Spring is in the air ........?

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

The days are definitely getting longer - that's a statement of fact as we are now past the Vernal Equinox, but it's also visible, despite the fact that, inland in Banchory we still have a fair amount of snow - so much, in fact, that our golf club is talking about cancelling this weekend's season-opening Captain's v Vice-Captain's match, which would be the first time in living memory that this has had to be done.

We drove in to town on Saturday morning and, of course, there's not a sign of snow anywhere near Aberdeen - it's completely clear. I saw my Implant Surgeon and he photographed and X-rayed my mouth but gave me a clean bill of health - and also a not-so-clean bill. I thought he was going to remove my cap and put more permanent cement in, but he said he preferred not to do that as it would make it difficult to get it off in the event of an emergency or something happening to my gums.

We watched Lincoln on Saturday night - a bit dull, we both thought. A lot of dialogue and, although we know some more about the American history of the time now, we both felt a bit more of prior knowledge might have made it more enjoyable. Daniel Day Lewis was OK, but not so outstanding as the critics had suggested.

Carole and Luca popped in past in the afternoon on their way down to Lincoln. They didn't stay the night after all, but instead went to one of Carole's friends in Edinburgh before travelling further south on Sunday. Seems the timeshare is very nice.

While they were here, somebody got transfixed by Kung Fu Panda on TV:

Who is the shadowy figure staring at the box?:

Why, it's Luca of course, complete with goody box for the journey. He's really starting to stretch those legs now.

No golf on Sunday of course, so I decided to walk down for my paper - and just kept walking and walking. I hadn't had any exercise for a week and had been sedentary, spending all my time at my desk and in my car, so I needed some fresh air and to stretch the legs a bit. I walked along the river bank, past Platties, along the Deeside Way until you meet the train line coming the other way. I then doubled back, crossed the road and headed up towards Woodend Barn and popped in to Buchanan's for a coffee. Who should come in 20 minutes later but Jo and her pals from church - but she made it very evident that she wasn't going to sit beside me - she wanted to chat to her pals. Fine - I'll carry on reading the papers then.

I walked back home, mostly on hard pavements, but my knee wasn't too sore when I got home after my 10 kms + walk. It's at times like this that I wonder about the wisdom of getting the replacement.

Today, it was back to the physio for more treatment on my hand and ankle. Jo also started her physio treatment on her shoulder as well.

So that's about it, but I'll finish with what I thought was an interesting graphic:

A simple way of understanding where the Government gets all the money and what it does with it. Graphics are good - not many politicians use them to explain fundamental economics - but they should, in my humble opinion.