Seven Days in September (#3)

WEEK 3 

Monday 15 September. We went to pilates, and I made a passable curry for dinner.  But my highlight was going to the Sicilian Pastry Shop for a couple of their strawberry tarts (the last 2 they had).  Delicious.  Oh, and we had The Plumber's Return.  Not a new job, but a continuation of the work I mentioned so many days before.  He left us with clouds of dust and a bit more done.

Tuesday.  Remember that plumber?  We ended the day with a new shower.  And a lot of mess, but the shower was done.  We went to another P&P&P at the Traverse.  And I wrapped some presents, because...  

Wednesday.  Barbara's birthday.  The usual pilates class, with an unusually giggly French woman on the mat next to me.  Dinner in Mowgli, delicious, but noisy.  However my highlight for the day was my wife's reaction to her main present, the Sherlock Holmes Book Nook Lego set.   We don't have to be grown ups  all the time, do we?

Thursday.  On this day I enjoyed the creativity of an Instagram post I put up.  But the main pleasure came from something more physical.  I do pilates to keep my wonky back in order, and part of that same regime is a monthly massage.  Not the incense and whale song kind, more the type that's only 2 steps removed from invoking the Geneva Convention.  Sometime painful, but worth it in the end.  For a long time I was manipulated by a young Irish woman, who gave great rugby craic, but she returned to Dublin and now I'm in the hands of a Pole.  No sport talk, but very entertaining, and I always leave having laughed, as well as having my muscles deknotted (a veeeeery tight left shoulder being the main culprit this time).

Friday.  Return to The Hive.  A double header of preseason matches for Edinburgh Rugby.  Good to be back shouting for the lads, good to be back chatting to my oldest friend, who I've known since I was 14 (I don't want to think how many years that is...).  Some rubbishy food in the break between games, a spectacular sunset sky, and a win to end it all.  I look forward to the season to come, as the point in time where all seems possible...

Saturday.  We met Barbara's daughter off the train at Waverley.  Nothing was planned for the rest of the day, so we ended up sat at the table putting bits of bricks together.  While the two women put a Lego kit together, I tried making one from a manufacturer called Cada.  And it was fun for all.  

Sunday.  While mother and daughter did their own thing, I did mine.  A bit of walking, a bit of writing, shared the blog post that described the first week in this wee series.  Dinner for 3 was in Cafe Andaluz in Stockbridge, and back home our visitor was introduced to the delights of Gary : Tank Commander (it's on iPlayer if you haven't discovered the daftness yet).  So a good day, topped by a discovery.  I'd never before seen or heard the collaboration between Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris from earlier this century, so playing footage of their concert was a huge pleasure.

And so endeth another week.  Is there a pattern here?  Is there some great secret of life?  Probably not...

Seven days in September (#2)

WEEK 2

The third in my series of six posts trying to give some idea of what this pensioner's life is like on a day to day basis.

Monday 8 September.  Back to pilates, followed by eating cake in the Leith sunshine.  That's a good day right there.  Even if the plumber didn't turn up...

Tuesday.  A Play, a Pie and a Pint is back at the Traverse, and this was the first of six we'll be going to see.  Wallace was a Scottish hip-hop musical, far removed from our usual fare, but hugely entertaining and leaving a lot room for thought about the myths we create as nations.  I also spent a couple of hours in the garage, giving Daffy a clean and a check over, ready for her outing later in the week.

Wednesday.  The pilates class was again enjoyable, and I even got a compliment from someone who had just joined and was impressed by how easy it looked for me (she's easily impressed... this is the beginners class!).  Then on to my voluntary role.  Earlier this year I became a volunteer befriender to a woman in a wheelchair, and we get along well.  Normally we'd go to a cafe, but she wasn't feeling up to it so we sat in her flat chatting and laughing.  

Thursday.  A Daffy the 2CV day.  And, in other news, our wedding anniversary.  A drive to the south west on the A701, a visit to the Gretna outlet village and a stay in the Star Hotel in Moffat - allegedly the narrowest detached hotel in the world.  Our room certainly went the full width, but it was a good size.  (A family room with a double and two singles, for reasons we didn't enquire about...)

Friday.  More Daffiness.  Good fun coaxing her up the steep bendy road away from Moffat, and taking photos of the spectacular scenery in that area.  NIce cafe stop in Biggar, then home through the rain.  We must do some more of those nights away.

Saturday.  Easy to choose which of this day's 3 Things was the one to remember.  Out to Murrayfield Ice Arena to see Caps play and win their first league match of the season, a 4-1 vicrtory over Solway.  More of the same please.

Sunday.  I know I should choose the video call with our old friends as the highlight of the day.  However Scotland played England in the quarter final of the RWC.  Clear underdogs, we were well beaten.  So where's the highlight?  With the clock in the red our women finally got over the line, a beautiful score from Rhona Lloyd.  Beaten yes, giving up never.

A week as atypical as week 1, in that this time there something going on every day, with a trip away trhown in.  Maybe there is no such thing as 'typical'?

Seven days in September (#1)

 WEEK 1

In my previous post I mentioned my habit of writing 3 Things that  made me smile every day, and that I'd follow on with further posts looking at each week in September, picking one of the 3 Things for each day of the week.  So this begins with the beginning., with an atypical week, as the pilates studio was closed.

Monday 1 September.  3 Things became 4, so it was a good day.  I could choose going to the cinema, but The Life of Chuck was disappointing, so I'm going with writing and posting a blog post.  About tourists.  It was fun to be writing something I was happy to share, which hasn't happened very much this year.

Tuesday.  Another 3 that became 4, another trip to the cinema.  The Roses was a lot of fun, but my highlight of the day was a very old-man kind of choice.  I've been having problems with my left leg, so I had an appointment with the physiotherapist at our GP practice.  She talked, examined, manipulated, and diagnosed.  I came away with some strengthening exercises to do each day, and a hope that maybe Kiltwalk might be possible again next year...?

Wednesday.  In the afternoon we sat down and worked together on the bookshop/cafe.  We got into building Lego models last Xmas, and it's something I'll post about in future, as it's become a really enjoyable joint hobby.  We hadn't had time to do some for a a few weeks, so it was good to be back.  This isn't actually a Lego set, being made by Lumibricks.  The same building materials, the same quality.  And, in several ways, seeming to be superior to the better known and more expensive brand.  But that's for a future post.  The best bit about it, as well as the feeling of creativity, is that we do it as a team.

Thursday.  Only one possible contender for today's highlight.  An early start saw us driving to the cancer clinic at the Western, where Barbara got another 'all clear' after her recent scan.  Four years since the op and all remains well.  What could possibly top that?  Although I will mention that the materials for our new shower arrived, as it will be of relevance in further posts...

Friday.  The shower materials had arrived, now we needed the plumber to do something.  So an early start for us to be ready for his arrival.  Then a wait.  And more of a wait.  Then wait more.  He turned up mid afternoon, ripped out the bath, then went again.  And that was that.  So it didn't make it's way into my 3 Things, and a lot of the day felt wasted.  Poor Barbara stayed in the whole time (I went out for some food shopping) so the highlight was a walk in the graveyard together (!).  Some may be aware we live above a cemetery, and in 2016 I published a blog dedicated to watching it change across the seasons.  It became a frequent exercise ground during covid times, a quiet green space that felt like an extension of home.  So it's always a pleasant place to be, despite the obvious connotations.

Saturday.  Winter is coming which means a return to watching sport.  This day gave me one match on TV, one live.  In the afternoon Scotland faced Canada in the Rugby World Cup, in the evening we were at the rink to see Edinburgh Capitals take on Sheffield Steeldogs.  Both 'my' teams lost, but weren't disgraced. Our women scored 3 tries against the number 2 team in the world.  The Caps,in a preseason game, gave a pro team a good competitive match, losing 2-5 to a couple of late goals.  Scotland are through to the quarter finals for the first time in a couple of decades, Caps have faced a team with far more speed and skill that any they'll meet in their league or cup campaigns, so both count as big pluses.

