Lucy 38!!!

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Yes - no hiding place - this time next year, Lucy will be entering her 40th year! Happy birthday, girl! Here's an old one of her when we lived in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire. We had 2 fabulous summers in a row - 1975 and 1976, but I suspect this one was taken in 1977 or 1978 as Gary was a little boy then. Our neighbours were Ray and Chris Barrie from a couple of doors along and their children, Sasha and Karl, were similar ages to our two:

Good - Blogspot allowed me to upload this, so perhaps I haven't reached my limit after all.

Have a good one, Lucy - see you in August.

Thursday update

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

I just tried to update the sidebar archive photos on my blog and was told by Google that I couldn't do it as I had exceeded my photo upload limit! - but I was deleting one and replacing it? Bah!

Watched The Apprentice last night after golf - I enjoy the analysis of what went wrong (or right) with the task - it's part of what I do at work, so I find it interesting - and the characters are generally so odious - I guess that's why I always look forward to it.

So far this week, I've played squash once, golf once and been to the gym once. Tonight it's squash again - twice in one week - unusual for this time of year. My body will be sore tomorrow.

Forgot to say we watched Wall Street - Money Never Sleeps last Saturday. I had thought I might enjoy it, but Ross merely pulled a face when I told him what the DVD was, so our expectations were immediately lowered - and he was right! Much better - although gloomier and tragic - was the previous Saturday's viewing - Telstar - the Joe Meek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Meek) story.

So, I've now booked our accommodation in Australia and Singapore next year - we're there during the Adelaide Festival (http://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/), which should be fun. We've also finally decided on a date for our golf trip back to Turkey next year - I think! It's been a long drawn-out battle trying to get 7-8-9 guys to agree a mutually acceptable date, but I think we're almost there. Of course, I narrowed the options a bit by taking an extended break Down Under - and a little later than we did this year.

This Saturday it's the Champions League final. I had initially proposed bringing a few friends round to watch it but was told, in no uncertain terms, not to bother, but to go to the pub instead - so that's what I'll be doing!

Next week I'm off to London for my annual cricket trip to Lord's, and also to take in a couple of concerts - Nils Lofgren and then Donovan - the latter at the Royal Albert Hall again.

My pal, Gary Grant, has just recorded a slightly politically charged single and it's available on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0IfIum_B0w. Ross will probably enjoy the sentiments!

Lazy Sunday afternoon

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Yes - it feels like the famous Small Faces 1967 track - remember "cor blimey Mrs Jones, how's your Bert's lumbago?" - as I while away the hours alone at home. Ross is asleep and Jo's at church/coffee and there's no golf today. I should have been up Lochnagar but had to pull out at the last moment as I didn't feel too great and my knees are acting up a bit again. I was concerned that I might hold the other guys back so I pulled out.

As a consolation, I did go a walk up Scolty - it was nice and quiet early in the morning, and I enjoyed the peace. Here's a panoramic view I took from the top:

Kelly 32!

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Yes - I've outed her - our little "Thunder from Down Under" - is 32 today. Kelly knows how to celebrate - she won't need any advice from us - it's evening in Oz now and no doubt she's hitting the town again.

It's 10 years since Kelly graduated from the University of Aberdeen. Here we were on a side street somewhere near Marischal College after the graduation ceremony (hosted by Kirsty Wark):

Just a few weeks later and we were all off to USA for Scott and Lucy's wedding. Here's the girls at Patrick Creek, where the ceremony was held:

Think they're related at all? We travelled a bit that year - New York, then Florida, Denver, San Francisco, Crescent City, Patrick Creek and Redding. We had to do the cable car thing in Frisco:

Going back to the Millennium year, I found a photo of Kelly at Beverly Garland's Holiday Inn in L.A.:

That's what she'll be doing in Adelaide tonight! Have a good one, pet - wish we were with you!

Mid-May update

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

I thought I'd better bring my blog diary up to date again - it's been 12 days now - not easy to remember everything that's happened in that time - if I don't do this frequently, I've got no chance!

