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Welcome to the Twentieth Edition of our Newsletter

This is our second fortnightly edition of our newsletter and it is certainly packed with lots of interesting

articles from our members! As I have said many times – the newsletter is for the members by the

members and it is fantastic to see so many of you step up to the mark and send in interesting articles

and photographs.

There will be another newsletter in two weeks time on the 7th September however, from then on it will

be published monthly. This will give all our members plenty of time to submit any poems, jokes, short

stories, craft ideas, recipes, gardening tips etc.

Please send any contributions to Karen: abbott111@talktalk.net

Edition 20 Monday 24th August 2020

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Music in Our Time This is a regular item so if you have a relevant piece of music which reflects either the

season, an event or our wonderful land, please email abbott111@talktalk.net

Music Inspired By Spain by Alan Malloy

I suspect that many of us have cancelled or postponed our holidays for this year. I have consoled myself by thinking about some of the places I might have visited and high on that list is Spain. I’ve been to Madrid and the surrounding countryside many years ago, but I look forward to visiting other areas in the future. I hope this music transports you metaphorically speaking to these warmer climes. Recuerdos de la Alhambra Written by Francisco Tárrega, ‘Memories of the Alhambra’ takes me to the Alhambra Palace in Southern Spain. In this clip, the piece is played by the peerless John Williams, after a comic start with the late Les Dawson. It is a difficult piece to play well, as the tremolo notes must be played throughout with perfect, even timing, timing, which of course, John Williams does effortlessly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDlQE9djIxE

Barcelona This song was written for the Olympic Games of 1992 which took place in Barcelona. The song was sung by Freddie Mercury and Monserrat Caballé. Sadly, Freddie was already suffering with AIDS and died before the start of the Games. It was however used at the Opening Ceremony, with Monserrat singing live, accompanied by a voice recording of Freddie. On the Eastern coast of Spain, Barcelona has much to attract it. From the architecture of Gaudi to the wonderful beaches and bars along the coast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0wdxj8-mAU

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Carmen This famous, perhaps the most well-known opera is set in Southern Spain and focusses on the fiery hot-blooded Carmen who seduces the soldier Don Jośe. Carmen was written by George Bizet, a gifted pianist and composer who died tragically young, at the age of 36. The opera was not without controversy. The musicians employed for the first performance found some of the passages difficult to play and the chorus found some parts challenging to say the least. This clip is the well-known Habanera, sung by members of the Royal Opera House. A translation of the lyrics would be ‘Love is a rebellious bird’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ_HHRJf0xg

Flamenco Music This is perhaps the most characteristic music of Spain. It originated in Andalusia and was strongly influenced initially by the Moorish invaders, and later by Romany culture. The music is at its most moving when sung and danced to accompanied by of course the guitar. The rhythms of flamenco are complex, which adds a vibrant energy to the music. ‘La Barrosa’ is played here by one of the most outstanding exponents of Flamenco, Paco de Lucia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9vNSA0WNlw

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This beautiful photo was sent in by Dan Skinner who says:

I thought you might enjoy a photo of the locks at Fort Augustus on

Saturday, 8th August. One of those perfect days when the weather is warm,

clear and still. I had headed out in the morning for a picnic and travelled

over the south Loch Ness road, via Farr, Whitebridge, etc and came down

the steep hill into Fort Augustus with brilliant sunshine all the way. Although

it was busy, it was not crowded like many places these days. I walked up the

locks and was struck by how still the water in the top lock was. I

purposefully took the picture when people were crossing to enhance the

mirror effect. I thought it might be of interest in the news letter, as, in all

the many times I have been to Fort Augustus, I have never seen such calm in

the locks. It helped, of course, that there were no boats in the locks, but I

doubt I shall ever see the top lock as calm as this again.

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Nominative Determinism by Rhoda Malloy

Have you come across this term before?

It is the hypothesis that people tend to gravitate towards areas of work that fit their

names. It was first used in the magazine ‘New Scientist’ in 1994 after the magazine’s

humorous feedback column noted several studies were carried out by researchers with

remarkably fitting surnames. As perfect examples, they mentioned two urologists

named Splatt and Weedon!

The new president of the Royal Horticultural Society was announced last Friday. His

name is Keith Weed! His mother’s maiden name was ‘Hedges’!

In 1974, a journalist noted an Inspector Barker who was head of the dogs section of

Merseyside Police, and a Mrs Serff, of the department of medieval history at

University College, Dublin!

In 2013, Lord Judge retired as Lord Chief Justice!

