Friday 13th

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Yes, it's that dreaded date again today - although I had my own Friday the 13th moment yesterday. I was leaving Fraserburgh after our morning Management meetings and driving south to Monifieth for an afternoon's golf. I was a little later than I had intended and not really concentrating on my speed and, sure enough, I got done by one of the hand-held devices.

The police car pulled out behind me from the side of the road where it had been lurking behind some tall hedges, and, within seconds, the blue lights were flashing and I had to pull in. "On the spot" fine - i.e. pay within 28 days or we prosecute - and 3 points on my (clean) licence:

Sod's law, the fine has just gone up from £60 to £100 - just my luck. I think I'm more annoyed with myself because I'm very aware of the number of fixed and mobile cameras up here in rural NE Scotland - and the heavy police presence seemingly constantly monitoring speeding motorists. When I get on to the dual carriageways south of Aberdeen, I always use my cruise control, but the country roads are not really suitable for that.

Still, it's my first offence for a long time - first this millennium, I think - not too bad when you consider the amount of driving I've done over the years - a bit less, nowadays admittedly.

Nothing else new really. Just counting down the weeks - 7 weeks today until my knee op, which means it's only 5 weeks on Sunday when I head off to Tenerife for my last golf (in a buggy) of the year. Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing the right thing - especially when my golf has been so good for most of this year - just yesterday I beat all my mates again at Monifieth - but then I remember the pain I get when playing - especially if more than once a week. Maybe next year I'll be even better with my new knee? My work colleague Brian is having his knee replacement operation as we speak - hope it goes well for him - he's really been hirpling in recent months.

9/11

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Yes, it still sends a bit of a shiver down your spine when you suddenly realise what day it is - although here in Britain, the day and month are more commonly transposed to 11/9, but we've got very used to the American way of saying it.

It's always a bit like the Kennedy assassination in 1963 - where were you when ...? I recall both incidents vividly - I was 14 years old and heading off to Scouts when we heard about the former, and I was in our boardroom in Fraserburgh when Ross called me on the day of the latter.

We had been in New York just 8 weeks prior on our way to Scott and Lucy's wedding. In fact, we had been in the World Trade Center at that time. This is Jo, Kelly and Ross walking across the concourse with the twin towers dominating the skyline:

We were next back in New York in 2004 - just Kelly, Jo and I this time - and I, for one, was pretty spooked out when visiting Ground Zero, as it then was:

Scary times.

On the latter occasion, we also visited another spooky spot - the Dakota building where John Lennon was shot in 1980:

Back to the present - Fraserburgh again tomorrow, hopefully to see our new mackerel canning line running this time - then heading south to Monifieth for an afternoon's golf - if the weather behaves.

On Friday one of my colleagues, who has been limping about with a stick for the last few months since his knee arthroscopy failed, is having a knee replacement operation. I look forward to swapping knee stories with him in due course.

On Saturday, there's a CAMRA branch meeting in Ballater and, as it's only once in a blue moon that they hold their meetings in Deeside, I think it might be a worth a bus trip down.

Sunday is golf at Newburgh and I have the possibility of golf at Royal Aberdeen on Tuesday and Castle Stuart on Wednesday, immediately prior to us going to Belfast on the Friday. That's about all my immediate plans for now, I think.

Holiday home

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

When I got back from Fraserburgh yesterday - and Jo had finished her tea and scones with the girls - we walked up to Inchmarlo to view the lodge that we are planning to book for the Lesinas and Steele-Stewarts over Christmas/New Year. The lodges are probably about one third of a mile on from the Inchmarlo Golf Centre, making it about a mile or so from Arbor Court - but it's a very nice tree-lined walk - especially downhill!

They gave us a golf buggy to drive up to look at the Lodge - No. 31. It's one of only a few 3-bedroom lodges available and it shares a building with another 3-bedroom lodge, which faces a different angle. There are 3 bedrooms, each with twin beds, downstairs at ground level - one of them has an en suite and there is a separate bathroom as well. The lounge and kitchen/dining room space are upstairs:

taken from the kitchen area looking towards the balcony

taken from the lounge area looking towards the kitchen

looking out at the south facing balcony and Scolty Hill beyond

looking back from the balcony doors towards the stairs and kitchen

entrance to the east

external view - no. 31 is on the right of building as you look at it

So, there you are. Just over 14 weeks to go. Taking this lodge also means that anybody else who wants to stay in Banchory overnight can do so at our house - we'll have plenty of room.

