First post of 2019, and already so much going on. The New Years Eve party was good but not spectacular. There were plenty of men in skirts and a few Ceilidh dances were performed but there was not really enough room for all those who wished to participate. My knee was still crook from the wedding accident so I sat those dances out.
We were on a table for two rather than a group table which was fine, but the conversation with other guests only really took off after mid-night as everybody converged on the comfy chairs. we went to bed about 2:00am having met another Scouser and a lad from Kent who had both moved to Caithness which even further North than Inverness.
I have a reputation on golf tours of going off piste as far as the menu is concerned and the tactic of choosing the best bits of one dish with the basis of another is called doing a 'weathers'. So why not start the year with one I thought. I then proceeded to turn up for brunch at about 12:00 and ordered a full Scottish breakfast with steak and eggs on the side. A true 'weathers' would see me leaving some of it as it is usually too substantial, but on this occasion it all got woofed.
We had a good trip back yesterday and saw number one son and family. I went out for a swiftie with him and number two son. I left them at about 21:30. They rolled in at 06:00 having been out on the lash in Liverpool. Blind leading the blind me thinks.
Today has been busy. The first of the New Year jobs saw the swimming pool dehumidifier fixed. We then managed to get a Social Services assessment of my mum completed meaning she can return to her home tomorrow and care assistants will visit three or four times a day as necessary. I can then go to the Tranmere v Spurs FA Cup game and have a few beers hopefully. Golf starts in earnest again next week and hoepfully normal service will be restored.
Only time will tell......
Showing posts with label Inverness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Inverness. Show all posts
Thursday, 3 January 2019
Friday, 28 December 2018
The light fandango
We made good time to Inverness, which allowed SWMBO sufficient time to put her game face on before we got to Achnagairn Castle for the wedding of Ross, aka Llama, and Bryony.
The day went well. Ross used to be in the English National Choir and has maintained good friendships with many of his colleague singers. They are at the wedding end bloc, so the choir was amazing during the service and also later at the reception when they did an impromptu carol concert in the garden.
The wine and beer flowed but I deny that was why I took a tumble during one of the ceilidh band fast numbers, stripping the willow. We got to bed in good order and were raring to go the next day as we dropped number two son off at the station.
We then spent the day sightseeing in Inverness. We visited the castle which was scene of many a bloody battle, and a few gruesome executions, the old town and Victorian market before travelling back along the banks of Beauly Firth. Tomorrow we are off to Glen Affric before a spot of monster hunting on Loch Ness.
Might have a curry tonight though as the village is a bit quiet!!
The day went well. Ross used to be in the English National Choir and has maintained good friendships with many of his colleague singers. They are at the wedding end bloc, so the choir was amazing during the service and also later at the reception when they did an impromptu carol concert in the garden.
The wine and beer flowed but I deny that was why I took a tumble during one of the ceilidh band fast numbers, stripping the willow. We got to bed in good order and were raring to go the next day as we dropped number two son off at the station.
We then spent the day sightseeing in Inverness. We visited the castle which was scene of many a bloody battle, and a few gruesome executions, the old town and Victorian market before travelling back along the banks of Beauly Firth. Tomorrow we are off to Glen Affric before a spot of monster hunting on Loch Ness.
Might have a curry tonight though as the village is a bit quiet!!
Wednesday, 26 December 2018
Northern Lights
Christmas day passed off well enough. A trip first thing to check on my mother was followed by hoots of joy at home as the ankle biters tore open their presents. They seemed to be happy with their lot, as did their parents. I got golf related gifts which are always well received.
Dinner was quiet this year with only four adults, but SWMBO still managed to cater for the usual 20 people! We have been eating turkey and ham sandwiches on our way to Perth, just to use the excess up.
Perth you may ask!! Yes we are half way up Scotland after a five hour car journey. Tomorrow we need to be in Inverness for a 13:00 wedding in a castle in the Highlands. That means a very early start and we are just fortunate there is no snow forecast.
A friend of number two son is getting wed. He is best man and we are honoured guests so could not cry off, even with what is happening at home.
We have a Scotland road trip planned on the way back and are hopeful we can complete it. Number one son and family are coming to Scouseland for New Year so we can catch up with them again.
So stay tuned as we continue to venture furtherNorth than I have ever been!
Dinner was quiet this year with only four adults, but SWMBO still managed to cater for the usual 20 people! We have been eating turkey and ham sandwiches on our way to Perth, just to use the excess up.
Perth you may ask!! Yes we are half way up Scotland after a five hour car journey. Tomorrow we need to be in Inverness for a 13:00 wedding in a castle in the Highlands. That means a very early start and we are just fortunate there is no snow forecast.