My last post told about the builders arriving to cut a hole in the wood roof to our porch. Have they been back since? What do you think? Will it ever get fixed?

I went for my latest blood test and saw the Doctor on Friday to get the results - the good news is that I can now come off the iron pills - thank goodness for that! I had another visit to the Medical Centre the same day to see the Doctor who has been looking at and treating the skin blemish on my nose. It certainly looks better since he froze off the crusty brown skin, but he tells me I've got 2 things going on there. I wish I'd asked him to write the names down - they were unpronounceable. Basically, one of them has the possibility of turning cancerous if I'm not careful, but the other one is just a kind of warty thing that's randomly attached itself to the original growth. Factor 50 for me, he says, especially in USA and Oz.

Let's think - what else goes wrong with your body as you get older? Well, nose hairs for one. Billy Connolly does a wonderful skit on the whole ageing process and his take is far better than I could ever manage, but, thankfully, I don't appear to have got the ear hairs he talks about yet. Nose hairs are a pest however - I've taken to just pulling them out - it used to be painful at first, but I'm getting used to it. Sometimes they're dark, sometimes white - occasionally 50:50 - weird.

We had the first of our bi-annual (not biennial) trips to Boat of Garten last weekend - great fun and very lucky with the weather, as you can see from my golf blog.

It was another golf club Committee meeting on Monday - I'm starting to get the hang of things now, and how it all works. I still think there's too many round the table and there's a lot of hot air, and division of responsibilities is pretty woolly too, but it's getting a bit easier. I've had my first official complaint as House Convenor - let's hope I can resolve matters amicably.

When I was at Boat of Garten, Gary was fulfilling a life-long ambition - and probably one of mine and my Dad's - of playing on the hallowed turf/mud of Firhill. Carole and Luca went down to watch as well. For those that haven't seen it, here's Gary in action in one of his matches in the tournament:

Did he chop the guy in red down after this? Gary denies it!

Luca got his face painted when he was there - and then got his photo taken with Simon Donnelly and Paul Cairney (whoever they may be, you might well be asking?):

This Sunday, weather permitting, we're planning to walk up Lochnagar - my first Munro - if I make it! We tried last year, but visibility was so poor there was no point in going on - and I was struggling anyway with my cardio system - let's hope for better things this time.

And, as you probably gathered from Kelly's blog, we're trying to get the internal flights and accommodation sorted out for our trip to Oz next year, which I'm hoping to follow up with a return golf trip to Turkey - if we can agree a suitable date.

At work yesterday, I received an unusual call from a man representing Tekno Model Trucks (http://www.tekno.nl/). They wanted our permission to feature one of our old trucks in their Historic Range and are going to be sending me a contract for us to sign, allowing them to make 150 replicas (1:50 scale). As it happens, I have a photo of said truck in my room:

Takes all sorts, doesn't it?

Nag, nag, nag

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Yes - I've been nagged to do another blog posting, and, as I haven't updated the family one this month (although my other blogs have been), I thought I had better do something now. With 7 separate blogs running, I don't intend to update them all on a daily basis - usually only when there's something to report - and I don't have much to add just now really.

Since my last posting (last Monday 25th April), this is what I've been up to in the evenings:

• Monday - New Members' night at the Golf Club
• Tuesday - Joe Brown at the Music Hall (check http://banchoryheadbangers.blogspot.com/)
• Wednesday - golf
• Thursday - nowt
• Friday - pub
• Saturday - John McDonald's 60th party at the Legion
• Sunday - nowt, bar Sunday Times and TV
• Monday - nowt again
• Tuesday - golf at Fraserburgh, followed by supper at the Redgarth Inn, Oldmeldrum
• Wednesday - golf
• Thursday - nowt

So that's almost 2 weeks in my exciting life - that and work. I did pop in to Inverurie yesterday on my way home from Fraserburgh, to drop off some fish. Carole was in, hoping to catch some shut-eye before her all-nighter counting votes from yesterday's election. I didn't stay too long - just long enough for a cup of tea and a Hob-nob, and for Yoda to completely cover my dark blue sleeveless sweater in a thick layer of her white coat - will it ever come off?

