Tuesday through Thursday

Tuesday was Aberdeen for me, then Bannatyne's - managed to do half an hour on the bike - then I headed off to Inverurie for tea. I saw Jo and Luca of course, but left about 7 pm before Gary and Carole were home.

Wednesday was a busy day in the office and I didn't get home until after 5:30 pm - pretty late for me. We watched episode 4 of the Bridge II, the Danish-Swedish co-production about environmental terrorism - it's looking pretty good so far. Saga, the Swedish female detective with no social skills at all is amusing. Just 15 minutes on the bike at home tonight.

Jo discovered an interesting site about knee ops - http://www.healthline.com/health-slideshow/total-knee-replacement-surgery-excercises-after - wish I'd seen it before. It contained a different angle on what a knee replacement looks like:

and I finally managed to file my tax return online - just 2 weeks before the deadline for 2012-13.

Today (Thursday) brought my first self drive to Fraserburgh since mid-October. I made sure I stopped halfway and got out and stretched my legs or I would have got pretty stiff.

Ross has just arrived for his tea - he's on holiday for a week and he's going to Aviemore, using one of our timeshares, for a few days from Saturday. We might join him on Sunday night, if his pals have gone by then.

Tonight there's a Seniors meeting at the golf club at 7 pm, so I'll toodle along there then.

Monday

Virtually a full day in the office today. OK - late arrival - 9:45 am, but late departure too - 4:15 pm. It was such a lovely day and I went for a long walk at lunchtime. Even had time for a quick photo at Aberdeen Energy Park:

Just before I left the office this afternoon, Keith Gray got in touch and asked if I fancied a pint, so we met at the Legion.

I forgot to show you the photo from Saturday's bike ride - taken at the cemetery:

Weekend so far

Our first weekend at home alone since they all flew off and what have we done so far? Well, Jo went to see Frozen at the cinema yesterday with Gary and Luca - and 2 of Luca's pals. So what did I do when Jo was away? It was a beautiful, crisp day again and so I thought I would get out on the bike and pick up my paper and also do a few of the local beer surveys at the same time.

Morrison's - Scott Skinner's, the Legion and, lastly, the Burnett Arms for a bacon buttie was my route. The hardest part was cycling up the hill to the Legion - I'd forgotten how unfit I was.

Today (Sunday) I walked over to the golf course and met the guys, and then, this evening we drove out to Alford to do a couple of pub surveys. We intended stopping off at the Learney Arms, Torphins on the way back to have some supper - but it was shut, so we drove down to Banchory and walked along to the Douglas - and it was shut too! It still wasn't even 8 pm. Thank goodness the Burnett was still open and serving food.

Going off at a tangent, I spotted this advert:

Do you think Jo and I should go for this?

I was checking my time share web sites and this was the image on one of them - remember this kiddiewinkles?:

10 weeks on

Yes - exactly 10 weeks ago today I was in Albyn having my leg hacked to bits, with chunks of metal and plastic inserted in place of the missing pieces of bone. I can almost look back fondly on it now, but it wasn't all that long ago I was in despair. Time is, literally, the healer.

That's my first week's work over. Today was the busiest day of the week - I was in before 9 am and didn't leave until after 3:30 pm. Six and a half hours - that's pretty much a full day.

I've been to Bannatyne's a couple of times this week, but I was a bit late leaving the office this afternoon, so I came straight home and jumped on the exercise bike. I've started again to digitise my old vinyl and it's all set up downstairs, so my time on the bike was exactly the time it took to record the first side of Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run - about 18 minutes.

I saw evidence of somebody else having used the exercise bike today. I don't think Jo's too keen however - she finds it very uncomfortable.

It's the time of year for the CAMRA pub surveys again so we went to the Branch meeting at the Bobbin Mill last night. Jo offered to drive, but I think she may regret it a little, as she found the whole experience fairly dull.

It's 7pm in the evening here, so it'll be 5:30 am in Adelaide just now. I imagine Kelly and Chris are up by now, and doing their final packing prior to their move to Semaphore. Exciting times.

