From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/
It's back to work today, but it's still fairly quiet here so I'll head home early again.
I've watched the news video of Kelly's dramatic rescue umpteen times today (http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/national/watch/27757738/) and each time I see her wobbly little chin, I want to burst into tears. She so nearly did that herself. Wish we could be there now, but I suppose it's only another 6 weeks or so until we see her in the flesh again.
Before that, we've got Aberfoyle this weekend - lunch with Dawn and Barry at the Lade Inn (http://www.theladeinn.com/) on Saturday then back home on Monday - just in time for the Gas Man to fit our hall radiator. Only a couple of weeks until Gary, Ross and I go to Firhill to sample the Corporate Hospitality at the Dundee match - hope the weather stays fair.
We've now got up to Episode 16 of The Killing - just 4 to go now - exciting stuff!
And another milestone has been passed - we've had over 16,000 viewings of this blog now - wow!
Ian R. Stewart Family Blog
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Monday, 2 January 2012
So much to write about!
From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/
So much has happened since my last posting that I could fill a few pages, but I think it's best to start with the most recent. We had just had breakfast this morning and I was casually trawling Facebook and my eyes bulged as I read Kelly's posting about her near-death experience in the waters off South Australia. We managed to get her on Skype and she seems fine - thanks goodness she's always been a good swimmer and is so strong and fit now - otherwise she would never have survived two and a half hours in the ocean.
As most now know, Chris headed off for shore and got there after an hour and a half swim and summonsed the rescue boat. Kelly was in the water for over two and a half hours with Chris' Dad and uncle - ages 65 and 73 respectively, with the uncle being a very poor swimmer, and only one lifejacket between the three of them. Kelly thought they were going to lose Chris' uncle - he mentally gave up fairly quickly, saying he couldn't keep going as the three of them tried to swim to shore, making absolutely no headway in the heavy seas. Chris' uncle lost consciousness and has been kept in hospital, but they think he will recover OK.
Kelly didn't know what to fear most - the threat of sharks, who are known to frequent these waters - the heavy seas that were crashing round about them - or Chris' uncle not surviving. Chris' Dad survived OK, but was treated for hypothermia, but Kelly was fine - she heated up again just sitting in the sun! South Australia has been having a heatwave, with temperatures of 40 degrees C.
Kelly said they were on Channel 7 News - Chris spoke to the camera, but Kelly could only offer a trembling lip - she couldn't actually utter any words! I haven't been able to find this clip on the web yet, but I did find a brief news report in one of the local papers - http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/four-rescued-from-capsized-boat-near-granite-island-victor-harbor/story-e6frea83-1226234956192. Perhaps there will be more available tomorrow.
I'm shaking just thinking about it as I write this.
Then, of course, we had Luca's 5th birthday party on Friday. Jo and I went over to have lunch with Carole and Luca, with Gary joining us later after getting home early from work. Here's Luca looking very pleased with himself, in anticipation of his chocolate birthday cake:
Here's a short video of him blowing out the candles, then rushing to the door as the bell rings and yet another present arrives - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1LwMbDNX_E&list=UUBDeleoM99bWx2-P6rMydgA&index=1&feature=plcp
The next day was Hogmanay and there was a late change of plan. We had originally planned to have dinner at Ann & Leslie Mason's, just round the corner in Birch Grove - it was their turn to host, but there were complications with Ann's mother which resulted in her asking if we wouldn't mind hosting dinner. Ann would still do all the cooking and just bring it round to ours. No problem we said - all we had to do now was clean the house and set the table.
Jo followed me round as I dusted and hoovered, making corrections as I put ornaments back in place. She was practising her own particular brand of feng-shui in our front room, and this is how it looked before our guests arrived:
The evening went well and we were able to step out on the balcony after the bells to watch the Tor-na-Coille Hotel's Firework show from the golf course - there's a short clip of it here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oUQDrjDrRA&list=UUBDeleoM99bWx2-P6rMydgA&index=2&feature=plcp
Ne'erday was a bit of a write-off - we were too tired to move, although Jo did cook her traditional steak pie. Today was better - a lovely day - crisp and bright, so, after assuring ourselves that Kelly was OK, we headed off to Stonehaven for a short walk to try to get rid of our lethargy and blow away the cobwebs. I had spotted the walk in one of the books that Jo had bought some time ago - this was our route:
We started off in Market Square and walked down to the beach, where we came across this model boat:
Along past the harbour, then up the hill to the clifftops overlooking the town:
By the time we got round to Dunnottar Castle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunnottar_Castle - where parts of Hamlet, starring Mel Gibson and Glenn Close, were shot) it was pretty blowy, as you can tell from this photo:
The castle was closed, of course:
Our route was a circular one that took us through Dunnottar Woods, where we came across what they called the Shell House:
Nothing to do with the oil company of that name - much simpler than that as can be seen from the inside:
We finished our walk back down in the harbour, where we went to the Marine Hotel for a swift pint (me) and coffee (Jo).
So much has happened since my last posting that I could fill a few pages, but I think it's best to start with the most recent. We had just had breakfast this morning and I was casually trawling Facebook and my eyes bulged as I read Kelly's posting about her near-death experience in the waters off South Australia. We managed to get her on Skype and she seems fine - thanks goodness she's always been a good swimmer and is so strong and fit now - otherwise she would never have survived two and a half hours in the ocean.
As most now know, Chris headed off for shore and got there after an hour and a half swim and summonsed the rescue boat. Kelly was in the water for over two and a half hours with Chris' Dad and uncle - ages 65 and 73 respectively, with the uncle being a very poor swimmer, and only one lifejacket between the three of them. Kelly thought they were going to lose Chris' uncle - he mentally gave up fairly quickly, saying he couldn't keep going as the three of them tried to swim to shore, making absolutely no headway in the heavy seas. Chris' uncle lost consciousness and has been kept in hospital, but they think he will recover OK.
Kelly didn't know what to fear most - the threat of sharks, who are known to frequent these waters - the heavy seas that were crashing round about them - or Chris' uncle not surviving. Chris' Dad survived OK, but was treated for hypothermia, but Kelly was fine - she heated up again just sitting in the sun! South Australia has been having a heatwave, with temperatures of 40 degrees C.
Kelly said they were on Channel 7 News - Chris spoke to the camera, but Kelly could only offer a trembling lip - she couldn't actually utter any words! I haven't been able to find this clip on the web yet, but I did find a brief news report in one of the local papers - http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/four-rescued-from-capsized-boat-near-granite-island-victor-harbor/story-e6frea83-1226234956192. Perhaps there will be more available tomorrow.
I'm shaking just thinking about it as I write this.
Then, of course, we had Luca's 5th birthday party on Friday. Jo and I went over to have lunch with Carole and Luca, with Gary joining us later after getting home early from work. Here's Luca looking very pleased with himself, in anticipation of his chocolate birthday cake:
Here's a short video of him blowing out the candles, then rushing to the door as the bell rings and yet another present arrives - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1LwMbDNX_E&list=UUBDeleoM99bWx2-P6rMydgA&index=1&feature=plcp
The next day was Hogmanay and there was a late change of plan. We had originally planned to have dinner at Ann & Leslie Mason's, just round the corner in Birch Grove - it was their turn to host, but there were complications with Ann's mother which resulted in her asking if we wouldn't mind hosting dinner. Ann would still do all the cooking and just bring it round to ours. No problem we said - all we had to do now was clean the house and set the table.
Jo followed me round as I dusted and hoovered, making corrections as I put ornaments back in place. She was practising her own particular brand of feng-shui in our front room, and this is how it looked before our guests arrived:
The evening went well and we were able to step out on the balcony after the bells to watch the Tor-na-Coille Hotel's Firework show from the golf course - there's a short clip of it here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oUQDrjDrRA&list=UUBDeleoM99bWx2-P6rMydgA&index=2&feature=plcp
Ne'erday was a bit of a write-off - we were too tired to move, although Jo did cook her traditional steak pie. Today was better - a lovely day - crisp and bright, so, after assuring ourselves that Kelly was OK, we headed off to Stonehaven for a short walk to try to get rid of our lethargy and blow away the cobwebs. I had spotted the walk in one of the books that Jo had bought some time ago - this was our route:
We started off in Market Square and walked down to the beach, where we came across this model boat:
Along past the harbour, then up the hill to the clifftops overlooking the town:
By the time we got round to Dunnottar Castle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunnottar_Castle - where parts of Hamlet, starring Mel Gibson and Glenn Close, were shot) it was pretty blowy, as you can tell from this photo:
The castle was closed, of course:
Our route was a circular one that took us through Dunnottar Woods, where we came across what they called the Shell House:
Nothing to do with the oil company of that name - much simpler than that as can be seen from the inside:
We finished our walk back down in the harbour, where we went to the Marine Hotel for a swift pint (me) and coffee (Jo).
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