Mid summer conditions in Houston

I would like to say summer has just arrived but the reality of it is that Houston is as hot as anything just now. We had our first rain shower the other day and it actually rained for a couple of hours however most of the water that fell, ran straight off the rock hard earth into the drain so I could not get out of watering again!
We haven't done a BBQ for a while so decided to make kebabs with the antelope meat given to me by one of my colleagues after her hunting trip in south Texas. It was a fine beast and tasted pretty good too!
Because there has been no water the mosquitoes are not too bad making it good for all of us outside – dog included, but because of the heat we actually resorted back to eating inside in our working air conditioning!
Amy and I sent the boys off to the bar the other day while we stayed back to work out what we were going to buy with our monies from the jewellery party. I may be forgot to write about that – Amy and I hosted a Stella and Dot party at mine for about 15 ladies. The great thing about it you get money to spend based on how much all your guests spend. Our ladies spent lots so we had over two hundred dollars each to buy things and it sounds silly but I was actually having difficulty spending that much – it was almost greedy, however we managed!! Once we had finished we drove to meet up with the men and Laura who were sitting outside Watson’s – a British style bar nearby. By the time we got there they were all fed up with the waitress who can only be described as a dumb blonde, Amy quickly discovered they were correct when it took her a couple of attempts to remember our drinks order!
Stuart is sticking to his paleo diet and the other night we both tried something new – spaghetti squash. We had seen a cooking programme with it and it looks just like a bowl of spaghetti once cooked and scraped out. We had a piece of oven-roasted Mahi Mahi on a bed of spaghetti squash topped with a tomato and basil sauce (sauce vierge) using Bill’s garden tomatoes – all very tasty. Anyone wanting the recipe will have to talk to chef Stuart. To accompany I had a glass of wine in my new wine glasses – essentially a wine glass with the stem cut off therefore less risk of spilling it!

	A foody collection!

Well I haven't done a big Gretchen picture collection for at least a week so here is some more of her from the other night. I wanted some artistic ones but I wasn’t quick enough snapping and she moved her head!

How to know if your doggie behaved on holiday

So while we were away Gretchen went on holiday to Waggin’ Tails Pet Ranch. Although we didn't give her the top room – with TV, wall paper and extra comfy bed – she was still very well looked after. She was out playing with the other doggies 4 times a day and managed to be bathed three times during her short stay – this would suggest play time was lots of fun!

We were greeted first by a card from Gretchen telling us how much she was enjoying herself, and how she cant wait to be back!

The best thing they do is give you her report card on collection. So like every proud parent we were very excited to see she got a ‘Green Card’ tick. Essentially, she played very well with all the other doggies and was extremely sweet winning over all the staff no doubt!

I think she is pleased to be home, even if it is a bit dull with just Stuart and I!

A weekend in the air

This weekend we had a flying visit to the UK in both meanings of the word!  Leaving Wednesday night after a busy day at work I slept like a baby all the way to Heathrow and to be honest I also slept all the way up to Aberdeen where we landed at about 4pm the following day.

Ann and Neil kindly put us up for the night as we were supposed to be surprising Iain at his 40th the following day!  Well not all surprises go quite to plan so he actually knew we were in the country.  A relatively quiet night was just what the doctor ordered.  I woke at about 3:30am – wide awake however, after tossing and turning finally getting back to sleep only to feel dreadful when it was time to get up.

I had seen a meeting request the previous evening so we had breakie (well Stuart got his in Aberdeen – with black pudding and back bacon!) and heading off into Aberdeen to do a bit of shopping – you know pick up all those things you miss!   I had to leave Stuart to complete shopping so I could head to the office for my meeting.  He got the train back to Dyce so Emma could meet him and then they were going to start preparing for the party that evening.  I finally got out to Emma and Iain’s after 6pm.  Poor Neil had had to do all my duties – sorry Neil but could you just go to the garage AGAIN!!

The birthday boy had been playing two rounds of golf in Dundee and got home at about 8:30pm to be greeted by all his guests. 

The party was fun although we did nearly forget the champagne in the freezer.  Iain got to blow out candles twice, once for Alex who had to go home to bed and was disappointed by the lack of party hats!, and then a second time for the adults – he had so many candles he could blow them all out at once!

The party begins before the birthday boy arrives – we all start tucking into the food!
	The different skin colour is quite amazing! Cake number one with many, many candles! It almost burns the house down!

Next doors hen party came in for a bit of rude hula hooping and that is when Iain broke out the stags tutu from his weekend away!  We remained up until 5:30am – a little mad I know but it always seems to be the best way to get over jet lag I have found!

	Cake number 2 being prepared with 40 candles!! It was actually quite a challenge to get them all lit without burning your hand on another burning candle!
Just look at the puff in those cheeks!
	5:30am approaching!

We were all woken the following morning by Louise and Matt who Emma had invited to breakfast since they couldn’t make the party (they had a good excuse they had flown in from Australia that morning!).  It was a good thing they turned up when they did as we had a quick shower, sort out wedding gear, breakfast then off to the wedding.  The others were heading to St Andrews for the day as Emma had surprised Iain with a round on the Old Course.

