Living things

Well, we've had a fairly nothingy week - thank you, Covid. Not that I was ever particularly unwell - just a lot of nose-blowing and coughing, and I'm now ok again - thank you very much, medical science. I had to postpone various social engagements, but none of them was particularly one-off, so will be just as good in a week or two. Except, that is, a visit to Daughter 2 in London. I had booked the train - I usually go on a Friday, but the train drivers were on strike on Friday so I opted for Thursday at 9am. And on Wednesday I was still faintly positive, so had to make the decision not to go. And of course, on Thursday morning I tested negative. I was so disappointed: I could have gone. With missing Daughter 2 so much, it's a bit like (as a teacher) pacing yourself to the end of term. When that comes, you feel as though you couldn't possibly manage another day; though you probably could have, if you'd always known there would be another week of term. So I felt that I couldn't possibly bear not seeing her and Littlest Granddaughter for another day - even though we've not seen them since the end of December, and they're coming up next weekend. The same, of course, applies to Son, but he's not so far away. 

One good thing about not seeing various friends that week was that I spent much of three days in the garden and got most of the late-winter tidying up done. My garden, though not large, is quite labour-intensive, which is entirely my fault because it's mainly planted in herbaceous perennials, which need to be cut down every year, thinned out from time to time and so on. When we come to sell the house, the garden will probably be marketed as "easily-maintained" because it's quite small. (Hollow laugh.) Anyway, my three-day marathon resulted in my being somewhat crippled - the arthritic hip really didn't appreciate all that kneeling down and standing up again. Still, it makes me feel much better to see it tidy, and there are snowdrops and crocuses blooming and lots of other bulbs showing through the soil. 

On Wednesday we had our first outing, to the Botanics, because it's outside (obviously) and I was in less pain by then. This was good for the soul. 

Trees...

and rather more snowdrops than in my garden

and their first rhododendron to be flowering this year. 

At home, it's the time of year for the amaryllis forest. I took three pots of them to church a few weeks ago for other people to adopt, but the four remaining pots are still too many. I must do the same thing next year. The timing is crucial, I feel: there need to be flower spikes showing or no one would want them, but these mustn't be too tall or they're liable to break on the journey. I should really just throw the plants away after flowering and buy another one next year for £9.99 or whatever, but never have the heart. 

This sort of thing is also the reason why I keep more fabric scraps than I will ever use. 

We saw the Edinburgh Two yesterday. So that was lovely. Big Grandson is now taller than I am. A fortnight ago, pre-Covid, he wasn't!

Today, when I couldn't be with Daughter 2, we went up to visit Son and his family, which also consoled me. We had to cancel a visit to them last Saturday because of Covid. We went to the small zoo near them, where a couple of marmosets were extremely interested, for about ten minutes, in Middle Granddaughter's toy cheetah. They really stared at it and you could almost hear them saying: "What is that?" Middle Granddaughter was very intrigued. 

And they had a lovely time in the playpark. And then we went back to theirs and I handed over their quilts, which they seemed to like. So that was a good day. I'm grateful for all those lovely descendants. And not being dead. And living in a peaceful place. 

 

Here be dinosaurs

Big Grandson (11) still spends a lot of time drawing street scenes featuring buses, or railway lines with trains. He takes great care to make the vehicles as accurate as he can, though lately he's been comically filling these worlds with polar bears - or at least, versions of the polar bear cushion that he possesses. As he wisely says, they're easier to draw than people. I like his use of strong colours. Isn't it fascinating watching grandchildren grow up?

We went on a lovely walk last Saturday with our walking chums. We were fortunate in the weather and I feel fortunate too that I can still walk reasonable distances despite my "severely arthritic" right hip. 

This is the River Esk, just outside the city. 

We ended up in Musselburgh and sat for a while, enjoying the sunshine. 

This archer points his (imaginary - not sure why) bow over the river, in the direction where various arrows are to be found, symbolising the Roman occupation and various other historical events which took place around here over the centuries. 

