Wednesday

Sun still shining but a bit cooler - don't think it'll be shorts on the golf course tonight.

It's a happy 37th birthday to Craig today - he's on his way back to Cornwall now after a brief trip back to Peterhead in very unfortunate circumstances. Here he is with his "mother-in-law" back in February in the Miner's Arms, Mithian:

Tuesday back at the office

Back to reality - even though the sun shone again, I couldn't really take another afternoon off and so I settled down to a full day behind the desk. The first problem was an employment issue with an engineer who is, frankly, taking the p..s. Of course, as caring sharing employers (and to keep on the right side of the law) we have to go through a bit of a ridiculous charade now. We know he's skiving and trying to extract money for nothing - not just from his stereotype but also from all the witness statements we have had to take. Good start to the day - OK, rant over.

I did manage to get a session in at Bannatyne's - I've only been there twice this month, what with being ill and then golfing non-stop - still not sure about Power Plate, but will persist for a while.

We're going over to Inverurie on Thursday to meet Carole's father and step-mum, who are up for a week.

Weekend sunshine

It's been another great weekend. Golf on Saturday was followed by dinner in the golf club in the evening and then on Sunday it was off across the mountains for our bi-annual trip to Boat of Garten. Sunday was a bit misty but the sun really shone today - this is Gary, Les, Dick and I on the first tee at Boat of Garten this morning - me complete with safari hat from South Africa!

It was a lovely 21 degrees when we left there to come home - but the temperature in Banchory was at least 6 degrees cooler due to the haar spreading inland a bit. It was another year of significant change at Boat of Garten - we only played one round today, compared with the two that we have played for the last 25 years - another sign of ageing!

It was a great weekend - there's few better places to be when the weather's like this.

More Luca

I was just in time to feed Luca his tea last night and here he is finishing off with a cup of water:


I showed Jo some of the photos I had taken and she reckoned I should crop and frame this one:


Barry phoned yesterday - Dad had his assessment from Erskine Glasgow and they have a place for him, but they confirmed the Social Worker's opionion that Dad will have to go on the ground floor, which is for dementia patients, many of whom also have issues like incontinence. We had originally thought that they might put him on the middle floor initially but apparently he's now past this stage.

Barry also told me he's going in to hospital next week - on Monday for an ultrasound scan and on Thursday for a probe - he's having problems with his bladder. Hope it goes OK - but I can tell he's a bit concerned.

Jo still can't look forward to her retirement whilst she still has work to do for school. I received the following joke today which I could relate to - perhaps it's not funny if you're a bit younger?:

"Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting.Well, for example, the other day my wife and I went into town and went into a shop. We were only in there for about 5 minutes. When we came out, there was a "parking ambassador" writing out a parking ticket. We went up to him and said, 'Come on man, how about giving a senior citizen a break?' He ignored us and continued writing the ticket. I called him a Nazi turd. He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn tyres.So my wife called him a Sh *thead . He finished the second ticket and put it on the windscreen with the first. Then he started writing a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more we abused him, the more tickets he wrote.Personally, we didn't care. We came into town by bus.We try to have a little fun each day now that we're retired. It's important at our age"

Friday

It was another brilliant day and we had entered a team in the Fishermen's Mission golf outing at Inverallochy - a course I had never played. There was a bit of a sea breeze there however which was just enough to persuade me to leave the shorts in the car. Glorious sands and turquoise seas were all around:

On the way back home, I phoned to see if Carole was at home and popped in for a cup of tea and to watch Luca perform his new tricks. His walking action is a hoot to watch - almost a goose step:

Porch

This is the result of the white paint on the porch ceiling - what do you think?

Spring at last!

The brilliant weather this week has brought a smile to everyone's faces - and, at last, I think I'm shaking off the final last traces of the bug I picked up a couple of weekends ago. Regained just enough energy back to look forward to last night's golf again - and it was a glorious evening in Banchory - the first time I've worn my shorts on the golf course this season:

Gary, Dave and I are down by the Dee at the 12th tee.

The painter is still at our house - it's amazing how much he has done - we didn't realise there was so much work required until he started! Jo suggested he should also do the masonry walls on the porch and it's certainly brightened things up there now. We then had a dilemma about what to do about the pine ceiling there, which had been heavily stained by water from the balcony. We thought at first a dark wood varnish would do the trick but Jo thought it would darken the whole porch so suggested a light paint instead. He's put on a white-ish colour so far and I thought it looked OK last night - although I haven't seen it in daylight yet.

Jo's out tongight for dinner with one of her school pals - Sheila - so it's pizza for Ross and I. Ross got his brown Saab bumped last week and the side panels are badly damaged. The guy has offered to pay but Ross is unsure what he is going to do with this car anyway so we'll have to wait and see.

I still haven't seen Luca walking, nor have I even seen the videos Gary has been promising to put on his blog, but Carole at least texted me the following photo of him standing unaided:

And it's a very happy 4th birthday to Braeden today - sorry we can't be there, but we're looking forward to seeing them all in Florida in just 9 weeks. The last time I saw him was when they were over in October - he fell asleep one night in the living room:

Dad

Barry sent me the following e-mail and You Tube clip link:

Click on the u-tube link at the bottom of the page to view a video clip of dads favourite song.
Barry

HOW ARE THINGS IN GLOCCA MORRAFrom Finian's Rainbow(Words by E.Y. Harburg / Music by Burton Lane)I hear a bird, Londonderry bird,It well may be he's bringing me a cheering word.I hear a breeze, a River Shanon breeze,It well may be it's followed me across the seas.Then tell me please:How are things in Glocca Morra?Is that little brook still leaping there?Does it still run down to Donny cove?Through Killybegs, Kilkerry and Kildare?How are things in Glocca Mora?Is that willow tree still weeping there?Does that lassie with the twinklin' eyeCome smilin' by and does she walk away,Sad and dreamy there not to see me there?So I ask each weepin' willow and each brook along the way,And each lass that comes a-sighin" Too ra layHow are things in Glocca Morra this fine day?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhnNQ6XXUKI

Conspiracy theory?

