Saturday, 5 July 2025
Jurassic Park Rebirth
Tuesday, 1 July 2025
Picnic on Mellon Udrigle Beach
We impulsively popped into the new pizza restaurant on Argyle Street to try it out, and were very glad that we did. The decor is very simple and the pizzas were made to order and were absolutely delicious. From the back of the restaurant there is a splendid elevated view over the harbour and we watched cars driving into the Loch Seaforth which then gently detached from the harbour and turned towards the estuary and Western Isles.
The cats were delighted to see us when we got home. We had left them outside for the day, but with the porch door open so that they could go in there for a feed or a snooze. After their dinner (they made it clear that fresh food was in order!) they joined us in the garden where we sat on the benches in the evening sunshine. The birds were singing and there was not a cloud in the sky.
Monday, 30 June 2025
No heatwave in Ullapool
In the previous few days we did some clearing and tidying around the house, I had my hair cut, we had lunch with Davie, I had lovely coffees with Chanel and Rachel, and we both had coffee with Alison Kennedy with whom we chatted about the old days in Cambuslang.
Meanwhile on Friday Jennifer and Russell, who are in France, went on the painting day which we gave Jennifer for her 60th birthday. It was with an ex pat British artist called Adam Cope, who runs various courses. They seem to have enjoyed the experience, however it was a long day in the woods and although they had packed lunches and water, there were no cups of tea provided! Russ almost permanently has a large mug of tea in each hand, one for himself and one for whoever he happens to meet in the house, so this was indeed a hardship. They sent us photos of their paintings, which were very impressive. Jennifer is already an accomplished artist, and Russ’s painting was very good; the day course was intended to be fun rather than just instruction. However Jennifer said that she did learn a lot so I hope that she feels inspired, and maybe Russ will too once he gets over his “lack of tea” trauma!
On Saturday evening we had Cornel and Heather round for dinner, which turned out very well, especially the Tiramisu if I say so myself! In all fairness, James’ gazpacho was also excellent.
Friday, 27 June 2025
Who needs Glasto when we have Glasgow!
James and I have been to two excellent but very different concerts this week. On Tuesday we went to see Sparks at the Concert Hall, It’s the second time that we have seen them, the first was when they were performing as FFS with Franz Ferdinand at the Barrowland. James had got us great seats and the music was so good; Russell Mael still has a very decent voice at the age of 76, and his big brother Ron on the keyboards is 79! It was impressive that they have just released a new album, their 28th, and played new music as well as their old favourites. Ron was inscrutable as usual until he briefly did his unique and energetic dance, and then resumed his sombre demeanour. The audience was enraptured and we enjoyed it very much.
And then on Friday we went to see Simple Minds at Bellahouston Park. The concert was outdoors and the weather forecast was terrible; there was 80% chance of rain! So we dressed in our waterproofs, including waterproof trousers. The only problem was that it was really warm, so although the rain did arrive, I felt quite hot and clammy! Neither of us have seen Simple Minds before. They were genuinely huge in the 1980s so it was good to get the chance to see them even though we were about 40 years late to the party! Jim Kerr and the rest of the band seemed to be genuinely enjoying performing, and we certainly enjoyed watching them. My only slight comment was that some of their best known songs were a bit samey, but they were all great and James and I loved our evening.
Monday, 23 June 2025
Sunny Summer Solstice
Kerry has been sending me photos of wedding dresses that she has been trying on. I’m so touched that she is involving me all the way from New Zealand. Needless to say she looks beautiful in all of the dresses! It is eighteen months until Kerry and Jamie’s wedding and I’m sure that the time will fly by.
Rain arrived on Sunday as predicted but the temperature hasn’t dropped much; it’s still summery. We went for lunch to the Duke’s Umbrella in Argyle Street, using a voucher kindly given to us by Marjory and Forrest. And then we spent the whole afternoon working on the Anderson and Eadie family photos. Neither of us really wanted to tackle it because it’s so time-consuming, but once we got started we managed to finish the whole of the 1950s and felt sense of progress and satisfaction. The task involved an investigation to identify a war memorial in front of which a family group, including James’ Dad, was standing. We assumed wrongly that it was in Scotland, but then James remembered that the Andersons sometimes went on holiday to Scarborough. He did a quick internet search and sure enough it was Scarborough War Memorial, with its quotation from Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, “So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.”
Heather and Ewan came round for coffee this afternoon, we made madeleines for them in order to continue our recent French theme after our fabulous trip to Paris. We chatted about our holiday and their cycling holiday in the Loire Valley, which sounded marvellous.
Later I finished my painting of the staircase at the Hameau de la Reine; it’s very amateur but I’m really pleased to be drawing and painting again.
Friday, 20 June 2025
Delightful summer weather
Hilary arrived for coffee in the afternoon; of course we sat outside for our chat which was very pleasant. And after Hilary left I stayed in the garden; I did some drawing and read my book and looked up at the blue sky through the verdant branches of the trees and listened to a blackbird singing very loudly. I had plenty of things that I could have been getting in with in the house, but the weather was just too good to stay indoors.
Thursday, 19 June 2025
Social and Sunshine
EK book club was at my house on Tuesday and we had a really good laugh, but also discussed some very serious current issues in education; the workload seems to be getting worse and worse for teachers in schools. Too many great teachers are leaving the profession in their 30s or 40s, including two who go to the book club, one of whom has just resigned. It is a huge loss to the profession; the councils / government are driving good people beyond their limits. However I applaud these brilliant women for having the courage to walk away, hopefully to a brighter and more rewarding future. I sometimes wish that I had been a bit bolder in my life choices.
