Mayday

We're not quite screaming out for help yet - in fact, we're coping pretty well and keeping busy with various jobs around the place and daily Zoom calls to different groups. I think Jo's trying to catch up with me - she's now got 2 regular group Zooms set up - one her swimming pals on Wednesdays and another with her church/coffee group on Thursdays.

The weather has continued to be wonderful - ironically it would have been a terrific start to the golf season had we been allowed to play. We've walked over the course down to the river a few times and it's in superb nick. Jo thinks it's wonderful to have such a beautiful "park" on our doorstep! I had to reminder her that the only reason it's looking so nice is because the members - well most of them anyway - are paying our subscriptions which go towards keeping the greens staff employed.

Unbelievably, there are some members who have stopped paying their subscriptions because they're not allowed to play golf. What do they think the club is? Some huge international corporate? No - it's a members club and there won't be a club unless we continue to pay for it. Very selfish - it means those of us who are still paying will have to face increased subscriptions in the future.

I've finished cleaning up the 3 tiers of slabs at the back of the house and I've painted the step at the rear plus the plinth on which our spiral staircase sits. The next job is to clean up the staircase itself and get rid of the winter rust stains. Of course, all this work would slow dramatically should the government relax some of the current restrictions - especially golf - but this doesn't now seem likely until at least 28th May. Already I sense the public getting a little restless - and complacent about the virus - there's definitely more traffic on the roads and more people taking advantage of the good weather and getting out and about for their daily exercise.

The Government(s) seem to be placing great store on the R number - the reproduction rate - but, as far as I am aware it's a fairly spurious calculation. There's still not enough testing going on - especially in clear problem areas like care homes, so how can they be sure about their calculations?

Enough about the covid-19 virus. Let's just hope we get a safe vaccine soon and we don't suffer a second wave - or have a covid-20 virus hit us later.

Tonight I'm organising a virtual Headbang - there's a few technical difficulties with trying to do this remotely but we think we have something worked out - let's hope it goes smoothly. I'm all set anyway - I have our office cum studio nicely set up now with good external speakers and a new large monitor. In fact, the room is now very like the way Ross had it before - the only difference being that I'm not a gamer like he is:

I went out on my bike yesterday when Jo was Zooming and cycled out past Craiglash quarry and down to Potarch, then back on the south side of the Dee to Banchory, stopping for yet another photo at one of the favourite stops where the forest trail veers upwards and away from the river and you get a nice view down the Dee:

We had a Victoria Drive FP's Zoom call last Saturday, with former pupils calling in from Australia, Canada, Coventry, Dalry, Edinburgh, Glasgow and, of course, Banchory. One of our reminiscences was this stupid game the boys would play back in the day:

Those punishments were dealt by a full pack of cards being smacked down on your knuckles. The skill was catching the edge of the knuckle and drawing blood. I don't know when this masochistic fad faded out.

Signs of hope?

The weather has turned a bit cooler this week and there's talk of showers, but Jo's out there watering the pot plants - they badly need it. They say it's the sunniest April ever - and I could believe that.

With every day seeming the same and with little photographic evidence to prompt me, it's difficult to complete a diary of everything we've been up to since my last blog post 11 days ago. I know I've been working out back - principally clearing the slabs of - I don't know how long - maybe 15-20 years of grime that built up. Finally uncovered a drain on the lower level and I've been using that - and the pressure hose - to help clean up. Had to get some patio cleaner from Amazon as well - it turned out to be a pretty strong bleach. Jo came running out and insisted I wear some kind of mask when working with it - my cycling balaclava came to the rescue.

We've been for a few nice walks, trying to vary the route every day. There's loads of forest paths behind us - and across the river towards Scolty too. The Banchory Paths Association have done some tremendous - all volunteer - work upgrading the old forest trails. Good for cycling too. The last walk Jo and I went on a few days ago was in Scolty Woods. There's a bit of climbing there - not too bad, but it's not quite Jo's favourite pastime. Naturally, she complains whenever there's any sort of upward gradient in front of her, but she always gets there - she's sussed out how to strategise her way up:

Back home, Jo still has to climb - apart from all the flights of stairs in our house, the clothes line is now on the top tier of our back garden:

We've probably had lunch out back more often in the last few weeks than in the previous 10 years.

