THE GLOAMING

Ishie and I were in the swing park at the back of our house this afternoon when we noticed the full moon rising. We were just high enough to see it and also to watch the wonderful pink sky as it started to get dark.

The leaves are now all away from the trees. Last week there were still a lot on the trees as we had to stand under them to avoid the sudden short showers passing over. Here she is in her pink jacket pointing to the moon as she sits astride the monkey bars. And as she pointed out to me she likes pink "it is for girls".

Maggie and I returned from Stockholm yesterday and here is a photo taken at exactly the same time of day in Tegnérlunden Park opposite our hotel. The lighting was a similar pink and taking about the same time to get dark (i.e. half an hour after the sun went down).

BABY IAIN'S EYE

Nearly a week has past and the waiting is over. Wee baby Iain of 3 months was taken to the doctor a week ago because Alastair and Dawn were worried about his left eye which appeared cloudy.

He was diagnosed as having a retinoblastoma, i.e. cancer of the left eye. On November 5th he was admitted to hospital in Vancouver and after an MRI scan he underwent an operation for the removal of the affected eye.

It appears that the other eye is not affected and for that everyone is so very grateful. He has come through the operation and is now back home recovering.



Thanks to the modern technology of the internet and Skype video communication as well as text messaging we have all been kept up-to-date as events unfolded. It has a been a worrying time but the worst seems to be over.

THE WAITING

What is it people say ...? "Feel the fear and do it anyway?"

How, tell me, does that work if one is worried?

All day long I am saying to myself -

"I'm not worried... I'm NOT worried ... I'm not WORRIED."

Our baby grandson of 3 months has to undergo a serious operation in 3 days' time. He is at home with Dawn and Alastair and we only wish we could be closer to them. We are in contact over the internet, thank goodness, but all the same I am finding it hard to get over the shock of this recent turn of events.

One thing to do is to keep busy. Fortunately it was my day to pick up Ishie from school. We made a card for her wee cousin (after we talked to Alastair on Skype which clarified the situation) and she printed her name inside it: "Ish ..." then a squashed "b" and then on the space above "eL". The crosses are kisses.

Food for comfort is tea and toast. For Ishie (and wee Alastair when he arrived) I make "soldiers" by cutting the hot toast with melting butter. (I have never adopted the British preference for cold toast.)

And so we all are thinking of one wee baby who is going to have to be a very Brave Soldier.

A HAUNTED CAVE?

To-night is Hallowe'en and the neighbourhood youngsters have been to the door tonight. We listen to their jokes or songs and then, this year, we gave them biscuits from the supermarket. Last year I baked cupcakes but they were not interested in any of them!

This is John's photo of Ishie, Alastair plus a little friend, in a local cave last weekend. Actually it is the entrance to an old mine which is on the edge of the city of Glasgow, near to where we live. I added the cobweb and spider but the waterfall in the background is for real.