Happy New Year!

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

The New Year is only a few hours old but here's my first blog posting of 2011 already. We had a nice dinner last night - Jo cooked a lovely meal and everyone enjoyed it - but the house is a bit of a wreck with dirty dishes and glasses everywhere and we don't have the energy to clear them yet - so I'm whiling away time, blogging, Facebooking, texting and catching up with TV programmes recorded last night (Corrie, Only an Excuse).

Looks like the Aberdeen match will be on this afternoon so I'll be heading off to Pittodrie in a couple of hours - that might wake me up - or maybe not!

This is Jo looking a bit more relaxed - the meal is over now and she can take it easy:

and this is the rest of us - with Maura just out of shot on the right:

Hope you had a good time too.

Luca is 4!

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

The video of the Happy Birthday song is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVJX9RckPxM

Carole was delighted with her Xmas present - a personalised cover for her i-phone:

 

but the main business was the blowing out of the candles:

and, of course, the cake had to be Ben 10:

Lovely day - nice lunch, Carole.

So I headed off from there to the squash court and then home. When I got there, Jo was already laying the table for tonight's dinner party:

The tree is starting to look a little dried up in the corner:

I didn't bother going in to the office today - had a bit of a long lie and I thought it best to be around in case I'm required to do any last minute running about for the dinner tonight, but, so far, all I've done is take some bottles and paper down to the recycling centre and do a bit of dusting. I kind of feel I'm cramping Jo's style - I'll just keep my head down.

Tomorrow, I've got my 3rd invite in a row to Pittodrie. The last 2 were postponed because of the weather - will I get lucky a 3rd time?

Have a good Hogmanay everyone - hope to talk to you some time soon.

Strange Christmas

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Well, it's been a bit of a strange Christmas holiday - the weather meant that postal deliveries were spasmodic to say the least prior to Christmas - no doubt there'll be a ton of mail arriving any day now.

We're still consuming turkey, despite having had it for our main meal on Christmas Day (just Jo, Ross and I) and also Boxing Day (six of us, including Gary, Carole and Luca). It's been turkey toasties since then - always enjoyable - but the trifle is still not finished, and nor is the cheesecake, and, to make matters even worse, Jo thought she would make a dumpling, so we've got that to consume as well!

Jo's been experimenting for Friday night - we've got guests coming round for Hogmanay dinner and she's not sure what to give them yet. My favourite was always her slightly curried chicken pie, but I've been told we're not having that.

Before all that, we've got Luca's birthday tomorrow - he's four! He's fairly growing up - we notice it most weeks now. He stayed with us last night as his mum and dad are working today and there's no nursery this week. He still seems to spend a lot of the night coughing - the other week he got up in the morning and was complaining of stomach pains - hardly surprising considering how much he had racked his body half the night with coughing fits. Last night he was coughing again and so we decided to move him to another room, just in case it was some kind of allergic reaction to something in that room.

Despite all that, he still gets up in the morning full of the joys of spring. "Is it morning now Grandad?" "Oh yes, it's morning in the curtains" as he delightfully puts it. "Shall we go downstairs?" "Wait for me, Grandad". "Can we put the TV on?" "Whoo - Ben 10!"

Mustn't forget Dawn's birthday today too. Hoping to catch up with Dawn and Barry possibly next weekend (8th/9th January) in Aviemore where Jo and I are going for a short weekend break - just days before we head off to HK and Oz.

That's about all my diary news. I did play squash last night, but not very well - still recovering from our annual football match on Christmas Eve. I knew my knees were sore, but I discovered last night so was my ankle and a wrist. It's getting harder and harder each year to keep it going.

Another symptom of age appeared recently as well. I've lost a bit of hair at the nape of my neck. The hairdresser thinks it may be a touch of alopecia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alopecia_areata). What next?

Been back to in the office the last couple of mornings, but didn't exactly rush in. How nice it is to be able to drive properly again instead of tip-toeing along trying to avoid snow and ice. It may be misty and murky but at least the thaw is continuing, although I suspect it'll be a while yet before the inches of permafrost on our golf course lift. Roll on spring - just 81 days until the Vernal Equinox!


