We're well in to June now and the weather continues to be brilliant. I can't recall such a long period of dry, settled weather here - not quite the summers of 1975 & 1976 yet (when we were in SE England), but they say last month was the warmest and driest May for nearly 100 years. I could well believe it. I played golf yesterday - a relatively rare event for me nowadays - and the course was hard and dry and there were several areas where the ground was cracking up.
As I said, I don't play nearly as much golf as I used to, but the next couple of weeks before we head off to USA will see the most action for a while - June is always the busiest golf month of the year for me. It's likely Jo and I won't see much of each other before we get on the plane on 27th June!
Jo's away today - a day out in Edinburgh with her pal Anne. I drove them to Stonehaven early this morning. Ordinarily, this would have meant I was home alone today, but I'm afraid that's far from the situation. We have the painters in just now - they've been here since Monday and they're blitzing the whole house - inside and out. The house is like a war zone - there's no room where we can sit down and relax - all the furniture is piled up and shrouded with old bedsheets and polythene. They also sanded down a couple of our Artex ceilings, so every surface in the house now has a layer of dust on it. It's going to be quite a tidy-up job once they're finished. One side benefit has been the fact that we've had to clear space for them and this gave us a chance to have a major clear-out of some of the old files, books and CD's that had been overspilling some of our shelves and wardrobes. Lucy's and Kelly's old university course books and papers were part of that - and, Kelly - I have to tell you that we came across an old diary of yours!
I'm off to Edinburgh on Sunday to watch the Scotland v England cricket match. Brother-in-law Brian is joining us, as is Leslie Mason (Anne's husband). From there, it's then down to Peebles for 3 days' golf, so it'll be Thursday next week when we go to Inverurie for our usual weekly "babysitting" duties.
Jo's appointment to get her cataracts done hasn't come through yet, but she has now got a date for her endoscopy - Tuesday 19th June.
Sorry - no photos today - not even one of Luca after I took him for a haircut on Tuesday. You probably wouldn't notice the difference anyway!
Ian R. Stewart Family Blog
Thursday, 7 June 2018
Friday, 1 June 2018
West Coast Wanders
Our long promised trip to the other side of the country took place in a superb weather window. It was only a short break - just 2 nights - and we were just planning to have a little look around.
We left Banchory fairly promptly on Tuesday morning. There was a little bit of mist on Deeside but it was lifting as we headed further inland - at least until we approached Inverness, where there was a fairly thick Moray Firth haar. After crossing the Kessock Bridge we figured it was time for a short break, so we pulled in to the mart on the outskirts of Dingwall, where a cafe was advertised. It was very much a mart workers cafe - very functional, but it hit the spot as far as we were concerned. Jo thought it would be nice to take a photo beside the mart's signature statues:
Jo insisted on doing it again as she had stood in front of the dog:
The drive from there through to Plockton was fairly straight-forward, apart from the last few miles which were along a very narrow winding single track road - a small taste of things to come. The haar around Inverness had turned in to brilliant sunshine and the thermometer steadily rose to 26 C as we ventured further west.
We were booked in to the Plockton Inn - the Hotel was full. It was lunchtime when we arrived and the place was heaving so we decided to take a walk around the village and then head off to get some fuel.
The tide was out so we were able to walk across to the mini island where there were a number of seats conveniently located:
We completed a mini loop round the village, starting with the beach and coming back via the main street:
Thirsty work needed a quick pint on the decking of Plockton Hotel and then we jumped in the car and headed for the nearest fuel station at Kyle of Lochalsh - not exactly the cheapest fuel in Scotland. We couldn't then pass up the opportunity of crossing the adjacent bridge over to Skye and popped in to Kyleakin for a quick ice cream and a photo of the bridge:
Back in Plockton, our room was ready and soon it was time for dinner in their fine, but casual, seafood restaurant. A band was playing in the bar that night and we listened for a while before retiring.
Our next overnight stay was in Torridon but we planned to go there on a fairly circuitous route via Applecross, accessing it over the Bealloch na Ba hill route. The weather was stunning again as we crawled up the hill behind a brave team from the Cairngorm Cycling Club - we could only get past each of the riders as they pulled in to the passing places - but if there was traffic coming the other way - and there were plenty of tourists about - then you had to miss a turn. It took an eternity to get to the top of the road where there was a fairly large car park full of cars decamping their contents to get the obligatory photos of the jawdropping scenery looking across to Skye and Raasay:
We needed to do some leg stretching so I persuaded Jo to take the fairly short, but steepish in places, hike up here:
Jo took it nice and steady and made it fairly comfortably to the cairn where I was waiting:
We made it back down to the car then tackled the slow drive down the hill to Applecross. The Inn was mobbed - inside and out - so we decided on a nearby cafe instead for lunch, after which we took another stroll around before heading off to Torridon - the long way via the Wester Ross Coastal Trail.
Most of the journey went well, despite the narrow roads but, towards the end, we had a couple of near scrapes with a couple of less than friendly drivers coming in the opposite direction.
We arrived at the Torridon - we were staying in the Inn as the Hotel was full - late afternoon and, after a welcoming cup of tea and Tunnock's Caramel Wafer, we took the short walk down to the Boat House and Loch Torridon before dinner. A quick bath then out for a pre-dinner beer:
The Torridon resort is lovely and the rooms were a far cry from the tight but adequate ones we'd had at the Plockton Inn.
Our short break over, we had to now go to Inverurie to pick up Luca from school, stopping off on the way for coffee and a scone at the harbour in Nairn.
Back in Banchory today (Friday), it's been fairly busy - Jo's car had to be taken in for MoT and service and we also had the glaziers calling to measure the front door pane that recently shattered. We're also clearing the rooms to prepare for the arrival of the painters on Monday - an opportunity also to ditch a lot of the excess stuff built up over the years.