The election results were stunning for the SNP - well, for Alex Salmond, really - but fear not, good folk in foreign parts, this doesn't mean independence for Scotland quite yet - it was more a smack in the eye for a Labour party, complacent in their traditional role as the party of Scotland, and for their smug leader, Iain Gray, who, I suspect, won't be in that position too much longer.

Going back to last Saturday, John McDonald's 60th birthday party was quite a do. There were 150 guests at the Legion and the theme was Black & White. There were loads of guests dressed in classic gangster gear, plus some Arab dress, but the best outfit of the evening was surely the woman who came along in full Beetlejuice regalia, including so much make-up that we couldn't make out who she was! Our table was very conservatively attired, however.

It's 10 years since John was seriously ill in hospital with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphona. I remember visiting him in his isolation ward in the hospital and having to get dressed up like a spaceman to enter his little bubble. John's only alive today because of the success of the stem cell transfer he got from his brother, so the evening was a fund-raising event for the Anchor Unit cancer charity. 

One thing we have learned from the experience last Saturday was never to give John McDonald a microphone! He did go on a bit. One of his surprises was the arrival of their son, Simon, from Sydney - John hadn't expected it at all - he was gobsmacked. Here's John, Leigh, Lorraine and Simon:

At our table:

Dan Corbett and Andy and Margaret Gore

Jack Simpson, Colin Kilgour and Dave Williamson

Jo and Frances Simpson

Apologies for the bad timing of the photo, Jo - I should add that it was about the only glass you had all night!

If you're thinking there's a disproportionate number of men at our table, then let me explain. Johanne wasn't well enough to come, so Colin came on his own, whilst Jayne had a prior engagement, leaving Dave to attend solo as well. Dan has been on his own for a while now.

So this weekend's the first of our trips to Boat of Garten this year. It's sod's law that the long, dry, sunny spell has finally broken and we've got a little bit of rain now. So far, it seems quite light - like summer rain - let's hope it doesn't get any worse for Sunday/Monday.

Gary's got his big day at Firhill this weekend as well. How his Grandad would have loved to have played on the hallowed turf/earth like Gary is going to. Check out http://www.ptfc.co.uk/downloads/firhill_cup_2011_teams.pdf - scroll down and check the Garthland team (black tops).

And it's Braeden's 7th birthday on Sunday - can you believe it?

This morning I was a bit later leaving as I had another blood sample to be taken at the Nurse's, so I was still at home about 7:45 am when I heard this drilling and banging. I thought it was next door, but Jo told me it was Bob the Builder (aka Deeside Construction/Destruction) who she had called in to hopefully sort out, for once and all, the mystery of the leak from our balcony down to the wooden roof to our porch. They removed some of the timbers then disappeared within 10 minutes - who knows what, if anything, happens next.

That's me pretty much up to date now. 

Easter

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Yes, I'm blogging in the office again, but why not? There's little else doing today. First thing this morning, I tried to do 2 things - firstly, buy and sell some currencies online, and secondly, make an enquiry on the Companies House web site. Guess what? I couldn't do either of them. I thought that part of the attraction of doing things online is that you can a) work remotely, and b) work out of hours - but both the Clydesdale Bank's FX site and Companies House were offline because it's Easter!

And while I'm moaning, since when did Easter Sunday become Easter Day? That's what all the media people call it now. Was this change based on religious advice or does it just sound more trendy?

Anyway, we had a nice Easter (Sun)day. After I returned from our walk up Bennachie (see hill-walking blog for photos), Gary, Carole and Luca came over and we had an excellent, albeit high in cholesterol, feast. Luca brought his pre-school pack over with him - it contains a few puzzles etc, and he set about completing one of them immediately. He raced through it, then smiled up at us - amn't I a smart guy, the face said:

Jo and Carole at the table:

Ross looks a bit morose here, but sleep deprivation was the real cause:

Meanwhile Gary kept Luca entertained:

Luca made it through to his treat - chocolate ice cream - yummy:

Plans for the rest of the week? Well tonight there's a New Members evening at the golf club, and being on the Committee now, I feel I should show willing and go along. Tomorrow we're going to see Joe Brown at the Music Hall - I told Gary yesterday and he said who? Sam Brown's Dad, I responded. What?!!!!, he said. Read and learn - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Brown_(singer)#Singles. He's 70 this year - same age as Dylan, and he's an MBE now as well.

Wednesday is golf night and that's about it. Have a good one.

Good - it's Friday

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Perhaps it should be God Friday? I know we're having trouble getting enough workers for our weekend shifts today, tomorrow and Sunday (customer orders and consumer demand mean we have to produce every day bar 2 - Xmas & New Year) - particularly from our foreign workforce - Poles, Lithuanians etc. So don't complain to me if there's not enough mackerel in your local Tesco/Morrison's/Costco/Waitrose this weekend.

The great spring weather continues - and still no sign of rain. No doubt we'll complain when it does arrive, however. I hope I haven't now put a curse on the weekend's outdoor pursuits - golf tomorrow and hillwalking on Sunday. We've got Gary, Carole and Luca coming round on Sunday afternoon for Easter dinner - Luca will be in his element - that boy is seriously addicted to chocolate - must have been my Dad's sweet tooth passed down.

Last night, I put in the request for our summer 2012 holiday in USA. Lucy and I had spoken about Idaho and Scott has just been over there - it's the eastern adjacent state to Oregon - and he said it was worth a visit. Idaho stretches the length of Oregon and Washington state combined, having its southern border with Nevada and its northern one with Canada. To the east lies Montana and Wyoming, including some of Yellowstone National Park (Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo country!).

The problem is where to go? American states are like countries and travel can take a lot longer than you expect. Probably the most famous town in Idaho is the capital, Boise, but the exchange holiday resorts are usually more rural. Anyway, I've just requested them all for the time being - at least until Scott and Lucy tell me otherwise. Here they are - there's just 10 of them:

OK - so where are they all? Well, McCall is north, bordering the southern end of Payette Lake, and Hope is further north east of McCall on the north eastern shore of Lake Pend Oreille. Island Park is near the border with both Montana and Wyoming.

Blanchard is north, near the Washington state border, and Harrison is south of Blanchard, and also towards the Washington border. Ketchum and Sun Valley are fairly close together, in the middle of the state, parallel with Oregon.

Of course, like me, you all knew this already? No research was required - honest, injun.

We also received confirmation yesterday for a request that I put in recently for a time-share week that was about to expire in October this year. Interval International phoned me to tell me that a week at the Carrick at Cameron House, Loch Lomond (http://www.intervalworld.com/web/cs?a=1503&resortCode=CAK&parentResortCode=CAK) had unexpectedly come up in July and did I want it? I said yes of course - better to use it rather than lose it, I thought. It's from Friday 15th July for a full week. It's just 2 weeks before we head off to USA, so I won't be able to use it for the full week - we'll probably spend Friday/Saturday/Sunday nights there, but I'll have to get back to work after that. It's a 2 bedroom job anyway, so there's room if anybody else would like to use and/or share it? Gary has already said he can't make it then.

I think I've prattled on long enough now. To finish, yet another picture of Jo tending the back garden:

Oh - and finally a word to Ross and his pals to thank them for stomping round our house, slamming doors all over the place from about 2 am this morning - I so wanted to be wakened from my deep sleep at that time.

Before I was so rudely interrupted .....

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

This morning's posting finished rather abruptly when my car was ready a bit quicker than I had thought it might be. I was about to publish another rather sad photograph of the Tor-na-Coille filling station, which has now boarded up its shop and its pumps:

Looks more like Beirut rather than Banchory, don't you think?

Killing time

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

So, it's Monday morning and here I am, sitting at John Clark BMW, waiting for a new fog lamp to be fitted to my car. I hadn't even noticed it was broken until it was pointed out to me when it was in for service last week - no idea how it happened.

So I thought I would update my blog again. It's been another good week weather-wise - especially yesterday when it was really warm. When I came home from golf, Jo was out the back sunning and reading again:

I didn't join her - a brief spell on the balcony at the front was enough for me - I'd been out in the sun on the golf course all morning, so I'd had enough by then.

We got all our USA flights confirmed and paid at the weekend, and I decided to hire a car at LAX this time rather than face the horrors again of a 3 hour shuttle bus ride from the airport to and from our accommodation at Newport Coast. A convertible as well - can't you just see me driving along in the California sunshine with my hair blowing in the wind? If only.

Our first hill-walk of the year is planned for next Sunday morning, so no golf for me next week. We're planning to do one of the many walks up/round Bennachie. Hope my knees and my cardio system stand up to it all OK.

We watched Invictus on Saturday night - Clint Eastwood directed the film about South Africa winning the Rugby World Cup back in the 90's, not long after Nelson Mandela was released from Robben Island. It was OK - a number of the scenes were shot in Cape Town as well as Johannesburg. There were a few from the Ferryman's brewpub on the Waterfront at Cape Town - I remember it well from our trip there in 2008:

My car's ready now - must go. Bye.

End of working week posting

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

It's Friday and it's been a bit of a strange week at work - a lot of people taking the school holidays - it's felt like limbo-land. Should be more normal next week, although the downside is that the traffic will be heavy again.

I've taken the opportunity to get a few holiday things sorted out. We know which flights we want to take to USA now - we'll book them tomorrow - and we've now booked our flights to Australia next year. Not Business Class this time - neither of us celebrating a big birthday next year - but World Traveller Plus at least gives us a bit more room than Economy. We used the BA Miles we had accumulated, plus the Companion Voucher we got as a result of taking on the Amex card. We had to pay the taxes of course, but it's still a pretty good deal.

I then started to organise our internal flights and accommodation in Australia - we fly in to Sydney but have a week in Perth plus time with Kelly - but I was stopped in midstream with the surprise news that there's a chance that Kelly might not be in Adelaide next year! She might be moving across the country - nothing definite, but we'll hang fire just now until we see what's happening.

We will be away from 17th February until 13th March, 2012 and in USA from 28th July to 22nd August, 2011. In Australia our week in Perth will be spend at www.accorvacationclub.com.au and in Southern California we have a week at http://www.marriott.co.uk/hotels/travel/laxnc-marriotts-newport-coast-villas/

We'll just miss Scott and Lucy's 10th wedding anniversary, but we remember the occasion well - a sweltering day at Patrick Creek:

Well, I finished my second Jo Nesbo thriller last night - the 5th in the Harry Hole series - http://jonesbo.com/#/books/devil. Pretty good - a cross between Ian Rankin's Rebus (http://www.ianrankin.net/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=12) and Stiegg Larsson (http://www.stieglarsson.com/).

Forecast looks good - hope to get some more golf in this weekend.

Another week, another blog posting

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

and what a nice week it's been - especially the weekend - shorts weather again. We had dinner at the Masons on Saturday night - and it was lovely - but struggled a bit on Sunday. Just not used to late night eating any more - always a struggle to digest and sleep afterwards.

Then, last night it was wall to wall Masters - what a great event it was too.

Lucy Skyped us on Friday, just before her 10 mile run on Saturday - well done, girl! Jo was out in the back weeding when Lucy called:

That didn't stop Jo having a chat with Lucy, however - we now know our wireless network extends to at least the embankment - as long as the laptop has sufficient battery power!

Jo was back out there yesterday - as was I - but this time it was far more relaxing as she gets in to her latest murder mystery:

 I think she's reading all these novels to try to research how to complete the perfect crime. If I suddenly go missing, or die mysteriously, you know who the first suspect should be!

So now, I'm trying to book our flights to USA this summer - and also to Oz next year. It's not easy trying to unravel all the options. We've both got lots of BA Miles, and we've also got a Companion Voucher which entitles one of us to a free flight anywhere as long as the other booking is made using the BA Miles. However, it's impossible to get summer flights to USA using BA Miles - all those offers are gone now - but we might be able to get them to Oz next year, although this would mean travelling all that way cattle class. The offers are complicated and restrictive and you have to do them online - it would be nice to be able to talk to somebody who could explain all the options in simple terms.

