Arise Sir Andy!

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

What a night last night - no wonder I'm tired today - we stayed up until 2:30 am watching Andy Murray finally overcome the British male hoodoo and become a winner of a Grand Slam event - after a gap of almost four generations. I think my tiredness is only partly due to lack of sleep - the rest is due to the emotional wringer that Andy always seems to put us through. Even when he was 5-2 up and serving for the match against an apparently wounded opponent, you still felt it wasn't going to be a shoe-in - but it was, and what a relief.

What was even more surprising was that Jo, who doesn't really like sport at all, stayed up with me and watched every ball too. Ross was in and out of the room, regularly checking up on the score - and adding, in his unique way, comments about there still being time for Andy to mess it up - but, for once, he didn't.

So what now for Andy? Honours certainly - Knighthood? - perhaps not yet. Sports Personality of the Year? - good chance, although several Olympians, including Mo Farah, may contest that one - and that's without mentioning Bradley Wiggins, winner of the Tour de France.

Tired though I was, I think I successfully steered our company through its annual wage negotiations with USDAW in Fraserburgh this morning, so it looks to have been a good day so far. I'll stop off at Inverurie on the way home and have a bite with Jo and Luca - and poor, sick Carole, who's got pleurisy apparently - before heading back home for an early night.

The weekend was good - especially Sunday's golf up at spectacular Castle Stuart - check the golf blog for some nice views of the course and the surrounding area.

I'm half packed for this weekend's walking trip to the Lake District. All we need now is for the weather to behave itself.

We're considering going to Ullapool for a weekend late October, to coincide with their annual beer festival, but there's a slight logistical complication in that I've also got a ticket to see The Steve Miller Band at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on the Sunday night. Watch this space for further news.

There's a Food and Beer night coming up at Milton of Crathes on 20th September - looks interesting, and so it should be at £45 per head. Here's the provisional menu:

Appetiser- Venison tartare, caper relish, coal oil, gorse flower.

Starter- Grilled smoked salmon, rockette and a

pple salad, cucumber gel.

Main- Slow braised pork belly, cauliflower purée, sweet and sour peppers, coconut porter sauce.

Cheese course- Badentoy blue cheese, toasted brioche, sweetened stout jelly.

Desert- Warm chocolate ganache tart, yoghurt sorbet.

Coffee and fudge.

Oh - and our new kitchen table arrived yesterday - and it's lovely - Jo's delighted with it. Painting the kitchen - and the chairs - will finish that project off, but we're waiting to get a plasterer to do some repair work in the downstairs WC before we call the painter back.