Farewell 2017, let's see what tomorrow brings

Once again,  nearly three weeks since my last Post, either a sign that I have been busy or just a mood thing.   Probably both, we have been very busy on the lead up to the Xmas and New Year, so much for supposedly trying to take it easy and enjoy retirement, just impossible.     At the end of the day things have been going pretty well at The Mercat Grill, the restaurant is very popular and believe it or not, we have already had a request for a booking for X mas day 2018 !!!    We could have filled the place several times over,  but we decided to stick with the single seating which allowed both clients and staff to enjoy the day and the evening.

Must say that Xmas day was a treat, certainly made up for all the doom and gloom we are having to cope with these days,  lets hope that things improve in 2018, but I very much doubt it.   Much as I would love to have a real old rant and rave, not very appropriate tonight, so will just wait and see if I can find a few positives to comment on later.

All the best. 

Eddie Anderson, RIP

I attended the funeral service of one of my former colleagues yesterday.  Eddie Anderson, who I worked with for a number of years at Penicuik,  He retired twenty eight years ago, but sadly passed away in the ERI after a short illness.    Eddie was a keen bowler and he and I used to play at the Penicuik private Bowling Club, and also took part in many Police competitions.  I remember playing in a pairs competition at Grangemouth years ago and we were playing the Scottish Champions and managing to keep our nose ahead.    The heavens opened and the other rinks cleared however Eddie said that we would stay on and keep playing. Our opponents were not happy and as the rain belted down we drew ahead and eventually won the match.  Our opponents were jeered off the green by their compatriots, so they took the huff and took off !!!  seriously dischuffed.   
In the days before composition bowls, Eddie had a set of "woods", one which had literally no bias and which would do a right or left turn in its last few inches of run, thus turning round behind lying bowls, the number of games Eddie won with that bowl.
He and I both used to walk our dogs with us when on the night shift, him with Dawn, a German Shepherd and me with Goldie, a golden lab.   I am sure the local worthies thought they were properly trained as they gave us a wide berth.  One morning we left Goldie in the office while we took Dawn home,  however when we got back Goldie had wrecked the office - that certainly caused me a lot of grief.   Eddie had a lovely family who he was so proud of,  I am sure they will all miss him.   RIP

Mr Grumpy once again, and more gripes with Midlothian.

Bit of a tantrum yesterday when I tried to get parked at the B & M car park in Penicuik,   not a single space to be had, yet there were spaces over at lydl , however you need to buy in Lydl to get your parking validated or you get one of their parking tickets.   So, here I am trying to support local shops but cannot because of the inconsiderate folks who use Penicuik town centre as a Park and Ride.   Even folks trying to support the new Storehouse Shop in the High Street are struggling, which will not help this enterprise.
Add to this the temporary lights on the A701 at Beeslack corner, not a soul working there , just a big inconvenience to our commuters.      So bottom line, I actually phoned Midlothian Council to complain, not that it will make the slightest difference.
BUT I did hear that the next round of cuts proposed by Midlothian Council, might be the death toll for all but one library in the District, so much for encouraging folks to read and write and what kind of service where there be thereafter.    ALSO, a suggestion that there will be more cuts to local bus services, including Pathead.
Looks like it is fine for hundreds of houses to be built, causing increased congestion further and further out of the City.  Town planning, a bloody shambles.

Midlothian Council and even more money wasted.

I was going to say that I often wonder how local authorities get away wit wasting money,  in reality it is not often, but daily !!!  Literally very time I get in the car and drive somewhere in Midlothian I see some form of money wasting exercise taking place.  BUT to be fair, no doubt this is replicated throughout the UK by Local Authorities who do not appear answer to anyone.  Tonight it was replacement temporary traffic lights at Loanhead,   normally two way lights operate,  but with road works it is now three way,  however, last night they were not working and traffic was running smoothly , no problems :    this is yet another example of  health and Safety Regs costing us a fortune.
Question or observation :-   on a daily basis there are hundreds, if not thousands of "Lolly pop people" manning crossing, near to schools every day, and some just stand and press the button on the trafffic lights for the Green Man,  eg, Dalkeith ;  Carlops Road, Penicuik;  Whitecraig,  but to identify a few locally ::  WHY,  WHY,  when outwith the hours of their attendance  children manage to cross the same roads on their own /   Stick up 20 MPH signs outside schools, ban dropping off within two hundred yards,  maybe more, then no need for these staff.

Again,  not just Midlothian  Council employees,   but right across the board,    how often do we see workies sitting in vans, skiving off jobs,  busy texting and blethering on phones when they should be earning their wages,  bet your bottom dollar if they were self employed or paying the wages it would never happen.

Queensferry Crossing,  or the third Forth Bridge,  I hope the government is not picking up the snagging bill for the repairs which are causing the current closures and subsequent delays.

Lighting offences,   can now be counted in their hundreds,  every day once darkness falls the one eyed monsters hit the roads and very little seems to be being done by the Police.   I keep looking for something on these fancy overhead gantries about the need to ensure lights on motor vehicles are working,  but no,  watch out for deer, fog, rain, etc.        Tonight I followed two cars with no lights on at all,  yet, despite my hatred of cyclists I saw and have to compliment a couple whose light, back and front were brighter than most cars.

Tesco Diddle (or the opposite)   in our local store was looking for  Hellimans mayonnaise,  small bottle cost £1 after a reduction,  cost per 100 ml was 24p,   beside it was large bottle , double the size, cost £4 at 54p per 100ml  ???????????????   people,  please pay attention and do your sums.

Saturday 2nd, 720 Installation.

Bit of a surprise to be typing here tonight,  today I had five different appointments in my diary,   9am  funeral of Norman Saunderson,  member of RA  Loanhead, Honor Concord and Fidelity, a real wee gent, super mason and brilliant in his time:  11am  funeral of David Ewart who used to be a waterman at Glencorse Reservoir and then moved up to Logan cottage  between the two reservoirs, Davy used to look after my Labrador, Goldie,  when we were on holiday,  it was like sending the dog to a health spa, he was always looking brilliant when we got him home.    1 pm  Squaremen at Haymarket,   and  2 pm   KT;s  St Bernard De Clairveaux at Newbattle,  however having been ill yesterday , slept all night in a chair and still ill this morning,  just not realistic.    However, I was committed to going to the Installation at Lodge Dalhousie  Bonnyrigg  No 720 at 5 pm where I was to present the Harmony jewel to Neil Russell who was being reinstalled for his second year.   Must say, a brilliant installation by Alex Mcbeth, doing his first ever, faultless.  I think there were ninety seven present who witnessed a super degree, well done.   Just unfortunate that I was unwell as I no doubt missed an excellent Festival of St John,  (especially when  I was supposed to be a top table guest).

