Saturday 19th February

What a day!

Another day that's cold and dark and wet! I thought things were looking up when I sat and stared out of the window with my morning coffee today. There was a brightness that made me think that maybe, just maybe - if I wrapped up - I could go out into the back garden and start pulling up the soggy brown sludge that was the leaves from last year's summer. It's so depressing looking out and seeing nothing but brown but it wasn't to be - tha rain came on :(

Had to get out for a bit so I weatherproofed myself and walked to the supermarket to get rolls for lunch. By the time I got back my trousers were soaked through to the skin and my hair was a mangle of frizzy fuzz! It isn't snowing but the rain is bitter cold!

I've thrown the weight watchers book out the window and descended into a frenzied orgy of eating everything I can lay my hands on. . . while watching multiple episodes of 'Coronation Street'.

Ian's off out to play squash so I've come upstairs to the computer. Maybe a session tapping keys will lift my spirit.

 Let's look at some holiday photos!

 This was our first day in Hong Kong and we had decided to take a tourist bus trip. Did all the touristy things which included a visit to Aberdeen! A small fishing village.

And here we are on a san pan!  A must for every 'would be' tourist :)

Thursday 17th February

Hello again!

I've found my glasses. . . again. This time they were on the side of the bath. Last time I lost them, they were here - beside the computer. The time before, they were on top of the bread bin!

What's going on? Well, it's the inevitable consequence of opting for single vision glasses when I bought my new ones at the end of last year!

Having noticed that the fashion in glasses was for narrow lenses, I decided there wasn't room for varifocals and knowing that I can read perfectly well without glasses, I thought it was a good idea to opt for single vision :(

Don't suggest I get a chain and hang them round my neck - I've thought of that and I don't fancy walking around the streets with chains hanging from my ears!

... Mary phoned. That's me just off the phone. And now it's lunchtime!
I was just thinking of her this morning too!
Anyway, I'll need to go!
Sorry :)

Tuesday 15th February

The flowers as promised yesterday!
They're sitting on the dining room table. It's the best place to put flowers, I've decided. Because, you catch sight of them as you go about the house and every now and again, the scent catches you unawares!

Let's hope the roses last a bit longer than they usually do. Lillies are great in this house - they'll last for weeks but roses? - Their heads have usually drooped within a day and they're dead of premature old age within two! :(

Last night, Ian and I traversed the highways of Deeside on Ian's annual real ale survey for the Good Beer Guide.
He was the sampler and form filler.
I was the driver!

We started in Ballater then came home via Tarland, Aboyne, Potarch and Feughside.
"Let's start early," said Ian."That way we'll get home at a decent time."

Well it wasn't that decent - the hour when we got home. I reckon it was near enough eleven. . . and for this old fogie, that's long past Monday night's bedtime!

Having sampled a half pint in two pubs in Ballater, one in Tarland, one in  Aboyne and one at Potarch, Ian confided to me that he was quite relieved that the beer in The Feughside Inn was off.

Three pints of beer on a Monday night is perhaps a bit much. . . two and half is infinitely more acceptable :) !

Monday 14th February

It's been ages since I wrote anything on my blog!Every day since I've come home, I've sat myself at the computer and logged on and every day, I've logged out again. . . just couldn't think of anything to write.
No need, I've said to myself. Ian did a fine job of narrating our holiday for us.

But today I've changed my mind so I'll show you some of the photos I took and tell you a wee bit about them.
Maybe I'll do this once and then say nothing else or maybe I'll bore you all to death by going on and on and on for days to come :)

This is the foyer of the hotel in Hong Kong where we stayed. Check out the chandaliers. Beautiful aren't they?

 On the opposite side of the foyer from the reception desk, there was a large 'Gone with the Wind' styled staircase and at the top of the stairs sat a harpist playing soothing music!!

What do you think of the view? Lovely isn't it? That was the view we had of the harbour from our bedroom window.
I must have taken a dozen photos of it and deleted them all. My photos just didn't do it justice. I'm glad I kept one though!

If you look very carefully, you can see my reflection in the glass.

Short and sweet, I'm afraid! That's Ian home. . . I'll away down and see him. I'll take a photo of the lovely flowers he sent for Valentines Day and let you see them tomorrow!!

I'm writing this on Sunday night

. . . after beans on toast for tea followed by a piece of gingerbread house and a wee cup of tea!
Here's the gingerbread house in question:-

I took a photo of it before we dug in!

We had arranged to meet Barry, Helen and Dawn at the Moulin Inn near Pitlochry for lunch on our way home from Aviemore and Dawn had brought it with her as a Christmas gift for us! Very nice, huh?

Moulin is a lovely wee place just outside Pitlochry. The church, the inn and a few cottages are all crowded into the tightest little space surrounding a tiny square. I love it.

We've been there several times before. The Inn has it's own brewery hence why it was chosen as our meeting place!! But apart from the beer, it's a cosy wee place with real log fires crackling away in the bar and the restaurant and the food is good - plain fare - but very good all the same!

I had haddock in beer batter with chips and a couple of half pints of Braveheart beer. Ian had haggis, Helen and Dawn had steak pie and Barry had 'The Scotsman's Bonnet' which was like a huge yorkshire pudding with stew in it. Now why on earth would you call a yorkshire pudding a Scotsman's Bonnet??

"It's amazing how folk tend to choose really stodgy food when the weather gets cold," said Dawn.
Too right - salad just doesn't do it for me when the weather is like this!

By the way, Ian is in both these photos. Can you see him?

While I remember. . . Lucy - your Christmas box arrived! Thank you - I've put the 'rub' in the fridge and we're eating our way through the goodies. I'll need to buy photo frames to put the boys in but here is your wine bottle cork wreath. I put it up for five minutes before I wrapped it up and put it in the Christmas box for next year!

The boys rushed out to have their photo taken with it!!

Aviemore was fun albeit very cold. In fact I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience including the journey over!

Ian picked me up at the house around two and our drive over the Lecht was just lovely. Quite beautiful because of all the snow. Here are a few of the photos I took on the way over. The skies were awe-inspiring and my photos only give you a hint of what we saw! You just can't capture it with the camera.

Friday lunchtime

Two minutes . . . that's all!

Ian is due here at two oclock and it's now twenty past one but since I've been meaning to make an entry for several days, I'll download the photos I took on Luca's birthday as a token gesture!! :)



First we have the proud dad - he got the afternoon off work this year to join the merry throng.
Nice photo, I thought.
And merry throng we were. . . thanks to Carole and Marks and Spencers food department!
It was delicious. . .

The cake and the egg mayonaise were the only two exceptions.
The egg was Carole's own - always lovely and the cake was courtesy of Tesco's.

Green icing has never been a 'come on' to me but to be fair, the cake was good.

So let's seeLuca blowing out his candles.

"How old are you, Luca?"
"Four," he says holding up four fingers.

And here comes Mum with the cake. . .

OK, let's blow out the candles, Luca!

No wait, Luca! Smile - Daddy wants to take a picture.

Hang on, not yet. . .
Grandad wants to take one too!

At last! Blow out the candles, Luca!
Hurrah!!

And here's Grandad. . .

Do you recognise what he's holding up?
Well for the uninitiated, this is a head massager. We all had a little try and believe me, it's lovely!! Oooh so relaxing! :)

To finish, here's a photo of Luca with one of his birthday presents. It's a game called Incy Wincy Spider. He grabbed it as soon as he got the wrapping paper off.
"Start putting the bits together, Granny!"
"Wait till I read the instructions," I suggest.
No need - it transpires he has this game at nursery so he taught us how to play it!
Good game :)

Monday morning

Is normality coming back into our lives? Has the magic in the air disappeared back where it came from for another year?

Maybe it's time to take down the now tired and weary old Christmas tree, rewrap the Christmas decorations in this year's newspapers (always a good read when you rediscover them) and tuck everything away at the back of the cupboard for another year.

The Christmas food and abundance of goodies are almost finished . . . our increased waist lines being testament to how enthusiastically we threw ourselves into the festive over-indulgence! We're having salad for lunch today - Ian doesn't know yet :(

Since nobody has heard from me since well before Christmas, I'm going to put some of my Festive fortnight photos on the blog! There aren't that many, I'm afraid - I was too busy enjoying myself but I thought you might like to see. . .

Christmas Morning 2010

Merry Christmas Ian!

Hmm. . . what have we got here? Nice paper!
Check out the wee home made Christmas Tree gift labels which I made out of necessity because I'd forgotten to buy any! I think I might do the same next year!!

Well, there's a surprise. . . a chocolate orange!
Have yours arrived yet Lucy?

And what's this?

It's a Christmas cardie! Lovely!

Right. Very nice. Let's throw it away and get onto the next parcel.
What's this?

Well there we have it. . . a chocolate orange, a Christmas cardie and a chechered shirt to match.
Wonderful!