Holiday Eve

Jo's already told you about the weather - it was pretty bad - a few roads closed. She also mentioned Ross' advert in the Piper - check his new web site - http://www.banchorytechies.co.uk/

I'm all packed and ready to go - alarm set for 3:15 am!!!!

More news when I get to Spain.

Thoughts

Thinking of Gary and Carole - and Luca - Sima still hasn't shown up yet.

Also thinking of Kelly, who's now on her way from Sydney to Adelaide.

It's a dull day today in NE Scotland - but at least it's a bit drier than yesterday - it was horrible. It's noticeably dark in the mornings now - I used to just pull back the curtains to get some light to find my clothes, but now I have to put a light on. It's also pretty dark nearly all the way to work now - all downhill from here!

Autumn

We were in the land of nod when the phone went at midnight last night - oh no, what now? It was Lucy, just letting us know that she had spoken to Kelly, who had arrived safely at Louisa's in Sydney.

The weather has been good - the Indian summer will hopefully shorten the winter a little - but the trees are definitely turning. The golf course looks fabulous now with all the different colours, and even Arbor Court is pretty colourful:


Our ivy has all but disappeared, however:

Well, we need to get Kelly starting a new Oz blog - I miss all your regular updates - only Gary is keeping his going. Jo won't update hers as she doesn't want to depress us all, she says!

I phoned Gary this afternoon and Carole answered the phone - "oh, it's you" - what a greeting! I soon discovered, however, that they were on tenterhooks awaiting a call with some news of Sima. Gary had taken her out last night and taken her off her lead so that she could do her do's - but, just at that moment, some fool let off fireworks and Sima bolted. They walked the town for a few hours looking for her, to no avail - and the same again today. They have now taken to contacting the local radio station to put out an appeal, and Gary is now running off posters. I hope they get some good news soon.

This Friday, I'm off to Spain for a week's golf - hope nothing else goes wrong - we've had quite enough bad news recently.

Kelly again

Kelly's on her way to Oz now - I tried to Skype her yesterday but she was too emotional to take the call. I woke up this morning at exactly the time her plane left SFO for Sydney. Looking forward to hearing from her when she gets there.

We managed to speak to Lucy on the phone last night just after she dropped Kelly off at Medford airport - here's a concerned looking Jo on the phone:

Aftermath

Vacancy at Flanders House:


From the Glasgow Evening Times, Tuesday 13th October, 2009:

I did say in my blog just over a week ago that it hadn't been a good week, but little did I realise how bad it was going to get. I remember Dawn's call on Sunday evening - it wasn't quite hysterical, but there was just disbelief in her voice as she broke the bad news about Dad to me. It seems like he had had a last burst of life in some of the previous days when Dawn, Meghan and Lauren had visited him and they all said he was in fine spirits and responding better than he had been for a while.

Barry told a slightly different story about his last visit to see Dad on Friday - the day before he and Helen flew out to Menorca on a walking trip - Barry thought Dad was in poor shape and he hesitated before going on holiday, but he had, after all, asked the Doctor whether he should cancel and the advice he got was that he should be OK to go.

The staff at Flanders House also said he had much of his old sparkle back on Sunday - but then he was gone - he was put to bed about 6:30 pm and discovered at about 9:45 pm on a routine staff visit - it seems he went peacefully, and hopefully painlessly. Apparently, this last little spurt before death is quite common.

Jo and I went down on Monday morning and, with Dawn in tow, we did all the necessary admin that day and the following morning - see earlier blog posting for some of the difficulties we faced. I was grateful that there was a lot to be done - it helped keep your mind off things. Barry and Helen didn't even have this consolation as they faced the nightmare of trying to get out of Menorca and back home as quickly as they could. It wasn't easy for them - it involved flights to Barcelona and then Liverpool, followed by a train home - with all the journey happening overnight, so, by the time they got back to Glasgow, they were shattered - and we didn't even see them until we came back down for the funeral on Thursday.

Everyone gathered at Foxbar Drive and the limo arrived bang on time at 1:30 pm and took, Barry, Dawn, John, Helen, Jo and I down to the crematorium. Before that, Dawn, John, Meghan and I had paid Dad a visit at the funeral parlour - slightly un-nerving it was. We could see his face and both Dawn and I thought exactly the same thing, that Dad would suddenly open an eye and wink at us - fooled you all!

Up until we got to the crem, I'd managed to keep it all together OK, but I think it was seeing everyone else there as we pulled in to the car park that finally got me - I shook Brian's hand, but couldn't get any words out. The ceremony went fine - with one exception, when the Skye Boat Song didn't play at the correct time - but the minister showed his professionalism and quickly and neatly covered this up. He even managed to ignore Luca's constant chattering throughout the ceremony!

