Friday, February 16, 2007

Tuesday in Edinburgh, Part two

First day in Edinburgh, part two ...


Waverley Station to the Church of St. John the Evangelist

Today, Stained Glass and Steak Pie


Edinburgh is an ancient city. Here is a map to orient yourselves. The green section is the old part of the city, which is nice to get around on foot, as there is a lot to see.




Waverley Station is a grand old Victorian dame, but I was chagrined to find that you had to pay to use the restrooms. I have to admit that I still wince a little at the UK use of the word "toilet" and cannot use it myself. While I was fumbling with my pence coins, a gentleman graciously dropped the money into the slot for me so that I could get through the turnstile. I did have some problems with the coins. The sizing is all wrong and I never did get the hang of it. Once, I just held out a handful of change and had the cashier take out what was needed.

Inside the restroom, it looked like I would think that a really old train station restroom would look -- a little shabby. Once again, I was confronted with the two-faucet problem and scalded one hand and froze the other.

Edinburgh Waverly railway station is the main railway station in the Scottish capital.

Covering an area of over 25 acres in the center of the city, it is the second largest mainline railway station in the United Kingdom -- the largest being Waterloo station in London.

I tried to get a good shot of the beautiful ceiling, but failed. There is a Costa's coffee stand blocking me. I did not take this one, but it has nice details.


Edinburgh Waverley railway station is the main railway station in Edinburgh. It has a Harry-Potterish feel to it. It is sad that this is my frame of reference for British railway stations, but there you have it. The luggage trolleys are the same and one of those little things that tells me that I am in a different country. It is little dark, but not gloomy.

The station sits between the medieval Old Town and the 19
th century New Town. I like that something from the 19th century is called “new”. Princes Street runs along one side of the station and is the city’s upscale shopping street. The buildings are old and beautiful. Even the department stores.

You can leave your bags at the station for a moderate fee. Once again, in talking to the baggage attendant guy, I find a Scot who has been to California. I think that he came on his honeymoon and was pleased to show off his knowledge of the area. He thought that the coast was beautiful, and he is right. He was very nice, as was almost everyone that I met.

So this is the route that we took in Edinburgh. We started out at the train station, walked up Princes Street, crossed over to Rose Street for lunch, and then wandered over to St. John's. You can see it between where we had lunch and the hotel, at the end of Princes Street. After that, we walked back to the train station to collect our bags and thence to our hotel. That was a little bit of a schlep.





Rowan writes:

We disembark from the Dundee train into a freezing cold Waverley station. It is a bit of a throwback to Victorian times – lots of curly wrought-iron and visions of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and other top-hatted engineering types in taily-coats, extricating oversized burnished pocket-watches to check the times of the trains whistling and coughing out clouds of coal dust and hissing steam. Waverely still holds such ghosts. Incongruous mobile phone ringtones have muted them, and the brash, alien boldness of the ugly fast-food frontispieces. Burger King. Muffins. Oversized cookies with Smarties (M&M's for us from the US)… I can see the Victorians queuing for those – and for Marks and Spencer’s, which somewhat redresses the balance. Get your duck a l’orange sandwich and sugar-free papaya and mango pulp here. And hand-cooked kettle chips with cracked black pepper. So that’s what they are….shavings of cooked hands…

Waverley Station has a frisson of the past, of Old Edinburgh, which is pleasing to a tourist like me. I feel like a tourist – it is so long since I have trodden the cobbles of the capital. It is bitterly cold today. I can feel parts of me which normally never make their presence felt icing over and causing rather spectacular pain when inadvertently brushed against… We decide to get a coffee from the Costa’s stall, as we will be doing a bit of schlepping before lunchtime. I am hoping it is just a little, as I am aware of the signs of impending low blood sugar. I am thinking Rose Street. I am thinking cosy ambient pubs with damask stools and roaring fires, C19 political etchings, flintlocks and musty history books on little shelves…a nice mumble of conversation, and a faint odour of steak pie from the kitchens. Yuuum!

Bob says:

I did not think it was all that cold, but Rowan kept making pathetic little squeaks of distress. She asks me if I don’t think that it is cold, and I admit to some smugness in my tone when I say that I do not think so. However, I am bundled in my nice jacket and scarf. I was a little worried that I was going to be frozen, because where I live it is very, very hot. We wear shorts nine months out of the year.

We stop at the coffee kiosk and Rowan gets a cup of coffee and takes it with her. This is a new behavior ...


Bob says:


Just an aside here -- an interesting cultural difference...