Ross is one of the world's great conspiracy theorists and so it was quite appropriate that, when we were all sitting watching the evening news on Thursday's TV, there was a brief article about the London bombers - remember Ross was working in London then and reckons he was on either the exact tube train or the same one immediately before the bombing.

The clip is shown below and if you watch to the end you will see somebody uncannily like Ross walking along the platform clutching something under his left arm.

Second half of the week

A quick 40 winks on Wednesday afternoon made me feel a bit better and ready for the evening's golf, and after a welcome full night's sleep it was then up to Fraserburgh the following morning. I hot-footed through the management meetings there and also in Aberdeen in the afternoon, allowing just enough time to get to Bannatyne's for a short session, which included 3 of the Powerplate exercises I had been given - like Kelly, I'm still not sure about the effectiveness of this machine, but I'll keep going for a little while.

Back to Fraserburgh again on Friday for our next update meeting with the Union, which seemed to go reasonably well, given that we weren't telling them anything they wanted to hear. They have asked us to hold follow-up staff departmental meetings which we're arranging for Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning - so much for a quiet Bank Holiday for me!

Rushed down to Banchory where Jas and I had a tie to play against the Thomsons - Stephen and Derek - both of whom Lucy will remember from school. Thankfully we beat them fairly easily and I was in good time to grab a bite before the golf club quiz night started (Jo was babysitting Luca in Inverurie). For a change, we didn't win the quiz but came in a creditable 3rd equal out of more than 30 teams.

The weather was again fair on Saturday and I enjoyed my morning round of golf (got my handicap cut again!) and also watching Man Utd beat West Ham at lunchtime, in the company of Colin and Dave.

Jo, Anne and Johanne went shopping for a mother of the bride outfit for Johanne and so Colin, Leslie and I met them at La Tasca, the Tapas restaurant for a meal prior to seeing Jethro Tull's 40th anniversary tour at the Music Hall. I started to feel a bit funny again and my voice went completely befoer we got home.

Undaunted, I got up on Sunday morning and played in lovely weather again at Torphins, but I still didn't feel right so I've been back in bed on Sunday afternoon. I guess I hadn't quite given myself enough time to recover from the previous weekend's virus - and it's been a pretty hectic week. I'll try and take it a bit easier this week - but it's looking busy again!

This week so far

Wasn't quite 100% again, but I could have gone back to work on Monday, except I had planned to wait at home for the painter to arrive and also the man to service our gas hob, both of whom I had hoped would arrive early morning, thus allowing me to go in to the office for a couple of hours to gently break myself back in.

As per usual, things never go to plan - SNAFU - the painter's van broke down and he didn't make it until noon and the service engineer didn't appear until after 4:00 pm! He was just finishing off about 5:15 pm and Jo walked in - home early for a change - bad day at school apparently - just as I was heading out for a short stroll across to the golf club.

Michael phoned just after I left and I called him back - did I want to go to Old Trafford to see the Man Utd - Barcelona Champions League semi-final? Did I ever! Of course, there's always a downside when travelling with the Clarks - sensible people would stay overnight near Manchester after the match - especially given the usual horrendous post-match traffic which meant we didn't even get going properly on the motorway until about 11:30 pm. Not Michael and Francis, however - they insist on going straight home. Michael and I shared the drive down and Michael did the first bit back up to Hamilton and I then took over. Neither of us trusted either of the two Francis' to drive!

Got home at 4:30 a.m. this morning and the alarm went as usual at 6:20! Stayed in bed for about an hour after that but decided I wasn't going to sleep very well, so just got up and got on with the day. So here I am in the office at lunchtime typing this up and feeling like I've hit the wall. I think I'll head back home soon for some shut-eye. Was supposed to be playing golf tonight but it's been raining this morning and the course is shut just now - it might open again later - but perhaps it's best for me if it doesn't and we just play tomorrow instead.

My football blog (http://bvetsfootballgroup.blogspot.com/) has a short video which I think captures the incredible atmosphere at Old Trafford as the Reds made it through to their first European final since 1999.

Saturday

Gary's new £15 glasses (bought online):



Luca watches the footy:

End of week

Not been so good for me - came home early from Fraserburgh on Thursday - sore throat, sore limbs and headache. Stayed off work on Friday as virus moved in to my chest and generally feeling sorry for myself - being ill isn't good - especially at the weekend! Missing out on dinner at Anne and Leslie's tonight - plus golf today and tomorrow.

Gary and Luca are coming here for lunch - and to watch the footy! Hope I don't pass any germs on.

One thing I did manage to do yesterday was change our return flights from USA. It was difficult - and expensive. Couldn't come back exactly a week earlier as the flights were booked, so we're now leaving Grants Pass on the Sunday and getting back home on the Monday - only 5 days sooner than the original flights, but I think I had to do something - 4 weeks was stretching my holiday allowance a little!

Assessment

Went to Bannatyne's yesterday for an updated assessment - incidentally Jo says I have to stop going there as she thinks Duncan Bannatyne is rude and nasty on Dragon's Den! Anyway, my results are below - not very exciting although much improved on when I first went there in December 2006. Body fat too high - but no surprise there then - what do you want me to do? - give up beer? So I start a new programme tomorrow.

I tried the Powerplate machine - interesting but didn't find it seemed to do all that much - it's been built in to my new programme so I'll keep trying and let you know what I think after a few weeks.