More Mini Us!

After building my own mini-Fiona complete with Happy and Angry faces, we have been gifted with Holiday Fiona and Dermot.

Thanks to Christine, we now have non work mini figures to take on our holiday later in September. We are both ready for the sun with Fiona in her non-triathlon swimsuit and me with my funky shirt and sunglasses.

We even have accessories!
I have my camera to record all the sights we will be seeing...

..and Fiona has a thong!

Mini us

Fiona's car was in for it's service this morning so we had the day in Glasgow while we waited.

Having some shopping to do we headed normal one o Buchanan Galleries and after browsing the shops ended up in the Lego shop.

They have a build a mini-figure section where you pick assorted parts and can make your own figures.

I managed to build my own mini-Fiona. She even chose her own head though she said she didn't like the yellow head. She even has her id badge and mug of coffee.

It was only after we got home that Fiona explained the real reason for changing the head. The head she chose has two faces. The one normal one, and the 'angry eyes' one for when she's not on form.

She plans on bringing this into the office to use to show her mood.

I already had a mini-figure for me. It was a freebie from a work conference.

Now we can be a mini-couple!

Just Typical...

The cable company I get TV phone and broadband from has been bought over by Virgin Media.

This is probably a good thing - my provider is quite small and been bought over a few times already. Luckily it keeps getting better for me. The number of channels, the quality of both broadband and the set top boxes. All of it has been pretty good. I do think its odd that they cannot provide the Red Button channels which are available on Freeserve, but that's only a minor issue.

Naturally, we won't get the same package but after a quick look at the website it looks like the same prices will give a better service, so all in all, I'm looking forward to it.

We will get a new set top box - a tivo box to replace my current PVR. That should be fine although I do like my current box. I'll also be getting new wireless kit for my broadband. That would be good as my stuff I bought myself and then turned down the option to buy from the cable company last time.

It seems we will be contacted in the next few weeks with dates for the switchover, and then personal visits to set up the new stuff.

So I was not surprised when last week my phone wouldn't connect to my wifi when I came home. It was reporting an 'authenticating error'. I presumed it was something to do with the switch over and after rebooting the router all was well. A few days later the same thing with the same corrective action. I was beginning to think this was getting a bit silly the third time I had to reset the router.

Last night when we got in we both had the same error. This time a reset of the router didn't do the job as the router died. Complete failure of the power supply to the router.

So, do I wait for the cable company or do I get a new router?

Bit of a dilemma for about 5 minutes - off to tesco for a cheap router and we're back online, shakes never even taking hold.

But do I keep this new one or take the cable companies new one?

Not fooling anyone

We were out on the bikes again this morning (well today, the morning disappeared in a nice lie-in)

Fiona is still not convinced about the mini-triathalon she has been entered into later this autumn, so I am still doing my best to get her out training.

We headed out to Eglington Park again. This was for 2 main reasons - the strong WNW wind meant heading North was better so we could have the wind behind us on the way home. The other was because we were passed by a large number of vintage trucks yesterday. I did some googling and it appeared that they were heading to a rally in Eglington today. The wind thing was just a bonus.

Since this was essentially the same route we did the other night we can make direct comparisons: A little bit further today (because we cycled around the park looking for the vintage trucks) in a little bit more time. Overall an improvement in average speed. That's the benefit of training.

Todays:

Last weeks:

However, I was completely unable to get her to run once we got back home,instead we sat in the garden and ate an ice cream.

Sunny Saturday

I don't think fiona is taking her upcoming mini triathlon seriously enough. Apart from that one evening she's not been in a pool and she still hasn't done any running.

She did clarify though. Its not that her hair would get wet, its how her hair looks when its wet.

She did come out on the bikes this morning though.

It was a good ride, warm and mostly dry. We could keep a reasonable pace provided I stayed behind her. Once i got in front she would start to lag and 'rest'.

Week in Wicklow

Fiona and I spent the past week in a cottage just outside Blessington in Wicklow. There was no WiFi and the poor mobile signal meant I didn't incur any extortionate roaming charges. Also meant were pleasantly out of touch for the week.

We got the ferry from Troon to Larne on Saturday morning, taking my brand new, 5 miles on the clock, company car. The sailing and drive to my mums was calm while I got used to the new car.