I'm still Zooming regularly - 3 yesterday, 1 today, 1 tomorrow, 2 on Thursday, 1 on Friday and 1 on Saturday, so I'm making good use of my subscription and will continue with it until the end of May anyway. Hopefully, by then, we'll be able to get out and about a bit more freely and be able to see people in the flesh again. The transcontinental family Zooms haven't quite worked out however - timing has been one of the issues - so it'll probably be back to one to one FaceTimes (for those with Apple products).

That's all for now. Stay safe:

and still it goes on

It's Friday and it's 4 weeks ago today that we hot-footed it out of Australia to return home to who-knew-what. We're coping but there are times when frustration sets in. The daily zoom conferences help a lot to pass the time. This week so far, my schedule has been:

Sunday night - Gary and Carole's screen off temporarily

Monday - Cycling group

Tuesday - Coffee group in the morning and CAMRA in the evening

Wednesday - Golf group

Thursday - Cycling group in the morning and, in the evening:

Tonight, it's our regular Friday night football virtual pub crawl. Thank goodness my beer stocks got topped up yesterday with a delivery from our local Strong Water Company.

This afternoon we're just awaiting delivery of our new washing machine. For the last week and a bit we've not been changing  our (external) clothes as often and Jo has been handwashing our smalls etc.

Since we got back, as if to taunt us, the weather has been perfect for golf. If/when we get back to playing again, no doubt the weather will turn again.

Have you noticed how prices of anything you order online have skyrocketed? One tin of paint was all I wanted - the first quotes that popped up were £85! I eventually ordered one at £40, but even that was just ridiculous. I appreciate manufacturers and retailers are having a hard time just now with their customer footfall either well down or zero, but if they push it too hard they will lose the public's support.

Oh - that's the men from Curry's with our washing machine - must go.

Happy Easter!

Yes - hope everyone is managing to enjoy the weekend, despite being deprived of our liberty for how many weeks now? The days merge in to each other. Some say it's important to have a daily regime and stick to it - others prefer to go laissez faire.

Jo and I haven't been taking full advantage of the government guidelines/recommendations on daily exercise. We've been going out for walks just 2-3 times per week. We've made a couple of supermarket trips as well, but they feel a lot less comfortable - despite the fact that the stores are well organised. With the best will in the world, it's almost impossible to avoid getting closer than 2 metres to somebody, however briefly.

I've been filling my days with:

• Compiling Headbangers' shows for River Dee Radio
• Occasional bits of home/garden maintenance
• Zoom video conferences

The latter has been a godsend - every day I either host or participate in at least one group video chat. Mondays and Thursdays are the cycling group, Tuesday is the coffee mob, Wednesday is golf, Friday is my regular Friday night pub visit with my ex-football pals and last night (Saturday) I hosted my first one with my former schoolmates. Then, of course, there's the family - Thursday evenings with Dawn, Barry and Helen and tonight (Sunday) we have another one with our offspring (couldn't think of another collective name - sorry).

So it's now mid-April and who knows when we can get out of this mess. There's a clamour for lifting some restrictions soon but surely that's going to start it all over again? Until they have a vaccine - or until we've all had the virus (and maintained immunity) - we can't return to our old ways. The best estimates for the vaccine are 6 months, but I heard Bill Gates talking about 18 months this morning. Worrying times.

It's 50 years this month that Jo and I got together - which also means that it's 50 years since I had the first of many operations and procedures on my right knee following a serious injury at football training. We can both recall the first time I met Jo's parents I had a "stookie" - a full length leg plaster. It felt a little surreal that day.

