Boat, doggie and photography

We have had a great day today. My cousin Abigail and her partner Graham came to visit with their gorgeous 2-year-old Patterdale terrier, Archie. The weather was absolutely glorious so we all went for a boat trip on the Shearwater, out to the Summer Isles and beyond. Archie was a wee trooper, he had never been on a boat trip before but he took to it really well and sat on Abigail’s knee happily looking out over the sea. Abigail and Graham are keen photographers and took lots of photos of the mountains, islands and seabirds, and of the two pods of dolphins that we saw on our journey. The dolphins were full of the joys and paused in their feeding to ride on the bow wave of the boat, and jump in and out of the water. It was so warm that I didn’t need the waterproof jacket that I had brought with me. 

We had lunch at the cottage and then took Archie for a walk. Tom saw Archie approaching from his favourite rug in the porch, and wisely took himself upstairs out of his way, although he came back downstairs not once but twice, staring at Archie from around the corner, as if to confirm to himself that we really had brought a dog into the cottage! Flora was napping on our bed so she wasn’t quite so aware of what was going on. The cats were very sensible, although disapproving, as I could tell from their reproachful stares when I closed the door to keep them in our bedroom, and had a quiet afternoon upstairs together. 

After dinner Graham, Abigail and I went to the lighthouse to take some photos of the sunset. They gave me lots of tips and ideas about using my camera and I felt that I really got my photography mojo back. I take so many photos with my phone camera these days that I have been neglecting my camera, but you can do so much more with the settings of a proper camera. I was very pleased with my sunset shots. James made us a cup of tea when we arrived back at the cottage and then Abigail, Graham and Archie set off back to where they are staying in Kinlochewe. We opened the bedroom door and Tom and Flora came downstairs rather hesitantly and checked that there was definitely no dog remaining in the house! 

Hot in Ullapool

We’re back in Ullapool for a week and oh boy it’s hot! The weather was pleasant for our drive here yesterday, but I didn’t expect it to be as warm and humid as this - it’s so much warmer outside than inside the cottage that I’ve had to come inside to cool down for a bit!

There’s a problem with the boiler so we have no hot water; we have arranged for it to be fixed on Thursday. This presents us with hardly any problems because we don’t need the heating to be on. However the shower only has cold water. This doesn’t bother tough-as-old-boots James, but washing my currently fairly long hair in a cold shower is not much fun for me. So this morning I went for a swim at the sports centre so that I could use the showers there, and I will continue this until Thursday. 

There’s a bit of good news about Flora; she has stopped hiding under the bed at Ullapool and has been wandering quite happily outside the cottage of her own accord. Finally she seems to be quite settled here. I don’t want to jinx it because I have thought this before and then she has regressed, but this is the second visit in a row that she has seemed happier here, so long may it continue. 

Last night we watched the last two episodes of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. It has been very good indeed, very true to the books and with many very well known and some not so well known actors at the top of their game.

Ok I’ve cooled down now, I’m heading back outside to my hammock. But not to do nothing; I’ve started a new writing project and we shall see where it leads me. 

Tom brings us a sparrow

Tom came running into our bedroom yesterday morning full of the joys - and with his mouth full of a live bird, a wee sparrow. When he heard our cries of dismay he ran under the bed and let go of the bird, which started flying around the room; there were feathers everywhere. We opened the window wide and tried to usher it out, but at that point it panicked and dived behind the wardrobe. We were worried that it might be stuck there because there is only a very narrow space between the wardrobe and the wall, and without moving both of the very heavy wardrobes we couldn’t reach it. Tom was sent into my study in disgrace; he knew that we were annoyed with him because of all our shouting so he skulked under the bureau and stared out balefully.

A little while later I went into our bedroom and there was the sparrow standing in the middle of the floor looking at me. I was relieved that it wasn’t trapped for a slow death behind the wardrobe. I slowly crossed the room so as not to scare it and opened the window again, and, after some silly flapping about, it got the idea and flew out to freedom, like a little arrow into the light.

After going for a very sunny swim, the weather having turned almost Mediterranean today, I spent the afternoon doing a bit of cooking before Heather and Ewan came round for dinner. Tom was still lurking upstairs, in a bad mood about our lack of enthusiasm for his bird friend, but when were having afternoon coffee in the garden he appeared outdoors and we were reconciled. Who could stay angry at that furry face? 

We had a lovely evening dining and chatting with Heather and Ewan. I was quite pleased with the meal; I should have served smaller portions of the starter, and I think that the crumble should have been crispier, but apart from that it went well. 

Summer sun and rain

It has been a pleasant week in Cambuslang, with weather that has varied from warm and sunny to warm and rainy. We were having a drink in the garden before dinner one sunny evening and as we were chatting, we noticed that both cats were sitting outside companionably with us, as if taking part in the conversation! They like us being in the garden. 

Last night we went to a show at the Tramway called “Uncles” which has been postponed since March 2020. It featured two comedians, Iain Connell and Robert Florence, who are best known for their tv series Burnistoun. James and I both enjoyed Burnistoun very much; it was a sketch show and some sketches were better than others, but the best ones were very funny indeed. I presume that’s the reason why I bought the tickets in 2020, although it’s so long ago that I can’t even remember booking them! It was an enjoyable evening; Connell and Florence were very easy in each other’s company and they just blethered away to each other as if they were in a pub telling anecdotes, and it was very amusing. On the other hand, it wasn’t side-splittingly funny, and I felt that perhaps they could have maybe varied their performance a bit more. The place was sold out though, and the audience loved them. 

This afternoon it was quite rainy, so we decided to go to the cinema to see “The Railway Children Return” a sequel to the original 1970 film which I have seen very many times over the years, often with my Mum. Jenny Agutter as Bobbie was now a grandmother welcoming child refugees during the 2nd World War, and there were themes about racism and war. It wasn’t a bad film, in fact quite pleasant, but how could it possibly live up to the original? 

We then got ourselves a takeaway curry from East Kilbride and headed home with it to watch a couple of episodes of the excellent Netflix adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. It is absolutely stuffed with top actors, and it is so well written, we’re both loving it. 

Culinary Experimentation

I was trying out a new recipe yesterday, that I’m going to make on Saturday evening. Just as well that I had a dry run because it needs a bit of adjustment! While I was waiting for it to cook I laid out the ingredients for my vanilla ice cream, I use Delia’s recipe, and James kindly made the custard for it. This meant that we had four spare egg whites, so we used them to make meringues. Neither of us is very good at making meringues so we took special care and I tipped in the sugar gradually while James beat (but not over-beat!) the mixture with the electric whisk. Into the oven they went and an hour-and-a-half later we were gratified to find that they had turned out very well. 

Later, when the vanilla custard was completely cold, I folded in the double cream and poured it into the ice cream maker, and after about half an hour, voilà! The ice cream was all ready and I popped it into a Tupperware container and into the freezer. 

There was a tiny amount of cream left over so we put it in a dish for Tom and Flora; they were delighted! 

Visiting new homes

I had a wee day trip to Arran yesterday to have lunch with Maggie. It’s the first time that I have visited her since she moved from Lochranza to Brodick; her house is gorgeous, with beautiful views over the sea. I met John for the first time and he made me feel very welcome, he and Maggie are very happy together. Maggie and I took Millie for a walk on Blackwaterfoot Beach; she’s an elderly wee dog now, nearly 17, and almost completely blind and deaf, but she enjoyed a gentle walk on the beach and sniffed the air, I could tell that she could smell the sea. Millie then went for a nap in the car while Maggie and I had lunch in Shiskine Golf Club. We have had lunch there before, sitting outside in the sunshine, but yesterday the sky was a bit grey so we sat indoors, where we had an excellent chat and a very nice lunch, rounded off with coffee and Rocky Road cake. Maggie dropped me back at the ferry terminal just in time for the 4.40 p.m. ferry and I enjoyed my journey back across the water. There was a big family sitting near me, with grandparents, a number of parents, and many children. The children were lively but not rowdy, and they told me that they come from London and are sharing a big house near Kilmarnock for a multi-generational holiday. 

Today I visited another friend who has recently moved house, Carolyn, but this time the house itself is brand new. It is so new that the houses along the street are still being built and trucks and diggers were going past! It’s a very spacious house with a big garden, and I love that it’s like a blank slate for Carolyn and Euan to make their own. Shona joined us for lunch and it was great for us three Duke of Edinburgh girls to be together again. Much news was shared; it was a lovely afternoon.   

