeries and non-covid illnesses. From the perspective of mental health, many people have been bereaved without being able to spend time with their family members or friends before they died, or have been isolated during the lockdowns, and that’s just a couple of examples. I feel that our lives have changed so much.

I met up with Philippa today for morning coffee which was a very special occasion; we haven’t seen each other for about four years. This has been partly because Philippa lives in Austin, Texas, and a couple of years can go by without us seeing each other. However the longer gap has been due to Covid and all the associated travel bans. We have of course been in touch during that time but it’s not the same as a face to face meet up.

We sat down with our coffees and started chatting, and it immediately felt as if we had seen each other only five minutes before! Philippa’s and my children are similar ages; in fact Jamie and Blair were born only one day apart and Philippa and I met when we took them to a toddlers’ gym class in Clarkston called “Tumbletots” in 1991. We got chatting and the rest is history! Many pleasant afternoons were spent at each others’ houses with the children all running about happily. There have been many times when we have supported each other by talking through life’s challenges. We caught up on each other’s news and hopefully will be able to meet again next spring when Philippa comes to Glasgow for three months. 

November Miscellany

Here we are back home and it’s November already! We had a very pleasant lunch with Heather and Ewan at The Grove on Sunday and another enjoyable lunch with Marjory and Forrest at Vin18 on Monday. And on Monday evening we went to see OMD at the O2. When we were setting off I felt a bit unenthusiastic because I knew that we would be standing (at concerts I prefer to have a seat even if I’m dancing, because it gives me the opportunity for a rest if I want one) However the concert was so good that I didn’t really mind and we had a great time. They played all the old favourites including my own personal favourite “Pandora’s Box” It occurred to me that I may have been to more OMD concerts than any other bands, partly because I really like them and partly because they come to Glasgow quite often.

Our main task this week is to clear out James’ study ready for its refurbishment at the end of the month. It has to be completely empty and the wallpaper stripped off. That means finding temporary storage around the rest of the house for the bookcases, many, many books, filing cabinet, computer, printer, and lots more. James has done the vast majority of the work and I have helped him. The room certainly looks bigger without all the clutter. 

Today I have embarked on a long overdue course of dental treatment, which was originally planned before Covid. Our dentist wants to replace my very old metal fillings with shiny new white fillings; apparently the old fillings are deteriorating and this could eventually result in loss of teeth which needless to say, I do not want. I felt nervous at first but he’s a very good dentist and the first two teeth were drilled and refilled in less than an hour. I can’t remember how many more fillings need sorted, but I have a couple of chipped teeth which also need attention and I think that I have another three appointments scheduled. 

When I got home I had a relaxing bath before tea while James kindly took delivery of the Sainsbury’s shopping. 

Goodbye London!

Here we are waiting to take off on our flight from Gatwick to Glasgow. It should have taken off a couple of minutes ago but it came in late (from Basel) and people are still boarding. This gives me time to write a quick blog post. Our last day in London has been very pleasant. We went for a tour of the Royal Courts of Justice with Cat; unfortunately Ally was too busy at work to join us, he had hoped to take a half day of holiday. The tour was very interesting although it was interrupted by one of the tour members fainting - luckily one of the duty police officers outside one of the court rooms caught her before she hit the floor. We had lunch in a wee Pret A Manger then Cat went off to view a flat and we headed to Piccadilly where we bought tea and chocolates in Fortnum and Masons and browsed in Waterstones before taking the tube back to St Paul’s. We had time for a last quick drink in Madison. Ally’s new office is right beside St Paul’s so we had a quick look over there from the roof terrace but we couldn’t see him at any of the windows! Soon it was time to retrieve our case from the Premier Inn and to take the train from Farringdon Station to Gatwick Airport. 

Diagon Alley

I’m back at the Farringdon Premier Inn for a rest before we go out for dinner with Ally and Cat. My feet are really tired (and in fact my right foot is blistered) after another day of walking.

We walked to Euston Station in the morning and caught a very quick (15 minutes) direct train to Watford Junction, then a shuttle bus to the Harry Potter Studios in nearby Leavesden. It was much quicker and easier to get to than I had thought it would be. These studios are where the films were actually made, apart from a few outside scenes, so there were lots of sets to see, as well as lots of the artefacts like wands and brooms and books and costumes. It was very interesting to see the process by which the books had been translated into films, from initial concept drawings to more detailed plans and then all the skills required to bring it all to life. 

It was amazing to see Gringott’s bank, both before and after its destruction, the huge and extremely detailed model of Hogwarts, the Dursleys’ house in Privet Drive, and of course the famous Diagon Alley. 

