Friday 30 March 07

Another lovely day meant I couldn't resist leaving the office early and heading for the golf course again. Syd and Dick joined me and we played 16 holes and came off at the Doo'cot.

It was Jo's last day at school before the Easter holiday break and, when I went home, she was on the phone to Lucy. Figuring it was going to last for a while, I went to the kitchen and had a look at what we could have to accompany the Lemon Sole I had brought home. There was little of substance so I just had to conjure something up - olive oil, diced red pepper, a little mild chilli powder and a splash of red wine. It seemed to go down OK and the red wine that Ross had bought from his work was pretty good.

The Friday night football crowd were meeting in the Legion and I walked up there rather briskly, thinking I was late, but it turned out I was first there. Colin, Dave and John McWhinnie eventually joined me and we had some Landlord, London Pride and, eventually, Everard's Original. Dave regaled us with tales of his holiday in Brazil - part of Jayne's 50th - and we started to plan for next Friday's Quiz Night in the golf club.

It's now Saturday morning and it looks like being another cracking day - sunshine and blue skies. It's the official season opener at noon with the annual Captain's v. Vice Captain's match. Jo is going over to Portlethen to see Gary, Carole and Luca and we'll meet up again at 5 to head down to Ballater, where we're staying at the Green Inn tonight - a gourmet delight (we hope!).

Wed/Thu 28/29 Mar 07

The weather held for Wednesday's first night of our Summer Quaich competition and it was a delight to be out again at this time of year without the need for a sweater. I arrived in good time and relaxed as I waited for my partners.

I played pretty well for a while but finished a little weakly over the last 3 holes. Still, it's good to be back to midweek golf after work.

Thursday was, as usual, a busy one at work as it's the day of our management meetings at the different sites, so it was off early to Fraserburgh, then back down to Inverurie for a quick business lunch then on the Aberdeen office. I still managed to get everything done in time (just) to allow me to get to the gym before the 4 pm deadline that my off-peak membership requires. Did a full session, followed by a few lengths in the pool and then the best bit - steam room and jacuzzi!

Jo had cooked tiger prawns and rice and it was excellent - she also bought me and Ross a home made chocolate bar from her school do.

Sunday - Tuesday 25-27 Mar 07

The clocks going forward at the weekend signalled the start of the golf season and we made the most of the excellent early season weather. Eight of us played on Sunday morning at Banchory in what was officially the last week of our Winter Grand Prix competition, although it felt more like spring and the trees are beginning to blossom as can be seen here.

It was the end of season finals at the squash club in the afternoon and, despite some deep foreboding in the air that this might be the last one held at our existing location, there was a good turnout to view the matches. For the first time for a number of years, I was a mere onlooker, but at least I was able to enjoy watching the matches.

The forecast for the next couple of days was for the good weather to continue and so I booked a time for Monday evening after work and 5 of us played on a lovely evening. I even managed to put in to practice some of the things I had been taught at my lesson on Saturday - wonders will never cease! We made a quick pit stop at the Legion afterwards and I was delighted to see they had Young's Special on - one of my all-time favourites, which I had fond memories of from many lunchtime visits to the Guinea Grill at the back of Berkeley Square, when I worked for Black & White whisky in London in the mid 1970's.

Tuesday was equally good, but I decided to give golf a miss and put in some time at the gym.

Thu/Fri/Sat 22-24 Mar 07

Thought I'd already done my blog for Thursday but it doesn't appear to be there, so here goes again. Largely uneventful day - Fraserburgh management meetings in the morning, Aberdeen in the afternoon. Got to Bannatyne's just before 4 and had a good session in the gym and pool. On the way home, I popped in to Inchmarlo and hit some balls - got to practice my drills before my next lesson on Saturday.
On Friday morning, I took Ross and Harris to their work and picked them up again at 4:30. I was playing football so Ross dropped me off at the Beach and took the car home and I got a lift back to Banchory with Malcolm, who always goes for a burger after playing, so I experienced this as well for the first time! Malcolm drove me straight to Scott Skinner's, which meant I didn't get home until 10:30 or so, by which time Jo was asleep - she'd cooked the tea and had to eat it alone - maybe it wasn't such a good idea to get a lift back to Banchory.
Saturday morning 10:00 a.m. and back to Inchmarlo for my 4th lesson from Andrew Locke. Hadn't practised or played much since the last one - and it showed. Seems I had gone backwards and I now have much work to do with the season starting.
I did some more work on setting up Jo's Ipod and also printed off the photos of Luca on photographic paper, as requested by Carole.
I was hoping for a game of racquetball at 5:30 but by the time I had got up to the courts, the rest of the guys, who had been playing doubles, were in the showers - so it was straight to the pub for a couple of beers before we went round to Keith and Annette's for a little social gathering and a nice buffet. Irene Page had organised taxis to take us to and from, but the return driver showed up early and started hassling us to leave now or not at all! We reluctantly put our coats on, but by the time we went out, he had scarpered!
Thankfully, we got a lift back with Pat McGonnigle, who wasn't drinking - it was late enough anyway, especially as the clocks were going forward.