Make up your mind

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Plans for today were thrown a bit when the snow arrived just as I was heading off to Fraserburgh. Listening to the forecasts put me off going and I reached the other end of Banchory and turned around and came home. It just so happens the 3rd Ashes Test was on TV - 33 degrees in Perth - so I watched that for a while, did a little work, finished my book, and that was my day.

Cancelled squash as well, but we're still planning to go to the Douglas this evening for the Cairngorm Brewery tasting - if they made it over here that is. Actually, the snow turned out to be not half as bad as forecast - pity - I feel better when it really snows and you know you've made the right decision staying at home. It's a bit more awkward when you've stayed off work and you know you could have got there and back without too much trouble.

Kelly Skyped this morning - won't be long now till we're over there with her.

Before Luca left on Wednesday morning, he was making family fish with the stones in our back room - Baby whale, Mummy whale, Daddy whale and great, big enormous Granda whale! - can you see them on the floor?:

All systems go for Oz!

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

At last! Got my passport today, so the applications for our visas for Australia can now be made. I'd forgotten, however, what a rotten photo I'd sent off with my passport application:

A bit grim, isn't it? Never mind, it only lasts 10 years - I'll be coming up for my 72nd birthday by the time I have to renew it.

Squash was fun last night and we've arranged to play again on Thursday - the same night that we're going to the Cairngorm Brewery tasting at the Douglas.

What else is on this week? Well, our Xmas party night is this Saturday at the Potarch, but, before that, I've been invited again to go to Pittodrie on Saturday - I've dodged it so far this season, but I'll go along this time - unless, of course, the match is postponed again - quite possible given the dire weather predictions for later in the week.

It's Tuesday evening and we're sitting here waiting for Luca. Jo normally picks him up from nursery and brings him over here for tea, but it's their Xmas nativity today and Gary and Carole have gone along, with Gary bringing Luca over here afterwards to stay the night whilst his parents go out for their Tuesday exercises (football for Gary).

Monday frustrations

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Still no passport - do I report it as stolen? I've contacted the IPS again and await their advice.

I'm also still trying to get my Archos DVR returned for repair - that's over a month now I've been waiting and I've had 4 telephone calls, over a dozen e-mails and 4 web enquiries and still nobody will take responsibility for it. Grrrr.

Planning to play squash again this evening - at Kippie this time. Dan couldn't get his car up the hill at Findrack on Saturday and we had to walk the last half mile over the ice and snow - it's a bit more remote and higher elevation too, and, being a private estate, the roads are never cleared, so we're going for the safe option of the Petroleum club in Aberdeen this time.

Carole cheered me up when she sent the following link today: http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/guest/72RhPdWWZ52cXEnuAifd_g

So whilst those under 40 were watching some TV competition last night - X Factor I think it's called - and those that are so inclined were probably watching something like Strictly Dancing - what did we do? - why, watch the 50th anniversary celebrations of Corrie, of course! We've also been trying to get in to The Sopranos - two episodes in and we're not absolutely hooked, to say the least. Colin gave us the series on DVD as we'd enjoyed The Wire so much - and he said we would enjoy the characters in The Sopranos as well, but it seems a little bit too tongue in cheek for me - and not that funny yet. Will persevere a bit, however.

That's it for now - hoping to be able to drive cross country to Fraserburgh tomorrow for the first time for over 2 weeks before the next bout of snow and ice arrives later in the week.

Mild panic in the ranks

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

It's been a week of waiting, wondering and worrying - my passport has been the cause of concern. I spent a couple of hours on the phone on Friday afternoon trying to find out what's happened to it. I was told it was dispatched by Royal Mail Special Delivery on Friday 3rd December - but there's still no sign of it here. Typical conspiracy theorist that he is, Ross told me it had been stolen as part of an identity theft - probably by one of the seasonal part-time staff that Royal Mail take on. I suppose he could be right, but I sincerely hope not.

Anyway, I phoned the travel agent and they said they could get my visa for Oz as long as they had my passport a couple of days before travel, so that gives us a bit more time.

