James and Davie build raised vegetable beds

It has been an almost Spring like week, with some lovely sunshine although a rather chill wind which reminds us that it’s still March. We went for a very pleasant 8 km walk around Chatelherault Country Park; the usual walk to Green Bridge and then back on the other side of the river past the Cadzow Oaks. One evening we decided to watch The Brutalist, which recently won the Oscar for best picture. Oh dear oh dear, it was very depressing and very long. It had some merits and I realise that it was meant to represent the experience of mid twentieth century immigrants to the US, but it was grim and I don’t really like brutalist architecture anyway so that didn’t help! 
Yesterday we went over to Davie and Chanel’s garden where Davie and James worked very hard to build two raised beds for growing vegetables. They look extremely well made and Davie is going to paint them and line them before filling them with soil. It was another fine but chilly day so I spent some time in the garden and some time in the house playing with gorgeous wee Harris. He is hilarious! He was hunting me when I was sitting on the couch and every time I looked round he would stop still, then resume his prowl towards me when I looked away! Skye kept a low profile; she uses the cat flap now so she can come and go as she pleases (it’s still too soon for Harris to be allowed outside.) At one point when I was sitting on the couch she came into the room and walked past me, then she glanced at me and did the most enormous double take when she realised that I was not Chanel! It was so funny. I got lunch in for the workers and by mid afternoon the boys had finished their work and put the planters in place. 

Spring Babies!

It has been a month of new babies, which is always lovely news. 
On Tuesday 18th March Liam James Asquith was born in Italy. He is James and Floriana’s baby so Chanel is a big sister again; she is delighted and so are we, because Liam definitely counts as family!
Then on Wed 19th March Hughie Birkmyre was born. His gender was a surprise because Hugh and Lucy had been told that they were going to have another girl! His official name is Hugh like his Daddy and Grandpa but he is to be known as Hughie, which I love. Again we are delighted because we think of the Birkmyre clan as family too. 
And to complete the hat trick, Thea Herbert was born on Thursday 20th March. She is Lesley and Chris’ fifth grandchild and we are very pleased for them. Not family, but a grandchild of friends is always welcome. 

Forrest’s 60th Birthday

We set off home yesterday because today, 16th March, is Forrest’s 60th birthday. Our gift to Forrest was the two curling stones which were in Grandpa and Grandma’s garden, restored and polished and with their handles reattached. Forrest already had the handles so James had to ask to borrow them without telling Forrest why. The curling stones belonged to James and Forrest’s grandfather; William Forrest. Forrest was very pleased and touched at James’ thoughtfulness. We went out for a celebratory lunch with Forrest, Marjory, Lynne and Douglas, Jenny, Neil, Lucy and Jenny’s partner James, to the Butchers Shop at Kelvingrove. As might be expected, the menu was very meaty! However there were also some really nice vegetarian options, and it was a very enjoyable occasion. Jenny and James have just bought their first house in Northern Ireland so they were telling us all about it. One of the amusing things was that all the boys were checking the football scores throughout the meal because Rangers were playing Celtic. 

Robert Dickie, also a big Rangers fan, was at home watching the match. Just after Rangers scored the winning goal (3-2) Robert died suddenly of a heart attack. Julie phoned to tell me later, and James and I were very sad to hear it. I have known Robert since I was about 10 years old, and my heart goes out to Janie; they had been married for 50 years. 

James path clearing on Ullapool Hill

We have had a very pleasant week in Ullapool. James mowed the grass and I spruced up the cottage, and we went for walks around the village, which was still very quiet; the tourist season has not started yet. We went for a run to Lochinver one day, strolled along to the harbour and bought some pies (of course!) 

One afternoon James decided to sand and varnish the benches in the porch. After he had varnished the first one, Tom, undeterred by the strong smell of varnish, jumped up and covered it not only with fur but also with bits of earth from the garden! (presumably he must have just buried a poo in the flowerbed!) This all stuck to the varnish. James was absolutely furious with him! Tom was unrepentant, more accurately unaware of his faux pas, and was mildly puzzled as James berated him. 

