How did this:
turn in to this so quickly?:
Happy 30th, Ross - look forward to late lunch today - and perhaps a beer or two.
Ian R. Stewart Family Blog
Saturday, 7 September 2013
Ross 30!
From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/
How did this:
turn in to this so quickly?:
Happy 30th, Ross - look forward to late lunch today - and perhaps a beer or two.
How did this:
turn in to this so quickly?:
Happy 30th, Ross - look forward to late lunch today - and perhaps a beer or two.
Thursday, 5 September 2013
Knee replacement
From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/
I've been told I'll be called in about 10 days before my op to have a pre-assessment, and I've been directed to a web site to read some more about it - http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00389
Just 8 weeks to go.
Tomorrow I'll be picking up Luca from school for a sleepover to allow his Dad to leave at the crack of dawn on Saturday and head for his half marathon at Aberfeldy - and his Mum to do her horsey thing. Gary will come back to ours mid-afternoon and we'll have a late lunch/early tea with Ross to celebrate his 30th birthday.
I've been told I'll be called in about 10 days before my op to have a pre-assessment, and I've been directed to a web site to read some more about it - http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00389
Just 8 weeks to go.
Tomorrow I'll be picking up Luca from school for a sleepover to allow his Dad to leave at the crack of dawn on Saturday and head for his half marathon at Aberfeldy - and his Mum to do her horsey thing. Gary will come back to ours mid-afternoon and we'll have a late lunch/early tea with Ross to celebrate his 30th birthday.
Wednesday, 4 September 2013
What happened to the last week?
From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/
I didn't realise it had been over a week since my last blog posting - where has the time gone? I guess I've been pretty involved with end of season golf tournaments - it was the last night of our weekly Quaich competition last Wednesday (came 2nd again - to somebody 15 years younger than me), then it was the annual Terry Edmonds' Memorial competition at Aboyne on Friday (2nd again!) followed by our biennial weekend at Boat of Garten (yes, you've guessed it - 2nd again!).
In between we had Luca with us on Saturday as Gary went over the hill to compete in the Stoney Stomp (www.stoneystomp.org.uk) - just the run bit - and didn't he do well, finishing 6th. This weekend he's off at the crack of dawn to run in the Aberfeldy half marathon, whilst we look after Luca again. It's Ross' big 3-0 on Saturday so we're planning to have a meal together when Gary returns from Aberfeldy.
When we had Luca last Saturday, we took him for a walk to Tease to see his Uncle Ross. On the way, he wanted to climb up the grassy knoll at Corsee Road - you know the one that used to have "Bonnie Banchory" on it. He climbed up:
then posed at the top:
then, of course, I had to climb up, so Granny Jo had to follow:
on this occasion, she had almost got to the top when she started sliding down again on her knees. Eventually Jo did get there:
Luca was a little less certain on the downward descent:
The only other news I have is that I've finally fixed a date for my knee replacement operation - it's Friday 1st November - just after I get back from Tenerife. I guess I'll have to miss the Stonehaven Beer Festival this year.
I didn't realise it had been over a week since my last blog posting - where has the time gone? I guess I've been pretty involved with end of season golf tournaments - it was the last night of our weekly Quaich competition last Wednesday (came 2nd again - to somebody 15 years younger than me), then it was the annual Terry Edmonds' Memorial competition at Aboyne on Friday (2nd again!) followed by our biennial weekend at Boat of Garten (yes, you've guessed it - 2nd again!).
In between we had Luca with us on Saturday as Gary went over the hill to compete in the Stoney Stomp (www.stoneystomp.org.uk) - just the run bit - and didn't he do well, finishing 6th. This weekend he's off at the crack of dawn to run in the Aberfeldy half marathon, whilst we look after Luca again. It's Ross' big 3-0 on Saturday so we're planning to have a meal together when Gary returns from Aberfeldy.
When we had Luca last Saturday, we took him for a walk to Tease to see his Uncle Ross. On the way, he wanted to climb up the grassy knoll at Corsee Road - you know the one that used to have "Bonnie Banchory" on it. He climbed up:
then posed at the top:
then, of course, I had to climb up, so Granny Jo had to follow:
on this occasion, she had almost got to the top when she started sliding down again on her knees. Eventually Jo did get there:
Luca was a little less certain on the downward descent:
The only other news I have is that I've finally fixed a date for my knee replacement operation - it's Friday 1st November - just after I get back from Tenerife. I guess I'll have to miss the Stonehaven Beer Festival this year.
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
Hansons home
From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/
Yes, we survived our weekend with Brian & Mary - and so did they! It was golf, golf, golf - with a bit of beer thrown in - for Brian and I, and it seemed it was chat, chat, chat for Jo & Mary. If only my legs had as much stamina as their tongues!
Three consecutive days in shorts for Brian and I - Aboyne on Friday afternoon was very pleasant, and, although it rained overnight on Friday, and again on Saturday afternoon, we escaped it all when we played at Banchory on Saturday morning - and Sunday was much nicer after some early mist.
