Todays bit and bobs

Been a good day, will start with Bob's note, it is just a pity is a bit of duplication taken from yesterdays events.

2 nd sunny day on the trot - what is happening?

Yesterday turned out to be very pleasant. As planned we went to The Mercat for my steak and egg breakfast ( with a glass of wine), the chef Clair made a lovely strawberry cake for Ann.

From there to chill out at Ocean Terminal where I had a superb deep tissue back massage with paraffin wax, Ann had her face tweeked but there was "an administrative error" so she never got her feet done. What a pantomime, your ladies will know what it is like to feel naked in the street, with no nail varnish on their toes !!

Never mind, up to Princes Street and watched the aborigine musician by the Scott Monument playing with his "diggeri doos" in public !!!
Then met up with Archie and Tracy with wee Cameron at The Standing Order, they had come over on their day off to meet us and had a very nice bottle of "Tattinger Brut" on ice. Being a nice afternoon/ evening we all went into the gardens where the three girls had a shot on the Carousel , no idea what the odds were on those horses - so not worth a bet today.
Finished off with pizza and wine in the Grassmarket.

It was a nice day, couple of things got my dander up, but I will keep the controversy for later.

O.K . back to today,
Just a reminder, we were watching the programme, Tribes, on Tuesday night and budgie went berserk, he was responding to all the animal sounds on the TV - quite funny.

Anyway, today, got a lift into Mercat and then walked along to Fraser's Store in princess Street. While Ann went rummaging i had a blether to Gillian and the girls on the cosmetics ( Guerlin !!) counter, which saved me from trailing around the building.

Into the gardens just wandering, up to the S.O. for coffee and wine, then back into the gardens via M &S foodstore for sandwiches.
We sat in the east gardens beside the Scott Monument, 200ft 6 ins high ( 61 m) opened in 1846, but the architect George Meikle Kemp died in 1844 when he tripped in a fog and fell into the Union Canal and drowned. having walked past, driven by , etc for years you really have to sit down and look at it, it is wonderful, with either 64 or 67 figurines depending on whose account you read, all representing characters in Sir Walter Scott's novels.
I actually sat in the brilliant sunshine for about two hours, listening to the Aborigine musicians again, but in the background there were bagpipes, drums, flutes, singers, etc, just a real blend of music. In addition, many , many different accents of the visitors passing, it was just very interesting sitting, listening, watching - and eventually dozing off.

Needing revived and feeling a bit flush, we went into the Balmoral Hotel, where we had wonderful coffee and shortcake in the drawing room - very restful, but I did draw the line at afternoon tea (£21) per head. It was not that bad, by using my bus pass I saved a £1 which went towards the cost of the coffee. ( Miserable person)

Big strike on in Edinburgh, council workers against proposed cuts in the workforce and a rally of parents protesting about future school closures.

Today's grump's, the number of obstacles the council and bus company are erecting on the pavements . They have a cheek to complain about traders putting their goods and signs out, but they seem to feel totally immune to same.

Litter in Princes Street gardens, - the tourists, visitors, are really good and bag up their rubbish and when the bins are full, place it beside the bins. There was one park ranger trying his best to dispose of the rubbish, the other was chasing away some of the performers, but where were the bin men - striking!! I need to be fair here, I am annoyed about the five man team we witnessed yesterday in Shandwick Place , however, i have friends in both Midlothian and East lothian who work the big bin lorries and they are hard working and very conscientious.