2016

We're all now well in to 2016 so it's a Happy New Year to everyone everywhere.

Let's start off the first blog post of 2016 with a look back to 2015. I started taking pictures of the trees through our bedroom window back in April, so here's how the year looked:

April

May

June

August

September

October

November

December

Our Hogmanay dinner with the Kilgours went well I feel. We had Chicken Balmoral for our main course. Colin and Johanne left just before 2 am and we then began tidying up. We FaceTimed Lucy and Kelly simultaneously to wish them all a HNY.

Unsurprisingly, yesterday (Ne'erday) was a bit of a slow one, but Gary, Carole and Luca came over for a steak pie dinner. Ross was busy but texted and we'll see him soon as he's off for a couple of weeks as Buchanan's is closed.

It's Saturday morning and I'm up, listening to Sounds of the 60's, but Jo's getting some well-earned rest. She had been getting up early recently - I think all the Christmas and New Year planning was playing on her mind.

I suppose I better go and check how my brew is getting on. I suspect it's failed - uneven temperatures or possible contamination? Never mind, it's a learning curve - I'll get it right next time.

Hogmanay

It's early evening Hogmanay in Scotland, but it's already 2016 in Adelaide - HNY to all our Aussie family and friends. Looking forward to seeing you soon - we leave here two weeks tomorrow.

I'm relaxing with a cup of tea at the moment, having just had a bit of a Freddie Mercury moment. Can you picture the scene - me doing the hoovering in just my underpants? If that thought puts you off your meal, I apologise. I'll be getting fully dressed soon and going to pick up Colin and Johanne. It'll just be the four of us for Hogmanay dinner at ours this year as both Anne and Leslie are ill - shame.

My last post here was on Boxing Day - since then, I've had 3 much-needed cycles - a solo one on Sunday and with a few of our group on Monday and this morning. We went down to the West Coast on Tuesday - there and back in a day. Our first disappointment was on the drive down, pulling in to the Horn, looking forward to a roll and sausage, only to find out it's shut for 2 weeks. We had to invoke Plan B and pop in to the nearby Glendoick Garden Centre for bacon butties. That was the first in a long line of snacking that day.

We went over to Elderslie to see Brian and Mary, who kept us topped up with a constant supply of food all afternoon. A cup of tea with Xmas cake first of all, then soup an hour later, followed by regular refills then, finally, sausage rolls, chips and beans. Julie, Guy and the boys popped over for a little while too.

We eventually said our goodbyes and drove over to Knightswood to see Barry and Helen and drive them in to the city centre for Dawn's surprise 60th birthday party. Of course, Helen gave us tea and cake as well.

Dawn's do was in the Tea Rooms at the Butterfly and Pig in Bath St. - a nice, old fashioned Glasgow tea room. Here's some of the photos of the evening:

Mara enjoyed playing with the balloons as Kieran held her

I wonder what Barry's looking at?

Dawn and her pal, Rona

Lauren lit the cake for her Mum

Cousin Lesley took this one of me, Dawn & Barry

This latter photo brought memories back of probably the last time the three of us posed together:

Barry told us how he hated that kiss-curl! I reminded him that Mum had done the same thing to me a few years earlier:

We left the party at 9:15 pm, having stocked up with sandwiches from the party, as we had to be home for Luca's birthday the following day and we also knew that Storm Frank was on its way and we didn't want to get stranded. As it happened, we were back safely in Banchory by 11:30 pm.

The direct effects of the storm mostly bypassed Banchory, but it hit Upper Deeside a lot harder and the consequent effect of all the water there had to come our way via the River Dee - and it did. The water level got so high that the bridge over the Dee in Banchory had to be closed, as did Potarch and other bridges. It's the first time I ever remember that happening. The online community is full of the images - even the North Deeside road has been washed away down near Crathie.

None of this stopped us from driving over to Inverurie on Wednesday for Luca's 9th birthday:

Luca chose the picnic-style lunch again.

