Maice’s feet weren’t exactly happy feet having attracted blisters on both her pinky toes whilst walking the South West coastal path for the past week. She arrived home at 10.30am this morning, did what she had to do then came to pick me up at 3pm. Not only was she hobbling and wincing with the pain, she had brought with her a runny, red nose. Poor love, I suppose she has to be thankful that she didn’t have the puffy, red blotchy face like what she had when we flew off to Corfu a few weeks ago!
Sir Winston, who’d also been on the walking holiday with Maice, Jane and Steve was obviously delighted to arrive back home, looking forward no doubt to sleeping for the rest of the weekend but no, he stayed in the car and was transported off to Jane’s house where he was staying with Jane, Mike and their black lab Geordie. Poor Winston, there’d be no lie-ins for him these next four days as Geordie usually gets walked at around 4.30am! Thankfully it was a different story for Milly, who was already living her best life with Alison et al at Purrfect Cattery where she’s been since yesterday. Bless, they all love her there x
Maice was driving us to the airport in her car although I did offer to take my car and drive, what with her being poorly but no, martyr to the cause, she said she was okay, so with that, the obligatory selfie was taken and off we went in the direction of Bristol airport. It was 3.15pm when we set off, so we deduced that as it usually takes an hour and a half to get there we should arrive at the Silver Zone parking (SZP) at 4.45pm give or take fifteen minutes to allow for traffic.
Now of course, usually when we head off to Bristol airport we leave early in the morning or in the middle of the night so now that we’re driving in the afternoon, everything looked totally different, plus our seating configuration was different due to using Maice’s car, so I was now in the passenger seat and Maice was in the drivers seat. There was also much more traffic on the road, it being the start of the weekend traffic, so all these ‘differences’ played a part in what happened a little later on at junction 22 on the M5! As always we stopped off at the Costa drive thru just before we hit the M5 and ordered our two cappuccino’s. We were the only two at the drive thru but then we had trouble trying to use the Costa APP and some five - ten minutes later there was a queue of impatient drivers behind us!
Finally, with our cappuccinos in place we very gingerly navigated our way around the huge seven exit roundabout making sure we took the M5 North exit…..we’d made that mistake before, you know, ending up going south, so we breathed a sigh of relief when we came off at the correct exit and headed towards the airport. Jane, who always supplies us with some sort of nutritious snacks for the journey had replaced the Bailey’s Balls which she’d given us when we went to Corfu with Baby Bels and mini cheddars which together with our cappuccino’s made for a lovely in car snack on the motorway.
We arrived at J22, the turn off for Bristol Airport South, but when we turned off at the junction it didnt quite look right so we questioned if we’d come off at the right junction. Everything looked different and we didn’t recognise the signage so making a rather hurried decision we decided to traverse the roundabout and ended up back on the M5 looking for the next signpost to the airport. There wasn’t one and we soon realised that coming back onto the M5 was a Big Mistake, Big! We had to resort to SatNav to navigate ourselves to the airport, came off at J19 then travelled around the countryside, took another wrong turn when SatNav didn’t tell us which exit to take at a mini roundabout and ended up further away. We eventually arrived at Silver Zone Parking Bristol at 6.20pm….three hours after leaving my house! We put it down to a number of factors, these being a) maice being poorly and a little bit fuddled in the head b) we were sat in different seats in the car so our perspective was very different from the norm c) I usually drive and Maice usually navigates! Honestly, we drove down roads we’d never driven down before, drove through villages we’d never heard of before and were getting quite anxious that we’d end up in Bristol itself! We breathed a sigh of relief when we approached SZP……from a completely different direction. Ah, well, it was an adventure! You see, Corfu Brian’s wise words are ringing true once again. We had a plan, but the ‘fact’ was totally off-piste from the plan on this occasion.
At least at the airport there was no queue at check-in and we breezed through security. Maice didn’t bring the extra large playing cards so her bag didn’t get searched and swabbed like last time and we didn't set off any alarms. We’d decided before we came that we were going to buy a bottle of champagne for our first evening, to celebrate being in Aberdeen and seeing Pearl again but unfortunately as we were only going to Scotland, which of course is another country but being part of the UK we weren’t allowed to. There was however a very small area that sold scottish whisky and gin made exclusively in the UK so again the plan changed and we decided to buy one from the shop at the Aberdeen airport, if there was one, that is! Due to us arriving late at the airport we didn’t have time for a proper sit down meal as we’d intended so had to make do with a burrito at the burrito bar……and very tasty it was too.