We left Banchory fairly promptly on Tuesday morning. There was a little bit of mist on Deeside but it was lifting as we headed further inland - at least until we approached Inverness, where there was a fairly thick Moray Firth haar. After crossing the Kessock Bridge we figured it was time for a short break, so we pulled in to the mart on the outskirts of Dingwall, where a cafe was advertised. It was very much a mart workers cafe - very functional, but it hit the spot as far as we were concerned. Jo thought it would be nice to take a photo beside the mart's signature statues:
Jo insisted on doing it again as she had stood in front of the dog:
The drive from there through to Plockton was fairly straight-forward, apart from the last few miles which were along a very narrow winding single track road - a small taste of things to come. The haar around Inverness had turned in to brilliant sunshine and the thermometer steadily rose to 26 C as we ventured further west.
We were booked in to the Plockton Inn - the Hotel was full. It was lunchtime when we arrived and the place was heaving so we decided to take a walk around the village and then head off to get some fuel.
The tide was out so we were able to walk across to the mini island where there were a number of seats conveniently located:
We completed a mini loop round the village, starting with the beach and coming back via the main street:
Thirsty work needed a quick pint on the decking of Plockton Hotel and then we jumped in the car and headed for the nearest fuel station at Kyle of Lochalsh - not exactly the cheapest fuel in Scotland. We couldn't then pass up the opportunity of crossing the adjacent bridge over to Skye and popped in to Kyleakin for a quick ice cream and a photo of the bridge:
Back in Plockton, our room was ready and soon it was time for dinner in their fine, but casual, seafood restaurant. A band was playing in the bar that night and we listened for a while before retiring.
Our next overnight stay was in Torridon but we planned to go there on a fairly circuitous route via Applecross, accessing it over the Bealloch na Ba hill route. The weather was stunning again as we crawled up the hill behind a brave team from the Cairngorm Cycling Club - we could only get past each of the riders as they pulled in to the passing places - but if there was traffic coming the other way - and there were plenty of tourists about - then you had to miss a turn. It took an eternity to get to the top of the road where there was a fairly large car park full of cars decamping their contents to get the obligatory photos of the jawdropping scenery looking across to Skye and Raasay:
We needed to do some leg stretching so I persuaded Jo to take the fairly short, but steepish in places, hike up here:
Jo took it nice and steady and made it fairly comfortably to the cairn where I was waiting:
We made it back down to the car then tackled the slow drive down the hill to Applecross. The Inn was mobbed - inside and out - so we decided on a nearby cafe instead for lunch, after which we took another stroll around before heading off to Torridon - the long way via the Wester Ross Coastal Trail.
Most of the journey went well, despite the narrow roads but, towards the end, we had a couple of near scrapes with a couple of less than friendly drivers coming in the opposite direction.
We arrived at the Torridon - we were staying in the Inn as the Hotel was full - late afternoon and, after a welcoming cup of tea and Tunnock's Caramel Wafer, we took the short walk down to the Boat House and Loch Torridon before dinner. A quick bath then out for a pre-dinner beer:
The Torridon resort is lovely and the rooms were a far cry from the tight but adequate ones we'd had at the Plockton Inn.
Our short break over, we had to now go to Inverurie to pick up Luca from school, stopping off on the way for coffee and a scone at the harbour in Nairn.
Back in Banchory today (Friday), it's been fairly busy - Jo's car had to be taken in for MoT and service and we also had the glaziers calling to measure the front door pane that recently shattered. We're also clearing the rooms to prepare for the arrival of the painters on Monday - an opportunity also to ditch a lot of the excess stuff built up over the years.
Thursday, 31 May 2018
Second half of May
A lot to catch up on - 2 weeks with no blog reports. Funny how things have changed - I was posting virtually daily when I was working but now that I'm retired the posts seem to be getting less and less frequent. Retirement is a busy business.
Cade's graduation details arrived in the post:
Not something we do in the UK - strictly an American thing just now, but, then again, we never used to have fancy senior proms here - and we do now. Watch this space then.
A strange thing happened the other day - and we've no idea how or when it occurred. We - or, rather, Jo - noticed that one of the side panels at our front door was shattered:
Strange, eh?
On to matters Luca now. He's in his final year at primary now and will be starting at secondary school in August. He collected his new school tie the other day:
Luca's football season with Colony Park is coming to an end. I went along to his penultimate match at Oldmeldrum with Gary. Luca did well and scored a penalty. His "reward", which Gary treats him to after every match - win, lose or draw - is to go out for lunch - this time to Inverurie Garden Centre, where he scoffed down a day's worth of calories in one sitting.
The following weekend I did a double sitting with Luca. Carole was away eventing and Gary was taking part in the Oldmeldrum Hill Race, so I took Luca to his kickboxing class on Saturday morning. His reward this time was lunch in the small cafe/restaurant just 100 yards from their back door - the Scone and Yon. It's a former private house conversion - although very little internally has changed. It's still very obvious which room is which. The former living room was full so we were taken upstairs to what had been a small bedroom with a dormer window. It felt seriously weird:
The food was OK however.
On Sunday, Luca's final match was out at Millbank, near Alford. It was another glorious day and we all turned up to watch him play - me, Gary, Carole and Jo. Here's Jo and Gary having a seat and a chat at half time:
After every match has finished, the teams line up for each player to take a penalty. Exactly as he did the week before, Luca despatched his with ease:
Luca played well and his team won again. We celebrated with lunch at a nice cafe in Alford.
The weather had been brilliant and forecast to continue that way for at least another week, so it was time for Jo and I to make our long promised visit over to the west coast. Plockton, Applecross and Torridon were on our radar. Due to other commitments, the earliest we could travel was Tuesday this week. We're now back home and will report back on our trip in my next post.
Cade's graduation details arrived in the post:
Not something we do in the UK - strictly an American thing just now, but, then again, we never used to have fancy senior proms here - and we do now. Watch this space then.
A strange thing happened the other day - and we've no idea how or when it occurred. We - or, rather, Jo - noticed that one of the side panels at our front door was shattered:
Strange, eh?
On to matters Luca now. He's in his final year at primary now and will be starting at secondary school in August. He collected his new school tie the other day:
Luca's football season with Colony Park is coming to an end. I went along to his penultimate match at Oldmeldrum with Gary. Luca did well and scored a penalty. His "reward", which Gary treats him to after every match - win, lose or draw - is to go out for lunch - this time to Inverurie Garden Centre, where he scoffed down a day's worth of calories in one sitting.
