Whiling away the time

We escaped the high winds in Scotland - in fact, it was pretty calm when we left, but we did spot a couple of trees that had blown over through the night, but otherwise our drive to the airport and the subsequent flight down to London was uneventful - apart that is, from not being able to find Gary's office. It took a couple of phone calls before we eventually met up with him and he dropped us at the airport and took my car away.

We purposely had quite a long wait at Heathrow - just in case of any weather problems - so that's why I'm sitting here in the Cathay Pacific lounge, blogging away - just to pass the time. The food's good and they've got London Pride in bottles too, but have to be careful with the alcohol intake, given the long flights ahead of us. We need to leave some room for our G & T's and wine with our meals on the plane!

That's about it. Two hours till scheduled take-off and then almost 12 hours in the air, arriving in Hong Kong at 17:45 local time Saturday (8 hours ahead of UK). Then less than an hour and a half in HK and back in the air again for another almost 9 hour flight, finally arriving in Adelaide at 6:35 on Sunday morning with our body clocks still ten and a half hours behind Aussie time.

Wonder when Miller takes his nap?

Incidentally, Kelly, if you're reading this, we have 2 suitcases and a set of golf clubs - hope you can manage it all!

Nearly ready

Not long now till we head off - hopefully. This morning's weather forecast wasn't encouraging, however, with major storms on the horizon. 100 + mph winds are forecast for Friday and wind speeds are twice this level at cruising altitude, so I suspect there may be some travel disruption. Nowt we can do about it - just wait and see.

When I went for a beer with Colin on Saturday, there was a really bright full moon out and the angle was again such that I caught a glimpse of it over the cross at the top of the Episcopal church - just as I'd done some months before. This was my first attempt at lining up the photo, looking at the moon through the cross:

You can just about make out the shape of the church roof, but the moon was so bright that the exposure wasn't quite right, so I tried again:

Better exposure, but alignment slightly off this time.

Gary and Luca came over on Saturday afternoon but Jo was out with her swimming group - Luca was really disappointed - at least until I told him he was authorised to use Jo's i-Pad in her absence.

Jo took the Christmas decorations down on Sunday and I took the tree off to the dump on Monday to join all the other rejected trees, which had served their purpose for another year.

I knew I couldn't/shouldn't cycle on Monday as I didn't want to do more damage to my knee before we went away, but, on the spur of the moment, having walked down to the shops with little pain, I decided to take a longer walk up Scolty Hill. It was a fine afternoon and it was nice to at least get a little bit of exercise. I took a few photos at the top:

My knee was a bit swollen and sore when I got back but an icepack soon sorted that - although I certainly didn't get any sympathy from the female members of our family.

Tuesday could be seen as my first real day of retirement as it was the day I would ordinarily have returned to work after the holiday break. So what did I do? Go to Inverurie with Jo to pick up Luca from school, that's what. Furthermore, I repeated the feat today - this time solo, as Jo was swimming. I took Luca for the haircut that his parents thought he needed. Here he was before the event:

and here's the "after" shot:

No cycling for me tomorrow either. Bags are virtually packed so not much else to do.

Gary runs at Lumphanan

Forgot to say about Gary's return to competitive running - he had an excellent result at the Lumphanan Detox yesterday:

Great stuff, Gary!

Knee problems again

My left knee - the one that hadn't been replaced but had an injection just before Xmas - is causing problems. I suspect my cycle on Hogmanay worsened the tear in my cartilage. It was very sore when I went to bed after our dinner party and all day Ne'erday. Yesterday, I did manage to walk - slowly and carefully - to the shops and up to Arbeadie Terrace for the Simcoxes Cocktail Party, but it kept giving way on me and Jo had to act as my crutch.

I can't have the operation so soon before the long-haul flight to Oz - nor for some time afterwards - so I just hope it calms down and lets me get around a bit more when we're away.

Anyway, our traditional New Year's Day steak pie dinner was terrific and Lucy FaceTimed us not long after we'd finished the meal. We caught up with Kelly yesterday morning.