On this morning's drive, I was entertained by Stephen Stills' Manassas. I hadn't heard it for a while and I enjoyed it. There's not that many stand-out individual tracks, but it's a proper old fashioned LP that should be taken as a whole rather than individual tracks. Actually, it was a double album when it was released, but that's another thing that's lost in the digital age, along with proper album covers to peruse. Tracks on vinyl albums used to be placed strategically - the opening and closing tracks of each side were intended to have impact and haste-ye-back qualities respectively, but now it's all end to end, and usually played on shuffle as well.


That sounded like a real old f**t ranting away about the good old days, didn't it? Of course, it wasn't all good and there are many things that are better now, but occasionally I'm reminded of things that have gone and I miss a bit - and some aspects of vinyl recordings are one of them. The standard LP usually had 14 tracks - 7 a side - and lasted 40 minutes if you were lucky. Some of them were ridiculously short - less than half an hour on occasion - what a rip-off.


Anyway, enough for now. Hopefully one more posting before the year's out.

Christmas/Boxing Day

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Jo wearing her Christmas present - a starfish shaped pendant:

I tried to use the old wine bottle opener that we got a number of years ago in USA - it prises the cork out- or at least it's supposed to - but on this occasion the cork just fell in to the bottle, splashing wine everywhere. I had no option but to decant the wine, and all I could find was a huge big jug - not the prettiest sight for the dinner table:

On Boxing Day, Gary, Carole and Luca arrived. Luca was first to open his presents - this one was a remote control car that Ross bought him:

After dinner, Carole tried to get a quick 40 winks, but Luca was having none of it:

We then got the Lego opened:

but Gary looked a bit pensive - perhaps thinking about his most recent promotion at work?:

Jo, too, was obviously thinking about something:

So that's our holiday photos. I also managed to talk to Barry and Dawn on the phone and Lucy Skyped us, but Kelly was visiting friends and didn't have Skype access, so it was just a quick exchange of texts, but hopefully we can Skype later in the week.

Christmas Eve

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

So here I am, back in the office again this morning. Two management meetings over earlier than planned - ordinarily I would have gone home now and then taken a lift back in with some of the guys coming in from Banchory for the traditional Xmas Eve football match for Dave Williamson's birthday.

However, there's a problem - we should have got our turkey yesterday, but it wasn't ready at Kelly's of Cults, so Francis Clark said he would pick it up and bring it in this morning - but he forgot! I offered to go to his house to pick it up now but he says he's going to do it and then bring it back here. The only problem is it's almost 11:30 am already and I've told him I'm leaving here at 1 pm - will he make it in time, or will I have to put in place Plan C? Watch this space.

It's almost Christmas with Kelly in Oz and it's 3 weeks today that we head off there - BA and the snow permitting, that is. Looking forward to it. But first we've got Xmas (3 of us) and Boxing Day (6 of us) meals to get through. If the turkey doesn't arrive, it could be just stuffing and chipolatas - could be worse!

Today's the big travel home for Christmas day throughout the UK - reminds me of many years of doing the same thing. First of all, back in the 50's coming up from Corby to Glasgow with Mum, Dad, Barry & Dawn. Then it was our turn in the 70's coming back up from Broxbourne. In the early 80's it was a bit easier - just a short hop through from Balerno, but Banchory was just a bit further, but, by this time, it was mostly Christmases at home.

The big change over the years has been the quality of the roads - and the quality and reliability of the cars we've been travelling in. My Dad's old Ford Anglia (FNV 347 - see photo below) was not as bad as our first car after Jo and I got married - an old Fiat 850 - it needed a new engine not long after we bought it and I didn't have the cash at the time so had to borrow £200 from Jo's Dad. One problem solved, but another soon loomed with holes in the floor appearing. Nightmare - but it did manage the return journey from Hertfordshire once at least. It was like the Flintstones car.