We took my folks out for dinner since it was father's day on the Sunday and my mum's birthday the next Thursday. 

After the fry up Sunday morning, Fiona and I headed off to the cottage. All through the drive the weather was picking up, we had a "holding high" forecast for the week, to keep the weather good.

We got to the cottage in good time. Its was a few miles outside Blessington, just up from the primary school in Lackan. It was a modern cottage - 2 bedrooms, open plan kitchen dining room with sitting room around the corner. 

We headed out for a drive and found that there was filming going on for the tv show Vikings. We much watch this and see what we recognise. Chinese takeaway and then a stroll around the area.

Monday dawned a little overcast but it didn't slow us. Into the car for a drive across the Wicklow mountains. 

During the drive the mist rolled in dropping visibility to a few metres. The drive was haunting and eerie.

We crossed the peak and suddenly the mist started to clear. After a few minutes the scenery was amazing (it was amazing all the time but we just couldn't see it)

Down on the shore of one of the lakes it looked like another Vikings scene. A wooden village was being built on the shore line below the cliff.

After stopping to get lunch we ended up in the devil's glen, heading to the waterfall. I had spent a weekend here when I was still in school, the only time I was ever hostel-ing. After our sandwiches we had a pleasant walk to the waterfall, observing various art installations along the way.

Instead of eatng out tonight, we decided to cook, so after a trip to the shops, tea and cake outside in the sun, fajitas were born. With strawberries and meringues. Cava and rummikub finished the evening.

Tuesday was Powerscourt day. There was something for both of us - garden for Fiona and waterfall for me. More windy roads today but since there was no mist the view was extraordinary. 

Arrived at the gardens and headed round. Spectacular in the sunshine. Incredible plantings and formal gardens. After we walked though we sat and had an ice cream in the sunshine.

We then headed for the waterfall. What a disappointment. Not the waterfall itself - that was spectacular. But there was no walk. You drive up (and pay per head to get in) right to the base of the waterfall. You walk from the car, though there is a circular route so you could actually stay in the car if you wanted, and the entire view is right there.

There were a couple of ambivalent paths, none marked, none seemed very long. I felt robbed since I had expected a few km walk to the waterfall. 

Once we arrived back in Blessington there was a fleet of Viking long ships rowing down the lake.
After dinner in a local pub it was gin and bitter back at the cottage.

Wednesday started calm and bright. The lake was glassy - mirror like, if you had a big mirror you could only keep flat.

Over muesli we planned the day. The thought of walking along the coast from Bray to Greystones seemed the most attractive option. Plus it gave us the opportunity to see if we could climb either the great or small sugar loafs.
Turn on the sat nav and the fastest route is quite boring. The shortest looks like more fun so off we go. This road is narrow, bumpy, and full of sheep but we get into Bray just after a hard sea mist settles and we can see nothing.

We park and decide to do the 6km cliff walk into Greystones. We decided against water, sun cream, and Fiona brings her fleece to keep warm, but within 10 minutes the sun burns off most of the mist, and starts on me.
Beautiful walk along the coast, the sun making it reminiscent of Crete last year.

We make if into Greystones and look for something to drink. 10 minutes on the dart has us back in Bray. 

Which is jumping by now. 

We get back to the car and drive down to Wicklow town which was much quieter. After tea and cake we simply walked through the town, ending up at the ruined castle where we sat for an hour looking out over the water.

Drove back to the cottage, stopping for aftersun and Indian takeaway.

Thursday started a bit cooler, thankfully as my nose is quite burned. We decided to head to the abbey at Baltinglass, so off we headed. 

After some sat nav confusion we arrived at the abbey's remains. Bit of an odd place . They are currently maintaining it so you can't actually get in. And there's just a single remaining wall. 

Oh well.
No photos either. Since there was a guy in the portacabin, who never came out to speak to us, I didn't want to take pictures in case he thought I was an inspector or something.

Off then to Rath Gael ring fort. This was somewhat better. Again, this is somewhere where they are preserving. They are clearing the ground and ultimately building a car park. There was a central thick ring wall of dry stone and three outer rings of stone and earth. Not much else but impressive to see what was built 4000 years ago.

