Off for a lie down in a darkened room.

by AlisonsDiary on Monday 23rd Jan 2012 · 1 comment

in Day-to-day

Edinburgh Monday 23rd January 2011 - beautiful!

Now I am not afraid of hard work.

I am afraid of jellyfish, flying, that wrinkle on my forehead getting so deep someone may park their bike in it but I am not afraid of hard work.

Having said that yesterday we had 17 hour day that just about killed me. Well not killed exactly but certainly turned me from pinky and perky into Miss Puggled Oot.

Started Sunday train from Edinburgh – London. Then Monday a train from London to New Milton. A 4 hour burst of work then a drive to Weymouth. Overnight in Weymouth at Hotel Rex which overlooked the bay where the Olympics are going to be held.Very pretty it were too -local dialect there.  The Hotel was most hospitable and cooked our dinner at 9pm when we were the only ones there and gave us breakfast 15 minutes early because we had to leave before the kitchen opened officially.  How many places would do that I wonder? We were filming til about 3.30 then off to Bristol, where the Satnav got us lost.

So we were cruising up and down the motorway during rush hour when the satnav just threw it’s metaphorical hands up in the air and said ‘em….nope…havent got a clue. In fact I am, in point of fact completely lost’. So with the aid of a map, a helpful individual on the other end of the phone, a wing, a prayer and a packet of cheese & onion crisps we arrived.

Flora my Toto on Calton Hill

With a click of my hells, here I am back in Edinburgh. I feel like Dorothy, with an older less fragrant dog than Toto, was it all dream?

Aberdeen a photo by Elaine Cowell. WOW.

No sooner did we hit Edinburgh,  we were off again. This time to  North to Aberdeen with my friend Elaine a photographer who was doing a shoot …so 2 days of snapping, then back to Edinburgh for a long bath, a long cold drink and a good kip. I love this photo of Aberdeen. Taken down by the harbour with these endless chunks of massive industrial chains with a granite edifice of Aberdonian horsemanship behind. Knocked my socks off that.

Off for a lie down.

Phew.

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The One Baggy Scot Show

by AlisonsDiary on Monday 16th Jan 2012 · 2 comments

in Day-to-day,Food & Drink !

Timing is all.

 

Been up to my not insubstantial backend in restaurants for a month. This involves s a lot of running about so ironically I have dropped a few pounds, but I have also been stuffing my chops at every available opportunity so as soon as it comes off , it goes on again, and some.

So as I stood in Howies Victoria Street on Friday afternoon having just refurbed the whole place exhausted, I turned my phone on for the first time that day  and picked up a message from the BBC asking me if I was available to film for The One Show on Monday.

Of course I said ‘Yes’ before taking a good long look – well when I say long as long as I could bear – in the mirror.

 

A make-up free, baggy faced troll looked back. No sleep and too much to do is the elixir of aging. Living proof of that I am.  So here I am Sunday afternoon on a train to London with a half hundred weight of make-up in my bag,  a hat, a false moustache –well I tell everyone it’s false, a cornucopia of black clothes to detract from my Aberdonian stumpy shape.

This online train thing is super-sophisticated stuff. Not only do you get wifi but it tells you what speed your doing and shows you a map of the route…which even I know. Edinburgh to London down the country right hand side. But 101mph it said at one point so I just turned it off. Hardly a brave adventurer. I mean it’s not the TGV for goodness sake. Still I am hooked on trains, make no mistake.

But there is danger ahead and it is this.

I am staying with my pal James. He’s head of music at Absolute Radio which doesn’t bade well for an early night to be honest. We usually sit up and listen to endless music and talk talk talk talk but we see each other so rarely it’s a must.

The snorkling of wine will be strictly forbidden and we will see if at this mature stage in life we can develop a modicum of self-control.

I will report back.

 

If you are wondering what the restaurant waffle is all about then I am blogging about that too Diary of A Scottish Restaurant.

 

Just in case you thought I was idle. No not ideal. I said idle.  I am far from ideal on any level as well you know.

 

Alison x

 

 

 

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L Plates are on. Teenwolf is off. Sob. Snotter. Wail.

by AlisonsDiary on Wednesday 11th Jan 2012 · 18 comments

in Day-to-day,Teenwolf

This wee pudding behind a wheel......get me the smelling salts.

Well it has finally happened.
Teenwolf Is learning to drive.

My baby is behind the wheel of a car ,

Bring on the vapours.

He is just 17 and it has been on his mind since he was …well…born actually.

So when he broke his arm  4 days short of his birthday in November I was very sad but confess as we waited for his plaster cast to set  part of me did think …well at least he won’t be able to drive for a while.

