We didn’t mean to go to Durness

The fires in the Gironde region at their worst caused a "pyrocumulonimbus" - a giant fire thunderstorm fuelled by its own winds and lightning. There is a smoky haze over Bordeaux and even eighty miles east of Bordeaux at Jennifer’s house in Lot-et-Garonne the air smells smoky. However although it is still burning, the firefighters in the area seem to be containing it so Bordeaux is not immediately under threat. 
I was sorry to hear that my favourite Goody, Bill Oddie, has died. Although I liked the other two as well, in fact they were all my favourites. The Goodies was such a great programme in my childhood memory. 
I have done so much batch cooking that the freezer in the garage is just about full, so today James and I decided to go on a northerly expedition to the Rockstop Café near Scourie and then Lochinver. However at the turn off to Kylescu we came across two hitchhikers, a mother and son from Germany, who were heading to Durness. So we decided just to take them there instead! They were very pleasant; the mum, Katya, is a chemical geologist and the son, Anton, is still at school. We drove through the beautiful Sutherland scenery with James pointing out the mountains like an proper tour guide, and as we arrived in Durness a mummy duck and six ducklings crossed the road in front of us, it was very sweet. There was even less of Durness than I remembered. After we dropped Katya and Anton off, we had a light lunch at Coco Mountain in the hippy dippy craft village and then went for a walk along Balnakiel Beach. It’s a gorgeous beach with a broad swathe of white sand, and the weather was blowy but sunny. The mountains and lochs were spectacular on our way back to Ullapool. 

A Country Night in Inverness

We had a relaxing start to Saturday and enjoyed sitting outside in the sunshine at the cottage. After lunch we headed back to Inverness where we did a large Tesco shopping for some batch cooking, and then we met Alison and Hugh for dinner. Alison had booked  McBain’s, which is down at the river a short walk from the Eden Court Theatre. The restaurant was very busy and I was glad that Alison had booked, because Inverness is clearly very busy at the height of the summer. We had a tasty meal and a good chat. 
I’m just blogging The show that we went to see was Dominic Halpin and the Hurricanes playing “A Country Night in Nashville.” It was Alison’s suggestion that we should go and it turned out to be excellent, they are such a good covers band and played lots of well known Country songs. There was a great atmosphere and everyone was up dancing. The second last song was my great favourite “Wagon Wheel” and the last song was James’ favourite “Dance the Night Away” which was a great ending to the concert. 
Today I have been cooking all day while listening to podcasts and taking the occasional break to sit outside on the bench and drink a coffee in the company of Tom and Floof. Unfortunately I have run out of containers to freeze the food so I have had to order more online! 

Commonwealth Games 2026

Last night James and I went with Davie and Chanel to the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. It was held at the Hydro and first we had a tasty dinner in Joia on Argyle Street. When we were walking through the tunnel that crosses the Expressway we could see all of the athletes lining up outside the Hydro to do their parade. The Opening Ceremony was excellent, very well organised. The King and Queen appeared to arrive by Tardis which was quite amusing, and were escorted to their seats by Sir Chris Hoy. There was music and dancing, and in came the athletes, happy and excited to be there after all their hard work in training. Various officials made some pleasantly short speeches and then there was more musical entertainment culmination in KT Tunstall singing “Suddenly I see.” There was a big queue at exhibition Centre station, but thanks to Chanel’s state of pregnancy were waved to the front of it which was delightful. A great evening.
And then today we were at the SEC to watch two sessions of the Commonwealth Games, again with David and Chanel. The first one we watched was five aside basketball which was very fast moving and very interesting, it took me awhile to pick up the rules. We had lunch in the SEC and then went to our second section, which was bowling. Again it was very interesting and I felt I learned quite a lot about the game. James and I left a little bit early because we were going to drive up to (Ullapool) in the evening. After dinner we captured the cats with unusual efficiency, and made good time to Ullapool, arriving at about 11 p.m. The cats were on good form and went outside to explore the garden. 
Further to my post on Wednesday, we saw on the news that all of the Cap Ferret peninsula has now been evacuated, either by road or by the same ferries that we took between Cap Ferret and Arcachon. 

Cooler Summer in Scotland

Our journey home on Tuesday went smoothly and by mid-afternoon we were reunited with Tom and Floof who seemed very pleased to see us and followed us around the house and garden.
I was shocked to see on the news that huge forest fires have broken out near Cap Ferret on the Arcachon Basin, where we were only a few days ago. And two local firefighters died earlier this week fighting another fire close to Bordeaux airport. As I have already mentioned in my last few blog entries it is very, very hot down there in South-West France and all of the grass and trees must be extremely dry and ready to burst into flames. 
I have recently been in touch with my Mum’s friend Heather from Glasgow School of Art in the 1950s. Heather has sent me a bundle of letters that my Mum wrote to her in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I was a little bit worried that I would feel very sad when I was reading them, but they were lovely letters and it was just like hearing my mum‘s voice again. The first letter was written just three months before my dad died in January 1997; at that time they couldn’t find anything wrong with him but with hindsight it seems obvious that the cancer had come back. Mum was never really the same after he died. She tried, and in a lot of ways succeeded, to get on with her life, but she had loved and relied on him so much, and missed him very much for the next 13 years. She did get a lot of joy out of all five of her grandsons, and she was a fantastic grandmother. She used to make all sorts of arts and crafts with them, they were very lucky. It was great that she lived just along the road and we could all pop in and out to see her. In one of the letters she had written a wee poem about Dad and her, here it is:
He was my life, he was my friend. 
Our parting had to come one day. 
But surely this is not the end
He waits for me? I cannot say.
But if we never meet again,
If what I had is all there is,
I will not be ungrateful then
That he was mine, and I was his.

Bletchley Park and The Cherry Orchard

The first thing that I noticed when we walked down the steps of our plane at Luton Airport was how pleasantly cool was the midnight air - so much cooler than Bordeaux! Our plane was an hour late when we arrived at our airport hotel, just a short walk away from the terminal, we dived straight into bed. 
The temperature today at Bletchley Park was 26 degrees, which I used to think was very warm but at 10 degrees cooler than Bordeaux it felt really refreshing! There was a nice gentle breeze too. We went to Bletchley on our way to Stratford-upon-Avon and the huts with exhibitions about all the secret code-breaking during the war are really interesting and the grounds are beautiful. James was fascinated by all of the code-breaking machines and the history of the place. We continued to Stratford and checked in to the Swan’s Nest hotel, a pleasant and very central hotel right beside the river. Dinner was at our favourite, the Rooftop Restaurant at the RSC, and then we went downstairs to watch our play.
The aristocracy in Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard are so frustrating. They don’t want to lose the estate, including the cherry orchard, but they are not willing to do anything at all to save it. There was an extremely strong cast. Kenneth Branagh was energetic as Lopakhin, who tried and failed to motivate the estate owners with practical suggestions but was himself paralysed with indecision when it came to proposing marriage to Varya. Helen Hunt was the feckless matriarch Ranyevskaya and Bill Pullman was her idle brother Gaev. The younger members of the cast were also very good and their characters proved equally as incapable of helping themselves or each other. Michael Elwyn, who is 83, played the aged and loyal retainer, ultimately forgotten by the family, who shuffled around the stage muttering to himself. I really enjoyed it but James said that it’s the second worst play that I have ever taken him to (after Long Day’s Journey into Night!) I reminded him about Waiting for Godot but he said that didn’t count because that time he left at the interval! 
I saw Summerfolk in March this year at the National Theatre, which Gorky wrote as a response to The Cherry Orchard. So it was interesting to compare the two. Chekhov seems to sympathise with the melancholy and fading aristocracy who are losing their heritage and their way of life. However Gorky portrays his bourgeois characters as brash and stupid and unaware that the peasants will soon overthrow them in their turn.
We strolled back across the bridge to our hotel for a drink in the bar on this last night of our holiday. 

