The weekend proper starts here

Yesterday (Friday) was Luca's last day here this week. Carole came to pick him up about tea-time, but I was gone by then, so I missed her.

Gary's back here this morning and he and Jamie Ross are now about to head off to Dinnet for the Loch Kinord 10K. I'm picking him up at the end of the race and will bring him back to Banchory for a shower and then we'll pick up Colin and head down to Dundee to see the Jags.

I phoned the optician yesterday and she told me to stop taking the antibiotic cream, but to start taking conventional eye drops (Sno*Tears). Sticking to matters medical, my blood results came back and there was a problem with my glucose levels so they need me to give blood again - this time after fasting. As a result, I won't be seeing my GP again on Tuesday to review my heart meds - this has been put off for a couple of weeks now.

I wonder if the bacteria in my eye - or the antibiotics I was taking - affected the glucose levels?

Before he went to bed on Thursday night, Luca drew up a "to do" list for Friday:

All achieved - except Chapter 8. The "play" in the afternoon was primarily me playing football with him on the grass in front of the house. It was the first time I had tried to kick a ball properly since my knee replacement. Luca was in goals to start with but he doesn't seem to like using his hands much, so I eventually went in goals and took this short video - http://youtu.be/N1UBYa-ZxIM

This was just after I had returned from my short afternoon cycle out to Crathes Castle and back via Tesco, so I was a bit stiff and sore - and I still had a game of squash doubles to come - my second game in the last year.

Jo was out at a church do last night and I had my usual Friday night beers with the football crowd - up at the Legion.

Dawn let us know that Uncle George's funeral is on Tuesday at Clydebank Crematorium, where Mum's and Dad's ashes are scattered, so we'll head down early Tuesday morning. Maybe we'll get a chance to see little Mara for the first time as well?

To close - and to level the playing field a little - here's a short video Kelly sent us of Miller listening to the nursery rhyme book Jo and I recorded - http://youtu.be/E49VLWDBRzQ

George Barr

Yesterday my mother's little brother passed away. George outlasted Jessie by 12 years. That's the last of the Barrs and Stewarts of that generation gone now.

Aunt Nancy is still alive and well, of course - and long may she prosper.

George and my Dad went to see Partick Thistle virtually every week, although Rennie initially maintained that George wasn't a "real" football fan and was a bit of a Johnny-come-lately in his view - it took years for George to build up his football credibility in Dad's eyes!

An early memory of Uncle George for me is in this photo - not sure where it was taken - it doesn't look like the usual "Whiteinch" Park:

Here's another one, that also includes Nancy and Jessie - probably from about 1952-53:

George was always regarded as a little bit of (almost) an intellectual/academic in our family, and his years at the head of what used to be Stow College underlined this. This also afforded him the opportunity to move his young family out of his mother's home, whereupon offering us the chance to escape the hell-hole of Johnstone and move in to Foxbar Drive in their place back at the start of 1960.

The funeral's early next week and I hope to be able to go.

End of the working week

It's Thursday evening and my working week is officially over - in theory at least. It's getting harder and harder for me - 3 days seems like a lifetime now. I was in Fraserburgh on Tuesday and Wednesday and Aberdeen today and it's been a busy week - lots going on.

I just got back from work last night and was only in the house for little more than an hour before heading out to Woodend Barn to see Idlewild (photo on Music blog and FB).

Today I was supposed to go back and see the Optician who had asked me to call in to check the progress on my eye - but she wasn't in. I'll try again in the morning - after my cycle run.

On Saturday, Gary, Colin and I head to Dundee to see Thistle play - after Gary has run a 10K "somewhere near Banchory".

Monday morning action

The day started with a quick cycle, followed by tea and Empire Biscuit in Tease. Ross was working. He, Luca and Gary all had tea at ours last night, after which Luca started drawing. The favourite topic just now is robots. "These are real robots Granda":

By "real robots", Luca of course means those used in factories, as opposed to imaginary ones. These ones are on a car assembly line - note car in the middle. You'll have spotted Luca's new haircut - completed by his father, using his shears. Gary's done a pretty good job - and I think it suits Luca.

Anyway back to today. After my morning cycle, it was back to the Optician again to check the progress on my eye. It still feels like there's something in it and my vision in the right eye is not as clear as the left, but the optician says it is improving - albeit not as fast as she had hoped it might. I've to keep the antibiotic cream going for another 3 full days - the second time this has been extended - and then call back on Thursday.

So all that's left this afternoon is a visit to the Nurse to have my bloods done so I can go back and see Dr. McCrone again to decide what, if any, medicine should replace my daily aspirin.

