Sunday, January 04, 2009

Christmas

The big news is, that we have been catapaulted into the third millennium. Among our Christmas presents were:
A mobile telephone
A DVD player

I’ve mastered the basics of telephoning. I’ve even sent a couple of text messages. It won’t be for daily use, but there are situations, esp. trips to London, when it will be handy.

Thomas-the-Elder installed the DVD player without difficulty. Now all we need are some DVDs.

A topic much discussed while we were all together was Jenni’s and Theo’s wedding. They’ve got a website! On current calculations, I won’t be going, although I’d love to and that could change. Thomas-the-Elder and his brother Joe will be groomsmen. All the Loch Fyne Mileses and all the Beijing ones are going, and Helen from Athens. My husband is really too old and slow to travel that far – and, by now, difficult and expensive to insure. Ketki has offered to stay behind and offer him a roof in Glasgow; that’s a possible solution, except that I gather there are no flights from Scotland to Boston. I’m pretty old myself, and don’t relish the prospect of Kennedy. We shall see.

Comment

Thanks, Moorecat, for the link to the Scotsman article about the Titian appeal. We saw newspapers over the holiday, but it was pretty catch-as-catch-can and we missed that.(Alexander and Ketki don’t take any papers – it certainly reduces clutter and saves time not to.) My husband says that it sounds bad – they wouldn’t postpone the deadline if they had the money.

And, no, we don’t celebrate Hogmanay, never have, although it was great having Thomas and Anna here. It made us feel sort of plugged in.

In the old days, in Strathardle, we used to pay New Year’s calls, though. In those days, Scotland simply stopped for four or five days. There were lots of parties and drunkenness going on somewhere, but there were also people going to see people. It was a time for everybody, not just the young. It was as I imagine, perhaps romantically, the Orthodox Jewish Sabbath to be. When you aren’t actually praying, you can walk over to your friend’s house. He’ll be there, or thereabouts, because travel isn’t allowed. And he won’t be busy, because that isn’t allowed, so you can sit and talk, or go for a stroll.

Similarly, at the New Year, no one was busy, and everyone was welcome everywhere, and bottles appeared from cupboards in the most austere households, and good stories were told about the old days.

Knitting

It’s frustratingly slow now that I haven’t got all day for it, but progress is being made. The front divides for a neck placket. I’ve finished one side and may finish the other today. All continues well. Our Soap Opera resumes tomorrow after its holiday pause: that’ll add half-an-hour to the evening knitting break.

8 comments:

  1. It wouldn't be a direct flight, but you could fly into Bradley (BDL, Hartford). If you were flying from Edinburgh, you would have to change in London and one U.S. city. It's easy to get from Bradley to anywhere in Connecticut.

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  2. I empathize with you on the problems of getting to Connecticut. From Dublin the flight to Boston is direct and happily our son or daughter-in-law come to meet us. I'm told that come the summer there will be a direct flight from Northern Ireland to Bradley. I don't know if that would be of any use to you. It would be a pity not to attend the wedding and the accompanying family festivities. I've been to Essex a number of times - it is a lovely town, as you know.

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  3. Anonymous3:42 PM

    Dear Jean... I live in northern NJ, and would be hapy to pick you up at Kennedy and drop you off wherever you'd like in Connecticut for the wedding. My daughter's family is in New Hampshire, so I make the trip through Connecticut to their home near Portsmouth often, and could easily schedule a visit there....I'd drop you off, continue on to NH to play with grandchildren happily, then pick you up on a return trip.

    I realize you don't know me at all, but I feel like you're an old friend, since I've been following your blog for years. Please consider this possibility... if it makes attending the wedding possible, I'd love to help!

    Barbara M.

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  4. When looking at kayak.com, they have a number of flights from Edinburgh to Boston. None are direct flights, but the layover are places like Newark.

    Is there anyway you could take the train to London, stay with family for a day or so to rally your strength, then fly out of Heathrow? There are so many other options for direct, nonstop flights out of Heathrow on BA, American, and Continental. I hope you can make the trip.

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  5. Welcome back! It's lovely to read your posts again. I'm a little tardy myself but reading up on the last 3 days' posts shows that you've been v. active for the beginning of the year. If the saying of what your do on the first day of the year is a reflection on what you'll be doing for the rest of the year, I believe it's highly likely that you'll end up going to the wedding. Socialising with your family always features highly in your blog, often competing with knitting content ; )

    Yay for txtng - omission of vowels rqd, evn nessry. If you ever figure out predictive texting let me know how it's done. I find it irritating beyond belief! So sorry to read about your eyesight going permanently bung. All the more reason for going back to the USA for what could be a last visit.

    Are you posting your list of intentions for 2009 or is Ketki's gansey and the Princess it?

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  6. Nice to see you back and blogging again, Jean.

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  7. Anonymous2:58 AM

    Jean, you'd probably fly into JFK, not Boston. There are a bunch of shuttles and limos that will take you over to Essex.

    In fact, a quick check tells me you can get a nonstop to JFK from Edinburgh for $600 or so round trip.

    OTOH, I don't travel well myself, so I empathize.

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  8. Anonymous5:24 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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