Back to just the two of us

Gary picked up Luca on Friday night after work and took him home to see his Mum after a week with us. He was good - but we were not. Struggling with this persistent cough/cold all week, it was hard to keep our energy levels up to match Luca's. We hope he had fun - he always seems to smile and enjoy his visits to the old fogeys in Banchory, but he must realise by now that his Mum and Dad have a bit more get up and go about them than we do.

It was great that the weather was nice all week and he was able to get outdoors. His favourite spot is climbing up the little former "Bonnie Banchory" slope, where the old Deeside railway line used to cross the main road:

I played my first competition "Medal" at Banchory on Saturday afternoon - not very well - and had a friendly bounce game on Sunday morning. Most of the evening entertainment from Thursday to Sunday, however, was the televised Masters golf from Augusta, Georgia. It was great - beautiful place, which I had the privilege to visit back in 2006 - and it always seems to kick off the golf season proper in the Northern Hemisphere for most amateurs.

Today (Monday) it was golf again for me in a Seniors match at Banchory. The weather's still fine, albeit a bit cooler than last week. I had hoped to come home to find my new iPhone had arrived. It was supposed to have been delivered on Saturday morning but never arrived, so I assumed it would come today - but, again, no sign. Quick call to Vodafone who traced it to the couriers' depot in Aberdeen. I am now assured that I will get a text tonight telling me exactly when it will arrive tomorrow - and even the driver's name. We'll see. It's the usual inefficient and unreliable service that seems to happen all the time nowadays - and it's a little inconvenient too as we had planned to go in to Aberdeen tomorrow, but I guess I need to wait a while now.

You may remember the little red squirrel that is a regular morning visitor to the trees opposite our bedroom. We first started seeing him regularly during my long convalescence period after my knee replacement and I've tried on many occasions to get a proper camera shot of him/her, but, this afternoon, he/she was back, feeding on the new shoots and buds on the sycamore tree and I was finally able to get my camera focused on him/her as he/she fed:

Satisfaction at last!