Social Tuesday

This evening I went along to the hill-walking club’s social evening, which is usually held on the first Tuesday of each month. It was a pleasant group of nine of us who gathered in the Counting House for a drink and a chat. James and I used one of our Christmas present vouchers beforehand to have a meal at Prezzo across the road. It has been a pleasant and social day all round. Despite yet another heavy snow shower, which luckily did not lie on the roads, I met up with Heather in Lenzie and we went to her very smart local sports centre for a swim. I was very impressed with the facilities and also the cleanliness, which I feel that my own nearest swimming pool area is sadly lacking. It was really nice to have company on the swim and, despite chatting throughout, we swam a respectable kilometre before repairing to a nearby cafe for coffee and scones. When I got home Flora helped me tidy the house, by following me into every room, although she also distracted me a bit because I kept stopping to play with her. She really is extremely sweet. When I went round to see Grandma in the afternoon, she didn't feel strong enough for a walk, but was keen to go out for a run in the car so that she could have a change of scenery. So that’s exactly what we did, and drove around Hamilton and Motherwell for an hour or so while Grandma reminisced about places and people of her youth.
When I was tidying today, I came across my Clarisonic face cleaning brush, which I haven’t used for ages. I charged it up and this evening I used it to thoroughly cleanse my face. My skin feels glowing. Let’s hope that it doesn’t all fall off during the night! 

Film Monday

After my morning swim, I had lunch today at East Kilbride shopping centre with Fiona; it has been too long since I saw her and it was great to catch up. It’s also a long time since I’ve been at that shopping centre, so we had a pleasant wander together around Debenhams. Later I went to the cinema with Catherine and Jan to see Lady Bird. I enjoyed it. It’s about a girl’s last year at home before she goes to college. It’s atmosphere and episodic style reminded me a wee bit of the film Boyhood, although Lady Bird only chronicles one year. What lifts it from “good” to “very good” is the tremendous acting from Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf as the volatile daughter and mother. The supporting actors are very good too, especially Tracy Letts as the understated father. One of my favourite quotes is when Lady Bird says to her father “Did you know that Alanis Morisette wrote this song in only ten minutes?” And he replies, with a wry look, “I believe it!” It’s the kind of thing that my Dad would have said!
When I was on my way to bed, I noticed that it was raining and opened the back door to see how hard it was coming down. Floof took the opportunity to dash outside - she sometimes forgets that she is now allowed outside and doesn’t have to try to escape any more! But when she found herself being rained on, she deftly ran back inside immediately! This is a big difference from Tom, who has still not worked out that rain makes him wet, and who regularly comes inside soaking wet! 

Go away snow!

I am so over the snow. It’s slowly melting on the ground but there are still icy patches and when I was up at Kingsgate this afternoon there were quite significant flurries of snow. We have had a pleasantly quiet Sunday and have got a few useful things done around the house. James has put a bunch of family photographs back up on the wall of the front living room. They all had to come down when we were decorating the room, and this has given us a chance to choose a new arrangement. It took him ages and it looks fantastic. I provided advice and consultation while I sat on the couch watching the last couple of episodes of “Big Little Lies. This is a strangely compelling murder mystery series which stars some really big names, most notably Reece Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman. It took me a while to warm up to it, but in the end I was won over by the intriguing story, the characters (who all had more depth than they first appeared to have) and of course the beautiful scenery of Monterey in California. 

A satisfying Saturday

I don’t usually go swimming at the weekend, however today I set off for the swimming pool instead of going for a walk because my feet are painfully blistered after the last couple of days of wearing my snow boots. Unfortunately when I arrived I was informed that the pool is closed every Saturday morning for swimming lessons. I decided to try my luck at Blantyre swimming pool instead, and this worked out well. They also have a twenty-five metre pool, and although it was partly roped off for lessons, it wasn’t too busy and I was able to have a good swim.

When I got home James and I spent the afternoon doing some batch cooking with the ingredients that we bought yesterday. There’s something intensely satisfying about batch cooking. We made two meals, both old favourites - Catalan pork stew and Boeuf bourguignon. We made four times quantities which means that we have lots of delicious home made meals in the freezer. It’s also a very companionable activity and we chatted away as we peeled and chopped and seared and stirred. 

Having missed our “mid-week film night” because of all the snow, we went to the cinema in the early evening to see the much praised “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”. We both enjoyed it, and it had some very good moments, although I found some of the plot was a bit unbelievable. It is very hotly tipped for this year’s Oscars, which take place tomorrow, however despite its originality I’m not sure if it deserves to win. If it was up to me I think that would choose Darkest Hour or even The Shape of Water.

When we got home we had some of the Boeuf bourguignon for dinner and it was delicious. 

