Our visit to Inverurie was changed from Tuesday to Monday this week, but I couldn't make it over as I had a River Dee Radio committee meeting that I'd already promised to attend. The upshot of going there is that I've now been "volunteered" to man a promotional stall opposite the Farmers' Market on Saturday morning. Hope the weather's OK.
Yesterday, Jo and I went in town in the afternoon to do a bit of Xmas shopping - not something either of us particularly look forward to, but it wasn't too bad, although we did notice how relatively little stock some of the chain stores nowadays are holding in-store - notices everywhere saying more sizes/styles available online. A sign of the times.
After shopping and coffee in M & S, we had a meal at Brig o' Don, a Greene King outlet. Nice enough place and the meals were good, but I was attending a CAMRA committee meeting later on last night so my senses were up, and when I detected that the place had no real ale, despite prominently advertising it, I was properly annoyed.
In other news, I went to the Doctor's yesterday (Tuesday) to have them look at a former mole on my chest which is changing shape and bleeding occasionally, so I'll now be going to the Dermatology Clinic in January to have it cut out and a biopsy done. Better safe than sorry.
We spoke to Lucy on FaceTime on Sunday and, on Monday, we received a 2020 calendar from Kelly and Chris - each month has a photo of Asher or Miller - very nice.
On Saturday, I went to watch Cove Rangers - who've just been promoted to the Scottish Leagues after years in the Junior ranks, followed by the Highland League. So we now have 2 professional teams in Aberdeen, albeit leagues apart just now. I have to say, however, that it was probably the coldest I've felt for years - I couldn't get myself warm afterwards and had to have a bath when I got home to bring my body temperature back up again.
My activity levels have not been good in 2019. They always fall off in the last 3 months of the year, after the golf season's over and when the weather deteriorates, but this year also started badly when we went on our extended round the world trip (I still haven't lost the weight I put on). To date, I've only averaged 9,167 steps per day compared to 9,435 last year:
Must try harder in 2020.
Some of this data comes from Strava, where I record my cycles and walks, but I also "follow" others there, including Chris' brother Matt, who has been taking on enormous challenges since taking up cycling in the last couple of years. We occasionally exchange messages via Strava and in one of them, I spotted that he'd started to get his daughter, Abi, in to the habit too. Not only that, but also his Dad, David:
Look forward to some sunshine cycling when we go there in just 9 weeks' time. Of course, before that, we have the first week in February down in Fife (https://www.kilconquharcastle.co.uk/) to look forward to as well.
