What a difference a couple of days make.

So much for all that warm weather and folks moaning about the heat, only took a few hours of rain and drop of fifteen degrees in temperature and the complaints started once again about the cold. Sod’s law of course,  the air show at East Fortune was affected,  the Ladie’s Open Golf at Gullane and the Scottish Seniors at St Andrew’s, both became a bit of a trial withall well wrapped up.
have to admit that the ground needed the rain, and from what we have been watching on the news about wildfires it was needed to dampen things down, too late for Greece and the area of the USA with fire tornadoes.   God help Southern Europe , Spain and Portugal next week with temperatures of 45C forecast.
Terrible multiple fatality in Moray with five dead, mini bus of Italian tourists and a local car, no one knows the cause yet or whether the weather was a contributory factor,  but driving in some shocking downpours has been a nightmare.

Interesting item about the defence lawyer in Glasgow who was attacked, face and arm slashed.  he had been part of a defence team for some real bad so and so,s who kidnapped and tortured their victim who was due  Was he punished for helping defend them, or because they were found guilty!! What is more upsetting to me was the fact that the Scottish Legal Aid board paid the defence team £112000. !!!  rich lawyers and an abuse of public funds.
Mind you, another so called entrepreneur had £15 million from Scottish Enterprise, for a venture which went bust [ although he got wages of over a £Million] and he has now been given £1.5 million to open a distillery.  Who controls these eejits?

Excellent documentary about the Air Ambulance helicopters last night,  there is one privately operated unit in Scotland and the management team are trying to raise funds for a second helicopter here. An excellent charity to support,  the money wasted by our entrepreneurs above would have paid for seven !!!

Mama Mia, Here We Go Again

Question,  what do you do when it is far too hot outside?  A.  Find an air conditioned cinema and watch a good movie.   That is what we did yesterday, having been to Costco (again) headed down to the Cinema at Fort Kinnaird.    Having seen the original Mamma Mia several times we were both very impressed with the new on, very very good. I had a wee quiet sing song to myself, foot tapping, and having watched a couple of documentaries on the lead up to the release it all made sense.  Listening to the lyrics you can appreciate the talent of the writers, as for Cher,  playing the Grandmother she was brilliant, so listening to her version of Fernando means something now.  

The girls posing at the exit from the ABBA museum in Stockholm.

Just to stop any rumours which may be circulating,  it was not me who found the massive gold nugget in a highland stream two years ago.  It was not the South Esk either, so all the best to the finder.

I was listening to the various suggestions about workers being allowed to go home as soon as workplace temperatures reach 30 C , no doubt the first to complain and head home are the types who (pre E Mail) loved to send postcards home saying how wonderful it was at 33 C .   One lady said the air conditioning at her work was so good she had to take a hot water bottle !!!  and Mrs B was on a bus coming from Edinburgh when a lady, coat on , closed the windows as she did not like the breeze.  Never mind, they will soon be moaning about the rain, flooding and cold.

Still too hot here for comfort.

Missed a couple of nights, busy all day and just a tad too tired to sit and concentrate.   In the meantime Penicuik weather has been bearable, not the oppressive heat being experienced elsewhere in the UK and across Europe.   I see that one hospital in England with no air conditioning had fire alarms going off as temperatures  reached 50C .  Wildfires all over Europe with seventy four deaths in the Athens area of Greece yesterday.  Water shortages becoming a problem, even in Norway rivers are so low that fishermen are sunning themselves on the banks ( ask Sparky Mark who was that man).
Not sure if I commented earlier but with thousands of new homes being built, all needing water, the water companies need to have a serious look at their provisions in the future, and before water becomes the dearer than whiskey.

Was at Costco again today, and as usual the disabled spaces were occupied by a selection of nice cars!! Certainly a sign of the times when the big companies, including BMW are advertising for motability clients!!!  I am sure that there are large number of disabled clients who do need their wee scooters,  but for some it is just an excuse not to make an effort to walk on their own, perhaps making them lazier in the long run.

Terrible acid attack on a young child in London  a few days ago, with three suspects under arrest - just shocking, and then today we hear of another attack, in Birmingham when a woman had acid flung in her face buy a passing cyclist / moped rider.