Incidentally, we've got a roof leak it seems. Jo was up in the loft and took some photos:

I've been in touch with D & D Slaters and they're sending an estimator out.

So that's it - another humdrum day in the life of the Stewarts.

Weekend tales

The flu jab yesterday was a double whammy for me. Apparently when you reach 65 they offer you the pneumococcal vaccine as well - so now I've got two slight bruises - one on each arm. The latter vaccine is only once every ten years, but the medics have done their sums on the risk factors again and the risk of getting a serious bout of pneumonia increases fairly steeply after 65.

For those of you who don't follow our national team's exploits, Scotland beat Georgia 1-0 yesterday. I watched it down the pub with Colin Kilgour, Dave Williamson and Andy Marshall. Colin's finally got the date for his new hip - 18th November. I heard today that Bill Miller is getting his done next week. If you haven't got a replacement joint yet, you're nothing darling!

So Luca should be on his way over here now - we've got him for the first week of the school holidays. Ross says he's coming over this afternoon for tea as well.

Nice day today - cold at the start on the golf course, but much warmer later. Got to thinking about our Australian trip in January. The Cricket World Cup is on Down Under, but it seems Scotland are playing all their games (before they get knocked out) in NZ or Tasmania. The only fixture at the Adelaide Oval when we're there is India - Pakistan. Would have preferred an England, Australia or Scotland match, but it should be a tense affair and might be worth going along to.

We're also considering doing the Adelaide - Melbourne (or t'other way) Great Ocean Road drive. 600 + miles - could do it in 3 or 4 days. Just a thought.

My replacement at work starts full-time tomorrow. Up to now, he's been doing 3 days with us and 2 with his now former employer. Of course, I won't be there tomorrow, but this signals the proper start of my phase-out. We've already had a conversation about me withdrawing at Christmas and he seems fine with that. Mind you, I've yet to have this conversation with Francis and Michael!

It's 5 years yesterday since Dad died.

Ian's Ailments - the continuing story

It's supposed to be a working day today but with a morning appointment at my GP and an afternoon one at the Optician, I had no option but to stay in Banchory. The upside of this is that I was able to join the Thursday morning cycle group for the first time since late June. That almost created a potentially fairly serious additional ailment for me - but I got off lightly - check http://bvetscycling.blogspot.co.uk/ for the details, but here I was at the start, waiting for the others:

From there, it was off to see my GP - primarily to discuss my cardiologist's recent report. We discussed the various pros and cons and the risk factors of the likelihood of stroke versus the effect of bleeding from the various anti-coagulants - aspirin, Warfarin, or one of the new generation of drugs, like Riveroxaban. The Medics have tables they work to, showing the various risk factors. I'm currently in the 1% risk category for strokes, solely because of my age. When it gets to 2%, it becomes much more significant and action needs to be taken.

I'm also in the 1% risk category for bleeding from the medication, so it's currently 50:50 as to whether I should change from just taking aspirin daily to something stronger. What might change the risk is other things, such as renal issues, so we've agreed that I should have my bloods taken again and then I should have the discussion with my GP, armed with this information. I go to see the Nurse on Monday.

Changing tack, I asked my GP to be referred to my knee surgeon again, to have a look at my left knee prior to my BUPA private medical expiring early in 2015, so he's doing that and I'll await the call.

Next up was the Optician. She was pleased with my progress but has asked me to continue with the antibiotics until at least Monday - 3 days later than planned. I've to see her again then. At least she didn't have to refer me to the Eye Clinic.

Next up is the Flu clinic on Saturday. I'm getting my money's worth from the NHS just now.

Oh - and we passed another milestone with this blog - more than 250,000 viewings now.

Eye eye

Wednesday - day 3 of the heavier dose of 1% Chloramphenicol cream for my eye, and tomorrow it's back to the optician who will decide whether the treatment is working or not, with the threat of sending me to the Eye Clinic if it's not.

It feels slightly better and I don't think the eye is as bloodshot as it was - although Jo says the bag(s) under my right eye is/are looking puffier. Here's a couple of gruesome before and after (putting cream on) shots:

Difficult to take photos of your own eye - you can't properly see the area where the ulcer is, which is to the right of my eye (the left as you look at it).

Before that, I've got a visit to my GP in the morning - a follow-up to my recent examination by the cardiologist - and his recommendation that it's time to change from Aspirin - but to what? Back to Warfarin, or one of the new drugs like Riveroxaban (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivaroxaban)? I still don't know what's best for me. Warfarin needs constant monitoring - back and forth to the GP/Nurse to check levels, but has an antidote - which still didn't help Mum after her fall, as the coagulant still took too long to stop the bleeding on her brain before they could operate. The new breed of drugs don't yet have an antidote - you just have to wait until coagulation occurs naturally.

I'm also considering asking for a referral to my knee surgeon again to have a look at my left knee, which is playing up occasionally. Best to do this now whilst I still have private health insurance - once I'm fully retired, this option will be gone.

If the weather's OK in the morning - thankfully it's dry now after 36 hours of heavy rain - I might manage to get out for a quick cycle. Perhaps squeeze in a haircut too some time.

Eye update

My GP took one look at my eye yesterday and said I'd had some kind of trauma. Did anything hit my eye? Not that I could remember, but there's a very visible ulcer there. The Medical Practice doesn't have specialist eye examination equipment, but she made an appointment at the optician for this morning and they could have a closer look at it there. She prescribed a course of 1% cream which is apparently twice as strong as the eye drops I had been taking.

I got home and told Jo and she said yes - I saw the ulcer mark too. Thanks for telling me dear!

Well I've been to the optician this morning and she was able to use all the eye specialist equipment that the GP's don't have. She eventually put some anaesthetic in my eye and then took a needle to remove what she discovered was dead cells to have a closer look at the ulcer underneath.

She was going to send me to the Eye Clinic at the Infirmary and phoned them to make an appointment for me, but the phone call went on for about 10 minutes, after which she said I didn't need to go there after all - they wanted me to have a few more days on the eye cream antibiotic and then assess it again, so I've to go back on Thursday.

AVFF

Monday - at home, watching the wild and wet weather outside and thankful not to have to do anything much today - other than blog, of course.

It's been an interesting week. I went to Pittodrie last Tuesday night with Malcolm Grigor to see the Dons get pulled back to 2-2 against lowly St. Mirren, then, on Wednesday, exactly 11 months after my knee replacement operation, I made a tentative comeback at squash doubles - and it was OK.

My physio had told me it would take 11 months to fully recover from the operation, so I took her advice to the letter!

Prior to playing squash on Wednesday, my right eye had begun to feel a bit itchy and sore and when I awoke on Thursday morning, my eyelid remained closed and my eyeball felt like somebody was sticking needles in it. I went to the Chemist on the way to work and got some antibiotic eye drops. He told me I had bacterial conjunctivitis and had to take the eye drops every 2 hours for 48 hours then every 4 hours thereafter until finished - 5 days in all.

Today is the 5th day and it's not cleared up yet so I've arranged an appointment with a doctor this afternoon. I feel it's a little better, but the pack says it should clear up in 48 hours - if not, seek medical advice - so I am.

Of course, we've been away all weekend, so I couldn't have sought advice until now anyway. On Friday, Jo and I headed to the North of England for the Allen Valleys Folk Festival. We stopped at Lauder for lunch at the Flat Cat Gallery - very nice - then stopped again at Jedburgh to have a quick look round the Abbey, Castle and Jail. Our timing was bad, however - it chucked it down:

Friday night at the Folk Festival is recorded on my music blog (http://banchoryheadbangers.blogspot.co.uk/). On Saturday morning, we had planned to join the organised walk round the old lead mines in Allenheads, reputedly the highest village in England, but it was arranged for Sunday morning, so we just went there on our own, starting with the short Nature Trail:

We decided we wanted to explore round there a bit more, although the rain was getting heavier by now. We climbed a bit but it was getting pretty bleak and miserable so we decided to loop back:

Nice warming coffee in the Hemmel Cafe however before we headed back to our accommodation in Allendale to put dry clothes on. We were staying at Deneholme, an Adventure Training Centre, which had been recommended by the Folk Festival organisers. It was more Youth Hostel than hotel, but they were very friendly:

Deneholme was also a Folk Festival venue so were able to relax over a nice beer whilst listening to some music, after which we went for another walk to explore potential dinner venues:

The walk back along the river from Allen Mill was very pleasant and the sun had finally come out as we rewarded ourselves with a pint outside the Golden Lion, watching the Clog and Morris dancers in the square:

After a couple of concerts in the local church, we had supper in the Allendale Inn - the only place we could get in to eat - then headed back to Deneholme for a quiet evening with a book and a bottle of Rioja.

On Sunday we decided to head home via the Coastal route, with a few scheduled - and unscheduled - stops on the way. We were in Hadrian's Wall country, although it took a bit of effort to find a bit of the wall to take the obligatory photo. It took even more to get Jo to pose on the wall, as she is still getting over her disappointment at the result of the Referendum:

That stop was partly planned, but the next one was a complete surprise - Wallington, a National Trust property with huge grounds and a beautiful walled garden:

Across the road, back at the main property, there are 4 dragons' heads:

Inside the house is spectacular as well:

Jo with Grace Darling

 We did make it to the coast in the end. This is Bamburgh Castle:

A bit further up the coast is Holy Island, home of Lindisfarne Castle. There is a tidal causeway to cross first and you need to check the timings to find out when it's safe to cross. We were out of luck - only just. The tide was already receding but it would take another hour before it was safe and we didn't have that much time left, so I posed for the photo on the causeway instead:

Our last detour was in to Berwick Upon Tweed for a spot of supper and a photo on the ramparts:

Good fun. Now it's time for me to go see the Doctor.

