Day off for a change

Today,  a day off I was told -  so up early, ironing the table covers,  headed to town, picked up cases of wine and then back to the Mercat Grill to get on with the bookwork -  but remember , I was not there !!

Bit under the weather so homeward bound, car full of cardboard for recycling (good lad)  but not to Midlothian depot at Bellmans as they do not appreciate too many drop offs.  Lords knows what will happen in January when the next set of Scottish recycling legislation kicks in.  might be as daft or impracticable as Mr Salmond wanting to tag all dogs and goldfish

Home,  so needing a bit of fresh air,  out to see the Steed of Steel,  new set of shoes fitted, bit of a charge, refuelled, and then out for a canter around the local byways - well worth it -  then home  for a long relaxing warm soapy bath, glass of wine and listened to a super programme on Radio 2 with Elton John playing his favourite music. Must say end result was that i was feeling 2005 better when I surfaced - and followed by a superb 12 oz braised steak (on the bone)  with French mustard,  what more could I ask.

All over bar the paper for the recycling.

Last call was three sleeps - not for us, never stopped as the Grill was so busy -  busy on Xmas Eve,  full house Christmas day, and a near full house today.    Team work - family had to pull together with our stars in the kitchen,  end result lots of very happy customers who have been kind enough to shower us with compliments.  We even have folks wanting to book for next year already !!!  

Thought Santa might miss us as we were away early,  but no - got home to find pressies galore, so guess who will smell nice, look smart (even in his underwear) and has another book to add to the pile waiting to be read.  At least the ladies from Mayfield library reading club will not fall out with me for using a Kindle ( at least not till I read all the books).

So the sales have started again,  must be the biggest rip off -  punt up the prices when folks have to buy, and then offload cheap after the event.  I keep going on about the Richard F Mackay  furniture sales,   same advert   week in , week out, year in  year out -  the shop must be shut half the year while the staff prepare for the next sale !!   Certainly one for Trading Standards..

Weather has been not too bad here,  compared to those who have lost power,  been under water, etc - so better not grumble.

What a life

Sunday night  -  only three more sleeps to x-mas ,  unless, like wee Dillon you do not sleep on X-mas eve.
What can I say - this is not quite what retirement is meant to be !!!     OR perhaps I am not keeping up with the current clime -   at one stage retirement age was 65,   now the 60's are just silver surfers and life is kicking off again - so perhaps I need to readjust my thinking -  and considering that i am looking for another motorbike (without stabilisers  berhaps the positive mental attitude has not failed yet.

Busy, more than ever down at the Mercat Grill -  all very positive, no more contemplating navels !!!  all hands on deck as business grows -  based on recommendations from word of mouth.

Santa approaches  - business is brisk - just need a few Red Bulls to keep going.

Getting nearer to Christmas

Now only five sleeps to Christmas,  or as a young lad, Dillon, told me tonight, only four more as he had no intention of sleeping on Christmas Eve !!!   but he was happy enough to accept a carrot to take home for Santa's reindeer.
Been a busy week at the Mercat Grill, kept on our toes and looks as though we will be busy right through to the New Year.

maded it to see Douggie Sneddon reinstalled at 151 Defensive Band n Tuesday night,  following in the footsteps of his grandfather, and father  - super night, excellent Installation, meal and there was even an entertainer / cabaret act -  thank goodness for "Scoot" who got us home in one piece.
Should have been at the Social at the Masonic Club tonight, however,  not enough hours I am afraid.

What can I say 12 sleeps to Christmas.

Glory be - last week I was thinking there were only 40 secs in a minute,   thought the same tonight until I saw what I had already written -  must now only be 30 minutes in an hour -   jsut not enough hours in the day for what I have to achieve.

Mercat Bar, Haymarket has been busy,  but there is no doubt that  the tramworks have done their damage - so the powers that be can sit with their heads in the sand or up their bac****es if they want - hope Santa's reindeer's leaves a big package on their doorsteps.

For someone on a work experience placement, I am certainly getting well worked down at the Mercat Grill,  Whitecraig,  where we have absolutely marvellous customers -  even had a couple drive up from Darlington today to meet friends for lunch.   Birthday group in last night who had booked the Haymarket Mercat  but arrived at Whitecraig where they had a superb meal and a great meal -  Davie was on form with his mini bus groups.  One of the lads said that it might well be a pub,  but the food was high class restaurant quality -  "T" bone steaks very popular,  nearly as much as our famous meringues.