The following weekend I did a double sitting with Luca. Carole was away eventing and Gary was taking part in the Oldmeldrum Hill Race, so I took Luca to his kickboxing class on Saturday morning. His reward this time was lunch in the small cafe/restaurant just 100 yards from their back door - the Scone and Yon. It's a former private house conversion - although very little internally has changed. It's still very obvious which room is which. The former living room was full so we were taken upstairs to what had been a small bedroom with a dormer window. It felt seriously weird:
The food was OK however.
On Sunday, Luca's final match was out at Millbank, near Alford. It was another glorious day and we all turned up to watch him play - me, Gary, Carole and Jo. Here's Jo and Gary having a seat and a chat at half time:
After every match has finished, the teams line up for each player to take a penalty. Exactly as he did the week before, Luca despatched his with ease:
Luca played well and his team won again. We celebrated with lunch at a nice cafe in Alford.
The weather had been brilliant and forecast to continue that way for at least another week, so it was time for Jo and I to make our long promised visit over to the west coast. Plockton, Applecross and Torridon were on our radar. Due to other commitments, the earliest we could travel was Tuesday this week. We're now back home and will report back on our trip in my next post.
Friday, 18 May 2018
Another end of week update
It's Friday afternoon and Jo's away swimming with her pals and I'm about to head out on my bike to take advantage of the sunshine, so I'll make this a quick one.
Our walk in the Cairngorms last week went OK - eventually. Check my hill-walking blog - https://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.co.uk/. Jo and I also went a 5 kms forest walk last Saturday at Potarch.
Jo's been busy in the garden - front and back and I've been doing the consequent runs to the tip. The front was getting a bit overgrown but it's a lot tidier now:
It was my Boat of Garten weekend last Sunday/Monday and we struck it lucky with the weather again, as we did at golf again on Wednesday and cycling yesterday. More please.
Want to see what Ross is up to now? Check https://www.jacscoffeevan.co.uk/
Tonight I've got another live Headbangers show on River Dee Radio - don't forget to tune in at 8 pm - www.tunein.com/radio/River-Dee-Radio-s274232 - or listen to the podcast tomorrow on Mixcloud.
Busy time golfing next week but not long until we head off to USA - just 6 weeks now. Hope the Hawaiian volcano settles down soon.
Our walk in the Cairngorms last week went OK - eventually. Check my hill-walking blog - https://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.co.uk/. Jo and I also went a 5 kms forest walk last Saturday at Potarch.
Jo's been busy in the garden - front and back and I've been doing the consequent runs to the tip. The front was getting a bit overgrown but it's a lot tidier now:
It was my Boat of Garten weekend last Sunday/Monday and we struck it lucky with the weather again, as we did at golf again on Wednesday and cycling yesterday. More please.
Want to see what Ross is up to now? Check https://www.jacscoffeevan.co.uk/
Tonight I've got another live Headbangers show on River Dee Radio - don't forget to tune in at 8 pm - www.tunein.com/radio/River-Dee-Radio-s274232 - or listen to the podcast tomorrow on Mixcloud.
Busy time golfing next week but not long until we head off to USA - just 6 weeks now. Hope the Hawaiian volcano settles down soon.
Sunday, 6 May 2018
Mayday
The headline is not a cry for help - merely a statement of fact. Tomorrow (Monday) is the May bank holiday in the UK and those living further south have been sweltering in a mini heatwave. Up here in the North East of Scotland we haven't been quite so fortunate - we've had plenty of bright, sunny days, but, until today there's been a little nip in the wind, keeping temperatures down a bit from what we had been told they would be.
Still, spring is definitely here - at least in the Northern hemisphere. I monitor the weather at the locations of our family and it's noticeable how Lucy's temperatures in Oregon have now gone well past Kelly's in Adelaide, as they're well in to their autumn now.
On the job front, Ross has finally managed to pick up some work. It's a start-up operation - a coffee stall in an old Citroen van situated in Victoria Park, Edinburgh - he's the barista. He had his first day trading yesterday and with the weather this weekend, it should have gone quite well. Fingers crossed. Incidentally, his PC crashed and burned so he has now "borrowed" Jo's laptop.
Kelly, too, has accepted a new job and starts next month. She went through turmoil before finally taking the plunge. It will mean less travelling for her, so that's good.
Of course, Gary too is in a new job - he's been at GEODIS in Aberdeen city centre for a couple of months now. Those on Facebook will be aware that Gary ran the Stirling Marathon last Sunday in an excellent time - although, as ever, he thought he could/should have done better. Here's the goody pack he got for participating:
Now the medical report. Since my last blog post, Jo has been for her breast screening and, on Thursday, we drove in to ARI for her medical assessment for her cataract operations. The doctor said her cataracts weren't too bad - normally they slowly encroach from either side, but hers are right across the middle, which is why they are causing her issues with reading and driving. They're going to do one eye and see how she gets on with that. Now it's just a waiting game to get her a slot for the operation, which could be in Stirling or Glasgow - and she's also indicated she will accept a last minute cancellation.
I've been back to the dermatology clinic for more treatment on the growths on the my nose. The one that was on top was burned off and now it's the lower one that has had a dose of liquid nitrogen and is starting to scab up a little:
I go back again in a few weeks' time.
Other goings-on in Arbor Court include the fact that we've just bought a new cordless Dyson cleaner. It was getting difficult for Jo to lug the old one up and down the stairs - this should be a lot easier.
We've also started the process of getting our house painted inside and out. We've had one quote already and another surveyor arrives on Wednesday. It's way too much for me to do.
Tomorrow, I'm going hiking in the Cairngorms with my hill-walking pals. The idea is to get up in to the mountains before all the snow disappears - not that we'll be walking in it, but we should get some nice views and photos at this time of year. It'll be an all-day expedition.
It's coming up to that busy time of the year - especially for golf. May and June are my peak months before we fly off to USA. I don't play nearly as often as I used to, but the next few weeks will still test me - starting with Boat of Garten next weekend.
To close, Jo recently sent me this photo she took of me having a moment at our little Air B'n'B in Adelaide:
Still, spring is definitely here - at least in the Northern hemisphere. I monitor the weather at the locations of our family and it's noticeable how Lucy's temperatures in Oregon have now gone well past Kelly's in Adelaide, as they're well in to their autumn now.
On the job front, Ross has finally managed to pick up some work. It's a start-up operation - a coffee stall in an old Citroen van situated in Victoria Park, Edinburgh - he's the barista. He had his first day trading yesterday and with the weather this weekend, it should have gone quite well. Fingers crossed. Incidentally, his PC crashed and burned so he has now "borrowed" Jo's laptop.
Kelly, too, has accepted a new job and starts next month. She went through turmoil before finally taking the plunge. It will mean less travelling for her, so that's good.
Of course, Gary too is in a new job - he's been at GEODIS in Aberdeen city centre for a couple of months now. Those on Facebook will be aware that Gary ran the Stirling Marathon last Sunday in an excellent time - although, as ever, he thought he could/should have done better. Here's the goody pack he got for participating:
Now the medical report. Since my last blog post, Jo has been for her breast screening and, on Thursday, we drove in to ARI for her medical assessment for her cataract operations. The doctor said her cataracts weren't too bad - normally they slowly encroach from either side, but hers are right across the middle, which is why they are causing her issues with reading and driving. They're going to do one eye and see how she gets on with that. Now it's just a waiting game to get her a slot for the operation, which could be in Stirling or Glasgow - and she's also indicated she will accept a last minute cancellation.
I've been back to the dermatology clinic for more treatment on the growths on the my nose. The one that was on top was burned off and now it's the lower one that has had a dose of liquid nitrogen and is starting to scab up a little:
I go back again in a few weeks' time.
Other goings-on in Arbor Court include the fact that we've just bought a new cordless Dyson cleaner. It was getting difficult for Jo to lug the old one up and down the stairs - this should be a lot easier.
We've also started the process of getting our house painted inside and out. We've had one quote already and another surveyor arrives on Wednesday. It's way too much for me to do.
Tomorrow, I'm going hiking in the Cairngorms with my hill-walking pals. The idea is to get up in to the mountains before all the snow disappears - not that we'll be walking in it, but we should get some nice views and photos at this time of year. It'll be an all-day expedition.
It's coming up to that busy time of the year - especially for golf. May and June are my peak months before we fly off to USA. I don't play nearly as often as I used to, but the next few weeks will still test me - starting with Boat of Garten next weekend.
To close, Jo recently sent me this photo she took of me having a moment at our little Air B'n'B in Adelaide:
Monday, 23 April 2018
Has Spring sprung?
We've had some lovely weather - bright sunny days, although not the temperatures they've been getting in the South of England, but it seems to have gone a little changeable again. Still, it can happen anywhere - even in the Algarve as we found out on our recent golfing trip. It was a short trip this year - just 3 days' golf - any longer and I wouldn't have gone. The weather was unseasonably poor - cool and wet at times. We would wake to temperatures of just 11 C - similar to Banchory - rising to just 16 C. Thursday morning was really bad - it was lashing and we had to postpone our tee time. Fortunately, it stopped at lunchtime and we did manage to play in the afternoon.
Friday was better - it got up to 21 C - and we did manage 3 rounds of golf in the 3 days, so it wasn't a complete disaster - just a little disappointing. The worst was getting some kind of food poisoning on the Thursday night - and I wasn't alone. I couldn't even face going out for dinner on Friday night, our last evening.
So, yes, as I suspected, this was my last overseas golf trip. I just can't hack it any more. I'll still keep playing golf here of course - and I have one more big commitment I've signed up to, which involves 3 straight days of golf on our annual Summer Tour - to Peebles this time, in June, immediately after a cricket trip to Edinburgh. Will I see Ross when I'm there? Who knows? He's still looking for employment down there, without any success at the time of writing, and he's given himself a deadline of the end of this month, so he may be back in Banchory by June.
So what have we been up to since I got back from Portugal? I went for a cycle with the Freewheelers last Monday - the first time I'd been out with them since our Xmas lunch. Tuesday it was back to Inverurie and Wednesday was golf for me and swimming for Jo again.
On Thursday, Jo and I took advantage of the good weather and went for a walk. We parked the car at Milton and walked eastwards along the river. It was a voyage of discovery for Jo. We came across a "host of golden daffodils":
A little further on, we came across a tiny adder on our path:
Friday was a really busy day for Jo - she had the West Church coffee morning, immediately followed by her afternoon swimming. I was going hill-walking in the afternoon, but had been working away on re-varnishing our garden bench that sits out front and also preparing the balcony decking for its annual oiling, so I got on with these chores in the morning.
More of the same for me on Saturday and I also managed to give our new car its first wash in the warm sunshine. On Sunday, after Jo had finished her duties at St. Columba's coffee morning, we drove down to Perth to meet up with Barry, Helen and Dawn, who were caravanning/camping near Scone Palace - they had come to see the Classic Car show on the Saturday. We all went for a stroll to Scone Palace and took a wander round the grounds, taking a photograph in the old graveyard:
Annoyingly, there were some showers on Sunday and, all of a sudden, my car was filthy again.
Today (Monday) I played my first Seniors golf match of the season and tonight we have another live show on River Dee Radio - https://tunein.com/radio/River-Dee-Radio-s274232/ in case you've forgotten.
Tomorrow it's back to Inverurie and then golf and swimming on Wednesday. Thursday is medical day - Jo has her breast screening and I'm going back to the Dermatology Clinic re my nose.
Friday was better - it got up to 21 C - and we did manage 3 rounds of golf in the 3 days, so it wasn't a complete disaster - just a little disappointing. The worst was getting some kind of food poisoning on the Thursday night - and I wasn't alone. I couldn't even face going out for dinner on Friday night, our last evening.
So, yes, as I suspected, this was my last overseas golf trip. I just can't hack it any more. I'll still keep playing golf here of course - and I have one more big commitment I've signed up to, which involves 3 straight days of golf on our annual Summer Tour - to Peebles this time, in June, immediately after a cricket trip to Edinburgh. Will I see Ross when I'm there? Who knows? He's still looking for employment down there, without any success at the time of writing, and he's given himself a deadline of the end of this month, so he may be back in Banchory by June.
