November Natterings in Scottish Meanderings

Happy New Year everybody first of all! I hope it's a good one for all of us but if it's not, at least we have a safe space to come and write about it!

November started off with a visit from my brother Mike who stays in London, my nephew Malcolm and Malcolm's fiancée, Kate - they're expecting a baby in April. We haven't seen much of them as Malcolm has had a very successful business in Sri Lanka for a number of years but as Kate, who comes from Croatia, now lives in Manchester, I think he's planning to permanently move there now that the baby is coming. At least I hope so!

They were just up north for 3 days as wanted to do a bit of a tour of Scotland the rest of the week to show Kate and also Mike had a couple of haunts he wanted to revisit so they were staying with my sister, Lorna, in Inverness. We offered to meet them half way to save them coming all the way down to Aberdeen and met up in a wee place called Fochabers for lunch. We had a lovely meal and it was great to see them and catch up with everyone, especially Mike as he doesn't keep in touch with the family so much and refuses to join us in our weekly video chats on a Wednesday afternoon so it was good to see how he was doing.


Left to right - Nikki, Kate (plus bump!), Malcolm, me, Caroline (Lorna's youngest), George (Caroline's son), Mike, Dylan (Caroline's other son), Lorna - and in front Lily, Ruari and Lilah.

Then the following weekend we were off to Glasgow for a couple of nights. That was quite a big deal for me. It had originally been one night which Nikki and her friend, Jenna, were doing to see a Cian Ducrot concert but because it was going to be a late night and I was babysitting and as there's nowhere for me to sleep at her house, she had asked if I fancied going with them and getting adjoining rooms then I could babysit the kids while they went to the concert. I thought that was quite a good idea so said yes.

Then she decided it would be a good opportunity to go and see Boyd as she hadn't been able to go and see him in the summer so maybe we could go for two nights and they could all pop down to his place (he stays half an hour away from Glasgow) on the Monday. So with trepidation I said ok to that too - trepidation because I haven't been away for 2 nights yet since embarking on this awful withdrawal journey and so far one night has been difficult but I've always had the knowledge I'll be home the next day and can revive then.

Then she realised she was actually organising her friend's hen night the night before we were due to travel down and I was babysitting that night as well but it was too late to get anyone else to do it! So I ended up not getting home until 3 a.m. that morning by which time I couldn't sleep so I was like a half shut knife by the time we were en route to Glasgow although thankfully Nikki was doing the driving. I had to laugh though - she had told the kids 'no games with Granny after tea' on the Saturday night so that I wouldn't be tired out - ....... except the kitchen was a complete bomb site so I had to do a big pile of dishes and a big clean up before I could get any space to make their tea! ...... and of course not asking me to babysit in the first place would have helped tremendously.

Anyway it worked out relatively okay all things considered although we're not happy with the hotel - it was a Hilton - so when I get enough energy there will be an e-mail getting fired off at some point this month to complain.

When we got there Jenna had arrived about 10 minutes before us so we met up in the hotel car park and I don't know if this is just me but I'm noticing it more and more in Nikki's age group as I get older - Jenna stood there with her dainty little case on wheels and watched each of us - kids an' all - struggle in a major way with all our bags and cases not once offering to help carry anything. I was amazed - I would have got a clip round the ear if I'd pulled a stunt like that at her age!

Kids loved the king size beds though and my adjoining room (Lily said because there were two bathrooms to use instead of them all sharing one!).


When we got to the rooms they were freezing and my air conditioning appeared to be permanently on. There was no printed hotel information and nothing on the TV that we could see even though a welcome page came up when it was switched on. Nikki's was the same and she had a line down her screen as well but we couldn't even get a TV guide on hers so after we'd had our dinner we went to reception and they came up to have a look. The guy said my air conditioning was clearly malfunctioning and the heating was set ergonomically and could detect if someone was in the room so would automatically heat up which was bullshit because we had already been there for a couple of hours and each room was at a different temperature. What annoyed me was they had no-one who could fix it on site or on call - we would have to wait until the next day and all they could offer was 2 space heaters which wasn't very safe considering we had 3 kids running around!