Our next stop was the village of Shillelagh where the famous sticks come from. 

Sadly this was a complete damp squib. We saw one shop selling shillelaghs but it was closed. 

We then decided to visit Dwyer McAllister's cottage. We had no idea of who he was or why his cottage was on our tourist map, but it was nearby. It was much harder to find but we persevered and finally arrived.

It was closed. But look at the opening hours - Last admission is 45 minutes before closing, but the opening hours are Daily from Mid June to Mid September

We couldn't find the stone circle.

We decided to give up and head for food. Fiona wanted to try a pub we passed a few times. They were closed too. But I finally got Fiona to drive a bit. We headed back into Blessington where we went back go the pub from Tuesday night. More gin at the cottage where we got to watch England lose to Uruguay.

Friday was our last day in the cottage. So after packing up and signing out we decided to head to a path and lake we had spied earlier in the week. We hadn't walked the path that day as Fiona wanted to have long trousers on in case of ticks.
From the cottage we followed the main road

until we made it to the lay by where the view stopped us earlier in the week.

A pleasant walk along Lough Bray Upper and lower.

Back to the car and we people watched for a while, amused at the number of people who came, and looked at the view without getting out of the car.

After we were done it was a drive back to my folks in Dublin for a family party Saturday night and the ferry home on Sunday afternoon.

With no wifi and no phone signal, even if I wanted to pay the roaming charges (I don't understand why the global company I use says I can't use my contract while I use their service abroad - its not like they charge themselves a fee or anything) and no way to get the photos off the cameras and online, this was writtten off line while we were away and uploaded on 28th June. The date shown is for my records.

Wet Bank Holiday Monday

As it always seems to be the case, it is wet on our Bank Holiday Monday.

Since we had the Avondale Gala and Barn Dance on Saturday and it was very wet yesterday we have done no cycling so today is our last chance for this weekend.

Once we got down and had breakfast I could hear the light rain n the conservatory roof, always sounding worse than it actually is. We decided to go out anyway and see what happens.

By the time we we ready (and those few chores done around the house - I needed shirt into the wash) the rain was off and so were we.

Less than 2 minutes in, Fiona asked where my waterproof jacket was. I hadn't bothered to bring it, being all manly and all. Sinc ethe plan was to head out to the Burns Centre for food, it was suggested that I go back and get it so I could peel it off rather than sit soaked if it did rain., She would continue and I would catch her up. Yes Dear.

Luckily I did. Just coming out of Prestwick, about 40 minutes in, it started to rain. We stopped and I got to use my new waterproof for the first time.

Less than 5 minutes later it was raining so hard we couldn't really see and had to shelter for 30 minutes at a bus stop. At this point it was agreed that heading back was the wisest course of action and return home.

Definitely the wettest we've been since Aviemore 2 years ago.

But the wet weather gear worked this time. Dry inside, but my feet are wet and cold. Fiona survived also, almost completely dry but very muddy from spray, and the car that splashed as we passed the airport.

She's already had her shower and since the hair-dryer is now on time to log off for my shower.

WOHFTF? No Curling?

Just back (it's been a week now - busy bee this week) from a weekend in Dunoon with the curling lot.

Each year Fiona's curling lot go away in November for a weekend's curling to Stranraer. There is eating , drinking, and curling.
breakout

These are days, you'll remember
Never before and never since, I promise
Will the whole world be warm as this and as you feel it
You'll know it's true that you are blessed and lucky
It's true that you are touched by something
That will grow and bloom in you
These are days, you'll remember
When May is rushing over you with desire
To be part of the miracles you see in every hour
You'll know it's true that you are blessed and lucky
It's true that you are touched by something
That will grow and bloom in you
These are days
These are the days you might fill with laughter until' you break
These days you might feel a shaft of light make it's way across your face
When you do you'll know how it was meant to be
See the signs and know their meaning
It's true, you'll know how it was meant to be
Hear the signs and know they're speaking to you, to you


10,000 Maniacs - These Are Days

breakout
This year as there were 4 Fiftieth birthdays and 1 fortieth, we decided to head away for a weekend without the curling.
After much searching, a venue large enough for us all was found and a weekend agreed and we all made our way to Dunoon. Physically, this is not to far from us, but due to the physical geography it's a ferry ride across the Clyde to Dunoon, where we had our cottage.