Staying in holiday vein, Jo and I last night finally got round to viewing the DVD we got from Marriott when we bought the additional time with them this summer when we were in Lake Tahoe. The whole concept of time-share has changed and you no longer buy fixed weeks at one resort - it's now all points based and you can use them for different periods in different places - and include cruises, flights and excursions if you want. Need to start thinking about next year soon - although the Lesinas might be having a lot of visitors in 2014 - Lucy's friend Lorna is planning to go over in July, and Gary, Carole and Luca later in the year.

On to medical matters now - I noticed in the business press that Smith & Nephew have introduced a new knee joint - probably a little late for my operation:

Looks like a piece of kit, doesn't it?

At work, the large new mackerel processing line being installed in our canning plant is suffering the usual teething problems. I had rushed up yesterday, hoping to see it in full operation, but the snagging list isn't quite done yet.

Closing, I noticed that all the windows in Ross' flat were wide open at 7:30 am this morning - perhaps the aftermath of the weekend parties?

Weekend

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

We had Luca overnight on Friday, so we walked up to the High St. with him on Saturday morning, stopping for a coffee on the sun deck at the rear of the Douglas. We also stopped off at the War Memorial on the way back and played running games with Luca - well Luca and Jo did, as I watched. The two of them sat down on the wall to rest:

Back home, Jo prepared Ross' birthday lunch - roast beef and Yorkshire puds - and then they lit his cake with 30 candles:

Gary was a late arrival. He had completed the half marathon at Aberfeldy in the fabulous time of 1:37 - 10 minutes faster than his first attempt at this distance. His drive back up the road wasn't very comfortable, however, and he had to stop a few times - throwing up and then sleeping - but he got here eventually and soon recovered after a hot bath and some food.

Ross had initially indicated that he was going to have a quiet night in, but we live in a small town and the jungle drums told us today that there was a party after all! He is still living alone - the guy who was going to be his flatmate has proved to be elusive - but he's now going to have his friend Harris' half sister coming over from America for a while to stay with him, so that'll at least cut his outgoings a bit.

Today, the weather was even nicer and, after golf, we sat on the balcony for a while:

That's all for now from me. Fraserburgh tomorrow.

Ross 30!

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

How did this:

turn in to this so quickly?:

Happy 30th, Ross - look forward to late lunch today - and perhaps a beer or two.

Knee replacement

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

I've been told I'll be called in about 10 days before my op to have a pre-assessment, and I've been directed to a web site to read some more about it - http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00389

Just 8 weeks to go.

Tomorrow I'll be picking up Luca from school for a sleepover to allow his Dad to leave at the crack of dawn on Saturday and head for his half marathon at Aberfeldy - and his Mum to do her horsey thing. Gary will come back to ours mid-afternoon and we'll have a late lunch/early tea with Ross to celebrate his 30th birthday.

What happened to the last week?

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

I didn't realise it had been over a week since my last blog posting - where has the time gone? I guess I've been pretty involved with end of season golf tournaments - it was the last night of our weekly Quaich competition last Wednesday (came 2nd again - to somebody 15 years younger than me), then it was the annual Terry Edmonds' Memorial competition at Aboyne on Friday (2nd again!) followed by our biennial weekend at Boat of Garten (yes, you've guessed it - 2nd again!).

In between we had Luca with us on Saturday as Gary went over the hill to compete in the Stoney Stomp (www.stoneystomp.org.uk) - just the run bit - and didn't he do well, finishing 6th. This weekend he's off at the crack of dawn to run in the Aberfeldy half marathon, whilst we look after Luca again. It's Ross' big 3-0 on Saturday so we're planning to have a meal together when Gary returns from Aberfeldy.

When we had Luca last Saturday, we took him for a walk to Tease to see his Uncle Ross. On the way, he wanted to climb up the grassy knoll at Corsee Road - you know the one that used to have "Bonnie Banchory" on it. He climbed up:

then posed at the top:

then, of course, I had to climb up, so Granny Jo had to follow:

on this occasion, she had almost got to the top when she started sliding down again on her knees. Eventually Jo did get there:

Luca was a little less certain on the downward descent:

The only other news I have is that I've finally fixed a date for my knee replacement operation - it's Friday 1st November - just after I get back from Tenerife. I guess I'll have to miss the Stonehaven Beer Festival this year.