Huh!

No sooner is the plaster off than he is badgering me to take him out.

He wore me down so off we went. to the Murrayfield Stadium car park which is a vast area with not a soul around.

As I wemnt over the basics.

This is a car he rolled his eyes

That is the clutch I pointed at th clutch he rolled his eyes

That is the accelorator and the brake isin the middle.

It was as if I was talking to a man with over 25 years experience on the road. He couldn’t wait for me to shut up so I did.

As he turned the ignition on he put his foot down  on the gas with such velocity we did a wheelie I am not sure who got more a shock, him, me, his ears  or my bowel.

After a few steering grabs and screams

‘For gods sake Mum don’t scream at me ‘ he screamed at me.

‘Well it’s hard not to when you see your life flashing before you!’

‘Dad won’t be like this’;

“You’re right he will be worse’

So after going round about 25 times he got the hang of the clutch and the fact if you go round a corner at anything other than   crawl you are likely to skid, topple or crash.

 

His first official lesson was the following day.

He was out there with a brave brave man called Stephen  for 2 hours.

2 hours!

He drove from Crammond to Letih..

I was in shock when he told me

‘On the road?’ I asked

‘Yes where else ?’  the indignant response.

 

So not only have late night clubs and wild woman become a regular reason to wake up and worry now we can add the potential passing of the test and car napping my wee rustmobile to go cruising.

But I will not be foiled. I have a plan.

My options I outline below.

Make sure there is no petrol  in the tank  after all its flammable and therefore deemed dangerous.

Sell  it.

Burn  it.

Pay someone to steal it. (a joke ofifcer a joke)

Buy a bicycle ? Nope worse than a car.

I know what ! I’ll put on an eposide of Top Gear! One look at Clarkson should put him off for life. No he quite likes him – unbelievable really.

So we have come up with the ultimate deterrant.  The long suffering husband and I are going to buy an Inspector Clouseau car to use as advertsiing for the restaurant and brand it up as a giant haggis….well maybe a raost haunch of venison – either way a teenager driving a themed tiny car around the streets of Edinburgh means he’ll be on shank’s pony for a wee while longer yet….

Phew.

 

 

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Rash dieting promise starts here…..

2 January 2012

I regret deeply not just eating these the whole time. The impending feeling of liver doom that awakes me in the morning after a couple of weeks of festive nonsense have forced me into the unenviable position of giving up the bev til February 14th. There are many reasons for this. Mainly my fat tummy. [...]

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Christmas does your head in? Well it did my back in.

28 December 2011

So there we were Christmas Eve running about like dafties. The restaurants were open so tanking around getting stuff sorted for them, Mum arrived up for Christmas with her dog Nellie lurcher so I take on the mantel of entertainer, shopper and carrier of all goods, dogs, bags, food, boxes and bottles (of which there [...]

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It’s the annual heart string tug.

24 December 2011

Prepare your heart to burst. If you like dogs.Which I do. Well if you are a regular Alisons’ Diary reader you will know that is an understatement. I love the little blighters. So when I saw this photograph in yesterdays Daily Mail Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2077776/Santas-little-yelpers–pups-pining-new-home.html#ixzz1hKy7wZMG     I had to be physically restrained from getting [...]

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Groupon – Group off!

22 December 2011

Anyone fancy setting up an anti-Groupon movement? Group off. It seems the more we find out about the operating system of this company the more they seem determined to pick on the small-medium size business and force them into discounting so heavily that they often make a loss. Really. They then take 50% of whatever [...]

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Who said Scotsmen were grippy? Not this one. Free fizz for one night only. TONIGHT!

22 December 2011

What? Has someone spiked my drink? Did you say a Scotsman handing out free bottle of fizz? It’s true! Early afternoon we got a call from a large Corporate client at Howies Waterloo that they were having to pull out of there Christmas party due to unforeseen circumstances, NOOOOOOOOO I shouted. Then the generous long [...]

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We will exterminate.

17 December 2011

Of all the bargains that are listed on The Daily Mails website today why is the thing I am most drawn to the ride-in Dalek? It would be a fair assumption that I have kids that age or a raft of nephews and wee pals who would love it. Well yes there are some wee souls [...]

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Eulogy for our dear friend Fiona Mary McHardy.

12 December 2011

      Fiona Mary McHardy.   Born on the 2nd July 1962 Nursing Home, at Queens Cross which as her mum Sylvia said just the other day was her spiritual home – in more ways than one of course as it became the original Dizzys. A great bar and favourite of Fiona from an [...]

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