Helen

Whew! Finally found a Helen song to go with the Dawn and Carole ones! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qnRvJZfh1c

Tuesday tales

I'm keeping up my (almost) daily blogs - so far anyway. As yesterday, I got to work today about 10 am again, after all the usual morning administrations. We were up at 6:30 am but it took until 9:00 am before I was ready to face the world. I suppose we could do it all a bit quicker, but I'm still surprised how long it takes.

Today, Jo's off to Inverurie to do her usual Tuesday Luca duties, so I'll be home alone for a little while this evening. Although I'm driving OK again, I'm still trying to avoid any long or unnecessary journeys, and a trip through to Inverurie would have involved me in 3 car journeys today rather than 2. I've even re-scheduled our Management Meeting this week to Aberdeen on Friday to save me having to drive through to Fraserburgh.

We spoke to Kelly on FaceTime last night - she and Miller looked fine after their marathon journey, but it'll still take them a while to adjust properly - and they've got to get organised for their house move to Semaphore next week. They'll only be a few hundred yards from the beaches - should be nice, although they might initially miss some of the facilities currently on their doorstep in Norwood. For those that don't know Adelaide, here's where they're moving from (B) and where they're going (A) - it's about 20kms in total:

Now we've got to think about our next trip Down Under - will it be over the Christmas/New Year holidays again, or will it be before or after that? Some of it may depend on the availability of "free" flights using our BA/Avios Miles and Companion Voucher. We would certainly have a stop-off as well - either on the way there or the way back - perhaps Thailand this time? Marriott have a couple of nice looking places there - in Bangkok itself and in Phuket.

First of all, however, we have to finalise our USA holiday arrangements - particularly the return stop-over in New York. Which hotel should we choose - the JW Marriott (Essex House) overlooking Central Park?:

or the Marriott Marquis in Times Square?:

To close today, I happened to be listening to my recording of Sounds of the 60's in the car on my way to work this morning - you know the one with the holiday period dedication to the "3 main girls" in my life? Of course, 3 tracks was the maximum allowed in Brian Matthew's 3-in-a-row spot, and although he did pass on my apologies to all other members of the family not mentioned, perhaps the other 2 girl relatives - sister Dawn and Daughter-in-Law Carole - will settle for these tracks as a kind of compensation for apparently being overlooked:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke4j3tz2YX8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgEc0hzTH7I (sorry no "e", Carole!)

Empty Nest

It's the 12th day today but we - mostly Jo - started taking stuff down yesterday. Our neighbour at No.1 - John - had offered again to take away our tree in his trailer, so we had to strip the tree pretty quickly yesterday afternoon.

We had time of course - all of our visitors have now gone - and all got home safely. In fact, the Lesinas were back in Oregon before I even went for a beer on Friday evening. Scott tells me they were all tucked up in bed by 7:30 pm local time - and didn't awaken until 4:00 am on Saturday morning - pretty good, I think.

The adjustment for Kelly and Chris - and Miller - will be more difficult, I suspect, but at least they can now shed some layers!

On Friday morning, I drove them down to Glentanar, a beautiful hunting lodge on an estate just outside Aboyne. It's a very popular wedding venue, but I'm afraid it didn't quite match up to the grandeur of Drumtochty Castle. Here's a couple of views however:

On Saturday, we all walked along to the village and popped in to the Burnett Arms for lunch, stopping off at Tease on the way home to say bye to Ross, who was working. We also stopped at Arbor Court to pose for a photo:

Soon it was time to head to the airport, where Gary and Luca were waiting for us. We said our farewells then followed them as they queued for security, staring at them through the glass panels:

All gone now, but we had dinner at Anne & Leslie Mason's to go to as a sweetener and that helped take our minds off the relative loneliness/peace (delete whichever appropriate).

On Sunday morning, I made a slight detour across the golf course on my way to pick up my paper. There was only Syd and Jack from our regular group playing, so I walked a couple of holes with them. I even had a small hit with one of Syd's clubs and a ball - and it didn't feel too bad. Encouraging with the golf season just 12 weeks away now.

