Festive evenings

I noticed yesterday that it was completely dark outside in Ullapool by 4 p.m. In fact the sun had set just after 3.30 p.m! We have had oil delivered for the boiler and a big sack of logs delivered for the fire, so we are all fuelled up for the winter. I have also done a bit of Christmas shopping around the village. 
The wind and rain were so wild last night that when James and I were lying in bed we were woken by a spray of rain on our faces! We like to have the window open for fresh air when we sleep and even in winter we have it a wee bit open, but we have never been spritzed by rain before! The bed isn’t even right underneath the window; the rain must have been blown in horizontally. Needless to say James jumped out of bed and slammed the window shut. 
We were quite efficient in our packing and tidying and cleaning this morning and by 10.30 we had put the cats in the car with minimal fuss and were on our way south. This evening social butterflies James and I were out at different Christmas meet-ups; James was in Glasgow with friends and I was at my EK book club Christmas dinner. We both had enjoyably festive evenings. 

Wild and wet in Ullapool

The weather here in Ullapool has been appalling over the last few days; very rainy and very windy. The wind was blowing down the chimney so loudly that we had to turn up the volume on the television yesterday evening. However we have not been downhearted; it has been cosy in the cottage and we have been doing some cooking, reading and walking around the village when the rain lets up. In fact James doesn’t even wait for the rain to let up, he goes out for his couple of hours walk every morning up along Loch Achall no matter the weather and has now surpassed his annual steps record (from 2021) and is on target to have walked nine and a half million steps by the end of the month. 
On Saturday we had a very nice lunch with Alison and Hugh at the Storehouse near Dingwall, where they have a really excellent lunch menu and friendly efficient staff. Then after a visit to Simpsons Garden Centre in Inverness (which seemed to be the epicentre of Christmas decorations!) we went to the cinema to see Elf, our old favourite Christmas film! I can hardly believe that it’s now twenty-one years old and just as funny and joyful as ever. 

Gutters and Pies

 A cold bright morning so we decided to clear the gutters at the roof of the house. I held the ladder while James climbed up and down filling a bucket with leaves from the gutter. We moved the ladder along the length of the house until it was done, by which time James’ hands were like ice from the cold metal ladder and the cold vegetation in the gutter. He felt quite faint from the cold when he came indoors and needed to lie down for a short while. Just then a plane, an A400 Atlas, flew past and James was able to track it using his Flight Radar app. 
We set off to Lochinver and went for a walk at Leitir Easaidh (the all-abilities path at Little Assynt) and extended the walk to about 4 km. Then we had a tasty lunch of tomato soup at An Cala before buying some pies (of course!) to take home with us. We had pies for dinner and watched the last couple of episodes of Slow Horses Series 4 which is as good as ever. 

Winter sunshine in Ullapool

Yesterday we set off north to Ullapool, our first visit since September. It was a cold frosty morning and we started out in mist, which had dissipated by the time we reached Perth, although tendrils of mist continued to be swathed around the hills.   The branches and twigs of the leafless trees along the roadside were white with frost and looked very pretty. As the sun started to get lower we saw Ben Wyvis tinted a soft shade of blush pink and the snow on Beinn Dearg was flushed pink too. It was getting quite dark when we drove into Ullapool even though it was only 4 p.m. The cottage was in good order when we arrived and James soon got the fire blazing. Tom seemed very happy to be back in Ullapool and explored the cottage and garden, and Flora seemed fairly content as well. Today James did some gardening and I did a grocery shop and then we went for a walk around the village in the winter sunshine, and had lunch in the Cult Café. It’s nice to be back in Ullapool. 

Christmas Tree

We woke this morning to hear that Damascus has fallen and that President Assad has fled. * It’s strange to think that he worked as an optician in London before his brother died and he had to go home to Syria to become a brutal dictator like his Dad. I wonder if he wishes that his life had turned out differently. 
Today was a cold beautiful December day and we went to the Lodge Forest Visitor Cente (formerly the David Marshall Lodge) above Aberfoyle with Davie and Chanel to choose our Christmas trees. There were not many trees left but we chose two nicely shaped Nordman Fir trees before going for lunch in the café. Back at home I lit the fire in the lounge while James trimmed the tree trunk to fit its stand. James put the lights onto the tree and I added the tinsel and baubles. Flora was fascinated by the tree and watched us decorating it. Tom was also quite excited and rolled about to entice James to play fight with him. Davie and Chanel arrived round after putting up their own tree at home and we all had a curry and a very pleasant evening chatting by the fire. 

* Assad has turned up in Moscow. 

