Luca videos

Update

Apologies to all - been too busy this last week to update my blog. A lot has happened and we've been away and I'm now packed to head off to SA in the morning. Will try to add some video and photos before I go - got some nice ones of Luca when I babysat last Thursday - and, of course lots from last weekend in Cornwall - may just publish photos and video without further comment.

Went to Tunnels last night to see Ian Hunter - new venue for us and that's another old artiste ticked off before he (or I) pops his clogs!

Wednesday

Spoke to Barry and Dawn yesterday - Dad had another fall in the morning and Barry again was called away from work. Dad's OK, but it's becoming an increasing factor. Dawn has raised the possibility of moving to the new Erskine House just up the road and initially he seemed to quite like the idea, but when the Social Work team discussed it with him, he said he just wanted to stay in his own home - dilemma!

I played football last night - but it was only 4 a side and it was on the hard floor of the school - I was absolutely knackered - I really felt my age!

Valentine's Day and I'm babysitting Luca tonight whilst Gary and Carole go to see AFC v Bayern Munich - using my tickets! Gary really knows how to treat a girl! Jo's having her hair done so I'm on my own. Carole's already e-mailed me with a detailed list of instructions for tonight!

Weekend aftermath

I reverted to e-mails to show what I got up to this weekend and you'll have seen most of the photos by now, so I won't add any more at this stage.

They've some across a bit of a snag with our stairs and are going to have to get a blacksmith in to get the stairs approved by the building authorities - he will also weld the joints of the handrail at the same time. Don't yet know when this is going to happen, but I'm going to get our painter at work to come out and do the insides anyway. We had a bit of a discussion last night and Jo thinks we should just paint the bare wood on the new doors - just as we did with the new front window when it went in a couple of years ago. We may get the kitchen and some other rooms done at the same time.

After a little nagging, Ross finally delivered (by hand) his acceptance of the job offer - talk about laid-back!

Great weather here this week - frosty starts, but beautifully sunny days - I should be golfing! Still, Cape Town beckons next week.

Weekend of football

Back at work today after a weekend down south watching Premiership football - Sunderland v Wigan on Saturday then the Manchester derby on Sunday - very enjoyable, but tiring - a lot of travel - and there's a lot more to come - this was the first of four consecutive weekends away from home for me - Cornwall next then Cape Town!



This is Dave and I in the Jolly Sailor in Whitburn, just outside Sunderland. It's a pub that used to be owned by Dave's great-grandfather, so it was a bit of a nostalgic trip for him.

More to follow.

Stair progress

The house is a shambles - nothing is in the right place and every room is a mess and feels like a temporary home - maybe just as well I'm going to Manchester this weekend!

Anyway, here's a quick photo taken from the back door (ground floor) with my Blackberry.

Wednesday

Well, they didn't quite finish the window installation but at least it's mostly complete and you can get a good idea of what it looks like above - Jo loves it.

Ross is in the photo as well - he had just returned from his second interview with Banchory Contractors - and he got the job! Whey-hey!!! He starts on 25th February and his starting salary is £19,500 - pretty good - and a lot better than any other job he's had. Of course, he had to think of the negative side - he suspected there was no short list and he was the only applicant!

The week so far

The platform for the stairway at the rear of the house was erected on Monday and so the windows are now ready to go in. Ross and I cleared the room on Monday evening in preparation, but it was too wet yesterday, so the work has been delayed until today - it's a beautiful morning, so there should be no reason why they can't do it.

The big TV is now in the front room - we can still use it - but only on digital TV - no Sky!

After a bit of telephone tennis, Ross is going back for a second interview at Banchory Contractors this afternoon at 4 - say your prayers!

Jo had her second last ever parents' evening last night (her last is on Thursday). I took the chance to do a slight re-arrangement of the back bedroom - I took the old TV and digibox up and fitted them up, but was short of a female-female aerial cable, which I'll try and get today. It's now our ironing room (when nobody's staying).