Other amusing examples include the Department for Education’s chief school’s

adjudicator, Elizabeth Passmore!

Then there is the former surveyor of the fabric of Westminster Abbey, Donald

Buttress!

Can you believe there was a policeman who served in the Bedfordshire police force

called Robin Banks? It’s true!

On holiday as a teenager I met a medical student called Michael Payne, and said I

thought he should seriously consider changing his name!

Other medical-related names I discovered included Tugwell - a midwife, Breakwell -

an orthopaedic surgeon, Smallbones - a paediatric nurse and dentists called Nashar,

Fang and Fillingham!

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Poets Page

Please send us your poems, either ones you have written yourself or let us know of a special favourite which we can publish

Have you a poem you have written? Or

perhaps a favourite you would like to share?

Please email abbott111@talktalk.net with any

poem you would like to see published

The sun was shining on the sea,

Shining with all his might:

He did his very best to make

The billows smooth and bright —

And this was odd, because it was

The middle of the night.

The moon was shining sulkily,

Because she thought the sun

Had got no business to be there

After the day was done —

" “It's very rude of him," she said,

"To come and spoil the fun."

The sea was wet as wet could be,

The sands were dry as dry.

You could not see a cloud, because

No cloud was in the sky:

No birds were flying overhead —

There were no birds to fly.

The Walrus and the Carpenter

Were walking close at hand;

They wept like anything to see

Such quantities of sand:

If this were only cleared away,'

They said, it would be grand!'

If seven maids with seven mops

Swept it for half a year,

Do you suppose,' the Walrus said,

That they could get it clear?

‘‘I doubt it,' said the Carpenter,

And shed a bitter tear.

‘O Oysters, come and walk with us!'

The Walrus did beseech.

A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,

Along the briny beach:

We cannot do with more than four,

To give a hand to each.'

The eldest Oyster looked at him,

But never a word he said:

The eldest Oyster winked his eye,

And shook his heavy head —

Meaning to say he did not choose

To leave the oyster-bed.

But four young Oysters hurried up,

All eager for the treat:

Their coats were brushed,

Their faces washed,

Their shoes were clean and neat —

And this was odd, because, you know,

They hadn't any feet.

Four other Oysters followed them,

And yet another four;

And thick and fast they came at last,

And more, and more, and more —

All hopping through the frothy waves,

And scrambling to the shore.

The Walrus and the Carpenter

Walked on a mile or so,

And then they rested on a rock

Conveniently low:

And all the little Oysters stood

And waited in a row.

The time has come,' the Walrus said,

To talk of many things:

Of shoes - and ships - and sealing-wax

Of cabbages - and kings -

And why the sea is boiling hot -

And whether pigs have wings.'

But wait a bit,' the Oysters cried,

Before we have our chat;

For some of us are out of breath,

And all of us are fat!'

No hurry!' said the Carpenter.

They thanked him much for that.

A loaf of bread,' the Walrus said,

Is what we chiefly need:

Pepper and vinegar besides

Are very good indeed —

Now if you're ready, Oysters dear,

We can begin to feed.'

But not on us!' the Oysters cried,

Turning a little blue.

After such kindness, that would be

A dismal thing to do!'

The night is fine,' the Walrus said.

Do you admire the view?

It was so kind of you to come!

And you are very nice!'

The Carpenter said nothing but

Cut us another slice:

I wish you were not quite so deaf —

I’ve had to ask you twice!'

It seems a shame,' the Walrus said,

To play them such a trick,

After we've brought them out so far,

And made them trot so quick!'

The Carpenter said nothing but

The butter's spread too thick!'

I weep for you,' the Walrus said:

I deeply sympathize.'

With sobs and tears he sorted out

Those of the largest size Holding his pocket-handkerchief

Before his streaming eyes.

O Oysters,' said the Carpenter,

You've had a pleasant run!

Shall we be trotting home again?'

But answer came there none —

And this was scarcely one."

The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll

This was a childhood

favourite of mine and it

used to be my party piece

at family gatherings!

Karen

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My husband, Sufi (our young Bearded Collie)

and I were walking to his workplace one

morning. This involved crossing through two

fields of barley to get to an old coach road into

the village where he worked at the big house.

As we got to the corner of the coach road,

which paralleled the South Downs, and our

friend’s farm, we met a very distressed lady

who had recently moved into the village.

She explained that she had lost her dog, a

young and as yet untrained border collie who

had moved into the village with her, and which

she feared had become disorientated in its new surroundings. She led us to the field where she had

been playing with the dog. This field had trees on three sides and the coach road on the other. We

could not see the lost black dog from the gravel and mud surface of the coach road.

