Rubbing Shoulders with Legends

It's been a few days since I added a post because I said at the start I wouldnt be blogging just for the sake of it. The last few days have been pretty uneventful. Last night, however was a bit different. The school is providing students to act as scoreboard carriers etc for the Volvo PGA Golf Championships that start today and because of this the school got four invitations to attend the welcome party. The boss chose me (naturally) to receive two of the invitations so last night we attended the party where we mingled with some of the players and officials. We met and shook hands with Colin Montgomerie, Sergio Garcia, and Miguel Angel Jiminez. The play starts today and we are planning to go and watch tomorrow and maybe again on Saturday. Watch out for us on the TV. I dont expect the crowds to be that big so you might be able to spot us.

The weekend is almost upon us again and another week has passed. The boss was also at the event last night and she spoke to me briefly about a new idea and some interesting plans she has for me! All very hush hush at the moment but watch this space. Its not as exciting as it sounds but you never know what anything can lead to.

Today is the juniors Burns celebration so I have to wear my kilt to school. Must go and get ready.
David

Normal service resumed

Looks like the weather has returned to normal today. Very few clouds about at the moment. I did see it was raining heavily at the golf in Abu Dhabi on the telly so there must still be some cloud in the area. Next week is the first European Tour event in Bahrain so we are planning to go and watch some of that next weekend. Our course re-opens at 12 noon today so we think we will go and play a few holes this afternoon.

Enjoy your weekend
David

Golf Cancelled - any ideas for the weekend?

Well the golf has been cancelled at all courses on the island so we wont be playing this weekend. I haven't seen it but I imagine that there will be huge lakes and the water traps may even have some water in them. I am not sure how well the loose sand on the browns (greens!) stand up to that much water. I suspect there may not be any sand left on them.

We will just have to do something else. Maybe a bit of retail therapy. We have still to get Sheila's 50th birthday gift although she is nearly 51! Perhaps we'll do some window shopping, it'll have to wait until payday after my banking disaster at Christmas when I transferred money to Scotland TWICE by accident! Left us a bit pink lint here. It's been bread and scrape since we came back. Not long to go now though. Just a few more days. I am planning a slap up meal!  Only joking of course ... Sheila has done me proud and we have eaten well despite having to be careful with the dinars.

Rain has thankfully stopped and it is drying up quickly.
D

Bah-RAIN right enough

5.30 am This must be some knid of record. I shudder to think what the roads will be like. I wouldn't be surprised if the school was closed today.
David

Now we know why it's called Bah-RAIN

Today it has poured ... and poured ... and poured. Nobody here can remember a day when it rained all day. The roads are flooded, the school playground is flooded, the garden is flooded everywhere is flooded. It is unprecendented to have this much rain in one day. I bet we have had a whole year's rain today alone! I could have stayed in Scotland if I had wanted this weather. It feels just like being at home. We have got no wellies and no anoraks. We do have golf umbrellas so we will be alright. Cars are crashing right left and centre because the locals dont know you have to slow down when the water is on the road.

This puddle outside the villa, taken this morning, is now a lake. It was too dark to take a picture when we got back. I'll try to get some tomorrow. Delay booking the flights for a few weeks!

Watch this space!

Christophe has just arrived to cut Sheila's hair and I have to make the tea so I better look lively and get organised.

TTFN
David

I don't believe it!

This morning I am up earlier than normal, just couldn't sleep for the incessant rain on the roof and on the roof of the swimming pool canopy. Battering down it is. Well maybe not battering exactly but it is pretty heavy. I will try to get a picture when it becomes daylight if it is still raining (which at the moment looks a strong probability). I see the forecast is for the chance of rain for the next three days but sunny again for the weekend. I hope its correct because I am not really equipped for golf in the rain and I am supposed to have a two day competition on this weekend. I say supposed because I haven't had confirmation of my entry and it is at Bahrain Golf Club, the other desert course.

I wonder if my wee man comes to wash the car even when it is raining? He comes with his coat and scarf now because it is so cold! For us it's still shorts and T shirts! They tell us we will soon acclimatise and we will need our winter woolies too!

Anyway, must get ready for work - just thought you might like to know about the rain.
David

Bandits Ahoy

Just thought you might like to know that our 41 points in the golf competition was not enough. We were second which wasnt too bad but not good enough to scoop the prizes. Obviously some highway robbery specialists with ridiculous handicaps were at large. I was ninth in the individual competition out of 80 players but was one stroke too many to get a prize. Better luck next time. I had the 3rd best score without taking handicaps into account but that doesnt win prizes.

No sign of our mongoose today. I understand that the staple diet of a mongoose is snakes. Yep, snakes. Do we have many snakes here? Well apparently there are lots of snakes. None of them are harmful to humans and almost all are nocturnal so we are unlikely to see too many. The tree snake is apparently a daylight snake so I hope to find one of those when it gets a bit warmer. I would love to see a real snake in the wild. I can feel a snake expedition coming on.