And one morning James volunteered to do path clearing on Ullapool Hill with the countryside ranger. He and his fellow volunteers were featured in the Ullapool Facebook page. I informed him of this because James does not have, nor has ever had, social media. He was quite pleased and I was very proud. 

Train to Garve

On Monday I was quite busy; after bidding farewell to James and the cats who set off to Ullapool at 9 a.m. I had a pleasant brunch with Christine in the morning and then met up with a friend’s colleague who is applying for Duncanrig to give her some advice. I bribed Davie and Chanel with a curry to come round and help me to log in to a part of the CHS website that I couldn’t access: I was very impressed and delighted at how quickly Chanel sorted it out for me. To be fair I know that they would have come round to help me even without the offer of a curry! 

I decided to go up to Ullapool a day earlier than planned because I was missing James and the cats. The house was terribly quiet without them. Also I have been feeling a bit down. * This meant that I would miss the Sabrina Carpenter concert on Tuesday night, so rather than let the ticket go to waste I offered it to my lovely god-daughter Jennifer. I’m delighted to report that Jennifer really enjoyed the concert. 

So on Tuesday morning I set off to Ullapool by train. I do enjoy a train journey and I read my book and looked at the scenery. A quick train change at Inverness and I was on my way to Garve, where James met me at the station. How pleased I was to be reunited with James and of course back at the cottage with the kitties. 

* Sadly as a result of this I have decided to defer my Children’s Panel training until next year. 

Marshmallows and Fish

Lured by the promise of the warmest and sunniest day of the year so far, we drove down through an initially rather misty Ayrshire to Troon beach for a walk. The sun soon came out and it was beautiful; it was nice to see lots of people enjoying the sunshine. We strolled along our usual route from the golf course into the centre of Troon and had French toast for lunch at the Venice café. Back at the beach James made a little fire with driftwood in the portable mesh fire pit that I gave him for his birthday and then he produced a surprise - marshmallows! We toasted them at the fire and they were delicious on this sunny afternoon. 
Later we went to see Fish’s farewell tour at the O2 Academy in Glasgow. He promised that it really was his farewell tour, “not like Elton John!” Fish (real name Derek Dick) started out in the band Marillion before going solo many years ago. We were upstairs which meant that we got seats, but the air was hot and rather stale up there by the end of the concert. The audience, including James, was very enthusiastic, however the music was just not my cup of tea. Good luck to Fish in his retirement! 

International Women’s Day

Morag pointed out this evening that it was appropriate on International Women’s Day that we went to see a play with an all women cast. This was “Pride and Prejudice (sort of)” which we saw at the Theatre Royal with Morag and Gordon. It was good fun, and a pretty good rendition of the plot. It fitted in with the current trend for plays with a small cast and many costume changes, like Operation Mincemeat. However I think that Operation Mincemeat is better because it has original songs. “Pride and Prejudice (sort of)” had some very funny moments though, and it was very well received by the audience.

Also appropriately for International Women’s Day, I spent time with an amazing woman when I took Gran Jan for a run in the car up the Clyde Valley today. We had a tasty brunch in Rosebank Garden Centre, and a nice browse around the plants. Janet was telling me lots of stories about our family, which were fascinating. 

Useful and social week

We have had a useful as well as social week at Casa Anderson. Many errands have been completed and nice plans made. James has fixed the lawnmower himself for only £16 (for a new carburettor) rather than the £200 it cost him last year to get it mended (temporarily as it turned out!) at a repair shop. I went to my fourth Children’s Panel Training Day and it went really well, still lots to learn but we had some really good practice sessions. I have caught up with some great and supportive friends - the support goes both ways I’m glad to say! - such as fellow-francophile Ally W, my lovely Ladies who Lunch school friends, friendly neighbour Monica, and gorgeous ex colleagues Linda and Jennifer. It’s always great to catch up with their news, and being at the same age and stage we can identify with various issues that we are going through. I am so lucky to have good friends. 
I also had a chat yesterday with Fiona M who had a big operation today, I have been thinking about her all day and hope that it has all gone well. 

