All set

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Wet weather in Antalya just now - but forecast to improve from Friday. FCO travel advisory to Turkey still unchanged, so it looks like all systems go for our early morning flight from Glasgow tomorrow. Hope they don't have the mist/fog we had in the NE early this morning.

Got my implant cap re-cemented yesterday - although I had to wait over an hour for a dentist to see me.

I'm in the office today, seemingly spending my time thinking about all the things I forgot to do, or items I've forgotten to pack. It was ever thus.

Incidentally, the BMW 520d saloon I've got just now is a lovely car - it's going to be hard going back down to my own little 320d Tourer when they eventually fix it.

That's all for now, folks.

Wedding invitation

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

We got the official invitations yesterday to Malcolm and Lauren's wedding in June, so I've now been on their wedding website (http://www.malcolmandlauren.gettingmarried.co.uk/) and RSVP'd on behalf of Jo, Ross and I. We had already, of course, received our pre-invites so we knew when the date was. We'll be staying at the Chestnuts Hotel, where I stayed about 15 years ago on a golf outing. It was a glorious weekend then - let's hope for the same again.

Apparently no after-affects from my little crash yesterday - a little bump and some blood on the top of my head - that's all, I think. Today, I've managed to get an emergency appointment at the Dentist this afternoon to hopefully get the cap re-cemented on to my implant before I head off to Glasgow tomorrow, en route to Turkey for our golf week. We've arranged for a table for 9 of us - including Brian H - in the Fox and Hounds, Houston for dinner tomorrow night - and to watch the Chelsea - Barcelona match.

Stephen Thomson, the builder, was back at our house yesterday and has levelled off the decking, which formerly had a large sloping run-off. None of us knew he was coming yesterday and Jo wanted to show him the drips on the new harling, which she hoped he could help us avoid somehow:

Yes - I know - it's upside down. Jo took it on her i-Pad and sent it to me at work this morning. I have the same problem with the i-Phone - if you take a photo in Landscape, I can never remember which way is up!

That's about all for today - although I have now added number three to My Pet Hates blog.

A weekend to remember and a Monday to forget

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

It was all going along so nicely - we had a good time in Nairn this weekend - and then, this morning - bang! - literally.

I got to Oldmeldrum and was heading round the (relatively) new bypass, almost through the middle roundabout, when a black Passat comes shooting in from the left, not even slowing down, let alone stopping, as she approached the roundabout. The impact was on my rear left (nearside) wheel and it spun my car round about 90 degrees.

I was a little shocked and, later on, I noticed I had a slight cut and bump on the top of my head, but, otherwise fine. The driver of the Passat was in shock - she apologised but her English wasn't too good, but her son wrote down her name and address for me.

I tried to drive on, but the impact had knocked the wheel off centre and the car was wobbling all over the road, so I pulled in and made all the phone calls and waited for the recovery vehicle. Three hours later, I was in my office at Bridge of Don, after having had to persuade the recovery truck to take me there - they were going to leave me to fend for myself!

I now have a nice replacement BMW:

Back to Nairn now - nice weekend - check out Jo's blog for some photos and stories, but here's a few more:

Jo with Scottish Tapas in the Old Mill Inn, Brodie

The Garden of the Golf View Hotel, looking out to sea - note the old sauna cabin in the corner.

 It was 25 years ago that we stayed at the Golf View Hotel - but neither of us can remember whether we went there as a couple, or the kids came along? Help.

From just outside our hotel (the Braeval), whose bar is named the Bandstand.

Brodie Castle

Findhorn Bay

On top of the Ice House at Findhorn.

