Lennox

Now that photos of my new grandson are allowed, here he is.

As Nana, I think he is perfect. "Nana" is the tag I am hoping for.

This is my eldest son, Ian holding his hours old son.  They seem to be having a lovely moment.  I hope they have hundreds of those.

Here's our little peanut!

Early reports are saying that he is the right sort of baby.  Quiet, calm and alert.

I am already besotted.  I meet him on the 20th when I fly to Chicago for a solid week of Lennox time.

Welcome to the World

Yesterday in Chicago, my lovely daughter-in-law after an epic labor of over 24 hours brought Lennox David into the world.  He is perfect.  He weighed 6lbs and 4oz at birth. 

My son wept openly when his son was born.  I would have loved to be nearer as all of this was happening.  I'll see them in two weeks when I go for a quick visit.  I will bring presents and help where I can.

I am not authorized to post photos of the little guy at this time.   I will post photos when it is properly sanctioned.

That's me  a grandmother now.  It also bumps my mother up a grade to great grandmother.  Yipee! I love babies and I love that my family continues to grow and I don't have to do anything! 

Sneaky Week Away

Before the mayhem of Christmas took us over completely . . . . . .  Wait, let me go back a little bit.   In October I felt things were starting to get on top of me.  Work was non-stop and family life was in turmoil.  I tried all the normal stress relieving techniques but they weren't cutting through this particular clump of stress. My left eye started to twitch, a clear indicator for me that I was losing the battle.  I said to The Man of the Place that I was sinking.  I told him that my eye had begun to twitch and that I wasn't sleeping all that well.  I needed a bit of help.  God bless him.  He booked us a vacation.  The day after he booked the vacation, my eye stopped its annoying twitching.  Just having something to look forward to helped to lower my stress levels considerably.

He found us a bargain at the Dive Show in Birmingham.  We got a very good deal with flights, accommodation (with all our meals) and diving all wrapped up in one neat package. That was through a small travel company that specialises in dive trips, Sportif Dive Holidays.   Sadly our youngest boy couldn't join us, he had university exams to take.  So, it was just the two of us.  We haven't had a vacation alone together in . . .over twenty years!  We have always had children with us. Not having any of the boys with us was a concept that unsettled us at first.  If the kids can't go, should we just put it off until they can come along?  Nope - it was just us.  We have made one more step toward being empty-nesters.   Once I got my head around that concept, the holiday started to shine a little brighter.

We were off to Egypt for a week of non-stop diving.  Egypt has the best scuba diving within our budget.  The Red Sea offers some of the best diving there is to be had on the planet.  The turmoil that Egypt has been facing in the last year or so has not affected the diving too terribly.  There were only few divers, but that could have had something to with the fact that this was the week before Christmas.

Diving every single day of the holiday was just what the doctor ordered.  I never tire of it.  I love the sea.  When I'm not IN the sea, I can be found, looking over the edge of the harbor into the water to see what I can see.

Lemon goby

whip coral goby

I got to see my favourite fish, the Lemon goby, spotted some whip coral gobies - at about 2cm they aren't easy to see.

blue fin trevally

Indian mackerel 

Look at the blue of this blue fin trevally!  I wish the photo were in focus and framed better, but you can at least get an idea of the amazing colour of them!
This holiday was made possible because of a direct flight from Manchester to Marsa Alam airport by Thomson holidays.  This route had been cancelled for a bit and we are so thrilled that it has been reinstated.  We couldn't have gone otherwise.  The flights leave Marsa Alam back to the UK leave Egypt about 6 pm.  This means that divers can dive on the last day of the holiday and still have a good 24 hours between last dive and the flight home.

We have been diving exclusively with one company over the years, Emperor Divers.  The dive guides love the sea as much as I do and though they dive in the Red Sea for a living, they are still enthusiastic about each dive.  We could go unguided but I found that my friend Tracy, one of Emperor's instructors and guides is such a genius at spotting the things I like to see (little stuff) that I prefer to dive with her.

juvenile axilspot hogfish with giant moray

I squeezed in as many dives as daylight and the dive boats allowed.  The last dive on the last day was my 200th dive.  It was a lovely dive with a couple of  giant moray eels.  This one had a juvenile hog fish acting like a cleaner fish next to him.  I couldn't get the entire eel in the shot as it was so massive - close to 2 meters - but you can see how beautifully it was marked.   In addition to the treats we saw below the waves - Emperor Divers laid on an extra special treat in the dive boat that was used on this last day.

Emperor Elite

We were welcomed aboard the Emperor Elite, Emperor's platinum service 32 meter premier liveabord dive boat.  Holy smokes!

Man of the Place in the ship's dining room

I really tried to be cool and nonchalant about the whole experience . . . but I failed.  I was properly thrilled and snooped around the whole boat, taking photos.

I wanted to get photos of the cabins to show that there really is plenty of storage on board.  Divers seldom have a lot of personal luggage to stow anyway, but it is nice to know you have a couple of places to put your things. If you notice the table between the two single beds has a small fridge below it!  Just out of sight is a telly and the door to the bathroom.  Each room has their own.

