Costa del Sol - Thursday

The best day of the week so far - barely a cloud in the sky. We had all agreed to get up fairly promptly and head off to the market in "Marbella". It transpired that this referred to the district, not the town of Marbella. The market itself was an indoor one in San Pedro de Alcantara - and it was disappointingly small.

Having paid for 2 hours of parking, we took a wander round the town, which turned out to be a very pleasant one. The coffee stop we chose was a lovely little cafe called Tomate. Here's Jo heading to the loo - the main reason for our stop:

Ross had coffee - of course - but Jo and I chose juices - Freshco for Jo and Zinger for me:

Oh - you want a translation of the ingredients? Here you go:

Even the bill was presented in a novel way:

That was the extent of our off-site activity today. We headed back to our resort and had lunch from the various bits and bobs in our fridge, then we swam and sunbathed this afternoon. Jo did 150 (albeit short) lengths of the pool!

I finished my book - Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman, the follow-up - half a century later - to To Kill a Mockingbird. The event - she said she would never write another book after Mockingbird - was the publishing sensation of the year. Every time Atticus Finch was mentioned in the book, all I could see was this image of Gregory Peck. There's no word of them making a film from Watchman however.

Now I have nothing to read. Might go browsing tomorrow. Missing my phone as well.

Lazy Wednesday

We'd done enough driving and decided we wanted to stay fairly local today. A wander down to the beach to sit in the sun was followed by refreshment at Chill Bar:

Next stop was the adult outdoor pool:

Now it was time for treats. We had seen a nice ice cream shop in Puerto Banus so we headed there. Jo had Creme Brulee, Ross a frozen yoghurt and I mixed Kit-Kat and Pistachio - lovely. We wandered round the port for a while:

Soon it was time to head for the Craft Beer bar, but we took a slight detour to look at the hotel where I'm staying next week for my golf holiday.

That was yesterday. This morning (Thursday), we're all up and the sun's shining so we're heading to the market in Marbella.

Ronda

Jo and I last made the trip over the mountains to the visually spectacular town of Ronda as long ago as 1997. We were so impressed then that we even bought a large poster of the town and got it framed when we got home. It hung in our bedroom for years.

Yesterday's return visit did not disappoint. We left the warm sunshine of the coast behind and drove up to the cloud level and beyond to the high plains. Our first stop was Atrium cafe, adjacent to the tourist office, for a bite of lunch - and to use their facilities.

Then it was onward towards the great gorge and the "new" and old bridges:

I posed outside the bullring - on the same spot as 18 years ago:

Then it was back down the hill again. Back down on the coast our drive was taking us past the craft beer bar that we'd checked out on Sunday, only to discover that it only opens Wed to Sun, from 6 pm. Thwarted again!

Back at the resort, we went for a quick swim and met on the roof terrace bar for a beer before heading back to the apartment to sweep up some of the food in our fridge. For Jo and I, it was a very late meal - but it was normal time for Ross.

It's Wednesday morning now and it looks like being a bit of a down day.

Monday on Costa del Sol

It looked a bit more promising when we awoke but there were still some clouds around so we opted for a short trip to Mijas, detouring via Fuengirola to try out a specialist coffee shop for Ross. We found a small parking space for our Micra and walked round to the coffee shop, but it was shut!:

Across the road was another establishment and we had coffee and croissants on the street corner there, basking in the hot sun.

The drive to the pretty, whitewashed touristy mountain village of Mijas was up a narrow, winding road and finding a parking spot was again a struggle until we happened upon a multi-storey. Parking on the 2nd floor, we took the lift up to the 10th floor, which conveniently was the level of the touristy bits of the town. The views down to the coast are spectacular and my camera doesn't really do it justice. On a clear day, apparently you can see all the way to Gibraltar and across the Med to the Moroccan coast:

Walking round the bullring, we headed up the hill through the narrow streets to the highest viewpoint:

We had lunch in a little cafe on a side street. the King Prawns had the dirtiest alimentary canals we'd ever seen and we were a little nervous about digesting them - but we did.

Back at our resort, we did a bit of reading, snoozing and, in my case, a quick visit to the adult indoor pool before dinner at the onsite El Med restaurant.

It's now Tuesday morning and the sun is shining again so we're heading a little further afield today - up to the spectacular mountain village of Ronda. All we need is Ross to wake up.

Marbella - damp Sunday

We awoke to find a pool of water on our balcony. They are designed with escape outlets but the water doesn't run towards them so there was a bit of mopping up to be done.

Ross was up first and had made coffee and gone to the store to get fresh bread. After breakfast, we decided we didn't want to travel far - there was no point heading to the mountains as visibility was poor - so Marbella was the chosen town.

I was aware of a relatively new craft beer bar - http://lacatarinacraft.com/ - and programmed its address in to our Sat Nav, believing it to be in Marbella. We soon discovered that Marbella seemed to be the district rather than just the town. We found La Catarina in the middle of a partly industrial estate, which probably had aspirations to be gentrified. We knew it didn't open until 6 pm on a Sunday but wanted to check it out anyway:

Puerto Banus was nearby. It was dull with an occasional light drizzle, but reasonably mild so we parked there and took a stroll around, checking out the expensive boats:

We stopped for coffee then headed back towards Marbella town for a wander along the prom there. A 4 day walking competition was just ending and each participant was handed a stem of gladioli for finishing, so it was a bit weird seeing all these apparent Morrissey impersonators wandering around.

Finally, the sun broke through:

We were getting thirsty by now so it was back to the apartment for beers on the balcony, taking in the late afternoon/early evening rays before dinner.

It's now Monday morning and it's been raining again. Don't think we'll be going far today either.

Marbella - Saturday travel

Friday night/Saturday morning was a little fraught for us all, but eventually all 3 of us - 4 including Gary, who was taking my car away - made it to the airport in good time. In fact we were a bit too early, particularly as the seats were all pre-assigned anyway.

There was a bit of panic on the drive between Gary's office and the airport - all of a sudden, my car lost its traction control and warning lights started flashing. We turned off the software and it seemed to be ok after that. Whether my car is going through its death throes or whether it's just a temporary blip, we don't know.

This - and the early morning start - had distracted me a little and I forgot to unhook my phone from its charging unit in my car before Gary drove off.

Check-in was easy but there was a bit of a temporary panic in security as my laptop seemed to have disappeared. I always get stopped and scanned and body searched since my metal knee was put in, and I try to keep an eye on my belongings as they go along the belt whilst I am searched, but it's not always easy to monitor them. I think it's too easy for thieves to make off with other peoples' belongings at airports and I wish there was a better way of doing this. My backpack was OK and so was my jacket, but one of the security guards insisted on putting my laptop in a tray of its own. It's a Sony Vaio and the outer cover is dark grey - the same as the trays used in security. Somebody in security had been tidying up whilst I was being searched and hadn't noticed the laptop in the bottom of the tray and had put a pile of other trays on top. What a relief when we eventually found it - I had assumed the worst.

Having recovered from this particular panic with my laptop, I sat down and went through my belongings, only to finally realise that my phone was missing. Too late. We contacted Gary to let him know and hopefully he'll get it over to Banchory this week and one of the golfing group will bring it out with them on Saturday.

Otherwise, the flight was fine and although there was a slight delay at the other end with the baggage, we were on our way with our rental car well before lunch. In fact, we were too early when we arrived at Marriott's Marbella Beach Club - our very first timeshare, where we'd only been once before in 1999. It's matured a huge amount since then - a really nice resort. We had lunch at the new (to us) restaurant down by the beach:

By the time we had finished, our apartment was ready. Second floor, west facing - ideal for the afternoon/evening sun - and we had a (slightly distant) sea view as well:

After unpacking, Jo and Ross had a nap, whilst I watch Scotand's rugby team's match against Samoa on the laptop. We then drove to Puerto Banus and did some grocery shopping at El Corte Ingles. Prawns and chorizos were the order of the day and Ross did an excellent job of cooking them for dinner back at our apartment - even though the chilli content was perhaps a fraction high!

