Last few days in Idaho

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

On Tuesday Scott took us down to Cabela's (http://www.cabelas.com/) huge outdoor/hunting/fishing store and we met up with his Uncle Mike there - Scott's Mum's elder brother. We then went for a tour round the Buck Knives (http://www.buckknives.com/) manufacturing plant.


A few minutes away was another lovely lakeside town with its own city beach - Coeur d'Alene:

Mike invited us round to his for a BBQ yesterday (Wednesday) but we managed 9 holes of golf before driving down there:

Mike and Sue have a lovely cosy garden, with lots of lovely plants and water features:

Today - our last full day here before dawn departure tomorrow - has been spent mostly on site at the Rec centre, but Jo and I went for a walk first of all. Here's a panorama of the first half of our walk round the golf course and the resort:

That's all for now - next stop Grants Pass.

Idaho

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

For the older readers - I keep thinking I want to sing out "Ivanhoe-oh-oh" when I say Idaho. (Check out UK TV programme theme tunes of the 60's you younger ones).

Scott and I played racketball yesterday morning. Quite an experience for me - and a 4-0 thumping too (although 2 very close games). I couldn't get the hang of the bounciness of the ball - especially when it came off the back wall - it ran away from me! Mind you, it has been 2 knee operations and 2 heart procedures since I last played Scott at a racquets game - squash. It must have been 6 or 7 years ago anyway - as that's how long we have been without our courts at the Tor-na-Coille, where we last played.

We had thought about a game of golf yesterday but never got round to it after the racketball, then a late lunch. Instead, Jo, Lucy and I set off round one of the lake/golf course walks. I didn't time or measure it, but it was probably 3-5 miles. We stopped to take a photo at the millpond of a lake:

Scott drove us to another golf resort for dinner last night - very nice too - and today we headed for the Water Park - http://www.silverwoodthemepark.com/. It had roller coasters too, but the boys weren't interested - they are both water babies and we spent more than 6 hours there - and they were never out of the water.

Jo's not one for high adrenaline pursuits but she did manage two and a half laps of the Lazy River, plus a little splash in the Wave Pool. See if you can spot her in the crowd striding out towards the waves:

Now relaxing on the decking with a beer, G & T and a large bottle of Pinot Noir!

Seattle to Idaho

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Sitting here in our timeshare in Northern Idaho - we've had some overnight rain, which persisted through breakfast, but it's clearing up now and I'm sure it'll be another hot and sunny day, but I thought I'd take a few minutes out to do a quick blog posting. Facebook has a number of photos etc on it, so I'll keep this short.

Seattle was great and it was nice to meet up with Scott's cousin, Mark. We did the standard "Duck" tour  in the amphibious vehicle - every tourist city in the world seems to have these now. Here we are at the start:

25 bucks this official photo cost us - I had to swallow hard. Our driver, Captain Chaos, was good and certainly got Jo going. She started complaining about the music as we boarded the Duck, but, within 5 minutes, she was up there dancing away, swinging her arms above her head.

We did the Underground tour - pretty interesting and some funny stories, well told. We also spent time at the fountain next to the Space Needle (from the 1962 World's Fair) - mostly waiting for the big fountain to explode:

The flight through to Spokane on the Washington/Idaho border was quick and easy. We had lunch there until Scott and Lucy arrived in the truck to pick us up.

Our first full day in Idaho was spent at the pretty lakefront town of Sand Point, up towards the Canadian border. Nice day all round and we finished it - as we did the day before - with another great barbie on our decking overlooking the golf course, courtesy of Scott - and Lucy, of course. They sure know how to BBQ - lots of practice, I guess.

On our way

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Waiting just now at T5 for our flight to Seattle. Lucy, Scott and the boys are leaving home about now - it will take them about the same time to drive as our flight.

So what have I been up to then? Twice cancelled golf last Wednesday & Thursday, but I played Friday at Banchory and then we were on our Summer Tour down to Dumfries & Galloway - and, boy, did we get lucky with the weather. Friday had been nice in Banchory - 22 C and playing in shorts - but when we drove down on Saturday morning, from about Dundee onwards, it was pretty miserable until we got to the Borders. By the time we teed off at Southerness it was a beautiful afternoon and shorts were in order again. In the end, I played in shorts 4 days running - that's the first time for a while.

On my way down south, we stopped off at Hamilton to have my orthotic insoles/wedges adjusted. So that's them fully fitted now - and so far, so good - no great pains in the right knee yet, although the wedge in the left foot is pretty prominent. Walking the streets of Seattle might be a tester.

Ross is at home - and has a million jobs to oversee when we're away. Good luck, son - and well done to Ross for getting down below his target weight of 12 stone 7 lbs. Now on with the exercise regime!

Bye for now.

A day at work with Luca

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Yesterday was my day with Luca - I took him in to our Aberdeen factory whilst Jo had a bit of a day off, getting her hair done. He was pretty good and Michael and Francis entertained him for a while to allow me to do a little work.

We did a quick factory tour with him as well. We had to take one of our visitor coats and cut off half the sleeves and the bottom half of the coat before he went in to the production areas:

We shared my tuna and sweetcorn sandwich for lunch - Luca washed his down with a glass of Irn Bru. He wanted to draw, so I gave him some paper and out came various shapes of animal:

Did you correctly guess what they all were? Luca told me, but I'm sworn to secrecy.

One week to go

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Exactly a week until we head off to USA - but it's still a bit of a mad time for me. I was away in London this last weekend for my annual cricket visit to Lord's - plus a gig - and some beers, of course (details in my football, beer and music blogs), and then I'm away this weekend golfing down in Dumfries and Galloway - an area I don't really know at all. I get back from there on Monday night and then have to pack hurriedly for our departure to USA on Tuesday morning, squeezing in a couple of hours in the office first of all.

On my way down to Dumfries on Saturday morning, I have to detour to Hamilton for my check-up appointment with the Orthotist. I hope he can do something about the additional stick-on wedges, which keep slipping out of position.

I must be getting anxious about it all - either that or I need lessons from Fergie on how to chew gum safely. I was driving to work this morning, chewing away, when suddenly I bit really hard on the front edge of my tongue. Blood all over the place - how do you stop a tongue bleeding? Never done that before - how stupid is that?

Gary brought Luca over last night - he's with us for 5 nights now - school has stopped for the summer and it saves Gary and Carole some day care costs if he stays with us. Tomorrow morning, I'm bringing him in to the office - Jo's got a hairdresser's appointment.

That's about it for now. I'll finish with one of the photos from last weekend that aren't already published on Facebook or other blogs. This is Dave Williamson, Colin Kilgour and I having a quiet beer in Henley-on-Thames on Sunday:

2 weeks to go!

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Yes, 2 weeks' today we head for USA - but first of all, I've got London this weekend, then Dumfries next weekend - it's all go.

What have I been up to for the last week? Well, some golf naturally - a pretty scary experience in the midst of a thunder and lightning storm at Tarland last Tuesday. Perhaps not the best protection standing under trees with a bag of induction agents (golf clubs) underneath a steel-tipped umbrella? We made up for it with a super afternoon at Kemnay on Friday - great fun, and we followed it with one of our Headbangs in the evening.

I cancelled golf on Saturday and stayed at home in the morning listening to Sounds of the 60's on Radio Two - we got another mention on the programme from Brian Matthews. I played my first game of squash for ages on Saturday afternoon and, in the evening, we watched the Hollywood version of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - I had wanted to see how it compared with the Swedish originals. It was pretty good, but it all seemed a little hurried to me - the book's a long one and it was like they were trying to cram every detail in to the film - I didn't get that feeling from the Swedish version.

My first hill-walk of 2012 was planned for Sunday morning, but early morning rain put a few of my fellow walkers off and we cancelled it at the last minute. I could have gone off to golf but decided instead to spend a lazy day with the Sunday Times.

Monday morning I was off to Fraserburgh, but I had to get back in time for our annual evening at Balmoral - and what a lovely one it was too.

So that's everyone up to date now.

Father's Day

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

We had a lovely late lunch/early dinner at the Potarch Hotel yesterday - Gary's treat - but Jo, Luca and Ross came long too. I was off duty and didn't take my camera, but Jo did - but will we ever see the photo she took?

