Glasgow Botanic Gardens

I think this will become a photo blog. I'm not great with words and they often hold me back.

Blergh.

I am not particularly well at the moment so have had to call in sick to work today, a good start to the new year or what? There was quite a lot in my diary too but if I remember correctly none of it was urgent so can wait until I go back...hopefully.

Unfortunately it is still a public holiday in Scotland today so I can't get an appointment with the doctor until tomorrow. They have been closed for 4 days now because of the new year so wish me luck please, I may need it to actually get a chance to see them. I must also remember to call the dentist tomorrow to reschedule my next appointment as my days off have changed and if I cancel too late they will charge me for the appointment anyway.

Hope you're all having a better start to the year than I am :)

And so it starts again.

Well another year is over and this is just a little message to say I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and a very happy new year. I'm developing a cold so was in bed for 10.30pm feeling pretty grim and totally asleep when midnight came round. I'll just have to make up for it during the year I guess.

Above is my Grandad on Boxing Day when me and mum went to visit him and take him his gifts. I think a very big thank you is in order for the carers in the home he lives in. They have been excellent with him since he moved there at the end of 2009. They take him out on day trips and for his lunch and dinner and have lots of activities on to keep all the residents occupied and happy. They went out and got everyone their own box of truffles then left them on their bedside tables during the night to wake up and find on Christmas morning and had dotted random sweets through out the home for people to find and help themselves to through the day. We really couldn't think of anywhere better for him to be.

Just one final thing, you'll know if you've swung by here before we've had some pretty terrible weather in December but it's more or less all cleared except for some solid ice that is still melting. Now it's just bitterly cold.

Wishing you all an excellent 2011

T Ann Cake

A lovely lady has opened up a cafe in Dundee. Here is the link to her blog, I think you should all go have a look.  I had a very tasty mocha, caramelised onion, sundried tomato and gruyere tart and an apple pie. Yum yum yum.

Standing on ice.

I've been away this week visiting friends in Glasgow. I got there just as things ground to a halt because of the bad weather. Despite that a good time was had and successful Christmas shopping was completed. The picture above is of the Clyde which in parts was frozen solid. You can see a great chunk of the water by the shore frozen over here. Things were starting to thaw by the time I came back to Dundee but apparently there is more to come.

Coming to you from the state of New Siberia.

While the weather has been terrible I have moved back to my mums house because it's warmer than my own. We ventured outside today and went to my grandads house on the outskirts of the city just to check everything was ok. It was thankfully and I got some lovely photographs of the house and garden, two of which can be seen above. Luckily he has recently had the guttering checked so there were no icicles or worry of burst pipes but some of the other houses near him couldn't claim the same. We also went to my flat to make sure everything there was ok. The building has police tape outside because some guttering has come down along with some roof slates so hopefully the landlord is dealing with that. Inside the flat was all fine though so that is good news. Not long after that I had to go home, one of my feet was so cold I couldn't tell if it was wet inside of my welly boot or not. By the time I got back to mums house the sole of my foot and two of my toes were completely numb and took a good long time and a hot water bottle before they were back to normal. I hope everyone is faring well no matter how the weather is where you are.

Living in a winter wonderland

So it's been a long long time since I've posted on here but I am having a bout of self expression so thought I would reprise my blogging ways. 

This mainly came about now that I'm reading a few other blogs and I wanted to join in the fun once more. Also the fact I've been in the house all day doing not much of anything and thought it would be a good way to fill some time.

I was stuck in by the way, not because I'm lazy but because it is not entirely dis-similar to the arctic outside (although being lazy was part of it too). It's been snowing for over 24 hours now and no particular sign of stopping any time soon. I live in the middle of town and because Dundee is right on the river Tay and not more than a stones throw from the North Sea the city center doesn't usually get much snow and when we do it doesn't lie for long. Not this time I tell you! We've got about 3 inches so far so goodness knows what it's like out in the sticks. There was lightning last night too. Lightning and snow...at the same time! This may not strike anyone else as strange or unusual but it's not a combination I'd ever thought of. I can tell you being woken up from sleep at 5am with lighting going off like canons is not a good way to start a Sunday morning. I expected the rain to be pelting down so imagine my surprise to look outside and see the snow still going strong and the place looking particularly Lapland like.

Aside from all this I'm now pondering the trip to work tomorrow. The local buses were taken off as were the taxis so if that hasn't changed by morning then it's a treck through the snow for me. I wonder if I have any tennis rackets I can tie to my feet to help my journey. Taking the buses off confuses me somewhat, the roads will only get worse with less traffic on them to keep them clear. But I have heard from friends that the motorways around the city have been closed so like I thought, out of the center has it bad. 

Wish me luck for my trip tomorrow, mostly can you please wish that I get a call saying work is closed and not to come in. That would be ace!