Hansons home

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Yes, we survived our weekend with Brian & Mary - and so did they! It was golf, golf, golf - with a bit of beer thrown in - for Brian and I, and it seemed it was chat, chat, chat for Jo & Mary. If only my legs had as much stamina as their tongues!

Three consecutive days in shorts for Brian and I - Aboyne on Friday afternoon was very pleasant, and, although it rained overnight on Friday, and again on Saturday afternoon, we escaped it all when we played at Banchory on Saturday morning - and Sunday was much nicer after some early mist.

We met Jo & Mary on Friday evening at the Potarch Hotel for some supper, and we all had fish and chips. Brian and I suffered on Saturday morning, however - I'll spare you the details, but we were walking very carefully on the golf course.

On Saturday night, Brian treated us to a curry at the Derbar/Mohammed's - and it was excellent - the best we've had there for a while. Here's the girls:

It was a profitable weekend for Brian - in the 2 team tournaments we played at Banchory, he won a dozen balls for getting nearest the pin at the 3rd hole (almost a hole in one!), then we came 2nd in the team event on Sunday, winning £25 each. Here he was in action on Sunday:

Brian had just bought a new car last week:

Good fun - although Mary left her bag and purse behind at ours!

That Friday feeling again

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Yes - another week's work almost complete. A few hours in the office then home for lunch. Mary and Brian will be there, so we're planning to head down to Aboyne for some golf this afternoon - weather permitting - then meet up at the Potarch Hotel for supper.

Golf at Banchory on Saturday and Sunday - two tournaments that Brian is playing in with me. I'll be ready for a rest on Sunday. I can almost feel my legs - especially my knee - groaning now.

Nothing much to report on the medical front, despite Jo being back at the Doctor's for a follow-up on Wednesday, and me having my annual check-up with the cardiologist last night. They still haven't quite got to the bottom of why Jo has been getting these pains in her chest/ribs, and it's really just more of the same treatment, plus regular monitoring.

Nothing much has changed with my heart either. I still have AF, of course - always will have - it never goes away - but there's been no great change over the last year. The cardiologist says my heart is still strong - it's just the irregular rhythm that presents the risk of stroke, particularly as I get older. They play the statistical game and they reckon that 65 is about the time that I will need to consider changing from my existing daily baby aspirin on to a stronger blood thinner.

Until now, this has usually meant taking Warfarin, but I have an aversion to this after what happened to Mum when she had her fall. They couldn't get the coagulant to work in time to operate. My cardiologist says that by next year I should be able to get my GP to agree to prescribe the new drug they now have to replace Warfarin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabigatran). It's more expensive, but a number of NHS areas are now prescribing it, so I'm hopeful my GP can be persuaded to do so next year as well.

Warfarin requires regular monitoring of blood and can interfere with other drugs. The new drug doesn't require any monitoring and no reactions with other drugs have yet been recorded. It usually doesn't need a coagulant antidote as it doesn't cause bleeding like Warfarin does - although they do say that if you do bleed, there's currently no antidote to stop it!

In other news, Ross was round last night and he was telling us his flatmate (who has paid his share of the rent) is finally back in Banchory and is planning to move in over the next few days. That'll mean a bit of a change to Ross' lifestyle - he's been on his own in the flat for a couple of months now. He did have a temporary lodger for a few days however - a girl who worked in the Douglas, but had a bad time with her violent boyfriend, who made the local news when the police came to take him away - http://www.deesidepiper.co.uk/news/local-headlines/police-present-at-banchory-square-1-3053870

To finish, it was Barry's 59th birthday yesterday. He's looking forward to getting his bus pass next year! Here's he and Helen earlier on this year:

Has he changed much since they were married back in 1994?:

Fringe weekend then back to work

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

After working from home on Friday morning, we set off to catch the train at Stonehaven at lunchtime, first of all picking up the Kilgours, who were joining us for a weekend's Fringe-ing in Edinburgh.

