Driveway developments

On the left is day 2 and day 3 is on the right. As ever, there have been delays - the blocks were late in arriving and then they didn't deliver enough of the kerbs, so it looks like the work is not going to be finished until the middle of next week now - and then we have separate contractors coming in to re-harl the dividing wall and put new coping stones on top.

Our neighbours, with one excpetion have been great about the disruption - especially considering we didn't really give them any notice about it - Everest finally told us last week they were coming in on Tuesday and, of course, we were down in Cornwall over the weekend visiting Kelly and Craig and never got back until Monday evening.

The exception is the new girl next door at no.3, Irene. She apparently confronted the builders on Wednesday after I'd gone to work and poor Ross also had to face her barrage. On Thursday morning, she slipped a letter through our door saying that she had "retained" solicitors.

After Jo, Ross and I had our supper at the golf club last night, I decided to type up a letter to all our neighbours apologising for our poor communications and thanking them for their patience and understanding. The one to Irene I personalised by adding the comment that we would ensure there was no detrimental effect to her property or driveway, and if there were any problems we were more than happy to sit down and discuss them. We'll wait and see how it goes!

Tuesday

Back to work this morning but I had to hang behind to see the contractors who were starting on our driveway today. Jo had dropped off notes in the neighbours houses to warn them there may be a bit of disruption and I wanted to ensure the workmen would minimise any inconveniencce to our neighbours.

I don't think any of us realised how big a job it was going to be - there were 2 or 3 vans plus one huge lorry and a skip plus lots of gear and men. When we came home in the evening, the drive had been cleared - what a sight it was - see above.

Cornwall (2)

It was dreich and drab on Sunday morning and golf was a definite no-no, so we all decided it was an opportunity to go to see the Eden Centre.

It's unique and we've all now got passes valid for a year, so Scott and Lucy will be able to go there next month too.

After lunch we drove back to St Ives with a brief pit stop at the house so that Craig could pick up his board and wet suit - he gets a bit stir crazy if he doesn't get in the water each day! We had a couple of beers then headed back to the house, with one car stopping off at Tesco to buy groceries for our evening meal, which Carole offered to cook. Disaster - all the Tesco's shut at 7:00 pm on Sunday! Back to the takeaway again - this time fish and chips, with a generally more acceptable DVD this time (K-Pax).

Craig had to go to work on Monday morning but the rest of us had ample time for a long walk over the dunes and the railway line to the beach. The tide was going out and it seemed like we walked miles just to paddle in the sea.

Eventually we headed off to the airport, with me driving Jo in the Beetle and Kelly taking Gary, Carole and Luca in the hired car. Our flight was delayed but we still got back to Banchory by 6 pm - and we were in bed before 9!

Weekend in Cornwall (1)

The lead up to the Aberdeen holiday weekend was hectic. Stan and Gary came round on Wednesday and did the final measurements on the planned back window and spiral staircase. Stan amazed me by telling me he would need a deposit for the staircase - fair enough - but he was also going to bill me for the new window he put in the front of our house either last year or the year before! He hadn't got round to billing me for it and only realised this when he received an invoice at the weekend from the window frame manufacturer!

Thursday was a trip to the dentist to look at a tooth I had been having difficulty with - she thinks there's no problem and went through the X-ray in great detail with me to prove it - we'll wait and see.

On Friday I took Ross to his work (2 days in a row!) and picked him up in the evening after a game of golf at Ellon.

We left Banchory early on Saturday morning to catch the flight from Edinburgh to Newquay. It was quite an easy drive down and check in was very simple. Gary, Carole and Luca arrived about 10 minutes after us - Gary looking very pale at the prospect of flying again!

Kelly and Craig met us in both cars - one of them hired after somebody ran in to the back of Kelly's. We stopped off for lunch at the Smuggler's Den. Kelly, like everyone else, was smitten by Luca, not having seen him for a few months - see above.

The house we had rented was magnificent, with a superb view of the sea and the bay - see the view from the lounge above. Craig and I went for a wander and popped in to see the pro at West Cornwall Golf Club, which the house overlooked - he agreed to let us have a game on Sunday morning.

We opted for takeaways in the evening and watched the Babel DVD - mixed feelings - everyone bar Gary either fell asleep or went to bed before the end!