The Immortal Memory

A Poet's welcome to his Love-Begotten Daughter

Welcome! my bonnie, sweet,wee dochter,
Tho' ye come here a wee unsought for,
And tho' your comin' I hae fought for'
Baith kirk and queir;
Yet by my faith, ye're no unwrought for,
That I shall swear

Tho' I should be the waur bestead,
Thou's be as braw and bienly clad,
And thy young years as nicely bred
Wi' education,
As onie brat o' wedlock's bed,
In a' thy station.

For if thou be what I wad hae thee,
And tak the counsel I shall gie thee,
I'll never rue the trouble wi' thee,
The cost nor shame o't,
But be a loving father to thee,
And brag the name o't.

It's the birthday of our National Bard, Robert Burns, today and the above is an extract from one of his most tender poems.

I was as at "Rabbie's Lunch" in the church hall on Wednesday and enjoyed it very much, although I found it hard when some of his love songs were sung. Went to the Brunton Theatre on Tuesday to see "Essential Scottish Opera".It was superb! They did all the well known arias, duets and quartets then some from light opera and songs from the shows. The tenor especially could give Pavarotti a run for his money!

Shopping and hairdo

Friday, 19th January

Went out to unlock the back gate and notice the hepatica is beginning to bloom Shouldn't flower till March-but there they were - the pretty blue flowers at the corner of the step. Not so pretty was a dead mouse lying on the grass! Lucy the culprit of course.Next thing Stuart appeared to put it in the bucket for me. His dad had phoned and told him to come round after I had emailed him about something else.
My brother Dick took me shopping as usual.He is always ready to help me, even though he is busy looking after Joyce. I was pleased to meet Jan Barker with her wee girls.It was nice to have a chat with her face to face, instead of just communicating by email . In hairdresser's,the main topic of conversation was Big Brother, so I just absorbed myself in my book. I feel there are more important concerns in the world at the moment than some TV reality show. Phone call from Margo. Just back from Jonathan's piano lesson. He is doing lots of tests at school at the moment and is doing really well.Bobby phoned to say he will be in later.When Bobby came up, I had a list of repair jobs for him, but he wasn't long in sorting things out. Craig came with him to help to carry things to the car to take to the skip.Stephen came in after being at his Mum's for his tea. He comes pretty often for a cup of tea and a blether,bless him. I can't believe he is 29 this year.

Flowers and Cats

Thursday 18th January

Helen came up with nice flowers.Cream coloured roses and gysophilia (must check spelling). I think she knew I needed cheering up. It's great to have a younger sister (though she likes when I'm mistaken for her Mother!) She also brought chocolate, which helps too but I just keep wishing I could share it with John. Wish I could share my thoughts with him too.There was a packet on the front step containing a French/English Dictionary and a Spanish/English Dictionary, free offer in the Woman's Weekly. Handy for Jonathan and he can pass it on to Douglas as he has started French at school.

Funny, in this week's edition of the magazine, there is a photo of a cat which looks exactly like my cat, Lucy, with the caption"Adopt Me", but I'm afraid one's enough for me.Helen also brought another toy to try to stop her scratching up the carpets, but she is a bit wary of it. The last one she brought was a scratching pole. circles round about it.One of Helen's cat's is enormous. Must find photo of it cuddling the wee cat.Looks really funny. When she was going away we saw the sun shining on hills across the Forth. Lovely from the distance -but I wouldn't like to be there!

Anniversary

Wednesday 17th January

Kay & Gavin's 20th wedding anniversary.

Can't believe how the time passes so quickly. Twenty years ago it had been snowing for weeks before the wedding. The church path had to be cleared before the wedding as no one could have walked on it. Much milder twenty years on,although there was frost on the grass this morning.

Kay arrived with Robert. He is off school with a sore ear and he looked pretty poorly, the wee soul. We looked online for a lightweight hoover.Tidied out some drawers and took stock of my books. Must try to get rid of some. Went to Rita's this afternoon and had a nice chat and a cup of tea. Robert loved Sandy the dog.Arthur and Stuart came round to put bucket out.

Family party

Monday 15th January

Arthur set up this Blog for me. so I'll see how long I can keep it up.New Year family get together yesterday. Wasn't sure whether to have it or not as first one without My Dearest Dear,but I'm glad I did.Great to have all the grandchildren here- they made everybody laugh.They were all laughing at me when they found out I had put the jelly on the trifle before the custard but nevertheless they scoffed the lot! Today felt pretty tired,but had lunch with Chris, then to hospital and everything's fine.She has lots of John's butterflies and wants to give me some back to put on new fence. Chris dropped me at door -couldn't believe it- I'd brought the wrong key! Plumber was here when I left, so I must have picked up the wrong ones. Went along to my friend's, then to Dick's and phoned Catherine at work about her spare key, so she picked me up and took me home.Poor cat was desperate to get out! Pretty cold though, so she didn't stay out long.Going to bed shortly but think I'll read my book for a bit.Today reminded me of the poem"The art of losing isn't hard to master." I must look it up.