Interactivehealth

The day no one wants

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:17:58 +0800

Monday was a bad day, the battle was over for my pal of 14 years, it was a relief as she would not suffer anymore, but I knew from this day I would be alone, perhaps for the first time in my life. I have buried her next to Rose who passed away to cancer almost to the day 3 years ago, strange how life works out.

I looked back at her papers and all her linage are Australian champions, I will track down one of the breeders as I was privileged to have such a fine companion for so long.

I have posted a link below that my Dad sent me to cheer me up, well it worked…

Made my day

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:11:07 +0800

Made my day

Stranger things

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:03:26 +0800

Well the old girl is still going, although I fear she is on the downward spiral, amazing really but were having fun.

Life has some strange twists, firstly I’m teaching this year, and I have a new partner ( a breeder) for all of Tims friends! anyway will post more when I get over a doze of Man Flu !!

Why

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 22:31:12 +0800

Just learned that my dog has a month to live bugger cancer is a bastard.

Surfin Dog

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 18:08:53 +0800

Surfin Dog

Life Sucks at times

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:00:05 +0800

Well today I found out that my pal of nearly 13 years has months to live due to the big C. We saw the Oncologist this morning and its chemo for Missy to try and give her some quality in the last few months. I am as you can imagine fucked! after all i’ve been through now this, fuck I know it sounds selfish but walk in my shoes and you’ll know.

Photo

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 02:01:05 +0800

Dunkeld bridge built in early 1800s for 14,000 pounds

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 01:57:52 +0800

Dunkeld bridge built in early 1800s for 14,000 pounds

A welcome visitor

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 01:52:39 +0800

A welcome visitor

An oasis in the highlands

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 21:45:04 +0800

As most of you will know i do search out the odd culinary delight, and for all the years i have bee coming here i have passed a place that was along beaten road and was an old farm mill. This place apparently is a working dairy farm and sells exquisite ice cream, and unbeknown to me food!
The”Laird” insisted we call in for a spot of lunch and with bit of trepidation entered what was once the mill room where horses would be harnessed and walk in circles milling the corn. I had a quick glance at the specials on the blackboard and noticed to my delight no fries, yes nothing is fried here it is a dream nothing but wholesome fresh vegetables.
When I say that it is a farm, I am looking out to the fields in front of me and there are goats, pigs and dairy cows which contribute to the excellent the ice-cream. I have been warned by Renn, a very cute waitress to have ice cream today, not that it will take much arm twisting mind you.
The food here is fabulous the combination of the salad and vegetables works really well, combine that with hot smoked salmon with dill and cream cheese in a panini and you have a very nice lunch. If you are a health nut then i would definitely call in as the menu has a verygood variety and everything is locally produced.
Today I cannot see the blue sky as it covered in dark clouds I think the technical term for this is 8 octas but don’t quote me, suffice to say it’s been pissing down for ages!
I have a couple of things to do today one is for mylate mothers estate and the other is dog sittingfor myfriend Graeme, who is working all weekend at T in the park. This is a rock festival like Glastonbury but since it’s outdoors Theres going to be a lot of wet people!
Tomorrow ihave to scatter mymothers ashes in the Sma Glenn (pronounced Small Glenn) and I will get wet as i will be up a hill exposed to the elements, however it is the last and probably the hardest thing I will do here.

A day off

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 02:56:42 +0800

Sorting through your parents things can be depressing and since this was really hard as you have to deal with a lot of emotions, so I decided to take a day off. The day started with an unusual thing in the sky, yes a full sun and a big blue sky. I headed off to a place called Blairgowrie, a town that has it’s signs in Gaelic and English as this was the gateway to the Eastern Highlands where blokes wear kilts and the sheep are afraid! I headed up to a place where I used to play tennis as a boy and headed on a road that was marked on the map as no greater than four meters wide, this road took me up to where they have a windfarm of about 20 windmills, I must say they’re quite silent. The views from there were spectacular and the road equally did not disappoint, although it was dotted with wandering sheep, where’s the kilt when you need it! I headed on and I found and old iron bridge that had some spectacular water running below it, again a road I had not travelled in all my time here, quite amazing. Aberfeldy soon loomed and it was here again I headed off the beaten track, as my aim was to take the b roads whenever I could, as the main roads are really congested. Before too long I was in familiar territory heading back to the laird where a nice glass of Glenlivit was waiting for my arrival. The day went well, I had the sunroof open and my iPhone blaring like I was a teenager, a perfect day to clear your head from the stresses that haunt me, whilst I toil at this latest challenge.

