Update

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

What a change since I last blogged. Last week, it was record heat - today we had snow. Oh well, that's how it is in the British Isles, I guess.

What have I done since? Golf mostly - the season officially started on Saturday and I played then, again on Sunday, and yesterday for the Seniors in their match at Brechin. Oh - and I paid my first visit to Bannatyne's for many months on Friday. I hate to tell you what weight I was - I thought it was an all-time record, but Jo blithely said "no - you were heavier just after we got married"! She went on to explain that, as she had been deprived chips at home, she cooked them almost every day for us (in our wedding present deep fat frier) in the first few years of marriage.

We're still negotiating with Everest on our kitchen. Here's how they reckon it might look:

 and here's the dimensions and details:

Jo got some sad news last night from sister Mary - their old "Uncle" Dan has died. He had been in failing health for a while. He was one of life's good guys - always a merry quip.

Speaking to Lucy at the weekend, I was complaining about how much pain I was in after walking, and I wondered whether there was anything that could be done with footwear to help. She recommended http://www.sportorthotics.co.uk/ in Hamilton, so I've made an appointment for next Thursday 12th April. I'd like to look and listen anyway.

We've been having some correspondence with our newly discovered relatives on the East coast of USA. I sent them some photos and some of Dad's typically derogatory written comments about his grandfather, Swanson Renshaw Dale - not sure how that went down with them!

Belated happy birthday to Scott!

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

It's almost still Scott's 39th birthday, USA time, so didn't miss it by much! Welcome to your 40th year, Scott! Memories of last summer down in Southern California:

See you in Seattle in about 15 weeks!

Costa del Deeside!

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Hard to believe it's only March - weather like this is scarce enough in mid-summer, let alone this early. For the 3rd day in a row, Aberdeenshire set new Scottish temperature records for March, with our local weather station at Aboyne being the spot where it was recorded yesterday and Monday. Today's looking good as well - perhaps a bit more hazy. Change is coming at the weekend - they're talking about snow on the hills!

Today is the day that the Everest surveyor arrives to do the detailed measurements for our new kitchen - Jo's worried in case she's overlooked anything.

Today is also the start of our midweek golf competition. I'm hoping it'll be light until almost 8pm tonight so we can get round 18 holes OK. Daytime extends by 20 minutes or so per week from here on in so it'll soon get easier.

I'm struggling to finish one of my holiday books - can't find the reading time now that we're back home and I'm working again. When we were in Port Elliott with Chris' Mum and Dad, we went to their local book store, and I ended up buying 3 crime fictions - knowing Jo would read them too - one Swedish, one Norwegian and one Japanese - all in the same vein.

Whilst on holiday, I read The Art of Fielding (http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Art-Fielding-Chad-Harbach/dp/0007374445) and also Patti Smith's semi-autobiographical novel about her early years and, in particular, her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mapplethorpe), who's now been dead over 20 years. I left both books with Kelly and Chris - but they might be in the skip by now!

Oh - and I finally got my Archos fixed yesterday, so I can now start getting the recorded programmes off our Sky box. I've got my new i-Phone 4 as well - it's definitely got a longer battery life than the previous version I had on holiday, but still nowhere near as long as the Blackberry. There's some nice features on the 4, but I still hate the i-Tunes software!

Edinburgh weekend 2

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

The sun came out in earnest in Edinburgh on Sunday and we walked through Princes St. Gardens to the Scottish National Gallery. We had originally planned to go to another National Trust property (Gladstone's Land) but it doesn't open on Sundays until April. Which reminds me - I forgot to say that we visited the Georgian Town House at Charlotte Square on Saturday morning.

A quick look at some of the paintings then it was time for tea and coffee outside the cafe there. Next stop was the Mound, then down the Royal Mile to Holyrood to sit and read papers and books in the sun. It was such a lovely spot - Salisbury Crags as a backdrop and Holyrood Palace - then some idiot decided it would be a good idea to blow half a billion pounds of our money and build the monstrosity that is the Scottish Parliament. It's not ageing well either. Here's Jo reading from her iPad:

We had lunch at the Palace tearoom then caught a 36 bus - thank you everyone for our bus passes! - down a convoluted route to Leith. It was our plan to do the other bit of the Water of Leith walk from Leith to Dean Bridge. First of all, a pint at the lovely Teuchter's Landing:

By this time of day - approaching 4 pm - the place was mobbed. It's quite a small bar inside, but there's lots of space outside, including a floating barge with seats. Getting served wasn't quite so easy. This spot was where the steamboats to Aberdeen used to leave from.

