November was a dark month in many ways: the nights were drawing in rapidly, the weather was often miserable, and virus restrictions got tighter and tighter. You could say that GlasGLOW, the annual light show in the Botanic Gardens, was a chink in that darkness and it was to some extent. As an outdoor event it was something to go to when everything else was closed, but it wasn’t a patch on previous years. Social distancing meant you were, quite rightly, moved on all the time and there weren’t many spectacles to stand and watch anyway. We were round in half an hour and didn’t feel that was worth £14. I actually prefer some of the pictures taken as we passed through the gardens in daytime.
What else? Glasgow University Tower on an unusually sunny day. Remembrance poppies at Kelvinside Academy, which was also lit up red at night. A package addressed to Super-cool Anabel Marsh, which I declare shall henceforth be my name. “The Monstrosity”, complete with skeletal riders, as spotted on Dumbarton Road. 13 Newton Terrace, formerly Belgravia College, the school for young ladies I wrote about after finding the grave of its Principal in the Western Necropolis. You can tell November has not been a very exciting month by the paucity of pictures!
However, having written the above in advance, the past weekend redeemed itself with a better day on Saturday. Time for a nice reflective walk along the canal: Extinction Rebellion protests, a fake crowd at Partick Thistle football ground, and a great view of Glasgow University.
Before turning for home we walked up to the flagpole at Ruchill Park for even better views of the University and Maryhill – it was only about 1530 and already sunset.
Finally, to a feature that I have neglected for a while: Scottish Word of the Month. Its return was prompted by noticing flit as Wird o the Week (sic) on the Scots Language Centre Twitter feed. Flit, in this sense, means to move house, which I thought was appropriate because after this month’s election there should be a very big flitting in Washington in the New Year. A certain someone has been given his jotters (sacked), to use another Scottish turn of phrase – will he be dragged out kicking and screaming or will he go quietly? Time will tell …
I won’t be writing any more new posts until December’s Gallivanting – but in true Blue Peter spirit, I have some I prepared earlier. See you tomorrow for Day 1 of my Advent Calendar.
The next sculpture is part of a national artwork project called Local Heroes. Not being from Falkirk, I didn’t recognise Dr Harold Lyon, founder of Strathcarron Hospice in 1981, Reginald Adams who trained numerous Scottish swimming champions, and Robert Barr – although I’ve certainly heard of the latter. Barr’s Soft Drinks are a big thing in Scotland, producing its other national drink, Irn-Bru (made from girders, according to one of its advertising campaigns, and originally called Iron Brew in 1904).
Whisky bottles adorn the banks opposite the old Rosebank Distillery which stopped production in 1993. However, new owners have bought the site and trademark and it seems that a new distillery, but with the same name, will soon be rising like a phoenix from the ashes.
In like a lion, out like a lamb? March certainly lived up to the first part of that proverb: in fact snow has been a feature of most of it. There were plenty of snowmen/women about, but this year igloos seemed to be in fashion too. This one is in the Botanic Gardens.
Do you know Kim from 
What’s your favourite food memory, a meaningful meal that you will never forget, and why? What was so special about it? Well, at the moment Airds Hotel, mentioned above, is uppermost in my memory. Unlike many fancy hotels and restaurants, which usually only offer one vegetarian choice, often bland, I had a whole menu to choose from and everything I ate was delicious. In fact, everything everybody ate was declared delicious and dinner was a real event on both nights. As you can see, Mark and John were most definitely relaxed afterwards.
The Forth and Clyde Canal, which runs sea-to-sea between the two rivers, has passed through Glasgow since the eighteenth century, though it ceased to be navigable in 1963. However, the multi-million Millennium Link Project saw it reopen in 2000/2001. Inspired by the 
