The retired life

The weather has been somewhat revolting for the last couple of weeks - rainy and sometimes very windy - so we've sought indoor activities. For example, we went to an exhibition featuring the art of the printer over the centuries. I would very much have this Elizabeth Blackadder on my walls, thank you.

I love the cat's fed-up expression, all in the eyes. 

In complete contrast is this, by Claude Mellan (1598-1688). The entire picture is one line, starting on the tip of the nose and moving outwards, the darker areas being made when the line(s) get closer together.

The line is an estimated 150 metres long. I hope that M. Mellan would be pleased that, four-ish centuries after he slaved away on it, people are still finding it amazing. 

On Saturday, hooray, the sun shone for our walking group, so we took advantage of this. (I'm in the middle, with a black coat.) It was lovely to be outside, stretching the old legs. 

I'm getting on with quilting Big Granddaughter's dragon quilt (dragons not pictured). She's given me detailed instructions on how to quilt it. I might have chosen less labour-intensive ways, but she was firm. 

Another wet day we went to the museum, where there was an exhibition of wildlife photography. 

A mum and baby hippo by Mike Korostolev. 

A horseshoe crab, which is seemingly not a crab at all, with some fish which are hovering about, hoping  that the horseshoe non-crab will disturb something that they can then eat. This was taken by Laurent Ballesta and won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year. 

This is very impressive too, by Amit Eshel: two Nubian ibex having a fight. Kind of symbolises what's going on in the world, led by idiot males. At least the ibex are only endangering themselves. 

And today it wasn't raining so we walked along the river through Stockbridge. Look how wide the river is at the moment, after all that rain. 

It was peaceful, though. 

We took some stuff to charity shops - we do this so often that I can't understand why we still have so much stuff left - must try harder -

and enjoyed the sunshine and exercise. 
 

Photos of weather and things

We have nothing exciting to report - socialising and grandparenting, but nothing of note. We're upping our walking again, trying to get fitter after not walking so much post-hip-op. My hip is... fine. No pain to speak of, slight discomfort from the wound. I can't say, though, that the flexibility has improved much. I still can't put on my right sock or cut my right toenails! I'm hoping this may come. Ah, old age. 

Anyway, we went along the river to the gallery (where we naturally had coffee) and back. 

3 and a half miles or so, and everything was fine. So that was good. 

We've had a few nice sunny days for local walks

and it's sunny today too, but COLD! (by our standards). The Met Office says it's currently 0 degrees C and will drop to -2 tonight, which is 28.4F. Cold enough! I've just had coffee with friends and we're split between those who say they prefer it to be cold and sunny and those who don't mind a bit of murk and rain as long as it's mild. I think I'm the latter, but on the other hand, out of my study window the sky is a beautiful, cloudless blue so ... maybe. 

I have the Instagram app on my phone, mainly to see Daughter 2's occasional posts, and am astonished by the sad videos put up by people about their ill children or dead husbands. I can see absolutely why they're sad. But people - mainly young women - put up films of themselves (for example) weeping on a sad anniversary. Is it cathartic for them, I wonder? Do they not want the person forgotten? - but then, most of those who see the video never knew the deceased. It's an odd thing, social media (she writes, putting up photos of her walks and drivelling on about her toenails). 
 

It's January - no one (in Britain)'s favourite month, I expect - but the days are getting longer. We went for our first walk in the Botanics since I had my hip operation and it went fine. What would life be without walking in the Botanics? In the first weeks after the op, my operated leg felt quite tired - a strange sensation, one leg being tired when the other wasn't. However, we've gradually been lengthening our walks and I feel fairly back to normal now, if not particularly fit because of not having walked enough over the Christmas/New Year/Golden Wedding shindig time. 

The sunshine did the heart good. 

And look - flowers.

On Sunday, Grandson and I went on another bus trip. It's his idea of a good way to spend an afternoon, and he's not going anywhere much by himself yet so it's a fine excuse to spend time with him. He's nearly 12 and a half, and who knows how much longer his Granny will be a desired companion? I'm making the most of it, anyway. We got a bus to the airport, another (Stagecoach 747, new to him and thus interesting) to near South Queensferry. 