We met Jo & Mary on Friday evening at the Potarch Hotel for some supper, and we all had fish and chips. Brian and I suffered on Saturday morning, however - I'll spare you the details, but we were walking very carefully on the golf course.
On Saturday night, Brian treated us to a curry at the Derbar/Mohammed's - and it was excellent - the best we've had there for a while. Here's the girls:
It was a profitable weekend for Brian - in the 2 team tournaments we played at Banchory, he won a dozen balls for getting nearest the pin at the 3rd hole (almost a hole in one!), then we came 2nd in the team event on Sunday, winning £25 each. Here he was in action on Sunday:
Brian had just bought a new car last week:
Good fun - although Mary left her bag and purse behind at ours!
Yes, we survived our weekend with Brian & Mary - and so did they! It was golf, golf, golf - with a bit of beer thrown in - for Brian and I, and it seemed it was chat, chat, chat for Jo & Mary. If only my legs had as much stamina as their tongues!
Three consecutive days in shorts for Brian and I - Aboyne on Friday afternoon was very pleasant, and, although it rained overnight on Friday, and again on Saturday afternoon, we escaped it all when we played at Banchory on Saturday morning - and Sunday was much nicer after some early mist.
We met Jo & Mary on Friday evening at the Potarch Hotel for some supper, and we all had fish and chips. Brian and I suffered on Saturday morning, however - I'll spare you the details, but we were walking very carefully on the golf course.
On Saturday night, Brian treated us to a curry at the Derbar/Mohammed's - and it was excellent - the best we've had there for a while. Here's the girls:
It was a profitable weekend for Brian - in the 2 team tournaments we played at Banchory, he won a dozen balls for getting nearest the pin at the 3rd hole (almost a hole in one!), then we came 2nd in the team event on Sunday, winning £25 each. Here he was in action on Sunday:
Brian had just bought a new car last week:
Good fun - although Mary left her bag and purse behind at ours!
Friday, 23 August 2013
That Friday feeling again
From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/
Yes - another week's work almost complete. A few hours in the office then home for lunch. Mary and Brian will be there, so we're planning to head down to Aboyne for some golf this afternoon - weather permitting - then meet up at the Potarch Hotel for supper.
Golf at Banchory on Saturday and Sunday - two tournaments that Brian is playing in with me. I'll be ready for a rest on Sunday. I can almost feel my legs - especially my knee - groaning now.
Nothing much to report on the medical front, despite Jo being back at the Doctor's for a follow-up on Wednesday, and me having my annual check-up with the cardiologist last night. They still haven't quite got to the bottom of why Jo has been getting these pains in her chest/ribs, and it's really just more of the same treatment, plus regular monitoring.
Nothing much has changed with my heart either. I still have AF, of course - always will have - it never goes away - but there's been no great change over the last year. The cardiologist says my heart is still strong - it's just the irregular rhythm that presents the risk of stroke, particularly as I get older. They play the statistical game and they reckon that 65 is about the time that I will need to consider changing from my existing daily baby aspirin on to a stronger blood thinner.
Until now, this has usually meant taking Warfarin, but I have an aversion to this after what happened to Mum when she had her fall. They couldn't get the coagulant to work in time to operate. My cardiologist says that by next year I should be able to get my GP to agree to prescribe the new drug they now have to replace Warfarin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabigatran). It's more expensive, but a number of NHS areas are now prescribing it, so I'm hopeful my GP can be persuaded to do so next year as well.
Warfarin requires regular monitoring of blood and can interfere with other drugs. The new drug doesn't require any monitoring and no reactions with other drugs have yet been recorded. It usually doesn't need a coagulant antidote as it doesn't cause bleeding like Warfarin does - although they do say that if you do bleed, there's currently no antidote to stop it!
In other news, Ross was round last night and he was telling us his flatmate (who has paid his share of the rent) is finally back in Banchory and is planning to move in over the next few days. That'll mean a bit of a change to Ross' lifestyle - he's been on his own in the flat for a couple of months now. He did have a temporary lodger for a few days however - a girl who worked in the Douglas, but had a bad time with her violent boyfriend, who made the local news when the police came to take him away - http://www.deesidepiper.co.uk/news/local-headlines/police-present-at-banchory-square-1-3053870
To finish, it was Barry's 59th birthday yesterday. He's looking forward to getting his bus pass next year! Here's he and Helen earlier on this year:
Has he changed much since they were married back in 1994?:
Yes - another week's work almost complete. A few hours in the office then home for lunch. Mary and Brian will be there, so we're planning to head down to Aboyne for some golf this afternoon - weather permitting - then meet up at the Potarch Hotel for supper.
Golf at Banchory on Saturday and Sunday - two tournaments that Brian is playing in with me. I'll be ready for a rest on Sunday. I can almost feel my legs - especially my knee - groaning now.
Nothing much to report on the medical front, despite Jo being back at the Doctor's for a follow-up on Wednesday, and me having my annual check-up with the cardiologist last night. They still haven't quite got to the bottom of why Jo has been getting these pains in her chest/ribs, and it's really just more of the same treatment, plus regular monitoring.
