Great stuff, Gary!
Ian R. Stewart Family Blog
Saturday 3 January 2015
Gary runs at Lumphanan
Forgot to say about Gary's return to competitive running - he had an excellent result at the Lumphanan Detox yesterday:
Great stuff, Gary!
Great stuff, Gary!
Knee problems again
My left knee - the one that hadn't been replaced but had an injection just before Xmas - is causing problems. I suspect my cycle on Hogmanay worsened the tear in my cartilage. It was very sore when I went to bed after our dinner party and all day Ne'erday. Yesterday, I did manage to walk - slowly and carefully - to the shops and up to Arbeadie Terrace for the Simcoxes Cocktail Party, but it kept giving way on me and Jo had to act as my crutch.
I can't have the operation so soon before the long-haul flight to Oz - nor for some time afterwards - so I just hope it calms down and lets me get around a bit more when we're away.
Anyway, our traditional New Year's Day steak pie dinner was terrific and Lucy FaceTimed us not long after we'd finished the meal. We caught up with Kelly yesterday morning.
We're still eating away the Xmas/New Year leftovers - there's certainly no need for us to food shop just now. Ross brought us some of the soup he made and we had that last night after we came back from Richard and Gail's. Their cocktail party involved a bit more than the nibbles we expected. They came round with hors d'oeuvres first of all, but then followed it up with little plates of soup. Mini main courses then followed and, of course, there was a dessert course - although we left just as they were dishing it out. A four course mini meal - never seen this before.
The weather's still great - bright and cold. We seem to have escaped the wet weather other parts of the country have had, which included the cancellation of Thistle's match against Celtic on Thursday - a game we were all looking forward to watching after dinner.
No more to say really, but I'll close with this photo of the Feugh, taken at the end of our bike ride on Wednesday:
Note the ice-tinged rocks and the tree debris at the top.
I can't have the operation so soon before the long-haul flight to Oz - nor for some time afterwards - so I just hope it calms down and lets me get around a bit more when we're away.
Anyway, our traditional New Year's Day steak pie dinner was terrific and Lucy FaceTimed us not long after we'd finished the meal. We caught up with Kelly yesterday morning.
We're still eating away the Xmas/New Year leftovers - there's certainly no need for us to food shop just now. Ross brought us some of the soup he made and we had that last night after we came back from Richard and Gail's. Their cocktail party involved a bit more than the nibbles we expected. They came round with hors d'oeuvres first of all, but then followed it up with little plates of soup. Mini main courses then followed and, of course, there was a dessert course - although we left just as they were dishing it out. A four course mini meal - never seen this before.
The weather's still great - bright and cold. We seem to have escaped the wet weather other parts of the country have had, which included the cancellation of Thistle's match against Celtic on Thursday - a game we were all looking forward to watching after dinner.
No more to say really, but I'll close with this photo of the Feugh, taken at the end of our bike ride on Wednesday:
Note the ice-tinged rocks and the tree debris at the top.
Thursday 1 January 2015
Happy New Year!
Welcome to 2015 and it appears that all's well with the world - we spotted our little red squirrel again this morning. He/she hadn't shown his face out front recently, but Jo spotted a glimpse of red in the trees out front and exclaimed excitedly - "he's back!".
While Jo grafted away all day in the kitchen yesterday, preparing for our dinner party, I went out cycling - and now I regret it. Today my left knee is so sore I couldn't even walk down to the shops to get my paper. It's over a week now since I received the injection in the knee, but it doesn't seem to have helped. I may have to have the cartilage operation sooner than I'd hoped.
Anyway, we had a lovely Hogmanay dinner with the Kilgours and Masons and we stood on the balcony to watch the Tor-na-Coille's fireworks display from the golf course to welcome in 2015. Here's a brief extract - http://youtu.be/dGKyEcyUV3I.
Once again, I tried to take a photograph with my camera perched on our mantlepiece, and just like Christmas, it turned out all blurry - it must be the light behind causing it. Here it is anyway:
Ne'erday is steak pie day and Gary and Ross are coming over to share. Apart from that, it's been vegetating in front of the usual holiday TV schedule - although Thistle's match against Celtic is on at 5:30 pm tonight.
While Jo grafted away all day in the kitchen yesterday, preparing for our dinner party, I went out cycling - and now I regret it. Today my left knee is so sore I couldn't even walk down to the shops to get my paper. It's over a week now since I received the injection in the knee, but it doesn't seem to have helped. I may have to have the cartilage operation sooner than I'd hoped.
Anyway, we had a lovely Hogmanay dinner with the Kilgours and Masons and we stood on the balcony to watch the Tor-na-Coille's fireworks display from the golf course to welcome in 2015. Here's a brief extract - http://youtu.be/dGKyEcyUV3I.
