My pal, Mr. Pia

On the way home on saturday night we stopped at Loanhead to get a fish supper at "Dino's", a chippy which I have a long history with, going back to 1966.

Anyway it was a real treat to see my old friend Joe Pia back from his recent trip to Los Vegas.

When I first started working as ayoung "polis" in loanhead in late 1966 the chip shop was run by the Muir family, whose son John later joined the police and worked with me on the search teams although he was stationed in the City.

His folks sold the shop to Joe Pia in 1968 when Joe, who had been living in Musselburgh since 1967, moved up and into the house next to the shop. I became very friendly with Joe, as did all the local Police , Andrew Stewart; Bill Baxter: Ronnie Cochrane; Bill Smith; Fergusson; Sinclair; and co.

One of my treats was to get a bag of "scraps" burnt chips, batter ,etc when I popped in just as the shop was getting cleaned up at night. Andrew would be found in the back shop sorting the fish ( being an ex chef) and it was not unusual for us to have a wee tipple with Joe late on.

He had a couple of local women working for him , one Elsie Patrick was a real character and knew everybody and their business. One night Baxter arrived, and decided to demonstrate how good his new baton was, having been given to him as a gift from a local wood turner - he took the new baton and whacked it off the counter where it broke in two, much to our amusement.

Joe's good lady wife was very patient, putting up with our late night visits, etc. and then young Dino appeared on he scene - to grow up to the fine young man he is now.

Obviously , over the years, and living further away we only see each other now and again but it is always a pleasure to meet and have blether about the good old days. To Joe, I was always the "bastardo carabinieri" - I would sneak up behind him - say bastardo carabinieri and he would say "ah Stuarti" and the same still applies when I pop in to see Dino who now runs this very busy shop - making the most amazing special fish - which are like baby whales.

Mauchline and Robert Burns

Dashed chilly this morning , -4C when we decided to set off to visit Mauchline, Ayrshire, home of Mr & Mrs McNair, parents of Carolanne , but also where Robert Burns, The bard, lived and farmed.

We headed across country via Carnwarth and onto the A70, through the moors and past the old mining villages, the River Clyde, and into New Cummnock before reaching Mauchline.

Gangus and his wife Jean were waiting for us, and after a cuppa, introductions to the two greyhounds, and a lecture on the wallpaper, we set off on a tour of the area.

The Burns Tower and museum is being renovated for next years 250th anniversary, then along the road only about 400 yards to Mossgiel Farm where he farmed for two years. The cairn by the roadside commemmortes his living there and is also to mark the annual Ploughing match which will take place again on 29th March 2009.

In the farm lands there will also be a special weekend of events on 24th, 25th and 26th July 2009 - two Burn's suppers and a ceilidh - which will be attended by visitors from all over the world.

We then headed through country lanes to Tarbolton past the Masonic Lodge there where Burns was a member, then by the Batchelors Club (now modernised) and back into Mauchline.

We parked up and abandoned Mrs. Mac. in the car to listen to the Hearts v Rangers match, then headed through the woods and past Gavin Hamilton's House where Burns and Jean Armour were married. Then into the house where they rented an upstairs room for two months from a local tailor. In that room Jean gave birth to twins however the babies died shortly after birth.

The room is as it might have been when they lived there. The building is now a small museum with a good display and an audio visual presentation with music and poetry.

Being worried about Mrs. Mac we had to cut short the visit and headed back, past Poosie Nansies pub , the statue of Jean Armour, and retrieved Mrs Mac who had the shock score Hearts 2 Rangers 1 .

Then it was another cuppa before heading home in freezing fog via Galston, Strathaven, Carluke,Carnwarth where for a change we took the "Lang Whang @ Chinese Highway" to Balerno and Currie
before reaching home. Round trip of 156 miles.

That was some trail today

Well, as I had seemed to anticipate, it has been a day and a half !! Set off at 4.40 a.m. and stopped for petrol at Hillend, where the attendant was busy doing his jobs, the computer was down so I had to wait and wasted time.
Not a bad run to Glasgow where Fraser was waiting, up to his eyes in paper. His father, David Valentine Phillips died last week - he was a very active freemason and member of the Grand Lodge of Scotland.