Leith has been gentrified in the last decade or so and it now has a bit of a look of Amsterdam:

We spotted another GBG pub - the Malt and Hops. Jo - not me - suggested we try one more in there before setting off on our walk. Mistake - we met a fellow CAMRA member, Norman Mackenzie, in there and it was several beers later before we left. The sun was now setting fast:

We had to get a shifty on or it would have been dark before we got back. We made it OK and rewarded ourselves with a quick half pint at Kay's Bar - another old favourite - and then grabbed a Pizza Express meal before retiring.

Edinburgh weekend

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

We've just returned from our weekend in Edinburgh - down by train on Friday afternoon and back this morning. Our apartment at The Edinburgh Residence (http://www.townhousecompany.com/theedinburghresidence/) was very nice. We were in the basement of a large property in the New Town, with bay windows and a door leading out to the street. Well located at Rothesay Terrace - a bit nearer Haymarket than Waverley.

We walked down to Stockbridge on Friday evening and, after a beer, walked along to the Loon Fung restaurant which we last visited over a decade ago - it's a favourite of Jo's pal, Anne Mason. Very nice it was too.

Saturday was pleasant enough, although nowhere near as warm as they were having it back home in Aberdeenshire where a new Scottish temperature record for March was set yesterday. We walked up to Frederick St and found a nice first floor cafe for brunch. In the afternoon, we decided to head for the Water of Leith walk which stretches all the way from Leith to Balerno. We would be joining it about a quarter of the way along at Dean Bridge.

It was a very pleasant start to the walk but it soon turned sour when we had to leave the peace of the waterside and cross the main road, round Murrayfield and then along towards Saughton. It wasn't helped by a couple of diversions to the walk route, caused apparently by work on the infamous Edinburgh tram system. We also got stopped - twice - by the Police. Nothing we had done wrong, but there was some major incident and they had roped off a large area of Saughton and weren't letting anyone in or out. We've subsequently discovered it was a murder - check http://local.stv.tv/edinburgh/news/301506-death-of-man-in-park-treated-as-suspicious/

We were pretty fed up by now and considered quitting - the walk wasn't anything like as nice as we had believed it to be. However, we decided to carry on for a bit - we managed to pick up the trail again after being choked by fumes and drowned out by heavy traffic around Chesser Avenue. The trail took us round an allotment - I've never seen one that was so heavily fenced off and with barbed wire at the top too - there seemed to be more security here than at nearby Saughton Prison!

The prospect of a quiet pint in the Diggers seemed even more alluring now but we finally made it to the Water of Leith Visitor Centre (http://www.waterofleith.org.uk/centre/) at Slateford. Refreshed by tea, coffee and some of the chocolate that Lucy sent for our birthdays, we set off on the next leg towards Colinton Dell and Juniper Green. What a transformation! All of a sudden, the walk took on a complete new look - quiet, wooded - just as we had hoped. Time for a photo stop:

This also gave me the chance to rest my leg. My right knee was playing up again - I really can't walk pain-free any distance nowadays - especially on hard surfaces. It'll be interesting to see how I get on with this summer's golf - I managed OK last year, but the surgeon told me at the time of my arthroscopies 18 months ago, that I would need to have the right knee replaced fairly soon. The complication I'm concerned about is that, because the injury happened 42 years ago and wasn't fixed properly at the time, I've been compensating for it ever since, and the X-rays clearly showed how bowed both my thigh bone and my shin bone now are - that's what causes the pain. I wonder if there's any clever shoe/insole technology that would help alleviate this? Suggestions on a postcard please.

