BBQ chez Chris & Kelly

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

We're sitting in the Qantas lounge at Adelaide airport, waiting for our flight to Perth. Kelly and Chris will be arriving soon and we'll join them then. Meanwhile, as we have some time and a good broadband service, here's some random pics:

We had dinner at our apartment on Tuesday - here's Jo and Chris afterwards

The same evening - Kelly as the sun goes down

Paddling on our walk back from Brighton to Glenelg

We went to Central Markets to shop for groceries for Chris' BBQ on Thursday, and we all had lunch in the Asian Food Hall - this is the one Jo and I ate from

Spotted in an Adelaide side street

Chris christens his new barbie, with Amanda (Matt's ex-wife) looking on

Chris, Amanda, Jo, David and Laureen (Chris' parents) at the BBQ last night

Holiday blog 2

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

We've resorted to using McDonald's free wi-fi this morning - seems pretty slow, so I hope this works OK. Don't worry, it wasn't Big Macs for breakfast - just a couple of 99% fat-free frappes.

We had a nice walk along the shore to Brighton jetty yesterday morning and we took our shoes off and paddled in the ocean on the walk back - lovely and warm it was too.

Last night we took the tram to Chris' and Kelly's place and shared an Indian take-away in the garden. We're going back there tonight to have a BBQ - and Chris' Mum & Dad and brother, his (Matt's) ex-wife and child will all be there too.

Here's one of Jo and Kelly outside their house:

Greetings from Adelaide

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

The journey was long - strange getting on the plane, getting your meal, then it gets dark, then light again, and finally you get to Singapore, where you get off the plane for an hour or so - just enough time to find the BA lounge - then back on the plane for the next flight, and the process starts all over again - meal, dark, light, then finally you land in Sydney.

Our shuttle pick-up was late - we arrived on schedule at 7 am and were through customs etc pretty quickly, but it was 8:40 am before our driver finally showed - and that was after 3 phone calls. I said it once before, but let me say it again - don't ever let me book one of these shuttles again. We'd have been far better off jumping in a taxi.

In any event, our room wasn't ready, but we managed to dump our bags at least and then we headed off for a long walk with a few stops in it. The main park in Sydney has the botanical gardens in it, and we went there for a while before returning to the park itself, where, walking through the trees, we heard these strange noises coming from above. We looked up and there were hundreds of giant bats, hanging from the trees and squawking away. Flying foxes they're often called as they swoop from tree to tree - the world's largest bat apparently:

We walked right through the huge park and down to the water's edge and round to the Opera House. From there to Circular Quay and the tourist hell of alleged aborigine natives playing didgeridoos to some kind of electronic backing. Moving on swiftly, we found a lovely little back street - Nurses' Walk - and we stumbled upon this fantastic restaurant Phillips Foote. It's in lots of little bits, with a central courtyard in the middle and different levels with balconies etc, and, at the back, the Cook House, where you pick your own steak/chicken/fish and then cook it yourself on the barbie, helping yourself to their terrific spread of salads, bread etc. Here's Jo at the BBQ:

After lunch there, we headed back to Darling Harbour to check in at our hotel. We showered, unpacked and took a short nap, then headed out for dinner to the Lord Nelson, an excellent brewpub/hotel. We had a lovely meal but the pressure had built up and there was a brief storm, so we taxi'd back to the hotel rather than risk the lightning and getting wet.

We slept well - hardly surprising - but I became aware of Jo rustling round the room at about 6 am - trying to keep quiet, but I could feel the vibrations of anxiety. "What's the matter?" - "I've lost my handbag". Groan - I stumbled up and we went through the room and then the events of the previous evening. Had she left it in the taxi? Hopefully not - OK - let's phone the pub. What a relief it was when the girl at the other end of the line proudly announced that yes, they did have a red handbag.

I showered, dressed and then we re-traced our steps to the Lord Nelson - and up to the brasserie upstairs for the first time. What a nice place - why didn't we stay there? Mental note for next trip to Sydney.

