“Cold, snowy and windy – typical Scottish weather”
We flew from Dallas to London on Tuesday afternoon. I was fortunate to get a last minute upgrade and so was able to get a decent amount of sleep overnight. Diana survived her exit row economy seat pretty well. We had a slightly longer than expected layover in the lovely (sarcasm) Heathrow airport due to snow in London and a French air traffic control strike – apparently causing the incoming flight to take a more circuitous route. We arrived safely in Stewarton in time for a warming bowl of Mum’s soup for lunch.
There were still a lot of pretty flowers left in the house. Here’s one of my favourites:
Mum had been going through old photos to select some for Dad’s funeral service, and had kept some out for us to enjoy. I’ll share some of my favourites here:
Dad with baby Finn and Will in San Antonio. Elspeth said Dad had “magic arms” as he could get the babies to calm down and sleep better than anyone else.
Brunch at the Crepe Place in Santa Cruz
A “real” margarita at the Oasis, Austin
Dad always enjoyed an afternoon margarita from the Taco Cabana close to our San Antonio apartment. He found the “real” margarita at the Oasis, overlooking Lake Travis, much stronger. Will seems pretty pleased to be wearing his Mum’s sunglasses.
Whoever took this picture, likely David, was doing something to get Heather and Struan’s attention. Mum also found an envelope of photos of my final year University project – a submarine and the electronics to control speed and depth.
Here’s a couple of old classics that I don’t remember seeing before:
In fairness, that is a tricycle and not a two wheel standard bike. There’s always a Cairn terrier around grandpa. We were watching Crufts dog show this weekend and remembering that Grandpa had judged there. We weren’t impressed with the winner of the Cairns at Crufts this year.
McD (seems appropriate given the Scottish location) and I braved the weather on Thursday and Friday mornings for walks around town, with complaints that we weren’t going far enough – “But my ears are numb.” We stopped into the local independent book store, The Book Nook, on Friday and I picked up something for the flight home. You should be able to read about that next week. I enjoyed chatting with the man working in the store about his book club selections and favourite recommendations. The selection was small but very nicely curated.
Diana took this picture showing the snow melting on the sunny side and not at all on the shady side.
Diana took Mum out for a coffee on Friday afternoon while I did some work. She enjoyed beating Mum to the payment device at the end of their session, even though an ex-pupil of Mum’s was waiting on them.
By the time we returned from our walk on Saturday morning (warming up and so we went a good bit further, including the full length of Lainshaw Woods), Elspeth and David and the kids (Heather, Michael, Struan and Emily) had arrived for lunch. I laughed at this sign outside my old High School that would appeal to Finn:
We enjoyed some more delicious soup – this time vegetable and an apple crumble. After lunch entertainment included doing the Herald cryptic crossword – hilarious as David played quiz master, trying to keep up with Mum’s cryptic decoder skills, and watching the Six Nations rugby. Michael was not happy with the way the match was officiated.
Diana and David took Bramble for a walk on Sunday morning and seemed to have worn her out.
Bramble actually preferred stealing Diana’s seat, whenever she stood up, to sleeping in her bed.
We drove over to the Laird’s Table at Craufurdland for Sunday lunch. What a lovely meal. I had a chicken liver mousse with outcakes appetizer, followed by a chickpea curry – both excellent.
The owners of the Craufurdland estate are quite creative about maximizing the return on their property. They have zip lining, mud running, fishing at the lake, and this exciting opportunity for Bramble:
We finished out Sunday in similar fashion to Saturday – cryptic crossword with David and then watching Scotland get a good beating from Ireland in rugby. A very pleasant day all around.
Meanwhile, in California, a big storm arrived on Thursday. It broke the tree around which Adamo had built such a lovely tree house:
I borrowed my book this week from Mum’s library. I’m a bit over half way through “A Place Called Freedom” by Ken Follett. Here’s the online summary:
“Set in an era of turbulent social changes on both sides of the Atlantic, A Place Called Freedom is a magnificent historical fiction novel from the undisputed master of suspense and drama, Ken Follett.
A Life of Poverty
Scotland, 1767. Mack McAsh is a slave by birth, destined for a cruel and harsh life as a miner. But as a man of principles and courage, he has the strength to stand up for what he believes in, only to be labelled as a rebel and enemy of the state.
A Life of Wealth
Life feels just as constrained for rebellious Lizzie Hallim, as she struggles with the less cruel circumstances of wealth and privilege. Fiercely independent, she is engaged to a man she doesn’t care for, a landlord’s son and heir to an exploitative business empire.
A Search for Freedom
Lizzie finds herself helping Mack after he becomes a fugitive. Separated by class but bound by their yearning for freedom, they escape to London. True freedom, though, lies further afield, in a new life that awaits across the Atlantic Ocean . . .”
Not my favourite of Follett’s offerings, but reasonably enjoyable so far and an easy read.
Dexter Gordon would have been 100 years old recently. I think he has such a great saxophone sound:
I read a story that Allison Moorer wrote about the recording of this song. Very poignant.
And finally something from singer-songwriter Kevin Morby that popped up on my Spotify Discover Weekly playlist. There’s something about this one that really keeps my attention:
Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all!