Then when he looked at my telly he said 'y'know sometimes we get people in who interfere with the controls and bypass the hotel information on the TV' and when he saw Nikki's telly 'yeah I think the same thing has happened here'. I resisted the urge to shout WTF?? Why would anyone do that? What would be the point for Pete's sake? but by that time we'd had enough of him so just agreed to the heaters and getting someone in next day. It was annoying though because part of the whole babysitting thing was that we would have a treat of a film on the telly with snacks which meant I could just lie on the beds with them - instead I had to think of things to do to keep them entertained in a hotel room which was exhausting!

Jenna and Nikki went down to the bar that night for a couple of drinks while I babysat the kids then the next day they went off to see Boyd and Bev while I had a walk to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum which was about half an hour away. I didn't really think that one through because although the walk there itself wasn't too taxing, I didn't think about having to walk all round the museum (3 floors) then walk back again so I was on my last legs by the time I got back to the hotel much later!

I was glad I went though - it's an amazing place with a wealth of stuff to see and doesn't cost a penny - even the building itself is lovely to walk round.


I took loads of photos - it's so hard to pick out any especially but I'll try to post a few. This is one of the 'hanging heads' which they have all along one part of the ceiling - each one has a different emotion on it and it can be quite disconcerting when you're up on the first floor and find some angry face staring at you!



And it's so weird how grief will catch you at the time you're least expecting it. I was standing looking at an exhibition case as part of the Jacobite Rebellion I think and in it was a brooch typical of those worn by people wearing a tartan plaid.


Instantly my eyes filled up because it reminded me of Dad. Which I couldn't understand because he never had a brooch like that but it seemed to be the stone in it which was causing a reaction and I realised it reminded me of the skean dhu he wore on his kilt which had a similar stone in it. A skean dhu is a knife often worn in the sock as part of Highland Dress - supposed to be a sort of secret weapon which could be easily accessible if necessary I think. Like this.



He wore the kilt every Sunday at church so I was very used to seeing it. Thankfully there weren't that many folk around so I was able to get myself together before I moved on to the next thing. So weird though - he's been gone 48 years now but I'll still find that sort of thing happening from time to time.

One of the reasons I had wanted to go there was to see my absolutely favourite sculpture which I'm sure I've written about before. I remember the first time I ever saw it - I was a kid of around 15 visiting Lorna who was at Glasgow University. She stayed in various flats and one of them was quite near the museum so I had gone there one day and happened to round a corner and see this -



It's called 'Motherless' by George Anderson Lawson and I just love how he's captured the expression of grief on the widower and the little girl's face and the absolute desolation and misery of it all. I was transfixed by it and it's stayed in my memory ever since. So evocative.

There was lots of Charles Rennie Macintosh stuff which I love - I treated myself to 3 pairs of earrings and a bookmark in his designs.


And this stained glass window was just beautiful - I don't think a photo can do it justice.


And there were many paintings I loved, one of which was this one. I've always been fascinated by how much life can be contained inside a building - it comes to life with the life going on inside then when it's abandoned it reverts back to just bricks and mortar again (although some buildings retain the energy of the people who lived - and perhaps died - there). I think if I lived opposite this one I'd never be away from the window!!


These shoes made me smile - I used to walk about (and topple off regularly) in shoes like these in the seventies! And everything was snakeskin for a while - bags, boots, coats, everything.


As I neared the hotel on the way back, Nikki phoned me completely irate about the pool. This had been another bone of contention - firstly because it turned out we had to pay £20 to use it which was just ridiculous - every hotel I've ever been to which has a pool in it has been free to use for residents - but the kids were all looking forward to it so much that she decided to bite the bullet and book it that afternoon then when she went down they told her she couldn't go in herself with 3 kids - the policy was only one adult with 2 kids - because they had no lifeguard and there was only someone at a reception nearby with a monitor of the pool so it was impossible to keep an eye on it all the time.

That's all well and good but nowhere does it state that on their website and when Nikki pointed that out, they unsuccessfully tried to find it and couldn't then spent ages looking in a file, finally producing a printed document which Nikki rightly told them was pretty useless when you were booking on the website or the app! When she phoned I was still 30 minutes away and Jenna wasn't answering her phone so she had no-one to go in the pool with her and by the time we all got back it was too late and they had to get ready to go to the concert.

