James did not wait for Godot

We have been to see two plays, two nights in a row. The first was “Midsomer Murders, Murder at Badgers Drift” which was great fun. It starred Daniel Casey, the actor who originally played John Nettles’ sidekick in the tv series. I have only seen a few episodes of Midsomer Murders over the years but it was a neat wee murder mystery and quite funny too. The best line had to be from Barnaby: “I have been a police officer in Midsomer for thirty years and admittedly it doesn’t have the lowest crime rate in the country ….” Heather and I are old hands at this genre of theatre, however this time James and Ewan sportingly came along too, because I had accidentally booked four tickets! I booked two tickets for Heather and me almost a year ago, forgot all about it and then booked two more tickets six months later. I only realised when I went to write down the second booking into my diary. So we had a nice dinner in Il Pieno first, and I appreciated that Ewan had come straight from work by train to join us. James was bemused by the play; he didn’t hate it but ultimately thought that it was “tosh” which is why he avoids murder mysteries on television. 
Then we went to see Waiting for Godot at the Citizens Theatre with Gordon and Morag. We had pizzas first which were delicious. They have a strange system where you can’t order your pizza until a pile of pizza boxes can be seen being carried in from the restaurant next door, upon which the customers waiting in the bar rush forward to buy them! The excellent George Costigan played Vladimir and Matthew Kelly played Estragon. James wasn’t looking forward to it because he had read the play at school and loathed it. Unfortunately he didn’t enjoy seeing it performed either, and intermittently dozed off as well as sighing heavily from time to time and at one point during a very long monologue I distinctly heard him mutter “Shut up!” So I wasn’t too surprised when the interval he announced that he couldn’t bear to stay for the second half and was heading home. In other words, James didn’t wait for Godot! The other three of us enjoyed it though; Morag said that it was performed more humorously than the London production that they saw recently. It was spell-binding despite being described by critics during its first production as “the play where nothing happens - twice!” 

Walks and waterfalls

When I was walking up the drive the other day I saw that Flora was watching me from inside the living room window. She absolutely stared at me and according to James, who was also in the living room, she started moaning and growling. As I approached the house I could see her wee mouth grimacing and James told me that she was hissing loudly! Flora has done this before with many people that she knows well; I think it must be territorial and she hates to see someone invading her territory and this overrides her recognition until they are close to her. Yesterday, James and I walked round one of our favourite places, Chatelherault Country Park. It was dreich rather than full on rainy, and James was equipped appropriately in his walking trousers, gore-tex jacket and backpack. As we approached the café for lunch after our 8 km walk, a family were just emerging into the drizzle. I saw them looking at James, and I heard the father say, “Look at him, dressed like that, he’s ready for any weather!” I felt proud of my husband’s preparedness! I was also wearing waterproof clothing, but James always looks particularly smartly turned out, whatever the occasion.

Today the weather was much better when we went for a 12 km circular walk at New Lanark via the Falls of Clyde and Kirkfieldbank. There was a huge amount of water plunging down the waterfalls; thundering with clouds of spray as it rushed down the valley; it was spectacular. The paths were muddy underfoot and there were lots of snowdrops on the river banks. It was a lovely walk. 

Walking beside the River Broom

We had a great five days in Ullapool. I did some Children’s Panel prep, some painting and some reading. We also had a good video call with Jamie and Kerry to chat about wedding plans. We also enjoyed doing a bit of walking along the River Broom from the small bridge at Auchindrean to the bridge at Lochbroom Lodge. We walked along the river path which was pretty and involved climbing up and down lots of steps. When we got to the main bridge we turned up the hill and then walked back along the unsurfaced road to the car, about 10 km in all. Then the next day we parked the car at the main bridge and walked along to Clachan Church. It was from here  in 1773 that 189 local people were rowed out to the sailing ship Hector which was moored in the loch nearby. Eighteen of them died of dysentery or smallpox on their eleven week journey to Pictou in Nova Scotia, where they were not given their promised year’s worth of free provisions, so had to scramble to survive. As the song goes, “I wonder how you got on when you reached the promised land?” After looking around the churchyard we walked on past the start of Loch Broom for about 3 km before retracing our steps. It was interesting to explore a new part of the area. We headed home on Tuesday afternoon; on the way we listened to a couple more episodes about Nelson on The Rest is History. 

Book Club, Social and Art

It has been a pleasant week. I had a lovely time at Book Club at Jenny W’s, we discussed The Names and there was plenty to talk about. Rachel told us the lovely news that she is expecting a baby in August, I’m just so delighted for her and John; they have been through so much and deserve this happiness. On Thursday morning I went to observe three Children’s Panel hearings. Obviously I can’t discuss what happened but it was very interesting and I was impressed by the panel members’ knowledge and skills. Later we had coffee with Marjory and Forrest, we had a nice chat and Marjory seems to be getting on ok but it’s still so recent that her Mum died, my heart goes out to her. 

Gerry and Janis were on good form when we had brunch with them on Thursday; they are loving being grandparents to wee Rory who is already nine months old.

I have started back at art classes on Fridays at the PPWH. We still have the same lovely art teacher, Jenni, and most of the same students. I am hoping to learn how to use watercolours. Or at least to start to learn how to use watercolours! And straight after the class James and I headed to Ullapool where we are spending a few days. 

Jean-Luc Godard and Pickleball

Jamie phoned us on Sunday just before our plane took off to tell us that he was on his way to his first day of his new job as a consultant paediatrician. I so feel excited for him and proud of him. On Monday Heather and I met for dinner in Sarti’s and then continued our French film club (pour deux personnes!) by going to see A Bout de Souffle at the GFT. It’s part of a Jean-Luc Godard season. It was filmed in 1960 and its chaotic, amoral lead characters were probably quite shocking at the time. Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg were both very young and beautiful, and despite the brief and unsatisfying plot, the film is still very compelling. I enjoyed it very much. 

The next day I went to my first ever game of Pickleball at the church hall, which was great fun. Alison T invited me, and I was delighted to meet up with Janie and Lesley, as well as a couple of girls I didn’t know. Everyone was very welcoming and we were quite a mixed ability group so I didn’t feel out of place due to my lack of skills. I will certainly return. 

Birdwatching

After a breakfast of coffee and pastries at their flat, Ally suggested that we all visit Rainham Marshes nature reserve, which is only a twenty-five minute drive from Limehouse. It’s hard to believe that these peaceful marshy wetlands are so close to London. It has a visitor centre with friendly, enthusiastic staff who told us what birds to look out for at this time of year. The weather was grey but it stayed dry for us as we walked the 5 km circuit, stopping at several bird hides on the way. Inside these hides, numerous bird enthusiasts were spending their Sunday afternoon watching birds with binoculars and long lens cameras, often with a flask of soup or sandwiches to sustain them. Information on sightings was exchanged, such as “Look over there, a female marsh harrier sitting on the ground - you don’t often see that!” We saw many ducks including tufted ducks, marsh harriers, lapwings with their long crests sticking up from the back of their heads, jays, and lots of geese. Ally had been keen to see a bearded tit but this proved elusive so he will have to go back another day. So will Cat, whose ambition to spot a water vole was unfulfilled! I found this foray into the world of bird watchers to be fascinating; I admired their dedication and friendliness. Every time that we visit them in London, Ally and Cat take us to new and interesting places.  

Two bongs from Big Ben

We got the front seats on the DLR on the way to meet Ally and Cat and it was great fun pretending to drive it! We met Ally and Cat for brunch in a delightful French café called Chez Antoinette near St James’ Park, then made our way to Westminster for our Big Ben tour. We have toured the Houses of Parliament before, but none of us had ever climbed the 334 steps up to the bell tower. The tour was great, the tour guide told us so many interesting facts about the clock tower, its history and mechanism. We had fantastic views from the top and then came the main event; we were provided with ear defenders just in time for the bells to chime the hour, and since it was 2 p.m. we were treated to two resounding “bongs” from Big Ben (which is the name of the bell rather than the tower.) The whole experience was even better than I had hoped. After a quick coffee, Ally and Cat took us to Portobello Road to see the shops and the market. On the way we noticed that the actress Celia Imrie was sitting near us on the tube; when we disembarked Ally offered to carry her case up the stairs for her. She accepted and called him a gentleman - I was so proud of him! We have never been to Portobello Road before and it was vibrant and busy, we were reminded of the song and dance scene from the film “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” and we saw the bookshop that featured in the film “Notting Hill.” We went to a nearby pub for a tasty dinner and then took the tube across London to the National Theatre to see Ballet Shoes. Ballet Shoes is one of both Cat’s and my favourite childhood books, in fact Cat gave me a copy of the book and a DVD of the recent film for my birthday a few years ago. So going to the play felt like a bit of a risk in case it didn’t live up to our expectations. I need not have worried; it was an excellent production and we all enjoyed it. What a great day we have had!