We had a mini-crisis trying to get in to the apartment we had booked. Entry was by a couple of keys and a password, which I didn't appear to have. All was eventually sorted after a couple of frantic phone calls, so we then headed back up town to check out where our first show was.

Walking up Leith Walk, we came to the big roundabout at Picardy Place and spotted a statue I had never noticed before:

On George St., it was called Johnnie Walker's Guest Night, when the Radio 2 DJ interviewed a well-known celebrity - tonight it was the impressionist John Culshaw - and he was very good at it, although the "interview" lacked a little fluency in places.

We had time for dinner at a Thai restaurant - http://www.phuket-pavilion.co.uk/index.html - and then went for a couple of beers before our late show - Bangalore Rock, which, surprisingly, didn't feature even the slightest flavour of Indian or Eastern influences. Tight band, however.

On Saturday morning, we had brunch at Cafe Marlayne on Leith St., then walked towards the Royal mile to take in some street shows, then picked up an unplanned show, which turned out to be very good - Lead Pencil. When we came out, we spotted another Sherlock connection at the University:

Music next - http://www.johnhunt.org/festival.html. Sort of like Seasick Steve, but it was warm downstairs in the Jazz Cafe.

We made a quick stop at the BrewDog bar in the Cowgate then off to the next show - A Brief History of Beer - this was what we called our "Jesus" moment, recalling a cringeworthy solo show of the same name a few years ago. Some interesting facts, but the fast-paced Star Trek presentation was all wrong - but it was a free show after all.

We found a nice little bistro with an outdoor walled garden and had dinner there before our last show of the day:

Hardeep Singh Kohli was very funny early on when talking about growing up as a Sikh in Glasgow, but when he moved on to the subject matter of his show, which was titled Hardeep is Your Love - even now, I can't get the Bee Gees' damned tune out of my head - he rambled a bit and seemed to lose the thread a little.

On Sunday we had nothing planned. We took breakfast outdoors at a little cafe just off the Royal Mile then just wandered up the temporarily pedestrianised High St. and took in some of the free street shows:

Colin, Jo & Johanne watch the slack wire performer from a vantage point.

We then stumbled across Gladstone's Land (http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/Gladstones-Land/), which gave us an opportunity to use our National Trust membership cards for the first time for a while.

Coffee and scones next at The Hub (http://www.thehub-edinburgh.com/), after which we wandered up to the Castle, where Colin took this photo:

I should explain here that Jo is trying to tell Colin to raise the lens higher to take in the Castle ramparts. I decided I had to take over:

From up here, we could see out across the Firth of Forth to Fife:

The stands for the Tattoo on the Castle Esplanade are pretty permanent-looking fixtures nowadays, unlike my memories of Mum taking me there many years ago, sitting in rickety seats, blasted by the cold wind:

From the highest point of the town, we walked down various flights of stairs to the Grassmarket. It started to rain so we thought we'd best take shelter and watch a show - https://www.facebook.com/theyeariwasgifted. We knew it was a one woman show in a small venue, but perhaps didn't quite realise quite how gay the theme was - and how small the audience would be. We almost doubled the attendance! It was pretty good, however.

We caught the train home and were back in the house by 7:30 pm. Tea, toasted cheese, plus some old episodes of Corrie - nice to be home.

On another note, Jo goes back to the Doctor's this week. She was there last Wednesday to see about the recurring pain she gets in her ribs/chest area. The GP actually gave her 2 hours of her time, testing everything she could. She reckoned there's nothing wrong with Jo's bones and she wanted to also try to eliminate any heart issues, other than Jo's known angina, which is being treated. Jo's now been put on Omiprazole, which is an anti-ulcer drug (I used to use it too) to counteract any indigestion issues confusing the picture. Watch this space.

Continuing on matters of health, I'm back to the cardiologist for my annual check-up this Thursday.

St. Andrews for me tomorrow and we have Mary and Brian coming up for the weekend on Friday, but that's about all for this week, I think.

Friday again

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

It's a week since my last blog posting and I'm pleased to say that Kelly is at last making some progress and has been able to move around a little. She and Chris are even planning to head down to the coast this weekend to see Chris' parents - hope all goes well. Here's a couple of snaps of little Miller:

I'm working from home this morning - we're heading off to Edinburgh at lunchtime for a weekend of Fringe-ing. Last weekend, we paid a quick trip to Elderslie for me to play in Brian's Invitational tournament and next weekend, he and Mary are coming up here. The weekend after that is Boat of Garten, so my first weekend at home since June is likely to be 7/8 September - Ross' 30th birthday weekend.