And as well as a lot of hilarity, some serious issues were discussed, both personal and regarding the unrest all around the world, when I met up with my lovely school friends aka Ladies who Lunch today. We had our usual lengthy lunch and chatted for ages; one of us is going through a particularly hard time with family health just now and was not able to attend; we were all thinking of her and she messaged us during our meal which was reassuring.
The weather is set to become warmer and warmer in the UK over the next few days and when I got home from town I was able to sit outside in the garden. It’s not quite as warm as Paris was last week, but still pretty good, and sitting outside on the patio was like stepping into a warm bath!
Monday, 16 June 2025
Investigating a Bugler
Back home I started painting a watercolour of some flowers that I saw at the Hameau de la Reine at Versailles; I feel inspired by all the beautiful gardens that I saw in Paris and its environs. Still on a French theme, James and I made some madeleines. We baked them using a madeleine mould that we bought two years ago in Paris, in a big cookware shop that we wandered into in Les Halles. It’s the first time that we have used it but better late than never! The madeleines didn’t rise quite as much as they should have, probably because I didn’t chill the batter, but they tasted absolutely delicious and very lemony.
I have also been doing a bit of detective work. When we were having lunch at Au Clairon des Chasseurs in Montmartre last week, Ewan pointed out a striking mural painted on one of the walls inside. It consisted of a French military bugler, sitting in a relaxed manner on the edge of a table, dressed all in blue with a blue cap and white gaiters, backpack on his back. Ewan and the rest of us speculated about the origin of this mural; was it a copy of a well known painting? Did the soldier date from the 1st World War or earlier?
The bugler stuck in my mind and last night I browsed around the internet to try to find him, using reverse image search to no avail, and typing various descriptions of him, also unsuccessfully. Finally I turned to online community Reddit and uploaded the photo that I had taken of the mural, asking for help in identifying it. And when I woke up this morning I was delighted to have received a reply from a kindly person who had found the original photograph of the bugler, upon which a military artist called Alphonse de Neuville had based one of the characters in his painting “Eclaireurs d'avant-garde franchissant une rivière (Crimée)” which he exhibited in 1869. In the painting, the bugler is transposed from a table to the front of a boat crossing a river. This possibly dates the original photograph to the 1850s and I was very surprised that artists sometimes used photographs as resources as far back as the mid 19th century. In fact my investigation has raised many more questions in my mind about 19th century military art and I have thoroughly enjoyed it!
Sunday, 15 June 2025
Château de Chantilly
It is actually made up of two buildings; the Petit Château which was built in about 1560, and the Grand Château, which was destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870s. The new part blends in very well with the old; you can’t really tell the difference, but I realised that the new bit is not much older than our house! It has a fantastic art gallery called the Musée Condé, apparently the biggest collection of paintings in France outside of the Louvre. It specialises in French and Italian paintings and book illuminations of the 15th and 16th centuries. My favourite was the Three Graces by Raphael.
Back outside we went for a long walk around the grounds, keeping to the shade where possible because it was another very hot day. I had thought that the thunder and lightning during the night would have cooled down the atmosphere but it was still very warm. We had lunch at the Hameau restaurant, cool and idyllic among tall trees. Interestingly the hameau at Chantilly was Marie Antoinette’s inspiration for her own hameau at Versailles. However this one, rather than being an idealised peasant village, was intended to look like a hamlet from the outside but amaze the host’s guests with its opulent interiors.
We walked right up to and around the wee round lake at the very end of the gardens, and then meandered through gardens which had roses and statues, and along paths back to the castle and to the royal stables beyond. By the time we got back to the hotel I was very overheated and a bit grumpy, however I was proud that I had managed to walk more than ten kilometres on such a scorching day. We had checked out of our room in the morning but we were able gradually to cool down in the air-conditioned foyer of our hotel, where we drank lovely complimentary chilled water and read our books. We took an Uber to Paris Charles de Gaulle which only took about thirty-five minutes. All seemed to be going so smoothly, however it was a bit irritating that our flight was then delayed nearly an hour and that it was full of over-tired children who were worn out and some of them crying loudly after the excitement of their trip to Disney! Their parents looked even more exhausted! We were home by 12.30 although that was 1.30 a.m. French time so after an affectionate reunion with Tom and Floof we soon dived into bed.
Friday, 13 June 2025
Senlis Cathedral
We visited a little crêperie under the shade of lime trees, and we both had lemon and sugar crêpes which were absolutely delicious.
Back in Chantilly we had dinner at Le Sylvia brasserie before heading back to our excellent Best Western Hotel. The sky was a dark metallic colour and the air felt very close and thick, the heat was still coming up off the pavements.
We heard rumbling sounds coming from outside and when we opened the windows onto our balcony there was a loud crash of thunder, followed by lightning which lit up the whole sky! It was very exciting and heralded large drops of rain that became heavier and heavier. The thunder and lightning continued into the night.
Thursday, 12 June 2025
Jardins des Tuileries et du Luxembourg
All too soon it was time to bid farewell to Heather and Ewan; it has been a brilliant holiday and we will miss them.
In the afternoon we did a wee bit of shopping and then decided to walk to the Jardin du Luxembourg, which we haven’t visited for years. The palace looks on to magnificent formal gardens; we particularly liked La fontaine Medici in its shady glade.