These Boots are not made for walking

Another snow day on Friday; another snowy walk with James. It has been an unexpected pleasure to spend extra time with James over the last three days. Today the roads were much clearer and in the afternoon we decided to head up to Kingsgate to get some groceries for us and Grandma, and then we went for a walk around the Heritage Park. The light was very flat and monochrome, and the loch had big patches of ice on it. As well as the ducks and geese there were two oystercatchers walking about beside the water. We extended the walk into a surprisingly rural part of Stewartfield, which was very picturesque with the paths and trees all covered in snow.

However I have found out that my snow boots, while waterproof and warm, are not designed to be worn on proper walks. Yesterday during our big 12 km walk I got a blister on the back of my heel, however I attributed this to the distance and just put a Compeed plaster on it. But today, on our much shorter walk, I managed to develop not one, but two blisters under my big toes! So my snow boots are going to be assigned to short snowy journeys only, and I will use my hiking boots for anything longer.

My instinct is that the big snowfall is over but it will take a few days for it to disappear, because cold and possibly stormy weather is forecast into next week. But just now we are warm and cosy beside the fire on Friday evening, with our cats sleeping beside us. Lovely. 

More Snow

It’s a long time since I have had a “snow day.” The directive from Glasgow City Council for Thursday was that all schools were closed and that teachers were to work from home. This was not straightforward since my planner and resources were all at school, however I did my best by drafting some reports and doing some lesson planning for Term 3. Meanwhile James was also working from home. He was ensconced in the Study where he was involved in a conference call which took three hours. I took him in a wee cup of tea at one point.
By mid afternoon we were both ready for an excursion. James suggested an innocuous sounding walk to nearby Dechmont Hill. On went the snow boots and off we set. James decided that we should go via the golf course, which has a public right of way around it. This was certainly much more attractive than walking on the road, however the snow was very deep in places and I found myself walking in James’ footsteps in scenes reminiscent of the journey of Good King Wenceslas and his faithful servant. I tried not to laugh too loudly when James plummeted through the snow up to his waist into a hidden stream! Luckily his trusty boots, gaiters and waterproof trousers kept him dry.
It turned out that James’ rather circuitous route to Dechmont Hill (via the golf course and several fields, and then back via more fields and Gilbertfield Road) was in fact a hefty 12 km, much of it trudging through snow! And of course we also ended up climbing over several farm gates and fences. It was very windy at the top of Dechmont Hill and it snowed on and off during our journey. The views from the top were tremendous; we could see all around, from Hamilton and Motherwell all the way to the west end of Glasgow. It was good fun though, and I was pleased to get the exercise, although less pleased that my Apple Watch ran out of battery power half way through the walk so it didn’t record the full distance.
As we walked along Gilbertfield Road near Dechmont Barracks, we saw a wee cairn that we have never noticed before, in memory of the soldiers who walked down Shepherd’s Lane from the barracks to Newton Station on their way to war. The plaque reads:
“This cairn is to commemorate all the soldiers who walked this path to Newton Station to go to the 1st and 2nd World Wars. And those who didn’t return. We will remember them.”
We popped in to see Grandma on the way home; she was in good spirits and was shocked at how far we had walked. 

The Beast from the East

The weather forecasters have been proved correct with their predictions of heavy snow this week. The cold weather has apparently swept in from Siberia and has been named by the media "The Beast from the East!" There were few flurries of snow on Tuesday but nothing to speak of, however I was quite late to bed on Tuesday night and when I looked out of the window the snow was coming down heavily and steadily. The Beast had arrived! By Wednesday morning the snow was lying thickly and, unsurprisingly, James' flight to Heathrow was cancelled, so he worked from home. The Glasgow schools were closed but I don't work on a Wednesday so it didn't affect me. I visited Grandma, who was mightily enjoying the scenes of chaos on the television, and watching the snow from her warm, cosy living room.
In the afternoon James and I ventured out for a walk. It was deep underfoot and still snowing heavily. But with our snow boots on (I'm so glad that I bought nice new snow boots in Arabba!) we were able to have a good old tramp around the area and it was so good to get out into the fresh air. We walked up to Holmhills Park and were treated to dramatic snowy vistas across the city, although it was too grey to get any good photos.
The Met office put the central belt of Scotland on a Red alert weather warning between 3 p.m. on Wednesday and 10 a.m. on Thursday because more snow was forecast, which is extremely unusual. This meant that all schools were closed on Thursday too, so I am blogging this from home. I'm genuinely disappointed because today is National Book Day and I had already arranged a rather fetching Robin Hood costume for myself. This involves a green tunic with matching hat and green tights. I thought that my brown cowboy boots would look enough like medieval boots, and I have also purchased a large Robin Hood storybook to carry, to make it clear that it is a literary costume!
Spare a thought for wee Floof who has only been allowed outside for a week and is completely confused by the arrival of snow! She has loved being able to explore the garden and has taken very quickly to popping in and out of the cat flap, but is clearly not keen on the snow - to be fair the drifts are deep enough to cover her! Yesterday evening I went into the kitchen and saw her half in and half out of the cat flap, with her wee bottom still in the kitchen, as she tried to decide whether to head out into the strange white cold stuff!