Queen of the Desert

Last night we went to see Priscilla at the Palace Theatre. It was fabulous. The cast were excellent, especially Oliver Thornton as Felicia. The production was amazing. The costumes were outrageous. And the bus was the star of the show.

I defy anyone to go to see this show and not feel great afterwards, however bad a day they may have been having. It is just a great show and a great night out. Highly recommended.

It's a tough life

I try to get on with my life, overcoming setbacks, dealing with emotional problems, working hard and getting some time to play. It's not always easy.

Then we have an economic crash. Not my fault, but suddenly my financial future is uncertain.

Then we have global warming. Not my fault, but suddenly the future of the planet is uncertain.

Now we have a possible flu pandemic. Not my fault, but suddenly the future health of the nation is uncertain.

And certainty becomes the most uncertain concept. I have to expect the unexpected.

But what can I hang on to? What is left to believe in? Not a lot.

Could it be stress?

Today I went back to the doctor.

Firstly I had not heard the results of my blood test. Thankfully, it was all normal.

And secondly I am still suffering from this allergy. The doctor reassured me that it was likely to be a genuine allergy rather than anything more permanent or more serious. He said that I might have had an allergy for years without knowing it, but a bout of stress could have triggered if to react more obviously. And I guess for a number of reasons I have been under some stress recently. But how I reduce that I don't exactly know.

So for the moment I continue with the anti-histamine tablets. And I try not to scratch too much.

A weekend in Scotland

Both my sister and I went up to Scotland for Easter to be with my father. It was an exhausting and sometimes emotional weekend. We did a lot. And the weather was fantastic.

On Friday I played 18 holes of golf in Keith and my Dad walked some of the way round with me and hit a few balls as well. The highlight was my 3 wood of 200 yards on the 15th which ended up 12 inches from the hole. I sank the putt for a birdie.

On Saturday we went in to Aberdeen to see my aunt and cousin and also to go to Pittodrie to see Aberdeen play Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Bit of a scrappy match to be honest, but a fun day.

Sunday saw us heading to Inverness for lunch at the Rocpool Reserve restaurant. Fantastic meal. After going to Eden Court we then headed for Dores on the shores of Loch Ness where a number of people were sunbathing and some were even swimming in the loch.

And on monday we went over to Deeside to lay a wreath on the family grave to mark exactly a year since my mother passed away. Then we headed for Braemar and back via Huntly. Another hot and sunny day in one of my favourite parts of the world. Here is a short video I took.

Protests outside the office

The AGI office is in Bishopsgate in the heart of the city and close to the Climate Exchange. So today, when the various protests took place to coincide with the G20 summit, one of them, the global warming protest, was in the street right outside our office.

I was at a meeting elsewhere in the morning, but returned to the office in the early afternoon to find the road closed and a tent city in the middle of the street. Other protests were more tense, but this one was calm and peaceful.

I was able to get into work and to get out again, although security was tight.

I took this short film on my flip video in the late afternoon.

Is it me?

I flew up to Aberdeen from Luton on Friday. Almost.

We were about to land when the aircraft accelerated and then the pilot announced that due to poor visibility we were diverting to Edinburgh. So we had to travel the last bit of the journey by bus. Arrived Aberdeen airport after midnight. No onward transport of course. I finally arrived in Keith 12 hours late.

Then the warm weather, which they had had all week disappeared. Yesterday we drove through a snowstorm to get to Aberdeen.

Why do I always seem to have this effect on transport and weather?

A day in London

I live in London. But I rarely go into London except for work or to meet friends. And Andrew works too hard without a break, even at weekends. So I suggested that today we spend a day in London. Which I organised and we did.

The best efforts of First Capital Connect to thwart this plan were overcome.

So firstly we had lunch at the West End Kitchen in Panton Street. Cheap and cheerful.

Then we went to see 'Milk' at the Apollo Cinema. A really excellent film. Great acting, sharp cinematography and of course a moving and uplifting story despite the fact that we all knew of the tragic death of Harvey Milk at the hands of one of his fellow members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Quick tube journey to the Natural History Museum to see the Charles Darwin exhibition. A fascinating exhibition marred, as nearly all successful exhibitions are, by there being simply too many people trying to go round and blocking the exhibits.

Back to Regents Street for dinner at the St Alban restaurant. Not one I had been to before. The meal was fantastic. The best Paella I have ever had in this country.

And finally coffee at Balans in Old Compton Street.

A lovely day.

We must do this sort of thing more often. Otherwise what is the point of living in London?

Lochnagar

I have just booked to stay in Ballater at the Glen Lui Hotel from 3rd to 6th July. Purpose of the trip is to climb Lochnagar. My mother did this many times as did my grandmother. And I never have. It will be too late to be able to tell them that I have done it, but I want to see the mountain in the way they saw it.

I will invite some friends and family to join us and hopefully make this a combined reunion and group climb. I just hope the weather will be on our side.

New Car?

I don't do a great deal of driving. I commute to work on the train and apart from trips to the golf or tennis club or visits to my boyfriend, my car spends most of its time in my garage.

Currently I own a 9 year-old Renault Clio which has done only 37,000 miles. But when I put it in for a service last year, it cost £1,000 to get it through the MOT. Maybe now is the time to look for a new car.

So today, we went to Cambridge to look at the new Hyundai i20. I was very impressed. It was larger and more solid than I was expecting, the driving position was great, it has all the new connections for an ipod, mp3 etc., sufficient room for in the boot for the golf clubs and generally looked really good. And cost under £9,000. So now I am pondering whether to make this significant purchase.

I.C.T.

