Grandaddy again!

Nearly a fortnight since my last blog post and it's all been happening. Only one place to begin though - little Asher Thomas Steele was born on Wednesday 13th April at 1:10 pm Adelaide time - our 5th grandson. 9lbs 2 oz and mother and baby doing well - so much so that Kelly was home 4 hours later!

I didn't get a chance to speak to Kelly until this (Saturday) morning on FaceTime, having just got back from the Algarve at tea time yesterday. Kelly was looking and sounding great - and so was little Asher - and Miller, who has become very chatty and his speech is becoming much clearer. Asher is much darker than Miller, reminding Jo very much of Kelly when she was born:

Jo had been looking after Luca this week while I was away golfing, but she felt ill all week and had lost her voice when I got home. She's having a medicated down day today - it seems that she's got some kind of respiratory bug - sore ears and head and coughing all the time.

Just before Gary came over to pick up Luca last night, Luca asked for some Angel Delight - something we haven't had for a generation or so. Jo agreed and asked Luca to help mix it, handing him a hand whisk. Luca looked puzzled and searched the whisk before finally saying "where's the button to switch it on?" This generation don't expect to do anything manually, do they?

Going back to the previous week, we went down to Glasgow on the Wednesday for a little gathering to welcome Meghan back home from New York for a short break. We had a late lunch, lasting 5 hours or so at the Three Craws in in Crow Road, Glasgow:

l-r: cousin Sheila; Jo; Meghan; Chloe and Jordon, John and Dawn (half hidden); Aunt Nancy; Barry and Helen

We walked back to Foxbar Drive and spent the night at Barry and Helen's. In the morning, we drove over to Elderslie and Houston. Jo joined Mary in looking after Julie's boys and Brian and I went golfing at Ranfurly GC where he works P/T as Secretary.

Friday was similar, except this time Brian took me down to the other club he joined recently - West Kilbride. It was a lovely day and the course was great, with super views across to the nearby Isle of Arran:

We had a take-away curry for tea at Julie's where the boys were snapping away with my phone:

On Saturday, Jo, Mary and I drove in to the King's Theatre in Glasgow to see the first of the plays in the James Trilogy, after which Jo and I drove back to Banchory whilst Mary went shopping.

I was mostly packed and ready for my early morning drive back down the road to Edinburgh airport on Sunday morning. We only had 4 days' golf planned and the weather was a little disappointing on the Algarve - unseasonably cool and wet. In fact, as we had breakfast on Monday morning, a virtual monsoon went over, but thankfully it passed before we played and it all turned out OK in the end, with the weather slowly improving as the week went on.

Well tonight we were due to go to the church centre for the annual Malaysian dinner, but there's no way Jo's up to going anywhere just now - nor is Colin's wife, Johanne, who seems to have the same bug. Too bad - let's hope they recover soon.

The week after Easter

Another week passed - nothing much going on. I rested Monday and didn't join our group peleton and Tuesday, of course, it was Inverurie. We took Luca for a haircut - just a tidy-up - he and his Mum both like to keep his hair on the long side.

With the clocks changing, our midweek golf competition started again on Wednesday. We got a freak hailstorm after we'd played 6/7 holes and had to abandon the round as the greens were completely white, so we replayed on Thursday in much nicer conditions - immediately after going for a short cycle.

On Friday, Jo had her usual swimming but I just chilled at home. I started another brew - I was very careful this time to follow instructions and keep the hygiene standards high. The last brew was drinkable - just - but the temperature fluctuations were too much. This time I've set it up in the bathroom and hopefully the temperature will be more constant.

Saturday was a beautiful day and Jo was working at the Seniors lunch at the church, so I took off for a short cycle. I've finally succumbed and got some padded pants:

My ride took me south of the Dee on the quiet roads past Tilquhillie. I came across the remnants of an old stone circle:

The Falls of Feugh were looking a bit murky:

Sunday morning's forecast wasn't looking great so I cancelled golf early on. It was damp rather than properly wet so I thought I would go for another short solo cycle. I'm glad I did because I vegetated in the afternoon on a diet of a non-stop sports fest on TV - football and cricket. Brilliant.

Monday was our first Seniors golf match of the season. Again, it was a little damp, but playable. We're heading down West on Wednesday and not back until Saturday so, this afternoon, I had to do a bit of organising/packing for this and for my trip to Portugal on Sunday.