G & T's and red wine ensured we were ready for bed after a long day.

Eve of Holiday

Jo and I are virtually packed - but Ross has still got it all to do tonight. He finishes work at 5 pm however, so he has plenty of time. It's a very early start for us all - and Gary is meeting us at his office near the airport at 4:45 am tomorrow!

After Monday's traumas with the boiler, the rest of the week has been fairly routine. I've managed to get out on my bike 4 times - two fairly short solo ones, but a couple of decent runs with some of our group on Monday and Thursday. I didn't quite make it to 100 kms this week - just 4 kms short. It's all helping to get rid of at least some of the extra weight I put on in USA this summer - just in time, as no doubt the next two weeks will mean it all goes back on again. Yesterday, the scales showed me at 12 stones 10 lbs (178 pounds or 81 kgs for my overseas readers) - still too heavy, but retirement has generally been good for my health so far - I almost hit 14 stones last year when I was still working. I spent all my time in my car or at my desk and when I got home, I was too tired to do anything - I only realise this now. Perhaps I should have retired earlier after all. Now all I have to do to lose more weight is stop taking holidays!

The Rotary Club have put up another bench on the Deeside Way and I tried it out this afternoon on my cycle:

I looped up from there past Crathes Castle and back to Ross' work at Buchanan's for tea and raspberry shortcake al fresco - very nice. I'd had my brakes fixed at the bike shop this morning - they were screeching - and wanted to try them out. The brakes, gears and front suspension are the really positive aspects of this bike when compared with my old one (which Ross is now using), although the tyres are a good bit fatter - useful on muddy, off-road tracks, but a lot more friction when riding on tarmac.

Tuesday was Inverurie as usual - I drove there, but then caught the train after tea in to Aberdeen for a CAMRA meeting, whilst Jo drove home.

Thursday night was the big disappointment for Scottish football fans - let's hope our rugby team do a little better tomorrow. One heroic failure is enough for this week.

Bad start to the week

For once, I slept in a bit this morning - I didn't wake up until 7:15 am. I was still tired and would have liked to roll over but I remembered that the fitter was arriving at 8 am for his second attempt to install our new boiler, so up I got. It was a bit of a struggle - I had been bitten by some little beastie yesterday on the golf course and my forehead swelled up. At bedtime, I had taken a precautionary anti-histamine pill and I'm not sure whether it was the bite or the pill that made me tired and drowsy.

The fitter came in and went round the house checking everything out - in the attic, bathrooms etc - something the surveyor had failed to do. When he got to our en suite and saw our shower, he casually remarked "that won't work after the new boiler goes in". "What?!!!" says I. "That's right - the new boiler will bust the seals of the shower"!

Nobody - not the salesman, nor the surveyor, nor even the fitter when he'd been here on Thursday - had mentioned this possibility to us before. I immediately regarded it as a deal-breaker, whereupon the fitter phoned his boss, who then spoke to me. He disagreed with his fitter, but did admit it was a possibility, but we shouldn't worry as, if that happened, he would replace the shower cartridge. I asked for this promise in writing and duly got it, but this second cock-up/miscommunication had unsettled me, so I decided we needed to check the exact details of what he was going to do.

The first question was what was the power output of the boiler? 29kw he said. I checked the contract and it said 35 kw was to be provided. Now I was really unsettled - three strikes and they're out. The fitter's boss got on the phone again, protesting about me stopping the work being completed, but he eventually accepted my reasons for taking a step back.

So, we've put it off until we come back from holiday - and we're going to check out another supplier.

We were disappointed, but felt we had to err on the cautious side. The only slight upside was that I could now join the Monday afternoon cycle - and I did.

Ross came round late morning - he no longer works at Tease, but had started work at Buchanan's Bistro at Woodend Barn on Thursday and wanted to explain to us what happened. Of course, it's not nearly so convenient for him to get there, but, having myself acquired my "new" bike on Friday, I was able to offer him my old one to help him get to work. A little bit of extra exercise won't do him any harm anyway.

The weekend's weather was lovely again, but a change is afoot. We got rain this afternoon and more is forecast for tomorrow. Ah well, it was nice while it lasted.

