Alarming news

Locally, the news has been seeping out for a few days - an outbreak of Covid-19 at nearby Inchmarlo Care Home (where Lucy used to work). The stories started that a handful of the staff had contracted it but the more recent news is that more than 70 now have it - that's very worrying in an area that until now has had low infection rates. Coming on top of last week's news of cases at a Portlethen food factory and continually disappointing results from the north of our shire, I fear it's almost inevitable that Aberdeenshire (and probably Aberdeen) will be moving out of Tier 2 this coming week - especially after the warning shots fired by the First Minister last week. On the other hand, news of an approval for one of the vaccines gives some hope that there is an end to all this. The priority lists have been publicised - I'll be in Level 4, it seems, with Jo in Level 5. We'll probably receive our first dose in January, but we'll have to wait until the whole population is innoculated before life becomes a bit more normal. After that, I wonder if they'll have to start issuing vaccination and test certificates to potential travellers? In other matters, we woke up yesterday (Friday) morning to our first snow of the winter:

It's gone now - replaced by rain - the drains out in the street are struggling to cope with the volume of water. Jo has, however, done her bit to help brighten up the street a little:

A nice photo of Cade and Audrey, publicising their recent engagement on FB:

I don't know what their plans are for getting married but I hope that, by then, we'll be able to travel and attend the ceremony. We had a nice meal - another curry - at the Jewel in the Crown with Ross on Tuesday. He's waiting to hear about a possible opportunity in Edinburgh but tells us he'll be with us before Christmas anyway. This afternoon (Saturday), we've got a beer tasting on Zoom with Burnside Brewery and, later on, our gourmet meal arrives from the Strong Water Company - Hand Dived Orkney Scallops, Venison Fillet, Salted Chocolate Fondant - Dine @ Home. Looking forward to it.

Plus ca change

Another couple of weeks pass by - 8 months now since we made a dash home from Australia. Realistic prospects now of vaccinations on the horizon but the practicalities and the logistics of the rollout to the population at large mean it's likely to be some time yet until we're out of this mess. Meanwhile, our routine life goes on. It's not really too bad for us - we're comfortable and careful here. The main thing we're missing out on is travel, of course. Who knows when we'll be able to go and see Kelly and Lucy again - we don't even see Gary and Ross very much, although we did travel through to Inverurie on Tuesday and had an Indian meal with Gary, Carole and Luca:

We're planning to do the same with Ross this week - and it looks like he will be coming back to Banchory soon, given the dire current employment prospects. Zoom/Facetime/Messenger video calls occupy a good bit of our days. Between me and Jo, a typical week will have 10-11 calls, including the odd remote wine or beer tasting, the latest of which was on Friday night - the Family Brewers of Britain. Very educational and entertaining, with 3 experts and another 45 ordinary CAMRA members from all over the UK joining in. This coming Saturday, I have arranged a smaller one with Burnside Brewery (Laurencekirk) for our local branch members. I'm also experimenting with a new technology in home brewing - the Pinter (https://thegreatergood.co.uk/). It's been brewing for the last 5 days and yesterday I removed the bottom part of the vessel containing the yeast, turned the remainder of the unit horizontal and put it in to the fridge for a few days' conditioning:

As a complete aside, the small tree/bush that stood in our rockery at the front of the house was cut back by Jo earlier this year. I had thought she intended to do a bit of judicious pruning on it, but Jo suprised me by how severe she was, leaving just this:

Do you think this is Jo's message to the world? Passing strangers must wonder. Not much else to say just now. Keep safe.

November update

The hot news from Arbor Court is that we have re-booked flights to USA next year. We had to cancel our September trip this year and were in danger of losing some of our air miles and a companion voucher whose expiry date was extended - but only to July. So we thought, why not book something in the hope that the outlook may be a little better come the spring? The news this week of a potential vaccine coming along underlined this. Anyway, we felt we had nothing to lose - if matters haven't improved by then, we just cancel again - we would be in no worse a position than if we did nothing now as we stand to lose the substantial benefit of the companion voucher. So it's San Francisco on April Fool's Day hopefully. We've also re-booked a week at the Marriott resort in Phoenix that we were due to go to in September. Fingers crossed. Other than that, it's just been business as usual here - the weather's been surprisingly good for the time of year so occasional walks and cycles are still possible. Jo and I went out on Monday afternoon, starting off on the forest tracks at the back of Burnett Park, then along the old abandoned railway line up to Brathens - it was so tranquil in there and we never saw any other walkers in our 2 hour, 11 kms hike. We did come across a small old building - a tiny former home, complete with chimney, next to the railway line. I'd never noticed it before on my cycles up there, but Jo spotted it:

