The garden crew

 
After a week of dull and damp weather, today was sunny and mild and so we got stuck into the garden. Mr L cut one of the hedges (hurray for him) while I cut the grass and did some weeding.

My pots of pansies are looking good. No doubt the slugs are stretching, yawning and making their way towards them as I write.

Luckily slugs don't eat polyanthus.

Spring flowers - so bright and cheering.

Cassie Cat always likes company so she came to help.

She also likes sunshine.

She didn't do much weeding, though.

Edinburgh's child(ren)

Son and Daughter-in-Law came down yesterday and stayed till today. We all went with Daughter 1 and the grandchildren to the local playpark. It's particular fun in the playpark when your fit young uncle is prepared to go on the equipment with you.

I've just finished rereading a book I found in a second-hand bookshop a few years ago. It's called "Edinburgh's Child - some memories of ninety years" and it was published in 1961 when its author, Eleanor Sillar, was 92. She was born in 1869, not all that long before my grandparents (1880, 1885, 1893 and 1895). It's a series of essays about the Edinburgh of her childhood as the child of a Sheriff - a judge in the lower courts, as opposed to one who would deal with very serious crimes. I've just looked up the current salary of a Sheriff and it's about £130K. So her family was quite well-off. They had at least three live-in servants - mind you, there were six children and the mother died when the youngest was born, so they would certainly need help in the house.

Edinburgh as she describes it is clearly recognisable, though almost all of the shops have changed and the customs and attitudes are in some cases extremely different. As you get older, you realise how short a period of time a century is - if you remember 50 years back (and it doesn't seem such a long time ago) you are aware that 100 years is just twice not-very-long (and 1000 years just ten times that...). And yet she describes being a debutante - I never knew that Edinburgh people used that term - and going to balls at the Assembly Rooms. The Rooms are still there - I've been to a couple of dances there in my youth, but not with chaperones, candles and corsages as she describes them. And when she got home, at four in the morning, her nanny/maid was "awake and alert, ready to unlace me and to brush my hair, and eager to hear all about it. She pulls the flowers in my bouquet off their wires and puts them in water."

Eleanor writes very appreciatively of the three woman servants who were with the family for over fifty years. However, she writes that "they had been bred to think that to earn their living in this manner was their high calling". That doesn't feel too comfortable nowadays. She says that "our maids shared in all our holidays and outings" which sounds good, but adds "my memory pictures Christina weighed down with her enormous basket stuffed full of picnic fare and Ann wandering along, her arms laden with our discarded coats". Hmm.

Ann had joined the household when the writer's mother heard that she had had a baby by her betrothed, who had been killed in an accident before the wedding. The writer's mother, being a kind woman, immediately "sent for her, and kept her, earning thereby the selfless gratitude of a gentle being". But there's no mention at all of what became of Ann's child. This child had been born in Ann's mother's house so presumably remained there with its granny (no mention even of whether it was a girl or boy). When Eleanor Sillar married, Ann went with her to help with the next generation of children, not retiring till the age of seventy. I wonder how she really felt about all this?

But things were hard even in an affluent family. Two of the writer's brothers and her only sister died in infancy before Eleanor was born; her mother died in childbirth with Eleanor's younger brother; and her father died when she was thirteen. My grandfather too had several brothers and sisters who died before he was born; I remember asking him about them and he couldn't be sure even of their names.

In some ways it's not long ago. The buildings are much the same. I can Street View the addresses she mentions. And yet in other ways it seems a very long time ago. So interesting.

Perspective

Having unwisely given the impression in my previous post (before correcting it) that Grandson was being much more bouncy than he actually was, I got one perfectly nice comment from a bloggy friend who obviously felt slightly worried for the lady behind him and one rather less nice one from an anonymous commenter - which I deleted because it's my blog and I can.

I tend to feel that people who read my blog know me and can therefore read between the lines, but of course this isn't really the case. Or - it is to some extent. I've met quite a few bloggy friends now and they've all been lovely, just like their blogs. But blogs, though they may be more or less true, are not the whole truth. We are actually quite shy people. I often feel that we may have brought up our children to be more repressed and to think of other people more than is compatible with getting on in the real world. We certainly never allowed them to make a noise in public places and annoy others - not that they ever showed much tendency to do so. They are all kind and considerate. They, and we, probably get walked over a bit.

Pictures tell only half the story. This is Grandson yesterday and yes, we are very blessed to have him. But what you can't tell from the picture is that he has a terrible cold and cough, is having to use his puffer because of wheezing and that his body is covered in itchy eczema. He currently has to wear a special tight suit covering his entire body under his pyjamas at night so that the cream with which he's slathered stays on and he can't scratch and make himself bleed.

I read blogs because I'm interested in the writers' lives and feel warmly towards them. If I weren't and I didn't, I wouldn't read their blogs. It's odd, though salutary (and I suppose obvious) to to realise that there are those out there with different feelings.

Or maybe he or she was just having a bad day.

Looking fabulous

We took Daughter 1 and the children to Ikea today. I always like to have a potter round if it's not too busy. We ourselves didn't need anything but Granddaughter enjoyed being in the trolley.

We did get rather stuck at one point while Grandson played with cars and a garage and a road mat.

However, we lured him away with the promise of a scone. He enjoyed this and also had (very brief!) fun bouncing about on the sofa.

