Preparing for the Fringe

Got home from work in time to catch Carole dropping Luca off - he certainly didn't seem to be poorly in any way, chatting away as usual. He loves his stickers just now (in the Night Garden).

Got some golf last night and then home to a nice meal, which was unfortunately (for me) full of garlic - lovely stuff, but it does terrible things to my stomach and disturbs my sleep - and it's not very sociable when you have to chair management meetings the following morning with it coming out of every pore.

So, I managed to get a week's timeshare exchange for Kelly and Craig in Adelaide - but it's not till January unfortunately - never mind, I'm sure they'll enjoy the break there.

And tomorrow we're off to Edinburgh for the weekend and the Fringe - will report back Monday.

Tarantino or Anderson?

Erratum first of all - There Will Be Blood was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, not Quentin Tarantino. I mis-read the type-line on Sky Anytime - Tarantino was introducing it. I realise now that he is doing some promotional work for his new film Inglourious Basterds (sic). Anyway it prompted me to watch the trailer for his new film - and it looks pretty interesting. Brad Pitt is the lead - Lauren said on her Facebook page that it was "awesome" - or something similar. Might make a rare trip to the cinema soon.

Jo's been doing some work in the garden - and I think it looks nice and colourful - what do you think? - this was the view as I had breakfast this morning:

I spent a little time on Interval International last night and have put in a request for a time share swap in Oz for Kelly and Craig - there's not that many Australian properties on their site, but let's hope we can get them something. Whilst I was trawling, I took advantage of a new offer they have which allows Short Stay Exchanges - instead of trading a full week, you can have a shorter midweek or weekend break. So, we're going to the Kenmore Club (http://www.kenmoreclub.com/) on Loch Tay from 2nd to 5th January.

Weekend almost over

Just the usual really - pub and golf - oh and we watched Tarantino's There Will Be Blood last night. It's a long film - Jo thought it was a little inconclusive - she likes neat and happy endings - but I thought it was pretty interesting - I stayed awake so it couldn't have been that bad. Daniel Day Lewis was pretty impressive.

Lucy Skyped us tonight - the morning after the showering and her guests have all gone. Ross said hello but he's not in good shape - sore throat, cough etc - we're all trying to persuade him to sleep upstairs tonight - but he'd be deprived of his creature comforts, so I doubt it. Still, he'll have to move next week as we're getting his room (and some others) painted - it was originally supposed to start tomorrow but with him not being well - plus Jo going in to blind panic when she realised it had come upon her so soon - I've put it off for another week.

Yes, I did order my new car on Friday - Black Sapphire exterior paintwork and Grey Dakota leather inside - plus a USB port for my Archos - that's if I ever get it back - I had to send it back for repair on Friday as the power had just completely gone. It started to act up on the journey over to USA and now it's totally gone.

Tonight I'm channel hopping between Andy Murray in the final of the Toronto Masters and the US PGA golf. Lucy didn't know who Andy Murray was! No. 2 in the world now!

Last blogger standing

Well, it appears that everyone else has given up - but am I downhearted? - you bet! I'll keep plugging away with the blogs meanwhile, but it would be nice to read a few occasionally instead of always writing.

OK - today's bleat over. The Piper this week and today's P & J feature the new manager of the Tor-na-Coille hotel. By all reports, he seems a decent bloke - I've made contact with him and asked for a meeting - which he's agreed to - but in a couple of weeks, once he's received instruction from the owner, no doubt:


It will be nice to go back there for bar suppers etc - and, who knows, we might even persuade him to stock some of Deeside Brewery's product in the longer run? As regards the squash courts, the vibrations are not hugely encouraging - but if we can persuade them to open them up again, even if only for a year or two until the Hill of Banchory development is hopefully ready - that would be a start at least.

Incidentally, this is what Ross and 3 others lived in for a week on the road to Italy and back:

Wednesday/Thursday

Went back to John Clark BMW yesterday - I've almost come to the conclusion that I should replace my Volvo when the contract expires in 3 weeks time with a 320d Tourer - it's smaller but more fuel efficient and a little more environmentally friendly - and it costs me less tax!