The second photo is a particularly peaceful pastoral scene, we thought. Meanwhile, across the pond, on the west coast, Cade seems to be recovering pretty well from his recent medical traumas:

3,000 miles away on the east coast, little Avery is growing up fast:

On the eve of Aunt Nancy's 95th birthday last Thursday, Dawn, Barry, Helen, Jo and I were joined on our weekly Zoom call by cousins Sheila and Lesley - and their Mum, of course:

Nancy, although physically restricted nowadays, is still incredibly bright and alert. She's our oldest surviving relative (I'm next!) and has outlived her peers - many of them by decades.

Dunkeld and others

We've returned, apparently unscathed from our first venture out together since lockdown - one night in Dunkeld. It was all good - the protocols were well observed at our hotel and we felt safe. We left Banchory on Tuesday morning for the relatively short drive to Perthshire and got there before noon - a little too early for our room to be ready, but we parked the car and walked back a mile in to the village along the Tay river trail, taking a short wander round Dunkeld and across the bridge to Birnham, where we climbed up to the war memorial and took a photo looking back over the Tay bridge to Dunkeld:

We looked in to a couple of the hotels to get a bite of lunch, but they were either too busy or we didn't fancy them - until we came across the Royal Dunkeld, which was amazingly quiet. Noticing they had some real ale on, we took the opportunity of having a pint with our lunch, which of course meant we had to have it outside in a shelter in their beer garden. Walking back past the Cathedral to our hotel we spotted this:

It seemed to ring a bell with us, but we weren't quite sure why. When we walked past it again the following day, we were both finally convinced that we had, contrary to our initial thoughts, indeed been here before. (Subsequent research revealed it was on one of our Pitlochry trips back in 2014). The hotel is in a beautiful setting on the banks of the river, with an impressive approach:

From our room we had a good view of the river:

We had got back to the hotel just in time as, by now, the rain had started. Not to worry, we had booked a swim in the large leisure centre at the hotel. It wasn't hugely busy - numbers are restricted during these Covid times - but although Jo was wearing her swimsuit, she wasn't quite ready to share the pool with any strangers. That didn't stop me, however. Our dinner table was booked for 6:45 pm but we decided to have an aperitif first of all and wandered out to the marquee (which is deemed to be an "outdoor" venue and thus compliant with current coronavirus regulations) but there were no seats available, so we headed back to our room for our free glass of fizz, following it up with G & T's. Dinner was nice - wood pigeon for starters - and afterwards we headed back to the marquee where thankfully there were seats available this time. By Wednesday morning, the previous afternoon's rain had passed, so, after breakfast, we took a walk along the river trail - this time westwards. Reaching the A9 bridge we crossed under the road and walked back to Dunkeld on the opposite side of the river. It was a fair trek - over 16,000 steps, about 3,000 more than the day before - but it was a fine morning and we lapped up the Vitamin D. Here's a few photos from the walk:

Grabbing a quick coffee in the riverside beer garden of the Atholl Arms Hotel we then marched back to the hotel and jumped in the car to start our homeward journey, wandering up the A9, through Pitlochry and then over Spittal of Glenshee and down in to Braemar, by which time we were ready for something to eat. We chose the new Farquharson's Bar & Kitchen for our main meal of the day. A short break - but very nice. In other news, Cade's operation to remove his troublesome rib, (eventually) was successful and he's back home now recovering, thank goodness - with tattoos intact apparently! By the power of Facebook, we finally had our flu jabs last week, but we never did get our letters inviting us. Dentist check-ups are on the horizon now as well - it seems they are starting to catch up with the backlog of missed appointments. I've heard nothing, however, from ARI re my appointment to get a small former mole cut out. It was due to happen on our return from Australia, but events overtook us then. To close, a couple of photos from Dawn - first one of Avery, followed by a view of Jordon's newly decorated room:

and here's Miller, looking proud as punch with his award from school:

Autumn update

Just noticed it's been a month since I posted here - not sure why there's been such a gap this time. There's no way I'll remember everything that's happened since then - I guess I'll just have to mostly feature the events for which I have photographic evidence.

The one noticeable change has been in the weather. At the time of my last post, we were still enjoying warm, summery weather, but it's definitely gone autumnal now - the days are shorter and darker and the temperature has dropped. Jo and I wake up every day and look out at the bank of trees on Arbor Court and watch the leaves changing. Some of the colours are lovely:

All of these changes, however, do signal the end of the golf season. I don't do winter golf any more - unless on the rare occasion when there's a weather window and the sun is out - and I've got fed up staring at the inside of the house.