We're still eating away the Xmas/New Year leftovers - there's certainly no need for us to food shop just now. Ross brought us some of the soup he made and we had that last night after we came back from Richard and Gail's. Their cocktail party involved a bit more than the nibbles we expected. They came round with hors d'oeuvres first of all, but then followed it up with little plates of soup. Mini main courses then followed and, of course, there was a dessert course - although we left just as they were dishing it out. A four course mini meal - never seen this before.

The weather's still great - bright and cold. We seem to have escaped the wet weather other parts of the country have had, which included the cancellation of Thistle's match against Celtic on Thursday - a game we were all looking forward to watching after dinner.

No more to say really, but I'll close with this photo of the Feugh, taken at the end of our bike ride on Wednesday:

Note the ice-tinged rocks and the tree debris at the top.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2015 and it appears that all's well with the world - we spotted our little red squirrel again this morning. He/she hadn't shown his face out front recently, but Jo spotted a glimpse of red in the trees out front and exclaimed excitedly - "he's back!".

While Jo grafted away all day in the kitchen yesterday, preparing for our dinner party, I went out cycling - and now I regret it. Today my left knee is so sore I couldn't even walk down to the shops to get my paper. It's over a week now since I received the injection in the knee, but it doesn't seem to have helped. I may have to have the cartilage operation sooner than I'd hoped.

Anyway, we had a lovely Hogmanay dinner with the Kilgours and Masons and we stood on the balcony to watch the Tor-na-Coille's fireworks display from the golf course to welcome in 2015. Here's a brief extract - http://youtu.be/dGKyEcyUV3I.

Once again, I tried to take a photograph with my camera perched on our mantlepiece, and just like Christmas, it turned out all blurry - it must be the light behind causing it. Here it is anyway:

Ne'erday is steak pie day and Gary and Ross are coming over to share. Apart from that, it's been vegetating in front of the usual holiday TV schedule - although Thistle's match against Celtic is on at 5:30 pm tonight.

Luca's birthday

Jo and I drove over to Inverurie late this morning and had a birthday lunch with Carole, Luca and his friend Tyler before they headed off for some Ten-pin bowling. Jo had bought a bagful of presents which Luca duly opened:

At the lunch table, prior to the cake:

The cake duly arrived - watch the video here - http://youtu.be/0R4oHjRvKlg - and here's the photo:

Munch munch

Yes, we're still trying to eat our way through the remains of Xmas and empty the fridges to create space for the New Year nosh. Turkey, stuffing, cheese, smoked salmon, chocolate log, cheescake, mince pies - that's been our meals for the last few days - and there's still plenty of each left.

Although Friday was completely inactive, on Saturday we decided we had to get out of the house, even if it was only to complete a few of the annual CAMRA pub surveys before we go away. We took the bus down to Ballater and did the rounds there. Got a chance to look at a few bikes as well - it's all so confusing. It seems you can get a pretty good bike with most of the things you would want for about £500, but then you see other ones for £3,000, even £5,000!

On Sunday, I went over to Gary's to watch the Man Utd match and have a spot of lunch - egg roll plus the obligatory mince pie. Today I had planned to go cycling again but the skies have been clear for so long that we wake to a good hard frost every morning, and some of the roads and tracks can be tricky and I don't fancy coming off the bike - my joints are dodgy enough, thank you. I actually went out earlier this morning just to test the conditions, but, at that time, it wasn't looking great - and it was really freezing, so much so that my fingers felt like they'd got frostbite. Most of the rest of our cycling group agreed but 2 hardy souls ventured out.

