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.