Silly Sports

On Saturday we were all invited to Rob & Laura’s BBQ.  Their house has a massive garden backing on the the River Tay.  They had arranged an afternoon of silly sports day activities including egg & spoon, three legged races and of course tug of war.  All the kids enjoyed themselves even the big ones!

Perth Races

Today Perth Race Course held a special meeting to celebrate the granting of the Royal Charter to Perth 800 years ago.  The last time the race course held a Saturday meeting was 8 years ago.  The event was a family day with jousting and falcon displays.

Knowing nothing about racing we rang Dad for some tips. Needless to say his horse kept coming 5th in a 6 horse race.  Eventually I got a winner on the 5th race and on the 6th race we backed every horse.  Alasdair was the winner and took home £30.

A New Beginning

Cameron started High School today.  It only seems like yesterday when I was taking his first day at primary school photograph.

Skiing in 26C

 

This was the boys first skiing lesson.  The dry slope was near Stirling

Scone Orchid Festival

 

The Earl of Mansfield is very keen on orchids.  Each year Scone Palace holds an orchid festival and exhibitors come as far away as Devon to the show. 

 

 

 

 

We have a few orchids of our own but not as gorgeous as these from the show or Sarah’s mothers.  We suggested that ours could go on holiday to Tiverton.

 

 

Catherine being buried

Isn’t it nice to have friendly nephews. This is what the boys did to Auntie Catherine on the beach at Exmouth.

Boys on the Beach

Boys playing on beach at Exmouth.  We are here with all of Sarah’s family.  It was Catherine’s first journey on a train and she enjoyed it.

Evening Out in Exeter

We are visiting Sarah’s family in Tiverton and are out for a meal.  Cameron has just polished off an adults fish and chips, while Alasdair has eaten an adults linguine.  Nanny is now worried about looking after the boys for the next week.

We went to the Twisted Oak pub and the food was excellent.  Ali especially liked his chocolate brownie covered in ice cream.

Perth 800

Today it was Armed forces day in Perth.  This was part of Perth’s 800 year celebration.  It consisted of over 1000 service personnel along with 6 pipe bands marching through the streets of Perth.  Also in the parade was other organisations like the cubs and scouts. 

Pictured above is 22nd St Matthews Scout Group.  Alasdair joined the parade and Prince Edward took the salute.  Cameron was at his end of school prize giving service so could not take part.

The final part of the Perth 800 Celebrations was on Sunday in the concert hall.  We went to see a concert which consisted of local talent.  Big brass bands, singers and dancers all performed.

P7 End of Year

I can not believe that Cameron is actually moving up to High School after the summer holidays.  Last Friday his class had an end of school year party at Quarry Mill in Perth.

Loch Lomond

Cameron is learning to play the electric guitar at school.  His teacher, Mr Whyte arranged for a concert to support a charity in India.  The children from Kinnoull School took part in the event.

Here is Cameron on stage playing to Loch Lomond with  his fellow class mates playing the guitar and singing.

 

Perth Round Table Website

I have been learning how to develop websites again.  This time I am using a CMS system.  There are lots on the market but I chose to use Joomla as it is a free open source piece of software.  I used Perth Round Table as my project.  Click on the link if you want a look at my efforts.  Feedback would be appreciated.

Scouts Night Hike

Last Friday 14th May I helped out on the Scout Night Hike.  The route took us from Bankfoot through Glen Garr and to Dunkeld via the Hermitage and back to Bankfoot.  By the end of the night most of the children were ready to collapse but all did very well. 

The above picture is taken on my camera phone in Glen Garr and below is Cameron on the hike.

Ballumbie Castle Golf

Yesterday I played golf with Hydro Electric Golf Club.  The course, Ballumbie Castle in Dundee, was great however, its location was a little strange, situated in the middle of a housing scheme. (Posh word for estate to reflect the posh houses).

 

My golf was a little hit and miss (pardon the pun).  One of my shots I have named the “Barns Wallis” shot as it skimmed across the pond in the picture below, hitting the water twice before emerging on dry land the other side.

Lou playing golf on Ballumbie Castle course.

Consultants

My Chief Exec at work writes a blog and was dealing with some consultants the other day.  Some of his work colleges told him a few consultant jokes so I thought I would share them with you.

 

A shepherd was herding his flock in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of the dust cloud towards him. The driver, a young man in a Broni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leaned out the window and asked the shepherd... "If I tell you exactly how many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one?" The shepherd looked at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looked at his peacefully grazing flock and calmly answered "sure".

The yuppie parked his car, whipped out his IBM ThinkPad and connected it to a cell phone, then he surfed to a NASA page on the internet where he called up a GPS satellite navigation system, scanned the area, and then opened up a database and an Excel spreadsheet with complex formulas. He sent an email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, received a response. Finally, he prints out a 130-page report on his miniaturized printer then turns to the shepherd and says, "You have exactly 1586 sheep. "That is correct; take one of the sheep." said the shepherd. He watches the young man select one of the animals and bundle it into his car.

Then the shepherd says: "If I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my animal?", "OK, why not." answered the young man. "Clearly, you are a consultant." said the shepherd. "That's correct." says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?" "No guessing required." answers the shepherd. "You turned up here although nobody called you. You want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked, and you don't know anything about my business...... Now give me back my dog."