Fraser had loads of stuff for me and it took nearly an hour to get it all sorted before I headed south.
Being in the Ford, I was not going to break any land speed records, however, I think that about every other car on the road passed me !!! the usual white, blue and black van men - many who were certainly doing in excess of 80 mph - so is there scope to hit the drivers of goods vehicles with bigger penalties !! thinking of some of the weights of these motors and how their stopping distances are affected.
Reached Runcorn in one piece and as I had suggested , Jill was waiting for me with my ID Badge already prepared - very good , she was telling me that she and her husband are now the handicap secretaries for their golf club - this will be good, she will need a new sideboard for the extra drinks and trophies they will win when they fiddle their own handicaps !!!

Had a longer stay than usual as one of the offices had not received my E mail so I had to wait for them to get their stuff all packed up. In the meantime the terrible two, Sue and Christine in the canteen had kept me my bacon and egg "Bap". They were saying that they plan to go to "The Hard days Night Hotel" in Liverpool for lunch shortly following the recommendations by Mrs. B. and self after our visit there.

Headed north , 1st run in was with two blokes in vans towing rally cars and heading onto the M6, they were lost and cut off several cars in doing so. next - it was going to be someones nice shiny new "Discovery" mobile home - no number plates, trade plates, and the "ferry" driver was "lethering hell out of it", unlike the owners who usually crawl along the slow lane.

Over Shap and it was sleeting with snow on the verges, and a good cover on the nearby tops.

I had heard on the radio that there was a bad crash southbound on the M74 at Lesmahagow
but we were suddenly confronted with a rolling road block on the northbound lane way south where it turned out there was a lorry on the hard shoulder but the 1st lane was closed off.

By this time I was getting well annoyed, steam coming out the ears and blood pressure rising, perfect for a road rage situation !!! later than I had ever been. So by the time I got to Glasgow, there was massive queues heading west, so slow that the car was heating up - so the windows were open , it was cold and the heater was on full blast. We were going so slow I was able to get the picture of the so called modern sculpture / gasometer in Glasgow.

3.30 p.m. leaving Glasgow on the M8 and of course I was now in peak traffic by the time I reached the A720 City by pass and then home for tea.

Currently needing sedated !! Mrs . B. has just tried to tell me she has won an award for being the most tolerant person for the past year NOT - NOT

Chilly morning - however

Early rise after a few restless hours in the old scratcher - Mrs B very restless last night . But after 41 months of this ongoing c**p from the City of Edinburgh Council who can blame her, it is taking its toll on all of us.

Yesterday , left early to head up to Perth but although the weather was generallly bad it was clear over the two Forth Bridges with excellent views out to sea, over Hound Point ,( the oil terminal) etc., and with an oil rig in for repair off the Fife coast further east and lit up like a christmas tree.

Drove round Perth for a while just to get my bearings and be nosy before parking up and playing with the computer on someone's wireless link.
The Lodge , No 3 Brig O Doon , in the entrance hall is a marble cast of Charles Spence , "The Carse Poet" who was a member and lived from 1799 to 1889, and who wrote some very nice poems . In their small museum was this model of a foreign gent in full regalia. The main temple is beautiful with some marvellous paintings around the walls mainly masonic , but also one of King Alexander overseeing the building of Scone Palace. circa 1200. Later the King's Alexander the 2nd and 3rd were crowned there. the palace was also home of the Stone of Destiny. Afterwards I was even taken down into the crypt , one of only five in Scotland, used for the RA meetings.
The OSM Degree was very good, with five candidates, one being my friend Kenny from Pitlochry, going through . It was well worked - good crowd present, it also being the Provincial visit.
Enjoyed the night , probably more than I will enjoy the rest of today .

Off now to get ready to head south - no doubt Jill will be waiting with a big smile for me at The Heath.

Happy Birthday plus

Mrs. B. has just told me that Tracy is 21 again today , Archie @ big lap dancer , of the S.O. was talking to her today and let it slip that we had forgotton .
So Tracy - a big Happy Birthday .

I had also forgotton that Sarah @ small person , is due back from Oz this week where she has been at University for the past year and working / holiday the previous year. we look forward to seeing her once again. Her Mum and dad had told me this on manday at the races but I was obviously not quite retaining all !!!

Thursday and a short one

Hope the pics last night were ok , done at short notice,

Anyway we were out at Bonnytigg at The OES last night, not a big attendance, but interesting as it was their election of office bearers for the installation on 17th December. had a quick cuppa then up the road to see Old Tricks followed by Prison Break - Mrs b. then sat and watched another episode while I took to my bed and managed a few more pages of Robert Burns bood Dirt and Diety, hewavy going but interesting .