So we finally got to Adelaide, where Kelly was waiting to "greet" us - in more ways than one. She took us to our apartment in Glenelg, stopping first at Coles for some groceries. We checked in, then she headed for the "bottle-o" to stock us up with some booze.

Chris came over and joined us after work:

We had dinner at the Thai restaurant downstairs after a few drinks and then it was a fairly early night again.

Our sleep patterns are not quite normalised yet and we both woke early. Jo got up and sat on the balcony, waiting for dawn and listening to the sea, whilst a few early morning athletes went out for a row/jog/swim before they headed off to work.

This morning we walked out to the end of the pier. There's a fish measuring plaque - and, yes, it includes a couple of types of shark:

The Gummy Shark sounds kind of feckless doesn't it?

Then we walked up Jetty Road to look at the shops. Lunch was followed by another trip to the supermarket to stock up on groceries for tonight - we're eating in when Kelly and Chris get here. We spent some time on the beach and I went in to the water - it was lovely. It's windy, however, and reading books isn't the easiest so we came back to our apartment after a little while - just as well, as I'm a little burned. We hadn't been out for long and I had 2 applications of factor 30. Guess I wasn't quite ready for the sun directly above us after a Scottish winter.

Jo took a few photos of me reading on our balcony, looking out to sea this evening:

So that's it for now. Don't expect this amount of detail in any future holiday blogs - it just so happened that I had a bit of time on my hands and I'm using up the last of the day's broadband I bought yesterday.

Eve of departure

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

It's been the usual last-minute panic at work - a potential acquisition comes on the scene at the 11th hour - just as both Michael and I are heading off on long-haul holidays - typical.

I had my consultation at Albyn Hospital tonight. He asked some questions and felt my liver - no worries - not enlarged. Next step is a scan on 16th March (liver, spleen & pancreas, I think), then an endoscopy the following day. At least I feel I'm on the road to discovering what's wrong now.

We're almost packed. I've got an early start and a busy morning of meetings (one of them a Board meeting) before heading home and loading up the cases for Ross to drop us off at the airport for our marathon trip. Looking forward to a pint in the Lord Nelson in the Rocks area of Sydney on Sunday night - if we're up to it!

Watch this space.

Holiday planning

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

I had another one of those nightmare moments this morning. I was printing off luggage labels for our trip Down Under and I suddenly realised I didn't have any booking references for the internal flights in Australia. Had I forgotten to book them? I had all the flight timings in my diary but I didn't have any flight numbers or booking references.

Although we had used an agent to book our accommodation in Australia, I had booked the flights there and back myself, using our Air Miles - so who had booked the internal flights? - Me, the agent - or nobody!

I went through all my e-mails with the agent and couldn't find any confirmation that we had booked the internal flights through them. I had made enquiries with them, but it was a long time ago. Perhaps we had decided to leave it until nearer the time to make these bookings and then had forgotten all about it?

What if the flights are fully booked now? Better check the Qantas web site. OK - now time to call the agent. What a relief - she apologised and said she had forgotten to send me the confirmations and would now do so immediately - and she did. Panic over.

So, how was our weekend? Well, I got a game of squash on Friday and got back in time to have some tea with Carole before she took Luca back home. On Saturday morning, Jo and I went down to Deeside Brewery to meet the new owner and his brewer - and we got some nice freebies! Here's their new image for what used to be my birthday beer:

We watched the Lincoln Lawyer on Saturday night - not bad, but not half as good as the book. We reckoned Matthew McConaughey needs to work a bit on empathy.

Sunday morning was golf. I got home afterwards and was just sitting down to what I thought would be a nice relaxing Sunday afternoon with the Sunday Times and the sport on TV, when Jo came in from her post-church coffee with the Golden Girls and said she wanted to go in to Aberdeen and try and find a pair of denims for the journey. She'd tried buying on the internet - she's seriously addicted to internet shopping, but hates the real thing - but couldn't get anything to fit, so the only thing left to do was to go in to Union Square and try out the shops. Fine, I said - see you later. Jo knows how much I hate driving at weekends - but this elicited no sympathy, so off we went.

