Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Happy Dancing!
The socks are finished, they fit and DB is very happy! He wore them for the first time yesterday and they kept his feet very snug and warm.
Yesterday was chaotic, DB got the day off because he had an appointment at the fracture clinic. They're pleased with his progress and he doesn't need to go back. Consultant said that it should be back to full strength by August.
Then it was down to Rutherglen, to open a Savings account for Robert (he wants to start saving) only to find that the bank was closed due to a 'power failure'. Don't know what kind, lights were all on!! We'd been down on Saturday to do it, to find that they don't open on Saturdays! So, it was then up to Burnside (the closest branch) only to find that there, you have to make an appointment to open an account! Fed up, we walked across the road to the opposistion and opened one there instead!
Then it was up to the High School, as we had an appointment there about Robert. He and his French teacher don't see eye to eye, and she keeps accusing him of writing in a text book. Robert will take punishment for something he has done, but refuses to for something he hasn't!
Then it was home, for a brief 'rest' for a couple of hours, before going back down to Rutherglen, for another appointment as we're having problems with wee Gary. From that we had to get a bus (the 10th) back up to the High School, because it was Kimberleys Parents night! We finally got back home at about 20:30, had our dinner, watched some TV, then had an early night as we were both so tired.
I'm having a lazy day today, doing the bare essentials. I've also started another pair of socks. DB's gone back to work today to get a rest!
Moo
Yesterday was chaotic, DB got the day off because he had an appointment at the fracture clinic. They're pleased with his progress and he doesn't need to go back. Consultant said that it should be back to full strength by August.
Then it was down to Rutherglen, to open a Savings account for Robert (he wants to start saving) only to find that the bank was closed due to a 'power failure'. Don't know what kind, lights were all on!! We'd been down on Saturday to do it, to find that they don't open on Saturdays! So, it was then up to Burnside (the closest branch) only to find that there, you have to make an appointment to open an account! Fed up, we walked across the road to the opposistion and opened one there instead!
Then it was up to the High School, as we had an appointment there about Robert. He and his French teacher don't see eye to eye, and she keeps accusing him of writing in a text book. Robert will take punishment for something he has done, but refuses to for something he hasn't!
Then it was home, for a brief 'rest' for a couple of hours, before going back down to Rutherglen, for another appointment as we're having problems with wee Gary. From that we had to get a bus (the 10th) back up to the High School, because it was Kimberleys Parents night! We finally got back home at about 20:30, had our dinner, watched some TV, then had an early night as we were both so tired.
I'm having a lazy day today, doing the bare essentials. I've also started another pair of socks. DB's gone back to work today to get a rest!
Moo
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
It's snowing!
Cathkin looks very picturesque today. It snowed overnight and at 10 am when I took this photo, it was still snowing.
I'm busy knitting socks. I ordered a kit from Angel Yarns and it arrived yesterday, so HAD to start immediately. By knitting on the bus, or while waiting for the bus, and doing absolutely no embroidery at the meeting (fortunately it's a handcrafts group, think EG would've frowned on me knitting) I'd got down to the heel, which I'd turned by bedtime.
Progress today has been slower, housework keeps getting in the way!
Moo
I'm busy knitting socks. I ordered a kit from Angel Yarns and it arrived yesterday, so HAD to start immediately. By knitting on the bus, or while waiting for the bus, and doing absolutely no embroidery at the meeting (fortunately it's a handcrafts group, think EG would've frowned on me knitting) I'd got down to the heel, which I'd turned by bedtime.
Progress today has been slower, housework keeps getting in the way!
Moo
Thursday, January 13, 2005
New Year, same old . . .
Well, that's another year gone. Another Merry Birthday over, notable for the fact that my brother and both s-i-ls forgot it completely!! Nice one. I wasn't really forgotten though, my girls sent me presents, texted and phoned, my mother, sister and ex sent me presents from SA and texts and the children here (well, all except eldest, who views me as the earthly incarnation of all things evil ... until he wants something from me)gave me presents and made a fuss of me. DB bought me a pretty gold bracelet and I also got a lovely surprise. My youngest daughter, in secret consultation with DB, bought me an overlocker/serger, which I have yet to play with! This isn't through lack of interest, I've really missed the overlocker that died in the fire, but more due to the fact that the day after my birthday, I resuccumbed to the flu and sort of existed through the holidays.