The photo shows Mum with Dawn on her knee, and me with the skinny legs and Mum's knitted Shetland sweater on, with Barry and his usual surly face for the camera - that's another thing that's improved with time!

Have a good Christmas and no doubt we'll talk/Skype over the holidays some time.

The return of the list!

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Gary and I were both delighted when Lucy asked for suggestions for music for her I-pod - a good excuse to make another list! As it happens, I've acquired very little genuinely new music this year - I've spent a fair bit of time digitising some of my old vinyl collection, and I've also transferred some of Ross' library to my memory sticks for listening in the car - courtesy of the neat little home network we now have here, whereby Jo, Ross and I can share each other's files via a home network.

I've only acquired a total of 6 new albums - and 2 of them were oldies anyway - Crosby, Stills & Nash's Greatest Hits and The Crane Wife from the Decemberists. The other four I would rank as follows:

1. Edwyn Collins - Losing Sleep
2. Phosphorescent - Here's to Taking it Easy
3. Laura Marling - Alas, I Cannot Swim
4. Black Francis - Nonstoperotik

I do now, however, have 300 or so albums on my memory sticks to keep me endlessly entertained as I drive around the North East.

Winter Solstice

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Hello again. It's the Winter solstice today and, in theory, it's all downhill from here to Midsummer - at least in terms of hours of daylight anyway - I rather suspect we've got a few more months of bad weather to put up with before then.

The radio this morning also advised us that there was a full Lunar eclipse and it was highly visible in the clear blue skies in the North East of Scotland. Sure enough, as I drove to work and looked up towards the Hill of Fare, it was almost completely gone:

At roughly 240,000 miles away, it's a bit difficult to represent with a small digital camera the same image as the eye could see, but I hope you get the idea anyway. The dark side of the moon was still visible to the naked eye so it was quite a sight.

It also would have been my Dad's 90th birthday today - and Jo's Mum would have been 88 a couple of weeks ago - but they've both gone now, I'm afraid. I remember them meeting for the first time - it must have been about the time that Jo and I got engaged (Guy Fawkes night, 1971 - Lottie thought I was trying to make a point by choosing the date of an alleged Papist plot!). I had told my prospective in-laws that my folks didn't drink much (and they didn't generally) but the time they met, my Dad was matching Lottie whisky for whisky - she was most impressed, but I'm not sure my Mum was!

Things are pretty quiet at work - our canning plant closed down last Thursday for 2 weeks for its festive holiday/maintenance, and you get the general feeling that all businesses are winding down for the holiday. Our other 2 factories have to keep producing every day, however - Tesco are open 363 days p.a. and we have to produce and deliver chilled mackerel and herring to them every one of those days. It's been a bit of a nightmare recently with all the snow - you can imagine the logistical problems of distribution from Fraserburgh all over the UK.

The business problems of the weather pale in to insignificance, however, when you hear about some of the recent personal stories - particularly those that have been stranded at Heathrow and Gatwick airports for the last few days. It's just over 3 weeks until we're due to depart on our trip to Oz - hope we get a bit luckier.

Got a busy day tomorrow at work but after that it should be fairly easy. Getting our smoked salmon and prawns tomorrow, and our turkey on Thursday. Jo bought our tree last week - dwarf variety, it seems - perhaps she'll show it on her blog?

Hoping to play squash again tomorrow - played again last night and, so far, the new knees have stood up pretty well. They'll get a real test on Friday, however - it's our annual football outing when those of us that have retired come out to play to celebrate Dave Williamson's birthday.

Barry and Helen retire this week - do I envy them? Not really - I'll be interested to see what they do from here and how they get on, but I'm sure they'll be fine.

That's all for now, folks.

Make up your mind

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Plans for today were thrown a bit when the snow arrived just as I was heading off to Fraserburgh. Listening to the forecasts put me off going and I reached the other end of Banchory and turned around and came home. It just so happens the 3rd Ashes Test was on TV - 33 degrees in Perth - so I watched that for a while, did a little work, finished my book, and that was my day.