Return to Goodluck Hope

Our last day in London and it was wet and blustery, what a difference from yesterday’s blue skies. We had a leisurely start to the day and James went out to get pastries which we ate with Ally and Cat while watching boats go by on the river. Then we all headed to an art studio at Goodluck Hope with Ally and Cat to see a painting that they had commissioned; they had seen it online but of course wanted to see it in the gallery. We met the artist Ian who was really pleasant. The painting is gorgeous and they went ahead and purchased it. While it was being wrapped up we went across to the lovely wee Orchard Café for lunch, which we used to frequent when Ally and Cat lived in Goodluck Hope. It was nice to be back near their old gaff, of which I was very fond, although I love their Limehouse flat with its amazing views even more. I can hardly believe that they have been living there for two years already. James and I decided to walk back to the flat which was about 4 km, and we had time for a wee cup of tea with Ally and Cat before setting off to Heathrow airport for our flight home. There was a very drunk lady sitting beside us who had travelled to London for the day but hadn’t been able to leave the airport because the airline had lost her mobility scooter. She said that she still had a good time though! The flight was an hour late taking off which didn’t please us but there were a lot of delayed flights in front of us due to Storm Darragh, which has been affecting the west of the UK today. Our take off was a bit bumpy due to the wind but not too bad once we got up high. By 9.30 p.m. we were home with the cats, who were both heartwarmingly excited to see us.  

Curry in Brick Lane

We decided to go to Chelsea this morning, specifically to visit the Cricket Art Gallery which displays the work of an artist that I like. They only had a couple of her paintings but they added me to their mailing list. We wandered along the High Street where many of the shops were really quite upmarket, even the hardware shop where we bought a cute wee “Visitors” key tag for Ally and Cat, and a rather expensive nail brush. Then we had coffee and orange polenta cake in a trendy wee café called Kiss the Hippo. We were definitely the least trendy people there! We walked down to the river and onwards to Battersea Power Station, through Battersea Park with its Peace Memorial, and I spotted semi celebrity Spencer Matthews who was out running. It was a beautiful sunny day so we thought it would be a good opportunity to ascend the 109 lift to the top of one of the power station’s chimneys. This involved a bit of queueing and then we had to go into a sort of holding pen which had a fairly interesting exhibition about the history of the power station, before finally entering the lift which took us up to the top of the chimney. It was well worth the wait! The lift is made of glass and rises up above the top of the chimney to reveal 360 degree views of London. It was fabulous. The views of the city and river were great and we could see the Chelsea Barracks nearby, and even Canary Wharf in the distance. 
James expertly navigated us back into the city where we met Andrew for a quick coffee in Paul’s, just off Paternoster Square. We had a very pleasant chat before he headed back to work and we appreciated that he had taken time out of his busy day to meet us. 
We felt the need to go back to Ally and Cat’s flat for a rest before meeting Ally in Brick Lane for a curry. This evening was Cat’s office Christmas party so it was just three of us. Brick Lane was vibrant and buzzing on a Friday evening and Ally took us to Aladin’s where we had an absolutely delicious meal. Ally had promised us many celebrities in the restaurant but this evening there was not a one! However the food and service made up for it, the waiter even insisted on removing our poppadoms to replace them with more crispy ones! We had a great time and then Ally took us by underground to the Queen’s Head pub back in Limehouse which was a very traditional old-fashioned London pub. I loved it. There were many portraits of the late Queen on display and on the wall there were a couple of photographs from the 1990s of the Queen Mother pulling a pint at the pub and drinking it! We had a good old chat before heading back to Ally and Cat’s flat where James and Ally had a wee dram before bedtime. 

Dr Strangelove

James very kindly decided to buy me a new Apple Watch for my Christmas because the old one’s battery has worn out. We went to the Apple Shop on Oxford Street where it took ages to set up my new watch, mainly because I couldn’t remember my Apple password so I had to wait for an hour for a security reset. Nothing daunted, we went for a stroll to Selfridges while we waited and had a delicious light lunch in the Brasserie of Light Restaurant on the first floor. It was extremely busy for a Thursday lunch time but we managed to get a seat at the bar and enjoyed our lunch very much. Back at the Apple Shop with my reset password the watch was up and running in plenty of time for us to arrive at the Noel Coward Theatre to see Dr Strangelove. The play was very true to the film from the 1960s, which had starred Peter Sellers playing several characters. Steven Coogan did the same thing and he did it very well, with a good supporting cast. The trouble is, that I didn’t really like the film, which I saw many years ago, because I thought it was all too frenetic and repetitive. I had hoped that this new production might tackle the plot in a fresh, maybe updated, way rather than just reproducing the film. So it wasn’t my favourite play of this week in London, although I can’t fault the cast for that. Our London theatre chums Gordon, Morag, Sheena and Peter were also at the play, along with Gordon’s brother Alan, so we decided to go for a coffee afterwards together. I thought that it might be difficult to find a table for seven in the busy west end, but I needn’t have worried. Gordon spotted a quiet and pleasant wee café just along the road where we were welcomed in for coffee and were able to have a good chat about the play among other things. James and I then met Cat for dinner in a wee Italian café where the food was tasty although the service was very slow. Our hero Cat insisted that the service charged be waived before we headed back to the flat for a cup of tea. Ally joined us later, he had been at his office night out. 