Medical issues

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Last night I was back to Albyn Hospital to see the doctor who did the endoscopy. He was quite happy - no ulcers, no cancer, but he showed me the photographs he took of the lumps at the foot of my stomach, caused by my daily aspirin - they're the ones that are causing the discomfort and bad taste. He described the stomach as a kind of food blender - once it had done all its work and mushed everything up, it would all drop down to the bowel below:

He initially suggested I should carry on taking Omeprazole, which lines the stomach and prevents the aspirin from doing further damage. However, when I enquired whether there was any alternative to taking yet another drug for the rest of my life, he said yes - I could change from dispersible aspirin to enteric coated aspirin, which doesn't dissolve properly until it's past the stomach and in the bowel. I said I would like to try this and he agreed. However, if I ever have to take any other pain-killers/Ibuprofen etc - as I will when I get my right knee replaced - then I will have to go back on Omeprazole - probably starting a couple of weeks beforehand.

This morning it was my annual visit to the Cardio Clinic in Banchory. The nurse always has problems finding a vein to draw blood from, but this morning it was even more difficult. She gave up on my left arm and eventually found blood on the right. Perhaps the chest infection/man flu I've been suffering from made things worse? My blood pressure was really low - 100/60 - she wondered whether I felt faint? It was no surprise that my weight was worse than last year - up 3 kgs at 87 kgs. I blamed Australia!

I decided I would try a few holes of golf this afternoon - it was nice to get out in the fresh air again, but I couldn't manage a full round. I've also cancelled tomorrow morning's medal.

At tea time tonight, more medical - or specifically, dental - problems. My implant came out when I was clearing the gap between my teeth after our steaks. It looks like it just glues on to the rod:

Enough about my failing body - I'm off to the pub.

Another blog starts up!

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Greetings from sunny but windy Fraserburgh. We got back from Dan Cattigan's funeral yesterday in good time, despite a fairly Senior Moment. If you recall, I had met Jo at Stracathro on Tuesday afternoon, where she had left her car overnight. Of course, on the way back, it was the top of Cairn o' Mount before Jo suddenly exclaimed "my car!". Whoops - back we go.

We stayed with Mary and Brian and had dinner at theirs. We saw Julie at the church in the morning - and also Margaret, who also came back to the reception at the Water Wheel. Jo made a point of going over to talk to her and congratulate her on recently becoming a Grannie - Lyndsay had a baby. It would be nice to think that this could lead to a thawing in relationships, but we'll just have to wait and see.

As the blog headline says, I've started another one. I was "inspired" on the drive down and I thought why not? Check out http://curmudgeonlyramblings.blogspot.co.uk/

That's really all for now.

Not a well boy

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

The snow early last week lay on the golf course for a couple of days, which meant we couldn't get our usual Wednesday night match - nor the attempted replay on Thursday. At the 3rd time of asking, we finally managed to play on Friday - in fairly good conditions too - but, by then, I wasn't feeling too good. I've been coughing away, keeping myself - and, no doubt, Jo - awake through the night.

I was absolutely shattered after golf and went straight home to bed, and spent the rest of the weekend at home with my feet up. I think I'm on the mend now - I was back in the Aberdeen office yesterday, and today I'm in Fraserburgh. This afternoon, I'm meeting Jo at Stracathro and we're driving down to spend the night at Mary and Brian's before heading off to "Uncle" Dan's funeral in the morning.

We've also got a quick trip to Nairn this weekend. It's somewhere Jo, in particular, has always wanted to go back to. We had a fantastic weekend there back in 1987, when the sun shone gloriously - it was the middle of summer then, but this weekend isn't going to be as good as that one was - but there is always the Bandstand Beer Festival at our hotel! - 68 ales, plus 6 premium lagers and 6 ciders - if there's any left (it's the last day of the festival on Saturday) - check out http://www.braevalhotel.co.uk/bandstandbeerfestival.asp

I'm also starting to get organised for my first golf trip of the year - Turkey again next Thursday - perhaps! Jo's concerned about the troubles in neighbouring Syria, so I decided to check the latest advice from the FCO website, and their official position is Orange - the first level of warning - "Avoid all but essential travel to parts of the country":

We are flying to Antalya, at the other end of the country on the Mediterranean coast, so hopefully it'll be OK.

Finally, for my Australasian readers, particularly those residing in Adelaide who should know better, this is where the "real" Grampians (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grampian_Mountains) are:

They're not anywhere near Melbourne, Victoria, where I understand some phoney alternatives are!

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.