Cancelled squash as well, but we're still planning to go to the Douglas this evening for the Cairngorm Brewery tasting - if they made it over here that is. Actually, the snow turned out to be not half as bad as forecast - pity - I feel better when it really snows and you know you've made the right decision staying at home. It's a bit more awkward when you've stayed off work and you know you could have got there and back without too much trouble.

Kelly Skyped this morning - won't be long now till we're over there with her.

Before Luca left on Wednesday morning, he was making family fish with the stones in our back room - Baby whale, Mummy whale, Daddy whale and great, big enormous Granda whale! - can you see them on the floor?:

All systems go for Oz!

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

At last! Got my passport today, so the applications for our visas for Australia can now be made. I'd forgotten, however, what a rotten photo I'd sent off with my passport application:

A bit grim, isn't it? Never mind, it only lasts 10 years - I'll be coming up for my 72nd birthday by the time I have to renew it.

Squash was fun last night and we've arranged to play again on Thursday - the same night that we're going to the Cairngorm Brewery tasting at the Douglas.

What else is on this week? Well, our Xmas party night is this Saturday at the Potarch, but, before that, I've been invited again to go to Pittodrie on Saturday - I've dodged it so far this season, but I'll go along this time - unless, of course, the match is postponed again - quite possible given the dire weather predictions for later in the week.

It's Tuesday evening and we're sitting here waiting for Luca. Jo normally picks him up from nursery and brings him over here for tea, but it's their Xmas nativity today and Gary and Carole have gone along, with Gary bringing Luca over here afterwards to stay the night whilst his parents go out for their Tuesday exercises (football for Gary).

Monday frustrations

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Still no passport - do I report it as stolen? I've contacted the IPS again and await their advice.

I'm also still trying to get my Archos DVR returned for repair - that's over a month now I've been waiting and I've had 4 telephone calls, over a dozen e-mails and 4 web enquiries and still nobody will take responsibility for it. Grrrr.

Planning to play squash again this evening - at Kippie this time. Dan couldn't get his car up the hill at Findrack on Saturday and we had to walk the last half mile over the ice and snow - it's a bit more remote and higher elevation too, and, being a private estate, the roads are never cleared, so we're going for the safe option of the Petroleum club in Aberdeen this time.

Carole cheered me up when she sent the following link today: http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/guest/72RhPdWWZ52cXEnuAifd_g

So whilst those under 40 were watching some TV competition last night - X Factor I think it's called - and those that are so inclined were probably watching something like Strictly Dancing - what did we do? - why, watch the 50th anniversary celebrations of Corrie, of course! We've also been trying to get in to The Sopranos - two episodes in and we're not absolutely hooked, to say the least. Colin gave us the series on DVD as we'd enjoyed The Wire so much - and he said we would enjoy the characters in The Sopranos as well, but it seems a little bit too tongue in cheek for me - and not that funny yet. Will persevere a bit, however.

That's it for now - hoping to be able to drive cross country to Fraserburgh tomorrow for the first time for over 2 weeks before the next bout of snow and ice arrives later in the week.

Mild panic in the ranks

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

It's been a week of waiting, wondering and worrying - my passport has been the cause of concern. I spent a couple of hours on the phone on Friday afternoon trying to find out what's happened to it. I was told it was dispatched by Royal Mail Special Delivery on Friday 3rd December - but there's still no sign of it here. Typical conspiracy theorist that he is, Ross told me it had been stolen as part of an identity theft - probably by one of the seasonal part-time staff that Royal Mail take on. I suppose he could be right, but I sincerely hope not.

Anyway, I phoned the travel agent and they said they could get my visa for Oz as long as they had my passport a couple of days before travel, so that gives us a bit more time.