It was quite busy but very well organised; there was a subtle one way system but we didn’t feel rushed or overcrowded and it took us about three hours to see everything. There were a lot of dedicated fans there, as you would expect; many children dressed as Harry Potter or other characters from the films, and a fair sprinkling of adults who were in wizards robes. One Dad was even dressed as Mad-Eye Moody complete with terrifying protruding eye which was very impressive. I admired a wee girl’s Gryffindor Scarf and she told me that her Granny had knitted it for her. 

Abbey and Palace and Globe oh my!

Another busy day in London - perhaps too busy although we enjoyed every bit of it. I’m already planning our next trip in March and wondering about having some quiet time as well as all the dashing about that we tend to do in a city. 

In the morning we went on our much delayed Westminster Abbey trip, originally booked for spring of 2020. On the way there were a lot of police around Parliament Square and we saw Boris Johnson’s car being whisked into the grounds of the House of Commons for Prime Minister’s Questions. We started by going up to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries which are in the triforium of the abbey, at the top of the walls in the structural part of the roof space where there are lots of beams. Like that of St Paul’s this had long been used as a storage area, but unlike that of St Paul’s it was converted into a smart display area which opened in 2018. (Although when we visited St Paul’s Triforium in August 2018 I rather liked its dusty charm, which was rather like a secret treasure trove) It has an eclectic mix of objects on display; funeral effigies of various monarchs including that of Henry VII, a copy of the Magna Carta, beautifully illustrated medieval books, bits of stained glass, even William and Kate’s marriage certificate! And it has lovely views down into the abbey itself 52 feet below.

We then had a wander around the floor level of the abbey and I particularly enjoyed looking around the flagstones at Poets’ Corner, there are lots of actors too. 

Our next destination was Kensington Palace where we had booked tour tickets to see the Royal Style in the Making Exhibition about couturiers who have worked with the royal family. We had plenty of time to have lunch in the café first, and to visit the new statue of Princess Diana which has been placed in the garden this year to marked what would have been her 60th birthday in July. It’s quite good from a distance but dare I say the face is just a tad too “manly” in my opinion - Diana had strong facial features but she wasn’t at all masculine. 

The tour was better and worse than I had expected. I had somehow formed the impression that I would be seeing quite a few Royal wedding dresses in the exhibition, but in fact there was only one! Mind you, that was Princess Diana’s wedding dress; it was amazing to be so close to it and to see all the 1980s ruffles and sequins, even through glass. There were a couple of Princess Margaret’s and the Queen Mother’s evening dresses, and lots of information on dress designers. It was interesting but I would have liked to see more dresses! On the other hand, the part of the tour about Queen Victoria’s childhood was absolutely fascinating; with her toys and schoolbooks on display, lots of pictures, and we even saw the room where she was born. So all in all it was a good experience. 

But our day was not over! Back in the tube we went to St Paul’s and across the river, where Cat had booked us a Greek restaurant just along from the Globe and she and Ally joined us for dinner and theatre. I do enjoy Greek food and we were soon tucking into a tasty array of hot and cold meze. We then strolled along to the Globe to see Twelfth Night. It was a really good production, very musical and funny. The actors were great. The October evening air was pretty cool compared to my previous summertime visits, but it was ok - by the end I was beginning to get very slightly cold, but I soon warmed up on the walk back across the Millenium Bridge to St Paul’s and a nightcap in The Happenstance in Paternoster Square. A very busy but excellent day. 

Hokusai at the British Museum

Today, Ally and Cat being at work, we had our traditional breakfast in Prêt à Manger in lovely Paternoster Square, then walked to the British Museum, which we have rejoined in the anticipation of a few visits to London over the next year. 
We went to the Hokusai exhibition and were gratified that, as members, we were allowed just to swan in even though it was fully booked. I enjoyed the exhibition very much; it consisted of 103 very intricate and beautiful brush drawings, so detailed and amazing. The drawings were intended for an encyclopaedia to be called “The Great Picture Book of Everything” which was never published (if it had been, these drawings would have been destroyed as part of the print-making process) and covered many subjects such as animals, birds, Japanese legends, stories of Buddha and more. He was such a great artist. His famous work “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” was also on display, of which the British museum has three versions - I didn’t realise (until today!) that it was a woodblock print and that the versions differ according to how worn the woodblocks were by the time each print was made. There were originally about 5000 but many have been lost or damaged over the years. 
We also revisited the Sutton Hoo room (after seeing the film “The Dig” recently) and admired the silverware, the gold buckle and jewellery, and the carefully reconstructed helmet. 
By this time we were ready for a refreshing cup of tea in the Members’ Room. 
Then I had the genius idea of going to a 4 p.m. showing of the new film “Dune” which James has been looking forward to seeing. We booked the Odeon in Leicester Square (much used for film premieres) and were very impressed by its big roomy cinema, with comfy reclining seats. I love going to a film in the late afternoon sometimes, because afterwards you can have a leisurely dinner, rather than rushing dinner before the film. I found that “Dune” was rather long and difficult to follow probably because I haven’t read the books (needless to say James and his sons have read them all!) James thought it was excellent. 
And after a bit more walking, our day ended with a very nice and relaxed dinner in The Happenstance near our hotel. 