Goodbye Saul

We watched the final episode of Better Call Saul on Tuesday. We have both really enjoyed watching the six series of this Breaking Bad spin-off, which has been screened over the past six or seven years. It has been excellent but has resulted in a couple of issues for me. Better Call Saul is a prequel to Breaking Bad, which ran from 2008 to 2013. So it was immediately noticeable that some characters (especially Gus Fring in my opinion) look distinctly older in the prequel! 

My other issue is that my memory of Breaking Bad has faded a bit, so as the timelines of the two programmes became closer and finally overlapped, I found myself struggling to remember what happened and when regarding Saul’s interactions with Walter and Jesse. 

As for the much anticipated ending - I thought that it was very good. Very fitting and with a hint of redemption. I will avoid divulging any spoilers, but suffice it to say that even though I couldn’t guess how it would end, I now can’t imagine it ending any other way.  

Wooden Spoon

James went on a wood-carving course on Tuesday in Lochinver. I was planning to accompany him but unfortunately I had to wait in for the boiler repair man to fix a leaky washer on our boiler. I wasn’t going to do the course because I have no talent for wood-working (I know this because James once gave me a marquetry kit for Christmas and it was soon deeply stained with my blood!) But I intended just keep James company on the journey and perhaps have a wee wander and then lunch at Delilah’s, however I had a very pleasant day at the cottage with the kitties. 

When James arrived home he had some great stories about his course, the object of which was to carve a spoon. They had to start off by cutting their wood from a log and then splitting it. Then they roughed out the shape with a sharp axe before carving it more finely with a knife. He was the only male on the course and found the other course participants to be pleasant but rather noisy. Apparently two of them were so over-enthusiastic about carving the shape of their spoons that they managed to reduce the neck of their spoons to only a tiny shred of wood! Apparently the instructor rushed over to try to salvage them! James’ spoon was really good although a bit rough and lumpy in places, so when he got home he whittled it carefully into a better shape. It’s new green wood so he will have to wait a couple of weeks before he will be able to sand and oil it. I’m kind of hoping that he will give it to me. 

Party like it’s 1969

On Sunday we went to the Fringe in Edinburgh, our second visit this year. This time we travelled down from Ullapool in the morning, went to the Fringe in the afternoon and travelled back to Ullapool the next morning after spending the night in a Premier Inn at Edinburgh Park. Our first show was Stewart Lee. He is not for the faint-hearted and the twists and turns in his thinking made my brain nip. He’s very clever as well as funny. Alfie Moore was much more conventional but also very funny in a gentle way, he’s a traffic policeman who asked the audience to chime in on a case of speeding; very entertaining. After a reviving drink outside a restaurant in George Street we met up with Gordon to see Omid Djalili. He was very good although I thought that he got off to quite a hesitant start. Once he got going though he was very thought-provoking and topical. 

When we went outside the street was running with water; we had just missed a torrential downpour. This was quite lucky because we had carelessly left our waterproofs at the hotel. We walked up to the old town and had an excellent curry at Solti’s, before meeting Gordon’s friend Tom and the four of us went to our last gig of the day at the Queen’s Hall; Lindisfarne.

It was really great and I was so glad that we went. It must be about thirty years since I last saw them perform live. The group are mostly ancient except for Alan Hull’s son-in-law who is a bit younger than us and is the lead singer on the majority of the songs. The only truly original member of the group is Rod Clements, but the rest of them have come and gone over the years so they have all worked together for a long time. There was a happy atmosphere (although most of the audience remained seated rather than dancing due to their advanced age!) and Rod Clements gave us some good chat in between the songs, including telling us to “party like it’s 1969” which I thought was very funny. Needless to say my favourite song was Run for Home, but I liked many others too, especially Lady Eleanor and Meet Me on the Corner. At the end I was chatting to a wee man who was in a wheelchair and his wife, and he said that he didn’t know when he had last enjoyed himself so much. It was a very good day. 

Temperature inversion on Loch Broom

We were woken up in the middle of the night, maybe about 2 a.m. by five deep blasts from a foghorn. We realised that it was the ferry going past the window, and that there was thick fog outside. In the morning there was a spectacular temperature inversion going on outside. The loch was shrouded in fog but above it there was blue sky and sunshine. 