Art in the Submarine Base

It was our last day in beautiful Bordeaux and the temperature rose to about 37 degrees in the afternoon! We had breakfast sitting outside a café in the Place de la Comédie which was a great place for people watching. Then we had a stroll around the old town before taking a tram to the Musée Mer Marine in the old harbour area of Bordeaux. It was a great wee museum, all about the history of sea-faring in Bordeaux from pre-historic times through Roman and medieval times to the modern day. It was really interesting, with lots of model boats of different eras which I loved. It was a short but hot walk from there to the Bordeaux Submarine Base (Base Sous-Marine,) built by the Germans during the Second World War, which is now used as an arts venue. The concrete walls are amazingly thick which makes the interior fairly cool, and we watched two projections all around the walls of several huge halls; one was about Matisse and one was about Frida Kahlo. The submarine tanks are still full of seawater, twelve metres deep, so the projections were also reflected in the dark water which was very effective. I was sitting on the concrete floor watching the display when an official came up to me and told me to stand up; he explained that the designated seating area was in the next hall. I was so flustered when I was getting up that I managed to knock my sunglasses irretrievably into the water below. And there they must remain, along with the ghosts of Nazi submarines. The official pointed this out to me rather sternly, which I thought was a bit rich considering that it was at least partly his fault!
By the time we were ready to go back to the hotel I just couldn’t face the twenty minute walk and then tram ride back to the hotel so James very kindly ordered an Uber which was air conditioned and so pleasant, and it delivered us right to the door of the hotel. We had cool drinks in the bar and read our books for a while before heading to the airport for our evening flight to Luton. 

A Day at the Seaside

We caught a morning train to Arcachon. What a lovely little seaside town it is! It’s also very smart and there are posters to warn that topless people (whatever their gender!) will be fined. We had breakfast sitting in the shade outside a café decorated with flowers, then wandered through the market where James bought me a sundress, a beach bag and a towel for the beach. But before swimming in the sea we spontaneously jumped onto a ferry which took us across to the peninsula of Cap Ferret. On the way we got an excellent view of the famous Dune du Pilat; basically a really massive pile of sand. The pretty seaside village of Cap Ferret is even more upmarket than Arcachon, and it has lots of oyster beds on the seashore. We walked along the front and had cake and ice cream at the delightful but expensive Frédélian Restaurant. By this time it was very, very hot, and the sea breeze was like a hot hairdryer. After a refreshing drink beside the pier we caught the ferry back to Arcachon. There was a long queue of day-trippers heading back so there were extra ferries running, which was very helpful. James found himself a bench to sit on and read his book, under the shade of one of the huge, mushroom shaped pine trees that line the promenade in Arcachon. And now arrived the highlight of my day; a swim in the sea! It was very busy in the supervised area of the beach; lots of families with sunshades and towels, but it didn’t matter because there was plenty of room in the sea! The sea was like a warm bath but it was cooler than the air temperature and it was absolutely idyllic swimming about in the gentle waves from the many boats. Eventually I reluctantly left the water and used one of the beach showers to remove most of the salt from my body. I dried off so quickly in the heat that I barely needed my towel! We had dinner in one of the beachfront restaurants, watching the waves lapping in the sand. We caught the 9.05 p.m. train back to Bordeaux, which takes about 50 minutes. By the time we got back to the hotel it was dark and we had showers and went straight to bed, exhausted. 

Back in St Emilion

We visited St Emilion two years ago with Jenn and Russ and it was lovely to be back in this beautiful little village with its steep cobbled streets and many wine shops. It’s really easy to get to by direct train from Bordeaux, which only takes just over half an hour. It’s about one and a half kilometres walk from the train station to the village; We had breakfast in a little café called Le Bouchon before strolling around the streets. James did some wine tasting at Couvent des Jacobins and treated himself to a bottle of red. We decided to return to Bordeaux late afternoon when it was extremely hot so we treated ourselves to a taxi back to the station kindly ordered for us by the proprietor of a café. To our surprise the taxi which arrived was a very smart Tesla whose doors opened up like gull’s wings. We got envious looks when we drew up at the station in it. A mercifully air-conditioned train carried us back to the city in comfort. 
In the evening we sallied forth into the town centre of Bordeaux, a little cooler than during the day. I took off my sandals and joined the many people paddling on the surface of the Water Mirror (Miroir d’Eau.) It’s in front of the Place de la Bourse, and is a large reflecting pool with only 2 cm of water over gigantic granite slabs, which is still very pleasant on the feet. We had a delicious dinner in Place St Pierre and lingered over our coffees in the twilight. As we headed back to catch the tram back to the hotel we could see the Pont de Pierre bridge over the Garonne, lit up against the darkening sky. 

A Hot Day in Bordeaux

We spent most of today walking around Bordeaux revisiting this beautiful city. We had a nice petit déjeuner formule near the station and then headed into the old town. It was hot, hot, hot! However we walked in the shade where we could, and I used both my cooling towel and my cooling neck fan to control my own temperature. James of course was fine; he manages in the heat much better than me. As we walked along the streets we recognised the route through several little squares and along a narrow street, where we used to walk two years ago; our current hotel is not far from our previous one, both are near the station. 
We went to the Bordeaux Museum, which we had already looked around on our first visit two years ago; it was very interesting especially seeing how the city had evolved over the centuries. We walked around the shopping area and had cool drinks in one of the many tree-shaded squares. The buildings are very elegant and there are great big city gates. It is such an attractive city. James purchased 72 hour tram tickets and there is a tram stop just round the corner from our hotel; we can travel to or from the centre of town in about 15 minutes which is really handy. After a late siesta back at the hotel we went to a nearby restaurant for dinner. It’s called “Eat Salad” which sounds like a bit of a command to me! It was simple but tasty. 

Sous la Canicule

After a delightful breakfast on the patio and a morning at the pool we all went into Eymet for lunch. We went to a little creperie in the main square where we had some excellent galettes. The medieval town centre is very beautiful, we visited it two years ago as well. Back at the house we packed up and said our goodbyes to Russ, then Jennifer gave us a lift to Marmande where we said goodbye to her and caught a train into Bordeaux. Jenn and Russ will be leaving France tomorrow after six weeks of holiday, however we’re staying in Bordeaux for a few more days. We had planned lots of day trips but it’s so hot that I think we will need to choose carefully and perhaps have shorter trips. This heat wave is called a “Canicule” in France. La canicule is the French for a heatwave; Cani comes from the Latin for dog, so it is actually similar to the old phrase “dog days of summer.” Apparently this is because the arrival in the night sky of Canis Major, the Dog Star, often heralded hot weather. We checked into our hotel and had dinner before watching the England vs Argentina football World Cup semi-final on television. England scored a goal but Argentina (who seemed to be playing a bit rough!) then scored two goals and soon it was all over; we felt really sorry that England lost. 

Football World Cup and late night swimming

Today was hot in Lot-et-Garonne; 37 degrees. After breakfast of baguette with butter and jam, James went for a walk to Allemans du Dropt and Jennifer and I headed to the pool where we swam, read our books and chatted. 
In the evening we went back to Allemans where the whole village was watching the France v Spain semi-final on a giant screen in the colonnaded village square. There were also food stalls and bars open for the Bastille Day celebrations. Unfortunately for the spectators France lost the match, so their celebrations were rather curtailed; the planned fireworks had already been cancelled because of the current fire risk due to the hot weather. Someone started playing Viva Espana on the big screen and someone else immediately unplugged it! 
We went back to the house and went for a late night swim in the pool. We floated around looking at all of the stars in the clear sky. We saw the Milky Way, lots of constellations, and Star-links shooting across the sky. It was magical. 

Bonjour la France!