It was funny, but one of the few times I really surprised Rowan was when I ordered a cup of coffee and took it with me. She was clearly having difficulty processing the idea that we would not sit down and drink it, as would civilized people. I felt like I had a whopping case of hustling American-ness. She was polite about it, but I could really tell that the idea was foreign to her. People there seem to have a coffee as a social event. Me? I use coffee for its chemical properties. I did manage to sit down and linger over a cup now and then. And I did not even fidget.

Rowan writes:

Bob – you did very well, not to fidget. I have been giving the whole transatlantic cross-cultural coffee thang a lot of thought. It interests me greatly. What it boils down to is that in the UK, we use coffee as a euphemism for eating cake. We purport to go into a cafe and sit for a quick coffee, but we know it is just a conscience-salving means of approaching the oncoming carb-fest. We are a nation of biscuit and pastry fiends. There was a biscuit advert which summed the whole thing up, "McVites Rich Tea biscuit...a drink's too wet without one."

The coffee has always been a secondary issue over here, because the coffee has been bad. Very bad. Undrinkable. This made it a bit irksome to have to order it at all, but there you go. You can't just go in and order a cake, bold as brass. There are little social dances to be danced.

Well...the recent acquisition of good coffee outlets has changed things. I see people beginning to walk around with big cups made of stiff card, with funny plastic lids with holes, so the coffee doesn't spill. I am intrigued. The coffee is very good. In itself. For itself. An experience which goes beyond the whole cake thing. This is something new, and yes, Bob - you are spot on - I am processing. I am glad to be introduced to good coffee - for itself, and also, because it may mean fewer cakes on the horizon, and my arteries are leaping up and punching the air. (Well, not literally, as that would likely interfere with my at best, dodgy typing.)


Back to Edinburgh ...

Rowan writes:

I find the coffee from Costa's hot and sustaining. Don’t normally drink it on the hoof, but it tastes good to me. It is a very purposeful action, drinking coffee on the hoof – striding forth with gusto and a plan. We are going somewhere fast. That is cool. Meandering is for the rootless and the lost. I am glad to have moved up the social register to belong to the former grouping. I like coffee on the go, then, providing it fits into the legitimate and traditional sit down stops, as an added extra – a bit of culturally diverse je ne sais quoi. I am not too sure about it actually replacing sit down coffee and nosh spots. Just sayin. The jury is out. It may come down on the side of take-out beverages, and then – it may not.


Bob says:
We stood outside for a moment or two, deciding which way to go.

This is the view as we leave the railway station. We decide to walk down to the market that we saw when we were here last week.


This is the building in front of the National Gallery. I forget what it is ...




We pass the National Gallery, which Rowan is keen to see. I am amenable, as I like art galleries. We decide to go tomorrow.



I love architectural details.

We walk past the lovely green park. It is pretty empty, but you can imagine that it is crowded in the summer. We go down the stairs to walk on the sidewalk through the park and then climb up to the street again. We saw a wonderful, massive rough-hewn Nativity scene. I like the fact that there is a Nativity scene in a public place.

Here are some views of the hillside to our left as we walked down Princes Street. The department stores are to our right and the castle is to our left. The leaves are still turning on some of the trees.



This is the view a little closer to the castle. We are walking down Princes Street toward the Church of St. John the Evangelist. This is one of our first views of Edinburgh castle, as seen from Princes Street. I don't know who the statue is of, but I loved this picture.

I don't know how the castle manages to be graceful and massive at the same time, but it does.



The castle looks almost like it is part of the cliff, hunkered down, glowering at anyone rash enough to dare trespass. The sweep of the wall is just wonderful and fluid as it echoes the curve of the cliffs.


This is another view of Edinburgh castle. I liked the sun peeking through the clouds.

Down a ways, there was the small market that we stopped by last week on our way to London. I decided to get the the lovely little celtic crosses that I had seen before, one for each sister. Again, Rowan is a good partner in the important task of picking out souvenirs. She questions me about my choices, which helps me make my decision. The work was nice and the artist was willing to talk about my choices. She also questioned me about where I was from in a friendly manner. I got a nice pendant for my other-mother, as well.

I am torn about getting a Loch Ness Monster Hat for Sam, but decide to pass for now. There is a nice mix of touristy stalls and artisans.
How many places do you find that has a miniature gypsy caravan and fortune teller?

We decide to get lunch, as we are getting cold and hungry. We backtrack to Rose Street.