So what have we been up to since I got back from Portugal? I went for a cycle with the Freewheelers last Monday - the first time I'd been out with them since our Xmas lunch. Tuesday it was back to Inverurie and Wednesday was golf for me and swimming for Jo again.
On Thursday, Jo and I took advantage of the good weather and went for a walk. We parked the car at Milton and walked eastwards along the river. It was a voyage of discovery for Jo. We came across a "host of golden daffodils":
A little further on, we came across a tiny adder on our path:
Friday was a really busy day for Jo - she had the West Church coffee morning, immediately followed by her afternoon swimming. I was going hill-walking in the afternoon, but had been working away on re-varnishing our garden bench that sits out front and also preparing the balcony decking for its annual oiling, so I got on with these chores in the morning.
More of the same for me on Saturday and I also managed to give our new car its first wash in the warm sunshine. On Sunday, after Jo had finished her duties at St. Columba's coffee morning, we drove down to Perth to meet up with Barry, Helen and Dawn, who were caravanning/camping near Scone Palace - they had come to see the Classic Car show on the Saturday. We all went for a stroll to Scone Palace and took a wander round the grounds, taking a photograph in the old graveyard:
Annoyingly, there were some showers on Sunday and, all of a sudden, my car was filthy again.
Today (Monday) I played my first Seniors golf match of the season and tonight we have another live show on River Dee Radio - https://tunein.com/radio/River-Dee-Radio-s274232/ in case you've forgotten.
Tomorrow it's back to Inverurie and then golf and swimming on Wednesday. Thursday is medical day - Jo has her breast screening and I'm going back to the Dermatology Clinic re my nose.
Monday, 9 April 2018
Eve of Algarve
I'm off to the Algarve in the morning for 3 days' golf - hope I manage OK. I suspect this may be my last overseas golf trip.
Luca and Gary came over for a belated Easter lunch yesterday with Jo, Ross and I. Sorry no photos again - I'm slipping up, aren't I? Ross goes back to Edinburgh tonight - I'll drive him in to Aberdeen to catch his train. He thinks he's going to give notice to his landlord at the end of this month, but where he'll be after that is dependent on where he can find some work. Edinburgh hasn't been a happy hunting place for him so far, but there's no doubt the economy there is buoyant and he probably has more chance of picking something up there than he has in the North East, where, although things are picking up a bit again in the oil industry, it's still suffering from a bit of a hangover from the oil price crash a couple of years ago.
Luca is here for a few more days as it's the second week of his school Easter holidays. He and I rode our bikes up to Inchmarlo driving range this morning and hit a few balls there. Watch him in action here - https://youtu.be/F9J27YtWArM.
On to medical matters - Jo's appointment at the hospital for her cataracts has come through - Thursday 3rd May.
Luca and Gary came over for a belated Easter lunch yesterday with Jo, Ross and I. Sorry no photos again - I'm slipping up, aren't I? Ross goes back to Edinburgh tonight - I'll drive him in to Aberdeen to catch his train. He thinks he's going to give notice to his landlord at the end of this month, but where he'll be after that is dependent on where he can find some work. Edinburgh hasn't been a happy hunting place for him so far, but there's no doubt the economy there is buoyant and he probably has more chance of picking something up there than he has in the North East, where, although things are picking up a bit again in the oil industry, it's still suffering from a bit of a hangover from the oil price crash a couple of years ago.
Luca is here for a few more days as it's the second week of his school Easter holidays. He and I rode our bikes up to Inchmarlo driving range this morning and hit a few balls there. Watch him in action here - https://youtu.be/F9J27YtWArM.
On to medical matters - Jo's appointment at the hospital for her cataracts has come through - Thursday 3rd May.
Friday, 6 April 2018
Central Belt trip
We're back from our brief trip south - and we've gained a body - Ross came back with us for a few days, so the house is now full of the sound of he and his Mum discussing/arguing about world affairs. Have you ever known two people who can rant endlessly about the most trivial of matters - and miss the entire point in the process? Oh well.
Yes - plans to have Easter Sunday lunch/dinner with Ross and Gary fell apart. Carole's sister came up to visit them and Ross' plans changed too, so all of a sudden, it was just Jo and I - and guess what? - Jo suggested that, as it was such a beautiful day that the two of us should take a walk up Scolty! Surprised? I nearly fell out of bed. Jo hadn't been up there for probably three decades - but she made it OK - and probably more comfortably than she thought. She'll tell you, of course, how hard it was for her - and it wasn't easy - but I think she's more capable than she gives herself credit for. As long as she takes her time and stops often, she can get there OK - Jo even climbed up the Tower on the top - and here's the proof:
On Monday morning, we went for our first proper trip in our new car. I still await a full printed manual (although there is one available online and another onscreen in the car) so still haven't figured out all of the fancy functions of this high-tech car. We had already marvelled at the blind spot warning lights but discovered the virtually driverless technology in use when operating cruise control.
We made it to Dawn's in time for a spot of lunch before heading over to Barry and Helen's to drop the car off. Meghan is over from NYC just now so Dawn had arranged for us all to meet up in the city for a couple of beers and a meal. I remembered to use my camera to get a shot of Barry and Helen on the train, but failed dismally to capture images of Dawn, Meghan or Jordon - idiot!:
The weather was foul - I had originally hoped to squeeze in a game of golf with Brian on Tuesday, but the forecast was so bad, I didn't even bother to pack my clubs. We had lunch over at Julie and Guy's in Houston - the boys were off school during the Easter holidays and Mary was over there supervising.
Brian and I popped out in the afternoon to go and do some indoor practice at the Glasgow Golf Centre. I decided to take a video of a few of my swings. It worked OK for the first one, but I then struggled to get a ball to balance on the tee supplied - it took me ages to have another hit. Watch this farce here - https://youtu.be/ZPzQkTVeIMU
Back in Houston, Guy and Julie eventually got home from work and we had dinner there. Here's some shots from our day at the Whaleys:
I had somehow succeeded in snapping a pair of reading glasses, so I popped in to ASDA and bought another cheap - identical - replacement pair:
We left Brian and Mary's in Elderslie on Wednesday morning and, if anything, the weather had taken another turn for the worse - it was horribly sleety. Brian had arranged to take Leo fishing - he'd got a rod for Christmas and was keen to try it out. We didn't think they'd manage, but Brian sent me this photo of Leo and his catch:
We drove through the snow to Edinburgh to Ross' flat, where he told us he'd lost his job and wanted to come back with us to Banchory for a few days. The snow was building up in Edinburgh and the traffic was awful - it took us hours to get out on the open road, but the North East of Scotland again appeared to have escaped the worst of it. We couldn't go over Cairn o' Mount, but, generally, Deeside was virtually snow free and it improved sufficiently on Thursday for me to get a game of golf.
