Wednesday, July 02, 2008

The first week of the holidays

Here I am on holiday from work and you’d think I ought to be blogging all sorts of deep insights into the human condition. Instead, I’ve been sharing with the world some news about the contents of my fridge and some pictures of a young man cleaning a skylight. So, continuing with this rather narrow viewpoint, I give you: a walk with our friends at the weekend; and our boy’s graduation yesterday. And a cat in a tree. Above, you see the two bridges over the estuary that Edinburgh is built beside.

We walked with our friends along to causeway to Cramond Island, which isn't an island except when the tide comes in. People occasionally get stranded, but we didn't.

It was a typical Scottish summer day. The sun shone intermittently.


This is looking back at the mainland at a castle whose name escapes me.


Here's the boy's graduation. The girl in black robes with a white hood is Daughter 1, who works for the university - she was only there to see her little brother graduate but was put in the procession of bigwigs and given a seat on the platform, amusingly.


Here are the boy and his friends swearing the oath to be good doctors.


Edinburgh graduands get biffed on the head by a bonnet which is allegedly made out of John Knox's trousers. (You'll see this if you click to enlarge.) Well, we all have our little eccentricities. Knox was a Protestant reformer (1510 - 1572). Actually, if you do click to enlarge, look at the expressions on the faces of the front row platform people. Chaps: uniformly bored. Lady: I think she's going "Ahh!" Mind you, the graduands were biffed on the head alphabetically and our surname begins with D. I imagine she too got a bit bored by the time Z came along.

Two fledgling doctors. Don't get ill in August, British people, which is when all the new doctors hit the wards.


Back home, unimpressed, Sirius tried to catch a bird in a tree.

He prowled along the branch.

Then he fell off.










13 comments:

  1. Ahhh Isabelle! SO wonderful to see you posting frequently again. --Happy Birthday to Daughter2.
    --I couldn't tell if anyone answered you, but we always do practice with a "c".
    --Beautiful views of your walk -- thanks for sharing them.
    --Poor Sirius. I hope he survived the fall.
    --And last but not least, Hearty Congratulations to your skylight cleaning haloed son and his girlfriend on their graduation!!!

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  2. I guess Scotland and Ireland must be fairly similar because the pictures of your walk made me homesick! Very colourful graduation pics. Hats of to any guy with the guts to wear hot pink----congratulations to the fledglings.
    So.oo.o! You've been neglecting those young cats education---you haven't yet taught them how to fly....hmmmmm

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  3. .....ofF....obviously!

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  4. The hot pink was somewhat purpler in real life.

    Apparently I have a really tiny head! My hair looks nice and shiny, though.

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  5. Congratulations to the new doctors. You must be so proud.

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  6. I have't been around for some time, but have had a good catch-up today. Our summer was like a Scottish summer until four days ago, when July brought sunshine and warmth.
    Congratulations on birthday and graduation in your family - lovely occasions.
    I had a good laugh at your "Cheesy Utube Production" - very clever of you!

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  7. Nice photos you made me home sick for aberdeen.Congratulations to your two new doctors you must be very proud of them.
    Hugs Mary,

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  8. Congratulations to the graduates for... being biffed in the head with a recycled pair of trousers.

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  9. Congratulations to your graduate. The head biffing seems a bit unfair though.

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  10. Sometimes it takes a few days off work to fully relax in preparation for penning the Great Literary Work. Besides - I think your anecdotes about prawns gone bad and pictures of skylight cleaning do shed light on the human condition. All over the world, people were nodding their heads in sympathy when they read about those prawns.

    I greatly enjoy your photos. You can't imagine how refreshing the pictures of your home are. It looks like a little bit of paradise. Congratulations to your son and his girlfriend! (I wish I'd thought of Tracey's comment.)

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  11. Congratulations to Son & Beloved on their Graduations. I had to laugh about the bonnet made of old trousers!
    Traditions can be totally ludicrous, but must go on!

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  12. Congratulations, shiny new Doctor son and Doctor Girlfriend!



    So, slapping with protestant knickers is the scholarly thing there. How very amusing.


    Enjoy your holiday. Shall you be off to Kelvin Grove this time? I am off to the mountains; do be good while I am away.

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  13. Chuckling noises from Melbourne! Sirius would NOT be happy being photographed falling out of a tree. Such indignity.
    I can't imagine what prawns-past-their-use-by-date smell like; in our house they are usually eaten within hours of getting inside the front door!
    Congratulations to the new family doctors - very handy to have around. We have some nurses in my family but they aren't as useful as doctors.

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