We had a visit to the Botanics, admiring the signs of spring, hurrah. Snowdrops, 

hellebores

and viburnum - very fragrant. 

I have at last finished Small Grandson's quilt. I very much doubt if he remembers asking for it in about August (he's only 3) but I hope he still likes dinosaurs. I held on to Medium Granddaughter's dragon one till both were finished - will she remember? Who knows? And we were going to take them up today, but sadly I've got Covid. I vaguely thought I might be immune... but no. I'm not terribly ill - it's just like a bad cold - but need to keep away from people. And I can't smell anything, such as the hyacinths in the dining room. 

I keep thinking that I ought to try a more complicated quilt. But not for a 3-year-old. And I'm not sure whether I really want to challenge myself. I just like fiddling around with fabrics, seeing what it all looks like when sewn together, and hand quilting in a sort of let's-see-what-this-looks-like sort of way.

Still, my amaryllises are starting to bloom. 

Before I knew that I had Covid, I took the Edinburgh Two to a trampoline centre. They are so lovely. I am so lucky having these two here - though of course I wish the others were too. 

 

The bug strikes...

Well, on the positive side, my agapanthus. which had a measly five flowers last year for some reason, is back to its normal self this year. I realise that it's a menace in some places - and indeed, I'd have to hire a digger if I wanted to remove it from this flowerbed outside my kitchen window - but I do love it. 

On the negative side, Mr L has at last succumbed to Covid. He's in bed, feeling pretty unwell, and I have all the doors propped open, allowing what is today a slightly chilly wind to whistle through the house, in the hope that this will mean that I didn't get it from him a few days ago when we didn't know he had it. Not sure if this will work retrospectively. The timing is appalling, since Daughter 2 is arriving imminently to be with us all of August, while I look after Littlest Granddaughter and Daughter 2 works. I feel fine at the moment... .

And the extended family is supposed to be going down to Northumberland, to two very expensive holiday cottages, on Friday, for a week. Mr L is driving our car because I don't do big roads.

We're going to have to be very lucky for all this to work... .

Send positive thoughts, bloggy friends!

 

Home and away

The blog is a very quiet, echoing place these days, but I persist. We went to see our friends in the west of Scotland on Wednesday  - postponed since 2020! - and on the way back got caught in the Glasgow rush hour. Never again! I mean, we'll see our friends again, but not on a week day. 

The garden flourishes. Spring is so wonderful. We've had a week of mild, shirtsleeves weather - but today it's more normal again. 

On Saturday we had a trip to Haddington on the bus. We arrived in time for coffee and such large cheese scones that we didn't need lunch, and had a lovely walk along the river. 

With swans. 

Haddington's a nice little town, not far from Edinburgh, but there's a lot of new house-building on the outskirts which is going to make a big difference to things. Here's the 18th century Poldrate Mill. 

Our walk was very peaceful.

On Sunday we walked along the prom at Portobello - still in unseasonably warm weather. It was slightly misty, so that the coast of Fife, on the far side of the estuary, was invisible. 

There were paddleboarders and swimmers. While the weather was warm, I'm sure the sea wasn't!

And in London, Littlest Granddaughter played in the garden. Daughter 2 and SIL2 still haven't been able to exchange contracts for the house that they hope to buy / their flat that they hope to sell. The lawyers and estate agents are hopeless - failing to answer emails, not investigating things for ages, saying stuff that can't be true if the other lawyers/estate agents are telling the truth. The chap they hope to buy from has been saying for some weeks that he's got a better offer and is threatening to sell it to these people  - if the truth is being told. But is it? If you're a competent, diligent person yourself, this sort of thing is very trying. Daughter 2 is being amazingly philosophical about it all. This is from having their offer accepted in mid-December - truly the English system (which is different from the Scottish one) is dire. 

However, there are direr things going on in the world so... Sigh. 

And Son and family have got Covid. We still haven't, though friends and acquaintances are testing positive quite frequently. It's bound to happen... .
 

The year so far. Could try much harder.

