It didn't end there either as I played in the Medal on Saturday as well - great first nine and then the tiredness kicked in on the back nine. It was a no-brainer to cancel my scheduled Sunday golf after this.
We went to the movies last Monday evening as well - a preview screening of "Chef", courtesy of my Times + membership. Not bad - good (Cuban) music.
Jo was down in Edinburgh on Saturday, shopping for summer clothes with Anne Mason, so I was left to fend for myself. It was the start of the Banchory River Festival - a new name for the old St. Ternan's Fair. There didn't seem to be all that much happening, however, although I did spot a pipe band playing at the Square:
Yesterday, of course, was Father's Day and I was paid a surprise visit by Gary and Luca, who took me for a coffee at Tease, where Ross was working. Luca's second teeth are starting to show in the gap at the front where he lost his 2 baby teeth recently:
Today (Monday) I had an appointment at Aboyne hospital. When you reach 65, they now automatically screen you in case you have an abdominal aortic aneurysm. It took mere minutes - a quick ultrasound scan and then I was given the all-clear - no sign of anything.
Talking about medical stuff, I spotted this article recently:
Can't the Medics make their mind up? They're worse than the Dieticians. Because I have AF, I've been taking baby aspirins for years - and they're entero coated, which apparently means they don't eat away at your stomach, which seems to be the main complaint in the article above.
Jo had travelled down to Aboyne hospital with me today so we thought we would go for a walk afterwards - it was a beautiful, hot, sunny day. We parked the car at the road that leads down to Bellwade Farm, the World Horse Welfare Centre, and walked from there past the White Cottage to meet up with the Deeside Way, heading back towards the Falls of Dess, where I had cycled on Thursday:
It had only taken us half an hour to get to the Falls, so we decided to walk on, to see where the path might take us. We passed an odd-shaped tree which had been given two eyes and labelled the Mammut Tre (for Mammoth Tree?):
We were rewarded eventually when we arrived at Deeside Activity Park - time for refreshments, we thought. It was the Seniors lunch day and the staff were run off their feet, so we decided it would be easier to just buy 2 Diet Cokes and sit out the back:
Our route back was identical. When we arrived back at the wooden bridge over the Dess, it was time for another photo:
There were plinths either side of the bridge and Jo duly posed there:
(The plinths are, of course, for dismounting and re-mounting your horse on either side of the bridge).
We got back to the car eventually, prepared to head down to Bellwade Farm for coffee and scones, but we had neglected to notice the sign that said the coffee shop there was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Nonetheless, we drove the 1.5 miles down the road where I had a puncture on my bike last Thursday, just to let Jo see what a nice spot it was. There's even a stone circle there:
You can decide what it was meant to be - camel, cow, moose? Not exactly a classic in the vein of the various White Horses you see carved out on chalk throughout these islands.
I took a wander while Jo just soaked up the rays:
Finally, it was time to go seek coffee and a scone elsewhere. Our first port of call was Kincardine O'Neil, but the cafe there was closed as well, so we headed back to Banchory and sat outside the tearoom at Inchmarlo:
I had put my bike in to the local cycle shop in the morning to get them to replace both inner tubes and, by the time we were back in Banchory, the bike was ready. Result.
Nice day. For the record, our walk was 4 miles and it took us 2 hours 12 minutes (including stops), with climbs totalling 367 feet.
Tomorrow it's back to work - Aberdeen and Fraserburgh - with tea in Inverurie.