Much walking in London

So here we are in mild, autumnal London, seeing the sights and doing a lot of walking! Today we walked in a big loop from our Premier Inn in Farringdon, through the city to St Katherine’s Dock, over Tower Bridge, and then back along the south side of the river and across the Millenium Bridge to St Paul’s. It was sunny and it was great to be back in London. We had lunch sitting outside Café Rouge at St Katherine’s Dock, which is very attractive with lots of bars, restaurants, and of course boats. We went back to the hotel to check in and have a brief rest, and then we walked (yes, more walking!) to meet Ally and Cat at Balthazars Restaurant in Russell Street for a tasty pre-theatre meal. It was lovely to see them both (even though we saw Ally the day before in Glasgow!) and Ally was telling us all about his first day in his new London office. We then all went to the Harold Pinter Theatre to see “Blithe Spirit” starting Jennifer Saunders. This was a favourite play of my Mum’s and I think that I have seen the black and white film a long time ago. I seem to remember that it was very funny and witty. 

However last night I thought that it was really quite dated and not as funny as I remembered. It wasn’t for lack of effort by the actors, who capered around enthusiastically. I wonder if the appearance of the first wife’s ghost was quite shocking and indeed risqué to audiences in the mid twentieth century, whereas nowadays we have seen many films which have a similar premise. The play was a huge success for Noel Coward in 1941 and has been revived many times since in theatres around the world to great acclaim, so maybe I’m the odd one out. Not quite the only one though, because James didn’t like it either, although Ally and cat seemed to like it.

Ally leaves Cambuslang

Yesterday James and I took Ally and his luggage to Glasgow Central so that he could catch the train to London. He is making the move that was originally planned for June 2020 but which has been much postponed because of Covid. We had a really nice chat yesterday morning, when he expressed appreciation for the extra time he has spent with us. He said that it had gone very well and I agree; few groups of five adults (including Davie) and then four (after Davie got his job in Dundee) could have got on so well over 18 months. I’m certain that we all annoyed each other from time to time but mostly we genuinely enjoyed each other’s company and I’m very glad that we were together during such uncertain times.

So yesterday Ally followed in the footsteps of many clever and enterprising young Scottish men over the centuries and headed to London with his possessions and a bag of oatmeal to sustain him. Well, not the oatmeal but some sandwiches and snacks for the journey.

I was quite tearful when it came time to say goodbye to him but Ally drily pointed out that we will be having dinner with him in London the next day (today)! We hadn’t planned to visit him so soon but his updated journey to London has been delayed from the beginning of September. Since we have booked flights, accommodation and theatre tickets we couldn’t postpone so here we are waiting to take off on the 08.30 flight to London. 

We will miss Ally and Davie but it’s great that they are starting on this new exciting chapter of their lives and we will enjoyed visiting them in London and Manchester. 

Davie leaves Dundee

It has been a pleasant autumnal week, fairly sunny towards the end, and all of the red and gold leaves on the trees look splendid. Our quinces were ready and we made quince jelly using the same recipe as last year; again it turned out very well and is a beautiful rose colour. It’s all labelled and in the cupboard. 

On Thursday I went through to Dundee to meet David. He had taken the train up from Manchester a couple of days before, and had been packing up the last of his stuff and giving the flat a deep clean before handing in his keys to the landlord. Chanel and he had already taken the majority of his belongings to Manchester a couple of weeks ago, so there wasn’t too much to load into our car, and by the time I arrived at lunchtime on Thursday David was just finishing the clean, he has left the flat in excellent condition and I jolly well hope that the landlord doesn’t take a cleaning charge from his deposit (as landlords are wont to do) because it would in no way be justified. We then went for a stroll in the autumn sunshine and saw a Ferris wheel near the V&A so of course we jumped onto it and were treated to some lovely views of Dundee and the River Tay and the bridges. Then we went for lunch to The Bach; the same New Zealand restaurant that Chanel took me to in September. Again the food was delicious and we had a lovely chat there and on the journey back to Glasgow.

After a quick tea Ally, Davie and James went to Ibrox to the Rangers game. They asked me to give them a lift via Kings Park and Crossmyloof, and when the traffic came to a standstill above the M77 because all the football traffic was converging, they got out of the car to walk the rest of the way, and got to their seats in good time. When I managed to get back down onto the motorway to head home, the road was completely clear, unlike the traffic coming in the other direction, which was jammed solid. I decided to watch a Nigerian film (Nollywood) that had caught my eye while browsing Netflix a few nights ago, called “God Calling” I thought that it was a lovely film; in some ways very simple and naive, but ultimately thoughtful and positive. 