A friend of number two son is getting wed. He is best man and we are honoured guests so could not cry off, even with what is happening at home.
We have a Scotland road trip planned on the way back and are hopeful we can complete it. Number one son and family are coming to Scouseland for New Year so we can catch up with them again.
So stay tuned as we continue to venture furtherNorth than I have ever been!
Monday, 29 October 2018
Lost and found
I never know where the time goes as I struggle to keep posting on here. Nearly two months have past since my ambassadorial announcement but I have no personalised golf bag picture to post yet. The frontispiece is on its way in the post apparently.
Most of the last few weeks have been hectic for SWMBO as her mum went into hospital for a 'big C' operation. It seems to have gone well but SWMBO and her sis have been sharing caring duties in Formby leaving me home alone.
So I have been golfing and more golfing, but then, disaster. I think I left my car unlocked one night and blow me, one of Birkenheads finest on a speculative mission for pocket change stumbled upon my golf clubs in the boot of my car. Sunday morning and they were gone!!
PC Plod is not really too bothered with minor theft these days, they just give you a crime number for insurance reasons. That should have been good for me as I have loads of insurance. Not so, though. The golf specific insurance only covers you for critical hours. That is from the time you leave your house with the clubs, until you return, so I was buggered there. The house contents insurance has a supplementary cover for valuables away from the home, but I do not subscribe to that, and the car insurance does not cover theft from the vehicle, full-stop. So that was that.
One ray of sunshine, however, involved my golf bag. That had my name on it, and did not represent a sales opportunity, so the tea leaf dumped that in a neighbours garden and I was able to retrieve it. That saved a few bob in replacement charges.
I now have a new set of irons, some old clubs from the shed, and await my new driver which should be here sometime this week. I got some good deals so the replacement cost has not been too high. I will just have to switch the heating on a month later this year!!
A big shout out to ForeGolf in Chester too. Their man spent 90 minutes with me in the trial facility trying different makes of club with different lofts and shafts. If the driver I have selected goes as well on the course as it did there I may be single figures next season.
Saturday past, SWMBO and I back to backed Halloween parties, firstly with the ankle biters at number one daughters and then at the golf club. I think our outfits went down well, although I was unsure whether I was a Draconian character or an Elvis impersonator!!
This weekend is fireworks and the start of the Autumn rugby internationals. I look forward to meeting the S Club for the New Zealand game. Interestingly NZ are staying at our hotel in Teddington so I have some laxative tablets at the ready for their muesli. I will be happy if England win three out of four, but that is going to be a tall order.
Final point of interest, number one son is back in London putting finishing touches to his house before it gets rented out, we have booked to go to Geneva now before Christmas and hope to take number one grandaughter with us. It is all go at the moment, especially as we have just had a group staying with us for Airbnb.
Winter wedding in Scotland is the next trip to plan, so far I have got us to Inverness by 27th December but only back as far as Fort William. Watch this space.
Most of the last few weeks have been hectic for SWMBO as her mum went into hospital for a 'big C' operation. It seems to have gone well but SWMBO and her sis have been sharing caring duties in Formby leaving me home alone.
So I have been golfing and more golfing, but then, disaster. I think I left my car unlocked one night and blow me, one of Birkenheads finest on a speculative mission for pocket change stumbled upon my golf clubs in the boot of my car. Sunday morning and they were gone!!
PC Plod is not really too bothered with minor theft these days, they just give you a crime number for insurance reasons. That should have been good for me as I have loads of insurance. Not so, though. The golf specific insurance only covers you for critical hours. That is from the time you leave your house with the clubs, until you return, so I was buggered there. The house contents insurance has a supplementary cover for valuables away from the home, but I do not subscribe to that, and the car insurance does not cover theft from the vehicle, full-stop. So that was that.
One ray of sunshine, however, involved my golf bag. That had my name on it, and did not represent a sales opportunity, so the tea leaf dumped that in a neighbours garden and I was able to retrieve it. That saved a few bob in replacement charges.
I now have a new set of irons, some old clubs from the shed, and await my new driver which should be here sometime this week. I got some good deals so the replacement cost has not been too high. I will just have to switch the heating on a month later this year!!
A big shout out to ForeGolf in Chester too. Their man spent 90 minutes with me in the trial facility trying different makes of club with different lofts and shafts. If the driver I have selected goes as well on the course as it did there I may be single figures next season.
Saturday past, SWMBO and I back to backed Halloween parties, firstly with the ankle biters at number one daughters and then at the golf club. I think our outfits went down well, although I was unsure whether I was a Draconian character or an Elvis impersonator!!