Once again, I tried to take a photograph with my camera perched on our mantlepiece, and just like Christmas, it turned out all blurry - it must be the light behind causing it. Here it is anyway:
Ne'erday is steak pie day and Gary and Ross are coming over to share. Apart from that, it's been vegetating in front of the usual holiday TV schedule - although Thistle's match against Celtic is on at 5:30 pm tonight.
Tuesday 30 December 2014
Luca's birthday
Jo and I drove over to Inverurie late this morning and had a birthday lunch with Carole, Luca and his friend Tyler before they headed off for some Ten-pin bowling. Jo had bought a bagful of presents which Luca duly opened:
At the lunch table, prior to the cake:
The cake duly arrived - watch the video here - http://youtu.be/0R4oHjRvKlg - and here's the photo:
At the lunch table, prior to the cake:
The cake duly arrived - watch the video here - http://youtu.be/0R4oHjRvKlg - and here's the photo:
Monday 29 December 2014
Munch munch
Yes, we're still trying to eat our way through the remains of Xmas and empty the fridges to create space for the New Year nosh. Turkey, stuffing, cheese, smoked salmon, chocolate log, cheescake, mince pies - that's been our meals for the last few days - and there's still plenty of each left.
Although Friday was completely inactive, on Saturday we decided we had to get out of the house, even if it was only to complete a few of the annual CAMRA pub surveys before we go away. We took the bus down to Ballater and did the rounds there. Got a chance to look at a few bikes as well - it's all so confusing. It seems you can get a pretty good bike with most of the things you would want for about £500, but then you see other ones for £3,000, even £5,000!
On Sunday, I went over to Gary's to watch the Man Utd match and have a spot of lunch - egg roll plus the obligatory mince pie. Today I had planned to go cycling again but the skies have been clear for so long that we wake to a good hard frost every morning, and some of the roads and tracks can be tricky and I don't fancy coming off the bike - my joints are dodgy enough, thank you. I actually went out earlier this morning just to test the conditions, but, at that time, it wasn't looking great - and it was really freezing, so much so that my fingers felt like they'd got frostbite. Most of the rest of our cycling group agreed but 2 hardy souls ventured out.
I am getting a little stir crazy, however. It's not retirement - it's always a bit this way at this time of year - especially when plans for exercise have to be cut short or cancelled. The weather is beautiful - lots of sunshine - ideal winter walking weather really. Jo had things to do, however, so we just went out for a short stroll - up through Burnett Park and back down past Inchmarlo. I took one photo at the entrance to Brathens forest:
Today is Dawn's birthday and tomorrow, Luca is 8 - can you believe it? Then, on Wednesday night (Hogmanay), we have the Masons and Kilgours coming over for dinner and to see the New Year in. No doubt we'll be entertained by the fireworks from the Tor-na-Coille and Freddie Duncan's party across the road. On Friday, we're off to the Simcoxes for a little soiree and by then it'll be less than a week until we head off to Australia. Kelly sent us this photo, taken from the end of her street, to let us see what we were heading to:
That's all for now.
Although Friday was completely inactive, on Saturday we decided we had to get out of the house, even if it was only to complete a few of the annual CAMRA pub surveys before we go away. We took the bus down to Ballater and did the rounds there. Got a chance to look at a few bikes as well - it's all so confusing. It seems you can get a pretty good bike with most of the things you would want for about £500, but then you see other ones for £3,000, even £5,000!
On Sunday, I went over to Gary's to watch the Man Utd match and have a spot of lunch - egg roll plus the obligatory mince pie. Today I had planned to go cycling again but the skies have been clear for so long that we wake to a good hard frost every morning, and some of the roads and tracks can be tricky and I don't fancy coming off the bike - my joints are dodgy enough, thank you. I actually went out earlier this morning just to test the conditions, but, at that time, it wasn't looking great - and it was really freezing, so much so that my fingers felt like they'd got frostbite. Most of the rest of our cycling group agreed but 2 hardy souls ventured out.
I am getting a little stir crazy, however. It's not retirement - it's always a bit this way at this time of year - especially when plans for exercise have to be cut short or cancelled. The weather is beautiful - lots of sunshine - ideal winter walking weather really. Jo had things to do, however, so we just went out for a short stroll - up through Burnett Park and back down past Inchmarlo. I took one photo at the entrance to Brathens forest:
Today is Dawn's birthday and tomorrow, Luca is 8 - can you believe it? Then, on Wednesday night (Hogmanay), we have the Masons and Kilgours coming over for dinner and to see the New Year in. No doubt we'll be entertained by the fireworks from the Tor-na-Coille and Freddie Duncan's party across the road. On Friday, we're off to the Simcoxes for a little soiree and by then it'll be less than a week until we head off to Australia. Kelly sent us this photo, taken from the end of her street, to let us see what we were heading to:
That's all for now.
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