Teething problems

 Don't you just love a play on words? You know that I do...

"Teething problems" is a phrase that reminds us of the inexplicable pain babies feel as they experience their teeth emerging. It is difficult to explain pain of any kind to a child, but when a baby feels pain without any understanding of their world, the task is impossible.

Such have been my thoughts over the past four weeks, as I have been dealing with my own dental situation, as well as facing some situations that are inexplicable. Some good and some not so much.

"Teething problems" can also mean issues that cause delays when embarking on a project or a proposed adventure. So here are some of mine...

First of all, it was a broken tooth in January that needed major repair.  However as I was intending to participate in the Open Mic poetry reading, a temporary measure was put in place. Strange to say the tooth broke on the evening before I was due to see the dentist for my check up. Timing is everything.

Open Mic successfully completed, 😊now for the major dental work to begin when disaster struck. Two days before my return appointment, a tooth broke off my denture and that is a very different kind of pain, when vanity is involved.

So we move to the second scenario, when the plate needs repaired allowing the major work on the original broken tooth to begin.

I have 3 one hour appointments booked over the month of February and I am having to dig deep into my courage reserves. Yes, it seems that my wish to be more courageous is being fulfilled. However, and this is the kicker in my story, after my initial gruelling session with the dentist (lovely man who was just doing his job) I wept for an hour in the car, as I had been taken back in time, to me being that 14 year old, girl who believed her life was as shattered as her face. The result of a hockey prank that went wrong and irrevocably changed my perception of who I believed I was.

60 years on,😒 at the grand old age of 74,  I am again experiencing "teething probs" and just plain toothache! However, it would also appear, that many of life's lessons need to be revisited before I can move on... and I am faced again with the question of "who it is that I believe myself to be?".

Oh, and before you ask yes, I did write a poem, when I found my answer...

Moving on to other sundry matters. Visited a travel agent to organise my European train adventure and was thrilled with all the help I received.  A returning theme in January was all the help I received in so many ways. Grazie mille a tutti...

However, there was a hiccup in the planning. Not a disaster, more a setback, as my plan to combine returning to Italian school on Elba with my train travel is shelved, as accommodation is not available. 

So back to the drawing board, otherwise known as flip chart for alternative plans. As many of you know, I love to make a plan even when it doesn't reach fruition!

Now here are the best bits of my recent 2026 activities. Strange to say, all the goodies that have come my way, have not been of my planning!

1. Invited to share my poetry at an Open Mic event. Not of my choosing/ planning but a gift of an invitation, which I will be forever grateful for, as I enjoyed an evening meeting so many like minded people and being inspired by Len Pennie to visit and revisit past traumas and write about them honestly.

Grazie mille Angela Noble of Tidelines Book Festival and Len Pennie.

Sharing the stage with Len Pennie. What a privilege and look how happy I am...

photos courtesy of Clive Watkins at Irvine Camera club.

Len writes poems in the Scots tongue and I can't recommend her highly enough...

2. Another happening, as in unplanned, was a second "christmas" event. 

Jingle bells

Table set awaiting guests

 Kenneth's partner Natalie was in Mauritius for Christmas but requested a "Scottish"  Christmas on her return.

 So, on the 25th January, we celebrated Christmas as a family with turkey and all the trimmings and even amazing crackers to get into the party atmosphere. 

As it was the 25th January, we also toasted Rabbie Burn's birthday, as well as Andy's birthday which would have been the next day, Monday the 26th. Table cloth and napkins were appropriately chosen

I am sure Andy would have approved, as we always used to combine Rabbie's birthday with his and he always enjoyed his turkey especially the turkey sandwiches on Boxing Day!

Grazie mille Natalie, baci e un abbraccio.

3. There were a lot more than three best bits or blessings if you will but it is enough to share these three as they entered the calendar from other people's choices and became gifts that I hadn't thought of. Presenting my poetry to an audience was not on my radar. Thinking about enjoying a second Christmas/birthday combo was very far away from my mind. Which takes me back to the start of this blog...