I drove, hoping to cut down the return trip by at least half an hour, having experienced Jo driving my car on Wednesday night. We got there in good time, parked, walked to Next - straight in, found a pair that fitted and were on our way again in record time. The whole trip took not much more than an hour and a quarter - that's the way to shop! Jo reckons I'm a lucky omen, but I think she's quietly trying to soften me up for another shopping trip sometime.

Haven't heard yet if the workmen have returned to our house yet or not. No excuses today - it's lovely, almost spring-like. We've got Luca for the next couple of nights as it's half-term - and I hope to get another game of squash tonight - the last before our holidays.

Action at last

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

It's been an interesting and exciting week in many ways. Our Headbang went well again (details on that blog) on Friday, but the Calcutta Cup match rather brought us down to earth on Saturday - how exactly did Scotland contrive to lose again?

Golf on Sunday was on a skating rink of a course - another beautiful, but cold, day - hardly a cloud in the sky and not a breath of wind, and treacherous underfoot - but it was fun. Got a game of squash on Monday too, but no other exercise since then. I've managed to avoid the gym for another week.

Last night, Jo was good enough to drive me round Deeside to complete most of the annual pub surveys for CAMRA, ahead of local voting at next week's meeting for which entries will make it in to the GBG next year. We didn't have to do Tarland this time and I'd already done Torphins, but we started at Lumphanan and then headed for Ballater, then back to Aboyne, Potarch and finally Feughside then home. We started early, hoping to get back quickly, but it always takes a bit longer than you think and our total elapsed time was well over 3 hours.

By the time we got home, it had started to rain fairly heavily - the first serious precipitation we'd seen for a while. This was ironic in a way, because, on Tuesday evening, we'd had a surprise call from Deeside Construction/Destruction (you choose) to say that they, plus the roofers, were going to arrive on Wednesday morning to finally finish off the work they started a year ago on our balcony/porch roof/harling - and they did turn up as scheduled and start work, but not without another "Irene" incident - you remember the neighbour from hell from the time we put the driveway in? Well, this time, it was dust drifting on to her car in the driveway. I think it's all something and nothing and hopefully it won't come to anything.

Anyway, back to the weather - as I said it's ironic that the builders are here after so much good weather - and now it starts to rain - sod's law! They did manage to get some work done today, so hopefully they will finish off this time. Here's our porch, showing the balcony - without railings:

Where are the railings you may ask? In our driveway - in one huge piece:

Can you make it out OK? I took this photo late last night in the pitch black. Jo said the railings were cast iron and somebody might nick them so we best move them in to our garage. Well, I could lift my end, but Jo quickly realised it wasn't on and we just left them where they were. It would need a team of Irish navvies/Gypsies with a lorry to move them anyway, so I think they're pretty safe where they are - I think!

Today I was working in Fraserburgh and Carole and Gary are off to the movies tonight, with Luca off for half term tomorrow, so I offered to pick him up from school and take him back to ours, where he's staying tonight. I'd collected him before when he was at nursery but this was my first time from school proper.

I got a nice text from Carole half an hour before I was to pick Luca up, telling me to make sure he remembered his hat and gloves. The (Spiderman) hat was no problem - he was wearing it, but he was adamant that he didn't take gloves to school today. Was I wrong to believe him? Only time will tell.

Luca was full of beans so before jumping in the car, we went to the park to let him run around a little:

I cancelled squash tonight because I was picking Luca up, but I might get a game tomorrow - and then it's our last weekend here before we head to Oz in just over a week. I've arranged to go down and meet the new owners of Deeside Brewery on Saturday, and hopefully a game of golf again on Sunday, but that's all I've got planned for the weekend.

