Getting ready for a busy weekend

As commented on Facebook, the opening day of the beer festival went well last night - numbers seemed to be well up on the same time last year. Got a chance to sample a few when I was working behind the bar, but my main chance will come tonight when our bus arrives from Banchory and we can have a few proper beers, rather than just a couple of tasters in the bottom of the glass. Highlights for me last night were Yellowhammer and Dartmoor.

I'm doing a couple of hours behind the bar again this afternoon before heading home to dump the car and pick up the bus back to the festival. I'm not playing golf in the morning - I did have time to play before we caught our afternoon flight to London, but thought better of it - I'd probably not be up for it anyway.

Unfortunately, the weather forecast for Sunday is not looking too good - I hope we do get to see some cricket. Although I'm sure we'll find something else to do, it does rather spoil the purpose of the trip if it's rained off.

Golf on Wednesday was OK - I played with Dick - he and Theresa were just back from Bogota visiting their daughter. As usual, after golf, Jo and I watched The Apprentice whilst I ate my supper - little bit of a surprise result and I now wonder if the obvious favourite is going to stumble at the last hurdle? I also discovered that the final has been moved from Wednesday to this Sunday - that's a bit of a bummer as I'll be in London/Reading that evening and won't be able to watch it until I get home on Monday. The media will be full of it on Monday morning and it will be hard to avoid knowing who's won before I watch the recording.

That's about all for now - although I have been editing some of my previous Blog postings - on the instructions of she who must be obeyed!

Monday scare

Got a bit of a fright yesterday when I heard about the missing Air France plane. That route is one that is used by Dave Williamson quite often - Colin and I are going to stay with him this weekend for the cricket. I made a discreet enquiry and he's OK, however - he wasn't on this flight back from Rio, but he said there was considerable reflection in his office in Reading yesterday when they heard the news. Several of his colleagues were actually travelling in the opposite direction when the plane went missing.

Anyway, forgot to post photos of Luca when he was with us on Sunday. We were out the back and he was enjoying splashing the waste water over Jo's feet, which meant she took evasive action, producing this slightly risque photo:

(Object subsequently removed due to the objections of the subject)

Last night after tea - liver and bacon - yummy! - perhaps we'll get steak and kidney pudding next? - Jo and I walked over to the golf course to play a few holes. It was an absolutely perfect evening. Jo did well in bits - signs of improvement - and finished in a blaze of glory at the 16th - the Doo'cot. Although one of the shortest holes in golf, it's pretty tough for a beginner as it's straight up a steep hill and many people can't get the ball high enough to hit the green. In fact, our golf group have a phrase for any unfortunates that play the hole badly - it's called a "wedding cake" when somebody has to play on all 3 tiers of the hole!

Jo's tee shot was quite good and got up to the 2nd level OK, but didn't quite make it all the way up. Her second shot just failed but then she almost holed her 3rd and eventually tapped in for a 4 - pretty good.

Of course, long before that, back at "Hitler's bunker" at the 11th, where Jo had come to grief last week, she was back in trouble again, but this time managed to get out on her 2nd attempt - a bit better than the 14 or 15 attempts last time out:

A rare sighting of the sprinklers in action on the 3rd green behind her.

Today is setting up for the beer festival - I'm planning to go down for a couple of hours late afternoon.

We've got some clouds/haar this morning - not sure if it's going to clear or not. The forecast is for the weather to go downhill a bit for the next few days.

Monday scorcher

Still fabulous weather here - shame to be at work - but what would I do? Too knackered to have a round of golf after playing Wed/Thu/Sat/Sun with football on Friday in between. Still, maybe manage a few holes with Jo tonight. We probably would have gone out last night but by the time Gary and Carole picked up Luca, it was getting a bit late to go out.

Btw, I got a roasting for posting that photo of Jo in yesterday's blog. Apparently it's my fault that I caught her at a bad moment, and when she's water retentive.

Do any of you remember our holiday in Florida when we went to visit Jim and Mary Cowie and their boys from Scrabster? Jim was a fish processor and the Clarks owned 50% of his business. He subsequently cracked up and did a runner, leaving us to pick up the pieces and sort out the mess he'd left and all the unpaid creditors, including the bank, so he hasn't exactly been flavour of the month round here for the last decade or so. Anyway, he changed careers and became a chef - see the article below from the P & J a week past Saturday:

Fabulous weather

It's been glorious these last few days. On Thursday night, I played for Torphins at Inchmarlo and then on Friday, we had a football match at Goals to celebrate Ken Black's 50th - followed by beer and curry. It was a good night, but I was suffering on Saturday morning - not from a hangover, but from a tired and sore body. It was the annual Sponsored Tournament and the beneficiaries of the fund raising - Alzheimer's Society - must have been delighted at the weather. Just a pity none of our team played well, but we all enjoyed the morning anyway. Check the football and golf blogs for photos.