I took a rare trip in to Aberdeen a couple of weeks ago to get my car serviced. I knew it was going to take a few hours and the weather forecast for that day was very good, so I loaded my (analogue) bike in to the back of the car and went for a tourist wander round the city whilst my car was getting serviced. I've already posted most of the photos on Facebook etc, but here's a few I kept back:

Out at the point next to Torry Battery

 

Donmouth Nature Reserve

Swan & cygnets on the Don

Another one from Footdee - the preserved old fishing village in Aberdeen

This giant screw was rotating and churning the water from the Don

St Machar Cathedral from the other side of Seaton Park

King's College

I met Gary at lunchtime for a quick coffee

That's the photos all used up - now what else happened? Well, there's the almost daily Zoom calls, of course:

• Tuesday coffee morning chat
• Wednesday CAMRA (fortnightly) social
• Thursday Barry, Helen & Dawn
• Friday - Former Footballers' social

Plus occasional old school reunions (last Saturday), Headbangs every 6 weeks and monthly River Dee Radio meetings, not to forget weekly FaceTime calls with Kelly and Lucy.

Zoom and my radio shows have kept me sane throughout, but I feel it's been a lot easier during the lovely summer we had this year when outdoor activities like walking, cycling and golf have been easy to arrange. Winter could be more of a challenge. To that end, Jo and I are going to start venturing out a little - Government restrictions permitting. Since returning from Australia just as the UK was going in to lockdown in March, barring one night I spent at Grantown on a golf trip, Jo and I haven't stayed anywhere else but home, but next week, we're planning to take our first baby steps with a night away at a hotel in Dunkeld.

We've also booked an afternoon tea at a hotel on Speyside next month and a night in St. Andrews after Christmas. It's not a lot and certainly nowhere near the travel we would normally do each year, but it's a small start which will hopefully build up our confidence in the safety and security of select hospitality venues.

One other activity that now consumes a bit of time each day is Pilates. The recent results from my blood tests were satisfactory but I've been getting spasmodic sharp back pains for 9 months or so now. I filled in an online consultation with our local medical practice and one of the doctors phoned me back to discuss the issue. The conclusion he came to was that it was the ageing process that was causing the issue, suggesting that tiny bone spurs start to appear on your spine as you get older and, depending on which way you move, these spurs can pinch a nerve or two. He prescribed some pills but also suggested that Pilates might help, so Jo and I are now going online every day for about 45 mins or so of stretching and tightening our cores.

Continuing on the medical theme, we still haven't had our flu jabs this year and were getting concerned we had been overlooked somehow, as everybody else we knew had had them, but just this morning Jo spotted a post on Facebook from our local medical centre, commenting on the errors and omissions made by the NHS in arranging jabs for the over-65's, and advising all those with surnames beginning with S to head down to the practice tomorrow (Tuesday) to receive our inoculations - hooray!

The hot news from across the pond is that Cade is now engaged! That and an operation to remove a rib - a lot going on just now. That's about all I can remember for now. Cheers.

This week

 It's been a busy old week:

Monday - 15,000 + steps

Jo and I took a run out to Newburgh and did a couple of walks, the first of which was out to see the large seal colony there. They're normally basking on the beach on the opposite (north) side of the Ythan estuary from where we were walking, but on this occasion it must have been feeding time because they were all in the water. Heads would constantly pop up out of the water like some bizarre arcade game.

We walked along the beach for a bit then headed back to the car via the dunes:

We drove through Newburgh crossing the estuary to the Forvie Nature Reserve and completed a circular walk there. At the end, we came through a wooded section which Jo thought had a bit of a spooky air:

Time for lunch so we headed over to Ellon and had a sandwich in the square there, after which we drove home - this time not via the way we had come (AWPR) but cross country - a journey which took us through Inverurie, so we popped in to Rae Circle. We just missed Carole, but we caught up briefly with Luca as he returned from school:

Tuesday

A day of rest. I had my usual virtual coffee morning with pals Dan, Archie, Ken and Ahmed.

Wednesday - 15,000 + steps

Golf in the afternoon - that was enough exercise, but I did at least finally get an appointment to have my bloods taken - next Wednesday.

Thursday - 18,000 + steps

Golf again - this time at Drumoig in Fife - a big course, but such a beautiful day we didn't mind the long walk. In the evening it was our regular Zoom call with Barry, Helen and Dawn.

