Total Eclipse of the Heart at the Expo

Sunday began with another lovely morning at the beach followed by lunch at the hotel. The sea here feels delightfully warm to me, although Ally and Cat assure me that it’s much hotter in the summer. The hotel pools are so hot they’re like baths! 
In the afternoon we set off to the Dubai Expo, which has been on since October and will finish at the end of March. It’s an amazing and huge exhibition with 192 Country Pavilions, lots of restaurants, and various live music and events. It’s beautifully designed with lots of green spaces between the pavilions, trees and plants. In the centre is the stunning colour-changing dome of the al-Wasl Plaza, with a circle at the top open to the sky.
There were so many pavilions that we had to choose just a few that we wanted to visit, and we used the Expo App that Linda told me about. When we arrived Ally and Cat efficiently circled our choices on the paper map that we received. There was so much to see! I have never been to an Expo before and it was so interesting to see the pavilions designed by each country, showcasing their country’s tourism and industry. 
Some countries had gone for the “basic option”, a small cube pavilion. An example of this is the St Lucia pavilion which was decorated very simply but beautifully with fabric draped into the shape of the Pitons, and colourful local dresses on display. 
However some countries had massive, purpose built pavilions which were designed individually. For example the Saudi Arabia pavilion is huge, and had different levels with video displays about the country and indoor waterfalls and a big revolving globe in a room where the light display even made your feet appear to leave tracks on water or sand as you moved!
The DEWA (Dubai Electricity and Water) Pavilion is all about maximising efficiency and has a “future house” attached with moveable walls, a drone-delivery hatch and a weight-measuring bathroom floor! 
DP World’s huge Flow Pavilion is about global trade but I loved its visual effects especially the amazing cylindrical waterfall which fell in all sorts of patterns; water was definitely a theme at the expo. 
Other pavilions that we visited were Qatar, Greece, St Kitts and Nevis; all unique and beautifully designed. 
We didn’t have time to go into the USA Pavilion but we saw the SpaceX Falcon rocket beside it, which was very impressive. 
The last pavilion that we visited was the Women’s Pavilion. My feet were very tired by this time but I was so glad that we went to it. It celebrates the important roles of women from around the world throughout history, with the motto “when women thrive, humanity thrives”.
By now it was completely dark and the Expo was all lit up with projections and light installations. 
We met Pete and Roisin for supper at the African restaurant area then went to see Boney M and Bonnie Tyler sing at the open air 80s night. 
This was very special, we hadn’t even realised that it was on until Roisin told us about it the day before. We danced and sang to Boney M’s greatest hits including Rasputin and Brown Girl in the Ring and By the Rivers of Babylon; there was in fact only one original member of the band performing (Maizie Williams) - I think that all of the original members have set up their own version of Boney M at some point! 
But the highlight of the evening for me was Bonnie Tyler. Many’s the evening on Duke of Edinburgh expeditions Carolyn, Shona and I amazed the pupils with our version of Total Eclipse of the Heart at the camp fire. It’s a brilliant song and here we were on a warm Dubai evening singing our hearts out with Bonnie Tyler. It was great! She also sang It’s a Heartbreak and Simply the Best and I need a Hero. What a perfect end to a perfect day. 

