See you then! I have a pint of Millrace Dark from Grand River Brewing ready to go. Were I in Scotland, it might have been Dark Island, the heavenly Orkney brew.
[Quick look through my beer collection, combination of gifts at Christmas and bought for Christmas ... nope, the Dark Island I bought must have been drunk]
Now, should I open one of those bottles of beer or pour a wee dram?
Joining in from south of the border. No beer in stock, though I'm happy to be educated in what's the best of Scottish beer, will a glass of damson gin do? I'm afraid I don't like whisky.
Slainte! This damson gin is very nice btw, damsons from my mother in law's garden.
Sorry you are not in your favourite pub @Stercus Tauri , hope you can re-arrange for another time. A visit to Scotland for a ship meet sounds like a very good idea.
I'm ashamed to say that I'm not really a whisky drinker, so I'm joining you via a glass of Craft3 New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, which is sharp, fruity and very very nice.
Stercus, we'll get a chance to have an actual Edinburgh meet one day - slainte mhor!
We should do this more often. Since I'm five hours behind you, I think I may do it again at our 6:00 pm... It was the mention of the Highland Park that did it.
Meanwhile, a hike up in the woods on a crisp sunny afternoon is in order. I need to get away from the computer, as we are having a rather stiff e-mail discussion about the correct interpretation of The Book of Forms, Appendix C, para F anent loans made to the congregation by the presbytery.
Crikey - any sentence with the word "anent" in it should be enough to send me running for the hills (or the GIN bottle)!*
It's nice to see some of you would be drinking Dark Island if you could; I'm not a great beer fan, but anything that helps the Orcadian economy is fine by me!
* I once worked for a firm of Scottish solicitors.
Thank you kindly. I raise my water, pretending it’s bourbon, to you all. Due to waiting for some after-affects of surgery to clear up, I’m afraid I’m still off alcohol.
Speaking of that, my wife and I were planning a family (us and our two college-aged kids) trip to Scotland in May. Before we could finalize plans or actually pay any money, heart surgery happened, and we decided it best to hold off, not knowing how I’d feel come May. I’m very glad now that we did hold off, because obviously a trip in May wouldn’t be possible.
Bushmills single malt (the one with the green label) is just about acceptable; I remember my late father (who was partial to a good whisky) waxing wroth about the inferiority of Irish whiskey until he tasted Bushmills!
Every time there is a redd-oot of a cupboard at church, some of the stuff ends up in my study.
Lockdown seems a good time to do a bit of sorting and indexing. Today I'm reading my way through the minutes of the Women's Guild in 1933, presided over by the truly terrifying figure of the minister's wife and her cowed committee.
The hot topic of the day was: which would be of most benefit to the church - umbrella stands or a lavatory?
At the January meeting, a Rev Mr Martin delivered a lecture on "A Winter in Beautiful Budapest" with musical interludes by Mrs Martin.
Mr Martin's lecture was specially in connection with the work of the Church of Scotland mission to the Jews in Budapest....The Jews were particularly clever and cultured in their tastes and we must not think of all Jews as being wealthy, many were very poor... He then went on to speak of the City of Bucharest...He also spoke of the Scots School for Girls and of the good it was doing in the community.
Speaking of their journey out to Budapest he said the Rhine was more wonderful even than the descriptions of it, but the Danube, however, is very seldom blue.
I wonder when the Martins delightful trip to Budapest was? Had they just returned before giving their talk? Had they met the matron of the Girls' School, Miss Jane Haining?
Yes, old Minutes (or whatever) make for fascinating reading, and are a window into a long-vanished world.
Does the C of S still have a mission to Jews, or anyone else, in Budapest? I guess the various political upheavals of the 20thC probably had a deleterious effect IYSWIM.
(Our Place has a few similar PCC Minute Books from the 1930s, all quite nicely handwritten (not copperplate, but legible). One of these days, I'll have another look at them, when I get fed up with watching the grass grow.
)
The entire Girls' School were shipped to Auschwitz, Bishop's Finger. Jane Haining died there in July 1944.