The boys arrived home later in a great mood because Rangers had won their match.

The next morning Davie and I went for brunch in Vin18 (yummy) and then I gave him a lift to Motherwell train station for his journey south. Unfortunately I overshot the station so we had to hurry a couple of hundred yards on foot back along the road to reach it, and David had three bags of his belongings with him, one of which was extremely heavy. Luckily he is a strong young man and we got to the platform with a few minutes to spare. He was able to stash his luggage in the rack and find a seat before the train departed. The good news was that it was a direct train and Chanel was going to pick him up by car at Manchester, so he didn’t have to carry the bags too far at the end of his journey. 

Davie’s Football Birthday

To celebrate Davie’s birthday, he and Chanel decided to go to two football matches this weekend. On Saturday Rangers (Davie’s team of course) were playing Hearts at Ibrox, and on Sunday Everton (Chanel’s team) were playing West Ham at Goodison Park in Liverpool. 

So they arrived in Glasgow on Friday just as we arrived home from Ullapool and we all had a convivial evening, then on Saturday they went to the first match with Ally and James. Meanwhile I was in Ardrossan having lunch with Helen and Libby, which was lovely. The only problem with the game at Ibrox had been the lack of tickets for sale; they had already nearly all been snapped up by season ticket holders and the few that appeared for sale were singles, nowhere near each other. In desperation I phoned Ibrox and was told that there would be more tickets released on Friday, which seemed strangely close to the match day, however sure enough at about 10.30 on Friday morning there appeared quite a few tickets, and this time a few of them in adjoining seats. I quickly bagged four (two plus two in separate areas) and after a short drama with trying to log in to the website, I managed to secure them. Davie phoned at that very moment to say that he and Chanel would be coming to Glasgow even if they couldn’t go to the football game and he was absolutely delighted when I announced that I had got tickets. They all enjoyed the game with Rangers leading 1 - 0 until the 90th minute when Hearts equalised which was very disappointing! In the evening we had a very pleasant dinner at Ibrox overlooking the pitch and the waitress brought out Davie’s birthday cake and we all sang Happy Birthday. 

Today Davie and Chanel left bright and early to go to their Everton match which started at 2 p.m. in Liverpool, with Chanel’s Dad and brothers. Sadly Everton lost 1 - 0 but they all looked very happy in the photo that Chanel’s Dad sent me of them having another birthday meal in Liverpool! What a great birthday weekend Davie has had! 

Bond, James Bond

Our first couple of days in Ullapool were a bit drizzly but that didn’t stop James from planting his new set of heathers in the garden and also preparing the ground for grass seed. The grass seed and heathers certainly have had a good watering! Today the heavens opened and it was rainy and windy all day. I went for my swim in the morning and then after lunch we set off to Inverness to see the latest James Bond film, “No Time to Die”. It was originally scheduled for release in April 2020 so has been on hold for eighteen months, and its release last week feels symbolic of the new “living with Covid rather than quarantining” phase. James Bond films are an Anderson family tradition, we all enjoy them, and this one was excellent. It was Daniel Craig’s last outing as Bond, and he gave a great performance. 

It had all the ingredients of a good Bond film; action, daring stunts, beautiful locations, humour, sadness, romance, gadgets, heroes and villains. There was a teenager with additional support needs sitting in front of us with his grandparents, and he was loving the film. He just couldn’t help making a few comments, for example when the female lead (Lea Seydoux) reappeared unexpectedly he said loudly “Hello!” and he made other remarks such as “oh no!” “watch out!” and at one point “Oh my god they’re sleeping together!” It was very sweet to see his enthusiasm and his comments didn’t disturb anybody, in fact for me they enhanced the film! 

When we left the cinema we found out that all the eateries around the cinema were about to close at 8 p.m. due to staff shortages; perhaps they are keeping the staff that they have available for the weekend. So we had to get a takeaway from Burger King and ate it in the car! James had a burger and I had some halloumi chips. We were back in Ullapool in time for a cup of tea before bed time. 

October visit to Ullapool

We have arrived in Ullapool this evening after a very smooth journey of 3 hours and 40 minutes, due to no roadworks and hardly any traffic. We had celebratory fish suppers (a veggie burger supper for me) and finished watching the currently extremely popular and strangely compelling South Korean series Squid Game. 

Sadly we attended two funerals over the past week, both at the Linn. The first was Iris, mum of Gordon King. She had reached the grand age of 94, and had a full and active life. She used to come on some of the hill-walking weekends with the club and was good company. I think that the saddest thing about the funerals of very elderly people is seeing the grief of their family; it’s still very sad to lose a parent no matter how old you are, although as Gordon’s brother said, “I’m crying today but Mum had such a great life.”