Afternoon at the Creek

On Saturday, after a morning at the beach and swimming in the Gulf of Arabia (how exotic!) we went to meet Pete and Roisin at the Bayt al Wakeel Restaurant at the Creek. The restaurant was very traditional, right on the water, and they kept bringing us plates piled high with delicious food until we could eat no more! Then we went on a boat trip up and down the creek on a little wooden boat which had a central seat like a bench. We saw the sun setting which silhouetted the mosques and boats and birds flitting and swooping about, it was very pretty. Then we crossed the river on another little boat and visited the Gold Souk. So much gold all in one place! Cat and I both got Palm-shaped charms for our bracelets in honour of the Dubai Palm where our hotel is situated. The Palm is a man made peninsula, and as its name would suggest it’s in the shape of a palm leaf with its fronds. It’s a weird thought that the location of our lovely hotel used to be nothing but water. Back across the river we went (on another little boat, this time I was overly confident when stepping into it and lost my balance, almost ending up in the creek!) and found our car, unfortunately we took a wrong turning in the dark which made us a bit late to meet Pete and Roisin at our hotel. It actually amazes me that Ally and Cat manage to find their way so well around the busy and bewildering roads of Dubai. Some of the roads have six lanes each way! I only recognise where we are when we are on the Sheik Zahed Road leads all the way to the Palm. Pete and Roisin were very gracious about our delay and we went to the Miss India Restaurant where we had a delicious meal and a very convivial evening sitting outside in the warm darkness, lit by little table lights and the stars above us on the black sky.

Burj Khalifa

I’m feeling overwhelmed by what we have seen so far in Dubai. I didn’t really know what to expect from this city built in the desert, on the Arabian Gulf. We arrived in the early morning of Friday 25th and Ally and Cat hired a car and took us to the Frame. It’s such an impressively simple structure, golden in the morning light, towering over parkland filled with birdsong. It was a great way to look at the layout of the city, hazy with suspended sand in the atmosphere. Then we had lunch in our gorgeous Fairmont Palm hotel, sitting outside in the shade with a backdrop of sea and city, the towering buildings on the other side of the water dark blue-grey against the blue sky.
Later we headed to the Burj Khalifa. The tallest building in the world, I had expected it to be an amazing example of architecture, but it was so much more. It towers over everything of course, but it also feels very much a part of the surrounding city, in particular the beautiful harbour area beneath it. There are promenades, little bridges over the water, boats, play areas, seating areas, bars and restaurants. In the centre there are the fountains, which display a water and light show every half hour in the evening. Each is different and accompanied by different music. The one that we watched after dinner was “Time to Say Goodbye” which I first heard in an episode of the Sopranos many years ago. In those days of less sophisticated internet searches it took me many months to find out what it was and it has always been a favourite of mine. So there we were, standing beside the water, watching the fountains display, the keys of water towering above us as the music reached its crescendo. I was so happy and moved that I burst into tears and Cat had to give me a hug! 
When we ascended the Burj Khalifa earlier we had to queue to get to the lifts but luckily Ally and Cat had already booked our tickets. The views were stunning all the way around, and we were able to watch the sun setting into the Gulf, like a ball of fire. 

Ukraine

As well as waking up this morning to snow, we woke up to the news that Putin has invaded Ukraine from all sides, with the pathetic excuse that he’s responding to “threats” which is total nonsense. He has been determined to do this for weeks. Ukraine has 44 million people but since they are not members of NATO they stand alone. All that the west can do is impose economic sanctions and frankly I don’t think Putin could care less. All he wants is to go down in history as the president who got Ukraine back for Russia. He also doesn’t care about how many people get hurt in the process, whether Russians or Ukrainians. The roads west of Kiev are jammed with people trying to flee west. 

The reason I had time to blog about this is that the plane is still being de-iced so we are going to be about an hour late to Gatwick. Hopefully we will still be in reasonable time for our next flight. 

On the way to Dubai - PCR and Snow

James and I were back at Randox testing yesterday morning for our PCR tests in preparation for our holiday to Dubai with Ally and Cat. Of course tests probably won’t be required for much longer as most countries are now relaxing their Covid regulations as we all move into the “live with” Covid phase. But for now it’s still required for Dubai so at 9 a.m. we turned up to be swabbed. We had chosen the 12 -14 hour results option because our flight isn’t until this evening so we had plenty of time. However as the day went on I started to get a bit worried; James has had Covid in January so I felt that I would be the most likely one to catch it now. I was mightily relieved when both of our tests came through negative at about 7 p.m. and we heard that Ally and Cat had tested negative too. 

