Flights booked!

Well, we've now done it - we've booked our flights to Oz next year:

Now that bit's done and we're committed to these dates, we can now start to think about what else we might do when we're there. Perhaps Bali, where Kelly, Chris and the boys recently celebrated Kelly's birthday? Marriott have a place there and we might spend some time there in the middle of our 6 week break - https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/dpsmv-marriotts-bali-nusa-dua-gardens/?scid=bb1a189a-fec3-4d19-a255-54ba596febe2

One slight downside is that Emirates have stopped doing free chauffeur drive so we are going to have to figure something else out.

In other news, Luca and Carole got back last night from their little trip to Lincoln to catch up with Carole's family. Luca's next little break is next week in Banchory with us.

I didn't get any more phone calls from my GP, so I'm assuming the results from my thyroid blood test were OK.

Summer's still not here although it has been a bit warmer recently but unfortunately this also brought some heavy downpours plus thunder and lightning. We got a bit of a soaking on Wednesday afternoon and we were due to go to Edzell on Thursday but a Met Office weather warning led to us postponing this trip to this coming Friday - hope it's better then.

It was better yesterday when we went cycling up the Tarland Way, accidentally including the climb up to Queen's View - and I didn't have my e-bike with me either - pity!

Problems with our dishwasher - the drain's clogged and we've cleared all the filters etc but still not solved the problem. Hope we don't have to call a plumber in.

Tomorrow we're going round to the Cooks to help Archie and Eileen celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

This morning (Saturday), one of my fellow DJ's gave me a dedication on his Saturday morning show on River Dee Radio - Chuck's Choice. He has a regular spot on his show - The First Record I Ever Bought - and it was mine. you can listen to it now on the podcast from 9 mins 46 sec onwards - https://www.mixcloud.com/River_Dee_Radio/chucks-mix-of-50s-and-60s-hits-plus-your-requests-and-first-records-ever-bought/?utm_campaign=notification_new_upload&utm_medium=email&utm_source=notification&utm_content=html

Mum and Dad bribed me that, if I passed my highers - which I did - they would buy me a record player. They also bought me some singles to go with it, but I think the one that Chuck played on his show today was the first one I ever paid for myself 54 years ago.

Wet week

It's Tuesday and it poured this morning and there's worse forecast for the next couple of days - thunder and lightning - not a lot of fun when you're supposed to be golfing.

This is the first week of the Aberdeenshire school holidays so we're not heading to Inverurie this afternoon - or for the next few weeks. Luca is with his Mum down south visiting family this week, but he's with us next week. In Adelaide, the school term has come to an end as well - it was Miller's last day at Braehead Primary - he'll be starting at Noarlunga when they go back, which will be a nice short walk from their new home. Miller's school published a photo of his class on his last day at Braehead:

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Pacific, the Lesinas travelled to Coos Bay for a friend's wedding:

When we saw Braeden back in April, it seemed to us he had grown massively since last year, broadening out substantially, but this photo makes him look slimmer again. What's going on?

I went for my second round of blood tests yesterday and was surprised to get a phone call from Dr. McCrone as early as 9 am this morning, which initially set me on edge - what could be wrong? It transpired nothing was wrong - all my blood results were absolutely fine. When I saw him yesterday, he also took time to examine me physically and he said then that all seemed well internally as far as he could tell. The pain I have been experiencing in the right kidney area he put down to a possible trapped nerve. He pointed out we get a little shorter as we age and there now wasn't much gap between my rib cage and my pelvis and he feels somehow a nerve has got squeezed.

I hope his assessment is right and that the pain will gradually dissipate. One outstanding matter concerns the result of the blood test for thyroid function - that should be in in the next couple of days. In any event, it looks like this is something that is going to have to be checked more regularly.

Bye for now.

Gary 44!