Sitting at the foot of an escarpment of

hills, the coach road dates from over

1000 years ago and runs between

Brighton and Eastbourne. The coach road

is now a public byway. The medieval road

linking Lewes to Alfriston it was

turnpiked in the mid 18th century as an

east-west route to the newly developing

resort of Eastbourne. This part of the

route was closed in 1792 and a new

turnpike made which took a longer and

more convoluted route to Eastbourne. That route and the trust running it near enough went

bankrupt and was replaced by another more direct road in 1820 which is the route of the A27 today.

When the latter was opened the Gage family, who sat on the board of trustees for the new road,

closed the Old Coach Road to traffic to ensure travelers were unable to avoid paying tolls. Reduced

to a restricted byway the highway became a mud bath in the wetter seasons until the section

between Firle and Berwick was surfaced with gravel in 2004.

Tails of a Bearded Collie

(Helping to find lost border collie at Firle)

By Anne Fenech

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The incident with the lost dog occurred in the autumn. There were leaves on the trees, and mud up

to our oxters. It was not unusual for us to have to return cows to fields or find a horse in our garden

where walkers had forgotten to close gates so helping out with a lost dog was not something that

we thought twice about doing.

The field had been harvested and was full of stubble. Therefore we walked onto the field and split up

so that between the three of us we would cover more ground. I walked straight up to the trees at

the back of the field opposite the coach road while my husband and our new neighbour headed for

the trees touching both the coach road and my shelter belt. Sufi went with my husband but I caught

sight of a black blur in the woods ahead of me. I called the dog by name but very wisely it had been

taught not to respond to strangers so it led me a merry dance. In the end, I phoned my husband and

wonder of wonders managed to make a connection. I asked for Sufi’s help. I then yodeled for our

dog to come to me. This unusual sound probably woke most of the village and certainly startled the

lost dog but Sufi came and found me without much ado.

I sent Sufi into the wood to meet

with the lost dog and they started to

play. They had met and played

before so hopefully this reassured

the lost dog or at the very least

seemed familiar. I still couldn’t get

near the lost dog to get hold of its

collar. Therefore I went out into the

field, and yodeled again. This time

Sufi appeared from the trees with

the lost dog in tow. Its human was much deprived and called to it and I sent Sufi away across the

field with it. They reached its owner and much hugging and licking

ensued.

Not surprisingly a few months later the young border collie joined

the starter class at our local dog training school. It and its human

got on really well together. However the bonus was that the dogs

got on well together too.

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Stravaigin in Romania Part 1 by Catherine Vass

Anne’s picture of her happy faced vegetable reminded me of a wonderful holiday my sister, brother-

in-law, husband Nick and I spent stravaigin (old scots word meaning to wander or roam) round

southern Romania.

We boarded a flight in June 2016 from Glasgow to Otopeni Airport, Bucharest.

Most people thought we were daft to travel round Romania and issued dire warnings about crime,

bad roads, mad drivers etc all of which turned out to be false. The drivers were no worse than the

Scots. Having driven the length and breadth of Highland roads for 25 years Romanian roads posed

no problems. We felt safe and welcomed in Romania.

We hired a car, spent two days in Bucharest enjoying an open air ethnographic museum, lovely

parks, a splendid, palatial old hotel showing its age but undergoing a revival and marvelling at the

wedding cake monstrosity of the Ceausescu Palace. I developed a mild dislike of polenta. Romanian

cuisine is hearty but the local fish, fruit and vegetables are delicious.

From Bucharest we drove south towards the Black Sea stopping at the beaches of the grand 19th

century coastal town of Constanta. We passed fields of grain just beginning to ripen and the road

verges and field edges were ablaze with poppies, marguerites and vetches. I remember similar

displays in Scotland in my primary school days in the Howe of the Mearns.

We drove along the Black sea coast towards Tulcea and the Danube Delta, We passed through

Roma villages, very modest houses in enclosed courtyards. Baskets of cherries were left for sale at

the roadside. Every so often there was a well protected huge ornate modern villa. I believe they

belong to Romanian “gang masters”. We were enthralled by the numbers of horse and carts being

used to transport people and farm produce etc. They all had licence plates. Any blade of grass had

been cut and hung over fences etc to dry for fodder. In the mountains we saw oxen pulling a cart,

much of Romania having a medieval feeling. Saxon wooden houses with beautifully carved double

doors to the courtyards featured in the many small villages. We also saw abject poverty in a large

Roma village near the beautiful medieval town of Brasov. The houses were basically shacks and

must have been dreadful in the winter. The area around Brasov gets enough snow in the winter to

support a ski industry.