The weather has been very changeable over the last week or so, probably because we have been on the edge of the several of the storms that have been rampaging around the UK. I went for a lovely walk with Ally W in Kelvingrove Park a couple of days ago during which we were assailed by hailstones, bright sunshine and torrential rain! So I wasn’t completely surprised to wake this morning to heavy snow with our street prettily blanketed in white. James checked Glasgow Airport Departures and sure enough there were quite a few flights delayed because of the weather. Although we have a comfortable four hours between our flights at Gatwick, any snow-related delay could eat into this quickly. I need not have worried. The motorway to the airport was clear and we’re now sitting on the plane waiting for it to be de-iced. We will only be about half an hour late. What a relief. 

Two Old Trouts

The highlight of the annual Hill-Walking Club AGM is Andy’s report on the club’s outings during the past year. He accompanies his report with a slideshow of photos from all the outings, which really brings back memories. This year, because of Covid, his report covered the first three months of 2020 and then the last eight months of 2021. It was good to see the Andersons well represented at various mountain locations around Scotland. My favourite comment was when Andy showed a photo of Iris and me sitting beside a loch in the Trossachs, with a large sculpture of a fish behind us, reflected perfectly in the still water. Andy said, “Here are two old trouts!” and then after a pause for much laughter, “No, one of them is a reflection.” I thought that this was very funny. 

The AGM went well, and Ally was applauded in absentia for completing his Munros last summer. He was also thanked for rewriting the club’s constitution. I felt very proud. 

Imperial War Museum North

On Saturday we all went to the Imperial War Museum North, which is at Salford Quays. It is quite a new museum and is beautifully designed. We started with coffee and pastries in the café and I was excited to purchase an Eccles cake, for which Davie and Chanel’s area of Manchester is famous. It was very tasty; currants encased in sugary puff pastry. The museum was mainly about the First and Second World Wars and the displays were clear and interesting, with visual and audio testimony as well as photos and artefacts. Every hour or so there was an announcement to gather in the central area where there was an audio presentation accompanied by large photos projected around the high walls. The first one we heard was about life during the First World War and the second was a poem about peace. 

During our visit to Davie and Chanel there was a big storm in the South-West and London called Storm Eunice. It was not too stormy in Manchester, but the winds built up on Friday and there were twigs and small branches from trees lying on the roads. By Saturday lunch time it was very rainy and we were a bit worried that there might be snow on the road north, so we said our goodbyes to Davie and Chanel after lunch in a nearby Pret a Manger and set off homewards. 

There was a wee bit of snow just north of Manchester but we were lucky with dry weather and light traffic for the rest of our journey. We had a very pleasant evening and a Chinese meal with Marjory and Forrest. 

In other news, the Women’s Curling team won Gold in the Beijing Winter Olympics (Britain’s only Gold medal.) The Queen has caught Covid which is hopefully a very mild case, and we have a new storm on the way; Storm Franklin. 

The X-ray Crystallographers

We’re just back from a wee trip to Manchester. The practical reason for our journey was to transport David’s desk chair and various other of his possessions including crockery to his and Chanel’s new flat in Eccles. The fun reason was to spend time with our young Mancunians. 

I was very impressed with their new flat; it’s bright, modern and spacious, and decorated very smartly. It’s close to Eccles train station which is very handy for travelling into the centre of the city and to David’s workplace. On our first evening we went to my favourite Manchester restaurant, Puccini’s, which Davie and Chanel first took me to on a previous visit. As usual the food was excellent and the staff were good-humoured and attentive. It was James’ first visit and he really liked it too. 