Haining is remembered at Yad Vashem as one of the Righteous Amongst Nations. Her life has been much publicised here - I assumed that most Scottish shipmates would understand the poignancy of the Martins' talk about their delightful trip to Budapest and the Girls' School there.
Comments
Now, should I open one of those bottles of beer or pour a wee dram?
Slàinte mhath, everyone!
Sorry you are not in your favourite pub @Stercus Tauri , hope you can re-arrange for another time. A visit to Scotland for a ship meet sounds like a very good idea.
Stercus, we'll get a chance to have an actual Edinburgh meet one day - slainte mhor!
*hic*
A glass of Czech beer here, in the absence of WHISKY (I knew there was something I forgot to buy earlier in the week...).
I was quite impressed on my amble yesterday that one of the neighbours' uncollected glass box* contained an empty bottle of 12yo Highland Park.
I obviously live in a very civilised neighbourhood.
* Edinburgh City Council have suspended kerbside glass collections because of The Situation.
Meanwhile, a hike up in the woods on a crisp sunny afternoon is in order. I need to get away from the computer, as we are having a rather stiff e-mail discussion about the correct interpretation of The Book of Forms, Appendix C, para F anent loans made to the congregation by the presbytery.
It's nice to see some of you would be drinking Dark Island if you could; I'm not a great beer fan, but anything that helps the Orcadian economy is fine by me!
* I once worked for a firm of Scottish solicitors.
<raises glass>
Speaking of that, my wife and I were planning a family (us and our two college-aged kids) trip to Scotland in May. Before we could finalize plans or actually pay any money, heart surgery happened, and we decided it best to hold off, not knowing how I’d feel come May. I’m very glad now that we did hold off, because obviously a trip in May wouldn’t be possible.
Cheers to all!
I forgot to buy WHISKY because I was overcome with excitement at being able to buy a jar of SALMON FISH PASTE!
Before that, the favoured whiskey was Slane (or the Belshazzar's Feast as we call it).
There's more to Irish whiskey than
Bushmills.
For penance, we condemn you to drink it!
I saw what you did there...
He inherited it from his Grandma.
Thx.
So, no.
What's it doing in the cupboard? It should be out earning its keep in a couple of glasses.
Lockdown seems a good time to do a bit of sorting and indexing. Today I'm reading my way through the minutes of the Women's Guild in 1933, presided over by the truly terrifying figure of the minister's wife and her cowed committee.
The hot topic of the day was: which would be of most benefit to the church - umbrella stands or a lavatory?
At the January meeting, a Rev Mr Martin delivered a lecture on "A Winter in Beautiful Budapest" with musical interludes by Mrs Martin.
Mr Martin's lecture was specially in connection with the work of the Church of Scotland mission to the Jews in Budapest....The Jews were particularly clever and cultured in their tastes and we must not think of all Jews as being wealthy, many were very poor... He then went on to speak of the City of Bucharest...He also spoke of the Scots School for Girls and of the good it was doing in the community.
Speaking of their journey out to Budapest he said the Rhine was more wonderful even than the descriptions of it, but the Danube, however, is very seldom blue.
I wonder when the Martins delightful trip to Budapest was? Had they just returned before giving their talk? Had they met the matron of the Girls' School, Miss Jane Haining?
Yes, old Minutes (or whatever) make for fascinating reading, and are a window into a long-vanished world.
Does the C of S still have a mission to Jews, or anyone else, in Budapest? I guess the various political upheavals of the 20thC probably had a deleterious effect IYSWIM.
(Our Place has a few similar PCC Minute Books from the 1930s, all quite nicely handwritten (not copperplate, but legible). One of these days, I'll have another look at them, when I get fed up with watching the grass grow.
)
Haining is remembered at Yad Vashem as one of the Righteous Amongst Nations. Her life has been much publicised here - I assumed that most Scottish shipmates would understand the poignancy of the Martins' talk about their delightful trip to Budapest and the Girls' School there.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-49851269