Hogmanay

Posted on December 31, 2011 by freda


Note the gap between the two dogs. Bertie is gradually learning that he cannot take liberties with Misty. By the time he is going home on Monday he will be acclimatised, and hopefully that means he will be well-behaved at the next visit. Misty has had to growl, snarl and bark at him but hasn’t yet resorted to a nip or two thankfully.

It has been a busy and eventful ten days and it seems right to do a catch-up on Hogmanay. A significant day when thoughts tend towards people near and far, relatives long gone and other such things like changing world events. I wonder how much more we techie-age 21st century beings think about a global perspective than did our ancestors many centuries ago?   I suspect we are simply encompassed in the gloup of cyber-soup that is the instant news and messaging of our times. All the more important to breathe a prayer for the world at “The Bells” tonight.

I have been effectively having a rest from the computer for the last week or so. Things that demanded my attention included:

  • Winter camping to collect Berties’s mum
  • Travel in severe gales – not funny
  • 2 different power outages – each quite lengthy. The candles were very atmospheric and festive, but resulted in missing favourite TV programmes….
  • A night of nasty vomiting – don’t know whence it came
  • A three day trip to visit #1 Son and family – lots of fun
  • Time recovering from said sickness – must make tonight’s party!

As you can see, it is no wonder #2 Son was worried when his emails went unanswered. He couldn’t understand what had happened to his techie Mum. I must admit I am looking forward to being back to normal and catching up on reading friends’ blogs and so forth.

Many blessings be with you and yours in the coming year. Undernoted is a photo of a very happy cairn opening one of her Christmas presents.

 

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Bertie

Posted on December 21, 2011 by freda

No photographs of our visitors yet, I’ve been too busy recovering from our trip and helping Bertie to settle in. To be honest, he has not required much assistance as he is a very boisterous and confident 7-month old dachshund (full-size.) Misty is doing her best impression of an elderly terrier who  has no time for the younger generation. Shame, really, because young  Master Bertie appears to be in love. He is beautiful, if love-sick, whereas Misty is at her prickly, scruffy best. What fun animals bring to a household.

My Christmas countdown – ie jobs to be done before the holiday – has kind of stuck. It is now a case of, anything goes………… and I am giving up on trying to be organised. I may try to read a few blogs, but basically, I plan to be a Christmas slob. (Well….. apart from the Christmas Dance, church services and going away to visit Son #1 and family on Boxing Day.) There is little chance of getting presents, people and dogs in the car, so it is going to be a case of loading up the campervan as best we can.

Whatever your plans are – I hope and pray that you have a special and blessed Christmas.

 

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Traditions

Posted on December 17, 2011 by freda

The run up to Christmas, the Day, is fast getting away from me. There are still presents to wrap and mail to open and paperclog to clear. So that means that the good news is that the tree is up and decorated, the nativity set is ready and waiting – there is a puss-cat in the manger, where else would it be? The turkey is ordered, and the time is fast approaching to collect our visitors from the Borders and from Oban.

This evening is to be a trip to the local pantomime. Some of our friends from Dance Class are taking part, so it should be good fun.  Pantomimes are a very British institution as far as I am aware. For instance, the Dame has to be a man dressed up as a woman, and the Principal Boy has to be a woman dressed up as a man. The Dame is usually older and is an object of fun, the Boy is the romantic lead. Ah well….. I told you it is tradition, it doesn’t necessarily make sense.

As a counter-point I am planning to go to Evening Prayer online. This is a new initiative by St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow.

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Winter is here

Posted on December 13, 2011 by freda

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Nativity Set

Posted on December 10, 2011 by freda

Christmas is coming – the Fontanini nativity set is unpacked and has taken up residence on top of the piano. This year’s palm trees make a good backdrop. Next year, all being well, I might get a set of chickens.

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Storms

Posted on December 9, 2011 by freda

We’ve had a bad few days weatherwise, culminating in a loss of electricity for most of yesterday. Winds reached 135 mph just 30 miles away, and our double gate was mushed. HBTW has done an effective repair that should last for a few weeks.  Now that calm has returned I am left feeling battered and bruised. Still, all is now back to normal.

Misty enjoyed her walk this afternoon, it was clear that she was beginning to think she was never going out again. To be honest, her behaviour during the storm was rather tentative. She decided to go “outside” for doggy duty, took one look at the wind and horizontal hail and had to be actively encouraged to go down the steps to the grass. (This resulted in a dismayed under her breath growl.) Sensible little dog that she is, she found a bush to shelter under, then scooted back indoors as quickly as she could.

Things discovered during the storm and power outage:

  • It’s impossible to play rummikub by candlelight, too hard to distinguish between the colour of the numbers on the tiles.
  • I never can remember how to lay out a backgammon board when I need to…….. and of course there was no online help available. It was a case of phone a willing friend.
  • Reading a book by candle-power necessitates reading at half my usual speed.
  • A white household candle gives out twice as much light as a decorative candle.
  • Oh how much I miss the electronic walkabout phones. Having to disentangle self from covers and dogs to get to the hall plug-in phone is a race against the answerphone. Come to think of it, was the answerphone working anyway?
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Time for a smile

Posted on December 5, 2011 by freda

This is well worth a listen/look – thanks to Vernacular Curate for posting it.

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Comfort

Posted on December 4, 2011 by freda

Sorry if you haven’t been able to get to my blog the last couple of days; there was a problem with the webhost.

It has been an eventful time at Dalamory. The Dance Class on Friday was energetic for both body and mind. Then I am sorry to say that winter has begun – snow included. And today I managed to spill/splash/splatter/throw a container of home-made soup all over the kitchen. Never mind, the poached egg was a good substitute. It was just as well we were being reminded about God’s comfort at church this morning.

Christmas is coming very fast, I really must get on with it. However, the undernoted Celtic Blessing is an ideal prayer to keep us grounded and comforted.

Deep peace of the running waves to you,
deep peace of the flowing air to you,
deep peace of the quiet earth to you,
deep peace of the shining starts to you,
deep peace of the shades of night to you,
moon and stars always giving light to you,
deep peace of Christ, the Son of Peace to you.

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Blessings

Posted on December 1, 2011 by freda

Dianne, over at Schmidleyscribblins has been posting about Blessings. It’s a great pick-me-up. So here goes – 7 Blessings for starters, and all of them today if possible.

  1. Some blue sky
  2. Snow on the tops of the mountains nearby
  3. The happy expression of Misty on our walk
  4. Getting to grips with a knotty theological problem and enjoying a debate with HBTW about it
  5. Reading blogs and appreciating other blogging friends
  6. Getting the monthly bills paid
  7. That early morning cup of tea

Now how about you?

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Up

Posted on November 28, 2011 by freda

This is a wonderful film to watch with children I should imagine. OK I confess, HBTW and I watched it on our own. Who needs mindless violence, gratuitous sex and dialogue you can’t understand when you can have an adventure story with a moral in the tail, plus loads of quirky characters, especially the dogs and the big bird?

The moral tale is about giving time to one another, the pack of dogs are truly wonderful and are easily diverted from bad things by producing a ball to play with.

Basically, a young couple fall in love and get married. Ellie, the wife, dreams of going off on adventures and exploring the world. Somehow, ordinary life gets in the way. When Ellie dies her husband decides to have the adventure himself in her memory. Russell, a young Wilderness Explorer (akin to the boy scouts/cubs) gets involved. The evil to be overcome is that of a curmudgeonly, previously famous explorer who is engaged in nefarious black deeds for his own ends.

The film is entertaining, and has beguilingly beautiful graphics and characters. It brings out the inner child (no bad thing) whilst at the same time giving meaning to the process of ageing and loss. I would happily watch it again – but then I was hooked on the dogs.

 

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