Sort of following on, with the previous comments about motor cycle thefts in Edinburgh there was another bike stolen in Musselburgh yesterday, a bike used by a "stunt rider"  was taken from the back of a lorry and it is thought that up to four people would have been involved .  So bikers be aware

A birthday; Abba and a lovely lady soldier (in Oslo)

So  far in these recent blogs I have avoided using folks in the shots.,  however, during our trip on the MV Balmoral, Anne had a birthday and our two marvelous table waiters, Kushtie and Raj are seen here posing with her on her birthday.  They were superb and really looked after us at every meal (wine glasses always topped up). 

 When we visited the ABBA museum in Stockholm,  made it nice and early so we managed to miss the long queues which build up as the day progresses.  A fascinating insight into the lives of ABBA , so it was good last night to see a documentary about them on TV, on the day following the premiere of the new Mama Mia movie. (which I will be off to see whenever).  I hear that Cher (in the movie) is about to release an album of ABBA songs.   There were lots of guitars, either used by ABBA or collected from the  many rock legends who they were friends with

 Could not write something about this exceptional group without posting a photo of them,

 In Oslo we visited the Palace and were in time to see the changing of the guard, and apparently just missed the Royal family.    We found this lovely young lady soldier who had been posted on the perimeter of the grounds to look out for suspicious folks like these (note the bag lady)

A few birds and a wee dog, self explanatory

Edinburgh, Bike theft capitol, what a reputation

Title speaks for itself, Edinburgh is now getting so much adverse publicity about the escalating numbers of motor cycle thefts taking place.  Reached the point that  many motor cycle tourists are being advised to avoid Edinburgh as some bikes are being stolen within hours of them arriving in town. Not content with taking the bikes, joyriding and then abandoning them, they are being ridden recklessly, by lunatics who have a total disrespect for not only the law but for the safety of others and quite happy to see someones pride and joy destroyed and a holiday wasted.  Hate to say it,  but sadly the Police are finding their hands tied at every turn and there is little or nothing which can be done with juvenile offenders,  time to take the parents to task, or bring back the birch.

Even in the rural areas similar events are occurring daily and today a farmer out at Mount Lothian by Penicuik had his "tatty quad bike" stolen.  Working tools for these men, not toys, downside here is that two collie dogs will have to walk to work!!

Saw an item on Facebook where the immigrant thieves in Paris  were targeting moving coaches in the city, pulling open side lockers and dragging cases out, under the noses of the passengers above.  The EU countries who agreed to accept the immigrants are certainly paying a high price and I am sure we will soon be ruing the day we did so.    This country is becoming so Politically Correct it is no wonder that the crime rate is escalating out of control. 

Despite the rain, and not being a fair weather biker I had a wee run down to Duns today to see Andy at Border Bikes.  As I had to go via the Grill I went down the A1 which was very busy northbound with holiday traffic, many of the "tortoise people" (caravans) on the move.  Good for our economy,  but kind of frustrating when you get in a long tail back.

More boats and a couple of Russian cars, or cars in Russia.

Couple of days ago I mentioned a patrol boat and scuba divers in St Petersburgh Harbour,  this was the bigger boat attached to the unit and you can see the small boat used by the divers tied up to the stern.

 Different part of the trip, i think near Oslo this fast boat circled the MV Balmoral several times, nice day out for the tourists.

 Rather flash Mercedes parked outside one of the posher looking hotels in St Petersburgh, we did not pop in for a quick vodka,  in fact no Russian vodka consumed at all.

 On the other hand, a classic Russian car parked outside the restaurant we stopped at on our coach trip along the Gulf of Finland.   Certainly well photographed by all,  just a shame i cannot remember the make, but I am sure someone out there will recognise it.