We walked down to the village past an intriguing traffic light (not on, so what was it for on a very quiet, nay completely empty, road?) and had a fortifying snack (well, he did. I've eaten too much recently...). Look at him with his hand on his chin, looking mystified for my photo. 

Then we got another bus to Dalmeny Station, took the train back to Edinburgh and a bus to our house. Such a nice afternoon with a lovely boy! I shall remember these days when I'm decrepit and he doesn't need me any more. Meanwhile - I look forward to further such outings. It's SO nice to be a granny. 
 

Happy 2024!

Well, we made it. By December 27 2023, we'd been married for 50 years. This has passed alarmingly fast. 

When the actual day dawned, none of our family could be with us, having Christmassed with their in-laws (but sent flowers and chocolates), so we'd decided to have a Jane-Austenish "At Home", inviting friends and neighbours to pop in for a drink and a piece of cake between 2 and 6. We didn't put RSVP on the invitations because we didn't want to make it like a formal party; also we didn't want people to feel committed in advance, the time of year being what it is. Some did reply but on the whole we had little idea how many would come. Obviously we did provide a bit more than cake. However, lots of people did come, and didn't just "pop", as we'd expected, but came and sat around and chatted. It was lovely, and also quite crowded! But fortunately we have lot of chairs. 

Then shortly after the last of those people left, my brother, sister-in-law and niece arrived, and shortly after them our second daughter with her husband and Littlest Granddaughter. 

On the 30th, by which time Daughter 1 and family had returned from down south and Son and family could also join us, we had a family lunch in a private room in a hotel - which was also very nice. The offspring had organised their children into matching clothes - a starry dress for the girls (10, 7 and 6) and matching jumpers (sweaters) for the boys (12 and 4). I have very cute photos! But they're unbloggable, because the photos contain The UnBloggables. 

And then we all came back here (except Niece and SIL 2, who had to return down south) and had a second Christmas for those who hadn't been here. 

We've thus had 10 people (plus Mr L and me) staying in the house, though no more than 8 (plus us) at one time. It was busy, but lovely. But the last four left on Tuesday, the bedding and towels are now washed, though the beds have not yet been remade, and the house is gradually returning to normal - or at least it will once we've deChristmassed it, which would happen today if I had time, which I don't. This weekend, however, everything will be away and we'll be tidy for a while.

My golden wedding present from Mr L? (We have enough stuff.) He shaved off his lockdown beard! He knew that I prefer his face beardless. (I do like his face in whatever form, so he's allowed to grow it again if he really wants.)

Happy 2024!
 

Busy. And then not.

It's spring! We have a snowdrop in bloom - only the one, right enough, and beside it you can see various holes made by squirrels either digging up other bulbs or burying nuts. However, one snowdrop is better than none. 

Daughter 2 has been up from London to go to her office night out (the main office is near Edinburgh) and we went to the Botanics light show with Littlest Granddaughter, Daughter 2 and the Edinburgh Two, This is a terrible photo but you get the idea. 

We looked after Littlest for a couple of days while Daughter 2 worked. We did lots of things such as playing badminton over a piece of string between a chair and the cooker (neither of us is very good), making ice creams out of Playdoh, reading books, playing Ludo without cheating... It was lovely.

Now they're down south with Son-in-Law 2's family, the Edinburgh lot are down south with Son-in-Law 1's family and the Angus lot are still up there. Mr Life and I will be on our own for Christmas Day - but things will become busier after Boxing Day, so we'll just enjoy the peace meantime. 

Happy Christmas to all commenters and lurkers!

 

Good times

Littlest Granddaughter went to the Hackney Empire with Daughter 2, to see "Aladdin", with Nephew playing percussion, including  comedy bangs and crashes. Here she is, pointing to him. 

Here he is.

And this is his photo of them - before the performance began, you understand. 

The interval. She is his greatest fan. He's been coming to perform in the Fringe in August, and staying with us, and she - also staying with us - thinks he's great. I mean, so do the rest of us. 