We decided to go along to the dinner at the golf club in the evening. Beer on the balcony first:

(Object subsequently removed due to the objections of the subject)

It was just 2 years since this event was held in aid of the Squash Club. Unfortunately, all our efforts were in vain - but at least the sponsors had a nice (free) day out.

We didn't stay after dinner for the infamous "Sammy the Shammy" and the dance - we decided just to stroll home.

Today, the weather has been even better. Gary and Luca are away to the Perth Races and we've got Luca for the day.

The week ahead has CAMRA's beer festival at Pittodrie. I'll be helping out most nights, but I was rather hoping that we'd have enough to run a bus on Friday, but it looks like we might not have enough to merit this. Not sure how we're going to manage the logistics.

Next weekend, Colin and I are off down to London to see Scotland in the Twenty:20 Cricket World Cup at the Oval. We're staying with Dave Williamson at his flat in Reading.

Birthdays in absentia

We tried to Skype Lucy last night on her birthday - we were all there - Kelly, Ross, Gary, Carole, Luca, Liz, Jo and I - but she wasn't online! Nonetheless, we still cut the cake and sang happy birthday:

Don't we all prefer Gary with hair?

The Inverurie gang all went home - after the Champions League final was over - and Jo, Kelly and I settled down to watch the Apprentice - wrong choice, Sir Alan! However, goodbyes had to be said first of all - huggles and kissies all round:

Tonight, I'm playing at Inchmarlo for Torphins and tomorrow night I'm playing football in Aberdeen - it's Ken Black's 50th and we're all going for a curry afterwards.

My brew

I did eventually make it down for the latter stages of the beer being brewed for my 60th birthday yesterday - but I had to come hot-foot from seeing our visitors off at the airport at 3 pm (their plane wasn't until 6:30 pm!) and, of course, I wasn't really dressed for brewing.

I'm glad I made it along, however and at least observed some of the process in action. Of course, Rob did most of the work, aided and abetted by his father in law, Sandy. The ingredients and recipe were from my suggestions and Rob's interpretation of what I was looking for - a straw coloured, hoppy IPA - similar to some of the American brews I like. Here's the mixture of hops:


It was a lovely afternoon so I was able to sit outside when I received a phone call from our lawyers:



Rob has made up some posters which he is going to erect in the brewery shortly. Here's one about the process:

At the end, I finally got to do something - add the yeast!:

I'll be going back in 7-10 days to help with the bottling. Some will go in cask and Rob has indicated that he would like to launch it as one of his new brands, and he's chosen the name Nechtan, which fits in with his historical theme - check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nechtan_II_of_the_Picts

Anyway, Kelly arrived last night, sans Craig, at about 11 pm, so I'm going home to have lunch with her today. Craig is flying up tomorrow night after making their new home a bit more habitable. Carole, Liz and Luca arrive about 3 pm and Gary will come along after work.

Lastly, happy birthday to Lucy today - talk to you later.

Scolty Ale

Boo-hoo. I had to cancel my planned brewing day again today due to work - people coming up from Manchester (who had cancelled 4 times before, but this time, they're actually coming - sod's law). Because it was a fairly late cancellation, Rob asked if it would be OK to go ahead and brew it anyway and I could maybe catch the tail end of the process later on, and I could also go along next week for the bottling. I couldn't really say no to him.

Kelly and Craig arrive tonight and we're going to have lunch with them, Carole, Carole's Mum and Luca tomorrow.

Back to work on holiday Monday

Another national holiday - but not for us here. It's been a fairly busy weekend. We went on the (free) bus to Macbethfest on Friday night - it was good fun. I didn't take many photos but there's a couple on the football blog.

Golf on Saturday and Sunday mornings and then Sunday afternoon was just crammed full of TV sport. Ross and Gary had gone to Pittodrie - I couldn't get there in time for the 1 pm start as I was playing golf - so I was channel hopping whilst the final matches in the SPL were played, and the Monaco Grand Prix was on. Good outcome for the Dons, but bit of a shock with Calderwood and his team going. The best part of the match was Aberdeen's bizarre 1st goal - check the football blog to see the video clip.

Then it was the golf from Wentworth - I played there last year - followed by the relegation battle in the Premiership - and then, lo and behold, I found Andy Murray's first match in the French Open on Eurosport.

It was such a nice day and I'd spent the afternoon goggle eyed, so, after tea, I suggested to Jo that we go and have a few holes of golf. Normally we would just walk across the road and nip on at the 3rd, but the course was unexpectedly busy last night and we had to walk round to the clubhouse and start from the 1st tee.