The Roma are considered a problem by the Romanian people and state and appear to live very

ghettoised lives.

Waiting for the flight back to Glasgow I noticed an expensively dressed man in his fifties who seemed

to be holding the papers of six young Romanian men who were dressed in expensive branded

clothes and shoes but had no hand baggage. I watched them working in threes keeping an eye on

any handbag which was unattended or gaping open. As we joined the queue to board they were

jostling close to people. I warned one unaccompanied young woman whose bag they were paying

attention to. When we landed I spoke to border control officer who was very well aware of the

problem. He said unless I saw something specific they could not intervene. He said it was mobile

phones they went for and the young men were thieves and any young girls were being brought in for

prostitution. They always claim they were coming to the Tayside berry fields during June and July.

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Stravaigin in Romania Part 1 by Catherine Vass continued….

The town of Tulcea sits on the southernmost branch of the Danube and is visited by the river cruise

boats coming down the Danube. It also has many Ukrainian and Russian holiday makers. It was

sobering to see troop trains close to the delta and the border with Ukraine. We stayed at the Danube

Delta Nature Resort on the banks of Lake Samova. It was described as the most luxurious on the

delta. It was comfortable with friendly English speaking staff. Our breakfast always featured

sunnyside up eggs and a smiley face was made with chillies and cucumber. Hence Anne’s photo

brought back happy memories.

We spent a day out in the channels and lakes of the delta in a flat bottomed boat with a very

knowledgeable young man. We saw three species of heron, purple, grey and squacco, glossy ibis,

egrets, hundreds of pelicans and cormorants, bee eaters, geese, storks, ducks etc. The waterways

are overhung with willows and water lilies are profuse. We visited Saon monastery by boat and saw

the beautifully painted icons and interior. Painted churches and monasteries, inside and out are a

magnificent feature in Romania. They are gradually coming out of hibernation after the communist

regime.

We drove into the delta as far as possible, crossing one branch on a wooden platform ferry tied to an

old motor boat. We shared it with a horse and cart. We saw beekeepers living in forests and fields

with their hives. The hives are brightly painted and stacked on specially made trailers like filing

cabinets. The keepers live in tents or caravans. The honey is wonderful. A highlight of our stay was

sitting on the raised hotel veranda as the sun set drinking Romanian beer and white wine, very

palatable, hearing the deafening frogs’ chorus.

We left the delta and crossed the Danube to the north at Galati on a large ferry which crisscrossed

24 hours a day, no bridge. It was exciting to cross the mighty river before it starts meandering

through its delta. We the proceeded through the Transyvanian Alps back to the airport with more

adventures.

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Ceanothus - ‘Skylark’

Ceanothus - ‘Skylark’ Rhoda’s Plant of the Week

The gorgeous flower clusters on my plant of the week are trying in vain

to let the sky know what colour it should be at this time of the year!

It is a beautiful shrub, with dark, evergreen, glossy leaves, contrasting

with its vivid, brilliant blue blooms.

Blue is the rarest flower colour, seen on only ten percent of the 280,000

flowering plants on Earth.

Known also as ‘Californian Lilac’, it grows quite quickly, is perfect for

hedging and can be trained up walls where space is at a premium.

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Moving On – The Next Adventure by Nettie