The wee ferry is running from Ardmair to community owned Isle Martin at the weekends. We have travelled around it in the Shearwater several times but wanted to explore it, so we went along to the jetty at Ardmair to catch the boat. There were four middle-aged men ahead of us who were going to scatter their parents’ ashes on the island because it was a favourite place of theirs. Later the ferry skipper, Angelica, told us that the men had told her that it was where their parents had consummated their relationship. “Their words!” she insisted, when I looked surprised. I wonder if our boys would do that for us one day? It would involve breaking into someone else’s house though, and also it is a story that I don’t think they would want us to relate! 

We relaxed on the jetty reading our books until the ferry came back for us. Isle Martin is very small and covered with bracken and springy aromatic heather; it was inhabited over the centuries for farming and fishing but now welcomes visitors to its bunkhouse and for day trips. We walked over to the beach at the south facing end of the island; it was stony and very pretty with views across to the Scoraig peninsula and the Summer Isles. We ate our picnic lunch and then James went roaming around the small hills while I read my book in the warm sunshine. I had the beach all to myself and I enjoyed hearing the sea lapping against the stones and sea birds crying as they wheeled around high above me. It was really lovely. 

Attack on Salman Rushdie

Last night I saw on the news that Salman Rushdie had been attacked at a literary event in New York State. He was sitting on the stage waiting to start his discussion, when a man ran up to him and stabbed him multiple times. He is in hospital on a ventilator now * with serious injuries to his head and abdomen and may lose an eye. It’s shocking. 

The incident reminded me that Heather and I saw him when we were at the Edinburgh Book Festival in August 2019; here is an extract from that day’s blog.

“We had excellent seats right in the middle near the front, and right in front of us was the shiny bald pate of Salman Rushdie, who was ushered in at the last minute. I was glad that no Iranian Islamic hardliners arrived to carry out the fatwa against him (which has never been lifted) because Heather and I would no doubt have felt obliged to save him.”

When I wrote that I didn’t think that it would actually happen after more than thirty years. I think that Rushdie came out of hiding after about 10 years, but he must have lived with the possibility that this might happen the whole time. I think the attack was cowardly and disgraceful, and also a terrible attack on free speech.

* next day update - I’m glad to hear that he is now off the ventilator and recovering.

Flora climbs out of the window

Flora is usually not as relaxed in Ullapool as Tom; when we arrive she tends to start off by hiding under our bed. Then after a while she ventures downstairs to the living room. She mostly delays going outside until it’s dark, only occasionally going into the garden during the day. Meanwhile Tom is very confident in his Ullapool kingdom and roams freely around the garden and down the lane. It’s strange how they react so differently, they have their own wee characters just like humans. 

The other night we had our bedroom window more open than usual because it’s very warm just now. For some reason, Flora climbed out of the window during the night and made her way down to the garden, presumably via the porch roof. We had no idea that she was outside until we were woken at about 7 a.m. by Flora miaowing loudly outside the porch door. James said that he had heard her earlier as well, but had thought she was downstairs. When we rushed downstairs to let her inside she was very vocal; I don’t know whether she was thanking us or reproaching us for not letting her in sooner! Then she ate hugely and went upstairs a nap on our bed. Meanwhile James and I made our breakfast and took it outside to eat in the sunshine. To our surprise Flora’s wee snout appeared at the door and she ventured into the garden in broad daylight. Tom was as surprised to see her as we were! Fingers crossed that her nocturnal adventure has helped to build her familiarity with the Ullapool outdoors. 

Birmingham forever!

