Yeah – summer has arrived in Edinburgh. Even more amazing, it looks like it will be here for another week or two. A rarity… Scotland has had record breaking temperatures over the last few weeks, (although not so much in Edinburgh sadly, but we did have some 25c+ temperatures, which was pretty good. Edinburgh gets a lot of mist, known locally as haar, so it can be lovely a few miles north or south of us, but quite cold near the Forth)
The picture is taken as I walked along the Water of Leith from Dean Bridge in Edinburgh this afternoon with some Norwegian friends. It is so rare that we can go out for an afternoon with just t-shirts on, no extra layers needed! The path from Dean Village to Stockbridge was busy , and Stockbridge itself was was humming, there was a local market there, the shops were open, and all the restaurants were busy. It was lovely to see. People were just out and about enjoying the sunshine with smiles on their faces.
As we walked along the Water of Leith from Dean Village towards Stockbridge, we discovered that St Bernard’s Well was open to visitors for free!
I realise that I haven’t been good at posting over the last couple of months. Sometimes life gets in the way, and I refuse to feel guilty about it. Blogging is my hobby, it fits in with my life, rather than it is my life! We have had a few short trips, I have been busy making things with copper and silver, and to be honest, one of the joys of retirement is that if the weather is good, you don’t need to feel guilty about sitting out in the sun reading a book.
I’ve read 4 books this week… 2 ‘chick-lits’ while staying at my friend’s apartment for a few days, I can’t honestly say I even remember what they were.
However, I have also read one ‘serious’ book about obesity… Scary but it is well worth reading.
This book took me several days to get through – I couldn’t quite say it was a page turner (far too many thought provoking comments for that). It is written by someone who is extremely dedicated to finding the best way for us all to feed ourselves. (She is not a medical doctor but has a PhD in Nutrition) It was interesting, and I definitely didn’t skip any pages… (Her recommendations in short – cut out all processed foods, refined oils, sugars etc, and go back to eating fat). Her premise is that we all started getting fat, when we were told to go low-fat, and at the same time ‘junk-food’ became readily available. Her recommended diet is a little more complex than that. You can find it at TheHarcombeDiet
I then followed this up by a slightly more lightweight book about Cicero. It makes a serious subject easy reading.
The Cicero book was written in a very simple way, at one stage referring to Caesar’s Invasion of Britain around 55/54bc. We had to do 3 years of Latin at high school, and I do remember having to translate some of the Latin text of Caesar’s Invasions when I was aged about 11 or 12. Let’s just say, I found it quite hard! Bless my Latin teacher, long since dead, Miss Gallaugher, (one mark off if you spelt her name wrong on the exam paper..) It must have been a daily battle to try and push something into us, when only 2 or 3 children would be interested enough to take Latin come 4th year. Even worse Latin class was the last class on a Friday! However, even now I can still decline quite a few Latin verbs to this day. (Who says rote learning doesn’t work? That was 50 years ago!) My brother had to do both Greek and Latin for 3 years. I’m not sure he remembered much. Some years ago, you couldn’t study languages or medicine at many UK universities unless you had a Latin O Level. Fortunately times have changed. my sons had to do neither Latin or Greek. I am sure you have heard the rhyme – Latin is a dead, dead, language – first it killed the Romans and now it is killing me.
The book about Cicero has put me in the right frame of mind for our forthcoming Slow Travel trip to Rome in September and October. We were last there in September 1981, and I know I am better informed than I was then, I look forward to seeing all the historic ruins of the Forum again, and trying to place where things happened. Though to be honest, the amount of times places were burnt down by mobs, armies etc, replaced or rebuilt, burnt again etc – I think a lot of it must include a bit of guesswork, even for the most trained archaeologist. It won’t stop us enjoying it, but I am sure (hope) our 2018 guidebook will be more informed than our previous guidebook published in 1970, which comes with it’s own hand-drawn, annotated then copied maps.
I now also know to take sunscreen, and a hat. Then the faintest sun also brought me out in a huge itchy, lumpy heat rash. Whatever was causing it seems to have eased over the years, or I am better at taking anti-histamines! I also hope I don’t need the diarrhoea/sickness tablets that I needed the last time. (Suffice to say I was 112 lbs / 8 stone when I went, I came back 91 lbs / 6.5 stone …) I blame it on some dodgy ice-creams, as both a friend who was travelling with us and I were affected. I now also know nerves played a part -you’re sick, you’re away from home, you feel even worse, so you don’t eat… (by the way, I can only dream of seeing either of those numbers on the scales now, but I probably don’t want to, because it would mean I was sick. Be careful what you wish for! I’ll go for higher numbers, and stay healthy!)
A good lead in to my last post about whether Diets Help or Hinder Weight Loss…. I’ve been sensible. I’ve removed the sugars and rubbish snacks out of my diet. I’m down a few pounds. My clothes fit better, but a long way to go!
Meanwhile, I will enjoy summer in Edinburgh. As I write this at 11pm, it is not yet dark. The sky is still light. I love it. It was warm enough to sit in the garden until late. My older son was in Finland 2 weeks ago, and even with blackout curtains and eye-masks, there really was no darkness. However, roll on 6 months and they have very little daylight. Even in Scotland, mid-December, there are many days that we have the lights on from when we wake up until we go to bed.
I will also extend our summer by going to Rome for September / October, then who knows? The Caribbean, New Zealand? watch this space!
If you would like to pin this, just click the image below. It is one taken from the Water of Leith in Edinburgh earlier today.
