End of the week post

What's this? Friday already and I haven't posted a blog all week - since Sunday. I'm slipping.

Monday was Aberdeen and Tuesday Fraserburgh & Inverurie. Back to Aberdeen on Wednesday, with an afternoon trip to the gym and, in the evening, Jo and I nipped out to Tarland to do the pub surveys there, then stopped off at the Learney Arms, Torphins on the way home for a spot of supper - and another survey under the belt.

Tonight is our first Headbang of 2014 - out at Gary Grant's in Finzean again. It should be a relatively early night - Gary likes his bed and tends to do his Cinderella when the clock strikes midnight.

I thought we might be going along to Deeside Brewery tomorrow for their Open Day for Times + members, but they have been unresponsive and I wasn't even sure if it was going ahead or not - until a few minutes ago - it's cancelled, so we've got a free day tomorrow.

Carole's Mum is up this weekend and we're hoping they'll all manage to come over here on Sunday for dinner.

The recent wet weather meant a slight build-up of water on the slabs at the back of our house - the drain was struggling to cope. The result now is that we have green slabs:

Wonder if the power hose will cope with this?

To close, I spotted this article in this week's paper - a gift from Scotland to Adelaide:

Sunday night update

I'm sitting here blogging as Jo FaceTimes Lucy - I'm listening and they're talking. It's Superbowl afternoon/evening in USA - but we're not staying up to watch it all. Actually, we've just watched 2 episodes of Series 2 of the Sopranos - Colin gave me the DVD's over a year ago and we've never got round to watching them until now.

I did go to the Belhaven Brewer in the House evening at the Boat Inn, Aboyne on Thursday. There was a bit of a hiccup with the travel arrangements as Keith Gray had said he would like to come so I suggested he get on the bus outside the Douglas and I would get on outside our house. I did my bit - but when I looked around the bus, there was no sign of Keith. It transpired he'd got stuck at work and had texted me to tell me, but I never got his text until I got to Aboyne! Anyway, it all worked out OK in the end as Keith drove down to meet me, meaning I had a lift home.

What is happening with the text service anyway? It seems it's getting more and more unreliable, with longer delays. I used to think it was just the bad signal in our house, but everyone seems to be complaining about it now.

Yesterday was a nice day and we decided to go for a walk. We ended up walking along by the river - past Platties, and along the Deeside Way all the way out to Milton of Crathes, where we stopped for soup, tea/coffee and scones. 6 kms - the furthest I've walked yet. One part of the Deeside Way had a large puddle on it - I waded through, but Jo wasn't keen even with her walking shoes on. She hummed and hah-ed but initially wouldn't take any of the suggestions I made:

Eventually, she had no option but to climb through the fence and go on to the railway line - it's only the tourist Deeside railway line, and it wasn't even running, but Jo was full of guilt about breaking the law.

This was the deciding factor in us catching the bus home after lunch - that and the fact that it started to rain.

We watched the final 2 episodes of the Bridge II last night. Jo thought it was a rubbish ending, but we now know they are planning a 3rd series of the Scandi crime drama, so I guess they were setting that up.

This morning, I didn't feel too good and didn't want to move far away from the WC, so I stayed in bed and just watched wall to wall sport until Jo came home from church and coffee, by which time I was feeling a little better - enough to get dressed and get ready to go out to Woodend Barn again to hear Lesley Riddoch - ex BBC Radio Scotland presenter, who was plugging her new book:

We walked there again - 5 kms - and we walked back too - another 5kms almost, so it's been quite a weekend of walking for me, and, so far, so good, my knee - and my legs - have stood up to it - although I might feel a bit different when I wake up tomorrow morning.

We had tea and cakes at our table at Woodend Barn and Lesley Riddoch was an interesting talker and quite thought-provoking.

We broke our walk home by stopping at the Legion for haddock and chips - plus some beer, of course.

So that's our weekend over - back to work tomorrow.

Midweek marvel

Feeling good about myself today. Went to the physio yesterday morning and she was so pleased with my progress that she said she didn't need to see me again. She said I could always come back any time if I was concerned about anything and she stressed that I still have another 9 months or so of hard work in front of me, but she was confident my knee would continue to improve, just by regular daily use. Quite a change from our first meeting back in November when she was very concerned about my lack of progress and how little I could move my knee then. She even went as far as to suggest then that I shouldn't have been let out of hospital after just 3 days.

So I made a choice this afternoon. I had originally planned to go to the golf club's AGM tonight, but I also wanted to go back to the gym after work, and it might all have been a bit of a rush. So what did I do? Send my last minute apologies to the golf club, that's what, before heading to Bannatyne's. I did 30 minutes on the bike and then, buoyed by the physio's comments yesterday, I tested my leg on some of the weights machines - the first time I had used the machines since last summer. I was careful and reduced the weights from my normal level, and I managed OK, with just a little tremor here and there.

It's just 5 weeks tomorrow until I officially collect my Old Age Pension. I'm one of the last of our generation to be able to collect this at age 65. It's a significant date, but hardly a significant windfall. I feel for those that have to live off what is a very modest amount in these times. The Government web site charmingly words it:

"The most you can currently get is £110.15 per week."

