The Heating is On

It's finally October, which means that the heating can go on without guilt. For the last two weeks I've been using our home group on Tuesday nights as an excuse to put on the heating. Now I can enjoy it myself! There seems to be some sort of psychological barrier to using it before October. I just don't like being bested by the elements. It's probably something similar to Dave's aversion to wearing a coat in early autumn.

Of course, now that the heating is being used with greater regularity, I'm aware of all the strange noises coming from the radiators. Dave's attempt to bleed one tonight was relatively successful if the accompanying water spray was anything to go by.

This Sunday is the date of my first 5K race. It's taking place in Inverness and I'm heading up there tomorrow afternoon with a girl from work. She'll be doing the 10K race, but since I'd never done any running at all before 11 weeks ago, I thought I'd start small. We're planning to check out Loch Ness while we're up there. I figure I can't be that close to it and not go, especially since I've already lived in Scotland for nearly 3 years without seeing it.

The race is at 10.15 on Sunday morning so it'll all be over by 11. I expect to be back in Dundee late Sunday afternoon and will try to remember to post any pics I've taken.

My New Camera

Last week I got a Sony Cyber-shot camera as an early birthday present. The original Cyber-shot that I was given years ago sadly gave up the ghost, and since I'd really liked it, I stuck with the brand. I loved borrowing my sister's when I was a teenager and she must have gotten so sick of me stealing it all the time that she coordinated efforts for me to be given my own (thanks sis!) The memory card for it just arrived today. The camera's internal memory holds about 3 12mega pixel pictures compared to the card which can hold over 800. It's kind of funny that the memory card for my camera has a bigger capacity than my first laptop. A sign of the times, I guess. I've been having fun trying different settings and taking pictures of random things. Here's a sampling:

My impulse buy at Tesco. I went for groceries, and in addition to food, I came out with a magnetic kids' calendar for the fridge.

Dave thought I was being a bit optomistic putting on the sun icon.

Flowers from Elspeth.

My latest cross-stitch project.

Saturday

The birds outside are being very noisy just now. I think they're protesting against the clouds and wet that have been dominating today's weather. My laundry day has been partially thwarted by the weather, but I've persisted in washing the clothes despite the fact that I'm not sure how I'll dry it all. There's no rain at the moment, so I think I'll keep the clothes out for as long as it's light outside.

I've spent the last month visiting family and it's been fantastic. Loved seeing Mom and Tom in Montana, and then Thom and Louise were here in Dundee for a little over a week. It had been almost 2 years since I'd seen any of them. Unfortunately, I don't seem to have any pictures of Thom and Louise's visit, but they took loads so I'm sure they'll eventually circulate around. Although I haven't been able to see my sister this summer, she phoned this afternoon and it was great to catch up. Dave and I are hoping to get to Halifax next summer. It's been far too long since we've been there.

I spent this afternoon helping Elspeth wallpaper Dave's gran's bedroom. I haven't done any wallpapering since we did our hallway and stairs last year and I have to say that this time around was much easier. It probably has something to do with the lack of high drops and steep stairs in the bedroom! Most of the time I don't mind DIY since there's a great sense of accomplishment when it's all done.

Dave's away at a stag night tonight and I'm meant to be researching for our trip to London at the end of July. We booked tickets for "The Lion King" this afternoon and checked out a few activities we'd like to do while we're there. We'll be staying with the same family that Sharaya and I stayed with in April.

Not much researching going on at the moment. Instead I'm watching "Grand Designs" and doing another one of my schedules (love organising!) Birds are still noisy.....

Photo Links

I've decided to post my pictures from London and Montana on Facebook and put a link to it on the blog since there are so many pictures and it takes ages to put them up here.

General Vacation
Yellowstone
London

Enjoy!

River Cruise

Bridge at Westminster Pier where our boat left from


Our cruise boat at the pier. London Eye and London Aquarium in the background.

Happy that there are life jackets on the boat and that I'm in a prime position to grab one.

War Memorial

Blackfriars Bridge

Ministry of Defense Building. It has a nuclear shelter and underground tunnels that lead to Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament.
A famous bridge...here are some hints:
1. It's made of self-cleaning stone, so every time it rains, the bridge gets washed

2...it's the subject of a children's song....it's.....

St. Paul's Cathedral - blocked by another building
Royal Festival Hall

Guns of the HMS Belfast. I can't remember the exact distance they can fire, but it's huge.
HMS Belfast.
The Gherkin buiilding that features on the opening shots of the Apprentice (my current favourite TV show)

Houses of Parliament and "Big Ben" (spot the misnomer)

Houses of Parliament.

Walking from St James park toward St Stephens Tower

St Stephen's Tower [couldn't get a picture of Big Ben ;)] British residents are the only ones allowed to go up the tower. Unfortunately, Sharaya didn't qualify. Might give a go the next time Dave and I are in London.

View from the Thames

Close up


Protest across from the Houses of Parliament. Something to do with Sri Lanka. This picture is mild compared to the protest that took place on Monday . All the streets around the square were blocked by protesters and there were loads of police.

Escape to London, Buckingham Palace and St James Park

Waterfront at Ayr - the town where Dave's grandmother grew up. It was pretty close to Glasgow Prestwick which is the airport we flew from to London.

Ayr

Ayr

More Ayr

Our ride from the airport. Yes, we were in the back of a rental van, like pieces of furniture.

In the back of the van....

Buckingham Palace.

Guards outside Buckingham Palace.

Palace gates.

The commoners outside the palace gate
Me - one of the aforementioned commoners


Queen Victoria Memorial

Across the road from the Palace. View of the Memorial Gardens.

Entrance to St. James Park
Police in the park