St Andrew @ Wallasey

 Last night Wallasey hosted the annual St Andrews dinner, the third I have attended, with still two to go. I had a lead role in this one as I had to make my last major speech of my Captaincy . There were about 100 people in attendance and the in-house catering team did us proud with traditional Scottish fayre including the haggis which I got the opportunity to stab to death. The address was conducted by Tom Blackstock in his usual exuberant style with bagpipes accompaniment.

Then it was up to me to summarise my 18 months in office and I threw a few stories in to add to the entertainment. I was fortunate to recieve a standing ovation at the end of it which was a great surprise and very much appreciated.

We then adjourned to the bar to exchange stories and experiences with the ex-Captains and my personal guests, Jim Mitchell and Paul Spivey. Jim very kindly led the evening with the Selkirk grace  to maintain the Scottish theme 

Golf is now starting to return to normal with no formal events to attend so I can return to playing at the Club when I want to. That said, the weather has been awful with high winds and rain. We lost eight fence panels at home and I have obtained enough wood to replace them, so that will take me a few days. The price of wood was extraordinary and has increased three fold since I last needed to buy some. So at least I now have enough to see us through the next few years as most of the panels which came down were over 20 years old. The ones which remained and survived I had already replaced at some previous time.

The golf club lost the three elegant pine trees by the clubhouse but not any of the scrubby sycamore around which they were circled. So that will be a maintenance job for the greens staff that they were not expecting!

So two St Andrews dinners this week then we are into December and the festive dinner season. Lets hope the latest COVID mutation is kept at bay long enough for everybody to enjoy it. Ho ho ho!

Conspiracy theory

 Well we are in lockdown II and already the moaning has started. We here on Wirral have been doing all we could during stage 3 restrictions and that had seen infections reduce from just over 300 cases per 100,000 to just below 250, tha'ts a good 16% improvement. That effort has been mirrored across the Liverpool City Region and may be why Liverpool has been offered the opportunity to be the first City to have whole population testing. As I type, 2000 army personnel are arriving to co-ordinate the task.

Rather impishly, and to spark some motivation for people to take a test I suggested successful roll-out would allow Everton FC and Liverpool FC to be playing home games in front of crowds before many of their competitors. I thought that might be a high value gain for people in this football mad City, but how wrong was I?

You see, it's all a conspiracy as far as the 'in the street' scouser is concerned. 'They just want all our DNA, mate' is the line people will feed you' Matches us to crime scene's then, dunnit'. How sad a view people hold on a process which could see them return to normality in time for Christmas.

If you have nothing to hide, why woirry? So let's see what the take-up is and hope that this pioneering initiative supported by Mayor Anderson, does provide the light at the end of the tunnel. That would be the best Christmas present for all of us! 

Family time

Quite mixed emotions over the last few days in the Weathers household. Last weekend SWMBO and I took number one grandchild, Ava, to visit her cousin, Sofia, in Switzerland where number one son and partner have recently moved to.

There was no snow which was  a shame, but the girls went skating, something Ava had never done before, and they thoroughly enjoyed that. Grandad tried his best but was pretty second rate really!!

We had a fine time at the Geneva Christmas market, and a very enjoyable meal in the local village restaurant. We all tried frogs legs and some excellent Swiss wine, before going up a cable car the next day, over the border in France. Again weather conditions were against us, so there was no sign of Mont Blanc above the clouds. Everybody had a good time and we returned home in good spirits to get ready for Christmas.

That, though, was when things turned. Last Monday my mother rang to say she was unwell, dizzy and a bit disoriented, so we had to ring the paramedics. We kept her out of hospital only because SWMBO was prepared to do the night shift and sleep on the sofa in her apartment. The next day after we had left she phoned to say she had had a fall so the paramedics were called again.

This time we took her to our home but it became evident we could not provide the care and support she needed over a 24 hour period. Through one of SWMBO's friends we were able to book mum into a nursing home for two weeks restbite to see if she could regain enough confidence to go self sufficient again. I was shocked how quickly she degenerated after having the fall. The first spell of dizziness was as  a result of her taking the incorrect amount of medication but she is now confused and vulnerable.

I saw her today and she seems to be resigned to some time away from home, it will be difficult when we need to tell her it will be more permanent if she cannot fend for herself. An old peoples home is her worst nightmare, and I had always promised I would not let her go to one, but two days trying to care for her showed us it was impossible either at her flat or in our home.

We are hoping she can join us for Christmas Day, but, if not, at least she will not be alone, she is getting three meals a day, has the company of the staff and can choose whether to join in the activities which the care home arrange for them.