Oedipus and Operation Mincemeat

This afternoon we went to the matinee of Oedipus which I have to say was absolutely excellent. Mark Strong and Lesley Manville were on top form and the play was intense, fascinating and ultimately harrowing. It was set in the modern day with Oedipus as a prime ministerial candidate having dinner with his family while waiting for the election results. The narrative principle of “Chekhov’s Gun” was employed very effectively! 
Our next stop was at the Boulevard Brasserie near Covent Garden where we met Gordon, Morag, Sheena and Peter for a pre-theatre dinner. The meal was good but the staff were a bit cheeky, first wanting us out by seven (although our booking stated that we had a two hour slot starting at 5.15) and then trying to shift us up to the outside area for our coffees. Sheena very politely and firmly said no to this, and we enjoyed our coffee at our table before heading to the tiny Fortune Theatre to see the very popular Operation Mincemeat. This is an unlikely musical based on the eponymous Second World War secret operation to convince the Nazis that the Allies were not about to invade Sicily, so that they would move their troops elsewhere. This involved planting false papers on a dead man who was then placed in the sea to wash up on the coast of Spain. The operation was ultimately successful and saved many lives. 
The musical was absolutely joyful! The five young actors sang and danced their hearts out, and it was very funny. We all enjoyed it and so did the rest of the audience. Back at Ally and Cat’s flat we had a cup of tea with them before bedtime. 

Cryptic creatures at the National Gallery

I’m not sure if I made the right decision to stay in a Premier Inn at Heathrow Airport Terminal 4 last night when we arrived for a wee festive break in London. It seemed to make sense because we didn’t arrive at Heathrow until 9.30 p.m. so why not sleep there and head into the centre of London in the morning? However I hadn’t realised what a long time the journey in the morning would take us. We took the 8.45 a.m. train on the Elizabeth line to Canary Wharf, and by the time we dropped off our bags at Ally & Cat’s and continued into the centre, we arrived at the National Gallery at about twenty to eleven, so it took a while! We just had time for coffee and a pain au chocolat before joining a Members’ tour which I had booked. 
The tour was called Cryptic Creatures, and it was about the animals in paintings. We started in the medieval area and the guide pointed out lots of dragons, lions, horses, dogs, fish, cows, donkeys, sheep and birds in various paintings. 
It was so interesting to hear the reasons that these animals were in the paintings and what they symbolised. For example there was a wee magpie on the roof in the Nativity by Piero della Francesca (1470 - 75), and of course magpies represent sorrow. In this case of course the sorrow would be in the future. There were wee sparrows in the painting too, which were only revealed when the painting was restored.
In the main galleries we saw a whale (looking rather sheepish and quite reconciled with Jonah who had his arm round it!) in The Coronation of the Virgin by Johann Rottenhammer (about 1600.) We saw lots of animals in Orpheus by Roelandt Savery (1628); horses, lionesses, more lions, stags, deer, a cockerel, dogs, swans, oxen, a camel, an elephant - they represented a paradise lost, beguiled by music. In Cognoscenti in a Room hung with Pictures (artist unknown, about 1620) a wee monkey is looking in a window as if mocking the rich people within an art gallery. Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne (1520 -3) had two magnificent cheetahs (from the Duke of Ferrara who commissioned the painting and wanted to show off his menagerie) as well as Titian’s own wee dog, snakes, a donkey and an unfortunate decapitated donkey, apparently a victim of a bacchanalian party! And there were many more paintings with animals - it was a fascinating tour. 

Wicked

I went to see the new film Wicked with Chanel on Monday evening. It was great fun and I really enjoyed it although it is very annoying that they have split the musical into two films. This first one finished as Elphaba soared about the sky singing Defying Gravity. The next one will be released a year from now. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were both excellent. 
Today I reconnected with an old friend, Fiona. We used to have such a great time in our Developing Language classes at Glasgow University with favourite tutor Ernie and kept in touch for years. However we haven’t seen each other since just before Covid. We made up for it though! We caught up on lots of news over lunch at Angels in Uddingston. I was impressed with the quality of the food and the speedy service, and clearly so are lots of other people because it was busy on a Tuesday lunch time.