Looking forward to seeing Kelly again next week - and meeting Chris for the first time. Not really looking forward to the journey however - we leave here on Friday afternoon/evening and get to Sydney on Sunday morning - and Adelaide on Monday - nightmare! Last year, we stopped off at Hong Kong for a few days to break the journey, but this time, we're going hardcore (as Kelly calls it) and doing it all in a one-er. We get off the plane in Singapore - but only briefly. Qantas usually take over the last leg, but they've just grounded (again) their fleet of A380's, the big new plane we flew on last year - the wings are apparently falling off. I wonder what it'll be now?

Oh - and I today finally received my letter calling me to see the specialist about my stomach and a possible endoscopy - I've still got that awful taste in my mouth, and that's been over 3 months now. The appointment was for 2 weeks today - when we are Down Under. I phoned to change it and got lucky - the doctor had just had a cancellation for next Thursday - the night before we go.

First Feb posting

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Hello again - it's now February and it's very noticeable how much longer the days are getting. What a difference it makes to get at least part of the drive to/from work in daylight. Just 50 days until the clocks go forward - and only 14 days until our holiday Down Under.

What have I been up to this last 10 days or so? Not much, to be honest. Usual round of twice weekly squash doubles and a game of golf on Sunday morning. I did get my blood test results through and I've got the all-clear - no need to go on antibiotics for Helicobacter Pylori. I also had a check-up with my implant dentist and he confirmed that my implant has settled down well and there's no abscess or infection that could be causing the bad taste I've had in my mouth since October. So I guess I have to wait for my appointment with the specialist - and then it's another endoscopy.

Frustrations with suppliers are a bit of a theme just now. I got a replacement Archos (my mini DVR which I use to record from the Sky box) under extended warranty and it seemed to play OK - until I put it in its docking station. It would only record intermittently and I had to do it manually as the remote device wouldn't work with the new unit. I contacted them, thinking they would talk me through what I had to do to make it fully operational, but no - they said send it back again! So, it's gone again - along with the docking station and remote. Hope I get them back before we go to Oz.

The loft insulation people are just as bad. Carillion's surveyor measured the loft and depth of insulation, priced it and we accepted the quote, but when the men came out to do the work, they said our existing insulation was too deep and they couldn't do it for that price. I've complained 3 times so far, but still haven't received a response.

Then there's the new WC, shower and basin we want to install downstairs. We can't really complain about the supplier as we've agreed Ross' pal, Dan can do the job as a homer. Only problem is that Dan has been moving house this week and he's getting married soon, so where's he going to find the time from? We haven't even ordered the goods yet - Jo wants Dan looking over her shoulder before she does this.

I haven't fitted our loft ladder - I was put off by the complex instructions. I could probably do it, but can't summon up the will. The ladders are fine as they are - free-standing and extendable - do we really need them to be fitted as retractable? How often do we need to get in the loft? Jo's been up in it this week and has unearthed some old football programmes (heading for Gary now) and some children's books, which she's cleaning up for Luca. Jo has threatened/promised to get Trevor Stephens in to do the fitting - fine, I said - go ahead.

Last moan today is about the old Merc sitting in the driveway for what must be its 4th calendar year now. Derek Glass (the owner - Ross transferred it back to him) has been promising to move it for what seems like an eternity. I forget how many times he has told Jo & Ross it will be moved "tomorrow or the next day", but still it sits there, rusting away.

Tonight we have another headbang at Dave's - it's 3 months since the last one. Perhaps that'll help me calm down!

Tradesmen!

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

What can I say? No sooner had Jo left for Inverurie yesterday afternoon than the loft insulation workmen started to do that thing that it seems tradesmen all round the world have perfected - the long, slow intake of breath as they consider how they can sting the poor mug punter for a bit more.

The insulation in our loft is of differing thicknesses, as explained to us by Carillion's surveyor when he priced the job a couple of weeks ago. Strangely enough, the thinner it is, and the more insulation you need to bring the thickness up to modern standards, then the cheaper it is, as the Government part finance the scheme, giving the most help to those lofts that require it the most.

