I’ve been warning my mum for months about the weather in Glasgow… the day she arrives it pisses down with rain all morning, but then at 10.45am just as the plane touches down the sun comes out and stays out for 2.5 days! Not just sunny, but REALLY sunny, with heat and everything! Absolutely beautiful. Of course you can’t tell her that it just Murphy’s law and really it generally rains, like, everyday! Well, you can, but do you think she’ll believe you when its 25 in the shade???

We spent Saturday doing our bog standard, take all our visitors, pub crawl and walk along the River Kelvin ending up on Byers Rd. We ate lunch at the ‘Cafe Andaluz’ – tapas and a nice bottle of wine. A few groceries, stroll home, then some book reading was done… a very hectic day.

Sunday we took a drive out to the coast. A criss cross journey taking all the B roads out to Troon, then up the west coast of Scotland for fish and chips on the beach in Largs. Again sunshine city. The temperature on the coast topped 30 degrees C – almost unheard of here…

We were headed to the beachside, outdoor heated, salt water swimming pool in Gourock. Nothing nicer than sitting by a pool, reading the Sunday papers, quaffing ice cream in the sunshine. It was lovely. A perfect day for my mums birthday.

For dinner we all dressed up and took a stroll through Kelvingrove Park to one of the finest Indian Restaurants in Glasgow, ‘Mother India’. Good food, good wine (you can BYO) and great company – then just as we were finishing our coffee, the rain started. And it rained. And rained. And rained. We had a golf umbrella with us, which should have managed to keep at least 2 of us dry, but nope, it was the kind of rain that doesn’t fall down from the sky. It’s there, all around you, wind, rain, and more rain…. We took a taxi the few blocks home, got drenched running to the front door, laughing and giggling like kids. It was a great end to a fantastic day. The first birthday I’ve spent with my mum for about 20 years!

The rain continued from Sunday night, all through Monday, and is still coming down today. Now they believe us. It rains in Glasgow. Quite a lot!

Last night Michelle and I went out in the west end to meet with a guy who I used to work with in Montreal. He was the rep from the SIM card supplier when I worked for FIDO. We worked very closely in Montreal, even though he was based in Toronto, negotiating some very detailed contracts – and since I’ve been here we have managed to keep in contact. He has since moved on and is now based in Seattle, and he was headed to Paris for business and decided to fly by here for a fleeting visit to see us. It was great. We met in the Wee Pub in Ashton Lane, headed to Stravaigin for dinner, and then back home for a few drams of single malt and to watch a ‘best of’ episode of Top Gear – a necessary induction for anyone who loves fast cars! It was hilarious.

A fabulous evening, thanks Chris. We are so flattered that you came out of your way to come see us. Hopefully we’ll see you again either here, or over on the west coast at chrissy.

And right now, to the sound of the rain, I’m going to get back into that book I started by the pool on Sunday….