It is all about timing. Not necessarily the planning. I certainly didn't plan for dental challenges, or revisiting past trauma but both turned up unexpectedly and brought their own gifts... and yes there is a "f" in gifts!

With a grateful heart, I am focusing on being open to receive and that is my third best bit. Being open to receive, means that the present can arrive as a surprise package, full of unexpected treasures.

So, remember to count your blessings and don't forget that gifts/best bits are available all year round. 

 

An adventurous year ahead

 I am looking to be more adventurous this year. It was a eureka moment in September last year that sent me down the road of querying where my courage, my "adventuresome" attitude had gone... and yes I am sure adventuresome is a word. If it isn't I am claiming it as my own.

In fact, that is what I am doing this year, claiming my life back. Getting back on track so to speak...

Last September 2025, I took myself off to Peebles Hydro for 2 days of birthday indulgence, on my onesome! It just took a little courage to arrange the stay and a lot of bravado to drive there. New car, unfamiliar road and unknown destination all combined to challenge the grey cells and the associated emotional muscle.

Now 4 months later, I have been gifted a challenge to share two of my poems in an open mic night on the 31st of January... and am intending to keep challenging myself one way or another on a monthly basis.

Embracing courage/ il coraggio, however I prefer con cuore/with heart, as we Italians would say, is the way to go. Emotional muscle can atrophy just like any other muscle that doesn't get used. We need to exercise it regularly.

In fact, Andy and I used to use our many trips abroad to expand our comfort zones and experience adventures that exercised our emotional muscles greatly. Like going to Sicily for Capodanno, that's New Year of course, and getting stranded in a blizzard on Mount Etna on New Years Eve with a bus load of Russians.

Never mind the frequent trips to Italy sharing our driving adventures of getting lost, driving the wrong way on one way streets and my own particular favourite of driving along a pedestrian thorough fare.

Some of you will remember that last one. 

Rest assured, folks I am not repeating the jumping out a plane adventure but I am going to embark on train travel across Europe and visit many places that will be new to me.

buon viaggio a tutti, con affetto e coraggio

Eileen

p.s. We were rescued by a snow plough from Mount Etna, when the bus slewed off the road. That was indeed scary but not as scary as the guests in the hotel at Capodanno. Andy and I were sure the Mafia were there in force!

Good tidings

 

Well, here we are again. Christmas time and all that it brings. The message of Christmas used to bring "Good Tidings" as in good news and much of that was broadcast in the very olden days as "good news to all men".

Not aiming for a political or feminist message in this blog, just wanting to flag up the power of specific words and what they can mean to us. 

Let me start with "Good Tidings". This to me has been the completion of all my tests over the past 8 months and the news, as in tidings, that my results are "satisfactory". 

Satisfactory is a medical term I am happy to live with. I still have some ongoing issues but nothing sinister or life-threatening and I have loads of tools and expertise to help me with my health. 

More "Good Tidings" come with friends, old and new. Everyone has a story to tell and so many people are appearing in my life with their very own good tidings. One connection ended up with me attending a pensioners lunch at Seamill Hydro and another with an invitation to go to Hamilton, the musical not the town!

The good news to all men message is about sharing positive messages not negative ones and obviously sharing them with all ... and sundry.

Now for a different choice of words ...

Do you wish people a Merry Christmas or a Happy Christmas? They are definitely not the same. Both are equally precious to the recipient, however I have always felt that the Merry word conveys a more inclusive convivial time. Whereas Happy implies contentment...

So here I am, both content and merry going to the Pensioners' Lunch. Photo taken by the Spa staff in the Hydro Spa, who were delighted to see me "dressed"!

wishing you all a very merry and happy Christmas.

full circle

I started writing the monthly blog in 2011 and my second entry in October was about yoga... as in, the practice of this ancient art and the misunderstandings that can arise due to misinformation or sometimes plain ignorance.

The writing had come about when I had a small rant with a friend about the misconceptions of Yoga as a philosophy and way of life. Said friend responded with "don't tell me, write about it!". She knew me well and knew that I loved to write. 

