Autumn begins

There's definitely been a change in the weather these last couple of days - we've gone from a positively balmy 20C in Aberdeen at the start of the week to a cold early blast of winter. It's a bit better today - dry is always good - and it's supposed to be heating up a little again soon.

Jo and I were discussing the energy situation last night, following the posts on my previous blog about our home fuel bills (ours was the top line in each of the graphs - three or four times the level of comparable houses). Although we put our heating on for a couple of days a few weeks ago, it's been back off again since then - although we think we'll have to put it on again pretty soon.

Our back sitting room, where we watch the big TV, is always pretty warm, but it sits immediately above the utility room, which has the boiler in it. We're baffled however, by how cold our kitchen has become since we got the new one installed. It used to be the warmest room in the house, but it's pretty cold now. Jo thinks there's a draft getting in under the new skirting boards - but where can the draft come from? There's no external wall opening behind our kitchen units. Baffled of Banchory.

Jo, in conversation with Ross, has come up with a plan - insulate the garage wall and ceiling that are adjacent to and underneath our hall and front lounge respectively. Sounds fairly sensible, but who do you get to do it? It would be really good to get a second opinion on this, but all the companies that contact you under the Government's Green Deal (https://www.gov.uk/green-deal-energy-saving-measures/how-the-green-deal-works) just seem to want to sell you Solar Panels. We've looked at them and rejected the idea - too many tall trees in front of us.

Anyway, on to other matters. Just 3 weeks today until my knee op. I spoke to BUPA about it to get the authorisation number and they advised me to check out their web site on this subject - http://clinic.bupa.co.uk/. I completed the self assessments on this site and they worked out I didn't need the operation yet! They don't feel what I feel. I know I do.

Despite - or perhaps because of - the imminent operation, I was determined to fit in my last ever games of squash and we finally managed a game of doubles last night. It was great fun - I'm going to really miss this. We're all getting older together and squash is nowhere near as intense as it used to be, but it's still very enjoyable. It does hurt today, however, and I'll probably struggle this afternoon at golf, but hey ho. We've got our Headbang tonight to look forward to as well - no effort required there.

To close, it was 4 years ago today that Dad passed. Although I didn't know him then - he was only 20 in this photo - I thought it best to show a photo of his younger days, rather than towards the end:

Energy review

Three trips to Fraserburgh last week, followed by golf at Aboyne on Friday afternoon and my back was knackered. I was like a half shut knife - it took me ages to straighten up after sitting down. I have a lower back support on the back of my seat when I'm driving but I suspect the car journeys are taking their toll - especially as my job is essentially sedentary as well.

I felt like I had flu coming on yesterday morning, but I managed to play golf at Edzell with Ian Sharp, John McWhinnie and Ken Bruce - the latter being Ian's brother-in-law who we went on group golfing holidays with back in the 90's.

I'm feeling a little better today but still a little stiff in the back - I hope the next 2 days of driving to and from the Broch don't make this any worse.

Last night, I headed down to the Stag to watch the Partick Thistle v Hibs match - it was on BT Sport, which we don't have. Ross joined us there, but we were both a little disappointed by the result - an undeserved 0-1 defeat for the Jags.

I received an e-mail from our energy supplier and they provided some interesting graphs of our gas and electricity consumption this year:

Note how we were running at three or four times the level of similar sized homes until the last couple of months. What changed then? Well, we were away for most of July and it was a warm summer too, but there may be one other factor - we no longer have a "lodger"! Hope Ross' bills for his flat aren't anything like we had!

In cost terms, the figures are:

Frightening figures aren't they? I think we'll need more draught-proofing and insulation this winter. What are the biggest culprits? Heating, of course:

Still warm here today but they say the change is coming tonight - temperatures are expected to plummet, so we could be getting our first taste of winter soon.

It's Tuesday evening and I'm home alone - Jo's at Inverurie. She left me a lovely ashet pie of chicken, mushroom and peas - just the ticket for a dark autumn evening.

I discovered today that Graham Parker, who we saw playing solo in Belfast recently, is coming back to London next year to play another gig with his band, the Rumour. I'm missing out on the full group experience this year as their gigs are while I'm in Tenerife, so I think I have to plan a trip to London on June 6th next year.

We've got another Headbang this Friday - I'll try to make sure it doesn't go on too long as Jo and I both have appointments for our flu jabs first thing on Saturday morning.

Must go now - think I'll try and phone Marriott and see what we can do for our overseas holidays next year.

Autumnal update

Yes - it definitely feels and looks like autumn now. The weather's still pretty good, but you sense the change of season - and the nights are fair drawin' in - as George Donald (Scotland the What) might have said. He passed yesterday, leaving just Buff Hardie of the trio still alive. I remember Jo and I going to see them not long after we came to the North East three decades ago. It was an education in the local Doric dialect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doric_dialect_(Scotland)). I think Jo needed the education after struggling to understand the local tradesmen who came to finish off our house when we first moved in!