We got up nice and early and were in excellent time for our 8.20 flight. Our journey went smoothly and we arrived in Bordeaux where the pilot told us that the temperature is “only” 35 degrees which made the passengers laugh! (This part of France has been very hot recently with temperatures up to 42 degrees!) we jumped straight on a bus from the airport to the station which meant that we had time to have a light lunch in a café opposite the station before catching a train which arrived at Marmande at 3.40 p.m. Jennifer and Russell were there to meet us and whisked us to their beautiful red-roofed farmhouse in Puysserampion. It wasn’t long before I was in their delightfully cool swimming pool, which is surrounded by grass, fig trees and plum trees, with fields of sunflowers and maize all around. Jennifer and I swam around and chatted and drank cool drinks. It was really hot so thank goodness for the pool. Also thank goodness for the air conditioning upstairs which ensured a good night’s sleep for us later. Jennifer and Russell made us a splendid barbecue later. They lit candles all around the patio and had a large fan to keep us cool. We listened to music including Ben’s recently released album which was brilliant, and then a mix of 70s and 80s music which felt very appropriate for the warm summer evening. After the barbecue and a gorgeous cheeseboard, Jennifer produced an amazing and extremely tasty raspberry tart which was the perfect ending to a perfect evening. 

Celebrity farewells

Three very well known people have died recently, all of them in their seventies but before their time. 

Bonnie Tyler died on 8th July (confirmed on 9th) This was sad but she had been very ill in hospital for months so it wasn’t a surprise. We loved seeing her at the Dubai Expo with Ally and Cat and I have always been particularly fond of two of her songs. Firstly “Lost in France” which was released in the hot summer of 1976, just at the beginning of my love affair with France. And secondly of course “Total Eclipse of the Heart” that classic rock anthem from 1983, which had a great video, and to which we all danced in Dubai. 
On Friday 10th there was news of the politician (and one time Strictly Come Dancing contestant) Ann Widdecombe’s death, she was found dead in her home on Thursday. She was elderly (not that elderly; 78) and these things happen. But by later in the day it was reported that she had been murdered by an intruder, which is horrible. One suspect was arrested and released but now someone else has been arrested and no one else is being sought so it looks like they have got him. 
And this morning we heard on the news that the New Zealand actor Sam Neill has died. He was so brilliant in the first Jurassic Park film; brilliant as the paleontologist absolutely bowled over by seeing real dinosaurs. He also had a vineyard in New Zealand, and seemed an all round good guy. One of those strange coincidences is that when we were in Crystal Palace Park yesterday with Ally and Cat, looking at the dinosaurs, Ally mentioned that they have recently been re-watching the Jurassic Park films, and we were talking about the stars; Richard Attenborough, Jeff Goldblum, and of course Sam Neill. 

Brunch and Crystal Palace Park

This morning Cat took us to a new brunch place in Wapping called El & A’s Brunch which had fresh and delicious food. It also had a powerful fan to cool the air, which was very useful because this was another very hot day in London. 
We then travelled to Crystal Palace Park by the overground which was delightfully air-conditioned. James and I have never been to Crystal Palace and it was very interesting; the buildings are long gone but there is still a large, level expanse of ground where they once stood. Ally expertly navigated us on shady tree-lined paths through the large park, we stopped for cool drinks at a wee café and Ally and Cat got brain freeze from drinking slushies! I opted to sit under the shade of a tree while the other three boldly attempted the maze. They quickly got lost and I could hear their voices from time to time as they passed near me behind the hedge which was very funny. They finally emerged and we continued through the park to see the dinosaurs! These life size models of dinosaurs were constructed in Victorian times according to what the scientists in those days thought that dinosaurs looked like. There were information boards which showed how the Victorians had interpreted the bones compared to how modern scientists have interpreted them. (Although who’s to say that we haven’t got it right either!) As a result the dinosaur models in the park, although impressive, are a bit strange looking to us. My favourite was a fat dinosaur lying on its side! 
Back at the flat we had coffee before bidding a fond farewell to Ally and Cat, and heading to Gatwick Airport where we had booked a Travelodge in view of our early start tomorrow morning. Soon we were tucked up in bed with the air conditioning on full blast! 

Lunch, theatre and football in London

A beautiful day in London; not a cloud in the brilliant blue sky. Alasdair and Cat took us for lunch to Murano, a restaurant that Cat knows. It was their (very generous) Christmas present to us. The restaurant was pristine and delightfully cool in this hot weather, and the service was excellent. But the food was the absolute star of the show: it is Italian as you would surmise from the name of the restaurant, and of an extremely high standard. It was also very imaginative; the gazpacho and panzanella that I ordered were unique and gorgeous. For dessert, Cat and I both couldn’t decide between the caramelised lemon tart or the strawberry soufflé so we ordered both and split them! Both were equally delicious. Ally enjoyed his semi-freddo and James his frangipani tart. We had such a lovely time and chatted about anything and everything.

Into the hot streets of London we went, and strolled through Green Park and St James’ Park, both busy with families. We had drinks in a German Beer Cellar before making our way to one of our old favourite haunts; the Globe Theatre. There we saw a really good production of Much Ado about Nothing, which was laugh out loud funny. The best characters were Benedict and Beatrice. 

Then we went back to the flat where we were joined by Andrew to watch the World Cup semi-finals. We sat on their comfy couches with the French windows wide open to the balcony and the Thames beyond as the cooler night air began to come in. It was idyllic. Ally and Cat provided us all with drinks and snacks and it was a fascinating game, full of thrills and tense moments including a goal from Norway that was disallowed. England finally won the game in extra and we were delighted for them. What a perfect day we have had! 

Buddleias in Luton

Yesterday was another very warm day. James and I went into town to have brunch with Gerry and Janis at All Bar One. We had our usual cheery chat about holidays and grandchildren and all the fun of retirement. Back home we finished packing and enjoyed the sunshine with the cats.
What a warm night it was, I opened all of the windows upstairs when we went to bed but it was still really warm. 
In the morning we set off to drive the six and a half hours to Luton Airport (plus stops so it was more like eight hours. It got hotter and hotter as we drove south. We parked the car in the long stay car park and caught a bus to the train station. All around the airport were buddleia with their blue blooms, they are very attractive. The most trying part of the journey was the Luton Express train to St Pancras. It was almost unbearably hot, if there was air conditioning it was overwhelmed by the heat. As was I. So when we arrived at the station we popped into an air conditioned café for an early tea. Pleasantly cooled down we travelled to Ally and Cat’s flat. It was great to see them and we had a cup of tea and a good chat. They had very kindly purchased a large but very quiet fan which kept the spare bedroom nice and cool for us. The sky was a stunning pink and blue as the sun set. 

Gooseberries and baby kicks

Yesterday I took part in my first three children’s hearings as a qualified panel member. It was online so I was worried that the technology wouldn’t work but it was all fine. The other panel members were both supportive and complimentary. My next hearings are in August in Hamilton. I’m pleased to have got started. 
This morning I had brunch with Sue H and we had a great chat. The weather had started grey and cloudy but the sun came out and it became a hot and sunny afternoon. The cats loved us being in the garden and stretched out on the slabs, moving into the shade when they got too hot. I picked lots of gooseberries and washed, topped, tailed and put them in the freezer. 
This evening we went to the quiz night with Davie and Chanel at the Rowantree Inn, where we triumphed, winning by half a point! Even more excitingly Chanel let me put my hand on her tummy and I felt the baby kicking! 

Duxford Air Show and another magnificent barbecue

Yesterday we went to the Duxford Air Show with Mitchell and Gosia. It was a gorgeous day although by the afternoon I was sweltering and had to seek the shade of the beer tent canopy! My hero Gosia brought me a cup of ice cubes which I put in James’ skip cap on top of my head; this cooled me down very effectively. The display was full and lively, mainly of WW1 and WW2 planes. Gosia had brought a lovely picnic which we ate while sitting in deckchairs on the grass. We also went into the museum where we went on Concorde, this was a test Concorde which never carried paying passengers. There were lots of other planes too and James was in his element. It was a great day. We got back to Gosia and Mitchell’s at about 6.30 and they made another fantastic barbecue which we ate in the garden in the warm evening. Mitchell and James drank a bottle of Saint-Emilion 
The England World Cup football game against Mexico was due to start at about 1 a.m. so none of us planned to watch it. However Mitchell was awoken by cheering emanating from their local pub (which isn’t even all that close to their house!) so he couldn’t resist getting up to watch the end of the game. It was worth it because they won 3-2! James and I didn’t hear him getting up and slept through the whole thing. 
In the morning Gosia and Mitchell went to work while James and I had breakfast in their garden, then Mitchell very kindly popped home to give us a lift to the airport. We also heard the happy news that our niece Jenny is engaged to James! They are a very pleasant young couple and we wish them all the happiness. 

