Saturday Stories

Well, I finally got BUPA sorted out and I'm going to get the injection in my knee on Tuesday. I had also hoped to get our BOSE sound system sorted yesterday - the upstairs part hasn't been working for a while - the control box had blown - and our man from Alford was scheduled to come back and fit the repaired part, which he did, but it didn't work.

Andrew - the BOSE man - reckoned it was partly due to the way that his father had set up the system back in the late 90's. The unit is from the first series and BOSE are now on to series 4 - they don't make any of the 3 previous series any more. However, Andrew apparently has a couple of spare series 2 units and he's going to fit them instead - eventually.

Today (Saturday) Jo and I went Christmas tree hunting - Jo had gone to her usual source (Raemoir Garden Centre) yesterday but they had completely sold out - so we drove down to Glentanar this morning, where we used to get our tree in years gone by, but the place was closed - it looked like they're not doing trees at all this year.

On the way back home, we saw a sign for Xmas trees so we turned left towards Deeside Activity Centre, turning off into a woodland just past the Falls of Dess, and we managed to pick up a nice one there, which now has pride of place in our living room:

Xmas tree safely in the bag, we stopped off at Dee's Teas in Kincardine O'Neil for a spot of lunch. The tea and coffee was served in proper old-fashioned cups:

Tomorrow, Dawn, Barry & Helen are coming up to see us.

To close, brother-in-law Brian texted me the following photo of him with the Ryder Cup. That's Stephen Gallacher, who played for Europe, second from the left, with his hand on Brian's shoulder:

Farewell Fraserburgh

After 30 years of travelling up and down to work in Fraserburgh, I attended my last 3 Management Meetings there this morning. As The Proclaimers might have said Fraserburgh no more, Memsie no more, Strichen no more .......

Tomorrow, it's Aberdeen - and same again on Tuesday - and then it's over.

Tomorrow I'm picking up our smoked salmon for Christmas. I had hoped to get the injection in my knee as well, but there's been a blip with BUPA, my private health insurer, and my surgeon is trying to clear this up - if he can't, then I have 2 options - either go for the operation, which BUPA would pay for, or just pay Albyn's fees myself.

The countdown continues.

3 days to go!

Another day out of the way - just tomorrow, Thursday and next Tuesday to go now. Today was my final Board Meeting and it also confirmed my formal resignation as a Director of the various Group Companies.

It was also agreed that I could keep my company car - it's just about to trip over the 100,000 mile mark, but it's running well - hope it continues to do so for a while yet.

That's all the news now from limbo-land.

Weekend news

I made it along to our Cyclists' Group lunch at the golf club on Thursday, but I'm glad I had to work and go to Albyn Hospital in the morning - I certainly wouldn't have cycled, although 8 of our group did, and half of them had a tumble on the black ice.

Our journey down to Gleneagles on Friday was smooth enough, although we didn't risk Cairn o' Mount, having heard the stories of the 20 motorists who got stuck near the top on Thursday and had to be rescued. Black ice was the danger - we still haven't had any snow here in Banchory, although the Angus hills were white as was most of Perthshire.

Golf at Gleneagles was out of the question. Our host, Keith Gray, had booked a tee time on the PGA Centenary course, where they had recently played the Ryder Cup, but there was so much snow there, that the courses were closed all week. Plan B was for Keith and I to go for a cycle round the estate, using the two mountain bikes each lodge had, but that was out of the question too.

Despite the weather interventions, we had a really nice time. We arrived about noon and Annette had prepared a lunch of soup and sannies for us, after which we all headed off for the superb leisure complex. The main pool was amazingly quiet, as was the separate Adults section, where Jo was delighted to be able to get 20 lengths in.

The main pool has an outdoor section, which is pretty cool - literally, overhead anyway. We followed that with a beer in the main hotel bar, where we spotted Bill Beaumont, ex England rugby captain - and a former team captain on Question of Sport. There was lots of stuff going on in the hotel, including a Jersey Boys theme night.

Keith and Annette's son, Ross, was also staying in the (3-bedroom) villa with his wife Susie. They had dinner in the Dormy House and who should be at the next table, but former First Minister, Alex Salmond.

We had dinner in the relatively casual Deseo restaurant, where we were able to pick our steaks and seafood from the butchers' and fishmongers' slabs.

On Saturday morning, after breakfast, Jo and I took a wander round the estate. It was a nice, but cold, morning and it also gave me a chance to ensure I had got rid of the last of the alcohol from last night. With Scotland's new drink-driving restrictions now in place, you can't be too careful.

Our walk took in the Dormy House, where there was still loads of memorabilia etc from the Ryder Cup, including this display cabinet, with signatures of the players:

The hotel too is still bedecked with Ryder Cup stuff, including the famous fish tank full of yellow and blue fish only - the European colours:

Here's Jo and I outside the hotel:

There was a Craft Fair in the hotel and there we bought our weekend meals - fish pie for Saturday and Scallops for Sunday. Driving home, we went through Auchterarder, which must have the longest High St. in Scotland. Cairn o' Mount was well gritted and it was safe for us to go over the top.

I met Colin for our usual early Saturday evening beer and footy. On the way there, I thought St. Columba's Church was nicely lit and stood out - a little spooky perhaps:

It thawed overnight so I decided to go for a cycle on Sunday morning, and also do a pub survey at the Learney Arms, Torphins. I got a text from Jo when I got there, telling me I'd locked her out of the house - again! I hot-footed it back, taking the main roads - something I normally avoid - but when I got home, Jo wasn't there. Perhaps she went to Tease, or to Ross', or perhaps Anne's? None of these were correct - she'd walked to Morrison's to place our order for Xmas turkey.

Come 5 pm, I suggested we should go for a walk round Banchory and do the local pub surveys. We started at the furthest point - Scott Skinner's - and worked back from there to the Legion, Burnett and, finally, the Douglas. Job done - now just the database to update - and, of course, the rest of Deeside to do as well.

Monday morning has started nice and bright, but the temperature has dropped again and the black ice is back. Hope it doesn't disrupt this afternoon's cycle too much.

Tomorrow is my final Board meeting, when I officially tender my resignation as a Director of the various companies. Just 4 days work left for me now.