Planes and boats, etc, in sunnier climes

I know that I do go on about the trams and pedal cycles in and around Edinburgh, and quite rightly so,  however on my recent trip to Gibraltar I was lucky enough to be there when the QE 2 was visiting.  One of our friends was on board with his wife and said they had a fantastic time, upgraded to a suite, etc.  Still did not stop them getting off to pop into the local M & S Store.

 Just coincidental that while waiting for the QE 2 to sail, two of the military planes took off from the airport and headed out to sea,  not sure what they were geared up for,  could have been searching for drug runners, submarines, etc,  but impressive planes which went out every day we were there.

With so much smuggling going on across the border, of drugs and tobacco, the Police were very active with high profile patrols,    this patrol boat was in the West Bay beside the airport, where,  with only a few yards to the border  cigarette smuggles were very active. £2.60p for a packet of twenty,  half the price they are in Spain and £6 less than the UK,    good old British Tax laws.   Still no match for the high speed RIBS which cross the Straits from Morocco at up to seventy miles an hour and can only be caught by helicopters.

 As Monarch Airlines recently went bust, there are very few airlines other than Easy Jet and British Airlines flying into this small but modern airport,  unusual in that all traffic from Gibraltar to Spain is stopped when planes come in to land as vehicles have to cross the runway.  One thing I did like was that the Duty free in the airport was cheaper for drink and tobacco than the local shops and they supply tamper proof bags which allow you to transit / change planes on the way home without the risk of having anything over 100ml confiscated.   Even the cafe in the airport was cheap, unlike the usual rip off establishments in the majority of airports around the world.

Time for a rant, again Black Friday

What a bloody scam,  Black Friday, tons and tons of cheap junk imported and then flogged off at so called bargain prices,  there is not a single retailer who loses money on these events, just another super marketing strategy.

In Edinburgh, the highly commended German Market,  what a load of marketing crap, folks queuing to buy goods at inflated prices, rip off day, and the guy who franchises the whole set up just sits back and runs his hands as the coins roll in . Not bad if you can get away with it.

Nightly runs into the City are now a nightmare with dozens of cyclists and many more pedestrians running riot on the roadways, and of course the tram ways,  centre of the current public enquiry, which is revealing massive negligence by all sides, least of all the City Council.  In the meantime, who gives a sh*t about the many businesses who went to the wall due to the tram debacle.

Winter appears to arrived on our doorstep, or in Penicuik at least, a wee bit snow yesterday, heavy frost last night and now that I have four new scrapers and five bottles of deicer, car managed to hit the road this morning.   Just need to see what happens am  Sunday

Home, up and running at long last

Now been home from my adventures in the sun for a week plus.   In the meantime I eventually managed to get rid of my TalkTalk account which was unbelievably poor,  every time the phone rang I lost my broadband connection.    So despite impending repercussions from Talk Talk,  I have gone to a company called 2Circles who appear to have fixed all my problems.

Masonic season in full swing now, between blues, reds and OES  four nights this week, then it gets busier!!!

 This was one from the Installation of Bill Annand to the Lodge of Instruction in Gibraltar.,

As previously written about,  this was me receiving a plaque from the  IPA team out there where every Officer was an enrolled member.

Added this one from the recent trip to India where the two Ann,s , William and |Sandra covered a massive mileage,  saw the Taj Mahal,  Golden Temple,  Red Fort , etc, organised through Newmarket travel.

First you go up, then down, then up, etc., no options

well, it is now our last few hours here in Gibralter before jetting off to cooler climes.  Been an interesting week, plenty to see provided you can cope with the hills!!!  It is fine here if you can stay outside the defensive walls and walk around the marinas and areas of reclaimed land,  however once inside the walls everywhere is either up of down, steps, ramps , some steep and some very steep, end result for me is two rather knackered knees so it will be back to the pool for me to ease them off.
yesterday I had “a fair daunder” as they say, round the marinas, police and navy docks, though the ship repair yards and eventually ended up at the Police Headquarters where I managed to meet and say cheerio to Craig , my IPA colleague.
From there it was another zig zag course though side streets, the Botanical Gardens and then I stopped in at the lovely Rock Hotel for a nice cafe latte.   Downside of the hike up the hill, was the struggle downhill into the town centre, bit of an “ouch” journey, not quite following in the footsteps of mountain guides.
Lunch was a trio of tapas in a wee Spanish bar, then home to rest.
Evening was our third Masonic engagement, witnessing the installation of the new Mark Master to the St Thomas RA chapter No 168.  This wa a relatively short ceremony and all present then headed down into the Main Square where a superb farewell dinnner had been organised in an Italian Restaurant.

Floating hotel, The Sunborn, wee bit of a contrast.

once again, managed to wake up to sunshine and enjoy the same all day, which comes a bit of a surprise to the locals who usually have rain at this of the yea4. Watching the weather news, kind of chilly at home, and rain with high winds over othe parts of Spain.

One advantage of bein* out on your own is that you can stop, start, and 2ander as you please, so today I did that and thoroughly enjoyed myself. right down Main Street, through the square and out into Ocean Village where I wanted to see the. Sunborn which is a five star floating hotel, a purpose built ship brought in on a piggy back vessel and docked here. it is beautiful, superbly furnished, , casino, nice restaurant and facilities and overlooks the marina and aerport runway.  Has a chat with the staff who allowed me to wander about and take photos. Managed to watch an Easy Jet come in and land at the same time wa watching aPolice boat on the lookout for cigarette smugglers.

Back up into the town and ambled through a warren of narrow side streets, stoping for coffee at The Star pub, and then eventually sought sanctuary in the lovely Kings Chapel, which is part of the Governor’ s Mansion. Nice and peaceful, and while ther met a local lady who gave me a bit of the history of the place and some hints on places to visit.  Told her where I was staying and her advice was that in future I should spend an extra £20 a night and get a bit more luxury, wherever I went.

Ev3ning was spend at a meeting of the Calpe Lodge, No 325 of the Irish Constitution where they had a candidate. very interesting and quite different to our own workings.

Armistice Day in Gibraltar

Woke up with the birds and had an early breakfast,  but considering that I fell asleep at 4.30 pm last night and never made it out during the evening, so a lost night.

Our group headed out and bagged a good site near to the war memorial so we could watch all the activity around the wreath laying, etc.   Very good turn out from all the services plus local cadets and then the veterans.  We must have stood for over two hours, and whilst we were in the shade many were in the sun, so a number of the youngsters fainted with the heat, keeping the St John’s Ambulance staff busy.  The Governor General and a number of ranking dignitaries were present and after the service and wreath laying spent a lot of time passing through the ranks talking to those on parade. An excellent ceremony.

One of our friends from Dalkeith, Esk 42. Peter Allan, called to say he had arrived on the Queen Elizabeth cruise liner,  but as they only had limited time it was a quick look around the Peninsula then back for a 2pm sailing.   I did try to get into the docks to get some photos but was turned away asInhad no pass so had to fins a suitable vantage point to seethe QE sail off.  photos on Face Book,  Probably not planned but two of the military planes took off as the ship sailed.
popped into Morrison’s supermarket, as one does, stood in a queue for ages only to be told there was a thirty minute waiting time for food, so between that and no one serving in the bar, yes in the shop, was not impressed.