My knees have been feeling stronger week by week, and it seems to me that the increase in the dosage of beta blockers has helped my cardio condition a fair bit as well - my heart rate doesn't seem to race as much when I stress it now. I've had 3 visits to the gym this week and I finally made my comeback at squash yesterday - and I coped OK, with no ill-effects - yet. With no golf in prospect for some time it seems, it's good to be able to play squash anyway.

So that's been my week - Xmas looming - need to think quickly what to get Jo!

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

The weekend was a quiet one, but, with Jo complaining of cabin fever, we decided to go to the movies on Saturday - the final instalment of Stieg Larsson's Milennium Trilogy - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I enjoyed it, but if I'm asked to rate the 3 films, the 2nd one was best and the 1st one the poorest. It will be interesting to see what Hollywood do with the series - I can't imagine they'll improve on the Swedish versions.

We met Gary and his sorrowful son - Luca's not been too well this week - and had some lunch with them, and, in the evening, we had supper in the Tor-na-Coille with the Kilgours:

Nothing much else doing - work as usual today and yesterday was just TV sport vegetation - although Lucy phoned at night as Jo and I were demolishing a bottle of red.

More photos of the snow round here on my golf blog - http://bsvgolf.blogspot.com/

'Sno fair

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Taking a day off work afforded me the opportunity to walk down to the village for a haircut. Jo was heading off to Morrison's so I chummed her along - both of us fighting our way along the snowbound pavements. The icicles on the buildings are getting longer each day:

There has been so much snow and the ploughs have been out constantly, with the priority to keep the roads open. The smaller ploughs have also been clearing the pavements outside the shops in the High St, but the result is that huge snow barriers/walls have been building up at the edge of the road - they are becoming a hazard in themselves and today, there were diggers out loading up lorries with the surplus snow:

The sight of this delighted Jo - she had remembered this from our first winter in Deeside 27 years ago, but had been pooh-poohed by others (not me!) who told her it was just another of her flights of imagination.

Here's our house and cars in the driveway this morning:

Guess I better get back and do some work now!

London weekend

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

We got there in the end - expensively and a good bit later than planned. What should have been a simple trip to Terminal 5 with BA then a tube straight to Gloucester Road, just across from our Fraser Place apartment, became a bit more complicated when we had to go with Flybe to Gatwick, then the Gatwick Express and a taxi.

No matter - we got there in time to check in, grab a quick snack then walk round to the Royal Albert Hall. Jools Holland was preceded by a half hour set by Rumer, then Jools and his band did a straight through 2 hour set with the usual array of guest artistes, notably including a slimline Alison Moyet.

We walked back after the gig and bypassed the bistro I fancied, back down to the Compton Road/Gloucester Road junction. We failed in a couple of attempts to get a meal - too late, Guv - it's after 11pm - "but your sign says open until midnight" - not for food, mate. So, much to Jo's chagrin, we settled for a couple of pints, some pistachios, olives and crisps!

After breakfast on Sunday morning, we took a taxi to Piccadilly and wandered round Green Park, The Mall and Clarence House before our 11:30 am booking at the Ritz. I recalled my time between 1974 and 1977 working in Devonshire House for James Buchanan & Co - we even walked past the site of the IRA bomb that blew up our offices.

Nowadays there's a whole new entrance to Green Park tube station being constructed, which is the reason for the temporary green woodwork in Green Park as I posed in front of my old office:

It was a beautiful, crisp and bright morning with lots of tourists walking along the Mall to Buckingham Palace:

Finally, inside the glitzy Ritz tearoom:


A harpist played in the hall:

We needed to walk after almost 2 hours of drinking endless cups of tea and eating sandwiches and cake, so we strolled along Piccadilly and popped in to Fortnum and Mason's:

Up past Eros, and up Regent Street for a bit, then back along towards Bond St, then a full loop back to catch the Tube to Heathrow, where we were initially told that our flight was cancelled. Fortunately, I asked somebody else and it turned out, that, whilst Aberdeen airport had been shut intermittently, it was open again and our flight was going - so we got back at a fairly reasonable hour after a short but hectic weekend.