Well, the workmen yesterday disagreed with their own surveyor and said they could not possibly put in the thickness that the surveyor had quoted us for - not unless, of course, we were willing to pay £100 or so more! Bloody typical - the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

I proclaimed our innocence in all this - we hadn't measured the loft, nor decided on the existing thickness of the insulation - but we had signed a contract with Carillion for a certain amount of insulation at an agreed price and I think they should honour that contract.

Anyway, the workmen left and I've now put in my formal complaint and we await their response.

So, tonight is the golf club's AGM - and that will formally signal the end of my one year spell on the Committee. I've got mixed feelings - I don't feel I did much during my time, nor did I feel I had a real job to do anyway, but I didn't feel I could change matters from within either, and, given the amount of time we're going to be away from home this year, I wasn't going to be able to contribute more in 2012.

Hope to get a game of squash tomorrow - haven't had any exercise at all since last week. I should really be at Bannatyne's just now, but I keep finding additional things to do - like this blog - it seems like I'm dodging the gym. Should I give up my membership? I don't think I've even been there once a month since I had my knee ops 15 months or so ago.

That's it for today - I'll just add the quick photo that I took with my Blackberry this morning and put on Facebook - me with my new PTFC mug in the office:

It always looks slightly weird when you hold the camera and take a photo of yourself!

Blood test

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Working from home today because I had to go see the nurse at noon for a blood test, following my visit to the Doctor yesterday. He wants to eliminate the possibility of a particular bacteria - Helicobacter Pylori it's called (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicobacter_pylori). Seems that half the world's population have it. Should get the results in a couple of days. Assuming negative, then it's the specialist and endoscopy for me.

Got a call last night that the loft insulation men are arriving this afternoon, so it's just as well I'm at home, or Jo would have had to forgo her trip to Inverurie to see Liz, Carole and poor little sick Luca this afternoon. By coincidence our new loft ladder arrived yesterday - just in time. The instructions for fitting look pretty complicated, so it could be that we just use it as a simple ladder for a while and don't bother screwing it in to the loft.

Oh - and I went to the Royal Mail sorting office to pick up a couple of small parcels they tried to deliver last week. One was a book for my holidays - The Art of Fielding, a debut novel by Chad Harbach (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/9012593/The-Art-of-Fielding-by-Chad-Harbach-review.html) that was featured as Radio Two's Book of the Week not long ago - so I thought I'd take it to Oz with me. The other parcel contained the bits to fix our leaking shower - all we need to do now is get Ross' pal, Dan to fit them. He's still waiting for our order for new ceramic ware for our downstairs loo - Jo can't quite find what she wants yet.

That's about all for now - back to my work now.

Another hectic weekend

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Busy week at work was followed by a pretty hectic weekend as well. We were down at Firhill partaking of the corporate hospitality on Saturday (check http://bvetsfootballgroup.blogspot.com/ for photos etc) and then on Sunday, it was Luca's (slightly belated) birthday party at Hoodles (http://www.hoodles.co.uk). It was all go with Luca's group of 19-20 kids plus other parties going on in the adjacent rooms and buildings - it's quite a set-up.

Luca was as high as a kite but was able to run off some of the surplus energy safely on the padded floors and walls of the kids' gym. He was really pleased to see his pal from nursery, Michael:

Could be love?

Luca blew out the candles on his cake - check http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X0v3LIxzb4&list=UUBDeleoM99bWx2-P6rMydgA&index=1&feature=plcp

Carole asked me to take a photo of the cake:

So that was the weekend - now for the medical reports. Jo was back at the cardiologist last Thursday and she went through another ECG stress test, which she passed with flying colours. This means the pains she has been getting are not cardio, but probably just pure stress.