There was a bigger turn-out than we imagined - we had thought that with him being the last of that line of Stewarts, there would be no more than 20-25 people there, and we only asked for 30 Orders of Service to be printed, but it turned out to be nearly double that number. Both the Gatehouse and Flanders House had a number showing up.

It was nice to have a chat with all the relatives back in the Pond Hotel afterwards - it's true what I said earlier this year about families only getting together nowadays at Weddings and Funerals - that's why I suggested we have the 60:30 family holiday in Tenerife whilst we're all still hale and hearty! The Barrs were all there - Nancy still very bright, but George starting to lose it a bit. Sheila was carrying an Achilles injury - and it was the first time I remember seeing Cameron, who is the same age as Jordon. Lesley's family were all there, including the "other" Lucy!

The Rodgers were out in force as well - Betty Mitchell (Dad's cousin) too, still sharp as a tack in her 80th year. Dugald Stewart was at the funeral, but never made it back to the Pond.

We ended up back at Barry's again and it was only then that I thought Lucy and Kelly might like to see some photos - but I only had my Blackberry with me when I took these:

The last photo shows Julie (Kieran's girlfriend). Kieran, Malcolm and Jordon. Then it was back home again - Ross drove to give me a break - not quite sure how relaxing this was! Best to ask Jo, who was in the back seat as Ross gave the BMW a bit of a test coming over Cairn o' Mount!

Today, it's back to the old routine. I was in the office early as I couldn't sleep. I'm planning on a lot of sport this weekend - including squash tonight.

Tuesday

Dawn, Jo and I made most of the arrangements yesterday - despite the incompetence, rudeness and aggression of some of the people that we had to deal with during the course of the day. Talk about square pegs in round holes - some people shouldn't be in professions where they have to show compassion in difficult circumstances.

This morning, it's just the flowers, the order of service and getting Dad's clothes over to the funeral home. After that, we'll meet Barry and Helen who arrive back from Menorca, via Liverpool, and then head home. We'll come back down on Thursday morning for the viewing then the service, followed by a light meal at the Pond Hotel.

Dad

Good news week?

There is a famous song from the 60's called "It's Good News Week" by Hedgehoppers Anonymous - produced by Johnathan King, who eventually went on to find notoriety in much the same way as Gary Glitter did. The song's first verse was:

It's good news week,
Someone's dropped a bomb somewhere,
Contaminating atmosphere
And blackening the sky

It feels a bit like that for me - if it's not one thing, it's another. I got another shock yesterday afternoon when we heard that one of our long-serving and most popular workers at the canning plant died at the relatively tender age of 53. He had to go in to hospital for a neck complaint, picked up pneumonia, then septicaemia and eventually died.

What next? I'm scared to make a move now.

Anyway, I went to Bannatyne's yesterday lunchtime for the first time for ages - it was good, but I did feel a bit sore and tired afterwards. I got home from work in good time to see Luca - fish fingers for tea as usual - to a background of Peppa Pig!

We Skyped Kelly again - but the line was awful and kept going down. We can't be sure but we think the problem may be at their end - they keep getting an awful "whooshing" noise just before the line goes down. I think Kelly is now persuaded to take up her friend's offer of staying with them for a few days in Sydney before travelling down to Adelaide. It'll give her time to get over her jet-lag and to orientate herself and take some local advice - as well as seeing a few of the sights.

Nothing much else to report - might snatch a few holes before it gets dark this afternoon/evening. Then I'm playing football again tomorrow, and, on Saturday, we're going down to Dundee to see Thistle play. I noticed Gary is planning to go as well - might hook up with him.

Kelly

We Skyped Kelly last night and were gobsmacked with her news about breaking up with Craig - we never saw that coming - not in a million years.

Big decision for her next week - she's due to fly out to Oz, and if she has to do it alone, she's going to have to find a way of getting from Sydney to Adelaide (flying probably), then find suitable accommodation. She's a brave girl and I'm sure she'll cope whatever she decides, but most of all, we hope she is happy and content.

Until we spoke with Kelly last night, my only concern was for my Dad. He's not taking food or drink, nor medication for his heart, arthritis, anaemia or any of the other conditions he's got. Barry got a call from Erskine yesterday to say that they are going to double his morphine patches to two - the pain must be coming from his stomach if he's not eating at all. Meghan went in to see him yesterday, and Dawn was in last night - they both said that, although he looks terrible, he was actually quite lucid and they were able to have a fairly reasonable chat with him - the best for years, according to Meghan.

This morning, Barry and Dawn are meeting with the Doctor at Erskine. What's inevitable is that Dad is going to dehydrate again - and normally they would take him in to hospital, hydrate him and send him back - but it's just a vicious circle now, and I'm not sure what the Doctor will say about it today.