Nothing much has changed with my heart either. I still have AF, of course - always will have - it never goes away - but there's been no great change over the last year. The cardiologist says my heart is still strong - it's just the irregular rhythm that presents the risk of stroke, particularly as I get older. They play the statistical game and they reckon that 65 is about the time that I will need to consider changing from my existing daily baby aspirin on to a stronger blood thinner.
Until now, this has usually meant taking Warfarin, but I have an aversion to this after what happened to Mum when she had her fall. They couldn't get the coagulant to work in time to operate. My cardiologist says that by next year I should be able to get my GP to agree to prescribe the new drug they now have to replace Warfarin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabigatran). It's more expensive, but a number of NHS areas are now prescribing it, so I'm hopeful my GP can be persuaded to do so next year as well.
Warfarin requires regular monitoring of blood and can interfere with other drugs. The new drug doesn't require any monitoring and no reactions with other drugs have yet been recorded. It usually doesn't need a coagulant antidote as it doesn't cause bleeding like Warfarin does - although they do say that if you do bleed, there's currently no antidote to stop it!
In other news, Ross was round last night and he was telling us his flatmate (who has paid his share of the rent) is finally back in Banchory and is planning to move in over the next few days. That'll mean a bit of a change to Ross' lifestyle - he's been on his own in the flat for a couple of months now. He did have a temporary lodger for a few days however - a girl who worked in the Douglas, but had a bad time with her violent boyfriend, who made the local news when the police came to take him away - http://www.deesidepiper.co.uk/news/local-headlines/police-present-at-banchory-square-1-3053870
To finish, it was Barry's 59th birthday yesterday. He's looking forward to getting his bus pass next year! Here's he and Helen earlier on this year:
Has he changed much since they were married back in 1994?:
Monday, 19 August 2013
Fringe weekend then back to work
From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/
After working from home on Friday morning, we set off to catch the train at Stonehaven at lunchtime, first of all picking up the Kilgours, who were joining us for a weekend's Fringe-ing in Edinburgh.
We had a mini-crisis trying to get in to the apartment we had booked. Entry was by a couple of keys and a password, which I didn't appear to have. All was eventually sorted after a couple of frantic phone calls, so we then headed back up town to check out where our first show was.
Walking up Leith Walk, we came to the big roundabout at Picardy Place and spotted a statue I had never noticed before:
On George St., it was called Johnnie Walker's Guest Night, when the Radio 2 DJ interviewed a well-known celebrity - tonight it was the impressionist John Culshaw - and he was very good at it, although the "interview" lacked a little fluency in places.
We had time for dinner at a Thai restaurant - http://www.phuket-pavilion.co.uk/index.html - and then went for a couple of beers before our late show - Bangalore Rock, which, surprisingly, didn't feature even the slightest flavour of Indian or Eastern influences. Tight band, however.
On Saturday morning, we had brunch at Cafe Marlayne on Leith St., then walked towards the Royal mile to take in some street shows, then picked up an unplanned show, which turned out to be very good - Lead Pencil. When we came out, we spotted another Sherlock connection at the University:
Music next - http://www.johnhunt.org/festival.html. Sort of like Seasick Steve, but it was warm downstairs in the Jazz Cafe.
We made a quick stop at the BrewDog bar in the Cowgate then off to the next show - A Brief History of Beer - this was what we called our "Jesus" moment, recalling a cringeworthy solo show of the same name a few years ago. Some interesting facts, but the fast-paced Star Trek presentation was all wrong - but it was a free show after all.
We found a nice little bistro with an outdoor walled garden and had dinner there before our last show of the day:
Hardeep Singh Kohli was very funny early on when talking about growing up as a Sikh in Glasgow, but when he moved on to the subject matter of his show, which was titled Hardeep is Your Love - even now, I can't get the Bee Gees' damned tune out of my head - he rambled a bit and seemed to lose the thread a little.
On Sunday we had nothing planned. We took breakfast outdoors at a little cafe just off the Royal Mile then just wandered up the temporarily pedestrianised High St. and took in some of the free street shows:
We then stumbled across Gladstone's Land (http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/Gladstones-Land/), which gave us an opportunity to use our National Trust membership cards for the first time for a while.
Coffee and scones next at The Hub (http://www.thehub-edinburgh.com/), after which we wandered up to the Castle, where Colin took this photo:
I should explain here that Jo is trying to tell Colin to raise the lens higher to take in the Castle ramparts. I decided I had to take over:
From up here, we could see out across the Firth of Forth to Fife:
The stands for the Tattoo on the Castle Esplanade are pretty permanent-looking fixtures nowadays, unlike my memories of Mum taking me there many years ago, sitting in rickety seats, blasted by the cold wind:
From the highest point of the town, we walked down various flights of stairs to the Grassmarket. It started to rain so we thought we'd best take shelter and watch a show - https://www.facebook.com/theyeariwasgifted. We knew it was a one woman show in a small venue, but perhaps didn't quite realise quite how gay the theme was - and how small the audience would be. We almost doubled the attendance! It was pretty good, however.
We caught the train home and were back in the house by 7:30 pm. Tea, toasted cheese, plus some old episodes of Corrie - nice to be home.