It's 22 years ago today that Jo's Dad passed. Here's a wee memory of he and Lottie sunning themselves in our back garden in Broxbourne back in 1975:

Terrible events in Egypt - don't know how that's going to work out - can't see an easy solution. This could create a huge ripple effect. Really disappointed to see that Belfast seems to be heading in the wrong direction again as well - and we're heading there in just a few weeks' time. I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't go to any of Graham Parker's UK mainland shows, but I'm in Tenerife that week. Those gigs he is playing with his reformed band (The Rumour) from 30 years ago, but the other European gigs he is playing solo, which is a little disappointing - but, hey ho.

Friday already

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Yes, it's been a strange week - I don't know whether I'm coming or going - but the weekend is almost here already. I think I would like a 3 day week every week.

Still not got a settled sleep pattern - usually waking about 3 am every morning, although it was 6:30 am yesterday - the very day I did want to be up early as I had to go to Fraserburgh. I experienced some severe pain in my foot yesterday and it got so bad that I couldn't put any weight on my left foot at all. It was a struggle to get from my office to the car and then to drive home with a manual clutch.

Jo got me a bag of frozen peas to put on it last night as we caught up with some of our Sky box recordings (mostly old Corries) and that helped a bit, and today it seems a little better. I had no idea how it happened - the foot was fine when I went to bed on Wednesday night after golf, but it was suggested to me that it might be caused by fallen arches. After all, I had been waddling around for a month on flip-flops ("thongs" to those Down Under) and suddenly on Wednesday night I was wearing my golf shoes again with the orthotic wedges in them, which raise the arch, then it was back to work shoes on Thursday.

I've taken the precaution of putting the wedges in my work shoes this morning and it definitely seems to have helped. Fingers crossed.

I received the online link to our digital photos that were taken at the Venetian, Las Vegas - try http://store.cashmanphoto.com/create/image-creation-gs.aspx?a=AlwdrCOtoRdQZf3R9jlE to view them with the code VEGD-7RQ5-UH6R.

That's about it for today. Jo and I are making a very quick trip down to Elderslie and back tomorrow, as I promised to play in Brian's team at his club's Men's Invitational Day. Brian himself is up in Banchory the weekend of 24th/25th August to play in the same thing at my club.

Another future event is my annual trip to see my cardiologist on Thursday 22nd August.

Ross

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

OK - change of plan - here's Ross with his shorter haircut - courtesy of Gary, who seems to be getting a bit of a wigging here from Ross:

Back at work

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

We stayed up till 10 pm last night, watching the semi-final and the final of The Apprentice, which was aired in the UK just after we left to go to USA. Amazingly, we managed to avoid finding out who won, so it was fun to watch it "as live".

Ross came over with fish suppers for our tea. He looks very smart with his hair shorter - but we didn't ask him to pose for a photo.

So, after not sleeping on the plane on Monday night and then staying up until 10 pm last night, you would have thought I would sleep for 10 hours last night, wouldn't you? You would be wrong - I woke at 2:45 am, but refused to get up then. I rolled around until 5:30 am and eventually got up and came in to the office.

I wonder how long I will last here? It's Wednesday and, after tonight, there's only 3 weeks left of our midweek golf - how sad. I'll see how I'm feeling later on, but I'd like to play tonight - if I can stay awake.

Fraserburgh tomorrow - and I've got some organising to do, after the tragic accident a couple of weeks ago when Ken's (my right hand man) 14 year old son was knocked down and killed on his bike. I spoke to Ken on the phone when we were away and told him to stay away from work as long as he needed. Hope he's coping OK.

It's all happening a bit too soon, but we're travelling down to Elderslie on Saturday - it's the annual Invitational tournament at Brian's club. Ideally I would have preferred our first weekend back to be spent at home, but hey ho. The weekend after that we're off to the Fringe, so no rest for the party-goers.

That's it for now - although, I may have a couple of travel-related rants on My Pet Hates blog later on - if I have time.