Just watched the final of the X Factor,  well done Sam Bailly,  the well deserved winner,   but I am sure young Nicholas is already well on the way to stardom. Both have brilliant personalities  so their futures look bright.

Made it to Livingston for a meeting with some of the IPA no. 1 region motor cycle lads to discuss our proposed trip to Germany, Italy and France next year.   The Italians have already got a four day event organised,  the Germans a three day event so now we hope the French section will come up trumps somewhere between Annecy and Metz.

Great night at Forresters RA on Tuesday night but had to skip the Christmas dinner,  regards to Guy at Esk 42 whose night I missed on Wednesday.
Busy week with an exra ordinary Installation at No 151 Defensive Band where Douggie Sneddon makes a wee bit of history by following his father and grandfather into the Chair - so he is basing the meal on the one his grandfather organised when he was installed -  should be a great night.   Installation at OES on Wednesday also.

We have been running raffle to raise funds for Clik Sargent,   leukaemia charity, which was drawn today with the three winners getting, £250;  £150 and £50  respectively   Graham is putting a wee video of the draw on the mercat facebook page.  We ended up with a profit of £1400 plus to go into the Clik Sargent fund -  well done and thanks for all those who supported the event.

Sunday 6th - are there only forty mins in an hour now.

Sunday night,  "Songs of Praise" ,  Country File;  Strickly Come Dancing; X-Factor Results; and I'm a Celebrity, etc"    what more can a man want ?   Deux boutilles vin rouge sil vous plais -  and that makes paying the TV license easier.

Been a busy week at at the Mercat Grill, so much so I have missed several of my masonic meetings,  however, in this case work and family have to come first.

Must say that ev ery week we have more and more returning guests along with new guests - and today, yet another blast from the past when a slightly older Susan, one of my typists from Dalekith, appeared with her family - marvellous.

Last couple of nights I have been the driver as Davie has been doing his masonic duties - so a few of our visitors :

these are the mothers from Loretto primary school

and these are the bookworms from mayfield Library reading club, who nearly lynched me when I mentioned my "kindle" however, I have a couple who are going to have a read at H. E Bates ,  "Darling Buds of May",  and I will try and get Elizabeth Werner, authoress, and one of our regular customers go and meet with them

This wee group, went through the menu, bit fussy over the ice cream,  but with a cone and a lollipop in the ice cream, the house came out on tops.

The lovely Nicola and her sister coped well with the wind ups .

Busy week ahead,  even have bingo on Tuesday afternoon - sounds like fun.

 

Anyone for a tram ride ?

Nearly a week since I last posted !!!   just not quite enough hours in the day so far.

Last week we had the triple fatality in Dunbar,  this week we have the Police helicopter crash in Glasgow with the loss of nine lives,  three Police officers and six innocents sitting enjoying a night in the bar in Glasgow -  many others injured.   Ambulance staff were on site almost immediately, members of the public were fantastic with their help -  lots of praise to the community -  now just need to know why a helicopter drops like a stone from the sky.

Tonight - history being made,  a tram will travel at walking pace the length of the the new system in Edinburgh from Gogar to St Andrew's Square, might give the observers time to see how many businesses have gone bust en route -  cannot see the Councillors out tonight unless they are getting attendance allowances.  

I keep thinking of the old FBI Director in the USA who hounded the communists who he claimed were destroying the economy from within -  personally I think they need a real witch hunt in Edinburgh to sort out the councillors and Officials, who are systematically bringing this City to its knee.
Even the Roads department try and do their bit,  there are so many potholes in the roads that it is virtually impossible to to reach the City centre without being shaken to bits !!!

Long weekend, working between the two Mercat Bars,   interesting, especially doing an open in Edinburgh, first after three years -  old grey matter struggled a bit, nice to see some of the old familiar faces.

Staff doo on Sunday night, we were covering, and in the midst I had two young ladies in from the USA, being looked after by the No 1 region  IPA ( International Police Association) -  however they were just a bit to quiet to join the ladies.

 

Good job that two of our male stars were present to keep order !!

 

Back to The Mercat Grill,   we get new customers every day, from all parts of the Country, even had the Manager of the Glen Moray Distillery in for lunch, and tonight yet another pair of twins for their first visit.  

Terrible tragedy in East lothian.

Driving back from Dunblane on Sunday afternoon and laughing at a programme on Radio Scotland when I realised that it was Kiera Murphy, friend of the Mercat Bar and comedienne - really good.

