Mid-May moans

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Well, good morning again - it's been nearly a fortnight - that's 2 weeks for those who don't know - since my last post to this blog. I cancelled my golf this morning, partly because the weather forecast wasn't great and I didn't want to get all my gear wet before heading off to Grantown-on-Spey and Boat of Garten tomorrow (our 55th outing there), but also because I wasn't sure if I could manage to play golf 3 days in a row - would my knee stand up to it?

Talking about my knee, it's been over 2 weeks since I saw the knee surgeon. He promised me I would have a letter from the physiotherapist who would fit my knee brace within a week, but nothing has happened yet. I'd quite like to have it for the weekend walking on the West coast which is planned for 2 weeks today.

What else is new? We saw a glimpse of early summer/late spring at the start of last week and I managed to get out and go for a walk up Scolty on Sunday. It was a beautiful morning and there was no sign of the snow and ice that had been there the last time I'd tried to go up a few weeks ago, when I ran in to Gary, who advised me not to try it. It's only a little hill, but we went up the quicker, steeper way. My heart condition means I have to keep stopping as I get breathless easily, but as long as I do this and take my time, I can manage OK. Coming down, there's no problem with breathlessness obviously but this is when my joints - knees and hip in particular - really hurt. Still, I was pleased I managed to do it - there may not be many - if any - more times I can manage to get to the top. Photos etc on my hill-walking blog (links on the blog sidebar).

The good weather continued until Tuesday when I had a golf tie against a young 5-handicapper. I played my best golf of the season and easily beat him, not even needing the 7 handicap strokes I was entitled to. It wasn't so nice the following day when I got pretty damp on our usual Wednesday night session.

So we've just tried to Facetime Kelly, but no answer, I'm afraid. Must try again soon - we all want to see her tummy!

Yesterday I attended a heart clinic. It was a research project run by Aberdeen University and they picked members of the public apparently at random to monitor their heart conditions. It turned out that the young doctor doing it was an American - from Oregon, no less - Salem, in fact. Apart from a couple of quick questions about the state of my health, plus a quick check of blood pressure (excellent), the main part of the survey was an ultrasound scan of the heart, from which they captured a whole range of scans for their project. At the end of it, she said that, with the exception of the known AF which is being monitored and treated, my heart was fine and there would be no need to see her again, nor any referral to my GP necessary.

Continuing on the health check theme - I know, it's endless isn't it? - the dreaded NHS letters for the annual stool monitoring for bowel cancer have just arrived. As you can imagine, it's our least favourite job (no pun intended) of the year.

Might take a walk up to Inchmarlo today and enquire again about getting a chalet booked for Christmas. My last enquiry was online and came just before the golf course went in to administration. The chalets are owned separately but were managed by the golf course business. I've been told to go there and put our names on a reserve list.

That's about all my news. It's the end of the football season - the FA Cup Final today and the final games in the Premiership next weekend. I'm planning to take a day trip down to Newcastle next Sunday to take in the final game of the season against Arsenal - it could be a crucial game for both clubs.

The other major event of the last 2 weeks in the UK was the local council elections in England & Wales, which saw the sudden, dramatic rise of UKIP (UK Independence Party) - an anti-European, anti-immigration party. There are obviously very strong feelings about both subjects down south, but they don't appear to be issues at all in Scotland. It's probably just a mid-term protest vote, but if it were to result in a major shift in UK Government policy, it might, ironically, end up being just the boost the SNP need in their apparently dwindling hopes of a Yes vote in next year's Separation for Scotland referendum. We'll watch with interest.

Enough for now.