Tribute bands, and "see you later".

Sat a.m. and just about to set off for the airport to drop off RGB and Jo Jo who are off on their holidays, stopping at Hong Kong tonight for a couple of days then off to Oz to meet up with Rob and Caitlin.#

Friday was just a bit different, had my follow up visit to the Hospital, turned out that my original Endoscope was a false alarm, nothing there to worry about - and I was allowed to get back into the red wine again.

In The Mercat we had the flight crew from a private jet in for lunch , very pleasant trio, staying at The Hilton, no doubt we will see them over the next few days.

Home, then down to Bonnyrigg for the R A social night at the Lodge. The 60's tribute band were excellent, lots of good golden oldies, lots of memories, and with a generally mature crowd they were all up on the floor reliving their youth !!
Ian Robertson and his wife Margaret did brilliantly, lots of hard work to get a great result, and much appreciated by everyone.

Farewell to Ailsa - friend of the Loch Ness monster

A sad farewell today to the diminutive Ailsa who is leaving The Mercat Bar this week heading back home to live with her grandparents in the Great Glen, in sight of Loch Ness. I have enjoyed working with her, she has a lovely personality and was a hard worker - she will be missed.

Hopefully she will not end up being fed to Nessie, on the other hand the shy old monster might take a shine to her and pop up to see her some night!!

Was supposed to be on a day off today but ended up doing some cover in the Bar while the photographers were in doing some work on a new brochure for The Bar. Best bit was after they had photographed a nice "T" steak, and I fell heir to it, slightly more than a tasty snack, delicious.

Had a run out to Booker's Cash and Carry at Longstone, and had a chat with boss man Michael. Carrie, who I mentioned recently regarding the problems with her sick child was saying that she is getting the use of the Hearts Supporters Club, Tynecastle, for a fund raising night to get enough to keep the wee one at the special school in Cumbernauld for another term while she negotiates with the City of Edinburgh Council. If she has as much success as us she will still be waiting in four years time !!!

Headed home, via Bonnyrigg to see Grant of the aching elbow, all meeting up on Friday at the 60's night . Up to Thornton Farm, Rosewell, to see how the folks from the Riding for the Disabled were doing, hopefully they wills till qualify for some funding we have available at the Lodge and Chapter in Bonnyrigg.

Home and popped down to the Leisure Centre for a swim, and afterwards had a blether to Linda (or Lynda), originally from Zimbabwe, but now living locally. We got talking about ice hockey - in the sauna !!! and she was saying that she does some PR work for the Edinburgh Ice Hocky Team at Murrayfield, organises the kids games and fund raising, etc. It brought back memories of the days when I used to take RGB as a youngster to see all the home games at Murrayfield with the Racers. The big games in those days were against the Fife Flyers, and being the local derby match was always pretty violent - great fun for the spectators, and we did enjoy it. On one occasion I had a young Kenyan lad , David, who was over staying with a neighbour on a work exchange project. He had never seen ice and could not comprehend the concept of hockey on ice, so we took him to Murrayfield, all wrapped up with balaclava, scarf, gloves, etc., his bright teeth and wide eyes being all you could see from his face. He was fascinated with the game but terrified with all the noise when the fighting broke out - that night the Racers were playing / fighting a foreign team and there was blood everywhere - not sure if he enjoyed it, but it gave him something to tell his father, a tribal leader, all about.

Not a nice treat at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary

Just a bit subdued at the moment - still got a sore throat after my delightful session in the hospital and having an endoscope this afternoon- not amusing, but tests were negative I think !! back on Friday to find out. Nice wee nurse, Samantha, did her best to calm me down before the "intrusive investigation", but it did not really help - and as I was travelling on the motor bike there was no way I was getting sedated.

However, last night I had a superb session in the chair at RA 500 Laird O Cockpen with an attendance of 57 which included a good deputation from Provincial led by Alex Moonie Provincial Grand Superintendent and his Depute, Andy McKeen. Meeting went well, with a good report, and was followed by lovely buffet prepared by Mrs. B. well appreciated, with little waste at the end of the evening.

Next bash at the Lodge will be Friday night when we ( Big Ian and Dougie) are running a social with a 60's tribute band and a 60's disco.

The swine flu is causing a bit concern, and it looks as though RGB will be screened as he enters Hong Kong on Saturday on his stopover, en route to the land of Oz to see Robbie and Caitlan, leaving Pa and Sir Christopher holding the fort.

Watching the news tonight about the demonstrators in London, who were arrested four years ago following a so called impromptu demonstration and were wrongly arrested. They have been given compensation of £85,000 between them. BUT - they were all foreigners visiting London - so why were they getting involved, then having the dammed cheek to get lawyers involved, who will no doubt get their lions share of the claims. But it will not bode well for the Police Authority in view of the latest G20 carry on. Next demonstrations they should sit back and let the Civil Liberties people Police the event !!!!! That could be fun.