So, another week at work - and it looks like the weather is set to change - pity - we were just getting used to it. Have a good one y'all.

Forgive me father ...

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

It's been 2 weeks since I updated this blog - but I have been away - and I have updated most of my other blogs several times, so I haven't been idle.

Settled back in the old routine now - good beer - "proper" golf - i.e. walking in the cold, wind and rain! To be fair, the weekend wasn't bad - especially yesterday - and I only got wet briefly on Saturday morning - the sun came out and we had a glorious afternoon as soon as I was off the golf course - sod's law.

The journey back from Turkey was not great - departing after 2 am and arriving in horrendous weather in Glasgow at 5:30 am, having suffered the horrors of a Thomas Cook charter flight. I really don't know how they get away with cramming so many rows in. I'm not a giant, but I could barely get my knees in - there was no chance of stretching legs, let alone sleeping. The roads were exceptionally wet for most of the journey up and it was a job keeping concentration - and staying awake.

So, I now need to get on with booking our next flights to USA in August - and to Australia in February. We've got accommodation just outside Perth for a week, so it'll be nice to see WA this time.

Got another golf club committee meeting tonight. The jury's still out on whether I'll last or not - I spent 25 years dodging going on to the committee and was a little reluctant to accept this time - I only did so because the Captain asked me for a favour, to avoid somebody else getting on - but it's a cumbersome beast and I'm not sure it's my cup of tea - time will tell. I'm probably too used to running things my way - at work and our own little Squash Veterans' Groups - this democracy thing is not all it's cracked up to be. Call me Gaddafi if you like, but a little bit of canvassing, followed by some autocratic decision making, works better in my book.

That's all for now, folks!

Spring has sprung!

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

The Vernal Equinox has indeed brought the onset of spring - it's 17 C in Aberdeen today - and probably warmer inland - and the rest of the week is supposed to stay this way too. Sod's law I head off to Turkey on a golf holiday on Wednesday morning - the forecast there looks reasonable, however - not very hot, but sunny at least.

So it was the big birthday weekend for Jo - what did we get up to? First of all, dinner on Saturday night was at the Marcliffe at Pitfodels (http://www.marcliffe.com/), Aberdeen's premier hotel. Jo wanted me to take a photo of the desserts - hers was a variety of rhubarb dishes:

The sun shone again on Sunday, and Jo went out for an early morning walk - I think she was in contemplative mode - some people climb mountains when they hit significant round figure birthdays, but a walk round Banchory in the early morning sunshine was enough for Jo. When she got back, prior to the arrival of our taxi taking us to Buchanan's Bistro (http://www.buchananfood.com/barn.html) at Woodend Barn (http://www.woodendbarn.co.uk/) for lunch, Jo looked out the back and decided some weeding was required, so out came the step ladders:

then down she came:

We were joined at lunch by the Masons and Kilgours - here's Jo, Anne, and Johanne (sounds like a made-up pop group, doesn't it?), aka The Golden Girls, at lunch:

We finished lunch a little hurriedly and rushed through to get good seats to see Jimmie Macgregor (http://www.jimmiemacgregor.co.uk/) who's doing a little mini-tour to celebrate his 80th birthday. He's still got all his marbles and can still sing and play guitar pretty well. He could have talked all day - he only covered about 15 years of his career from the mid 50's to the late 60's - but after 2 hours or so, he probably needed a wee lie down somewhere. The girls really liked his stories, many of which brought back fond memories of their childhood, so they insisted on getting photographed with him afterwards:

Then it was back to Anne and Leslie's, where champagne and a cake were waiting for us all:

Of course, when we got home, we discovered that Gary had been round and had left a big chocolate cake that he had baked - plus an enormous box of Thornton's chocolates - so we gorged ourselves on them. Wonder why we felt a bit queasy this morning?