Back in Birmingham and hitting the ground running .....

With old friends at Solihull Mountaineering Club summer BBQ

Thursday we treated ourselves to a Thai lunch out in Paisley (The Thai Siam), fabulous meal, really enjoyed it, before spending our last afternoon with MrT and MrsP who really are very lovely. Friday Yukko and Joe arrived bang on time, just two days late! After a bit of a chat we headed off, only five hours the sat nav said, but with the holiday traffic and the hideous rain, all the way down, it took six and a half, had gone up to seven at one point so could have been worse!

Paul and girlfriend Julie at the SMC BBQ

Got to Helen and Ian in time for a G&T before heading out with them and Corinne to the Indian (The Balti Bazaar in Stirchley), still in the rain. This was worse for Ian than the rest of us as the Uber could only fit four, not five, so he’d walked, very fast, but not fast enough to dodge the raindrops!

We stayed over, but no one had time for a lie in, they were off to Sheffield to see Pam, Ian’s mum, and we were down to Alvechurch to collect mum and carry on to Jonathan and Lucy to catch up with Charles. Recently back from his month In Nepal. It sounded amazing and he seemed to have enjoyed himself. We saw lots of pictures of the acclimatisation trek, the work project, the proper trek and the white water rafting. Probably just as well Caroline was working at the stables as by the time she got back we could move on and catch up with her too!

Assembling for Roni's talk at the SMC BBQ. LtoR: Mike D, Alex, Jackie, Pete, Donna, Bill and current SMC Chaiman, Jo

Ash, Dave P (background) and the other Brian in SMC

Sunday we went round to the house (no, it’s still not let, but credit checks are being carried out, so keep everything crossed) to mow the lawn, weed etc and measure up for boxing in the gas meter and a floor in the boiler room. Things we didn’t think at all necessary but we’d been worn down by Colin! We then headed over to Abi and Sooty in Hall Green which is where we are now. Monday was woodwork day, looks good though I do say so myself.

Tuesday was Jason the IFA, usually we don’t really have much to tell him, so telling him we’d been spending on the house was a bit of a shocker, but as what we’ve spent has been more than covered in estimated value of the house it’s really just moved our cash from liquid to asset! To this end, when Brian said we were thinking of a big trip or two with his recently matured endowment policy we were soundly encouraged. It’s great when the financial advisor tells you you can spend money!

The very cute Sooty cat at our current housesit (for the 13th time!)

This was followed by a late breaking appointment at the dermatology clinic for Brian. He’s looked at regularly, and they always say to come in if there’s anything we are not happy with. He’s got a pimple on his shoulder which to me looks like the first one he had when we were in New Zealand. Neither the registrar or Dr Shah thought it was anything but might as well biopsy it anyway so that was yesterday.

Wednesday we were also at the hospital, three times in three days then, as he’s been taking part in a gene study for the last five years to see if there is any link between Lynch syndrome and prostate cancer. Gets him an annual PSA check anyway! We also popped in to see Sarah, who does all our post, as she had been admitted and operated on for a lump in her bowel all very quickly. In Brian’s family it’s something that’s almost expected, to ‘normal’ people it’s all a bit of a shock! Obviously we are keeping everything crossed for a good outcome to the histology report.

Now that is how to relax!

I then went to see Alex, looking and feeling better than she has done in a long time. If once in a day wasn’t enough we then decided to go to Solihull Mountaineering Club summer BBQ, just up the road. It was a great evening, food, chat and a talk by Roni who has recently completed the John Muir Trail in the US 200 and something miles, on her own over 25 days! She did this to raise awareness for sepsis, something her father died of only for her grandson to be diagnosed with three days later. As a one year old Loki fought unbelievably, although he lost a leg and has many scars he is now an exuberant three and a half year old. Her message, a fever, feeling like death and a mottled skin, don’t mess about, get to the hospital. Here's a link to Roni's Just Giving page where you can make a donation. It was a great evening, though slightly marred by the rugby club completely forgetting about the booking so there was no beer, and no BBQ facilities! Disposable BBQs and a trip to the off license sorted that though!

We are now just waiting to collect Ted, who went for a service, MOT and aircon check yesterday. They had to order a part for the aircon this morning and then we can take him away!

Just a little footnote from Brian. Despite the fact that I don't look old (!) I am actually getting on a bit. So much so that my daughter has recently turned 40 years old and my eldest grandaughter, Abbie celebrated her 21st birthday yesterday! I know, unbelievable isn't it.