The other funeral, this afternoon, was of someone who died too young, my friend Doreen. She would have been so proud of her much-loved son Charlie, who made a very moving speech about her, as did her brother and her husband Jim. Doreen had such an interesting life and although I knew about a lot of it, I didn’t know about the teaching work she did in Lesotho in her twenties. As well as being a beekeeper, Doreen was a keen gardener, and Charlie gave us all boxes of wildflower seeds to plant in her memory. 

Two concerts

We were at two concerts this week, and apart from needing to wear masks it really felt as if normal life had resumed. 

The first one was Erasure, at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh. In the 1980s James and I went to see Erasure and they were absolutely brilliant, really cool and edgy, and absolutely full of energy. It was one of the best concerts that I have ever been to. So I was excited to see them again. I will qualify what I’m about to say by emphasising that I did thoroughly enjoy the concert. However things had changed. Lead singer Andy Bell is two years younger than me but seemed like an older man, struggling to change tops during the concert and ending up displaying a large white belly to the audience while trying to put on his t-shirt. Now I’m not criticising anyone for getting older and developing a bit of a spare tyre. Indeed, I currently have a bit of a spare tyre myself. But getting it out in front of the audience wasn’t very rock and roll! He has had both hips replaced so he can’t jig about the way he used to, but more importantly, his voice isn’t what it used to be and it was obvious that the two excellent backing singers were supporting him expertly on the high notes. Anyway, we sang along with all of the old tunes, and it was a still a good evening.

By contrast, the Genesis concert on Thursday evening was excellent - really memorable. It’s James who is the stalwart Genesis fan rather than me, but I enjoyed the evening and the music very much. Phil Collins is of course older and has had health problems due to various back and neck surgeries. He walked onto stage with a stick and had to perform sitting down, but his voice is still good and he was well supported by Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks, and his own son Nic Collins played the drums extremely well. He was relaxed and humorous with the audience and the whole performance was flawless, a really wonderful evening.

We saw on the news the next day that one of the band and their entourage had tested positive for Covid, so the Friday concert in Glasgow and their four London concerts were all cancelled; they hope to reschedule. We felt very lucky to have been there on the Thursday. 

A Robin and Ferne

I was swimming outdoors this afternoon at the David Lloyd Club. Pleasant though it was, it didn’t really compare with the stunning beauty of our hotel pool last week. And it was markedly colder too, unsurprisingly, since we are now in October and there is no longer any denying that it is autumn.

I also had a coffee there and was having a chat with Jennifer on the phone. I was talking to her about Doreen, whom she has met a few years ago, and what a lovely person she was, and how I will miss our chats. Suddenly there was a loud burst of birdsong right beside me; I looked up and saw a beautiful robin standing on the fence looking down at me, very bright against the blue sky. I tried to snap a photo of it but I was too late, it flew off. 

Jennifer, who was still on the phone as I exclaimed about my encounter, told me that many people believe that seeing a robin close by means that a deceased loved one is near you. Could it have been my lovely friend? I don’t know. I hope so. 

When I got home I looked up the symbolism of robins and apparently a visit from one means hope, renewal and rebirth. It symbolises new beginnings, new projects, and good things to come. And talking of new beginnings, Rachel had her baby, a little girl called Ferne, on Saturday morning. 

Tortino Caprese con gelato alla vaniglia

Today was our last day in Italy, but luckily we weren’t getting picked up from our hotel for our evening flight until 5.45 p.m. so we made the most of the warm weather by swimming in the sea (of course!) one last time. The hotel and the town are so quiet now, even quieter than last week. We were the only people on the sea terrace this morning. I think that this is partly because it’s nearly the end of the season and partly because Sorrento has had fewer foreign visitors this summer than hoped for. People are still understandably nervous about travelling abroad with uncertainty about Covid, and all the paperwork and testing is off putting. James and I have felt like holiday pioneers this past fortnight!

Vesuvius decided to reappear out of the heat haze for our last day, and looked very beautiful across the gulf of Naples. 

We had a last swim in the pool in the afternoon and I nipped along to the centre of town to do a last wee bit of shopping. 

Everything went very smoothly on our journey to Naples airport. Our very friendly driver, Americo, told us all about Sorrentine naming traditions and his family and the different hotels in Sorrento. However when we got to the airport it was chaos in the Manchester check in queue. Despite the plane being less than half full, it took us over an hour to check in, because a number of people had turned up at the airport without the required certification. This made the queue really slow as flustered tourists started trying to log in to the government website. James and I on the other hand were paragons of virtue and had everything ready, thanks to James organising us to do our tests and fill out the online forms yesterday morning. By the time we got through security it was time to walk straight onto the plane!

This morning I got a message from Doreen’s son Charlie to tell me that she died peacefully at 7 a.m. I will miss her very much.  

