Family ties Part 2

Martin moved to London in July last year and I had never been to see him.  Not that I didn't want to, but with my Mom living with me and working full time, things are just not easy to get to London.  I felt really bad and disappointed about this because when Martin moved there, I had  visions of going down there all the time - shows, shopping, restaurants.......not to mention I really, really miss Martin and would like to see him a bit more often!

Going to Chiswick via Gatwick is not nice, in fact it is horrible - too long and much too expensive!  Martin suggested meeting us at Clapham Junction and accompanying us to his home in Chiswick.  It was fantastic to see him in the tube station, and he is always such a nice person - for example, taking my suitcase immediately.  It is the little things, but they always add up.

It took us longer to get from Gatwick to Martin's flat than it took us to get from Glasgow to Gatwick, ridiculous!  But arriving at Martin's was great!  And one of the first things that happened was Martin needing advice from his dad.  He had the chance to film at the FA Cup Final and was using a camera Alan is more familiar with. 

Alan sharing his knowledge of how this camera works.

On Saturday, we planned to go into London and see the sights.  Since my priority for the weekend was only to see Martin, I was not too concerned about what we did, which was a good thing since the day was spent in cold and rain.  We met Martin's girlfriend, Pamela, at the station and the poor thing had to trudge around London in this abominable weather with us.  I felt really sorry for her (and myself actually, this was not a day to be wandering around in London).  She was lovely though and shared her own knowledge of the city, including the Borough Market - where it is food heaven!  Too bad we had already eaten, but then again -with this horrible weather, if we had bought any food, what could we have done with it?  I also really missed my sense of smell at this market, I bet the smells were fantastic! 

We did witness a really cool protest about road safety for bicycles, the roads were all shut and it seemed like thousands of cyclists went by. What a fantastic, well organized and planned protest!

Just some of the cyclists that went by us

Pamela was really nice, but I would not have expected otherwise.  If Martin likes her, she would have to be nice!  Not only did she happily suffer along with us wandering all over London, wearing really nice grey boots and never complaining - but she also bought me a coffee.  Like I said, it is the little things. 

On Saturday night, Martin and Pamela introduced us to Franco Manca restaurant.  Within walking distance of both their homes and delicious pizzas!  The next night we all went to Boys Thai restaurant, another fantastic evening and meal. 

On Sunday, Martin had to work so Alan and I walked in with him.  We went with him for a tour of where he works and it was fantastic!  Since I am writing about his life, I am not going into detail about where he works and all, but I was so impressed and happy for him. 

We then went into town, to give you an idea how awful a day it was - we got very close to Kensington Palace, where I have wanted to go to pay my respects to Diana since she died in 1997, but I could not cope anymore and turned back.  Preferred sitting in McDonald's with coffee and a muffin to spending anymore time outside in the rain. 

London was cold and dreary when we arrived and this never improved.  I must admit this could have been  one of the most miserable weekends of my life!  That is saying something when I live in Scotland, but I was totally not prepared for constant rain and cold and wind. Not only did I not have the right clothes, I would have never spent so much time outside in this type of weather.  The saving grace was I was not there to see London, but to see my son.  And so it was a very special weekend and I would go back anytime, even in the same weather conditions!

Miserable, but still beautiful

The Power of Family Ties

Whew!  Alan and I have just experienced the most intense and entertaining weekend we could possibly have imagined!  And to think that on Thursday, we were both in bed with the flu. And really with flu, not just being tired and lazy, but honestly ILL!

I thought I had paid my dues illness-wise by having that stupid coughing virus for over 4 weeks and sacrificing my sense of smell. So when Alan was totally felled by this flu (and just so you know - this man does not do "man-flu", he is never noticably ill) I was not overly concerned.  Ok, I was concerned, but not about me, and to be honest, not really about him......I was watching the countdown to my cousin,Desiree and her friend, Jane arriving in Glasgow expecting us to collect them for a wondrous weekend on the West Coast of Scotland.  Days were going by and Alan was not improving.  I even gave him a deadline to get better by.  

Not only did he miss this deadline, but on Wednesday night, I woke up with total chills.  I was so cold and nothing could help.  So I knew I had not been immune after all. 

I had the good sense to phone in sick on Thursday and Alan and I divided our territories in the house so we would not disturb each other.  I don't think it would have made much difference where I was though - I slept the whole day.  No reading, no watching tv, not even checking my messages for work or personal.  I was sick!   And the clock was ticking away..........