As for me, I was back at the doctor's today. My 6 week course of stomach pills has come to an end, but they don't appear to have completely resolved the problem, so I've now to get a blood test tomorrow to eliminate the possibility of a bacteria (which could be treated with antibiotics). I'm also being referred to the specialist with a view to having another endoscopy. The young doctor alarmed me a little when he said he didn't think it was the Big C! It hadn't even occurred to me until he said the word!

Blast from the past

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Anyone recognise this face?:

It's Austin Donohoe! Who he? - Lucy's godfather. I hadn't quite reached this stage in Renshaw's Chronicles, but Austin trained beside me at Fraser, Martin & Co and was at our wedding - and we at his. I stumbled across his name almost by accident today. Austin has had kidney problems almost all his life and is actively involved in various Kidney charities and hospices and he provided a foreword to a book about kidney failure (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kidney-Failure-Explained-Everything-Wanted/dp/1872362907/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326459277&sr=1-1).

I then Googled his name and came up with his speech at the National Kidney Federation Conference in 2003 - http://www.kidney.org.uk/conf03/donohoe_a.html

This also reminded me that I must try and do at least one more episode in Renshaw's Chronicles before we go to Oz (5 weeks today!).

Not a lot else to say on this particular blog today, other than the fact that Jo and Ross will be busy at home today - we've got Scottish Gas returning to fit the new downstairs radiator, and they'll almost be bumping in to Taylor's of Banchory's men coming to fit the new blinds in the downstairs office/music/computer/work room.

Ross has got a rare IT job on this afternoon - a former customer - but he's been back and forward to Elgin the last couple of nights after work, picking up and returning his pal Richard. When he was away last night, one of his other pals, Dan, was in looking at our downstairs loo with a view to replacing the WC, shower etc as a "homer". Whilst he was there, Jo got him to look at the cistern in our en suite, and also our leaking shower. For the last few weeks, every time we flush our WC, it's like the whole plumbing system is going to explode - an incredible racket, guaranteed to waken even the heaviest of sleepers. It happened once before a few years ago and it's just a valve next to the ballcock that needs replacing - hopefully today as well.

Aberfoyle

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

We had a nice, albeit brief, trip to the Forth Valley last weekend, staying at Macdonald Forest Hills (http://www.macdonaldhotels.co.uk/our-hotels/macdonald-forest-hills-hotel-spa/?gclid=CKqbrq34x60CFYEmtAod8A8Biw) in the heart of the Trossachs - but where exactly is that, some of you may ask? Check this map:

Ignore the red trail lines - we were staying at the Hotel marked in the bottom left, on the shores of Loch Ard.

It was a beautiful day in the North East when we set out on Saturday morning - not a cloud in the sky, and warm enough for us to go over Cairn o' Mount without fear of it being closed with ice. From Perth west and south, however, there was a noticeable change - there was obvious evidence of widescale flooding, and damaged and fallen trees from last week's wind storms. The narrow road from the village of Aberfoyle alongside Loch Ard to our resort looked like it had been - or was about to be - closed. The loch seemed very high and choppy and looking like it was above the level of the road.

We left our car at the resort and Barry and Helen - and little Harriet in her cage at the back of their car - drove us over the Duke's Pass to Kilmahog, just outside Callander, to the Lade Inn, a well-known little brewpub. Jo sat in the back of Barry's Merc and suffered a bit on the windy road - she had to sit outside for 10 minutes before she was ready to come in for lunch. Dawn was already there, waiting for us at a nice corner table that Barry had reserved. That corner spot was cold and drafty and we moved twice as other tables nearer the open fire became vacant. We managed to get just one team photo, in which Dawn is, unfortunately, looking the other way:

We all popped in to the adjacent Scottish Real Ale shop where Harriet had to be carefully controlled:

By the time we got back from lunch - going the slightly flatter alternative route, with Jo sitting in the front of Barry's car - and checked in and unpacked, there was only time for a quick snooze and a swim/steam room/jacuzzi visit before dinner. We were located in the Ben Lomond timeshare apartments, which looked like it was the first block built and it was adjacent to the hotel, where we had decided to dine, so it was just a short stroll for us. The dining room was very nice and so was the food - particularly the steaks.