This morning (Friday), I awoke to find the scab on my nose after the recent liquid nitrogen treatment had come off. Now all that's left is the growth underneath, which will get treated at the end of this month:
To close, I've been trying for while to locate a photo of the old Bonnie Banchory flower display at the corner of Corsee Road. I contacted various local clubs and societies etc and eventually, the local Heritage Society came up with this:
Great, I thought - then I looked again - it doesn't say Bonnie Banchory! I've since been told that, from time to time, a new "sponsor" would have their name featured - and then it would change back to Bonnie Banchory again. So the bottom line is I'm still searching for that elusive photo. Once I get a suitable one, I think I'll start a campaign to bring the display back again. What do you think?
Yes - plans to have Easter Sunday lunch/dinner with Ross and Gary fell apart. Carole's sister came up to visit them and Ross' plans changed too, so all of a sudden, it was just Jo and I - and guess what? - Jo suggested that, as it was such a beautiful day that the two of us should take a walk up Scolty! Surprised? I nearly fell out of bed. Jo hadn't been up there for probably three decades - but she made it OK - and probably more comfortably than she thought. She'll tell you, of course, how hard it was for her - and it wasn't easy - but I think she's more capable than she gives herself credit for. As long as she takes her time and stops often, she can get there OK - Jo even climbed up the Tower on the top - and here's the proof:
On Monday morning, we went for our first proper trip in our new car. I still await a full printed manual (although there is one available online and another onscreen in the car) so still haven't figured out all of the fancy functions of this high-tech car. We had already marvelled at the blind spot warning lights but discovered the virtually driverless technology in use when operating cruise control.
We made it to Dawn's in time for a spot of lunch before heading over to Barry and Helen's to drop the car off. Meghan is over from NYC just now so Dawn had arranged for us all to meet up in the city for a couple of beers and a meal. I remembered to use my camera to get a shot of Barry and Helen on the train, but failed dismally to capture images of Dawn, Meghan or Jordon - idiot!:
The weather was foul - I had originally hoped to squeeze in a game of golf with Brian on Tuesday, but the forecast was so bad, I didn't even bother to pack my clubs. We had lunch over at Julie and Guy's in Houston - the boys were off school during the Easter holidays and Mary was over there supervising.
Brian and I popped out in the afternoon to go and do some indoor practice at the Glasgow Golf Centre. I decided to take a video of a few of my swings. It worked OK for the first one, but I then struggled to get a ball to balance on the tee supplied - it took me ages to have another hit. Watch this farce here - https://youtu.be/ZPzQkTVeIMU
Back in Houston, Guy and Julie eventually got home from work and we had dinner there. Here's some shots from our day at the Whaleys:
I had somehow succeeded in snapping a pair of reading glasses, so I popped in to ASDA and bought another cheap - identical - replacement pair:
We left Brian and Mary's in Elderslie on Wednesday morning and, if anything, the weather had taken another turn for the worse - it was horribly sleety. Brian had arranged to take Leo fishing - he'd got a rod for Christmas and was keen to try it out. We didn't think they'd manage, but Brian sent me this photo of Leo and his catch:
We drove through the snow to Edinburgh to Ross' flat, where he told us he'd lost his job and wanted to come back with us to Banchory for a few days. The snow was building up in Edinburgh and the traffic was awful - it took us hours to get out on the open road, but the North East of Scotland again appeared to have escaped the worst of it. We couldn't go over Cairn o' Mount, but, generally, Deeside was virtually snow free and it improved sufficiently on Thursday for me to get a game of golf.
This morning (Friday), I awoke to find the scab on my nose after the recent liquid nitrogen treatment had come off. Now all that's left is the growth underneath, which will get treated at the end of this month:
To close, I've been trying for while to locate a photo of the old Bonnie Banchory flower display at the corner of Corsee Road. I contacted various local clubs and societies etc and eventually, the local Heritage Society came up with this:
Great, I thought - then I looked again - it doesn't say Bonnie Banchory! I've since been told that, from time to time, a new "sponsor" would have their name featured - and then it would change back to Bonnie Banchory again. So the bottom line is I'm still searching for that elusive photo. Once I get a suitable one, I think I'll start a campaign to bring the display back again. What do you think?
Wednesday, 28 March 2018
Two weeks on
Yes - it's exactly a fortnight since we flew in to Glasgow airport. I think we've pretty much got back to normal now, but it did take a while this time.
We FaceTimed Adelaide this morning - it was nice to see everyone's faces again. Asher kept attacking the screen trying to get at us behind it! They don't change their clocks until this coming weekend, whereas we changed last weekend, so we're currently only 9.5 hours behind and this will further reduce to 8.5 hours this weekend as they "fall back" after our "spring forward".
On to matters medical - I attended the Dermatology Clinic last Thursday. Dr. Smith examined the growth on the bridge of my nose and told me there were two things going on there - one underlying and another on top. He mentioned the two skin conditions but I can't remember the technical words he used. What I do remember is him telling me the growths were benign. We agreed to start a treatment of burning them off with liquid nitrogen - just as you do with warts - and he applied a few doses there and then. He warned me it would leave a red mark on my nose. It's now scabbing over a bit:
I have to return on 26th April for more treatment.
Last Friday, Jo was back swimming again whilst I went out with my pals for a walk along the Dee and the Deeside Way from Culter to Aberdeen. It was a fine day and the walk was easy, if a little longer at 18 kms than we had originally planned. We were more than ready for some beers when we finally arrived at Wetherspoon's in the city centre. With our CAMRA 50p off vouchers, 5 pints only cost just over £7! What a bargain - and more was to come when we ordered our food, which came with another free beer! With our free bus passes, it was a very cheap afternoon and evening out.