We're having a late lunch with the Stewart relatives on Wednesday and staying with Barry and Helen that night, moving over to Brian and Mary's on Thursday - Brian has arranged golf with me on Thursday and Friday - and then on Saturday, Jo, Mary and I are off to King's Theatre (http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/james-i-the-key-will-keep-the-lock/kings-theatre/).

That's all my news for now - although we did get a message from Kelly this morning (she's got no wi-fi just now so can't FaceTime) that her latest date will be a week on Friday - so it might all happen when I'm away. We're thinking of you, girl!

Easter Weekend

Happy Easter to everyone. We've had a nice time - mostly. On Friday, Jo and I travelled down to Ballater with the intention of distributing CAMRA posters to the pubs down there, but, as it was such a lovely day, we decided to take a walk down there. Details of this are on my Hill-walking blog (http://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/knock-castle.html) but here's a few more photos from that day:

Morning coffee al fresco in the Square before walk

Trudging up the cycle path - complete with stick

Gave Jo a good stare

The final climb up to Knock Castle

On the south side of the Dee with Ballater in the background and the devastated caravan park to the left

Blooming Ballater

Friday night was our first headbang this year (http://banchoryheadbangers.blogspot.co.uk/) and on Saturday afternoon the new golf season officially started with the Captain v Vice Captain match. As feared, we got soaked and only managed 10 holes - we walked in and tried to dry out. I had to ask Jo to come and pick me up.

Sunday was much more pleasant - golf in the sunshine in the morning, then Gary, Carole and Luca came over for dinner. Jo prepared chicken and leek pie - and she also made a huge chocolate cake:

On the balcony after dinner

 One of Jo's birthday presents from one of her friends is looking good:

Good Friday

I'll start with an apology to Gary - I mis-typed his time in the D33 Ultra when I said he just beat 6 hours - it should have been 5 hours. I've now corrected the blog.

Luca was originally due to be with us today as Gary and Carole would be working and the school would be closed, but it turns out that Carole's work is closed as well, so there was no need for him to stay with us. Carole's got a bit of the lurgy - she's hacking (not horsey-hacking) her way through the day - hopefully she'll be better by Sunday.

I've had 3 cycles this week - I was shattered when I got back from yesterday's ride - so I don't want to do too much today, but it's a beautiful morning and we're now planning to go down to Ballater to drop off some CAMRA posters and perhaps we'll take a short walk as well.

We have our first Headbang of the year tonight and the golf season officially starts tomorrow - it's the Captain v Vice Captain match, and, as usual, the forecast is wet. I've got a 2 pm tee time - hope it's dried up by then - alternatively, if it rains, please make it heavy enough to close the course. The worst case scenario is the course being open and us getting a soaking.

There's a hill walk planned for Sunday - probably Morven - but I won't be going as I'm not sure when they'll get back - they're not starting until 9:30 am because the clocks will have gone forward. I think I'll golf instead - weather permitting, of course.

I'll close with a photo from Down Under - Chris was on "my" bike and did the Lynton Trails in Adelaide:

Not long to go for Kelly now - we're waiting for news.

Back again

It's been over a week since my last blog diary. I haven't been taking many photos recently - I think they prompt me to update my blog and when I don't have any, I don't like to just post dry prose.

Now, what have I done recently? That's another problem - remembering - and that's where digital photos are great, providing times, dates and even locations occasionally. I do remember going cycling on Thursday and, on Saturday, I jumped on the bus in to Aberdeen to catch a train down to Laurencekirk, joining a bunch of the local CAMRA guys for a tour of Burnside Brewery. I had a few pints and a nice chat with the brewers and managed to get home before 6 pm - not bad going.

Gary and Luca came over to stay on Saturday night. Carole was away at one of her horsey do's and some of Gary's pals were going out for a few birthday drinks in Banchory - he went along for a short while to catch up with them, but he was on call so couldn't drink. He and Luca were gone early Sunday morning as Luca was taking part in the big Run Garioch event - he finished his 1 km run in 90-something place - a bit lower than his 60-something place last year, but there were twice as many taking part in his age group this year - well over 300. Well done, Luca! Here he is with his medal:

Talking of races, Gary did really well in the D33 Ultra the previous weekend - he finished 121st overall (out of 335) and 47th in his age category (out of 107), but, most importantly, he beat the 5 hour mark and improved on last year's time.

Sunday was Jo's birthday, of course, and this is where I was a bit remiss in not taking any photos. I didn't buy a cake either - I've got out of the habit as Gary usually bakes one, but, of course, he wasn't around on Sunday (other than for a quick breakfast). I played golf in the morning when Jo was at church and we ended up agreeing to go for a curry in the evening with Keith and Annette Gray.

