Time passing

And so life continues, perfectly pleasantly if it weren't for the frustration of not being able to meet up with our non-Edinburgh children and grandchildren. If things go to plan, we're allowed to travel within Scotland at the end of April and outside Scotland mid-May. If things don't... . And this already seems ages. So we go for walks along the river, like the other day...

and admire the daffodils on the way up to the Art Gallery

and in the gallery grounds. And then we walk home. All perfectly pleasant and so enviable compared to the many poor people in horrible war zones, so one shouldn't complain. But meanwhile these beautiful children are growing up and we'll never get that time with them again. 

I've been adding borders to my ice cream quilt. It's not for anyone in particular so I've just been indulging myself with scraps of favourite fabrics. Included in it are various patches cut from spare bits of curtain material from the house, some scraps of our old napkins, some strips of my mother's napkins (the dark pink) and various fabrics that remind me of other quilts in which they've featured. It's riotously pastel and a bit silly but I'm having a happy time just improvising. 

At least we're seeing the Edinburgh Two. Yesterday they were playing with Playdoh. "This," said Big Grandson, "is Beary Queen of Scots". In case you're not versed in Scottish history, Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded, poor soul, by Elizabeth of England, her cousin. Grandson's class are learning about her in school. "It's a bit gruesome for children our age," said Grandson. "Well, we did her last year," said Biggest Granddaughter, "and we were only seven. You'd think they'd find more cheerful things to teach us about." 

Today we walked round Cammo, an estate given to the city after its last owners died. 

The big house is mainly demolished. Today the place was blessedly dog-free (ish). I quite like individual dogs but there are so many in Edinburgh; and Big Grandson doesn't like to go to places where people walk their dogs (which is more or less everywhere) because he's so scared of them - not that he was with us today. I don't think that (some) dog owners realise that not everyone is enchanted with their furry friends. On the other hand, I can't imagine why some people don't like cats (and they're so furry!), not to say children. So - hey ho. 

The flowering currant smells rather strong but it's so pretty. 

There are remnants everywhere of the grand house of yore. 

The city is gradually encroaching on the countryside. 

These are the remains of a cottage dating from 1780. From excavations, it's thought that this was once a wright's workshop, where wooden and metal things from the estate were mended. 

And this is the long pond which formed part of the vista from the house. 

It's beautiful but rather melancholy. The grounds are maintained enough to make them safe, but nature's trying to reclaim the land, and time overtakes everything in the end. Which is possibly a good thing. 

I passed through the living room tonight when Mr L was watching "The Gadget Show". A teenager was saying sympathetically that in the old days, people had to use typewriters to send their emails. 

Well, sort of. 

 

Keeping on

This is my fifth lockdown quilt. I can hardly believe it - my normal rate is two per year, so this shows how long I normally spend socialising or visiting places of interest. Two of these have been cot quilts, this one for Daughter 2's friend, who's having a baby on her own by sperm donation, having despaired of finding the right chap. I do like what I now know is called a piano keys border. It's a bit of a fiddle but such fun. Indeed, I've loved choosing the fabrics for this quilt. The recipient had seen some of my other efforts in photos and had liked the one I did for my nephew and his young lady, so this is very similar. I got to choose from my stash and of course I like all the fabrics, so this was so pleasurable. 

She's an architect and artist and also a keen cyclist, so I did buy two extra fat quarters, the paintbrushes

and the bikes (but the rest was all from my stash, honest). She didn't want it to be over cute. though I did sneak in the odd sheep and bunny - he's a baby, after all and I needed all the blues and greens I could lay my hands on. 

And I took slight liberties with the back. Houses for architecture, some vehicles stolen from my next project and smiling moons for... well, cuteness. 

That was my 17th quilt. I started after my mum died in 2012. Thank you so much to Thimbleanna, who jollied me into starting - it's a lovely, if very time-consuming, hobby. None of them has been very complicated - I maybe need to challenge myself. But NOT till I've sorted out the archives!

It was beautiful weather yesterday so Mr L and I had a walk round the Cammo Estate. Here's the old Cammo House, built  in 1693 and largely demolished in 1977 because it was derelict. Well, you can't keep everything, I suppose, and we have a lot of old buildings. 

The estate now belongs to the city and is beloved of dog walkers

and other local inhabitants, including this old chap with a beard. 

It was a bit muddy underfoot

but mild and windless.

These trees have fallen down on opposite sides of the path, forming archways and shooting branches upward, undeterred, to form a kind of tunnel. They're more opposite to each other than they look here. 

Our various British leaders have decided that we can meet up for five days at Christmas with a maximum of three families and (I think?) eight adults - but only these people for the whole five days. It sounds like one of those awful arithmetic problems we used to get. (If it takes a forty-gallon bath ten minutes to fill up, but there's now a hole in the bath that leaks five pints every minute...) They don't actually want us to do any of this, understandably, since it's bound to produce a spike in infections, but they were bowing to the inevitable. So... not sure what we'll do. It depends on the family. Daughter 2 is staying in London, since it's not wise to contemplate battling with crowded trains, but the others? We'll see. 

And so we beat on, boats against the current... but, hopefully, into the future.