(For those worried about the lady behind Grandson: a) there was quite a big gap between our sofa and hers and b) he was in this position for about five seconds before his mother told him to sit still. The actual bouncing was very minor. We are aware of other people. I just thought it was a nice photo. Blogs may not always convey an accurate impression of the facts.)

Granddaughter chewed the box of plates that her mum had bought. I'm sure it was clean. Ish.

Despite not needing anything, I bought a step for small people who want to reach the bathroom sink; a musical rabbit in a hat that Grandson fell in love with; and two packets of chocolate marzipan cakes. As you do.

On the way home we found ourselves behind this cyclist, whose jersey read "Hare and Hounds Running Club - making you look fabulous." Mr Life thought that this suggested that the members of the club look so bad that we would look fabulous in comparison; but I feel his interpretation was faulty.

The weather was a bit damp but the daffodils in the Meadows certainly looked lovely.

Stories

Why I like reading diaries and letters and biographies and autobiographies and memoirs - and of course blogs - is that I'm so interested in other people's lives. Nosey, you could say. Curious, I'd probably prefer. And you probably are too, or you wouldn't be reading this (unless you're Son-in-Law 1's relations, in which case you're hoping for pictures of the little ones). So while it's nice to see pictures of the daffodils in the Botanic Gardens, where we went yesterday with friends -

- and this blossom is very pretty too -

- I also took a picture of a bride arriving at her wedding and the piper playing as she got out of the car. It's a bit weird, I suppose, to think that she's featuring on the blog of a complete stranger; but unless you knew who she was (which I don't and I assume you don't) you'll never recognise her again. The sort of semi-permanent tent on the left of the photo was very full of guests and as we passed we could see the groom standing waiting inside for her to arrive and come up the non-aisle. So we looked for a few moments and I wondered who they were and how they'd met and whether the marriage would be a success. It's quite expensive to get married at the Botanics so they've started with the advantage of being reasonably well-off - unless of course they've spent too much on the wedding and that car and the flowers she was carrying and are starting in debt. We'll never know; but I hope it all goes well.

After walking round, we went to have coffee. What do you think of these people, then? The couple on the left look as if they've been married for a long time, don't you think? They were sitting looking out at the tables and benches and (though you can't see it in my photo) the interesting Edinburgh skyline. They were sensibly dressed for the rather chilly day and didn't appear to be making much attempt to impress one another. The other couple, though - she's leaning forward very attentively and he's showing her something on a piece of paper. An assignation? A business meeting? They're not young but they're both good-looking for their ages.

Actually, I know the woman slightly and we had a brief chat as she and her companion were leaving. She said that he was a friend and they were discussing a joint project. Which isn't quite as interesting as I was imagining... .

If anyone had been watching the four of us, what would they have thought? They'd probably have assumed (correctly) that we were two married couples. Would they have known which woman was married to which man? They wouldn't have known that B and I met on the first day of primary school, when we were five. Do B's husband and I look like the retired teachers that we are? I've no idea.

However, for the family in Worcester, here's Granddaughter escaping...

... and then playing peekaboo. Her story is very simple. So far.

Big smiles

Grandson and his dad have gone down south to visit the other grandparents while Daughter 1 has stayed behind with Granddaughter to tend to their elderly guinea pig. Today we looked after Granddaughter by herself for a while, which was a treat. Grandson is so chatty and entertaining that it's easy to pay less attention to his little sister. (I write this with feeling, being myself a second child - though actually less attention is sometimes a good thing.)

She is very jolly indeed.

She's standing though not yet walking.

She had fun playing with Grandson's toys. He is not very keen on this but, crucially, he wasn't there.

We went out for a walk. I put my hat on her, since we didn't have hers with us.

Later, I went out for a meal with some ex-colleagues. We talked about cancer and arthritis and living on a pension and how we felt about dying. "I almost didn't come tonight," said one friend as we parted, "because I'd had such a rotten week. But I feel better now."

Cheerful chat with chums. You can't beat it. Or it might have been the wine.

Fresh air and exercise

Lots of fresh air today. We walked home from my piano lesson in glorious sunshine - look at that sky.

Various ducks swam and waddled in and beside the Water of Leith. Some of them were a bit quarrelsome, I regret to say. (The chaps.)

Mind you, I'd be grumpy myself if I had to swim around in this water the whole time. It's pretty but I'm sure it's also rather cold.

Then in the afternoon (by which time the sun had gone behind a cloud - lots of clouds) Grandson and I went for a wander in Dr Neil's Garden by Duddingston Loch.

"The birds are cheeping," he remarked. They certainly were.

A little bit of idleness is so restful and he is such splendid company.

Spring and stuff

The garden is burgeoning. I love picking little bunches of spring to put in a vase. I do have a tendency to place this vase right in front of little controlly bit at the side of the tv so that Mr Life's remote controller doesn't work. No one's perfect.

Hyacinths! So lovely. I buy bulbs every year and plant them out afterwards so the garden is full of them.

Cassie Cat takes advantage of the sunshine.

We took Grandson to Glasgow (through in the west...) yesterday on the train. He liked this a lot.

He was intrigued by the tunnels. We saw lots of sheep, a few cows, many traffic lights, quite a few rivers and motorways and several tractors. He found this all very satisfactory. Another little boy's granny gave him a small box of raisins. "That lady has presents for me," he said approvingly.

We then went to the Kelvingrove Museum. I'm not sure that he drank in the culture but he liked walking round and round the corridors and up and down the stairs.

There's plenty of time for culture.