We got our flu jabs early on Saturday morning and I went to Pittodrie to watch the Dons in the afternoon, before heading to the Masons' house for a lovely dinner on Saturday night, but I'm afraid I don't have the stamina any more to stay up after midnight, especially after a giant meal and lots of booze. The following day is always a bit of a struggle - although I did manage a game of golf in the morning, but after that, I had no energy.

October sunshine

The brilliant weather continues - we've seldom seen a sunnier week than this one. High pressure in October does mean cooler evenings and mornings, but that's a small price to pay. Deeside has done particularly well - Braemar, not for the first time, was both the hottest and the coldest place in the UK on the same day. It got down to minus 2C overnight but then rose back up to 24C in the afternoon.

I went out to play 16 holes yesterday afternoon with Les Gray and Ken Page and we sat on the balcony at the club for a couple of beers afterwards. I phoned Jo and suggested she come down and join me - and she did, whereupon Ken got in touch with Irene and the four of us had supper together - not at the golf club, however - it was 1st October, meaning winter catering hours - no food on midweek evenings. We walked round to the Douglas and ate there, but, as we left the club, a low mist was already descending on the fairways:

By the time we left the Douglas to walk home, the temperature had crashed - and I was still in shorts.

I have been threatening to buy a new bike for some time now - my old Dawes is nearly 40 years old now - and an opportunity came along yesterday when John Meaden contacted me to say he had bought himself a new bike and would I like to buy his old one? So, this morning, I took a short stroll round to Burnett Park to have a look at it - and, after handing over just £100, I rode home on this:

It's now been adorned with a few of the accessories on my old bike - lights, bell, mudguard and toolkit. I took it for a very short run to get used to the gearing (a lot more than I'm used to) and the disc brakes, which squeal a fair bit. The bike is 7 years old so it's not the very latest technology, but it's bound to be an improvement on what I had. It doesn't have the larger wheels that have become de rigueur in recent times - 29" and, more recently 27.5" - and its tyres are wider than on my Dawes, causing more friction, but the same sized wheels as I'm used to are a bit easier to manoeuvre. I may have to replace the saddle with a gel one however!

I also took delivery of a new set of crossbars for the rails on top of my car and fitted them successfully:

My next job was to try and fit one of the many sets of bike racks I have in the garage to the new crossbars, but none of them would fit - the crossbars were too fat, so it's back to square one.

This afternoon I was back to the dentist to have a filling plus a scale and polish - my mouth is still numb.

We can't yet use our balcony at home and whereas we sat outside downstairs this morning, we can't do that in the afternoons at this time of year as the sun is too low in the sky and the huge trees in front of us shade the ground from the rays.

The new boiler fitting is going to be happening on Monday now. As I suspected, that means me missing another of our cycling group's planned outings. Ho hum.

Tomorrow morning at 8:30 am we're both getting our flu jabs.

The news this morning from Roseburg, Oregon was truly shocking. Far too close for comfort - Roseburg is just one hour up the I-5 from Grants Pass. The old arguments about gun control inevitably resurface at times like this - even the phone-in on Radio Scotland this morning was full of mostly ill-informed comments - and I wouldn't want to pontificate on what the Americans should do about it - not my place - but I did quite like reading Rolling Stone's commentary on it.  Admittedly, it's a left-leaning magazine, so you know where they're coming from, but nonetheless it's worth a look - http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/4-pro-gun-arguments-were-sick-of-hearing-20151001?page=2

Obama only has a year of his presidency left. Politically, he has nothing left to lose now. If he really wants to do something about it, now's the time - although he does need to persuade an awful lot of doubters if he wants to get anything passed.

Thursday frustration

Well, the fitter arrived to install our new boiler - sharp at 8 am. He had driven up from Fife, but there was an immediate problem - he didn't have the correct parts with him. Not his fault of course - the parts were ordered by the surveyor. Whenever you buy anything like this, you always have 3 separate visits - first the salesman, then the surveyor and finally the fitter. They should communicate effectively with each other, but seldom do - in fact, they often "diss" their colleagues. (This could have been a topic for My Pet Hates blog).