Sunday.  Another trip to the rink to see the same match up as the day before, but with a 'slightly' different outcome.  Exhausted by their efforts of the day before, they were unable to cope with a vastly superior side and lost 2-14.  So my choice for the day is a bit of creativity.  I enjoy posting my photos on Instagram.  Hardly anyone sees them, but that's not the point.  I put up some more pics of our trip to Brussels last month.

Conclusion - ?  I'm not sure there is one.  Each day is different, each day throws up something that's enjoyable, sometimes planned, sometimes surprising.  Another week to follow soon.  And I will leave any verdict to the final post.

Where do the days go?

 

BUT WHAT DO YOU REALLY DO?

"What do you do?" We have all asked, or been asked, that question many times. It's seen as a safe conversational gambit with people new to you, and gives them something to talk about. There's also the risk that it's been used to judge who you are on the basis of your employment status, but that's a different discussion... The usual response is to tell the interlocutor your job, or what you study. Or, in my case, for over a decade now, the simple reply "I'm retired".

"What do you do with yourself?" Or "What do you do all day?" are the usual follow up questions.  (The smarter question might be "what did you do before?", but not many people think of that one.)  Because when you work it's hard to imagine life without that structure determining so much of how your days and weeks are occupied. How does all that time get filled up?

"What do I do with myself?" I think. And I'm never sure how to answer, either them or me. Our weeks have some fixed points in them, some days have places to go, things to do. others don't. Yet I can't say I've ever been bored. There's always something to do, to think about, books to read and messages to answer. I can see why that might sound dull to someone outside looking in, but that's not the experience I have.

One thing I have done for a long time, in fact with only a few short breaks since I was 19, is write up a daily diary entry. There's nothing earth shattering in there, just a run down of my day, and any thoughts that seemed important. Occasionally references to what's going on in the the wider world, mostly the mundane reality of the everyday. It helps me download my thoughts before bed, and provides a reference document of when things happened, what I thought about them at the time.

For the past decade and more these entries have finished with a short list, entitled '3 Things'. Every day I have to come up with three things that made me smile, made me laugh, provided some moment of happiness. Even on the occasional bad day, it makes me look for the good in the previous hours. Most days it's easy enough to nominate a trio. Some days it can be hard to get past two. On others the list goes on to four, five, six...

So to answer my own question - what do I do? - and maybe to explain my life a bit, I am going to follow this up with further posts, each one looking at a week, and focusing on one of the 3 Things for each day. For all of September. A month of happy moments, or utter tedium? You decide.

Of tourists and hypocrisy

 

AUGUST, BLOODY AUGUST

Hello September. You're welcome. Cooler weather, calmer city. Hockey is back, rugby soon to follow, and the winter weekends begin to take shape for me. August was the usual mix of heaven and hell.

August in Edinburgh. festival month. Correction, festivals month. Lots of them. Lots of shows and exhibitions and venues and acts. And tourists. So many tourists. If a city could be full to the gunnels (it certainly can't be the gunwales, can it?) then this one was packed. Tourists, tourists everywhere, and lots of them with drink.

We ventured to a few Fringe shows (only eighteen this time, the number seems to decline every year now, perhaps as we decline...), but kept out of town otherwise. Even then the usual words were frequently on our lips. "Fekin tourists!" Gawping, dawdling, blocking, obscuring, bewildering, straying, misplaced souls that they all seemed to be. With disregard for all but themselves, forever in the way of locals, forever a source of irritation.

Post-Fringe, our end-days of August were spent on trains and in Brussels. Where we gawped and dawdled and blocked and obscured and bewildered and strayed and were misplaced constantly. We tried not to be, honest. But how can you not when you're that thing - fekin tourists... Sorry Brusselians (?).