I was going to corporate hospitality at the Aberdeen - Partick Thistle match that evenng so I decided to catch the train in. I walked to the station, bought my ticket, but then missed the train - and the next one was an hour away. I did eventually catch a bus in - with a little bit of help from Jo - and although I had a bit of a hike when I got to Aberdeen, I made it in reasonable time.

I was marginally fragile this morning, but the biggest shock I got was when I stood on the scales - 13 stone 4 lbs! Just a week ago, the reading one morning had been 12 stone 8 lbs. Surely I couldn't have put on 10 pounds in one week? Jo told me it was probably just fluid retention. Mmmm...

Well, I had better go and get dressed then. Have a good one, everyone - talk to you later.

Xmas photos

Happy Boxing Day to all - and Happy Anniversary to Jo and I - 43 years ago today. We got married at 4 pm - it was pitch dark!

Facebook prompted me this morning and so I posted their choice of photos of Jo and I - to selected family only. I was complimented on it by both Jo and Carole, who thought I'd made it up myself, but when I told them it was all FB's work, I lost all my brownie points!

All's well again - my beer is now at 22 C:

We had planned to go and see Star Wars today but we've had a re-think this morning and will do it tomorrow instead. I think we're just going to zone out today.

Now for the photo gallery from yesterday:

Jo's flowers

The smokers

Luca & Minecraft torch

Yes it's a Minecraft Xmas

Carole's pressies

Lizzie's pressies

Ross' pressies

Jo's pressies!

More Jo's pressies!

Family

Merry Christmas!

Hope you're all having a good one. I'm temporarily home alone as Jo is at church, but I've got my instructions - oven on at 10:40, turkey in at 11:00 am - job done!

We've been on FaceTime with the Aussie branch of the clan this morning at the end of their Christmas celebrations in the sun. Kelly is looking healthy:

After a break of nearly 40 years, I've started to dabble with home brewing again - using a Cooper's (of Adelaide) kit coincidentally. It's in the utility room, just above the boiler to try and keep it at the correct 21-23 C temperature, but it's fallen to just 18 C so I've had to put some claddding on and install a heater in there temporarily:

Apart from monitoring the temperature daily, my next task is on Tuesday when I have to check the specific gravity. Once that's stable, it's ready to drink - or bottle. It doesn't look very wholesome just now, but it should clear - fingers crossed.

Gary, Carole and Luca will be over early afternoon - in time for Top of the Pops, says Gary and Ross is picking up Lizzie from her work at 2 pm and they'll be in after that. Looking forward to it - and no doubt we'll FT with Lucy later on.

Shortest day

I'm told today is the Winter Solstice - I had always thought it was the 21st, but apparently this year it's the 22nd December. Dad's birthday was the 21st - he would have been 95.

It's nearly a week since my last post, so what have I been up to? Well, we had our Cycling group's annual Xmas lunch last Wednesday at the golf club, after a short cycle in the morning. I couldn't make the usual Thursday morning cycle because we had planned to go and get our Christmas tree then, but I managed to get out for another short run in the afternoon.

We went back to the same supplier as last year, down at Dess. We bought the first tree we saw - amazing. Having done that in record time, we took a slightly circuitous route home which eventually brought us to Torphins, so we popped in to Platform 22 for a coffee, where I noticed they had now started brewing their own beer as well.

Friday was a quiet-ish day until we went for our 3rd Headbang of the year in the evening. The only exercise I got was walking along to the shops to get my paper, passing the workmen who are progressing the construction of the houses on the site of the former filling station:

I picked up the Deeside Piper as well and noticed that my photo featured as the Picture of the Week:

Saturday was tree decoration day. Didn't I do a good job?:

The artificial tree is up in the back room as well:

as are the cards, which Jo put up in new places this year:

Jo was busy preparing for Sunday as well - steak and ale pie was on the menu for the visit of Dawn, Barry & Helen on Sunday. I met the three of them out at Buchanan's for a coffee so they at least got a glimpse of Ross, who was working that day. Gary, Carole and Luca also came for dinner. No photos, I'm afraid.