Yes it's 44 years ago today that Gary was born in Hertford hospital. It was a hot summer in SE England - not as hot as the subsequent year, but still enough to be uncomfortable - particularly if, like Jo, you were heavily pregnant. Jo's Mum and Dad came down to help out after Gary had threatened to miscarry.

Thankfully all was well in the end and Gary spent his first 4 years in Broxbourne before we all moved back to Scotland. Here's one early photo in the middle of the 1976 summer scorcher:

After our 4 + years in Edinburgh, we moved to Banchory late in 1983 and Gary joined the local cub pack:

That's one of my company cars - a Ford Sierra - in the background and you can just catch a corner of Jo's first Nissan/Datsun Cherry.

Gary had just one request for his birthday today - that his Mum make dumpling for him!

In other news, I had my telephone appointment with my GP on Monday to discuss the results of all the blood samples they took last week. He seemed quite happy with virtually all the levels - kidney, liver, cholesterol etc and he said my PSA was so low that it was highly unlikely that, unlike my Dad, I would develop prostate cancer. Even those that were slightly elevated he felt were due to the drugs - mostly the statin - that I have been taking for a number of years now. He did say that he thought I must have been a bit hydrated when the bloods were taken - and it was just after a cycle on a hot day when I had had to walk my bike home after a puncture.

The one level that was higher than normal was my thyroid, which is a problem Lucy has been living with for a few years. My GP is going to do the blood tests again on Monday, just to be sure that my slight dehydration didn't distort anything - and also to conduct a physical examination of the pain I've been experiencing in my right kidney area.

On Wednesday, I picked up my new e-bike and went for my first ride on it on Thursday morning. It definitely takes a lot of the pain out of the hills which have been getting a bit tougher as the years are marching on, but it's not completely effortless - you have to pedal to get the power assist to work and the bike is twice as heavy as my non-aspirated one so it takes a bit more effort on the flat when the power is switched off. Once speed gets up to 25 kms, there is no power assistance. All in all, though, a nice experience and one that will hopefully help me do some longer, steeper rides, including ones I used to be able to do but now struggle with.

One unexpected downside was the news that Evans' Aberdeen store is closing in 2 weeks' time, leaving the nearest branches in Glasgow and Edinburgh, which is a bit of a logistical problem as my bike has to go back in after 6 weeks to check and adjust. I'll try and co-ordinate this with the Family get-together in Glasgow on 10th August.

We're now starting to think about holidays in 2020. We've already booked a local holiday in January - a week at Kilconquhar Castle (https://www.kilconquharcastle.co.uk/) in Fife. We have a 3 bedroom unit so we hope other members of the family will be able to join us at times.

As for our big trips to Australia and USA, we're thinking that perhaps around March and September may be best, avoiding the respective intense heats (and fires) of their summers.

Was that summer?

Finally we had a few hot, proper summery days but it seems to have taken a bit of a backward step today (Monday). It's cloudy and considerably cooler - and we've lost our water supply. Apparently it's a Scottish Water problem that they're working on.

I popped in to see our neighbours in the Unit Gym this morning - ostensibly to check that the water supply wasn't just our problem, but I also took the opportunity to ask them about the seagulls problem - and I took a sneaky look around just to be sure they weren't leaving food lying around. It seems everyone is baffled as to why the seagulls have arrived here - and have nested.

My big news from last week is that I finally took the plunge and went in to Evans Cycles in Aberdeen and ordered an e-bike. I'd always promised myself one once I got to 70 and I've done it now. I hope I'll keep on using my "analogue" bike on occasions but I notice all of my friends who've got an e-bike have never gone back to their conventional one. Time will tell whether I'll repeat this pattern.

I pick up the bike on Wednesday morning - here's what it looks like:

After our largely sedentary round the world trip, I've been getting a bit more active now:

Jo checks her fitbit stats regularly and shows them off to me - but there's no way she is sharing any of that information with the rest of the world. What she has been doing is transforming our rather "industrial" back garden to something altogether more green and flowery:

When Jo was doing the monthly Seniors lunch at church on Saturday, I took the opportunity to have my lunch outside - but I didn't quite get the camera angle right, did I?:

Tonight it's our annual trip to Balmoral for golf with our old squash pal Gary Coutts who is now the Head Keeper on the Royal estate. Might be a slow morning tomorrow.