The next morning Storm Eunice was raging around the south-west and Cornwall, and the weather forecast predicted high winds and rain for Manchester too, so we planned indoor activities in the city centre. First we went to the Museum of Science and Industry which had a very nice cafe on the ground floor where we had breakfast. When I say “we” I mean James, Davie and I; it was Chanel’s last day at school before her February holiday week. Then we perused the exhibits; the upper floor was very child-centred, I preferred the textile industry area on the ground floor and the sad but interesting cancer exhibition downstairs in the basement. There are parts of the museum that are currently closed so it all seemed a little sparse to me. We then walked about 20 minutes to Escape Hunt (Davie and I had already visited it in December) where we had booked the “Four Samurai” room. Oh dear oh dear oh dear! It was really difficult - much harder than the Pirate room that we went to last time. We did our best but in the end we disgraced ourselves by not escaping! Oh the shame! I have to say that David was much better at figuring out the clues than James and me, but in the end we ran out of time. It was still quite fun though. 

However the highlight of the day was The Crystal Maze in the evening. Chanel had now joined us and after an early dinner in a pleasant nearby pub, we arrived feeling very excited. The Crystal Maze was a very popular television game show in the first half of the 1990s and was originally presented by Richard O’Brien. It was often repeated so our three boys watched it too, and there has been a recent revival of it. A team of up to eight members of the public visit four areas in the Maze (Aztec, Medieval, Industrial, and Future) which each have a number of rooms, containing Physical, Mental, Skills and Mystery tasks, where, if successful, you can win a crystal. Anyone who has seen the programme will be very familiar with the format. When our little team of four signed in, Davie was proclaimed leader and Chanel was second in command, and they came up with our team name, the X-Ray Crystallographers. What amazed me about our Crystal Maze experience was that it really did feel as if we were in the television show! We were running along corridors and up and down staircases in between games just like in the show, and when it was your turn to be shut into a room the pressure was on! The challenges were all very different and such fun, and our games master “Hermes” was excellent; very funny and full of enthusiasm. There were windows in each room through which the rest of the team could shout encouragement, it was brilliant. After we had earned an impressive ten crystals we arrived at the iconic Crystal Dome, where we had fifty seconds (five seconds for each crystal) to grab as many golden tokens as possible while they swirled around us and the music played. It was very exciting and afterwards we discussed it all again in the pub. 

Chicory and hailstones

I did a bit of cooking on Saturday when Heather and Ewan came round for dinner. I made a chicken and fig tagine for the main course which I think turned out well, and a peach Melba knickerbocker glory for dessert which was fine if unremarkable. However I was particularly pleased with the very simple starter from the BBC Good Food website; a pink grapefruit, avocado, lime and chilli salsa served in a chicory leaf (or endive as I first knew them when I lived in France many years ago) It was tasty and healthy and looked good too. Hark at me singing my own praises - credit must also go to James for cutting up the grapefruit and removing all the pith which was rather fiddly. After dinner we relaxed in the lounge and I endeavoured to talk about how much we enjoyed Cabaret without any “spoilers” about how this production has been staged, because Heather and Ewan are going to see it in April. After our guests left James reproached me that I had kept revealing more and more details, oh dear, but I think he’s exaggerating. I’m sure that there is lots that I managed not to say! 

Today at the swimming pool it was raining quite heavily, which I don’t mind at all, but then it started to hail! It was quite painful as it battered against my head and face, but quite soon it turned back into rain and then the clouds rolled away and the sky became completely blue - all within forty-five minutes! That’s Scottish weather for you. 

Brewing

I went swimming in the afternoon today instead of my usual morning, and enjoyed watching the pigeons circling around the pool again, and then landing in the roof of the leisure centre with their little claws tip-tapping against the edge of the roof. The moon is nearly full and looked very bright against the darkening blue sky. 

We have been having a pleasant time since we arrived home from London last Wednesday. James went beer brewing with Gerry on Thursday in Ashton Lane, his 60th birthday present from Gerry and Christine. He had a great time and will return to collect his five litres of beer in a couple of weeks. While the boys were occupied Christine and I explored the antique shops in Ruthven Lane and then went to Mellis’ Cheese Shop in Great Western Road, as well as having a lovely lunch in Oran Mor. The boys had just finished their brewing when we returned to meet them at Innis & Gunn, and were enthusiastically sampling some more beers. 