To finish on a brighter note, there are little rainbows appearing everywhere just now - I took the photo below from our 3rd floor bedroom window, looking down at the approach to Arbor Court:

Home again

So we made it - and the travel was remarkably straightforward - no hassles, although the airports often looked like something out of a science fiction movie with all the face masks and even some full body suits.

We were home before 2 pm on Saturday afternoon and Gary arrived a couple of hours later with some groceries for us - and wearing a scarf round his mouth and keeping his distance from us!

Even since we've been back, things have changed a fair bit with Governments ramping up the controls and airlines cancelling international flights everywhere. We're now told we're in lockdown, but, in the same breath, our leaders have told us we can have one outing (every day if necessary) to get groceries and medicines and one for exercise but we must observe the 2 metre social distancing rule.

We had planned to do our 7 days of self isolation and then hopefully get out a bit to stretch our legs and it seems this is still permissible, but all non-essential businesses are being forced to close - and even our golf club is shut now.

Everything seems to be changing daily so who knows where we'll be next week even.

Anyway, to close this post, a couple of previously unpublished holiday photos:

Asher and Miller took full advantage of having a TV for a change when we were in Renmark - but they had to watch it in our bed, despite there being another TV in the lounge!

Another version of the end of holiday family photo with everyone doing the bunny ears thing

Renmark

With our planned trip to Bali cancelled this week, Chris and Kelly booked us all in to a 6 berth cabin at one of Big Four's premier campsites in Renmark in the heart of the (Murray) River Country. We knew it was going to be hot inland which would be perfect for the boys to use the water park there - and they did. They loved it - couldn't get enough.

Probably easiest just to upload some of the photos rather than have long narratives, so here goes:

Kelly and Asher

Jo and Miller

Boys on a "twike"

Asher

Miller

Miller and Asher on mini slide

Down to waterfront at Woolshed Brewery

Note daily temperature range

Back in Old Noarlunga, a slightly premature birthday party for Jo - home made cake and cards

All being well, we should be back home in Banchory tomorrow (Saturday). Borders are closing all round the world and airlines are cancelling international flights so we felt we needed to cut short our holiday by 2 weeks and try to get home as soon as possible so we're now booked on Emirates flights tonight (Friday). Otherwise, we might have been stuck in Australia for some months - not that it's a bad life here - far from it - but I think we all need to get back to our own homes and as much normality as possible in these crazy times.

In hindsight, it's just as well we didn't go to Bali on Monday as we would not have been allowed back in to Australia as the Government here have now stopped all foreign nationals arriving. Also, our carrier Malindo Air would have flown us to Bali OK, but they then suspended all flights so we couldn't have flown back with them anyway!

We now hear that UAE have barred all foreign nationals from entering, with effect from 19th March. We are transiting through Dubai so we don't technically enter the UAE, so I'm kind of assuming our flights will be OK and we can make the connection from Dubai to Glasgow. Fingers crossed.

The Steele/Stewart abode

Here we go Lucy - some photos of where we have been staying for the last 4 weeks. We previously posted photos of the front of the house when we were here last year, but here's some other views, internal and external:

Our (untidy) bedroom

Boys' bedroom

Hall

Kitchen

Kitchen/dining from the sink area with the new (old) sliding door to our bedroom

Middle lounge

Back lounge

Garage, garden and washhouse

External entertaining area from rear of garden

Hot news

Here's the latest - Jo and I have decided to curtail our holiday by 2 weeks. We decided that things were ramping up way too fast - airlines cancelling international flights and countries banning all incoming foreigners - and it was just a question of days before our own PM decided to follow suit and stop all incoming flights to the UK.

We were up in the River Country on a short compensatory break for the boys  - some 3-4 hours north of Kelly's and Chris' - when we heard news of worsening and tightening sanctions and Jo and I decided it was time to head home. Otherwise we could potentially be stuck in Australia for several months. Not that it's an awful life here - far from it, but, as they say, there's no place like home - especially at a time like this.