On the other hand, Alex (fishy) Salmond's attempt at humour by publishing, probably at public expense, his outline paper for an Independent Scotland - certainly hit the spot - no doubt a funnier read that the "Oor Willie" album,   but I will stick too Oor Willie, not because there are more pictures but it is more believable.
Not sure how many trees were wasted in the publication,  but I am sure the six hundred foot high wind generator anchored in the bay at Methill, Fife, will produce enough power to compensate - provided we get a stiff breeze and it does not fall over.

On a more serious and sadder note, terrible tragedy in East Lothian with the deaths of three teenagers in a car crash near Tyningham a couple of days ago - town of Dunbar in shock.   This morning, another serious accident on the A68 (Dalkeith by pass) near Whitecraig - no news yet as to whether it is also a fatal.

Been busy as usual dotting between the two Mercat Bars, even managed to do some of my own work and also get down to RA 500, Laird O Cockpen,  on Tuesday night - not a big attendance,  but those who could not make it missed an excellent evening, well done Sparky.

Been into the City these past few days, what a nightmare, roadworks, traffic lights blocking the road all in the name of health and safety, potholes everywhere and the cars suspension taking a real hammering.   City planners having a laugh, new housing developments ringing the town, adding to the congestion trying to get in - soon be the case that the only way into the centre of the city will be by train or tram - and Princes Street will be the domain of tourists and immigrant beggars.   No wonder everyone is heading for the out of town shopping centres.

Up sharp for my breakfast meeting with the BNI, then lots to do at the pub -  no rest for the wicked over the weekend.

Quick week's summary

Despite everything I have not expired, just finding it hard to believe I have been so occupied this week as to be unable to find time to write a few lines.  I did set out on Thursday night with the best of intentions but was confronted with a quandary which took up my evening.

Difficult to remember at this stage what I even did during the week,  apart from work !!  But spoke too soon - found my diary and also the reason for my lack of memory . 

Monday, worked and then headed for town, dicky suit, black tie, and headed through to Glasgow for the Incorporation of maltman dinner in the Merchants Hall  =  enough said,  lovely meal, good company,  and eventually got home at  3.15 a.m.

Tuesday, recovering !!   went to work at lunchtime and was there at the Mercat Grill till  10.15 pm., driver and jack of all trades.
Wednesday,  back at the Grill, job to be done,  home wards,  had to fit in one of my other jobs before heading back to Bonnyrigg for the OES meeting -  no marks for guessing who fell asleep during the meeting.
Thursday, planned day off when we headed to the Balmoral Hotel for a spa day, followed by afternoon tea -  very relaxing ( or as Sparky would say - chilling out)  but sadly my massage was not up to expectation.       Afternoon tea,  nice,  but not to be a daily event.      From there,  home wards, and any benefits were lost due to having so much  to catch up with,  baking for Mrs B and  bookwork for me.

Friday, again, back at the Grill,  Costco, Bookers,  before heading to the ELCO Club Tranent for the annual reunion dinner of the E Div Retired Police Officers -  turned out to be a very good night, would have been better if I could have stayed there but with an early day today I was up, up and away.

And so it continued,  up, up and away early this morning to the Hilton Double Trees, Dunblane, (formerly the Dunblane Hydro) for a residential training weekend.

Currently rather tired, and also peeed off with Scotland's defeat by Australia at Murrayfield,  mainly because I have to respond to Phil the upside down father of Robbie and Scott who sent me one of  his pre match wind ups.

21 again- dinners, celebrations and all

Sunday p.m.,  still standing (sitting really),   full of X Factor,  Strictly Come Dancing, and red wine -

Saturday the Grill was really busy all day and then into the evening with three bigger parties in for meals.  Works party;   25th Wedding anniversary , and a birthday party -  but as I was elsewhere during the evening I can only hear the feedback.

I attended the Grand Superintendents Annual Dinner for the Province of Midlothian,  the final one for Alex Mooney before he demits office after three years in post.   Good attendance at the Bonnyrigg Lodge, (Dalhousie No. 720).  Main guest was Ian Fraser, First Principal  of  Supreme Grand Royal Arch of Scotland, and guest speaker was the Deputy Headmaster of Salter's Gait School, Dalkeith, which caters for children with extreme learning difficulties.  The school was the one of the primary beneficiaries of charitable aid from the Province for the past three years.

Managed to get a lift home with RGB who had been working yet another long day between the Mercat bar and Mercat Grill.
Bit of a dark foreboding sky when we left the lodge.