We have been enjoying lots of quality time with the kitties, who like to keep tabs on us when we are in the house; casually turning up in the same rooms as us and keeping us company. When we are watching television Flora usually lies on my lap, and Tom lies on James’ lap. From time to time they march us to their food bowls to refill them, and to give them drinks and snacks. They have their favourite spots to nap during the day; Flora enjoys lying in the warm pipes in the upstairs hall while Tom favours the couch in my study. At night they disappear outside to get up to who knows what in the darkness. But by morning they are back inside, waiting for us to wake up and feed them their breakfast. It’s all very companionable. 

By the skin of our teeth

I’m blogging on the train back north to good old Glasgow. It’s a lovely day, the train isn’t too busy, and we are comfy in our reserved seats with plenty of reading material and snacks. However the journey started with a bit of a drama. The morning had gone according to plan; we checked out of our hotel and had coffee and cannoli in Russell Square in the sunshine, then went to see the Peru exhibition at the British Museum. It was very interesting, with information about the history of the country and examples of art by the ancient Nazca civilisation and their Inca successors; drinking vessels, jewellery and textiles. We then had a look around the India rooms and (no offence to the Incas!) their art seemed much more sophisticated and detailed and beautiful than that of Peru in the same era (13th to 16th centuries) I’m not sure why that would be, but I wonder whether it was because India had different regions and many neighbouring civilisations with whom they could exchange influences and ideas. James suggested that we should set off in good time to Euston Station for our 1.30 p.m. train, and we arrived in plenty of time to buy a newspaper and snacks for the journey. We then strolled over to the departures board only to notice, to our consternation, that our train was not at 1.30 p.m. but at 1.10 p.m. - and it was now six minutes past one! We ran to the platform at top speed, found our carriage, and jumped on board just moments before the train moved off. The ticket inspector explained to us that the train times have changed recently and that there have been problems with third parties informing their customers (we booked with the Trainline app). Oh well, at least we managed to catch the train but what a shock when we found out about the time change. 

Lunch at 20 Fenchurch Street

On this visit to London we are staying in the Ibis at Canning Town, because it’s very handy for Ally and Cat’s new flat. We decided to go for a walk this morning around Goodluck Hope and City Island, although since Ally and Cat were both at work we wouldn’t be seeing them until the evening. I really liked the island feel of the area, with its mix of old and very new buildings right beside the Thames, across from the Millennium Dome. There are art studios, small businesses, cafés, residential buildings, and places to sit by the water. Needless to say this soon turned into a nature walk as James pointed out to me all the different types of bird life! We continued to the East India Dock where we saw the Virginia Memorial, and then started following the River Lea Way in a generally northwards direction. This was rather an industrial walk which wended its way beside or near the river, and took us past recycling businesses and car repair shops, but it has hidden gems such as a wee memorial garden to the workers of the nearby gasworks who had died during the First and Second World Wars. 

We took the tube from Bromley-by-Bow station into the City, where we had lunch booked at 20 Fenchurch Street, better known as the “Walkie Talkie” because of its unusual shape. It has been there since 2014 but this was our first visit. We got there in plenty of time to have a look at the views over London from its 35 storey high balcony, then we walked up the stairs to the brasserie, one of two restaurants that are “enclosed” from the main area. It was a dry but slightly chilly February morning so I was glad that I had booked this; from our vantage point above the open area we could see that everyone had their winter jackets well zipped up. The open area is within the building but its big doors are open to the outdoor balcony so the temperature is never going to be much different from the outside. This would be fine when the weather is warmer of course. Well, we had a lovely lunch with great service and great views of London and the sky garden spread out below us. After lunch we crossed to the south bank and walked along to Waterloo Bridge - this was a big walking day! - before returning to the hotel.

