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…."   

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.

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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'  * * * * * * *

CHRISTMAS 2019 NO 5 - FAMILY PHOTO ROUND-UP

Recent photos of everyone...

Melanie and Alastair 

Indy

John and Mairi

Ishbel (12) and Granny Margaret

 Santa and Ellie (4)

 Santa and Harriet (6)

Alastair (11)

Mairi and Santa

Le Tout Ensemble

ELLIE'S 4th BIRTHDAY - GRANDCHILDREN ROUND-UP

Wee Ellie is 4 years old. Ishbel has just turned 12 years old and Alastair is about to be 11 years old.  That leaves Harriet who is 5 and Indy who is 7.

Alastair helping the little ones make princess tiaras.

Indy in his Pudsey T-Shirt. The BBC runs a charity Children in Need and every November they raise a great deal of money which is put toward various programmes for children and young people in the UK.

In July last year Indy had a holiday 'back east' i.e. Florida and Washington DC. We got a lovely book about his holiday that his Auntie Dandy put together. Ishbel and Harriet are enjoying the many photographs and descriptions of the places he visited.

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INDY STARTS SCHOOL

Indy started his first day at school on Thursday. He goes to a local school in Portland, Oregon.  Aged 5 he joins the other children in the kindergarten class.

A big day for a wee boy ... who is growing taller as each  month goes by!

INDY UPDATE MAY 2015

Indy's Examination Under Anaesthetic check-up on his eye was today and there was no evidence of any cancer cells.  It's a miracle of modern medicine.  Indy will be 4 years old in August. He's going to be a big boy by the looks of things!

Actually, come to think of it, another miracle of modern medicine is how treatment for detached retinas is successful.  Our elderly neighbour has been treated for this using an oil put into the eye which has been left for a few months.  He is now regaining his sight.  (The oil is or will be coming out, i.e. replaced.)  Amazing.

WHEN YOU WISH UPON A CAR

Alastair likes to talk 'cars' these days.  He has very expensive tastes too.  He knows all the brands and wants to know all the details about them. But he came out with one that John had not heard of .....

......  he wants "an Aston Pine Marten" when he grows up...!!!!

I wonder if he learned about these animals when we were in Tomintoul, Speyside in May when Dawn, Alastair and Indy were visiting?  Up the back of where we were staying was a sandy bank which had a lot of burrows for birds - sand martins,  I think they were - which were numerous and flew all around the place.

One lunchtime Indy and I made a little picnic and hiked (all 100 yards) to this sandy place, a bit like a sandy gravel pit, to have our picnic. While munching on our apple slices my eye caught a sudden movement and, using my iPhone camera, I took these photos below.  

It was a pine martin! ... about the size of a large, elongated cat. A first sighting for me. 

I got such a laugh from John's little story I decided I might just 'design' one for Alastair. Come to think of it, I am seeing him tomorrow so I will get him to do the same... watch this space!

APM Prototype Number 1

INDY - HEALTH CHECK

Dawn and Indy and Alastair moved to Oregon in July.  However Indy had a check-up appointment due back in Vancouver so Dawn returned there with him this week.  Through the medium of email and Facebook we are kept very much up-to-date of progress and the outcome ... and the news is very good!  Indy's examination under anaesthetic shows that there appear to be no further cancer cells in his right eye.

So here he is with his Dog-Guitar in the Oncology Department ... a real Rock Start ... or as Alastair says ... a Dog Star!!

INDY IS 3 YEARS OLD

It's Indy's birthday today.  He is 3 years old.  We spoke to him and to Alastair before he left for work.  

Here is Indy on Skype this morning.

The family  have moved to Portland, Oregon where Alastair has a new job.  Indy starts at Pre-school Nursery today.  He continues to have good health other than the occasional bug that he picks up, like every other child, at Nursery School.

INDY: MAY DAY

Alastair, Dawn and Indy have arrived and will be with us for 3 weeks.  Indy is going to be 3 in August.  Here are a few photos of him caught when one gets him to pause in his very busy activity! He chatters away and has lots of imaginative play e.g. with Lego.  

Today we going to Glasgow's Lego Store in Buchanan Galleries, city centre (en route to the Apple Store to look at an upgrade for Grandma's computer - ya beauty!)

INDY HEALTH BULLETIN

Indy had his quarterly eye examination and the news is good.  Dawn gave a report on Facebook:

"Indy continues to be cancer free in his right eye! And he had an impression of his left eye made by the ocularist while he was under. So hoping in a month or two we'll have a better fitting prosthetic."

Certainly all credit goes to the Vancouver Women and Children's Hospital who are monitoring our wee fella.  Dawn and Alastair carry on with their good parenting too, of course.  Indy is moving out of the Terrible Twos as he will be Three this coming August.  Never an easy age and they have their work cut out for them with Indy's added needs ... like trying to find his artificial eye when it disappeared last year!  It turned up but not after they were tearing the place apart looking for it!

INDY IN GLASGOW

Al and Dawn have arrived from Vancouver and with them is wee Indy.  Here he is just a week before his second birthday.  How time passes!

The weather has been good so it is off to the park at the back of the house.

We have the use of Ishbel and Alastair's shopping trolley.  Wonderful ... except when trying to navigate through all Grandma's flowers!

This is a fairly typical shot showing how Indy gets a view on things.  He walks about with care and confidence using railings on stairs or asking for a hand.  He is just like Alastair when he was 2 years old, i.e. fairly quiet in  his movements, not roaring around the place (like his 5 year cousin old Alastair A.). He doesn't rush into things and will back off if he is not certain about what he heading into... fair enough.  However, he had a go on the slide (or "shute" as they call it here) climbing up from the bottom then swooshing down quite the thing.