The Olympics

So, about ten years ago we applied for Olympics tickets.......we got badminton, judo and dressage. We also used air miles to pay for some of the flights which helped - and we stayed with Katie's sister in Hampstead which was a real bonus - good company and free lodgings in one of the most sought after areas of London town.

Anyway, they promised travel chaos and terrorism would be events but there was none of that - there was just pure, well organised, action at all times - it was fantastic. the volunteers were absolutely amazing and every single thing was organised to within an inch of its life. Well played London.....

Badminton at the Excel

not one of the players although he is smashing....ha....ha...ha...

the high octane Diana memorial fountain...

In front of the triathlon course.....the peak age is usually 35 for triathlon....I'm almost still in with a shout.

Hyde park for some hockey and some Wiggins.

Judo at the Excel. The day Gemma Gibbons won Silver. 

A judo player with Doctor Evil.

Gibbons gets the medal..

Strictly Horse Dancing.

Apparently they all do the same bloody routine!!!

Rounding off the week with Fat Freddy's Drop at the HMV forum.

What a great way to finish the summer holidays - it's been an adventure getting tickets and finally getting to go but we are so glad we did, it's been amazing. Roll on the Commonwealth Games Glasgow 2014.

Portugal - The Algarve

When you've been a bit of a traveller for the last few years the idea of a package holiday to the Algarve, with half board meals and nothing to do other than lie beside the pool really should fill us with all sorts of dread.

However, after the last two years when I had no clue what was happening during the next school term it is nice to finally be able to have a well earned relaxing holiday in the sun.

So off we went to the Algarve on a Thomson's holiday - I'll be honest, I was filled with a wee bit of dread. Especially because the place we booked was in a resort that really had little life about it. But the Hotel had very very good reviews, had a huge pool and a gym - isn't it sad as I hurtle towards 40 that these things are quite exciting for me?

We flew from Manchester which saved us a bit of cash and to be honest a 3 hour car drive is no big deal when you go to Carradale all the time.

Everything was going really smoothly until we arrived at the check in desk (3 hours early). The guy was happy to check us in but my passport was due to expire in two weeks...I had known this in advance and had done some furious checking and was of the opinion that as long as it was valid on the day of travel and valid for the duration of the holiday then it would be ok....but the wee guy made a big deal of it and passed it to his supervisor who then had to phone someone else to check, ignoring my please of "ehm, I've checked with the Commonwealth Office and it's fine by the way."

Anyway, she finally found out that in fact I was right (as usual) and they allowed me passage to Portugal...so they holiday could begin.

And begin it did, I'll spare you all the details but champagne on arrival, half board with a gluten free menu to die for and a resort that had everything - it was just what we needed.

A highlight of the trip was the fact that Ewen and Andrea and our Goddaughters happened to be down the coast at the same time and we were able to catch up with them twice during the stay. Made a great holiday even better.

Some other highlights of the trip?

* Magret (sic) from Airdrie who was out tour rep - at the welcome meeting she offered us the chance to join Magrets resort ramble. As Katie had fallen asleep during the meeting I suggest that we had had enough rambling from the lass from Airdrie.

* Managing to do three 10k runs and two gym circuit sessions during our ten days (didn't I say I was sad now I am old?)

* The unbroken sunshine for 10 whole days.

Here are some photos....

after a day at the water park it appeared that I had been held onto for longer than I thought by Niamh.

Niamh is not scared

The beach near Olhos D'agua

The Derby 2012

Yet again our excellent friends Noan and David invited us down to Southampton for an amazing day out at Epsom Downs racecourse. This year was made extra special for a number of reasons....

1) We originally thought we wouldn't be going.

2) Steph couldn't drink beer and had to watch what he was eating.

3) We won a wee bit of money!

4) It was wee Betty's jubilee and she was in attendance - and even drove around the racetrack before the races.

So we did our usual and got the flight down to Southampton and met David at the airport - from then on it was non stop hilarity (and drink) for the whole weekend.

On the Friday we had a barbecue out in the park and played some quoits (like last year) and then we sat up far too late before retiring to gather our thoughts and dream of winning a million from a £3 stake on a horse we had never heard of before,

The day itself was very much along the lines of last year - charity auctions, guest presenters etc.

We had a great time though and  couple of people asked us for our autographs....

I gave this guy some career advice

Alan was sacked from Celtic the very next day.....ooops.

Before explaining the benefits of a classic floating 5-3-2 to this guy.....

Alan Pardew may be able to pass my tips on this year to the Newcastle team.

Katie and Andrew get excited when the food arrives.

Noan and Chris pretend to know what they are doing.

Katie returns with our winnings

She adds a few zeros before telling Noan how much we won.

it's the jubilee!

I love you man. No man, I love you.

Winning.

No, I've not put on the beef, this is Steve Backley.

The end of the night is a bit blurry.

Everything is wonderful

Everything is wonderful - apart from the fact we have no internet in the house.

So I am currently sitting in a Beanscene people watching, trying to upload photos on what I am pretty sure must be a dial up internet connection and I thought I would update the blog. Probably no pics in this post but we've had lots happening lately and what I will do is return to this post in the very near future and make it much more visually interesting by inserting photos where required.

Last time I wrote it was all about moving house again, well it finally happened. and here it is....

(pics to follow)

It's in Shawlands and at the very top of a big tenament block - glad we don't suffer from vertigo. We had no real problems with the move other than logistics but let me take you back a couple of weeks in order to fully appreciate the nightmare logisitics of the situation.

We had to move out on the 1st of June. However we were flying out to Southampton to return to the Derby races extravaganza with our friends David and Noan on the 31st of May (more about the Derby later) - so all of our stuff had to be out of the house before we left........problem was, there was nowhere to move it to.....our new place wasn't going to be ready for us moving in until the 9th of June.

So, we scattered our possessions all across the city and beyond. There were boxes in our cars, boxes at my parents, we had stuff in a lock up in Paisley, boxes at my school and various expensive items hidden in a variety of more secure locations.

The mission? After a drunken weekend return to Glasgow, find places to stay then try to remember where all of our stuff was then move it into our new place on the 9th.

We returned from Southampton on the 2nd and Noan had very kindly given us a key to our house in North Queensferry which we very gladly accepted. We stayed round the corner from Gordon Brown for three nights then relocated to Motherwell (Carfin!) where our great friends and Godchildren live. They looked after us for the next three nights, which was great. I should point out at this time that we are extremely grateful to everyone who helped us either by giving us a bed or helping to store our possessions.

We moved in on the Saturday and hired a van, but Katie was the only one who knew where her paper licence was so she had to be the driver. So we bought her a copy of The Sun, a coke and a Gregs.

Everything is fine with the new flat and at the time of completion of this post we now have internet and Sky HD......but no television.......that comes tomorrow........two months after we moved in!