This weekend is fireworks and the start of the Autumn rugby internationals. I look forward to meeting the S Club for the New Zealand game. Interestingly NZ are staying at our hotel in Teddington so I have some laxative tablets at the ready for their muesli. I will be happy if England win three out of four, but that is going to be a tall order.
Final point of interest, number one son is back in London putting finishing touches to his house before it gets rented out, we have booked to go to Geneva now before Christmas and hope to take number one grandaughter with us. It is all go at the moment, especially as we have just had a group staying with us for Airbnb.
Winter wedding in Scotland is the next trip to plan, so far I have got us to Inverness by 27th December but only back as far as Fort William. Watch this space.
Monday, 5 March 2018
100000
After a very alcoholic two days, Maxine and I have booked into The Priory. It's not all it sounds though. Our eldest, Tim, came up from London to help me celebrate my 65th birthday yesterday, so we had a few on Saturday night and carried on through yesterday afternoon and evening. We embraced the Refreshment Rooms for a spot of lunch to break it all up. It was a very enjoyable day, Becky made a fab cake modelled like a golf course which got finished off this morning at the golf club.
Number 2 son, Kieran, joined us later in the pub having been to London to run the BigHalf with Mo Farah and co. He did a commendable time of 1hour 44 minutes and had a very aesthetic medal to show for his efforts. Tim went back this morning so next challenge was a wedding in Inverness in late December!!
That's where the Priory came in. The wedding is on 27th December in Achnegairn Castle for which the wedding party has exclusive use for a couple of nights. We would like to stay a bit longer hence the need to find an alternative hotel. That's sorted now so on to next challenge which is to find somewhere near Perth to stay Boxing Day night. Don't you love weddings.
With all this inclement weather around if it hits Inverness in December there may not be a wedding.
We had drama this week as one of our overflow pipes froze and we had a second swimming pool appear on the kitchen floor. Luckily we are blessed with an excellent plumber so the damage was contained in the end to a bit of water staining to the ceiling. Still some repairs to make to the water tank but they should be fairly routine. What was not funny was trying to de-ice the pipes at 11o'clock at night!!
This entry signals the end of another month of diet change. I managed to weigh in at under 100kg this time which in old money is 15st 9lbs, a weight which I have not been for a long time. SWMBO informs me that I was 14st 8lbs when I met her in 2001. I know I was 12st 8lbs when I left school. Getting under 15st will suit me, although I am already starting to look a bit scrawny so just need to do things gradually.
Another significant milestone was achieved this morning as the car ticked over to 100000 miles. It is probably the first car I have had that has reached that milestone from new. It was born in 2009 so its only 12000 miles a year which is below average. Hopefully it's got a few more years left in it. It needs a service soon so lets see what the garage think about it all.
So on we go now to March, a month of rugby matches, golf dinners and the odd bit of exercise. I will be please to see no weight gain when next I venture onto the scales!
Number 2 son, Kieran, joined us later in the pub having been to London to run the BigHalf with Mo Farah and co. He did a commendable time of 1hour 44 minutes and had a very aesthetic medal to show for his efforts. Tim went back this morning so next challenge was a wedding in Inverness in late December!!
That's where the Priory came in. The wedding is on 27th December in Achnegairn Castle for which the wedding party has exclusive use for a couple of nights. We would like to stay a bit longer hence the need to find an alternative hotel. That's sorted now so on to next challenge which is to find somewhere near Perth to stay Boxing Day night. Don't you love weddings.
With all this inclement weather around if it hits Inverness in December there may not be a wedding.
We had drama this week as one of our overflow pipes froze and we had a second swimming pool appear on the kitchen floor. Luckily we are blessed with an excellent plumber so the damage was contained in the end to a bit of water staining to the ceiling. Still some repairs to make to the water tank but they should be fairly routine. What was not funny was trying to de-ice the pipes at 11o'clock at night!!
This entry signals the end of another month of diet change. I managed to weigh in at under 100kg this time which in old money is 15st 9lbs, a weight which I have not been for a long time. SWMBO informs me that I was 14st 8lbs when I met her in 2001. I know I was 12st 8lbs when I left school. Getting under 15st will suit me, although I am already starting to look a bit scrawny so just need to do things gradually.
Another significant milestone was achieved this morning as the car ticked over to 100000 miles. It is probably the first car I have had that has reached that milestone from new. It was born in 2009 so its only 12000 miles a year which is below average. Hopefully it's got a few more years left in it. It needs a service soon so lets see what the garage think about it all.
So on we go now to March, a month of rugby matches, golf dinners and the odd bit of exercise. I will be please to see no weight gain when next I venture onto the scales!
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