Casareccio alla Genovese

Another sunny day in Sorrento, although Mr and Mrs Philadelphia warned us that there might be a storm at 5 p.m. about which the BBC weather forecast had neglected to tell us. This habit of naming people that we meet on holiday is an old one, going back to the 1980s in Maiori when we met a couple who had named many people in the hotel. For example they called a man “Tepid” because he asked them how the pool was and when they said “Cold!” he dipped in a toe and said dismissively “Hmm - tepid!” then jumped in and gasped at the cold. They called his family “Tepid wife” and “Tepid son” which I thought was very funny. Soon James and I adopted the habit although we don’t make a point of it, we only do it if it feels appropriate. On this holiday, as well as Mr & Mrs P, we called a couple “Young Susan and James” because they reminded us of our younger selves, and of course we refer to the head waiter as Mark Rylance because of his resemblance to that eminent actor. 

Before we could head down to the sea, James wisely decided that we should do our Covid tests, which need to be done less than forty-eight hours before our flight home. Luckily they were negative, and we then proceeded to fill out our Passenger Locator forms, to which we needed to upload our negative Covid tests. Finally we checked in for our flights, and went down to hotel reception where they kindly printed it all out for us. This all took nearly two hours!  

We then went down to the sea and swam around together, chatting and enjoying the views and watching all the ferries and boats. Vesuvius was invisible in the haze. After lunch we went to the pool and sure enough large white clouds rolled in and piled up high above us. The resultant few spots of rain were rather disappointing, because I do love a good storm. We had dinner in the old town and I had the above mentioned Casareccia alla Genovese which consisted of short lengths of folded over pasta with a delicious pesto, made from basil, pine nuts, walnuts, garlic, parmesan cheese, pecorino cheese, and of course extra virgin olive oil. 

Piatto di frutti di mare

After the rather upsetting day yesterday we decided to spend today at the sea and the pool. It was a lovely contrast to the heat and dust of yesterday. I love swimming in the sea and of course here it is almost as warm as a bath. We were in the water for over an hour and James was diving in from the top of the steps; I love to see him so happy and relaxed. 

We were chatting to a very pleasant couple from Philadelphia and they recommended dining at the Marina Grande. This is a part of Sorrento which we had not discovered - even though this is our second visit and Sorrento is quite a small town! 

I love that our beautiful Hotel Grand Royal overlooks the main ferry harbour because we can watch the boats coming and going all day, and it had never occurred to me that there might be another, older harbour. 

So after a delightful day of swimming and reading, we set off in the early evening for the Marina Grande, only about fifteen minutes walk from our hotel, past the busy shopping and dining streets, down a wee road, through an archway in what was the old city wall, and finally down a set of steps. Wow! It’s absolutely beautiful, lined with little seafood restaurants. On the recommendation of Mr and Mrs Philadelphia we chose the Trattoria Emilia and we were given a lovely wee table for two right beside the water. Sophia Loren dined here in 1954, while making a film called “Pani Amore e …”

waited on by a very young Emelia. I enjoyed my aubergines and ravioli, and James ate a large amount of seafood that would have made Tom cat very jealous. In fact there was a tabby cat near our table who was watching us very intently for a while! 

After dinner we strolled back through the town to our hotel where we had drinks on the terrace. Even at 10.30 p.m. there was no need for a cardigan or jacket, it was so warm. 

Cornetto alla Nutella

This was not the best day of our holiday, unfortunately. Foolishly emboldened by how well I thought that I managed in the heat yesterday in Procida and Naples, I was keen to attempt “The Path of the Gods” which is a 7 km path from Bomerano (high on the hills above Amalfi) to Nocelle (high on the hills above Positano.) Bomerano is an attractive village with a little square with restaurants and benches. The Path of the Gods is clearly marked and we encountered quite a few people walking it, either in the same direction as us, or from Nocelle. The views from up there are absolutely stunning, and the path is quite vertiginous in places. But that wasn’t my problem, I’m generally ok with heights. My issue was with the heat. There was a slight breeze but it was not cooling; it was more like a hairdryer on a warm setting. There was not much shelter; there were a few groves of trees but the walk was mainly in full sun and I felt as if my skin was burning off (although it wasn’t - when we got back to the hotel later I could see that my trusty Factor 50 sun cream had protected me completely.) I had thought that the second half of September would be cooler here than during the height of summer, and it is only 27 deg C compared to probably at least 10 degrees hotter in July or August. 

However it was still far too hot and humid for me to walk, and I shouldn’t have attempted it. I was keen for James to do the walk so I convinced myself that I would be ok which was stupid of me. The walk had lots of steps both down and up, as it undulated its way around the several headlands between our start and finish points. 

I started ok but quickly overheated and felt worse and worse. It must have been awful for James, who was very patient and kind. One day this will be a funny story to tell but at the moment it just feels like another failure in my life. In the end I had to be rescued from the mountain by helicopter and taken to the hospital in Salerno where I was put on a drip to rehydrate me. James collected me later by taxi. I felt really sad when I got back to the hotel where I had a lovely shower to wash off all the dust.