See http://www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/pricesandspecifications_detail/0,,1156_181246632__bs-Mw%3D%3D%40bb-VE8wOA%3D%3D%40bm-WkgxMg%3D%3D,00.html. Now, what about colours?

Golf last night was good fun, but I had to rush out and only saw Luca for 10 minutes and Ross for 5 - missed Gary, who stayed for tea.

Today it was Fraserburgh management meetings again and tonight is just vegetation - US PGA golf is on TV - the last of this year's Majors.

Sorry, but I don't really have anything interesting to say - is this why nobody else is updating blogs nowadays?

Monday/Tuesday

Busy start to the week. Aberdeen yesterday - lunch and a swim at Bannatyne's - the first time I'd been there for absolutely ages - don't know where the times goes - must make an effort to go more often over the winter. I came home and where had Jo been that afternoon? - swimming as well! - Westhill pool with Myra and friends - originally planned to be the open air pool at Stonehaven, but changed because of mixed weather forecast.

That evening, I was going out to the Marcliffe for dinner with Francis and a couple of Norwegians - Michael was supposed to be there as well, but he has 'flu - beware! Scallops, followed by Ribeye steak, then creme caramel - delicious!

Today was Fraserburgh with the Norwegians, then dash home, only to find an empty house - Jo was out walking - but Kelly phoned and we had a chat, so that was nice.

I received the following photo from my hosts at Gleneagles on Friday - normally I reserve these for the golf blog, but here it is for a change in this blog:


I was playing in a fourball with Alan Kelly (of Kelly's Copiers) and when we got to the 10th hole on the course, my playing partner Dave (pictured above) and I were remarking upon the striking architect designed house to the left of the fairway. It turns out it was Alan Kelly's! It's a monster, worth mega millions - didn't realise the margins in the copier business were that high - need to check what we're being charged!

It's a rather sad week - Aunt Helen today, then it's the 7th anniversary of Mum's cremation tomorrow; Friday - 5 years since Dr. Clark died; then, on Sunday, it's the 18th anniversary of Jo's Dad's departure.

We've got too many timeshare exchanges building up again, so I'm now looking for something for Kelly and Craig when they get to Oz - it would be nice if I could help them settle in by finding somewhere for them to stay for a week. Incidentally, Gary, Carole, Scott, Lucy, Ross - let me know if you fancy a week's holiday somewhere and I'll see if I can use up another week this way.

Trip to the South West

I forgot to mention that I've now booked some hotel accommodation for our trip to Exeter late September. We booked flights months ago - it was meant to be a farewell to Kelly and Craig, but they've had to bring forward their departure to Oz, so they won't be there now. I'm glad now that I booked the Exeter flights from Aberdeen, rather than the usual Edinburgh-Newquay flights.

Jo and I will just treat it as little City break - I've booked us in to http://www.citygatehotel.com/, which is apparently right in the heart of the city. Kelly will give us the lowdown on where to go and what to see, and, if we get fed up with the city, we can always jump on a train and go somewhere nice - like Topsham (http://www.topsham.org/). Bill Miller told me we must visit there - he was a regular every year when his Aunty Pam lived down there. He particularly recommended the Bridge Inn - http://www.cheffers.co.uk/bridge.html. Any other suggestions gratefully received.

First week back - great!

Well, our first week back has been great - the weather has been superb, which has meant there has been no great shock to the system. (I've played 5 games of golf in the last week - each one of them in shorts and warm sunshine). I've also not really had any jetlag - I awake sometimes at odd hours, but otherwise it's been fine - maybe it is easier travelling Business Class!

Jo hasn't been near her computer so her blog is now 3 weeks out of date. I think she's waiting for Ross to fix her computer so she can get her photos on and update her blog from there. Talking of Ross, he should be heading back from Italy soon. He didn't quite keep his promise to his Mum to phone when he got to his destination, although he did phone from Dijon in France on Friday - apparently they only had 400 or so miles to go then.

Since my last post, I had a really hectic Thursday - dashing north to Fraserburgh for 3 management meetings in the morning, then heading south to Glasgow for a late afternoon meeting. I had a quick bite at Foveran on the way down - I hadn't been there in years, but Ross got me to stop there the last time we were down in Manchester, and it's pretty good now.