Homewards, yet another sleepless night and then up and away to open up at the Mercat Grill this morning.    Busy day once again,  and the Mercat Bar was even busier with the rugby crowds who were heading for the Scotland  v South Africa game at Murryfield ( bit of a serious thrashing for the Scots).

Currently still  MIA is RGB whose birthday today is slowly passing without him.

Time out, just for a wee while.

Sort of quick follow up to last entry,  lots on the news about how the Scottish Government are promoting electric cars, green energy, and with a £5000 grant hope for a massive take up of the offer.  No doubt Edinburgh Council will hope likewise, so that when the power goes off the cars will grind to a halt and "voila" no more congestion in Edinburgh - simple !!

BUT despite this,  new licenses have been granted for further deep sea oil exploration off the Scottish Coast -   big time porkies by our political leaders, on both sides of the Border, and no doubt world wide -  treating us like mushrooms,   kept in the dark and fed sh*t.

Never mind, last two days I took some time off and managed to use up a Gift Voucher for an overnight stay at Airth Castle,  by Kincardine.
What a lovely place,  bit disappointing when I arrived and learned that the Airth Castle on all the brochures is primarailly used for weddings and special events, whilst about 95% of the guests stay in the new section of the hotel which has been built around three old houses.  Notwithstanding, the new hotel is lovely, with a beautiful d ining room, conference and ballrooms, a n excellent spa and leisure suite and  very comfortable bedrooms.
Enjoyed the stay, used the spa facilities, had my back "deknotted", (still suffering)  - staff were very nice.

 

On our way home we passed the new sculptures at  the side of the motorway by Falkirk,  two majestic horses made from sheets of stainless steel,  

Certainly much more pleasing than the daft horn which has decorated the M8 at Whitburn for years.

 

Times are hard.

Times are hard, or so the saying goes,  however - just take a look at the total chaos in the Philippines caused by the recent typhoon there.  With winds of 170 mph,  it makes our stormy days here sound particularly balmy !!    The locals there, thousands killed, townships flattened, are doing their best to get on with life, struggling due to lack of resources, water , etc -  but International aid is on its way, provided they ca get out the airport.

However,  I suppose everything is relative to ones surroundings,  here we are struggling to come to terms with the fact that the major Electricity Companies are once again shafting us by hiking up the prices, literally cartelling,  but will the Government or the shareholders do anything about it - doubt so.
Great article about how much Mr Salmond's wind farms are costing us to erect and at times keep switched off -  under these circumstances, perhaps it would have been better to forget about blighting Donald Trump's seaside view.

On the home front - even more dramatic events are unfolding in Glasgow -  the council caused an outcry by threatening to remove the traffic cone from the Wellington Statue,   only 75000 complaints about that so they changed their mind -  then, someone managed to get up and take the cone off !!!!!

In Edinburgh,  Hibernian Football Club were "parading" Terry Butcher and Maurice Malpas as their new managerial team today -   I thought that  horses were paraded -  not professional football managers.    They did a remarkable job at Inverness  Caley Thistle where they will be a great loss,  the Hibs fans will be hoping they can repeat this here in the City.      Just hope the players are hungry enough to learn -  and not be like the guy in the English Premier  Division who said he was too rich to have the hunger needed for the game   !!!   have said this all along, big wages do not necessarily guarantee good players.

Interesting article in tonight's Edinburgh Evening news by a journalist who is writing about the tram works and the many business who have become causalities of the tram project - and by the time the truth comes out, there will be a few more.

IPA No 1 Region , visit by German Officers.

Possibly an age thing,  too much to do , not enough hours and forgetting what happened last.  Trying to recollect -  Thursday worked,  stopped and then worked again till late.
Friday,  worked early  then off to the airport to meet a group of German Police Officers, all members of the IPA , over for the weekend to visit the City.   Had a wee run round the outskirts and then stopped off at the Mercat Grill where they sampled malt whisky and cask ale, and fed on soup and sandwiches.  Welcome to Schotland.

Onwards,  into the City for a Kodac stop at Hollyrood , The Palace and Parliament, up the Royal Mile and then dropped off at their hotel.

 

Evening, we met up again at the Mercat Bar, hosted by No. 1 Region IPA, (Edinburgh), for a Scottish themed dinner,  haggis piped in by John McIntosh,  who did his usual rendition of Robert Burns   "address to the haggis" - total incomprehensible to Scots and Germans alike !!