Then there's Ross - still no work prospects - nor motivation it seems. I'm now trying to get him to help me draft an advert in the Piper to sell his services as IT support. He did some work for Anne last week - although he still hasn't invoiced her for it - and he could probably at least earn some money from this - and eventually get some of the cars removed from our drive too!

Incompetence - it does make me angry!

I was back at the dentist yesterday to have another impression made for the replacement crown - I hope she gives the lab a row about their cock-up with the first one. Anyway, she wasn't having that good a day herself - she's normally very good, but when she took out my (3rd) temporary crown it fell down my throat and I almost swallowed it! She had to quickly push me up from the horizontal position so that I could cough it out!

I was home early as a result of this, but Jo (bad back) had surprisingly gone off to her Monday swimming group, so it was only me and Ross in the house. We took the opportunity to move a few bits and bobs that have been lying around - the new music cabinet is now upstairs in the living room - I now have to figure out how much of the back I have to take out to get the hi-fi stuff inside it - there's no aperture for this in the cabinet.

We also took the yellow room headboard down to the garage - Jo had it removed when the painter was in - although it looks nice, it leaves a mark on the wall. The 2 old TV's were also removed from the computer room down to the garage - now there's a problem that we need to tackle soon - there's so much junk in the garage and we need to get rid of it before we can begin to tidy up in there.

Then I walked up to the Legion to have a chat with the guys who are coming on the golfing trip to Marrakech in February. There's been a bit of a debate about whether to stay in the resort hotel or just down the road in apartments/villas. The latter is more sociable but there were a few who fancied the hotel instead and when I managed to get a much improved price from one of the agents, we all agreed that it was such a good deal that we should go to the hotel. I went home content that we at last had a resolution and went ahead and booked the flights.

This morning the agent comes on the phone and gives me some waffle about the hotel not having enough rooms available that week - despite the fact that I had asked him yesterday and he told me it would be no problem. Very soon, however, I sussed out that the real problem is he had cocked up his quotation and it was now going to be 50% dearer! Words were exchanged.

So, today, it's start all over again - how frustrating!

I forgot to say that we had a nice day on Sunday at the golf club at our annual end of season match between Scotland & the Rest of the World, which is followed by lunch in the clubhouse. It's always a nice occasion - and the buffet was very good.

Incidentally, after many years of putting off, I'm finally getting round to completing wills for the two of us - but don't hold your breath - we intend to be around for a while yet!

Dad's assessment

Barry updated me with how it went yesterday afternoon - Dawn was too upset to talk about it. Palliative care is what it's all about now, and Dawn and Barry yesterday signed the DNR forms. It's just a question of time now.

Busy week - but blogs back up to date now

It's been all go since we got back from Exeter on Monday. Tuesday morning was meetings in Fraserburgh, then dash back to Aberdeen for more meetings. Wednesday was Aberdeen in the morning then down to Glasgow in the afternoon. I met Dawn at Bridge of Allan (where she now works) and we went for a short stroll and sat on a park bench for an hour or two.

Dawn headed home and I made my way past the horrible roadworks round Cumbernauld through to Erskine Glasgow to see Dad. I thought my 6:15 pm arrival would be early enough to see Dad, but, blow me, he was already fast asleep in bed! I did waken him and he acknowledged me but he was dead tired and was in some pain. I discovered that he had fallen out of bed again on Sunday night and was still complaining about the pain. The staff had examined what he'd done and had apparently put a plaster or two on - Dad won't take any medication. The doctor is scheduled to examine him again this morning.

I sat in silence and half light with Dad for an hour or so - it felt a bit like a death bed scene. His sleep was fitful and was punctuated with small cries of pain. I told the staff I would be back about the same time tomorrow and it would be good if I could see him awake this time.

I spent the night at Barry and Helen's and then headed off to Glasgow airport on Thursday morning - I had been invited to a corporate golf day out at Macrihanish (http://www.machrihanishdunes.com/) so we were catching a plane to Campbeltown. If you're wondering why we didn't drive, you obviously don't know the geography of the West of Scotland - and the Mull of Kintyre in particular - check http://www.mapquest.co.uk/mq/maps/mapAddress.do?cboCountry=GB&txtCity=campbeltown.

We boarded the aircraft but were then told we had to get off again - technical fault, which the engineers would try to fix. We waited for a while but were then told that they couldn't fix it quickly, so they had had to order another plane which would be in shortly. Again another wait until the plane arrived and the crew then got back on board and they were just about to tell us to join them when we heard the same announcement - technical fault again! By the time they would have been able to get a 3rd plane in, it would have been too late to get there, play golf and still make the return flight, so we had no option but to abort mission.

