Heading towards Christmas holidays

I had a bit of time off around Christmas. Apart from trying to get the usual things done, we also managed to make paper chains (but without a stapler - first-world issues) and tried to get out and about.

Stirling Station

Kept up the running - gloves and 2 tee-shirts needed.

Winter Sun - Menstrie Railway track

Cooked a duck which tasted great. The raw smell was not to everyone's taste. (and minichef baked some bread)
 

Duck down

Did some proper man-christmas shopping at the last minute.

Primark queue

Played a few gigs with Billy Ferguson and the Kettles family.

Had a lovely time.

 
 

Kelpies - again.

We love visiting the Kelpies. Not in the summer when it can be a tad busy, but off season.

Here's why:

It was a calm day.

Park Run Anyone?

No I can't believe it either, but about 30 years after I last went for a run (New Jersey - Out and about round the Marriot) I have completed a 5km (3 long mile) parkrun.

And wonderchild 2 was there to encourage me along the way.

 
Well done us!

 

I would drive 500 miles

We've been fans of the Proclaimers for longer than we've been married, so the announcement of the 2018 tour was music to our ears.

Then the discovery that the concerts had sold out across Scotland was a bit of a downer.

However, there were still tickets in Dublin.  So 2 tickets, 2 flights, 1 or 2 nights in a hotel, airport parking, and we were committing to an expensive weekend.

That was my cue for a bit more digging, and I found that the twins were playing in Blackburn (England - Manchesterish) on a Saturday in October.

2 nights in the Premier inn, and 2 tickets for about £200.   

We were lucky to be in Row "C" which is quite near the front!

Runrig - The Last Dance

The soundtrack to our university years contains a number of bands who are still playing these days.  Elton is about to get his last few concerts underway (and I dont have a ticket yet) 

So when we saw that Runrig were calling time I was scheduled to try to get tickets. 

I joined a facebook group, and had a little trial run booking tickets before the site opened. 

Then two days before the sale started, I saw a wee post on FB saying that someone had bought tickets.  I followed the link on my phone and found that the mobile site was open for business!

Boom!

2 tickets bought and 6 months of a slight worry that someone might spot the error and cancel the tickets.

We could have sold the tickets many times over, but I still wanted to hear the band and it was listed as their last gig.

And it was great!







 

Mackintosh - not McIntosh

Summer holidays - continued...

So we reach the last week - the dreaded single digit days before the start of term.  So in an effort to keep Mrs C's mind of the impending return to the golden hours of classrooms and assemblies, of saturday trips with the hockey team, etc etc, we headed off to see what we could of Chas - Chas McIntosh, currently doing the season in Kelvingrove.   Obviously there are no photos of this as I was very good and only took a couple.

We weren't over-fussed about the CRM exhibition, but I did like the heads who were hanging around.

And we hit the pizza jackpot afterwards:

For the first time IN MY LIFE I had to get a doggy bag.  Oh the shame! 

Home alone

Summer holidays - continued...

Due to a terrible mix-up in the space-time continuum, I have been left alone at home for 10 days.

3 airport runs in 3 days and I have an empty house to look after.

Missing you all terribly.

The freezer is emptying, and my cooking is still experimental!

I had a day out in the hills with some colleagues as we learned how to ride a bike.  Here is Artur in the last picture with his intact skin.  The stitches are now out, but he may carry the scar for some time.

 And a quiet ceilidh at night for some of the local junior doctors.

Swimming with the fishes

Sometimes I plan our holidays - looking for things to do, places to see, and activities to try.  But some days just dont work out the way you plan.

So after a visit to the Brora visitors centre, where we had a whistle-stop look at the exhibits (nice) an a facinating chat to one of the staff, who spent time showing us her pictures of seals taken in the last couple of days.

We were not equipped with the camera power, but even with our trusty phones, found that the seals were exactly where she told us they would be.

And we swam in the sea! When did we last do that?

 

Wales and other places we have been

 So, in no particular order, we had a few days down "south" staying in Chester (near the Whittards shop!) and we had a day in Wales, a day in Liverpool 

 And spent some quality time in the tidal mud with the friends of the Angel of the north

Come home to a real fire

Our house is getting older. Some years ago the fire in the livingroom stopped working.
It should be a simple fix: find a qualified tradesman and pay for the fix.

Fast forward to 2018 and we set out on a mission to get this fixed. We bumped over about 1000 speedbumps in Throsk to find a shop that sold woodburners. That wasn't what we wanted.

After some other stops we ended up in Kincardine.

And bought a fire.

The fall and rise of Tintin

Everyone talks about the bad winter of 1963 - and for the past few days we have had some tricky snow to deal with too.  
This has mainly involved working from home, and not going out far.  No great difficulties and no real problems.   

But Tintin went out into the Garden on Wednesday, and had a few snow days...

 

This week's shoes

One of the things I like about this blog is not that lots of people are out there hanging on my every poignant word or pithy comment, but more that I can use this to jog my memory to dates and events.

When did we go to Sweden? (2014)  Where were we for Christmas in 2011? 

And so this week has been a little out of the ordinary, as Scotland had its first "Red" weather warning, and the Siberian weather arrived with a flourish.  
Cold winters recently have been missing unless you head off to Canada (-36C around Christmas 2017). The winter of 2010 had a cold fortnight where I remember -18C measured in "Fiona" 

But this week has been warmer, but much much snowier!

And so to this week's shoes:

Left to right....
My boots - normally used for grass cutting and other gardening duties, but used this week to get out to clear the driveway.

My walking boots - normally used for light hill-walking duties but used for all trips out and about this week.

Mrs C's wellies - rarely worn, but absolutely perfect for chocking the wheel of a caravan. The steel toe-cap is ideal for this.

Child 1's walking boots - not taken to university, so worn here by Mrs C on her daily sojourn to check on the progress of the roads and the drifts.

Finally, my good white trainers - normally ideal for summer holidays, but this week, worn by Mrs C for all trips to the garden to check on the progress of Tintin.

School's out for snow

O yes - Mrs C is happy. No more school until Monday.

We love the bird man.

The drifts were three feet deep here. In a week, we will have forgotten.

Half term catch up

After a couple of days back in the office, (but I dont talk about it so don't ask), we had a free Saturday to play catch-up-with-the-kids.

So we left at 8:30, and again at 8:40 once I had remembered all the things I actually needed (sorry Mrs C) we headed to M and S to get the basics for a pic-nic, and fully flasked up, we then headed north to meet up with one of the wage-sappers.

After a coffee stop, visiting a friend, we collected the child, and headed out of the city, looking for the coast.

We found a great place for a lunch stop - coffee and sandwiches, plus lemon and white-chocolate cakes.
A blustery walk followed, along the cliff-top and through the local village, then back to the car.

We had time for a quick trip back into the granite city, and run round Tesco's for some heavy shopping, then we were off, heading south again.

6 pm was the deadline for meeting the elder wage-sapper, and we were on time.
Nearly late due to the fact that Dundee have moved the roads since I last tried to leave by the bridge.  Apologies to the people behind as I made an exciting late lane change onto the bridge ramp.

And so on for Pizza. 

 
Slight issue on my visit to the toilets.  Who has the "plus", and who has the "arrow"?

This is my door.

So with child 1 now fed, we headed home, energised enough to watch 30 minutes of TV before falling asleep on the couch.  

It had been a great day out.

F-F-F-F-Freezing in February

Half term has arrived, and after a quiet Saturday at home doing the domestics, we headed south into England, for a few days in the North East. The weather predictions were for breezy chilly days, and they were exactly right.

Monday morning dawned beautifully, and we had a great day in and around Durham.

Sun into the late afternoon too!  Just no heat in it at all.

So we went off to the Botanics, and enjoyed a long time in the hot houses!

Beer anyone?

It was an inspired child who returned from Canada with a great present for me:

Not all of them have been recycled by now.

Merry Christmas?

When I was working in the USA, a lifetime ago, we used to drink Canadian beer.

Now I have been given my own collection of beer mats, thanks to the generosity of no 2 child.

 

Splitty

After a wild night, when Storm Eleanor crossed the country, we had a great day celebrating with Jack and Kathryn.