Cold, Colder, Coldest

Cold. Wet. Windy. Not Dundee--the Antarctic. Although Dundee was doing its best imitation thereof on the day we visited Discovery, Scott's ship built in Dundee for his expedition to the Antarctic. If you like ships, if you like science, if you wonder what it might be like to be trapped in the ice with
limited supplies until the spring thaw...well, this is the museum for you. I did learn that it's better to be in a wooden ship under these circumstances because they have more 'give' under the pressure of the ice and are less likely to be crushed. Good to know. I think. Also that the one fatality of this trip was a sailor who climbed to the crow's nest to wave goodbye to the farewell throng on the dock...and fell off. There's a lesson in there somewhere.

A couple of our other local jaunts, in no particular order: Broughty Ferry (the town) and Broughty Castle--near enough to qualify as suburban Dundee. The castle comes equipped with a great playground, so naturally, it was a popular stop, in spite of the wind, rain, and cold. We even stepped out onto the beach near the castle--briefly--and saw someone actually hip-deep in the water, fishing. Hardy folk, those Scotsmen.

Needless to say, the nearby pub was a welcome change from the windy beach, and we had dinner there in an upstairs dining room. (Now is a good time to say something about the food in Scotland: it is fresh, and freshly-prepared. Chips are just-fried and piping hot. Main dishes appear to be cooked to order. Nowhere did we have anything that tasted like it had been under a heat lamp or had been languishing in a refrigerator till it was popped into a microwave. The food was good.)

Another day, we explored Verdant Works: a museum of the jute industry. Many of you may be unaware of the fact that Dundee was the jute capital of the UK, and possibly, the world--and that there is a museum devoted to it right there in Dundee. There you can see the machinery involved in jute production, see jute in all its phases, learn about the workers who processed the fiber, and read the history and see exhibits on the many and varied uses of jute. File under "Things You Never Knew You Wanted to Know." It was actually rather interesting as it covered the waterfront (literally and figuratively) between the agricultural aspect in India, the shipping of the raw plant material back to the UK, the processing plant in Dundee, and the onslaught of the industrial revolution, and its inevitable effect on health and mortality of the workers. At one time, we were told, 80% of Dundee children died before the age of 6, and the life expectancy of the average worker here hovered in the low 30s. Living in other cities or in rural areas almost doubled your survival chances. Grim history, indeed.

Of personal note, one of the displays on the use of jute fiber for fabric (sort of a cross between linen and burlap, sometimes called 'hessian') showed a sample of decorative stitchery that I recognized as 'hardanger work'--something that my grandparents did, according to my mother. Using a fabric with a definite weave, warp and weft threads are basically tied off into patterns that provided a fancy edging or border for items as various as towels and handkerchiefs or skirts or other fabric creations.

We covered the exhibits in rather a mad dash, as Audrey was determined to complete the proffered 'Treasure Hunt"  proposed by the keeper of the museum store. We were all enlisted to locate an entire list of things to be found in the museum, and then, to hotfoot it back to the store to obtain her certificate. Many a placard was left unread in the process.

However, I daresay we will find a few more to read before the trip is done.

Next stop: "Aliens Love Underpants"????