Photo

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 02:36:35 +0800

Photo

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 02:32:07 +0800

The road through sleepy hollow

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 02:25:00 +0800

The road through sleepy hollow

A pleasant surprise

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 02:20:57 +0800

Jumping back in time now to last Sunday, yes I know I’ve just lost the American audience as they can’t handle time travel, fairly evident by the shows that they cancel that feature this. Anyway Sunday was Fathers day and I decided to take the Laird to Meikleour hotel for a spot of lunch, now some of you will find this familiar, and if you do pat yourself on the back and pour yourself a large whisky. This indeed is the site of a world famous hedge dating back to 1745 and is roughly 5 decent white pointers high and 100 long, apparently it gets cut with the fire brigade every 10 years. Anyway we headed indoors to this very rustic hotel which was used way back then as a coachmans stop, as passengers heading to the north would use this as resting point. The waitress was rather attentive and apologized to me for winking at her as she said she had something in her eye, likely story. As usual I tried the Scampi which was delightful, very juicy and light with a hint of sweetness, all done in a very light batter. The laird consumed real ale, something of a treat for him as he doesn’t get out as often as he should, a hangover form his cancer days but we are making progress. Our time drew near and the bill came which was not as much as I thought as the food and service were superb, a bargain was had. Outside I saw the familiar tail of a scent hound and I was in luck as a chap had brought his beagle down to the hotel, the dog sprinted towards me and it reminded me of my very own, very playful and full of mischief. The chap was with his wife and they asked me if they lost a lot of hair as this one at 10 months was shedding like nobodies business, I told them that it was like that every day! He also had started to chew which I told them would last two years then they grow out of it. It was really nice to see the dog as it filled a hole that I had at the time. We left and headed back to Easter Burnbane House where a nice glenlivit was waiting to be sampled.

The long road to pitlochry

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 03:12:04 +0800

Just a quick post as there is no service as I am in the highlands of Perthshire. I’ve arrived at a Turkish restaurant where the menu is thick with lamb and koftas of all sorts. However I am having scampi or what I hope is scampi as these days it can be monkfish so I will tell you soon. Bit of a hunger building up as i was sampling some rather fine whisky that the laird insisted I have as I think he is trying to ween me off red wine. No doubt he thinks it’s a nasty habit I’ve acquired during my time in the colonies! Well a rather large plate of monkfish arrived and so far I have only had real scampi at miekelour hotel which was fantastic it’s a bit like eating a scallop, it should be succulent and just a bit sweet. Anyway I’m now trying the coffee and it is very nice and smooth, well the Turks are famous for it I suppose. There is an odd thing I have noticed that a few of them are staring at me must be the Australian T shirt, Gallipoli an all that. Well that’s all from the Northern front.

Wade’s bridge in Dunkeld

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 03:57:21 +0800

Wade’s bridge in Dunkeld

General Wade

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 03:55:48 +0800

I then headed to Aberfeldy which has a rather nice distillery, which unfortunately I couldn’t call in as I was the pilot. However I have talked ” the Laird” to make a call during the week so we will get to sample the smokey amber nectar of a long distilled malt. I then headed down to Dunkeld where in the 1700’s, General George Wade was dispatched to quell the Jacobite rebellion by building military highways. As you can see the roads barely stand up to today’s traffic.

The other side of Schiehallion

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 03:45:31 +0800

The other side of Schiehallion

Schiehallion and no not the one in Applecross

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 03:43:41 +0800

Schiehallion and no not the one in Applecross