On another note, Jo goes back to the Doctor's this week. She was there last Wednesday to see about the recurring pain she gets in her ribs/chest area. The GP actually gave her 2 hours of her time, testing everything she could. She reckoned there's nothing wrong with Jo's bones and she wanted to also try to eliminate any heart issues, other than Jo's known angina, which is being treated. Jo's now been put on Omiprazole, which is an anti-ulcer drug (I used to use it too) to counteract any indigestion issues confusing the picture. Watch this space.
Continuing on matters of health, I'm back to the cardiologist for my annual check-up this Thursday.
St. Andrews for me tomorrow and we have Mary and Brian coming up for the weekend on Friday, but that's about all for this week, I think.
After working from home on Friday morning, we set off to catch the train at Stonehaven at lunchtime, first of all picking up the Kilgours, who were joining us for a weekend's Fringe-ing in Edinburgh.
We had a mini-crisis trying to get in to the apartment we had booked. Entry was by a couple of keys and a password, which I didn't appear to have. All was eventually sorted after a couple of frantic phone calls, so we then headed back up town to check out where our first show was.
Walking up Leith Walk, we came to the big roundabout at Picardy Place and spotted a statue I had never noticed before:
On George St., it was called Johnnie Walker's Guest Night, when the Radio 2 DJ interviewed a well-known celebrity - tonight it was the impressionist John Culshaw - and he was very good at it, although the "interview" lacked a little fluency in places.
We had time for dinner at a Thai restaurant - http://www.phuket-pavilion.co.uk/index.html - and then went for a couple of beers before our late show - Bangalore Rock, which, surprisingly, didn't feature even the slightest flavour of Indian or Eastern influences. Tight band, however.
On Saturday morning, we had brunch at Cafe Marlayne on Leith St., then walked towards the Royal mile to take in some street shows, then picked up an unplanned show, which turned out to be very good - Lead Pencil. When we came out, we spotted another Sherlock connection at the University:
Music next - http://www.johnhunt.org/festival.html. Sort of like Seasick Steve, but it was warm downstairs in the Jazz Cafe.
We made a quick stop at the BrewDog bar in the Cowgate then off to the next show - A Brief History of Beer - this was what we called our "Jesus" moment, recalling a cringeworthy solo show of the same name a few years ago. Some interesting facts, but the fast-paced Star Trek presentation was all wrong - but it was a free show after all.
We found a nice little bistro with an outdoor walled garden and had dinner there before our last show of the day:
Hardeep Singh Kohli was very funny early on when talking about growing up as a Sikh in Glasgow, but when he moved on to the subject matter of his show, which was titled Hardeep is Your Love - even now, I can't get the Bee Gees' damned tune out of my head - he rambled a bit and seemed to lose the thread a little.
On Sunday we had nothing planned. We took breakfast outdoors at a little cafe just off the Royal Mile then just wandered up the temporarily pedestrianised High St. and took in some of the free street shows:
 |
| Colin, Jo & Johanne watch the slack wire performer from a vantage point. |
We then stumbled across Gladstone's Land (http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/Gladstones-Land/), which gave us an opportunity to use our National Trust membership cards for the first time for a while.
Coffee and scones next at The Hub (http://www.thehub-edinburgh.com/), after which we wandered up to the Castle, where Colin took this photo:
I should explain here that Jo is trying to tell Colin to raise the lens higher to take in the Castle ramparts. I decided I had to take over:
From up here, we could see out across the Firth of Forth to Fife:
The stands for the Tattoo on the Castle Esplanade are pretty permanent-looking fixtures nowadays, unlike my memories of Mum taking me there many years ago, sitting in rickety seats, blasted by the cold wind:
From the highest point of the town, we walked down various flights of stairs to the Grassmarket. It started to rain so we thought we'd best take shelter and watch a show - https://www.facebook.com/theyeariwasgifted. We knew it was a one woman show in a small venue, but perhaps didn't quite realise quite how gay the theme was - and how small the audience would be. We almost doubled the attendance! It was pretty good, however.
We caught the train home and were back in the house by 7:30 pm. Tea, toasted cheese, plus some old episodes of Corrie - nice to be home.
On another note, Jo goes back to the Doctor's this week. She was there last Wednesday to see about the recurring pain she gets in her ribs/chest area. The GP actually gave her 2 hours of her time, testing everything she could. She reckoned there's nothing wrong with Jo's bones and she wanted to also try to eliminate any heart issues, other than Jo's known angina, which is being treated. Jo's now been put on Omiprazole, which is an anti-ulcer drug (I used to use it too) to counteract any indigestion issues confusing the picture. Watch this space.
Continuing on matters of health, I'm back to the cardiologist for my annual check-up this Thursday.
St. Andrews for me tomorrow and we have Mary and Brian coming up for the weekend on Friday, but that's about all for this week, I think.