It's not the build-up to Christmas we had anticipated but we will make the best job of it we can, as the challenges of young and old all have to be catered for. Talking of catering, I feel a mince pie coming on, ho! ho! ho!

Air today gone tomorrow

We have just packed off four lads who have been here for the weekend as our latest Airbnb guests. They were in Liverpool for some sort of Game Of Thrones convention. They were no trouble at all and departed after breakfast. A few more bob deposited into the SWMBO account and hopefully their feedback will be good to allow us to maintain our gold hosting standard.

Our guests seem to be falling into three categories. One, like the lad's , is people visiting Liverpool for an event, festival or concert. Two is people staying with us while they visit relatives who live locally, and thirdly is people working or participating in some sort of sporting event.

Sadly none in the latter category has embraced the midweek golf profile we were targeting when we set the enterprise up, and most of our attendee's are weekenders. Still we get to meet interesting people and enjoy being able to share the home now the kids have vacated the top floor. We had two NASA scientists staying with us last week while they popped over to the Isle of Man for the classic TT events.

Sadly we can't help the people who need rooms in Oxton for New Year but it would probably be easier to cater for than the 20 we are expecting for Christmas Day and the fifty odd for Boxing Day.

Four people for New Year? No problem!!

Oh yes I did.....

Spot on, it's panto season so off we went to see Dick Whittington at the Empire in Liverpool. No real stars. A girl from Eastenders who is currently in Still Open all Hours,  and a chap from Emmerdale together with Pete Price a local Liverpool DJ who must nearly be a Nonagenerian himself.

The dame was very good as was Dick's cat Tom. The whole production though was greater than the sum of it's parts, a really good afternoon out. There were lots of Dick jokes for the adults, and a 3D screen to scare the kids. All in all very good value of money.

We went with number one granddaughter and her mate and they seemed to have a good time too, and did not cost us much for drinks, sweets and ice creams. The theatre was pushing 'Pie Face', a cult game at the moment, and seemed to be doing a good trade. Maybe the board game is making a comeback?

Today we saw two friends who were over from Hong Kong on family business so we did a bit of research for our Sevens trip in early April, then it was take the decci's down time. That's all done now and the house looks a tad sparse. There may well be demand for a set of 'not Christmas' decorations to use from January to November for a bit of sparkle. That may be a bit chav though on reflection!

My jury service starts tomorrow and I will be blogging what I am allowed to as the weeks progress, although with a barrister and solicitor in the family I can see me being dumped on several occasions as not being suitable jury material. I have my black handkerchief ready as needed though.

In a land far, far away

Well it seems like that sometimes.........and I get stick from my regular readers for not posting too often. This is as much due to my routine lifestyle than anything else. I don't want to write about golf, DIY, life in Scouseland and family all the time, unless something out of the ordinary happens.

So,is  no hot water, a ruptured tap spout and number two daughter locked out of her house on her birthday routine? It's a good question, and , yes, it probably is routine as we have at least one major crisis just before Christmas.

In the past we have had the cooker pack up on Christams Eve and only got it fixed because the company, Stoves, is a Scouser outfit, the swimming pool has broken on more than one occasion just before Christmas and the central heating boiler has also given up the ghost at this time of year.

So, at least a bit of variety. Our ever so helpful plumber, Keith sorted the hot water on Tuesday, and the spare part for the tap arrived about an hour after he had left. It was only the 'simple' task of undoing a grub screw and taking off the old spout, but could I do it? Not a chance. Keith was back the next day after his works night out and he could not do it either, until I had a brainwave and delved into my car boot sale box to pull out one of a number of hobby screwdriver kits. In amongst the sockets, cross thread and posidrive attachments was a T9 fitting that went into the grub screw a treat. Once removed it was evident that the screw was also ruptured which explained why it was so difficult to remove. Anyway, job done.

So all that was left was last nights drama at number two daughter house. She was off out partying and had left her keys in the inside door lock. So my trusty bent and twisted coat hanger, or ouja douja as number one grandaughter calls it, was forced into action and after half an hour or so the key was flicked out and access to the house restored. Number two daughter return later totally oblivious to the problem and resulting panic.

Only concern was that no neighbours or passing dog walkers called the police to advise of this dodgy looking character trying to gain entry to a house, through the letterbox.

Hey ho, maybe all the expletive's warned them off..........happy ho ho ho to all my readers, look out for the family Christmas stories to follow....with 18 for lunch, there are bound to be some!

Barry Bucknell

I am taking advantage of the mild weather to put the house to sleep for the Winter. It does not Winter well, so it needs a fair bit of TLC.
The first problem was that the dehumidifier in the basement packed up so that gives us a condensation problem. The manufacturers have to send engineers from their base in the Isle of Wright to fix it each time. They charge £100 just to visit, so each all-out is ridiculous. Why they don't have regional reps I don't know! Anyway that's sorted now.