We had a light lunch at the Table du Luxembourg. The service was very slow but we were in no hurry, the food was nice and the setting was very pretty among many lime trees. We collected our luggage from the hotel and traveled to Gare du Nord by Metro and then on to Chantilly which was only 25 minutes by the express train. Although the journey was straightforward I felt very hot and bothered as we walked the seven minutes to our hotel, a Best Western. I was so glad to get inside the air-conditioned foyer; our room is very spacious compared to the Artus and it has a balcony overlooking the hotel’s gardens. Across the road from the hotel is a park leading to the famous Chantilly racecourse. After dinner we went for a walk there and noticed that it is being prepared for a big race on Sunday; the Diane race. We will be gone by then but it was interesting to see the racecourse and to walk along to the former Royal stables, which are now a museum.
Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Croissants, Napoleon and Montmartre
Back at the Hotel Artus we had showers and a rest before dinner at a wee bistrot just along Rue de Buci. I had a delicious cheese and walnut risotto. We finished this splendid day with after dinner drinks at Café de Flore, once frequented by Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, among other 20th century intellectuals. It was rather warm inside so we sat outdoors in the slowly cooling Paris evening. Just lovely.
Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Cycling at Versailles
So this morning we had a fairly early start; we left the hotel at 7.30 a.m. and headed by metro to Javel-André Citroën station to meet our cycling guide, Dave, who then took us onwards by train to Versailles. Dave was friendly and very knowledgable; at the bike hire shop at Versailles he soon sorted out bikes for our group of eleven people. I was very excited but a bit apprehensive about cycling through the town to get to the palace grounds. I need not have worried, Dave guided us ably and I soon felt fairly confident. We shopped for a picnic lunch at the market and soon arrived at a side gate into the beautiful gardens. Our fellow travellers were a very pleasant group of people from different parts of the USA, including a couple from Denver, Colorado with a seven year old son called Harry, a couple who were about our own age from Nebraska, and a mother and daughter from Houston, Texas. Dave led us on a brilliant cycle route through the beautiful scenery, past the canal and along tree-lined avenues, stopping for a closer look at some of the gorgeous fountains on our way. We stopped at the far end of the lake for our picnic lunch and Dave gave us a lively and entertaining talk about the history of Versailles and the French Revolution. It really was idyllic. I should mention that I had an electric bike which was great fun, although the route was so level that I probably could have managed without it. Our next stop was Le Petit Trianon; Heather has visited Versailles before when she was a student but had not seen the Hameau de la Reine, so that was a very special part of our day. We saw dragonflies hovering over the surface of a pond, water lilies blooming, roses, quaint buildings, statues, winding paths. I was really sorry when we left the park and our cycle ended, although our tour was not yet over. We walked the short distance from the cycle hire shop back to the palace and after bidding farewell to Dave we went for a tour of the King’s private apartments, which we have not seen before and which were fascinating. The afternoon was very warm and I found myself flagging a bit, but I gradually cooled down in the airy palace rooms and perked up again. It was quite crowded and our French guide had rather a tetchy exchange with one of the palace staff when we ended up in the same room at the same time as another group! After the tour we were set loose into the main palace rooms which were very busy, however that didn’t prevent us from enjoying the opulent rooms including the famous Hall of Mirrors. By this time we were all a bit footsore so we had reviving drinks and coffees at Angelina’s tea room. Back to Paris we journeyed by train and had a lovely dinner at Brass not far from our hotel. Our shy but endearing young waiter inexplicably brought us a bowl of rice which didn’t seem to have any connection to any of our dishes as well as extra chips that we hadn’t ordered, but they were not added to the bill and added to the charm of the evening! It has been a fantastic day.
Monday, 9 June 2025
A Perfect Parisian Day
We visited the Place de Grève where many people were executed, including Francois Ravaillac, the assassin of Henri IV in 1610. Interestingly the word Grève comes from the gravel banks of the nearby Seine where people dragged their boats ashore. Later, when striking workers used to gather in the square, its name “Grève” came to mean “strike.” Much of the tour took us through the Marais district, an area that we have not visited before, very historic and picturesque. A highlight was the Place des Vosges, an absolutely beautiful grassy square surrounded by beautiful mansions. The Royal family intended to live here, and when they moved to Versailles. It was originally called Place Royale but of course this was changed after the Revolution. There is a marble statue of Louis XIII on his horse in the middle of the square, replacing the original bronze one which was pulled down and melted during the revolution. It’s surrounded by trees, allegedly to play down the royal connection.
There was much more that we saw on our walking tour, and I won’t go into all the details of it, however I would highly recommend it.
We ended up at Bastille where it all originally kicked off, where Sam pointed out that the outline of the demolished Bastille can be seen, marked by large round brass studs on the road and pavements. I found this very exciting.
We had lunch at a café on Île Saint-Louis that James and I visited two years ago, which featured on Emily in Paris. The location was beautiful but we were in the shade and there was a bit of a chill breeze, surprisingly on this warm day! So after lunch we didn’t linger and moved on, strolling through the crowds of tourists in the left bank to a café in the Rue des Pretres de Saint Severin, where we basked in the sunshine over drinks and coffee.
We were only a short walk to the recently restored Notre Dame, which has had huge renovations after the fire in 2019. I had booked the (free) tickets as soon as they came on sale 48 hours ago, which meant that we could walk straight in instead of joining the massive queue of non booked people. The cathedral looks bright and clean, there was a service going on and from time to time the priest made a loud and long shushing noise through the microphone when the visitors got a bit noisy. This did quieten the throngs of people. It was very busy but it was good to see it all restored. The roof of the cathedral is still covered in scaffolding so there is plenty of work to finish yet.