The weather's been sunny but nothing particular happened during the first few days of the new year, so we went for various walks, such as along the shore at Cramond. 

It was difficult to take good photos on the phone because it was so bright - hard to show the intense blue of the sky without everything in the foreground looking in deep shadow. 

It would be a good place to walk with the grandchildren were Big Grandson not absolutely phobic about dogs. There are a lot of dogs in Edinburgh, and people with particularly big ones often bring them here to gallop along the prom. It's not the dogs' faults, but really it makes it very hard for the little chap. 

And I've been piecing the other bunk quilt, though am still quilting the first one. This one was mindless but time-consuming because of all the little bits. There's satisfaction in using up scraps, but really, who am I kidding? - I don't need to use the scraps. I'll never run out of fabric even if I never buy any more. And let's face it, I will buy more from time to time. 

I'm still to sew most of it together and add a border. 

And then something awful happened: out of the blue, one of my very best friends had a stroke. Which puts one's minor grumbles into very clear perspective. I've known her since we were 23 and started teaching together, have always met up with her and, especially since our retirement, we've seen a lot of each other. In fact, she belongs to two of my groups of friends: one from the secondary school where we were beginner teachers and one from the further education college where we later both taught. She was a very healthy person, who, with her husband, did long hikes and generally looked after herself. 

She can still talk - in fact we talked on the phone just today - her husband phoned me from her hospital ward. Her speech is a bit slurred but not too bad. But she's currently paralysed down her left side. It happened only five days ago so it's probably early days and I hope that she'll recover a lot, but I'm so sad for her. She's newly 72, which I know isn't young, but is also not very old. Her friends can't even visit at the moment, I assume because of Covid - she can only have one visitor for one hour a day. 

So that was a horrible start to 2022. As I've said before - unoriginally - carpe diem, gather ye rosebuds, etc. 

"They are not long, the days of wine and roses:

Out of a misty dream

Our paths emerge for a while, then close

Within a dream."

I've always been astonished that Ernest Dowson wrote this, since he died at the age of 32. It was clearly true for him. But it doesn't seem like a young man's outlook, does it? The poor chap had a bit of a rubbish life, though,  even before getting TB - father died, mother committed suicide and Ernest himself couldn't be said to have exactly looked after himself. 

Well, well, it's so nice, when one faces the inevitable sadness involved in getting older, to watch the young ones growing and getting stronger and more capable. Thank goodness for grandchildren and young people in general. The world goes on. Which is very good. 

 

Here we go again

Well, yes. I wish I were confident that 2022 was going to be better. But at least 2021 was better than 2020, so maybe that's going to be the trend. 

We brought the New Year in at Daughter 1's, with her family and lovely in-laws, so that was nice. The children stayed up, which was a first. Then the next morning we watched the concert from Vienna - wonderful, but Daniel Barenboim's getting old. As are we all....

(When I was a student, I worked one summer at the Festival Office, selling tickets for the Edinburgh Festival (the proper one, not the Fringe). Daniel Barenboim's wife, the amazing cellist Jacqueline Du Pre, was to play at some concerts, but they were cancelled. I remember a customer saying to me, "Do you think she's having a baby?" and I thought - oh yes, that would be nice. But sadly that was the end of her career because she'd developed multiple sclerosis - at 28 - and died at 42. So, so sad.)

Daughter 1, family and lovely in-laws came to us for dinner on the 1st, so that was very good too. 

There's a crocus blooming in the garden. It's a bit early, but encouraging. 

Today was mild and beautiful so we went for a walk along the river. 

We sat for a bit outside the gallery, admiring the sky and the landform and the pool.

And then we descended the steps to the river, 

and walked along in the sunshine. So lovely.

My brother sent me this, which is rather amusing. 

Daughter 2, her husband and little one have now all recovered and have tested negative for Covid, so were able to leave the flat today. Hooray! All the rest of their party got Covid too, but happily no one is terribly ill. So that's something - quite a lot. But they should be up here just now and aren't. O woe. Ah well. 

Happy New Year, all. 

