Our birthdays and Derby Day

It was our birthdays at the end of May (as usual) and this year we decided to give Perth volleyball a miss and hide under a bush instead. We did however go out for dinner and a few shandies on the Saturday night with a bunch of good friends and had a great old night. Thanks to those who attended ;o)

I had a job interview to prepare for so we didn't really feel 100% in the birthday spirit. The job interview preparation went well - unfortunately I didn't get the job though. Well, I say unfortunately but actually, if I am being honest, the only disappointing thing about not getting that job is that I am unemployed at the end of term and have to start job hunting again - I was kind of looking forward to some predictability and drudgery. ;o)

But hey ho, it's back on for high octane excitement again. If Katie didn't have such a great job we would seriously be thinking about moving again - there are a million tax free teaching jobs in seriously hot countries which would be very tempting for a couple of years. Besides, it would make for a much more exciting blog....

Anyway, after the highs and lows of interviewing we had Derby Day to look forward to. Our great friends Noan and David who live down in Romsey (picture the movie Hot Fuzz and you'll know what Romsey looks like) had won at a charity auction a table for 10 in a posh marquee at the Epsom Derby. They invited us down for a cracking weekend which we both thoroughly enjoyed after all the recent pressures.

We flew down to Southampton on the Friday afternoon and we had a lovely afternoon out on the lawn playing quoits and drinking champagne - it really is a different world. Noan and David's neighbours Chris and Lyndsey joined us and we all had a good laugh before venturing out for a Thai meal.

On the Saturday it was an early rise to get the chauffeur driven Mercedes mini bus to Epsom. On the way we picked up the Saturday racing papers in an effort to be well informed about the possible winners. I would have been better not bothering, we won pretty much b*gger all!

By the time we got to the races it was Pimm's O'Clock - well, they were serving lots of it along with champagne if that makes more sense.

 Inside the marquee

Liz, Chris, Andrew, Noan, Lyndsey, some big old guy we didn't know.

It was a lovely day and we had a great track side view from our tent at Tattenham corner. We were well served with food and drink all day - needless to say this was made full use of.

 Some horses running round the corner.

Noan and David

 Katie and David

 The girls

Noan and Katie

A great day was had by all and after the races we still managed to get the chauffeur to stop by a pub for a quick pint on the way home, we then stopped off in Romsey for one and picked up an Indian meal for a midnight snack.

The next day we sat around an watched the final of the French Open on the telly before flying back to Glasgow. 

Good company and many drinks - thanks to Noan and David for exactly the kind of weekend we were in need of.

Aunt Margaret's 90th birthday surprise.

Last weekend we made a whistlestop visit to Carradale to spring a surprise on Aunt Margaret for her 90th birthday.

Margaret had no idea we were coming and Katie had put a lot of planning into making sure things went perfectly. Katie's sister Gill came up from London to join us which added to the surprise for Margaret (and Katie's mum) as the girls aren't home together very often. A cake, a barrel load of food and some helium balloons joined us in the car for the trip to Carradale.

We left at 5pm on the Saturday night and arrived back in Glasgow at 8pm the following night. A flying visit but one that was really worthwhile.

A funny moment happened when I was trying to keep the conversation flowing and said to Margaret, "when was the last time you had this many people in the house?". She thought for a second and said completely deadpan, "my mother's funeral...".

I am available for all types of functions if you need someone to keep the conversation flowing - just give me a call. ;o)

Margaret is a remarkable woman and thoroughly deserved all the fuss made of her.  She's even made it onto the online Carradale news site.

http://www.the-carradale-goat.co.uk/

Happy Birthday Aunt Margaret, here's to many more.

you've been framed......

"If it sounds too good to be true then it usually is."

If you are ever tempted by using you-frame.....don't. Katie and i are finally getting round to getting some photos up in the house and a "group on" offer sounded like it was worth a try but I have waited 6 weeks for the delivery despite them promising 10 days. And after many complaints my canvas wrap finally arrived today. 

Imagine my surprise when I discovered I would have to self assemble it (although the clue is in the name to be fair)......the hilarity continued when i took the canvas out of the packet it was someone else's photo (and not a very good one either).

I have contacted the makers of "One foot in the grave" about using this plot in the christmas special - Meldrew simply won't believe it.

You-frame have now been cursed and will be spontaneously combusting sometime next Thursday afternoon, after lunch.