September sunshine

Yes, it's been beautiful the last few days - better than some of the summer days - and we're almost in October.

I went cycling on Friday afternoon during a brief break from the first day of the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, but it felt as if I'd never been on a saddle before. I don't think I was quite over the holiday traumas yet. Likewise golf on Saturday at Duff House Royal in Banff - I could barely get the ball off the tee. Fortunately, although I started poorly yesterday in our annual Scotland v Rest of World Challenge match, I did recover a little and just did enough to help our team to a win.

All the sporting etc stories you can read about in my other blogs - if you're at all interested - but today, with the temperature above 20C again, Jo and I decided to go for a short walk. The initial idea was to walk to Woodend Barn at the other end of town and have a coffee in Buchanan's Bistro, but it was so nice, that, after sitting on the banks of the Dee, down by "Platties", for half an hour or more, just soaking in the sun and scenery, we decided to venture out a bit further and head for the tearoom at Crathes Castle.

This was our first stop by the river:

Looking west

Looking east

I set up the camera timer for a selfie of Jo and I, but this Vizsla walked right in front just as the camera clicked!

"Platties"

We walked round the little lochan and took the east trail up to the castle. There's loads of little wooden walkways there:

Waiting for Jo in the castle tearoom courtyard after lunch, when we were plagued with wasps

We went on a loop home that took us past Deeside Brewery and across Upper Lochton and out past Glen o' Dee, where the old sanatorium now looks a sorry sight:

We took our time, but we were out for a total of 5 hours and walked 11 miles in all. All the stats and the route are here - http://www.mapmywalk.com/workout/749358809

Back in the saddle

Yes, after a week's golf in Turkey, it's back to the old grind - although hopefully not for too much longer. Our return flight times meant a 1 am departure from our hotel, 2 flights, a 3 hour stopover in Istanbul then a drive home from Edinburgh - pretty tiring in itself, but worse when you miss a complete night's sleep.

Not that anyone out there is going to sympathise, of course. The holiday was great but the edge was taken off by a virus we think we picked up on the plane out to Istanbul. It was pretty uncomfortable and draining for me, but one or two of the others were a lot worse - a lot, lot worse, to the point of major embarrassment.

The last 2 days in Fraserburgh have been a bit of a strain - especially the journey. My eyes are stinging - hope to sleep well tonight and get back to normal.

My successor is still doing a 3-day week, mirroring me, but will start full-time in a couple of weeks. I'm already starting to experience occasional feelings of being surplus to requirements. Not my successor's fault - it's just me.

The days are already noticeably shorter - it's starting to get dark in the back room already - and it's only 6:30 pm. Autumn - and slow descent in to winter - has begun, it seems. The golf season goes in tandem with this - although I'm playing again this Saturday and Sunday. The latter is our traditional end of season bash, followed by lunch in the clubhouse. We always play a Scotland v Rest of the World match, which this weekend mirrors the Ryder Cup being played down the road in Gleneagles.

To close, here's a shot, looking in to the early morning sun, at the back of my villa in Turkey:

You can also have a video tour of my villa in Turkey at  http://youtu.be/S1Bdi4zqU6g

Turkish Delight

Greetings from Gloria Serenity Resort, Belek, Turkey. 5 of us spent a couple of nights at the weekend seeing round Istanbul before meeting up with the others down here on the Med. It's a fantastic hotel we're staying at and they upgraded us to individual villas - each with 2 bedrooms and all mod cons, including indoor and outdoor hot tubs - and everything is free - it's an all-inclusive resort.

Anyway, here's a few photos from my stay so far:

Istanbul - about to enter the Blue Mosque - Jas, Keith & brother Kenneth with me

Spices

Basilica Cistern

Down near the Bosphorus

Fishermen on the bridge over the Bosphorus bridge from Europe to Asia

On top of the tower overlooking the city and the Bosphorus

After dinner in Istanbul

A quiet corner of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul

Relaxing at the rooftop pool at our hotel in Istanbul

Lights in the Grand Bazaar

Topkapi Palace

Harem means private place apparently - not just the way we think of it

Beach huts at Gloria Serenity on the Med

Waterway between the beach and our hotel