Friday, 16 August 2013
Friday again
From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/
It's a week since my last blog posting and I'm pleased to say that Kelly is at last making some progress and has been able to move around a little. She and Chris are even planning to head down to the coast this weekend to see Chris' parents - hope all goes well. Here's a couple of snaps of little Miller:
I'm working from home this morning - we're heading off to Edinburgh at lunchtime for a weekend of Fringe-ing. Last weekend, we paid a quick trip to Elderslie for me to play in Brian's Invitational tournament and next weekend, he and Mary are coming up here. The weekend after that is Boat of Garten, so my first weekend at home since June is likely to be 7/8 September - Ross' 30th birthday weekend.
It's 22 years ago today that Jo's Dad passed. Here's a wee memory of he and Lottie sunning themselves in our back garden in Broxbourne back in 1975:
Terrible events in Egypt - don't know how that's going to work out - can't see an easy solution. This could create a huge ripple effect. Really disappointed to see that Belfast seems to be heading in the wrong direction again as well - and we're heading there in just a few weeks' time. I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't go to any of Graham Parker's UK mainland shows, but I'm in Tenerife that week. Those gigs he is playing with his reformed band (The Rumour) from 30 years ago, but the other European gigs he is playing solo, which is a little disappointing - but, hey ho.
It's a week since my last blog posting and I'm pleased to say that Kelly is at last making some progress and has been able to move around a little. She and Chris are even planning to head down to the coast this weekend to see Chris' parents - hope all goes well. Here's a couple of snaps of little Miller:
I'm working from home this morning - we're heading off to Edinburgh at lunchtime for a weekend of Fringe-ing. Last weekend, we paid a quick trip to Elderslie for me to play in Brian's Invitational tournament and next weekend, he and Mary are coming up here. The weekend after that is Boat of Garten, so my first weekend at home since June is likely to be 7/8 September - Ross' 30th birthday weekend.
It's 22 years ago today that Jo's Dad passed. Here's a wee memory of he and Lottie sunning themselves in our back garden in Broxbourne back in 1975:
Terrible events in Egypt - don't know how that's going to work out - can't see an easy solution. This could create a huge ripple effect. Really disappointed to see that Belfast seems to be heading in the wrong direction again as well - and we're heading there in just a few weeks' time. I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't go to any of Graham Parker's UK mainland shows, but I'm in Tenerife that week. Those gigs he is playing with his reformed band (The Rumour) from 30 years ago, but the other European gigs he is playing solo, which is a little disappointing - but, hey ho.
Friday, 9 August 2013
Friday already
From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/
Yes, it's been a strange week - I don't know whether I'm coming or going - but the weekend is almost here already. I think I would like a 3 day week every week.
Still not got a settled sleep pattern - usually waking about 3 am every morning, although it was 6:30 am yesterday - the very day I did want to be up early as I had to go to Fraserburgh. I experienced some severe pain in my foot yesterday and it got so bad that I couldn't put any weight on my left foot at all. It was a struggle to get from my office to the car and then to drive home with a manual clutch.
Jo got me a bag of frozen peas to put on it last night as we caught up with some of our Sky box recordings (mostly old Corries) and that helped a bit, and today it seems a little better. I had no idea how it happened - the foot was fine when I went to bed on Wednesday night after golf, but it was suggested to me that it might be caused by fallen arches. After all, I had been waddling around for a month on flip-flops ("thongs" to those Down Under) and suddenly on Wednesday night I was wearing my golf shoes again with the orthotic wedges in them, which raise the arch, then it was back to work shoes on Thursday.
I've taken the precaution of putting the wedges in my work shoes this morning and it definitely seems to have helped. Fingers crossed.
I received the online link to our digital photos that were taken at the Venetian, Las Vegas - try http://store.cashmanphoto.com/create/image-creation-gs.aspx?a=AlwdrCOtoRdQZf3R9jlE to view them with the code VEGD-7RQ5-UH6R.
That's about it for today. Jo and I are making a very quick trip down to Elderslie and back tomorrow, as I promised to play in Brian's team at his club's Men's Invitational Day. Brian himself is up in Banchory the weekend of 24th/25th August to play in the same thing at my club.
Another future event is my annual trip to see my cardiologist on Thursday 22nd August.
Yes, it's been a strange week - I don't know whether I'm coming or going - but the weekend is almost here already. I think I would like a 3 day week every week.
Still not got a settled sleep pattern - usually waking about 3 am every morning, although it was 6:30 am yesterday - the very day I did want to be up early as I had to go to Fraserburgh. I experienced some severe pain in my foot yesterday and it got so bad that I couldn't put any weight on my left foot at all. It was a struggle to get from my office to the car and then to drive home with a manual clutch.
Jo got me a bag of frozen peas to put on it last night as we caught up with some of our Sky box recordings (mostly old Corries) and that helped a bit, and today it seems a little better. I had no idea how it happened - the foot was fine when I went to bed on Wednesday night after golf, but it was suggested to me that it might be caused by fallen arches. After all, I had been waddling around for a month on flip-flops ("thongs" to those Down Under) and suddenly on Wednesday night I was wearing my golf shoes again with the orthotic wedges in them, which raise the arch, then it was back to work shoes on Thursday.
I've taken the precaution of putting the wedges in my work shoes this morning and it definitely seems to have helped. Fingers crossed.