Trying to make toast at the moment, but it was a bit caramalised "burnt" as I was not paying attention.

This is some carry on in Mumbai, India. When I was there last year we had friends staying in the big Taj Mahal hotel at the marina which has been attacked, it is a beautiful place, you just have to wonder about the mentality of these fanatics who are prepared to slaughter and wound innocents throughout the world, all supposedly in the name of religion and progress.
I do not suppose they even care what happens as they are not interested in trying to work to get us all back together.
Between this carry on , threats to the USA, the Coup in Thailand, it will affect the tourist industry, destabalise the economy , and lots of folks will just stay at home and develop the fortress mentality. Then of course our own home grown bam pots will try to get in on the action !!! What a bloody world we live in !!!

So , anyway , I had a run out to see Mr. Photogenix this morning and set this machine up for yahoo Messenger, that should be fun , getting the pictures Ok but sound is a bit iffy.
Then looked into the Bush to see the hard working Arlene and chat about all the abandoned cars littering the place. Even spotted Brian from Musselburgh ( Glen the dog's dad !!) he was up in Penicuik, looking into a hole in the road, and eating ( again) his piece (sandwiches) while his pals were working - which was about par for the course.
So now I am ready for the off, up to Perth , "The Athens of the North" for a meeting of the OSM to see my friend from Pitlochry getting initiated into the 1st Degree - then home , hopefully not too late as I will be away sharp to meet up with Fraser in Glasgow andthen head south to Runcorn - busy wee bee as they say - and they might soon be extinct in the UK.

Some assorted photos from the dance

There was a bit of a panic

So my day was not too bad, I slowly recovered from the antics of Monday, and got things organised for the evenings event - however as the day progressed i had a number of phone calls with chaps calling off for various reasons. Hopefully the Celtic game was not one of them as celtic were beaten and are now out of Europe their fans will not be amused.

So there I was with late call offs and heading to Bonnyrigg not knowing who was going to be there for me. As it was we ended up with only 26 present instead of the normal 40 + . Turned out to be a good job , Mrs. B. had made the sandwiches and they were all scoffed, possibly because they were very good, so if the usual crowd had appeared some would have faded away with starvation - part of a new diet.

The meeting went reasonably well, we did a R.A. Degree with our new candidate, new memers of the team and a few stand ins to help out - anyway , I have peace for several weeks as myext meeting is not till January.

Home, bed , even had a sleep but was up early again to go onto the pub. Opened up before Sir Christopher arrived and then headed off to Bookers for supplies.
When i got back , the street and bus lay by in front of the Bar was coned off and several "chappies" from Lightways were digging up the road and repairing potholes etc. NOW , this is the norm for this City, as it will only be a matter of weeks, if that before they come to dig up the whole street and sort out the services as part of the "tramworks" project. How often have wee seen this happen , resurface a road , then along come the gas / water, etc to dig it up.
Word from Glasgow, so it is a trip to Runcorn for me on Friday , and that is after a run up to Perth on Thursday night to see Kenny Jack at the OSM. So guess who will be ever so wabbit on Friday night / Saturday , and Mrs. B. is talking about going down to Mauchline on Saturday if I am up to it!!!
News about Bankok Airport and the coup in Thailand, certainly exciting for the touristss stuck there, they had better get themselves sorted before I head out there in february.
Talking of travel, the SIA have apparantly found my missing passport in their system !!!! which is certainly not efficient , but this is no consolation to me as I still have to apply for another / new one. But untill such time as my stuff arrives from the SIA I will not hold my breath.
BUT , at the moment I have come to see the boys at ICS in Corstorphine, a little haven of peace and civility , then home and I think we are off to the OES at Bonnyrigg tonight , which means that I miss my session with Cruella.

A Day at The races

Now tuesday and the week is already flying in since my last post - photos are building uo , but so are jobs! Just a quickie at the moment.