Back to the hotel we went for a rest and to get ready for tonight’s formal dinner on the Bâteau Mouche. This was our Ruby Wedding Anniversary gift from Heather and Ewan. I wore my Ghost dress for the first time and felt very smart. I knew that it would be a lovely experience and it way surpassed my expectations. We were efficiently ushered onto the boat and given a fabulous window table with great views of all the river landmarks including the sun setting over Notre Dame, and the Eiffel Tower all lit up as it got dark. The food was great - an amuse-bouche followed by three delicious courses. A pianist and saxophonist played jazz while we ate. There was a staircase up to the roof from where we got even better views, and we popped up there throughout the evening to enjoy the atmosphere and take photos. I felt so excited and happy; it was such a thoughtful present and so appropriate because our honeymoon was in Paris forty years ago and this was a very special way to celebrate. We all had a wonderful time.
Sunday, 8 June 2025
Napoleon’s Hat
On arriving at our old favourite, the Hotel Artus, we left our luggage at reception and had lunch in a nearby restaurant Café du Marché. There are plenty to choose from! I had Oeufs Mimosa which are devilled eggs; I haven’t had these for many years and they were very tasty. When I paid the bill and included a tip, the waiter rang a bell above the bar and there was a murmur of appreciation from nearby staff. I asked him why he rang the bell and he said that he rings it when someone gives a “bon pourboire” - a good tip! I have never heard of this custom until today.
We then walked down to the Seine; the left bank was busy with tourists but as we crossed the Ile Saint-Louis the streets got a good bit quieter. We walked about half an hour to Bastille where we climbed a staircase to the Coulée verte René-Dumont, also known as the Promenade plantée. It is a 4.7 km elevated linear park built on top of an obsolete railway in the 12th arrondissement. Andrew had recommended it to Heather and Ewan and we were very glad that he did because it is delightful. It is similar in many ways to the High Line in New York (which we visited in 2016); in fact it pre-dates it by about fifteen years, having been inaugurated in 1993. Its trees (lime and hazelnut) and climbing plants and roses are more mature than those of its New York relation, some have been left wild and some are more landscaped. It is really pleasant to walk along it, ten metres above the streets of Paris. It passes above several little parks into which you can take steps down, in one of them we saw a drinking fountain that dispenses both still and sparkling water! How very Parisian!
The Coulée Verte then descends to ground level and continues through some tunnels and paths before rising again to an elevated walkway. It gets a bit more complicated here with several walkways diverging; we descended to the Michel Bizot Metro station and thanks to James and Ewan’s expert navigation we were soon speeding back to St Germain with only one change of train, and we checked into the Artus Hotel for a much needed rest before dinner.
Dinner was rather special. In line with the French Revolution theme of our holiday, thanks to Ewan’s expertise on the subject, I had booked Le Procope, which is in Rue de l’Ancienne Comédie, not far from our hotel. This old restaurant, founded in 1686, claims to be the oldest continuously run restaurant in the world, which is a bit controversial because it spent a few decades as a shop in between its restaurant incarnations. But who’s quibbling? It’s exciting that in the early 18th century Voltaire, Rousseau and Diderot discussed their Enlightenment ideas while dining here. And in the 1780s Marat, Danton, Robespierre and other revolutionaries ate here too. And then Napoleon came here too, and one day left one of his hats in lieu of payment for dinner. It’s still on display in a glass case on the stairwell. The place is steeped in history. Most importantly both the food and the company were absolutely excellent. Drinks in a little bar in Rue de Buci completed a marvellous day.
Friday, 6 June 2025
Kip Moore and a visit from Ally
In the evening I went to see Kip Moore at the Hydro. The support act, Gareth, was very good, and Kip Moore was incredible. What a voice he has! Heather and Ewan had messaged me to say that they had been upgraded to a box, so I thought that I would chance my arm and ask for an upgrade too! Fortune favours the brave! And indeed it favoured me because very friendly staff at the Ovo Hydro Club desk checked if there were spaces and gave me an upgrade too! The box was great, an excellent front on view and waiter service, Heather and Ewan very kindly bought me a drink.
I left the concert a wee bit early because Alasdair was about to arrive for an overnight before his hill-walking weekend with Davie. James, Ally and I had a cup of tea and a chat before bedtime.
I made pizza and chips for Ally and Davie this evening when Ally came in from working in his Glasgow office, before they set off northwards. They have lots of plans for bagging specific Munros and tops that are on their lists. After they left James and I had a curry and watched some of the new series of Clarkson’s Farm. I was so inspired by his renovation of a pub near Burford, now called The Farmer’s Dog, that I made a dinner reservation there for July when we will be in the Cotswolds!
Wednesday, 4 June 2025
Vaccinations and lunches
We had lunch out today as well, with Davie at Latteria in Uddingston. This was my second lunch with Davie in two weeks because I know that he will be starting his new job very soon, so I wanted to get a few lunches with him before that! Linda Pringle recommended Latteria to me when we had coffee, and the food was very good. I had poached eggs with potato scones and hollandaise sauce and they were just perfect. We had a good chat with David and later went to B&Q where James got some compost.