I received the online link to our digital photos that were taken at the Venetian, Las Vegas - try http://store.cashmanphoto.com/create/image-creation-gs.aspx?a=AlwdrCOtoRdQZf3R9jlE to view them with the code VEGD-7RQ5-UH6R.
That's about it for today. Jo and I are making a very quick trip down to Elderslie and back tomorrow, as I promised to play in Brian's team at his club's Men's Invitational Day. Brian himself is up in Banchory the weekend of 24th/25th August to play in the same thing at my club.
Another future event is my annual trip to see my cardiologist on Thursday 22nd August.
Wednesday, 7 August 2013
Ross
From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/
OK - change of plan - here's Ross with his shorter haircut - courtesy of Gary, who seems to be getting a bit of a wigging here from Ross:
OK - change of plan - here's Ross with his shorter haircut - courtesy of Gary, who seems to be getting a bit of a wigging here from Ross:
Back at work
From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/
We stayed up till 10 pm last night, watching the semi-final and the final of The Apprentice, which was aired in the UK just after we left to go to USA. Amazingly, we managed to avoid finding out who won, so it was fun to watch it "as live".
Ross came over with fish suppers for our tea. He looks very smart with his hair shorter - but we didn't ask him to pose for a photo.
So, after not sleeping on the plane on Monday night and then staying up until 10 pm last night, you would have thought I would sleep for 10 hours last night, wouldn't you? You would be wrong - I woke at 2:45 am, but refused to get up then. I rolled around until 5:30 am and eventually got up and came in to the office.
I wonder how long I will last here? It's Wednesday and, after tonight, there's only 3 weeks left of our midweek golf - how sad. I'll see how I'm feeling later on, but I'd like to play tonight - if I can stay awake.
Fraserburgh tomorrow - and I've got some organising to do, after the tragic accident a couple of weeks ago when Ken's (my right hand man) 14 year old son was knocked down and killed on his bike. I spoke to Ken on the phone when we were away and told him to stay away from work as long as he needed. Hope he's coping OK.
It's all happening a bit too soon, but we're travelling down to Elderslie on Saturday - it's the annual Invitational tournament at Brian's club. Ideally I would have preferred our first weekend back to be spent at home, but hey ho. The weekend after that we're off to the Fringe, so no rest for the party-goers.
That's it for now - although, I may have a couple of travel-related rants on My Pet Hates blog later on - if I have time.
We stayed up till 10 pm last night, watching the semi-final and the final of The Apprentice, which was aired in the UK just after we left to go to USA. Amazingly, we managed to avoid finding out who won, so it was fun to watch it "as live".
Ross came over with fish suppers for our tea. He looks very smart with his hair shorter - but we didn't ask him to pose for a photo.
So, after not sleeping on the plane on Monday night and then staying up until 10 pm last night, you would have thought I would sleep for 10 hours last night, wouldn't you? You would be wrong - I woke at 2:45 am, but refused to get up then. I rolled around until 5:30 am and eventually got up and came in to the office.
I wonder how long I will last here? It's Wednesday and, after tonight, there's only 3 weeks left of our midweek golf - how sad. I'll see how I'm feeling later on, but I'd like to play tonight - if I can stay awake.
Fraserburgh tomorrow - and I've got some organising to do, after the tragic accident a couple of weeks ago when Ken's (my right hand man) 14 year old son was knocked down and killed on his bike. I spoke to Ken on the phone when we were away and told him to stay away from work as long as he needed. Hope he's coping OK.
It's all happening a bit too soon, but we're travelling down to Elderslie on Saturday - it's the annual Invitational tournament at Brian's club. Ideally I would have preferred our first weekend back to be spent at home, but hey ho. The weekend after that we're off to the Fringe, so no rest for the party-goers.
That's it for now - although, I may have a couple of travel-related rants on My Pet Hates blog later on - if I have time.
Tuesday, 6 August 2013
Home again
From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/
We're home again now. We managed to get an earlier flight back to Aberdeen and were back in Banchory not long after 2 pm today. Nice to come back to some sunshine and a nicely warm 20 C.
Jo's watering her plants now - a few of them suffered a bit in the heatwave.
We're all delighted to hear Kelly's news - it was obviously a stressful birth - for both Kelly and little Miller - but hopefully both will recover soon. The time differences had made things a bit awkward as we were travelling home and we were getting a little concerned at the apparent lack of any news. Every time we jumped off a plane we checked for text messages - but there were none for a while, until we finally received the news when we landed at Gatwick this morning. Looking forward to FaceTiming when she gets home later in the week.
In other news, Ross has had his hair cut! We popped in to Tease this afternoon and had to do a double take. I'll try and post a photo - if he lets me.
So, back to work tomorrow. Hope I get some sleep tonight - I certainly didn't last night.
We're home again now. We managed to get an earlier flight back to Aberdeen and were back in Banchory not long after 2 pm today. Nice to come back to some sunshine and a nicely warm 20 C.
Jo's watering her plants now - a few of them suffered a bit in the heatwave.