The upshot is that he is going to have to come back next week, which means at least one of us has to stay at home again. I could have gone cycling with our group this morning, but missed out. I'm glad I managed a shortish run yesterday - in glorious sunshine again.

We're still waiting for the last coat of the decking oil I put on our balcony to dry fully:

One application of cleaner, then one of preservative, followed by two of decking oil - the first applied by brush and the second sprayed on. Maybe the second coat was unnecessary - but it can't do any harm in the long run. One upshot of the brush application was that some splashes landed on my car below - I don't know what to do about this, but the paintwork has definitely been breached and no doubt it will rust in those places. Oh well.

Another glorious day in store. I could nip down to Carnoustie, St. Andrews or Kingsbarns to watch the Dunhill Cup - or I might go for a solo cycle this afternoon. I feel I should get out whilst the weather's so good (24 C on Deeside!), but I'm a little tired - I had a poor night's sleep - I lay awake from 2:30 am on.

I took my first Rivaroxaban pill yesterday morning and I got an immediate reaction - I felt dizzy and a bit drowsy. The effects wore off a bit in the afternoon, but it made me decide to take the next one at night, rather than the morning. Dizziness is one of the possible side effects listed on the instructions, which also say that new patients normally take two 15 mg pills daily for the first month then move on to one 20 mg pill daily, but I've gone straight in at 20 mg daily. We'll see how I get on tonight after taking my second dose.

Kelly FaceTimed yesterday, so we got lots of kisses from little Miller - that was nice. So it's going to be grandson number 5 then. Some of you aren't trying hard enough.

Busy morning

It was all go this morning - pick up my car from the golf club, then my paper and head for the Doctor's. We discussed my recent visit to the cardiologist. He had recommended coming off aspirin and moving to the new generation of anti-coagulants like Rivaroxaban. This time last year, my GP had persuaded me to give it one more year before changing drugs, so now was the time to change - and he agreed, so I've got a month's trial to do, then back to the GP. If all's well, he'll give me another 2 months' worth of the drug and, at the end of that period we'll decide whether to continue with it permanently or not. Unlike Warfarin, there's no antidote, so, if I bleed, it's serious. I'll have to be even more careful on my cycling trips.

I rushed from the Doctor's to my new Dentist for his initial assessment. Generally OK, but a bit of pus round my implant and a dodgy filling that needs replaced - on Friday.

Next stop was the pharmacist/chemist to pick up my new medicine, then on to Special FX who act as the local UPS depot. (I had to return a part I'd ordered from Apple - incorrectly). Then it was off for a haircut - back down to a bare number 4 again. I think I'll need to buy another head shaver.

The Legion was next - annual renewal time - then it was home again. Good day to wash both cars, I thought. Good idea but it gave our next door neighbour an opportunity to complain about the location of our bins on the driveway - too close to her house apparently.

A bit of bad news - an old friend of mine from Knightswood days died last week. Colin McKay was just 67. I hadn't seen him for decades but we still exchanged Xmas cards. He had type 3 colon cancer and was operated on last Wednesday, but there were complications and he was put on life support before passing away peacefully. Colin and I were pretty close in the 60's and early 70's. He was at our wedding and, before that, at my 21st:

That's Colin lying down at the front of the photo - and his sister Moira is on the far left.

The weekend has passed - and it was a glorious one with fine autumnal sunshine - perfect for our end of season Scotland v. R.o.W. match and lunch yesterday - and again today for the Seniors' season-ending golf and lunch.

We had a slightly shortened FaceTime call from Kelly on Friday morning - Miller spilled some stuff and she had to hang up - then Lucy called last night.

My pensions/financial adviser Alistair Scott called on Friday. I had half promised him a game of golf, but the course was busy and, anyway, I had to wait for the man from Penicuik who was supposed to be here in the morning to fix our front door anyway, and, as usual, he didn't arrive on time, so we decided to forgo the golf and just nip up to the Tor-na-Coille Hotel for a quick soup and sannies lunch.