Friday - 14,000 + steps

The first time I'd used my bus pass since before we went to Australia in February. Taking advantage of the continuing sunshine, Colin and I headed to Ballater and took the circular walk up Craigendarroch, the plum pudding-like hill that overlooks the town. There wasn't a breath of wind at the top and even up there, the temperature was 20 C +:

A quick couple of beers then the bus home in good time for tea, followed by my usual Friday night Zoom call with our ex-footballers' group.

Saturday

Had to be a rest day. The only time I left the house was to go and get fish and chips for tea.

Sunday (today)

Another restful day but we took advantage of the continuing good weather and had our lunch out in the back garden.

The week ahead

Golf tomorrow at Aboyne and at Banchory on Wednesday but no other activities fixed at this time, although need to get back on the bike soon. Got the regular Tuesday morning and Wednesday evening (CAMRA) Zoom calls, followed by an interesting one on Thursday, when we'll be joined by cousins George & Susan and spouses for the first time - I think the last time I spoke to them was at Dad's funeral.

Mid-Sept

Time for another quick update on what's been going on here for the last couple of weeks.

I've had my first overnight out of Banchory since we got back from Australia - just before lockdown. It was our Boat of Garten weekend - it should have been our 70th outing there, but our May outing had to be postponed this year. I was apprehensive. Boat of Garten and Grantown (where we were staying) are not exactly thriving masses of humanity but nonetheless staying in a hotel for the first time was a slightly daunting experience.

I'm happy to say that the hotel's protocols were good and we felt safe. We've been using the Grant Arms Hotel for quite a few years now and it felt quite homely coming back. The key staff have been unchanged for years and know us pretty well now - and likewise in reverse. However, in retrospect there was one major aspect that they - and we - overlooked.

We had a couple of beers after golf, then showered and changed for dinner, which was preceded by G & T's. Normally we would all have been seated at one big table for 12, but this time, it was two tables of 6. We all happily took our places and ate (and drank) our way through dinner. It was only afterwards that we realised we had virtually been sitting shoulder to shoulder - we definitely were not one metre apart. Why didn't we realise this and say something prior to sitting down? This was a classic example of how a few drinks relaxes you and lowers your guard. Lesson learned. The hotel should have managed this aspect a little better.

Anyway, I felt sufficiently relaxed after the weekend's experience to take advantage of an Itison offer and have booked an overnight stay for Jo and I at Dunkeld House Hotel (https://www.dunkeldhousehotel.co.uk/). Avoiding the Glasgow and Perthshire holiday weekends and October school holidays mean that it'll be another 6 weeks or so before we go - Tuesday 27th October to be exact.

I chose, however, to decline the opportunity to join our Hill-walking group on the planned trip to the Trossachs which is scheduled to clash a little with the Glasgow September holiday weekend. We had been due to go to the Peak District back in May but that obviously had to be cancelled, so this shorter (and nearer) trip had been planned as part compensation. Eight of the group are going ahead but four of us have now cancelled. The new Government imposed restrictions mean that you can only have 2 households sitting together, which make mingling and socialising even more difficult.

We did finally manage a trip in to Aberdeen on Friday to see Ross, who was looking good and seemed fairly happy, especially considering he is out of work now and scraping along on Universal Credit. Let's hope he can find employment again soon. After lunch in his flat, Ross walked us back to our car, which was parked outside a house with a small garden that was absolutely bursting with colourful flowers:

This weekend was also when CAMRA's Great British Beer Festival - a huge annual event in London - was due to take place. In its place we had a virtual event via Zoom. We subscribed to two separate beer tastings - one on Friday and another on Saturday. The latter was the better one, but all the beers were pretty interesting - and new to me.

Last week we should have been flying back from Phoenix after our week's holiday there - and arriving at Medford Airport, which may not have been recommended - or even possible, given the state of the fires there, which led to Cade and his girlfriend evacuating from their home and decamping at Scott and Lucy's for a few days. They're back in Medford now, but only after Cade had a medical scare with a blood clot necessitating a trip to A & E. And we think we've got problems.

Jo's been laying out her knitted squares in the front room:

Very pretty - they're going to be sewed together to make a blanket.

I'm still waiting to hear from our GP practice about the blood test that my cardiologist asked to be done. I think I'm going to have to chase them up this week.

Autumn looms

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post and with September arriving on Tuesday, I thought it was high time that I updated the blog again. Unlike Jo, who's been faithfully keeping a daily pandemic diary since March, I only update my blog every week or two.