So, we're now back in Old Noarlunga and our flight home is scheduled for tomorrow (Friday) night, arriving home on Saturday afternoon. We had a lovely time in the River Country and I will report further on that brief vacation in due course, but now's not the time. Suffice to end with a slightly premature birthday celebration for Jo tonight:

Bali v Renmark

So here's the latest - we didn't go to Bali after all. Things kept changing - on Sunday morning, Chris initally changed his mind and decided to come after all. Then Jo and I checked in online. Meanwhile Kelly went to the gym - when she returned with news of increasingly harder Government lines on the action they were likely to take, plus the news that certain airlines - e.g.Singapore - were grounding their fleet, so we had a brief discussion and decided we didn't want to get stuck in Bali with no immediate prospect of getting back to Australia - and cancelled.

Cue two distraught little boys - Asher had a brand new suitcase and was packed and had been walking round the house for the last couple of days, saying "we going to Bali now?" in that plaintive little voice of his. Kelly and Chris had no option but to swiftly line up an alternative option. Hence the reason this post comes to you from the banks of the Murray River at a Big 4 campsite in Renmark. We're all in a 6 berth cabin - and it's very nice - as is the park itself. It took us about 4 hours to drive here - inland, north of Adelaide.

We've just returned from a session in the pools and waterslides and now Chris has taken the boys off to watch a movie while Jo and I sit on the deck quaffing G & T's. It's much hotter here and we're planning to barbeque tonight.

Going back in time now - on Sunday we drove down to Victor Harbor to see Chris' brother Matt finish the Coast to Coast cycle - 134 kms and then he cycled back home approx 70 kms! The boys had a nice time playing around on the beach and in the playgrounds. One part of the beach has washed up sea debris - seaweed like. You can walk on it, but it's like quicksand in places and you can sink down up to mid-calf - or in the boys' case, thigh-high:

I was, at Lucy's request, going to add some photos of Kelly's and Chris' house, but the internet here isn't good enough to handle any more photos in this blog post. Another time.

Half way

That's us 3 weeks in to the holiday now. Next week is supposed to be our trip to Bali but the corona virus issues are causing some consternation - especially with Kelly and Chris. The implications of Government travel bans and quarantines are much more complicated for them than for Jo and I - although we - especially me - are the ones in the most vulnerable group.

It's obviously going to be a (very) late decision as to who catches the flight on Monday morning. At the time of writing, it looks like Chris will be staying at home, but watch this space in case of any late developments.

Anyway, here goes with another daily holiday diary:

SUNDAY 8th MARCH

We'd had my birthday party on Friday but today it was Amanda's slightly belated party, held at Hallett Cove:

Teacher lectures her class

MONDAY 9th MARCH

Public holiday in Adelaide - it's the Adelaide Cup, a big horse race apparently. None of us were interested in that but it did have the effect of making Monday a busier day than normal at the Fringe - Mondays are usually days of rest for those involved, but pretty much everything was open, so Chris drove us all - bar Kelly, who took the chance to stay home and paint the boys' bedroom - in to the city. The boys had a good time:

On the big wheel - Asher looks away any time you point the camera at him

Miller's not camera shy

Another of Asher looking away

A quiet beer and attempted selfie for Jo and I

TUESDAY 10th MARCH

I decided it was about time I tried a game of golf again, so, after doing our usual routine of taking Miller to school and Asher to "Kindy", Jo and I headed to Willunga. It was to be in the '30's today so I hired a buggy and Jo rode along, alternately reading her book and taking photographs. The outstanding feature of the day was the constant cacaphony made by the cockatoos squawking away, but it was a very pleasant round - and very quick too, despite the amount of time I spent in the trees.

Here we are just leaving the golf club:

WEDNESDAY 11th MARCH

Kelly's day off and Miller was reprieved school today as well. Kelly took the boys with her to the gym so Jo and I decided to go for a short walk along the river and round the village, finishing off at the local coffee shop:

We see these pelicans every day but they're usually in the water - this was the first time we'd seen these huge birds up on a branch

In the afternoon, I took the train in to Adelaide as I'd arrange to meet Chris and some friends for pizza before heading off to the cinema to watch a film about Banksy and his rise to fame in the art world. I went in a bit earlier and wandered around a bit, starting with the Torrens riverbank. It was another hot one so I lay in the shade of a tree for a while and nodded off. Once I woke up, I headed in to the lovely new James Squire brewhouse that has a magnificent spot overlooking the river, the pedestrian bridge and the Oval stadium. I did have a paddle, but it wasn't in the river.