Monday was cycling again - a tough one - and on Tuesday it was back to Inverurie again for our first meeting with Lucky - Carole's new "rescue" dog:

I'm planning another cycle ride this afternoon, combining it with deliveries of CAMRA posters to some of the local pubs. It's definitely feeling spring-like - the golf season starts on Saturday and the clocks go forward that evening - and, of course, everything is starting to grow:

On the mend - eating again

Well that was a bit of a lost week - mostly spent in bed trying to recover from a nasty little bug, which meant I hardly ate all week. The upside was that I lost 9 pounds, which compensated nicely for the weight I put on when we were in Australia.

I re-entered the world on Sunday when I managed a round of golf and I went for a short cycle yesterday (Monday) and didn't come to any harm, so hopefully that's the worst of it over. I'm still not drinking tea - somehow the taste turns me off, but otherwise I'm eating fairly normally again.

It's been suggested to me that it was an aftermath from the long journey back from Oz and it's true that I suffered very little jet-lag the first week we were back. Sleeping patterns were relatively normal and I was active, cycling 4 times that week. It all seemed too good to be true - and maybe it was just a case of delayed reaction.

I'm looking forward to a better time this week - and it started off with a beautiful day yesterday. I took the opportunity to clean the decking on our balcony using a wire brush. The forecast is good for this week so I'm hoping it will help fully dry out the boards and I can get another couple of layers of varnish down by the weekend. After I came back from cycling, I washed both cars - they were looking pretty grubby.

To close, a couple of photos pinched from Facebook. First, Gary finishing his D33 run on Saturday:

33 miles = a marathon and a quarter. Well done, Gary!

Next, here's Luca with his football team - and still wearing the plaster on his chin after his little accident last week:

That's all for now. I'm back.

Time on my hands - feeling sorry for myself

I'm writing this, lying in bed, not knowing what to do with myself. I was up half the night with a serious case of "the runs". Today I'm taking in as much fluid as I can to help flush whatever bug it is I've got through my system. I'm still getting stomach cramps - hope it eases soon. I can't even sleep comfortably.

I felt very tired on Sunday after golf but didn't think much about it. Gary and Luca came through and that kept my mind off it for a while anyway. I had a medical in Aberdeen yesterday morning - it seemed to go well enough and I'll get the full report in 2 weeks - but when I got home, I didn't feel great and decided to pull out of the afternoon group cycle. Pity - it was a beautiful day.

But last night was when the bug really got active.

Spoke to both Kelly and Lucy on FaceTime on Sunday and Ross and Lizzie came through last night after work. Guess what? I've now got a house full of birthday beers!

To pass the time, I'm watching the Scotland - Afghanistan match in the T20 preliminary tournament in India. Looks like we're in for another doing.

Talking to Gary on Sunday, he was amazed that we never watched many films when we travelled out and back to Australia. 40 hours or more in the air and I only watched one film - the Steve Jobs biopic. There really wasn't anything else I wanted to see. I did manage to watch 10 episodes of Better Call Saul, however - 5 out and 5 back. Maybe the shorter format suits me better.

We consumed a fair quantity of wine when we were Down Under - although not enough according to Chris, who had filled his cellar in advance of our arrival. Beer too, but we never touched spirits. Our first and last G & T's were on the plane.

I think that's enough for today. Back to the cricket.

First few days back home

Farewells were tearful, but we liked the story Kelly told us about Miller's reaction the following morning, after he went in to our room and saw we weren't there. "Where's Grannie Jo and Granda Ian-and?". Kelly told him we'd gone home and after a second or two, Miller burst out laughing and said "No - gone shops!".

The journey home was as good as it could be - everything went smoothly and on time. It was especially nice to have the chauffeur-driven car waiting for us at Glasgow airport and he whisked us straight home. We pulled in to Arbor Court not long after 2 pm on Saturday - which translated in Aussie body clock time as after midnight Sunday morning.

We plugged everything in and re-adjusted the heating cycles before unpacking and opening the pile of mail. I nipped out to get some bare essentials and we had a quick snack of toasted cheese before heading to bed just before 8 pm.

We slept pretty well and rose at a reasonable time on Sunday morning, seemingly not suffering too much from jet-lag. Jo went to church and I decided I felt good enough to go for a cycle on what was a beautiful day. The afternoon was a football-fest - I watched the first big game at home but then went to the pub to meet Colin - and Ken P - for the next big match.