One of Luca's paintings has been made in to a tea/coffee/beer mat and this was part of my present - it now sites proudly on my desk:

Perhaps not quite so proud is my Father's Day card from Gary:

I wouldn't say it was an obsession of Gary's but I do recall going to Denmark on business back in the mid/late 80's and I came across a town called Middelfart. Well, I had to buy a postcard and send it to Gary - even then it seems it was a subject that amused him!

Gary also took some photos of Luca and I attempting to lift the famous Dinnie Stones - perhaps we'll see them later?

This week, it's golf, golf, golf - Tarland tomorrow, Banchory Wednesday and Saturday and Kemnay Friday. We've also got a Headbang on Friday night, then a hill-walk on Sunday. Next week's worse - Balmoral Monday, Banchory Wednesday then off to London for my annual trip to Lord's followed by a gig. Just as well it's only 3 weeks' tomorrow until our trip to the States!

Kitchen latest + Father's Day

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Fitters are finished and here's where we're at - painting, lino and new table/chairs now required:

Note new lights fitted.

I received a package from John Lewis on Friday and it contained a new set of pyjamas - in the Olympics design! Now who would send these to their father?:

The kitchen takes shape

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

It's been a week of take-aways and eating out - the new Oriental on Monday and again tonight, the golf club (with Luca & Carole) on Tuesday, and Echt Tandoori last night (Jo & Ross only, as I was at golf).

The fitters reckon they will finish the kitchen tomorrow morning - that would be good. Jo would get to her swimming in the afternoon and we could start to lead a more normal life again. Yesterday's state of play was:

and tonight:

Tomorrow afternoon it's golf at Blairgowrie for me, but the weather forecast is wet again - oh no.

Kitchen chaos

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Well, it's been an exciting day all round. Jo spent most of the weekend emptying all the cupboards in the kitchen in preparation for the arrival of the kitchen fitters today. Of course, all the stuff had to go somewhere, and now every room in the house has got kitchen stuff in it!

I got home early from work in good time so that I could see the Olympic Torch Relay coming through Banchory just after 5 pm. The house was in chaos - noise and dust everywhere - and it was freezing. Doors and windows were open and, of course, we have no heating just now - the gas man's visit last Wednesday determined that we needed another Power Flush and meanwhile, we're experimenting with switching different radiators on and off to see if we can clear the black gunge that Jo is daily having to clear out of the system through the filter.

We shouldn't need any heating at this time of year, but the weather has been so poor recently.

I walked down to the High St. to join the throngs who were lining the street, awaiting the arrival of the Torch. Jo couldn't join me as she wanted to stay at home until the workmen were finished for the day. I suggested I would pick up a take-away at the new Thai/Chinese/Asian - it wasn't bad, by the way. The relay duly arrived and took 10-15 minutes to pass along the High St. - I hadn't realised there were so many people and vehicles involved. Finally, the Torch itself:

Back home, the kitchen is now stripped:

The old fridge/freezer is going down to the garage - everything in the new kitchen will be exactly that - all brand new.

Giving up golf?

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Well, the forecasts were right - and I got soaked yesterday playing in the Banchory Seniors Open. Light drizzle when we started and it looked like it might clear, but it did the exact opposite, and I got wet through and through and all my gear is now absolutely soaking.

Fortunately, Tuesday afternoon at Royal Aberdeen was much better - a really enjoyable few hours. Much more important, however, was the fact that I played golf 2 days in a row wearing my new wedge insoles - and I don't have the usual aches and pains in my legs - wonderful. Sure, I'm a bit stiff and sore, but I haven't been able to walk much more than 14/15 holes this year without being in absolute agony - so maybe there is something to this black art they call Orthotics. The only slight downside is that the additional removable wedges he gave me to stick on to the bit of the insole just short of the ball of my foot, keep sliding back and end up under my foot arches. Today, I've taken them off, so we'll see how I get on without them.

So I'm able to play golf again - but fair scunnered with it right now. I was invited to play again today, but I couldn't face it. Hopefully, I'll have got over yesterday's trauma by Saturday - if it's dry.

