One way to celebrate the Fourth of July

 

Since the descendants were: 1) on the way to Worcester; 2) in London; 3) in Perth, Mr Life and I went Darby-and-Joan-like up town. As we got off the bus, it suddenly started to rain so we had coffee in the Royal Scottish Academy, looking out over the Old Town. There are some advantages to having no commitments and being able to sit over a coffee and wait till the weather improves.

 

Then we went up to the Chambers Street Museum and visited the Mary Queen of Scots exhibition. It was interesting to see (among other things) documents written by her. Her handwriting was extremely tidy and readable. The older you get, the more you realise that 400 years or so isn't very long - just eight times 50 years, and that fairly whizzes past when you're busy. Mary was only 44 when she was executed, poor soul. Shudder.

 

We then had lunch in the museum...

... and walked along to the National Library to visit this exhibition. It was perhaps not quite as exciting as the poster suggests, but interesting all the same.

By this time, the sun was shining and it was very warm, so we headed for home and watched Wimbledon - which I've just been doing again now. Andy Murray is in the final again - hurray. I do hope he can do it this time! He might even smile.

This was my first birthday without my mum, though last year she was in a very poor state in hospital and I was visiting her twice daily so I can't even remember what happened on the day. It's pathetic, at the age of 63, to feel slightly abandoned... but once you've had children yourself you realise fully that birthdays belong to the mother as much as the child. She will never again tell me the story of my father being on the golf course when a message was brought to him (by whom? I have no idea - no mobile phones then) that I was on my way into the world. He finished the round. My mother never quite forgave him.