CHRISTMAS 2024 - PREPARATIONS

Tea with Angela:

Wedding china (1967 Wedgewood 'Belle Fleur')

Spoons from MacLeod family complete with (wedding gift?) tag "from the MacKinnons"

Leftover Norwegian Kransecake

Canadian Mac apples, only seen at this time of year.

2 Christmas cards from the same person...which me laugh as it seems I'm not the only one who gets forgetful.

(Later: Also....received one this year from person who didn't know Iain had died.)

* * * * * *  THE GRANDCHILDRENS' PRESCENCE IS FELT * * * * * * * 

AFTER OUR USUAL SUNDAY EVENING MEAL/GET-TOGETHER

Ishbel's violin

She's  away at uni now but home for holidays...lovely...and she's a real helper e.g.  splitting logs.

Harriet and Ellie: something to keep them occupied in front of the fire

Alastair: helping to tidy up after dinner...leaves his 'footprint' of ketchp (his staple condiment) in the fridge (as he would normally do at home).

* * * * * * * * * * AND WHILE WE'RE HERE * * * * * * * 

Ishbel was in the attic and found Kenny John's violin. He was Iain's father's youngest brother. Self-taught he played with friends in the Achiltibuie area often going to join folk with the instrument in its case strapped on to the back of his motorcycle.

CHRISTMAS SEASON IS UPON US - THE LIGHTS ARE ON

In the northern latitudes it is a joy to see people lighting up for the Christmas season.  In Scotland there is an increasing habit to put lights in your house window maybe in the form of (battery operated) candles or strings of small white lights.  I see the Scandinavian normal practice of doing this is now influencing this part of the world.

It seems more and more public places are being lit up too. And buildings get illuminated with images in the form of son et lumiere. 

1. 

I was in Edinburgh last weekend for afternoon tea with the Canadian Ladies.  My goodness has Princes Street ever improved!  No more jack-hammers,  barriers of fencing for holes being dug and rails being laid. Gone is the dust, the rubble and the noise!

View overlooking Princes Street and up to Edinburgh Castle

View out of the window of Level 1 of the National Gallery for Scotland (west side of Princes Street)

V&A MUSEUM IN DUNDEE VISIT AND NORWEGIAN KRANSEKAKE

I am back from my Saturday visit to Dundee and still ‘recovering’.  I say that because I found it all rather overwhelming…so much on display and so colourful and detailed!  By the time I got to the mannequin room I was feeling that I simply wanted to go out and come back another day!  

I have always found this sort of thing e.g. going around an art gallery or in a clothes shop.  For example, when browsing through a rack of blouses don’t give me 50 from which to choose; give me 5 and I can make a decision!

Also what I would have liked to see more of was the actual construction. That's because I sew and might try to make one; the hard part is going to be finding beautiful fabric!   

I simply must read up on the topic.  I found the stories of how the garment related to social class, occasion, time of day quite fascinating.  Which did I like the best? The male garments!

* * * * * * * * * * 

On another completely different topic I attended the Norwegian Julefest of my friend Inger on Saturday.  It’s a sort of craft fair with lots of Norwegian food for sale.  They held a raffle and … wait for it… I won the main prize! 

Here it is; it was baked by a lovely Norwegian lady, Ragna, who lives in Milngavie.

I can think of a few occasions when I might share it.  At the moment, it is in my freezer, at Ragna’s suggestion.  

[photo is not what I won; just an image from the web]

REMEMBRANCE DAY GLASGOW 2024 - BUTE HALL, GLASGOW UNIVERSITY SERVICE AND MACLEOD FARRIER PHOTO

It is Armistice Day 2024. Photos: 1916 and 2024

This photo is from the MacLeod family archives.  It is of Iain's father, Donald, back row third from left, in the Farrier Regiment, 1916 "somewhere in France".

This is him in Gairloch. No date given.

* * * *  2024 at Glasgow University * * * * * 

A Remembrance Day service was held in Bute Hall. The Last Post was played (beautifully by a music student), we sang and thought about "those in peril on the sea" [the old hymns are the best ones] and the Choir sang from the gallery opposite the wonderful sounding organ. 

I have a friend in the Choir ... Observation: more members of the Choir turned out than the Academics....

Assembling on the south side of the Quadangle for the March Past lead by the pipe band playing 'Highland Laddie'... nice!

In the middle-ground are the Army cadets marching by (followed by navy and airforce cadets). Another observation: the cadets were all noticeably of 'average height', i.e. a handful were 6 foot or a bit over but not what I would call 'tall'.  I say all this because over the years I use to notice that Iain's students were getting taller, i.e. I looked into the backs of their heads in a room, not over the top. Not so today.

The Choir ... now dispersing.