The forecast for Sunday had been reasonably promising but when we woke up we were disappointed to see how overcast and misty it was. Nonetheless, we headed out in the car, initially exploring westwards, but then we drove back in to Aberfoyle to buy the papers and have a coffee, taking in the well laid out and interesting Tourist Office as well.

With the weather so dreich - intermittent drizzle and poorish visibility - we ended up doing 3 very short walks - round the nature trail that follows the path of the Forth in Aberfoyle; then back over the Duke's Pass to find a suitable forest walk, where I took this photo of Jo, toiling up a slight hill:

Our last mini-walk came on the short waterfall trail at the David Marshall Lodge (http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/recreation.nsf/LUWebDocsByKey/ScotlandStirlingQueenElizabethForestParkAchrayForestDavidMarshallLodgeVisitorCentre). This marks the start of Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, which is one of the places Dawn used to take Mum on day trips in her later years. The Lodge itself - and cafeteria - was shut but we managed a couple of photos on the trails:

The view from the top of the trail at the front of the Lodge was very nice, even on this dreich day:

We had lunch in the Forth Inn in Aberfoyle - Jo didn't fancy it much at first, but a bunch of walkers arrived and helped drown out the noise of the football on TV in the adjacent bar and this certainly helped improve the atmosphere where we were sitting.

Back to our apartment and another little snooze, then a walk round the resort grounds followed by another quick swim and soon it's time for dinner - doesn't time fly? We went back to the same hotel restaurant - it was nice and it was very convenient. I had brought the latest DVD from LoveFilm of The Killing TV series that we'd missed first time around, and, over the weekend we took in 3 of the last 4 episodes, leaving the final chapter until we got home.

Sod's law, Monday was the best day of the weekend and we had to head home. Although the exchange was for a full week, we never intended to spend more than a few days there. Ideally, if check-in had been on Friday, that would have suited us better. We could still have been there if I was fully retired, but work has to come first for now.

The outlook from our balcony over the resort gardens towards Loch Ard was a bit more photographable on Monday:

The hotel's dining room is the curved building on the left.

On the way home, Jo wanted to have a proper look at Callander so we made a slight detour there, but parking was tricky and we couldn't find a nice-looking coffee shop so we ended up driving out to Kilmahog again and went to the Woollen Mill for a scone instead. Just along the road is the Lade Inn, where we had lunch on Saturday and there was a nice snowy, hilly backdrop from this angle:

After that, we made good time on the drive home and I was able to detour past Banchory to drop Jo off and grab a spot of lunch before heading to the office for a short afternoon's work. In the evening we settled down for the final episode of The Killing, so, after 20 episodes, we now know who did it! There was one little loose end that could have done with more explanation, however, and I think Jo was a little miffed that this wasn't properly tidied up like they do in the Poirot and Agatha Christie's Miss Marple TV crime series that she loves!

Back to work

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

It's back to work today, but it's still fairly quiet here so I'll head home early again.

I've watched the news video of Kelly's dramatic rescue umpteen times today (http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/national/watch/27757738/) and each time I see her wobbly little chin, I want to burst into tears. She so nearly did that herself. Wish we could be there now, but I suppose it's only another 6 weeks or so until we see her in the flesh again.

Before that, we've got Aberfoyle this weekend - lunch with Dawn and Barry at the Lade Inn (http://www.theladeinn.com/) on Saturday then back home on Monday - just in time for the Gas Man to fit our hall radiator. Only a couple of weeks until Gary, Ross and I go to Firhill to sample the Corporate Hospitality at the Dundee match - hope the weather stays fair.

We've now got up to Episode 16 of The Killing - just 4 to go now - exciting stuff!

And another milestone has been passed - we've had over 16,000 viewings of this blog now - wow!

So much to write about!