 

Goodbye, 2021

Well, this Christmas doesn't take its place among the most stellar ever, I have to say. On the day itself the Edinburgh family came, which was very nice. Here is Biggest Granddaughter wearing her Batman onesie and reading a book - her favourite activity. But neither Daughter 1 nor Big Grandson was very well (not Covid, just a bad fluey cold/cough) and Grandson is far from recovered even now. 

However, the real problem has been with Daughter 2 and family. Her parents-in-law live in a small house, so when they want to see the family for any length of time, everyone goes to Center Parcs, not far from where SIL2's parents live. Daughter 2 was dubious about this because of Covid, but both her parents-in-law are disabled and use mobility scooters, so Center Parcs is good for them.  They've had a pretty isolated time since the first lockdown. Also, Daughter 2's husband's sister and BIL moved to Norway with their children in the spring (BIL is Norwegian). So this was a big family reunion.

Everyone lateral-flowed themselves multiple times, Daughter 2 kept Littlest Granddaughter off nursery for ten days to avoid infection and they stayed mainly in their flat. Littlest is exceedingly motion sick, especially in a car, so SIL2 took a taxi, with all their stuff and Christmas presents, from their suburb to King's Cross Station, while Daughter 2 and Littlest went by tube. Then they travelled by train to the nearest station and got a lift to Center Parcs from SIL's sister. The Norwegian lot had flown over, spent two days in a hotel till they got their PCR results and finally they all met up at Center Parcs on Thursday, for a week. Then on Friday, SIL2 became ill and tested positive for Covid. And on Saturday, Christmas Day, Daughter 2 tested positive and on Boxing Day, Littlest did.

So obviously they had to go home. But now they couldn't go home by train because they had Covid. So they had to wait till things opened up on Sunday, hire a car (SIL2's s sister had to hire it because neither Daughter 2 nor her husband could go to the hire place) Daughter 2 was named as the other driver, and she had to drive them home in the dark (so that Littlest was asleep and thus not vomiting). Meanwhile the rest of the family had to go home on Monday before they came down with it. The timing of it all could hardly have been worse.

And by now they've almost all tested positive. 

And this is with all the adults triple-vaccinated. Though fortunately, so far none of them is particularly ill - just feeling very tired and as if they have a really bad cold. 

So that cast a blight - obviously over their Christmas but also over ours - we were so upset for them and so worried about them. I hate my beloved people travelling by car, especially ill and in the dark. However, everyone did get safely home and they're all now isolating. 

Which means, of course, that Daughter 2 isn't, as planned, coming up here for New Year for our family reunion - which isn't happening at all because Son feels he shouldn't come down either - we're again limited to three households meeting up and, being a doctor, he really doesn't want to complicate life by getting Covid. 

Ah well, ah well, there are much worse things happening to other people. But one is - everyone is - rather fed up with yet more restrictions to normal life. Presumably we'll all get Covid in the end, anyway. But it's as well not to get it while the NHS is overburdened by the non-vaccinated becoming ill and needing hospitalisation. I wish everyone would just get the jab - or, as we tend to say in Scotland, the jag.

At least the Botanics aren't shut (yet) so we went the other day and admired their wicker decorations. There are 12 of these, such as...

one for twelve drummers drumming,

one for ten lords a-leaping,

eight maids a-milking

and five gold rings. Aren't they lovely? 

And I've been trying to improve the not-so-shining hour by making two quilts at once for the new bunks in the study, bought for when we have the whole family here. Oh, the irony. 

But we do have the Edinburgh lot, which is lovely. We went for a walk yesterday in Inverleith Park. It was a trifle dreich but we had a nice time. 

 

There was a heron, whose stance suggested that he was a bit fed up too. 

Ah well, onwards and upwards to a new year. And if you sing "Auld Lang Syne" - this is becoming an annual reminder - don't pronounce it "Zyne"! Just sing it like "sign". It means "since" or "then" - "old times long since". Not zince. 

Happy New Year to all readers, whether lurkers or commenters. Let's hope that 2022 is a better one! Please!