Between Christmas and New Year

The year is almost over but not quite; it feels like a temporal no-man’s land. This has been exacerbated this year by the very dull and sometimes very rainy weather. However it has not been unpleasant; relaxation has been interspersed with some festive socialising. On Boxing Day we had lunch at Janie and Robert’s with Julie, Abigail and Graham. We had a good laugh and Ally seemed to enjoy himself despite being the youngest by a couple of decades! Then on the 27th we had dinner at Christine and Gerry’s and had a convivial evening with lots of good chat and also a fun quiz where we guessed the years in which well known events had taken place. 

The next day James and I travelled to Ullapool. The roads were flooded in places so we had to be particularly careful, and when we followed a diversion off the A9 to save a bit of time we found ourselves on rather snowy roads. They were also rather winding and bumpy so poor Flora vomited in the cat carrier and after clearing up I took her into the front of the car onto my knee. She had been a wee bit sick onto Tom too, so it wasn’t very nice for him either. We were all relieved finally to arrive in Ullapool where we got the heating on and James lit a fire. 

Yesterday Davie and Chanel arrived to spend New Year with us and then Abigail and Graham came for dinner; they are staying in Inverness but had travelled to Ullapool to take photos of the Creel Tree and the Christmas lights. I made a gluten free meal which turned out very well if I say so myself! 

Today the weather is worse than ever! No snow yet, but rain and high winds. Despite this James and Davie went out for a big walk while Chanel worked on her maths and I read my book. In the evening Davie, Chanel and I played the Escape Room Game that Marjory and Forrest had given to Davie for Christmas. It was intricately designed and excellent fun; Davie and Chanel were extremely good at working it out even though it was very difficult, they are very clever. 

Christmas!

Traditional, family, and fun sums up our Christmas of 2023. On Saturday (23rd) we met up with Heather and Ewan at Anchor Line at the unusual time of 4 p.m. This was because both Heather and Ewan had been working that morning. James and I had made sure that we would be hungry for our meal by having only a slice of toast each for an early lunch. The restaurant was really busy with festive diners, and the meal was lovely. At 6 p.m. we met our youngsters at Metropolitan where we had reserved a booth. We had an almost full turnout, apart from Jamie and Kerry of course; they are hosting the Appleton family in New Zealand over Christmas. Ally, Cat, Davie, Chanel, Andrew, Jennifer and Ryan were all chatting away with us, and it was a joyful occasion. Us old(er) folks set off home after a few hours leaving the young folk to party on!

On Christmas Eve some of our guests dispersed to their Christmas destinations; Davie and Chanel to Liverpool, Cat to Dunlop, leaving Ally at home with James and me. We watched a newish Christmas film (Eddie Murphy in Candy Cane Lane) which was quite good, and went to bed feeling festive.

On Christmas morning we found out that we were all on the Nice List because Santa had visited us all and left us thoughtful and fun gifts. Ally had quite a variety of Santa presents, of which his favourite was a Stanley knife! And the rest of Christmas Day followed our traditional format, which is the way I love it! 

James lit the fire in the lounge and we opened our main presents, then we went round to Marjory and Forrest’s where we had a delightful Christmas morning with them and their young folk. Jamie and Kerry phoned from New Zealand which was good timing because they were able to speak to all of us. The turkey went into the oven when we got home, and the three of us chatted by the fire. Ally received a lego type model of Ibrox to construct from Davie and Chanel, and he loved it and got stuck into it straight away! We switched on the television at 3 p.m. to watch the King’s Christmas Broadcast. The message was rather bland I thought, he seemed to be very careful not to offend. The Christmas meal went well, everything was well cooked and on time; smoked salmon with blinis and garlic dip, turkey with all the trimmings, and of course sherry trifle, made by James to Grandma’s recipe. Forrest had also made the same trifle for their Christmas dinner! We were so full after dinner, and spent the evening relaxing and digesting! A lovely Christmas Day. 