Rowan writes:

All roads lead to Rose Street when one is hungry. We skirt along the perimeter of Princes Street Gardens for a bit, admiring a lovely large wooden nativity scene set at the entrance to the long green tree-lined walk. It is a movingly simple piece, solid and dignified, the figures modelled from life, it seems, rough-hewn, tender, real.

Rose Street has changed somewhat, and I am a little saddened. The lovely Treasure-Islandy vibe is still there – the sense that on a stormy day, unsalubrious characters in battered tri-corn hats and eye-patches might brush past, bottles of smuggled brandy bulging beneath their coats. That sense is a little diminished. The ghosts are still there, as in Waverley station, but are overlaid by new names for the quaint and quirky little taverns which line the street. Many of them have zappy names now, and even deliberately vulgar ones. Sigh. I do not want to go into an oldy-worldy pub with a newly acquired zappy and up-to-the minute- witty-vulgar name. We choose Oliver’s, as it looks nice from the outside, boasts a good filling lunch for £5, and does not look overly busy. We clomp into the slightly dingy interior, feet echoing over the wooden floorboards.

The choices of meal are fairly traditional, and we have steak pie and chips, and soup. The meal is hot and flavoursome. There are sports jerseys framed on the walls of the bar – it suggests a men’s no-frills watering-hole, but it is quiet at lunchtime, and the fare passes muster. The barman and his crony try not to watch us with a little idle curiosity as they go about their tasks. I am sensing that they do not do a lot of serving food to passing female tourists, though they are set up for passing lunch trade. I don’t get the impression here that you could have a casual chat with the staff, but that is fine. It is a nice no-nonsense eatery.




Bob says:
I admit that I am pleased to be getting a traditional pub lunch. I can tell that it does not meet Shoshana's vision of damask armchairs, bookshelves, and a roaring fire, as it is clearly a sports pub, but she makes the best of it. There are music videos playing and then a popular soap opera. I can't remember if it was Australian or not. The prices (for the UK) are reasonable, and the food is good. The potato-leek soup tasted homemade and was served with nice crusty bread. The steak pie and chips were yummy. The steak pie is not exactly what I was expecting -- but I am not sure exactly what I was thinking that steak pie would taste like. Maybe like a beef pot pie? It is cooked with Guinness and has a nice rich taste. I was not expecting a puff-pastry crust. Rowan lifts hers off, but I like mine -- little shards of pastry explode when I break it with my spoon.


Er. What monkey?

The salad was less yummy. It had some sort of creamy dressing that looked suspicious. Please note the presence of the the tomato ketchup (Rowan calls ketchup "tomato ketchup", as if there is any other kind) and the brown sauce. I still have not figured out what brown sauce is, exactly. I It is interesting. You can also see our little Edinburgh map, which was really invaluable. I am not sure why the font is seventies-groovy with rainbow stripes, but it is.


This is a view down Rose Street. It is a nifty, narrow street. We step into a silversmith's shop, but I don't see anything that I like better than the crosses from the market. And yes, it is getting a little cold, I admit. But not too bad.

Rowan writes:

After lunch, we wend our way back to Princes Street, and Bob takes photos of some of the lovely old buildings we pass on our journey in the general direction of our hotel.

This is not one of the lovely buildings that Rowan was talking about, but I liked the names of the towns and the rather confusing sign. It is not a four way stop in the US sense.

Rowan writes:
There is a beautiful ornate Celtic cross, sitting almost in the clasp of overhanging wraithlike tree branches, stroking the delicate interlace of the stone as they shiver in the wind. It is an austere and beautiful scene.




"Built in 1818, St John's Church stands at the west end of Princes Street, on the corner of Lothian Road. It's the only building on Princes Street permitted to obscure the view to the castle as, during its construction, an Act of Parliament was passed to prevent any further development there. The neo-Gothic windows of St John's are among its most striking features, dating from the Victorian revival period of glass-making techniques."



This is the view as we approach the church. Note the rowan tree with its lovely red berries. St John's is in the diocese of Edinburgh of the Scottish Episcopal Church. The Scottish Episcopal Church had its origins in 1582 when the national Church of Scotland rejected government by bishops (which is episcopalian) in favor of government by elders (which is presbyterian). Who knew? I feel a little less ignorant. Slightly.



This is a view of one of the church yards as we approached. You can imagine it in summer, but I like the cold, clear winter sun. I think it is beautiful.

The finished church was consecrated on Maundy Thursday, 19 March 1818. St John's was designed by the eminent architect, William Burn. I got that from a website, as I don't know what Maundy Thursday is.


