It's still only 4 pm, but here's Friday's diary entry. Jo seems a lot better and is now looking forward to dinner tonight - albeit she's still unsure about whether to have any wine. If I was a betting man, however ......
Jo and her pals didn't go swimming this afternoon but they still took a trip over to Westhill to do a Costco shop - after we'd walked down to the village and had a bite of lunch in the Burnett. I decided to go out for a short cycle this afternoon before the sun went down - the light starts to go about 3:30 pm at this time of year.
I was surprised I hadn't had the results of my MRI scan yet and my attempts to contact my knee surgeon had been fruitless so far, so, when I received a letter from our GP's practice today, asking me to call to make an appointment for their cardio clinic, I thought I would take the chance to check whether they had received the results of my scan - and it appears they had, so I'm going to see them on Monday. It seems a pretty convoluted way to do things - now I'm probably going to have to be referred back to the knee surgeon by my GP - seems like a lot of wasted time.
Incidentally, I couldn't get in to the cardio clinic - apparently the next one is 15th January and we're gone by then.
There's also a little uncertainty about Luca coming over tomorrow as well. Gary is contemplating entering a race on Sunday morning - his first since his collapse at Dinnet - but it's his office night out tonight and if he wakes with a hangover tomorrow, he may think twice about entering.
Ian R. Stewart Family Blog
Friday 5 December 2014
Thursday 4 December 2014
Normality (almost) returns
Jo spent yesterday in bed, but she's up and about again today - still not eating much, but definitely a good deal better. Hope she gets her full appetite back tomorrow - we've got our Xmas Dinner at the Tor-na-Coille Hotel.
Then we've got Luca staying on Saturday night.
Next Friday/Saturday, we've been invited to stay with Keith and Annette Gray, who have a week's timeshare at Gleneagles:
This week we booked our flights down to France - the first time we've been on holiday in that country since our kids were just kids. We're staying at Richard Simcox's 7 bedroom villa in the Dordogne with 4 other couples - the Cooks, the Grays, the Salters & the Grigors - in June. The villa is in a place called Dussac and there were 3 possible airports we could fly to - Limoges (an hour north), Bordeaux (two hours west) and Bergerac (90 mins south). We chose the latter, partly because of the better flying times. Here's the area:
Some of you may remember our holidays in the Vendee, which is not too far from La Rochelle, which you can see in the top left above. This was in pre-Ross days:
The week after France, we're off to USA - flying in to Denver and staying there 2 nights at:
After that, we head west to the ski resort of Breckenridge for a week:
Then it's over to Oregon, then down to southern California, back up to Oregon, then off home again at the end of July. I think we'll do a bit of travelling in USA this time - Yosemite and Death Valley are still on my wish list, so we'll see if we can squeeze these in some time.
August and September are back in Scotland then we're off to our original timeshare in Marbella in October.
Of course, before all of this, we've got our Australian trip in January/February. It'll be our first time at Kelly and Chris' place in Semaphore, which is not far from the beach:
We've got a week booked at a timeshare at a golf resort just outside Normanville, south of Adelaide:
Hectic schedule, eh? How am I going to fit my golf holidays round that?
I'm really winding down at work now - emptying desks, filing cabinets etc. It feels a bit like moving home. I'm hoping my slow, gradual withdrawal after 31 years with the Clark family and in my 50th year since I left school, will help me adjust easily to life in retirement.
Then we've got Luca staying on Saturday night.
Next Friday/Saturday, we've been invited to stay with Keith and Annette Gray, who have a week's timeshare at Gleneagles:
This week we booked our flights down to France - the first time we've been on holiday in that country since our kids were just kids. We're staying at Richard Simcox's 7 bedroom villa in the Dordogne with 4 other couples - the Cooks, the Grays, the Salters & the Grigors - in June. The villa is in a place called Dussac and there were 3 possible airports we could fly to - Limoges (an hour north), Bordeaux (two hours west) and Bergerac (90 mins south). We chose the latter, partly because of the better flying times. Here's the area:
Some of you may remember our holidays in the Vendee, which is not too far from La Rochelle, which you can see in the top left above. This was in pre-Ross days:
The week after France, we're off to USA - flying in to Denver and staying there 2 nights at:
After that, we head west to the ski resort of Breckenridge for a week:
Then it's over to Oregon, then down to southern California, back up to Oregon, then off home again at the end of July. I think we'll do a bit of travelling in USA this time - Yosemite and Death Valley are still on my wish list, so we'll see if we can squeeze these in some time.
August and September are back in Scotland then we're off to our original timeshare in Marbella in October.
Of course, before all of this, we've got our Australian trip in January/February. It'll be our first time at Kelly and Chris' place in Semaphore, which is not far from the beach:
We've got a week booked at a timeshare at a golf resort just outside Normanville, south of Adelaide:
Hectic schedule, eh? How am I going to fit my golf holidays round that?