Next wine night at The Mercat Bar will be 26th May, when it will be French wines being sampled, along with good food, all for £15 , not a bad deal.

Might feel better tomorrow, especially if Arsenal can get a result against Manchester United tonight, rather than waiting for the second round.

The things that go through your mind

5.30 a.m. and a shocking night seeing every hour of the clock, once again, free from the effects of "John Barleycorn".
Mind has been churning over on this Swine Flu and the impending Pandemic . I was not all that bothered initially , and with lots of folks coming back from Mexico area saying they had the flu it was supposed that everyone was being cautious. Now we have the two confirmed cases in Airdrie (a young couple who had been on honeymoon) and some twenty of their friends now showing signs, question is how long before friends of those friends begin to show signs ? In this modern day and age it is so easy to see how it Can spread very quickly ( now cases in China now)- when we had the bird flu it seemed to circle the globe a bit more slowly , but with air travel, humans are moving faster .

Yesterday, a quiet day at The Mercat, other than the arrival of the temporary coffee machine which looks like a space ship. Home on the bus, but managed my first swim in about four months, apart from a couple of dips while on holiday in Thailand. Out again at night for a rowdy meeting of the Scribes and Principals of the RA within Mid and East Lothian.

Off early today to the Mercat Bar, and out tonight for my last meeting of RA 500 Laird O Cockpen , before the the summer recess - but I do have the official Provincial visitation this evening. Plenty to keep my mind ticking over today.

Lunch , Royal Scottish Museum and coffee

So it was a long lie this morning, and probably much needed after a long week, and with another few busy days looming. Watched the final stages of the London Marathon , just fantastic to see all these folks raising so much money for charity and running alongside such superb elite athletes.

Headed into town to collect the car which had been left overnight.

We decided go out for lunch for a change and have a look at some of the opposition, tried the Maison Bleue in India Street, for their two course special, then moved on to the Royal Scottish Museum in Cambers Street, looking for a coffee however we ended up viewing some of the exhibits , an old Albany car, going back to 1912, followed by a formula sports car which obviously goes just a bit faster , but not as fast as Jenson Button was going today in Dubai for the grand Prix, he is doing very well, although Lewis Hamilton did manage to do a bit better than he has recently.

Wylam Dilly, the 1813 steam engine, forerunner of all our locomotives, amazing to see how far we have come since then.

Moved on round the corner to the Hotel du Vin, Bistro and Bar, tucked away in a courtyard , a really excellent transformation from the original old building into a lovely hotel - owned by the same group who have No 1 Devonshire Place, Glasgow. We had coffee and petite fours in the whisky lounge, nice , relaxing and comfortable - a nice way to pass an afternoon. They have a very big range of whiskeys, wines, cigars, etc , (at a price) and even have a nice cigar lounge out in the courtyard, quite unusual. Upstairs in the Claret Lounge bar there was an unusual chandelier made out of wine goblets - nice touch.

Photos from the Wine dinner

All the happy campers during a wonderful night at the Mercat Bar. Next wine tasing is at the end of may, so watch this space.
Yvonne, the gang, tara and friend,

Sparky Mark,

The Axioss team

The Boss, four lovely ladies.

Four heroic chaps

Sir Christopher and Lady Ailsa @ Miss Talk a lot.

Five Star Dining at The Mercat Bar, Edinburgh

An absolutely marvellous evening was had by all - superlatives cannot describe the event - it was smashing .

Headed in to town along with Mrs. B ; collected Sparky Mark ; Sir Christopher's Ma, Elizabeth, and our Friend Carol en route to the Mercat where we met up with Gordon , Sandra, Tubs, Linda, Tam Finlay, Grant , Yvonne and many others for the Wine Club dinner.

The Menu.
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Terrine of Smoked Salmon & Prawn or Carrot and Corriander soup.
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Tomato & Puff Pastry Tart.
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Fillet of Beef with Madeira Jus and Potato Dauphinoise.
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Peach Melba.
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Selection of Cheese.

Each course was served with a different wine, however, we each had a sheet with lists of wines on it and had to guess from the description given by Tara, from Mathew Clarks which wine we were drinking, and then had to work out how much it cost per bottle - in the form of a "Call my Bluff" and at the end of the evening there were two joint winners, Grant @ Photogenix and Jo Jo - who each received a bottle of champagne.

The menu and meal was chosen by the newest of the Chefs, Andy , who was assisted on the evening by Jamie and young Chris in the kitchen . Everyone was very impressed.

Photos to be added later.