I met up with Barry and Helen in Wetherspoon's Crystal Palace and we had a curry. They were dashing off to a concert (Jack Bruce) and I then went to see Dad. It was about 7:30 pm when I got there and, guess what? - he was tucked up in bed:

He was, as you can see, half awake, but he soon came round and we tried chatting for a while, but this, as usual, proved difficult, so it was on to singing, and then we put some of his CD's on - some Glenn Miller, then Patsy Cline, and, finally, Glen Campbell. He seemed to enjoy this - especially the country music of Patsy Cline - we hummed along and sang where we could pick up the words. The care assistants came in during this to give him his pills - he took one, but then refused - I don't think he liked the girl - she was East European and very pleasant - she tried hard, but I sensed Dad was uncomfortable and eventually she left, saying she would try again later. I left about 9 pm and Dad seemed happy and settled.

On Friday, I drove from Barry's to Gleneagles - it was a wonderful day, and what a marvellous place it is when the weather's like this. On the drive home, Barry phoned me to relay the sad news that George Rogers had just phoned to say that Aunt Helen had died. She was younger than Dad, but had had a number of health problems in recent years, so it was probably no surprise.

So my Dad is the last of that generation of Stewarts to survive. Brother Johnny died a long time ago - perhaps the 1970's? - then came Alex, then Willie a few years ago, and now Helen. When you look at this list of names, and how "normal" they are, how on earth did he end up with the moniker Swanson Renshaw? Answers on a postcard please.

Tomorrow night, I'm out for dinner at the Marcliffe with a couple of visiting Norwegians. I guess I should have told Jo earlier - she's had to freeze the spag bog originally planned for Monday's tea.

Wednesday - half way to the weekend

It's lunchtime Wednesday and I'm heading across town now for a meeting, then on to start browsing new cars - the contract on my Volvo expires next month. Dilemma - same again? - great for all the golf gear - or all change? If I change, I can save myself some tax - but will it suit my lifestyle?



Sun is shining again - and there's a medal at Banchory tonight - great! Tomorrow it's off to the Broch for 3 management meetings in the morning, then I have to head back south for a late afternoon meeting in Glasgow - not the best of logistics, but nothing I can do about it now. I phoned brother Barry last night, looking for a bed tomorrow night - no problem - oh, wait - Barry's going to see Jack Bruce - never mind, I'll have his TV to myself after I've been to visit Dad.

Then on Friday, a rare treat - I've got a long-standing invitation to Gleneagles - not many of these corporate bashes around nowadays, given the global credit crunch etc - forecast looks good as well - bring it on!

Tuesday - 1 down, 4 to go

Jo's been busy with laundry, house cleaning - and the garden - since we came home. We could barely get in to the house on Saturday - the ivy was so overgrown and hanging down over the porch! She's also been at work in the back - this was this morning's view:

Hope you all like the updated archive photos on the blog - some nice memories there.

Ross is heading off to Rome tomorrow! He and his pal Dan, plus Harris and girlfriend, are taking Derek Glass's camper van and driving all the way there and back in less than a week - all to attend Pete's wedding on Saturday! Good luck to them - hope they don't break down!

I played 16 holes at Banchory last night with Keith. Like Sunday, I was again able to don shorts, which makes the re-acclimatisation back to the UK seem bearable. Apart from Saturday morning when we just arrived, the weather's been OK - bright, sunny and reasonably warm - not exactly 110 C, but pleasant - and we can survive without AC here, thankfully. I feel for the Lesinas in Grants Pass - no AC until Thursday at least - whew!

Happy 9th birthday, Cade!

At precisely 20:48 on 3rd August, 2000, baby Cade Stewart Lesina was born in Mercy Medical Hospital, Redding, CA. Happy birthday, Cade - sorry we couldn't stay for the big party this weekend! Here's Cade and his wee brother a couple of weeks ago:

First weekend home

Hey - we're back - and I don't feel too bad. We stayed awake on Saturday - helped by me going to the Legion and finally sampling my birthday ale on cask - then picking up fish suppers on the way home. We were in bed fairly early, but I awoke at 6 on Sunday morning and felt good enough to go and play in the Torphins Open.