Prior to being felled by Alan's flu, I had generously offered to go collect our visitors in Glasgow on my own.  Well, this offer was rescinded and we both struggled on.  (ok, there was the obligatory stop at the Guide shop - I needed new uniform shirts since mine are now 2 sizes too big!)  Got to the train station, where I found the nearest bench to try to rest a bit and Alan wandered around taking pictures.  (he was obviously feeling better!)

And the most wonderful thing happened - I saw Desiree walking toward us and suddenly I forgot I was ill.  Her friend, Jane, was right behind her and the weekend had begun!!!

Alan and I were so looking forward to this weekend and had planned to cover alot of ground, which was why we collected them instead of waiting for them to arrive in Ayr by train.  We took them to Glasgow Cathedral, drove by Glasgow University and then I called time. We really needed to get to Ayr and see that. At that point in time, Friday afternoon would have been their only chance to see Ayr.

~And this was a whistle stop tour, just drove by the beach, Burns Cottage, and a few other things before going home so Desiree could see Aunt Emmy. 

Aunt Emmy and Desiree

Our evening plans were to go out to eat with Whitney and it looked as if they would not meet Corbyn, since he is with his daddy on Fridays, but he was allowed to come with us! And Corbyn was a total gem the whole time.  We ended up eating at The Old Loans Inn.  Mom and I had eaten there years ago, but it looked completely different, I felt like I had stumbled onto Twilight Zone, not that it was bad, but entering a familiar door and nothing was at all what it had been, including the location of the restaurant!  I had to ask how to get out of the building to go back to the car and let everyone know we had a table!

Dinner was great, a bit crowded - a 6 person booth with the 7th person (although small, Corbyn has alot of presence) crammed in. Following dinner, Desiree had discovered a playground, this made Corbyn's night and he demonstrated the correct way to go down a slide "on your bum"!

I was just delighted that Whitney and Corbyn got to see Desiree.  We have virtually no family over here so family ties are incredibly precious. 

Getting home, my body remembered it was not well and it felt as if my batteries had been removed.  I did remain downstairs and not comatose, but it was a struggle.  Dont' get me wrong, the entertainment value of staying downstairs made any discomfort or exhaustion well worth it.  These girls are fun and I enjoyed every second we had together.

We were scheduled to be on the 7am ferry to the Isle of Arran, and I was much more excited about this than I was aware of.  Hence, I did not sleep - like the night before going away on vacation....just could not keep my eyes shut in case we missed the ferry.  Which we didn't! 

Arriving on Arran before anything opened had its advantages - no traffic, no people.  But nothing was open either.  We meandered around the edge of Arran and it was beautiful, we never got rained on and had sun with us most of the time.

 Desiree and me on the ferry to Arran

We discovered seals, red deer, pheasants, craft shops, the perfect fish and chips and our main goal - the Mackrie Moor standing stones.  I had visited these years ago with a friend and remembered what an amazing experience it had been.  It is about a 2 mile walk into a valley, but Desiree, Jane and I felt it was well worth it. Alan took one look and went back to the car with his dog!  Maybe it is a girl thing?  The only people I know who enjoyed visiting these stones are women!  Interesting.  We agreed that it is a very spiritual and peaceful place. No drama and not alot of colour (this would have been the issue with Alan, not a great place to photograph).



Ultimately we ended up in Brodick with time to shop and over 3 hours til the last ferry. But the sky was darkening and the ferry was on its way, so we went back early enough to have dinner with Mom. Much better - and I heard later that the storm caused a 3 hour blackout, from 7 - 10 pm.  Now I wonder if our planned last ferry would have even run or would we have been stuck on Arran!!

a natural pose for Alan!

On Sunday, I could not face doing another long drive. We had planned on going to visit the Highlands and I feel bad that we did not do this. However, there would have been no quality to the visit if we had not decided to stay home and have an easier day.  (don't get me wrong, our Arran visit was as high quality as you could imagine, but we needed a slow day) 

Desiree wanted to get some gifts so we went to Dobbies, where they sell absolutely everything and then other shops. Alan realized this was more of a girl thing, so he went home and the three of us  went out and explored the local sites of Ayr - ending up parking in Rozelle Park eating Cadbury's chocolate and enjoying every bite!!!  What is a visit to the UK, without pigging out on exquisite chocolate!!! 

