CHRISTMAS 2014: COME AND GONE

Christmas dinner here had to be cancelled, well actually postponed, as both Iain and I were laid low with a tummy bug.  Now recovered we had various folk for a mid-day meal yesterday, Sunday. It worked out quite well being in the middle of the day as everyone is fresher (and people don't have to drive home in the dark).

Fruit salad, always on hand at any big meal we have, is greatly lifted with the addition of Christmasy-red pomegranate seeds.

My jazzed up breakfast this morning ... porridge and pomegranate with the last of the Bailey's Irish Cream from the Christmas (chocolate) pudding.

Burnt-out angles beneath the Christmas tree. Auntie Mary's decoration from many years ago are made of cloth so are relegated to the lower branches of the tree which are a better child-friendly position.

The garden this morning with my garden dolly (4 wheeled trolly which holds a heavy garden pot)  left out on the grass from yesterday (Sunday) when the 3 children were able to play outside for about half an hour in the early afternoon sun.  Too cold to head to the park, but it gave them a chance to stretch their legs and the adults could catch up on all their news.

A post-Christmas lift came in the form of this DVD in an Amazon cardboard envelope which was pushed through the letterbox mid-morning.   (Must have been a delivery van as Sunday is not a Royal Mail delivery day.)  

After everyone left, we put our feet up while I indulged in some pure nostalgia. Marilyn Monroe looks terrific - a real glamorous gal! It's a real frontier feel-good 1950s film made, I suppose, when the country was needing that sort of thing after the war.

Filmed in 1954 I recall we were on holiday with June Turner and family when we visited the location in the Jasper area where this film was being made.  Old photos show us standing in the doorway of a teepee... a bit odd as there does not seem to be a teepee in the film. 

And that's Christmas over for another year ..................................................

GLASGOW CITY CENTRE WINTER LIGHT

I was  in the city centre today to buy Iain a radio. He is recovering from having cracked his ribs so is spending a lot of time resting.

The sun shone all day making long shadows along Buchanan Street absolutely packed with shoppers!

 

 

Geein' it laldy (laldie?) were these lads all kitted out in their 'Highland' gear.  They joined a few other street musicians playing their guitars, drums or whatever along the precinct.

This character usually stands on a plinth as a stationary statue and shocks the likes of me by a sudden movement when you pass by... to a gathering crowd's great delight!   (I was caught out by him once so I always feel he sees me coming!  I was glad to skirt around him this time!) He looked like he was getting ready to be the Duke of Wellington statue, complete with traffic cone on his head.  I guess that is his horse he about to mount.

 

Just around the corner from Buchanan Street is the site of the terrible traffic accident last week.  There were fresh flowers piling up.  Earlier bouquets get removed and carried to a location a block away namely the Museum of Modern Art where the runaway vehicle first started to go out of control killing 6 people.

This bouquet is from "All the girls in the Flower Shop Helensburgh".

JOLLY HOLLY

Having been laid low over Christmas with a tummy bug we are now getting back to  normal.  Iain who has been recovering from cracking 3 ribs several weeks ago is OK but trying not to be discouraged at how long it takes to bounce back to anything like "normal".

Sending and receiving Christmas cards are something we regard with pleasure.  In our advancing years it keeps us up to date on our contemporaries and their families.  This card above is one I kept from a previous year - it makes me laugh.

When I visited Anne B before Christmas she gave me some sprigs of holly from her garden. She has the lovely variegated variety and this year it had lots of berries.  

One of the things about living in a maritime climate is that we have greenery all year round.  I am probably one of the few people in this rather mild, wet country who really appreciates this! Growing up in a high continental climate (Canada) reminds me that any snow we do get is eventually melted by the moderating influence of the Gulf Stream and not lying until spring breakup in April.

This little sprig brought all the colour I needed on this rather dull, foggy day today!

GLASGOW BIN LORRY ACCIDENT DEC 2014

Yesterday a bin lorry [garbage collection truck] careened along a busy street through a crowd of pedestrians in the centre of Glasgow killing 6 people and injuring others. It appeared the driver was slumped over the wheel when it happened.

As stated by Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon:

"Glasgow, this morning, is a broken-hearted city. 2014 has been such an incredible year for this wonderful city. The Commonwealth Games were such an outstanding success. But it's a year that's been book-ended by two unimaginable tragedies, The Clutha at the end of last year and now this awful tragedy."

It has been a bit of a shock for those of us who live in the city: there, but for the grace of God go any one of us. 

When Mairi was over today we noted the sobering fact that either of us could have been in the city centre doing some Christmas shopping at the time of the accident. As luck would have it we were not.  As Mairi said "I couldn't go because I had to collect Harriet." On the other side of the coin, I couldn't go because I had Harriet with me.

Be that as it may, here is our Wee "Angel", with a clean face (rare!) and minus her halo!

There are many reports of ordinary people on the spot who rallied to help. Is there something special about Glaswegians who, it has been observed, rally in adversity?  No ... I reckon most people in other cities  would do the same.


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

Later days: