In Potentia 1.5 – 20 June

The first half of last week went well.  The weather wasn’t great – it’s been truly awful lately – but life was approaching normalcy.  Ordering things online, finishing a sewing project, going on walks, volunteering at the museum where we greeted cold visitors and parties of schoolchildren.   A copy of the Scottish Journal of Yarn was collected from the post office; it contains an article on ganseys, with a tribute to Gordon.

Alas, I haven’t read it carefully, as I’ve been overtaken by events.  The next day, after a morning shift at the museum, I was sitting in the lounge knitting and listening to an audiobook.  I’d just finished a stone-cold cup of tea and was about to do other things.

Wind on the Marsh

The doorbell rang.  It shouldn’t be the postie; I hadn’t ordered anything.  When the door was opened, two 7’ policemen stood outside.  “Do you know Colin Reid?”, one asked (Gordon’s older brother). When policemen ask you that, you know it’s bad.  They came in, and quickly trying to clear a sofa, they said they preferred to stand whilst I sat.  What could I say but, “Colin’s died, hasn’t he?”.  What a shock, completely unexpected.  I thought he’d live as long as his parents, who both died at 90.

Waiting

Colin, being a punctual soul, had missed the previous evening’s meeting of the motor club.  He was a very active member, being their membership secretary and organising classic car drives.  They were understandably concerned, but would check on him the next day, when one of the members had arranged to look at one of Colin’s cars.  When he arrived at the house, and Colin didn’t appear, he phoned another member, who came to the house.  Then they phoned the police, who found Colin when they entered the property. 

Grasses and Buttercups

The police couldn’t find a record of next of kin, but they did find an address book in the house. Mine was the first name they found with the same surname.  Consequently, Police Scotland were sent, who performed their duties admirably. They said they had a duty of care, and could not have been more helpful, even offering cups of tea.  They even notified the neighbours, when I said I’d visit after making some phone calls. My lovely neighbours poured me a wee dram of brandy, and we raised our glasses to Colin.

Colin at his Dad’s funeral reception

Today, his nearby cousins and I have more information.  The Coroner has been contacted regarding next of kin.  There will be a postmortem; the results will arrive within a week.  The death was not deemed suspicious, so hopefully it will be straightforward.  Until then we wait.  But the sun is mostly out and it’s nearly warm, and stress levels have dropped.

The next Gansey.  As you can see, the next gansey hasn’t been started yet, but this is due not to recent events, but to lack of organisation.  The recipient has chosen the colour – Frangipani Sea Spray – and pattern charting is in progress.  The measurements should be dropped off soon, when I can start calculations.  And the blog is late this week due to internet failure.