You can check out the historical blog entry by scrolling down the past entries if you want to read my initial offering. However the issues that people have challenged me with over the years have always been there and have never really gone away. 

Even to this day, I still get asked "Do you still do Yoga?"

The answer is yes, I am still practising yoga and it is still as rewarding as it was when I first started.

That was when I was 14, when due to my enforced leisure after an accident involving facial injuries, I received a gift of two yoga books to keep me amused. One on the practice of Hatha which involves the physical postures and the other was all about the philosophy. 

The rest as they say is history, as I was entranced by this approach to well being... both from a mental and physical point of view. 

Yoga is a discipline that helps people with their mental health and has done for over 5000 years. Who knew eh... well not me, all those 60 years ago

Which just goes to show that there is nothing new in looking after your mental health...

As many of you know, I taught yoga as a class, over a day, throughout a weekend and even Living It Yoga weeks in Italy.

The practice of yoga has certainly been entwined in my everyday living and it has been a privilege to share the concept of Living It Yoga to many students over the years. 

I even recorded CDs!

The following is a poem I wrote many years ago, when struggling to express myself succinctly to help people understand in simple terms what I believe the practice of Yoga is...

                              

  Yoga is…

 Yoga is… not just tying yourself into knots

Yoga is… straightening out those tangled thoughts.

Yoga is… not just panting and blowing

Yoga is… allowing the mind to keep flowing

Yoga is… not giving into our wraths

Yoga is… breath, with the use of maths!

 

Yoga is…  perhaps even doing, but

Yoga is… staying

Yoga is… stillness

Yoga is… praying

Yes, Yoga is…

But above

All

Yoga is…

Love

                                                     by Eileen Auld 1988

Namaste

An early Hallowe'en Treat

Where did the month go? My weeks disappeared quickly after my return from my Spa treat at Peebles Hydro. In fact 3 weeks were taken up with me recovering from a hellish 'flu that was put down to a dose of Covid.  Lucky white heather as they say!

Fortunately I recovered in time to take Murphy and Rosie through to Edinburgh for the school's October holiday week. We stayed with my good friend Grainne Crawford, known to the kiddies as Auntie G. She is adored by my grand kiddies ...

and I quite like her myself!

We visited Grainne's place of work at Central Libraries, after a trip on the tram and a run for a bus!  Both thrilling to we three and then we saw an exhibition of art in a part of Central Libraries that Grainne was thrilled to share. They are pictures and stories from the children of Kiev from their point of view ... and the result is both moving and inspirational.

National flower of Ukraine

I was intending to go through this weekend to see the exhibition but we just brought my visit forward and it meant that Murphy and Rosie had a special week in Edinburgh and we kick started it with a cultural and educational slant.

We received a tour of the Library including a visit to the music room where they hire out instruments, the children's library full of fun and laughter with no shhhhs and a peek in at a couple of secret passages!

Self explanatory

a child's point of view of war.

We were able to reflect on what we are privileged to experience while others are still in the midst of war. 

This was not my original intention, however Murphy and Rosie saw the pictures, read the stories and admired the crafts that were included in the display and their insight was that Ukranian children were still able to participate in school despite their circumstances. 

Always good to get a child's perspective.

Not sure what the crocodile thinks but I know that there is trouble in store...

An exciting day at the trampoline park followed, 90 minutes of fun and not a little sweat. 

When I say trampoline, there was dodge ball, football court and scary twisty slides. Yes they slept well that night, although the next day's treat was the Camera Obscura! Complete with 100 steps to the top...

Where the kiddies had a ball with what could be thought of as magic but was science and fun...

I know, spooky eh! I can reassure you that the children came home with heads firmly on... however not until they had a visit to Glasgow for Uncle Kenny's birthday, which included a visit to the Japanese pancake place on Friday and an interactive Egyptian history lesson on Saturday at Glasgow's SECC, The Tutankhamun exhibition.