Saturday was the start of the golf season with the traditional Captain's v Vice Captain's teams match. My clubs hadn't been out of the locker since our trip to Tenerife in October - probably the longest gap I've had since I first started playing golf regularly over 30 years ago, so it wasn't my greatest performance on Saturday, but it was nice to be back - the first rites of spring.
We were out for dinner on Saturday night at Anne and Leslie Mason's with Colin and Johanne Kilgour. It was quite a boozy evening and we both felt pretty jaded on Sunday.
It was back on the bike for me on Monday morning before we headed over to do our Luca duties in the afternoon. Incidentally, Gary changed jobs whilst we were away and he now works in the city centre, so he tends to take the train in. He bought a cheap mountain bike and uses it to travel between home and Inverurie station. There's usually only one train per hour however, so if he misses one - as he did this week - he has to wait for another hour before he can get home.
Forecast this afternoon (Wednesday) is for rain so it looks like no golf for me today. Jo's going swimming so I'll probably head down to what Jo now refers to as my "studio" downstairs where I prepare our shows for River Dee Radio. It's also effectively an office as I keep all our personal filing etc down there - and all the CAMRA stuff.
Not sure what we'll do tomorrow yet, but Friday is Jo's swimming again and I've got the first of our Headbangs this year in the evening. On Sunday, Gary and Luca are coming over after Luca's football for a spot of Easter Sunday lunch - and it looks as if we're going to be joined by Ross too.
We FaceTimed Adelaide this morning - it was nice to see everyone's faces again. Asher kept attacking the screen trying to get at us behind it! They don't change their clocks until this coming weekend, whereas we changed last weekend, so we're currently only 9.5 hours behind and this will further reduce to 8.5 hours this weekend as they "fall back" after our "spring forward".
On to matters medical - I attended the Dermatology Clinic last Thursday. Dr. Smith examined the growth on the bridge of my nose and told me there were two things going on there - one underlying and another on top. He mentioned the two skin conditions but I can't remember the technical words he used. What I do remember is him telling me the growths were benign. We agreed to start a treatment of burning them off with liquid nitrogen - just as you do with warts - and he applied a few doses there and then. He warned me it would leave a red mark on my nose. It's now scabbing over a bit:
I have to return on 26th April for more treatment.
Last Friday, Jo was back swimming again whilst I went out with my pals for a walk along the Dee and the Deeside Way from Culter to Aberdeen. It was a fine day and the walk was easy, if a little longer at 18 kms than we had originally planned. We were more than ready for some beers when we finally arrived at Wetherspoon's in the city centre. With our CAMRA 50p off vouchers, 5 pints only cost just over £7! What a bargain - and more was to come when we ordered our food, which came with another free beer! With our free bus passes, it was a very cheap afternoon and evening out.
Saturday was the start of the golf season with the traditional Captain's v Vice Captain's teams match. My clubs hadn't been out of the locker since our trip to Tenerife in October - probably the longest gap I've had since I first started playing golf regularly over 30 years ago, so it wasn't my greatest performance on Saturday, but it was nice to be back - the first rites of spring.
We were out for dinner on Saturday night at Anne and Leslie Mason's with Colin and Johanne Kilgour. It was quite a boozy evening and we both felt pretty jaded on Sunday.
It was back on the bike for me on Monday morning before we headed over to do our Luca duties in the afternoon. Incidentally, Gary changed jobs whilst we were away and he now works in the city centre, so he tends to take the train in. He bought a cheap mountain bike and uses it to travel between home and Inverurie station. There's usually only one train per hour however, so if he misses one - as he did this week - he has to wait for another hour before he can get home.
Forecast this afternoon (Wednesday) is for rain so it looks like no golf for me today. Jo's going swimming so I'll probably head down to what Jo now refers to as my "studio" downstairs where I prepare our shows for River Dee Radio. It's also effectively an office as I keep all our personal filing etc down there - and all the CAMRA stuff.
Not sure what we'll do tomorrow yet, but Friday is Jo's swimming again and I've got the first of our Headbangs this year in the evening. On Sunday, Gary and Luca are coming over after Luca's football for a spot of Easter Sunday lunch - and it looks as if we're going to be joined by Ross too.
Thursday, 22 March 2018
Back in the old routine
Our sleep patterns are returning to a more normal cycle thankfully, so we've been back in the old routine this week.
I made it to the pub on Friday night to see my pals, although round about 10 pm, I hit a bit of a wall. On Saturday morning, Jo and I took a short drive in the new car over to Aboyne for coffee and a scone in the Black-faced Sheep, then on Sunday Jo was back on church duties, whilst I just vegetated with the Sunday Times and sport on TV.
Luca's football practice is on Mondays and that dictates when we go over to Inverurie. We had bought Luca an Adelaide United soccer strip, although we didn't realise how much he'd grown, even since we went away - it's a little on the snug side:
Hopefully he'll get a couple of months' wear out of it anyway - he'll certainly be the only boy in Inverurie with one of these shirts!
Gary had baked a cake for our birthdays and Luca cut us a slice:
We then went out for a meal to celebrate Jo's birthday. It was Monday and, just like it was on the outskirts of Adelaide, many of Inverurie's eating establishments were closed, so we chose to drive to Dunecht and go to Jaff's. Basically, it's a pub, but it has a nice separate restaurant and we had a lovely meal there - scallops and Stornaway black pudding to start, then monkfish and prawn jalfrezi.
Tuesday was when I usually meet a few pals over coffee and a scone at the golf club, but I decided my body was now ready for some much needed exercise, so afterwards I went for a slightly longer than planned 40 kms circular ride out to Drum. I was more than ready for a hot bath when I got back to the house, where Jo was entertaining our former next door neighbour Trish. There was a CAMRA committee meeting in the evening and I had missed the last few, so I felt obliged to jump on the bus and head in to Aberdeen. I missed the penultimate bus home, but fortunately the last bus did show up and I stumbled in to bed about 12:30 am.
Yesterday (Wednesday) it was back to swimming for Jo, whilst I went for another - shorter - cycle.
