Simon Yates and the missing rope

Just over a year ago when we were visiting Ally and Cat in London, we gathered some acorns in Oxleas Wood near Eltham, when we were walking a section of the Capital Ring. One of them has been in my desk drawer ever since. I have decided to try to grow it but I think I’m too late because one year is apparently the limit to plant it and I’m over that. If it doesn’t grow I can always try to grow one which has fallen this year. I have purchased a little “acorn vase” to try my luck. The acorn sits in its narrow neck with a reservoir of water beneath. 
Lesley and Chris came round for lunch today. We gave them spicy pumpkin soup followed by apple crumble. We used Cat’s Mum Christine’s recipe for the topping and it turned out really well. We had a good laugh and caught up on news. 
This evening we went to Cumbernauld Theatre with Gordon and Morag to hear Simon Yates speak about his mountaineering adventures. He is the climber who had to cut Joe Simpson’s rope when they were climbing together in South America after Joe Simpson fell over a cliff. (Yates had no choice or else he would have gone over the cliff too). Against all the odds Simpson survived and crawled back to their camp three days later. This incident became famous because of Simpson’s book and the subsequent film. James and I went to see the film at the cinema in the 1990s and I also remember us watching it on holiday in Orkney with the boys. Simon Yates appeared in the film as a narrator and although he is of course now in his 60s, he hasn’t changed much. He is a very good speaker, and told us about his extraordinary adventures in a self-deprecating and understated way, illustrated with slides. At the interval we were chatting to him as he signed his books, and Gordon (who, Morag told us, had been wondering about this all day) asked him if he had kept the rope that he cut! It was very funny! Simon Yates explained that he hadn’t kept it and it had ended up in the ravine into which Simpson had disappeared. An excellent evening. 

Chanel’s 30th Birthday

James was out using his new leaf blower in the garden yesterday; he is loving it! He brought me the last two yellow roses from a bush in the front garden. It’s called “Absolutely Fabulous” and James bought it in 2023 after we saw one in Tralee in Ireland. We loved it for its bright colour and its gorgeous scent, and the two last blooms today still smell lovely. I put them in a tiny vase and set them on the kitchen ledge. 
Yesterday was our Chanel’s 30th Birthday! We popped round with her gift late afternoon and gorgeous wee Jessica was sleeping peacefully all snuggled in to her Mummy! 
The wild and rainy weather continues; we went to Italian Renaissance Art today and had lunch first at Offshore Café in Gibson Street. It’s ages since I have been there and I have very happy memories of having lunches there about 20 years ago with Fiona M and our lovely tutor Ernie. The Art History class was good and I was amazed to learn that the Bellini cocktail was invented by the chef in Harry’s bar in Venice and so named because it’s peachy pink hues were reminiscent of the colours used by Italian Renaissance artist, Bellini. Similarly, the same chef named his thinly sliced raw beef dish, carpaccio, because its red colour reminded him of the palette used by the Italian Renaissance artist Carpaccio. How fascinating! 

World Opera Day

World Opera Day is today, the 25th October. I only know that because when James and I were at the Theatre Royal this afternoon the director Sir David McVicar came onto the stage to tell us so. We were there to see Turandot, the first time we have seen it, and it didn’t disappoint. The plot was about a cold-hearted princess who asks each of her suitors three riddles. If they get them wrong they are executed. Our hero Princes Calaf turns up and is not put off by this ridiculous and deadly test. Will he melt the ice maiden’s heart?
It was great to hear the iconic Nessun Dorma in context, when the whole kingdom is forbidden from sleeping until the hero’s name is revealed. The cast and lavish costumes and sets were all wonderful. It was an excellent way to spend a windy and rainy afternoon. 
When we got home James made dumplings to go with the boeuf bourgignon that I made yesterday. I wanted dumplings too so I ate them with vegetable chilli. We had a cosy evening with the cats. 

Storm and Batch Cooking

Well now we have another storm called  Storm Boelo and this one really is very windy as well as rainy. As I lie here in bed the gusts of wind outside are so fierce that the cats keep staring at the windows. It is a momentous day at Casa Anderson because we have made the move to our winter duvet! And the clocks will go back tonight. 
We made the most of this miserable weather today and did some batch cooking. I made vast quantities of boeuf bourgignon and James made four times quantities of his signature vegetable curry. In a moment of carelessness I grasped the metal handle of my one of big casseroles just after I took it out of the oven. It burned my hand sorely so I ran it under tepid water for about twenty minutes, but it was still painful. I put germolene on it and bandaged it up, which helped considerably. We had some of the vegetable curry for dinner and it was delicious. 

