The snowy views flying back into Scotland - my flight back to Glasgow was delayed initially because of the bad weather and then because someone told the pilot who who had been sent to collect the plane that it was no longer required!!!
Since I still have a tenant in my house I am staying with my friends Alice, Mark and Amy in Troon till April. Amy has been trying to 'educate' me and bring me up to date with all the popular things I have missed - here she is showing me how to use Wii Fit - but she constantly shakes her head in horror when I have no knowledge of whose who even those 'famous' before I left :-)
Amy's cousins Ryan and Kyle come for a visit and have a competition to see who can stick out their tongue the furthest!!
Alice with Kyle, Ryan and Amy.
The famous Royal Troon Golf course.
Troon is a pretty coastal town - the name comes from the Gaelic An t-Sron, meaning 'The Nose' or 'The bill' - where it sits on the map looks like the top of a nose!!
The dedication on this bench is from the poem 'A Red Red Rose' by Rabbie Burns - one of Scotland's most famous sons.
Alice and Amy.
With the late sunrise of Scottish winter I even managed to catch this beautiful sunset whilst waiting for a train.
My friend Michelle came down one afternoon and we went for lunch and a walk.
I enjoyed this sunset particularly the beautiful views over to the snow capped peak of Goat Fell on the Island of Arran.
It was snowing when I got to Glasgow Queen Street station to catch my train to Aberdeen - the scenic coast route the train takes was very pretty and I realised that it was the first time I had made this journey by train!!!
Fraserburgh is a fishing town on the North East coast of Aberdeenshire and my mum and dad were originally from this area. Though I was not brought up here my mum did move back when I was a student and I spent one summer up here working in a fish factory (yes it was smelly!!).
I couldn't believe there were surfers out in the harbour in freezing cold January!!
Feliz gets to meet his family - my mum and niece Emma.
Emma's little sister Sarah.
Emma wanted me to do her hair but she wasn't so keen on the second style as she told me it looked 'ridiculous'!!
Emma with her big cousin my other niece Shona.
When it all gets too much just have a nap with Scooby!
Emma and I went for an 'adventure' to explore Fraserburgh Harbour and narrowly missed getting soaked by one of those big waves that came over the harbour wall!!Sarah and Emma with their mum Margaret.
The girls just wanted to pose for photo's.
Aberdeen is the third biggest city in Scotland and is known as the 'Granite City' and 'Grey City' it is easy to see why with all the grey granite buildings!!
I went to visit my friends Shona and Marti in Aberdeen and their daughters Alex and Toni wanted to hear all about Feliz's travel adventures.
Toni and Alex had some friends over and wanted to have a Twister tournament and insisted Shona and I join in - no points for guessing I was at the bottom of the league!!
Alex shows me her dance moves on the Wii 'Just Dance' game.
Not sure if it is a good or bad thing that my older nieces Julie and Shona are now old enough to meet me and Feliz in the pub!!
Next stop was Stonehaven to catch up with my friend Shona at her sister Jill's 40th Birthday party.
Jill's party came with a 'Butler in the Buff', some good girlie fun and karaoke (which I avoided like the plague!!).
Shona and Jill with their mum Jean.
Feliz was getting a few tips from the Butler as now his career as a travel companion is over (well for now) he is looking for new opportunities!!
Well there has to be some attractions about coming back to Scotland!!
I only had a quick walk through Stonehaven on the way to the train station but there was some nice big buildings on the way.
My nephew Jamie shows me his fishing hat!
I went over to visit Ryan and Kyle and of course their parents Adam and Kristy for a games night.
When dad went up to check on the boys he found them sleeping under thier beds - they had decided to go camping!!
And Uncle John can't escape in the morning without big hugs from his niece and nephews.
Amy and my niece Chloe were not too subtle in telling me that I had no sense of fashion and decided to 'coach' me on what I should be buying - needless to say I didn't buy the converse boots with the 3 inch heel!
My friends Dawn's daughter Carys shows me her new guitar moves....
A visit to Glasgow reminds me that it is in fact a beautiful city.
Andrea, Carolyn, Abbie and I head into town for a girls night out - luckily we went to Reflex the 80's bar as it is about the only place I would know any of the music!! My legs ached the next day from showing off my 'Footloose' moves on the dance floor :-)
I get to meet the new addition to Carolyn and Charles family - baby Skye with her proud big sisters Cara and Chloe.
Amy and I.
I got back to Scotland on the 14th of January and have spent the last month just chilling out. I decided to focus on getting fit before starting back to work so have been out running quite a bit and making use of Amy's Wii Fit game. Other than that I have started to catch up with friends and family though I still have quite a few people to see.
Though the weather has been cold it hasn't been as bad as a normal 'dreich' Scottish winter - well at least in Troon where the snow doesn't tend to sit as it is on the coast so I have been able to get in a few walks as well.
What changes have I noticed - lots of chain stores have closed that I didn't know about, everyone seems to have fancy mobile phones and other gadgets, there are hundreds of pot holes in the roads and there is even more reality/talent shows on the telly!! Of course there are a few more children in my social group and those that were here already have all grown so much - some are not even children anymore!! Other than that everything seems to be just as I left it.........
That said it is easy to forget how beautiful your own country is and one of my 'To Do's' now I am back is to buy a guide book for Scotland and go visit some of those landmarks etc that I have always been meaning to go to. And I have enjoyed getting some proper chocolate, fish and chips (you don't get chippy chips anywhere else they are just not the same!) and some different clothes to wear :-)
Jack xxxx
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