Birthdays, Football Tournaments and Sweet Summer Songs

WIAA: You know what I’m about to say, Alyson, don’t you?

ALYSON: I do indeed, WIAA, and I’m sorry your pages have remained blank so far this month. I could say I’ve been really busy, but in truth it seems that I’m just prioritising other things at the moment – sorry about that. What can I do to redeem myself?

WIAA: Hmm… let me think. How about WRITING SOMETHING! Just let your fingers dance around the keyboard telling us what you’ve been up to?

ALYSON: Good plan WIAA.

The big news is that DD and the still relatively new Mr DD have bought their first house together. An exciting time for them but also a busy time, as it being a 10-year-old house there is a fair bit of DIY to be done to get it just the way they want it. Guess who’s been doing the DIY? To be fair, the lion’s share has been down to her dad who is flooring their loft as I type. There is method in this madness, however, as our own loft might finally get a decent clear out of all the stuff she accumulated during her teenage years/early twenties when she had more disposable cash but a childhood bedroom too small to hold it all. I have an awful feeling most will go to the recycling centre but now at least there will be options.

In other news, we’ve had a short caravan holiday on our favourite beach up in East Sutherland. I’ve written about such holidays before so I won’t go there again but it was very relaxing indeed. The weather was not kind but in three days we went to three folk museums and three coffee shops, had three walks along the beach (in between rainstorms) and three nice dinners. The first of these dinners was paella cooked by Mr WIAA to celebrate my birthday. The cards and flowers I’d received in the morning came on holiday with us and a lovely day was had, despite the fact a very age-specific Beatles song kept ringing in my ears. Suddenly the age mentioned in the song didn’t feel very old at all, but then you remember two of the Beatles didn’t even make it, so feeling blessed (especially after my stint in hospital last year) to be happy and healthy at this point in my life.

It would be hard to miss the fact there is a big football tournament going on at the moment, the Euros, so lots of coverage on the main two television channels. I no longer follow club football but I do like the big tournaments as it’s a chance to see some of the world’s best players perform their magic on the pitch. From the 1970s on I’ve followed these biannual events and am lucky to have watched players such as Pele and Johan Cruyff as well as the more recent superstars such as Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Tartan Army en route to a match

Sadly Scotland doesn’t have such superstars in their squad which might excuse them for their humiliating defeat last Friday night. I had to leave the room at one point as it was just so tough to watch after the big build up and following the antics of the 200,000 strong tartan army partying ahead of the match. It’s been 26 years since the tartan army had a chance to travel abroad for a tournament and they were certainly going to enjoy it. This song sums up their attitude I think, and despite the heavy defeat in their first match, optimism is high again ahead of their match tonight. (Don’t be misled by the still in this clip, it’s a very funny video.)

As this post is very much a web diary kind of affair what else have I been up to since the end of April? Many more hours of socialising with friends it seems. I really thought it would tail off once I’d been home from hospital for a while, but not a week passes without people getting in touch about going for walk, meeting up for coffee, organising a trip to the cinema… – I really am a very lucky lady and at no point over the last few months have I missed running the holiday hideaway. It was hard work and the standards I set myself were so high I was permanently exhausted and tied to my phone. Much better to do my weekly stint volunteering in the charity shop and continue to run our little online jewellery business. We’re definitely never going to make a fortune from it but it ticks over nicely and you just never know when a really interesting commission might come in.

As I mentioned the cinema above, our Film Club pick for last month was Bleeding Love starring one of my favourite actors, Ewan MacGregor. His real life daughter Clara plays his daughter in the movie. I always avoid reading the review for a film until after I’ve seen it so that I’m not predisposed to thinking a certain way about it. My friend and I both liked this story of the difficult road trip both characters went on, so were surprised when the reviews were less than favourable. Something else my friend and I liked was one of the songs on the soundtrack so we waited until all the credits rolled to see who it was by. As the words crept up the screen we eventually came to the songs. As soon as the names Bobby and Billy come up, I knew who it was going to be – yes, back in 1976 those Alessi brothers (of Oh Lori fame) wrote the sweet song Seabird which had now made it’s way into a MacGregor family offering 48 years later. They will be old men now just like I’m an old woman but having these songs in their back pocket is definitely something to impress the grandchildren with.

Not much more to write about really as I’ve had a bit of an outpouring here. I no longer keep a paper diary so I like to use this blog as a reminder of what’s been going on in the world, and closer to home. Speaking of what’s going on in the world I didn’t mention the upcoming General Election, but that might be because I don’t watch much news nowadays and I know I’m not alone. Come the day I will turn out to vote but the electioneering is leaving me cold. What never leaves me cold however is a blogger’s meet-up and if all goes well there will be one next week. Looking forward to it very much and there will no doubt be stories to tell.

Until next time…

Seabird Lyrics
(Song by Bobby Alessi/Billy Alessi)

There’s a road I know I must go
Even though I tell myself
That road is closed

Listen, lonely seabird
You’ve been away from land too long
Aw, too long

I don’t listen to the news no more
Like an unwound clock
You just don’t seem to care
This world isn’t big enough
To keep me away from you
Oh, from you

Seabird, seabird
Fly home
Seabird, seabird
Fly home
Like a lonely seabird
You’ve been away from land too long
Oh, too long

Suddenly, you’re with me
I turn, and you’re not there
Like a ghost, you haunt me
You find warmth in a one-night bed

Sunsets, full moons
Don’t turn you on
Like an untied dog
You just had to run

Like a lonely seabird
You’ve been away from land too long
Oh, no, too long (so long, seabird)

Seabird, seabird
Fly home (like a lonely bird)
Seabird, seabird
Fly home

Seabird, seabird
Fly home (seabird, sea)
Seabird, seabird
Fly home