The colonoscopy was more or less as I expected and I'd still rather go back for another one than have an endoscopy! I saw my GP today for the results and was told that I have diverticula disease. Will eventually hear when I have to see the specialist again, usual NHS, hurry up and wait! This has taken fifteen months to find out, for no other reason than the long waiting lists for appointments. I was originally referred to the specialist in October 2003!
Lelie, my youngest daughter (alone, her %$*&!! husband didn't accompany her) arrived after work on the evening of Christmas Eve, so DB and I went off (in the snow) to fetch her from the airport. We'd hired a car for the duration of her visit, cos she also wanted to do the touristy thing while up here visiting us.
We woke up to find we'd got our white Christmas, as it had snown overnight and so had a chance to lie. What snow we'd got on Christmas Eve, tended to melt as it hit the ground.
Fortunately, she's a chef and really doesn't mind cooking, so she did the brunt of Christmas dinner, with me helping where I could. I was the 'appy' chef as my ex used to call it.
Early on Monday morning, my eldest daughter arrived. They'd planned it between them, but the first I knew was when Margaret phoned on Sunday night and asked if we could be at the airport by 08:15 the next morning. We'd already planned to go to Arbroath (their father was born there) for the day, so picked her up and just kept on going. Last time we were there with Janet, we found the actual house they'd lived in, so took the other two there first.
We then went and visited the ruins of Arbroath Abbey (again) but as I'd not been able to walk much last time, I found it very interesting. We even found a John Cameron (their Dads name) in the graveyard ... wonder if it's a relative?
Tuesday we went off to Edinburgh for the day. As DB'd done the brunt of the driving the day before, it was my turn to drive. As we left the outskirts of Glasgow, it started to snow, which was fine as it was light. However, the closer we got to Edinburgh the heavier it got, until I was driving in a full on blizzard.
Fortunately, no-one was trying to be a hero and we were all quite happy to plod along in one lane of the highway. The girls wanted to stop to take photos, but it was impossible, the best I could do was slow down as much as possible.
I was very thankful I wasn't the first car in the queue, at least I had ruts to follow! Having never driven in snow before, it was really nerve-wracking, but I survived the experience!
Because we didn't want to be late back, we didn't have time to do much, so decided to 'do' the Castle and as much of the Royal Mile as possible. As I'd missed out on so much last time we were there .... Scottish Heritage are great, they took us all up to the top in their mini-van, cos there was no way I was going to be able to walk it. They also took me up in the lift to see the Crown Jewels and then back down to the gate when I was ready, but it did mean that essentially, I'd missed most of the Castle.
This time, I'm proud to say that I walked all the way up to the top under my own steam! One thing I really wanted to see was the Altar frontal in St Margarets Chapel, as some friends of mine had raved about it. So, first stop the chapel, only to find that it was temporarily closed due to a wedding! Wouldn't you know it. We hung around for a bit, hoping by then to see the bridal couple as well, but it soon got too cold, so made our way on up to the top. I hadn't planned on going in to see the Crown Jewels again, but it was so cold, I decided to go in just to get warm. I'm very glad I did, cos I found that I'd missed an enormous amount about the various kings and queens of Scotland.
When we finally got into the chapel, DB and I were ahead of the girls, who'd stopped to take photos. The ladies were right, it is stunning and cos we were on our own in there, I got down on my knees at the altar rail and leant as far forward as I could to get as good a view as possible of the workmanship. What I didn't realise was, the other people who had entered behind us, thought I was devoutly praying!
On the way into Edinburgh, Margaret had noticed a butchers with a South African flag in the window. On the way back out, we kept an eye open and saw boerewors, (a coil of sausage) biltong (dried meat, like jerky) and droewors (dried sausage) advertised on the window. All egte, regte Suid Afrikaanse goed! I haven't had boerewors for nearly three years and can only get biltong when someone brings it back for me, as I won't pay the inflated prices the SA shops in London charge. We got DB to stop, albeit illegally, in a bus stop and Lelie and I ran back to buy some. Still to try it, it's in the deep freeze, but it certainly looks 'right'!
Wednesday, Lelie went to the hairdresser to get highlights and Margaret chose to go into Glasgow, so it was a relatively 'lazy' day. However, once we got home from seeing them off at the airport, I climbed back into bed and only emerged briefly for 'the bells' at New Year.
I've been working on the wisteria, the background is almost finished now, I just have to do loads of the loose ones.
I weighed myself today and I'm a kilo down from what I was before Christmas, so at least I don't have to diet off any excess 'celebrating'!