On the way to the church we had a nosey at the house – it was still standing and except for the nasty net curtains the tenants have put up the house looked fine.

Unfortunately the glorious sun on Friday had long gone and it was decidedly miserable but that didn’t dampen the atmosphere in the church.  Emma looked beautiful and could not stop grinning through out the service.  Even the minister commented on there very happy manner!!  After the ceremony we all stood outside under our brollies and through confetti at them

We gave Clare a lift to Pittodrie House Hotel where the reception was – so I got to see how well she had been looking after my old golf that still looked to be going strong!  We took a ‘quicker’ back route!!  Well I think we were last to show up and on the way it had absolutely chucked it down.  Although the back route was not as quick as we hoped it was lovely and the green countryside was just fabulous.

The speeches were very good – funny and quite emotional.  Emma’s dad managed to make all the girls at the table fill up! We all ate well, breakfast was a long time ago, and it got us ready for the dancing that followed.  The evening guests included many more work colleagues so we had a fab catch up and the evening passed so quickly.  The only downer was our cracking headache that set in at about 9pm from the heavy night before!!  We managed a couple of ceilidh dances – on the Arcadian Stripe the Willow I nearly came a cropper thanks to Nick (although he was just paying me back from swinging him too hard!). We got home at about 1:30am just about 20 minutes after the others had got back from St Andrews, however there was no continuation of the party we all needed bed!

Sunday was quiet with all us missing the best of the weather while we were still in bed, however we did manage to eat breakfast outside only wearing one fleece!  Our walk around Bennachie was a little soggy and probably the reason Emma and I were walking so fast to the complaints of the boys!  We collected our car from the hotel and all retreated back to the house to dry out and eat more cheese and biscuits! 

Sunny ……
	…then not! We were all rather wet after this down pour.  Good old Scotland lives up to it reputation.

In the evening we went for a curry, however it didn’t go quite to plan as people dropped like flies.  Ann feel off the pavement 200 yards from the restaurant only to be taken to A&E with a poorly ankle, and the Carolyn and Kevin phoned in with food poisoning – not good!  Anyway Stu, Iain and I still enjoyed a good Light of Bengal curry to get our fix!!

On the way home we dropped into A&E to see the invalid. Poor them they had been waiting nearly 2 hours and still not seen not to mention now very hungry and probably our gloating about our curry didn't help!  However, while we were there they were called in and Ann is now in a removable plaster for two weeks and hobbling around on a crutch before she gets reassessed.  Get better soon Ann.

Thank you to you all for putting us up and we had lots of fun despite of the limited time.  I thought we were going to be in the UK an extra day when our flight from Aberdeen was delayed and we very nearly missed our Houston flight. 

One ring is not important, but three or more in quick succession is!

Well we had a little excitement before coming away at the house. So Sunday I went into work in the morning but couldn’t last more than a couple of hours since I hadn’t requested the air con to be on. So I decided to upsticks and continue at home. However, as I sat there through the afternoon I said to Stuart it seems to be getting hotter in the house. He turn the air con down but the thermometer was showing the temperature was increasing. Oh yes you know what that means – air con broken!!! I got on the blower to the landlord and he called his air con fix it man but he was out of town until Monday!

Sunday evening we had the annual block BBQ and it was cooler going outside than it was in the house – possibly because of the thunder and lightning that was going on over head! (No real rain though). The block party was fun and we met the new neighbours at the end of the street as well as some of the other folk who don't really get to see very often. Gretchen was very good up until she cleaned up the left plates on the ground – and which may have been responsible for her sickness the next day!

So that night was hot not to mention Gretchen was up with a dickey tummy a number of times through the night. My husband slept through very well!! I got up to go running with Dorte despite of the lack of sleep.

So the air con guy turned up late morning and set to work on the problem. In doing so he tripped the electricity. Stuart and him went and sorted that out, but when they came inside there was an electrical burning smell, next Stuart saw the ceiling in the kitchen begin to bulge, then start dripping – he had just moved away when the ceiling gave way!! So him and the air con guy quickly turned off the water.

Poor Stuart then tried to get hold of me but I was in a meeting and ignored his constant calling – sorry honey. I phone the landlord to break the news. We now had no air con, no water, the electricity was potentially dodgy and there was a hole in the ceiling with water everywhere. Almost immediately after speaking to the landlord the air con also told us the air con unit was totally caput. So I rang back the landlord and couldn’t keep a straight face when I had to break this news to him as well.

The long and short of it was that an electrician was called to check the electricity, and a guy came to sort out the water so we could actually remain in the house. That night we had a second night of no air con – glorious although at least this time Gretchen had a better night and no belly ache (I am getting an appreciation of what a child will be like!).