This holiday has been brilliant in many ways but it is also overshadowed by the illness of my friend Doreen, who is in a hospice with her family at her side. I realise that I will not see her again and that also makes me sad. 

By the way, a Cornetto is not an ice cream here in Sorrento, but a breakfast pastry like a croissant. 

Pizza Marinara

What a day we have had; an island, a city, and three ferries! 

We were up bright and early for the ferry to the beautiful little island of Procida, our first visit there. It is so pretty with pastel coloured houses around the harbour. We walked around the narrow streets and gradually made our way to the top of the island, stopping for coffee beside the tiny domed St Maria’s Church on the way. Every view was more stunning than the last. The film Il Postino was filmed here in 1994, I must watch it again now that we have been here. Back at the harbour we had cool drinks at a café before jumping on to our next ferry to Naples. 

I have never been to Naples except for the airport; it was very hot we decided just to visit a couple of places. We took a taxi to L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele and the taxi driver insisted on taking my arm to help me across the busy road which I thought was very funny. We went there because it’s somewhat of a Naples institution, founded in 1870 and with a reputation for excellent pizzas, allegedly the best in Naples. There was a crowd outside when we arrived and it all seemed a bit confusing, but we worked out that you have to take a numbered ticket and then when your number is called you joint a short queue to enter the restaurant. We waited about 30 minutes and it was worth the wait - the pizzas really are fantastic. There is only a choice of four; James had pizza margerita and I had pizza marinara. Once you’re inside the service is very quick. The decor is very plain and there are photos on the wall of various celebrities who have dined there, such as Julia Roberts and Jude Law. It is very well known and therefore extremely busy but the pizzas are absolutely delicious.

Next we visited the Capodimonte museum. It’s an old palazzo situated on a hill above the city, in a pleasant park. It houses a huge collection of Neapolitan and other Italian paintings and is very impressive. 

There are so many paintings, but of course Caravaggio’s Flagellation of Christ stands out. It looks almost graceful at first but the underlying violence is frightening. I also thought that Botticelli’s Madonna and Child and Two Angels was amazing, I loved the expressions on their faces. I would love to return to the Capodimonte some time, because although we spent a reasonable amount of time there, there’s so much to see. 

A hair-raising taxi ride through rush hour Naples took us back to the port and our ferry back to Sorrento in the hazy twilight, in which the land and the sea were many shades of blue. 

Pasticciotti

We have been enjoying the Italian food very much on this holiday. It’s just as well that we have been walking and swimming every day to at least partly counteract the calories that we have been consuming! At breakfast we always start with fresh fruit and then head for the pastry counter, which always seems to have something new to tempt us. This morning’s treat was pasticciotti. These are tarts made of shortcrust pastry and filled with cherries and custard, then topped with glazed shortcrust pastry. They are absolutely delicious.

In Sorrento, it’s all about bread and cheese and tomatoes; the local dishes, whether they be ravioli, gnocchi or spaghetti, are filled with or covered in local cheeses and tomatoes and served with little bread rolls or sliced country bread. I love that the restaurants serve fresh food sourced in the area, and it certainly tastes good. I haven’t tried any pizza yet, but James has and said that it is excellent. James has also tried various meat and fish dishes like pork and tuna and has found them to be cooked to perfection. There are lovely salads such as insalata caprese, or prosciutto e melone. 

Desserts are specialties of the region too. Delizia al limone is an orange flavoured sponge cake with lemon cream. Tortino Caprese is a dense but moist flourless chocolate tart which is on offer at breakfast, lunch or dinner. And there is plenty of panna cotta and tiramisu on offer too. 

I don’t think I could ever get tired of eating here. 

Caponata Contadina

Today was all about swimming in the sea and the pool. The waves were a bit stronger today so as we swam along Vesuvius appeared and disappeared behind the azure water. It doesn’t seem quite as hot to me here now, but the weather forecast tells us that the temperature has remained at 27 degrees throughout our holiday, so James thinks that we’re just becoming acclimatised to the heat. This could be unfortunate if it’s cold in Scotland on our return in a week! 

Lunch on the upper terrace was caponata contadina; caponata is the sweet and sour stewed aubergines that we first tasted on Sicily, served on a thin slice of bread with little cubes of cheese scattered over it. It was very light and refreshing. I looked up “contadina” and it means a peasant woman, so I suppose that it means “rustic” referring to the bread base. 

In the afternoon we moved to the pool and listened to music, read our books and so on. Before dinner we went back to the LaVilla Café on the Piazza San Francisco Severio Gargulio for drinks; it’s the terrace along in Sorrento overlooking the sea with the bathing decks down below it. We sipped our drinks and chatted and watched all the people strolling by. Many people seemed to be particularly well-dressed this evening, some were downright glamorous. I wonder if it’s because it’s Saturday evening? 