However,  more impressive was the Bastion Centre, which was formerly part of the military operation, but is now a big leisure complex with a bowling alley, ice rink, cinemas and restaurant.

Bumped into my IPA colleague, Craig Philbin , who was on duty for the parade and had to apologise for missing his performance at the jazz festival last night.

So now I need to see what happens later today.

Not a sheep or a goat in sight,

A sunny day here in Gibralter yesterday, ideal for a run round the Peninsula with Craig, one of the local constabulary and very active member of the IPA.   Picked up at the hotel and had a very interesting four hours visiting all sort of nooks and crannies around the Rock.   Certainly not good for the old ticker, some of these roads are so narrow and steep, an absolute nightmare.   [Nearly forgot again,  despite the rocks and hills, not a sheep or goat in sight, just hoards of monkeys who were ambushing the tourist, nicking their ice creams, etc.]Not the place for high speed Police pursuits.   We did Craig’s. “Grand Tour” right round the coast line , through the tunnels, visited St Michael,s cave , but it was a bit of a nightmare as there were queues of taxis ferrying the tourist who had come of the Thompson Inspiration cruise liner from the harbour.   plenty stories from Craig about the activities of the drug runners who are brining in large quantities of drugs from Africa across the Straits and into Spain.   Wee bit of practical experience, when having just told me all about the cigarette and tobacco smuggling between Gibralter and 🇪🇸, we actually came across a pair of “spotters” on the lookout and then a local packing cartons of cigarettes under the seat seat of his car ready to drive over into Spain where they double in price.   In this instance the guy was very lucky, lucky, indeed and left with a warning and a trail of adrenaline!!

Met up with Some of Craig’s IPA colleagues in the local Police / IPA Club for lunch and received a lovely IPA plaque to bring home as a momentous.    No idea how to get the photos onto this blog. Hopefully I will get to meet them later in the week.

Taxis arrived at the hotel to take our group up to the Masonic Hall, a lovely place and home for several different orders.   We were there to see our fellow me,her. Bill Annand being installed into the chair of St Bernard Lodge of Research, No 1817 S.C. where after the installation we had a meal and drinking!   I hasten to add that me being a party pooper did leave before the rest and was in bed at a reasonable time and sober.

Another trip organised for today,    Photos being popped up on my Face Book page until I fathom out how to import photos on this I pad.

Gibraltar kiss is a bit different from its Glasgow counterpart.

morning has dawned here in Gibralter , and thinking it was going to be sunny and warm here , found it ever so chilly last night and no hot water bottle with me.

Had two good flights with BA from Edinburgh to London and then to Gibraltar, both left on time or a few minutes early and both were ahead of schedule on arrival.  Just a pity that BA have gone down the Ryanair road and you have to buy your drinks and snacks unless in upgrade section,  but not the end of the world.

Was last off the plane in Gibralter and lovely lady at immigration stamped my passport and received a RA 500 pen for her efforts.

Not going to comment too much about the Bristol Hotel yet !!  Give myself time to acclimatise to the surrounding,  but it is certainly not in the same class as those that Mrs B, And co are staying in in India.

Met up with my local Police,  IPA contact, Craig, last night for a quick chat and am now about to head off with him on a grand tour of the area. !  Could be interestin*.  So watch this space.

Nearly forgot,  a “Gibralter Kiss” is what they call the dents on the cars here, all the motors seem to have a multitude of bumps and scrapes which are inevitable due to the tiny wee narrow streets here.

Just a wee one before bedtime! Where have we heard that before.

All packed and place tidy, not that it will last for long with RGB about!!!
Mercat Grill ticking along nicely and there will be birthday doo this Saturday , a thank you for regular customers over the past seven years we have been there. Just a pity I will miss it.

Chose not to buy any newspapers this last week, really depressing most of them, even the football results depending on you you support.

Bloody carry on and a half in Muirhouse, Edinburgh with the local headbangers rioting and attackin* the police with paving slabs and fireworks resulting in injury to so the officers.  Time to bring back zero tolerance policing and do away with this nanny state that Nicola and her namby pamby cohorts are forcing upon us. hate to say it,  but with the current legislators and the state of Police Scotland we can only expect things to get worse in the future.

From other media reports there have been numerous other incidents with fireworks during the last week or so, resulting in some very serious injuries, blindness, etc.  At least we are coping wit( fireworks and not firearms as is the case in th USA.  Totally unbelievable to numbers of categorised “mass shootings”taking place, and with Donald Duck in charge, who clearly supports the right to bear arms, there is no chance of a change in their gun laws.   Surprised Mr Duck did not pop in to see that other bampot in Korea while on his soirée to the Far East  compliments of the USA taxpayers.

Steed of Steel is away indoc getting new front forks fitted which will make for a much better ride once I get back and on the road again.  

Just need to get up in time for the plane in the morning !!

Surprise , surprise, Halloween over

Bit of a shock to me to see how long it has been since I last wrote on this blog.    I was seriously peed off by an friend who cast some off hand comments about blogs and Face Book, which put me off writing, especially when I was not out and about as much as normal.

Anyway,  now quite the opposite with plenty activity going on,  just reinstalled into the chair of RA 500. Laird of Cockpen,  which is ten years since my original installation.   Visiting RA chapters, OES , and also 720 Dalhousie, Bonnyrigg when I can.   Even the Squaremen who have started their new season.  So plenty to choose from.

OES Persevere,  closes tonight for the last time and going into reponement.

Ann, Annie, Sandra and William are in India on a tour and are off to the Taj Mahal today,  said it has been lovely, good company, excellent hotels, etc,  but still have a train journey north to the Golden Temple at Amritsar.     Sounds great.

I am off to Gibralter with some brother s and companions to three meeting there over next few days  so not as hectic a time as India would. Have been for me, but following medical advice gave that trip a miss.      Might do a follow up later.

Yet another two weeks have passed

Quite frightening how life nearly passes you by, especially as you get older it seems.   So what has happened recently,  I would think that going to the launch of peter Ritchie's new book on Monday was very interesting, and no doubt exciting for Peter as there was a great turn out of his friends and fans.  so the relaunched book one is now out and the others will follow. lead character is now Grace McCallum  and not Grace Den Herder as was in the original trilogy.     Met up with my mate Dan (the man) for a bite to eat at the new Weatherspoon's pub in Lothian Road,  the Caley which was the old cinema,  beautiful transformation of a lovely building.   Similarly, attended a meeting of the E&SESALTA  within the The Dome, George Street, where again the owners Caledonian Heritable have done a marvelous job of turning a magnificent old bank into a beautiful restaurant.  We had afternoon tea there a few weeks ago which was first class, and had a peek into the Green Room which, for a party of twenty would be my place to go in Edinburgh.
masonic season now back in swing, so visits to 720 with the blues,   St Andrews, Honour Concorde and Fidelity: Acheson's Haven, in the Reds;   King David -  the KT's;  Persevere, Cockpen, Blantyre, and Ibrox with the OES.   and with RA  and Squarries kicking in properly lots to look forward to.

