Ending with the family

It's been another week where stuff has happened and, as per usual, I get to writing this blog and can't remember details about the beginning of the week. Most frustratingly of all I can remember that there were things I wanted to talk about but never made a note of them; this will maybe (almost certainly not) make notes next week so as to not forget what went on. Blogging every day is easier!

The sun appears over the Scottish moorland

No matter, I recall that last Sunday ended in a really relaxing way with us sat watching NFL again when the Patriots were playing the Packers and it was a really good game, well worth watching. The late game I only watched a bit of before following A to bed. I was feeling pretty much fully better this week which was a relief as I was off early on Tuesday morning up to Edinburgh for a meeting. A dropped me at the station as the buses were unreliable times and I was sat in 1st class at 6.13 with my boss who had got on the train at an earlier station. It was brilliant to be in first class as the seats are far more comfortable and there is a little table lamp and free tea or coffee and small bagels and stuff however after a short while something changed in the heating and cold air started blasting in and that was it for the rest of the journey. My boss eventually got his head down for a bit and woke as the sun came up when we were just getting into Scotland.

Heading over the bridge on the local train

I was working away and managed to finish the task I'd set myself for the day, despite some initial mistakes, before we ever got to the office which was ideal. We changed our travel plans slightly to take advantage of a local train direct to where the office is and this allowed us time to find a cafe and get bacon butties and a brew; much needed after such an early start. The short local hop then took us through stunning scenery, across the Forth bridge, and we had a brief five minute stroll before getting to the meeting.

Wrong wrong wrong wrong WRONG

It was actually a pretty good meeting and worth the travelling if only to meet new colleagues. We were able to get away in time to get an earlier train back and stop off for a pint and some food from the pub over from the station and this was a cracking success until I asked for mayonnaise at which point I was provided Light Mayo which tasted disgusting and reminded me why I'm so insistent on never having it in the house. The country which deep fries EVERYTHING and they only have diet mayonnaise. I was livid for ages and haven't even yet really got over this.

A little cold when I got in the car

I was super lucky when I got off the train as my bus was just pulling round to the closest stop and so was home and in bed twenty minutes later. Unfortunately A had been really ill all day and was feeling no better; she's actually only just recovering now as it happens, but we both slept well anyway and I felt surprisingly OK when the alarm went off for the next morning. This went away when I got to the car and found that I had to scrape it of frost and I had no gloves on me but anyway. It was a chilly one on Wednesday and the temperature of -2 degrees didn't alter much at all on the way in.

A drew a smiley-face on her pint

Wednesday night is Reggae Jam Night and notwithstanding being pretty tired from the long day previously there was no way I was going to miss this. We made our way down for about 8.30 or so and settled on a bench in front of where the band would set up and were entertained by the rasta guys who were watching the football and teasing each other. Guiness was the medicine to help A feel better and it certainly went down well. Slightly later than expected the band arrived and set themselves up. When they were playing their first songs they were all watching the football that was still being projected onto the screen above our heads; the drummer in particular was hammering away and paying zero attention to the rest of the band.

I have a couple of videos for you from this, taken on my camera so apologies for how stupidly quiet they are; the microphone is really broken on this phone. First of all we have Stand By Me sung by one of the regulars. This is a particularly awesome couple who come on the bus from wherever they live, sing along watching for a bit then he gets up and sings this song to his lady (stood next to him in the video) then they are away off to catch the bus home again, having walked round and spoken to everyone in the pub first (including us). His laugh is absolutely wonderful, so deep and enthusiastic; I wish I had captured that as well.

Secondly I couldn't resist grabbing the camera to film this cover of Aswad's "Shine". This was not what I was expecting to see down there as they normally do the classics from Bob than these newer tunes but this worked really well. I think the guy playing guitar is the chap we met the other week who has a place over in Plovdiv but he was still playing when we finished our drinks and decided to call it a night so I didn't get to chat to him again. Next time, maybe.

The best Chinese takeaway IN THE WORLD

They say there is no rest for the wicked and that may or may not be the case; all I know is I was off again after work on Thursday up to Blackpool to take Harrison to the garage and have a chat with Dan about business matters. First of all though he helped me to get everything down from storage and into the back of Harrison as some of the stuff had been too heavy for me and A to manage alone. As a thankyou (to both of us) I stopped at my favourite Chinese takeaway while walking back from dropping Harrison off and we munched that and chatted about the issues that needed discussion. I can't wait for Friday this week as I'll be back to that Chinese again with A. I love the prawn toast.

This picture is to remind me how to put it back together again

On the theme of being busy Friday was also jam packed with stuff having to be done. At the studio on Thursday it was clear that the desks I was going to take weren't complete so I bid on, and won, two desks on eBay which I then arranged to collect over lunch time. The problem was both of the desks were still assembled when I got to collect them and secondly the traffic was horrendous so I only just got back to the house by 4pm which was when we were leaving to go to my parents house. What a rush.

Mine top left, A's top right and the happy dining group

The journey down was not as bad as we thought it would be at first; it took a fair while to get out onto the motorway but other than a few tailbacks we made good time and arrived without missing our dinner. Other than seeing my parents our main reason for getting down there was to see my Nan on the Saturday and show her slides of Bulgaria. It was so lovely to see her and she was on good form and managed to cope with all the pictures (my dad showed some of their last holiday) without seeming to be too bored. We did split the day in half by going for lunch at a pub which was very tasty indeed, and just as we finished the slide show my dad's sister and her husband arrived which was really nice as well. It was a cracking day but I for one was exhausted when we got back and had to go and snooze before dinner. I'm definitely getting old.

It was such a lovely weekend, though A was still feeling quite badly and rested up a bit which made me feel quite sorry for her but now she is seemingly much better which is good. After a lovely boiled egg for breakfast (and the trick for achieving the perfect yolk consistency being shared) my parents headed to church and I did my accounts, spent thousands of pounds, and felt ill after it. Oh well. A lovely old man from my parents' church came back for lunch and we all sat around talking for a fair while. I then had to go and pack everything we had been given into Thomas (three boxes of books, a book shelf, a computer, loads of empty jam jars and we've been offered their cooker and entire kitchen, pretty much, which would be nice) and then we were on the road and now I'm back here eating pizza and about to settle in front of the TV for some more NFL.

Rambo is as tall as Ken

I will leave you with this picture of Rambo hugging Ken. What a giant of a dog he is!