There were travel juggling to begin with. I was in Edinburgh at a conference, so after collecting Alan, who was working in the building I parked my car in we drove across to the ferry. After a quiet ferry trip, where we didn't recognise any of the foot passengers, we arrived at the house: 8 bedrooms, dining room, lounge, chill out space, pool, BBQ hut, games room, tower viewpoint, food kitchen, drink kitchen, swings.

Fantastic.

Night 1 was quiet - settling in. With a fabulous meal of baked ham, salmon, and salads we set the bar high. We all were given gift glasses to wear, especially for the official photos at the end of the weekend.
Food over it was some walking outside, messing about in the pool and sauna, and then drinking and eating until we fell.. Well kinda. Does eating unset spiked jelly count as eating or drinking?

Next morning dawned wet. Surprisingly, we were all moving reasonably well and the noise wasn't a problem. Fantastic cooked breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage, toast and tea. Perfect.
After a morning lounging, swimming, strolling and shopping, it was  off quad biking once the weather improved while others went golfing, and garden visiting.

After we got back from the quads I headed down to the pier to play 'David Bailey' with my camera where I was joined first by Karolyn and then the Golf Boys.

But Saturday night was BBQ night and Eurovision night. And a lot of drink was consumed. And food. And wifi died so I stopped posting and increased my drinking. And we had a gin quiz, and we sang, and we had birthday cake, and, and and. And once I see all the photos I might remember more.



Sunday started damp but again, a fantastic cooked breakfast made the morning and the weather improved to the level where we could get out and take our party pictures.

This was remarkably difficult as we couldn't get everyone to look at the camera at the same time or jump on the same cue.

Some left on Sunday, while some of us stayed on until Monday. Sunday night was a chinese bought in, and Monday's breakfast wasn't a shake on the others we had but it was still enjoyable.

A lot of bottles fell this weekend.

A great time was had.

Activity Update

I've had  the feeling that I've not been too active so far this year.
Work is definitely getting in the way of my exercise. As is the weather.And curling. And punctures.

Hopefully I have turned a corner - curling season over, 'spring' is now here, I've got new tubes and tyres.

So, how have I done so far this year?

The total number of workouts is not far from last years totals - a little bit down but not too bad at all.  Distance and duration are down a lot though, but that has been me missing my regular workout sessions.

What has that done to my weight though? Surprisingly, not much damage. (phew)

but not much progress.

At least the general trend (when I record weights that is) is a decreasing one.

And at least, given the dinners out, and hotel eating, I'm not gaining weight!

Long Cycle

Now that the weather is finally picking up, and the curling is over, we have been back out on the bikes.

Just about 100 miles in the past 2 weeks (3 weekends)

Saturday we went out to Portencross Castle. This is north along the coast. Again its fairly flat, coastal cycling with most on cycle track and only a little on quiet streets.

Being prepared, we had sandwiches with us, and if the weather was better would have stayed and had a good look at the castle.

This is all part of my campaign to have Fiona do the 47 mile Pedal Scotland event in September. She keeps saying she's not fit enough, but she did 45 miles in 4 hours, so she seems pretty fine to me.

What I have had to do is distract her. Normally she would start complaining on the cycle back, but this time I commented on the fact that my bum was getting sore and never gave her the opportunity to complain.

On the road again

Between work and weather, its been difficult to get out on the bike for some exercise. The fact that I have been plagued with punctures hasn't helped.
One day I came out for a spin to find I had a flat tyre. I took the tube out but couldn't find any leak. Deciding not to waste too much time I fixed my spare tube and headed out.
20 minutes later I was walking my bike, again.
I don't know if its the tyres, the tubes, the patches, or the wheels themselves but I had to do something.
Buying a new bike is an extreme way of resolving a puncture but that is the ultimate plan. There are other reasons for a new bike but there are other priorities first.

In the meantime I need to get my wheels spinning again. Off to the Bicycle Room in Troon (where I plan to buy my next bike) for 2 new tubes and tyres.
These are supposed to be puncture resistant, but not Kevlar lined - those ones would last 4 years and I plan to have the new bike by my birthday. If these puncture it must be the rims. It could be the tyre levers I use to get the tyres on and off the rims. That would be ironic, wouldn't it?

