Temperature fluctuations

The weather can't make its mind up - one minute it's cold, then suddenly it gets ridiculously mild for this time of year. Yesterday (Friday) morning, our car roofs had those swirly patterns on them brought on by a light overnight frost, but by the time we left Keith and Annette Gray's house at midnight (we had dinner there) the temperature was 12 C.

So this morning, Jo and I took a walk along the river to Morrison's and we were astonished to see that the Dee was in spate - it had burst its banks and flooded some of the adjoining fields, apparently brought on by snow melt coming down from the mountains. We would normally have gone down to the lower level of the Platties walkway - a place Luca loves - but it was completely under water, right up to the very top of the handrail:

We also had a visitation this morning from a couple of deer in our back garden:

Usually we only see them when it's cold and snowy and they come down from the forests looking for food, so it was strange to see them today, of all days. Yesterday, we had our first sighting of the winter of our old friend the red squirrel. With all the leaves being down now from the trees out front, he/she's much easier to spot now.

I went out for a cycle again on Wednesday afternoon - and what a struggle it was. I was completely shattered and my pals constantly had to stop and wait for me. I must have either been slightly under the weather, or, it's these new pills - Rivaroxaban. I'm certainly getting more dizzy turns since I started taking them. I can't make up my mind whether to continue with them or not. What's the alternative - back to Warfarin? That means regular monitoring and that's going to be difficult to do when we're away in Australia and USA for long periods. I'll chat this through with the Doctor on 21st December.

I went to the CAMRA committee meeting on Wednesday night, and, on Thursday, I managed to write all my Christmas cards - hooray! Now over to you, Jo!

On Friday afternoon, when Jo went swimming, I jumped on my bike again and went round the Banchory pubs etc, dropping off the latest editions of our quarterly newsletter North Sea Ale and also completing the annual pub surveys as well. Scott Skinner's, Buchanan's, Deeside Brewery, the Legion, Burnett Arms, Douglas Arms & the Golf Club were all visited, so now I've just got to put this information on to CAMRA's national database - then do the same for the other 10 outlets in Deeside.

Winter

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Winter is officially here, so we are told by the various media. It certainly seems like it - there is still some snow and ice on the ground - it was too cold for it to melt overnight. We've also had the first official notification that the snowgates are closed on the Banchory - Fettercairn Cairn o' Mount road. See the webcam here - http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/local/webcams/cairnomount/

The weather has kept me housebound - no chance of any cycling and not even conducive to going for a good walk. I've still got the Deeside pub surveys to do - I suppose I could start with the Banchory ones, but I haven't found the enthusiasm yet. Perhaps after another day or two stuck in the house I might make a start. We've got a CAMRA Committee meeting tomorrow night - at least that'll get me out and about. I never thought I'd be looking forward to that!

I mustn't grumble really - it could be a lot worse - I could be having to drive to Fraserburgh for work. I certainly don't miss that long drive in these icy conditions.

I guess I could start with the Xmas cards - that would be a worthwhile job. Maybe tomorrow.

So, is it "Arise Sir Andy" then after the Davis Cup triumph on Sunday? Even our First Minister suggested re-naming our country's patron saint day yesterday St. Andy's Day. Will he win the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year? It's only 2 years since he won it so that may count against him. I don't think anyone's won it twice. Only 5 Scots have won it in the 61 years it has been going - Ian Black, Jackie Stewart, Liz McColgan, Chris Hoy & Andy Murray. Two of those were knighted - Jackie Stewart & Chris Hoy - let's see if Andy gets the same treatment. I'm not sure if some of the Home Counties diehards have forgiven him for his flippant remark a few years ago when he was asked who he hoped would win the World Cup and he replied ABE - anyone but England!

We've got our Australian Visas now - and it's only just over 6 weeks until we head off.

I've finally finished the last chapter of Renshaw's Chronicles (http://renshawschronicles.blogspot.co.uk/) - it's been a while, but I got there in the end.

Edinburgh weekend

We're back now and we had a nice time in Edinburgh - although the train journeys in both directions were a bit fraught. I can't remember the last time I caught a train that wasn't absolutely mobbed. It was a bun fight getting on - especially at Edinburgh on the return journey. Fortunately, our reserved seats weren't taken so we didn't have to kick anyone out.

We arrived at lunchtime on Friday and stood in a queue in the rain at Waverley waiting for a taxi to take us to the Bow Bar, where we had some nice beer and something to eat. The choice of food was simple - you could have a pie or a bridie. There were some framed old posters hanging round the bar and two of them were of a brand that both my Dad and I worked for back in the day:

We taxi'd to our hotel and checked in. The rain subsided so we thought we would take a stroll round Edinburgh's Christmas Market:

Now time for another taxi - this time taking us down to the Stockbridge Tap for a couple of beers before dinner at the Loon Fung, a favourite restaurant of Anne & Leslie Mason, who were with us.

On Saturday morning, the three couples - the Masons, Kilgours and Stewarts - did their own thing. Jo and I walked back to see a bit more of the Christmas Fair then went for a coffee at Sir Walter Scott's Tearoom, where we had a nice window seat overlooking Princes St. and beyond.

We met up with the others at the Assembly Halls at noon and spent the afternoon at The Wine Gang's Xmas Fair. We did three "masterclasses" which also afforded us the opportunity of taking some weight off our feet for 45 minutes at a time:

Before we knew it, the event was closing down and it was time for us to move on:

 Dinner was arranged at the Guildford Arms - another favourite spot - then it was back to our hotel for a nightcap then bed.

On Sunday morning, Jo went to church at the conveniently-located cathedral. By the time we'd checked out, the rain was lashing down so we hung around for a while before venturing across the road to Valvona & Crolla for a coffee and a bite to eat - and that was just about that.

Friday post

We're about to leave for a couple of nights in Edinburgh and I just thought I'd quickly bring this blog up to date.

I've been recovering from a bit of a head cold. The combination of that plus the wintry weather earlier in the week put me off from doing anything active until Wednesday afternoon, by which time the weather had improved dramatically so I could get out for a short cycle. I didn't feel up to joining the main group on Thursday morning, however - even although it was a beautiful day. In fact, Aberdeen was the hottest place in the UK.

I ordered my driving glasses at Costco on Tuesday - and my car for once managed to get us to Inverurie and back safely without any problems with traction control or ABS.

Last evening (Thursday), Ross and Lizzie came round for a bite of supper - Jo made fajitas - very nice.

So that's about it. The weather looks fine just now but the forecast for Edinburgh this weekend is not good - I fear we will get wet. Nothing we can do about it, however.

Winter here - briefly

We had a bit more snow overnight on Saturday:

but today all that lovely whiteness has disappeared in the rain - and it's forecast to get much milder again.

The cold snap hasn't killed off my cold yet - I still feel choked up and a bit drowsy, but it hasn't done much more so far.

Anyway, that's enough for now - got some CAMRA work to do. Bye.

Saturday snow

The first snow of the season has arrived. We had a few flurries last night and woke up to a light coating on the ground this morning, which you can just see in this photo - the latest in my series from our bedroom out to the trees in front of our house:

I've got a bit of a head cold. Today might have been a day for us to start distributing the North Sea Ales to the local pubs and do the annual surveys as well but I just couldn't be bothered. A short stroll to the shops then a spot of lunch in the Douglas and now I'm settling down to the usual Saturday afternoon football-fest. I've cancelled golf tomorrow as well.

The new large round mirror in the hall downstairs has been lowered a couple of times since its initial siting, but I suspect Jo's still not happy about how it looks - watch this space.

Ross and Lizzy popped in to the Douglas last night when I was there, so we've arranged for them to come over for some supper next Thursday.

Manchester United won at lunchtime today and are now, temporarily at least, top of the table, so that's a good start for one of my 3 teams. It would be nice to have a hat-trick with wins for Thistle this afternoon and Aberdeen tomorrow. That might cheer me up and stop me from feeling a bit sorry for myself.

Thursday blog

It's Carole's birthday today - happy birthday, girl! Here she is, doing what she loves:

Well, I've got my car back finally. The BMW computer didn't detect any faults either, but the mechanics noticed a bit of wear on the drive shaft and the ABS sensors had to be replaced - and moved slightly. A bit more expensive than I would have liked but a lot cheaper than totally replacing the drive shaft. Now the decision I have to make is do I keep the car and just run it in to the ground, or should I replace it now? It's 6 years old and has done 105,000 miles - but a 2 litre BMW diesel should go on for a long time yet.

I've been thinking about my bike as well. The one I bought second hand recently is a step up from my old 40 + year old bike - better brakes, more gears, front suspension - but it's got fat, really heavy duty tyres and the type of cycling we do is partly off-road but also on tarmac on quiet country roads and lanes. I'm wondering whether a hybrid with narrower tyres might be more suitable for some of the rides - perhaps I'll pick up a second hand one somewhere - ideally one a fraction larger than the one I have.

Yesterday the weather forecasters got it wrong and the threatened rain never appeared. Having spent the previous 3 or 4 days in the house, I was getting a bit stir crazy so I took the opportunity to go for a solo cycle, with a little diversion down by the Dee:

I finished Ross' book - "The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared" - better than the film. Talking of Ross, he's bought himself a little car to get back and forward to work during the winter. Hope he doesn't abandon the bike altogether.

Got the CAMRA quarterly newsletters to distribute - that'll get me out of the house if the weather makes cycling more difficult - as they're forecasting.

Series we're watching now - London Spy and The Last Panthers - and we've now started with House of Cards as well. Also recording the latest series of Homeland, but Jo's lost interest in that now - and also the second series of Legacy, which has been lying in our Sky Planner for months now - along with several series of The Sopranos and Mad Men. Need to get them watched soon. This is the time of year for watching TV.

I have also completed what may be the penultimate episode of my Chronicles - it would be good to finish it before Christmas - it's taken me four and a half years already (http://renshawschronicles.blogspot.co.uk/)

Tuesday's tales

Monday was a bit of a dead day. We drove over to Inverurie to look after Luca for a couple of days - it's mid-term at school. Gary asked if we wouldn't mind waiting in for the BT engineer who was coming along to upgrade the internet/phone line. No problem we thought, but, typically, he wasn't there until after 5 pm so we never got home until nearly 7 pm last night, having sat around the house waiting.

Luca slept here overnight and Gary will pick him up this evening. When Jo went to Tesco this morning, I took the opportunity to walk Luca along to the barber for a haircut - as requested by Gary.

Luca loves climbing up the former "Bonnie Banchory" railway embankment hill and that was where he dashed off to:

 From there it was round to the golf club:

Finally the barber's - and a pre-haircut photo:

and here's the "after":

 Nice and neat and tidy - but 10 minutes later, after wearing his bobble hat:

 The other thing I did today was go to Taylor's and pick up the mirror we had ordered. It's pretty big and it took a fair bit of measurement and discussion about where to place it on the hall wall on the ground floor. Eventually we settled on a mid-point above the radiator - but at what height? Mid-point between the radiator and the ceiling I was told, but, of course, you have to allow for the string-stretch factor - I think I erred a bit too much on the high side:

Don't worry, Jo - it'll settle at a lower level eventually!

Tomorrow morning first thing, it's off to John Clark BMW. Fingers crossed - 3rd time lucky?

Having completed two more episodes of my Chronicles (http://renshawschronicles.blogspot.co.uk/) in the last couple of weeks, I can now see the end in sight, and I'm now already halfway through yet another episode - one that I think will probably be the penultimate one.

Dull Sunday

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Yesterday's sunshine turned to a dreich, drizzly Sunday so I decided to cancel golf and just lay in bed for a little longer. This also gave us the opportunity to FaceTime with Kelly. Miller was very excitable and talkative - his vocabulary has increased a fair bit since we last spoke to him. Kelly sent this photo of him on Chris' shoulders at Saturday's Christmas Pageant:

Tomorrow morning we head to Inverurie - we're looking after Luca for a couple of days during half term, and also house sitting whilst their broadband gets upgraded tomorrow afternoon.

Yesterday's local CAMRA AGM predictably re-elected all office bearers - including me.

I'm featured in this weekend's Deeside Piper:

Compare and contrast with the original of this photo:

Jo thinks the Piper's printer has run out of ink!

Oh - and I've completed another chapter of my Chronicles - http://renshawschronicles.blogspot.co.uk/

Saturday sunshine

Another bright start to the day, but chilly - like you would expect at this time of year. The leaves are almost gone now. Here's the last 3 days:

The morning news from Paris is also chilling - is nowhere safe?

I went down to Taylor's this morning to collect the mirror we are buying but I was too early - I have to go back on Monday.

I forgot to post these two signs from the Gents' loo in Krakatoa Bar:

You can tell what a classy place it is!

So I'm off to the local CAMRA AGM this afternoon. Jo is catching the same bus in - she's going shopping in town.

Friday 13th - winter's coming

No mishaps yet. Today is what they used to call Black Friday, but that phrase has now been pinched by the retail sector for the annual shopping bonanza that falls on the day after Thanksgiving in USA - i.e. 2 weeks from now. We'll be in Edinburgh then - hope it's not too frantic there.

The first ever named UK storm (Abigail) has seemingly passed the North East of Scotland with barely a passing glance. We had a little bit of rain last night but nothing like what was feared.

Having dipped out of yesterday's cycle, I thought the bright sunshine today might have enticed me out on the bike again, but a short walk along to the shops with Jo soon put paid to that idea - the temperature has dropped and they're forecasting snow on the hills - it certainly feels that way now.

Jo had her hair done this morning but she didn't want to miss out on her usual Friday afternoon swim, so that's where she is now. I've just stayed in, catching up with some stuff - trying to book my car in to John Clark BMW, paying our Marriott maintenance fees, booking some golf for the spring, and trying to arrange for my new pair of driving glasses.

I had my eye test locally yesterday - no problems with the glaucoma pressure tests etc - and got a new prescription. She told me my eyes had actually improved a little over the last year, although I still have a slight astigmatism:

Not sure what it all means, but I'll take it to Costco on Tuesday anyway.

I also tried to pop in to Taylor's this morning to order the mirror we saw, but, would you believe it, they were closed for staff training! I've e-mailed Dick now to order it.

After my eye test yesterday, Jo and I took the bus in to Aberdeen to go to M & S. It was a very short shop and there was nothing on at the movies at that time, so, what to do? We popped along to Archibald Simpson's for a couple of beers, and, as it was Curry Club night we thought we might as well eat there as well. We walked back to the Union Square bus station and had enough time to spare to pop in for a quick half at CAMRA's Pub of the Year, the newly re-named Krakatoa (formerly the Moorings) - a cultural experience for Jo.

Weight

Jo's been trying to lose a bit of the weight she - and me - gained in USA, and this morning, she was pleased because she passed a significant threshold. Good work girl!

Measuring your weight can at times be a difficult - and occasionally depressing - thing. Depending on which day, and which time of day, and what you've done before it, the results can be confusing. I'm not consciously dieting but I am aware I have lost a bit of weight - a bit more than a stone - since I stopped working, simply because I'm not as sedentary and am taking a lot more exercise - especially cycling.

Already this week, my weight has apparently varied by as much as 6 pounds. I recorded a high of 13 stones, 1 pound (183 pounds or 83 kgs) on Monday morning but after yesterday afternoon's cycle, the scales showed just 12 stones, 9 lbs (177/80). The truth is somewhere in between - all you can do is watch the trend.

I could do with a some new trousers now. Funnily enough we're heading in to Aberdeen to do some clothes shopping for Jo - after I've had my eye test. Don't think we'll be going to the cinema this time, however - there's nothing decent on at a suitable time.

I'm having a morning of rest - I was too tired after yesterday afternoon's cycle and I didn't have the strength to join the other guys on their usual Thursday morning ride - they're heading for the Tarland Way and the Tarland Trails again, whilst I'm sitting here watching The Nation's Favourite Beatles Number Ones which was transmitted last night on ITV. The results are not what I would have chosen - but then aren't all polls like that?

Talking about music from the '60's, there's a new one in London next April - https://www.facebook.com/AllOrNothingAMusicalAboutTheLifeOfTheSmallFaces/. I've always been a fan - I have virtually every record of theirs. Might have to arrange another trip down south some time between our Australian and American holidays next year - not to mention squeezing some golf in as well. We only have the months of March, April & May between our visits to Kelly and Lucy and I've already doubled up on one of my regular trips - the hill-walking weekend, which is happening towards the end of May, unfortunately coinciding with the week of our local CAMRA Beer Festival where I'd already said I would be working next year. I missed this year's festival as we were in France and, as a Committee Member, I felt guilty and that's why I committed early to be there next year. Ah well, can't have everything I guess.

It's our local CAMRA branch's AGM this Saturday. Unless opposed, I'm happy to carry on as Membership Secretary - it helps keep me busy. I like retirement - not having to commute to Fraserburgh or Aberdeen - but I also like to have something to do, so long as I can do it my own time.

Midweek mumbles again

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It's Wednesday already and what have I done? Not a lot, that's what - and, guess what? - my car's back in the garage again. We left early for Inverurie yesterday - this was the first time we'd given the car a run since it was back in the garage last week and we wanted to give ourselves time in case it let us down again - and it did.

Just a mile or so outside Banchory, the intermittent fault with the traction control started again, so we took the car back to C & D and drove off to Inverurie in Jo's car instead. At the time of writing, I'm still waiting to hear from the garage, but I fear we're going to have to take it in to John Clark BMW in Aberdeen.

Anyway, we had lunch in Anderson's in Inverurie yesterday - dangerous really - Jo was attracted to this chair - check the price:

Just £1,300!

We also saw a mirror we liked in Taylor's last week:

Since my last post, I was out cycling on Friday and Monday - and I'm planning to go out again this afternoon - and the builders have finally started on the old filling station site:

Went to see the Jags in Dundee on Saturday as well, and had a game of golf on Sunday. Tomorrow it's my annual eye test - and I spotted a pair of glasses that I like in Costco yesterday and I'll go back and get them some time soon - for driving only.

Friday greyness

It's looking a bit dull outside again, despite another weather forecast that said the North East would be sunny - at least this morning. That's what they said about yesterday as well - I had cycled through to Aberdeen, fully expecting the usual North Sea haar greyness there, but expected to be greeted by the sunshine when we got back to Deeside, but it wasn't to be.

We didn't see the dolphins from Torry Battery and Girdleness Lighthouse - another time perhaps. Jo and I decided to go to the movies yesterday afternoon. We used our free bus passes to get in to Union Square, then paid the discounted Seniors' rate to get in to see Spectre and had a couple of pints of ale afterward in the Justice Mill for just £3 in total, using our CAMRA vouchers. A cheap date.

No discounts at the Ashvale afterwards, but the haddock, chips and mushy peas was excellent.

The James Bond film was the usual spectacle - predictable and ludicrous, but well made. I preferred Skyfall.

This morning, after 4 days of laziness, not shaving, I'm now back to being clean shaven again, but before I took it all off, I wondered what I would look like if I grew a goatee? This photo confirmed to me that it wouldn't suit if I let it grow any more:

My car is still at Caldwell & Dempster. I told them there was no rush, but perhaps I'll give them a call today to see what's happening.

When we left Inverurie on Tuesday, I noticed this on the front door:

says it all really

Tomorrow, I'm planning to go and see Thistle for the first time this season. They're playing at Dundee - apart from Aberdeen, this is as close as they get to us.