English Villages and a magnificent barbecue

4th July
Gosia and Mitchell collected us from our hotel this morning and gave us a brilliant tour of some of the very pretty villages in Essex and Suffolk. 
These are a few of many highlights. We visited a really high and beautifully built railway viaduct at Wakes Colne, constructed of red brick in the 19th century. Needless to say we climbed up into the arches to take hilarious photos! 
Then we had a walk in the tiny village of Kersey in Suffolk, which is stunningly pretty. It has a Norman Church at one end, and a shallow ford right in the middle of the road. The beautiful medieval timbered houses had many huge hollyhocks in their gardens and even sprouting from cracks in the pavements. 
We had coffee at a wee café in Long Melford which has quirky and interesting shops along its high street. 
This was the area that Mitchell grew up in, and he showed us where his parents had a shop right across the road from where they lived in Sybil Headingham. In Little Maplestead, back in Essex, we stopped at St John’s Round Church, one of only four round medieval churches in the UK. It was a joy to behold and quaint on the inside too, with stained glass windows and a wooden beamed ceiling. 
Back in Braintree Gosia and Mitchell made us the barbecue of all barbecues which we consumed in their verdant garden. We had such a great evening in excellent company. 

Farewells and journeys

We packed up and left Ullapool after lunch yesterday. Jamie and Kerry also set off southwards and went into Glasgow to look at wedding rings, and Davie and Chanel are staying on in Ullapool for another few days of holiday. On the way south James and I listened to The Rest is History podcast about Boswell and Dr Johnson; it was very informative and in places very funny. 

We had a nice chat with Jamie and Kerry in the evening and then this morning we had brunch together at Hugh’s in Burnside before bidding them a very fond and wistful farewell when they set off back to New Zealand via Glasgow Airport and Dubai. 

However Jamie and Kerry were not the only ones setting off on a journey! A few hours later we arrived at Glasgow Airport ourselves for our flight to London Stansted. We are going to visit Gosia and Mitchell and go to the Duxford Air Show. Because of our late evening arrival we have booked in to the Radisson Blu at the airport for our first night. It is comfy and has air-conditioning thank goodness. 

By the way I have just finished a biography of Eileen Blair, the wife of writer George Orwell. I realised that the man who towed my car out of a field on Jura in 2024 is the grandson of Robin Fletcher, who rented Barnhill on Jura to George Orwell in the late 1940s when he was writing the book 1984! What a coincidence! 

Otter Spotters

Today was rather a drizzly day on and off but that didn’t keep us indoors; we walked into the village and had a convivial lunch at the Ceilidh Place.
Jamie and Kerry walked up Ullapool Hill and later we all watched the England v Congo football World Cup Game which England won 2 - 1. We had chilli con carne for dinner and then played Sequence. It was a lovely day but the best was yet to come! 
At about 10.30 p.m. Jamie suggested sallying forth into the dusk to see if we could see some otters at the estuary; Cal had told us yesterday that it was the best place to see them. I had already gone up to bed but Chanel knocked on my bedroom door to invite me and I gladly joined the young ones and headed to the estuary. We walked along the edge of the Bull Park and although there were quite a few bats flying around and there were a few ducks nestled on the grass above the riverbank, we couldn’t see any otters. After a while Chanel and I decided to walk back to the cottage and just after we set off, Chanel pointed at the riverbank just across from us. There were two otters splashing in and out of the water! We quickly phoned Jamie and Davie who were close by and we all stood and watched the otters. It was amazing! The otters seemed to be having lots of fun, playing about and running along the riverbank. What a fantastic end to the day, and the first time that I have seen otters in the wild, apart from sea otters floating past the ship in Alaska in 2013.

Midgiegate

Last night was not without incident; after the party a window was found to have been left open, a light had been left on, and ten million midges had invaded the living room where Ally and Cat were to sleep. Ally and Cat had to fight them off valiantly with a feather duster! All was sorted but there were a few very tired people in the morning. 
Cat’s second cousin James and his partner Cal arrived round for morning coffee and it was great to see them again. They were telling us about their recent adventures racing up steps on St Helena, filming a bicycle race across Africa, and their ongoing project of restoring their boat. Cal was telling us about reintroducing Manx Shearwaters to the Isle of Canna after their population had been wiped out by rats; it was fascinating. They had to move some chicks from Rum to Canna before they became fledglings, so that when they first saw the world it was from Canna and therefore they would always return there. 
We said our goodbyes to Kevin, and Jamie and Kerry drove him to Inverness to catch his train south. The rest of us also headed to Inverness where we met Davie and Chanel, who had just driven up from Uddingston, and the eight of us had lunch in the Castle Tavern which was excellent. Then off we all set to Fort George, a perfect destination for this sunny afternoon, suggested by Ally. We strolled past the barracks and up to the ramparts overlooking the Moray Firth, where we could see a number of dolphins besporting themselves in the water below us. Then we made our way around the ramparts back to the entrance. 
Sadly it was time to say goodbye to Ally and Cat, who were returning to London this evening. James and I dropped them off at the airport and met Jamie, Kerry, Davie and Chanel back at Ullapool where we had pizzas for tea. Later we watched Cal’s documentary about paddle boarding from Lands End to John O’Groats which was very interesting and beautifully filmed. 

Boat trip at Kylescu

We decided to take the ferry to Handa Island this morning but after driving the hour and twenty minutes to Tarbet we found a notice on the ferry kiosk which said “No ferries today, sorry!” This was mildly annoying because this was one of the days that they are supposed to be open, however we are all very adaptable so we had a delicious seafood lunch at the Kylescu Hotel and took the boat trip on Loch a Chàirn Bhàin to see the UK’s highest waterfall, Eas a' Chual Aluinn. We also saw lots of seals with their newborn babies, various seabirds and some dolphins leaping from the water. The sun came and went behind rain clouds but it only drizzled for a short while and we got fantastic views of the waterfall and surrounding hills. James had a very heavy nosebleed earlier, so after our boat trip James, Kevin and I headed back to the cottage while Ally, Cat, Jamie and Kerry stayed in the north to visit Ardvreck Castle among other places. I dropped James and Kevin at the cottage while I went to Tesco but when I arrived home I found that James had inadvertently locked me out. The trouble was I knew that both men had been going to have naps so I didn’t want to disturb them so soon. So I sat outside the cottage on the love seat to read my book, which wasn’t a problem until a very persistent seagull arrived to investigate my shopping bags. I didn’t realise just how bold it was until it jumped forward and pecked a hole right into a packet of venison meatballs! I had to chase it away again and again! 
The young folk arrived home and found me outside; Ally opened the living room window which I hadn’t realised was unlocked and climbed in to open the back door from the inside! 
My dinner of venison meatball casserole (not made with the ones that the seagull had pecked) went down very well; I served it with pasta and garlic bread. Then James and Kevin relaxed while I played Sequence with Ally, Cat, Jamie and Kerry, the board game that Gosia and Mitchell taught us. The young ones took to it like a duck to water and we had a hilarious time. The party was still going strong when I went to bed! 

Cullen Skink

On Saturday morning James and I set off to Ullapool with Ally and Cat, as did Jamie and Kerry with Kevin in their hired car. Davie and Chanel will be joining us on Tuesday after their antenatal class. We met for a very nice lunch at the Route 7 cafe in Aviemore, and stocked up on beer at the Cairngorm brewery before arriving in Ullapool mid afternoon. A trip to the pub was followed by fish suppers and an evening of excellent chat. 