Next challenge is the roof. I have been waiting since July to get some tiles replaced by the insurance company. The scaffolder arrived today but decided he had under quoted so is back to the drawing  board. Its a £100 job which needs £4000 of scaffolding. Ridiculous.

I was hoping to get my soffits replaced and eaves painted at the same time but that's not going to happen now.

So what have I done? Well, the rockery is finished,the first leaves are collected and an annoying tree has been lopped. I've done a tip run, and cleared the drain.

So now it's boundary walls and fences, final grass cutting and pruning outside. Damp sorting, some painting and junk shifting inside.

We have another Airbnb visitor tomorrow, and then SWMBO is off to Tanzania. When she gets back it will be into Christmas festivities......roll on March when the heating can go off!

One more sleep....

I thought I might do a 'round robin' this year just to boost my blog numbers. My efforts to exceed last year have failed, and my target of 50 or so has been woefully missed. Hey ho, will try to do better next year.

So lets start almost a year ago, when I made a New Years resolution, and I am pleased to say I have kept it for 12 months, and shall be extending it into 2014. The resolution was quite simply to buy no new clothes except for socks and underwear. I have masses of NWT polo shirts in my cupboard, trousers and jackets that barely see the light of day, enough jumpers to knit a sheep and coats, scarves, windcheaters and waterproof clothing, that I need for nothing in the wardrobe department.

During the year we have been blessed with two new additions, GC3 and GC4, aka Archie Beet and Nell Harris, and both are progressing well. Nell is three weeks old now and Archie is fast approaching the crawling stage. GC1 will soon be bossing them around, and I now communicate with GC2 in London, by Skype. Technology eh!

It was good to have GC2 and her parents visit us a couple of times this year and she is now beginning to know who we are and where we fit in. She has also visited her Great Grandmother Joan  who lives up the road in Hoylake, and GGJ will be joining us for the turkey tomorrow, one of 17 adults and budding adults around the table.

Holidays have been sparse this year. The two week trip to Mexico was a disaster as SWMBO broke the elbow joint and six months down the line is still in considerable pain  with no end to it in sight. I had a few days with the rugby chums, London branch, in Norfolk during October which was a blast.
Maxine did her family holiday in Tunisia in August, and we had a long weekend with her sister in Hong Kong where we saw the British Lions play the Barbarians.

We also visited Turkey for a week in February, just as the season was opening up.

Number one son did the London to Monte Carlo bike ride in the Summer, which included mountain stages of the Tour d'France. Number two son has been made head of history at his school, but has still to embrace life outside Hill House, despite me turning the heating off on his floor,  Might try putting his rent up next year.

I have been busy with extra curricula activities as much as I am able. Woodwork classes, Photoshop tutorials and Pilates have all been and gone during 2013, and I have stopped my piano lessons as I really was not on the same wave-length as the teacher I was allocated, so I will have to find a new one for 2014. I am also hoping to join a magic class in January.

With all this time on my hands you would expect the garden to be a picture, whereas in fact it has been a period of stability as most of my efforts went into completing my shed. This is now done, and together with my new book shelves and wine rack it shows me I have some DIY skills which I have been able to use productively and not just to fix fences.

My golf has improved  although my handicap remains 16, so it would be good to knock a few shots off that next year, and get my name on a trophy if I can.

SWMBO is nearly nine months into her sabbatical now, and she may well start to look for some part time work in 2014, we shall see. She continues to support Bridge to Aid and hopes to go back to Tanzania in October.

We also have a two week holiday in Turkey with 'the mad crew' to look forward to in May, I have a stag weekend in Lisbon in July, and we hope to get to the Dominican Republic in September. Add to that the fact that we are seeing in the New Year at Slaley Hall in Northumberland and 2014 already has a good feel to it.

So a Merry Chriustmas and a happy new Year to all my readers, and may 2014 give you everything you wish of it......Ho! ho! ho!

Into 2013

The festive season is now behind us, and I am frankly pleased about that. I usually enjoy Christmas, but this year was strange. Having retired in early November it  became evident to people that I 'had time on my hands' and could do a lot of the preparation. This at a time when I had more pressing early retirement things to do.