Ross and Lizzie came round with my car in the evening - he had been using it as his car's battery had died.

So far, so good. Normal bedtime, but much shorter sleep this time. I must have been tired as I made a classic error on Monday morning. I remembered I had to go for a medical shortly after we got back - the first Monday in March, I recalled. Except this Monday wasn't the first Monday of the month, was it? No - it was a leap year - 29th February! I drove all the way in to Aberdeen and in to Nuffield for my appointment before realising the error of my ways.

When I got back home, I felt good enough to join our usual group Monday afternoon cycle, which probably helped me get a good 11 hour sleep in on Monday night.

Tuesday was Luca/Inverurie day - the first time we'd seen them all since early January.

Today (Wednesday), we both seem to be back in the old routine - I went for another cycle (my 3rd this week) whilst Jo went swimming with her pals again.

Enough narrative - now for a couple of photos:

Taken by Chris at the time we were setting up the camera for the end of holiday family photo

This is how much the houses at the former T-n-C filling station have come on since we were away

Half packed - almost ready to go

It's 3 pm Friday. Jo and I have done the shopping and had lunch. Now it's tea preparation, change and zip up the bags.

I managed a short cycle early this morning, but that's my last in Aussie-land this year. My golf clubs have been put down in Chris' wine cellar basement as well for another year. Why did I only play one game in 6 weeks? Same last year too. You would think I would take more advantage of the time, the weather and the courses.

Jo and I had a light snack at the Ballroom Bistro at the Palais, overlooking the front:

Nice spot. Note the fake grass.

We also had time for a quick beer back at Sweet Amber Beer Cafe, which also gave me time to finish off my book. We had originally planned to use our Metro Cards and take the train in to Croydon and visit the one new brewery we hadn't been to yet - http://www.brewboys.com.au/ - but the logistics were against us and we didn't want any hassle or to have to rush around on our last day, so we went local instead. Brewboys is on our tick list for next year however.

OK - that's it for Oz this year.

Penultimate days

Just over a day left down here now - our flight leaves at 10:35 pm on Friday night and we get picked up from Kelly's house at 7:35 pm.

Jo wasn't feeling too bright on Tuesday so we just stayed at the house. I walked along to get some shopping but that was the only time either of us left the premises. It was hot again - I was bathed in sweat when I got back from the shops.

Wednesday, of course, is Kelly's day off and, after she'd been to gym and I'd been for a cycle, she took us for a run down to the lovely McLaren Vale area. Wineries everywhere but we chose just one for a sampling - D'Arenberg (http://www.darenberg.com.au/) - after which we had a lovely lunch at the old Salopian Inn (http://salopian.com.au/) where the bread, in particular - baked on the premises - was terrific and reminded Jo of our holidays in France back in the 70's.

We managed a quick pit stop at Goodieson Brewery (https://www.goodiesonbrewery.com.au/) where we did the usual samples and had a chat with the owner. Miller was getting a little antsy by this time and so we sped back home and got his playpool out. Once he was finished with that, I wrapped one of his many dressing gowns round him:

Today (Thursday), I decided it was about time I actually had a (full) round of golf. Chris was good enough to give up his car for the day so I drove down to West Lakes and managed to squeeze in about 9 am. It was slow and there was a lot of waiting around but I had a good time and enjoyed it:

This afternoon, Jo and I took the advantage of having the car and drove down to Glenelg for a return nostalgia trip - it's where we stayed when we first came to Oz a few years ago. We had a quick wander round then stopped for coffee at the marina:

That's it for now. It's 5 pm now - and you know what that means. I'm off for a beer.

Monday evening - 4 full days left

The clock is ticking - we leave on Friday night. It's been a lovely stay and, thankfully, we haven't experienced the extreme temperatures we've had in previous years. In fact, today (Monday) is the only day we've got near 40 C - the peak was 39.5 C - pretty damn hot though.

Yesterday (Sunday), after our dawn hike up Lofty, Jo and I took Miller out for the afternoon. Our principal aim was to take him on the model steam train:

After the return ride, Miller chased the seagulls for a bit, then we walked along the prom and on to the beach. Miller had to be carried - the sand was too hot and it was quite a strain to get him to the sea, where he wanted to take his half-peg trousers off. I said no as he hadn't been creamed on the upper part of his legs. On hearing this, Miller just sat down in the warm sea, trousers and all. Of course, when he got up, he was soaking and he didn't like that. We had to carry him home. We stopped for a breather in the shade of some trees, where we were approached by two God warriors. Of course, Jo engaged them as I tried to find a way out. Thankfully, Miller provided this and off I headed with Jo following several minutes later.