Monday, 2 June 2025
A Boat Trip to Bass Rock
Then the boat took us to the volcanic plug that is Bass Rock, which was covered with thousands of gannets. We could see them “billing” when they rub and cross their long beaks affectionately. We also saw them “pointing” when one gannet sticks its beak skywards to guide its mate homewards. We also saw razorbills; their chicks are called jumplings because they are encouraged by their parents to jump into water to learn how to fend for themselves. An unexpected highlight of the trip was a sighting of several Orca whales not too far from the boat, we could see their fins and their bodies arcing out of the water. The whole boat trip was a joy.
We had lunch in a great wee café in a craft shop on North Berwick Main Street, and then headed to our old favourite, the Museum of Flight in East Fortune. Since it was a Monday in term time it was very quiet. We went into the Concorde of course, then strolled around the aeroplanes in the other hangars. It was breezy by this time but still warm enough for me to sit outside at the picnic tables and read my book while James spent a bit more time looking at the aircraft. An excellent outing.
Sunday, 1 June 2025
Tech Support by Davie
James has been having difficulty completing his application for a Tanzanian visa; he hasn’t been able to upload one of the required photos. We asked Davie to help and he came round this evening, calling “Tech Support here!” when he arrived! I knew that he would be able to fix the problem and sure enough, five minutes later the photo was uploaded and the visa application was submitted!
Saturday, 31 May 2025
Organ Recital and Cornel’s 60th Birthday Dinner
In the evening we went to Cornel’s birthday dinner at the Dakota in Glasgow. There were about twenty of us and we were delighted to be invited. The dinner was excellent and the other guests were extremely pleasant and friendly; they hailed from different locations and different parts of Cornel and Heather’s life. Their two beautiful daughters Sarah and Liesl were of course there and Sarah gave a loving speech about her Dad. The time absolutely flew past and by the time we set off home we had missed the last train so walked to Gordon Street and queued for a taxi. James pointed out that there were seagulls flying from building to building high above the street, the underneath of their wings shining white in the darkness. No doubt they were looking out for some dropped chips from the fish suppers of the crowd of people below them. Very very drunk people for the most part!
Friday, 30 May 2025
Lenny Henry in Perth
Yesterday was Christine’s 70th birthday and she is spending the week in Portugal with Gerry, Euan, Cat and Ally. They are having a great time although it is very hot - 40 degrees!
This evening I went to Perth where I met Margaret, who treated me to an absolutely delicious meal at the North Port restaurant; the food was beautifully presented with unusual taste combinations, I definitely plan to return. Then we strolled the short distance to Perth Concert Hall to see Lenny Henry being interviewed by Fred Macauley. He started off by doing some stand-up, at which he is very skilled. He was very funny, and the audience loved him, but it took him a little while to get into his stride; I think that the polite Perthshire audience was a little quieter than he is used to, and it perhaps gave him the impression that his act wasn’t going down too well. He also mentioned that he hasn’t done stand-up for a while, so maybe he felt a little nervous. I felt like standing up and shouting, Lenny they do like you, they are just an older and more reserved audience than most! The second half was much better, Fred Macauley is a good interviewer and Lenny Henry relaxed and interacted with the audience more. I was really glad that I went, it was good to see Margaret and it was a fun evening.
Saturday, 24 May 2025
Happy Ruby Wedding Anniversary!
And here we are forty years later, spending our Ruby anniversary in Ullapool. We will also be celebrating with Heather and Ewan in Paris in June, and with all three of our boys and their partners in Tanzania at the end of July, however this weekend it’s just the two of us - and the cats! Today we walked around the village and had lunch at Tea by the Sea. The weather forecast was for rain, but although it was overcast it was really warm and we were able to sit outside. Then we watched some of the coastal rowing regatta that is taking place in the loch today. There were competitors from lots of different clubs.
In the evening we drove to Lochinver to have dinner in Delilah’s which was very busy. The meal was absolutely delicious, and although the service was a bit disorganised we had a relaxed and fun evening. When we drove back to Ullapool at about half past nine it was still quite light and there were quite a few deer down by the road.
Friday, 23 May 2025
The Crucible
On Wednesday evening we popped round to visit Jennifer and Ryan in their beautiful home. We gave Jennifer her 30th birthday gift and also an engagement card and present for both of them because they got engaged during their recent holiday to Nashville. They were very happy and we are delighted for them.
In sad news, the Appletons’ dog Luna died yesterday. She was fourteen, which is a good age for a labrador, and she had been getting more frail over the past few months, however her family will of course miss her very much. I know what it’s like to lose a much loved pet, so my heart goes out to them.
Last night we went to see The Crucible ballet with Gordon and Morag. I wasn’t sure what to expect because the subject matter of the Salem witch trials is very downbeat. However the dancing was absolutely brilliant, and ballet was very effective in conveying the emotions of the characters. We all enjoyed it very much.
Tuesday, 20 May 2025
Back to the Book of Mormon
We met up with Davie and Chanel for a pre-theatre dinner at Antipasti in Sauchiehall Street. It was a very nice meal and the service was excellent. Then we headed to the Kings Theatre to see Book of Mormon. I had forgotten how funny it is, and what a surprisingly moral and positive message it gives, despite how irreverent it is. The cast were really great, so energetic and talented.
Monday, 19 May 2025
Sulphur dioxide and 3,000 Feet
It was the first ever showing of the film, which is a documentary made by Kevin Woods, who was also the main presenter, and Lindsay Hill. It’s about the origins of Scottish mountaineering, particularly about Hugh Munro and how he came to compile the list of mountains exceeding 3,000 feet in height. It was extremely interesting and I learned a lot about those early hill-walkers. At the end the filmmakers Kevin and Lindsay answered questions, and received a great deal of well deserved applause.