Motor cycling still to the fore, and as the Steed is in dock awaiting new front forks I have been out and about on the Time Machine,  good, but I do miss the Steed.

Strangers from foreign parts as Mr McInally appeared from French France and we had breakfast at Weathespoon's booking office at the top of the ramp from the Waverley station,  even met young Robert who is duty manager there, not seen him for ages so it was nice.

Enthralled with the latest series of Strictly Come dancing,  excellent entertainment,  unlike the news and current affairs programmes which are depressing.  Comedy with President Idiot Trump ( who must be a total embarrassment to the majority of the USA, and his opposite number , the manic Dictator president of North Korea, with his big fat finger on the button, all set to start World War Three. (shame his population have no idea how bloody crazy he is)    Hopefully there might me another wee earthquake and North Korea slip off the map.  Trump would probably not notice, thinking it was part of the African continent which he is not quite au fait with.
As an avid follower of the earthquake sites on the internet, the recent tragedies come as no surprise,  it just proves that man is no match for mother nature.   I certainly would not be cruising in the Carribean while all there hurricanes are causing chaos, so it pays to avoid booking during these months,  mind you, the cruise ships give the area a wide berth so it is just a case of hoping that the hope ports are open when needed.   Beats the Viking cruise where I came back with calluses on my hands and bum, and earache from that bloke beating the drum !!!!

Hollyrood , new venue for the comedy club, Edinburgh.

THe Edinburgh Festival has just finished with party pieces on stage by Alex (Slippery) Salmond and friends, and a guest appearance by Jeremy Corbyn during his whistle stop tour of "me and lefty pals will wreck your economy" .  Ruth Davidson , bit the dust and she was quite a nice person, far too nice.  However, Nicola and her pals seem to be doing pretty well on their own as well.  SO Nicola has stopped going on meantime about Independence, but looks like bumping up Income Tax !!   Diesel cars to be  phased out and electric cars the norm,  so we will need thousands of new charging points all over the country, maybe a windmill at each point to generate the lecky.  Journey times massively increased, and a nice touch,  no learner drivers over the new Queensferry crossing (Third Forth Bridge)! As it will soon be a motorway learners are not permitted on the Forth Bridge which is now for pedestrians and cyclists etc.   Why did we ask the Queen to open the new Bridge this week when Nicola had already done it?    Vote catching going on by placating the Greens, giving votes to prisoners,  who next, probably automatic voting rights for immigrants in the land of milk and honey.
THEN!  to keep the good folks of Edinburgh amused, the caring council plan on restricting older diesel cars from the City Centre within the next two years of issue £60 fixed penalty fines, add this to the extended 20 mph speed limit areas, we will all need massive pay rises to afford a 🚗.  the  public enquiry about the dreaded tram debacle is still underway and councillors past and present are all passing the buck left right and centre.  no lessons learned there at all as they are seriously considering giving the next phase the go ahead.
Really quite sad when these egotistical so and so's seemingly refuse to listen to reason.  WHere will it all end.

And we moaned about a wet August

Must say I was fed up hearing folks moaning about the weather during August, so now we have to realise how lucky we are compared to other parts of the World where floods , hurricanes and now an earthquake have been hitting headline since and front pages, taking our minds of the rantings of lunatic presidents, dictators and bampots.  Horrendous flooding in Asia with millions left homeless, hurricane Irma following hurricane Harvey through the Caribbean with yet another on its tail. total devastation so far caused by winds of up to 180 mph and extreme flooding by high tides, with large areas of Florida in the path over the next few days.  In Mexico a No 8 magnitude earthquake hit earlier today and residents now waiting on the aftershocks. God help those affected,  and PS.  Donald Trump does not think global warming has anything to do with it!!!

J K Rowling, Ian Rankine and Peter Ritchie all in one sentence

Peter Ritchie,  former Police Officer in Midlothian and now linked to the greats in Scottish modern crime writing.   Peter started writes crime thrillers on his retirement and after having his first four books published online. He has now been signed up by Black and White, an Edinburgh publishing house who have revamped his first four books and will launch the first one, now titled "Cause of Death" at 6.30 pm on Monday 18th September in Waterson's book store, 128 Princes Street, Edinburgh.    Hopefully many of his friends and colleagues will be able to attend and make it a memorable event.  Next three books will follow over three months and then he will start work on books five and six,  next thing we know will be a TV appearance.

SKY TV rip off, but is that my opinion!

Sitting here spitting blood as I have been listening to the BBC coverage of the Open Golf past three days on the radio as I do not have the rip off sky Sports package.   Interesting to see that during the day Sky are getting 330,000 viewers but the BBC are getting One million viewers on their Open Highlights feature. I received some bumf during the week from Sky who now want to break up the sports coverage and sell individual types of sports individually,  just another way of making money.  When I did work for BSkyB   they had league tables in the sales offices with winning sales teams getting all sorts of commission and rewards for boosting sales and their intent was to increase the cost to customers each year.   Apart from the cookery programmes and Nothing to Declare, time I also kicked Sky into touch.
Penicuik still having a partial boycott of Lidl after their new car parking procedure, so far I have not been back for five weeks, so Tesco is scoring.  Interesting to see that no such parking scheme implemented at the Lidl store in Musselburgh.

Mercat Grill busier than ever,  next wine night is 2nd September with a South African theme.

Steed of Steel running well, and have been out several times when weather was nice, had a quick run down to Duns on Tuesday to see Andy at Border Bikes and then back over the moors,  but today, fog bound in Penicuik, so no planes taking off from the public park!!!

My friend Lennie, who collided with a car who pulled out in front of him in Arrachar three weeks ago is still in the QE hospital, Glasgow with double fractures to the pelvis, is doing better than  expected and hopes to get home in a couple of weeks,  but recovery is slow, however he is determined to get a new 1200RT  to replace his wrecked baby and get back on the road again.   The lovely Catherine is recovering from her many bumps and scrapes and hopefully she and  Lennie will be out and about as a team sooner than later.
So another quiet few days for me till I have my NHS card stamped at my next appointment. Nothing but praise for the support and treatment I am getting.

Not confirmed yet, but no hose pipe ban this year so far.

I wonder why it rains so much in Penicuik, yet when you put on the weather forecast the sun is shining "down south". Not helped when Mrs B is watching Wimbledon and cracking up at the torrential rain filling our gutters. Was going to say that the only consolation is not having to water the garden, however, not true as the baskets need hand watering.

But the sun did shine on Wednesday and I had a run out on the Steed of Steel, down to Biggar and Coulter and round the hill to Broughton and back to Biggar via Hartee.   In the valley at the South of Biggar there was a super view of a Hercules transport plane drifting along above the tree tops, but not enough time for me to get a photo.