Desiree and Jane on the Brig o Doon

Our Ayr day ended up in a pub crawl, starting at Smiths, where I ordered Haggis so Jane and Desiree could taste it.  Good thing I like haggis since they didn't seem to!  We peeked into the West Kirk, but there was no life there, on to Billy Bridges - a very traditional pub.  The only person drinking was Alan, the rest of us were on water, diet coke or ginger beer!  That didn't stop us laughing just like we did the whole visit, and getting evil looks from other customers.  I think they thought we had been boozing all afternoon.  What a way to end the weekend!





Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life! ~Albert Einstein

Easter in Burns Country

When I previewed this blog, I noticed that there are no paragraphs and I am not writing it like that. The last blog ended up all together too. Not sure what I can do to fix this and I apologize if these are hard to read. ah ha, fixed it already!

Here is a picture of purple heather in bloom on Easter Sunday. I am not used to seeing heather in bloom til later in the year.

I am still suffering from anosmia, apparently that is what the loss of smell is officially called. Very strange sensation and I also keep forgetting that I cannot smell!! It must be so ingrained as a habit, and why shouldn't it be? Such a normal movement to bring a thing to your nose and see what it smells like! I did notice it affects my cooking though, I burned a few things that I never burned before. I always thought I depended on the oven timer, but now I realize I also depend on how something smells as it is cooking. I made soup last night and this is the first thing that didn't even taste right. (apparently that is the one thing most people notice is lack of taste. this has not been the case for me until last night)

We had a lovely Easter though, regardless of my problem! Martin came up from London and most of his friends were away for a birthday celebration, so we got a massive amount of quality time with him!  With the very lucky timing of Corbyn not having nursery school on Good Friday and that he spent the night with us on Thursday, Martin had the benefit of waking up to his best fan!  I really don't know who enjoys their company the most. All I do know is once Martin was awake, they both disappeared and you could hear laughter throughout the whole house! 

White Heather

After Corbyn left for his daddy's, as he does every Friday, Alan, Martin and I went to the Chestnutshttp://www.chestnutshotel.com/restaurant.php for dinner.  This is one of our favourite restaurants, not because we have known the owners for years (Whitney and their daughter were best friends in primary school) but because it is a really nice place to go and the food is excellent!

Saturday was a typical day spent doing chores, banking, going to the post office, a bit of shopping and the guys went to see Ayr Unitedhttp://www.ayrunitedfc.co.uk/ play. 

In the evening, friends had invited us for drinks and nibbles so we had the benefit of Martin dropping us off, just like days gone by!  We had a wonderful time! 

Whitney and Corbyn arrived late morning, after he had eaten all of his chocolate eggs while his Mum was in the shower!  Everyone, except Grandma Simmons who has ruptured her ankle ligaments due to a fall, then trooped to the Robert Burns Birthplace Museumburnsmuseum for an Easter Treasure Hunt!  Up until the end, this was fantastic. Corbyn was really excited and loves maps anyway. He held onto the treasure map we were given through all the wind and walking that we did. 

(forgive me again,  I am continually learning how to do these blogs and am trying to figure out how to do the links!  that might be why there are so many this time!)

Corbyn enjoying mine and Alan's Burns portrait

So many beautiful flowers during our Treasure Hunt!

View from the Brig o Doon

(the family photo at the top of this blog was taken on the bridge)

neither one is a "wee sleekit, timorous beastie"

The little map reader, comparing his treasure map with this big official map

Yes, this was a wonderful way to spend Easter morning, but there was a valuable lesson to be learned at the end. Once we found all the clues and went back to the starting place to get Corbyn's prize, he was in tears and inconsolable.  We all assumed he was merely tired. But looking back, I think he was confused and disappointed that we never got the "treasure".  I hope we have the chance to do this next year, and believe me, there will be a treasure waiting for him then!