By the time we got back, Kelly and Chris had done all the house-keeping - whew, good timing.

Today (Monday), Jo and I went in to the city on the rail again, with the intention of seeing a Fringe show, but, it was Monday which is a quiet day, so we couldn't find anything suitable during the afternoon - neither of us fancied staying out for an 8 pm or 9 pm show - that's way past bedtime in the Steele/Stewart household. We had a nice day, however - coffee, book shop then the Belgian Beer Cafe for lunch. It wasn't Brussels, but we still had to have mussels of course:

Last weekend in Oz

Saturday morning is Miller's swimming lesson so we all trooped round. Miller had had a meltdown last week when he came out of the water and Chris tried to get him dressed, so this week, Miller was whisked straight back home, wrapped in a towel - result!

After the usual lunchtime naps - Miller and Kelly, that is - we headed in to Adelaide to take in a bit of the Fringe. We were too late for the children's show that we'd planned to view but we got in to another one easily enough. Miller was a little uncertain but took it all in for about 30 minutes before his concentration span elapsed:

We had a couple of beers and wandered round the Garden of Unearthly Delights. Miller was smitten by some of the rides - none of which he would actually have gone on, even if he'd been allowed:

We ate there and Miller got to make his own ice pole/slushy:

The plan was to rise early this morning and leave the house by about 6 am and head to the hills so that I could hike up Mount Lofty. Kelly offered to chum me and, at the last minute, Chris, who had originally planned to go to the gym, opted to join us as well.

The car park was packed - even at that time of the morning, as everyone tried to get up and down before the heat of the day kicked in. I'm happy to say I made it all the way up, although the stops got a bit more frequent as we got nearer the top:

Off to FaceTime Lucy now.

Friday farewells

After I went on a morning cycle, Jo and I walked to Peterhead station and caught the train in to Adelaide, then walked to the Botanic Gardens to meet up with David, Lorene and Matt for a spot of lunch. There was a bit of confusion about the exact meeting point but we got there in the end.

Chris' brother Matt was on his lunch hour so his time was limited, but his parents drove us back to Semaphore after lunch, with a quick pit stop at the Lion Hotel, which was a regular haunt for us a few years ago when we stayed in the adjacent apartments. I grabbed a quick photo here as we probably won't see Lorene and David for another year:

We had originally planned to go to Entropy for dinner but, for the second Friday in a row, it was booked - this time for a Fringe show, so, instead we had to pick up something for tea - Jo chose Porterhouse steaks again.

Here's one I took of Chris and Miller playing in the garden:

Today (Saturday), Miller has his swimming lesson and we're heading to the Fringe in the afternoon.

Week 5 so far

It's Thursday evening here in Adelaide now and it's been back to work for Chris and Kelly this week - although Kelly had her usual Wednesday off and today she took another day off to attend her check-up at hospital. We went with her - there was a huge backlog there but Kelly was fine. They are going to continue to monitor the baby's growth to ensure there are no size problems with giving birth. Kelly was concerned about a possible C-section, but it seems more likely they will induce if the baby gets too big.

Jo, Kelly and I went for lunch at Peel St. afterwards - very nice it was too. We did the Miller drop-off and pick-up and also got Kelly's car serviced, so it was a fairly productive day.

Yesterday, Kelly drove us out to the hills again to Monarto, which is sister zoo to the main one in Adelaide. They don't cage the animals in this one, although there are several fenced off areas for each of the types of animals. The effect is to create conditions more akin to the animals' more natural environment - mostly like the African plains. They do rehabilitation work and breeding too. The tour of the huge site is done in a bus and here's some of the wild animals we saw;

and, of course, the wildest one of all:

Tomorrow (Friday) it will be 5 weeks since we left Banchory - just one more week left. We're having what will probably be a farewell lunch with David, Lorene and Matt tomorrow at the Botanic Gardens cafe. The Fringe has started here so we'll probably take in a show or two this weekend as well. What else might be on the wish list for our last week? Possibly a hike up Mount Lofty, maybe a return trip to Penfolds - or perhaps none of the above - who knows?

To close, a further observation about Australia - the birds here mostly seem to squawk, rather than sing. They certainly wouldn't qualify as residents of Berkeley Square (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTeiYN_Vq6E).