March 13th: Life With You

Ah dear blog, I owe you an apology. I have been remiss in my futile effort of keeping you upto date of late but this has and will all change. Things take time in Holland you see. Take for example getting on the internet in the flat (apartment in Europe y'know). I also had to buy a new laptop along with furnishing the unfurnished gaff. All of which takes time & energy. Excuses I know but there ye go.

Anyway, job done, KPN'd up - 54 Mbs ADSL link established, so let the good times roll. Casema for TV is a chore but now working and I get to see loads of football albeit I miss the Scottish games but then there's loads of Irish bars in The Hague with Setanta for those I simply can't miss.

Then the weather - pretty dismal at times but when the sun shines it's ace - roll on summer. The beer here is strong though - gotta avoid the canals they are fookin deadly.

Tonight is a night for joy. The Proclaimers are playing Den Haag and I'm on my way from misery to happiness today ah ha ah ha ah ha ah ha yeah, I'm on my way......

February 22nd: The Class of '85

I'm not one for reunions - what is past is definitely absent. But here in Delft I found this old jpeg tucked away on my wee USB drive and found myself absorbed with looking at all these faces from the past.

I still keep in touch with a couple of folks but for the most part everybody else is out there somewhere doing their thang!!!

They were a good bunch as I remember it for the most part - a couple of tossers as well but that's life ain't it.

January 22nd:Delft
As per rolling a double six, (see Colin's blog), I find myself in the famous old town of Delft for the next six months at least. It will be fun getting to know Holland again.

I lived in the Hague 10 years ago and still remember Scotland scoring against Brazil in the '98 world cup and burning my knees as I went down in a victory celebration across the carpet. Too much cheap Dutch beer. Happy days, at least until Tom Boyd scored the winner for the jammy Brazilians.

Anyway, more Dutch posts to follow.

January 14th: My Act of Remembrance

One year ago on this date we gave the rebel soul away to a place that was so very much a part of him - the North Sea. We did it on his 79th Birthday, today he would have been 80.

He was some bloke - he lied about his age during the war so we were always mixed up as a family about how old he actually was.

Pain, regret, sorrow, laughter, happy times, things said, things never said. It all blends into a mix that's hard to convey, get to grips with and move on from but we do because we have to - it's just the way it is for us.

He enjoyed the confusion.

January 11th: Lady with Long Eyelashes

by Ailsa

January 7th:
Dad Found

Happy 2008 anybody and everybody.

Anyway, whilst the female Minks were hunting and gathering in the post xmas sales I was tracked down to the Prince of Wales just off Union Street. All good things come to an end I suppose.

Xmas was good and busy - London for a catch up with other Minks and a bit of a party - and a rammy in Drum at the home of Ian Hardie & Pauline McGee, two very creative pals in the fields of art and guitar playing respectively.

A bit of a Scottish jam session ensued with the bairns on the Bodhrán (alongside special guest celeb Iain M Banks who was good craic) and a lot of other drunken bams. Magic.

Too much beer was consumed with a potentially disastrous and embarrassing incident in the pitch black of night at the local B&B involving taking a wrong turn whilst inebriated trying to find the lavvy but that’s a story for another time.

I heard on the radio this morning that it's Manic Monday - the busiest time for divorce papers being filed after the Xmas & New Year nonesense , new jobs being sought out by people and holidays being booked. Well I have thus far avoided the first (only just mind, cause if I had pished in the B&B wifies bedroom my heid would have been on a stick fae the wife like), I will have some exciting news on the job front (hopefully soon ) and I already did the third booking up a week in the sun whilst the hunters hunted and the gatherers gathered from the comfort of the Prince of Wales with a pie, a pint, a read of the paper and my mobile phone.

Manic Monday my arse! Everything is under control.

Life is a Cabaret

Another year almost gone, festivities chapping doon oor doors. Magic.

For anybody who knows me, have a good, solid merry xmas and enjoy the new year in 2008. Even if we don't know each other, I wish you all well. After all it is the season to be jolly.

Make a difference, live life to the full because it's really true that we don't know what's around the corner. Everything continually changes and I'm okay with that. Life is a cabaret old chum, life is a cabaret. It's also got to be what you make of it (fuck quoting shite 80's bands now).

Word of caution however, for all that glitters there's always a step or two that needs climbing on the journey. Start your ascents and make it happen folks but watch out for nose bleeds.