Friday, June 27, 2008

Look what Elizabeth found! It’s a video of last year’s Games! It captures, amidst much else, the essential tedium of the day. Sam the Ram makes a brief but easily-recognisable appearance. I’m there too, later on, very briefly, in a group of prize-winners. I’m holding the Glen Isla shield, which unfortunately obscures the image of Dolores on my sweatshirt. My granddaughter Rachel is standing in front of me, to my right (the viewer’s left), with the Mandy Duncan Cup which she won for the best entry in the children’s sections.

Wonderful!

Although it's a bit disappointing that none of the rest of our party appears. There were dozens of us, literally, as it was our Golden Wedding celebration. The camera must have been deliberately avoiding us. In the opening sequence, as the local baronet leads the pipe band over the bridge, you can see the old Kirkmichael Hotel behind him. It is now self-catering apartments and we filled the entire building, that weekend.


Health-and-safety will no doubt soon forbid baronets to go about with drawn swords.

All went well yesterday on the dusting-and-bed-making front. All that remains to do is the spare room itself, and a quick passage of a mop over the kitchen floor wouldn’t come amiss. Then attention can be turned to food.



Thinking of that reminded me that it would be nice to make Jamie Oliver’s “Pappardelle with wild rabbit, olives and marjoram” one evening. That depends on success in the field. Rabbits should be rather tasty just now, the spring litters grown to rabbit-hood but not yet tough and stringy. I can do all the herbs from my garden, too, but I don’t grow olives or pappardelle.

Renewed thanks for encouragement with the dinosaurs. They went well yesterday, too – I’m halfway up the next pair. If today affords normal knitting time, I might even finish them.

I heard promptly from Get Knitted, and my “Franklin’s Panopticon” yarn is ordered. It won’t be soon, she warned me – they’re not due to send an order to Lorna’s Laces for a while, and Lorna’s Laces are never quick to fill an order. If, as you suggest, Angie, the yarn won’t actually be out for a while, that’s just as well. I’m happy to wait, anyway. I am inspired by the knowledge that it’s on its way probably more than I would be if it were actually coiled around my ankles.

If all goes well, my grandson Alistair will be bedding down here in the computer room tomorrow morning, and then we’re all off to Strathardle. So perhaps no blog for a while. See you soon.

P.S.: I found this in the NY Times yesterday, in my insatiable reading of presidential-campaign stories: “Perhaps the thorniest question — what to do about Bill Clinton, who friends say continues to refight the bitter primary fight — has yet to be raised by either side, advisers said.”

“who friends say” is right; it shouldn't be “whom”. Not many people know that – I’ve seen that construction wrong in the Economist.

10 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:35 AM

    Jean,
    I am glad that I was reading your post at home so that I could click on the video. Never having visited a Highland Games, the short version was perfect, especially the pipes, I do have a soft spot for the bagpipes. The wee tot doing the highland dancing was a cutie too. It was nice to see Sam and yourself featured.

    Enjoy your family visit.
    Dawn

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  2. Fudge. I'm pretty sure I've missed you and you're on your way to TCOTU but I'll still put in my 2 cents worth of recipe suggestion. Every Easter my family partakes of 'Fish Dish', which is essentially a smoked cod dish. It's very much afavourite in Australia during lent, and while it's not lent by any means, it makes a great dish for a cast of thousands. The closest to what my family prepares is here (http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/9275/smoked+fish+pie) only we just use the filling with rice - with 7+ mouths this is the easiest formation.

    I'm enjoying the way the dinosaurs are coming together. If a singular motif is necessary, just list it as a collective noun of dinosaurs when you enter it. I think dinosaurs come in herds? Possibly splitting hairs but if the judges are going to be *that* persnickety they deserve the come back! Loved, loved, loved the highland games video. yay for the interwebs!

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  3. Anonymous2:14 PM

    Glad to have been of help on the enabling front. I'll be interested to see how the jacket works out. Sam completely dominated the knitted toys section (and the rest of the tent).

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  4. Loved the video, but what's the story with the sailor suits dancers? I have found myself unexpectedly in Texas for a few days (family emergency) and have seen quite a few Obama lawn signs while taking the dog for a walk.

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  5. Great video, Jean. Reminds me of the Portree Highland Games I happened upon in Skye, some thirty years ago. I was most impressed by the caber-tossing, I remember.

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  6. Anonymous10:39 PM

    Ditto on the "motif of dinosaurs" idea. On other grammar I disagree: the clause beginning with "who" is a separate unit, with "who" as the subject of the verb "continues" so "whom" would be incorrect in that position.

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  7. Thanks so much for the link! I enjoyed all of it, but the bit that really hit home was in the final titles - "Home Industries . ."

    The things that we do - cooking, knitting (and sewing) may be great pleasures, but they are also valuable and useful PRODUCTIVE WORK. The enjoyment is a bonus, and it is rather sad that some folk have to pay money to get inferior versions of what we can make for ourselves.

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  8. Mary Lou: The Hornpipe is a dance that features prominently in highland dance competitions.
    Great video, Jean!
    Grammar wise, "Whom" is used when it refers to the object of a sentence. The rule of thumb is if you can replace the word with "HE", it should be "who", but if you can replace the word with "HIM", it should be "whom".
    I agree with you: "Who friends say" is correct because you can say "Friends say he...".

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  9. Jean, will you and/or Theo be changing your name?

    http://www.theage.com.au/world/husseins-the-name-for-obama-supporters-20080629-2yu4.html

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  10. Anonymous10:43 PM

    I especially appreciated the video for how my head should pronounce "Strathardle" when I'm reading your blog!

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