Today

Today, the painter man came and filled holes in the walls and then painted our bedroom walls. Once he was gone, I hoovered up the debris he created and cleaned the windows, now dotted with paint.
Today, JP and I put our bedroom furniture back in place and agreed to a moratorium on hanging his choice of pictures for the bedroom wall.
Today, I received a ‘Happy Anniversary!’ notification from WordPress. I’ve had this blog for two years. How time flies!
Today, Big Sis is travelling south from beyond up north to visit for ten days.
Today, I am doing lots of furniture moving so I won’t feel guilty if I don’t go to today’s keep-fit session.
Today, I will make a start on Sachiko Morimoto’s Lavender.

That Tapestry again

I intended to write some fabulous posts when I got home about my visit north of the border but here I am two weeks later, and all I’ve done is post a photo of Dave. Instead of blogging, I’ve been busy doing real-life stuff although if you asked me to specify what, I’d find it really difficult to say, so it obviously was nothing out of the ordinary. This morning however, as I sit here coughing and spluttering and heavy with cold, thanks to my generous elder son, I decided to sift through all the photos I took of the Great Scottish Tapestry and post a few for your delight and interest (or not, at the case may be).

 

Big sis and I had planned to see the tapestry at Cockenzie House near Prestonpans and then have a quick visit to the National Gallery back in Edinburgh but it was not to be. It took three train journeys with lengthy waits in between, followed by a three mile walk to the venue, not including an initial 15 minute walk in the wrong direction. There were no ‘find us’ instructions on the venue’s website and although we had studied a map before leaving home, the route seemed quite different in reality and we had to ask for directions twice. When we finally found the place, we headed straight to the tearoom and only after a much needed large pot of Earl Grey tea did we venture in to the exhibition itself.

 
I didn’t think that Cockenzie House was particularly suited for displaying the tapestry panels. It’s a 17th century manager’s house (although manager of what, the website does not say) and the majority of the rooms where the panels were hanging are not large enough for the panels to be admired from any distance. Some panels were also hung along corridors which made it even more difficult to see them comfortably. In its favour, small rooms meant that all visitors were able to get up close and inspect the panels in great detail if they wished.

 

While we were at Cockenzie House, I didn’t pass anyone who seemed to be younger than sixty. I’m not sure what that tells me so I won’t dwell on it.

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re-classified

Another weekend is nearly over and another bedroom nearly free. Keys for first son and his partner’s first flat together were handed over yesterday in exchange for a huge amount of money and in the absence of any furniture except a beanbag and a few boxes, it was sleeping bags on the floor last night. A van is hired for Monday to collect and deposit furniture and so the overnighter could have been postponed until tomorrow night but it’s exciting getting the first real home of your own as a couple and had I been in the same position, I might have done the same. JP and I might make mention of the lack of a decent paint job, possible sub-standard electrical wiring, frayed or burned carpeting and grubby ovens – all of which should be replaced, repaired or cleaned by previous tenants or the landlord but we also know that these incidentals can be ignored when you’re taking on your first place. We’ve lived in crummy flats with even worse deficiencies and we didn’t mind (much) because we were young and the housing was secondary to building a home.

 

Even though what was their home until recently has now been re-classified to that of  ‘their parents’ home’, our sons know that they are free to visit us often and if they invite us we’ll visit them too and that either invite needn’t include a meal. Coffee in town or a pint at the pub might also go down well. We would also love to be kept informed as to how their lives are progressing but we don’t need daily telephone calls or texts or email updates. By the same token we don’t want to have to look on Facebook to find out how they are. We also know that they’ll ask to borrow tools and the car no doubt, from time to time, and I expect that that’ll be OK too as long as they don’t forget that return is the flip side of borrow, the car won’t run on fresh air and insurance costs. Finally, (well, for this post only), there will always be a bed here for all of them, but we don’t want them staying on a  regular basis if they don’t mind – Christmas and the occasional boozy dinner is fine but it’s time now for their old man and me to have the place to ourselves for a while.