 

 

A physician, a civil engineer, and a consultant were arguing about what was the oldest profession in the world.
The physician remarked, "Well, in the Bible, it says that God created Eve from a rib taken out of Adam. This clearly required surgery, and so I can rightly claim that mine is the oldest profession in the world."

The civil engineer interrupted, and said, "But even earlier in the book of Genesis, it states that God created the order of the heavens and the earth from out of the chaos. This was the first and certainly the most spectacular application of civil engineering. Therefore, fair doctor, you are wrong: mine is the oldest profession in the world."

The consultant leaned back in her chair, smiled, and then said confidently, "Ah, but who do you think created the chaos?"

Workers Start Young

Today was take your child to work day.  Cameron cam with me to Scottish and Southern Energy for the day.  While signing in we bumped into one of my friends in reception.  I told Cameron if he worked hard he could have a job like Craig, who now works for the company in China.

If Cameron did not work as hard he might end up working in a “call centre”.  On order to demonstrate this further he spent the morning in SSE’s Home Services call centre.

The afternoon was spent with our corporate team who were letting them know what SSE do as a company and explaining our company values; “The SSE-SET”

• Safety
• Service
• Efficiency
• Sustainability
• Excellence
• Teamwork

Cameron was not too impressed that he was at work until 5pm rather than finishing school at 3:30pm but at least he was not at school.

Child Labour

Today was “take your child to work day”.  This is an event that is run all over the country and gives school children an opportunity to experience life outside school.

I took Cameron to SSE where I work.  Currently I am working in Energy Trading but he spent time is this section last year so I had arranged for Cameron to sit in our Home Services Call Centre.  I thought this might encourage him to work harder at school so he does not end up working there after he leaves school. 

In the afternoon the company arranged corporate activities for the children and shown below is that event.

Alasdair at Aerodrome

Last weekend Alasdair, along with 200 other cubs visited Perth Aerodrome to gain his Air Activities Cub Badge.  The afternoon was spent having a sports day.

Cameron at Craggan Camp

Cameron and the other scouts are building a bridge across the river.  Most of them ended up falling in the water.

Boys in Bedford

Last weekend my Father and brothers decending on Beford. Dad was showing us all where he grew up. The whole weekend involved lots of fun and a bit of alcohol. Saturday we visited the farm where Dad used to work and in the afternoon had a lazy time along the river in Bedford.

In the evening we were eating at the Mannor Coutry Hotel and got invited as personal guest of the owner to Sunday lunch.

On Saturday evening we educated Dad by taking him clubing.

Old Mac Peach's Farm

Thought I would give you an update on our live stock situation. We have lost a few chickens from our original starting quantity. We are now down to 6 and egg production is also down due to the winter. In winter chickens molt and stop laying eggs. One of our chickens when completely bauld and then once his feathers started to re-grown she was nicknames spikey. The decrease in egg production has also hampered the baking. Roll on the spring.

The other casualty we have had is our fish tank. Just before Christmas we got a new tank and set it up in the lounge. This tank holds 350 litres. A few weeks ago one of our extra large black sharks had died but decided it would hide first. As a result the tank went septic and we have lost most of the fish. We are now struggling to get the water conditions back to normal.

We have however had two new arrivals to our menagerie. The boys have both got a terrapin ("Terry and Snappy") These are qute cute.

We still have both rabbits and both ginea pigs.

On the Waggon Again

I am half way through Lent and as usual I have given up alcohol for this period. This is the 5th year I have fasted from alcohol and so far so good. I don't miss the whisky that much but Sunday Roast without red wine is like Tom without Jerry.

This weekend I am a guest at the Rotary Charity Dinner and I will not be able to have a drop of alcohol. At least my brothers have not visited me this year and drunk all my booze.

Winter Wonderland

This year we have had more snow that has lasted longer than I can remember. The local River Tay froze in the centre of Perth as temperatures dropped as low as -17C.

Other than very low temperatures we have not been too badly affected unlink some parts of the UK.

Christmas

Alasdair receive a tent from Gran and Grandpa for his Christmas present. He slept in it for 3 nights pitched in his bedroom. The boys both receive new hads from Santa and Mum and Dad got them doorstops for their bedrooms in the shape of a dog and sheep.

Shield Christmas Party 2009

Wet Worcester

 

I know this is not Cockermouth but the horses at Worcester racecourse are going to need their arm bands.

Widgets

The slide show is fairly good pity about the annoying ads. Never mind you have to pay to get rid of those and this version is free.

Aquascaping

Over the weekend we got a new fish tank. It is a corner unit due to the size (350 litres) we only just managed to get it into the house. I am now looking for ideas of how I am going to set it up and came across this video of the international aquascaping competition.

If I was able to set up something half as spectacular as these tanks I would be delighted but my Silver Dollars would not as they would be moving home.

The Hermitage

 
Last weekend we went for a walk through Dunkeld Woods to the Hermitage. This is the home of some of Britains tallest trees. The tallest in these woods measures in at a whopping 61.5m and is ranked 6th in the UK. The tallest tree being 63m and is found in Reelig Glen Wood, Moniack, Scotland.

Rememberance Day

 

Last Sunday we all went to church for the rememberance day service. Mum and Dad were visiting Scotland and they joined us. Cameron and Alasdair were in the scout and cub uniform and Cameron was carrying one of the flags.