Weekend travel

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/


Feeling ripped off this morning - BA cancelled our 8:15 flight to London but there were no more seats on flights until 7:30 this evening - too late for us. Had to pay an arm and a leg to get a flight down with Flybe but, as we're still coming back with BA, there's no refund!

Added to which, I had to get up early to try and book alternative flights and, having now booked the lunchtime flights, I could have stayed in bed! Hope the Flybe flight is on time - our timetable is a bit tight now.

Snow blues

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Can snow be blue? Yes, I think so.

After Wednesday night's two and a half hour fiasco ice-dancing my way back home after the police shut the main roads back to Banchory, it was a no-brainer to stay at home yesterday. I did get up at the usual time this morning, however and drove to work. It seemed there was a bit of a thaw on - certainly the snow just fell off my car this morning - it wasn't frozen on. Deeside roads were still a little white, but Aberdeen roads were black and there thankfully didn't appear to be any ice around.

There have been snow flurries today, however, and I won't be waiting around too long before I head west again. I've printed off our boarding passes for our flights to London tomorrow and I hope we manage to make it OK.

Yesterday, I did some work at home but a lot of the day was spent tele-watching - golf, cricket, some old Mad Men episodes, Corrie and, later on, the final episodes of The Wire. That's us seen all 5 series now - some 60 odd episodes - and it was really interesting - very gritty, but the character portraits were fascinating. My favourites were Omar (the gun-toting assassin) and Bubs (the down and out junkie). Both found their own redemption in the end - Omar met his end the way he lived his life, but Bubs got clean and was welcomed back in to his family.

Anyway, enough for now - best head home before we get any more snow.

Tuesday

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Just a quick post today. Had a nice trip to Bergen yesterday - even though I didn't leave the airport terminal! Our flight was running late so our hosts organised a lovely meeting room with a spectacular view of the fjords and islands at the airport hotel. Very civilised flight and times too and I was home just after 6:30 pm - armed with a bag of Bamse Mums - does everyone remember them? I'll bet there are none left when I get home tonight!

Been to the gym again today and I've finally sent my passport off for renewal - hope it comes back quickly as I need to get my Visa application in for Oz soon.

Here's a quick one of Jo and Luca at the weekend:

Sunday blog

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/



Here I go again - last blogger standing. It was a perfect November day today - no wind, no rain, a trifle cool, but as good as we can expect it at this time of year. I played golf this morning - the first time I've walked a course since my knee ops - in fact, it's the longest walk I've been on. I managed fine - a bit stiff towards the end, but otherwise OK.



All set for my quick trip to Bergen tomorrow - not sure what the weather's like there - oh, just checked online - sunny and 3 degrees apparently.

We've got our trip to London next weekend to look forward to - going to the Royal Albert Hall to see Jools Holland, and then Tea at the Ritz on Sunday.

We had Luca this weekend as Gary took Carole horse riding for her birthday. Luca was in good form - he especially liked his short rides to and from the garage in our neighbour Amy's little tricycle with a push handle on the back. His little legs were whirling away OK, but the propulsion was coming from me, so at least I didn't have to wait for him. The first trip was for chocolate and the second for crisps - not for him, but for Granny Jo!

Just over 4 weeks till Xmas - and then 3 weeks after that we're off to Oz!

Confession

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It's been nearly 2 weeks since I blogged.

I do have an excuse, of course - I was away all last week - and, yes - I did manage to play 6 rounds of golf in Spain, albeit with the help of buggies. It was a little late in the year to be really hot - we were only in southern Spain - we reckon you have to go as far south as Tenerife or Marrakech at this time of year to get the really warm temperatures - but, hey - I played in shorts every day so it can't be bad. We dodged a bullet on Sunday when it rained - that was the day we were travelling home.

So this week's been back at work. I've been to the gym twice this week - guilty conscience perhaps? I also had my flu jab - the one I forgot all about on the day of Laura Mason's wedding - oh, yes, I haven't told you about that yet, have I? Nice day out at Ardoe House Hotel - here we are with the Kilgours, Hodgsons and Maura:


The little brown patch on my nose was treated again the day before this wedding and some more of the skin has dropped off - it looks better now, but I'll get it checked out in a few weeks.