We woke to a beautiful sunny morning on Sunday and walked down to the village for coffee at Tea by the Sea and then lunch at the Seafood Shack. It was sunny and warm sitting outside and Kevin had his first ever Cullen Skink. The seafood there is so fresh and delicious; I had Cullen Skink too because I’m toying with the idea of becoming pescatarian to improve my vegetarian diet. We strolled home and had a relaxing afternoon at the cottage reading and chatting, before having haggis neeps and tatties for dinner. Then at Jamie and Kerry’s suggestion we watched an amazing documentary about an Australian doctor who is an expert cave diver and who was planning a big dive in New Zealand’s unfeasibly deep Pearse Resurgence. I would absolutely never want to do this but the documentary was fascinating. Their adventure was so extreme and technical but also based on trust and friendship. The doctor, Richard “Harry” Harris, is an anaesthetist and, as a cave-diving anaesthetist, he was uniquely qualified to assist in the rescue of twelve schoolboys and their soccer coach when they got caught in flooded caves in Thailand in 2018. Harris anaesthetised the boys so that they wouldn’t panic during the rescue through water-fillled tunnels and they all survived. He’s a proper hero, as is his friend and diving partner Craig Challen who was also part of the Thailand rescue and also in the documentary. 

Inside outside barbecue

When we woke up this morning we were surprised to find that it was strangely dark outside! At least it seemed dark compared to our recent unremitting sunshine. There had been thunder, lightning and heavy rain during the night, and it was still very overcast. It was still very warm and humid though. We had a meeting in Glasgow in the morning and enjoyed a lovely coffee afterwards, sitting outside a wee Italian café. In the afternoon I prepared the salads for our evening barbecue. There were eleven of us in total, the core eight of our family (plus Chanel’s baby bump of course!) and Kevin, Heather and Ewan. Everyone gathered from different places; from Liverpool, London, Uddingston and Lenzie! I wouldn’t call it my finest culinary evening; the weather forecast was too rainy to count on having a full barbecue so I had cooked chicken and beef in the oven while Jamie barbecued sausages and mushrooms outside. We sat outside before dinner but came inside for the buffet style meal, during which time the rain started again. So I felt that the meal was an uneasy mix of indoors and outdoors, neither one thing nor the other. However there was plenty of food and everyone socialised and chatted. I realised that everyone who was there tonight will be at Jamie and Kerry’s wedding next January, and it was the first time that Heather and Ewan have met Kerry and Kevin, and the first time that Kevin has met Ally, Cat, Davie and Chanel. It was like a pre wedding meet up! 

Late night Ice Bath

Well who would have thought that today would be the warmest day yet! It was at least 29 degrees and the heat was fierce. We had every door and window in the house open to try to create a through draft. The cats were just sprawled on the tiled floor of the back room to try to keep cool. I did some prep for my first Children’s Hearing in July and some housework, but I spent a lot of time reading in my hammock and in my ice bath. I hadn’t switched on the cooling unit in the morning so the water was tepid rather than cold but it was still refreshing. I switched it on in the afternoon and by the evening the temperature had dropped to about 10 degrees which cooled me down nicely before bedtime. It was fun to be in my ice bath in the dark; unsurprisingly Tom and Flora came outside to keep me company - not in the water of course but sitting on the slabs nearby. 

Secret Victory

Another hot, sunny, beautiful summer day! In the morning I had coffee at Hilary’s; we sat outside in the shade in her lovely garden and had an excellent chat. And from there I went straight over to House for an Art Lover where I had lunch with Philippa. Although there are outside tables we actually chose to sit inside because it was cooler! We had a good catch up, it will be really nice when she and Steven move back permanently to Scotland. Back home I jumped into my ice bath to cool down; Tom did the most ridiculous double take when he came round the corner of the house and saw me in it! Flora and Tom are enjoying the warm weather and they love the French windows being open so that they can stroll in and out of the house without using the cat flap. They also love us spending so much time in the garden and keep us company. 

Jamie arrived home from his conference and we met Davie and Chanel at the Rowantree Inn where we had pies and chips before the quiz. Lee wasn’t there so there was a substitute quizmaster who was nice but not as personable as Lee. There were some tricky questions but we still managed to come second equal. Or so we thought - when Chanel added up our answer sheet we actually had two more points than had been counted so we were the rightful winners! However we decided not to challenge the result because we didn’t want to make a fuss, so we enjoyed our victory privately! 

Hot Weather

I’m in my hammock and the temperature is a balmy 25 degrees. This does not compare to the 43 degrees that Jennifer has been experiencing in Lot et Garonne! I’m in the shade of a tree and there is the tiniest of breezes to stir the air; it’s just perfect. I’m reading the latest Dordogne mystery “Murder in Springtime” - not the most challenging read but very pleasant. Will Bruno the town policeman ever find the right woman? 
Jamie is at his Paediatric conference and Kerry is on the train to Liverpool to see her 94 year old Gran and her Dad Kevin who is also in the UK. Kevin visits his Mum every summer, and sadly one of his brothers died last week. 
Yesterday, when Jamie was at his conference, Kerry and I drove over to the Burrell Collection in the morning. We had a stroll around and looked at some of the art and miscellaneous artefacts and then had coffee and cheese scones in the cafe and chatted. Kerry liked the building and its leafy surroundings, and I was telling her about the controversy over cost when it was built over forty years ago. Then we continued into town where I discovered that Kerry is an expert shopper; she knew exactly which clothes shops she wanted to visit and made a few purchases. We had a light and tasty lunch in Brown’s in George Square, and when Jamie had finished his day at the conference I headed home and they stayed on in town for a drink. In the evening Marjory, Forrest and Jenny came round to see Kerry and Jamie; Davie and Chanel came to join us and we spent a very pleasant evening sitting outside on the patio and chatting. 
I must get back to my book and then I’m going to get into my ice bath to cool down! 

Ice bath and Barbecue

It was an absolutely glorious day today and we spent almost all of it outside. 
James plugged in my ice bath and I filled it using the garden hose; it was such a pleasure to sit up to my neck in cold water. It was about 15 degrees straight from the tap, but the refrigeration unit had lowered the temperature to about 5 degrees by the evening. The minimum is 3 deg C. It’s really great how effectively it cools you down, something that I find difficult to achieve in hot weather. As a result I felt nice and refreshed after my dip, and although I warmed up again I felt invigorated.
Jamie and Kerry shopped for and prepared a barbecue and Chris and Dave came round to join us. What pleasant and interesting young men they are; Chris was talking about his three wee children and life on the farm, and Dave was telling us about his life and plans. The barbecue was a great success with delicious salads to accompany the meat; Kerry’s potato salad is the best in the world. After dinner James and I excused ourselves so that the young folk could chat amongst themselves. 

The Kiwis have landed!

Kerry and Jamie have arrived on their visit from New Zealand and it is truly delightful to see them. We made them a nice dinner on Friday using Ullapool hot smoked salmon with hasselback potatoes and stir-fried mixed greens, and we sat and chatted all evening. It was so exciting to see them and yet in a way it felt as if we had seen them yesterday, probably because we are in close touch with them by phone and message. 

A few days ago I got a phone call from Lanarkshire vaccination Centre to invite James and myself for a Hep A booster. When we got our Hep A vaccinations last year I think that a booster was mentioned, but I had forgotten. The lady on the phone told me that if we got the booster we would be covered for the next 25 years. So I made an appointment and on Friday morning and after breakfast with Kerry and Jamie, who were going to spend a day in the west end, James and I set off to Muirhead health centre where we quickly got our (surprisingly painful) injections. 

It was a lovely morning so we then headed to nearby Drumpellier Park for a stroll around and a coffee in the little visitor centre. The weekly Park Run had just finished and there were lots of people walking around the park. On the water there were lots of ducks and ducklings and a few swans standing on the banks of the pond. As we walked past the swans, James suddenly stopped and turned round to have a stern word with one of them, who had just taken a sneaky peck at him, although it hadn’t made contact. The swan seemed a bit taken aback at the confrontation but showed no remorse. It reminded me of Tom, who occasionally likes to stick a clawed paw out when you walk past him, just to show that he could scratch you if he wanted to! 