Maudlin Monday

It's a dreich, dark, damp Monday morning. The forecasts of potential thunder and lightning storms overnight haven't happened but apparently there's another system on its way later this afternoon. As a result, I've cancelled plans for a cycle this morning and I've also rescheduled our annual Balmoral trip to next Monday in the hope of better weather.

I'm sitting downstairs in our office/studio and it's dark and gloomy down here. These are the longest days of the year - it's not supposed to be like this. We did, however, have a nice walk on Midsummer's Day on Friday in the Correen Hills north of Alford and the weather was a bit brighter then - and even more so yesterday when I golfed at Banchory on a lovely sunny morning. In fact, it was nice enough for us to sit out in the afternoon in the back garden next to our new shed/summerhouse. (Jo was doing some re-potting). Living in an island climate I guess we get used to such changeability.

Anyway, on to matters new since my last post. Jo's got a fitbit! I think we are both concerned that the weight we put on on our extended holiday isn't shifting and Jo, in particular, was concerned about her lack of regular exercise. She still tries to go swimming twice a week but her regular walks with her friend Anne seem to have come to a bit of a halt - partly due to the fact that Anne's just moved out to Drumoak and also that Anne's been poorly and is going in to hospital for an operation when she returns from holiday. The Fitbit is intended as a bit of a motivator - although Jo does like the fact that not only does it measure her daily steps, but also floors climbed, sleep pattern, heart rate - and it's a watch. She's just come running down the stairs, astonished that she even got a message from Mary on her Fitbit!

Lucy's Father's Day gift arrived on Friday - two cocktail sets. She must have thought we would be missing our usual summer of cocktails in the Oregon sun - and we are, so this is our refuge now:

As you can see, we started on the first one already. On Saturday night we made up the Blackberry and Pear Bramble:

Sunday night was a busy night on FaceTime for Jo. Lucy usual calls on Sunday - and she did - but she had to compete with Mary who was on for a while:

Brian and Mary and all the Whaleys are heading off on holiday to Italy soon to celebrate Brian's recent 70th birthday.

On a completely different tack, we've noticed a recent proliferation of seagulls in our street. What are they doing 17 miles inland? Perhaps they've been scared away from the tip? Anyway, they're a real pest, squawking away, scratching at our rooftops and defecating wherever they like - especially on top of our cars:

I had a bit of a senior moment on Thursday. I had arranged to get my bloods done as I've recently been suffering from some pain in my back when I move - roughly in the kidneys area. I cycled down for my appointment with the phlebotomist only to be told that my appointment is this coming Thursday! Doh!

I think that's it for now. I'll be heading down to the chemists (pharmacy for our American friends) soon to get some Beconase as we're in to the hay fever season now.

Still waiting

and so it goes on - the long wait for a proper British summer, that is. We get brief moments of promise - like yesterday (Sunday) morning, but, before you know it, the clouds roll over again.

Still, our Decades Challenge golf match and dinner went pretty well - 24 golfers and 32 diners all seemed to enjoy the occasion and the weather didn't intervene too much. We also dodged a few bullets last week when we were up in Ross and Sutherland playing Tain, Brora and Golspie. It was cool and windy but at least we missed the heavy rain that most of the rest of the country seemed to experience. Here I am at Golspie, suitably attired:

Not a lot else to report now - I saw Gary and Luca briefly yesterday - they popped over for Father's Day - just before I had to head off to the golf course for our "Decades Challenge". The spoils - chocolate cake - are being enjoyed today, however.