Thanks to Rod McNeil who had the group bedecked with  Haw Jimmy hats, and presented gifts from our No I region, and accepted an assortment of gifts from our visitors.

 

   Wee bit of  confusion around the work  "horseradish" on the menu being served with the venison,  they seemed to think we were actually eating horse!!!

So, home to bed, and for those who had been night shift on Thursday and gone straight to the airport for the flight - well deserved.

Saturday -  group had a tour of the Royal Mile,  before taking pies and beer at  the Masonic hall, Murrayfield, and then onwards to see Scotland defeat  Japan.

This evening it was a ghostly experience for all as Roddy took them down the Royal Mile on the Ghost hunt.

Just a pity the weather has turned cold - not much warm clothing can be packed in a hand baggage to keep the price down on an Easy Jet flight.

 

Meanwhile ,  somewhere in the sunnier north, our other intrepid group of travellers are enjoying themselves in the Fareo Islands  where it is allegedly warmer than here.

Over the Hills and far away

Not a bad morning,  so after another look at the bonfire,  I headed eastwards on the A1 and down to Duns, Berwickshire, on the steed of steel,.    Nice run down the A1, Police Scotland  Traffic Officers  were operating  near Torness Power Station, and the camera van was actually sitting beside a speed camera five miles further on,  bit more community fundraising.

In Duns,  Andy at Border Bikes gave the steed the once over,  sound as a pound, clean bill of health, before I headed homewards testing my new helmet (long overdue).

For a change I took the moor road from Duns to Gifford,  up past Whiteadder Reservoir,

 This would have been a great run in the middle of summer,  however, with damp roads, mud from fields, fallen leaves,  wandering sheep and the ever present pheasants and partridges -  it certainly raised the pulse !!!
Only other downside was having to clean the steed of mud before putting it to bed.

Into town for tea at the Mercat Bar,  bit of a treat,  nice Ribeye steak, portobello flat mushrooms and a glass of  Shiraz - perfect.

Not the Bonfire I wanted to see.

Last night, Bonfire night, and a bit of a surprise in store for me. 

Heading home from the Mercat Grill , saw a bonfire and stopped for a heat, joined a short time later by others,  but it was a bit different.

This was about ten tons of rubbish, dumped by fly tippers in a public car park, and either set on fire intentionally or by spontaneous combustion.  First on the scene were the Police  followed by the fire service, who had more than enough to do on such a busy night -  but as trees and fencing had caught alight it was necessary to control the blaze.   This "rubbish" consisted of masses of plastic , lots and lots of carpets and carpet tiles, ladies and children's clothing - tiny shoes,   which looked like the contents of hotel clearance or something similar.       Obviously contractors were paid to clear away this rubbish  but chose to dump it rather than pay for landfill fees.

So,   this morning , this was the sight which greeted us,  the fire had burst back into life early on and the fire service had to return to the scene.
The rubbish was dumped there about two weeks ago, and despite a number of contacts the cleansing people had not manged to either remove it, or try and trace the culprits.    It would appear that local authority priorities are changing !!!!

Sunshine on the Honest Toun

What a lovely morning today, despite the hard frost and having to scrape the windscreen.

Off to Bookers and stopped off for a look at a small statue I had never noticed before on the promenade near to the harbour at Musselburgh,  nice little statue depicting the fisherfolks, just a pity it was sandstone as it was already showings signs of weathering.

It was a very still morning, not  breath of wind, ideal for Mr Salmond's wind farms dotted around the country,  just the dab, cold enough to need the heating on,  but not enough wind to fire up the generators - perfect.    Will not suit the many illegals, en route by sea, becalmed in the middle of the North Sea,  who, incidentally will not have to warry about being run down by the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers - only £3 billion over budget so far. However that will not effect the hundreds who already have their Five Euro , One way only,  bus tickets from Romania and Bulgaria.

 

 

Hopefully we have another nice tomorrow, having a (dare I say it - even under my breath), day off , so might try a run on the steed of steel down into the Borders.

 

Fireworks, music, Meetings and Recovery.

Must have been the lull between the storms,  yesterday morning the heavens opened and it looked like wellies were going to be the order of the day, even one of the customers arrived with his on-  wee frogs on each toe !!    But as the hours passed the skies cleared to reveal a nice day - ideal for our planned fireworks display.