Torta ricotta e pere

Today we had a bit of an adventure. When we were on our way to Herculaneum on Tuesday, James noticed a cableway beside the station at Castellammare di Stabia. He investigated this and found out that it provides access to Monte Faita which has lots of forest paths and viewpoints over Naples and on the other side to Sorrento with Capri beyond. So off we set this morning by train, alighted at the little station and were soon being lifted up the mountainside in the cable car. Naples was laid out below us with the blue sea sparkling, and the mountainside was covered with chestnut trees. There was hardly anybody else there, but since there’s a restaurant at the top of the cableway I presume that it must be busier in the summer season. It was beautiful up there and pleasantly cool in the dappled sunlight beneath the trees. We went for a walk towards San Michele and were rewarded with gorgeous views over the bay. There were wee pink flowers growing on the forest floor which James thinks are cyclamen, as well as pine cones strewn everywhere, bright blue butterflies flitting around and little lizards scurrying about. Then we turned and walked in the other direction down many steps (which meant having to climb back up them!) to the viewpoint at Belvedere. We had cakes and cool drinks at the little Café Sant’Angelo - mine was a ricotta and pear cake that was light and sweet. We gazed at the stunning views of Sorrento and Capri, blue and purple in the heat of the afternoon sun, the sea shining like a mirror. 

Frolla

At breakfast the waiter wanted me to try a new pastry; a sweet shortcrust pastry roll stuffed with ricotta called a frolla. It was very good, but I still like the sfogliatelle best.

We spent all day at the pool, and had lunch on the upper terrace. James wanted me to listen to the new Killers album Pressure Machine on Spotify (Ewan had recommended it to him) so I did, and I enjoyed it very much; it’s about life (and death) in small town America and each track is introduced by someone talking about their life there. It was great just lying back on the sun lounger and listening to a whole album, something I hardly ever do. This got me into browsing around Spotify and making a playlist of songs I came across that I haven’t listened to for a long time. 

So I spent the day swimming, chatting to James, reading, listening to music and taking photos with my camera (not phone camera) of the hotel gardens and sea views. Later we had dinner in the town centre and then walked around the streets in the warm evening. It was an excellent day. 

Spaghettoni alla nerano

We went to Capri today - such a beautiful island like a jewel in the Mediterranean! As soon as we arrived by ferry we bought tickets for a round-the-island boat trip which included swimming from the boat. It was great to see the island from the sea. We passed the white grotto, with its little Madonna inside on a ledge, and the emerald grotto, but we couldn’t get into the famous Blue Grotto, because it was closed today. Apparently this was because the waves were too high, which amazed me because they didn’t seem high to me at all - I presume it’s because the cave mouth is very low and narrow. There were lots of other small caves, one of which the skipper pointed out was a rather rude shape, although I wouldn’t have noticed without him exclaiming many times in English and Italian, “I won’t tell you what it looks like!” This produced much ribald laughter from the passengers, who were mostly Italians. The swim was great fun. The skipper lowered a little ladder over the side of the boat and in we went. James dived in beautifully and I was very proud of him. The water had a bit of a current so if you didn’t swim quite hard you were swept behind the boat. One man couldn’t swim fast enough and the skipper had to throw him a rope and pull him aboard! It was so refreshing and the sea was azure blue. Once we were all back in the boat we continued round the island and as we approached Capri town again, the skipper led the Italian passengers in a loud sing-song, I didn’t recognise the song at all and I forgot to ask him what it was. They certainly all enjoyed it!

We had ice cream sundaes and cool drinks in a café near the harbour; they were startlingly expensive. Then we went for a pleasant walk, winding our way up the hill to the top of Capri town, where we had even more expensive drinks in the beautiful Piazza Umberto I. What a great atmosphere it has, with little streets around it lined with designer shops, and lots of people strolling around wearing gorgeous clothes. Back down the hill we went in the funicular, and headed along the pier to where we thought our ferry would be waiting for us. However there were no signs to clarify which of the several ferries was bound for Sorrento, and then we spotted another ferry approaching and hurried round in the other direction to meet it. Well, it turned out to be the next ferry after the one we were booked on to Sorrento, and by then we were far too late to make it back to the one we should have been on before it departed. So we ended up returning half an hour later than intended, but it didn’t matter because we had no reason to rush and nobody but ourselves to please. Later on we had dinner in the wee shopping street in Sorrento and relaxed while watching the world go by. Tonight I chose spaghettoni alla nerano con pioggia do caciotta, which is spaghettoni (slightly thicker than spaghetti) with courgettes and flakes of local cheese. It was lovely; quite oily with the courgettes sliced very thin. It’s a local dish, so simple but cooked to perfection.