Solstice

Happy summer solstice! Today in Glasgow the sun rose at 04.31 a.m. and will set at 10.06 p.m. That’s about twenty-five minutes away; it’s still broad daylight and the sky is bright blue. This afternoon James’ Uncle William and Aunt Merle came round for coffee, in fact due to the warm weather we had cool drinks instead. They were on good form and told us lots of stories about the coal yard, many of which James had not heard before. It certainly wasn’t an easy life for them in the post war years, working long hours often under conditions so cold that when William picked up a spanner one freezing morning it stuck to his hand! They told us about the cabin that their grandfather built in the field of a farm in Ayrshire before the 2nd World War, where the whole family had gone on holiday for many years. William also identified his mother, grandfather (her Dad), and possibly his great-grandmother in one of our hitherto unidentified photos in our never ending family photo project, so we were very pleased with that. Merle was very interested in some of Grandma’s wool and knitting patterns for babies, a few of which we gave to her; she already has a little great-granddaughter and has a great-grandson due in the autumn, and she is a skilled knitter, so they should come in handy. It really was a very pleasant afternoon.