Central Belt trip

We're back from our brief trip south - and we've gained a body - Ross came back with us for a few days, so the house is now full of the sound of he and his Mum discussing/arguing about world affairs. Have you ever known two people who can rant endlessly about the most trivial of matters - and miss the entire point in the process? Oh well.

Yes - plans to have Easter Sunday lunch/dinner with Ross and Gary fell apart. Carole's sister came up to visit them and Ross' plans changed too, so all of a sudden, it was just Jo and I - and guess what? - Jo suggested that, as it was such a beautiful day that the two of us should take a walk up Scolty! Surprised? I nearly fell out of bed. Jo hadn't been up there for probably three decades - but she made it OK - and probably more comfortably than she thought. She'll tell you, of course, how hard it was for her - and it wasn't easy - but I think she's more capable than she gives herself credit for. As long as she takes her time and stops often, she can get there OK - Jo even climbed up the Tower on the top - and here's the proof:

On Monday morning, we went for our first proper trip in our new car. I still await a full printed manual (although there is one available online and another onscreen in the car) so still haven't figured out all of the fancy functions of this high-tech car. We had already marvelled at the blind spot warning lights but discovered the virtually driverless technology in use when operating cruise control.

We made it to Dawn's in time for a spot of lunch before heading over to Barry and Helen's to drop the car off. Meghan is over from NYC just now so Dawn had arranged for us all to meet up in the city for a couple of beers and a meal. I remembered to use my camera to get a shot of Barry and Helen on the train, but failed dismally to capture images of Dawn, Meghan or Jordon - idiot!:

The weather was foul - I had originally hoped to squeeze in a game of golf with Brian on Tuesday, but the forecast was so bad, I didn't even bother to pack my clubs. We had lunch over at Julie and Guy's in Houston - the boys were off school during the Easter holidays and Mary was over there supervising.

Brian and I popped out in the afternoon to go and do some indoor practice at the Glasgow Golf Centre. I decided to take a video of a few of my swings. It worked OK for the first one, but I then struggled to get a ball to balance on the tee supplied - it took me ages to have another hit. Watch this farce here - https://youtu.be/ZPzQkTVeIMU

Back in Houston, Guy and Julie eventually got home from work and we had dinner there. Here's some shots from our day at the Whaleys:

I had somehow succeeded in snapping a pair of reading glasses, so I popped in to ASDA and bought another cheap - identical - replacement pair:

We left Brian and Mary's in Elderslie on Wednesday morning and, if anything, the weather had taken another turn for the worse - it was horribly sleety. Brian had arranged to take Leo fishing - he'd got a rod for Christmas and was keen to try it out. We didn't think they'd manage, but Brian sent me this photo of Leo and his catch:

We drove through the snow to Edinburgh to Ross' flat, where he told us he'd lost his job and wanted to come back with us to Banchory for a few days. The snow was building up in Edinburgh and the traffic was awful - it took us hours to get out on the open road, but the North East of Scotland again appeared to have escaped the worst of it. We couldn't go over Cairn o' Mount, but, generally, Deeside was virtually snow free and it improved sufficiently on Thursday for me to get a game of golf.

This morning (Friday), I awoke to find the scab on my nose after the recent liquid nitrogen treatment had come off. Now all that's left is the growth underneath, which will get treated at the end of this month:

To close, I've been trying for while to locate a photo of the old Bonnie Banchory flower display at the corner of Corsee Road. I contacted various local clubs and societies etc and eventually, the local Heritage Society came up with this:

Great, I thought - then I looked again - it doesn't say Bonnie Banchory! I've since been told that, from time to time, a new "sponsor" would have their name featured - and then it would change back to Bonnie Banchory again. So the bottom line is I'm still searching for that elusive photo. Once I get a suitable one, I think I'll start a campaign to bring the display back again. What do you think?