The weekend

It was cold on Friday and we had a bit of snow with the forecast for more, but it never really materialised and, in fact, today it was mild and pleasant when we played golf - all the frost and snow had gone.

Ross made it to his interview on Friday - they will be holding second interviews this week - let's hope he makes the short list.

On Friday night we went to the Town Hall for the church's Mardi Gras evening - it was pretty good, although I was a little confused as the focus for the evening moved around from Louisiana to Africa then on to Scotland! Some people went to tremendous lengths in their dress, but we were all very tame and subdued. Anne had bought a proper mask, but Jo just used a spare one lying around for the above photo. It was a ByoB evening - except nobody told me and I had to walk home again and collect some beer and wine from the house.

There were free Hurricane cocktails handed out at the start, but I didn't much care for them. The meal was pretty good - Jambalaya, Etouffe etc. The proceeds from the evening were going to a deaf school in Zambia, the church's current pet project, and we were then given a slide show of the last visit there, followed by a performance by a troupe of African drummers - from Banchory - listen to the video. After that it was a Ceilidh but it was pretty late by then and Anne had had it and wanted to go home, so I was more than happy to leave at this time as well and the four of us strolled home about midnight.

On Saturday, Dave, Colin and I had originally planned to go down to Livingston to see Thistle play in the cup, but it was pretty frosty overnight and there had been some snow, so I decided to phone the ground to see if the match was on or not. They were insepcting the pitch and wouldn't know for sure until after 10:30, which would have meant it would probably be after 11:00 by the time we left Banchory, and we had planned to have lunch with Dan in his local, the Four Marys in Linlithgow - we obviously wouldn't then make it in time for that and we all decided instead to stay at home and watch the rugby on TV later. Besides, after I had arranged the Livingston trip, Gary asked us to babysit to allow he and Carole to go to the cinema, so I would get a chance to spend some time with Luca as well.

Luca was as good as gold - as usual. He's got 3 teeth now - but only one of the front two - Jo thought he looked lop-sided! He was hugely attracted to our new TV and I couldn't keep his paws off it - see photo. He also took great delight in taking all the books off our shelves and, one by one, throwing them on the floor! Like Cade and Braeden before him, he loves climbing our stairs and I video'd him making his way up.

I grabbed a take-away from Franco's and we watched Raising Arizona, which I thought was OK, but Jo wasn't really in the mood for it.

Nothing much else to report - enjoyed watching Wales beating England on Saturday, but then Scotland were awful in losing to France at Murrayfield today.

Friday

Fingers crossed everyone! Ross has an interview at Bancon at 2:00 pm (hope he got up OK!) - he got the phone call last night in response to his letter (one of the 9 posted by me on Wednesday) - he is the very last to be interviewed.

Sent off my objection letter to the CALA application today - hope lots ot others do the same!

Come on girls, your blogs are out of date!

Thursday

I arrived back from Fraserburgh today for my meeting with Gary Grant and Stan England to discuss progress on the installation of the stair at the back of our house. I was a little taken aback to see that the stair was fitted and the radiator inside the back room removed and replaced by a new one on the side wall aready! The work is well under way and tomorrow they will try and fit the landing to the stairs and then, on Monday, the hardship begins - they break through the wall and start to fit the new windows. We need to move the new TV and cover the new suite to make sure they don't get too much dust or damage whilst they are working next week. The week after is when the re-decoration (painting) takes place - Stan is going to get a quote for me, but it may be that we use our painter from work - we'd only have to pay for the paint and we could get some other rooms done at the same time.

The photo above shows the bare stair in place - without the handrails etc. Stan and Gary recommend we leave the stairs as they are (stainless steel) - no or little maintenance required. However, the handrail and the central post are made of mild steel and will need painting - Stan suggested a plain grey-ish paint for the central column, which will look similar to the stairs.