So into the evening and a large crowd gathered at the Mercat Grill for what turned out to be  very spectacular fireworks display organised by RGB and thanks to the farmer who allowed our pyrotechnic boys access to his field.- This was followed by music in the Bar , supplied by the local folk group  "The Yard of Ale",  so all in all we had a busy and entertaining day at the Mercat.  Busy day, some new customers -    almost forgot that we had a surprise proposal there on Friday night when a young gent popped the question to his girlfriend much to the delight of the staff and customers.  Certainly a first for us at the Grill, but exciting,

Big change this morning, cool but bright which unexpectedly turned into a beautiful day.   I was up early  and off to rendezvous with Tom MacInally before we headed up to the half yearly Meeting of No 1 region IPA (International Police Association)  held at Castlebrae, Auchterarder, the Scottish Police Treatment Centre.  Spectacular drive up through Glendevon, by Gleneagles - magnificent in the morning sunlight with all the autumnal colours.

What a marvellous place,  opened in 1996 and since then has offered treatment and support to almost 20,000 ill or injured police officers.

However, to day, we had the conference room to use for our meeting, with Representatives from the various Scottish regions (pre Police Scotland) - now very much mixed up. Nice to see Tom Crozier, the National President  in attendance.
Good meeting - interesting ,  great to hear of all the work being done around the Country and of all the visits by overseas offices, and also of the activities by the Special Interest Groups.
Twenty nine local officers are heading for the Faeroe Islands this week, while we have thirteen German Officers coming to Edinburgh.

End of the meeting Tom and I headed southwards in Tom's open top BMW tourer, with my topee very much at risk!!!  benefiting from the bright sunshine, just about as good as an experience as the SMART cabriolet.

Missing days

Did not realise I had been off line for nearly a week.    In that time the strike and threatened closure at Grangemouth has been averted,   the UNITE union backed down  and the owners relented on a full shut down -  the man at the centre of the row resigned from the Union,   a week earlier and the whole fiasco would never have occurred.   But the Union are now defending the bullying tactics by their members.

Energy companies are having a ball running rings around the Government and the public, screwing the nation, cartelling and price fixing -  plenty to gain from folks suffering, financially and physically.  
Sounds a bit like the PubCo scandal which is still ongoing, price fixing and overcharging.

Two days ago I spoke with a friend who had just been made redundant, who loves their job, but is being axed due to cost cutting to please the Government.    Now we have the prospect of  the next batch of E 8 immigrants arriving in their droves soon, to form queues outside the DHS offices, claim their subsidised housing, benefits, medical care, and we know from past experiences that the gypsy element will certainly resort to form -
With child and adult obesity on the increase, a rising local population, and an influx of immigrants we might soon be standing shoulder to shoulder in fear of falling off our tiny island and into the North Sea or one of our surrounding waters -  I suppose one consolation being that by huddling together we will all be warm when the lights go out.   Easy to see why there are so many adverts on the radio advising us to prepare our homes and vehicles for the next big freeze.

Now that will have cheered you up no end,  about the same effect as Michael getting his come uppers on East Enders,  the jokes by Trick or treat kids  last night -   But  I can at least look forward to the fireworks display and music by the Yard of Ale tomorrow night at the Mercat Grill.

Weather has not been too bad, despite the rain, thunder, hailstones - which have not stopped me using the steed of steel this week.

Off to Auchterarder on Sunday for a regional meeting of the IPA, a day off for me !!!!

Sunshine , Bangs and songs

Currently a film called "Sunshine over Leith" in the cinemas which is proving very popular,  not seen it myself, but everyone is singing the songs. 
Anyway,  have added some photos from my visit to Leith Docks during the week,  when, coincidentally, the sun was shining.

I always find something to interest me there -  at the other end of the harbour is a virtual mountain with thousands of tons of scrap metal waiting to be shipped out the country, no doubt to India or China,   no wonder the metal thieves are so prevalent.  I heard a story that they were waiting under the cross country pylons while the men were repairing wires above them, and threats were such that the engineers were told to stay above ground till the thieving twats had left.
Lead stolen from windows at George Heriot's School, sculptures, Grannies's tea pot -  nothing is sacred -

Another busy day at the Mercat Grill,  once again many nice customers, repeats and newbies,  so we are certainly doing something right, good food, good staff, pleasant surroundings,  only time will tell.

Next Saturday, fireworks followed by a "yard of Ale",  something to look forward to.

Thomas Beck Hunter VC

Lovely day today, had time off and ended up at Ocean Terminal for a wee walk in the sun.
Found this memorial at the quayside, dedicated Thomas Beck Hunter VC, from Leith, a former employee of Waddies of Leith, who gave his life to save a number of his comrades.