Mercat Grill is still busy, so much so that they have already closed their bookings for X-mas Day this year!!! Full House.

Probably like many, I lost interest in Wimbledon as soon as Andy Murray and Joanne Konta were knocked out.  But have just remembered that Jamie Murray is still keeping the flag flying for the UK.

I suspect that we are now beginning to see the effects of the so called "Nanny State", with young criminals running amok as there are little or no effective punishments, time to penalise the parents for lack of control, but if smacking is also forbidden what do you do.  Old adage,  bring back the birch, will never happen but it was a deterrent. Scots Law was once admired throughout the World, but hate to say that our politicians, no doubt pressured by greedy lawyers and the EU loonies have slowly been eroding the system.

I see our FM Nicola popped over to Brussels the other morning for a brief chat to one of the EU money grabbers,  if she had a £16 contract with unlimited calls from O,2 she could have made a call and blethered for as long as she wanted!!!  Probably spent more time in Edinburgh Airport than she did with the chappie.      I was dropping Sparky Mark off in the airport on Tuesday and t was a nightmare, queues trying to get in to dro off, no charges for drop off parking as they were pushing folk out the other end as fast as possible and queues trying to get back up onto the A8,  just as well the tram is there!!!

Friend from Dalkeith had her car stolen as she slept as the intruders broke in and took her keys, just heard of another in Newtongrange who had his new BMW car stolen under similar circumstances, and yesterday afternoon, one of our delivery drivers was overtaken in High Street Musselburgh, by two hooded youths, no helmets on, riding what was probably a stolen BMW motorcycle.

Bike wise, some motorists certainly are not, big time.

Despite all the publicity advising motorists to "Think Bikers"  my friend and his wife were victims of an eejit who pulled out of a garage forecourt just as they were approaching, the bike hit the side of the car and both were catapulted over the roof of the car  and down to earth with a hellish bump !!  Understatement,  Lenny has a fractured pelvis and is in hospital in Glasgow while his wife fortunately received only bumps and bruises.  So for a couple in their 70's they have been remarkably lucky, now for the long haul to recover  for Lennie, who is currently a long way from home but is getting a lot of support from the hiking fraternity including the Blue Knights and the Scottish Motorcycle Touring Group (IPA).

For me,  the Steed of Steel is back home, but being a bit under the weather had to give it a pass this last. Few days , however, all being well will be out in the morning.

Next,  a bit of a boycott taking place in Penicuik as Lidl, who own their car park, which is used by many of the patients from the adjacent Penicuik Health Centre, have introduced a parking ticket system, which if not used will mean that you automatically get a parking "invoice " from the English form who operate the system.  This means that if you are in the Doctors and run over the time you get a ticket, and even if you do not run over time you have to go into Lidl and make a purchase in order to cancel your parking ticket!!!  And Lidl, operating with fewer staff , can mean you have to stand in their queues.    It appears that may have been introduced after one of their senior staff came to visit and could not get a parking space !!   It also highlights the lack of off street parking in Penicuik which has been turned into a Park and Ride by folks from the outlying areas who utilise the excellent bus service into Edinburgh.

Had a visit from one of my Masonic  friends who came down on the train from Pitlochry on Monday to meet for lunch and a blether,  very nice to see him, so next time I have to head up there, perhaps on the Steed of Steel.

Great excitement, as Lilly the Labrador  is coming to stay for the weekend !

Trial by media!!  Time they got their act together - just watching the news and listening to the reporters speculating about major crimes, commenting on the fact that the police are not giving out information about crimes,   Why should they when it could be detrimental to a future trial?    And also a disgrace that two thugs from Glasgow who ran over two police officers and were charged with attempted murder,  however , one hours debate and the jury returned the Scottish "Not Proven" verdict - smooth talking lawyer or intimidation !!!!

Oh My Goodness, where was the spell check and the sensible head?

Just reading the previous post and thinking to myself, who wrote this !! as some of it even has me wondering.  Now occurs to me that I wrote it while sitting outside the Spanish cafe listening to a local guitarist singing, and was being a bit rushed.  No excuse though.
Now back in dreich, wet Scotland wishing for a wee bit sunshine after the terrible downpour we have had for the last thirty six hours.    Never two days the same here.  We had a run across to the Binny's Nursery at Ecclesmachan, near Uphall on Monday and it was such a nice sheltered, secluded walled garden, no wind, so pleasant just to wander through the various areas appreciating the many plants. Mrs B. had met some of the staff at her recent visit to the Chelsea Flower Show where she was impressed with their displays.  The nursery is also the Scottish Bonzi Centre with some remarkable examples on display.
Happy bunny today as I was able to collect the Steed of  Steel which had been away having some work done on it by Andy Mimms at Border Bikes, really strange getting back on it after using the R1150RT for a few weeks.    Just a pity I am not back to 100% health yet so restricted to short runs meantime.
Locally, we are being told that the Edinburgh Trams are now making money!!  seems a bit of a coincidence especially when they are talking about extending the line again,  no mention of the massive interest charges on the original loan.
Very topical subject, being a motorcyclist, is the number of motorcycles being stolen in Edinburgh, many belonging to visitors, and with the thieving sods putting themselves on Facebook and showing off.  Certainly not good for the tourist trade.
Heading off to a wee games night at Tranent with some of the RA companions and friends, a social and charity fund raiser.

Nearly past my bed time in this heat.

Still coping, but only just with what a I presume to be a bit of extreme heat here in the alicante region of Spain,  just need to keep in the wha as our pale selves get kind of lightly grilled with too long in the sun at these temperatures.  However, object of ten exercise was just to relax, so that is what we do, a wee walk in the morning to the local cafe for coffee, back to the apartment via the supermarket and voila, lovely healthy meals of greasy fruits and veg.  Local baker comes round the doors tooting horn and we get lovely baguettes and pastries.     Tonight, waited off a bit so now in the local town square which is slowly filling up as the sun sets and temperature becomes more bearable. Boss in the cafe where we have our morning coffee ( Mejias Beach Side) has let me down, she promised to be wearing her Flamenco dress !!  no such luck,  but two Tequilas and a bit of music and her engine starts running!!!
Most certainly makes a difference from the hurly burly of Barcelona and the motorbike ch advertised antics of Benidorm and the other boozy holiday resorts.

A wee bit of sun to cheer us up.

This time slightly different to the hustle and bustle of Barcelona. Nice little sea side village, no high rises in sight except on a clear day when you can see several miles away across the bay.  Very few mopeds and motorcycles, just folks like me wandering about soaking up the sunshine and peace and quiet.
Still have to fathom out how to get a photo onto this blog from the I pad,  easy enough to do a FB post, but I am not all that keen on too many.
So , in the meantime, just waving the float, so to speak.
ALison and Russell enjoying themselves in Vancouver and coming to the end of their adventures, and I will miss the E SESLTA doo athe the Mercat on Wed night.

Falling by the way side, a sign of old age, maybe!!

All sorts of things going on, and as I plan on writing one thing, something else happens to distract me.

I have to add my condolences to the many who have suffered loss and are / or are waiting for news about missing relatives following the terrible fire in London during the week.  Obviously much more to be disclosed as the investigation continues.

In the interim I had a wee city beak to Barcelona  with the family to celebrate my 70 th Birthday !!   might feel my age some days , but then again on others feel worse!!!
Quite a city, lots to see and do, very modern, bustling, a tourists paradise with so many things to see and do.  I, despite the warnings was nearly a victim of a pickpocket while leaving the Metro one evening,  but the good news was that a swift elbow in the ribs of my assailant was sufficient for him to hand back my phone before running off.
We managed well despite the heat and doing so much walking, but made use of the local transport for a wee breather,  not sure how long it took our pilot to recover after this particular trip.

Anyway,  it was certainly an  interesting visit,  shattered by the time we came home.

Last night was Anne McGhee's 70th Birthday party where a group of friends met for a meal at the Mercat Grill, excellent night, with a 60's  pub quiz and singer to keep the guests entertained. 

Tomorrow, off on our travels again, this time for a very quiet week in a friend's apartment just south of Alicante.  Not sure what access I will have for wi fi, apart from one of the local bars, which might be a good excuse for a quiet beer .

Going to miss the E&SESLTA  session in the Grill on Wednesday night.

Blossoming in the sun

Having been tending my garden the last few weeks and  rescued several plants which were nipped in the but by a bad frost, it was lovely to see one of them coming out in full bloom today.

Yet another atrocity in the name of Allah ~ who is kidding who?

 Another terrible incident last night in London when seven innocents were brutally slaughtered by three so called ISLAMIC  fanatics who went on a killing spree, near enough a copy cat of the last London Bridge incident,  but in his incident they were randomly stabbing people until they were shot dead in the act.  Our thoughts go out to the families and friends of the poor victims,  but certainly not to the souls of the murdering scum who will hopefully rot in hell.  They were certainly not representing the many Muslims who have made the UK their home and who live at peace with the wider community.
A great deal of praise must be given to the emergency services who attended and who are coping daily with more and more dangerous situations.
On the other hand we have already had a Labour MP suggesting that their rights were infringed!!! What a nerve, but I suppose that when the Labour leader used to support the IRA during their bombing campaign, what can we expect.
Time the European Bill of Human Rights was repealed throughout Europe and these killers and their sympathisers given short shift, along with the morally lacking defence lawyers.   They forfeited their own rights when they took away the rights of innocents.
Kind of incorrect in this nanny state of political correctness, but many years ago when the local Bilston Glen Colliery was closed, I suggested that a short plank over the main shaft might be an appropriate way to dispose of "garbage", or a Herculese transport plane with an open tailgate out over the North Atlantic!!!  the longer the "garbage" took to make up their mind, the longer the swim, and in both instances, time to reflect on the way down (which was more that they gave their victims).

But on a more positive note, a brilliant concert in Manchester tonight organised my Ariana Grandy, whose concert was targeted by last weeks bomber.

The Second , Third and the Forth Bridge, or is it the Queensferry Crossing

Apologies for a not so scenic shot of the two road bridges across the River Forth, taken from the Port Edgar Marina AT LOW TIDE !!    what a muddy and unsightly place when the sea has run away.  It is years since I was last there,  must be in the mid sixties when I used to canoe there from the Scottish Scout Outdoor Centre. Place is certainly very busy these days.
The new bridge, named the Queensferry crossing, rather than the Third Forth Bridge, is near completion, pleased that they managed to get the two ends to meet in the middle.

Princess Diana, an icon and inspiration, RIP.

Bit more on Mrs B's recent trip to London where the two ladies took the opportunity of a free day to travel to Kensington Palace to see the collection of the late Princess Diana's dresses.

It is a really popular attraction so they had to wait in a queue for quite a long time.  But, as with the Flower Show the previous day it was well worth the effort and time, although there was a bit of a panic as they thought they were going to miss their coach back to the hotel.    I have just added a few of the photos to give a taste of what was on display.

Chelsea Flower Show 2017, and all quiet north of the Border

Just a wee bit of peace and quiet on the home front, while Mrs B and Annie F headed south to London to visit the Chelsea Flower Show.   They had a super time, traveled down by coach with Glenton Travel and had three nights away, staying in the Ramada Inn at Hatfield, Herts.    Coach driver took them to the Flower show on Friday, a day when London was baking hot, very hot, and with big crowds it was not the most comfortable of places to be.  However, the displays were very good, colours superb and the overall experience excellent, well worth the effort.

Only a small number of the exhibition gardens, but many stalls selling a range of good quality and expensive goods.

Mrs.B  had a blether to the staff from Binnie Plants when she discovered that they were based near Broxburn, West Lothian,  so looks like we have a wee expedition in the next few days to see the plants they have in their nursery and which are about to come into bloom.

One of the Royal carriages was used in an exhibit, might even be the one that Donald of the Trump ilk wants a shot in when he pops over to see good Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace.   As he has not signed up for the Climate change agreement yet (thinks it is all a great hoax) we might not have many of these beautiful plants flourishing on the Blue Planet for very much longer. 

Manchester Bombing, yet another outrage.

So sad to have to join the many thousands who will be expressing their horror and disgust at the latest   Alleged ISIS attrocity which occurred in the Manchester Arena last night.  Irrespective as to whether it was an individual or a so called terrorist cell that carried out the attack, what kind of mentality does that perpetrator possess which make sure them believe that killing / slaughtering innocent children and young people will further their cause. from what we see on the media, there is apparently nothing but total condemnation for this act of total barbarism, however, we all know that somewhere not far from the scene of this crime there will be seriously sad and sick individuals who are pleased with the result, and further afield many thousands who see this as a blow against western  democracy and also the "Christian Infadel".   

The perpetrators of these acts must be totally perverted individuals, prepared to believe that if they commit suicide in the name of their cause they will live happily in the hereafter surrounded by virgins!!     So far few of them have been seen with a one way bus ticket to the local military base and  challenging the occupants to come out and fight!!

Again, this atrocity just emphasises what I have been warning groups for years, the risk has always been with us, and we have to be totally aware and be prepared to try and counter any risk. Unfortunately, trying to combat the individual "so called terrorist " is one of the hardest tasks we and our security agencies will ever have.

IT is sad to have to recognise the NIMBY complex,  every other day, there are incidents similar to this taking place somewhere in our World, but provided it is not on our doorstep and does not closely affect us we tend  to try and ignore it, and events receive only a few lines of media coverage.  Perhaps, and maybe rightly this is our coping mechanism. 

Rosslyn Chapel, on the "must do bucket list"

I have been visiting Rosslyn Chapel on a regular basis since I started working in Loanhhead / Roslin in 1966, and I never fail to me enthralled by its beauty. Every time I visit I discover something new and consider myself very fortunate to be able to make multiple visits, unlike the majority of the tourists who can only hold onto their memories.
Quite interesting to hear the many interpretations of the beautiful carvings which festoon the building, from the pagan, Christian and Masonic points of interest.  One the chapel guides spoke to us for a wee while, and then we met one of the members of the  local Lodge, Roslin St Clair 606, who pointed out a few of "his" points of interest, which were relative to the Freemasons , Royal Arch and Knight Templars.

Good to see the building again in its magnificance, now that the protective roof has been removed and the restoration work completed.

We left and headed for the Mercat Grill but detoured via Temple Village which was one of the Knight Templars encampments in Scotland. 

Next stop, believe it or not was to a meeting of the K.T's,  King David of Balantraddoch Preceptory where a new candidate joined the Order. 

+++++++++++

STOP Press, just saw a bit on the news showing  Nicola Sturgeon  throwing a bowl on a bowling green and she was wearing high shoes,  worth being banned or at least a written warning !!!

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

A couple of weeks ago I saw a short item in one of the daily papers which was about one of the islands in the Indian Ocean which is literally disappearing under mountains of refuse washed in by the tides, and thought to be the worst example on this "Blue Planet".      Tonight there was a superb documentary on the same subject but about the problems being caused in the Pacific Basin with tons of plastic debris being washed up on the tiny islands, some of it dating back to the late 40's.  There were many images of hundreds of dead seabirds, whose stomachs were full of plastic items, forks, lighters, toys etc, scooped from the surface of the sea. Similarl

y there were photos of seals, dolphins and turtles, all trapped and suffering because of the rubbish. Very, very distressing and certainly seriously thought provoking.  Hawaii has embarked on a massive reeducation programme  to try and save their environment.
On the same subject, I spotted the following example of fly tipping just outside  Penicuik, a few weeks ago, passed it on to Midlothian Council, but to date no response.  In this instance there was identifiable documentation in the rubbish, however not for publication.

Once again, fell by the wayside, and not due to John Barleycorn

Did not realise,  until reminded by a friend that thee had been no blogging again, so.

Plenty on my mind, but must harp back to my recent wine tasting trip to the Rioja region of Spain,  however, my comments are about our bus driver who was marvelous.  This driver,  whose English was non existent, coped with us by talking a mixture of sign language Spanish and French for four days.
But the adventure for him was when we visited the Bodega Marques de Caceras,  the hosts at the site had arranged for us to visit one of their highest vineyards to see a very old plot of land with vines about 100 years old.  Big problem being that they expected us in a much smaller bus!!!,  so, off we set, driver did a bit of a recce of the destination,  head scratched, but yes it might be possible, maybe !!  so he had to drive on, find a turning point,  and then back to where he could get into this narrow field entrance and then onto a dirt track up onto the hillside.  Bus had to creep slowly on a track, narrower than the bus, we had to move rocks as the clearance was so low. However, we made it both up and down without any mishap.

Apart from being at our general beck and call each day,  on our final day he could have just taken us to Santander airport and dropped us off before our flight,  he took us into the City and waited three hours before taking us back to the airport for a late flight,  well done and many thanks. 

Walked around, not in, the Gugenheim at Bilbao

Thought I might add these few photos as a reminder of our flying visit to Bilbao last Sunday.  Driver stopped the bus near to the Museum and we had a nice stroll round the perimeter of the museum, along the river bank.  Place was heaving with visitors, both locals and tourists, a really spectacular building.

Why change the habits of a lifetime?

Home and dried out !!  not from wet weather of course, but from the wines,  however, last night we attended yet another of the super wine tasting evenings at the Mercat Grill,  this time a South American theme with food and wines from Argentina and Chile.

Slightly fewer glasses being poured at the same time, reflecting back  to last Tuesday when Jesus was "doing his thing" and being an excellent host.

One of my other favourite treats, sadly not on the menu last night, are mushrooms,  so having spotted a Tapas bar in Logrono on the Internet which specialised in said mushrooms we set out and found it. A tiny little bar, where all they sold were mushrooms, stacked three high, topped ith a prawn and cooked in garlic butter and rock salt, brilliant.  The "boss" was so ppleased when I told him we had seen him on the web, and I managed three of his "specials" just to show there was no ill feeling.

"Fair Braw".

So,  with fine wines, fine foods, great memories, nothing else to do but drift off and "chill".

PS. not me,  not even in my youth!!!!!

There was wine, wine and even more wine!!

Sounds a bit like that old poem, water, water , everywhere, and not a drop to drink,   however, in this instance there were bottles and casks of wine, and plenty to drink.

Just returned home after a quick four day visit to the Rioja region of Spain along with eighteen other members of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland Licensed Trade Association.

We flew out on the early morning Ryanair cattle float from Edinburgh to Santander, were met by a private coach and driver who remained with us for the duration of our trip.

Will keep this bit blog as short as I can and give other stories and asn when I can manage later.

Monday morning we were taken to the Bodegas  Marques de Caceres,, where our hostess was Anne Vallejo,  and to say that we were looked after is just a bit of an understatement !!!

Day two (Tuesday) was to prove a long day,    First visit of the day was to the Bodegas LAN, hosted by Ms Trinidad Villeges, who led the tour, tasting and a awarded us with a lovely tapas buffet.

The weather at this stage decided to change as we left LAN, and we drove south along the Peage  through gathering rain and darkening skies until we reached the 11th Centuary village of Quel in the middle of a massive thunderstorm !!  BUT,  after about fifteen minutes the rain stopped, skies cleared and our hosts, Jesus Fdze and Manuel appeared.  this was to be a two part visit,  first to the ancient caves dug into the cliffs in the village and then, after tasting a couple of wines it was via the scenic route back to Logrono and to the Bodega ONTANON and Museum.    Once again a tour of this modern premises followed by more tapas and another three wines. 

Day 3 (Wednesday) and a long day is store as we were heading homewards later on.   Picked up by the bus and set off only to discover that the driver had forgotten that we had another visit first !!!  Npo worries, bit of a detour and despite being a bit late we met Sara Romeo at the Bodega  DON JACOBA, in the small village of Navarrete which is situated on the route of the Pilgrim Trail leading from all parts of Spain and Europe to Santiago in north west Spain. From where we were it was only another 576 K to go!!!

So, having said our farewells, it time to sit back and relax as out driver, and his co - pilot drove the 300 K to Santander where we flew back on he late flight arriving in Edinburgh at  midnight, all puggled.     More on our visit later.

   

Bloody weather, as they never cast a clout till May is out, and what did I do?

Plenty bedding plants on sale and of course just flying off the shelves due to the good weather,  however nice wee dose of ground frost during the week -2.5C and of course the plants are jiggered and have had to be dug up and dumped.  Should have heeded the old wives tale and known that in Penicuik we need to wait till June.

Andy Murray not firing on all cylinders yet, so case of waiting for the next tournament.

Semi final of Scottish cup today, and our William is now despondent as Hibs were beaten by Aberdeen,  now need to see how Celtic and Rangers get on tomorrow.

Friends just back from Spain on a Ryanair flight and complaining bitterly about how they were treated while waiting at airport, treated like cattle being their opinion.  From what I gather looks as though British Airways will soon be running their organisation just like Ryanair, very disappointing the way these cut price airlines are ruining the industry.

I have joined the "not another bloody election" party!

Has been said already by so many people,  just gets beyond a joke, all the papers are writing their respective stories with bias towards their respective parties,  TV full of it, radio full of it, so as I have said before, not my cup of tea.  Will no doubt do my duty and vote rather than abstain, time we had voting compulsory, although the way our immigration and education is going we would need multi lingual ballot papers and need to show some how to make an X or explain what it mean

Before I heard this news I was just thinking about the state the World was in with the many , eejit leaders in situ,  however the USA electorate voted in Mr Pump,  allegedly with a little help from the Ruskies, and now they are not talking!  North Korea has worse running the country whose ambition in life is to look after No. 1 and keep the working class well under the thumb,  mind he is not alone, and we , the UK are just plain stupid to be pouring millions into third world countries as foreign aid. But, if the USA can drop the MOAB costing £12.5 onto a cave complex to destroy thirty five terrorists,  they would have been cheaper dropping a lorry full of fertiliser out the back of the plane, when you see how many poor innocents were slaughtered in Iran last week by a suicide bomber.

Managed a run out on both the Steed of Steel and the Time Machine over past couple of days, just to keep them ticking over till I feel fitter.

Another wine night coming up in the Mercat Grill on 29th April,   South American wines and tapas, should be good.   Hopefully manage a wee bit practice next week sampling Rioja and tapas in an authentic setting, where the sun might be shining, which will make a change from our changeable climate, sitting out this afternoon, and yesterday -2.5C which kind of shocked a few of my early plants.

Was it fly tipping or a fly guy tipping, whatever, it is illegal.

On my travels today came across this pile of domestic rubbish dumped at the side of the Penicuik to Nine Mile Burn Road, just short of the junction with the A702.   Had a rummage through one of the bags and there were names and addresses on various letters, even details of one blokes driving licence.   Hopefully the litter man from Midlothian Council will be diligent enough to track down the culprits.

Why do today what you can put off till tomorrow !!!!! Seems to be most unlike me.

However having just logged in I find this is the case, no getting away from it at all.

Firstly a wee treat for the eyes, something made by Mrs B. as a special treat for one of the clients who chose the Mercat Grill as his birthday venue.

Met one of the birthday group a few days ago who said it was very tasty indeed.

Still using my NHS membership card !!!!  having had a couple more visits to the ERI and my GP.  just proving that preumonia does not go away overnight!!  kind of puts my gas at a peep as they say.

Looks as though our seasons are a bit back to front,  suspect that we had summer before Easter and from tonight's weather forecast looks ass though winter is on its way again with frost due this week so a bit of a survival test for the flowers and plants which have been blooming.

Blooming,  yes, "blooming parking ticket"  dropped through the door, or is it ?  While at the local surgery and using the car park which everyone thinks is shared by Lidl,  I had to wait much longer than expected for the nurse and GP,  so for the extra fifteen minutes I am doinged £90 or pay quick and it is £45.  BUT IS IT,  the letter arrived from Athena who administer the car parks , nothing to do with Lidl I was told in the store who just did not want to know.  Anyway, it would appear to be one of the official looking bully boy letters, which many ignore.  I did learn from the surgery that a number of their patients have been paying the money rather than ignore it.
According to the web site, Athena run these car parks for Lidl, and from what I gather there is no sharing arrangement with the Health Centre, so where do patients park as there is limited off street parking in the area?  Spoke to our local SNP councillor who acknowledged that there was very limited public parking in Penicuik Town Centre which obviously affects local businesses.  He described Penicuik as giant "Park and Ride" used by many from Peebles, West Linton, Eddleston and outlying areas who have a greater choice of buses into Edinburgh from here.

NO dog to walk, time to rant perhaps.

Yes, Lily the hussy, without a blink fled to another man this morning, Dad was back from his trip to Vegas,  returned with a much lighter wallet than he left with, but good time had by all.  Miss Doggie pleased to be home again, but perhaps with be a regular visitor to the house and Grill.

FInd it unbelievable, maybe not considering the guddle Edinburgh City Council are in, but we have now been told that the Council are flying the Saltire flag and the European flag above the City Chambers and the pole where the 🇬🇧  would fly was empty. Bloody disgrace ,  someone is hell bent on dividing the United Kingdom.  I used to be proud to fly the saltire on the motorbike, however, it has now been hijacked by a political party.

Watching Michael Portillo on his great train journeys of Europe programme,   How come all these countries have better train services than we have, and which run on time.  NOticed that he got on the Eurostar at St Pancreas Station, but since then whenever he gets off a train, no suitcase !!!!   DId someone pinch it?

Bit of a revolt taking place at the ERI where staff are taking action against the building owners, Consort who are hiking up the car parking charges, double for the Staff!!!  And 30p an hour for visitors.    Couple of weeks ago the First Minister was asked to intervene, but as the staff are fed up holding their breath they are taking things into their own hands. Boycott the canteen and shops, which hopefully the visitors will also support them,  and many are requesting that they be related to hospitals with free parking.   Just need to wait and see.

Hold your counsel, what not to talk about.

Quite interesting that in Masonic circles you are advised not talk about football, politics or religion,  just a shame the same does not stand in public life.  I have previously said that the miner's strike split families as well as destroyed friendships, and looks like the current political goings on in both the UK and Scotland are also doing the same. Enough said as the damage has been done.

Still under the weather compliments of the flu virus and pneumonia, so social activities put on a hold till I feel a bit brighter,  although hopefully we will make it to New Lanark Mills next week for a wee break and rest (And maybe a wee glass of something red if antibiotics are finished).

Our house guest,  Lily the Labrador, is still with us , probably for another night's doggy B & B ,   she has been no bother at all, good company, and despite what a lady said down the street when she got a fright and barked, she is neither a demon or dangerous dog!!!   Might clear a low table with a wagging tail, but nothing more.

On a more serious matter, the solo terrorist attack in London last week, which caused the death of a Police Officer and four innocent members of the public,  an incident of the type so difficult to counter  of deal with.    For a number of years at the BNI meetings I always finished with the comment," it is not a case of if, it is a matter of when, so be extra vigilant ",  but do people listen, do they hell.

Fed up with politics, full of hot air,

Has to be the most depressing subject on the planet, but fed up with our Scottish politics, certainly causing a lot of ill feeling, dividing families and breaking friendships, not good.

Must have been a crowd of our MSP's having a meeting in a balloon basket on Sunday,  the balloon took off on its own with the amount of hot air they were producing!!!!