Sunday, 18 May 2025
Barbecue in Uddingston
We headed home in time to watch the Eurovision Song Contest. It didn’t take long for James to fall fast asleep in the couch and I couldn’t blame him; I thought that the songs were very average this year. I still enjoyed watching it; Ally and Cat were watching it in London and Davie and Chanel were watching it in Uddingston and we compared notes about our favourites, none of us guessed that Austria would win.
On Sunday I decided to refresh the Dale of Norway cardigan that I got from Grandma. Wool should be washed very gently in cold water and I used hair conditioner to soften it. I then laid it flat on a towel on the grass to dry. Unfortunately Floof found it and was excited to lie on top of it; she must have liked the damp and scent of it. She was rolling around on her back on it until I chased her. This annoyed her and as soon as I went back onto my hammock she returned to lie on the cardigan, keeping a close eye on me in case I returned. Tommy and Carol came round for coffee in the afternoon. They have spent a lot of time abroad this year during their house renovations so it was great to catch up. It is no surprise that we sat outside in the beautiful weather!
Friday, 16 May 2025
Picnic in the park
And today we walked along to Burnside and had a very pleasant breakfast with Marjory and Forrest at Hugh’s. Then I jumped into my beloved hammock until Ally W came round for lunch and we ate outdoors - of course! We saw on the weather forecast that Glasgow has been the hottest place in the UK today at 24 degrees. It has certainly felt hot!
Monday, 12 May 2025
A bit of shopping
2025 is proving to be a busy year among our family and friends for births and significant birthdays, so I had quite a few presents to wrap, and I tackled this in the back room, with the French windows open to the garden.
I met up with Caroline for an early tea at Tony Mac’s in East Kilbride, it was lovely to see her and we had a good catch up and chat. When I got home at about half past six it was still warm enough to sit outside in the garden!
Sunday, 11 May 2025
Colomba di Pasqua
We invited Davie and Chanel round for a barbecue in the evening - yes, two barbecues in two days! There were some kebabs left from yesterday and we also had burgers in buns as well as the usual baked potatoes and salads. We gave Davie and Chanel a surprise for dessert; a Colomba di Pasqua which is a traditional Italian sweet Easter bread, with candied fruits and almonds. They had mentioned eating this when they were in Italy at Easter to meet Chanel’s wee brother Liam, and by chance I saw one in Marks and Spencer’s just afterwards. Although we are a bit late for Easter I have been keeping it specially for a meal with Davie and Chanel! It was tasty and they said that it tasted authentic; we ate it with fruit and ice cream.
Saturday, 10 May 2025
Dining al fresco twice in one day!
Heather and Ewan came round for a barbecue in the evening; it was much warmer in Glasgow than it had been in Edinburgh and I had to sit in the shade for our pre dinner drinks. The barbecue took a while to heat up but once it got going James cooked chicken, lamb, and halloumi kebabs, which we served with baked potatoes, corn on the cobs, mushrooms and different kinds of salads. Dessert was simply fresh fruit and ice cream. We had more drinks in the garden before coffee and tea in the back room. It was a very pleasant evening in very pleasant company.
Friday, 9 May 2025
Taps Aff on Cumbrae
What a brilliant day we have had! James suggested a couple of days ago that we should go for a cycle together while this great weather holds out. I wasn’t keen at first, but once I thought about it, I decided that it would be fun to go back to Millport and cycle right round Cumbrae. This ten mile (16 km) round trip has been a favourite of mine for as long as I can remember. Jennifer and I cycled round the island with our Mum and Dad when we were children, and I cycled round on a school trip when I was in 5th year with my lovely school friends, with whom I still meet up every couple of months. I cycled round Cumbrae with James when we were teenagers and many times since, and in due course with our three boys. The last time we did this cycle was in 2019, so it was high time that we visited again. I was reminded of this when Heather and Ewan cycled round the island a few weeks ago when Ewan was doing a locum there.
So we set off this morning and caught one of the very frequent ferries which crosses between Largs and the slipway, which is a few kilometres outside Millport itself. The crossing was brief and beautiful, with views of blue sea and sky and fishing boats and seabirds around the Clyde Estuary. And on this stunning day we had fantastic views from every angle as we cycled our usual anticlockwise route around the island. The grass and trees were a particularly vibrant green and the shore was lined with warm red sandstone, punctuated by a few sandy beaches. The birds were singing loudly in the trees and we could see the mountains of Arran looking very splendid. A slight breeze kept me cool (thank goodness) and when we got to the town of Millport we stopped at the Crocodile Rock which has been painted there ever since I can remember. There was a group of young men cycling around the island wearing tartan bunnets and we passed them as they stopped in a lay by to remove their t shirts due to the heat - they then passed us with their “taps aff” but their bunnets still on! We cycled 5 km past the slipway to the pleasant Fintry Bay café, where we had coffee and scones. There were quite a few walkers and cyclists partaking of refreshments there, but since it’s a weekday during the school term it wasn’t too busy. Among other quirky decorations the café has a painted statue of a panda outside it and a wee dog was barking at it so frantically that its owner had to take it over to show him that it wasn’t real! After our break James and I went in opposite directions; James continued anticlockwise to compete a second circuit of Cumbrae, while I cycled the 5 km back to the slipway. I cycled a total of 26 km (which is a lot for me) and James cycled 32 km. He must have cycled very fast because he arrived at the slip way only about ten minutes after me! What a great day.
