Of course, my pals were there to sample it on my behalf and sent me the photos - Colin's behind the bar with Steve, the owner of the Douglas, and Gary Grant, John McWhinnie, Ian Sharp and Dave Williamson are the others grinning at the camera:
Ian R. Stewart Family Blog
Sunday, 19 July 2009
Friday night in Banchory
As I said in my previous posting, my birthday ale was on in the Douglas - here's the new pump clip:
Of course, my pals were there to sample it on my behalf and sent me the photos - Colin's behind the bar with Steve, the owner of the Douglas, and Gary Grant, John McWhinnie, Ian Sharp and Dave Williamson are the others grinning at the camera:
Of course, my pals were there to sample it on my behalf and sent me the photos - Colin's behind the bar with Steve, the owner of the Douglas, and Gary Grant, John McWhinnie, Ian Sharp and Dave Williamson are the others grinning at the camera:
Scolty Ale/Nechtan
It's now been released to the public - in the Douglas Arms and the Legion in Banchory but also a number of other pubs in the North East - including Archibald Simpson's (Wetherspoon's). I've still to taste my birthday ale in cask form myself, but I got reports from my buddies last night at the Douglas Arms.
The next task is to design a label for the bottled versions. I want to call it Scolty Ale as that was going to be the name of our first ale when we were planning to start a brewery a decade or so ago, so I've been looking for online photos and all I've come up with so far is:
The next task is to design a label for the bottled versions. I want to call it Scolty Ale as that was going to be the name of our first ale when we were planning to start a brewery a decade or so ago, so I've been looking for online photos and all I've come up with so far is:
Saturday update
Didn't quite make triple digits today but, it was still plenty hot. Yesterday we had lunch at the new Tap Rock restuarant, finally re-built 2-3 years after the original building burnt down. It sits on top of the river and is right next to where you get on the Hellgate boats - Kelly and Craig will remember. We sat outside to get a nice view, but it was very hot - the thermometer at the bank next door read 101 F just as we finished lunch - and it would get hotter yet. There's a nice little walkway back to the car park with streams, waterfalls and bears (not real):
Today, as Jo described in her blog, we got everyone up and out pretty early and headed north to the lake, after a quick pit-stop for breakfast. Out in the boat, Jo was finally persuaded to get in to the water, although she found it hard to move around with her life-jacket on:
Cade was initially very reluctant to let his Dad pull him on the Bonsai and wailed a bit (see short video at the end), but later on, he plucked up the courage and had a whale of a time, albeit with his Mum riding shotgun:
Here's his first attempt:
Today, as Jo described in her blog, we got everyone up and out pretty early and headed north to the lake, after a quick pit-stop for breakfast. Out in the boat, Jo was finally persuaded to get in to the water, although she found it hard to move around with her life-jacket on:
Cade was initially very reluctant to let his Dad pull him on the Bonsai and wailed a bit (see short video at the end), but later on, he plucked up the courage and had a whale of a time, albeit with his Mum riding shotgun:
Here's his first attempt:
Friday, 17 July 2009
Friday
Wednesday at Kaleidoscope:
Lucy's off work today and we're threatening to go on the bikes - but it's going to be another hot one, so we need to be careful.
This morning, we're trying to figure out why Blogspot is different on Lucy's PC from what it is at home - we can't seem to copy and paste, nor move text nor photos around - strange.
Thursday
What do I have to say about today? Not a lot. Having dragged the boys from their beloved home yesterday, Jo and I thought it was only fair that we should let them stay put today. Of course, it helped that it was the 1st round of the Open - even if it was 3 hours' delayed transmission on the West Coast.
So we just chilled - read our books, jumped in the pool (me - not the boys for a change, and certainly not Jo). We had watched a film on my laptop last night - Sweeney Todd - the Musical, with Johnny Depp - much better than it promised or the reviews had said about it. It was pretty late by the time we stopped watching it, so we weren't exactly bursting with energy anyway today.