The blood red "super moon" last night looked interesting, but there was no way we were getting up at 3 am to view it. I took a couple of snaps of the bright full moon on Friday night however:

Nowhere near as impressive as some of the photos on today's TV - I guess you had to be there - it was quite a sight - like a giant light bulb.

End of today's diary entry.

Winter's coming!

So, did anyone notice that the night was longer than the day? I thought not. It is autumnal, but it's bright and there's high pressure on the way for the weekend, so it's not all bad.

It wasn't all bad yesterday either as Scotland trounced Japan in the Rugby World Cup - and confounded a few critics in the process. Bring on USA on Sunday.

Golf at Forfar today was excellent, despite me feeling a little stiff from yesterday's cycle. Jo was at the Doctor's this morning and has had blood tests, for which she will get the results next week. Lots of speculation about the cause of the pains and funny feelings in her leg, but let's wait and see.

Tomorrow my pensions/financial adviser arrives, as do Penicuik to repair our front door. Next week's busy too - Seniors golf and season-ending lunch on Monday, my Doctor on Tuesday morning (cardio meds), followed by my first appointment at Fountain Lodge Dental Practice - I've decided to go local after more than 30 years of going to Holburn Dental Care in Aberdeen. As Bob said many years ago, The Times They are a Changin'.

Scottish Gas arrive on Wednesday morning for the service and, on Thursday, our new boiler is being installed. Two days later, Jo and I go for our flu jabs first thing in the morning and we're at the Masons for dinner in the evening.

Enough for now.

Equinox(es)

Yes, it's the autumn equinox today - or the spring (vernal) equinox in the southern hemisphere. As all the doom and gloom merchants in NE Scotland would say - it's all downhill from here. Another 5 + weeks and the clocks will be going back. It's a bit of an oddity that, when that happens, the time difference from Kelly in Adelaide goes up from eight and a half hours to ten and a half hours, as they spring forward when we fall back.

It's also 50 years since I left Victoria Drive Secondary School to start training as a Chartered Accountant in September, 1965. This was the Top 10 in the UK then:

Pos	LW	Title, Artist	Peak Pos	WoC
1	3	MAKE IT EASY ON YOURSELF WALKER BROTHERS PHILIPS	1	6
2	1	(I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION THE ROLLING STONES DECCA	1	5
3	7	TEARS KEN DODD COLUMBIA	3	4
4	2	I GOT YOU BABE SONNY AND CHER ATLANTIC	1	7
5	5	LOOK THROUGH ANY WINDOW THE HOLLIES PARLOPHONE	5	4
6	4	LIKE A ROLLING STONE BOB DYLAN CBS	4	6
7	6	WALK IN THE BLACK FOREST HORST JANKOWSKI MERCURY	3	9
8	10	ZORBA'S DANCE MARCELLO MINERBI DURIUM	6	10
9	18	EVE OF DESTRUCTION BARRY MCGUIRE RCA	9	3
10	9	LAUGH AT ME SONNY ATLANTIC	9	6

So it wasn't all great music in the 60's - viz. Ken Dodd at No. 3 - and, unusually, there are two instrumentals in the Top 10, but Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone increases the credibility factor - a tune I remember well from a weekend in Millport, as earlier reported in my Chronicles. I had just passed my Highers and Mum and Dad didn't buy me the promised record player until Christmas that year, so I never owned any of these records.

 It's also 32 years ago this week that I started work at Clipper Seafoods in Aberdeen. The rest of the family were still in Edinburgh and I used to bring home the bacon (chocolate biscuits actually) on a Friday night.

Bringing things back up to date, today is Scotland's first match in the Rugby World Cup and they face Japan in a game that Scotland were initially expected to win, but, after Japan's deserved win over former World Champions South Africa on Saturday, they have started to make noises about running Scotland off the park. We can only hope that this serves as a clarion call to the Scots to do their stuff.

Tomorrow, it's golf at Forfar and on Friday, the Penicuik men arrive to repair our front door. I also have Alistair Scott, our financial/pensions adviser coming up and we'll have a spot of lunch somewhere. If it's nice we might go for a game of golf as well.