Since the last post, the new saddle for my old mountain bike arrived, but sadly it didn't work for Jo so we've had to resort to the old saddle again. Until now, Jo's cycling practice has been restricted to going round the Tor-na-Coille car park but I thought it was time for her to try a small sample of "proper" cycling, so, on Thursday morning we took the bikes along the Deeside Way to the other end of Banchory, stopping at Buchanan's for a halfway coffee:

She does look a little tired and sweaty, doesn't she? Anyway, she made it home - the whole way in the same gear. The next stage is to try using the gears on the bike - watch this space.

I had a lovely time at our St. Andrews outing a couple of weeks ago, playing my best golf for a few years. Unfortunately, that appears to have been strictly a one-of. There have been a few cycles as well and yesterday I went on a hill-walk up Clachnaben. It's the 3rd time I've climbed that hill but they've all been in the last couple of years. It's odd that I lived here for about 35 years and was almost 70 years old before hiking up this iconic local hill with its distinctive "carbuncle" at the top:

Yes - the heather's out but already it's starting to revert to its normal dull brown colour. The purple only lasts for a few short weeks every year.

Last Monday, the first day when the Aberdeen lockdown started to be lifted, was my annual visit to my cardiologist. It was a pleasant sunny morning so I decided rather than drive in to Albyn Hospital, I would cycle instead - and not on my e-bike. I used my old hybrid "analogue" bike, powered only by me. The ride in took me 1 hour, 40 minutes but it was a little longer on the way back. The ride in total was 64 kms - my longest yet. It's the neck, shoulders and posterior that suffer the most but I enjoyed it. Normally, I prefer riding with others, mostly because it's safer, but the Deeside Way is well-travelled unlike some of the more remote areas we often cycle in.

The route in to Aberdeen takes you past a number of the former stations on the old Deeside railway line, with many of the platforms still intact. This one at Culter was lined with the painted stones that have been prevalent everywhere during the pandemic:

Anyway, what did my cardiologist think of it all? Firstly, he noted that my heart rate was much higher than usual - and much higher than it should have been, especially considering I take beta blockers. I'd had plenty of time to recover from the bike ride in, so that wasn't the cause, and he wondered then whether I might have a thyroid problem and has now written to our GP practice and asked them to take my bloods again. My last tests had revealed a potential thyroid issue and I had to take another test, this time getting the all-clear.

My heart rate wrist monitor often records over 100 bpm, even when not exercising, but my Atrial Fibrillation can easily skew the results. However, it does look like there may be an issue here and I would like to know asap what the position is. I hope I get a call soon from our local practice to go and get my bloods taken, but I know things are particularly difficult just now and I may have to wait a bit.

That's all for now, I think.

Mid August update

 I rediscovered an old video on my camera - I'd forgotten I'd taken it. It's me "interviewing" Miller at his school open day earlier this year - https://youtu.be/S5zlKMLrC78

More recently, we've had Luca staying with us the last 2 weekends - and he and his Dad are staying over tonight as well (Gary's got a night out in Banchory). Schools in Scotland were due to start back from last Tuesday (11th) but Luca's school class is being left to the very latest date all schools have to return, which is next Tuesday (18th), so his recent stays with us were kind of late consolation "holidays" with us, providing him with a change of scenery at least.

Of course, Luca likes nothing better than going on to his Play Station and we do indulge him a fair bit when he's here, but we also like to ensure he gets a bit of variety as well, taking him walks and bike rides when the weather permits. Here he is on one of our forest walks:

That was on his first weekend here. More recently, we took the opportunity of the good weather and took a picnic down at a quiet spot on the river, after which we took the long way home, eastwards along the river bank where Luca and Jo hopped on the rocks:

Here's some video of the events: https://youtu.be/ub8UzUkCDg0 and https://youtu.be/BWC9aY1gnqE

Just the other night (Thursday), Jo and I were settling down with gins and tonic, ready for our usual weekly Zoom session with Barry, Helen and Dawn when I spotted some activity in our back garden on the top tier. On closer inspection, it was a bird of prey - possibly one of the local Ospreys who nest up at the Trout Fishery on Raemoir Road - beginning to devour its kill - a blackbird of sorts. It tore off the feathers and then started eating the meat, taking about an hour before its hunger was satisfied and all that was left was a carcass, which it then flew off with, probably to give to its youngsters. Here's some of the action we witnessed:

https://youtu.be/BLEBuJNW_IQ

Grisly- but that's life.