wake up and smell the roses

I had a respiratory virus now for 4 weeks and am still coughing and getting a bit breathless every so often. It is getting boring! Apparently this has been going the rounds and so many people are suffering from this virus that it seems like it is more normal to cough and splutter than not! The nurse I spoke to from my doctor's surgery said she should have just taped a message about this since those were about the only people phoning her for medical information! Living with a virus is not a big deal, anyone knows it usually goes away - eventually anyway. But what I had not factored in was the loss of my sense of smell. I cannot remember exactly when I realized I could not smell. At one point, I was cleaning out some things of Whitney's and found some old perfume, with no smell - so I threw it away. (I had cleared throwing away stuff with Whitney - I am not the kind of mother that throws their kids' stuff away on a whim!) A few days later, I noticed I could not smell anything at all....so I realized Whitney's old perfume was probably not that old and was able to retrieve all those poor unloved bottles!! It is odd and unexpectedly upsetting not to be able to smell anything! And it can be a bit dangerous! I bought some mentol crystals to help clear my head after a friend suggested this. I had used these with my kids years ago and know the vapour is really potent and can irritate your eyes and respiratory system if you use too much. I put in two almost microscopic particles with the boiling water, got my towel and began to steam my head! I did notice there was no vapour and was surprised. Then I wondered if I had not used enough....almost went to get more, but asked Alan to smell it. He didn't have to - sitting across the room, he could smell it fine. Going to a perfume counter, I have begun trying to smell the samples. I look like a regular customer, but I am not. There has been no result of smells with anything I have tried. I even got excited one time at work, when I thought my hair smelled bad! Not because I would like to smell bad, but because I thought I could smell it. That must have been some sort of phantom smell because I asked Alan when I got home and he said my hair smelled nice. (Ok, he is my husband, but he would have told me if it really didn't smell right!) They say your sense of taste is tied into your sense of smell. Maybe it is because I enjoy food so much, but I have not noticed less enjoyment of eating! Not being able to smell may not be alerting me to thinking I need to eat if someone is cooking or eating something I like close to me, so that might be what the experts meant about lack of smell affecting how a person eats. I know I am safe walking by a bakery or a steak restaurant - that would not even register! Maybe that is a benefit. Even walking by someone smoking - can't smell anything.....not all bad then!

You're only here for a short visit. Don't hurry. Don't worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way. - Walter Hagen

Civilized travel



I am just back from spending a day and night in Edinburgh.  I have to go there every so often to meet up with colleagues and for training or meetings.  Since I will always be a tourist at heart, this is not a problem to me.  And I have a friend who lives there so I can enjoy seeing her and not have to get up at the crack of dawn to get to Edinburgh!

On Tuesday, Alan dropped me off at the train station and I "commuted" to work!  How very nice!  All of the jobs I have held since moving here have required the use of a car. But it is such a pleasure not to drive.  I am going to price this to see if it might be worthwile to "commute" instead of drive on days I know I am staying in the office.

It just got better too.... I use a website called thetrainline http://www.thetrainline.com/ and it gives all different ways and times to get where you want to go.  I noticed a train that left Glasgow Central for Edinburgh that only took one hour and 7 minutes.  I got burned one time getting on a train bound for Edinburgh from Central - it took 2 hours or more to get there and there was a Guide unit waiting for us on the other end.  So I was quite skeptical at this new information. But sure enough, it looked safe enough to follow up on! 

The usual way to get to Edinburgh is a 10 minute walk from Glasgow Central to Glasgow Queen Street, where a train leaves every 15 minutes.  So I figured the 67 minutes predicted for the train leaving Central Station would really not take any extra time at all. 

Arriving at Central, I was so pleasantly surprised to see this beautiful, streamlined, shiny, crosscountry train headed to Birmingham New Street.  Again, I read and re-read the itinerary to make sure I didn't really mess myself up, but it was ok.  This was so much better than traipsing across town with a suitcase!  I will have to watch out for connections like that in the future.  (However, being on such a nice train going to a new place made me really want to just stay on!)

Arriving in Edinburgh, with my friend waiting - fantastic!  And I get a tiny budget for "hospitality" if not staying in a hotel.  So Cathy had the option of deciding how we should spend this windfall. She chose taking a taxi home.  She had had a rough day and the thought of waiting for her train to get us to Portobello was just too much.  I was happy to oblige and got a taxi! 

Once at her house, the wine was ready and dinner was bubbling away.  Fantastic! Not only do I feel spoiled when I visit her, but she also enjoys cooking for people.  Her husband is working away and her kids are the same age as mine, so she only has cats to keep her company just now!  What a wonderful evening and dinner.

To top this off, we walked down to the beach. Can you imagine, a city the size of Edinburgh with a beach!  It really does feel like a beach resort in this area too!  We hoped to catch a glimpse of the planets - Jupiter and Venus.  And so we did!  The sky didn't look as cloudy as these pictures show, but we were very lucky to have a relatively clear sky anyway.  If I had been at home....Alan told me there were only clouds to see!

We travelled back to city center in the morning and I meandered down to the CAS building.  It was a lovely walk and I enjoyed taking my time and also a few pictures!