We're all delighted to hear Kelly's news - it was obviously a stressful birth - for both Kelly and little Miller - but hopefully both will recover soon. The time differences had made things a bit awkward as we were travelling home and we were getting a little concerned at the apparent lack of any news. Every time we jumped off a plane we checked for text messages - but there were none for a while, until we finally received the news when we landed at Gatwick this morning. Looking forward to FaceTiming when she gets home later in the week.
In other news, Ross has had his hair cut! We popped in to Tease this afternoon and had to do a double take. I'll try and post a photo - if he lets me.
So, back to work tomorrow. Hope I get some sleep tonight - I certainly didn't last night.
Monday, 5 August 2013
USA 2013 (10)
From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/
We're sitting here in the lounge at McCarran Airport, Las Vegas waiting for our big flight across the Atlantic. But let me tell you first of all about our initial problems getting from Medford, Oregon to here yesterday.
Lucy drove us down to Medford and we were early enough to have to wait for the check-in staff for Alaska Airlines to show up. When they did, it was with bad news - the first flight from Medford to Portland was delayed - by anywhere between an hour and a half and two hours. This would mean we would miss our connection to Vegas. It was now approaching 6pm in the evening and we began to panic a little about how we would get to Vegas in time to pick up the BA flight this afternoon (Monday).
Options were to go back to Lucy's and sleep for a couple of hours (if we could) then head back to Medford and catch a 5 am plane to Portland this morning to link with a 7 am flight from Portland to Vegas. Possible, but not really desirable. Also, we had already paid for our room at the Trump Hotel, Las Vegas and that would be lost.
We initially thought about just waiting for the Alaska flight to Portland and staying there overnight, but apparently that would have negated our through tickets with them - they wouldn't let us split the journey like this.
Eventually, we spied a better solution - there was a flight with Allegiant scheduled to go directly to Las Vegas in a couple of hours. Could we swap? Alaska Airlines agreed and arranged for us to get tickets (which we had to pay for) and promised they would refund what we had paid Alaska, on the basis that they couldn't get us to Vegas that night. Result!
So we made it to Vegas in good time and spent the night and this morning in a large suite at Trump International Hotel, which, almost uniquely in Vegas, doesn't have a casino. Our bathroom was bigger than many of the hotel rooms we have stayed in in the past:
WC on the door to the left and large double shower room to the right.
Now we're here at the airport just counting the minutes. We thought we might have heard from Kelly and Chris this morning - Kelly went in to labour yesterday, but no messages yet. The time differences don't help, of course. Soon, we hope.
To finish, here's me posing in our trailer in the t-shirt that Scott gave me as a present yesterday:
We're sitting here in the lounge at McCarran Airport, Las Vegas waiting for our big flight across the Atlantic. But let me tell you first of all about our initial problems getting from Medford, Oregon to here yesterday.
Lucy drove us down to Medford and we were early enough to have to wait for the check-in staff for Alaska Airlines to show up. When they did, it was with bad news - the first flight from Medford to Portland was delayed - by anywhere between an hour and a half and two hours. This would mean we would miss our connection to Vegas. It was now approaching 6pm in the evening and we began to panic a little about how we would get to Vegas in time to pick up the BA flight this afternoon (Monday).
Options were to go back to Lucy's and sleep for a couple of hours (if we could) then head back to Medford and catch a 5 am plane to Portland this morning to link with a 7 am flight from Portland to Vegas. Possible, but not really desirable. Also, we had already paid for our room at the Trump Hotel, Las Vegas and that would be lost.
We initially thought about just waiting for the Alaska flight to Portland and staying there overnight, but apparently that would have negated our through tickets with them - they wouldn't let us split the journey like this.
Eventually, we spied a better solution - there was a flight with Allegiant scheduled to go directly to Las Vegas in a couple of hours. Could we swap? Alaska Airlines agreed and arranged for us to get tickets (which we had to pay for) and promised they would refund what we had paid Alaska, on the basis that they couldn't get us to Vegas that night. Result!
So we made it to Vegas in good time and spent the night and this morning in a large suite at Trump International Hotel, which, almost uniquely in Vegas, doesn't have a casino. Our bathroom was bigger than many of the hotel rooms we have stayed in in the past:
WC on the door to the left and large double shower room to the right.
Now we're here at the airport just counting the minutes. We thought we might have heard from Kelly and Chris this morning - Kelly went in to labour yesterday, but no messages yet. The time differences don't help, of course. Soon, we hope.
To finish, here's me posing in our trailer in the t-shirt that Scott gave me as a present yesterday:
Sunday, 4 August 2013
USA 2013 (9)
From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/
Final day here in Grants Pass. Our flight leaves Medford at 6:50 pm tonight, but, before that, Scott's Mum, Dad & Sister arrive over here for a birthday lunch.
On Friday we hung around here - the skies were blue again, although there is still the smell of smoke and the ever-present threat of the wind changing and smoke smothering Grants Pass again. They say these fires could burn for months yet. When we first arrived in Vegas, the flames we saw in the mountains had apparently been burning for 4 months and still they couldn't control or contain them.
Cade's new laptop was acquired on Friday evening. We were dropped off at Southern Oregon Brewery whilst they shopped and then we were picked up and we all went for dinner to Red Lobster:
When we got up on Saturday morning, the living room was appropriately decorated for Cade's birthday:
We - or, rather, Cade - decided that a day in Eugene would be nice, so we got up and loaded the truck and hit the road, but, first of all, we took the opportunity to pose for the traditional holiday family photo:
Cade then suggested they do a silly face version of this - Scott and I declined:
When we got to the University town of Eugene, we walked round the Saturday market and Cade spotted a bonsai tree that he wanted to buy for his birthday, so thank-you Uncle Gary and Aunt Carole for this:
Braeden bought some berries. I thought at first that the type was mock-Scottish, but apparently Lockness is a real type of berry:
We had lunch at the Eugene City Brewery, and Cade and Braeden had root beers - not stout!:
Then we walked round the campus and took some photos:
Next stop was the home of the Ducks:
Cade's request for dinner was Chinese at PF Chang's and here he is scoffing his birthday dessert:
So that's about it then for another year - although we will see them all again at Christmas in Scotland.
Final day here in Grants Pass. Our flight leaves Medford at 6:50 pm tonight, but, before that, Scott's Mum, Dad & Sister arrive over here for a birthday lunch.
On Friday we hung around here - the skies were blue again, although there is still the smell of smoke and the ever-present threat of the wind changing and smoke smothering Grants Pass again. They say these fires could burn for months yet. When we first arrived in Vegas, the flames we saw in the mountains had apparently been burning for 4 months and still they couldn't control or contain them.
Cade's new laptop was acquired on Friday evening. We were dropped off at Southern Oregon Brewery whilst they shopped and then we were picked up and we all went for dinner to Red Lobster:
When we got up on Saturday morning, the living room was appropriately decorated for Cade's birthday:
We - or, rather, Cade - decided that a day in Eugene would be nice, so we got up and loaded the truck and hit the road, but, first of all, we took the opportunity to pose for the traditional holiday family photo:
Cade then suggested they do a silly face version of this - Scott and I declined:
When we got to the University town of Eugene, we walked round the Saturday market and Cade spotted a bonsai tree that he wanted to buy for his birthday, so thank-you Uncle Gary and Aunt Carole for this:
Braeden bought some berries. I thought at first that the type was mock-Scottish, but apparently Lockness is a real type of berry:
We had lunch at the Eugene City Brewery, and Cade and Braeden had root beers - not stout!:
Then we walked round the campus and took some photos:
 |
| The "Cas" deliberately obliterated |
Cade's request for dinner was Chinese at PF Chang's and here he is scoffing his birthday dessert:
So that's about it then for another year - although we will see them all again at Christmas in Scotland.
Friday, 2 August 2013
USA 2013 (8)
From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/
Yesterday (Thursday), Jo and I took the boys on a drive to try and escape the smoke. First stop was Medford to buy some stuff for Cade's birthday, and we then drove on to pretty Ashland to enjoy a walk in Lithia Park, where the smoke was a little less intense.
The boys enjoyed playing on what they called the Eiffel Tower:
We walked up one of the trails but got to a spot where there were 2 warning notices:
We'd heard about the cougar sighting on the news but we didn't realise there was a bear sighting a few days earlier. This was more than enough to freak out Braeden but we managed to force him on the trail a bit further, where we came across 3 deers.
We stopped at the Shakespeare Festival Theatre and I took this photo:
We wandered around the town centre and came across a wishing well in one of the precincts:
Next stop was beside the river at Bluebell Park:
Lunch at the Standing Stones brewpub then back to Lithia Park for some climbing and the by now traditional dunk in the creek:
On the way home, we stopped off at Harry & David's in Medford for some of their famous Moose Munch. Jo posed at the entrance:
A bit more sunshine today (Friday) so maybe we won't have to run for cover after all.
As an aside, one of Jo's favourite adverts on local TV is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv2UUcXCo9g
Yesterday (Thursday), Jo and I took the boys on a drive to try and escape the smoke. First stop was Medford to buy some stuff for Cade's birthday, and we then drove on to pretty Ashland to enjoy a walk in Lithia Park, where the smoke was a little less intense.
The boys enjoyed playing on what they called the Eiffel Tower:
We walked up one of the trails but got to a spot where there were 2 warning notices:
We'd heard about the cougar sighting on the news but we didn't realise there was a bear sighting a few days earlier. This was more than enough to freak out Braeden but we managed to force him on the trail a bit further, where we came across 3 deers.
We stopped at the Shakespeare Festival Theatre and I took this photo:
We wandered around the town centre and came across a wishing well in one of the precincts:
Next stop was beside the river at Bluebell Park:
Lunch at the Standing Stones brewpub then back to Lithia Park for some climbing and the by now traditional dunk in the creek:
On the way home, we stopped off at Harry & David's in Medford for some of their famous Moose Munch. Jo posed at the entrance:
A bit more sunshine today (Friday) so maybe we won't have to run for cover after all.
As an aside, one of Jo's favourite adverts on local TV is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv2UUcXCo9g
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