I awoke this morning in an extremely anxious state and I am not sure why. I have developed the habit of waking up and immediately writing to post on this blog. I feel a huge sense of relief when it is done and I email it to Chris to post. Then I get on with the rest of the day. But I am feeling particularly exhausted these days and I think it is the blog that is the cause. To say the least life is a little hectic, what with leaving Dolphin Square, making a final trip to Kirkcaldy, trying out Guildford for a while, shipping off clothes and possessions to different countries, making complex travel plans and arranging for necessary appointments in all places. Maybe its not the blog after all.
I have learned two new words this morning. One is cavil. Perhaps worrying about what is causing the anxiety is cavil, best I just get on with things.
Speaking of shipping my clothes off I am about to share a very funny email thread. I share with permission. Three days ago I put my summer clothes into three plastic vacuum bags and using the vacuum cleaner borrowed from the guys across the hall sucked the air out. I was so proud of myself because before, when I came to London in 2014, my dear friend Colette did it for me. I was helpless but now I am a registered vacuum air bag sucker. (joke) Then I placed the bags and some shoes into my big suitcase with wheels and hauled it to the wonderful Mailbox store, put all of the contents of the suitcase into a box with help from the helpful staff and sent it to Bruce and Nancy who live in Guelph Ontario. This may seem illogical to you but it does make a lot of sense to me. Why should I be trekking across Canada with summer clothes that I will not be wearing until I get to Eastern Canada? I won’t be wearing them because they are summer clothes and summer will not have struck in Canada until about July.. So I figured out the brilliant idea of shipping them and wrote Bruce and Nancy asking for permission to store them for me and they said: “Sure”. Here comes the email thread between Bruce and yours truly.
Subject: Summer clothes on the way
Promise Bruce not to wear them!
I did not get any response to that email so I sent another one.
I want the promise not to wear my summer clothes. They are cute, by the way. And the shoes……Apparently the parcel is only going to take about five days to arrive at your doorstep. It was the first major step I took to get my rear end out of here. It went so well, I was so encouraged. I know I am doing the right thing by coming back. You were prophetically correct when you said about two years ago that I was resuming my Canadian identity. I adore my female cousins, The blog of later today will show them (and me) in all of our glory as we laugh at our family.
In response to this Bruce emails this hilarious comment.
Afraid can’t promise. Will look at clothes first.
So I say back to him.
You are so funny! It is going into the blog! Shall I name you or not name you? For example: I sent my summer clothes to Guelph with the caveat: Bruce you have to promise not to wear my clothes and he answered….Fame is extending! Alexis
I receive the following email when I am at the Rex Whistler Restaurant. I have ordered, again the scallops (to die for) and the roast lamb as it is Sunday and they do the roast thing on Sundays. When I received the email I laugh out loud really loud. Everyone turned to stare at me because I have a really loud laugh. I just shrugged my shoulders and said: “Sorry”
You can name me.
Afterwards the scallops and the lamb I had dessert, was it ever good: It had bananas and was supposed to be served with peanut butter ice cream. I said I did not want peanut butter ice cream and so they served me vanilla ice cream instead. They are great, those people at the Rex Whistler. The salmon, that I had on a prior occasion was superb. The chef came and talked to me and he told me that it comes from Loch Duart in Scotland and there is a marvelous story behind the production as they are restoring the spawning grounds. I think it is Duart, his writing is hard to decipher. And then I know from Matthew, the boss, that the restaurant is importing Scottish cheeses. The Scottish cheese industry suffered a set back a few years ago and the Rex is helping them get back on their feet by featuring the Scottish cheese. That makes me proud of the Rex and proud to be Scottish. I am 100% Scottish. In Canada and the US you don’t count Canada and the US when you talk about your heritage and my maternal and paternal relatives all originally came from Scotland.
Gail and I are thinking of traveling in Canada soon and I suggested that we could pretend it was Scotland. We traveled in Scotland together in 2015 and had a great time. She responded to my suggestion of using our imagination in the following manner:
HER: Yes maybe we could do that…..hard to pretend it’s Scotland but we could try.
ME: I can be pretty good at the pretending because I have been back there alot. I can pull it off girlfriend. Do you have a kilt by the way?
HER: Nope no kilt. Do you?
ME: Two. But I am fatter than you so giving you one is not a solution.
HER:Haha…
ME: Great! You could even wear one of them but they would be too big. But you could just get fat fast and then you would have a kilt. I do laugh at my own jokes. I just did.
So all of these jokes seem to have clothing at their center. I will switch to animals. I am again eating at the Rex Whistler. Matthew serves a yummy looking dish to a fellow diner.
ME: What is that, it looks good.
MATTHEW: Mutton
ME: Sheep?
MATTHEW: (striding off) Adult sheep.
I definitely laughed and it was not my joke. Yesterday at the Rex a woman and her daughter came to my table as said: “You must eat here often.” “I do, Matthew calls it my canteen.” We talked a little, we laughed and I gave them my business card with my blog address. Chris, my computer expert, says I am averaging 160 hits a day. WOW! Where do these people come from? I guess the Rex Whistler for one.
Is that Gail in the photograph?