I am getting a little stir crazy, however. It's not retirement - it's always a bit this way at this time of year - especially when plans for exercise have to be cut short or cancelled. The weather is beautiful - lots of sunshine - ideal winter walking weather really. Jo had things to do, however, so we just went out for a short stroll - up through Burnett Park and back down past Inchmarlo. I took one photo at the entrance to Brathens forest:

Today is Dawn's birthday and tomorrow, Luca is 8 - can you believe it? Then, on Wednesday night (Hogmanay), we have the Masons and Kilgours coming over for dinner and to see the New Year in. No doubt we'll be entertained by the fireworks from the Tor-na-Coille and Freddie Duncan's party across the road. On Friday, we're off to the Simcoxes for a little soiree and by then it'll be less than a week until we head off to Australia. Kelly sent us this photo, taken from the end of her street, to let us see what we were heading to:

That's all for now.

Xmas & Anniversary

Yesterday was nice - not as hectic and exciting as when we had 13 for Xmas dinner last year, but nice all the same. Ross was a huge help to Jo with the cooking and preparation - he came round on Christmas Eve and was here again on Christmas morning when Jo was still at church. He introduced Jo to a couple of cooking innovations and they worked out well - the turkey was moist and tender and the stuffings and cranberry sauces were good, but the piece de resistance was the roast potatoes, made from the more crumbly King Edwards.

Ross, Jo and I had G & T's mid-afternoon while we awaited the arrival of the non-drinking Inverurie clan - Gary was on call, Carole's on medication because of her shoulder and, as far as we know, Luca hasn't developed the habit yet.

Smoked salmon from http://www.ugie-salmon.co.uk/. with prawns and home-made aioli for starters and Carole's excellent Lime and Chocolate Cheesecake plus a Chocolate log for dessert. None of us could face the cheeseboard after this - we never do.

The day had started with a FaceTime call from Kelly and Lucy did likewise after dinner. Here's some snaps from Christmas:

Table set for dinner

Ross on carving duties

The aftermath of a heavy dinner

Luca plays his favourite games

Some of the cycling stuff I got

Sadly, a blurry family image

Jo bought us all identical cardigans

The weather has been lovely - very cold and frosty, but dry and sunny. The frost patterns on the cars are interesting:

Jo and I vowed last night that we wouldn't do anything or go anywhere today - our 42nd anniversary - and we didn't. We even vegetated to Pinnochio this morning. Gary made a brief appearance at lunchtime - he was at work today but drove out to Banchory to take part in the Fun Run again. Jo and I have been telly-watching mostly, although I've been sorting out some IT issues with my laptop and backup.

That's it for now.

Xmas Eve

I awoke this morning with a very stiff left knee after yesterday's injection at Albyn. It's funny because I felt absolutely fine after the injection, drove home, then walked up to the Legion with no problems, but during the night it's stiffened up - it's like somebody has kicked me on the outside of the knee.

When the surgeon was doing the injection, he was on my left, whilst a nurse was standing on my right, trying just a little too hard to distract me with conversation about Australia etc. Of course, this led me to look left to see what Mr. Bidwell was up to and I nearly fainted when I saw the size of the needle - long and thick. He plunged it in and I thought it was going to come out the other side. Not surprised it's sore today.

The only thing I was advised to look out for was possible infection - a 1 in 500 chance apparently. If my knee swells up, gets hot or red and I feel ill, then head for A & E I was told.

The rest of yesterday was a bit of a non-event, although I did manage a couple of celebratory pints at the Legion with the squash guys. There'll be more of that today with the football group, who are currently playing the traditional Xmas Eve match to celebrate Dave Williamson's birthday down at DATA. I'll meet them in the Douglas when they're done.

That's it then - all up to date. We plan to FaceTime Kelly when we awake in the morning - she and Chris have his family over at theirs for Xmas. Then, in the evening, we'll do the same with Lucy.

The End

I'm sitting here in my Aberdeen office - my last day at work. I have nothing really to do so I thought a quick blog update would fill some time.

Some thoughts - why am I sitting here in a shirt and a tie? Won't have to do that any more - that's a plus. Some people have been in to bid farewell already - "how are you feeling?" - don't know how to answer that, but I do know I wish today was over and I could relax over a quiet beer.

Just had a couple of hours' chat with Michael and Francis, mostly speaking about the old days. I'd written a historical Timeline for future reference for them and it brought back some memories for all of us - some good, some not so good. I reckon that, in my years with the Clarks, I've been involved in one way or another with over 50 companies/operations. I could write a book.

There was further discussion about me returning briefly when we come back from Australia - just to review the Budgets and how to cover Forex for 2015-16. Michael said I had to come back anyway so they could take me out to lunch.

Dawn, Barry & Helen came up on Sunday - that was nice, but I forgot to take any photos. Instead, here's another one of our tree, fully decorated:

Jo did a nice job, didn't she?

Gary and Luca came over on Sunday as well and Luca stayed overnight with us, with Gary picking him up from work last night. Yesterday, I was out with our cycling group on a beautiful riverside run, although there was a bit of a climb to follow. I struggle up the hills - I'm always last in our group. I'm not very fit, but I guess the old bike doesn't help much when compared with the others, who mostly have new ones, with larger 29" wheels, front suspension, disc brakes and many more gears than I've got. Over the next couple of months I'll have a wander round the various bike shops and see what I can get.

Dick Taylor came riding up behind me yesterday and reckoned I have got my saddle too low and, as a result, I can't maximise the pulling power. When I think back to when I started cycling again to recuperate from my knee replacement, my focus was on getting maximum bend in the knee, so I wanted my saddle to be low, but I've never changed it since then. Something to consider and experiment with perhaps.

This afternoon I have my appointment at Albyn for the injection in my knee, after which I hope to have a beer with my squash-playing pals.

Then it's the start of a new life.

Saturday Stories

Well, I finally got BUPA sorted out and I'm going to get the injection in my knee on Tuesday. I had also hoped to get our BOSE sound system sorted yesterday - the upstairs part hasn't been working for a while - the control box had blown - and our man from Alford was scheduled to come back and fit the repaired part, which he did, but it didn't work.

Andrew - the BOSE man - reckoned it was partly due to the way that his father had set up the system back in the late 90's. The unit is from the first series and BOSE are now on to series 4 - they don't make any of the 3 previous series any more. However, Andrew apparently has a couple of spare series 2 units and he's going to fit them instead - eventually.

Today (Saturday) Jo and I went Christmas tree hunting - Jo had gone to her usual source (Raemoir Garden Centre) yesterday but they had completely sold out - so we drove down to Glentanar this morning, where we used to get our tree in years gone by, but the place was closed - it looked like they're not doing trees at all this year.

On the way back home, we saw a sign for Xmas trees so we turned left towards Deeside Activity Centre, turning off into a woodland just past the Falls of Dess, and we managed to pick up a nice one there, which now has pride of place in our living room:

Xmas tree safely in the bag, we stopped off at Dee's Teas in Kincardine O'Neil for a spot of lunch. The tea and coffee was served in proper old-fashioned cups:

Tomorrow, Dawn, Barry & Helen are coming up to see us.

To close, brother-in-law Brian texted me the following photo of him with the Ryder Cup. That's Stephen Gallacher, who played for Europe, second from the left, with his hand on Brian's shoulder:

Farewell Fraserburgh

After 30 years of travelling up and down to work in Fraserburgh, I attended my last 3 Management Meetings there this morning. As The Proclaimers might have said Fraserburgh no more, Memsie no more, Strichen no more .......

Tomorrow, it's Aberdeen - and same again on Tuesday - and then it's over.

Tomorrow I'm picking up our smoked salmon for Christmas. I had hoped to get the injection in my knee as well, but there's been a blip with BUPA, my private health insurer, and my surgeon is trying to clear this up - if he can't, then I have 2 options - either go for the operation, which BUPA would pay for, or just pay Albyn's fees myself.

The countdown continues.

3 days to go!

Another day out of the way - just tomorrow, Thursday and next Tuesday to go now. Today was my final Board Meeting and it also confirmed my formal resignation as a Director of the various Group Companies.