And then came the highlight of our trip; our first visit to Ally and Cat in their new flat in Goodluck Hope. It was really lovely to see them both, happy and enjoying life in London. The 14th floor flat is as fabulous as it looked in the photos we have seen, and the views from their balcony are stunning even by night. When we left they gave us a quick tour of the development’s facilities including a cinema room, gym and indoor and outdoor pools. It is all amazing, what a perfect place to live, and right beside the river too. I am so delighted for them. 

Life is a Cabaret old chum

We’re in London for a few days. Last night we went to see Cabaret at the Kit-Kat Club (the Playhouse Theatre, skilfully converted for the run of the show) starring Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley. It was absolutely marvellous and lived up to its excellent reviews. I won’t go into too much detail about the production because anyone lucky enough to be going to see it will want to find out for themselves the way the director, Rebecca Frecknall, has portrayed the building tensions as Nazi influence grows in 1930s Berlin. 

The Emcee played by Eddie Redmayne is delightfully mischievous as well as voyeuristic and cynical. Jessie Buckley portrays Sally Bowles as a brittle mixture of toughness and fragility, and her rendition of the song Cabaret was amazing - and very different from that of Liza Minelli in the film version. The rest of the cast were very strong singers and dancers and the love story between Herr Schulz and Frau Schneider was very moving. 

I was very impressed that we were entertained from the moment we arrived at 6.15 p.m. until we left four hours later; the show itself was about two hours long but there was so much going on in the bars and the theatre before the performance. The theatre was meticulously decorated in 1930s style with a round and sometimes revolving stage, and the tables all had wee lamps and telephones on them. James manfully drank my share of the two shots of Schnapps and the bottle of champagne provided with our meal! We even saw a celebrity in the audience - Louis Theroux - I do love celebrity spotting! 

I loved the show. I know the film very well, it was a favourite of my parents, and I’m very fond of it. The show was different, and in one or two places I felt that the film had captured a scene or a song better than this stage show. But these few issues were more than made up for by the energy and immediacy of this fantastic version of Cabaret. I was transfixed throughout and it’s an experience that I will always remember.

When we got back to our Ibis hotel (very nice) Ally phoned and at his suggestion we went to the window where we could see Cat switching the lights on and off at their flat, on the other side of Canning Town station across at Goodluck Hope! We then switched on and off my phone torch and they could see us too! Great fun. 

Out and About

The cinema trip on Saturday wasn’t my only outing over the last few days; in fact I have been out and about quite a bit. I have been swimming at David Lloyd and on Friday it started snowing while I was in the outdoor pool which was great fun and looked very pretty. We had our lovely neighbours Paul and Carmelle round for lunch on Friday; their first baby is due on 18th March so it’s a very exciting time for them. 

Then on Friday evening I went with Gordon to the Rocky Horror Show at the King’s Theatre. It was sold out and really good; I haven’t seen it since the 1980s so I had forgotten how much fun it is. The music was great and the actors were all excellent; the narrator in particular was very funny when interacting with the audience. We were all singing along with all of the songs, and dancing to the Time Warp. I hadn’t dressed up but lots of people were wearing stockings and basques, mainly men! It was a very happy evening.

Yesterday James was away hill-walking so after a leisurely morning I decided to head into town to buy a new tray for the kitchen and some clothes for my upcoming holiday to Dubai. James messaged me when he got home; “not like you to do a girly thing like going into town!” which is mostly true of me, but I must have 1% of shopping genes in me because just occasionally I do like to browse around a few shops by myself. It was a successful trip and I enjoyed myself. 

Delightfully Absurd

I enjoy a good sci-fi disaster movie so was happy to go to see the recently released Moonfall today. We booked it for mid-afternoon at Showcase, after my swim and James’ daily walk, because it was a dreich day so good for a visit to the cinema. 