Politics for me are a real turn off. Parasites all of them

Those who know me will be aware that I find politics a real turn off.  As far as I am concerned I vote for a candidate and expect that person to represent me as honestly as possible in  whatever House they are sitting, be it a local council, Scottish Parliament or the UK House of Commons and for the benefit of the constituents.   Recently I see and hear of politicians who appear to be on person crusades, out to benefit themselves and perfectly happy to forget about the democratic rule of law when it suits them. There are more hooks, crooks and comic singers sitting on Edinburgh and London than appear at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Mr President, Donald Trump, who I was beginning to have a wee bit time for really "blew it" with his comments in the presence of Putin about the alleged vote rigging / hacking ,  talk about back tracking, back flips and contortions!!   He and many of his contemporaries just thrive on power and the benefits it brings, and will bend the truth and the law as far as they can to retain their status.
I keep getting messages from a friend in Ireland trying to get me going about Brexit,   all I know is that there is a monumental white elephant sited in Brussels, staffed by thousands and led by hundreds of MEPS, all who are extremely well paid and some made for life financially.  What do they do, they duplicate what home parliaments do, they interfere in domestic affairs and generate rules and regulations every few minutes.    Obviously someone had a dream of heading am super state, but do we want that.  I do not.

Keil Canal and St Petersburgh Bridges

While passing through the Keil Canal we passed under this rail bridge which was really impressive, there was a running commentary from the Bridge (on the boat) with various facts about the sights we were passing. The bit I can remember about this rail bridge  was the fact that to get the correct height above the canal and and the need for a gradual gradient, this start of the gradient was four miles away. 

 St Petersburgh is a city built around several islands, with canals, bridges , and even more water and bridges wherever you turn.  This was jusr a snap shot from the coach as we passed through the city,

Low flying Chinook helicopters and high flying jets !!!

Nice afternoon today so I had a wee break from gardening chores and headed off for a run on the Steed of Steel.  Leadburn, A701 to Broughton (home of Broughton Ales) then took a left and wound my way along the side of the River Tweed past the Dawyck Botanic Gardens near Stobo, and as I passed Stobo Castle (Health Spa) I was overtaken , or near enough by a very, very low flying military Chinook helicopter. I have never seen one so close up or so low,  it was just above the tree tops and following the river.  This area seems to be very popular with low flying military types, I have also seen fighter  jets and a Hercules  "awfie near the ground",    From Stobo onto the Glasgow Road through Lyne Station, then took a back road over to Romanno Bridge, zig zagged over to West Linton and then headed for Penicuik over the Harlaw Muir Road where I came across the model aircraft club members,
I stopped and watched the lads q(not a youngster in sight) for about twenty minutes,  there were five members who had seven model planes with them. Over the years through regular use there is now a mini runway and taxi ways for the planes.  Just before I left there wee three planes in the air all doing  acrobatics, two propeller models and a small red Arrow jet,  the jet looked so realistic as it hurtled back and forth about eight feet above the runway.  Made my day.

Only adverse comment about this route were the numbers of bad potholes on the road, some really bad ones which would have wrecked any wheel ending up in them.  Borders Region seem to have made a better job of patching the road than Midlothian Council.

All three Forth Bridges, from the water.

Taken me a while to get round to a few photos from nearer home, of course the fantastic Forth Rail Bridge with the Forth Road Bridge and the newest Queensferry Crossing in the foreground.  Most certainly an impressive sight as you sail out into the North Sea from Rosyth.

No doubt an attraction to thousands who now have either Rosyth or North Queensferry as a port of call on the various cruises which visit Scotland. 

Many forms of security, all to achieve the same end

In the harbour at St Petersburgh we saw this armed patrol boat which had a team of scuba divers aboard, checking and maintaining the safety of the cruise liners.

 Next stop Oslo where these two patrol cars were parked up near the Parliament building,  obviously Police cars,  no need for a Gaelic translation like we have here in Scotland.

 Two very pleasant young lady officers patrolling in the park area between the Parliament and the Royal Palace in Oslo.

 And finally, although we saw this plane on the second day of our cruise as we sailed through the Keil Canal,  obviously a military plane which kept circling over the MV Balmoral,  however we eventually saw that it was doing circuits and bumps on an airfield not far from the Canal zone.

Rhys Prentice, RIP

Very sad to hear of the death of a young Police Scotland officer based in East Lothian,  Rhys Prentice died when involved in a road accident with a motor car while riding his motorcycle on the A7 near Galashiels.   From comments made he was a very popular young man, a good police officer, who will be missed by family, friends and colleagues alike.
It is a reminder of the dangers of motorcycling, and brings back memories of another young Police Officer, Graeme Allan who also died on that stretch of road a few years ago.

Two wheels where they should be.(off the road)

For those who know me you will be aware that I have a bit of a thing about bicycles and their riders, fed up with groups at the weekend taking up the road to Whitecraig, and then even single riders who you have to follow because of double white lines and no overtaking.    However,  on holiday I saw the following cycles,    In Stockholm, outside the ABBA museum we saw these wooden cycles which could be hired, no chance of them rusting, but beware of the woodworm.

In Tallin I spotted this yellow cycle hung over the side of a balcony, it fitted in n icely with the colourful surroundings. 

 Think this was in Oslo, where there were weird and wonderful adaptations  designed to ferry tourist around the City

 And, in St Petersburgh, this bicycle was hanging on the wall, about six floors up in one of the communal blocks we passed, hundreds of houses in one block, makes the "banana flats" in Leith and the large block in Newcastle look tiny by comparison.

Tall ships and the Queen Elizabeth.

Not quite a room with a view, even better than that if you have a head for heights. We were docked in Cobenhagen when the sail training tall ship returned to port having been away for a month off the Portugese coast.  If you can zoom in you will see all the cadets who have climbed up onto the rigging, looked spectacular and most certainly would not have been me !!!

This young lady,  on the other hand, seated at the edge of the harbour, appeared to be quite bored with all the comings and goings, not even phased by the tourists with their cameras,  but at least I can say that I have seen her.

 This is the other Lady of the Seas, the Queen Elizabeth, which was docked in St Petersburgh, here seen with a bunker ship transferring fuel.  The last time I saw this cruise liner it was leaving Gibralter last November.   And it is small compared to some of the other liners. The new harbour at St Petersburgh can take six of these big liners at any one time.

Aunt Eva Singleton, RIP

Had a run down to Durham yesterday to attend the funeral of my Aunt Eva Singleton,  (my mother's sister in law) who passed aw\y lat week aged  ninety six/ Cannot praise my cousin Peter enough as he has had to care for her for the past ten years, much to the detriment of himself and his close family, Jill, Jack and Evi.   It was strange to meet up with folks who could remember me as a two year old !!!
With my current health issues it was a bit of a long day,  twelve hours away from the house so today has called for a bit of a break.     Proud of young Evi who is now a member of the Newcastle Youth Choir and will be singing a classical piece at the London proms in the Albert Hall next week.   A few stories from the past as I stayed with aunt Eva and Uncle Bill in the mid sixties when I was a Cadet in Durham, and through them had a posting in Chester Le Street.

Went South via Soutra, Greenlaw, Coldstream and Morpeth, and came back Ponteland, Carter Bar, Jedburgh, Galashiels and Peebles.       Had planned on using the Steed of Steel but in the end took the car which I suspect was the sensible thing to do.  Did note that none of the reservoirs I passed were very low despite the dry spell.

No photos,  but that man is here in the UK, and as usual lots of arguments about his appearance.   There is no question of the fact that he just speaks his mind and rubs folks up the wrong way.  BUT being the President of the USA he is certainly entitled to pass some comments.  I do believe that he is entitled to certain degrees of respect and there is no excuse of the Mayor of London to be acting the way he has.  The UK is now far too PC , time we clamped down on these bloody dissidents and immigrants who are shafting the system.  I suppose, at my age  I will not be here to see the anarchists get their way.

Not sure what the full story is yet, but I think the police have recovered a container with the nerve agent which was used on the former soviet spy in Salisbury,  will be interesting to hear the followup.

At he end of the day, feet up in front of the TV watching Jane McDonald and Friends, excellent programme, lovely person and great singer, time to relax, and of course a glass of "The Full Fifteen" is a great help.

We had Bill and Ben the flower pot men, but in Tallin, Estonia,

Long afternoon and evening watching the tennis at Wimbledon, the epic semifinal  which Anderson won, although I apparently slept through the second, third and fourth sets!!   I then, either watched the remainder or listened to it on the radio while working outside after the first heavy rain in nearly three weeks, great for the garden.

 Way back in the days of black and white TV there was a children,s programme called Bill and Ben the Flower pot men, with a guest appearance or "Weed".     So, when we were recently in Tallin, Estonia, a stunning city, we stopped for a coffee and beer at a small cafe in the Walled City where they had these decorated flower pots along the frontage. Really nice and eye catching.