New tubes and tyres in and pumped to designated pressure. Now for a worthy distance.
Since we were both on holiday and it was a beautiful day, an all day cycle was on the cards.
We would go north along Cycle Route 7 and head towards Lochwinnoch.
We knew the first part of this route - normally we would turn East in Kilwinning and go to Eglinton Park, or go west to Saltcoats. Today we would continue north and see how we fare.

What a great day. The new (to us) part of the course is a bit more hilly that we are normally used to, but a quiet route.

The route crosses the Garnock River on a fantastic viaduct which must have followed an old railway line. After that point we got a few sharp rises and falls. We descended into Glengarnock where we had our sandwiches in a play park and then headed back home. The sight of the climb back out from the park was a bit daunting but not that bad in fact.

We ended up doing almost 40 miles in beautiful weather. Fiona got to show off her Pink Lady cycle outfit - a Christmas present, and I got to test my new tyres.

Fitness Review

Its not been a good start to 2014 in terms of hitting my target weight.
Too many nights in hotels and too little exercise. I am trying my best but its hard to not choose the unhealthy lifestyle when its on charge.

So what has it done to my weight?

I'm still trending in the right direction. I have overcome the reversal of Christmas (in fact I only put on 3 kg, so I was quite pleased) and despite a few poor weeks diet wise, have managed not to slide too far.

This is being done by watching what and how much I eat. Sadly, the exercise has taken a hit. Weather, and Fiona's curling always take a toll in the winter months. My being away has made this even worse.  In addition to not getting my gym and cycles, I am now also missing my badminton sessions.
I have also been plagued with punctures.

We haver managed a few longer cycles and I'm promised that we'll have more once the curling is done. There's even talk of Pedal Scotland's Glasgow-Edinburgh cycle this September...

Kinross Curling Weekend

Just back home after the annual NHS Curling competition held in Kinross. This is, predictably, a curling competition, held annually, in Kinross, for NHS curling clubs, of which Fiona is a member.

The Kinross weekend is a ends based system so the final score doesn't matter too much, just the number of ends that each team has won. The real tricky bit is that the winning team must organise next years event.
The trick is to play well enough to retain face, and avoid slagging, while playing poorly enough to get out have having to be in charge next time.
Olympics is nothing compared to this.

Not being a curler I get to make my own amusement while they play. Last year I hired a bike and cycled around the loch. This year was to be the same.

But the bike hire place from last year was no longer open. It was part of the hotel group (which also had the other hotel, gold course, ice rink) Their in hotel info made no mention of bike hire or the bistro which was alongside it. A simple question at reception confirmed that it was no longer open. But might open again later in the year. Not much use to me this weekend then.

Google showed another bike hire place, but its website was still under construction so no opening hours were available. Also the copyright was 2012 which made me sceptical.

My plan was simple - have a walk down and see what was available if anything. Other wise just go for a walk.
Even this simple plan was ruined by the weather - miserable. So, I decided to get the camera and head over to the rink and watch the curling.
Once out it wasn't as bad as it had looked from the breakfast table so heading into the town and managed to hire a bike. And was really glad I did.
Apart from being a bit blowy, it was really nice out. A bit wet under foot (i.e. mud up to my knees when I got home) but it never rained on me and was surprisingly warm.

At the moment there is a cycle path 3/4 of the way around, form Kinross Pier to Vane Farm RSPB, but the new connecting bits are almost ready to be opened - a single bridge is missing so next year I can do laps.

It was cross country from the hotel until I hit the path, then anticlockwise as far as I could go. Turn around and head back, as far as I can go. Then turn around and try to hook up with the other cycle path north of thee loch. But that was on a busier road that i would normally find relaxing so back onto the path and drop the bike back.

Over all I managed 35.k km in fairly windy conditions on a bike that had handlebars way to low for me. Compared to last year, it was 10 minutes longer on the bike, but managed 7 miles further. And that included stops, and a chat with an old colleague I bumped into.

All in all a good day.

The curling went well too. Won some, lost enough, took home 6 of the 10 raffle prizes. Had a wild dinner where the staff we genuinely terrified...