My knees have been feeling stronger week by week, and it seems to me that the increase in the dosage of beta blockers has helped my cardio condition a fair bit as well - my heart rate doesn't seem to race as much when I stress it now. I've had 3 visits to the gym this week and I finally made my comeback at squash yesterday - and I coped OK, with no ill-effects - yet. With no golf in prospect for some time it seems, it's good to be able to play squash anyway.

So that's been my week - Xmas looming - need to think quickly what to get Jo!

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

The weekend was a quiet one, but, with Jo complaining of cabin fever, we decided to go to the movies on Saturday - the final instalment of Stieg Larsson's Milennium Trilogy - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I enjoyed it, but if I'm asked to rate the 3 films, the 2nd one was best and the 1st one the poorest. It will be interesting to see what Hollywood do with the series - I can't imagine they'll improve on the Swedish versions.

We met Gary and his sorrowful son - Luca's not been too well this week - and had some lunch with them, and, in the evening, we had supper in the Tor-na-Coille with the Kilgours:

Nothing much else doing - work as usual today and yesterday was just TV sport vegetation - although Lucy phoned at night as Jo and I were demolishing a bottle of red.

More photos of the snow round here on my golf blog - http://bsvgolf.blogspot.com/

'Sno fair

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Taking a day off work afforded me the opportunity to walk down to the village for a haircut. Jo was heading off to Morrison's so I chummed her along - both of us fighting our way along the snowbound pavements. The icicles on the buildings are getting longer each day:

There has been so much snow and the ploughs have been out constantly, with the priority to keep the roads open. The smaller ploughs have also been clearing the pavements outside the shops in the High St, but the result is that huge snow barriers/walls have been building up at the edge of the road - they are becoming a hazard in themselves and today, there were diggers out loading up lorries with the surplus snow:

The sight of this delighted Jo - she had remembered this from our first winter in Deeside 27 years ago, but had been pooh-poohed by others (not me!) who told her it was just another of her flights of imagination.

Here's our house and cars in the driveway this morning:

Guess I better get back and do some work now!

London weekend

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

We got there in the end - expensively and a good bit later than planned. What should have been a simple trip to Terminal 5 with BA then a tube straight to Gloucester Road, just across from our Fraser Place apartment, became a bit more complicated when we had to go with Flybe to Gatwick, then the Gatwick Express and a taxi.

No matter - we got there in time to check in, grab a quick snack then walk round to the Royal Albert Hall. Jools Holland was preceded by a half hour set by Rumer, then Jools and his band did a straight through 2 hour set with the usual array of guest artistes, notably including a slimline Alison Moyet.

We walked back after the gig and bypassed the bistro I fancied, back down to the Compton Road/Gloucester Road junction. We failed in a couple of attempts to get a meal - too late, Guv - it's after 11pm - "but your sign says open until midnight" - not for food, mate. So, much to Jo's chagrin, we settled for a couple of pints, some pistachios, olives and crisps!

After breakfast on Sunday morning, we took a taxi to Piccadilly and wandered round Green Park, The Mall and Clarence House before our 11:30 am booking at the Ritz. I recalled my time between 1974 and 1977 working in Devonshire House for James Buchanan & Co - we even walked past the site of the IRA bomb that blew up our offices.

Nowadays there's a whole new entrance to Green Park tube station being constructed, which is the reason for the temporary green woodwork in Green Park as I posed in front of my old office:

It was a beautiful, crisp and bright morning with lots of tourists walking along the Mall to Buckingham Palace:

Finally, inside the glitzy Ritz tearoom:


A harpist played in the hall:

We needed to walk after almost 2 hours of drinking endless cups of tea and eating sandwiches and cake, so we strolled along Piccadilly and popped in to Fortnum and Mason's:

Up past Eros, and up Regent Street for a bit, then back along towards Bond St, then a full loop back to catch the Tube to Heathrow, where we were initially told that our flight was cancelled. Fortunately, I asked somebody else and it turned out, that, whilst Aberdeen airport had been shut intermittently, it was open again and our flight was going - so we got back at a fairly reasonable hour after a short but hectic weekend.