Katie and I go to Loch Lomond while the sun shines

Normal service has been resumed weather wise over the last week but April was brilliant, shorts and t-shirt at work, suntan lotion on.

Here's some shots from the very pleasant afternoon + video.

The shots of the footwear are almost purely for Lorna McAvoy's benefit ;o)

Some photos I don't think I shared yet.....

Here are a smattering of photos from the world of blackberry that i haven't shared yet for one reason or another.......(time mainly and a bluetooth issue)

My friend Ewen after a Rangers game + hospitality - climbing on Ecto 1 which the ghostbusters guys had decided to park outside the swallow hotel. I can't imagine their proton packs (or wheels) were still there in the morning.

Some snowy scenes from Strathbungo - before the really heavy stuff started to fall!

Reunion down the Clachan very shortly after i arrived back from NZ

Katie and Chris getting papped with posh phones on the Mexican night out that i have already blogged about.

The night at The Shed where Gregor split his jeans, yes his jeans, doing the splits. unbelievable.

Katie and I last weekend trying to sort out 4 years worth of paperwork - it looks as much fun as it actually was and still hasn't finished yet, although the house and our brains are much clearer.

And I saved the best for last, at our school show Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Cee Lo Green showed up - luckily I got a copy of the team photo before the performance. If you youtube my current school, my department and "dance" you might just get to see the show. Please private message me if you need more info about how to find the video.

Hope you enjoyed this random post.

Fun in the Sun - In Glasgow?

A heatwave has been hitting Glasgow recently would you believe? O.k., so it's not really a heatwave, it's been somewhere between 14 and 21 degrees, with little rain and lots of sunshine.

It has meant shorts and T-shirt at work and sitting outside where possible, including some visits to the local park and sitting on the stairs drinking beer (as most people around here seem to do).

Normal service has been resumed today however, election day in Scotland, colloquially known (in my mind anyway) as "choosanumpty day". It is pissing it down today - can a Tory government do anything about that? Nah, I didn't think so. ;o)

Visitors to the new pad - and to the local park.

Recently our great friends came round with their two lovely girls (who also happen to be Godchildren of ours).

We had a lovely lunch and then went over to the park.

We learnt a few lessons this day....

1) When feeding children, remember that if you have a white sofa and light carpets it is best to stay away from sticky, colourful foods and chocolate.

2) Glasgow parks when the sun comes out have not changed one bit, big mental dogs, half naked neds swinging bottles of Irn bru, pensioners in their usual winter coats and guys looking all sorts of uncomfortable in three quarter length trousers and sandals.

3) We also learned that we are just big kids ourselves...

A great day had by all.......

Recent photo

This blog is never going to become photography only but I wanted to share a photo that I took recently, it felt good to get back out taking photos - here's to many more!

Rangers v Celtic

I seem to have attended more Ranger's games since coming back from New Zealand than I ever did before I left. But I do love the sport and they don't come much bigger over here than these. Australia v All Black's? The atmosphere isn't quite the same.

The last one was the Cup Final that Rangers won at Hampden.....

And today's was a last minute ticket for the game at Ibrox which ended up 0-0 thanks to some stunning saves by big McGregor.

For those of you who aren't living here and probably don't know, Rangers are being hammered at the moment for singing sect*ri*n songs, and now the police, fifa and everyone else seems to be getting involved trying to sort things out. Especially now that people are being targeted with expl*sives and de*th threa*ts. (Even though I am not saying anything wrong I have blanked out some of the letters so filters don't identify me as a suspicious blogger and shut me down.)

 For what it's worth here's my tuppence worth on the whole embarrassing situation in Glasgow at the moment.

1) I sincerely hope that this is just the catalyst that we need to rid Scottish football of  all the mentalists who get their kicks on both sides out of their hatred of the other.
2) I think "him over there" needs to conduct himself with a bit more decorum, although he doesn't deserve threats against him and his family.
3) I look forward to the day when we can have a healthy, fun rivalry with each other - and to those who say it can't happen, I have two words for you...smoking ban. They said that couldn't happen either.

Steph.

Enhancing the blog

I am currently undertaking a bit of a marathon task where I am systematically revisiting every blog post we have ever made trying to get it ready to publish into a wee coffee table book for ourselves. I'm not really changing things, just polishing things slightly and jazzing it up with more images.

So basically there will be new photos on some of the really old posts and the spelling will be fixed - if you can be arsed looking that far back in time have a look. If not you can always order a copy of the book - it'll be ideal jobby time reading ;o)