Since my last post, I've played a fair amount of golf - virtually the last blast of the season in Scotland. I played for our Seniors against the Ladies on Wednesday, then a Texas Scramble at Insch on Thursday and another at beautiful Duff House Royal in Banff on Saturday. Then on Sunday, we held our annual season closing Scotland v. The Rest of the World Challenge match. Lovely weather again and a nice day out, followed by a long lunch in the clubhouse - check the golf blog (http://bsvgolf.blogspot.co.uk/) for photos etc.

The last game on Sunday was in a buggy. I'd done too much - Wednesday, Thursday and then Saturday, when I was in severe pain at the end of my round. There was no way I could have walked round the course on Sunday after that.

Just a month to go now until my knee op, which was finally confirmed in writing last week:

I've also since had a phone call to advise that my pre-assessment will be on Monday 28th October. They need it to be within a week of the operation and, of course, I'm in Tenerife from the 20th to 27th, so this was both the earliest and the latest that they could do the pre-assessment. I can't imagine the blood tests that morning are going to be a pretty sight, however, after a week's holiday.

Lucy has insisted that drainage massage is the key to optimum recovery so I've to ask my physiotherapist about this - if she doesn't do it, then Lucy is going to train Jo to do it!:

Anyway, back to this week. I've been to Fraserburgh on each of the past 2 days and I drove our architect back to his home in Dyce last night. He had a knee replacement at Albyn10 days ago, so I was pumping him for information. He's delighted how free of pain he is already, and he was telling me he has stopped taking the pain medication already, although he has been prescribed it until the end of this month. I told him I thought he had to keep taking it as it aided the recovery process - I think Lucy told me this as well?

I'll glean more about knee ops from Dawn when we see her next weekend as well. We missed cousin Lesley's 50th birthday celebrations when we were in Belfast, but I noticed that both Barry and Dawn made it along. Lesley was then treated to a trip to London last weekend and, seeing the family photos on Facebook, I was trying to work out who was all in them - and it turned out that my cousin Douglas (Lesley's elder brother) who has been out of the picture for years, was also there - with his wife too. Good to see it - it's an old cliche, but life is too short to hold grudges.

After the drop-off in Dyce last night, I finally made it back to Banchory at 6 pm and was driving along the High St. when who should I see coming out of Tease, but our Ross. I knew Jo was in Inverurie anyway so I turned round and suggested we went for a beer - which we did, followed by watching the Celtic match at our house and sharing the Shepherd's Pie Jo had left - plus some of our smoked mackerel.

Belfast weekend (3)

Sunday was the day of the Graham Parker concert - the reason we had come to Belfast in the first place - but, first of all, we decided to do something a little healthier today - and also get away from walking on concrete, which causes pain in my knees.

So, Belfast Castle and Cave Hill Country Park it was then. We caught a bus along the Antrim Road and walked up from there to the castle. Here's Jo on the steps at the back of the castle:

Nice gardens too:

Above the castle sits the impressive rock of Cave Hill - reminded me a bit of Arthur's Seat. We had to climb up there - and, despite repeated objections from Jo, and my dodgy limbs - and heart - we made it to the top without too much difficulty.

Nice views on the way up - we could see Scotland and we watched the ferry arriving:

It's not called Cave Hill for nothing:

We could clearly see the animals in Belfast Zoo below us, but the summit was getting nearer and we ploughed on to take the obligatory photos at the top:

It was a good healthy walk on a very nice day. Now we were ready for the main event. First of all, however, dinner. Where to eat? Jo suggested:

 - and what a good idea this was - we both had local sausages - very nice. It was just a short walk round to the Limelight and we strolled round after dinner to pick up our tickets, only to find the doors closed. Others were starting to gather so we stayed in the queue trying to make sure that we would be amongst the first to get in and grab a couple of the very few available seats - and we got them, thank goodness. I don't think either of us could have stood all night after our walk earlier on.

The concert was excellent - more details of this on my music blog at http://banchoryheadbangers.blogspot.co.uk/. There's also more details of our hill walk at http://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.co.uk/ and some beery stuff at http://iansaleadventures.blogspot.co.uk/

Belfast weekend (2)

We initially had lots of plans of things to do and places to see - Crumlin Gaol, Stormont etc - but soon realised that logistics were against us, but we were determined not to miss out on the new Titanic exhibition, so we walked down to the river on Saturday morning and across to the iconic building that houses the (permanent) exhibition:

We did, however, make a quick pit stop on the way, and popped in to St. George's Market, a vibrant place that used to house the Belfast Fish Market, but now has a huge variety of stalls, with food and entertainment too:

The sound of Belfast is still one of Police and Ambulance sirens, with the fairly frequent whirring of helicopters overhead. There are visual signs too, with many of the premises heavily barbed wired. On our way to the Titanic exhibition, the most obviously heavily guarded was this one:

These are the Royal Courts of Justice.

Some other sights on the way to the Titanic Quarter:

Not quite sure why Chaplin features here?

The Nomadic was a tender boat for the Titanic, but it's a separate exhibition and it seems everyone bypasses it now, although it's the last surviving vessel of the ill-fated White Star Line.