Meanwhile, Big Grandson and I spent a wet Sunday afternoon on the buses, which is BG's idea of a good time. And I like spending time with him so I have a good time too. We got a 43 to South Queensferry. 

We stayed on to the terminus, which was surprisingly far from the centre of the town, and when we got off the bus, it developed a fault. So we got a ... 62 or something? ... to the Gyle shopping centre and then a 12 back here for tea. It's quite fun getting on a bus and saying, "Where do you go?" and then saying, "Oh, ok, we'll go there."

Littlest Granddaughter was Mary in her school nativity play. Awww. 

 

Past and present

Daughter 2 sent me this photo the other day, which made me reflect about memory and the way it retains and discards things. As you can see, this is a small plastic skeleton, and I got it in a cracker at the Royal Scots Club when I was probably about ten, so about 63 years ago. I remembered this, but not giving it to Daughter 2 (not really sure why this happened). My grandfather fought with the Royal Scots during World War 1, and used to go up to the club to play snooker with friends; and for a few years he used to take us there for Christmas dinner. All that, I remembered. But I'd forgotten until the daughters reminded me that before opening the cracker I'd said something along the lines of wondering what was in it - maybe a skeleton? And then... ta da... there it was. I have no idea why I said this - it's hardly a typical cracker gift - and also have no idea why I forgot this part of the story. It would be more interesting if I could claim psychic powers from then on, but sadly, no. 

This is not a skeleton. It's a needle, and the best thing that happened this week is that I came to the end of daily injecting myself in the stomach with blood-thinners. Hooray. Not my favourite part of getting a hip replacement. 

The house is now looking fairly festive. 

Ho ho.

I would not claim to be completely ready for Christmas, however. 

The weather in Edinburgh has been very wet recently, so it was lovely to drive to the south-west today and find sunshine. 

Sadly, we were on the way to the funeral of one Mr L's cousins, but as often happens at funerals, we had a nice time chatting to various family members at the lunch afterwards. 

Some of them were cousins on the other side - the deceased cousin was the son of Mr L's uncle, while these cousins are related to the uncle's wife. They were very pleasant and it was quite a jolly event. But one always feels slightly guilty that the main player in the occasion isn't there to enjoy it. 

Having no cousins myself, I'm always happy to meet up with other people's. Mr L had eight of them, though sadly he now has only five. But we're in contact with them all, which I like. My family was very small - parents, one brother, a granny and grandpa who lived nearby, two childless aunts who lived far away and one widowed granny who also lived far away. I would have liked (so I tell myself) to have had more siblings and a gang of congenial cousins round the corner. Not going to happen now, though. 

 

Not being quite organised for Christmas yet

We've been gradually getting ready for Christmas, partly by ordering a whole lot of things on Amazon, which one knows one shouldn't - but it's so much more convenient, isn't it, than trailing around the shops and finding nothing suitable? We did, however, go to the Christmas fair at Hopetoun House, which I always like doing. Hopetoun House is a 1750s grand edifice lived in by the Marquess of Linlithgow. Like most aristocrats these days, he has to keep the roof on by allowing people to visit, and, at Christmas, there's a very upmarket fair with lots of stalls full of lovely things, often made by the stallholders, none of which one actually needs. Still, it puts one in a Christmassy mood, as does queuing for coffee in the restaurant, which was once the stables for very lucky horses, but is now a lovely place to eat. 

You get to go round the house while visiting the stalls, and admire things like this pietra dura table top, 

and one of the Marquess's ancestors, 

who I think was sitting at this very window. 

And one can admire the extensive grounds

and the fancy ceilings and the silk-lined walls. We visited Hopetoun when I was a little girl, and I developed a fixed ambition to have two sitting rooms, one with crimson walls and the other (as in another Hopetoun room) with deep yellow. Hasn't happened yet, though I suppose it's still achievable. We probably wouldn't use silk, however, and we're a bit short of portraits of our ancestors. 

The weather here has been distinctly chilly, with quite a bit of frost. 

Last Saturday we went up north to visit a friend, and this was the view on the way. Brrr. 

We haven't had any snow here yet, and long may this last. Roll on, spring.