So next morning - still unhappy with the whole thing - she tried again and they said what she could do was go in with 2 of the kids then go in again with the third one and they wouldn't charge. Obviously I was there at that point but unfortunately I had hit a wall on the Tuesday and could barely get out of bed that morning so there was no way I could go in with them. So I ended up staying in the room with Lily while Nikki went in with Lilah and Ruari for one session then she went back in with Lily and Ruari for another session while I watched Lilah. She was absolutely exhausted after it all!

This window I took the photo from is where the reception is but it's just a seating space - the actual reception is round the corner - why they couldn't have built the desk so that they can actually see the pool is a mystery.


So we made our way home after this. I was kind of hanging on by a thread at this point thinking we'll soon be home but Nikki decided seeing we were near Edinburgh we might as well pop through there and go to Camera Obscura, a place of illusions and great fun for kids. I remembered my good friend Orange Sorbet on here mentioning in passing about going there but not wanting to too often because it's so expensive but didn't realise what she meant. Nikki had been to Ikea the day before with Jenna and raved about their Swedish meatballs so wanted to go there for lunch for me to try them so by the time we got away and did that then drove to Edinburgh it was about 4.30 by the time we got to Camera Obscura. Like I say I was hanging on by a thread by then and just didn't think about where we actually were - Camera Obscura is on the Royal Mile just beside Edinburgh Castle - and there was no parking so when we found a multi storey about 15 minutes' walk away we grabbed it.

It's all on a hill in that area so there were multiple steps to get to the place and I was half dead by the time we got there - only to find it's a tiny building on 5 floors and the only way to get to them is up loads of stone circular steps - no lifts!!

But that was nothing compared to the shock I got when I paid for us to get in.

I paid for us all and when the guy said "that'll be £75" I just stared at him thinking I'd misheard. "Excuse me - what??" And then discovered I hadn't misheard at all - it was right enough - 75 quid for 2 adults and 3 kids (one of whom was free!) - and Nikki was busy rabbiting on about only staying for half an hour because she wanted to get home for Alfie for 7 o'clock! Quite how she thought she was going to do that anyway was a mystery given that it takes 3 hours to drive from Edinburgh to Aberdeen and another half hour to get from Aberdeen to Pitmedden! So I said 'we are NOT staying here for half an hour at that price - we're getting the full experience!!'

And so we did and we did all enjoy it although I was fit for nothing after all these steps and walking back to the car. It was only when Nikki went to pay for the car and suddenly there was an exclamation of disbelief when £17 came up that I realised - of course! - we were in the prime tourist area of Edinburgh - what did I expect?? Prices were going to be wildly inflated to fleece all these unsuspecting tourists flocking to see the Castle etc.

Such a shame.

You could get out at the very top of the building and there were beautiful views of the Castle.


The shadow wall was a big hit.


And the kids got a good laugh from this.


And this.


Although it flummoxed Ruari!
When I got back home I adopted this position and stayed there all evening!


I was glad Nikki had managed to get to see Boyd and Bev but was quite shocked when she showed me the photo she'd taken of the kids with them - I thought Boyd looked strained and not in great shape.


Then a couple of weeks' later Bev got in touch and said he'd fainted twice and she'd got the ambulance out and he got kept in hospital for a few days. Apparently he's not eating properly - which is absolutely not like Boyd - but still drinks (alcohol) pretty much every day and nothing else although she tries to keep tabs on it.

Unfortunately I know just how exhausting that is.

It was Boyd who messaged Nikki to say he was out of hospital and just said they found he was low in potassium and had low blood pressure. I wonder if there's more to it. There must be a reason he's not eating well and if he feels unwell he'll probably be self-medicating with drink even more which will be a vicious circle. I'm worried for him and I'm glad Nikki and the kids got to see him. Ruari went around for days after talking about his Granny and Grandad cos he didn't realise there was another set somewhere!

Ok apologies for this one being so long - I'm just glad I have some 'normal' life to write about for a change!