MID JANUARY

Iain is recovering well from his fall 3 weeks ago. He is now walking with sticks instead of a frame and is managing stairs up and down.  It was out for coffee this week so life is looking up once again.

Indy saw a phone on Alastair’s desk and didn’t know what it was!  Alastair told him to try it and call his cell phone. He explained that he needed to pick up the phone, wait for the dial tone then push the numbers.  He did that and asked “Okay. Now how do I press SEND?”!

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Alastair, nearly 15 years old out at the weekend on the hills.

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Mairi treated Ishbel and me to a night at the ballet, i.e. Scottish Ballet's  'The Snow Queen'.  It was wonderful!  She drove us to the theatre and collected us afterwards... such luxury!  Laura D joined us so it was a lovely girls' night out.  We had excellent seats in the stalls so had a good view of the dancers who were not just in tutus but were colourful gypsies, circus performers with their acrobatic dancing and even a fiddler who played at the gypsy campfire.

What I took notice of (thinking back to my days involved with the cleanroom industry) was the excellent ventilation.  There was fresh air coming in and while it was a cold night, there was noticeable air exchange going on in the auditorium.  (Whether that was the case up high in the gods I don't know.) So on the way out at the end of the evening I mentioned that I noticed what appeared to be 'better' ventilation.  "Yes, Madame... we are working on it."  Ah-h-h a consequence of Covid I think and certainly a win-win situation.  Having not been to any large event in an enclosed space (and certainly not been in an airplane or a cruise ship) I was impressed that this effort was being made.

The foyer where Ish and I always go up to the top floor by elevator and then walk down the circular staircase looking at all the people milling about below.

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 Swans on the Forth and Clyde Canal just under the Erskine Bridge

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I got this book from Santa for Christmas as it was recommended to me by a friend.  It's a collection of writing by Bob Dylon on musicians he considers to be culturally significant. I loved it!  And it is full of colourful writing; Dylan is a poet first, certainly a 'wordsmith' and a singer second I would say.  Lots of chat about little known musicians and some more well known ones... names I grew up with e.g. they were always on the radio.

Here is an example:  "Perry Como - he was a Cadillac before the tail fins…."