No word back from the Council on my campaign to resurrect the Corsee Road corner - "Bonnie Scotland" etc - but the gardeners have been busy filling all the adjacent flower beds. This one is in the War Memorial section:

Waiting for summer

The weather still hasn't picked up in Scotland - it's been another pretty dreich week and the outlook for next week isn't much better. Our strategy of combining our Australian and US holidays into one, missing the high heat of their summers, worked up to that point, but, so far, staying in Scotland all summer long doesn't appear to be working as well as we'd hoped. I've been warned by Jo, however, that we can't go on holiday again until we've lost the weight we put on when we were away. Could be a long wait.

Despite this, one short break I did book this week was our annual trip to the Edinburgh Fringe. It's only 2 nights and we've cut it back to just 5 shows this time:

Another holiday thing I stumbled across - we get Air Miles (Avios) through our Amex cards and once we've spent enough, we get a "Companion Voucher", which means Jo goes free. We've been using this for a number of years but I have been blindsided a bit this year, probably due to our big round the world trip, and I've suddenly realised one of these vouchers is due to expire on 29th October, 2019. It would be a great shame not to use it, but how could we possibly fit anything in at this late stage?

So this week I attended the Cardio Clinic at our local medical centre. As I indicated previously, cutbacks have reduced the effectiveness of this service and the gap between appointments has stretched out from annual to 18 months. The cholesterol check is now every 3 years - as it happens, I'll be due one next year. The bloods they take are to check on kidney function - to see whether they are being affected by the statins we take - and glucose levels. Unless I get a phone call in the next week, that'll be me until the end of next year then.

The bowel cancer screening results both came back negative for Jo and I. They have made the sampling a lot easier now with the new kits - I'll spare you the details.

Barry and Helen had their 25th wedding anniversary last weekend and they took a trip up the west coast to Mull and Inverary, amongst others. Barry sent me their "match report" and it seemed to be a pretty damp break for them, with the added problem of the infamous west coast midges. Here's a few of their photos:

Got a CAMRA branch meeting in Braemar this Saturday, then, on Monday, I head north for 3 consecutive days' golfing at Tain, Brora and Golspie - don't know how I'll get on with that. I have played 3 times this week - Sunday, Monday and Wednesday - but at least there was a rest day on Tuesday. The following Sunday - Father's Day, 16th June - I'm joining up with 2 golfing buddies for what we call a Decades Challenge match. Harry Salter will be 60 soon, I was 70 in March and Syd Freeman was 80 a few weeks ago. It looks like there will be 24 of us golfing and a few more for a buffet meal afterwards. It would be nice if the weather was kind to us.

Enough for now - going to finish off preparations for tonight's live show on River Dee Radio - hope you're all listening at 20:00 hours BST!

Another week, another birthday!

Last week it was Kelly and this week it's Lucy. Unlike her younger sister, it wasn't a notable "big" birthday for Lucy, but there was a significant change in her family circumstances this week - our eldest grandson has left home. Boy, that's another thing that makes Jo and I feel old.

Cade has rented a property in Grants Pass and he and his girlfriend Mel have now moved in, leaving poor Shelby behind. I guess that means that Scott and Lucy have now officially "adopted" her - Shelby that is, not Mel! They'll make sure that Cade and Shelby still see each other, however, even if it means driving Shelby out to Cade's work:

Anyway, happy birthday Lucy. We always remember with affection this photo of our chubby little one in her early days, resplendent in gingham:

Nothing much else to report now. We're going to St. Columba's on Saturday night for the French Night (which used to be the Malaysian Night). The organisers either weren't football fans or probably didn't realise it would clash with one of the biggest dates in the football calendar for a while - the meeting of two English teams in the Champions League final - Liverpool v Spurs.

Next week I've got my local visit to the Cardio Clinic. It used to be annual but they've stretched it out to at least 18 months now - and they've cut back on what they check - no cholesterol, liver count, PSA etc any more. I'll always attend any check-up anyone wants to do on me but there's no doubt the usefulness of the clinic has been diminished. Still, I've got my (private) cardiologist to see early August. I've kept this going even although I don't have any private health insurance now that I'm retired.

We're getting nearer the more intense period of the golf season now - June tends to be the busiest month and I don't think it will be any exception this year. So far I've only been playing once - maybe twice - each week and my knee has been coping OK. I stopped doing the intensive overseas holidays (6 days in a row) over a year ago and I seemed to cope at Boat of Garten recently when we played 2 days in a row, but, coming up soon - June 10th-12th - I've agreed to go on our Summer Tour to the Highlands and that means 3 days' golf in a row. Wonder how I'll manage then.

Wish the weather would heat up a bit though - it's been pretty cool and mixed so far this year. This is our first full summer in Banchory for a couple of decades and we were kind of hoping it might be a repeat of last year's scorcher, but no sign of it so far.

Kelly 40!

It's a slightly belated happy birthday - Aussie time - for Kelly, who is 40 today (Monday). Kelly was born at 44 Caldecot Way, Broxbourne, Herts EN10 6PH (yes I can still remember the postcode!) - the only home birth we/Jo had. Jo has more detailed memories of her being born in our bed upstairs in our little semi and the midwife, towels and hot water, but I'm afraid most of the details are a blur to me.

We don't have many photos of Kelly when she was newly born, but this was her christening party:

It's very sad to see how many of this group are, for one reason or another, no longer in our lives.

I also remember this wet caravan holiday when Kelly was still quite young:

and this one from a camping holiday with the Hansons in France when she was ill with chickenpox:

Coincidentally, just yesterday when Jo and I were driving down to Blair Atholl (more of that later), I wondered out loud whether we should take a trip back to Benodet in Brittany where we spent a couple of camping holidays in the mid-late 70's? Need to mull that one over.

For those not on Facebook, here's Kelly celebrating her birthday on holiday in Bali:

So, what else is new since my last post? Well, Braeden turned 15 on May 8th and immediately sat - and passed - his written driving exam which allows him to drive as long as there is an adult over 21 sitting beside him:

Solid built like his Dad - we noticed the difference in him this year.

Two days after that I travelled down to Perth to meet up with some of my old school chums again. We'd previously met in Edinburgh (twice), Glasgow and Dundee - initially just the 3 of us, but this time 6 of us managed along. Here's the original three:

Next meeting will probably be in Stirling in autumn.

The day after this meeting, I took a drive up to my old stamping ground of Fraserburgh to attend a CAMRA branch meeting. I'd obviously missed a few when we were on our world tour so felt I had to attend this one even although the timing and location were far from ideal. It was a Saturday so there was nobody in the offices at the factories where I used to work, but I drove round there anyway to take a look. I was a little shocked at the entrance where new steel gates and turnstiles had been erected - they are obviously having some security issues. It was a pleasant enough afternoon but it reminded me that I didn't miss the 110 mile return trip.

That Saturday evening we had dinner at Anne and Leslie Mason's new house in Drumoak - very nice. The following morning, I was off to Grantown-on-Spey and Boat of Garten for the first of our twice yearly golf outings there. This was our 67th outing there:

Despite a few relatively younger ones joining in in recent years, the onset of time is all too obvious in the photo above - particularly when comparing with photos from the early years in the mid-80's. At least we're still here however - three of our group have now passed.

Continuing on the ageing theme, here's some of our walking group on the hills round Ballater last Friday:

A little bit younger - but not much.

After a week of beautiful dry, sunny weather, it was a great disappointment to travel down to Edinburgh on Saturday to watch the Scotland - Sri Lanka cricket match only for it to be rained off. We didn't even see one ball bowled.