This morning (Thursday), Jo has just been to the optician for an eye test. For some years she's known that her eyesight has been deteriorating and the prospect of cataract operations was looming. Today it happened - she's had a full scan and has now been referred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where there's a long waiting list for these operations. Patients are being shipped all over Scotland wherever and whenever opportunity arises. It'll be up to 10 weeks before she's been properly assessed by the medics at ARI and then it's just a waiting game. Naturally, Jo is a little concerned about all of this - nobody looks forward to going under the knife - and she's fearful of what might go wrong. She'll have plenty of time to think it all through, but, always assuming she does decide to go through with it, the light at the other end of the tunnel is improved ability to do the things she's not been able to do as well recently - she loves reading in particular. There's also the question of driving to consider - the current situation is uncertain but she hopes to clarify this soon. Fingers crossed.
This afternoon, after a long wait, I'm finally getting to see Dr. Doug Smith again - there's a dermatology clinic at our Doctor's and he'll be looking at the piece of sun-damaged skin on my nose that goes all hard and gnarly. I'll report back in the next blog posting.
To close today - want to know where the Stewarts came from?:
This graphic shows the Stewarts just above the Central Belt on the edge of the red.
I made it to the pub on Friday night to see my pals, although round about 10 pm, I hit a bit of a wall. On Saturday morning, Jo and I took a short drive in the new car over to Aboyne for coffee and a scone in the Black-faced Sheep, then on Sunday Jo was back on church duties, whilst I just vegetated with the Sunday Times and sport on TV.
Luca's football practice is on Mondays and that dictates when we go over to Inverurie. We had bought Luca an Adelaide United soccer strip, although we didn't realise how much he'd grown, even since we went away - it's a little on the snug side:
Hopefully he'll get a couple of months' wear out of it anyway - he'll certainly be the only boy in Inverurie with one of these shirts!
Gary had baked a cake for our birthdays and Luca cut us a slice:
We then went out for a meal to celebrate Jo's birthday. It was Monday and, just like it was on the outskirts of Adelaide, many of Inverurie's eating establishments were closed, so we chose to drive to Dunecht and go to Jaff's. Basically, it's a pub, but it has a nice separate restaurant and we had a lovely meal there - scallops and Stornaway black pudding to start, then monkfish and prawn jalfrezi.
Tuesday was when I usually meet a few pals over coffee and a scone at the golf club, but I decided my body was now ready for some much needed exercise, so afterwards I went for a slightly longer than planned 40 kms circular ride out to Drum. I was more than ready for a hot bath when I got back to the house, where Jo was entertaining our former next door neighbour Trish. There was a CAMRA committee meeting in the evening and I had missed the last few, so I felt obliged to jump on the bus and head in to Aberdeen. I missed the penultimate bus home, but fortunately the last bus did show up and I stumbled in to bed about 12:30 am.
Yesterday (Wednesday) it was back to swimming for Jo, whilst I went for another - shorter - cycle.
This morning (Thursday), Jo has just been to the optician for an eye test. For some years she's known that her eyesight has been deteriorating and the prospect of cataract operations was looming. Today it happened - she's had a full scan and has now been referred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where there's a long waiting list for these operations. Patients are being shipped all over Scotland wherever and whenever opportunity arises. It'll be up to 10 weeks before she's been properly assessed by the medics at ARI and then it's just a waiting game. Naturally, Jo is a little concerned about all of this - nobody looks forward to going under the knife - and she's fearful of what might go wrong. She'll have plenty of time to think it all through, but, always assuming she does decide to go through with it, the light at the other end of the tunnel is improved ability to do the things she's not been able to do as well recently - she loves reading in particular. There's also the question of driving to consider - the current situation is uncertain but she hopes to clarify this soon. Fingers crossed.
This afternoon, after a long wait, I'm finally getting to see Dr. Doug Smith again - there's a dermatology clinic at our Doctor's and he'll be looking at the piece of sun-damaged skin on my nose that goes all hard and gnarly. I'll report back in the next blog posting.
To close today - want to know where the Stewarts came from?:
This graphic shows the Stewarts just above the Central Belt on the edge of the red.
Friday, 16 March 2018
Home again
It's Friday afternoon and it's freezing back here in Scotland. It's not quite another Beast from the East, but it's cold and windy with occasional wintry showers. Quite a change.
The journey went as well as can be expected. We're both suffering a little in terms of irregular and deprived sleep - much more so than we did on the way out to Australia - but we're getting there.
The long flight to Dubai was in a very new 777. We even had our own little mini bars behind a glass door:
The chauffeur drive back to Banchory from Glasgow went smoothly enough. The aftermath of the recent bad weather was pretty evident in places:
Banchory was completely clear however and our house was warm - courtesy of Ross' recent stay there - and Hive.
I decided to try and adjust to UK time as soon as possible and the fact that I had a River Dee Radio show to do that evening was incentive enough. On Thursday morning I took a walk up to Banchory Car Centre to pick up my new(ish) car:
It's a well-spec'd Volvo XC60. Yes, after years of complaining about the increasing numbers of bulky SUV's etc, which smaller cars can't see past, I've decided I can't beat them, so better just to join them.
Today (Friday), we drove in to WeBuyAnyCar.com in Aberdeen and sold my BMW, which was my company car from eight and a half years ago.
That's about it for now.
The journey went as well as can be expected. We're both suffering a little in terms of irregular and deprived sleep - much more so than we did on the way out to Australia - but we're getting there.
The long flight to Dubai was in a very new 777. We even had our own little mini bars behind a glass door:
The chauffeur drive back to Banchory from Glasgow went smoothly enough. The aftermath of the recent bad weather was pretty evident in places:
Banchory was completely clear however and our house was warm - courtesy of Ross' recent stay there - and Hive.
I decided to try and adjust to UK time as soon as possible and the fact that I had a River Dee Radio show to do that evening was incentive enough. On Thursday morning I took a walk up to Banchory Car Centre to pick up my new(ish) car:
It's a well-spec'd Volvo XC60. Yes, after years of complaining about the increasing numbers of bulky SUV's etc, which smaller cars can't see past, I've decided I can't beat them, so better just to join them.
Today (Friday), we drove in to WeBuyAnyCar.com in Aberdeen and sold my BMW, which was my company car from eight and a half years ago.
That's about it for now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)