The flight was delayed due, apparently to an ‘incident’ at Manchester airport so we’re intrigued as to what this was as it seemed to affect the airspace and the pilot had to fly off-course…..seems to be one of those days! We sat in the departure lounge and watched our plane taxi to the apron in front of us, saw our luggage being loaded and watched the weather change within minutes to torrential rain and quite stormy. Hope it’s not going to be a bouncy ride …..we’ve had enough excitement for one day, thank you very much! Finally on the plane and up in the air we were flying through blue skies and white puffy clouds below….what a difference 6,000 feet can make.
We landed at Aberdeen airport, phoned Pearl who told us to go to the bus stop outside the arrivals lounge then she phoned Mark who was parked somewhere in a road outside the airport to say that we’d landed and were awaiting our rendezvous with him at the bus stop. The assignation went according to plan and before we knew it we we were sat around their kitchen island drinking Prosecco and eating nibbles.
It was cold, well Maice was cold, but then again she was full of cold and it didn’t help that they kept opening the patio doors, which were in the kitchen to let Rhudy the dog out!! Poor Maice. I don’t think she’ll be getting rid of her cold this weekend!
We eventually succumbed to tiredness, looking forward to the following day, Mark’s birthday party, the reason why we’re both here in Scotland. As we’re both part of the ‘entertainment committee’ there’s a lot to be done …….we had a video to record amongst other thing, so to bed it is!
The next day…..
Still full of cold and seemingly unable to sleep, at 5.23am Maice sent me a WhatsApp message ‘Are you awake’ it said. Of course I didn’t respond because a) I didn’t hear my phone beep even though she was messaging from the room next door and b) I was asleep! I finally responded at 7.19am and was instructed to take my pillows next door so we could talk through the idea she’d had about the video. The ‘video’ by the way is a compilation of photos and videos set to various pieces of music that traverse the life and times of not only Mark but his family and friends, which he knows nothing about. But, oh dear, Maice and her ideas! What bright idea had she come up with this time I wondered. Surprisingly, it was a good idea which was to put our video introduction at the front of the main video so that everyone who watched it knew who’d made it. Great, it’s a plan, so let’s stick to it.
We had a busy day ahead of us and of course there was a plan. Get up. Breakfast….Mark cooking. Hugh, the dog walker, was calling round at midday to take Rhudy, the dog for a sleepover at his place. Then we, M&A to record the video in The Rhudy Bar, which just happens to be Mark and Pearl’s converted shed in the garden, then off to the hotel to decorate the venue. Thankfully Mark was going to stay the night at the Great Western Hotel, which was not only his ‘local’ but also where the party was being held. Then, when he was out of the way we were going to record the introduction to ‘the video’ based on The Two Ronnies ‘news’ item sketch and then try and transfer it to a USB memory stick. Then Dianne was arriving after 3pm. Then, after a late lunch we were getting ready and had a taxi booked for 6pm………that was the plan!
Mark decided he wasn’t leaving until after 3pm so we had to record our video in secret and make sure he was out of the way so Pearl sent him and Rhudy out for a walk in the morning and we got ourselves sorted in the Rhudy Bar where after just two takes, the video was recorded. Of course, nothing is simple and we had issues adding the video to the video and trying to place the music in the right spot and then, to make matters worse, it wouldn’t upload to the memory stick. What to do? Thankfully we managed to Airtime it to Pearl’s TV but would we be able to do so at the hotel. We’d find out soon enough as we were now off to the hotel to decorate the venue.
We didn’t think it would take us that long to decorate, what with there being the three of us but it actually took just over 2.5 hours AND they didn’t have Airtime TV AND the memory stick didn’t work. We were now in a dilemma. We had a fourteen minute video to play and weren’t able to play it? We could hardly expect 60 plus people to crowd around a little IPad to watch it, this being the only option at the moment. We regrouped under the bunting trying to come up with an alternative solution. The only option was to purchase a new memory stick and see if that would work so we ended up popping into Asda and purchasing a scan disk with a big memory and lo-and-behold when we got home we were able to upload the video onto it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Of course we weren’t out of the woods yet as we had to make sure it would work on the TV at the hotel and we wouldn’t know that until we got there this evening. Positive thoughts, positive thoughts, keep everything crossed and let’s hope for the best!
Mark left with his overnight bag at 3pm just as Dianne turned up. We wouldn’t see Mark as himself until the next morning because ‘for one night only’ Mark was going to metamorphose into Elvis Presley, ha ….there’s life in that old hound dog yet! We were hoping lots of party goers were going to dress up in 70’s and 80’s fashion at Mark’s request and after our late lunch of Mark’s homemade, risotto, washed down with two Aperol Spritz we transformed ourselves into our ‘costumes’ ready for the evening ahead.