Rowan writes:

St John’s church is an imposing edifice, set out on its own – built up a little from the street, or it feels that way – it has a fine soaring sense about it. You can tell even from outside that it is going to be spectacular.


I am happy, because I have faint memories of being in here before, many years ago – too many to recall any details, but just to be left with the feeling that it is a truly fine place to see.


Bob says:
We take a left down the sidewalk, looking for the entrance. Across the yard, we see rows of what look like headstones.



We wander amongst the walls and headstones, absorbing the atmosphere. I wondered what the building with the red door was. Rowan did not know either. She is funny, because sometimes I ask a question and she looks as baffled as I am and other times, she has massive amounts of obscure information at her fingertips. I just never know.



This is a view of the castle from the sidewalk by the church -- the clouds had cleared and I could not resist the sunlight.



I turned and saw a unexpected little courtyard.

Rowan writes:
Bob is keen to photograph the unusual little nooks she sees, to creep in behind buildings and snap vistas which would normally go unnoticed by passers-by.

One such vignette is a tiny and very aged corner of an ancient graveyard, at the left of St John’s church, set several steps down from street level, and made invisible by a knot of overgrown hazel and holly. Stone plaques are set against an old wall, and amongst the drab greys of the stone and tangled and untended vegetation, a heart-warming sight – a lovely winter cherry, stippled with a snowstorm of white blossom, sitting demurely within the little microcosmic wilderness, so still and forgotten, just yards from the busy modern world above.


It is one of those scenes which I know that I will never forget. The blossom was like a promise, the shivering white flowers, little points of snow, yet alive, spiritual, glorious. I had a sense of intruding here, that it would be alright to peep, but souls rested here, and peace was here – a blessed little nook, and me, worldly and unworthy of the old stones and the little hardy tree.




This picture is one of my favorites -- I don't know why. There is something braw and jaunty about the splash of red amidst the gray and copper and green.

We walk into the church and are stunned into silence.



Rowan writes:

We step inside the church, and at once, let out a gasp at the gloriousness of the architecture, the stunning stained glass windows – the high vaulted ceiling with the most wonderful chrysanthemum relief – the picture says more than mere words ever can.



It is a narrow church, the white colonnades on either side rush the senses and the spirit aloft – it is not a place you want to leave. The sense of peace is a tangible thing. It is so inexpressibly lovely, and yet dignified. I want to prolong my time in here as long as possible. I feel like expressing the bubbling joy at being in such a wonderful place, want time to stand still for me, just a little. The stained glass is beyond perfection. I am a stained glass geek, I admit it, but this is entrancing. OOOh! I see that there is an afternoon service on Wednesdays, and wonder if we might manage to come back.




Even the floors are carefully wrought.



The panels depict Solomon supervising the beginning of the building of the temple, Jesus as the good shepherd, and the miraculous catch of fish. At the bottom, John the Baptist baptizes Jesus.



The stained glass is just breath-taking. St John's has one of the finest collections of stained glass in Scotland. All of the windows were removed, cleaned, and restored from 1985 to 1995.



One of the most striking features of the church is the plaster ceiling vault, which was inspired by King Henry VII's chapel in Westminster Abbey, London. I remember glancing up idly and being amazed. Speechless, I poked Rowan to get her attention. All I could do was gesture upward. We just stared at it in silence. There are times when all you can do is shake your head.




As you stand in the aisle, this is to your left. I liked the fairy look of the chandelier. One of the things that I like best about stained glass windows is that each tells a story. I imagine myself sitting during services, memorizing each panel. The colors are just extraordinary -- the richness and depth is just hard to believe.



You can't really see it, but the cross is a nice contrast -- against the elegant arched plaster and the jeweled glass, the plain wood looks slightly rough.




This is the window in the North Aisle.The panels depict Solomon laying the foundation of the Temple, David handing over the design of the Temple to Solomon, and the priests placing the Ark of the Covenant in the oracle.



This is the view facing the back of the church. I have learned that one should always take a few pictures with clocks in them, so that you have a rough estimation of when you were.



My eyes return to the ceiling again and again -- it is like being filled to the brim with beauty. It is lush, abundant, extravagant.



I loved the carvings at the end of the pews. I wonder how many hands have curved around the edges.

Again, I am irresistibly reminded of Christmas presents. It is a nice contrast between what looks to be hand-worked covers and the ornate interior. The colors are faded with the pressure of many knees.