Today (Monday) it was back to work for me - after over 9 weeks off. I didn't rush in - I did all my usual exercises etc and it was almost 10 am by the time I got in to the office. I didn't stay long either - I was out by 2:30 pm, but I headed off to Bannatyne's on the way home. They have some cycling machines there where the seat is adjusted horizontally rather than the usual vertical mode, and the adjustment is smaller, allowing me to start at a comfortable level and slowly move the seat in, to test and push my knee bend a bit more. 15 minutes of that was enough for me at this stage - then it was off for a brief stint in the pool followed by the steam room. Not a bad day all round.

When I got home, I realised this was probably the longest time Jo and I had spent apart since October!

Lesina left-overs

So far just two - one planned, the other accidental we think:

Lucy's running shoes were a bit too muddy to pack after yesterday's race

Braeden's book might be missed - but it was maybe a bit large and heavy

 We're still eating our way through Xmas. Is this a very large chocolate or is it a simple example of perspective?:

Meanwhile, how's my knee? Pretty good generally, although I did have to go to the nurse the other day to clean out the end of the scar where I keep feeling pin-pricks under the skin - perhaps a bit of suture is stuck there? It's still not completely clear and I've now got some Magnesium Sulphate paste to see if that will draw anything out.

My knee bend must be improving ever so gradually. I can get on the exercise bike easily now and I even managed to drop the seat one notch the other day - although I've since had to put it back.

So that's it - exactly 9 weeks since my op, and it's back to work on Monday. Ho hum.

Hogmanay & New Year

It was Hogmanay and it come to 1:30 pm - or midnight Adelaide time, but there were no Australians to be found - but that didn't stop some from an early New Year's celebration:

Chris and Kelly returned later on and we all went out to the Derbar for their buffet:

We decided to see New Year in at the flat at Inchmarlo. Jo and I walked up there and were greeted by this sight when we arrived:

We stood on the balcony and watched the Tor-na-Coille Hotel's fireworks from a distance - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZuRtjRWvG4

It was back to in-house catering on New Year's Day - Jo's steak pie. Braeden performed his party trick at dinner:

I tried to arrange a family photo, but some folk can never sit still for the camera:

January 2nd brought another trip over the hill to Drumtochty to have a proper look at this potential wedding venue (summer 2016 possibly). It's a magnificent private house that you basically hire for 3 days or so, and they arrange the wedding there for you. Here's some of the views from inside the house:

It was also the day of the Lumphanan Detox 10K and Lucy and Gary were taking part, so, after dropping off Chris and Kelly in Banchory, I dashed up there to watch the race. I saw them off at the mass start:

(also in video format at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A70ra6YVoyg)

I then wandered round Lumphanan whilst they ran over the hills and through the mud in the fields. It's Macbeth country of course, and I came across this:

I also bumped in to these people:

Carole, Luca and Yoda had come to see Gary finish. It was another high quality field, won yet again by the amazing Robbie Simpson, who finished light years ahead of the rest. Gary did a respectable 44 minutes on what is a difficult, slowish course - I reckoned he was about 69th. Lucy wasn't feeling her best and took just over the hour, but she looked very cheerful at the finish:

Here they are together:

The Last Supper had to be a fish one, and Ross came along and enjoyed some of the left-overs and re-heats. The Lesinas were staying overnight with us.

This morning (Friday), we were all up at stupid o'clock and Jo and I drove them - and their considerable luggage - to the airport, and said our farewells:

One lot down, one to go - tomorrow (Saturday) evening. This place is sure going to feel different next week when it's just Jo and I again.

Saturday/Sunday/Monday

Whew - deep breath - Saturday arrived and no new visitors, so we were free to do whatever we wanted. Lucy and Gary were planning a run together and a return visit to the Laser Tag at the Beach had been promised to the boys, so the Lesinas took one car and headed to Inverurie, whilst I took the Australian branch south, heading for a quick look at St. Andrews.