I'm really winding down at work now - emptying desks, filing cabinets etc. It feels a bit like moving home. I'm hoping my slow, gradual withdrawal after 31 years with the Clark family and in my 50th year since I left school, will help me adjust easily to life in retirement.
Tuesday 2 December 2014
S & D strikes
Jo went round to see how Ross was on Sunday. He had recovered enough that at least he was no longer excreting from both ends, but his washing machine had broken down so Jo gathered his stuff and brought it home.
On Monday, Jo took the newly washed stuff back to Ross. That must have been when she picked up the bug, because not long after going to bed last night, it was her turn to hit the loo - the first of several visits.
Naturally, we had to cancel Jo's weekly trip to Inverurie today to pick up Luca from school, and I also decided it was best to cancel my planned trip to Edinburgh - I didn't fancy having the bug hit me when I was 100 miles from home. As it happens, I seem to have been OK so far - a little fragile, but intact at least.
Ross came round this afternoon to see how we were - and to deliver some of his home-made soup to us (I had the leek and potato for tea tonight) - and he told us his flatmate now had the nasty little bug as well.
Please - no more.
On Monday, Jo took the newly washed stuff back to Ross. That must have been when she picked up the bug, because not long after going to bed last night, it was her turn to hit the loo - the first of several visits.
Naturally, we had to cancel Jo's weekly trip to Inverurie today to pick up Luca from school, and I also decided it was best to cancel my planned trip to Edinburgh - I didn't fancy having the bug hit me when I was 100 miles from home. As it happens, I seem to have been OK so far - a little fragile, but intact at least.
Ross came round this afternoon to see how we were - and to deliver some of his home-made soup to us (I had the leek and potato for tea tonight) - and he told us his flatmate now had the nasty little bug as well.
Please - no more.
Sunday 30 November 2014
Edinburgh
We took the train from Stonehaven for our trip to the Wine Gang's annual Xmas Fair in Edinburgh. We missed the event last year as I was recuperating from my knee op, but we'd been a couple of times before with Anne & Leslie Mason. This year, Colin & Johanne Kilgour were due to join us but had cancelled when Colin got his appointment for a new hip. Sod's law, his operation was subsequently cancelled after he'd unpicked all their bookings.
The train was packed in both directions. Not surprising when it was only 3 carriages. This seems to happen frequently. Why? Packed carriages also meant no trolley service and no hot drinks either, even if you could fight your way to the buffet car.
Our accommodation was at Jury's Hotel, not far from Waverley and the Scotsman building. Edinburgh is already in full-on Xmas party mode. There were functions in our hotel and Princes St. Gardens and St. Andrews Square are both packed with Xmas stalls and entertainment, with ice skating, carousels and a large ferris wheel - all looking very Christmas-ey, especially in the dark:
We climbed the steps up Fleshmarket Close - the title of one of Ian Rankin's Rebus novels - intending to have a beer in the Halfway House, but it was pretty mobbed, so we moved next door to Jinglin' Geordie's, which I had thought was named after a historic character, but inside there's a large framed photo of the late, great George Best when he was there, looking the worst for wear, in his late playing days with Hibs. It transpired that I was right - he is a historical character, and the pub is not, after all, named after George Best - check http://www.jinglingeordie.co.uk/
We taxi'd down to the Stockbridge Tap for another beer. Jo and Anne took one of the neat little window seats:
We then walked from there to Anne & Leslie's favourite restaurant, the Loon Fung. Dinner was excellent again. Jo was fascinated by the bamboo above our heads:
To get back to our hotel, it was all uphill from Canonmills, but we broke our journey with a swift pit stop at the Cask & Barrel. Before we knew it, midnight had come and gone, so it was going to be a late start in the morning.
We had arranged to meet the Masons at the Assembly Halls at 12:30 pm, so we had plenty time to wander round before finding somewhere for a bit of brunch. We looked in to St. Andrews Square first of all, to see the old-fashioned Helter-Skelter and watch the ice skaters - thankfully, the circular rink there had been properly frozen, unlike the one in Princes St. Gardens the previous evening:
There's a small Valvona & Crolla (http://www.valvonacrolla.co.uk/) outlet at one of the rear (Rose St.) entrances to the famous Jenner's store and we had croissants, haggis roll & mince pies with our tea/coffee there.
The next trick was to find our way in to Jenner's properly, and from there down to the Toy Dept in the basement. What a maze of a place it is - the stairs, lifts and escalators in all corners of the building each only go part of the way - there's none of them can take you all the way to the top and down to the bottom, so you have to wander through the store's narrow passages to get to the next way up or down. It's completely crazy.
No matter - we made it to the Wine Fair in good time and had a nice afternoon there, taking in two Masterclasses - Penfolds' Australian Reds and Pol Roger's Champagnes. We had 9 separate wines to taste at the former, including one that sells for £150 per bottle and several £50 per bottle ones. Penfolds' origins at the Magill Estate lie in the heart of Adelaide, a city that has grown up round about it. Might be worth a visit to the Cellar Door and/or Restaurant there when we're visiting Kelly and Chris - less than 6 weeks' away now.