Before our taxi arrived we had another task to do. Mark being Elvis we knew he’d like to make a big entrance in front of all his adoring ‘fans’ so what better way than to give him a big introduction before playing Hound Dog. I was given the task of compère and had to write a little ditty to the song ‘One night only…..one night only’….I’m sure you get the gist! After about twenty attempts of trying to remember the new lyrics we were ready to go. We piled into the taxi and before we knew it we’d arrived. The first thing we did was check if the scan-disk would work on the TV screen and hurrah it did. The second thing we did was order ourselves a round of drinks to compensate for all the angst we’d put ourselves through during the day!!
So, let’s get this party started……..you know what it’s like when people are invited to a party that starts say at 7pm……no-one wants to be the first to arrive so Elvis had to wait for his big entrance until more people had arrived. At last, by 7.40pm the venue was full and Moi was able to introduce, for one night only, Elvis, dead for 47 years but making a come-back to celebrate his 60th birthday. And then there he was, the Hound Dog himself, Elvis Presley live and kicking, busting some moves on the dance floor, shaking those hips and furiously playing his guitar, albeit a blow-up one!
The night was off to a great start. The DJ was excellent, the music was fabulous and the dance floor was full throughout the whole evening. After we’d eaten the video presention was shown and everyone gathered around to watch it on the big screen. Suffice to say that Mark didn’t have a clue and laughed his way through the tears. Bless him. Then, it was everyone back on the dance floor until the music ended and the lights went out.
Some of us were a bit tipsy on the way home, some of us were still suffering with a runny nose and head cold but despite this everyone had a fabulous night……it certainly had been a ‘hard days night’
The morning after the night before……..!
With no ‘Elvis’ or Rhudy about the house, this morning us ladies decided a well deserved lie-in was in order after which we’d have a leisurely breakfast, Pearl cooking. She suggested trying to emulate the Eggs Royale dish that Mark had cooked us the previous morning and then proceeded to tell us that she’d never poached an egg in her life before! Mmmm, this could be interesting. We told her to just concentrate on doing the eggs rather than the fancy bit of sauce that goes on top and all we onlookers could do was hope for the best and keep our fingers crossed! Well, what a revelation. Pearl can poach an egg, not just one, but four and they were all edible, not runny and snotty like some are and perched atop a bit of buttered toast. Well done Pearl 👏👏👏.
Over breakfast we held a post-mortem of Mark’s 60th birthday bash and we all came to the same conclusion. It was a fabulous evening, the food was lovely, the music and the female DJ were excellent, the decorations looked amazing, the food was yummy, Mark was on form, albeit a tad inebriated by the end of the evening and the video was well received. Couldn’t ask for anything better. Pearl was both delighted and relieved and Mark when he returned later that morning said it was the best party he’s ever had. So, we done good girls 👏 👏👏.
After Pearl and Mark went to fetch Rhudy from Hugh, the dog sitter the plan was for a) Mark to go to bed, have a siesta and take Rhudy with him and b) us girlies to go out and meet up with Sandra for coffee and cake. We deliberated about where to meet up and after a flurry of text messages between Pearl and Sandra we had a plan. We were off to a place called Chapel of Garioch, a little village in the Scottish countryside where we were going to meet up in the local post office, which had metamorphosed itself some time ago into a cafe.
I went with Pearl in her car and Maice went with Dianne in her car and we were meeting up with Sandra at the cafe. It was quite a strategic move from Maice to opt to go with Dianne because every time we’d get into Pearls car the windows would be wound down and Maice, who usually sits in the back kept getting blasted with cold air. Of course that’s the last thing she needs what with her still full of cold and constantly shivering. Fingers crossed that we get a seat inside the cafe as there was a very keen fresh wind plus it was rather chilly and with the temperature being at least 12 degrees it wasn’t conducive to sitting out in the garden area.
We arrived at the Chapel of Garioch, eventually parked up after a bit of manoeuvring with the cars and popped into the cemetery to have a chat with Pearl’s mum who’s buried there. My word it was cold, so we bid her farewell and took ourselves off to the post office. Of course, it was full but they had blankets for outside so armed with at least six blankets we made our way out into the garden, found a table, sat down then moved to another table, sat down then moved to another table. We finally settled on a table that was more out of the wind than the others and wrapped ourselves up in our many blankets. To be honest it wasn’t that bad sitting outside, in fact it was rather nice. We had a lovely afternoon catching up with Sandra, drinking coffee and eating cake and then we, M&A introduced them to the CLR dice game. Suffice to say they all loved it, even the couple on the next table were intrigued how five women could become so animated and loud over just throwing three dice. What a marvellous fun game this is and so transportable. Stick three dice in your bag whenever you go out and it can be played anywhere.
After we left the ‘post office’ we drove to a village just outside Oyne to have a mooch around the local antiques centre where we said our goodbyes to Sandra and Dianne. Ah, it was so lovely to see them both. On the way back home we drove through Oyne where Maice and I were treated to a running commentary by Pearl to the village where she spent most of her upbringing, where she went to school, the house she lived in and the childhood she had living in a little village. By now we were quite tired and looking forward to getting home and having a siesta and why not, we had to stay up late to watch the final of the Euros between England and Spain. How exciting!
Feeling refreshed after a lovely siesta we enjoyed a lovely supper, cracked open the Prosecco and took our seats in front of the TV to watch England ‘bring it home’! Well folks, no more needs to be said except that Mark was absolutely delighted and couldn’t contain his excitement with the outcome. Huh, of course had the match have been played the day before his party we would most certainly have pulled the video 🤣🤣🤣!
We’re coming home……well at least some of us are!
It was a sad day, waking up in the morning knowing that a) we were flying back to Dorset in the afternoon b) we would have to say goodbye to Pearl and Mark and c) there would be no ‘bank-holiday’ to celebrate the England football team ‘bringing it home’.
Maice was still feeling poorly and nursing her cold so declined the offer to come with Pearl and I to walk Rhudy at 7.00am preferring to stay in bed for an extra couple of hours with her heated throw. We were quite lucky really as it seems that Mark, Pearl and I have evaded catching the lurgy from her……phew, that’s a relief. The last thing we want is a summer cold!
Mark had gone to work by the time we sat down for breakfast which just happened to be more poached eggs cooked by Pearl. It wasn’t until after breakfast that I started to notice the roof of my mouth was becoming itchy which to me indicates a cold is a’coming……furious with Maice if it is!
After breakfast the three of us and Rhudy took ourselves off to the beach at Balmedie, just twenty minutes up the coast from Aberdeen. We parked up and traversed the sand dunes and wow, the beach is amazing……a long sandy deserted beach with very few people on it and despite the fresh coolness in the air Maice and I actually went in for a paddle. Rhudy was off lead having the time of his life running into the waves and doing lots of zoomies across the sands.
Feeling the chill, we got back to the car and went for coffee at the beachside cafe which even though it called itself the Beachside Cafe, surprisingly was no where near a) the beach or b) the sea! We sat outside and enjoyed our last coffee together before Pearl drove us to the airport and dropped us off at the Crowne Plaza hotel just outside the airport where we walked under the covered walkway to the terminal building. Check in was smooth, passing through security was smooth and before we knew it we were at the Departure Gate enjoying Pearl’s home made sandwiches and playing cards. The flight was delayed half an hour and in that half an hour I came out with a full blown cold!! On boarding the plane I found a man in my seat who apparently had exactly the same boarding card as me! How on earth that happened I’ve no idea but luckily we were moved to a set of empty seats a bit further up the plane.
Back at Bristol we fetched the car and headed off along the M5 to J25, a route well known to us. We decided to put SatNav on to stop us turning off at the Shepton Mallet junction which is a cross country route we don’t like taking, particularly in the dark. We were happily driving along chatting, as you do when we noticed the sign for J26. What had happened to J25? We realised that SatNav had obviously fallen asleep and so hadn’t told us when we were approaching J25 so we missed the turning. We had to come off at J26 some way down the motorway and do a U turn and head back to J25. Honestly, what are we like!!!
We were home at about 10.30pm and after unpacking I went straight to bed….but not before dosing up with Lemsips (other brands are available) which Maice had very kindly provided me with when she dropped me off. Well, under the circumstances, it’s the least she could do as it is her cold I’ve picked up!
Well, what can we say about our holiday in Aberdeen. It was cold, it was windy, it was full of grey skies but hey, we weren’t there for the weather. We were there to see our lovely friend Pearl and help her celebrate Mark’s 60th birthday which was fabulous. You see, all you need is a little help from your friends. It was also great to catch up with Dianne and Sandra and to meet members of Marks family who all made Mark’s 60th birthday a very memorable occasion.
On the note all there is to say is….Oidche Mhath'
It’s good night from M and it’s good night from A oh and of course you’re invited to join us on our next getaway to Canada 🇨🇦 in September.
M&A xx
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