We drove over Cairn o' Mount, but when we got to the bottom of the hill on the other side, we took a sharp left at the Clatterin' Brig and headed up Drumtochty Glen. Chris and Kelly have plans to get married in Scotland, probably in the summer of 2016, and Drumtochty Castle (http://www.drumtochtycastle.com/) is a potential venue.

We arrived at the private estate and there was a wedding on this weekend, but we carried on regardless. We came across a fairly grand building and Chris said "look - there's the castle" so they got out to explore:

Wrong! This is just the stable block!

We found the real castle eventually and Kelly and Chris had a quick look around and have since made a proper appointment to go back and find out more information.

There is an old church (St. Palladius Scottish Episcopal) on the estate and Kelly and Chris posed here:

We popped in to nearby Fettercairn for a quick coffee, but Miller disgraced himself and the rookie parents hadn't brought a change of clothes on this day trip, so we had to pop in to Tesco in Dundee to buy him a new outfit.

Eventually, we got to St. Andrews and the weather looked inviting, so we parked down by the beach where the famous scene from Chariots of Fire was filmed. As soon as we opened the car doors, an icy east coast wind blew in. We didn't walk far, but I did manage to get a photo on the Old Course:

We grabbed lunch at the first place Kelly spotted - in the basement of the newly refurbished Hamilton Grand (http://www.hamiltongrand.co.uk/hamilton-grand/index.html) building. After that, we took Chris on a quick car tour of St. Andrews - nobody was going out in that wind again!

There was a quick stop at the Lairhillock (http://www.lairhillock.co.uk/) on the way home to assess it as a potential wedding venue, but it was a bit underwhelming after the grandeur of Drumtochty.

On Sunday, it was back to the old routine of entertaining visitors from the Central Belt - this time, it was the Hansons - Brian and Mary brought their grandsons Sam, Tom & Leo along. Carole and Luca arrived as well, but Gary didn't make it - he'd spent himself on his morning run.

Brian, Scott, Chris and I made a brief escape for a couple of beers at the Tor-na-Coille, where the Hanson family were staying overnight, but here's some photos from the rest of the day:

Monday came and it was Luca's 7th birthday. We were joined by Guy and Julie who had been staying at Pitlochry overnight and had come over to pick up their boys and say hello to everyone. Here's the scene just after Luca blew out the candles:

and this is the video version:

It's Hogmanay today and it looks like we might be going out for curry and then back to Inchmarlo to see the New Year in.

Thursday/Friday photos

It's been all go here - after Xmas Day, nephew and niece Kieran and Meghan arrived on Boxing Day with their respective partners Julie and Ellis. Meghan was a little wary of handling Miller - she thought she would drop him! - but eventually she was persuaded:

Julie wasn't quite so reticent:

The following day, it was the turn of Barry, Dawn, Helen and Lauren to make the trip north. Although it's me holding Miller in this photo, generally Dawn was more than happy to make up for Meghan's reticence of the day before:

Here's one of Barry and Helen:

That's all for now folks - more later on FaceBook and Blogger - but I think I'll head out for a breath of fresh air before Mary, Brian and the boys arrive this afternoon and the whole circus starts again.

Boxing Day

The morning was the Fun Run, but only 3 out of the possible 6 actually showed to take part:

There was a good turnout but I managed to pick out Lucy in this video at the start:

Gary ran a good race and came in 31st in quite a large, high quality field - despite having to stop to throw up! Here he is finishing:

Lucy looked cheerful when she came in:

Gary ran back to join Carole for the finish:

Scott and Chris came along to see the finish of the race:

It was such a beautiful day that Chris decided that, having missed out on the Fun Run, he would climb Scolty instead - but he was back in good time for the arrival of various nephews and nieces, of whom more later.

Xmas Presents

Here's some of mine:

This one caused a laugh. It wasn't immediately obvious what they were, but Jo quickly sussed it out - or so she thought - the holes underneath were for your hands weren't they, so they must be puppets surely? No - head covers for my golf clubs actually!