We had a brief mid-afternoon coffee break at Jamie's Italian restaurant downstairs:
You can tell we've had a few wines by now, can't you? Some of the Aussie ones we'd tried, with an adjacent one from Oregon too:
Jo's favourite Penfolds wine was just about the most expensive:
We also had six-figure champagne tastings. Pol Roger was Winston Churchill's tipple of choice and they now have a range named after him:
Supper had been booked in the Gallery at the Guildford Arms, overlooking the lounge bar - and very nice it was too, even if they had run out of the lamb's kidneys I had ordered.
Lazy Sunday is almost over. Jo went round to see Ross after church as he had texted us to say he had really bad S & D on Saturday night. He thinks he's on the mend now, thank goodness - not a pleasant experience, as I remember only too well from our recent golf trip to Turkey, where 5 or 6 of us came down with it.
The train was packed in both directions. Not surprising when it was only 3 carriages. This seems to happen frequently. Why? Packed carriages also meant no trolley service and no hot drinks either, even if you could fight your way to the buffet car.
Our accommodation was at Jury's Hotel, not far from Waverley and the Scotsman building. Edinburgh is already in full-on Xmas party mode. There were functions in our hotel and Princes St. Gardens and St. Andrews Square are both packed with Xmas stalls and entertainment, with ice skating, carousels and a large ferris wheel - all looking very Christmas-ey, especially in the dark:
 |
| View from Waverley across Princes St. Gardens, with the Scott Monument in dark in the middle of the festivities. |
 |
| Balmoral Hotel |
 |
| Sweeping the water off the ice in the mild temperatures |
 |
| Looking from Princes St. Gardens towards the Mound |
We climbed the steps up Fleshmarket Close - the title of one of Ian Rankin's Rebus novels - intending to have a beer in the Halfway House, but it was pretty mobbed, so we moved next door to Jinglin' Geordie's, which I had thought was named after a historic character, but inside there's a large framed photo of the late, great George Best when he was there, looking the worst for wear, in his late playing days with Hibs. It transpired that I was right - he is a historical character, and the pub is not, after all, named after George Best - check http://www.jinglingeordie.co.uk/
We taxi'd down to the Stockbridge Tap for another beer. Jo and Anne took one of the neat little window seats:
We then walked from there to Anne & Leslie's favourite restaurant, the Loon Fung. Dinner was excellent again. Jo was fascinated by the bamboo above our heads:
To get back to our hotel, it was all uphill from Canonmills, but we broke our journey with a swift pit stop at the Cask & Barrel. Before we knew it, midnight had come and gone, so it was going to be a late start in the morning.
We had arranged to meet the Masons at the Assembly Halls at 12:30 pm, so we had plenty time to wander round before finding somewhere for a bit of brunch. We looked in to St. Andrews Square first of all, to see the old-fashioned Helter-Skelter and watch the ice skaters - thankfully, the circular rink there had been properly frozen, unlike the one in Princes St. Gardens the previous evening:
There's a small Valvona & Crolla (http://www.valvonacrolla.co.uk/) outlet at one of the rear (Rose St.) entrances to the famous Jenner's store and we had croissants, haggis roll & mince pies with our tea/coffee there.
The next trick was to find our way in to Jenner's properly, and from there down to the Toy Dept in the basement. What a maze of a place it is - the stairs, lifts and escalators in all corners of the building each only go part of the way - there's none of them can take you all the way to the top and down to the bottom, so you have to wander through the store's narrow passages to get to the next way up or down. It's completely crazy.
No matter - we made it to the Wine Fair in good time and had a nice afternoon there, taking in two Masterclasses - Penfolds' Australian Reds and Pol Roger's Champagnes. We had 9 separate wines to taste at the former, including one that sells for £150 per bottle and several £50 per bottle ones. Penfolds' origins at the Magill Estate lie in the heart of Adelaide, a city that has grown up round about it. Might be worth a visit to the Cellar Door and/or Restaurant there when we're visiting Kelly and Chris - less than 6 weeks' away now.
We had a brief mid-afternoon coffee break at Jamie's Italian restaurant downstairs:
You can tell we've had a few wines by now, can't you? Some of the Aussie ones we'd tried, with an adjacent one from Oregon too:
Jo's favourite Penfolds wine was just about the most expensive:
We also had six-figure champagne tastings. Pol Roger was Winston Churchill's tipple of choice and they now have a range named after him:
Supper had been booked in the Gallery at the Guildford Arms, overlooking the lounge bar - and very nice it was too, even if they had run out of the lamb's kidneys I had ordered.
Lazy Sunday is almost over. Jo went round to see Ross after church as he had texted us to say he had really bad S & D on Saturday night. He thinks he's on the mend now, thank goodness - not a pleasant experience, as I remember only too well from our recent golf trip to Turkey, where 5 or 6 of us came down with it.
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