12th Night

After an epically rough week at work we started the weekend on a definite high. Fiona had purchased tickets to go see a Shakespeare play, 12th Night, at Drum Castle. I was looking forward to it for a few reasons:

1. Le pique-nique. Fiona packed a fantastic picnic basket - cheese, meats, a baguette, fruit and profiteroles. A bottle of champagne chilling in a cooler bag. A thermos of hot chocolate for when the sun went down. It was all extremely tasty. I was a little worried about the size of our picnic, but those fears were instantly waylaid when we walked onto the grounds and saw a couple sitting in their fold out chairs eating a full roast chicken dinner, with a bottle of wine to boot.
2. Location, location, location. We've been to Drum Castle a few times, but have never gone inside. Casey really enjoys walking the grounds. I thought it would be a great location for an outdoor Shakespeare play, and I was right. The castle in the background helps set the mood and transport you to the appropriate era. It was also helped by the troupe putting on the production. It was five people playing all the parts, flipping through costumes faster than you could imagine. Men playing women, women playing men. It just gave you the feeling that you were back in the 16th century and a traveling theatre group happened to pull up at your lord's castle.
3. Outdoor theatre is always cool. A little bit of double meaning here, because it was positively frigid tonight. There seemed to be no recognition from Ma Nature that it is, in fact, the middle of July. People were huddled under blankets and wearing toques. The hot chocolate was thoroughly enjoyed. But we, nonetheless, have an affinity for outdoor theatre, and weather played a large role in shaping that as well. Just after we got together we went to see Shakespeare in the Park in Edmonton. It was a hot summer evening and it was a larger stage production of King Lear. As they do on a lot of prairie summer evenings, a large thunderstorm was brewing in the background during Act 1. Somewhere in the middle of Act 2, Lear was on stage raging against his horrible daughters and just as he finished a soliloquy calling down thunder and lightning, a huge crack of thunder split the sky. Not just regular rumbling either, but just a single, earth shattering crack, preceded by a magnificent flash, and followed by a low rumbling that went on for a few minutes more. Everyone, the actor playing Lear included, just went silent for a minute and admired the Universe's epic sense of timing. We didn't get quite the same dramatics this time around - just a light Scottish sprinkle, which the actors later said 'they refused to call rain' - but seeing art outside always adds a little something special.

We did have a great time. The troupe, Illyria, were excellent, with the girl playing Sir Toby and Olivia being our favourite. In fact, I would venture to say that Sir Toby was the perfect tonic for a week where work has just seemed to be conspiring to find a way to break me. Mix in some good nibbles, and a good wife to share your blanket with and call it therapy. Bring on the next week!

Summer Sun in Aberdeen

We've had some glorious weather in Aberdeen the last two weeks. The sun has been high in the sky and we've had temperatures up and over 20C. That's a big deal here.

The best part of all of it is that we've been having these temperatures at convenient times - like weekends - which is not usually the case. There's nothing worse than having to look at sunshine and blue sky all week through the office window and then spend your weekends in the rain.

Last weekend we were enjoying the sun in back garden - reading, napping, gardening - and picked up some slight sunburns. No sight of red skin after weeks in the Canaries and Florence, but an afternoon in Aberdeen and we're looking like lobsters. But, no complaints. That bout of sunshine was timed perfectly for Fiona's 5km charity run. She was running with a group of other ladies and wives from my company and had put in a good amount of training in the weeks leading up to the event. The course was essentially a lap up and down Beach Boulevard and the weather was glorious. In contrast, the year before the ladies ran in a full-on squall, with wind and rain making it much harder. Fiona did an amazing job, finishing the run in good time and raising some much needed cash to boot. I'm intensely proud of her. The event itself was fun as well, with a giant sea of pink taking over the cricket grounds next to Pittodrie stadium. We kept it social by all going out for lunch afterwards, where Fiona taught the rest of the ladies the healing powers of a post-race frozen daquiri.

We had brilliant weather yet again yesterday for the company BBQ. We had to change the date at the last minute for this after we consulted a calendar and found our original date sat smack dab in the middle of Ramadan. As it goes with last minute changes, I was sure that we would end up having rubbish weather on the day, with the original date getting all the sun. But that big ole flaming ball of gas chose to run counter to all the weatherman's predictions and was the star of the day. We couldn't have had it any better. The food was decent, the drinks were cold and everyone enjoyed an afternoon out of the office. We brought a football, boulles and a frisbee, all of which were put to good use. We even got to hit some balls in the driving range - Fiona showing everyone the proper technique of course. And best of all, no one died on the bouncy castle.

Secretly, though, I'm a little glad that it has clouded over today. It's been awful hard to justify going out and sitting in a dark movie theatre to watch giant shapeshifting robots while we were enjoying our best Scottish summer weather.