On Sunday, Jo and I drove over to Blair Atholl to meet up with Barry, Helen and Dawn who were all camping at Blair Castle Caravan Park. We had dinner at the Atholl Arms Hotel, after which we took a team/family photo outside the hotel:

I am getting all too aware of my ageing body which hurts after every activity now it seems. Just this morning (Monday) I drove back down the road again to Blairgowrie to meet our IFA and play golf. As soon as I was home, I was nodding off on my chair. Last week, I applied a couple of coats of treatment to our new shed/summer house - thankfully that little chore, although a little awkward due to its location, didn't also immediately render me horizontal, but that's about the extent of my pain-free activities now.

Continuing on the nostalgia theme, Jo and I both recently joined the Banchory Heritage Facebook group. There's some interesting stuff posted on this group and I've used them to start my campaign to resurrect the flower beds that used to be on the old railway embankment at the corner of Corsee Road. Remember "Bonnie Banchory"? The displays would change from time to time - this one's "Scotland's for Me":

The old railway line that crossed the North Deeside Road closed in 1966 and the bridge over the road was taken down soon after this, but we discovered from the Facebook page that the bridge wasn't quite high enough and they had to lower the road underneath it to let some of the taller vehicles to pass under the bridge. This, however, had the knock-on effect of creating a mini-pond whenever there was heavy rain, viz:

To close, another look back to the past - specifically to our early married life. We didn't have much money and meals were pretty simple and basic, but we always looked forward to a Friday night when our treat would be a Vesta packet curry bought from Grandfare in Glasgow:

We knew how to live.

First week back in Banchory - done

It's over a week now since we got back and I think our lives - and our bodies - are beginning to return to their norm. Routines are being re-established, although I missed my regular Friday night out with the "boys" as I wasn't feeling too good that day and just hibernated. On Saturday, I ventured out briefly - just over to the golf club to sort out my locker and then round to the Red Cross, where I bought 3 books. I had intended to go to the library but a brief hail storm forced me to seek shelter in the Red Cross before I got there.

The weather had been very kind to us on our return but it started to change on Wednesday afternoon, when I got a soaking on the course on the last 4 holes. I still managed to win our Wednesday group and, to my surprise, get my (new) handicap cut. Having been away so long on our world tour, I'm now known as Phileas Fogg. Here I am collecting my prize from Nigel Meany:

I also managed a short cycle on Thursday and another (solo) one yesterday (Sunday) when the weather was a little kinder than it had been on Friday and Saturday. I stopped off at Crathes as there was some event going on. It appeared to be dog racing - sprinting, jumping over hurdles etc. I think it was something called Canicross.

On my return journey, I went off the Deeside Way for a bit and rode along the rough track right on the river's edge:

Eventually it brought me to what must be the poshest fishing lodge on the Dee, surrounded by manicured lawns.

This morning (Monday) it's Jo's turn to not feel so good - must be a little bug going round. Hope she recovers soon. Jo's missing the return to her Wednesday/Friday swimming outings with her pals - none of them were available last week - or this.

The house is quiet just now - Ross has been staying over at Lizzie's again - so it's just Jo and me.

On Saturday, I took a look in our new shed/summer house - it still needs some work on the flooring and also weather proofing, so I thought I'd check out how it was after the winter. I opened up the doors and stepped inside to do some measuring up but was disturbed by a large wasp buzzing around. It's not really the time of year for them, so I was a little surprised. On looking around a bit more, I spotted this in a top corner:

The white stuff is anti-bike powder I sprayed on it - hope I've caught it in time. I checked again this morning and there doesn't seem to be any other activity, so hopefully it can now be safely destroyed.

As for the rest of the week I'm planning another ride this afternoon, then it's Inverurie for Luca tomorrow, followed by golf on Wednesday afternoon. Nothing planned for Thursday yet, but, on Friday I'm heading to Perth to meet up again with my old school pals. I've then got another River Dee Radio show to do in the evening.

Saturday could be busy - we're heading to Anne and Leslie Mason's new house in Drumoak in the evening, but I'm also under a bit of pressure to go to Fraserburgh for the monthly CAMRA branch meeting. I've obviously missed quite a few over the last 3 months and feel a bit guilty about not attending the first one after I get back - pity it's so far away.

