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

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

Civic duties

By zsstevens
Yesterday's weather was beautifully warm, but not hot. The UV index was at the midpoint and there was little wind. Only the flies which occasionally clustered around my head during my walk caused irritation. My walk served two purposes. The exercise, of course, which took me past the postbox which is about 4 kilometres away, and the route which took me down one of tidiest side roads in the area. On its 1,100 metres or so, it has four houses, all built in recent years and, as I am sure any seller would say, immaculately presented. The verges are so tidy that one imagines cooperative action by the residents might be behind that. The conversations I have had with people there suggest that they are locals who have chosen the spot to build and retire too. My walking past the postbox was not merely incidental. Earlier in the week, Parliament had provided me with my P11D form. The tax system is littered with "P" forms, P45, P60 and P11Ds. The form was the last piece of inf...
Post a Comment
Read more

Impenetrable as nights

By zsstevens
It's so warm out there that it's almost a relief to be able to sit indoors behind the thick insulating stone walls of our house. I am on a sofa at the end of our sitting room furthermost from the TV. That is not, however, giving me all the peace that will assist in detaching keystrokes from my fingers into the computer on my lap. Donald Ruirh, our elderly gentleman cat, is abjuring his morning snooze in favour of "throw and fetch". He has a wee toy made by our neighbour which is simply a knot tied in a small piece of material. But at the heart of it is some catnip. One sniff of that and cats rise from the most profound slumber to draw its intoxicating fumes into their lungs The pupils of his eyes are wide as he hops up beside me with this between his teeth and a continuous purr is amplified by his partially open mouth. Should I ignore his presence, and the newly deposited toy, a paw will engage my arm. On the second occasion, it will be augmented by the full armo...
Post a Comment
Read more