Rowan writes:

It is getting dark already – we have been in St John’s church for an hour at least. We tear ourselves away, and explore the little bookshop on the pend running below the church, and meeting the path on the way out of Princes St gardens. It is a lovely little church bookshop, warmly lit, and with a nice atmosphere. There are lots of interesting little artefacts, as well as books – carved wooden crosses and Christmas angels. I think that I would like to come back again before we go.


Bob says:

We walked out, down and around the church -- we went into the bookstore and browsed. There were calendars with cute Highland cattle and icons, and thistles, and greeting cards. Next door, there was a book store, and I looked at the bargain books outside on the cart. We considered going into the church coffee shop, but decided against it.

I thought that the church was just beautiful. Inside and out. There was a timelessness in the exterior -- I loved the subtle colors of the stonework against the richness of the green grass and the delicate tracery of the rowan-tree branches, hazed with red berries. And the interior was truly glorious -- you sort of stagger out, glutted with color and light and the sense of vaulted space. It takes a moment to reorient to the here and now as you step out to one of the busiest intersections in Edinburgh.


We set off to collect our luggage at the station and after, to find our hotel. Next, we will be stravaigin through the dark streets of Edinburgh. It is just as beautiful at night.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dr Bob - could look at those St John's pics all day. They are lovely! The celtic cross amongst the curling branches is another favourite.


Am now pining for steak pie and home made soup..

Dr. Bob said...

yeah -- me too. Glad that you liked the pictures.

Edinburgh was just beeyootiful.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the heads up on the differences between Episcopalian and Presbyterian. Have always wondered exactly what the distinctions were. Now I know! Cool! I am livin in this country, but learning a lot, which is great.

I am wishing I had bought a celtic cross now. This is what comes of being pathologically indecisive. I must mend my ways and order one of those Past Times "Carpe Diem" (seize the day) t shirts, to remind me to buy stuff I like when I get the chance. The crosses were lovely. Maybe the market will be there again next December.

Anonymous said...

Hey y'all! I read most of yer post yesterday but was unable to comment. I have three main things to say:

1. That is the most beautiful church I've ever seen. I would LOVE to be able to experience it in person. Sometimes, when I'm overwhelmed with beauty...I'll start crying...so, you'd prolly catch me sitting in that church, staring at the ceiling and the windows...just crying my eyes out.

2. If I had been in that train station with y'all...I can bet you money I would've tried to run through the wall with a luggage trolley. I couldn't begin to count the number of "wardrobes" I've tried to climb through to get to Narnia...or how many mirrors I try to stick my hand through to see if I end up in Wonderland with Alice.

3. I love cemetaries. I could've spent all day in that cemetary. I really want to tour some in New Orleans when I go. I'm not a weirdo..I don't like them for creepy sake...I like them for the richness of imagining that can be done...wondering about the lives of the people long gone...and just soaking in the sadness, history and peacefulness.

Anonymous said...

Hey Bama!

Yep, it is a reeeally lovely church. You would love it. I didn't want to leave, just to stay and soak up all the gloriousness and peace.

Aww - like your images of searching for Wonderland and Narnia. Waverely Station..perhaps it is some sort of portal to exotic destinations. I have not found the entrance, if so, as I only ever end up at the next point on the line going North - Aberdeen. I have only gone south once, many years ago. Glasgow is to the west.

Harry Potter has passed me by completely. Have never read a book or seen a film. I do have Harry's specs, tho, minus the black frames. I am ever thankful to him for making my big owly specs acceptable enough for me to wear without being beaten up for serious crimes against fashion. I still only wear them for driving lessons, but I can theoretically wear them now...

I like cemeteries too, but it is very sad to read about whole families devastated by illnesses curable today with an antibiotic. Lena finds it deeply interesting, though in a slightly ghoulish way. There is an ancient graveyard in ghe centre of town, and she'll sometimes try and pull me in, to read about the little girl the same age as her who died of croup. I find this mildly unsettling, but maybe it is just greed - i am thinking that stopping off there will lengthen the time it will take to get to the far side of the cemetery, where sits my hot lunch, in the form of a baked potato and beans in Spudulike. Enjoy your wanderings in New Orleans! Sounds like a fab place.

Dr. Bob said...

Bama!!

So nice to see you! St. John's was all the more wonderful for being unexpected. We just walked in and were totally blown away.

I had the same impulse about the trolley and wall. I did pat one or two pillars surreptitiously, but they were solid. Alas.

If you had fallen on your tushie with a knot on your head, Rowan and I would have picked you up, dusted you off, and we would have all acted like we meant to do it that way.

As to graveyards, this one was very beautiful and peaceful. Cold and quiet. I am glad that you liked them too.