The next day Stuart had non stop workman coming in and out and from about 9 in the morning to 11 in the evening we had a new breaker box installed, a new hot water tank and pipework (the reason for the water was because there must have been an electrical surge which melted the copper inlet and outlet to the hot water tank!), and a new air con unit. That night was wonderful as in the two days the house had already started to smell foostie. Actually I woke up and I was freezing! The only thing left now is the hole in the kitchen ceiling but the insurance guys are coming this week and it will be fixed after that assessment.

On the plus side the new air con unit, which is out the back of our bedroom is much quieter than the old one!

Beatles on Discovery Green

Gretchen enjoyed her first concert! Laura came and joined us at Discovery Green for a Beatles tribute band or orchestra really since they had a bout 60 people playing all different instruments. By the time we got there they had already run out of St Arnolds Lawnmower to Stuarts disappointment, so he had to make do with Heineken!

They were singing songs from all of Abbey Road Album and started with an Indian sounding version. What we quickly discovered was that they were all really out of tune! I think the set up being outside wasn't optimal as the entire night was out of tune, and I am pretty sure they are normally quite good.

Gretchen really enjoyed the attention – oh cute doggy!! She was very well behaved right up until the point she decided she no longer wanted to sit on the grass and preferred to jump on to one of laps and then precede to stand on our shoulders to see what was all going on around her!

Pool time with Gretchen is still interesting. She is prepared to go into the lilo but doesn't exactly sit down loving it, however Stuart is gently working on her.

Anchorage blooming

This trip was shorter with less play time, but that did stop us some fun – the good old concept of ‘work hard, play hard’!

I managed to get myself out of bed and go running every morning along the coastal path just down the hill from the hotel.  The weather was glorious – it was sunny with a chill in the air.  Every evening we went out to dinner and ate far too much hence the reason for running!

On our final evening just before getting on the flight at 12:30am we went back down to Girdwood to the Double Musky. The road down there takes you along Turnagain Arm and it was amazing to see how much snow had melted since our last visit, not to mention all the trees are in leaf and so the bottom of the mountains look vibrant green.

Once again I ate as much fish as possible and this trip managed a Copper River Salmon – the first of the salmon run and a very unusual White Salmon again it just started running. The White Salmon has white flesh apparently because it has a different diet to all the pink salmon. It has a milder flavour than pink salmon and it was incredibly moist and yummy!

On the Wednesday evening we went along to a Geophysical BBQ held at a local park, Kinnaird Park, just outside Anchorage.  They were boiling up 100lbs of King crab legs.  They were spectacular (better than I got at the restaurant on my previous visit), not to mention the bit of BBQ steak on the side I had my fill!

The only other excitement was a fire at the hotel – fortunately we were just heading out to dinner when the fire engines arrived.  Not sure what is was but there was a lot of smoke and the following few mornings the breakfast area downstairs was closed!  Mind you with the breakfast place closed it meant we got to try a cultural experience in Anchorage, the Snow City Cafe.  They did a fine eggs benedict!!

Now sitting on the overnight flight back to Houston and just about ready to doze off again.

Well I thought I had finished my blog only I wasn't anticipating the landing at Houston!  So I was fast asleep and was waken suddenly as we hit the runway really hard then bounced, then bounced again.  Next the engine thrusters were back on full and we were taking off again.  Silence from the cockpit until were on the ground for a second time – this time the way it was meant to be done!!  The air hostess came over the intercom ‘welcome to Houston - for a second time!’.

Long time no see

After over a year we finally get Di to come and stay.  In true tradition we head to La Hacienda for Mexican food and ultra strong margaritas!  The next morning I was running at 6am and my little head was pounding!
The plan for the weekend was a Greek Festival down the road followed by a pool party at Danny’s for Anne’s departure to Copenhagen and then on the Sunday meeting up with an old Aberdeen ex-colleague who happened to be in Houston, Joyce!

	Stuart and Di having the hair of the dog at the Greek Fest.  We were enjoying some gyros and Greek pastries (yummy!) It was a stunning day – sunny but not humid and the ladies got to wear their straw hats!

Danny’s pool party ended up quite doggy – 3 so Gretchen was in her element.  She never went near the pool even though it was quite warm.  Danny cooked up a fine BBQ and I absolutely loved the BBQ’d quesadillas with melted cheese and tomato inside (licking lips now!)

	Hello ladies!
	Danny I like those lights hanging from the tree! (note to self must buy some more inflatable toys for our pool!)
	Stuart attracted all the dogs as he ate the sausage.

Di was very sweet bringing gifts, I got a lovely necklace and Gretchen got horsey – her favourite toy now!!  I haven't got a photo of her playing with horsey yet but will do soon.
On Sunday morning the three of us and Gretchen headed to the dog park for woof woof fun.  As usual Gretchen was out mingling and only paying part attention to us although Stuart has been working hard at improving her obedience and she is definitely better than she was.  Later Stuart and Di went to pick up Joyce from her hotel, doing a bit of shopping (turned out a bit more than a bit!) and then came over for our second BBQ and dip in the pool of the weekend.  It was great to see Joyce as the last time was at our wedding.

Great to see you Di and Joyce – hope to see you in September if not before