It has been a very disappointing season for Inverness Caledonian Thistle. And of course for the fans of whom I am one.

The disappointment culminated in the 8 league defeats in a row which took us to the bottom of the Scottish Premier League and let to the dismissal of Craig Brewster, the manager. Terry Butcher , the new manager, seems to have instilled a new backbone, new determination and new confidence. Nonetheless, we were still bottom of the league yesterday when the team travelled to Ibrox to play Glasgow Rangers who were top of the league.

No chance there then. But football is a strange game. The result was Rangers 0 Inverness CT 1.

When I heard the result late last night, I probably woke up all of the neighbours as I screamed YESSSSSS. Great result. We are off the bottom. And my hope has been restored.

Blood Test

Today I went to see my GP. For nearly three months I have been suffering from an allergic reaction. But I do not know to what I have developed an allergy. Every day I have skin rashes and itching in varying places. I have eaten no new food, used no new shower gel, used no new moisturising creams. I have been taking anti-histamine tablets which have helped, but today I decided to see the doctor.

She said that it might just be a straightforward allergy, but wanted me to go to Barnet General Hospital for some blood tests. Apparently this could be a sign of something more serious - diabetes for example. Which is a bit scary. So on Monday I head to the hospital for a blood test.

I don't know whether to have a drink in order to calm down or not have a drink in order not to exacerbate the condition.

Spring Cleaning

I have taken 3 days off work partly to do some cleaning and tidying around the flat. But when I take a day off, I wonder where the time goes. Perhaps some goes on looking at the internet. Perhaps I am writing this blog when I should be cleaning the bathroom. Perhaps I am just inherently lazy. Whatever the reason, I never get as much done as I would like.

Anyway time to stop blogging and start cleaning.

A Last Long Lingering Look

I was in Keith over the weekend helping my Dad finally move the remnants of his stuff out of the family home. By Sunday we were done. I locked the front door and walked out of the family home for the last time.

But not before I took this short film.

Missing Dad is found!

My Dad went missing on Monday. Or to be more precise, he had been into Foresterhill hospital in Aberdeen for an eye injection. I had word that he had boarded the 3.20 p.m. train in Aberdeen for the one-hour journey to Keith, but that there was blood in his eye and he could not see very well. The was a taxi waiting to meet this train and take him the 5 minutes to his new sheltered housing cottage.

I rang his mobile at 5.30 p.m. - no response. I rang his home - no response. I did the same at 6.00 p.m. - no response. Again at 6.30 p.m. - no response. There was, as far as I was concerned, no explanation other than that he had collapsed or fallen over on getting out of the train. I was ready to phone round the hospitals.

But I called him again at 7.00 p.m. He was at home having a glass of whisky! 'Oh, were you worried?' he said. It turns out that he had not boarded the train. Because of his eyesight, he had gone to the wrong train on the wrong platform. By the time he realised his mistake, the correct train had left Aberdeen station. So he had to wait two hours for the next train. But didn't think to switch on his mobile phone.

It is a pity that the NHS asks a 92 year-old to make the 60 mile journey from Keith to Aberdeen without ascertaining how he is going to be able to do this. Neither my sister nor I can always travel up to Northern Scotland from Southern England to help him with this journey.

But I guess all's well that ends well.

Selling the Family Home

Last month I went up to Keith in Northern Scotland to help my dad move from the family home into sheltered accommodation. Since neither I nor my sister are never going to move up there, the logical next step was to sell the family home. My mum and dad had lived there for 41 years and I lived there when I went to school in Keith, plus on numerous visits subsequently, so parting with it is going to be an emotional experience. If only I could have lifted it and placed it down here in London.

We put in on the market on the Tuesday and expected that the sale would take months. By the Friday we had accepted an offer!

So this weekend I head back to Keith to remove items from the house. The actual sale happens at the end of the month. I'll stay in the house which will be weird for two reasons. It will be the first time I have ever stayed in the house on my own. And of course it will be the last time I will be able to stay there.

Logically it is the correct thing to do, and getting such a quick sale, and at the asking price, was great. But excuse me if I shed a small tear before I return back to London on Sunday.

Snowdrops

On my way to work this morning, I saw a large number of snowdrops in a churchyard. Snowdrops are my favourite flower. Two reasons I guess. Firstly it is a very pure flower; no frippery, just clean lines and pure white. Secondly it is a very symbolic flower, marking a hope that winter is ending. But it bravely pokes its head above the ground before being sure that this is the case. So it is a triumph of hope over expectation.

More from Malaga

Another video I took last week, this time in the evening in central Malaga after a very wet day. I have also been able, I think, to download it to You Tube, from where I am picking it up. I am rather chuffed that I have been able to so this. What I now need to do is take some rather better-quality videos.

Twitter

I have been persuaded to join Twitter. Partly this is in order to be part of a Twitter group at work. I have yet to be convinved of the benefits, but we'll see. I have added the latest updates to the right hand side of this site.

My first video

Recently I bought a flip vide camera. The quality is not great, but it is fun. This is a video I took last week in Malaga. My first video.

Back in the UK

My flight from Malaga was due to land just after mid-day on Monday at Luton Airport. I actually landed just after midnight on Saturday morning at Gatwick. Four and a half days late. Nearly 100 miles away from where I expected. All because of the snow in England which led to two flights being cancelled.

And somehow I expected London to be covered in over a foot of snow. In fact there was only a few inches. Why was Luton airport closed on both Monday and Friday. I really don't know. Don't they have gritters at the airport?

Easyjet were very good and very professional. They found us the best alternative flight, they put cancelled passengers up in local hotels at Easyjet's expense and generally they did their best.

I am just glad to be back home.