Not that the Government can afford to increase it - but it's a salutary lesson, kiddies, that you have to look out for yourself and plan well ahead if you want to have a comfortable retirement. Will my lifestyle change dramatically in 5 weeks time? Unlikely, but some changes may take place - watch this space.

Tomorrow night there's a Meet the Brewer evening at the Boat Inn, Aboyne. It's a pub I've yet to survey, so, if the weather behaves, that might be a chance to do both. Forecast is for some snow tomorrow - at last - so I'll make a late decision.

Miller video

Discovered this sitting on my camera today - I'd forgotten I'd taken this short video of Miller lying on his back, kicking away:

Knee residue

Twelve weeks on, with the top of my scar (where the wound was closed) still a little swollen and angry looking, this morning a tiny fragment finally came out of the area that we have been treating to coax any residue out of:

Can you see it? A tiny little piece of we know not what. Will my knee now finally settle down? We'll have to wait and see.

End of the week

The last 2 days of the working week have been pretty hectic - I've hardly moved from my desk - mostly doing annual appraisals of our Managers. Eight down, five to go - scheduled for Monday/Tuesday. Then comes the worst part - documenting it all - that's always a pain.

I haven't been to Bannatyne's since Monday. I did half an hour on the bike then, and have had a few shorter sessions on the static bike at home since then. I've managed to move the saddle down another notch, so that's progress, I guess.

At least it's almost the weekend now and our regular Friday night will be at the Burnett tonight, when our friend Nigel Meany will be making one of his infrequent appearances, having flown in from Dubai - on the day of his 55th birthday too.

Tomorrow morning we've got a house call from Everest - apparently just checking that everything was ok with our kitchen installation - although I suspect there'll be some hard sell going on as well. We've got Woodend Barn in the evening to look forward to, preceded by dinner at Buchanan's.

Last night, I featured in a vintage photo in the local Evening Express. This would normally have been one for Renshaw's Chronicles, but I'm already past 1987 when the photo was taken, so it'll have to appear here:

That's me lurking at the back, 6th from the left, eyes almost closed. I vaguely recall the event - the one outstanding thing I remember is talking to joint prize winner Ray Dinsdale (5th from the right). He was the MD of Richards, carpet makers, (in)appropriately, because he was wearing probably the worst "rug" I had ever seen. Your eyes were magnetically drawn to this thing on the top of his head - it was spooky.

That's our (now deceased) Chairman, Dr. Francis Clark, receiving the award, 4th from the left, with my colleagues Bill Hazeldean and Ron Porteous, 2nd and 3rd from the left respectively. I was but 38 when this was taken.

Tuesday/Wednesday

Ross was first to leave Gary's after dinner last night and he took Jo's car back to Banchory, but Jo and I weren't far behind in my car. We watched Corrie, with Hayley's closing scene - Jo was in tears at her death - and then it was part 6 of The Bridge. That was enough TV for us for one night.

The downside of Ross taking Jo's car was that all my leg massage oils etc were still in it, so I missed out yesterday - and today so far. I've spent a lot of time in the car the last few days as well - over to Aviemore on Sunday, back to Aberdeen on Monday, and then up to Fraserburgh on Tuesday and back to Banchory, via Inverurie yesterday. The leg gets a bit stiff sitting in the car.

I did get to Bannatyne's on Monday and spent 30 minutes on the bike, moving the seat steadily further in to stretch my knee. I had a snack there too as my evening meal, with Jo and Ross still in Aviemore and me home alone.

Today some of us received the following picture of Miller in the bath from Kelly:

Wish we were there. Need to plan our next trip out.

Back in Deeside, we're still waiting for a proper winter to arrive - it's still too mild and when we do get precipitation, it's rain. Bound to change soon.

This weekend we've got Newton Faulkner (http://www.newtonfaulkner.com/gb/home/) at Woodend Barn, preceded by dinner at Buchanan's - that's something to look forward to. We're also considering going to the Winter Words Festival (http://www.pitlochry.org/whats_on/winter-words-festival.htm) in Pitlochry next month - as we did in the last few years.

In between, we have the first Headbang of 2014 two weeks on Friday (7th), followed by a tour round Deeside Brewery the following day. I had hoped to be able to do this over Xmas/New Year when everyone was here, but couldn't get it organised at that time.

I think that's about all that's on the go just now.

Weekend etc

Ross and his pals seemed to enjoy their short weekend in Aviemore, and Jo and I drove through on Sunday afternoon to take Ross out to dinner in Aviemore. We walked from Dalfaber - sorry, now called Spey Valley Golf & Country Club - down to the other end of Aviemore and had a nice meal in the warm and friendly Bridge Inn.

After dinner, we stopped outside and admired their external smoking shelter, complete with old piano, Chesterfield suites and logs for the winter too:

Very nice. On our walk back, we popped in to the Winking Owl for a quick half.

Monday morning and I had to go back to work - eventually - but Jo and Ross stayed one more night, and I am meeting up with them later on this afternoon in Inverurie, on my way back from Fraserburgh.

That's about it for now. Must dash.

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!)