Here they are in Florida. LtoR: Becky, Fiona, James, Jenny and Abbie

They're all in Florida visiting all the attractions at the moment in order to celebrate Fiona's 40th birthday, Jenny's (my youngest grandadughter) 15th birthday and James' (Fiona's partner) birthday on 5th September. The real surprise of the trip is the engagement ring James smuggled over there and, after they all sang Happy Birthday to Fiona, he got down on one knee in front of them all and asked her to marry him. Is that romantic or what! Back in July, when we all went for a family meal at their house he had asked my permission to marry her, a fact I kept secret from Fiona. The message from Fiona in Florida saying "James tells me you knew" was all I needed to know. She said 'yes' of course!



Abbie is now at university in Manchester and has just completed her first year of university and of turning vegetarian. She's just done a You Tube video explaining her first year as a vegetarian and, with her permission, there's a link to it below. We're not vegetarians (can't ever see that happening, particularly Jackie!), we've included it not because of her views, but just because we're immensely proud of her:

Still in Glasgow in the rain

Relaxing on Sunday with a disguised Mr. T cat (requested by the homeowners)

Sunday we had lots of rain, all day rain, I didn’t step out of the front door. B popped out to get a newspaper, well it was Sunday after all.

I’d woken up on Sunday morning and thought the river looked different, wasn’t there an island there yesterday? Asking Brian if there wasn’t now something that there had been was like banging my head against a brick wall... “wasn’t there an island yesterday?” “There isn’t an island now “ “I know there isn’t now, but was there yesterday?” “ I don’t know, I can’t see anything....” anyway, by the end of the day there wasn’t a path to the river or access to the raspberry canes either, the water had risen a good 3’ to the back gate! Fortunately there is still a big bank up the garden so we didn’t worry about flooding....

Photo of the river from the upstairs window in relatively normal flow

(Brian: No wonder I feel 'got at' sometimes. I had just been reading an exciting section of a book about the Zulu war in South Africa in 1879, my mind was on that. "Wasn't there an island there yesterday?" 'What?'. 'What's she talking about now?' "In the river. wasn't there an island in it yesterday?" 'Uh, no idea, there isn't now' I said looking out of the window, 'it's in flood and looking very angry and fast flowing' I'm not a person of detail, but I can tell you what the weather forecast is for the day and whats happening in the world. An island in the river? I don't know, I didn't pay that much attention, why should I?)

Photo on Sunday in flood. Looking at the two photos, yes, you can see an island in the first one, but who would have noticed? Jackie, obviously, but how many other people?

At the bottom of the garden, river up to the gate

Monday it had finally stopped raining and wasn’t threatening any more till the afternoon so we went to the Riverside Transport Museum. Like most of the museums here abouts the museum is free, but sadly the parking is not. Very good museum, not just vehicles, but street scenes with little shops as they would have been along with some recordings of how life used to be.

Inside the River Transport Museum

Silly photo in the museums wavy mirror

Tuesday, the island was back “there is an island in the river “ he called excitedly from the bathroom “think it was there before....” doh! (Brian: Yes, having now seen it there it did look kind of familiar and, yes it must have been there before but didn't particularly register because it wasn't that important at the time. I'm sure a lot of blokes can identify with me here). Now though it was inhabited by very tired looking ducks who had probably been paddling frantically, just to stay in place for days. We had a trip into Paisley to look at the abbey as recommended by my father. 

Interesting steering mechanism on this old vehicle

Beautiful old buildings seemed to abound in Paisley as they do in Glasgow making both quite attractive. We couldn’t be out too late as we had a dinner date, just up the road, with some friends of Elizabeth and my father. Susan and Bobby were all of 15 minutes away, it’s a small world. We had a lovely evening with them and their dogs, Molly and Wanda, drinks, dinner, a little drive around and up to a fabulous view point, before a pint in the pub. Home at 22.30 to shocked cats who just didn’t know where we had been, or what we now smelled of!

On the tall ship at the Riverside Transport Museum. All this is free of charge

The fabulous Paisley Abbey

Today, should be packing up and heading off, but actually no. The homeowners are returning from Vietnam via Hong Kong. It probably seemed like a good idea when they booked it, but sadly due to the demonstrations going on in Hong Kong that have caused closure of the airport for two days they are still there! They have just let us know that they have flight for Thursday, so all being well they should be back, this time in two days....! Hopefully there will be no more demonstrations and everything will go smoothly. 