THURSDAY 12th MARCH

Chores completed, Jo and I decided to take a walk up to Victor's Place for lunch - and it was lovely. We only had the light menu but it was delightful - and the beers were good too. We had a tasting first and then selected what we would drink with our lunch. One of Jo's favourites was the Berliner Weisse with a drop or two of sour cherry syrup:

FRIDAY 13th MARCH

Chris' day off. I went for another short bike ride on the local river trails:

2 + weeks down

So here goes again with the daily diary:

SUNDAY 1st MARCH

Can't remember what we did - and no photos to help me recall.

MONDAY 2nd MARCH

With everyone back at work/school/day care, once our chores/daily duties were done, Jo and I decided to do one of the walks across the river from Chris' and Kelly's house - the Old Noarlunga trail, which was, as we had been advised, relatively flat as it followed the river for a while, but then we met the Pipeline trail, which rose steeply. Jo was not impressed, but she made it safely in the end:

Once we got over the top, we realised some wineries were within touching distance - in fact, the whole of the McLaren Vale wine area was in view. The downside was that it would mean more ups and downs:

We managed up and down OK but the nearest winery didn't seem to have a retail outlet and the next one was closed on Mondays, so it was a bit of an abortive extra leg on our walk.

The trail back down over the hills gave us some nice overviews of Old Noarlunga as we descended the sometimes steep and gravelly trail:

TUESDAY 3rd MARCH

It's Adelaide Writer's Week - a festival we'd attended before - and I had spotted one of the shows featuring the fairly well-known former Finance Minister of Greece, who has appeared on UK TV prgrammes like Question Time:

When we had visited with the boys on Saturday, Jo had thought she had better get clued up on what he was all about, so she bought one of his books - a fairly slim volume, intending to finish it before we went to listen to him. However, she's still working at it a week later.

We arrived early for the show so we managed to take in the prior one as well:

WEDNESDAY 4th MARCH

Kelly's - and Asher's - day off, so she drove us all over to Carrick House:

It had been a cool start to the day and we all wore an extra layer, but as the day wore on it got hotter and hotter and we were soon stripping off again - and treating ourselves to ice creams.

There's a kids' storybook trail there which is very well done and Asher loved it. The first photo is from Charlotte's Web, but there were lots of other fairy stories, nursery rhymes etc and even a Harry Potter feature:

THURSDAY 5th MARCH

Back to the old routine and once Jo and I had delivered everyone to their usual haunts, we went for a walk along the riverside trail that I'd cycled the evening before:

Asher spotted me listening to River Dee Radio with my earphones and wanted to share the experience:

At 5 pm, it was Miller's school's Fun Day and we all trotted along to watch Miller take part, including the hurdles:

FRIDAY 6th MARCH

My birthday and I'd asked Chris if he wouldn't mind doing a BBQ and we could invite the family along. Friday is Chris' day off but he was going to be pretty busy getting everything organised, including a lunchtime visit to a speech psychologist in Adelaide with Asher, who also had his weekly swimming lesson to fit in. Jo and I offered to take Asher along to the latter to give Chris a bit of breathing space:

Unfortunately, that didn't go too well - Asher's not quite ready for instruction yet, even on the one to one basis we had today.

Better fun later when we had the BBQ and my beer mug cake arrived:

I had said no presents, but Chris' brother Matt brought me gifts, including these personalised socks:

SATURDAY 7th MARCH

Kelly has work admin to catch up with so offered to drive me and Jo up to Port Adelaide and drop us off at Pirate Life brewery, where they were holding a huge party to celebrate their 5th anniversary:

So that was the week that was - or at least some of it.