Moo
The colonoscopy was more or less as I expected and I'd still rather go back for another one than have an endoscopy! I saw my GP today for the results and was told that I have diverticula disease. Will eventually hear when I have to see the specialist again, usual NHS, hurry up and wait! This has taken fifteen months to find out, for no other reason than the long waiting lists for appointments. I was originally referred to the specialist in October 2003!
Lelie, my youngest daughter (alone, her %$*&!! husband didn't accompany her) arrived after work on the evening of Christmas Eve, so DB and I went off (in the snow) to fetch her from the airport. We'd hired a car for the duration of her visit, cos she also wanted to do the touristy thing while up here visiting us.
We woke up to find we'd got our white Christmas, as it had snown overnight and so had a chance to lie. What snow we'd got on Christmas Eve, tended to melt as it hit the ground.
Fortunately, she's a chef and really doesn't mind cooking, so she did the brunt of Christmas dinner, with me helping where I could. I was the 'appy' chef as my ex used to call it.
Early on Monday morning, my eldest daughter arrived. They'd planned it between them, but the first I knew was when Margaret phoned on Sunday night and asked if we could be at the airport by 08:15 the next morning. We'd already planned to go to Arbroath (their father was born there) for the day, so picked her up and just kept on going. Last time we were there with Janet, we found the actual house they'd lived in, so took the other two there first.
We then went and visited the ruins of Arbroath Abbey (again) but as I'd not been able to walk much last time, I found it very interesting. We even found a John Cameron (their Dads name) in the graveyard ... wonder if it's a relative?
Tuesday we went off to Edinburgh for the day. As DB'd done the brunt of the driving the day before, it was my turn to drive. As we left the outskirts of Glasgow, it started to snow, which was fine as it was light. However, the closer we got to Edinburgh the heavier it got, until I was driving in a full on blizzard.
Fortunately, no-one was trying to be a hero and we were all quite happy to plod along in one lane of the highway. The girls wanted to stop to take photos, but it was impossible, the best I could do was slow down as much as possible.
I was very thankful I wasn't the first car in the queue, at least I had ruts to follow! Having never driven in snow before, it was really nerve-wracking, but I survived the experience!
Because we didn't want to be late back, we didn't have time to do much, so decided to 'do' the Castle and as much of the Royal Mile as possible. As I'd missed out on so much last time we were there .... Scottish Heritage are great, they took us all up to the top in their mini-van, cos there was no way I was going to be able to walk it. They also took me up in the lift to see the Crown Jewels and then back down to the gate when I was ready, but it did mean that essentially, I'd missed most of the Castle.
This time, I'm proud to say that I walked all the way up to the top under my own steam! One thing I really wanted to see was the Altar frontal in St Margarets Chapel, as some friends of mine had raved about it. So, first stop the chapel, only to find that it was temporarily closed due to a wedding! Wouldn't you know it. We hung around for a bit, hoping by then to see the bridal couple as well, but it soon got too cold, so made our way on up to the top. I hadn't planned on going in to see the Crown Jewels again, but it was so cold, I decided to go in just to get warm. I'm very glad I did, cos I found that I'd missed an enormous amount about the various kings and queens of Scotland.
When we finally got into the chapel, DB and I were ahead of the girls, who'd stopped to take photos. The ladies were right, it is stunning and cos we were on our own in there, I got down on my knees at the altar rail and leant as far forward as I could to get as good a view as possible of the workmanship. What I didn't realise was, the other people who had entered behind us, thought I was devoutly praying!
On the way into Edinburgh, Margaret had noticed a butchers with a South African flag in the window. On the way back out, we kept an eye open and saw boerewors, (a coil of sausage) biltong (dried meat, like jerky) and droewors (dried sausage) advertised on the window. All egte, regte Suid Afrikaanse goed! I haven't had boerewors for nearly three years and can only get biltong when someone brings it back for me, as I won't pay the inflated prices the SA shops in London charge. We got DB to stop, albeit illegally, in a bus stop and Lelie and I ran back to buy some. Still to try it, it's in the deep freeze, but it certainly looks 'right'!
Wednesday, Lelie went to the hairdresser to get highlights and Margaret chose to go into Glasgow, so it was a relatively 'lazy' day. However, once we got home from seeing them off at the airport, I climbed back into bed and only emerged briefly for 'the bells' at New Year.
I've been working on the wisteria, the background is almost finished now, I just have to do loads of the loose ones.
I weighed myself today and I'm a kilo down from what I was before Christmas, so at least I don't have to diet off any excess 'celebrating'!
Moo