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

So much has happened since my last posting that I could fill a few pages, but I think it's best to start with the most recent. We had just had breakfast this morning and I was casually trawling Facebook and my eyes bulged as I read Kelly's posting about her near-death experience in the waters off South Australia. We managed to get her on Skype and she seems fine - thanks goodness she's always been a good swimmer and is so strong and fit now - otherwise she would never have survived two and a half hours in the ocean.

As most now know, Chris headed off for shore and got there after an hour and a half swim and summonsed the rescue boat. Kelly was in the water for over two and a half hours with Chris' Dad and uncle - ages 65 and 73 respectively, with the uncle being a very poor swimmer, and only one lifejacket between the three of them. Kelly thought they were going to lose Chris' uncle - he mentally gave up fairly quickly, saying he couldn't keep going as the three of them tried to swim to shore, making absolutely no headway in the heavy seas. Chris' uncle lost consciousness and has been kept in hospital, but they think he will recover OK.

Kelly didn't know what to fear most - the threat of sharks, who are known to frequent these waters - the heavy seas that were crashing round about them - or Chris' uncle not surviving. Chris' Dad survived OK, but was treated for hypothermia, but Kelly was fine - she heated up again just sitting in the sun! South Australia has been having a heatwave, with temperatures of 40 degrees C.

Kelly said they were on Channel 7 News - Chris spoke to the camera, but Kelly could only offer a trembling lip - she couldn't actually utter any words! I haven't been able to find this clip on the web yet, but I did find a brief news report in one of the local papers - http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/four-rescued-from-capsized-boat-near-granite-island-victor-harbor/story-e6frea83-1226234956192. Perhaps there will be more available tomorrow.

I'm shaking just thinking about it as I write this.

Then, of course, we had Luca's 5th birthday party on Friday. Jo and I went over to have lunch with Carole and Luca, with Gary joining us later after getting home early from work. Here's Luca looking very pleased with himself, in anticipation of his chocolate birthday cake:

Here's a short video of him blowing out the candles, then rushing to the door as the bell rings and yet another present arrives - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1LwMbDNX_E&list=UUBDeleoM99bWx2-P6rMydgA&index=1&feature=plcp

The next day was Hogmanay and there was a late change of plan. We had originally planned to have dinner at Ann & Leslie Mason's, just round the corner in Birch Grove - it was their turn to host, but there were complications with Ann's mother which resulted in her asking if we wouldn't mind hosting dinner. Ann would still do all the cooking and just bring it round to ours. No problem we said - all we had to do now was clean the house and set the table.

Jo followed me round as I dusted and hoovered, making corrections as I put ornaments back in place. She was practising her own particular brand of feng-shui in our front room, and this is how it looked before our guests arrived:

The evening went well and we were able to step out on the balcony after the bells to watch the Tor-na-Coille Hotel's Firework show from the golf course - there's a short clip of it here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oUQDrjDrRA&list=UUBDeleoM99bWx2-P6rMydgA&index=2&feature=plcp

Ne'erday was a bit of a write-off - we were too tired to move, although Jo did cook her traditional steak pie. Today was better - a lovely day - crisp and bright, so, after assuring ourselves that Kelly was OK, we headed off to Stonehaven for a short walk to try to get rid of our lethargy and blow away the cobwebs. I had spotted the walk in one of the books that Jo had bought some time ago - this was our route:

We started off in Market Square and walked down to the beach, where we came across this model boat:

Along past the harbour, then up the hill to the clifftops overlooking the town:

By the time we got round to Dunnottar Castle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunnottar_Castle - where parts of Hamlet, starring Mel Gibson and Glenn Close, were shot) it was pretty blowy, as you can tell from this photo:

The castle was closed, of course:

Our route was a circular one that took us through Dunnottar Woods, where we came across what they called the Shell House:

Nothing to do with the oil company of that name - much simpler than that as can be seen from the inside:

We finished our walk back down in the harbour, where we went to the Marine Hotel for a swift pint (me) and coffee (Jo).