Weekend Away

My second cousin Ewan got married on Friday. Paul has managed to miss nearly all of my extended family's weddings, and this was no different. He had already arranged to play bridge with his brother in the Brighton congress yonks ago. This meant that we needed to arrange for the dogs to be looked after for the weekend.

Luckily for us Sonia (from the greyhound rescue centre) was happy and willing to have them back for a few days. We took them to her on the Thursday evening. It felt very strange not having them here - this is the first time we were both going to be away since we adopted them at the end of January.

I dropped Paul off at Berwick-Upon-Tweed railway station at just before 9.45 on the Friday, and then headed on to Dumbarton where I was staying with my cousin Colin and Maureen. The detour to the station meant that I got caught by all the roadworks between Berwick and Grantshouse, where I normally join the A1. Not to worry, I arrived at Colin's house only half an hour later than I had estimated, and still with plenty of time.

We all got done up in our glad-rags and set off to Glasgow university chapel where the service was taking place. The Great Western road was very busy, and after a minor panic about actually finding the place we arrived about 10 minutes before the kick-off time. (Quite a few other people were not as lucky). As it was I could not see a free place to sit on the groom's side of the church, so was happy to sit at the back facing the altar - this was actually a good move as I had an excellent view without having to crick my neck.


The reception was held in the student's union building which was a fair walk in the rain for my 86-year old aunty Margaret, but she coped amazingly well.

There was a ceilidh after the meal - I have learned from bitter experience to avoid my second cousin Calum at such affairs to ensure that I do not end up battered and bruised. Everybody had a good time, and for once I remembered to switch to drinking water nearer the end of the night/early morning. We got home about 2 a.m.

I stayed on an extra day at Colin and Maureen's.

Colin is a volunteer helping to restore the Maid of the Loch ( http://www.maidoftheloch.co.uk/ ), the last paddle steamer built in Britain, and he set off later than usual on Saturday morning to work. Maureen and I decided to go for a walk when the weather improved a little, and then Maureen suggested we get the bus to Balloch for me to see the Maid. Colin gave us a short tour around her, and then Maureen and I went and had lunch and did some shopping, meeting back up with Colin shortly after 3 p.m. We stopped off at Dumbarton cemetery on the way home to visit my father's and grand-parent's grave.

On the way back to the house Colin realised it was exactly 40 years to the day that he and Maureen had first met, and suggested we go out for a Chinese meal in the evening to commemorate this momentous event.

I got back home today around lunch time, and after lunch went and collected Jen and Poncho. They were very happy to see me. I have also been given a few tips by Sonia on trying to get Poncho in particular to behave better on our walks. I will be trying them out shortly as it is that time again...