I know I'm not the most patient or the best teacher - but then again, Jo is hardly the ideal pupil either - there's a definite obstinacy there to accept any form of tuition or instruction - know anyone else in our family like this? Most of the evening was spent trying to get her to line up properly - she has a definite tendency to aim right - almost at 45 degrees at times, and my constant pleas to go further left were met with querrulous looks - in fact, the source of the "angry eyebrows" of years ago became apparent to me. Anyway after a few tetchy moments, Jo did pretty well and hit some really nice shots - that was until she got to the 11th hole. I kid you not, Hitler spent less time in the bunker than Jo did. I thought she was digging her way down to Oz to meet Kelly and Craig. She must have moved mountains of sand and earth and it took her almost as long to rake the bunker after she finally got out on or about the 14th or 15th attempt.

We both deserved the quick beer we had at the end. We met Les Gray and Ian Sharp in the clubhouse and had a brief chat with them before walking across the golf course to home.

I do have some video footage of Jo in action last night, but it was probably her worst (apart from the bunker) shots of the evening, so I'll spare her blushes on this occasion - that is, unless she gives me some abuse in her blog! Here she was on the 5th hole:


We had to wait at the 12th hole and sat on the bench overlooking the river and took this photo from a distance on the timer:

Weds/Thur

Not much to say - golf last night - lovely evening. Dan came up and played with us and then went back to Linlithgow. Nice veggie curry when I got home and Jo and I watched The Apprentice - result! Long overdue - cocky little runt - Sandhurst indeed!

This morning was Fraserburgh and I left early to play my tie at Torphins - beaten by a 16 year old - that's me out of the Learney Cup in the first round, having won the trophy for the last 2 years.

After golf, I met Jo at the Potarch and we had a lovely bar supper - smoked haddock on a bed of mustard mash, topped off by a boiled egg. I caught up with the latest plans - I had assumed that Kelly and Craig were arriving Wednesday and we would see them off and on over the next few days, but Jo now tells me that they will only be here on Wednesday evening. Last night, I specifically re-arranged my golf for next Wednesday so that I would be home by 7 to see them. I now discover that Carole's Mum is coming over too - that's great. I think I see a great divide coming up - boys in one room watching the Champions League final and girls yapping in the other - or is this too much stereotyping?

The week so far

Went to work in Aberdeen office as usual on Monday morning, then had lunch at Bannatyne's after a brief session the gym. I was booked on a mid-afternoon train down to Edinburgh and I arrived there in the early evening and checked in to my hotel - the Point in Bread St - winner of Edinburgh hotel of the year 2008. It used to be the old St Cuthbert's Co-op building which has been modernised - chrome and glass everywhere - but it still has a warehouse feel in the corridors where the rooms are - check out this video:

I caught up with my e-mails in my room and then went for a wander - in to the Blue Blazer (opposite my hotel) for a beer first of all, then I wandered down Spittal St towards Princes St, passing the underground car park which featured heavily in Ian Rankin's latest (and last) Rebus novel, Exit Music. It was a fine evening and the castle looked imposing from down below so I took this shot with my Blackberry:

I wandered down to Shandwick place and went in to Mather's bar to check if they had Setanta - they did and I could watch the Portsmouth - Sunderland first half there - Abbott ale washed down their football stadium-like pie. Mather's is a bit of an old Edinburgh institution - all red ceilings, just like the famous old "Diggers". Here's the bar gantry:

I wandered off at half time, looking for some proper food, but didn't see any restaurant I fancied, so I popped in to Shakespeare's in Lothian Road - a nanosecond too late - "sorry, sir - the kitchen closes at 9". I consoled myself with another beer - a wonderful Trashy Blonde from Fraserburgh's controversial Brewdog brewery - and watched the 2nd half of the match.

Full time came and I started the short walk back to the Point, but I was still a little peckish and I was foolishly tempted by a veggie burger from a local Italian chippie. Not the best diet I could have had - I should have come down to Edinburgh a bit later and I wouldn't have had so much time to kill - it's a bit sad and lonely wandering round the city on your own on a quiet Monday evening.

Anyway, I caught a taxi on Tuesday morning down to the Balmoral for a breakfast conference organised by our Institute - "Climbing Out of the Crisis" - there was an all-star (in the business world anyway) panel, hosted by John Beattie, former Scotland and British Lions rugby international. Brian Souter, MD of Stagecoach was particularly entertaining with his couthy observations on his upbringing in rural Perthshire and the controversial (at the time) privatisation of the bus network in the 80's that led to the birth and subsequent growth of Stagecoach.