Nice looking building on the way

Part of a Louis Vuitton window display

LV must be really into arrows this year!

Beautiful church with a bus stop at its side, I gave up waiting for the buses to go away and just took it from a bit higher up!

Reminded me of the "doors of Dublin"

old fashioned looking shop

little street just before I got to the CAS building

Our work get together was good, but nice to end that too.  Walked back to the station, via some shops!  Didn't buy anything though.  I am really saving as much as possible for my trip home.  With being 2 dress sizes down, I am in need of ALL new clothes. What fun! And I want to do that in the US!

Stopping off in Glasgow and making the walk between stations, I decided to shop again.  And again, didn't buy anything. Although I was very tempted when I saw a new shop called "Americandy".  Woo hoo, what would be in there that I am missing?  And I WAS hungry.....Unfortunately the shock of how much things cost in there took away my appetite.  4oz Flips, those chocolate covered pretzels I love - £5.  A small bag of M&M's ( and they had so many varieties) £2.  So not worth it.  And what a disappointment.  Oh well, got home to a lovely home cooked dinner by my husband and no guilt with eating something I didn't need!!

"Avoid any diet that discourages the use of hot fudge."  ~Don Kardong

Burns Beer Festival 2012

Last Friday I stumbled upon a post on Facebook stating that the bar would open in 4 hours for the Burns Beer Festival!  Considering I live in the area, I found it quite surprising that a beer festival snuck in like that!  Looking back, I thought I had taken action quickly enough, but I only contacted my husband.  And we could not go on Friday, luckily they also ran the festival on Saturday.

Having never been to a beer festival before, I was really looking forward to going to this one, especially since we could walk there. The setting was perfect, right in the grounds of Robert Burns  Cottage!  I was surprised to see so few people and then realized we were not the only ones who did not know about this local event. So Alan and I phoned our friends: not only did they not know, they also could not come.

There was a great selection of beer and ale, actually I don't know which was which and considering it was a beer festival - maybe they were all beer....?  Alan prefers lager so he got 4 different selections of the lighter beers and I like dark beer like Guinness, so I got a selection of darker beers.  We both tried to avoid the Ayr Brewing Company because we can get that locally.  We also avoided the Arran Brewery because we are planning on going to Arran soon.  It helped to have some reason not to choose some because there were so many!

I did try one of the Ayr Brewery beers though because it was specially brewed for this festival - the Peck O Maut, couldn't pass that one by!

If you look closely, you can see the design that is on the flyer.  These are half pint glasses and it will be nice if we will be able to make a collection of these in the coming years!

Alan and I had a relaxing afternoon, from about 2 - 5, we could have stayed longer, but decided just to go on home.  However, with a bit of planning and more friends, this would be a fantastic day out.  Plus there was a celidh starting at 8pm, in the same place.

me with a half pint of The Grace

 I have given feedback to the facebook group advertising this that I hope there will be one next year.  The response was they do too!  So maybe the lack of crowds this year will not cause the festival to fade away!

"There's some are fou o' love divine, There's some are fou' o' brandy."

 Robert Burns

Conference

View from my hotel room

Here I am in Glasgow, with the chance to sleep a bit later yet up at 6am.  Every year Citizens Advice Service has a conference and I have been privileged to attend every one since starting with CAB!  In addition to spending quality time with the people I work with every week, I also get to catch up with the small number of people who actually do my job all over Scotland.  Our job is a lonely role since there is usually only one person in each health board doing this.  So the few times a year we get together is great!

All the Ayrshire delegates, both North and East Ayrshire!

We had a great time at the dinner/dance last night.  It is usually just ok, with good food and a disco. But last night, it was a ceilidh! And for the first time in years, I was able to dance virtually every dance!  (One of the many benefits of going to Weightwatchers!)  The only thing that held me back was lack of partners! 

After the dance, we ended up in our hotel bar until the very wee hours of the morning, so there is no excuse for me to be so awake at 6am!



I will have to look up this band's name, they were really good!

Reflections on the River Clyde while walking back to the Campanile Hotel

Our dinner/dance was at the Crown Royal right on the River Clyde.  It was a lovely night and Christine and I walked back to our hotel along the river.  I am certain Alan would have gotten better photos, but I enjoyed trying!

Drink, and dance and laugh and lie,
Love the reeling midnight through,
For tomorrow we shall die!
(But, alas, we never do.)~Dorothy Parker