More Luca

I was just in time to feed Luca his tea last night and here he is finishing off with a cup of water:


I showed Jo some of the photos I had taken and she reckoned I should crop and frame this one:


Barry phoned yesterday - Dad had his assessment from Erskine Glasgow and they have a place for him, but they confirmed the Social Worker's opionion that Dad will have to go on the ground floor, which is for dementia patients, many of whom also have issues like incontinence. We had originally thought that they might put him on the middle floor initially but apparently he's now past this stage.

Barry also told me he's going in to hospital next week - on Monday for an ultrasound scan and on Thursday for a probe - he's having problems with his bladder. Hope it goes OK - but I can tell he's a bit concerned.

Jo still can't look forward to her retirement whilst she still has work to do for school. I received the following joke today which I could relate to - perhaps it's not funny if you're a bit younger?:

"Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting.Well, for example, the other day my wife and I went into town and went into a shop. We were only in there for about 5 minutes. When we came out, there was a "parking ambassador" writing out a parking ticket. We went up to him and said, 'Come on man, how about giving a senior citizen a break?' He ignored us and continued writing the ticket. I called him a Nazi turd. He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn tyres.So my wife called him a Sh *thead . He finished the second ticket and put it on the windscreen with the first. Then he started writing a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more we abused him, the more tickets he wrote.Personally, we didn't care. We came into town by bus.We try to have a little fun each day now that we're retired. It's important at our age"

Friday

It was another brilliant day and we had entered a team in the Fishermen's Mission golf outing at Inverallochy - a course I had never played. There was a bit of a sea breeze there however which was just enough to persuade me to leave the shorts in the car. Glorious sands and turquoise seas were all around:

On the way back home, I phoned to see if Carole was at home and popped in for a cup of tea and to watch Luca perform his new tricks. His walking action is a hoot to watch - almost a goose step:

Porch

This is the result of the white paint on the porch ceiling - what do you think?

Spring at last!

The brilliant weather this week has brought a smile to everyone's faces - and, at last, I think I'm shaking off the final last traces of the bug I picked up a couple of weekends ago. Regained just enough energy back to look forward to last night's golf again - and it was a glorious evening in Banchory - the first time I've worn my shorts on the golf course this season:

Gary, Dave and I are down by the Dee at the 12th tee.

The painter is still at our house - it's amazing how much he has done - we didn't realise there was so much work required until he started! Jo suggested he should also do the masonry walls on the porch and it's certainly brightened things up there now. We then had a dilemma about what to do about the pine ceiling there, which had been heavily stained by water from the balcony. We thought at first a dark wood varnish would do the trick but Jo thought it would darken the whole porch so suggested a light paint instead. He's put on a white-ish colour so far and I thought it looked OK last night - although I haven't seen it in daylight yet.

Jo's out tongight for dinner with one of her school pals - Sheila - so it's pizza for Ross and I. Ross got his brown Saab bumped last week and the side panels are badly damaged. The guy has offered to pay but Ross is unsure what he is going to do with this car anyway so we'll have to wait and see.

I still haven't seen Luca walking, nor have I even seen the videos Gary has been promising to put on his blog, but Carole at least texted me the following photo of him standing unaided:

And it's a very happy 4th birthday to Braeden today - sorry we can't be there, but we're looking forward to seeing them all in Florida in just 9 weeks. The last time I saw him was when they were over in October - he fell asleep one night in the living room:

Dad

Barry sent me the following e-mail and You Tube clip link:

Click on the u-tube link at the bottom of the page to view a video clip of dads favourite song.
Barry

HOW ARE THINGS IN GLOCCA MORRAFrom Finian's Rainbow(Words by E.Y. Harburg / Music by Burton Lane)I hear a bird, Londonderry bird,It well may be he's bringing me a cheering word.I hear a breeze, a River Shanon breeze,It well may be it's followed me across the seas.Then tell me please:How are things in Glocca Morra?Is that little brook still leaping there?Does it still run down to Donny cove?Through Killybegs, Kilkerry and Kildare?How are things in Glocca Mora?Is that willow tree still weeping there?Does that lassie with the twinklin' eyeCome smilin' by and does she walk away,Sad and dreamy there not to see me there?So I ask each weepin' willow and each brook along the way,And each lass that comes a-sighin" Too ra layHow are things in Glocca Morra this fine day?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhnNQ6XXUKI

Conspiracy theory?

Ross is one of the world's great conspiracy theorists and so it was quite appropriate that, when we were all sitting watching the evening news on Thursday's TV, there was a brief article about the London bombers - remember Ross was working in London then and reckons he was on either the exact tube train or the same one immediately before the bombing.

The clip is shown below and if you watch to the end you will see somebody uncannily like Ross walking along the platform clutching something under his left arm.

Second half of the week

A quick 40 winks on Wednesday afternoon made me feel a bit better and ready for the evening's golf, and after a welcome full night's sleep it was then up to Fraserburgh the following morning. I hot-footed through the management meetings there and also in Aberdeen in the afternoon, allowing just enough time to get to Bannatyne's for a short session, which included 3 of the Powerplate exercises I had been given - like Kelly, I'm still not sure about the effectiveness of this machine, but I'll keep going for a little while.

Back to Fraserburgh again on Friday for our next update meeting with the Union, which seemed to go reasonably well, given that we weren't telling them anything they wanted to hear. They have asked us to hold follow-up staff departmental meetings which we're arranging for Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning - so much for a quiet Bank Holiday for me!

Rushed down to Banchory where Jas and I had a tie to play against the Thomsons - Stephen and Derek - both of whom Lucy will remember from school. Thankfully we beat them fairly easily and I was in good time to grab a bite before the golf club quiz night started (Jo was babysitting Luca in Inverurie). For a change, we didn't win the quiz but came in a creditable 3rd equal out of more than 30 teams.

The weather was again fair on Saturday and I enjoyed my morning round of golf (got my handicap cut again!) and also watching Man Utd beat West Ham at lunchtime, in the company of Colin and Dave.

Jo, Anne and Johanne went shopping for a mother of the bride outfit for Johanne and so Colin, Leslie and I met them at La Tasca, the Tapas restaurant for a meal prior to seeing Jethro Tull's 40th anniversary tour at the Music Hall. I started to feel a bit funny again and my voice went completely befoer we got home.

Undaunted, I got up on Sunday morning and played in lovely weather again at Torphins, but I still didn't feel right so I've been back in bed on Sunday afternoon. I guess I hadn't quite given myself enough time to recover from the previous weekend's virus - and it's been a pretty hectic week. I'll try and take it a bit easier this week - but it's looking busy again!