Jo made the tea - spag bog - but with buffalo meat!
Tomorrow, we might cycle downtown - if we get away early enough and it's not too hot.
So we just chilled - read our books, jumped in the pool (me - not the boys for a change, and certainly not Jo). We had watched a film on my laptop last night - Sweeney Todd - the Musical, with Johnny Depp - much better than it promised or the reviews had said about it. It was pretty late by the time we stopped watching it, so we weren't exactly bursting with energy anyway today.
Jo made the tea - spag bog - but with buffalo meat!
Tomorrow, we might cycle downtown - if we get away early enough and it's not too hot.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Getting hotter
The thermometer crept over the 100F mark today - but we spent most of the day down in Medford shopping. Jo and I spent $100 in Barnes & Noble buying books to read on our holiday!!!
The boys were bribed with a small toy treat at Toys R Us and I bought a new pair of glasses, which I have to pick up on our way back from Salt Lake City on our way north to Portland and home.
We did manage lunch at one of our favourite pizza bars - Kaleidoscope. Here's Lucy and the boys:
The boys were bribed with a small toy treat at Toys R Us and I bought a new pair of glasses, which I have to pick up on our way back from Salt Lake City on our way north to Portland and home.
We did manage lunch at one of our favourite pizza bars - Kaleidoscope. Here's Lucy and the boys:
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Grants Pass babysitters
Jo and I had our first full day alone with the boys yesterday - and we did nothing! That's the way the boys like it - they're definitely homebirds - and it suited us as well, just chilling out. I realised I hadn't even taken any photos since we arrived in Grants Pass, so here's one taken after Lucy and Scott came home from work yesterday:
What are we planning for today? Similar, but we will have to do some shopping - that will be fun, getting Cade and Braeden prised away from the TV, Wii and their toys.
Monday, 13 July 2009
Portland south to Grants Pass
One more photo from our walk round Portland on Thursday afternoon - this is me in Pioneer Square in front of the Courthouse:
On Friday morning, a rare sight - Jo in the hotel pool:
After a walk to China Town, we had lunch at one of Portland's dining institutions - Dan and Louis' Oyster bar, after which we foolishly hired one of the family bikes and worked our way round a loop crossing two bridges, with a couple of fairly benign climbs, which were incredibly hard work on this machine - of course it would have helped if all 4 adults had been making an effort:
On Saturday after breakfast, we headed south and stopped at Roseberg for lunch - see Facebook for photo. Scott and I then stopped off at Myrtle Creek for 18 holes before heading back to GP.
My exertions of the last few weeks, combined with the travel and the disturbed sleep pattern, finally hit me and I sloped off to bed at 8:30 pm, not rising until 9:30 am the following morning - something I haven't done for years. Sunday was then just a lazy day, chilling out until late afternoon when Jo and I walked to Albertson's to get a few groceries.
Got to go - Scott's on the BBQ - spare ribs tonight!
On Friday morning, a rare sight - Jo in the hotel pool:
After a walk to China Town, we had lunch at one of Portland's dining institutions - Dan and Louis' Oyster bar, after which we foolishly hired one of the family bikes and worked our way round a loop crossing two bridges, with a couple of fairly benign climbs, which were incredibly hard work on this machine - of course it would have helped if all 4 adults had been making an effort:
On Saturday after breakfast, we headed south and stopped at Roseberg for lunch - see Facebook for photo. Scott and I then stopped off at Myrtle Creek for 18 holes before heading back to GP.
My exertions of the last few weeks, combined with the travel and the disturbed sleep pattern, finally hit me and I sloped off to bed at 8:30 pm, not rising until 9:30 am the following morning - something I haven't done for years. Sunday was then just a lazy day, chilling out until late afternoon when Jo and I walked to Albertson's to get a few groceries.
Got to go - Scott's on the BBQ - spare ribs tonight!