Thursday, 8 May 2025
V.E. Day 80 years on
Today is David Attenborough’s 99th birthday. And as of this evening we have a new Pope; Leo XIV. The weather has continued to be warm and sunny and it has been a pleasure to hang the washing outside. The lilac is blooming in the garden, and I have been spending a bit of time in the hammock. I have also been swimming and doing useful admin and errands.
We had some lovely news this morning that Gerry and Janis’s first grandchild arrived in the early hours, a wee boy called Rory.
And in other good news my lovely goddaughter Jennifer is engaged to her boyfriend, now fiancé, Ryan. They are on holiday in Nashville and are very happy.
Carolyn came round for lunch today with her two beautiful boys, Harris and Arran. We put a rug on the grass for Arran to shuffle about on, he is such a contented wee soul who absolutely adores his big brother Harris. Whenever Harris kicks a ball or blows bubbles Arran smiles in admiration; he knows that he has the coolest big brother in the world! Harris was very kind with Arran, giving him a taste of his ice lolly and pushing him on the swing. It was such a fun afternoon but oh boy I had forgotten how much hard work wee children are; Carolyn was constantly attending to one or other of them with great patience and humour, feeding them, giving them drinks, amusing them - no need to go to a gym for exercise when you have a nearly four year old and a ten month old! I did lend a hand but Carolyn was much better than me at anticipating the boys’ needs; I’m out of practice with wee ones.
This evening we watched VE 80 on BBC1; a celebration of 80 years since the end of WW2 in Horseguards Parade, attended by the King and Camilla, and the Prince and Princess of Wales. The concert was very good, a mix of modern and traditional, and some of the testimony from people who remember those times was very moving.
Monday, 5 May 2025
Jennifer’s 60th party
Sunday, 4 May 2025
Crystal Maze and Covent Garden
Cat had booked RedFarm Restaurant just along from Leicester Square, a modern Chinese restaurant with absolutely delicious dumplings and an interesting dish of soup which was sucked with a straw from the inside of a large dumpling. Having consumed the soup you then turned over the dumpling and ate it. Then we went for a walk and a browse around Covent Garden market and had coffee and cake in the Rose Bakery in Dover Street Market, perhaps the trendiest shop I have ever been in, with designer label clothes on every level. The prices were eye-watering and most of the clothes too extreme for my taste, but some of them were very attractive especially some Comme Des Garçons blouses in pretty pastel patterns. We noticed that nearly all of the other customers were wearing distinctive looking designer clothes. The highlight for me was noticing a customer wearing a pair of shoes with the appearance of another pair of shoes on top - by this I mean each shoe had another full size front and toe area sitting on top of the one where her foot was inserted. Hard to describe but it looked very bizarre.
Exhausted by walking and fashion, we went back to Ally and Cat’s flat and played Sonic racing on PS4. James and I have never played computer games, it’s just something we never really tried, and it was great fun! We watched part of an old episode of the Crystal Maze which confirmed that our experience today was authentic! And we finished the evening by watching a really interesting tv programme called Omnivore that Ally and Cat have been watching recently; a well known chef takes a deep look into a particular area of food each episode. This one was called Pig, about Iberian pork and it was both sensitive and fascinating.
Saturday, 3 May 2025
Highgate Cemetery and the Capital Ring
We walked to Highgate Wood to a delightful wisteria draped café that Ally and Cat knew, and we had lunch in its little hedged garden and chatted. The next part of our day was to walk a section of the Capital Ring, from Highgate to Stoke Newington, which was about 11 km.
The Capital Ring is a 78 mile (126 km) urban walk which loops around Central London, divided into sections and staying within 10 miles of Big Ben. * Opened in 2005, the Capital Ring crosses the Thames at Richmond in the West and Woolwich in the East, and takes in many of the city's open spaces, nature reserves, and sites of specific Scientific interest. Nick, whom we met last night, gave Ally the Capital Ring guide book for his 30th birthday last year, and inspired by this Ally and Cat have walked all 15 sections. We were so pleased that they decided to share one of their favourite sections with us.
Walking back down through Highgate we soon joined a grassy disused railway track, complete with a “Spriggan” * gazing down at us from one of the arches, and an overgrown station platform. We walked in through Finsbury Park and along New River, and past the reservoirs in Woodbury Wetlands. We walked into Clissold Park past its small lakes, and took a short detour to see the Fallow deer grazing contentedly in their roomy enclosure. One more park, Abney Park, took us to Stoke Newington and its station. What a brilliant walk! Later we had pizzas back at Ally and Cat’s flat and a relaxing evening.
* The larger “London Loop” is a 150 mile (242 km) circuit around the edges of London.)
* A Spriggan is a mischievous skinny sprite, originating in Cornwall.
Friday, 2 May 2025
Bluebells in Kew Gardens
Thursday, 1 May 2025
This Sceptred Isle
Apparently this beat the previous record of 27.4C in Lossiemouth, Scotland, back in 1990. Needless to say I sweltered in the heat but by judicious walking in the shade when possible, and a lovely time paddling in the Serpentine, I managed fairly well. Most of England was also hot, although I heard that it has been cooler in Scotland.
