Deliveries News

On Friday morning Fearnan Hall car park was really busy with folk queuing for supplies from the Kenmore Bakery van.

As well as getting supplies, it’s a chance to catch up with all the local chat and gossip.

The turnout demonstrated how much this service is used and appreciated.

The team in the Courtyard also continues to keep local residents supplied and Friday afternoons are busy with folk coming to collect their orders. Here’s Mike loading goodies into the back of Elaine’s car.

These guys are providing a brilliant service to our small community and beyond.

The ‘Boomers’ among us will remember our mothers using a system like this – phoning the local greengrocer every week with an order that was then delivered. Could this become a habit that lasts beyond Covid-19?  We hope so!

Dee and Paul at the Ben Lawers Hotel are increasing their delivery nights and their menu.

They will be at Fearnan Village Hall at 5pm on Wednesday with pre-ordered meals.

The poster says it all.

Clapping for Carers

A few more pics of residents making as much noise as they can for Carers – pots and pans, saucepan lids and even a pair of castanets in use.

Life under Lockdown

 Some more Lockdown Moments from around and about:

Lesley reports that life goes on as near normal as possible. We are so lucky to live here, dog walks on our doorstep and a garden needing constant attention!  Potatoes, onions and shallots are all in and John has it all under control.

Amusements include online scrabble with our son in London (not good for my ego). We cut each other’s hair last week – it was great fun, but I came out of it much better than John. I got a bit carried away with the clippers – but at least he doesn’t need to think about haircuts for a long, long time!  

I’ve got a couple of books on the go – Becoming by Michelle Obama and Hilary Mantel’s last book in the Wolf Hall trilogy: The Mirror and The Light. Happy to lend either, although you might have to wait a while for the Hilary Mantel one as it’s nearly 900 pages!  

A big thank you to the local shops and businesses who have ensured we can stay at home and eat very well!

Good to see Molly getting in on the act!

Sheila and Peter wish to say ‘Howdie to our Lockdown amigos in Fearnan!

I joined Sheila in Edinburgh to ‘tough out’ the lockdown. Aside from our daily tootles (we have 5 different routes which we also vary by doing them clockwise/anti-clockwise in turn) there is really nothing especially remarkable about our daily routine. We didn’t start out with any lofty “mission statement“. A 1000-piece jigsaw that we still have aspirations to do lies in wait for when the weather indicates this would be the preferred activity.

One actually feels a tad guilty owning that the days are passing quite pleasantly if unremarkably.

I have attached a couple of pics taken on our daily walks. Starbank Park is looking particularly Spring like just now. The seaside scene is Newhaven harbour. One of our routes takes us out on a breakwater which gives fine views up the Firth to the bridges.‘

(The Blog Editor notes that Peter has omitted to declare his recently acquired addiction to the output of the 12 Triangles Bakery, and that he earns the right to at least half a 12T sticky bun for each loop of his daily tootle (and a whole sticky bun if Sheila isn’t looking!).

Also in exile are Neil and Fiona who are getting used an almost silent city, long walks with the dogs, lots of gardening, food deliveries by the box rather than from the supermarket, online Pilates, Skyping and ‘Zooming’ with friends for coffee and chat, reading and guitar/ukulele practice.

It has been said that Lockdown has felt like Christmas and Birthdays rolled into one for our canine friends who now have all their humans with them all the time (cats are generally less impressed by this intrusion into their personal space). Tego and Abi find some aspects of it a mixed blessing:

“If we weren’t under Lockdown, we could have chased that fat pigeon off the grass!

Maybe even caught it.“

A number of dogs have now featured in this Blog – what about the rest?  Skye? Rannoch? Hairy Harry and his girls? Mabel?  What about some news and pics of what you’re getting up to with your humans? Send them to fiona@fearnanvillageassociation.com

Fearnan Book Club Review

The Book Club conducted its first virtual meeting this month and April’s Review (below) has been compiled by Linda from various emails, a phone call and a conversation across the burn!

Apparently, she tells us, a third of people are reading more since Lockdown.

Most are reading fiction with classics and crime novels proving popular while titles about fictional epidemics such as Albert Camus’ The Plague, and The Viral Storm by Nathan D Wolfe have enjoyed increased sales.

Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it changed the World by Laura Spinney, an admired science journalist may also be an interesting read at this time. 

On a different note, Normal People, a 2018 novel by Sally Rooney is being serialised on BBC 3 starting on 26th April.

Our choice of book for our virtual session in April was Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, an American author and geologist. The story, which has an intertwining timeline, is set on the North Carolina coast. It is both a murder mystery and love story, eloquently told.

There was unanimous praise for this book which most found to be an enthralling, compelling reading and an amazing narrative. A few initially found it hard to get accustomed to the Southern accent but this didn’t detract from the overall enjoyment.   We were amazed by the resilience and resourcefulness of the young Kya, the main character, who was abandoned at a young age by her family. We were carried into her world and immersed in her story with its vivid characterisation.

The marsh environment and its creatures influenced her understanding of the world and we followed her development through the story as she grew up and became an author and authority on the flora and fauna of the marsh. We loved the beautiful, detailed descriptions and observations of the marshland and its waterways and beaches, the natural history and the poetry which featured in the book. 

We were sadly reminded of prejudices that can exist when someone in a community is different as she was vilified by the young people in the area. The trial brought out the best and worst of the village. 

We generally found the ending satisfactory, which has not always been the case with recent reads, although the murder plot itself left too many questions unanswered and seemed unlikely, although perhaps a brilliant twist at the end.  We felt that it would make a great film showcasing the wonderful scenery, colourful characters and relationships. 

Our choice of book for the next virtual session on Wednesday 13^th May is Sleep by C.L. Taylor. It has been described as a gripping psychological thriller full of suspense, action, intrigue and mystery It is set on the Scottish Island of Rum in The Bay View Hotel where one of the guests is a killer but who is it ………..? 

Now that everybody has lots of time to read, here are a few chunky, historical lockdown reads currently being read by FVA members.

Liz and Lesley are both reading Hilary Mantel novels, Bring up the Bodies and The Mirror and the Light respectively. The latter, 879 pages long, closes the trilogy covering the final four years of a Cromwell’s life. It has been shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.  Alistair has been reading Culloden by Trevor Royle and The King over the Water by Desmond Seward, giving both sides of the Jacobite story. 

Jigsaw Show and Tell

We hear that lthere are quite a few people doing jigsaws to help pass the time. If you are one of them, what about sharing your efforts? After all, you spend hours and hours doing the jigsaw, look at the completed picture for a bit – and then you just have to break it up and put it back in the box. So why not share it with everyone?

To start us off, here is the puzzle that Linda and Alistair are doing – an Ordnance Survey Map.  And it looks like one to do your head in!  Good luck, chaps!

Many thanks to everyone who contributed words and pics to the Blog this week.  Please keep them coming to fiona@fearnanvillageassociation.com

The words and pictures on this website are covered by copyright.  The copyright of all pictures belongs to the person who took them and similarly, the copyright of the words belongs to the person who wrote them.