Yesterday (Monday) I had a Doctor's appointment. I've been getting more dizzy turns than usual and wondered whether the new drug (Rivaroxaban) was causing it. I've been advised to go back on aspirin for a couple of weeks and then revert to Riveroxaban as a final test before deciding whether to try an alternative drug. Going back on to Warfarin is also a possibility, but the regular monitoring of the levels that's required here is not really possible when I'm in Australia for 6 weeks, then the same in USA in June.

Inverurie this afternoon, as usual. It' Luca's last day at school before the break.

Thawing out nicely

It's Wednesday morning and the snow and ice have long gone, replaced by grey skies and unseasonably high temperatures. At least that means I can get out for a cycle this morning - just prior to our cycling group's Xmas lunch at the golf club.

We did our usual Inverurie trip yesterday. Gary was off work - still not fully recovered from the cold/flu he had last week - but we went ahead and picked up Luca from school anyway. Jo had arranged a picnic style tea - at Luca's request - and we ate it on the floor of their living room:

Sorry about the lack of focus.

We'd been to Costco beforehand and I spotted a balaclava style hood/mask which will do me nicely for cycling in colder weather conditions. I also picked up my new driving glasses, and I'm wearing them in this photo:

The big round mirror we recently acquired has been moved from the hall downstairs to our back/TV room - and Jo is much happier with this location. It's like a porthole through to the kitchen.

It's exactly a year to the day since I formally resigned as Director of all the Group companies. Tempus fugit.

Sunday evening

Lucy's on FaceTime just now - I just listen in as she and Jo natter away. I don't think they're quite going to make the 2 hour mark tonight.

Jo's been busy preparing food for the Seniors lunch at the church - that kept her going Friday morning and a good chunk of Saturday too, but she managed to squeeze in her usual Friday afternoon swim as well. Whilst she was doing that, I decided to get some more of the pub surveys done, plus delivery of our quarterly newsletters and membership forms. Ballater, Tarland, Aboyne & Feughside were all done, but I passed on Braemar - maybe another time.

Got some golf in this morning - winter course. It was a beautiful day - cloudless skies and not a breath of wind, but the temperature never got above about 2 C.

This week, I have to pick up my new driving glasses from Costco, and we should really start putting the Xmas decorations up - and buy a tree of course. It's our Cyclists Xmas lunch at the golf club on Wednesday and we have a Headbang on Friday night. Dawn, Barry & Helen are coming up on Sunday - not sure yet whether it's just for the afternoon or whether they'll stay overnight.

To close, here's a photo Jo took of me in St. Andrews Brewing Co on Wednesday:

Whoops - it's sideways!

From this weekend's Deeside Piper, there was a photo of the foreign fishermen wearing the hats that Jo's been knitting for them these last couple of years:

St. Andrews

We got back from an overnight stay at St. Andrews at tea time last night - fish and chips from The Cowshed was the easy option rather than cooking. Before our little trip, we were in Inverurie as usual on Tuesday - Gary arrived home from work, feeling a bit under the weather with a cold, and he slept through the whole of the Manchester Utd. match that I watched whilst we were there. I even had to move his car so that we could get ours out and head home - and he never stirred once.

We drove south on Wednesday morning when a number of bridges in Scotland were closed due to the high winds. Fortunately, the Tay Bridge was ok - for cars at least. Arriving in St. Andrews just before noon, we parked our car, checked in to the Rusacks Hotel then took a short stroll along the Scores and up to Market St. to look for Forgan's, where we had booked lunch. It had been recommended to us by Keith and Annette Gray, as had St. Andrews Brewing Co, where we had a quick beer before lunch. Both recommendations were excellent.

Returning to the hotel, we relaxed for a couple of hours, enjoying the view from our room:

After a glass of Prosecco, we decided to pay a visit to the cinema before dinner - Sunset Song was on. The film is about life in the Mearns, Aberdeenshire farming community at the start of the last century. Our dinner wasn't until 8 pm and the film was scheduled for 5:25 pm - more than enough time, we thought. We didn't figure, however, on a very lengthy preamble of adverts and trailers, plus a longer than normal film - 2 hours, 15 minutes, to be exact. It's what could be described as a slow burner - it's all about atmosphere and scenery. We wondered if it would ever end and we knew we were going to be late for our booking at The Seafood Restaurant.

It was lashing rain and a howling wind when we left the cinema and we went to the wrong place initially. When we finally got to the restaurant, we were soaked - and we were the only customers there. The staff - all seven of them - looked a little exasperated initially, but it didn't show in terms of the quality of food and presentation. There were a couple of unexpected extras - Amuse Bouche to start, and a couple of petit fours to finish - but the main courses we ordered were:

My order - sole

Jo's order - monkfish

The waiter  took our photo:

Our nightcap back at the hotel was another glass of Prosecco. The room we stayed in was nice - in line with the location, they all had golfy themes - ours was the Bobby Locke room. The Breakfast Room in the morning overlooked the Old Course, which was initially bathed in sunshine before distant storms gave us some nice rainbows to watch:

We sat in the pretty reception area after checking out, then decided to go for a short drive round the East Neuk of Fife - through Kingsbarns, Crail and eventually Anstruther. It was bright and sunny, but the wind was really strong and our initial idea of a stroll was soon nixed and we headed for the relative warmth of the Scottish Fishermen's Museum:

We had planned to visit their Tearoom afterwards, but it was now lunchtime and the place was packed with schoolkids, so we moved on to nearby Pittenweem and found a cafe there, after a walk around the small fishing port:

Driving back up north, our last stop of the day was at Guardbridge, where the Eden Mill Brewery and Distillery (http://edenmill.com/) have a nice visitor centre. We arrived just in time to join a brewery tour. It was well done, but I had to restrict my intake of their samples as I still had to drive home.

Desmond - who's he?

Here in the North East, we seem to have completely escaped the 4th named storm this winter - thank goodness. Those poor souls in Cumbria have had it real hard - again. Is there an argument for at least considering planning for medium/longer term depopulation of certain areas which experience repeated floods, like Cockermouth etc?

All we've had has been some temporary widening of the Dee as the snow melt came down from the ski resorts. The river is back to more normal levels today - I had a good look as I cycled along the Deeside Way this afternoon.

Got some golf in yesterday morning as well - full summer course too. Wall to wall sunshine, but it was pretty cool on the hands when the wind blew.

We had our new neighbours move in to number two this weekend. Mike and Gayle moved out a couple of weeks ago and Catherine moved in on Saturday. We know her name because she was good enough to come along and knock on all the doors in the street to offer them the chance of moving their cars if they were going out because their removal lorry would probably block the street for a while. Jo did move her car, but, in the end, it wasn't necessary as there was still room to get by. Still, it was a nice, thoughtful gesture - a good start.

We're on the move again this week - we've booked a night at Rusack's Hotel in St. Andrews on Wednesday night, with lunch beforehand at Forgan's (http://www.forgansstandrews.co.uk/) and dinner in the evening at the Seafood Restaurant (http://www.theseafoodrestaurant.com/). We should be able to get there OK - I don't think the Tay Bridge is falling down (hope not anyway) - unlike the Forth (Road) Bridge. I'm glad we went to Edinburgh last weekend. Even although we went by rail, I'm sure it'll be madness no matter which way you travel with such a major artery being closed for a while.

That's all for now. Inverurie again tomorrow.

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

(Best viewed on the web at http://ianrstewart.blogspot.co.uk/)

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.