 I obviously have many photos but too many to fill up the blog.   We had a slow wander through the old town, and even had a ride on one of the "tourist trains" which was hellish over the cobbled streets, but nice once it got out into the tarmacked main roads in the modern part of the town.   Eventually ended up in the main square for another coffee and beer, which was reasonably priced and not a shock to the system like my friends experienced in Bergen last week  £26 for a latte and £9 for a 1/4 pint -  I would have needed CPR after that.  It was even cheaper than the main square in Prague  where the lovelies, the posers and people watchers pay over the odds for being allowed to preen themselves in public.

The ship, The MV Balmoral was only docked for the day,  but it is certainly a place worth going back to.  The ladies managed to find themselves a small market and treated themselves as usual.

Stadium and power company, St Petersburg

Resorted back to the lap top to get some photos and interest into the Blog.  Thought that as France and Belgium were playing tonight in the stadium at St Petersburg might be worth showing the stadium and adjacent spectacular bridge which is a bit like the Queensferry Crossing. From what we were told by our tour guide the whole seafront which includes the stadium, a motorway, two new bridges, the cruise liner port are all built on land reclaimed from the sea over the past ten years. The cost, in the Billions has caused a great deal of resentment by the locals who would have preferred better housing and other facilities.

 The MV Balmoral, seen here docked in the new cruise liner dock which can accommodate six large liners at the same time, only issue being that with the really big ships, each disembarking around three thousand passengers there is an amazing logistical exercise to get all the passengers, (twenty thousand plus)  into the city or onto the many tours.  On these days the local museums are packed out.

 This tall spire like building is the office building of the power company, the tallest building for hundreds of miles.  Initially the power company wanted to build it in the City, however there was such a public outcry that planning permission was refused and they had to build it well outside the City.   Due to the relatively flat landscape it can be seen from many miles away. Although not yet completed it is quite a spectacular building.  This photo was taken from the cruise terminal on the other side of the mouth of the river using a telephoto lens.

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Happy Bunny, something to cheer about at long last

For those who do follow my words you will no doubt be wondering what has been happening, no scribbling for ages !!
However,  today, after seven months the Steed of Steel (K75RT) has returned home, new front forks, brakes, and petrol tank.   I know there are times when the saying “beyond econaomical repair”  means just that,  but there are times when a wee bit faith and expertise overcomes all.  So now, back on the road on the Steed nd RGB can have a go on the 1150 RT at long last.

In the meantime, we have been away on our travels, six of us headed off on the Fred Olsen ship, MV Balmoral, sailed from Rosyth and during following two weeks passed through the Kiel Canal,  to Copenhagen, saw the wee mermaid, the Royal Yacht, And had a good walk about.  next stop the lovely city of Tallin, beautiful, and well worth a visit,    Next stop St Petersburg where the World Vup football was taking place in the new stadium there.   City was heaving with both tourists and football supporters,  too busy and vey hot,  but certainly some stunning buildings to see.   We had to make do with a coach tour on the first day and a trip along the coast of the Gulf of Finland, sea was just a tad nippy for swimming.     Onwards to Stockholm where we visited the ABBA museum, quite an experience and very busy.    next stop Gothenburg (it was raining),   And finally Oslo ( lovely city). Before our final trip back over the North Sea, Force 7 gale did not make for a happy day, spent in bed so a wasted day for most of the passengers and a lot of the crew.
The Ship was excellent, loved every minute of it apart from the Gale,   Food, drink, staff, service,etc, just  the business.  Would have no hesitation in recommending this smaller ship to anyone, hidden bonus, (no children) .   Our group, theee Ann’s, William, Sandra and self,  were kind o9”f notorious, the G&T Brigade, staff knew our room numbers off by heart and the young singers and dancers looked forward to our support during the evening shows. Lots of photos but no idea how to get them into the blog on this I pad,   Not a problem on the other lap top. Cheers

back home and still all go, lots of work to do in the garden, dug up the old decking which was becoming dangerous in the wet, so the area now paved and new trellis fencing erected.   Still at it as we speak, a regular at Beatson,s the builders merchants, and Screwdix ( nice new Titan hammer drill, and several other bits and bobs!!!  Toys for the boys),