In the evening Davie and Chanel came round with a curry and we sat indoors to eat it but with the French windows wide open. It was a convivial and very happy evening. 

Lots of Pickleball

Yesterday I went over to Scotstoun Sports Centre to play Pickleball. James headed up to Ullapool to climb a Corbett so I took the train to Scotstounhill and then walked fifteen minutes. It’s a while since I have taken the train so far along this route so I enjoyed seeing all the stations like Hyndland Jordanhill. The sports centre is about fifteen minutes walk from the station and I arrived in good time. I got very very hot during the session, but enjoyed it. When I got home I sat out in the garden with the cats. Jennifer is experiencing 34 degrees heat in the Dordogne and it’s only about 20 degrees here but it still felt lovely and warm. 

Today I played more Pickleball in Cambuslang. It was warm at the tennis courts but lovely to be in the fresh air. There were only four of us today and we had a great time. Marjory really is a very good player, she can reach all sorts of shots and return them to the right place. Back home u had lunch and then set off to Queen Street station where I caught the 15.07 to Inverness. I had upgraded myself to 1st Class because it was only £8 more, and the carriage was almost empty. It was a very relaxing three and a half hour journey, with complimentary coffee and biscuits. James had been climbing yet another Corbett (he now has only 28 to go) and he met me at the station. We had a quick meal at a nearby Wetherspoons before I drove back to Ullapool because James was feeling dehydrated and headachy after his hill-walking. It was nice to be back in the cottage but we both missed the cats. 

Beethoven and Sparks

We went to a couple of very contrasting concerts this weekend. I. Saturday evening we went to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at the Royal Concert Hall; it was the RSNO’s season finale. It was excellent, such great music and so full of energy. I saw that Fiona was singing with the RSNO choir, it’s great that she is back singing because she loves it so much. 
And last night we went to see Sparks at Kelvingrove Bandstand. We were so lucky with the weather, it was so warm and sunny that I had to take off both my jacket and my fleece, which I was wearing in case it got chilly. Sparks got a rapturous reception from the crowd which was well deserved because they gave us a great show. I think that they were a bit puzzled that it was still daylight after 10 p.m. because they asked the crowd “Does it ever get dark here?” 

Scotland scores in the World Cup

We did not stay up last night to watch Scotland’s first game in the football World Cup because it didn’t start until 2 a.m. and we didn’t fancy a 4 a.m. bedtime. Lots of people did watch it though, including our dear son Davie, who was very tired today! Scotland won against Haiti 1-0 which was a good start. There were Scotland flags everywhere today; on house windows, cars and lamp posts. James and I went to Troon for a sunny walk along the beach and brunch at the Venice Cafe. 

Meanwhile Jamie and Kerry have arrived in the UK for their three week visit, and are spending the weekend with Ally and Cat In London, before heading to Ireland to visit Louise and then Ayrshire to visit Chris and Stacey and their three wee children. We will see them when they arrive in Glasgow next Friday.

On Wednesday we had lunch at Christine and Gerry’s in Dunlop. It was a sunny day and after our tasty lunch we sat in their gorgeous conservatory to have coffee. It was really nice to catch up with them. Then in the evening we met up with Davie and Chanel at the Rowantree Inn for pies and the quiz night. They were both looking well and were full of the joys. We came a respectable third in the quiz. 

Calton Hill and Kraftwerk

We had a lovely day in Edinburgh on Tuesday. We had tickets for Kraftwerk at Edinburgh Playhouse in the evening. We set off by train to Edinburgh after lunch and walked from Waverley station in a straight line all the way down to Leith, pausing for coffee at the Brunton Bookshop cafe. It was a fine day for a walk and stayed dry even though it kept threatening to rain.  We then took the tram back up to the Playhouse and walked up several sets of steep steps to the top of Calton Hill. Neither of us have been up there before. 
The reason for our visit started when Marjory sent me some photos that she took from the cafe there last year and I was very taken with them and asked where they were taken from. And then very thoughtfully Marjory and Forrest gave me vouchers for Cafe Calton for my birthday! 
As its name suggests Cafe Calton is at the top of Calton Hill, wth amazing views all around Edinburgh and over Leith to the Firth of Forth. It’s very smart and the food (a selection of small plates) was absolutely delicious. It was only ten minutes walk back down the hill to the Playhouse to see Kraftwerk. We have seen them once before in Dublin in June 2017, almost exactly nine years ago. Again they were brilliant, and I thought that the graphics were even better than last time. It’s such a visual show; the visuals are hypnotic. It was a fantastic concert. 

Long Days

I love this time of year for several reasons. First of all is the warmer temperature. I don’t like strenuous walking in warm weather, but I love sitting outside in the garden, where I am invariably joined by both cats. They love us being outdoors! Yesterday I had breakfast sitting on the love-seat, and Flora came and sat on the other half of it which was very endearing. Tom wasn’t far away, strolling around on the grass behind us. I also love the longer days, waking in the daylight instead of the dark. It’s great to play Pickleball outside at the tennis courts, so much milder than the chilly weather of a few weeks ago. And the back room is so warm that we often open the French windows and enjoy the fresh air while having lunch or reading or just chatting. It’s all very pleasant. 

A doggie visitor

Three of my cousins, Janie, Julie and Abigail came round for lunch today. Abigail brought her wee Westie, Rowan, and we were lucky to have lovely weather which meant that we could sit out in the garden. It was a delightful afternoon full of chat and laughter, and Rowan enjoyed getting lots of attention from all of us as she hunted bumble bees. Luckily she didn’t catch any!

Flora was upstairs in our bedroom when our visitors arrived and wisely stayed there; I’m sure she knew that Rowan was there because she appeared just after they left. However Tom was outside patrolling his territory when our guests arrived, and although he did not put in an appearance at all during the afternoon I suspect that he was watching us and our doggie companion from a distance the whole time. 

After Janie, Julie, Abigail and Rowan left, Tom came into the kitchen and gave James a hard stare before leaving again. James interpreted this as Tom being in a “furious mood” which I thought was very funny. He did give us a wide berth until the evening by which time he accepted some cat treats and appears to have put the incident behind him. 

Playboy of the Western World

This evening I went to see National Theatre Live’s production of Playboy of the Western World. I didn’t know what to expect and I was certainly surprised by the strange tragi-comic and downright absurd plot. The actors were all very good and performed in thick Irish dialect which took Gordon and I a while to get used to. The play was first performed in 1907 and offended Irish Nationalists so much that there was rioting in the streets! They thought that it was vulgar and mocking Irish culture, but I think it was actually mocking all human behaviour. 
I have been to see National Theatre Live several times before, and it is very nearly as good as seeing a play live on stage. This is probably because you are in fact seeing it live on stage, with zoom in shots and different camera angles, albeit recorded. It was a fun evening. 
Postscript - one of the actresses had a familiar Cusack look for me, and when I looked her up later I was pleased with myself for correctly identifying Megan, one of the younger members of the Irish Cusack acting dynasty! 

Beach day

Thursday was the hottest day yet of this early heatwave; about 24 degrees in Ullapool. Of course this is small beer compared to the record-breaking (for May) 35 degrees that is being experienced in London, but it still felt very warm. We decided to head to a beach and chose the small beach at Clachtoll. It was like being at the Mediterranean! So warm, with white sand and turquoise blue sea. There were a few other people on the beach but it wasn’t too busy, unlike many of the beaches in England this week where there has been over-crowding and even fighting. We are so lucky to be in the north west of Scotland. There were some people already swimming in the sea, and I lost no time in joining them! I put on my wetsuit for the second time and it certainly kept me warm in the water - almost too warm! I felt too separate from the water. So the second time I went in just in my swimsuit without my wetsuit and it was delightful. After a picnic lunch on the beach James went for a walk and then we headed back to the cottage. The mountains looked very clearly defined in the afternoon sunlight. 