Well, we don’t know where we are moving to exactly or when but we know we have got a ‘For Sale’ sign up in the front garden and the house has never been so tidy. As several folk have said lock down has made us re-evaluate life in general and we know we are too far away from family. So yes, we are heading to The Borders. And, yes, that is sad as well because it does mean saying goodbye to friends and people you have spent time with, sharing, what for us, are happy memories. Thank you to all those who have sent us messages and wished us well for the future. You too will be missed. It does seem extra strange because we have not seen each other for months and we don’t know when meetings will really be allowed again. So rather than a gradual saying goodbye over a couple of months it almost feels like we have already left! As I said, very strange. It was wonderful to join the U3A when I moved here and then a privilege to serve on the Committee with special friends. Continue the fantastic job you do in keeping things running. Thank you to Peter for his Geology Group, Graham and I now know things we never knew before and we will always remember the great wall-paper explanations of the earth’s beginnings! Graham says, ‘Peter your subject really rocks.’ Actually, looking at rocks has taken on a whole new meaning. Thank you to Helen for the History Group, and to Leslie for taking up where Helen left off. Getting to know the local history of our area was really interesting, and is so much fun when shared with friends with similar interests. Then thank you to Roger and Elsa for introducing me to family history. On the wall in the Family History room in Invergordon there is a sign saying that discovering your ancestors, ‘begins as an interest, becomes a hobby, continues as an obsession and in its last stages is a fatal disease.’ Well, I think I am in the last stages. Lockdown means hobbies have become ‘life’ and my ancestors have taken over. As something of a history buff what has really fascinated me is the life and the times people lived in not just that they existed or are related. Then just as I thought I had uncovered the main lines of the family I suddenly discovered a blood-line I did not expect to find. There is a definite link back to the House of the Kings of Wessex which is quite fun when my sons actually went to the Kings of Wessex school in Cheddar and where there are the remains of an Anglo- Saxon king’s palace within the grounds! What is not such good news is that part of this family line were Marcher Lords on the Welsh borders and one of the Barons was known as an absolute butcher. Especially not good news when your daughter- in- law is Welsh! On the up side the family also married into the family of the Princes of Wales, the Llewelyn’s. What is really fun is that the Celtic links in my DNA have now been explained, the connections from the Norman lords to the Bruce family, the Earls of Orkney, even the Lords of Rosslin. So not so totally English after all! I just wish I could find more of Graham’s ancestry but I think that means a trip to search records in Ireland. Although I have recently uncovered several medieval documents relating to the original de Mevy family in Devon. So, if you plan to start looking into your ancestors be warned, it is a hobby that can become a fatal fascination.

Then thanks to the Gardening Group, for the fun of sharing our own and other gardens, our love of plants, and the identifying of the same, the frustrations when things fail, and the monotonous chore of constant weeding. May you continue to have green fingers. And also, do remember, create lots of seating areas in your own gardens where you can actually sit and watch things grow as well as the bees and butterflies buzzing about. Preferably with a cuppa in hand.

I had hoped this year to join another group now that I had retired from work and supposedly had more time. That was not to be with the sudden shut down of everything at the end of March. We had a few walks with the strolling group and I hope that sooner rather than later both the walking and strolling groups can get their boots back on.

Needless to say, on our next adventure Graham and I will be looking forward to joining the nearest U3A group. Again, thank you for shared memories and stay safe.

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This recipe is from

Anne Franklin

Ingredients 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Bunch of Spring Onions,

chopped

4 Garlic Cloves, sliced

310gms Arborio Rice

560ml Fish

560ml Chicken Stock

20 Large Prawns

Juice of half a Lemon

1 Tablespoon Parmesan Cheese

1 Tablespoon Chopped Chives

Black Pepper.

SPRING ONION, GARLIC AND

PRAWN RISOTTO

Method 1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan.

2. Add the spring onions and garlic. Cook gently but don’t

brown.

3. Add the rice and sweat until it changes colour.

4. Meanwhile boil the stocks together in a separate pan.

5. Add about one 5th of the stock to the frying pan.

Leave to simmer until the liquid disappears, stirring

regularly. Repeat until you have used all the stock.

6. When all the stock has been absorbed into the rice,

stir in the prawns, lemon juice, parmesan and Black

Pepper

7. Sprinkle with the chives and serve.

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Editors Note: Please be aware that this article does contain some disturbing scenes and

graphic detail of violence.

This is a story of mental illness, distress and lack of two-way communication. It should never have happened: but, unfortunately, it did - to my next-door neighbour. Unaware of the unfolding drama next door, I was absorbed in my own project. It was my intent to knit a "picture" jumper myself, as these were all the rage in the late '70.s Choosing my pattern carefully, I spent £60 on the wool - a fortune back then! This had been in progress for three months before the dreadful night. I do not know how I responded as I did: I can only assume that training took over, and directed my actions. All these years later, I am still not sure that I did as much as I could. Although the jumper was finished, to my great delight, I had inadvertently knitted in the memories. I kept it for 40 years before I realised it would be forever tarnished.

Systems versus individuals: who wins? By Linda McLean

It was eight o’clock on a winter’s night.

I was snuggled up in the living room, knitting my very complicated jumper, which I had been working on

for six months. It showed a white heron on an emerald green background beside an azure pool, with lots of

different coloured flowers around it. I was engrossed in the detail and surrounded by balls of different

coloured wool when the door bell rang.

Only my husband was at home, and he was busy, so I disentangled myself from my work carefully. I had

almost succeeded when the doorbell rang again.

“Coming!” I shouted, wondering who was calling at this time.