Monday it was yet another early rise then i headed in to open up once again , but this time it was as a volunteer and only because I wnated to be in sharp.
By nine a.m. some of the group had started to gather for breakfast, knowing their bus would arrive at 10 a.m. then usual last minute shout and I had to jump on a bus and nip along to Princes street to the bank and then dash back, via a mega quick call to see the "smelly girls" at Frasers and get a squirt of my favourite "Allure pour homme" - to save me getting a wash !!
By the time i got back bus was ready to leave with our group of 19 all set to go to Ayr.

we headed off via the A8 , M8 , then over through East Kilbride nd onto the M77 down to Prestwick and Ayr, getting there with about 20 mins to spare before lunch . This was a Charity day all in aid of "BEN" which is for retired folks from the licensed trade. The dining rooms were nearly full so there was a good attendance.
The place has recently been all done up and is beautiful, the meal was excellent, well presented, and apart from the slightly inflated price of drinks ( which slowed us down a bit - initially) .
The weather was great , nice sunny bright day , lear, but chilly , however with our coats on it was extremely pleasant out in the stands.
i think everyone managed a win of some description , even if it was only to get a £1 back on a place bet on the tote, but some even managed to make a few bob .
My biggest upset of the day was when one of the horses fell on the jumps and broke its leg , poor thing was trying to run after the others with its leg all squeewiff - not nice, they are such elegant creatures. BUT the inevitable happened and screens were put round it and it was destroyed by the vet and taken away - after that I am afraid my day was spoiled, so i will probably not go back to a jumps event.
here was a disco after the event for about an hour so we had a couple of more drinks and a bit jump about before leaving and heading back to The Mercat where the Comedy Club , absolute beginners were about to start their sessions.
I actually sat and litened to the first bloke who was good - he was one of these blokes who was doing the observationist thing, and funny without cursing and blinding, etc.

Graham and i headed back to the motor to meet up with the lad from "Scoot" with his tiny motor bike which get put in the back of the car , he drives us home and then heads back to town on the bike.
At the van RGB went ballistic when he found a parking ticket on the windscreen , especially when he had a valid, up to date parking permit displayed on the side window. So NCP also employ numpties - just a waste of time having to chase up NCP and explain that their staff are such dingles.
So home, bed and yet another bad night . So it has been a morning in the house catching up once again and trying to get ready for tonights meeting of RA 500 at Laird o, Cockpen.
Given the chance maybe photos later.

All highly technical

Great excitement, all systems now up and running on wire free, thanks to the doggedness of Tam Finlay who first got the upstairs PC running again , then we mangaged to get this laptop going - great news, no more cables, etc/

Back to basics, when I left the Penicuik eco system this morning , it was only minutes before the snow had disappeared and by the time I reached The mercat Bar, there was no snow and it was dry and cold.

Once organised and doors open , we began to get busy and again had our stag group of thirteen from Nottingham, including the groom to be , Daffyd, this time dressed as a pregnant man, and unlike yesterday when he was one of the scruffiest kilties I have ever met.
The boys were looked after by Neeve and enjoyed their morning. Good job we never put them and the other group a hen party together, itwould have ben fun but might have ended op in a riot.
Still no word from Jamie and Eduardo in Spain , so they are either enjoying the hospitality of Edu's ma , or they have been locked up !!

Graham B. and Go Jo made it back from Aberdeen afer the rugby international, it was very cold, but they enjoyed themselves.

Left the bar at 1 p.m. to go to Bonnyrigg for a rehearsal with the RA500 for Tuesday night, good turnout of the new office bearers, al a lot younger, keen , etc, so Tuesday should be interesting.

Eventually made it home , accompanied by Tam who then did the business with the computers, to be rewarded with Guinness and steak.

There's snow on them there hills

Now, not only on the hills but down to earth on my doorstep. Saturday there was just the lightest of dusting , and today , although early a bit more, but I can still see the road so there should be no problem.
We have had it light compared to the more Northern parts, Aberdeen had a bit of a bilzzard at the end of the Scotland v Canada game - that was just a bit one sided and got boring in the end.
Had a busy day on saturday with little time to myself, between an early start in the Mercat, where we were busy enough . Back home to get on with a few needed tasks, before heading down to Bonnyrigg for the Grand Superintendents Annual Dinner last night. The one consolation about an early start is that you can get away sharp !! If you want to , and fortunately Sparky and I were able to do sio, having to work in the morning . More about that later.

Anyway , just getting ready for the off, into the Bar till 1 p.m. then a meeting and rehearsal at Bonnyrigg at 2p.m. for Tuesdays coming meeting. Then play it by ear.

Seriously mystified

Some photos, Mrs. B. in cheery mode, just about to leave for the ball.

Kiera, the commedienne and her pals at dinner, Graham Allan Snr. with Brenda and Go Jo.

Then our Mercat bar team with the marvellous Alex and his laden tray - he was doing his waiter thing for years in Greece as a youngster and is a dab hand with the tray and his balancing act.