Travelling

As well as my usual music downloads (which recently includes Cat Power, Ian Hunter, Joanna Newsom, John Fogerty, Miles Davis, Otis Redding, Bjork, Radiohead, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Thom Yorke, White Stripes and, I'm shamed to admit, Katie Melua - in a moment of weakness!) I've taken to downloading audio books for the long journeys up and down to Fraserburgh and Glasgow. The first two were excellent - both John Grishams, lasting about 6 hours each - a nice length - but I really chanced my arm this month and decided to download a classic Charles Dickens - Bleak House - all 36 hours worth!!! It's pretty hard going and I'm still not a third of the way through it yet - not sure if I'll make it all the way to the end - the combination of language and the multiplicity of characters that come and go, make it a real feat of concentration.

TV stand

Oh - and let's have your votes - Jo's seen this stand for the TV in the Cotswold magazine (http://search.cotswoldco.com/Search.aspx?Query=demilune+tv+stand&sid=547d99a51fc2d46bacca790bc8801d8a) - but can't quite make her mind up - what do you think? (right click and open)

Monday/Tuesday

Squash aborted on Monday - somebody had washed the floor just before we played - and it was still wet - and lethal! - so we trudged off to the Legion instead. Harry insisted on going for a short run and asked if I wanted to join him, but as it had been well over 15 years since I last ran on the roads, I decided to give it a miss!

Had another go at Ross for not doing anything about a job, and Jo did the same later on. It at least had some effect as he had made out a total of 9 job applications by Tuesday evening! I'll post them off tomorrow.

I went down to Glasgow today to meet Barry and Dawn and have a preliminary look at a potential home for Dad, who is getting to the stage of not being safe at home any more. He had another fall last week and it was discovered by the day care centre when he didn't show for lunch. No idea how he did it and how long he had been there but there was blood all over the kitchen and Barry got called away from work to the infirmary, where Dad was by this time. The bruises were still showing this afternoon - see photo above.

The place we looked at is a newly built offshoot of the ex-servicemen's Erskine Homes - it only opened in October and the official opening (by Princess Anne we believe) is not till next month. It's called Erskine Glasgow (http://www.erskine.org.uk/WhatWeDo/our_homes.aspx) and has just 46 beds on 3 floors - the upper one caters for those with physical health problems and the ground floor with medium to severe dementia patients. Dad would probably initially go to the middle floor as his dementia is still at a relatively mild level.

We agreed to fill out the forms - we need to get a Social Care assessment and Doctor's report to go along with the application form and the whole process could take a few weeks or months, so there's no harm in doing this, even if we decide not to take up any place offered. Barry thinks Dad needs full time care now, but Dawn is still a little reluctant, although she recognises that Dad is not coping all that well now. There's also the question of legal Guardianship to consider - we all agreed it should be all three of us who are appointed to look after his care and his finances (a job Barry has been doing on his own for the last few years).

There are only 6 or 7 patients in the middle ward just now, and the place looks really nice, so it's an ideal time to make the application for Dad. We need to find his old RAF number - he has no idea what it was and I had a little search in his house this afternoon, but couldn't find anything. I did come across some amazing old papers in his bureau, however - including various birth and death certificates and even the receipt for the engagement ring he bought Mum over 60 years ago! There was also a membership card for Sarah Kelly (Grannie Barr) for the WRAF dated 1918 when she was 25 years old. It listed her height as 6 feet 1 inch! I only ever remember her as a little ball in her later years and can't believe this is the same person - surely there's some mistake somewhere?

The other photo is of Dawn and Barry leaving Erskine Glasgow this afternoon.

Things are hotting up with the planning application by CALA for the Tor-na-Coille site. I discovered yesterday that there's going to be a second application for detached houses on the lower level of the grounds. I've been spreading the news and this evening I received a phone call from one of the rich neighbours across the road who asked if it was OK for him to pass on my correspondence to his neighbours (including "Mr Chickens", Fred Duncan) - of course, I said yes. The application includes tree surveys and they are planning to remove about 70 trees - roughly half for "safety" reasons and the rest for the development. Strangely, however, 9 of the trees to be removed for the development are the ones facing our houses, in the triangle of land between Arbor Court and the main road - what has this got to do with the development of flats behind the hotel? Watch this space!