(wait til you see St. Giles!)

Dr. Bob said...

(we will find you a celtic cross next time, rowan)

Dr. Bob said...

oh, and bama? we want pictures and we want to hear all about NO. I hope you make it to a graveyard or two.

Anonymous said...

Well, I'm fer sure taking billions of pics. Hopefully I'll learn how to use my camera by then! Haha!

Rowan...you think it's cute that I try to go to Narnia and such? I always thought it was quite weird. I'm a full grown adult that still believes that Neverland exists. Sometimes I whisper to trees in case of dryads. I walk quietly through woods in hopes of startling the faeries.

Yeah...I'm weird.

Maybe I should borrow Lena to go exploring graveyards. Sounds like she'd be a kindred spirit!

Dr. Bob said...

Bama, you just have a sense of the unseen and an appreciation for possibilities. That is not weird at all. I am glad that you are moved to tears by beauty.

You would like Lena, she is a good companion. I love gleeful toddler ghoulishness.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure Lena would enjoy such a stravaig!


As to having a tentative belief in fairies, you are in good company! However, you would not, as were several lauded boffins of the day, have been taken in by the first known photoshop concerning the little people. Conan Doyle,for all his propensity towards rational thought and empirical analysis, was convinced that the pictures offered by two teenage girs of themselves sitting with fairies, were genuine. It did not seem to strike him that the fairies had state of the art ninteen-twenties hairdos and flapper dresses.

Saying that, indeed - why shouldn't the wee folk follow the trends? :)

Anonymous said...

Dr Bob - didn't see your post! Aww, Lena would be pleased. She is indeed very keen to hear all the possible scenarios which brought the folks to their early graves.

Imagination rawks! I am so glad, Bama, that you can wander in woods and look in wonder. I would be looking over my shoulder, wondering if anyone might be folowing me. I might borrow my neighbour's Old English Sheepdog, and he, fab though he is, would scatter all fairies in a five mile radius. Good for you, sistah!

Anonymous said...

Yes...the dog might scare the faeries...but with luck, he'll be a magic dog that can talk! Although he probably only speaks when no one is around to hear him. You might have to coax him...

Rowan I'm familiar with that story about the girls and the photos. I haven't read about it in a long time though...so I'm glad you posted that link!!

Yeah, I'm a little childish in my imaginings...but I like it.

It makes me kind of sad to be overwhelmed by beauty...b/c it means that there either isn't enough of it in my world...or I'm blind to it most days...

It's prolly both!

Dr. Bob said...

Bama -- I think that we are meant to be overwhelmed by beauty at times. To me that is a sacred moment -- I think that we are to be lifted out of the mundane at times and settled back in gently. Sometimes beauty should be a little sharp and painful.

Anonymous said...

Aww, lassies - ah'm with ye on this! I tend to lose all track of time when I'm somewhere exceptionally lovely - just stand still and try to lose myself in soaking up as much of the vista and atmosphere as I possibly can. It gets downloaded and filed away for me to escape to on future occasions. I haven't the force of imagination to look for worlds inspired by literature, but I escape in me 'ed to places I've been which offered a real sense of peace and harmony.

Anonymous said...

Bama, on the subject of seeing the wee folk, Lena informed me yesterday thsat she has an imaginary friend called Audrey, who is a fairy who wears sparkly silver heels. Not too groovy for stravaiging over tussocks and toadstools! when I informed her of this, I recieved the condescending rejoinder, complete with sigh and eye-roll, "Well, Mummy, that IS what they have wings for..."

Dr. Bob said...

Lena is very funny. She is right, you know...

Anonymous said...

Dr Bob -Hee hee! Yep, Lena is right...I had one of those feelings which one gets now and then, feelings of becoming ever so slightly obsolete...my knuckles were dragging a little on the ground. Am expecting any day now to walk in on her ordering a liquidizer from the Shopping Channel, to puree my steak pie and chips. :D

Anonymous said...

Awww...Lena is so cute! And smart too! Hmmm...sparkly silver shoes. I wish I had such a nice imaginary friend.

My imaginary friend looks just like me and is constantly berating me and making fun of me....hmmm...I think I should trade her in for someone a little nicer...

Dr. Bob said...

Bama -- we have a few you can have. My son Sam had a whole slew of imaginary friends -- Bim Bam, Tin Tan, and the more mundane Brandon. Every once in a while, Brandon resurfaces (usually he gets lost and we have to rush around and find him). We have a few to spare and they are nice.