Got to attend a "public consultation" meeting tonight as a representative of our (non-existent) squash club, concerning the proposal to build a new sports centre down at King George V park. We're trying to be supportive of anybody that is willing to provide squash facilities locally again - Inchmarlo is also supposed to be doing this - but I've been around long enough to remember that the project was initially called KGV 2000 - yes, it was set up in the mid/late 90's with a view to providing the facilities in the Millennium year!

Just made a very late timeshare exchange - it was due to expire next week and we couldn't find anything that we could use, but a week in South Australia came up and Chris' Mum and Dad - and possibly daughter-in-law - are going to use it.

Complications with our replacement shower in the downstairs WC - to get a more powerful version, we may have to rip up some of our lovely floorboards in the front room - not sure I want to get in to major work here. Planning to meet Ross' pal Dan tomorrow to discuss.

Next week is New Kitchen week - guess we'll be eating out a few times!

Onward to the next milestone

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Hey! - we've passed 20,000 viewings of this blog - and that's not counting those family members who receive it by e-mail and never actually log on to the blog itself. Give yourselves all a big hand.

I'm in the almost unique position of having all my blogs pretty much up to date. Normally, I have a backlog and have to prioritise which blogs to post to first. Generally, if photos have been taken somewhere then that particular blog is the next to be done.

This all led to me thinking about summarising the stats for my blogs. I now have a total of 9 blogs. I started with my main diary style blog over 5 years ago - on 12th March, 2007, to be exact. I then opened the Football, Golf and Squash ones the following year, and then the Music one late in 2009. The next year brought 2 more - Beer and Hill-Walking, and the Chronicles started last year and Pet Hates this year.

I've now posted 1,702 separate blogs, of which the most frequent is, of course, my main diary one, which has now been posted on 915 occasions - almost every other day since it started. It gets an average viewing of almost 22 per post, but the most read seems to be the Squash one, which averages 61 viewings per post.

If you've never checked the others out, here's the full list and the links:

IRS	http://ianrstewart.blogspot.co.uk/
Football	http://bvetsfootballgroup.blogspot.co.uk/
Golf	http://bsvgolf.blogspot.co.uk/
Squash	http://deesidesquashracquetballclub.blogspot.co.uk/
Music	http://banchoryheadbangers.blogspot.co.uk/
Beer	http://iansaleadventures.blogspot.co.uk/
Hill-walking	http://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.co.uk/
Chronicles	http://renshawschronicles.blogspot.co.uk/
Pet Hates	http://curmudgeonlyramblings.blogspot.co.uk/

I'm sure that was rivetting reading, but what else do I have to say today? Not much - I was supposed to be travelling down to Gleneagles to have lunch and play golf, but there's been an outbreak of the norovirus there (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-18302473) so we're giving that a body swerve and heading to Royal Aberdeen instead. There's a report that Gleneagles are going to have to pay out up to £200K in compensation!

Luca's been with us the last 2 nights and he's been a good boy - as usual. This morning I went down for breakfast and I spotted him in his room, sitting on his bed quietly reading his books, not disturbing anyone.

We opted out of going along to the St Ternan's Jubilee Fair last night and also missed the lighting of the beacon on Scolty Hill. Both were really too late for our little grandson.

Tomorrow, it's the Senior Open at Banchory for me, but the forecast isn't too good - hope they're wrong.

The wedding

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Some scenes from yesterday:

Jo and I in our room just about to head off to the wedding

Barry, Helen, Ross & Jo - The Usual Suspects

The line-up changes

Dawn & John, with Jordon to the left and Kyle and his girlfriend on the right

Signing the book as Bridesmaid Meghan and Best Man, Red, look on.

Jordon plays as the register is signed

Signing the Register with Ethan looking on

A short video clip of part of Malcolm's speech:

The hog roast arrived not long after 9pm

Dawn, armed with camera - and a change of dress

So that was the wedding, that was. A lovely day - it was really nice that the weather allowed the service to be held outdoors in the garden.

This morning, Jo asked for a slight diversion on the way home, to do some further Ancestry explorations, so we headed off to the tiny hamlet of St. Quivox, where there were only a few houses, including the former station master's, a church and a graveyard. The names on a few of the stones included some Stewarts, but it was the other side of my family that Jo was looking for - but no luck. There was a big, empty mausoleum in the graveyard, beside the church: