A Week of 8 Nights

After the restrictions of the last 15 months my life is returning to normal in many ways: the old normal. Of course in many ways, such as travel abroad, it's a different story but then I have no desire to travel abroad now.

After my Goddaughter and her family left I had a wee period of 'Island life' and gardening.  A week ago Anna arrived. We've been coffeeing, walking, visiting friends and their gardens, having friends to dinner and going to friends for dinner. It's been a wonderful week of complete contrast to the lockdown. There are reminders every so often about mask wearing (I think I shall continue to wear one in shops for the foreseeable future regardless of the rules) and social distancing but little else.  On the Island almost everyone has been vaccinated and the cases are few are far between.

I ran Anna to the airport a couple of hours ago and within 39 minutes from take-off in Stornoway she was ready to disembark in Glasgow. It will take her longer to get the final stretch from the airport home. Well, I thought it would be she is already on the motorway on the Airport Bus. I shall speed up my typing and thought process.

I could not have enjoyed the week more. 

Now for some time gathering my thoughts, gardening, coffeeing, having new brakes put on the car and visiting Blogland before I go to Anna's for my drugs trial review at the Beatson in Glasgow and collect my brother, CJ, from Penrith (to where his wife will bring him) and we'll come back to Lewis (via a couple of nights at Anna's in Bishopbriggs).

Glasgow's Byers Road and Ashton Lane

Arguably the centre of Glasgow University's and the West End's commercial and, to some extent social, life is Byers Road and Ashton Lane.  Both my sons at some time lived near Byers Road and over the last 30 years of my acquaintance with the city I have known since my first visit in 1969 the changes in the ambience of the area have been incredible.  The first Waitrose in Glasgow (and the third in Scotland) opened there in 2009.  Ashton Lane which was run down and almost derelict in the early 1970s has, since the now internationally renowned Ubiquitous Chip opened in about 1977, become one of the most famous drinkery/eatery places in the City. 

After the Nighthawk and I were re-united Anna and I went to Byers Road for some provisions and a coffee.

Glasgow humour?  Locally sourced game in the middle of Glasgow? 

Wonderful fish but no claim of local sourcing

The famous Ubiqutous Chip's Wee Pub at the back of the wonderful restaurant.

So famous it has already been voted Restaurant of the Year 2013.  Am I missing something here?

The Grosvenor café relocated to The Lane in the late '70s and from which Anna's school was banned

Pink wellies are all the fashion on a very warm Byers Road afternoon.  Hmmm.

Spooky or What

I've had a friend whom I met in New Zealand but whose home is in Bishopbriggs near Glasgow staying with me this week. Hence my absence from Blogland. She left yesterday. So last night after doing odds and ends I decided, just before midnight, to relax for a while by watching an episode of West Wing on DVD. I was vaguely aware of voices but as I live alone I knew there should be no one else in the house. Yes I could definitely hear voices. So I looked outside. No voices. I listened. Voices. The problem was that they were quiet but they were definitely there. It took ages before I decided to do a tour of the rooms - after all I knew there was no one in them. It's not a large house - there are just nine rooms in total - and it's grown like topsy so it's quite an unusual layout. Anyway I eventually went into the main guest bedroom. There were the voices! Anna had presumably pushed a button on the alarm clock/radio at the side of the bed and it was chatting away to itself quite the thing. I laughed but was, I have to say, quite relieved. It had been a rather spooky experience.

The Culprit

Stone Penguins

Today I took Anna to see the Butt of Lewis (the most Northerly point of Lewis), the Garenin Village Blackhouses, and the Standing Stones of Callanish. All of these are memorable works of man or nature and are worthy of a whole blog each. We also popped into the Morven Gallery for morning coffee and The Inn Between at North Shawbost for an excellent lunch. The weather was, generally speaking, very windy, cold and dull and wet with the very occasional burst of sun and frequent torrential rain. Not, on the whole, good weather for photography. So I decided, just so that I could turn this from a pure diary entry into something with a bit of fun attached, to show you something else that caught my eye on the road to Ness: painted stone penguins. Don't you just love a bit of rural fun?