Dan Corbett had made the trip up to play at Torphins as well - partly because his daughter was in the process of giving birth (by Caesarian) at ARI on Sunday morning! She had been getting treatment for IBS, when the doctors suddenly decided that, no she didn't have IBS - she was 8 months' pregnant! Dan bought us a little shandy in the Learney to celebrate the birth of his first grandchild:

He subsequently sent me this photo of him and the baby girl (un-named as yet):

Like London buses, he now discovers that one of his other daughters is expecting in January as well! He always thought that he wasn't going to be a grandparent at all - and now, all of a sudden!

Jo went to our new Morrison's and bought some salmon for tea (not wild like we had in Oregon, Scott) and that was Sunday over and done with.

Today the weather is nice and I think I need to get some urgent golf practice in this evening!

Last week in Utah

A few photos from last week. On our first night in Park City, we walked up to the top of Main St and had a meal in the Wasatch brewpub. On the way home, Jo found a new friend:

Friday morning brought a stroll round the town centre, after which we jumped on the ski lift to the top of one of the slopes:

"The hills are alive ..." - the next photo looks like an out-take from the Sound of Music:

On Saturday we drove over the high Uinta mountains and down the other side in to Wyoming. Lots of camp sites on the way. This was our hired car in which we did the journey:

As already reported, we were fortunate enough to come across a street beer festival when we got to the small town of Evanston. Sunday was spent locally in Park City. We jumped on one of the free buses and went up to Silver Lake and did a couple of trail walks.

On Monday morning, we decided to "do" Salt Lake City. This is Utah's State Capitol building:

We also did the Mormon Temple experience - Jo has loads of photos and she will no doubt put them in her blog.

On Tuesday morning, we jumped in the car again and headed south east, through the canyons on a beautiful drive which took us to the city of Provo (Utah's 2nd largest) and on to Utah lake:

On the way back to Park City, we stopped at the beautiful Bridal Veil Falls:

Back at our apartment, we had to start planning for our journey back to Oregon on Thursday, so Jo started to do some washing. No tumble drier in our apartment so we made do:

Our last full day in Utah was an easy one and we strolled around Park City and the pedestrianised Easy St:

We also went to the Olympic Park and posed for photos:

A snap from inside our apartment:

On Wednesday evening, we finally made it to Wahso, the restaurant with the nicest looking balcony on Main St. It's Asian cuisine and the meal was great - Jo was excited about her choice:

Strolling home, we posed at one of the open fires in Easy St. They must be really cosy in the ski-ing season, but were still quite pretty even in the heat of summer:

That was about it. We flew from SLC back to the incredible heat of Oregon, and Lucy met us and took us up to Portland, where we stayed overnight before our return flight home on Friday. We got the opportunity to upgrade to Business Class and snapped it up. It was lovely - although even this doesn't ensure you can immediately switch your sleeping pattern back to European times.

Gary and Luca met us at the airport and took us home - back to 13 C and rain!

On our way to SLC

Our final full day in GP was another lazy one until Scott and Lucy returned from work - it was then party time - presents!!!! It was supposed be a pre-birthday party for Cade, but, of course, Braeden couldn't get left behind. Jo and I bought Cade some of his WWF stuff - here's Scott assembling the grand entrance:

Here's the boys with the new ring we bought for Cade - but Braeden doesn't quite seem to understand the difference - "what's Cade's is ours":

We also bought one of the ride-on pool boats that has a motor and a squirty mechanism - Kelly bought one for Cade a few years ago and it was hugely popular, although eventually it was over-used. Scott and Lucy made sure they bought one for Braeden too so he didn't feel left out - the boys had great fun in them - and everyone got a soaking.

We finished with yet another family photo in front of the house. I must put up a montage of all of them some time so we can observe the changes over the years. See how proudly Bailey is sitting?:

And soon we're off to Medford airport for our flight to Salt Lake City. Lucy will pick us up and take us to Portland next week.