On Sunday, it's the first Boat of Garten outing this year. Fingers crossed for decent weather.

I've been meaning to post these photos of Miller from school for a while:

Kelly Face-Timed last week (as did Lucy yesterday) - they've got everything sorted now for the house they're buying in Old Noarlunga. They move in at the end of this month. It's a lovely property - I'm sure they'll love it there. Check it out - it's still listed as being under offer on the agent's site - https://www.domain.com.au/63-paringa-parade-old-noarlunga-sa-5168-2014973222

Back in Banchory

Our journey home was largely uneventful. I had taken some of the potential stress out of our original travel plans for Friday, which involved a very early start, 2 flights and a tight connection from Seattle to LAX, by instead catching a direct flight on Thursday evening from Medford to LA, booking a one night stay at an airport hotel there.

We got to the Marriott in good time for dinner, although just a little too late to use the Club lounge who, by now, were just serving desserts. We had all morning Friday to ourselves, but after breakfasting in the lounge, there really wasn't much else for us to do - there's nowhere pleasant to walk out next to one of the biggest airports in the world. We did, however, take a stroll down to the pool area. It was a typical LA morning with some sea mist/smog not clearing until nearer lunchtime:

Of course, I kept check on the Alaskan flights we were originally booked on, and, wouldn't you know it, they were both bang on time so we would have been ok to have taken them after all - but, hey, better safe than sorry.

We both managed to get some sleep on the big flight to London, but Jo was sick just before landing, which didn't bode well. We spent a bit longer in the lounge in T5 at Heathrow than we had planned as our flight to Aberdeen was delayed by about 45 mins, but, by 3 pm Saturday we were back on Scottish soil, with Ross waiting at the baggage carousel to greet us.

There was an interminable delay delivering the bags but we were still back in Banchory for me to tune in to the final scores coming in.

Sleep was a bit of a problem for the first 3 nights after coming home, with us both waking in the very early hours and our bodies refusing to go back to sleep, but we seem to have settled down a bit better now. In fact, I went cycling on Monday, golfed at Gleneagles on Tuesday and at Banchory on Wednesday, whilst Jo drove her car - for the first time for a year - over to Inverurie on Tuesday to pick up Luca from school. She was delighted to be able to do this again, stress-free now that she has her sight back to where it was.

One throwback to the holiday was an email I received this morning from the photo company at Table Mountain - the downloads they sent us didn't display properly and it's taken them 2 months to resolve the matter, but here's one of the photos we hadn't seen before:

Day of departure

We've said our farewells to the Lesinas - all bar Lucy, who's coming home from work at lunchtime today to drive us down to Medford to catch our flight to LAX this evening.

I didn't feel too good yesterday although I managed to walk 18 holes at Applegate River GC with Scott. It seems there has been a little bug going around - Lucy had an upset stomach a couple of days ago, then Jo had the same the day after, then me - and Cade wasn't too good yesterday, but he made it home for dinner last night - along with Mel.

Being our last evening in Grants Pass, I had to take the traditional family photo outside. I published one of them on Facebook last night, but this is an earlier version when Cade was displaying his toned torso and his tattoos - and I had forgotten to take off my glasses:

One more sleep .....

Yes - I changed our schedule and we're now flying out of Medford to LAX tomorrow (Thursday) evening, staying overnight at the Marriott next to the airport.

The other thing that changed was that we didn't go to Rich and Jen England's place last night - work got in the way and they had to cancel, so we were treated to another of Scott's BBQ's and Lucy's cocktails.

Jo and I did a bit of shopping before that - and also went to the Post Office to send a little gift off to Meghan. I went for another short cycle before that and passed - but did not imbibe at - a couple of Grants Pass's brewpubs:

The weather has been great - it's like summer now, only without the fires and flies. This afternoon (Wednesday) Scott is taking the afternoon off work and we're going to go to Applegate GC for a few holes.