I absolutely loved the film! It didn’t take long for me to realise that it was based on ideas from many other films, probably every science-fiction action movie ever made! For example planets and moons were manufactured (Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy), the moon was falling towards earth (Melancholia), it was left to “has-been heroes” to save the earth from the collision (Armageddon, Deep Impact), strange spiritual elements appeared to the heroes (2001: a Space Odyssey), there were evil Aliens trying to destroy the human race (Independence Day and many more) and there was a revelation about the origin of the human race (back to the Hitch-hikers Guide again!) I’m sure that I have not exhausted the list! 

As well as the action in space there was plenty going on back in earth; government cover-ups, cute kids, disaffected teens, ex-wives and ex-husbands, car chases, self-sacrifice, elderly parent with dementia, flooding, tidal waves, earthquakes, gravity reversing etc.

The dialogue was so predictable that we could almost recite it along with the actors, and even someone who knows as little of science as I, could tell that the science was at best unlikely! None of this spoiled the film for me at all; I found it to be rollicking good entertainment. At the end I turned to James and said “That was great! There’s nothing that it doesn’t satisfy!” to which he replied drily “Apart from the laws of Physics!” which I thought was very funny. 

When we got home I looked up Mark Kermode’s review of the film on YouTube, which was a very entertaining rant. He said that in his more than 30 years as a film critic it is the stupidest movie he has ever seen, and he even added, “My brain turned to sewage and was trickling out of my ear!” I think that after that review people will be flocking to see it! 

Rainbow over Rutherglen

While driving over to the sports centre yesterday I was treated to a gorgeous rainbow which transformed the dark clouds with its burst of light. Beautiful. I do enjoy my swimming and the water seemed particularly sparkling as I swam my 1000 metres. A lady arrived into the pool, exclaimed at the cold wind and informed me that she always swims 64 lengths. I was impressed because that’s much more than my 40 lengths but I couldn’t help noticing that she left the pool after only about 15 minutes. She could talk the talk but she didn’t swim the swim. 

This evening I went with James and Gordon to Motherwell Concert Hall to see Sir Ranulph Fiennes speaking about his life as an adventurer. What a good speaker he is; very entertaining. The audience loved him. He is a craggy looking 77 year old, very weather-beaten with quite a lot of the tops of his fingers missing. However he was very good-looking when he was younger, as could be seen in some of his earlier slides, and was once nearly chosen to play James Bond on screen! However he said that he decided to leave the acting to his distant cousins, Ralph and Joseph!

On Eagle's Wings

I went to Jenn F’s Mum’s funeral this morning. I found it very moving. It’s always seeing the family upset that gets to me. Lynn should have had many more years with her beautiful daughters and lovely grand-children. The priest gave a very good sermon, about how people make Christianity too complicated when it should be simple, about love. It’s a while since I have been at a Catholic funeral and I liked all of the responses and the music especially "On Eagle's Wings" based on Psalm 91, which I haven't heard before. I think that it was a good funeral service for a much-loved lady, and I hope that it was a comfort to the family. 

It was still very windy today and there were several huge gusts of wind during the service that sounded as if the roof of the chapel was about to lift off. It has been much windier up north than in Glasgow and I noticed in the Ullapool Facebook page that peoples’ bins and greenhouses have been blown into other peoples’ gardens as well as roads being blocked temporarily by trees. 

I went into Glasgow afterwards and met Jackie for lunch at Zizzi’s in Princes Square and we had a good old chat and catch up. I haven't blogged about Jackie's illness until now, because it's her private business. However she is very open about it. In April 2018 at the age of 44, Jackie was diagnosed with stage 2 cancer in her left breast. I will never forget my shock when she phoned to tell me. She had a mastectomy and reconstruction, then months of chemo and radiation therapies. Her beautiful boys, Finn and Noah, were aged only 11 and 8 swhen she was diagnosed and of course they were her main concern. Since then she has undergone various treatments, it has not been easy for her; her cancer is currently in remission. Despite everything she has gone through she is always there for me and her family and other friends. She is a fantastic friend.