We did make it to the end of the walk - and I kept my usual track of the stats - although I missed a bit in the middle when I forgot to re-start the app after pausing it!:

I knew that Balerno was in the foothill of the Pentlands, but I didn't realise that we had climbed over 500 feet - not a lot in the great scheme of things, I know, but we just didn't notice any climbing at all - it all seemed fairly flat.

Balerno High School was at the end of the walk. the following picture of the stairs leading down to the school doesn't do it justice - it looks a very smart school indeed - and, in a different life, children, this is where you would all have gone:

Balerno High Street was the next stop in our nostalgia trip:

It wasn't pedestrianised in our days there - 30 years ago! Jo insisted we walk up the hill to the Post Office - just as a wee reminder to Kelly, who used to accompany her Mum there to collect her Child Benefit each week - and she always got a sweet treat for it - Kelly, that is!:

We had a couple of beers in the Grey Horse then took the bus back in to Edinburgh, with the mist fast descending. We got off near Rose St. and looked for somewhere nice to eat. The Abbotsford is a nice pub but I didn't realise it had a nice dining room above it - that was the clincher - good beer and nice, linen tablecloths:

Sunday tales to follow.

A routine week

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Yes, it's going to seem like a long week - 5 consecutive days of work! Today will be enlivened by Jo's birthday and our trip out to Inverurie to pick up Luca this afternoon - the first time for a month. Gary's promised us he's making rhubarb ice cream - can you believe it? Sounds yummy.

Last night I had my endoscopy. I was sedated so I'm not allowed to drive for 24 hours. Jo caught the bus in and met me at the hospital and drove me home. She was also there to take a note of what the Doctor said to me after the procedure - he said I wouldn't remember and he was right - I didn't. Anyway, he confirmed that Friday's ultrasound scan was clear in all areas and he suspects, like the GP did, that it's the baby aspirin that is causing the problems in my stomach. He drew this rough sketch and gave it to Jo and she made her notes on it as well:

After a little confusion, it was confirmed that I need to start taking Omeprazole (the ulcer busting drug) - 20mg - again, and come back to see him in one month.

Apart from that, what else have we been up to? Well, we've ordered a new kitchen, that's all! We finally succumbed after 5 hours of relentless salesmanship by the man from Everest on Saturday. Here's what it should look like:

No island for us, of course - the room's not big enough - but you get an idea of what the units will look like. Chatsworth Buttermilk - that's the model - the dearest in their range we're told - wouldn't you know it! New hob (induction heating), dishwasher and fridge/freezer to boot, plus new lighting.

Our porch is complete now too and the railings and new decking are up on the balcony. The water will definitely run off to the drain OK as they've built in what seems like a huge slope on it - it's visually a bit strange but it's OK to stand on. All we need to do now is get the downstairs WC and shower done - and get rid of the old rusting Merc in the driveway!

On Sunday, it was lovely to get a full round of golf in - in bright, cloudless skies too. In the afternoon, we - well Jo, actually - drove down to Dundee to see Johanne in hospital. She was looking good and she got out yesterday - hope she copes OK at home without her stimulus operating.

Scan clear

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

So I've just got back from my U/S scan and the Doctor told me she didn't see any problems - she was looking for gall stones and couldn't find any, so I get to keep my gall bladder! Next stage is my endoscopy on Monday night.

The builders arrived before 8 am this morning! Will they keep their promise to have the decking all fitted and the railings put back today?

Got a cold call from Everest on Wednesday and, in a weak moment, I agreed to let one of their kitchen consultants come out and see us tomorrow morning. Will we do anything? I don't know.

Back in the saddle

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Well, that's 2 consecutive days in the office completed now. Ross picked us up at Aberdeen airport early on Tuesday morning and, although I could easily have gone in to the office, I decided to stay home and do some work from there - it also gave me a chance to unpack.

Jo and I stayed up until well after 8 pm - a stout effort, considering we had been awake since before midnight UK time. Wednesday was the Aberdeen office and today I was in Fraserburgh. I woke at 5 am today and was in the Broch before 7:30 am, had a busy day and coped OK, although wilting a bit later on.