Anyway I juggled and survived. It was kids away year for Christmas Day so we had my mother (87) and SWMBO parents ( both in seventies) together with number two son, who, at 26, brought the average age down and saved us from it turning into Cocoon, the Christmas Special. Got some good presi's though

New Year SWMBO and I ran away to Scotland and stayed on the banks of Loch Lomond for a few days. It was too wet under foot to play golf or to do too much walking, but we found enough else to do. New Years Eve was typically Scottish. The haggis was addressed and toasted, a marching pipe band saw in 2013, and the hotel very kindly put gifts in the room, together with a lump of coal. We were on a mixed table which worked well, and we did manage to participate in some of the Calieh dances, like the Gay Gordon's and Strip the Willow.

So now that we are into 2013, I can start to plan the year ahead. I have terminated my signing on ritual with the DWP, as there was no monetary benefit and I have learnt how the process works. I have access to all their web sites through the Government Gateway so can look for and apply for jobs as I wish.

I did put my CV into one Company before Christmas, but got knocked back. It was to work for Chubby Chandler, the sports agent. I think the role was that of Darren Clarke's drinking partner, and in that area I was obviously found lacking.

I have a knee op to get out of the way next week, after which I am hoping to be able to target a few 5k and 10k fun runs later in the Summer as well as the Santa dash in December.

I have a huge box of photo's going back thirty years or more which I am planning to scan onto my laptop and have enrolled on a Photoshop class to learn how to tidy them up a bit. First class was today and it turned out to be registration only. The tutor did not engage very well on first impressions, but we will see how we go. Its the subject matter which will be more important.

As well as the shed project and the office which needs redesigning and decorating, I am once more progressing air source heat pumps, both for the pool and for the house hot water system. Technology seems to have moved on since I last looked so it will be interesting to see if there are savings to be made. Its not so much for us, but as a reselling feature whenever we need to.

I have a significant birthday in early March so have already lined up my B & Q heritage card which gets 10% off everything on a Wednesday. I need to apply for my Mereseytravel free pass and my senior citizens rail card. With the latter I will be able to attend several pre-Christmas knee's-up in London during December as well as any Autumn internationals we choose to go to. Any subsequent medical treatments can be sorted out with the free prescriptions I get, which I can read with the glasses from Specsavers for which I get 25% off.

Ah, yes, I have one New Years resolution, to buy no clothes, shoes or golf attire, except for essential socks and underwear. A recent wardrobe audit indicated I had more that enough NWT to get through the next 12 months at least.

Anyway we shall see, but all in all its going to be a hectic year.

Bah! bumbug!

I don't believe it. Two Christmas trees have just been erected in one of the offices I am using in London. Our finance team have a weird approach to the festive season and seem to do this sort of thing every year.

Its gloriously sunny outside, and here I am faced with one artificial and one real tree. They have even started humming carols as bemused salesmen and women look on with expressions crying out 'get a life chaps'

I am a bit of a stickler at home, having educated the kids to mention Christmas only after bonfire night has passed, but with the increasing commercialisation of the festive season by department stores and the like it has been a struggle. The rule used to be that anything they asked for before 5th November they would not get.

After a few tantrums, they soon worked out that the stuff they definitely did not want was the stuff they asked for early...crafty buggers.

Anyway, the turkey and tinsel season has definitely started early here, I must hang my stocking up.

Bing Crosby

The Christmas theme seemed to take me over this weekend, and it all involved London stuff.

I think its true that the majority of Londoners only do the sights and famous places when they have friends to show round. Its all there on our doorsteps but we never take the time to visit. I can't remember the last time I saw the crown jewels, although I know I have. Likewise a visit to Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral or St Pauls are distant memories.

So this weekend we ventured out,and how pleased we were to do so. On Saturday we went to the Winter Wonderland event at Syon Park in Brentford. Now this magnificent estate is 15 minutes away from home, and while I have been to the garden centre loads of times, this was the first time I had formally entered into the grounds. The whole woodland and lakeside environment had been transformed by a subtle array of lights, lanterns, smoke machines and fountains into a truly magical kingdom, and the shrieks of delight from the children indicated what a successful job the staff had made of it all. It took us over an hour to stroll round, and while I will post some photos on here later, I do wish I had taken my pukka kit rather than used the camera phone. Ah well. The trip finished in the palm house which is a classic of its time with its domed roof, giving the appearance of a glass equivalent of the afore mentioned St Pauls.

As if one adventure was not enough, on Sunday we 'did' Hyde Park. After dark the skating rink, and funfair take on a different appearance, one which was wholly devoid of gangs of kids with hoodies, who all too often make funfairs a place of trepidation and intimidation. The traditional German Christmas market was doing a roaring trade as was the mulled wine stall!

A trip then out into Knightsbridge to view the window dressing in Harvey Nics and Harrods completed a very satisfying weekend. Only two weeks to go......bah humbug!