October Occurrences in Scottish Meanderings

I was watching the film 'One Hour Photo' the other night and Robin Williams as Sy Parrish in one of the voiceovers says "And if these pictures have anything important to say to future generations, it's this ... I was here. I existed. I was young. I was happy... and someone cared enough about me in this world to take my picture." And that last bit got me. Because when a relationship is fractured there are a thousand and one things which stop happening which shows the other person has stopped caring and some of them are tiny things but they can have a big impact.

When Nikki and I's relationship was fractured after I got ill that was one of the things she stopped doing - taking photos of me. It was like I didn't exist. Or didn't matter. And that's why there were tears in my eyes when she sent me about a dozen photos of me paddling with the kids when we were at the beach last month (in my last entry) because I hadn't even realised she was taking them. It was another little thing which showed me that that relationship had repaired somewhat. It'll never be what it was before - I know that - but I'm just glad it didn't fracture altogether.


Lily turned 11 in October. Hard to believe. Just before her birthday on the 4th she took part in a local Gymnastics Competition and came first in all three categories in her age group which did her confidence no end of good. She always says she's rubbish at it but we've seen her at displays and know that's patently not true - she's really lithe and graceful - exactly like Nikki was at the same age. I filled up hearing her name being called each time and watching her step up to the podium with her face just beaming - she was so chuffed!

Joel came to see her too as he had the girls that weekend and it was so weird seeing the two of them together - Nikki & Joel I mean - shades of what could have been. It made Nikki feel weird as well. I don't think she's ever really got over him - there's still a candle burning away in the background there.

Here's the three of them with Lily displaying all her medals proudly!


She had a good month - the competition, then her birthday, then on the 16th we were off to Dundee (about an hour and a half away from here) to see David Walliams who was doing a book signing of his new book at Waterstones. As you know Lily's an avid book reader and loves his books and Nikki had noticed he was coming to Aberdeen on the afternoon of the 16th so was trying to get tickets but they were all gone. Then she discovered there was one left for Dundee on the same morning so snapped it up. I was really disappointed as it was at 10 a.m. (Dundee is around an hour and a half away) so I knew I couldn't go whereas I could have gone to the Aberdeen one.

However as it turned out, I was awake at 5 that morning and knew I wasn't getting any more sleep so texted Nikki and she came and picked me up and we all went down together. We got there just after 10 and the queue snaked round the whole perimeter of Waterstones but it kept moving and of course there were lots of books to peruse en route which helped! David was lovely - he spoke to all the kids who had queued to see him and had photos taken with each one then signed their copies of his new book (as part of the ticket you got a copy of it).

This is Lilah's face just after he's asked her if Lily is a good big sister!


And more chuffedness!


He must have been exhausted - he finished at 12 then had to get to Aberdeen at 2 p.m. to do it all again. It takes an hour and a half to get to Aberdeen from Dundee so he wouldn't have had much time for any food in between.

I was telling the girls in the car that as a kid I would never have dreamed of meeting my favourite author - it just wouldn't have been on my radar because there was no media stuff in those days and no opportunity. If you were lucky you might write a letter to one and get a reply but that would be about it. I imagine for authors at that time it would have been a less exhausting business all round but it must have been harder to promote a new book if you weren't already well known.


The other nice thing which happened is that Ian, my brother, and his wife Margaret, got over to Aberdeen for a few days. As you know Ian has been plagued with health problems in the last few years which worsened considerably when he got Covid 2 years ago and completely affected his balance and mobility to the point he can't go anywhere (even the bathroom) independently now. He's showing all the signs of Parkinsons disease but hasn't been officially diagnosed as yet.

Catriona, their daughter, moved to a new house in Oldmeldrum, about half an hour away from Aberdeen about 2 years ago and they'd never seen it - and they speak to Catriona's two boys, Matt & Ollie, every week on Messenger but obviously that's not the same as seeing them. So they decided in the October holidays to try and come over - which was kind of a major expedition because of Ian's lack of mobility. They couldn't do the whole journey in one go - they had to get the bus up to Inverness first, stay overnight then get the train to Aberdeen and of course Margaret had to manage all the luggage and getting Ian on and off the bus and train so it was pretty difficult.

Unfortunately they picked the week that Storm Babet came to visit us so they ended up getting stuck here longer than planned - they'd booked an apartment in Oldmeldrum but Catriona stays quite far up a country side road which had also got flooded so I think there were at least two days when they were pretty much stranded in the apartment because of the weather which must have been so frustrating after coming all that way.

I managed to see them on the Wednesday before the weather got really wild and we went for a meal with Catriona and the boys to Oldmeldrum House, a picturesque old country hotel.


They were due to go home on Friday but there were no trains running that whole weekend due to flooding so they finally managed to get home on the Monday. Luckily the booking for the Friday for the apartment they were in had had to be cancelled because of the weather so they were able to stay there until Monday and they got their hotel accommodation in Inverness changed to Monday night as well so arrived home exhausted on the Tuesday poor souls!

I'd love to be well enough to drive over to Fort William some day to visit - I talk to them every week on Messenger with Lorna but it's not the same as seeing them - Lorna and I did mention going down and surprising them one afternoon, just appearing at the door so maybe when the weather gets better we'll attempt that.

I'm hating the cold, dark days we're getting now - I think it's worse because I'm still in bed in the mornings so am missing the main bit of light of the day - it's horrible having to put the light on in the afternoon though and going for walks in the dark. However I was cheered up a bit when Nikki showed me the kids' school photo this year - I love it!