Sunday, 12 July 2009
Grants Pass - and still some connection issues
Trying to figure out what's wrong with my settings in Outlook that won't let me send e-mails from USA this year - tried every combination and failed so far - have referred to our IT people - very frustrating - so don't expect too many e-mails until this matter is resolved!
Friday, 10 July 2009
Portland
Early start, but catching a direct flight from Amsterdam to Portland meant we were there just after noon, west coast time. Immigration in Portland is a lot easier here than elsewhere - that is, unless you have a radioactive wife - I'll let Jo tell you about her immigration experience.
We had to try and stay awake however for a bit longer than usual, so we went for a walk along the river front just opposite our hotel:
We caught them filming a Macdonald's commercial:
After our stroll around the city centre, we went back and caught up with everyone and went out for dinner at a lovely seafood restaurant - which also had some lovely cask conditioned ale!
We had to try and stay awake however for a bit longer than usual, so we went for a walk along the river front just opposite our hotel:
We caught them filming a Macdonald's commercial:
After our stroll around the city centre, we went back and caught up with everyone and went out for dinner at a lovely seafood restaurant - which also had some lovely cask conditioned ale!
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Luca last Friday
The bold boy stayed over last Friday - and he's already developing Ross-like tendencies if this photo's anything to go by:
I picked up my first case of my beer from Deeside Brewery - this was the first time I had tasted it - the photo was taken by Luca!:
and here's a brief video of Luca in action on Jo's computer:
I picked up my first case of my beer from Deeside Brewery - this was the first time I had tasted it - the photo was taken by Luca!:
and here's a brief video of Luca in action on Jo's computer:
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Bringing it all back up to date
I've been pretty busy - check my golf and football blogs for my activities from Friday to Monday. The golf trip to Harrogate was particularly good this year - so much better than last, when we got soaked in Cornwall.
Our hotel was in the centre of town and the view from my bedroom window was:
Turn sharp right when you come out of the hotel and this is what you see:
Yes - Harrogate's an old spa town - and it's got some good golf courses, not to mention, like the rest of Yorkshire, some excellent ales. This was the front door of our hotel:
Looks a bit better than it really was. It was hot and I couldn't open the windows - in fact, they hadn't been opened in 40 years it seemed. Still the consolation was that it made all of our group - even Syd, who's 70 now - feel very young, as busload after busload of really old fogeys trooped in.
Our hotel was in the centre of town and the view from my bedroom window was:
Turn sharp right when you come out of the hotel and this is what you see:
Yes - Harrogate's an old spa town - and it's got some good golf courses, not to mention, like the rest of Yorkshire, some excellent ales. This was the front door of our hotel:
Looks a bit better than it really was. It was hot and I couldn't open the windows - in fact, they hadn't been opened in 40 years it seemed. Still the consolation was that it made all of our group - even Syd, who's 70 now - feel very young, as busload after busload of really old fogeys trooped in.
Anyway, must go and do some packing. Got a lot of work to do tomorrow and hopefully some golf in the evening, then off on the redeye to Amsterdam on Thursday morning.
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Tor-na-Coille hotel
Not happy - having heard earlier that the Tor-na-Coille hotel had finally been sold, we hoped that we could once more have access to our squash courts there, but I've just heard that the new owners apparently have plans to demolish the courts - on the grounds of health and safety! We can only assume that the wicked witch has been feeding poison to the new owners - we need to get the word out quickly!
There's no doubt that, internally, there'll be some cleaning up work to be done after 3 years or so of non-use, but, structurally and externally, the building is sound - after all we put a new roof and new external cladding on just 3 years ago.
Just when we thought we were finally getting a break!
There's no doubt that, internally, there'll be some cleaning up work to be done after 3 years or so of non-use, but, structurally and externally, the building is sound - after all we put a new roof and new external cladding on just 3 years ago.
Just when we thought we were finally getting a break!
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