Must slither away for now, work tomorrow.
David

Indian Grey Mongoose

A few weeks ago Sheila said she saw something climb the wall beside the house. It was cat like in size but she said it definitely wasn't a cat. I believed her but has no idea what it might be ... until today. Today I saw this thing across some waste ground beside the compound and tried to take some pictures. I was a bit far away but I managed to get the following picture.

It stands on it's back legs like the meerkats and we watched as it climed into the waste bins looking for dinner. Obviously a scavenger grabbing anything it can get. A bit of research suggests that it is an Indian Grey Mongoose which is in fact native to Bahrain. I am not sure how common they are.

OK enough of the David Attenborough onto more important stuff. Golf was good again today. It was a scratch 74. The pros on the telly are scoring not much better than that and they have grass to hit on to! It was a three man team competition where each team is given a black golf ball. Each player takes turns to play with the black ball and there is a separate score for the black ball for each team. We have a good score of 41 points but I am not sure if it will be good enough to pick up a prize. Watch this space!!

Weather is a bit cooler now but I am told that it is now as cold as it is likely to get. There was a bit of cloud cover today but it was still shorts and T shirt.

The villa feels a wee bit on the cool side when you first get home from work but we still dont feel the need for a heater.

Cheers for now

David

The Night Sky

I was trying to enthuse some of my pupils about astronomy and looking at the night sky. I told them to their amazement that they could actually see Jupiter that night if they looked near to the moon. I taught them about the free software program called Stellarium and one of my students brought me in a picture that he took last night. It's not spectacular but it shows Jupiter near to the crescent moon. The picture was just taken using an ordinary camera, no other optical equipment. Notice that the crescent of the moon is at the bottom here and not at the side like in Scotland.

I am planning to visit the remote south of the island which is far from the city lights. Apparently the sky is dark there and you can see lots of stars. It is still a big disappointment how little can be seen from Budaiya considering that every night is clear and I have a roof terrace from which to observe.

I hope the new snow is not causing you all too many problems.

Toodle-oo the noo.

David

Two Round Golf Competition

Just back from the presentation for the two round Hempel Pairs competition. I was playing with the Captain's wife! On day one it was one of those games where you play alternate shots with the same ball. We played OK if not spectacularly. I won the nearest to the pin on Hole 6. Got three golf balls at the presentation.

Today in round two it was play your own ball and the best score counts. I was 5 over par with a quadruple bogey 8 on the card. I really played well except for one hole of course! I scored two magic twos and we won BD17 for that so it was a good weekend. Weather was absolutely magnificent. Perfect in fact.

Settling down now for the Saturday night film. No idea what we will watch. Coffee has just arrived so better go now. Still eating Barbara's home made shortbread. Magic!

David

Happy Birthday Nicola

Happy Birthday wishes to Nicola today. I started to type this at 6.32 am this morning (3.32 am UK time) which was the actual time that Nicola was brought into this world. Unfortunately due to technical difficulties I could not post it to the blog at that time. The site is now working so here is the entry.

She is a little bit older than this now of course but has lost none of her cuteness though!

Lots of love, looking forward to chatting on skype tonight.

Love Daddy and Mummy

Back to the grind

After only one day back in the hot seat it feels like we have never been away. The snow and the steak pie are distant memories and the daily routine at the chalk face swung once again into graceful operation. It was a wee bit difficult not hitting the snooze button this morning but after that hurdle was overcome the rest was a dawdle.

We are now waiting for the TV man to bring our new high definition box and service. As Michael McIntyre says our TV is "HD Ready", its ready and waiting and tonight is the night it gets to show us its full splendour.

Shame about Colin's bet on the Welsh guy for the world darts but it serves him right for betting against the scotsman. Come on Gary! We might even see it in high def if the TV man is here in time.

OK no rest for the new science HoD so I better go.

Cheerio for now
David

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from a hot and sunny Bahrain. I hope your hangovers are not too severe and that you were sensible with the drink this year! We are planning a game of golf today and then a relaxing afternoon in the sunshine before we have our new year's nosh up. Hopefully there will be no new bees. Yesterday a Sheila was stung a few times when she accidentally disturbed a load of bees that had chosen our outside light on the roof to make a nest. It was on the outside of the light globe. They were a living mass of bees dangling on the light and the door had apparently scraped some of them off when it opened. Sheila managed to get back into the house (I was at the golf at the time) with only a few stings to the head and hand.

When I got back I looked outside and saw the mass of bees on the light but I couldnt open the door more than an inch or two. I sprayed them with loads of ant killer and left it a while. When we went back there were hundreds of dead bees on the ground and the rest had gone. There was a small honeycomb formed on the globe and it was indeed full of honey, about enough for one slice of toast!

Have a great day today.
David and Sheila