It’s beginning to look a lot like …

The last week has whizzed by in a blur of Christmas preparations, but we are just about done now. Presents are purchased (although some are not wrapped), cards are written and posted or hand-delivered. James has marzipaned and iced the Christmas cake, the turkey and all the trimmings have been ordered, and we went to Aberfoyle last Sunday with Davie and Chanel to choose our Christmas trees. The David Marshall Lodge, where we had our traditional lunch after the trees were lashed to the roofs of our cars, has now been renamed “The Lodge.” I am offended for poor forgotten David Marshall. There used to be a Radio Clyde morning DJ called David Marshall, but it definitely wasn’t named after him because it pre-dated his tenure on Radio Clyde. *

I attended Claire’s 50th birthday party, a very pleasant occasion, and I have walked Vinnie a few times. He has been bitten at Doggie Daycare so has stitches in his side, poor wee soul. We had coffee with Alison and Hugh when they were visiting Glasgow, and Tommy and Carol too. I have been swimming at David Lloyd and also at Peebles Hydro, where we spent a couple of days, using vouchers gifted to us by Marjory and Forrest for my 60th. I’m quite worried about one of my three boys but shall not say more for reasons of confidentiality. As the saying goes, you are only as happy as your least happy child. Hopefully all will be well. 

So here we are, with only a week until Christmas; with the tree decorated and Christmas cards festooning the walls it does feel quite festive. 

* I did some investigation and the lodge was originally named after a David Marshall who was the 1950s chairman of the Carnegie UK Trust. 

Two Magpies and the journey home

I heard an interesting exchange in the Two Magpies Café this morning, between a waitress and a customer, neither of whom spoke English as their first language.
“I would like toast please.”
“Would you like white or brown?”
“Not white but not too brown.”
“I mean the colour of the bread not the colour of the toast.”
“Ah I understand, brown please!”
What impressed me was that they could sort out their misunderstanding so quickly. I’m not sure if I could ever manage that in another language, except possibly French. 
Anyway James and I had a delightful brunch at the Two Magpies and then travelled to Tottenham Court Road where we did some successful shoe shopping for James. We then went back to the flat to relax because James’ bad cough has become even worse and is deep in his chest. It was sad to leave Ally and Cat’s flat in the afternoon, they have been such welcoming hosts and their flat is fantastic, with the ever changing colours of the Thames just outside the window. However it was just as well that we left quite early, because there were delays on the Elizabeth line. * It took us two and a half hours to get to Heathrow Airport and then we more or less walked straight on to the plane after queuing through security. It was good to get home and to see the cats, who gave us a big welcome by escorting us to their (already filled by Angela) food bowls. 

* the delays on the Elizabeth line got worse, there was apparently a train caught in the overhead wires so the whole line shut down and people were delayed for hours and had to walk along train tracks to get out. So all credit to James for suggesting that we leave early to avoid the crowds! 

Winter Wonderland

Gosia and Mitchell travelled from their home in Essex into London this morning in order to meet up with us. What a laugh we had! We had a bite to eat at Canary Wharf and then drinks in the members bar at the Tate Modern, but the highlight of the day was our visit to Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland. Gosia suggested it and we thought, why not? And I’m so glad that we went there! It is a massive installation in Hyde Park, with fairground rides, winter themed pub tents, craft stalls, a Santa area for the children, an ice rink, and probably much more; we were there for a couple of hours and only saw a fraction of it. It was all beautifully decorated with thousands of fairy lights and there were bands playing in the tents and in open areas. It was a strange but appealing mixture of German and Scandinavian and London! It was also very cold, as might be expected on a clear evening in December. However after James and Gosia went on a very high ride where they were swung around in the night sky, they were particularly chilly so we took refuge in Thor’s Tiki Bar which had real fires burning in raised fire pits in the (hopefully) flame retardant tent. We were lucky to get a bench right beside one of the fires and soon felt quite toasty. We ended the evening with a very good curry in our old favourite, Mala, back at Canary Wharf, and a final drink in a nearby pub before we said our goodbyes to Gosia and Mitchell. It was lovely to see them and we were touched that they had come into London to see us. Back at the flat Ally and Cat had just arrived home from their friends’ house and we had a wee cup of tea before bedtime. 