Summer arrives in Ullapool

We have had such a lovely week in Ullapool with Mitchell and Gosia. They have visited Scotland several times before, but never so far north, so it was a pleasure introducing them to the area. We took them to lots of our old favourite places such as Corrieshalloch Gorge, Inverewe Gardens and Lochinver, and they were enthusiastic and interested in everything. One highlight was going to a concert at the Village Hall by Session A9. Iain and Iris had recommended this Scottish traditional music supergroup to us and they were even better than I had hoped and expected. Mitchell and Gosia loved them too. Every set was excellent and the music was varied and powerful. One of the musicians was sitting very near to the edge of the stage, and was playing his fiddle with such energy that his chair moved closer and closer to the edge until Gosia spotted that he was about to go right over and gestured to warn him just in time. He was very grateful and even blew her a kiss. 
Another highlight was a trip on the Shearwater, where we saw porpoises, lots of seabirds, and two sea eagles flying around near their nest at the top of the cliffs. This was particularly interesting to Gosia and Mitchell because they are keen ornithologists, and they also identified lots of birds at the feeder when we were eating breakfast in the mornings. Gosia fell in love with Tom cat and wanted to take him home with her! 
The weather started a bit grey at the beginning of the week, however the heatwave that was being enjoyed in the south of England gradually pushed its way north and soon we were able to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine. We climbed up Knockan Crag and James told Gosia and Mitchell all about the geology of the area. We enjoyed going down to the harbour to watch the luggers sailing around the loch with their four sided sails. They had gathered in Ullapool for the annual Luggerfest which included music, talks and stalls at the harbour. We bought kippers and watched the ships being piped into the harbour by a kilted bagpiper. We ate in the Ceilidh Place a couple of times and had lunch at the Seafood Shack. On Mitchell’s birthday, Gosia had arranged a surprise; whisky tasting at Glen Ord Distillery for Mitchell and James. They had a great time and Mitchell even got to bottle his own whisky. 
Mitchell and Gosia introduced us to Sequence, a part board, part card game, which was great fun and we played it nearly every night. I have ordered one for ourselves, I think that Davie and Chanel are going to love playing it. On their last day with us we headed through to a very hot and sunny Inverness, where we visited Culloden Battlefield and then a brewery in the town centre. We walked along the banks of the River Ness and it was stunningly beautiful. 

The Marriage of Figaro

On Sunday, we went to see The Marriage of Figaro at the Theatre Royal. It started at the early time of 3 p.m. which was just as well because it was about three and a half hours long including the interval. We both thought that it was wonderful. The plot was convoluted and indeed downright silly, but that’s to be expected from Opera. The music and singing however were absolutely sublime. We had seats in the front row which were fantastic because we could see the orchestra as well as the singers. What a great afternoon.
We arrived home in nice time to have a pizza dinner with Davie and Chanel. We had a great chat with them as usual; I find their opinions and knowledge to be very interesting. And we talked about anything and everything, including politics, religion, the Eurovision Song Contest and David Attenborough.
I had lunch with my school pals today at Il Pavone and as usual it was a pleasure to see them. Libby pointed out that in September this year she and I will have been friends for fifty-nine years! I think that we will have to have a special celebration for our diamond friendship anniversary next year. 
Today something happened which affected me much more than I would have expected at my time of life. I had been very pleased and flattered by an invitation which was then rescinded. Well such is life and to quote the film Casablanca, my little hurt feelings “don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world." 

Simon Evans

It has been a social and pleasant weekend. We met up with Ally and Colin Walker at the Art Gallery on Friday and had lunch in the café. Then on Saturday, we took the train through to Edinburgh and had brunch with Janet and Peter. It’s a while since we’ve seen them and it was really nice to catch up; they’re looking well and were full of the joys. It was a beautiful spring day and we strolled along Princes Street and down to the National Portrait Gallery. We wanted to see the portrait of Alan Cumming because we had recently watched a television programme about how it was painted. It’s by Gibraltar artist Christian Hook, and was painted in 2014, as the winning commission for the  Sky Arts portrait artist of the year. It’s very striking and I thought it looked even better in real life. There were lots of other really interesting portraits of Scottish people, some more my taste than others. 

We then went to the nearby Stand Comedy club, where we met Gordon and Morag for drinks and then watched comedian Simon Evans. I have never seen him before, and I was very impressed and indeed amused. He’s a couple of years younger than us and I thought he was very funny; very intelligent and confident. He seemed just to be telling us stories about his life, but it was really insightful and he made connections between all sorts of things. I would certainly go to see him again. The train was very busy on the way home but we managed to get seats and soon we were home in Cambuslang watching our old favourite, the Eurovision Song Contest. 

A Wee Girl

Yesterday I had a welcome meeting for new panel members in Hamilton, because we are now all officially qualified. Before this I met my former colleague Jennifer for a long overdue coffee in a nearby Starbucks. It was lovely to see her and we had a good chat. I had been thinking about Chanel and David all day. This was because it was Chanel‘s 20 week scan, and as well as checking that everything was okay, they were going to find out the gender of their baby.

A message arrived from Chanel on the family chat while we were still in Starbucks; “All healthy at the scan and baby growing well. Any guesses on gender?” We all started guessing and a short while later the answer arrived: “Girl!” Davie and Chanel even posted a photo of the scan photo sitting on top of a pink baby grow! I exclaimed “It’s a girl!” so loudly that people sitting at other tables in the cafe turned round to look at me and Jennifer was laughing! 

Now, just to be absolutely clear, the main and most important message here was that Baby Anderson is healthy. However, finding out the gender felt very exciting. We already thought of our grandbaby as a real wee person, but knowing that she is a wee girl makes it all feel even more real! A wee boy would of course have been equally welcome, and I would be delighted to welcome some (lots?) more Anderson boys and girls to the family in the future. How fun it is going to be to have a granddaughter! 

Oh dearie me!

We went to see The High Life at the King’s Theatre with Gordon and Morag on Tuesday after at tasty dinner at Cafe Antipasti. 
I watched this Scottish comedy programme in the 1990s, and I loved it. Strangely enough James does not remember it at all. Starring Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson, it’s about two air stewards on a fictional Scottish airline, camping it up and having various nonsensical adventures. They are supported by the eccentric and chaotic Captain played by Patrick Ryecart and terrifying chief stewardess Shona Spurtle, played by Siobhan Redmond. There were only six episodes ever made because shortly afterwards Alan Cumming went to work in America. It was really nice that all four main characters were reunited for this revival. They have made it into a musical and of course sang the catchy original theme tune. It was very funny and we all enjoyed it. 
Recently I accidentally ordered three boxes of tinned pears instead of three tins, which means that we have eighteen tins to use up! James decided that the perfect way to use these would be by adding Angel Delight, an ultra-processed powdered dessert which is whisked with milk to form a delightful mousse in various flavours such as chocolate or even better butterscotch. This was an favourite of ours in the 1980s, but we haven’t eaten it for decades. James secretly purchased a few packets and surprised me this evening with a dessert of tinned pears topped with chocolate Angel Delight; I was transported back to the early days of our marriage in the 1980s in a positively Proustian experience. 

Psychic Cats

We decided to adopt a new strategy when heading from Ullapool to Glasgow today. The cats have become very finely tuned to clues that we are packing up, no matter how subtle we try to be. They then disappear outside and don’t return to the cottage for hours. I can’t blame them because they hate the car journey, even though they seem happy in either of their homes and settle in immediately on arrival. So today I decided that instead of trying to be surreptitious about our departure, we should just pack up blatantly, let the cats do their own thing, and be prepared to set off at any time during the afternoon or even the evening. A plan like this requires two rules: -
a) stick to the plan.
b) hold your nerve. 
By late morning James was breaking both of these rules. When the cats arrived into the house just before lunch time he wanted to set off early, despite the fact that we hadn’t had lunch or finished packing the car. When I let them back out again according to our plan he became quite worried. I hoped that they weren’t picking up on his nervous tone but I think they heard him and stayed away for longer than they otherwise would have. I then made the mistake of trying to pick Tom up as he sauntered past when James and I were sitting outside on the garden benches. Needless to say he gave me the slip and I ended up pointlessly chasing him down the lane. They arrived back at about 5:45 and we quickly set off homewards. In theory our plan had worked because we departed within our target timeframe, but I think we would have been able to set off a bit sooner if we had been more relaxed because Tom and Floof definitely picked up on our intentions.

Phil Kay

Many years ago, maybe about 20 years ago, James and I went to see a Scottish comedian at the Fruitmarket in Glasgow called Phil Kay. He was very funny and his comedy was quite off the wall; rambling stories going off at a tangent. At the time he appeared on television a bit, but we hadn’t heard of him for years. Last weekend we saw in the Ullapool News that he was appearing last night at the Ceilidh Place Venue, and we got ourselves tickets. Well he has got older, but then so have we! Now in his mid fifties Phil Kay was still rambling and often forgot what he was talking about; in fact a guy in the second front row helped him out several times by reminding him! However he was mostly genuinely funny in his anarchic way, and at some moments he was extremely funny! From time to time he would pick up his guitar and improvise a terrible song. It’s pointless to try to describe any of his jokes because they were so weird and he certainly wasn’t to everyone’s taste; a couple of people walked out and quite a few just looked bemused. Those of us who got his humour very much enjoyed ourselves. 

Plockton and Sir David Attenborough

James and I travelled from Ullapool to Plockton on Thursday, so that James could climb a Corbett in the south of Skye. Before we set off, we made sure that both cats were safely in the cottage, and loaded up their food bowls with plenty of wet and dry food for two days. The journey was only two hours, and when we arrived in Plockton, it was breezy but sunny. We checked into the Plockton Hotel, then went for a walk through the little village and up to a viewpoint where we could see across to Skye and Raasay in the distance. We had a nice dinner in the hotel, and our room overlooked the water which was lovely. The next morning we had an early breakfast and set off to Skye where I dropped James off to climb his mountain. I went onto Portree where the weather was sunny, then rainy, then sunny, then rainy, changing every 15 minutes! I had coffee in a small café where I was chatting to an American couple from Oregon. I set off back along the road and stopped at the ferry terminal for Raasay, a place which holds good memories for the Anderson family. I went across on the ferry and back as a foot passenger, although I didn’t have time to disembark on the island. James had made tremendously good time on his Corbett and in fact was already waiting for me when I arrived to pick him up at 3 pm. We then drove all the way back to Ullapool, where the cats were very enthusiastic to see us; to have fresh food and to go outside to play. In the evening we watched a tribute to David Attenborough on BBC One because today, 8th May, is his 100th birthday. What an amazing person he is. He has done so much good in the world advocating for our planet and its wildlife. The celebration was at the Royal Albert Hall and Sir David attended, standing up without assistance when the audience sang Happy Birthday to him. 
His parents were pretty amazing too - his Mum was an activist during the 1930s and organised relief for Basque children from the bombing of Guernica; his Dad was the son of a grocer who worked hard to become a historian and academic, and the family took in two Kindertransport refugee children in 1939 who lived with them for seven years and kept in close touch for the rest of their lives. David and his brothers needed to get scholarships to be able to go to university (or drama school in his brother Richard’s case!) What an impact David Attenborough has had on the world! 

Pies and Music

During the days at the weekend we went with Ian and Iris on a couple of outings. They already know the area well, but hadn’t been to the new visitor centre at Corrieshalloch Gorge so we went there and walked down to the bridge along the new path. We also visited Lochinver and walked along to the harbour and had lunch at An Cala before each choosing a pie from the pie shop for our dinner, which we ate later with mash and broccoli. We even had a wee lunch sitting outside at the Seafood Shack, which has a shiny new building this season, although the seating is still outdoors. It was only just warm enough but worth it for the fresh seafood. On their last evening Ian attended a concert at the Macphail Centre which was for musicians only, so Iris, James and I went for drinks at the Argyle Hotel before wandering along to the Ceilidh Place. Our timing was perfect because we arrived there just before the crowd arrived from the Macphail Centre for that night’s session, and we nabbed a really good table at the side, from where we had a great view of all the action. I was speaking to a man called Pete McCallum because the night before he had sung an excellent song called “The Bothy Jazz Song” and I wanted to ask him who wrote it. It turned out that he had written it himself and when I told him that I had loved it he said “That deserves a hug!” and indeed gave me a big hug! We got to know quite a lot of the musicians by sight over the three evenings and chatted to some of them, they are a friendly group. We said our farewells to Ian and Iris on Monday as they set off to visit friends in Beauly. 

Fèis

We spent a lot of this weekend at the Fèis in Ullapool, which is pronounced “faysh.” Its full name in Gaelic is the Fèis Rois nan Inbheach which means Ross-shire Adult Festival, and it is held annually during the first holiday weekend in May. It’s all about traditional Scottish music, with workshops for the musicians during the day and sessions in various pubs at night, as well as a few concerts. We were aware that it happens, but this is the first year that we have attended any of it. This was thanks to Ian and Iris; they mentioned it to us earlier this year so we invited them to spend the weekend with us in Ullapool. Ian hadn’t signed up for the workshops this time, but he took part in all of the sessions and we went along with Iris as his official fans! We weren’t the only spectators but most people at the sessions were participants, and very talented. Someone would start a tune and everyone else joined in. There were lots of fiddlers, also guitarists, Celtic bagpipers, a cellist, a harpist, flautists, and a few drummers who were playing bodhráns. I really loved it but what I hadn’t bargained on was the extremely late nights that were involved. The musicians love to play and they carried on until the Ceilidh Place finally asked them to leave after 1 a.m. Then we would walk back to the cottage where James dispensed whisky and eventually Iris and I went off to bed at about two, leaving James and Ian to party on. Except for Sunday that is. I had expected that to be an earlier night because it was the end of the festival, but oh no. It was the latest night of all and we didn’t get to bed until 3:30 in the morning! 

Pleasant interlude in Ullapool

We set off to Ullapool on Tuesday after my morning Pickleball club which was outdoors at the tennis club in the good weather. We had a good run north and had a celebratory fish / veggie burger supper on our arrival. The cats jumped out of the car and ran off to reacquaint themselves with their northern territory. We carried the benches out of the garage in the morning and sat outside in the sunshine. The weather continued warm and sunny for the rest of the week and we had a great time going for walks and having cake and coffee outside Tea by the Sea. James worked in the garden and I got the cottage spruced up for our visitors, Ian and Iris. I also did some batch cooking, we watched the second season of the irritating but compelling The White Lotus on television, and read our books. A peaceful and pleasant week. 

The Sir Walter Scott

Today we went to Loch Katrine to go for a boat tour on the steamship Sir Walter Scott. This trip was gifted to James for his birthday by Heather and Ewan, and they decided that they would join us. The day got off to a shaky start when the road was closed at Loch Venachar which added forty minutes to our journey and unfortunately kept Heather and Ewan waiting for us at the Brig o’Turk tearoom. However it was great to see them and they put us at our ease and we even had time to go for a short walk at Brig o’Turk before our cruise. The Trossachs are so pretty in springtime, although we were too early to see many bluebells; only a few were beginning to appear. We drove the short distance to Loch Katrine and boarded the boat, welcomed by a man who was wearing a captain’s hat and a natty tartan waistcoat. Built in 1899, the Sir Walter Scott has been sailing on Loch Katrine since 1900, although the fine Scottish tradition of sailing on the loch dates back to the mid 19th century. Loch Katrine has also been the reservoir which supplies most of Glasgow with its water since the mid 19th century; although not Cambuslang, our water comes from Camps Reservoir near Crawford. The boat wasn’t too busy on this sunny Monday morning, and we really enjoyed the views of the loch with Beinn Narnain, Beinn Ime and Ben Vane visible beyond the far end. As we sailed westwards, snow capped Ben Lomond appeared from behind the hills to the south. Some members of our party found the breeze to be slightly chilly, but not me; there are some advantages to my intolerance of heat and near immunity to cold! The trip was an hour in total and then we had another fine tradition of Scottish high tea in the restaurant overlooking the loch; a tasty and generous amount of sandwiches, scones and cakes.