I opened the door to my visitor, and stopped dead in my tracks.

I am sure my mouth must have hung open. I was looking at Clara on my doorstep, the next door

neighbours’ 45 year old daughter. She was a short, dumpy girl with brown hair, and, at this moment was

standing well back, looking at me nervously, silently.

In her hand she held a hammer. Blood dripped from it slowly onto my doorstep. I took in this spectacle and

did a few mental leaps, before asking carefully:

“What have you done?”

“I’ve put a hammer through my Mum’s head. That’s what I have done!” she wailed.

I tried quickly to assess the situation.

What did I know about Clara? I knew that she had recently been released from Carstairs State Hospital after

a considerable number of years, and taken up residence with her parents. I also knew that she had put a

huge effort into improving their lives. Her father had been a boxer, of very light build, and was punch

drunk. His mobility varied, but at the moment, I knew he was using a wheelchair.

Her mother was quite stout, very terse in manner and did not speak if she could avoid it. She appeared to

have no friends. The Saturday night rows between her and her husband were quite audible, and had

become something we were quite used to turning up the television to prevent eavesdropping on the

dialogue. She was what I would call “a difficult woman”.

Clara since she had come home, had created a lovely window box for her mother, hung curtains bought new

carpet. I was impressed by her hard work. She was always involved in some task for them.

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Clara since she had come home, had created a lovely window box for her mother, hung

curtains bought new carpet. I was impressed by her hard work. She was always involved in

some task for them.

Equally, I found her very difficult to engage with. I had met her almost at her door several times

when she had been shopping for her parents, and offered a smile and “hello”, but she had always

scuttled past,

Equally, I found her very difficult to engage with. I had met her almost at her door several times when she

had been shopping for her parrents, and offered a smile and “hello”, but she had always scuttled past,

refusing to meet my eyes, head down. As all these thoughts rushed through my head, I assessed the situation

again.

She was shaking and quivering as she awaited direction: whatever emotion had overtaken her to wield this

hammer, was spent. I did not feel at any risk.

“Have you told anyone? The Ambulance?”

“No! Just you.”

“Okay, I’ll deal with that.” I summoned up my Nurse’s persona, so that I could appear confident and

untroubled. “Let’s go and have a look, and I’ll see if I can help.”

“They’re going to take me away again, aren’t they?” She started crying.

This was only too obvious. What could I say?

“Let’s not worry about that just now,” I eventually mustered.

I shouted to my husband to call for an ambulance, while she led the way to her house, still carrying her

dripping hammer.

We entered the house, and she took me to the living room. It was certainly quite a mess. Her mother lay face

down, unconscious on the floor, surrounded by a pool of blood. Wounds to the head bleed profusely, but

ambulance men are very keen to have an estimate of blood loss. I reckoned newspaper would help me to be

more accurate in my assessment.

“Can you get me a newspaper, Clara? And it would help if you put the hammer down.”

Obediently, she dropped the hammer where she stood, and rushed off to get a newspaper,

“You see! They’re going to take me away!” she said on her return with the Evening Times, which I

considered very appropriate. “I told them three times I couldn’t do this, and they wouldn’t listen. They said I

could.”

While making comforting noises, I tried to amass the congealing blood onto the paper, to make estimation

easier. It is always very difficult to judge the amount when it is blood. It always looks so much, that errors

are commonplace.

I assumed, however, that “they” were the support workers from Carstairs.

Suddenly a voice from the corner piped up:

“It wasn’t the lassie’s fault. It was that woman lying there. She pushed and pushed until she broke poor

Clara.”

I was taken aback. I had been so busy, I had not noticed her father sitting quietly in the corner of the room. I

realised that he must have directed Clara to me.

I apologised for not seeing him, and said I understood.

That he felt his wife was to blame was not a surprise.

One Saturday night, a couple of years earlier, when he was still using a stick, her husband had come to my

door with the request that I come to help his wife get out of the sink.

.

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“The sink?” I repeated, like a moron.

“Well, you see, we had a row, so she took off all her clothes and climbed into the Belfast sink. Now she is

jammed in and getting cold”

This is a seventy year old woman.

I went round to view this spectacle.

She certainly was jammed in. It took all my strength to extract her. So, I knew Clara’s mother was capable of

strange and erratic behaviour. Equally, I knew that this would have no bearing when it came to Clara. Her

history was well documented, whereas I had said nothing about her mother in the sink.

Clara started to cry copiously. Again and again reciting how often “they” had been told: how she had tried

repeatedly to make it clear that she was not coping.