Mike and the Mechanics

The day started with a drama involving Tom, Flora, James and Fluffy, a local cat who has been intruding into our house recently, using his cat magnet to open the cat flap. Fluffy is not his real name; he is so called by us because of his (or her) fluffy ears. James was awoken by hissing sounds from both of our cats, who were trying to prevent Fluffy from coming up our stairs. This seemingly bold move from Fluffy turned out to be because he had found himself trapped in the front of the house, because the door between the hall and the back room had been closed (probably pushed closed when Tom and Flora were trying to repel him!) so Fluffy was looking for another means of escape. James then entered the fray and Fluffy ran away from him back downstairs, racing up and down the hall and hurling himself alternately against the front door and the door to the back room in terror. Then he ran upstairs again and tried to jump out of our bedroom window, to no avail because it wasn’t open wide enough. James opened the door downstairs and Fluffy ran into the back room and jumped out of the cat flap. I hope that this unfortunate experience finally gives Fluffy the message that he is not welcome to come swanning into our house to eat our cats’ food. 

After a pleasant and useful day we met Marjory and Forrest at Ask Italian where we had a good meal and catch up before going to the Mike and the Mechanics concert at the Royal Concert Hall; our Christmas present from them. Mike Rutherford arrived on the stage using crutches and announced that he broke his hip only 12 days ago! This did not hold him back and he sat on a chair during the concert, playing his guitar manfully. The rest of the band were great too, including Phil Collins’ drummer son Nic, whom we saw playing the drums at the last ever Genesis concert. Tim Howar and Andrew Roachford were excellent vocalists, backed up by Anthony Drennan (bass guitar) and Luke Juby (keyboard and guitar.) It was a really excellent concert, and the audience, a full house on a Monday night in March, loved it. 

A walk from Warwick to Leamington Spa

We woke to an absolutely glorious day and decided to have breakfast in the nearby village of Woodstock followed by a walk in Blenheim Palace grounds. Woodstock is very pretty, as is the way of English villages. The pastries in the wee coffee shop were fresh and delicious. There is an entrance from the village in Blenheim, and by going for another visit we thereby slashed our costs per visit to £20.50 each! Another visit in the summer perhaps to bring the average visit price down even further? Of course Russ and Jenn told us last night that there are gates that the locals know where you don’t have to pay. The grounds were much busier on this sunny Sunday, with families and dogs abounding. 
Our next stop was Warwick for a walk to Leamington Spa via the River Avon and the Union Canal, stopping at the Moorings pub on the way for a refreshing cool drink. Leamington Spa’s parks were filled with people strolling about, much as I would imagine they did in Victorian times after “taking the waters.” We circled around the town centre and back along the river to Warwick. It was a really pleasant 9 km walk. 
Now we are at Birmingham Airport awaiting our flight home. 

The Delicate Sound of Pink Floyd in Oxford

We parked at an underground car park in Oxford this morning and had breakfast at Pret, then walked around the town before meeting the tour guide at the Martyrs’ Memorial. We got a message to say that Jenn and Russ were on their way by bus from the Park and Ride but it was held up in heavy traffic. We informed the tour guide that they would be a bit late and they arrived very shortly after the tour started. The tour was very interesting and stuffed full of facts e.g. Oxfam’s first shop being in Oxford (I should have guessed!), all the famous people who went to the various colleges, the spot where C S Lewis, sheltering one evening from the snow, saw a lion and some fauns carved on a door panel and allegedly came up with the idea of Aslan and Mr Tumnus. There was a graduation going on so we saw lots of graduates wearing their gowns and proud parents queuing up to go into the ceremony at the Oxford Theatre. After our tour we  had lunch on the top floor of the Ashmolean Museum; what a delightful restaurant with excellent food. We had a good chat with Jenn and Russ who were on good form. We looked around some Italian Renaissance paintings before leaving the Ashmolean and going to the Turf Tavern which dates from the 12th century and is a warren of tiny thick-walled rooms. It is so ancient and unique. Thence to Checkers pub, another traditional and historic pub where we met up with a group of Jenn and Russ’s friends who were very welcoming to us. A short walk away was Oxford Town Hall where we saw a Pink Floyd tribute act called The Delicate Sound of Pink Floyd. This was Jenn and Russ’s 40th Wedding Anniversary gift to us. The band were very good; two of their number comprised a friend of Jenn and Russ and his son who were both excellent guitarists. A great evening.