After it was over, I nipped down Waverley Steps and caught the train to Glasgow for a meeting with our insurance brokers. I had a quick bite of lunch with them - an excellent shepherd's pie - and then caught a taxi over to Erskine Glasgow to see Dad. He was dozing at first in his favourite corner chair just outside his room, so I just sat there, not wanting to awaken him, remembering what happened the time Ross and I did that a couple of weeks ago:

He came round after a few minutes and I took him outside to wander round the garden and sit in the sunshine. Occasionally, the sun went behind some clouds and he shivered - "it's cold" - but he stayed out with me and we had a good laugh and sang a few songs. He even remembered - after some prompting - some of the words and tune to "Me and Jane in a Plane", one of the songs he used to sing me in bed - but which he had always previously denied he knew or even existed. I must have got some of his old memory cells working again - see how happy and relaxed he looks here?:

We had tea and a scone outside and it was really nice, but then I had to leave to catch my train home. We were back inside by then and Dad was still in a good mood and we said our goodbyes and I left Flanders House and sat in the reception area and phoned for a taxi. Whilst I was waiting, however, I heard a bit of a commotion - it was Dad's voice OK. Somebody had left the door open apparently and he had made to leave - "I've got to go home", he said, his pleas getting ever more urgent - "I must go!" I decided the best tactic was to remain out of sight and let the staff deal with it - they're very good and experienced at dealing with this kind of thing. It left me with a bit of a funny feeling, however - I hadn't seen or heard of him wanting to get out before.

Anyway, I got on the train and took my seat - in a small 1st class cabin. A business man sat down opposite me and proceeded to cough constantly in my direction - in between constant phone calls on his mobile. A few of the others in the cabin were also on the phone. I tried to ignore them and opened my book - a freebie from the Sunday Times - John Updike's "Rabbit, Run" - apparently a classic from the 60's - but it was futile - I couldn't get past the first page.

Thankfully, it did settle down a bit, but only after I put my headphones on. As the train emptied at Perth and Dundee, I even managed to move my seat and stretch out a bit, so I felt a bit more relaxed by the time I got home - to pizza and spinach leaves. Caught up with Corrie - was the sudden death of Colin a bit too easy a way out of a wandering story line?

Tom Cannavan

Anne Mason's brother is a bit of a wine expert and he featured on STV last week in their Five Thirty show. Here's the clip:

Saturday night and Sunday

The Malaysian evening in the church was good - although I had a bit of a mini-crisis - I thought I had lost my Blackberry again - I had to walk home half way through the meal to check - sure enough it was there this time - I hadn't lost another one!

Today was nice - much better than yesterday - and I did finally manage to get Jo out on the golf course for a little while tonight. Didn't have my camera with me, but here's the evidence from my Blackberry:

End of the week

It's been a busy week so blog posting has had to take a back seat - until now. Interesting meeting with the Bank of Scotland on Wednesday - they're still in chaos and they tell me the Lloyd's guys are strutting around with a superior air telling the Bank of Scotland guys they are going to have to change to their ways - or else. Expect an announcement next week of 20,000 job losses in the new, combined bank - most of them in the Bank of Scotland.

Nothing else to tell you really - except that, after a long dry spell, we've got some rain at last this afternoon - and unfortunately, it's not forecast to clear until after I've teed off in the morning. Still if I don't get a game, I'll just have a lazy morning and then channel hop at lunchtime between the Dons match at Ibrox and Man U's match at home to Arsenal, where they only need one point to win the Premiership again.

Normally, the Dons match tomorrow would be a non-event, but I went to the Hearts match at Pittodrie on Tuesday with Gary - the first match I'd been to in ages - and I really enjoyed it.

We're at the church centre tomorrow evening for the Malaysian evening - that should be interesting. It all starts to happen at this time of year - next weekend we're off to Macbethfest's (http://www.deesideactivitypark.com/MacbethFest.htm) beer festival in Dess. The following weekend, Kelly and Craig are up and then the week after that is CAMRA's Aberdeen festival, and it's also my annual cricket trip to London - this time it's the 20:20 World Cup and Scotland have qualified! Yes, we're going to see Scotland play in World Cup finals - well, one round anyway - just a pity it's not football (soccer)!

Less than 8 weeks to go now until our trip to USA. I got a fright on Wednesday when KLM left me a message to call them about a change in our flights. It turned out that KLM have handed the route over to their partners, North West - otherwise no change.

Back to work

It was back to work today after my biannual (not biennial, nor annual, Jo) trip overnight to Boat of Garten. The weather was much better than we had forecast - or feared - especially yesterday when we awoke to cloudless skies - time to put the shorts on. This was me outside our hotel in Aviemore just after checking out:

(More on the golf blog).

Trying to play catch up today - got the bank coming in tomorrow and then a board meeting on Thursday - lots to prepare. Spent too much time already fretting over the missing Aberdeen football tickets - can't think what I've done with them - and there's a big match against Hearts tonight. Finally phoned Pittodrie and they have agreed to issue replacements - whew!

Mind you, it's really golfing weather today - and the forecast remains good. What are the odds of getting Jo out on the golf course soon? I've found her golf shoes and I've set up a little lightweight bag for her, so here's hoping - perhaps her first year of retirement will allow her to get out and try it again.