I thought it sounded funny!

Yes, everyone, I've just read Ian's blog and guess what?
I was at Lake Utah in Utah.
Not Lake Ohio in Ohio!
Wrong again... I'm getting worried about me...
Wonder where Ohio is!!
Maybe I'll google it.
:)

Bit overcast today...

Ian and I spoke to Kelly and Lucy on Skype last night - which was very comforting!
We heard all about the train journey to Klammath Falls and their journey over to the States.

You should see the taut and toned muscles Lucy has acquired since the photo below was taken!
She told me she can now do 100 press-ups no problem!! (slight exageration - but only slight!)
This is all thanks to the very early morning class she goes to!
Boot Camp!
She goes on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays before going to work.
Kelly is so impressed, she is going to chum Lucy while she's in Grants Pass!

Did she say they were getting up at four or four thirty? I can't remember!
Sounds like 'hell' to me whichever one it is! :)
I guess they're definitely their father's daughters!!

We were both quite taken aback by how alike they look when you see them side by side!



What do you think?
No, I don't see it in these photos... I wonder if it has something to do with mannerisms?

Remember the problem I had with my computer - not being able to read the images on my camera?
Well, I discovered the other day that the problem was back.

I asked Ross to have a look at it for me and he did 'an Ian' - really infuriating ...
"Has the computer been unplugged since you last uploaded photos?" he asked me supercilliously.
"No," I answered.
"Are you sure?"
Same tone!
Stop and think...
Maybe I haven't tried to save photos on the hard drive since Davey painted the room... in which case, yes, the computer has been disconnected.
"Yes," I say, "when the painter was in!"
"Uhuh."
Smug.

It seems, for those of you who want to know... if you disconnect the computer, on restarting, all the defaults revert to their original status.
So he went in and changed the defaults again!

Is he winding me up?!

Anyway the outcome is, I am able to take photos and use them on my blog again. Hurrah!!

This tale is a long winded way of telling you that Ian, when I told him this story, reminded me that I had said I was going to publish some of our Ohio photos so here we go...
Just a few to get started...
These ones are of Lake Ohio.
I thought this was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen.





Don't you think the colours are just gorgeous?
Nothing's ever perfect though, is it?
And here was no exception... d'you see the rocks Ian is standing on?
They're infested with flies that fly up and buzz around you if you tresspass on their territory!
I guess that's life :(

A quiet day...

Luca went home last night.
His dad picked him up after work.

"Byebye Granny Do!" he said as I strapped him into his seat.
"Give granny a kiss and a cuddle before we go," said his Dad.
"Cuddle first," Luca said...as he always does.
And then they were away.

I now have Peppa Pig on my hard drive in the sky box, along with an episode of Dora the Explorer!


Check out the interaction...
Lucy will remember this programme well. Is wee Braeden too old to watch it now?

Gettting ready to out for my messages...

Can't think what to get for tonight's tea...

Gary suggested I should get some fish fingers for Luca's tea tonight.
"They never go wrong," he said, "with tomato sauce."

We're alright as far as tomato sauce goes but I'd better get some fish fingers while I'm out.

Luca is coming over to stay for a couple of nights as he can't go to day care because of his laser treatment yesterday.

Carole can't afford to take any more time off work.
I'm delighted to have him anyway so everybody is a winner!

Gary reckons he doesn't look as bad as the last couple of times but he still needs to be isolated from the threat of infection for a couple of days.

Actually, Gary phoned because he couldn't get onto my blog!
I can see this is going to be a long drawn out complication - read Monday's post -
Mmmh!!

I think Lucy has worked out what to do because her email address has moved from 'invitations' to 'followers' in my settings.
I'll watch and see whether Gary moves now that I've told him what to do!

Watch this space...
- Ian and Lucy ...and possibly Gary!

Tuesday- the day a big hole opened up in my life...

By now Kelly and Craig are winging their way across the Atlantic and who knows when they will be back!
(Glad to hear you got seats in the emergency exit row, by the way. Good going!)

This is a memory from a time when I thought Kelly was far from home !!

Anne and I walked to the garden centre this morning and met up with Myra and Johanne so I could heve company while I wallowed in my misery :)


Well done Braeden!
You finally got big enough to go to school.
Good photos on your blog, Mum!

Remember this scene?




Seems like only yesterday!

Monday 14th September

All very confusing!!

I decided to become an official follower of Ian's blog last night.
Following the instructions, I was eventually asked for his blog address which I typed in and hit the forward button but to my horror the face of a complete stranger appeared on the screen.

Yes the name was Ian Stewart but I'd never seen this man before in my life!!

Aaagh! Now I was an official follower of somebody I didn't know and worse still somebody who didn't know me.

He was going to open his blog and find he was being stalked by some strange person he had never heard of!

Oh no!

I couldn't find an escape button, a retreat button or a delete button so I rushed downstairs to Ross.

"Sorry," he said. "Not my area of expertise. You would be better to ask Dad."
So I did.

A little aside... the problem with asking Ian is the cost.
"What have you done now," was the exasperated rhetorical question asked as I followed him upstairs.
"Why am I not surprised!" was the weary addition to the first remark.

I hang my head in shame... See what I mean?

He opened the blog and had a wee fiddle here and there.
I was now fixed.

I might no longer be Ian Stewart's groupie but I am now a secret site!
Apart from Ian (the one I know, not the complete stranger), nobody gets to view my blog unless they are officially approved.

Even I was initially refused access this morning when I tried to log onto it and it's my blog!

What an exciting life I lead :)



Here is the Ian stewart I know and love!!
As opposed to the complete stranger I inadvertently picked up.

Sunday 13th September

The Sunday Mass group met for coffeee this morning.
Everybody was there apart from Johanne who is travelling back from Portugal today.

Myra is back from Spain where she was visiting her daughter, Lindsay.
Lindsay is living the hippy life just now and has been sleeping on the beach near Malaga since she came back from the Rainbow Convention in Portugal.

Myra reckons it's a good life and thinks she would like to go back some time and sleep on the beach with her daughter!
"Plumbing!?"
"There isn't any!" said Myra. "But that's OK."
"Oh no it's not!" said Maura.
I must admit I'm not so keen on the idea of living without good plumbing.

I have bad memories of 'hole in the floor' public toilets in French camping sites and extreme constipation!!

"Enough said!"
I can hear Ian now.

I found this photo in my archive...1986 Les Sable d'Olonne...that was a good holiday and by this point, we had moved up from tents to caravans so the plumbing was no longer an issue.
Happy days! :)



Left-overs from yesterday for our tea tonight.

I need to mention the couscous I made yesterday because it was surprisingly good.
The recipe called for Harissa paste! (It's made from chillis, garlic, cumin, coriander and salt).
First time I've ever used it although I've known about it for a long time.

I didn't make the paste myself, I bought it at the supermarket but I've since checked out the recipe on the internet and it's really simple to make.



I can hear the Beatles singing in the background - 'Penny Lane' just now. Ian is watching something he recorded on the Sky box.

His knee is much better today after giving him jip for several days and nights.
He and I sat the other night with the little pain relieving pen I bought him for his birthday and clicked away on the suggested spots.
I didn't think it did any good - pain wise but it definitely gave me a good feeling inside - I reckon it released some endorphines!! :)

Ian hasn't commented but I did hear him using it several times. What you'll do when you're desperate.

In the end, the ibuprofen did the trick.

Kelly and Craig are now back from Peterhead. I feel as if we are on a countdown to blast off now. Like the song we used to sing when it was getting near the school holidays says - "One more day to go...".