Inside the Abbey that dates back to the twelfth century

We’ve had to ditch our plans to catch up with Dave and Pol in N Yorkshire tonight, but hopefully we’ll make it back in time to catch up with Corinne and Helen and Ian on Friday! Glad we had a couple of spare days!

With Susan and Bobby at Robertson Park

Bobby, Molly dog, Wanda dog, Susan and Jackie enjoying the sunset and view on the top at Robertson Park

View from the top. Ben Lomond and the hills around Loch Lomond are visible

Latest news from Glasgow

On our walk to Conic Hill, Loch Lomond in the distance

Like the rest of the UK we have been suffering ‘variable’ weather, though I don’t think we’ve had it too bad. On Monday it stopped raining as predicted about one o clock, so we had an early lunch before going to ‘The House For an Art Lover” a House in Bellahouston Park built between 1989 and 1996, based on a competition entry submitted in 1901 by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. It was a thoroughly enjoyable visit, the house is beautiful, the audio guide, which we are often not sure about, was very good and the artwork in the gardens also interesting. Really enjoyed our visit, and Brian could finally see where my inspiration for our house in Alvechurch came from. 

Mackintosh's House for an Art Lover

One end of the Music Room in House for an Art Lover

Sadly we have no pictures of our house, though maybe we do on the harddrive back in Alvechurch, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Wednesday we were planning a little walk Simon from Edinburgh had recommended, but the weather wasn’t quite up to it. Somewhere I have lost a day though as I couldn’t believe yesterday, when we did do it was Thursday! We started at Drymen and walked about 12km of the West Highland way over Conic Hill. The return from Balmaha was 5km along the road, or wait half an hour for the bus.... guess!

The other end of the music room

The hall and dining room beyond

We met lots of interesting people en route, spending a while with three ladies from the US on day two of ten doing the whole walk, carrying daypacks while their bags were driven from hotel to hotel. We also passed French parents with huge rucksacks carrying everything for themselves and two children to camp the whole route! Last night, and this morning, it has poured, and poured, and the weekend forecast isn’t much better. Our hearts go out to them, it would be so miserable.

Anyone for skiing? The dry ski slope in Bellahouston Park, next to the House for an Art Lover

Walking the West Highland Way to Conic Hill

We’ve spent time in with the cats who seem settled with us. True to form though, cats don’t like jigsaws. Mild mannered Mrs.P sat on it threatening to bite if you try and put that bit in near me. This is a phenomenon first experienced with Maggie in Solihull where we could only jigsaw for a certain amount of time before being savaged. This was a brand new jigsaw, so we know it was complete, however we have a bit missing, we’ve asked her where it is but she is denying all knowledge..... she didn’t like the way the pieces stuck to her paws, so had to be shaken off, though she did like sitting in the box!

Lots of other people on the 9 day trek to Fort William, many with very heavy packs

Highland Coos on Conic Hill, Loch Lomond in the distance

We’ve been creative with courgette as we’ve had two in danger of becoming marrows, so we are currently on courgette cake. It’s also been in salsa and fritters.... We stand no chance with the rocket though that is just growing rampant through the garden, but works well with everything!

We’ve been for a little walk in the nearby park, with grotto and lake, or as it was described to us by a local, polluted pond

This one getting a little close

Crowds of people on the way down

As ever time is flying by, just as we are getting settled it’ll be time to go. We have been asked back in December but expect to be away in Ted by then, it would be so easy to say yes though, never have we done a Housesit where a laser pointer in the shape of a mouse, and a cat tickler have been left for us on the bedside table!









Our walk over Conic Hill:

Didn’t get to post this on Friday when I wrote the above, so it’s now Saturday and we have just got back from visiting the Mackintosh house at the Hunterian museum, before going down to the Kelvingrove Museum, as recommended by the receptionist at the Hunterian - the Kelvingrove museum hall is built round a very large organ, and there was due to be a recital in 20 minutes. We walked through the lovely university building to get there, not really minding if we got lost. We had a little look at a couple of exhibits before the recital started. It was all very splendid.

The pond in nearby Rosshall Park

The little grotto in the park

The Mackintosh house is a reproduction of the house Charles lived in with his wife Margaret, which was actually just round the corner, but demolished in the ‘70’s. Having only seen a postcard of the artwork I reproduced in our house, I was delighted to see the original in the dining room. I think the stencils I cut are still in the loft at mothers, whether I ever get to redo it remains to be seen.

How about this for dinner? We got some scallops going cheap so this is a Thai noodle soup with scallops, chillis and bamboo shoots - yum!