It was also agreed that I could keep my company car - it's just about to trip over the 100,000 mile mark, but it's running well - hope it continues to do so for a while yet.

That's all the news now from limbo-land.

Weekend news

I made it along to our Cyclists' Group lunch at the golf club on Thursday, but I'm glad I had to work and go to Albyn Hospital in the morning - I certainly wouldn't have cycled, although 8 of our group did, and half of them had a tumble on the black ice.

Our journey down to Gleneagles on Friday was smooth enough, although we didn't risk Cairn o' Mount, having heard the stories of the 20 motorists who got stuck near the top on Thursday and had to be rescued. Black ice was the danger - we still haven't had any snow here in Banchory, although the Angus hills were white as was most of Perthshire.

Golf at Gleneagles was out of the question. Our host, Keith Gray, had booked a tee time on the PGA Centenary course, where they had recently played the Ryder Cup, but there was so much snow there, that the courses were closed all week. Plan B was for Keith and I to go for a cycle round the estate, using the two mountain bikes each lodge had, but that was out of the question too.

Despite the weather interventions, we had a really nice time. We arrived about noon and Annette had prepared a lunch of soup and sannies for us, after which we all headed off for the superb leisure complex. The main pool was amazingly quiet, as was the separate Adults section, where Jo was delighted to be able to get 20 lengths in.

The main pool has an outdoor section, which is pretty cool - literally, overhead anyway. We followed that with a beer in the main hotel bar, where we spotted Bill Beaumont, ex England rugby captain - and a former team captain on Question of Sport. There was lots of stuff going on in the hotel, including a Jersey Boys theme night.

Keith and Annette's son, Ross, was also staying in the (3-bedroom) villa with his wife Susie. They had dinner in the Dormy House and who should be at the next table, but former First Minister, Alex Salmond.

We had dinner in the relatively casual Deseo restaurant, where we were able to pick our steaks and seafood from the butchers' and fishmongers' slabs.

On Saturday morning, after breakfast, Jo and I took a wander round the estate. It was a nice, but cold, morning and it also gave me a chance to ensure I had got rid of the last of the alcohol from last night. With Scotland's new drink-driving restrictions now in place, you can't be too careful.

Our walk took in the Dormy House, where there was still loads of memorabilia etc from the Ryder Cup, including this display cabinet, with signatures of the players:

The hotel too is still bedecked with Ryder Cup stuff, including the famous fish tank full of yellow and blue fish only - the European colours:

Here's Jo and I outside the hotel:

There was a Craft Fair in the hotel and there we bought our weekend meals - fish pie for Saturday and Scallops for Sunday. Driving home, we went through Auchterarder, which must have the longest High St. in Scotland. Cairn o' Mount was well gritted and it was safe for us to go over the top.

I met Colin for our usual early Saturday evening beer and footy. On the way there, I thought St. Columba's Church was nicely lit and stood out - a little spooky perhaps:

It thawed overnight so I decided to go for a cycle on Sunday morning, and also do a pub survey at the Learney Arms, Torphins. I got a text from Jo when I got there, telling me I'd locked her out of the house - again! I hot-footed it back, taking the main roads - something I normally avoid - but when I got home, Jo wasn't there. Perhaps she went to Tease, or to Ross', or perhaps Anne's? None of these were correct - she'd walked to Morrison's to place our order for Xmas turkey.

Come 5 pm, I suggested we should go for a walk round Banchory and do the local pub surveys. We started at the furthest point - Scott Skinner's - and worked back from there to the Legion, Burnett and, finally, the Douglas. Job done - now just the database to update - and, of course, the rest of Deeside to do as well.

Monday morning has started nice and bright, but the temperature has dropped again and the black ice is back. Hope it doesn't disrupt this afternoon's cycle too much.

Tomorrow is my final Board meeting, when I officially tender my resignation as a Director of the various companies. Just 4 days work left for me now.