After a quick cup of coffee, we bought our tickets for the Titanic exhibition and were told it would take approximately one and a half hours to go round it. Secretly we both thought no way - we'll be out of here well before that. Blow me, over three hours later we emerged - it was engrossing. One of the final parts was a film of the wreckage (which was finally discovered in 1985). The clarity of the film, right down at the bottom of the ocean, was stunning - and moving. Personal items, like shoes, were clearly visible.

Back at the hotel, we had tea and scones in the lovely lounge on the first floor, sitting at the window overlooking Great Victoria St.:

We had a couple of beers and a wander in the evening before we could get a table at the very busy Deane's Deli Bistro (http://www.michaeldeane.co.uk/deanes-deli-bistro/) where we had a couple of lovely steaks. Would definitely go back if ever we were in town again.

Saturday done. Sunday to follow.

Belfast weekend

Before telling you about our weekend away, I'll start where I finished my last blog posting. Jo's tests at the hospital at Stonehaven on Thursday went very well - and she "passed" with flying colours. They now reckon there's nothing wrong with her heart and she can even come off some of the medication she has been taking since they diagnosed angina a couple of years ago. Result.

So what has been causing the chest pains then? Stress probably - and I think Kelly gets the blame for the most recent episodes!

So it was off to the airport on Friday morning for our short flight across the Irish Sea. We landed at George Best Belfast City Airport which is only a short distance from the city centre. Here's the general layout of the area:

The Lough, of course, goes out to the Irish Sea. The City Centre itself looks like this:

Our hotel was the Europa Hotel, right next to the Bus Centre and the train station (on the left above). It has the reputation of being the most bombed hotel in Europe/the world, having suffered 28 bomb attacks during "The Troubles". Despite this, it has hosted Presidents, Prime Ministers and celebrities by the score - most notably Bill Clinton who gave a stirring speech in support of the peace process at nearby City Hall in 1995. There's even a plaque in the hotel commemorating his visit:

Everywhere was just a short walk away for us - right across the street is the famous Crown Bar, which is a Grade A listed building, restored to its original Victorian splendour - at great cost - by the National Trust. Our room at the Europa wasn't ready yet, so we thought we would have a swift pint in the Crown. The place was mobbed - as it was on every other occasion we tried in vain to get in to one of the dinky cubicles (complete with doors) in the bar.

Our next stop was for a bite of lunch at the cafe in the grand City Hall, after which we wandered on and stumbled across a free Taste of N. Ireland exhibition:

Lots of goodies on offer here - what an unexpected treat. We headed down towards the river - it was getting pretty warm by now. This was what we found:

Back to our hotel - time to check in. We didn't spend long there as we had found out it was the once a year Culture Night that evening, when over 250 acts would be playing for free in the streets and pubs round the Cathedral area - music, dance, poetry, marching, even BMX style biking.

On the way there, we stopped outside the City Hall for a photo opportunity:

The Spirit of Belfast next:

We also looked in to the strangely shaped Bittles Bar:

There were a lot of what initially looked like quite scary sectarian posters and paintings on the walls inside, but on closer examination, it was all quite neutral - Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness together in harmony, for instance. Nonetheless, we moved on, anxious to get to the heart of the cultural action - and it wasn't hard to find. Busy, busy, busy, but a really nice atmosphere. We enjoyed  a group of Belfast hillbillies, who played rock music with folk instruments, wearing Confederate hats.

We actually queued to get in to one of the pubs - The John Hewitt (a Belfast poet, not the Aberdeen footballer), where some of the "customers" would suddenly and apparently spontaneously, burst in to excerpts from your favourite operas. Great fun.

It was getting late and we still hadn't eaten. What to do? The only answer is:

Very good it was too - and table service.

Enough of day one - Saturday and Sunday posts to follow.

Belfast bound

The boarding passes are printed and we're Belfast bound tomorrow morning. We've got a couple of Belfast Passes which will help us travel round the city and also gives us discounts to various exhibitions etc - although not, I understand the new Titanic Exhibition.

Full story of our weekend in the next blog on Tuesday.

It's a short week for me as I was golfing at glorious Castle Stuart (between Inverness and Nairn) yesterday. It was a corporate day out - and I won the individual prize of a bottle of 18 year old malt, and our team also won the team prize of a return fourball there next year - very nice.

I was in the office early on Tuesday and also late afternoon, but, in between, I popped down to Royal Aberdeen and made my first appearance in our Seniors team this season. So that's golf two days in a row - and the latter, in particular is a long, tough walk, which tested my joints - and my Powacaddy battery, which expired on the 18th hole!

Six weeks tomorrow until my knee op. Today, Jo is back at Stonehaven hospital undergoing more trials on her heart etc, to see if they can get to the bottom of what is causing her discomfort in her chest.

Colin & Johanne are in Malta this week, but Colin sent me a sympathetic photo of a vehicle he spotted there:

Colin is going to need a new hip soon, I fear - the green shorts and the position of his legs as he took this don't help the look either!

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.