National Gallery and Harold Pinter Theatre

Today we had planned a museums day, very suitable for the somewhat dreich weather, starting with a return visit to the National Gallery, which we had only visited briefly yesterday. We started off by visiting the Frans Hals exhibition; I enjoyed his many paintings of cheery aristocrats and cheery peasants many of whom were giving a cheeky sideways glance at the artist. As James said, “If you have a winning formula why not stick to it!”
Then we had a really interesting time looking at more Northern Renaissance paintings such as the Arnolfini Wedding Portait. It was amazing to see some of the paintings up close that we have studied in our history of art course. We walked from there to the Tate Britain and had lunch in the members’ room which is very attractive; the tables surround a carved stone stairwell with an impressive high ceiling. We didn’t really have a plan for this visit so just had a wander around. There was some modern art; we saw an art exhibit made entirely out of mounds of rice, with neon light strips along it. Hmmm. It was kind of striking I suppose, and the rice, I think, had been poured carefully into position rather than glued together. There were also lots of Gainsborough paintings; dull and brown landscapes, not my favourite artist. We didn’t get any further, for example to my beloved New Romantics, because it was time to head to Andalusia, the little Spanish tapas restaurant that we have visited before, beside the Harold Pinter Theatre. We had a tasty meal with Ally and Cat, and the service was nice and quick so we felt very relaxed. We met Andrew, who was joining us, outside the theatre, and were soon ensconced in our seats ready for the play; Lyonesse, starring two top luvvies, Kristin Scott Thomas and Lily James. They were very good and so were the rest of the actors, however the play was not the best. It did raise some very interesting issues about how women are treated by men (and other women) at home and in the workplace, and the blurring of truth and falsehood, but it rather laboured its points and could have dealt with the subject better. The fact that it was still somewhat enjoyable was mainly down the valiant efforts of the talented actors. We headed back to the flat for a cup of tea, en route showing Andrew where we had walked yesterday with Sir Ian McKellen striding in front of us. Ally very amusingly played the part of Sir Ian, rushing along the pavement while giving frightened looks over his shoulder, which I must emphasise is not what happened yesterday! 

We did not follow Sir Ian McKellen home

In fact it was Sir Ian who followed us home this evening, all the way from Wyndham’s Theatre to Limehouse!

To start at the beginning, we took a flight from Glasgow to Heathrow this morning. All went fairly smoothly, but I was irritated that there was no room for my carry-on case in the luggage rack, and that the plane was too warm. We took the Elizabeth Line and then the DLR to Ally and Cat’s flat, where Cat was working from home and made us a coffee. The flat is now almost completely finished and looks beautiful, with the kitchen complete and the dining room table and chairs and the couch in place. The couch deserves special mention; it is perfect for the room, it’s a large and comfortable corner couch in an oatmeal colour, but not too large, just exactly right for the space. After a rest James and I headed to Trafalgar Square and went to the National Gallery for a quick look around. We were chatting to a really helpful and knowledgeable guide who showed us the best angle to look at the skull in the painting “The Ambassadors” by Hans Holbein the Younger, which we were learning about a few weeks ago in our Northern Renaissance Art class. He also showed us how one of the ambassadors’ shoes points in a different direction as you pass the painting, and the handle of the lute too. 

We met up with Gordon, Sheena and Peter at Brown’s in Covent Garden for a pre-theatre dinner, and Ally and Cat joined us a bit later straight from work. The meal was very pleasant and we were very close to Wyndham’s Theatre where we went to see Kenneth Branagh playing King Lear. 

