September Sorties in Scottish Meanderings

It's wild weather outside today - 'dreich' as my Dad would have said - a good Scottish word for dreary, bleak, dull or gloomy - it's pouring, the wind's howling, my ancient fence is hanging on like grim death making me check it's still there every hour or so (not sure what I'm going to do about it if it isn't) so it's perfect for staying in and writing this.

No car disasters last month I'm glad to report - just an apparent inherent inability to decide on a new one. You'd think that would be a nice problem to have but it's become a total stressfest and keeps growing arms and legs! I had a list of ones I'd seen in car parks/supermarkets/drives which I liked the look of and the one which was coming up trumps was the Toyota Aygo Cross in chilli red.


However I discovered that there was no Toyota dealer in Aberdeen any more and I'd have to travel 60 odd miles north to Elgin or the same distance south to Dundee if I wanted to look at one. Then I hit on the idea of posting a message to the neighbourhood app I use to see if anyone had by chance bought one and someone a couple of streets away had and kindly let me see it. Obviously I wasn't insured to drive it so couldn't do a test drive but the owner took me out for a spin in it which helped a bit but didn't let me get the feel of actually driving it. It was also a manual and I had set my heart on an automatic to save a bit of wear and tear on joints but was picking up from reviews that the automatic on that car is pretty crappy - noisy and whiny.

So I was checking out other automatics and in that process started looking at electric vehicles again and now the whole thing's just getting out of control! There's a new EV just come on the market - Chinese - the Good Cat (honestly!) made by Ora, part of Great Wall Motors - which I really like the look of - but the only dealer to have it in Scotland at the moment is one in Glasgow (about 4 hours' drive away). What's massively frustrating about that though is the fact I'm going to be in Glasgow next Friday to see James Taylor in concert but my friend, Janice, is taking us down in her car and will need to get back home on Saturday afternoon.

And then on Tuesday I realised my sister, Lorna, is getting a hip replacement done in Glasgow next Friday as well so I feel I should go and see her while I'm there. The frustrating bit is that if I was in half decent health I would just go down myself on Thursday night, go to the concert with Janice on the Friday night then see the car and hopefully Lorna as well on the Saturday and drive back home. Janice would be quite happy getting the Megabus both ways.

But I've never driven that far like this and Glasgow's a horrible city to drive in - plus there's no guarantee I'll be well enough to make the journey in the first place - or do those two things on the Saturday and get back home. If I had been going down yesterday for instance I would never have made it as I was unwell the whole day. I can't take the train/bus as that would be even more stressful - I feel more in control with the car.

So the whole dilemma swims round and round in my brain and goes nowhere🙄.


I turned 64 at the beginning of the month - least said about that the better - sounds so old! We went out for tea the night before as that was more practical and had a nice meal in a restaurant just outside Aberdeen.


Ruari got all dressed up - he looked so cute!


After they went off home I went for a drive along the coast because it was still light and quite warm and stopped off at a couple of the coastal villages for a walk along the beaches. Cruden Bay first (home of Slains Castle where Dracula was apparently set) -


then Collieston - a very pretty village with a lovely little bay around which the houses have been built.


It was dark by then but the bay was all lit up and it was so picturesque - I felt quite safe walking there at 9 p.m. at night. Unfortunately I couldn't get a decent photo for some reason even with the flash.



And then of course there was the sad news about the Queen on the 8th - I was driving when I heard it on the news and had to pull in and stop as I started to cry - it just seemed such a shock when she was working 2 days previously although she did look frail in the photos that were taken that day.

Nikki and I had decided to try and see the cortège seeing it was passing through Aberdeen but she had to drop Lily off at a party in Pitmedden at 11 a.m. (the girls were actually at Joel's that weekend but he was doing the pick up at the other end and Lily's outfit and present was at home) and the cortège was supposed to be arriving in Aberdeen at 11.20 so she was never going to make it in time. I almost didn't go as a result but I really wanted to be part of the historic moment so decided to try and although I had to stand for an hour and a half and it passed in about 3 seconds, I was glad I made the effort. It was around 45 minutes late in arriving so Nikki could have made it after all but I don't think Ruari would have coped with all the standing about and waiting.

I was at a barrier at the side of the road like this one (don't click on the arrow - it's just a screenshot of a video!)


and the crowd was very patient and good-humoured so that all helped. Technology was also a boon in that respect because we were able to follow the Sky News live coverage on our phones which showed exactly where she was at any given time so could work out how long she would take to get there. It's nice when technology actually improves your life like that.

Then on the 19th I watched the funeral for most of the day - Nikki & the kids were coming in at 4 o'clock to do stuff so I stopped then but we had Queen bramble crumble as a celebration - Nikki, Ruari & I had picked brambles the day before on the Sunday -


- luckily we weren't relying on Ruari's haul because, as you can see from his mouth, he was eating as many as he was picking😁! Anyway Nikki made bramble crumble with them so took it in with her on the Monday and I realised the only ice cream I had in the freezer were Strawberry Soft Cornettos but the top of each one looks like a crown (sort of)


so I just lobbed off the tops and plonked a couple in each dish and they were perfect!


I found the funeral very moving and on the morning after I woke up very sad. I thought it might just be because the day before had been the final day but when I tried to unpack that, it seemed to be something about someone very significant leaving the world and having to navigate life without them. That didn't really make sense though - I very much admired the Queen and she certainly was very significant but I don't think Charles is going to make too much of a balls up for the time he'll have left and I certainly don't have any qualms about William taking up the reins.

So I wondered if maybe it was feelings relating to Dad's death - they say every loss you experience keenly can be compounded by previous losses - and feeling those feelings I may have had at that time but been too young (17) to process or know what to do with? His birthday was the same date of the funeral too. Maybe that's what was going on - who knows.

Nikki sent me this poem on the evening of the funeral and it made me cry - sorry if it's been all over Facebook already. So poignant.


On a cheerier note, I treated myself to a new iMac for my birthday - I quite like it - thought I would hate the keyboard and mouse but I must admit I've quickly got used to them.


I need to find a comfier chair for my desk though - I’m still using the one I took home from work in 2013 when we had to close the office up and I got to take home what I wanted. It's a bit past its sell by date now.


If anyone's got any recommendations please let me know - my back would very much appreciate it😊.