Nothing much else to report, other than I managed two bike rides this week - one "analogue" and one e-bike - plus two games of golf. Incidentally, the new saddle Jo wanted before she would try cycling again arrived yesterday, so we'll need to put her to the test now!

We're taking part in a virtual Edinburgh Book Festival event this afternoon - Val McDermid - and we've got another one booked next week - Ian Rankin. I've also got our annual golf trip to St. Andrews on Tuesday, the same day as British Gas arrive to finally do our service. It must have been 2 years since they've been, which didn't stop them from charging us monthly. Grrr.

Another new look

Some semblance of normality appears to be returning so I thought it was time for another new look:

What do you think? Keep this - or just go the whole hog and get rid of what Carole calls "facial furniture"? I have to tell you Jo hasn't even noticed yet. She came up to me this morning and asked me to look at her eyes (she's still having trouble with them) - "what do you think?", she said. I said they looked OK to me but they're obviously not working very well - still didn't notice. Oh well.

We've had an interesting week - Gary, Carole and Luca came over on Sunday for Gary's slightly belated birthday dinner. We gave Gary his presents, which included a Thistle face mask:

After lunch, in accordance with tradition:

Of course, we still had to socially distance so Jo and I sat at one end of the table whilst Gary, Carole and Luca sat at the other end. We think Luca's a little bemused by the current regulations - if he was two years younger, we'd be allowed to give him a hug, but, if you're over 11 you're treated like an adult. I guess we'll have to be patient.

Similar procedures had to apply when Dawn arrived on Monday evening. She had her own bedroom, bathroom and chair - yes, she was allowed to sit in my "throne"!

On Tuesday, Jo, Dawn and I went for a walk in the woods along the Banchory Paths. Here they are returning through the Tor-na-Coille car park:

We had been pointing out to Dawn the remaining painted stones at the sides of the paths. Many of them have been lifted now and we believe there's going to be a post-Covid display of them somewhere. In the meantime, a local photographer has put together a montage of some of them and displayed the results in a shop window on the High Street:

In the evening, Dawn treated us to dinner at Banchory Lodge hotel. It was our first post-lockdown experience of eating out and it was very nice and we felt pretty safe, although we were a little disappointed that none of the staff were wearing face protection.

Wednesday morning was damp but we had arranged to go over to Inverurie for a late lunch with Gary, Carole and Luca (sandwiches and cheesecake). On Thursday, the weather perked up and Dawn and I went for a short bike ride westwards along the south side of the Dee. Dawn had brought her own bike:

In the afternoon we took a drive out to Ballater and on to Braemar. By this time, it was pretty warm and the sun was shining, so we had a picnic lunch on the green at Ballater - croissants and strawberry/raspberry tarts/meringues - very nice. Dawn took a short tour of the gift shops whilst Jo and I had a beer at the back of the Barrel lounge.

On now to Braemar where we had booked dinner at the new Cairn Grill. First of all, however, we took Dawn to have a look at the upmarket Fife Arms, where they took coronavirus precautions very seriously - hand sanitiser first, then an electronic temperature check. You have to look at a screen and fit your face in to the shape - a bit like airport passport checks - and then it reads your temperature. No problems for Dawn and me, but, as usual, Jo couldn't get the machine to work so her temperature had to be taken manually by the doorman with the gun-like reader.

We weren't allowed to go in to the hotel proper, where all the expensive art works and sculptures are, but we wandered through the Flying Stag bar, through the small library section and out towards the side door where there were hundreds more antlers on the ceiling and animal heads on the walls:

Dawn wasn't keen on the display.

Dinner - steaks all round - was lovely and then we headed home, just in time for our usual Thursday night Zoom call with Barry and Helen.

It was hot and sunny again on Friday morning so we decided on another walk to work up an appetite for our bacon butty lunch. We did the north side of the river this time, approaching it through Alexander Park athletics track, walking along the riverbank eastwards the length of the golf course. There were a couple of minor hurdles to cross:

Dawn headed home mid-afternoon but her journey must have taken her 6 or 7 hours due to the motorway being closed at Dunblane and subsequently losing her way.

That's about it for now, although I should report that our seagull issue seems to be over, thankfully. No sooner had I ordered the bird scarers than they seemed to disappear. Whether it's because the chicks have now fully fledged or what, we don't know, but it's uncanny that they disappeared at the point of us beginning to take desperate measures. I'm going to leave the two owl-like scarers out but I never even got round to using the large balloon eye, which now resides in our back bedroom: