First post home

It's exactly 3 weeks ago today that we boarded BA 012 from Singapore so I thought it was about time for an update on what's been happening.

Dealing first of all with my new(est) knee, which I feared had regressed after initially progressing well. Whether that was caused by November's regular gym work or, more likely, the lack of any exercise for most of December when I was ill, I'm not sure, but, suffice to say, it was giving me some grief when we were on holiday so Kelly kindly arranged a physio appointment for me (the day before we left Adelaide).

I was encouraged by the thorough work and analysis done by the Aussie physio - he reckoned it was mostly muscle contracture and tightness and he gave me a series of 5 daily exercises, 3 of which required the use of a foam roller, so I quickly ordered one on Amazon and it arrived in Banchory the same day we did.

In parallel with this, I've since been attending twice weekly NHS physio classes in Banchory and Aboyne. I am now showing sight signs of improvement at last, although it's disappointing that I still won't be ready to take up golf again when the season starts in just over a week.

Friday 27th February

Ross met us at ABZ and we were home again mid-morning. We made a token start to the unpacking. Surprisingly, my sleep pattern adjusted almost immediately - that's never happened before - but Jo took a bit more adjusting.

Saturday 28th February

Much unpacking, sorting and cleaning of clothes but I also began to detect that our kitchen sink wasn't draining properly. Ross and me tried everything we knew to clear it but it wouldn't budge with the usual plunger etc treatment. I reverted to Screwfix and their SCRUBB Drain Unblocker. Still no joy.

Sunday 1st March

Further attempts at unblocking kitchen sink - all unsuccessful.

Monday 2nd March

A sad day - one of my old school friends had died (brain tumour) when we were away and it was his funeral in Stirling today. Jo and I drove down, attended the service at the crem. but skipped the purvey as there was a huge crowd there and the family would never manage to get round everyone.

Tuesday 3rd March

A trip to Aberdeen for me to see the dental specialist who would try to fix the implant that broke a few months ago. The difficulty is getting the remains of the implant still in my gum out - but out it must come as it is now showing early signs of infection. Scans and X-rays were taken and my next appointment will be a 3 hour long surgery - a physical and financial big OUCH.

More enjoyable was a quick meet up with some pals at our Tuesday coffee morning, followed in the afternoon by a reasonable cycle, ending up back at our monthly golfers' beer session:

I'd missed quite a few of these sessions recently so it was good to be back.

Wednesday 4th March

Another coffee morning - different group - followed by an online (to Aboyne) physio session.

Thursday 5th March

Despite more and stronger treatments over the last few days, the kitchen sink drain remained stubbornly blocked so it was time to call out the professionals. "No bother" he said - "be out of here in half an hour". Wishful thinking. He was baffled - his electric "snake" was 25 feet long but still it wouldn't clear. He was considering going out to buy a 50 foot snake but, first, I took him downstairs and out to the back garden where he eyed a drain outlet. As soon as he started to release the cap, fluid slowly started appearing - eureka! When the cap came off completely, it was like something out of a horror movie as this "fatberg", which seemed to have a mind of its own, slithered out of the drain under its own steam. I wish I'd taken a video but all I've got was this still photo, which doesn't really do it justice:

Friday 6th March

My 77th birthday - and my car was getting its annual M.o.T. I got one surprise when our troublesome neighbour addressed me as I was about to drive away. We hadn't been on speaking terms for a while but she was very pleasant and politely told me that some of the excess water etc from yesterday's drain clearance had seeped in to a bit of her garden. "Just to let you know" she smiled - but there was a hint of menace when she also mentioned that "we've still to sort out the back". Thanks, I said and drove away.

We paid a short visit to Johanne in nearby Glen o' Dee hospital.

Sat/Sun 7th/8th March

Jo and I got to work on clearing up the residue, post fatberg, making sure no more could seep in to next door. Otherwise, pretty quiet - back to the old routine - Jo online to Mary and me meeting Colin for a couple of beers on Saturday afternoon.

Monday 9th March

I finally got to join the physio class at Banchory

Tuesday 10th March

Coffee morning and an afternoon cycle with Keith.

Wednesday 11th March

Our former footballers group used to meet every Friday night and if it was your birthday etc you had to buy a "rake" of drams for all. Nowadays the Friday night sessions are infrequent but we do now meet every Wednesday morning for coffees, cakes - and egg rolls for some. In my absence, birthdays were now celebrated here instead of Fridays - so it was my round:

Then on to Aboyne for my physio class and, in the evening, in to Aberdeen for the monthly CAMRA branch meeting.

Thursday 12th March

Nothing much to report - Jo went for coffee with Anne and I worked on more shows for River Dee Radio.

Friday 13th March

One of our thrice-yearly "Headbang" evenings at Dave's with others tuning in online from Ross-shire, Berwickshire,  the Midlands and as far away as Christchurch, New Zealand where it was only breakfast-time:

Saturday 14th March

Just the usual.

Sunday 15th March

Mother's Day. Morning is when I go to Morrison's for a few essentials and Jo goes to church. While we're both out, Gary arrives, armed with a stack of presents for his Mum plus some for my birthday. It was a flying visit so I never saw him but he popped in to church for the last few minutes and saw Jo when she came out afterwards.

Mon/Tue 16th/17th March

Usual routine - physio Monday, coffees Tuesday.

Wednesday 18th March

No coffees for me this morning because Jo and I were going to Crossroads, by Lumphanan to see about possibly replacing the gas fire in our front room with a wood burning stove. We know what we would like now but there are a few technicalities to sort out first.

I still made it to my Aboyne physio class.

Thursday 19th March

Yet another brilliantly sunny morning. The weather has been very kind to us since we've been back - not really warm yet but improving and dry and bright - I'll take that. I decided it was time to wash the car.

When we were away, we were very aware of the awful weather that stuck around NE Scotland for a few weeks. After the snow, there were weeks of rain and our neighbour's back garden clearly shows that - it's still mostly under water. One upshot of that, combined with the heavy leaf fall from the trees out front, is that the street drains are completely blocked. I've tried to clear them but it's beyond me, I'm afraid, so I contacted the Council, knowing full well what their answer would likely be - and they confirmed they can't do anything as our road is not adopted.

So I then contacted another Council department to enquire what the procedure is to adopt a private road and got a reply by email this morning. In short, it's difficult and could be expensive - and we would need the other residents to support it. Additionally, even if we did all this and the Council finally agreed, we would get our drains cleared OK but they might want to put street lighting in as well - and I'm not sure we, let alone the other residents, would want this.

Coming up

Jo's birthday tomorrow and she, Ross and me are having dinner at the Tor-na-Coille tomorrow night. On Sunday, we're heading to Kemnay's Bennachie Lodge Hotel  to do likewise with Gary and Luca.