What to do now? We had all written the day off already, so we decided to go and play golf locally at Ranfurly Castle GC, Bridge of Weir (http://www.ranfurlycastlegolfclub.co.uk/), where 3 of the guys were members anyway. It was actually very enjoyable, but we couldn't help feeling we'd missed a great weather window for travelling down to Macrihanish. We've been promised a return visit next year, but, with our luck, it'll be blowing a hoolie and p.....g it down then! This was me yesterday in front of the clubhouse at Ranfurly Castle:


As promised, I went back to Erskine to see Dad - and we was up and awake this time. He has regressed considerably, however - he's but a shell of the man he used to be - hardly surprising, considering he hardly eats, drinks or take his medication. See for yourself:



He hasn't been walking since he went in to hospital - and I don't know if he'll be capable any more either. Dawn and I tried to get him up to at least support him back to his room, but each time we tried, he was in pain and so we gave up - perhaps he has cracked a rib or something. We had to get the staff to bring in the hoist to get him up and into a wheelchair to get him back to his room. How sad - his time is coming soon, I fear. We both noticed how much everyone in Flanders House - not just Dad - had deteriorated over the last year.

The physiotherapist, as well as the doctor, will see Dad today and we'll know more then.

Dawn and I went back to Barry's for a cup of tea - and I caught Dawn and Helen unawares with this shot:


This morning, I headed in to Glasgow city centre for my 7:30 am meeting. I had to be on the road quickly after this as my crown had finally arrived (from Switzerland) and the dentist was going to fit it at 11:15 am. This meant I would have to miss out on Dad's 2nd six-monthly assessment at Erskine - but Dawn and Barry were there anyway.

I got to the dentist's in good time - but the crown didn't fit!!!! Now I have to go back again on Monday to get another impression made of my jaw and then they send off for another one - here we go again! And I missed out on Dad's assessment because of this! Grrr!

I've been called in to play football again tonight, but Jo reckons I shouldn't play, what with my run of luck!

Exeter weekend

It's been a busy week since we came back from Exeter - more of that in later blogs - but here's some of the photos from a lovely weekend.

Our hotel was well situated - right on the City Wall. However, when I got up on Saturday morning, I decided to walk out and buy a paper, but managed to walk in totally the wrong direction. Still, I did spot these unusual porch covers on some of the houses:



This is our hotel - on Iron Bridge - which you can just see beyond the hotel:


and here's the reason why Jo has no photos on her blog - we walked to Cathedral Square and she tried to take a photo of me, but realised her camera had no battery power!:

We took the short train trip down to Topsham to visit the Bridge Inn, which had come highly recommended to us by Bill Miller, whose Auntie Pam stayed in Topsham before moving to Banchory a few years ago. It's a quirky little pub which only serves its beer gravity fed from casks through a serving hatch out to the car park - you can see it behind me, but it's still shut as it wasn't even noon when we arrived there:

We had a few beers there and then walked round Topsham and even managed 40 winks in the sun overlooking the estuary! In the evening, back at the hotel, Jo posed in front of the fish pond in the walled garden at our hotel:

We came across one of Exeter's tourist attractions - "The House That Moved" - but we were both left distinctly unimpressed, but I managed to get this shot - in twilight with the flash off - of the houses across the street:

On Sunday we went on a guided walking tour which took us round the City Wall to Rougemont Castle and this spooky sign:

Next we headed towards Custom Quay, and, on the way, we came across some old buildings and bridges, so I set up the camera - a little low down as it happens - but trust Jo to overdo things in bending down to get in shot!:

We made it to the very attractive Custom Quay area - and there seemed to be a Morris dancing competition going on - and, surprise, surprise, there were women taking part too!:

After watching the dancing, we planned to cross the river and headed towards the St Thomas' area - but not before Jo posed for a nice shot in front of the Custom Quay House:

We went on one of the tourist walking trails - round the distinctly downmarket St Thomas' area of Exeter. Frankly, it was pretty cruddy, but we discovered a few interesting things about Exeter - including the great flood of 1960. The brightest point of the tour came almost at the very end when we stumbled upon the Royal Oak, situated on a lovely spot on the Exe - and I managed to finally get a pint of the local Otter Ale - served in a special Otter glass - can you make it out?:

The end of our trail - and what an exciting finish. We could hardly contain ourselves in hunting out the copper sheep's head described in our brochure:

and here it is - the sheep's head carved in copper in to a paving stone:

On Sunday evening we headed back to Cathedral Square to seek out somewhere to eat. On the way we heard music coming from the Well Tavern - the Old Porch Band were playing and they had the most unusual form of percussion - Appalachian clog dancing!:

We had a nice meal afterwards in Michael Caine's restaurant - no, not the actor, but the (apparently one-armed) celebrity chef.

On Monday morning we had planned to vist the Tudor House - but it was shut! Jo liked this property on the way back - Snayle House it was called:


Finally, lunch on Monday was at our hotel and we sat in the conservatory area and enjoyed a beer whilst waiting for our taxi to the airport:

New car

Which view do you prefer - the rear?:

or the front?: