Just giving my mind a treat this morning.

Having had a relatively quiet week  I took myself out this morning to the Mercat Grill and then dropped into the Motorrad showroom at Dalkeith to see some of the new BMW bikes which were on show today.  Place was really busy, so much so that I think it might well have been counter productive , but never mind.

 Perhaps this is more realistic for myself and Mrs B. !!!!

Big search for Hydro Culprits today, wha took ma water?

with Mrs B for yet another wee chill out session at the New Lanark MIlls Hotel, very pleasant and have ended up in this massive room, so big I need a telescope to see the TV from the bed!!! , 19 ft by 26 ft.,  but very nice.    lovely meal last night, so this morning we had a bit of a dander up by the falls, a nice walk through the woods and along the side of the Clyde , through the gorge and up to the Bonnington Linn.

When we started the river was fine, but as we passed the Hydro station the water level dropped, and it was not till we reached Bonnington bridge that we could see the Hydro guys had raised the sluice gates and were diverting the river through the big pipes and down into the Hydro station. No doubt generating a few kilowatts to fire up a kettle or two.

Off Road Motor Cycle Training at Central Park BMW.

Bit of an unplanned experience for me today, all due to taking a detour on the way home.  I had been dropped off at the  Mercat grill to collect the Steed of Steel, and get it back to the stable in Penicuik, however , I decided to take the long road home by Dewarton, Gorebridge and Temple,  but then took a left to Gladhouse for Eddleston.  Still not happy headed off into the hills at Shiplaw for Lamancha and then came across the Motorrad BMW off road training centre where, on seeing signs of life I stopped in for a bit of a nose.

 Typical of the motorcycle fraternity I was made more than welcome and then spent a couple of hours watching the other guys being put through their paces in somewhat adverse conditions.  Weather wise it was ever so dreich, and the ground was saturated so the training paddock and the motocross circuit was seriously quoggy.   It was a good job that the first lesson was how to pick up your bike after a fall, as some of the blokes were in the mud on numerous occasions.  Certainly an eye opener to see these big 1200 cc machines being flung around in the mire,  and all those who were on the training course not only thought it good fun but extremely worthwhile. Just a shame that while my mind is willing the body is not quite up to it!!!  

Next week,  25th, new BMW's unveiled at Dalkeith, so perchance an excuse is needed for some time out.  

Weight watcher's breakfast

Mr's B arrived home this afternoon with her latest productions,  and I for one will not be the first person to present a knife to them!!!!

Make hay while sun shines, so to speak.

Meaning, that with a couple of decent days weather wise I managed to get out on the motor bikes, yes, plural,  both the Steed of Steel and the Time Machine were out in the fresh air, and both running well. This morning it was down to Border Bikes at Duns for a coffee and a blether to Andy Mimms. BIt windy on the A1 so it was a slower run than usual, and at an angle, which might not have been so good for the old ticker, too much adrenaline in the system, but well worth it.

Still ranting and raving about the one eyed monsters,  cars with faulty lights, which are just downright dangerous. Big question, where are the Police Traffic Management Officers !!   I keep being told that you cannot live in the past,  but in the good old days, the Traffic Officers thought nothing about having the old fashioned road checks during the hours of darkness and at least warning drivers. If there is a need for funding, then just issue a few more fixed penalty tickets!!!!

After forty years I found the Knight's Law Tower, what a confession.

Having lived in Penicuik since 1966 yesterday, along with four legged lodger, took ourselves back up into the Penicuik Estate mid afternoon and eventually ended up at the Knight's law Tower,  built by the Clerks in 1748 as a "belvedere"  a viewpoint and doocote.    Obviously when built it was on top of the "Law" with superb views around the Estate,   however it is now surrounded by trees and hidden from sight.  Plans are in hand to have it restored along with the Hurley Tunnel in due course.

 So, after all these years I now know how Krightslaw Place got its name. 

Later, as part of the recovery progress I was treated to an exceptional dram, a Twenty Two year old Glenmorangie,  

Very tasty indeed. 

So, today, plenty snow around, already had dog out twice, and planning on heading into Edinburgh for a meeting of the Squaremen,   Hopefully dog will safe with two female doggie sitters. 

Doggy sitting, worse than babysitting, methinks.

RGB kindly agreed on our behalf to look after  Lilly for the weekend,  so last night our charge arrived, a cross labrador bitch, a lovely good natured soul.  

So walkies at at 7 p.m., 10 p.m., pee at 2 am,  walkies at 6 am,  8 am.  10 am., I will be as fit as a lop by the time she goes home.      My 10 am, toddle was along the length of Lowries Den  and then through the trees at Penicuik estate during a short flurry of snow.

 So, looks like an energetic weekend for all. 

Rosewell, a quiet leafy country village - someone,s having a laught!!

No, not a laugh, it is estate agent talk, which everyone knows is just a load of piffle, someone using poetic license big time.    This was seen in an article this morning where a developer from through the West has put in an application to build one hundred new houses in a field in Rosewell.   Hope they have done their homework as far as all the old mineworks are concerned , you just need to drive along the Main Street and have a look at all the cracks on walls due to the subsidence caused by the old mineworkings.    The new Avant homes, being chucked up on the site of the old bing which until recently was covered in pipes coming out of the ground to allow the gas to escape.    Near to the roundabout the ground has been flooded for the last two months as drainage is obviously a problem, so now they are putting tons of top soil down and turfing over it.

Still on the bad housing theme, looks like there might be another batch of relatively new houses due for the chop in Gorebridge,  two or theee years ago several new builds had to be demolished as gas seeped in through the founds from old mine workings.  The could have been avoided had the planners or architects specified the laying of a protective membrane in the foundations. But no,  either a boob or a cost cutting exercise, and the Council have been playing down any suggestion there is a problem.

It is no wonder that you can get a better warranty on a car than a house these days,  in fact you can get a house with a smaller deposit than a car.

Item on TV news last night about new, affordable housing going up in London for rent, at £400 per week !!!  Choking on that one, when you consider the average wage here north of the border,  someone , somewhere is shafting the greater public.    And, while fresh, in my mind, I commented on the loan sharks a couple of days ago,  now today I hear that some experts are saying it is cheaper to take out a short term Payday Loan than pay the banks all their hidden surcharges.

Early post today, heading into fun city to use parking spaces outwith restricted hours and before the parking charges ago up again as is proposed.

GB still in the Davies Cup

Minutes ago, both Canada and team GB were still in with a chance  in the  Davies Cup,  however, a moment of madness by the young Canadian who smashed a ball in a fit of temper struck the referee in the eye, and as a result the player was disqualified meaning that GB won both the game and the match.  Young Jamie Murray and his partner managed to win their doubles match yesterday,  but sadly big brother Sir Andy Murray was not playing this year.  Mother Judy must be ever so proud of her two sons, Andy and Jamie who have certainly put Scotland on the map.  It is just difficult to understand why the local planning folks at Stirling keep knocking back her planning applications for a tennis academy. It would be yet another centre for excellence and I am sure there is space somewhere in the University Campus.   It is just a bit unfortunate that I read that Sir Andy's hotel,  the Cromlix, on the outskirts of Dunblane, is not doing as well as was expected.   It is just a bit too far off the beaten track to attract passing trade and maybe not quite on the five star list yet to bring in big monied guests.   It is not quite in the same league as the nearby Gleneagles' Hotel with its many attractions and worldwide reputation.

How could I forget about Mr Trump, but I did, woops !!!

No one prompted me yesterday when I was wondering what to write about and what had happened recently.  I woke up during the night thinking of a good heading, " A bird in the hand is worth two in the Bush", then it dawned on me that George W Bush was a past President and not the current resident of the White House.  BUT I actually did meet George W , by pure chance one morning while visiting the Capitol Building in Washington many years ago .   I was being escorted around the building by a fellow member of the IPA (International Police Association) when G.W.B  accompanied by our own Foreign Secretary, Geoffrey Howe, appeared from one of the meeting rooms, we stepped aside, said hello and off they went.  But back to Mr Trump (call me Donald) who is certainly doing a fair bit of tree shaking "over the pond".Lord help the poor Secret Serve agent who has to shout "Donald DUCK" in the event of an attack on his principal.  It is going to be very interesting seeing who comes out "Trumps" in this battle between a business man and politicians.   So he is planning on extending the wall along the entire two thousand miles between Mexico and the USA.  Granted it will not be on the scale of the Great Wall of China, a remarkable feat of engineering (which brother in law Willie from Chobham had to do a bit of pointing on when we visited it),  Even our own RGB found the steps a bit big for his long legs.  Might use big lego bricks or prepacked Ikea units as has already been suggested, but we know that whatever happens there will still be long sections where it will be a virtual wall protected by electronic surveillance.
The Chinese have their wall,  but the Romans built Hadrian's Wall in 122 AD between the Solway Firth and the River Tyne,  large sections which are still walkable if you have a few free days, further north there is the Antonine Wall, again built by the Romans in 142 AD between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde ( or Aldi, Granton and McDonald's, Helensburgh).   One of the more famous which did not last quite so long is the Berlin Wall, dividing Germany and the city of Berlin, even although the the metro line ran below the wall connecting both parts of the divided city. Terrible to think of the numbers who died in the name of Politics.
In Edinburgh we have the old City Wall which can be seen intact at several parts, and also a small wailing wall within Bute House where our Nicola can be heard nightly decrying her opposition,  not to be confused with original Wailing Wall, a section of the great Western Wall in Jerusalem which is visited by hundreds of thousands of the faithful each year.
I should not forget about the other Scottish walls,  Wall's ice cream - enough said.

Nail biting stuff, so I need to keep on writing till the end of the match.

Change of theme,   so , having made use of my complimentary, paid up membership of the NHS, I have unfortunately had to visit both my GP and the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh on several occasions since December.   What can I say, I cannot be critical of the treatment I have received,  however, I wonder how these Doctors and nurses cope under the pressure with constsant queues of  "patients" waiting to be seen.  I use the term rather loosly as, having sat in the A & E waiting room I was appalled at a) the drunken state of some "patients", b) their unruly and obnoxious behaviour, and c) the trivial nature of many of their complaints which could have been dealt with ether at home, by a pharmacist or a nurse in a GP surgery.   Maybe I am lucky to have such good surgery facilities in Penicuik. There was a good article in today's paper about a surgery in Edinburgh where the GP was under siege at times by university students (flat dwellers) demanding instant attention/and heading for the ERI if not seen, and also stocking up with prescriptions before heading home for holidays.  Maybe there should be a student health centre in the City,  where they could get their health care along with cheap drink.

Sixty seconds to go,     sweating,     game over,   Scotland 27 - Ireland 22.

Back to the hospital,   a bloody disgrace to see patients who obviously do need care being left on trollies while eejits get looked at, then folks being sent home because of lack of beds.    No good saying "I told you so" when the so called expert planners designed the new ERI and closed down the old one.     Just a great big thank you to all the staff who have been so helpful towards me.

On a roll now, no not having a roll, just busy composing and catching up.

Sun still shining, yes, and half time at  BT Murrayfield.

RGB just called from the Mercat Bar and Grill, where, surprisingly  things are still ticking along  despite this being a traditionally quiet period in the licensed trade as everyone pulls in their belts after x-mas.     Maybe worth saying that the Mercat Grill was exceptionally busy over the festive period, fully booked in August 2016 for X mas day, and believe or or not a booking in already for this coming X mas day !!!   Not only did Santa arrive to treat the customers,  but as the Grill is "dog friendly" there was a special event for for our four legged friends and their  owners to which "Santa Paws" arrived.   These doggie events are proving to be very popular with the result that the Mercat has been donating sums of money to the Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home, Seafield, Edinburgh,  who are currently still trying to find homes for around one hundred "orphaned" or abandoned pets.

I suppose, following on that theme, I have been watching an excellent programme on the TV each evening about the work being done in the monkey sanctuary , Monkey World, in Dorset, the largest centre of its type in the World.     Really amazing to see the rapport the staff have developed with these intelligent creatures since the Centre opened about twenty years ago,    The monkeys are real personalities and the programme is a must for any animal lover, and it might be worth one of the coach companies, like Glenton's travel, or David Urquhart Travel to consider including it on one of their southern runs.
Following up on that link,  Mrs B. and Annie have already booked their tickets to go to the Chelsea Flower Show.

Scotland 21 - Ireland 15 as the game tightens up,  the new scoring system looks good, with extra points being awarded for four tries.

Need to back pedal a bit and comment on our national Bard, Robert Burns @ Rabbie, whose birthday was celebrated on the 25th January .   There was a Burn's themed wine night at the Mercat last Saturday, where the traditional burns meal of  Cock a leekie soup, haggis, neeps and tatties, cranachan, and a cheese board were complimented with a selection of excellent wines. Have to say, that the meal was superb which proves that there is more than one way to serve up and present this traditional meal.   Meal was well attended and guests were also able to take part in a Burns quiz which Tony the tyreman organised,  the winners received "bags of kudos"!!!!!

Couple more wine nights already scheduled and news to follow.

On the wine theme, we are already organised for a trip to the Rioja region of Spain in April along with other members of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland Area Licensed Trade Association.  Flights, coach, hotels and several visits to bodegas all set to go.

Oh my goodness,   Scotland 20 -  Ireland 22.

I am kicking off again along with the Six Nations, and so far so good

Twenty one minutes into the start of the new tournament and Scotland, despite being hammered in the scrum, are currently fourteen points ahead. Two tries and two conversions, so keep out the scrums and play the ball.   Spoke too soon, Ireland just scored a try so looks like we are in for a good game.

So , no blog since December,  primarily because I lost all interest following some criticism and obviously no one is particularly interested when all I am doing is commenting about the weather, etc.   so where will I start today.
Maybe with the weather,  quite a nice day,   but with everything happening at the moment, not going to manage a run on the Steed of Steel,  maybe tomorrow.     If I do it will just be to get the Steed to a pick up point as there is a wee problem with the rear brake needing fixed, and also time to change rear tyre,  not to worry, Andy Mimms from Border Bikes is on the case and all will be remedied quickly.

Heart of Midlothian FC  just won a game of football again today, which must be a big relief for their fans, hoping that the new manager was not struggling in his new post.    

New stand at Tynecastle now underway, and as my friend Mr Black told me the other day, he was quite excited to see the "truss" being lifted into place,  which I suppose for Heart's fans is as big an event as the final section of the "Queensferry Crossing" (the third Forth Bridge) being slotted into place yesterday. Probably need a couple of planks needed to fill in the gap, if there is one.
Surprised our Nicola (first minister and brunt of a brilliant Tracy Ullman show last night) was not there for a selfie !!!,  But then she is far too busy acting  as a mentor, and probably writing her column for the Daily Record to get on with running the Country.  She will be sitting in Bute House, spitting nails and sticking pins in an effigy of Theresa May following the latest revelations on Brexit.

Half time,  21  -  8  for Scotland.   Well done to Stuart Hogg for now being the all time highest score trier for Scotland.