CATCHING UP

I have now upgraded my computer to an iMac4.  Everything is OK except it's like trying to arrange your bookselves after the books have been knocked off the shelves and are needing to be put back in order.  

Alastair has now had his 17th birthday.  He is due to finish secondary school this June and is preparing to head of to university.  He's in the middle of interviews at the moment.  Ishbel (18 yrs) is already away to Stirling Uni so that will leave 2 still at home.

Even thought it's winter I have managed to get out...an absolute necessity for me!

Balloch Park on Loch Lomond suffered storm damage, about 100 trees over, as a result of Storm Eowyn at the end of January.

The good news is that the sapling tree planting down 2 years ago by Chivas workers was well done and the young trees all survived.

Some very big, old trees came down.  The problem is that the ground is soaking wet and the roots are shallow.  Some were paritially rotten as well.

A yacht from across the loch probably at Cameron House got washed ashore at the edge of Balloch Park.  While high and dry it doesn't appear damaged.

MARCH MARRIAGE ... with MUCH MORE

Alastair and Melanie were married March 3, 2023 in Los Angeles, their home. Melanie's father officiated in the non-religious ceremony.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * Seasonal Roundup * * * * * * * * * * *

This is our last concert for the year and also, after 20 plus years we are going to no longer continue. Sigh... the end of its natural life I reckon.

Mugdock Pond

Ellie aged 8 years old, very keen on anything chocolate!

Ellie a beauty queen in the making!

Mr Fox in our garden at 6 am

Balloch Park pond clearance

Balloch Park daffs, very West Coast i.e. sodden!

River Leven looking into the morning sun 

A wonderful concert with packed audience, lots of meeting and greeting and new people to meet.  Everyone appreciates being able to get out and socialise especially  since the days are getting longer.

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!

WINTER ACTIVITIES IN A MILD CLIMATE

This is a recent photo of Indy aged 11 years.  He's enjoying his new school and is starting to learn to play the trumpet... 'Camptown Races'... all the best tunes are definitely the old ones!

* * * * * * * MUSIC MAKING LOCALLY * * * * * * * 

A recent concert involving children was enjoyed by the general public and parents of the local primary school.  It involved students from the Scottish Conservatoire and the local secondary school music department.

Next season is all organized with these artists all lined up: January to April, i.e. 4 more concerts to look forward to.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * AND  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  

Bearsden Young Fiddlers playing in the courtyard at Mugdock in very cold weather.

* * * * * *  Christmas cards are starting to arrive * * * * * 

* * * * * *  Out doing tree-planting, or litter picking * * * * * 

Balloch Park clearing broom

Dalreoch clearing rubbish from what appears to be fly-tipping

* * * * * *  THE GARDEN IN THE FIRST FROST * * * * * * 

* * * * * *  Monkey Puzzle Seedlings on my window sill * * * * * * * * 

* * * * * *  A joke for Young Alastair who is going 'vegan'  * * * * * * *

NOVEMBER ACTIVITIES

It's all go these days...

Sunday night after dinner... all 4 grandchildren.  I bought another Wentworth puzzle and it was worth every penny - peace and quiet at the 'craft table' for one whole hour!

Catching the last of the sunlight mid-November - Asda car park.

Forsythia and Cotoneaster berries at Loch 27 Canal Pub

* * * * * * * * * 

Remembrance Sunday in Milngavie Precinct.

Good concert with local lad Michael Mofidian singing and Anna Tilbrook accompanying on piano

* * * * * * * * * * * * 

Balloch Park Bulb Planting

Crocuses, bluebells, fritillary and alliums being planted by volunteers.

   

* * * * * * * * * * *

Coffee and scone time...

Located in the Vale of Leven Industrial Park is the Strathleven Deli where I sometimes stop for a coffee and some of their baking.  I had been told about it but could never actually find it.  After I eventually located it (diagonally opposite the Loch Lomond Brewery) the owner (I assume) was telling me that she is not allowed to advertise.  I do feel that is a bit hard when ordinary folk are just trying to make a living ... and are the people who are keeping Scotland from sinking into the North Sea.)

* * * * * * * * * * 

Back to baking

French 'muffins' which were on sale topped off with my own ganache and a Smartie  or two.

Ellie (7) won the raffle at school this week.  It is a Panda Bear wearing earphones "Disco Bear".  The other week she received a certificate for "Taking the lead in a discussion on bullying"!  Yes, I can just see that happening!

AUTUMN KARMA

The Stuff of Life has a habit of coming along like the buses: there's nothing then they all come at once.

THE FIRST HALF OF THE WEEK:  Good Stuff

Another lovely day at Balloch Thursday where tree planting has been taken over by other types of input e.g. building bird boxes (Mary-Anne sees that we don't get so knackered at the end of the day!) 

Last week Ishbel helped me make a prototype and so next time she's over we will do another one.

It's the turn of the year, actually the Solstice, with the wonderful early autumn colours just starting to appear. Spending a day in Balloch Park lifts my spirits immensely, like getting a jump start with the car battery cables.

As we move into Autumn I bask in the fact in all it's been a good summer: good folk and good craic... what Ellie calls 'Good Karma'!

In the 40 minute drive I listen to Classic FM. Today it was this cantata of J S Bach on the subject of thanks.  [Cantata BWV 17 part 2 no.7 Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich].

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

SECOND HALF OF THE WEEK: Bad Stuff

Things came to an abrupt halt: our sailing and fiddling friend Bob, emailed us, individually, to say that Kate was in hospital with serious injuries due to a very bad road traffic accident Friday morning when she was coming home from her usual Friday morning swim in East Kilbride.  She's in the Trauma Unit at the QE2 Hospital on a ventilator having sustained internal injuries, fractured pelvis and ankle.

We are still trying to process it all.  What has been quite uncanny about all of this is that I was thinking about both of them at the very time Bob had been issuing his message.  What happened was that I arrived at the BR station to buy my ticket to go into the city (and hadn't looked at my phone for messages) and had asked the ticket man about extending my ticket to Rutherglen so I could visit them. [a long and different conversation ensued due to it being quiet - that's for another time!]   I got on the train which was empty and phoned Bob to see if they were going to be in.  I had not read his email and he was put in the position of spelling it all out to me.  Dreadfull! 

I had also been recently talking to someone about 'Survivor's Guilt'  where we agreed that at our advanced age we could be "hit by a bus tomorrow" so had better enjoy each day.

I ended up in town giving myself enough time to get into  John Lewsis's as I had to get back to Milngavie for my afternoon 3 pm flu and Covid jabs.  I bumped into  Anne B so we enjoyed a coffee together.  It really was rather bizarre, however as we spent much of the time talking about the fact that I was in middle of dealing with Don about the Salmon Arm Booth family plot in the Mt ida Cemetery. (I couldn't bring myself to mention the car accident.) It's all good; I have to give formal permission, as the eldest of the current family, to have urn (space for 5) or casket (space for 1) placed there.  We are all done and dusted on that but Anne and I compared notes on the topic of what did we want done with our ashes or whatever.   It's all Work in Progress. Again, this has come along with all these other events that crop up when you least expect them (or when it's not a great time  to have to think about it!)

So the week is over. It is Sunday and we are both feeling a bit 'flu-y' from our jabs.  The remedy:

A's soothing Rosehip Syrup in front of the fire listening on my iPad to some Bach that I need to prepare for tomorrow morning's piano lesson.