R's rue

Another weekend over. Of course it's not the same as when I was a schoolteacher anticipating the busy working week ahead - all the demands upon my time and those endless human interactions. There was never enough time to get everything done. Nowadays, I do not have to don my metaphorical armour on Monday mornings. Most mornings are the same - sleeping late and then getting up for an unhurried breakfast with a big pint mug of tea before taking a shower when I feel like doing so. As The Eagles sang, I can "Take it Easy" and I am not complaining. Welcome to retirement. On Saturday morning the doorbell went. I was still in my dressing gown. In case of accidental exposure, I adjusted and re-tied the belt on said dressing gown. Good job too because two earnest religious missionaries were on the doorstep.  Two women.  Before they could get into full flow, I cut them short - telling them that God does not exist and that I had been an atheist since childhood. "Sorry to l...

 The fire is lit and the dogs are all resting, Mary with her rubber Chicken by her side.  I’ve repainted the fireplace wall today , in the same gentle yellow I did two summers ago , and gone have the soot marks which have so irritated me this year. I have watched the journey of the Queen’s  coffin and loved the fact that a score of  Aberdeenshire farmers saluted the convoy with their tractors as did the horses and riders from a local livery  It’s cold and wet outside and no bats flew in the lane at our evening walk from Going Gently https://ift.tt/jxQaUXd

 My friend Dave ( aka Gorgeous Dave) is a typical straight man when it comes to problems. He is not very good at reaching out for a sympathetic ear, preferring to deal with things internally and on his own. I met up with him last night and he shared a problem I was glad to be able to listen and wish he had contacted me earlier. Interestingly we were off to see a one woman review entitled How To Be Amazingly Happy by Victoria Firth  which was showing at the Storyhouse  It was a lumpy show, amusing and insightful at times and a little pretentious in others but Firth was engaging enough with her northern physical humour very much on show and she had a great deal to say about the pressures , we all feel in today’s society, to be happy and contented all of the time. Firth’s perspective came from the fact she was a lesbian who was childless but I could relate to the way she tried out different “ lifestyles” in order to boost her mood.  Her vignettes on running, n...