Nothing happened with the builders on our porch when we were away, but they arrived on Tuesday lunchtime and started the harling, which they finished yesterday - progress at last! Now just the decking on our balcony and replacing the railings - wonder how long that will take?

Tomorrow morning I have my ultrasound scan on my abdomen, so I have to fast from midnight. On Monday evening I get my endoscopy - and hopefully the results afterwards. Jo will come in and drive me home as I will probably be anaestheticised.

Got news last night that Johanne Kilgour had to go back to the hospital in Dundee and have an operation to remove all the stimulation equipment in her body (for her Parkinson's) as it was causing infections and they had to make sure it didn't spread up through the wires to her brain. Poor girl is going to be in pain for up to 6 weeks until it's safe to replace it all.

Singapore

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Sitting here in the BA/Qantas lounge, there's word that we might be getting another upgrade on the flight home - fingers crossed!

Our short stop in Singapore has passed so quickly. We did a lot of walking on Saturday and Sunday and, with it all being on hard surfaces, my poor old right leg suffered pretty badly afterwards. We managed to administer some emergency liquid anaesthetic however and the pain soon went away!

On Saturday we walked through lovely Fort Canning park again. Jo was on a mission to seek out the grave of one of her relatives from long ago who was apparently buried there. Surprise, surprise - it only took us about 5 minutes to find it!:

We then came across the lovely National Museum - and we were already grateful for the air conditioning in there - an escape from the oppressive humidity outside. A cup of tea/coffee and some cakes then off up Orchard Road - the shopping street. One of the malls had external escalators there that took you all the way up to the roof garden at the top. Some of the stretches were long and pretty steep and it was all Jo could do to make it all the way up - saying her prayers and trying to heed Kelly's advices to use words of positive reinforcement to allay her fears. Example - with eyes closed and head turned away from the road beneath - "I am not going to fall to my death on the road below"!

Looking a little more composed on the roof garden:

We finally made it back to the Pump Room for a late lunch, then back to our hotel for a shower and out again on the short stroll to Brewerkz across the river for dinner.

On Sunday we followed the river from our hotel out to the marina and walked all the way round it. The iconic sight of the new Marina Bay Hotel - locals joke about the giant tsunami that caused the boat to land up there - was as much as Jo would do. I tried to persuade her that we should go up to the top deck, but she wouldn't budge. Here's the photo of us on the other side of the marina:

Last night we had dinner at the Sailors restaurant adjacent to our hotel, and today we spent the morning at the poolside, then lunch at Brewerkz again, then some zzz's and a swim - for me anyway - in the afternoon before packing and awaiting our limo to take us back to the airport. They're so efficient, tidy and organised here - our car arrived a full 40 minutes before the scheduled pick-up time and had us at the airport before we were even due to be picked up!

Last few days in Adelaide

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

It's very early in the morning and we're in the Qantas lounge at Adelaide airport, having said our goodbyes to Kelly and Chris last night. It's the start of the long haul for us. We fly to Sydney, where we have a long wait before the next flight to Singapore, arriving there late tonight Singapore time, having gained a few hours on the world clock.

We leave Singapore on Monday night and are due back in Aberdeen at 8:20 on Tuesday morning - then it's back to work for me.

We've had a very quiet last couple of days - just wandering round from park bench to park bench, trying to stay in the shade whilst we read our books. This is a typical scene:

The river Torrens is just hidden from view past the long reeds. This photo was taken on Wednesday and we had lunch nearby, finishing off the remnants from our fridge, washed down by some of the nice beers that Kelly gave me for my birthday - I'd carried them to the park in the James Squire stubby holder that Kelly also gave me.

We went to the Garden of Unearthly Delights - the focal point of the Fringe - on Wednesday night, and we all went veggie in sympathy with Kelly (who's now vegan), eating from this stand:

Yesterday (Thursday) was even lazier - a walk round the parks as usual in the morning, then lunch at the new Store opposite, then we packed and just hung around the apartment until Kelly and Chris arrived after work. I snuck outside the apartment briefly to read my book:

Dinner was at the Lion, the restaurant/pub attached to our apartments. That's all for now.

Cleland Wildlife Park

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Forgot to add that Kelly was off work on Monday and took us up to Cleland Wildlife Park, up beside Mount Lofty in the Adelaide Hills. It was much more interesting than we all suspected/feared. We discovered - and saw, and even fed - some animals we'd never even heard of before. Poteroos, Bandicoots, Echidnas and Bettongs, not to mention Dingoes, Kangaroos, Wallabies, Emus, Wombats and, of course, the cuddly Koalas:

The Tasmanian Devils were in hiding, unfortunately. We were hand feeding a mother Wallaby with its little baby Joey in its pouch, unperturbed.

Nice afternoon out.

Perth back to Adelaide again

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

So what did we do in our last few days in Perth? Well, we had to get a present to take to Chris’ Mum and Dad, who we were going to be staying with on Friday and Saturday night, so we headed off to Sandalford Winery, which was recommended by our resort. It’s a very nice place but it turns out that it’s not their main winery – that’s further south at Margaret River. We saw adverts there for the big gig on Friday at their main place – Stevie Wonder, no less. One day too late for us, I’m afraid. I was driving so it was up to Jo to sample the wines:

We walked round Guildford - a lovely little town and then headed back towards our resort.

I'm glad I was good at the winery because we discovered yet another little microbrewery - Iron Bark - and so I was able to at least take their sampler tray. We had a nice chat with the owner and his wife as they were closing up at 5. Nice, back to basics type of brewery.

Duckstein's brewery was nearer our resort and we also stopped there, but neither of us thought much of their beers. Dinner that night was lovely, however. We went to the fancy restaurant at the resort - Jo loved her meal:

The following day was to be our last in WA before heading off early on Friday morning. I decided I could resist it no more and so I booked a tee time at our resort course and Jo came out in the buggy with me - reading her book and photographing the wildlife and the plants as I played.

So, Friday morning arrived and we got up nice and early and drove towards the airport. I should have pre-programmed the Maps app but I tried to do it on the hoof and it kept directing us towards Perth International Airport - not the Domestic one. No matter, it'll be signposted - oh no, it wasn't. Bit of minor panic, but we made it in the end and had a good 40 minutes in the lounge before the flight took off.

Kelly met us at Adelaide, where we had to put our watches on two and a half hours again. We went back to their house and waited for Chris to come home from work before heading south to Port Elliott to stay with Chris' Mum and Dad for the weekend. It was apparently a typical Aussie road trip - we had to stop at the drive through Bottle-O to stock up on our stubbies for the journey - a new experience for us.

Chris' Mum and Dad are lovely and Lorene - Chris' Mum - had cooked a lovely meal for us. Their house is super too - Lorene loves her garden and David has his beloved TR6 in the garage.

On Saturday morning we walked down to the local market, then headed for coffee, after which we did the local bookshop. In the afternoon, we took a trip to the local microbrewery - yet another one - in Goolwa, then went to the golf club for dinner, joined by Harry (Lorene's uncle) and his wife, Jeanette. We took a photo of the 4 survivors of the boating accident:

Harry looks - and is - very hale and harty after his near miss - and he's going to buy another boat! We've told Kelly she's banned!

On Sunday morning we took the lovely clifftop walk down to the beach cafe, after which we headed for Victor Harbor, where the boat rescue was. We walked across the bridge to Granite Island and soon it was time to bid our farewells to David and Lorene, who we hope to see in the UK some time in the future.

Chris took us to lunch at McLaren Vale, home of many well known wineries, then we headed off for some sampling. Our second stop was especially beautiful - a lovely little boutique winery with beautiful gardens and views over the valley. We sat on the decking in the prime spot:

So that was our weekend. We're now staying in apartments in North Adelaide, just a short stroll from the city centre through some nice greenery. We went to one of the Adelaide fringe shows on Monday night and we celebrated my birthday last night at a nice little Japanese restaurant with a teppanyaki table - that was a good laugh. Here's Jo and I trying to catch some flying pancakes:

That's me up to date - battery running low and coffee finished, so it's off to the park for us.