Double cabin

This is mummy and daddy's cabin.  Loads more room!

Tracy and The Man of the Place with lovely coffee

I showed a shot of my husband walking through the dining room, but what I failed to show was the coffee and tea making facilities in the corner of the room - that had a barrista!  There was somebody there to make us really nice coffees.

dive deck

Out on the back of the boat and the dive deck, there was space enough for two zodiacs.  These essential little RIBs help the crew hook the ship up to mooring points as well as drop of and collect divers from the sea.

Ship's library

top deck of Elite

Need a place to write up your logbook in comfort? You can do that in the ship's library or if you want fresh air, try the top deck where there is a Jacuzzi!  Because we were on this ship in December, most of us opted for the comfy seats inside.  For us, it wasn't cold, but it was nicer inside.  I like the fact that if it is high summer, you can have a bit of shade on the top deck.

Me and Luke

I have declared that if my numbers ever come up on the lottery, I am making a couple of trips on this lovely ship.  One trip with my dive club and one trip with non-divers.

Weekend Away

The Man of the Place and I have been working pretty hard this year.  We never took a vacation this summer.   Just about the time we were going to book the vacation, great chunks of the render (or stucco) on our lovely house needed to be replaced.   In preparation for getting the place painted, it was noticed that there was a scary hollow sound being made when the side of the house was tapped . . .

Scary cracks that shouldn't be painted over

The entire west wall of the house with the bad render wrapping around the south west corner and a small portion of the north side (a third of the exterior of the house) As the render was leaping away from the house in vast chunks, we waved good bye to our chance for some much needed sun.

North side of the house

West wall of our house

We did get a small break to Amsterdam just after my birthday and that was fun . . . so our life wasn't completely devoted to work.

In September we realised that it has been a bit full-on lately and we needed something to look forward to.  We booked a couple nights at a hotel in Whitby, North Yorkshire.

Ruswarp Hall Hotel

The Man of the Place and I stayed there over twenty years ago before we were married.  It was a romantic gesture to stay there again now that . . . time has passed and we're still married.
Another reason to visit Whitby, in addition to reminding ourselves of when we were love's young dream was to have a bit of fun at the now famous Whitby Goth Weekend.

Abbey as seen from St Mary's churchyard

Whitby is a working port on the North Yorkshire coast.  With the ruined abbey on the cliff overlooking the small town, it was the perfect setting for Bram Stoker when he needed a place for Count Dracula to arrive in  England.

undead me

Wow!  We had fun!

Zombie Paul from Newcastle and his zombie girlfriend

I loved our weekend there.  What a wonderful concentration of creative people.  There were the old school goths and vampire folk.

It was mixed in with the steampunk and other creative types.

Steampunk dudes

Really charming bloke in a dress

It was an accepting crowd and anything goes.  Take bits from goth, bits from steampunk and make it your own.

Which is what we did

Busy Day

Yesterday after work, when I should have been hammering my sales calls into the computer, I was called outside by the sound of tractors.  It really doesn't take much to pull me from the work desk, and tractors will do it every time.

The young chap that is cutting the hedges of our dairy-farmer-neighbour-directly-south-of-us said that he would cut our very tall beech hedge along the road for money.  If he does that, we save a LOT of time.  I can't really use the hedge cutter.  It's too heavy for my weak and girly arms.  The Man of the Place takes care of these sorts of  things.  I was just relieved that with the arrival of the young man and his tractor no family member is climbing onto a wobbly ladder with a heavy, petrol driven hedge cutter.  I always fear deep cuts that involve dashes to hospital for restitching/reattaching of things.

At the same time the hedge cutting dude was here, our dear friend Scott arrived with a wagon load of cut up logs.  This meant moving what was left of the old logs and get prepared for the new logs.

When moving the old logs, we uncover little toads and newts that thought this would be an excellent place to overwinter.  Normally it would be . . . but we had to shift things.   After moving all newts and toads so that they wouldn't get stepped on or crushed by logs,

 Old logs set to one side and tarp ready for new logs

Scott dumped the new load of logs onto the tarp with frightening accuracy!

We did not move any logs to take this photo.  He got them all on the tarp!

While Scott was dumping logs, the young chap who cuts hedges made quick work of our tall, roadside hedge. Tidy and quick - it is money well spent to have him do this.  Please note the muddy patch on the above photo.  This is where the next loads of gravel are going . . . the ground has been so soft with the constant rain.  To prevent more mud in our lives, gravel is being put down.

They all went away and we were left with a tidy hedge and a pile of logs to stack.  The toad and newts are tucked into the new wood pile and after we get the rest of the gravel down, we'll be set for winter.

Integrated Transport

I loved our visit to Amsterdam!  One of the things that is immediately apparent is that they have actual integrated transport. 

One can get off the plane, collect your luggage and walk to the train station.   While we were collecting our luggage, we bought a 5 day train/bus/tram ticket from a chipper and cute as a button helpful person right next to the luggage carousel!  It seemed to be a good idea to get the transportation portion of our budget out of the way.  A train caught at the train station (waiting time for train 15 minutes) will take you right into the centre of Amsterdam . . .