Unfortunately, there was nowhere else to put her, when her parents were willing to have her home.

Because of Mental Health Rules, nobody could inform anybody about how lonely and unsupported she was.

Why was a worker not assigned to befriend her? Had I only known, or been allowed to know of her

struggles, it could have made a difference.

The Ambulance Men arrived, impassive as always, and I handed over to them. They said that they would

take it from there.

I took my leave, hoping against hope that everything went well for Clara and her Dad.

The next day, the house was empty. To the best of my knowledge, NOT ONE of these three people ever lived

independently in the Community again.

What a dreadful price to pay for lack of communication. For each individual involved, it must have been

grim.

And do we ever consider how much did that lack of communication cost the NHS? The money for years and

years of care now had to be found.

The wife incapable now of living alone: the husband taken into care, because his support network had failed,

and Clara…...back where she started.

Our “Caring Community” is frequently less than perfect. It crossed my mind that such a thing would have

been less likely to happen when neighbours were real neighbours and supports for each other.

Looking back on that strange, unsettling night, I do have one regret. I could have offered to stay, to let the

authorities know how difficult it had been for Clara. It may have made no difference, but it would have made

Clara feel supported.

The effect of that emotionally charged night was so strong, so vivid, I could never wear the jumper which I

had spent many months carefully creating.

© Linda Jane McLean

17

Dan was so chuffed

that this loaf came out

so well, he thought he

would share a picture!

‘My first ever attempt

at a banana loaf. And,

yes, it tastes every bit

as good as it looks.’

Dan

From our Chairperson, Franca Newsletter Prattle

Hello All

Firstly a huge thank you to all those of you who participated in the AGM virtual voting. I

have not collated everything yet but just to say that thanks to you the AGM was quorate and

therefore we are mightily glad that the AGM has now been completed for the period May 2019 to

May 2020. I sincerely hope that next year's AGM can be held under normal circumstances.

By the time you receive this Newsletter from Karen I will be on my way to Blair Atholl for a

few days in our campervan after a weekend of baby sitting. I am really looking forward to

seeing my grand children again in North Berwick but I know that by Monday I will be exhausted

so doing some of the fabulous walks around Blair Atholl will be a welcome rest.

For those of you who have never done it, there is a great walk up Glen Tilt. (the river

through Blair Atholl) The most memorable thing about Glen Tilt apart from the amazing scenery

is the very unusual granite rock formations which are a green colour. Also there is a lovely

walk high above the A9 from Blair Atholl to Bruar - great views.

Unfortunately we will not be visiting House of Bruar as apparently it is extremely busy.

Usually we walk there for lunch and then walk back again to Blair Atholl.

As I write this I am hearing of more and more children testing positive for COVID since they

have gone back to school and the number of new cases is rising steadily. Things are not

looking great for any further easing of restrictions so I'm not seeing a way, in the near

future, for us to meet up face to face. However hopefully a vaccine proves safe and effective

and we will all get back to normal soon.

Stay safe and positive

All the best

Franca

18

Just for fun

Edition 19’s ‘Guess the Object’ was, of course a butternut squash!

Many thanks to Rhoda Malloy

Can you guess what this object is? Answer in the next edition of

the newsletter.

Thanks to Anne Fenech for this week’s interesting object

19

Just for fun

Continued

Anne Fenech sent in these lovely pictures of a shrew very close up and further away. Not

really a guess the object but still fascinating

And this was sent in by Lavanja Fenech!!

20

Just for fun

Continued

As Franca explained in her email, her quiz for this week, together with the answer to last week’s

quiz, is in this newsletter.