Just the two of us in WA

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Kelly and Chris are back at work in Adelaide this week, so it's just Jo and I here at the lovely Vines resort. It's a struggle but we're making the best of it.

What have we been up to? Not a lot really - just taking it easy. We've had a pretty hectic schedule up until now so it's probably not a bad thing for us to just chill for a little while.

We've used the pool and read our books - in the shade of course. Our old skins have seen enough sun over our lives and we have to be a bit more careful now than we used to be. We decided to try one of the many local microbreweries for lunch yesterday. We'd already had a takeaway from The Mash, so we went another 200 yards or so to Duckstein's - but it was shut on Monday. OK - let's try Elmar's - less than half a mile away. Strewth! That's shut too - Mondays and Tuesdays:

OK - last attempt - check the map and head for Feral Brewery (http://www.feralbrewing.com.au/). What a good move - a lovely little place in a nice, quiet, remote location. Only problem is that I'm driving!

Yesterday (Tuesday), we went for a drive - no specific area in mind, just a wander to look around. I got our directions a bit mixed up and we ended up spending a bit more time in the car than I'd planned, but we did finally make it Joondalup and we headed for the ocean. What beautiful beaches and dunes - pity I hadn't brought my swimmers - but I had a quick paddle anyway:

That's all for now, folks.

Wildlife report

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

We all travelled across the continent to Perth on Friday - 3 hour flight, but gaining two and a half hours of time, meant we almost arrived when we left! We couldn't have timed it better with another heatwave descending on South Australia, taking temperatures in Adelaide up in to the high 30's, whilst Western Australia was experiencing a much cooler spell - mid-high 20's - much more comfortable.

We picked up our hire car - oh how I hate that experience - why are they never ready for you? - and drove up the Swan Valley, WA's "Valley of Taste" as they call it. Our resort is an upmarket golf resort, with 2 superb courses with an international reputation. The apartment is very nice too and, every evening as the sun goes down, a mob of kangaroos bounds across the golf course and stops just opposite our place for their supper. They're as prevalent here as rabbits on our courses back home:

Staying on the wildlife theme, we spotted another huge beaut of a spider outside one of the apartments here:

We had dinner on Friday night with Kelly's pal and former Aberdeen flatmate, Sophie and her daughter. Then, on Saturday morning, I awoke to a dawn chorus of a family of magpies on our balcony:

What a racket they make. As Chris said, Australian birds don't seem to sing like European birds - they squawk.

Jumping forward to Sunday, in Kings park in Perth, we saw a praying mantis, dancing up a wall:

On Saturday, Chris wanted to take us down to Fremantle and visit a well known microbrewery there, Little Creatures. Logistics were proving a bit difficult - we didn't want to take the car and seriously considered hiring a limo, but a cost of A$200 or so rather put us off. Chris eventually found a good public transport solution - walk a mile or so to the bus, then connect with the train - total cost just A$18 for all of us - bargain! It's about the only thing that's cheap out here - especially given the current exchange rate. Beers for £8 - £9 are at Scandinavian levels.

Fremantle is a funky little town - whilst still also being a big container port. Like other places on the edge of the world - Key West, for instance - it attracts more than its fair share of hippies/dropouts/alternative lifestyles. We also discovered it has not just one, but three microbreweries, so the day become a bit of a circular pub crawl between all three, interspersed with coffee stops and a brief nap in the park.

Little Creatures was excellent - a huge modern brewpub in the American style, sitting right on the harbour front. We had lunch there, but supper was at the Monk, which is much smaller and on the main street, just opposite the Sail and Anchor, a proper old fashioned pub with a huge selection of brews in an old colonial building:

Jo reckoned they had the coolest toilets she'd ever been in. Later on, we returned there and sat upstairs on the balcony:

Sunday was quieter - we drove in to Perth, had a coffee and strolled round the malls, then bought supplies for a picnic in King's park, which overlooks the city and the Swan river estuary:

We walked round the gardens and across the glass bridge - Jo a little tentatively:

Then we drove Kelly and Chris back to the airport and their flight back to Adelaide, so Jo and I are now on our own again for a few days, until we return to Adelaide on Friday.