CHRISTMAS 2022 - SOCIALIZING BEFORE BEING GROUNDED

As Garrison Geillor always used to say in his weekly monologues many years ago (in the USA) "Well, it's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon...at least it was until...." and off he would go for his next instalment of life in small town Wisconsin or was it Minnesota? And so.....

Last week started off well enough with a couple of enjoyable seasonal gatherings: 

A 'Works Party' at Balloch with mince pies, Alan's Santa bag of pressies to distribute and Mary-Anne's Cocoanut Ice tablet ['fudge'].  It must be 70 years since I enjoyed this treat; my mother used to make it on special occasions.

When I got home I placed the dainty pink and white pieces into my mother's 1940's 'pickle' dish which sits in my kitchen cupboard.  It gave me enormous pleasure as I clearly remember exactly this confection in this particular dish!  I recall, as a child of about 5 or 6 years old, coming downstairs in the morning to find just this on the bridge table in the morning after my mother's bridge party the previous evening.  

As someone recently mentioned in a radio interview: "It isn't the grand gestures that children remember but rather the little things." Absolutely!  And it still applies, for example, an enjoyable hour with the workers sharing a coffee (and something from Santa) before heading off for a break until things resume in February.

Wednesday morning we enjoyed coffee with Iain's friends from Lenzie days plus Ken who was preparing for his son and 15 of his friends to come to his house for a wine-tasting evening.

Then is was....

* * * * * * * * * * * * * DOWN THE SNAKE   * * * * * * * * * * * *

The following day, last Thursday, which is now a week ago ... and 4 days before Christmas, Iain fell when he was out walking with young Alastair in the local Bluebell Woods, off Stockiemuir Road. He knew he'd done something as he had to lean on Alastair to get out of the bush and on to the road.  He could walk leaning on Alastair but the pain in his pelvic area was quite bad.

They phoned me (it was 3 pm) and I collected them having stopped the traffic so  he could helped into the front seat of my car. After putting him to bed at home, John came and had a look and said "No, you are not holding on until morning; this looks like a pelvis injury.  Call the ambulance".... which I did at 7 pm.  

Mid evening a very courteous para-medic phoned to check the situation saying they were experiencing a high level of activity for ambulances and the hospital was very busy... which we all know and certainly understand.

I stated that he was warm and prone in bed... which meant that, basically, he wasn't in immediate distress.  As long as he didn't move he said it wasn't so painful. The next morning, at 9 am, 3 ambulance lassies arrived and took him away having given him some morphine ahead of time.  

As suspected, he has fractured his pelvis on the left side.  It is not all the way through.  After 48 hours he got permission to be discharged and Ishbel and I collected him using the big metal hospital wheelchair to get him into the car.  The roads were quiet (and we even got a place to park at the entrance!).

So he has been home a week and slowly recovering.  He finds the codeine painkillers upset his guts so is gradually trying to increase his mobility without painkillers: first in bed, then the bedside chair, then using a walker to the bathroom and back.

Kintsugi (repair with gold) Japanese Earthware Bowl

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

So Christmas came and went.  Iain, like Scrooge, has always regarded Christmas as so much "humbug' so really our plans, such as they were, were easily re-jigged.  I went to Mairi's for Christmas Day dinner.  Alan and Laura, plus Scott were there and we all tucked into Mairi's cooking.  A similar thing the next day eating the leftovers.

So now we just take each day as it comes.  It is like being back in Lockdown again.  We are not suffering but are confined to barracks.

Any Christmas cards I have left to do can be done a little at a time.  It is interesting to note that this year, probably half of the people on our list, i.e. from whom I would expect to hear, are sending email cards or a text message.  Quite right!  

And our annual card?  Peter painted another card this year which is here:

Our  2022 Christmas Card - Seol na Mara rounding Cape Wrath

* * * * * * * * * * * *  ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS TREE IDEA * * * * * * 

And finally I was greatly taken with Dundee Art School's style of Christmas tree which is made out of old fence boards (forming the basic pyramid structure) covered in discarded aluminium drinks cans!