Friday frustration

Well, I was supposed to be golfing at Blairgowrie today but ended up stuck at home all day. I finally got a response yesterday from the fitter who was to install our replacement shower, cubicle etc in our en suite - he could come tomorrow (today - Friday)! Blow me, what a day to choose, but I couldn't put him off as I didn't know when next he could do it - or we were available - and our USA holiday is less than 2 weeks away now.

He and his mate finished the job not long after 4 pm, but there was a pile of debris to shift - mostly cardboard and polystyrene - and the recycle centre closes at 5 pm, so I had to load the car quickly and dash up there. It's all done now, so we look forward to using our new shower once it's settled.

I whiled away a chunk of the morning giving the old garden seat that sits in the back a lick of paint. One more should do it and then we'll put it out in the elements again.

Yesterday (Thursday), Jo and I took a trip up to Douneside House (http://www.dounesidehouse.co.uk/) in Tarland. They had a promotion on at their health club, offering free entry to newcomers, so we went for a swim/sauna/steam room etc and followed it with lunch in the main house, which they've just spent 3 years refurbishing:

Nice grounds and gardens too - well worth a visit:

On the way home, we stopped at Tomnaveerie Stone Circle, where Jo posed on the one recumbent stone, with Morven in the background:

Last night we broadcast another live show on River Dee Radio - our next one comes up next Monday and I might manage one more before we go to USA.

Tomorrow there's a CAMRA branch meeting in Stonehaven and then on Sunday, we're heading down to Glasgow for a family lunch, picking up Dawn at her new flat on the way. On Monday, we're paying a quick visit over to see Brian and Mary at Julie's. Then it's golf for me on Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday afternoon, Thursday evening, then a hill-walk on Friday. Definitely going to need a holiday after all that!

Good to hear Scott's recovering - albeit slowly - he'll be off work for 3 months and is stuck in his neck brace for 6 weeks at least.

Still on the medical theme, Jo got her exercise schedule from the physiotherapist on Wednesday, so she knows exactly what to do - and what not to do - now.

Midweek update

Well, I'm home safely from my 3 days of golf at Dalmahoy and, although a little tired, I'm very pleased to say that, despite my prior fears, my knee is not feeling too bad. In fact, I'm going to play again this afternoon. I've also got golf on Friday at Blairgowrie and I'm hoping for another game on Monday with brother-in-law Brian as we're heading over to Elderslie and Houston after spending Sunday night at Barry and Helen's - we've got the big family dinner on Sunday at the Three Craws again.

June is always the busiest month for golf - and I missed it last year as we went to USA a bit earlier than usual - and it's a question of cramming them in before we go away on the 29th - just over 2 weeks now. Next week, as well as golf with Brian on Monday, I've got golf at Edzell on Tuesday, hopefully Banchory on Wednesday and then our annual trip to Balmoral on Thursday evening.

With all this golf, there's no room for cycling, particularly when I'm also trying to keep up a regular series of hill-walks. We did Glen Dye last Friday (check http://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.co.uk/ for photos) and are planning another one next Friday (23rd).

Anyway, that was quite a shock when we heard about Scott's dirt bike accident. He seems to be making a habit of going to hospital at this time of year. We all wish him a speedy recovery - not least because we need our BBQ king back in action for our arrival in Oregon on 17th July!!!!

We're having fun and games with our holiday plans. We received an email from Marriott yesterday confirming the cancellation of our 5 night stay on Hilton Head Island - what???? Must be some gremlin in the system as I certainly didn't cancel it. As we speak, Marriott are trying to sort it out - fingers crossed. As if that wasn't enough, United are mucking about our schedule again - we got notification this morning that our journey from Memphis to Medford will now be a 3 leg affair, rather than just 2 - going through Chicago now as well as Denver. Grrr.

What else is on the horizon? Another live broadcast on River Dee Radio tomorrow night, and then a CAMRA branch meeting in Stonehaven on Saturday.

This morning, Jo's got her first physio appointment - hope she can get some help from this.

To close, here's a photo of the old house at Dalmahoy, where I stayed this last weekend. It's just a mile or two from our old home in Balerno and it's where I used to play squash regularly with my American work colleagues back in the early 80's:

The journey down there means crossing the Forth Road Bridge and you get close-up views of the magnificent new bridge which is rapidly nearing completion. It's going to be quite a tourist hot-spot as people come to admire the spectacle of the three bridges (including the rail bridge) side by side.