My knees are feeling a bit stronger - I'd like to think I could manage a game of squash before Xmas - but we'll see how it goes.

I've got a rare business day trip on Monday - to Bergen - lovely place, but not necesssarily at this time of year!

and I've got a new laptop - a Sony Vaio - a lot smaller and lighter than my old one - a lot easier to carry, but I may need to add a monitor for the office! My old laptop has gone to Jo - at least for the time being. Normally we hand them down at work, but there's no takers just now. I think Jo enjoyed playing with it last night.

So that's me up to date - what about you other bloggers?

Quiet house

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/



Well, our sick family have all flown home now - how sad - the house is a lot quieter now! The Lesinas flew west on Thursday morning and Kelly headed in the opposite direction later on.



Here's a few of the pre-departure photos - firstly Braeden, looking a little reflective and wearing his new Scotland hat that he got at Castle Fraser, Kemnay on Sunday:

I dropped Lucy, Scott and the boys at Aberdeen airport and took a quick photo as they disappeared to the terminal building. Braeden and Cade noticed me, but Lucy was intent on getting to check-in, whilst Scott was out of shot, lugging the rest of the cases:

I met Jo and Kelly inside the terminal building and we said our farewells and off she dashed - I just managed to get this slightly out of focus shot as she disappeared through to security:

So, it's back to the old routine now - well, maybe not quite yet - it was the Stonehaven Beer Festival last night and a few of us went over - not Jo this time - she wasn't feeling up to it, and we've got another wedding to attend this afternoon, so she decided it was best to give it a miss this year. (Festival photos on my ale blog -http://iansaleadventures.blogspot.com/).

I also went back to see my knee surgeon on Thursday - just a routine follow-up visit. My knees are progressing pretty well - even my troublesome right knee is a little better now, but Mr. Bidwell confirmed that a new knee is definitely on the radar - it's just a question of time. He thought that I could probably get away with a partial replacement, rather than a full one - most of the damage is on the inside of the knee. He told me to just carry on as normal just now and see how I get on with the knee as is - best to put off the op for as long as possible.

That was the first of 4 planned visits to the medics in 2 days. On Friday, I went to see my GP to get the results of my latest blood tests - the previous one had shown an adverse liver function reading after I started on the statins a month ago, but this one was OK, thankfully. I've to get it checked again just before we go to Oz in January.

Just an hour later, I went to see one of the other partners in our local medical practice - this was a follow-up to the freezing treatment he had applied last month to the sun spot on my nose. It's improved a little but it's still there, so he applied another treatment and we'll see how this one goes.

Then, this morning, I was due to go for my flu jab - but I forgot! Whoops - must have been too much beer last night.

So, I better go and pack now - Laura Mason's wedding this afternoon, then off to Spain tomorrow morning. I haven't had a chance to play any golf for 6 weeks, but I did go to the driving range on Wednesday night to see how much it was going to hurt. It wasn't too bad, although I had to take it very easy, not knowing whether my knees would stand up to it and also how much my ribs would hurt as I swung through. Fingers crossed.

The Wedding

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Guess there's not much to say since I last blogged - oh no, there was the small matter of a wedding - whoops, nearly forgot!

It was a lovely weekend and all went well - great venue and really nice bright sunshine - looking forward to seeing the professional photographer's work - a selection of my photos are on Facebook - as are a number of others - and my video clips are now on You Tube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6X6-K29YS8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dpEus0n4Ks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAoWEN_HPj4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6w3DSXbEuw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5G5OjVLfSw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlEAQtMnZ3k

It was nice going out for a bar supper with Brian and Mary on Friday (to the Redgarth) and staying there the extra night made things a lot easier for us on the day of the wedding.

Everyone else seemed to enjoy themselves too - and it was great to see all the family together. As I said at my 60th last year, better to do it in these happy circumstances than wait to get together on a less happy occasion!

So, just 3 days now until Scott, Lucy and the boys head West again, and Kelly heads in the opposite direction - it's gone too quickly. Kelly, Ross and Braeden are now not well, but at least Scott is on the mend. Come to Scotland to get sick!