Tenzing and Spark

Today we have had the first named storm of the season; it’s called Storm Austen. In the 1970’s we would just have called it bad weather! It’s very wet but not much wind; I think it’s worse in parts of England.
On Wednesday, we went to the Royal Philosophical Society again, this time to hear a talk about investigating the solar system using an observatory in Chile called the Vera C. Rubin. It’s on top of a mountain north of Santiago but not as far north as San Pedro. The speaker was an American lady called Dr Megan Schwamb and she was very interesting. She is very clever and clearly loves her work. She is cataloguing millions of asteroids, comets, and near-Earth objects. It was quite technical but she explained it well. 
Then last night, James and I went to the cinema to see the film Tenzing. I went along because I thought that it would be nice for James, because he loves mountains. However, I think I loved it just as much as he did. It’s a tremendous film, fascinating and heartwarming, and I love that Tenzing and Hillary remained friends for the rest of their lives.
Today I was out for lunch with Chanel and Jessica! We went to Homegrown in Gartcosh and it was great, three generations lunching together! Jessica was just delightful, Chanel expertly fed her while we were eating and we had a good chat. Unfortunately Chanel had sad news to tell me. Her grandmother Parveen died on Wednesday and her funeral is today. She has been very ill recently but they thought that they would have more time with her. 
In the evening we went to see The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie at the Citz. I remember watching the tv series in the 1970s and it certainly captures the atmosphere of an all-girls private school like the one I attended. The first half was entertaining but the second half became (inevitably) increasingly depressing. James was not impressed. 

Art History issues

We had rather a disappointing afternoon last Tuesday because our Art History class had to be abandoned. Sybren couldn’t project the slides from his laptop to the big screen no matter what he tried. After half an hour one of the class pointed out that it’s not much good going to a class about the history of Art when you can’t see the paintings, and Sybren agreed to postpone the class. There was much dissatisfaction among our classmates and everyone vowed to send a stiff email of complaint to Sybren’s manager. James and I consoled ourselves by going to the Art Galleries for a coffee on our way home. Just as we arrived back at the car the heavens opened! The rain was lashing against the windscreen as we drove home; we were so lucky not to have been caught in it.
The art history drama continued after I sent my firm but fair email to Blair. I got several emails of apology from different officials which assured me that the issue had been resolved. And then today when we turned up for the class, Blair himself was standing in the corridor to make sure that the technology was working properly. I noticed that many of the class members seemed very excited by the issue and almost seemed disappointed when everything was working perfectly today. I suppose the next step would have been riots on the scale of what has been happening in Paris over the last week, with looting and tear gas! The class was very good and I really liked the paintings and frescoes by Fra Filippo Lippi. 

Birthday and Babies

On Friday I took the train and underground with Sue H to see the Hunterian Art Gallery at Glasgow Uni. I haven’t been there for many years.  First of all we had a tasty lunch of croque madame and croque forestière in the Patisserie Françoise. On our way in to the Hunterian through the revolving doors I had an unfortunate freak accident with the toggle on my jacket, when it got caught in the door, the elastic stretched out and then zapped Sue really hard on her thumb. I felt terrible because I could see that it really hurt her. We were both very impressed with the art gallery, Sue hasn’t been there for ages either. There was much more to see than I had remembered; lots of paintings by the Scottish Colourists. It was a really good afternoon.
Saturday was Davie‘s 31st birthday and he, Chanel and Jessica came here for lunch and birthday cake. It was really great to have the three of them round and Jessica was very alert. I love the way she looks around and then really focuses in on your face! She is so gorgeous. I feel so blessed to be a grandma. 
On Monday, I visited another baby! I drove through to Glenrothes to visit Rachael and baby Robin who is now four months old. He is a gorgeous boy, full of smiles and very active and wriggly. It was a lovely drive there and back in the car through beautiful countryside.

• I’m glad to say that Sue’s thumb made a full recovery.