It was great; it’s the first time that I have seen King Lear and I thought that it was an excellent production. Kenneth Branagh was very good as the deteriorating main character, although I couldn’t help feeling that King Lear was very much the author of his own misfortune. The supporting cast were strong and although ultimately tragic, it was a riveting watch. After we said our goodbyes to the Dykes's, the Anderson contingent went round the corner to the stage door to see if Kenneth Branagh was going to come out. No doubt he did eventually, but it was a chilly wait so after about 15 minutes we gave up and decided to head home. Just as we did so two elderly men exited the stage door * and eagle eyed Cat noticed that one of them was Sir Ian McKellen, wearing a hoodie under his jacket. Well we already knew that Sir Ian lives very near Ally and Cat, so we weren’t too surprised when he also headed to Tottenham Court Road Underground Station. He and his friend were ahead of us but we overtook them, and then we all stopped at an amazing art installation just outside the station. As well as art projected onto the walls, the ceiling appeared to open up and as you watched you felt as if you were shooting up through the clouds and stars. It was splendid. Down we went into the underground station and Sir Ian turned the other way, but lo and behold he appeared on the platform just along from us. We realised that he must have taken the lift, which is fair enough since he is eighty-four. We then changed into the DLR at Bank and the same thing happened again, just as we boarded the train the hooded figure of Sir Ian appeared at the other end of the platform. By this time it all felt slightly comic. As we got off the train at Limehouse Sir Ian came walking towards us and from his stare he had definitely clocked by this time that he had seen the same four people throughout his journey. Especially because we had all accidentally made eye contact with him once or twice during the journey, so he knew that we knew who he was. He finally peeled off to head east along Narrow Street while we headed west. I do hope that he didn’t think that we were stalking him. It did add a frisson of excitement to our journey though! 

* a visit by his luvvie chum Sir Ian is probably what delayed Kenneth Branagh from leaving the theatre. I should really say Sir Kenneth since he is also a knight! 

Curry and Mince Pies

We woke to a snowy landscape on Saturday morning which looked very pretty, however I didn’t appreciate it as I should have because I had a really bad headache and spent the morning in bed. Luckily it cleared up and I was able to accompany James to Heather and Ewan’s in the evening, where they treated us to a tasty takeaway curry from Rasoi and a convivial evening of chat.
On Sunday morning we were up bright and early to go to the Claymore Hotel in Arrochar to meet the rest of the hill-walking club including Davie and Chanel. This was our annual Mince Pies outing, which for us signals the start of the festive season. As usual it was a lovely and friendly occasion, organised by Steven and Hilary, who had put a lot of work into organising it. My contribution was a quiz for the adults and a matchbox treasure hunt for the children. I had changed up the treasure hunt from last year, with new items to hunt for. The six children, who were grandchildren of hill-walking club members, were absolutely delightful young people; polite and enthusiastic. At the end of the walk I marked their excellent efforts and prizes were handed out to all. Steven and Hilary also held a popular chocolate tasting challenge. Soon Santa (who bore a suspicious resemblance to Steven!) arrived amid jingle bells and singing, and it turned out that we had all been good this year because we all got presents. It was a joyful afternoon. 

Good old Jools

We went to see Jools Holland at the Armadillo this evening, he comes to Glasgow every year in December with his band and various guests, and we have seen him lots of times. This year his concert coincided with Madness playing at the Hydro just across the way. We had already booked Jules before Madness announced their tour, but if both concerts had been announced at the same time I think that we would have found it quite hard to choose between these two favourites! 

Out train was crowded with both sets of fans; some of the Madness fans were wearing Fez’s but apart from that it was impossible to tell them apart because they seemed to be of exactly the same mix of demographics. The age group was predominantly (late) middle aged, with a few younger and older outliers. When we all emerged from the tunnel overpass from Exhibition Centre station we either turned left to the Hydro or straight on to the Armadillo. 

Jools was on good form, with his band performing all the old favourites and a few new ones. He soon had the crowd up singing and dancing and it was good fun. When we arrived back at Exhibition Centre station later there was a train just arrived in the station so we were able to hop straight on to get home in time for a cup of tea and a slice of Battenberg cake.