Skip to main content

Settling In

By zsstevens
It's now eighteen months since we settled in Edinburgh after a couple of delightful decades in rural Banffshire.

Having never lived in a city, we viewed the move with caution and a degree of planning.

The car sits relatively idle in residents' parking in our street. It did only about 2,000 miles between its 2021 and 2022 MoT checks. With the nearest Edinburgh City Car Club pickup point just round the corner, I have only to persuade herself that a further conversion of lifestyle would make sense.

The garden flat in which we now live suits us fine. Quite a substantial downsize has meant a clear-out of much impedimenta from 50+ years of marriage. And for the first time, we live permanently together. Big changes.

With the time to pursue what has been a hobby since the 1960s - genealogical research - that is precisely what has moved centre stage in my daily activities. Enrolment in an MSc course at the University of Strathclyde.

Edinburgh is a large village, and on my daily walk, I will meet people I know or who know me about half the time. In 2022 I walked 1,321 miles and currently average about five a day.

It is also a city of societies and lectures. One need never be bored. So in Edinburgh, I am now
And I attend most meetings, in my capacity as an ordinary member, of my local Branch of the SNP.

Comments

  1. Iain Old7 September 2023 at 02:33

    Great to hear you are enjoying Edinburgh. I think I may have seen you this evening at the Queen's Hall?
    Also great to hear you have enrolled for the MSc in Genealogical Studies at Strathclyde University - I have done their two excellent online courses on Futurelearn and also attended the recent online launch of the new Institute for Genealogical Studies.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Your comments will be read before adding to the blog.

Abuse, illegality or comment at odds with prevailing medical advice will be excluded.

Popular posts from this blog

End of an Era 2016-2021

By zsstevens
Written for  Holyrood magazine's "The End of an era 2016-2021"  published 07 April 2021.    Neil Findlay is the man who loves you to hate him. As he rises from his habitual place in a distant corner of the Parliamentary Chamber, a snarl as firmly attached to his face as he is disconnected to any symbol of middle-class values such as a tie, tension flows as he selects his target for the day. Is it dapper John Scott? The record-holder for the shortest time between his being sworn in and making his first speech in Parliament; a mere twenty hours. Does Willie Rennie attract his ire? Confession; we went to the same school. Almost anything liberal is bound to attract this Labour very-back-bencher’s contumely. Greens rarely attract his attention but he should remember that John Finnie, another member of this year’s escape committee, can efficiently direct a canine arrest. Now of course, I have sought to avoid any engagement with the fellow. I never, just never, even a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Signing

By zsstevens
While I am pretty confident that we are far from being on a majority in our household, I am also sure that we are not unduly exceptional. We sit down to lunch each day at 1230 so that we can simultaneously masticate and educate. The first refuelling the body. The latter refuelling the intellect. And the source of brain food? The daily press conference on the pandemic from the Government. The traditional being from fridge and food cupboard. It's a bit like the family sitting around the radio 75 plus years ago to hear news of the battles against the nazis. Today is remarkably similar. Not a single front of battle but many. Not just fought by those on the front line, but supported by the actions of those on the home front. Even more than then, the home front is a critical part of the front line. Each citizen's actions, or inaction, directly contributing to or hindering our ability to eliminate COVID-19 from our country. For me, with an interest in DNA as a tool in my famil...
Post a Comment
Read more

Genealogy Series: Bigamy, Adultery and Murder - Talk to Scottish Genealogy Society

By zsstevens
  Transcription to follow.
Post a Comment
Read more