Answers to ERAS U3A Quiz number 39

1. Which Queen wrote the casket letters? Mary, Queen of Scots

2. Which former Take That star had “Child” at No3 in 1996? Mark Owen

3. What can be metric royal, metric demy and metric crown? Sizes of paper

4. In which TV series was the character “Boss Hogg”? The Dukes of Hazzard

5. What two colours are on Albania's national flag? Black and red

6. Which almond cake is traditionally made for Mothering Sunday? Simnel cake

7. Who had hits with “We are Glass” and “Cars”? Gary Numan

8. David Bentley joined Blackburn from which London club? Arsenal

9. Which actress had leading roles in the films Out of Africa and Silkwood? Meryl Streep

10. Which two European languages are spoken in Madagascar? French and English

11. In 2013 which London gallery hosted the exhibition David Bowie is? V & A

12. What were the giant insects in the science fiction film Them? Ants

13. Which famous TV cook took his show Around Britain? Gary Rhodes

14. During which war does David Nailer's film The Naked and the Dead take place? WWII

15. Aylesbury and Milton Keynes are both in which county? Buckinghamshire

21

Just for fun

Continued

ERAS U3A Quiz 40

1. What is saxifrage?

2. In Eastenders which character killed Dirty Den in February 2006?

3. Who hoisted himself onto Sinbad the Sailor's shoulders?

4. How much are you paid if you hold an honorary post?

5. Which UK act was the first to score 0 at Eurovision?

6. What can be a five-card game, a smooth, woolly surface or a sleep?

7. Which club did Will Carling play for?

8. Which Australian movie director links Romeo and Juliet and Strictly Ballroom?

9. Whose music albums have included An Innocent Man?

10. “Englander” is an anagram of which country?

11. Which actress played Michael Douglas's wife in Fatal Attraction?

12. What is a melodeon?

13. Which animal family are impala, eland and dik-dik all from?

14. Which famous stepson wrote The Year of Eating Dangerously?

15. In TV's Upstairs Downstairs what was the name of the cook?

22

23

Hello All

Since my last article for the Newsletter I have visited or been sent photos from some of our

members' gardens so this article is more about other garden than about mine.

Firstly Jane Pett's garden at Tain Pottery. What Jane and her husband have done is fabulous.

I was very jealous to see the harvest they are getting compared to my measly one especially

their greenhouse produce. I wouldn't have thought the difference of 100 feet in sea level

between our gardens would have had such an impact but Jane's garden also gets a lot more

sun. Of course Jane and Alan's expertise is probably what makes the most difference!

Cucumber

Secret Garden Diaries Episode 9 by Franca Reid

Their greenhouse produce:

radish, lettuce and basil (I'm

definitely trying to grow that in

my poly tunnel next year) Also

tomatoes and prickly cucumbers

which have a very distinctive

flavour – Alan tells me they are

the best flavoured cucumbers

he's ever tasted!

24

My poly tunnel produce is less impressive: onions, shallots, courgette (lots), orange cherry

tomatoes and cucumbers.

Also in my outside raised beds a huge amount of peas.

There are also some interesting shaped and coloured pumpkins! Last year my pumpkins

were green and turned orange in late September so my grandchildren are hoping that these

do the same although I'm not sure that the shape will change! These are the produce of the

flowers which were covered in blackfly so obviously it didn't affect the pumpkin.

Has anyone else found you've got a bumper crop of vegetables and fruit this year?

There seems to be a glut of fruit too. Do send me pictures or tell me what you have

managed to pick of your fruit this year. It would be interesting to know whether we have all

experienced the same.

25

Here are some of the fruits that Jane and Alan have ripening nicely: apples, cherries and red

currants.

In the Secret Garden we too have got a lot of fruit. Much more than in previous years. We

have red, black and white currants all picked and frozen ready for winter. Unfortunately no

gooseberries as the leaves were all eaten again. We have kind of given up on growing them.

We also had lots of wild rasps. As rasps are one of our favourite fruits one of my new plans

is to create a raspberry patch. Does anyone know if you can successfully transplant baby

rasp bushes which grow off the parent ones? Or is it better just to buy new ones? If yes any

suggestions of good suppliers are welcome.

Our very old apple tree seems to be going to give us a bumper crop this year. I can see we'll

be busy next month peeling and freezing these.

26

Of course we cannot forget the flowers. Catherine Vass has sent me a picture of this lovely hydrangea. It is an unusual colour. Catherine hopes to take cuttings soon.

Catherine also sent me this picture of a rose she got from her son for mothers' day. She says it has the most amazing scent.

My flower of the week is this. It really stands out with its very vivid pink colours. I was given it by a friend a couple of years ago. Can anyone tell me what it is please?

As you can see our gardens are looking great. Is this one of the few benefits of COVID? We

have all worked harder in our gardens and are now reaping the rewards or is it down to luck

and the weather. Please do send me your garden pictures.

Happy gardening

Franca

Please email me on fnreid@btinternet with how

your plants are doing. It'd be great to share

experiences.

27

Coming in the Next Edition

Don’t forget that the next edition will be in 2 weeks time!

Desert Island Discs – Could it be your selection?

Franca’s ‘Secret Garden’

More Tails of a Bearded Collie

As well as lots of interesting news and features

Please remember when sending in items for inclusion in this newsletter, make

sure you let me know if you are happy for your name to be added.

Many thanks The Editor (Karen) abbott111@talktalk.net

Just a thought to end on