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Hi, Rusty!
Yes, I have been to Barra - and I have read all about Dundee, including the making of marmalade which we came across in "Centennial".
So you think that Mabel Michener was James' birth mother?
I haven't come across enough details so far about this to be able to assess the situation?
It is just that he compares himself to one of his friends , saying that they are both orphans, that made me wonder whether the adoption was not successful?
Yes, I met Uncle Arthur much earlier....it didn't occur to me at the time that he might be James' father?
Will I meet Uncle Arthur again then?
This "time -travelling" is a bit like "The Time Traveller's Wife" ....or a trip in the Tardis!

Hello, Elle,
No, I think Uncle Arthur is Mabel's brother.
I am sure that somewhere in his books he says that amongst the ten or more orphans that Mabel adopted, he was the only one given the Michener surname.
So, you have been to Barra and Dundee!
Dundee used a own a large lump of Texas!
We have a financial company here called the Alliance Investment Trust. It is one of the biggest in Britain.
But it was founded in the nineteenth century to invest money in Hawaii and the West.
It has had several names over the years which reflected that.
The biggest ranch in Texas was the Matador, owned by Dundee investors, and run by folk like Finlay Perkin.
I do not know "The Time Travellers Wife"?

Hi, Rusty!
I haven't yet come across James' having ten or more adopted brothers and sisters? Unless of course, I missed that bit?
James is in now back on Barra and just going to Mass with the two sisters!
Yes, Dundee figures quite a bit in both this autobiography and in "Centennial"
"The Time Traveller's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger is the story of a man who suffers from a rare genetic disorder that causes him to move back and forth uncontrollably throughout time.
On one trip he meets the love of his life and marries her.
But because Henry cannot remain in one time and place, he and his wife are repeatedly out of synchronisation.
One time, for instance , he didn't even remember meeting her, let alone being married to her, because he was in a different time sequence.
There is a film, too, based on the book.

Hello, Elle,
There is a piece in the Michigan Quarterly Review in which Michener states that he grew up with "eight or nine other abandoned children."
Have you been with the sisters to see the "wee folk"?
Michener fair gets about, doesn't he?
"The World is His Home" right enough!
I do not like the sound of The Time Traveller's Wife.
I heard earlier that Jess Ennis has been awarded a gold medal for a World Championship she was placed in.
The winner, a Russian, had taken dope.
I am pleased for Jess, but a poor way to receive your gold medal. Several years later and possibly through the post!

Hi, Rusty!
Ah yes, I have travelled twice now with Morag to visit the wee folk.
No, I doubt you would like "The Time Traveller's Wife".
My mentioning it wasn't meant to be a recommendation; it was just that the time- jumping concept came into my head!
I didn't get on with the book very well, although I did finish reading it.
It was almost a sort of science fiction novel......
I believe that the author, though, did win a literary award for it.
I didn't hear this latest about Jess?
But quite a number of "higher placed" medals have now been awarded belatedly to other athletes, as the original owners of the medals have retrospectively been disqualified for drug offences.
As you say, so sad that the glory that would have accompanied a medal -winning ceremony was denied to the recipient.
I think our own Jenny Meadows has probably suffered from this.
Right, I am tired... a hot drink...then bed......

Good morning, Rusty!
A beautiful day here......but bitterly cold!
Minus 3C when I went out with the dog!
I am away out now to meet my old school friend for lunch.
I am trusting that the trams are back to normal service, as I shall need to use the line affected by the crash.
I shall be home again about tea-time.
I hope you have a good day.....
Talk later......

Good morning, Elle!
I am glad you visited the "wee folk"!
Google Jess and you will find the story of her "gold".
I do feel sorry for her and the others who were cheated of medals at the time.
Grey skies here today, but mildish.
Been to my garage to try and pay for work done, but he asked me to pop in next week!
Hard work giving that man money!

Hi again, Rusty!
I am not sure whether our posts might have crossed?
(If you type as slowly as I do, then they probably did!)
I shall look up Jess and her Gold medal when I return......
Fortunately for my also running very late.......our lunch meeting has just been put back by 30 minutes by my friend...
So I am off to get the tram now.........

Good evening, Rusty!
I got home much later than originally planned!
I decided to go into Croydon on the way back.
The trams ran very sedately - there are notices up everywhere to ensure passengers of their safety.
Added speed restrictions have been put into place.
We had a very nice lunch - a bit of a swan song as my friend moves to Devon mid- December!
She and her husband are moving to live nearer to their son and his family.
I have read up about Jess' belated Gold medal award.
She sounds thrilled, but how much better it would have been had she been awarded the "correct" medal at the right time and in the right place!
What have you been up to today?

Hello, Elle,
I think the trams should run very sedately on that bend, though it is too late for those who died there.
Yes, Jess is thrilled, so that's good!
But a pity it happened to begin with.
I have had a quiet day.
Spoke to my phone supplier about leaving them for another company and was immediately switched to "retentions" dept, who offered me a very good deal to stay.
I thanked them and said i would ponder it and let them know tomorrow.
Just finished the crossword.
A disappointing setter. He thinks a "Pawnee" is an Indian.
That grates!
And there is another answer which he said is to with Cockneys.
And I do not have a clue about it, and nor do I want to!
Rant over!