In the morning we went to the V&A to see the Cartier exhibition. It was certainly glittering and opulent, but James and I agreed that we preferred the Fabergé exhibition that we saw at the V&A in 2022, because the exhibits seemed more skilled and intricate. Still, the Cartier jewellery was very fine and we enjoyed seeing it as well as having a refreshing cup of tea in the courtyard café, one of my favourite cafés in London. We then walked to the Serpentine Lido and found a bench in the shade, and although I was a disappointed that I could only paddle (because it turns out that swimming there doesn’t start until mid May) it was still wonderfully cooling. A few people didn’t see the signs and started swimming but they were swiftly spotted by the safety boats which were supervising the pedalos and told to get out of the water!
We walked through Hyde Park and Green Park in our way to the Bridge Theatre beside Tower Bridge. There were lots of people having picnics on the grass beside the river, it was lovely to see everyone enjoying the sunshine.
We had a very nice dinner in The Coal Shed, just round the corner from the theatre, and then we took our seats for Richard II, starring Jonathan Bailey. It was great! Despite not knowing very much about his reign, the play was easy to follow and the cast were superb. Bailey played Richard flamboyantly as a foolish, vain man, but thus resulted in more laughs from the audience than I think he intended. Jonathan Bailey is very popular just now from his role in the Bridgerton tv series, and I think a lot of the audience had come especially to see him. Anyway it was an excellent production and I loved it. London looked beautiful on this warm night as we walked to Tower Hill DLR station, and we had a brief and pleasant chat with Ally and Cat before bed.
My favourite quote from Richard II is by John of Gaunt, describing England as an idyll under threat from impending civil war:
“This royal throne of kings, this scepter’d isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England”
Wednesday, 30 April 2025
Warm and sunny in the garden
However he had forgotten by the time we set off homewards at 7 p.m. and we popped him and Floof into their car carrier without any fuss. There were lots of roadworks again but we benefited from missing any rush hour traffic at Inverness, and got down the road in a respectable four hours and five minutes.
The weather has got better and better yesterday and today, and is very warm and sunny. Delightful. Yesterday I was hanging up the washing outside when I noticed that Tom was rolling about on the slabs, high on catmint which he had been eating from the plants in the barrel; James put wire mesh over it so that he doesn’t destroy it all at once, but he expertly pulls the catmint out through the holes! We have spent a lot of time outside and when Alison T came round for lunch today we sat out in the garden for coffee and chatted. Flora sociably came outside to join us (she loves a girls’ meet up!) and eventually we moved back inside, with the French windows open, because we felt too hot on the bench in direct sunlight, our patio is such a sun trap! James was walking the Greenock Cut with the hill-walking club and arrived mid afternoon to join us for some cool drinks. I didn’t go back to sit outside until about five o’clock when it was getting slightly cooler. We are all packed for our trip to London tomorrow; according to the weather forecast it’s going to be 29 degrees down there!
Sunday, 27 April 2025
Lunch in the rain at Clachtoll Beach
We had a picnic of hot cross buns and coffee sitting on the bench at the end of the beach in a rain shower. Luckily we were well clad and had even (thanks to James’ insistence) brought our waterproof over trousers, so we kept fairly dry until the shower ended.
After a look around the Broch we saw a pale brown Skylark hopping about on the grass. It was very attractive with its patterned wings and a short blunt crest standing up on its head. There was another skylark nearby which flew up into the sky; we could hear its clear, trilling song from high above us; James could see it with his better eyesight but I couldn’t see it at all!
On the way home we listened to another episode of The Rest is History podcast about the French Revolution; we are now about two thirds of the way through it and it continues to be horrifyingly violent. Inspired by this we watched the 1983 French film “Danton” starring Gerard Depardieu. It covers the last few weeks of Danton’s life and oh boy it was brutal! Institutionalised slaughter.
Saturday, 26 April 2025
Cheese and Wild Garlic Scones
My scones were a triumph. I chopped up the wild garlic leaves finely and the scones looked great - and tasted even better! James arrived home from his Bothy trip mid afternoon and enjoyed two scones before having a shower and a nap. He had a fantastic time with Mark and Cornel but he was very tired after all that hill-walking! Later we watched a Clint Eastwood from 1992 called The Unforgiven. It got the Oscar for best film that year but I thought it was just like all the other Clint Eastwood westerns; a retired gunfighter is reluctantly pressed into service one more time, after much bloodshed he wins his fight against the evil townspeople and mooches out of town exhausted and dispirited.
Friday, 25 April 2025
James visits Ben Dronaig Bothy
Yesterday they had a long walk in to the Bothy and then climbed Ben Dronaig, and today they have climbed Bidein a Choire Sheasgaich (aka Cheesecake) and Lurgh Mhor. James has been very pleased to get the chance to visit these remote hills again.
The weather here in Ullapool is delightful and I have been sitting outside the cottage reading, or walking around the village in the sunshine, both days. I picked some wild garlic leaves down in the woods yesterday for a recipe that I’m going to try; cheese and wild garlic scones. The recipe informed me that the leaves are more tender before the flowers appear. Yesterday there were hardly any wild garlic flowers showing but today they were everywhere like little white stars among the leaves, hopefully that means that I managed to gather the leaves at the optimum time. I treated myself to a veggie brunch in the Ceilidh Place today and eavesdropped on the phone conversation of a man at the next table who is currently walking the Cape Wrath Trail. Then I did some grocery shopping on for the ingredients for chilli con carne; James mentioned the other day that he would like some, and I decided also to make and freeze enough for some of our guests over the summer. Much preparation and cooking then took place, followed by much clearing up!