27 June 2024

Back

Back from Glasgow now. We stayed in a spacious two bedroom flat next to The Tolbooth Tower - looking right down Trongate to Argyle Street. It was a pretty perfect city centre location. 

Frances could easily walk to her workplace where she found herself in a sea of sorrow. It was a difficult situation. Some of those grieving colleagues had known Ryan for years. Now they are all thrust into a new world where they are faced with the challenge of advancing Ryan's business dreams even though he is not here.

We looked after darling Margot so of course this restricted our wanderings but we did manage to trek up to Glasgow Cathedral and the famous Necropolis close by - a mass gathering of Victorian monuments to the dead - mostly the wealthy and influential. It was as though in death they had tried to compete with one other through the magnificence of their stone memorials.  Ordinary working folk were more or less excluded.

Frances sped us back in five hours this evening, halting for a "poonami" that Margot had managed to create in her nappy (American: diaper) just south of Carlisle. It was worthy of an Olympic medal.

More about Glasgow tomorrow.

28 comments:

  1. Those are very beautiful murals, may I show them on my Sunday Selections post?

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    1. Be my guest River. The top mural is by an Australian fellow called Sam Bates (SMUG).

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  2. Those murals are great works of art!
    Was the city centre flat not noisy? I am always a bit wary of such centrally located places, and was pleasantly surprised when I found my hotel room in Berlin so quiet.

    It must be very challenging to pick up all the threads and unfinished business Ryan's sudden death has left behind, let alone the personal grief. I do hope that this never happens to me, but it could well be; my part-time boss and still close friend RJ is slowly but surely eating himself into a heart attack or a stroke. He is not yet 48 but even though he does neither drink nor smoke, is one of the unhealthiest people I know - almost all of it related to his obesity. Sad but nothing I can do apart from being a good friend and employee.

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    1. For some people food gives great psychological comfort - just like drugs for addicts. Poor RJ. If only he could begin to help himself by weight reduction.

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    2. He was always a big man; he is nearly 2 m tall but he used to dance ballroom tournaments and was very agile and fit in spite of his weight. Over the last few years, his weight has just ballooned out of proportion, and even though he knows full well what he needs to do, he can't break the pattern; like with most addictions, professional help is necessary but he keeps saying he'll manage to turn his life around on his own.
      Very worrying.

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  3. Those murals are magnificent.

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    1. We could so easily have missed the first one. We only saw it when heading back from Glasgow Cathedral.

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  4. Good to see you back YP.

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  5. Love the street art; massive pieces.

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    1. Such skill to make such enormous images.

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  6. Welcome home. The death of a colleague makes things very challenging, very hard. My sister found her boss dead at his desk one New Year's Eve.

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    1. Death may arrive when we least expect it.

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  7. I am catching up on my blog reading. I am so sorry to learn about your daughter's boss. How tragic. I have never been a fan of motorcycles.

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    1. Nor me. They should be banned because they have been the cause of far too much death.

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  8. I hope that the business will be able to find its way forward, just as I hope peace for the family. Such a tragedy. Glad you and Frances and Shirley and Margot are all home safe.
    As everyone has said- those murals are really amazing.

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    1. The young widow came to talk to the staff. She now has three young sons to raise on her own - aged 9, 7 and 4. The top mural is by SMUG (aka Sam Bates - an Australian artist living in Glasgow).

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  9. Murals are getting larger and more impressive all the time. You had a good trip with a grand daughter.

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    1. There are some very skilled muralists out there Red.

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  10. Great murals! At first I thought perhaps you were in Brooklyn. Ah, yes, the dreaded "poonami." I did have a laugh at those commercials.

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    1. You must have done a poonami yourself at some time Steve but please don't blog about it!

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  11. It only takes one second of an accident to change a person's life. I'm hoping things work out for Frances and the company that Ryan started.
    Those murals are fabulous. Babies take up a lot of time! My son and his 3 kids are staying with me for a few days and it is exhausting! (but fun too!)

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    1. What a joy to have those three darling grandchildren with you right now Ellen! Ryan had three sons aged 9,7 and 4. There will be a big hole in their lives forever.

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  12. Poonami. What a wonderfully descriptive word! While there are no diapers in my immediate world right now (on either end of the spectrum), I can remember instances when that word would have fit the occasion.

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    1. Have you never done a poonami yourself Kelly?

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  13. I have been to the very spots! Definitely missing Scotland today! Thanks for conjuring some of my favourite memories.

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    1. With a name like Stewart - there had to be a Scottish connection. Do you wear anything under your kilt?

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