Mackintosh's house at the Hunterian Centre, Glasgow. Decorated just like our hall was in Alvechurch

The hall at the Kelvingrove Museum during the organ recital (he's playing on the first floor just behind that chandelier

The Kelvingrove Museum, one of many fine buildings in Glasgow

And look what we found in the Kelvingrove Museum - a stuffed haggis. Proof that they do exist!!

The little notice next to it

A wee pause in Glasgow

Glasgow from The Lighthouse

We are thoroughly enjoying our stay here, just south and west of Glasgow. The house is beautiful, overlooking the river, lovely gardens and the beautiful cats who are both so sweet natured. As brother and sister they don’t look at all alike, Mr.T big and tabby and Mrs.P petite and grey. You certainly know which one is walking on you in the night!

They are indoor cats, but they like a little bit of outdoor life, Mrs.P wanders about a bit, attempting the fence to go to next door. This is quite usual, but I did scoop her off the fence when she was going over on our first day, too scary for me... Mr.T doesn’t seem quite as adventurous but enjoys sitting on the step sniffing the air. They have an exciting range of indoor cat trees, scratching posts and sleeping areas all over the house. 

Olympics for cats. From fridge to shelf to balcony

Three beds, for two cats, on the landing sounding a little excessive but they use them all in rotation. When they are not disco dancing in the night! There is a motion sensitive nightlight on the landing, helpful when going to the loo in the night, not so when cats are wandering, or dancing! The most exciting thing they have though is a mezzanine in the kitchen, accessible, for humans, through what looks like a loft hatch, though we haven’t been shown a pole, but accessible, for cats, via the dining table, fridge freezer, and for Mr.T a shelf in the wall, though Mrs.P does it in one! Return is via the top of the kitchen cupboard!

Glasgow Central railway station

Macintosh styled Willow Tea Rooms, Buchanan St. Glasgow

Aldi is within walking distance, but we haven’t really needed to stock up much yet. Nicky and Tony sent us off with a lamb joint and lots of fruit and veggies, and the comment it was a shame we weren’t coming straight here as we could have been fed for the fortnight and helped them clear some freezer space! Unfortunately with a two night stay in between we felt we could only take what we could eat once defrosted! So trying to get back to our normal eating habits, the lamb joint has done us four meals, a roast, two portions of biryani with a mushroom, spinach and chickpea veggie curry (I’m really getting into my veggie curries) and a salad with broad beans, rocket from the garden and spinach and feta. Tonight is a risotto using turkey stock (that I have to confess I did re-freeze) and some chicken that was left. The risotto will be a challenge, B wants me to recreate the one he had in the local Italian before our arrival here which he really enjoyed. Do I need that sort of pressure?

Glasgow cathedral

And inside the cathedral

Friday we ‘touristed’ in Glasgow. Going in by train and visiting the cathedral, necropolis and oldest house, all within spitting distance of each other, with a diversion into a Charles Rennie Macintosh Willow Tearoom, and the Lighthouse. A building designed by Mackintosh to be used as the offices of the Glasgow Herald, now Scotland’s centre for design and architecture. The view from the top of the ‘Lighthouse’, or water tower as it actually was, is stunning. I have a soft spot for the designs of Mackintosh, coming to Glasgow on a day trip, with mum, when Brian and I first bought our house together to look for inspiration for our 1930’s house. I cut stencils for what I thought was a great mural up the stairs. I was really pleased with it, though I gather this is a view not shared by everyone. The tenants asked permission to paint over it not long after moving in!

The cathedral and Glasgow from the Necropolis

It appears Dr. Who was around, we saw his Tardis in various places

Yesterday we went back into Glasgow, it’s not far, to meet up with Simon and Diane from Edinburgh, further for them, but still only an easy train journey. We had a lovely afternoon, a long slow lunch, followed by B acting guide and taking them up the lighthouse, and a last drink. We spent a very happy five hours catching up and talking travels past and future. Today? Just waiting for the rain to stop before heading off to the ‘House for and art lover’ the car will be driven for the first time since our arrival!

The Provands Lordship - Glasgows oldest building, built in 1471

Glasgow City Chambers building from George Square

Inside the City Chambers building on our free guided tour

Looking down the spiral staircase in The Lighthouse building. This is the only way to the highest viewing platform, but there is a lift to a separate lower viewpoint, but not such good views

Another view from The Lighthouse, this one looking up Mitchell Street and W. Nile Street, Glasgow

The only photo of Mrs P cat we will show. The rest of her is just as cute as her paw

Mr. T cat relaxing in his bed