There was so much to take in from the cinematic experience surrounding us with life as it was in ancient Egypt to all the virtual reality of being Tutankhamun rising from his tomb and experiencing the afterlife.

Rosie as Cleopatra

Murphy as himself

Thank you so much Grainne, Kenneth and Natalie and an special thank you to Tutankhamun! 

Cellular memories

 One year on from our family holiday in Tuscany, I took myself to Peebles Hydro for a two day spa break as a birthday treat to myself. This is continuing the tradition that Andy set, many, many years ago... as every year,  we went somewhere as his birthday pressy to me. He said that it saved him thinking about a gift. His words, not mine!

... and it would appear that I am still receiving that gift, as my room was upgraded at reception and a welcome package was waiting for me. As well as a bottle of prosecco from Gordon...

I am very grateful for all that came my way this birthday. The spa break of course with a wonderful massage and the precious time to chill and ponder on what comes next.

Also the cards and messages, the thoughtful presents and the moments of meeting strangers and finding shared connections to life's journey. It was great sharing memories of Renfrew, the Victoria Baths, Cockles Loan and primary/secondary school education as it was in the "olden days"

Thank you Una and Kirsty for your company. I would like to think we will reconnect again, maybe when you next visit Millport...

... or maybe bump into you in Wilkies!

Now to explain the title of "cellular memories". The following are memories of Andy and myself in celluloid form, a snapshot if you like, of a precious relationship. They are a wonderful reminder of our moments together. However I also have memories that are cellular, stored in my body, etched by unspoken words, ingrained in kindly actions and recalled at moments of crisis or in times of joy.

I have been asked to write an article for APF from the perspective of a carer after the loss of a loved one. It was very difficult to write but did focus my thoughts on life's direction and purpose. Once written and submitted, I was then asked to send a photo of Andy and myself to accompany the article.

So, many hours have been spent foraging through photos and seeing our relationship through those celluloid memories that were frozen in the eyes of others. It has been a joy to recall those precious moments.

Kincardine, Canada

  

Taking over...

Happy days

Lockdown Yoga

After Lockdown

There are so many photographs, but these few are memories that remind me of our relationship.

 One of shared times together but more importantly of living with laughter and smiles, sharing so many good times and walking together in the same direction and with purpose.

Walking Largs prom

The passage of time

 

Where has the time gone? This summer has flown by and it is now time for the Scottish children to return to school!

Sometimes it is worth reflecting on the transient nature of time... and sometimes, as in most times, it is better to live in the moment and let time take care of itself!

I have had quite a lot of time on my hands recently. What a strange phrase to explain enforced leisure! However it has given me the opportunity to check out/remember past times and pastimes. Remembering hobbies of my youth and middle age and delight in the activities that I can enjoy in these later years.

This included the leisure and pleasure of reading extensively and to even unearth some of my own writings...

The above collection isn't my own collection but just looking at those books gives me goose bumps as I think of all the words of wisdom they might contain and ... yep the downside is they may well be just someone's opinion that doesn't sit well with me. Whatever they are, I am happy to explore the ramblings of others. There is always a gem to discover... and remember I have time on my hands!

Some of the books I have indulged in have been easy reading, some have been intense but all have been satisfying. The written word has the ability to take us out of our present circumstances and allow us to renew ourselves as we visit different worlds, experience different attitudes and sometimes find meaningful relationships with fictional characters.  Or is that just me!

Victor Hugo was a great inspirational writer for me when I was a teenager and I know that Les Miserables, the musical has been an enjoyable success on the stage. However Victor Hugo wrote many books and his books changed people's lives. His writings changed France. A momentary thought, put down on paper, moved a nation. No mean feat...

So what does all of the above have to do with the passage of time. The man made construct of clocks and watches that measure time have never surpassed the effectiveness of a sundial! The lengthening shadows that tell of day drawing to a close has always been a poignant metaphor for the aging process.

Measuring time in moments is the best way to go. Moments of fun, moments of laughter, moments of hands held, hugs shared, meals prepared, birthdays celebrated, holidays enjoyed. 

Let's treasure every moment...