Gordon came to visit us in Ullapool for a few days and he and James did some hill-walking. Having already completed his Munros and Corbetts, Gordon is currently aiming to complete his “Grahams” (Scottish mountains between 2000 - 2500 feet tall) so those are what they climbed. The weather was warm but it was quite windy and even more so at the top of the hills. They said that Beinn Gobhlach was hard-going but the views from the top were amazing. On Monday James and Gordon took the day off from hill-walking and we all went to Lochinver where we had a walk through the Culag Woods and then a delicious lunch at Peet’s. The staff were very friendly and helpful; the waitress was telling us that she had meningitis in May and it has left her with vision problems, which is why she was wearing yellow tinted glasses. At the end of the meal she was wearing differently shaped glasses to see if we would notice - which we did! We then chose pies from Lochinver Larder (which we had for dinner later with mash, gravy and green beans) and we called in at the Rhue Art Gallery on the way home. Then in the evening we watched the Closing Ceremony of this year’s Commonwealth Games which has been held in Birmingham over the past couple of weeks. It was very good with lots of musicians that I hadn’t even realised were from Birmingham, like Dexy’s Midnight Runners and UB40. The handover to Melbourne in Australia took place and then surprise guest Ozzy Osbourne closed the ceremony by singing Paranoid with Black Sabbath with accompanying fireworks. The surprise was probably that Ozzy was still alive for the ceremony; his drug and alcohol associated health issues are manifold. While the boys went hill-walking during the days I had some very pleasant “Susan time” during which I went swimming, read my book while sitting on the bench in the garden, and even unprecedentedly mowed the lawn! (Although when I was about three-quarters finished I accidentally ran over the cable and broke it.) On Gordon’s last morning we had coffee in the garden; the weather continues to be very warm and somewhat humid, perhaps the edge of the much hotter weather that has recently arrived in England. I’m happy with our sunny and mild weather in Ullapool which is plenty hot enough for me; I had enough heatwave when we were in London in July! 

We outwit Tom

We’re back in Ullapool, and because we will be here for a fortnight we brought the cats. Flora didn’t suspect that the journey lay ahead of her on Friday morning as she napped on the sheepskin rug upstairs, however observant Tom noticed James carrying his travel bag downstairs and immediately headed for the cat flap. James had already locked it so Tom was confined to the back room as we packed the last few things into the car. However I needed to take a bag of rubbish outside to the bin, and although I tried to open the door as little as possible when I came back indoors, Tom was too wily for me and slipped out past me. I ran after him but it was too late; he scarpered into the Reids’ garden and I lost sight of him. 

James and I made a cup of tea while we waited for him to return, but there was no sign of him and we reckoned that he was probably watching us from somewhere in the garden. Then inspiration struck; I got into the car and drove along the road and round the corner into Douglas Drive, where I parked, in the hope that Tom would think that we had left and that he could safely return home. Sure enough he strolled back in through the cat flap ten minutes later; James quickly locked it again and phoned me to return with the car. Five minutes after that both cats were in their cat carrier inside the car and we were able to set off. We felt quite triumphant but, as Jennifer pointed out, our two giant human brains had only just managed to outwit the tiny brain of Tom cat! 

Van the Man

We had a pleasant few days in Cambuslang before returning to Ullapool today. We went to see Van Morrison at Kelvingrove Bandstand on Tuesday. I love that venue, it’s a good size, not too big, and of course being in the open air always feels special. Yet again we were lucky with the weather; it was cloudy but very warm. I had been warned by several people that Van Morrison doesn’t really interact with the audience, and sure enough he performed for about an hour and a quarter then simply walked off the stage with no farewell! However I loved the music, and he played quite a few of my favourites including “Brown-eyed Girl,” “Moondance,” and “Jackie Wilson Says” However he didn’t play my top favourite, “Bright side of the Road.” Maybe next time! 

Then yesterday we headed through to the Edinburgh Fringe. It was a beautiful afternoon and we sat outside for a drink in Bristo Square before our first couple of shows, then strolled through the Meadows. We passed a strip club called Burke and Hare’s which seemed like a sinister name for such an establishment! The highlight of the day for me was Alan Cumming’s one man show, playing Robert Burns in “Burn.” What an amazing performer he is! It was Burns in his own words - taken from his letters and poems. I found it fascinating; it was a mixture of music, poetry and dance. Unfortunately my dear husband didn’t feel the same way! When we drove home the sky was fantastic colours of blue and yellow, with wispy grey clouds moving over the waxing crescent moon. It was so beautiful. 

Sweet Caroline

After we dropped Jamie and Kerry off at the airport yesterday afternoon, we got home just in time to watch the Euros Women’s Football final; England v. Germany. It was a really close run game and finally England won near to the end of extra time. The winning goal scorer, Chloe Kelly, pulled off her shirt and whirled it around her head in celebration! The celebrations at the end of the game were fantastic. The players all danced and sang “Sweet Caroline” with the crowd and there was such a happy atmosphere, something that I think this country needs. 

Today I met up with Jackie at David Lloyd for a swim and a spa. It was a warm sunny day and we had a lovely chat. Even cloudy days are warm at the moment; we are in the height of summer.