From Amsterdam Centraal - Dutch spelling folks ;-)  You walk over to the tram stop and wait for your tram.  In this instance the wait for the tram was 8 minutes.  The tram takes you to about two blocks of your hotel.  Genius!  I was impressed by how all the different modes of transportation are integrated.  Our tickets were good for the trams and buses all over the city.  You "checked on" to each bus or tram by presenting your card to an electronic sensor and it "blipped".  At the end of your journey, you checked out as you got off by presenting your card to the sensor once again.

We followed the directions and got off at our stop . . . but got a bit confused as to which direction to walk .

We figured it out.


The above is a put together by the hotel we stayed in while we were there.

So from the time we landed until we were knocking on the door of the hotel was less than an hour.  We had taken a train and a tram with very short walks and brief waiting times.  I loved that!  I know how UNintegrated transportation is if one arrives at Glasow airport. 

We walked/took a tram everywhere on this trip.  My poor feet suffered.  I am unused to walking quite so much.  I should walk more.

The other mode of transportation in Amsterdam are the canals or grachten (plural of the word gracht).  Boats are still a viable form of transportation in Amsterdam though there is no public system on the canal.  If you want a boat ride, you're going to have to make friends with a boat owner OR go pay to go on a canal tour. 

We did that!  We followed the advice of the Lonely Planet guide and went to Boom Chicago on Leiseplein where we booked passage for a boat tour the following day.

It was like being on your pal's boat.  Everything was easy and relaxed.

Everywhere you go in the world, you can always find an Irish bar.

Beautiful old warehouses with the old canal access.  So beautiful.  I loved the architecture and the huge windows of the buildings.

Seven bridges view

The old houses all have tilted fronts and large booms with hooks on them.  Front doors are small and staircases inside are narrow and steep.  If you wish to get furniture into the house, it is going to have to get hoisted through a window.

I can only imagine the sort of canal tour that we took is at its best on dry summer days.  What can be nicer than sipping Heineken as you glide along the canals, taking in the sights.

Surprise! We're Going to Amsterdam!

A few years ago when The Man of the Place had his 50th birthday, I surprised him with a weekend trip to Paris.  We had a lovely weekend full of sightseeing and finding little Parisian treasures where we least expected to find them.

This year I was given a similar surprise. I knew we were going somewhere.  I was asked to book some time off work and get Polly the wonderdog booked in at the kennel.  I did this without knowing the actual destination.  Of course I asked questions like . . . "Do I need to pack a dive computer, sturdy walking shoes, swimming suit, sparkly dress?"    Apparently The Man of the Place had spent money on a Lonely Planet guide to Morroco and left it on the coffee table in the front room.  I didn't even see it! What's the point of creating a red herring if the person it was designed for is too clueless to notice?

We were leaving early early on Saturday morning so I was told on Friday night to pack for a European (non UK) city destination and to leave my swimming suit, sparkly dress and dive computer behind. 



Seven bridges

On Saturday morning at bleary o'clock in the morning The Man of the Place, George and I left our place and made our way to Glasgow airport.  At the EasyJet check-in desk I discovered the destination.  Amsterdam!  Wow!  I had never been to Amsterdam before.  This was going to be fun!

We were in Amsterdam from Saturday until Wednesday afternoon.  I'll write more about where we stayed, food, cultural stuff and the fun things we did later.  We did loads of fun things so there is much to tell.

Dead Tree

A few years ago a seemingly healthy tree in our garden just died.  One summer it was alive and growing and the next year - it was bereft of life.

We have been contemplating removing this tree but have held off for a couple of reasons; 1. The dead tree is the perfect hammock distance from another tree.  We would have nowhere else to put a hammock unless we BUY a hammock stand.  2. We are very lazy (I refer you to the title of the blog) and would have to arrange chainsaws or get somebody in to cut it down.  Now we have a third and important reason.  Wildlife.  There has been a nest box on this tree for many years now. It has been the site of many successful batches of blue tits.   Today while we were all watching telly in the back room, we had a rare treat.  A great spotted woodpecker was hopping up and down the trunk of this tree, pecking at holes and making grabs at a small swarm of flying insects near by.

After the woodpecker flew off, The Man of the Place and I went out and inspected the many holes that have appeared on this tree.  Seriously, there weren't any holes there on my birthday when I went to hang the pinata on a branch.  If there were holes, I didn't notice them.

No missing the woodpecker holes now!  They go all the way down.  There is obviously food there for the bird or he wouldn't give the tree so much attention.  The woodpecker's validation of the dead tree has ensured that the tree will not be cut for now.  Dead trees are important to wildlife as this woodpecker has shown us.  We will keep the camera in the back room to see if we can get a photo of a return visit.

Over in the other part of the place, I checked on the swallow nest.  There was only one egg!  I don't know what happened there.  Was the nest predated by some other bird or (horror) a rodent?

In any case, the swallows are not losing any time.  There has been a new nest built and there are three eggs in it!

I really hope that the eggs hatch and that the birds manage to get big and fat quickly enough to make it all the way back to South Africa!