Blog 60 - Enjoy It!

The title of this week’s blog is emblazoned on my Designel T-shirt. It’s a fun, party garment, matches my scarf exactly and is my message for the week. I am writing this a few days before Sunday when you can read the blog with your morning cuppa or glass if later in the day. I have included a photo of your writer in dark glasses. There is a good reason for the glasses. The eyes are bloodshot following eye injections yesterday and I have to tell you how much I enjoy the following day after this procedure. I have AMD, age related macular degeneration, and for those of you who have this wet condition, you will be cheered to know that if it is caught early enough, treatment can save your sight. I have just been told that I may need only one more set of injections and that is great news after five years of jabs.

As the early readers access this, I shall be having a hearty Scottish breakfast in Dunblane in the heart of my homeland, Scotland. I must be careful with the ‘mealie puddin’ crumbs on my long beautiful silk chiffon scarf with its modern geometric bands, dots and stylised flowers in pink,red, black and beige. I will be staying in the Old Churches House in the shadow of Dunblane Cathedral. It is a long time since I visited this small town which has both happy and sad memories…..I used to cycle there from Stirling and learned to swim in the Hydro pool; then there is the horrific memory of innocent children being shot in their school by a crazed man….our tennis champion Andy Murray was a youngster in school that day….I went to school with his grandpa; happier memories of having afternoon tea with my mother and my oldest school friend Ruth in that same Hydro and then enjoying a family wedding there.

So what am I doing in Scotland now for three days? Whatever happens, my slogan is ENJOY IT. The reason for the trip is the celebration of my cousin’s Golden Wedding. I expect I will have quite a story to tell next week and I am sure there will be surprises.

This week has been a learning curve for me. One of my best friends died. He was completely blind. I had hoped to see him last week but it was not to be. I will now buy a goldfish, name it Gordon, and it can swim happily in my fish pool in a quiet corner which is a memorial to my late husband. Gordon was the same age as me and one of my husband’s best friends. I will not grieve. I will appreciate my sight and ENJOY IT. I reckon that’s the best way to remember a brilliant, brave man.

Very shortly, I am going out to dinner, wearing the dark glasses of course, with my fellow students of our Zoom Italian class. We have never met in person. I am certainly going to enjoy a good Italian meal and I will just have to imagine I am in Bologna on that cancelled holiday from 2020. Five mature students have much to be thankful for, having such a brilliant generous tutor. Thank you Judith. Bring on the antipasto platter!

Hope to see you all in a week wearing a new scarf. I am looking forward to browsing Dunblane’s two charity shops and finding a silk beauty.

Busy Bee, Scarf Face!

Series 2, Blog 60.