Drawing a Veil.....

...over last week.

We were in Glasgow for a week and I was soooooo looking forward to it. We were going to have a treat for my birthday, do some nice shopping, visit the Charles Rennie Mackintosh exhibition and then have three lovely days with our daughter in law and grandsons who were visiting the UK. 

Son no 2's flatmate had just moved out and we knew there was a bit of tidying up to do after her, to get the place ready for the family visit, but that was fine. We thought. 

Well we got the birthday treat, since that was pre-booked and expensive and non negotiable. It was afternoon tea at Gleneagles and I did enjoy it very much. It was however the only enjoyable aspect of the week.

We exhausted ourselves cleaning the flat, including packing up a LOT of stuff which the flatmate had left behind in her room,  but also doing a deep clean on most of the rest  of the flat too, which was in a state that did not amuse me in the least. I have never been so exhausted as at the end of the three days we spent cleaning. I know I used, in addition to much else, a whole large (120) pack of kitchen/bathroom wipes. 

All I am going to say about the family visit is that it was more of a penance than a pleasure. Tales of other people's badly behaved children or grandchildren mean little to those not immediately involved, but I was shocked by the behaviour of my elder grandson and by the fact that  he was allowed to get away with it. It saddens me to say that by the end I was counting the minutes until they left and felt an incredible sense of relief once they were safely in the taxi that was to deposit them at the station. 

We didn't get to the shops, or to the exhibition, or to the theatre to buy the first lot of tickets for Scottish Opera's 2018/19 season, I am totally frazzled and in need of at last two weeks total peace and quiet before I am recovered from what was a tiring and painful experience. 

Tomorrow however - pics from the Gleneagles Afternoon Tea!