I have just had a look at my "Statcounter" for the past two days and folks have been hitting the site from all over the World - no idea what I have said, but thanks for the interest.

So today - it was down to Straiton Park, Loanhead, to go firstly to Ikea - this is some place, always very busy, quality good and prices so low - just how do some of the high street stores justify their prices and obviously extra high profits. AND we did buy a few bits and bobs , then off to Comet Electrical where we again made a purchase - and then to Sainsburys, again we raise the question, how do they justify their prices when we believe they are cartelling with the other chains, a few pence up, down , etc it all balances out, but when you compare with Lidyl, Bookers and Costco - everyone makes a profit - so just what is the original cost ?

Carolanne's dad called to say he had managed to get me another couple of the Special Commemorative Medallions which Gordon and Graham are now wanting - so perhaps, with luck and some free time I might make it down to Mauchline to collect them.

She also sent me a link to her greyhound site, and there they were Swift PeeCee; Swift Mercat; Swift DeeDee, etc, very good.

On the sporting side, Ally McCoist as next manager of Glasgow Rangers, good one Ally; Colin Montgomerie actually playing well again; our Graham and Go Jo now in Aberdeen to see Canada play Scotland at Pittodrie on Saturday - it is no wonder they do not get big crowds, how can the SRU expect folks to pay out the kind of money they are asking three weekends on the trot - and it begs the question, why not use Murrayfield again, the place is losing money and will continue to do so if under utilised.

We had Rob and Caitlin ( Upside down boy and girl) on the phone this afternoon, probably pis++d as it would be early a.m. in Brisbane where they are back home again and doing OK.

No word from Spain yet how Jamie @ Shrek and Eduardo are doing, hopefuly Edu's ma is coping well with them and Jamie is behaving.

Sitting watching a very old episode of "Taggart" with Mark McManus in it, I met him years ago in "The Doctors" pub, in Forrest Road, Edinburgh, while I was on a lunch break during one of my Community Education courses. He was, at that time making one of the episodes of Taggart in Edinburgh at George herriot's School and was not allowed to drink, anyway he ended up going with us to the Meadows and sat and had sandwiches with the group - he was a lovely person.

Have just seen Twiggy, the former model in an advert on the TV, she is a lovely women now, nothing like the skinny wee thing she used to be.

Now time to call a halt, working in the Mercat , a.m. then off to The Grand Superintendent 's dinner at Bonnyrigg for the RA at night.

Despite the late night ? early morning , we were up reasonably early and feeling fine, but tired. So - we had a lazy couple of hours with me sorting through all the photos of the ball and picking a few to use in the last blog. ( Still loads to use ) I see that Scotland managed to hold up well at Hamden park against Argentina last night , with the visitors winning 1 - 0.

Being a nice fresh morning , sunny but getting cold, with a forewarning of the Arctic blasts soon to hit us , we thought we might take the big red bus to town, good having my bus pass. nice quick run into town , stopping off at the new park and ride facility at Straiton which is getting busier and busier. We eventually got off at the South Bridge and had a walk up the Royal Mile/ High Street, by the Tron Kirk, St. Giles Cathedral, City Chambers , passing the site of the last public execution in Edinburgh at the corner of the Lawnmarket.

Into the National library on George lV Bridge where they have an exhibition on the life and works of Robert Burns. Lots to look at, his books, several portraits and group pictures relating to his poems, and even his masonic apron, which was specially made for him.

On leaving we ended up going into the Bank of Scotland museum on the Mound where they have a remarkable exhibition on the histroy of the bank, and banking in Scotland. there are two display cases each filled with £1 million in £20 notes , each bundle weighs about nine stone. there is a Robert Burns poem on money, written on the back of a one guinea note. The story about Robert Watkins ( I think) who was a forger , also from Muachline, Ayrshire, who instead of being executed was sent to Botonay Bay, land of Oz. He, being a superb artist produced some remarkable paintings / drawings of the local life out there and was eventually returned back to Scotland, but went back to his forgery.

So then it was a trip along to The Mercat for some lunch, and then back via the shops so that Mrs. B. could "touch" things in the sales.

Have just been sitting watching the TV over the top of the computer to see the young girl, Pamela, from Glasgow win the final of the "Dirty Dancing" competition - well done.

So we all went to the ball !!!

Having had another session with Sabrena @ Cruella - (I would even have given her my pin number !! she was digging deep and I was strill tender from Monday), then I was up and running and fit for the Ball.

First problem we had was getting there, big crash at Hillend on the A702, with a large tipper lorry overturning on the bad bends and totally blocking the road - so everything going south was diverted through Penicuik - so when Ricky and Pamela set out to get us they were well held up. BUT we madde it by 7.15 p.m. and still in time for the drinks reception!! Bit of a mix with sparkling white wine and Bacardi cocktails.

The Assembly Rooms, George street, are very nice, quite impressive so we had the drinks reception downstairs before going to the ballroom.

There were about two hundred and seventy guests there, for this the S.E.S.L.T.A. (South East of Scotland Licensed Trade Association) from all sections of the Trade plus their guests from far and near. We had a table of ten with our friends, but there were lots of folks we knew all around the room. Kristen and Colin had brought the team from the Sportsmans Bar, Big Michelle, Joanna, Littel Princess, Elaisne, Karen, plus "Old" Ian - lovely to see them all.

There were really far to many to mention , however I think I managed to get photos of nealy everyone in the room , which will eventually be put on "Fotobucket" same as previous doo's.

We had Danny Fair there as M.C. for the night, RGB managed a good welcoming speech to all, and later presented the well known Mary Moriarty with a retirement present. Mary has a pub called "The Port of Leith" down in Leith and is very well known in the area.

We had a pipe band who had everyone on their feet with a rendition of "Flower O Scotland" , then a live band who had us all dancing the night away.

The meal was superb, provided by outside caterers and the bar was run by The Mercat Bar team.

In all it was a very good night, just unfortunate it has to be a mid week event as many have work again in the morning.

So, it was eventually time to go home, and a patient Eric Krough ferried us back to Penicuik in his taxi - dropping off Sandra and Gordon , then Ricky and Pamela before we were let out and headed to bed.

Just as well we did not stay out with Graham, Chris and Co - who manged to stay out all night and went to bed at 7 a.m. !!!!

No lucky numbers - all the 77777777777's

Tuesday , having done my chores about the house I headed to Bonnnyrigg to see Mr Photogenix, I have no idea how he does it , computers, cameras, videes, printers, all this technology which works - and look at me - hopeless. So we had a chat while i watched him working , then I headed off East , stooping at Whitecraig to see my mechanic friend, Frank, then it was onto the A 1 and off to Dunbar. the new stretch of dual carriageway is so good I was there by 5.20 p.m with lots of time on my hands. Dunbar , home of John Muir, and they have named a very big country park after him. But it was to the Chippy I eventaully went , for a fish tea and read at the paper to pass time.
I eventually found the Masonic Lodge, hidden well out the way , and it is a lovely building , with a very nice Temple, plus a good function hall and lounge whci is used by the community on a daily basis.
The meeting was excellent, their first candidate in four years, and to mark the occasion they had a good turnout of visitors from all over the Province. The candidatye , although local, lives in Colchester and had come up for the Degree.

The Lodge celebrates its 250th Anniversary this weekend , with a redidication ceremony and dinner on Saturday and a church service on Sunday in tghe local parish church . There is an unfortunate clash with a couple of other events so loyalties will need to divided.

I managed to get away sharp as i had no need for food at such a late hour, so it was homewards, stopped off for petrol at Hillend where I bought my ulucky 777777's scratch card, and that bis what it was.
This must have been praying on my mind as I woke up at 3.33 - then 4.44 and just to break the sequence 5.57 .

Bit of a long lie and not so sore today , but Sabrena will put paid to that this afternoon when I go back for another bruising session. But a swim and some heat this morning has been good.

We are off to the ball tonight in the Assembly Rooms , George Street, so god knows what state we will be in tomorrow.
The Robert Burns Medallion in the photo is one of the limited edition ones which have been produced for his 250th Anniversary in Janaury 2009, and came with a lovely matching lapel badge.

Battered and bruised - self inflicted

All aches and pains this morning , but all in a good cause - as they say no pain no gain . Anyway , went to see Sabrena last night for some remedial physio on my back which was all in knots from head to botty !! So she started at the base of the spine which I thought was bad enough , but really enjoyed a deep massage of the neck and shoulders which were apparantly even more knotted.

It was all a bit of a mad rush because Graham , Chris and Co had decided to meet for a drink and go for a meal to celebrate his 21st !! NOT . So as soon as I was off the table, so to speak, it was into town with Sparky and Mrs. B. We all met in The Mercat , ten of us, but as Mr. B. was in a chaotic frame of mind we decided on going no further than next door into Galli's to see jani for a pizza, etc.
Iona from Townsville, Land of Oz., and JP ( Giraffe) joined the team , and enjoyed the carry on. And silly me, had forgotton my trusty camera which is normally with me night and day.
Seemed straight forward enough , but when we got there, instead of Jani's usual quiet Monday , the place was busy and he was on in the kitchen himself with one staff person serving - not to worry , we just sat and blethered, played table games, and eventually got fed - poor Jani was knackered by the time he had finished and then came and had a drink with us back in the Mercat. The pub was busy late on with the Monday night "Absolute Beginners", comedy club, with Keara Murphy running the show as usual. She was all in a dither, lots on the go , and has been for some interviews in London to do adverts or something .

So today , more wee jobs to get on with at home, hopefully a swim to stretch these muscels, and then down to Dunbar tonight for meeting of RA 614 Dunbar Castle.

All at 6's and 7's

Well , it was a long lie this morning for, and the red wine treatment seemed to have worked a bit as my back was much easier. However, all being well I will get a massage by the physio, Sabrena , tonight - that is if I have time, because Graham (birthday Boy) keeps changing his plans at the last minute. Having made an appointment with the physio for 7 p.m. - we then learn that he wants us to meet him in town at 7 p.m. - not possible, even with a Quantum Leap and time travel. So we are currently sitting waiting to see if I can get an earlier appointment, and then rush into Edinburgh.
Pottered about the house trying to do several jobs at the one time and wait on people returning my phone calls, but eventually gave up and headed out round Penicuik to the plumbers and builders merchants , etc. and even managed a twenty minute strict session in the swimming pool.

So, not a very exciting day so far, will need to wait and see what happens now.

sunday - the day after,

So Scotland lost, Murray lost , and today Celtic managed to win literally by default , as as usual in the dying minutes of the match.
Up again with the larks to get opened up, on the way passing a dead deer on the road near the house , so i could have had venison for breakfast, but Claire, and Kristina had beaten me in - Kristina is German but speaks English with a broad Irish accent !! having lived over here for several years.

Apart from the fact that the tills and computers were down , and I had no idea what to do with them ,the ever observant Claire had spotted water coming through a ceiling - so guess who had his work cut out this morning (good job I had my "Special K" for breakfast). Turned out thre were two leaks in different pasts of the place.

But , as we had a business to run and folks coming through the door, we needed all hands on deck to cope right through lunch and up to 2 p.m.

Eduardo came to see us and it turned out that either last night or Friday night he was assaulted by a group of "neds" complete with the hoodies as he headed home, they even followed him into his stairwell - typical, that despite calls to the Lothian and Borders Police he had not had any response. He was well shaken and rather upset, bit bruised, and shaken but not stirred. (as per James Bond).
Eventually got home, with an aching back, but had to go to Tesco's, where I kept bumping into folks I had not seen for ages, Lucille Bishop, Gordon and Liam Wilson , and as I parked up Louise (Kerber) and Holly Milligan, it was Loise who went to Sri Lanka with when she was married.
Then we had Dennis and Carolanne on the phone from Ireland, it is his birthday today so she bought him a nice new pair of safety boots - the ones he does not need to polish. believe it or not they did not know that their two dogs were running the other night when they won - could have been a good double.

Anyway - time to relax.

An unnecessary defeat

Just what do we have to do, Scotland were beating South Africa 10 - 0 at half time at Murrayfield, missed four penalty kicks and then lost 14 - 10 !!! A blooming shame, and they wonder why the fans stay away , apart from the price of the tickets. And then Andy Murray played like an old man , and was given the runaround in China - he will have to waken up his ideas again.

So, it was on the road early, into Bookers and then to see Brash the butcher to get the Sunday roast and the special sausages for the fans today. into the Bar by 0830 with the place beginning to show signs of life.

Things began to pick up and we were busy, so much so that Claire and I had to go back to see Mr Brash and get a second helping of sausages, and later on Graham Allan had to go back again !! Plenty of bangers getting scoffed.

While at the butchers I spied a statue across the road and it turned out to be in memory of Robert Louis Stevenson , and depicted Alan Breck Stewart and David Balfour , two of the characters in Stevenson's book, "Kidnapped" who had apparently parted at a point near to the site of this statue. the statue was unveiled in 2004 by Sir Sean Connery.

Having decided to stay on a bit longer I went to put some more money in the meter at the Morrison Strret car park, and spied a wandering city fox standing at the back of the car - it stood and watched me long enough for me to get the picture, then just strolled off.

Back at base , "Buckethead" was busy serving up assisted by young Lauren, our student chef - not that he is camera shy !!!

Our staff were kept on the go but did have time to pose for a moment. In the meantime I had taken a seat and kept bumping into folks I had not seen for ages, Elaine and Jim, formerly of the Countryside Inn, where Graham started his apprenticeship in the pub trade, Willie Kerber, who we went to Sri Lanka with for the wedding of his daughter Louise - an Ann Lowe, from Loanhead, who I knew as young child many years ago, out on a hen night with her friends; the boss of the St.Andrew's Brewery, Bridge of Allan, Kai Monk and a few others.

Got home and found the most beautiful medallion in the post from Mr McNair in Muchline commemorating the forthcoming 250th Anniversary of Robert Burns in 2009. I will need to try and get a good picture of it, being a limited edition jewel - so very many thanks to him.

Anyway, watching the results of the "X-Factor" and again would dispute the results, but, so what. The show celebrating Prince Charles's 60th Birthday is better entertainment, with Robin Williams in great form, fronted by John Cleese - HRH certainly looks as though he , Camilla and Harry were enjoying it.

Up sharp again a.m. to get the show back on the road again in by.

Windy Friday and my meccano

when we got home on thursday night there was a card from the Post Office, saying that there was a Recoded delivery letter to be collected. Of course my mind ran riot during the night and there i was at 6 a.m. all set to go and retreive whatever was there, thinking it might even be the missing passport. As Sandra pointed out tonight , that holds lots of memories, plus valid Visa's for China and India, and date stamps for many sunny warm places.

So off I went , and it was nothing important so it went straight into the bin- bloody waste of time, money and paper. But then being out it was down to The Bush again where this time I was able to collect the stuff I should have got yesterday.

Back to the house, changed and collected Mrs. B. then off into the town again - the traffic was generally quiet but then I got kind of snarled up in the traffic which is being diverted all around the Mound area, again due to the dammed Tramworks - even spotted three men and a brush !!! not doing anything, just standing looking pretty.

Dropped Mrs. B. off so she could go see Archie at The Standing Order, ( turned out he was still in his bed - I think), but she had a good wander and went to see smelly Gillian at Frasers.

In the meantime , I was doing my Chinese meccano, building the frame of a big tent out the back of The Mercat, and working on the principle that you only read the instructions when all else fails !! I tried my best without them - but had to give in and cheat - so eventually, using string and duck tape I succeeded - hooray. I might get a bonus if it is still standing in the morning.

Andy @ Kitchen porter, Claire and Jamie all came out to help, but ( in house joke - Jamie did not have his kirby grips in - and he is off to Spain with Eduardo on Monday, just hope he does not give Edu's ma a heart attack)

Back in the bar they were run off their feet and I ended up looking after a group of nine South African rugby supporters who had just arrived in Edinburgh off a long flight via London. They were tired but in good fettle and most settled for the haddock which I had just caught in the Water of Leith !!! and the home made, fantastic , Mercat burgers. From their parting comments we will no doubt have the pleasure of their company over the next three days before they head to London.

Claire / or was it Jamie made me a very nice steak, to keep my strength up, and then we headed noff , via Costco for a few bits and bobs.

Mrs. B. wanted to go see Irish Christine on the way so we popped in to find her in a state of dissaray - head in a shower cap, goonie on, slippers, etc and not quite in her usual elegant mode - even more upset when I caught her on camera - spot Casper in the distance.

Home and back on the computer to compose a wee letter to my MP david Hamilton - just getting a bit annoyed about the current treatment we are getting from the City of Edinburgh Social Work Department .

Had an E mail from Carolanne who said that two of her greyhounds, Swift Stuart and Swift Denn both won yesterday !! hope she had a good double on them.

Mrs Johnstone in London was on the phone, along with her "Willie", not quite under the influence - but certainly cheery. A bit like me.

Never said the other day, but Mrs. B. parked the car in Morrison Street car park, forgot to lock the car and some bounder opened the motor and took the parking ticket off the windscreen - fortunately she did not get a ticket from the NCP boys.

So, its up sharp again, off to Bookers, then collect the Sunday roast and bangers, and back to the Mercat for an invasion of rugby supporters all set for the Scotland - v - Springboks game.