I’m back! And on to Whitby, the home of one of the best fish & chip parlours - Magpies, and where Dracula landed in Britain. Oh, and there’s a very picturesque abbey (see my FB page for piccies), and it’s by the sea - a very pleasant place to spend some time! We stayed at the Dracula themed B&B - Bats & Broomsticks, which I thoroughly recommend if you like your Dracula kitsch, even though it’s done very well, it is cheesy goodness. This was our second stay - four poster bed, “emergency kit” in the wardrobe (wooden stakes and mallet) and breakfast to “The Damned” in a gothic basement - what more could you want? A friendly host, who’s knowledgable about the area and tells you all the best places to get a beer? Yup!
We also managed to get up to Whitby Abbey (about 200 steps - and still don’t know the real number, even though we both counted and got different numbers). Got some fantastic photos and came away with bottles of beer, wine and mead. Yeah, it was a very boozy buying spree, but we haven’t drank it all yet! Oh, and liquorice and Parma violet ice cream from a proper ice cream parlour on the way back - yum! Even if you don’t do the Dracula thing, it’s a wonderful seaside town to visit.
And... on to Windows 10. OK, so I’m probably going to rant a bit because I did an update on my laptop and that update took my poor laptop and ravaged it - bit it and shook it like a wolf with a sheep in its jaws - and left it hanging on for dear life and pretty much dying as far as the software was concerned. I have never in all my years done an update and have it shaft my PC to the extent that I had to take it back to where I bought it from to get them to fix it, as the update “fix” had me going round in circles, with no desktop, and no recourse on what Microsoft had done with an update that obviously hadn’t been tested properly. I was the 10th person that morning to ring in with the same problem and it’s going to cost me over £100 to get my files taken off, hardware checked and software wiped and reinstalled. And that’s just the beginning. Once I get it back tomorrow, I’ve got to reinstall any other software I had on there... joy... not! Seeing as it was the only device I had Scrivener on, and where most of my writings were held (some were backed up elsewhere, but not the one I’m working on, of course), I have to reinstall Scriv and pray that it’s all there, and then get writing!
So there you have it, enough blathering on for now. Wish me luck with my laptop and I curse Microsoft and their evil “we can screw you over and there’s nothing you can do about it” updates. Seriously thinking of going over to Mac as I’m surgically attached to my iPad anyway, it’s just the cost that’s really putting me off for now. We’ll see what happens next time I run a Windows update, and - note to self - backup your Scriv files to Dropbox before you press that update button!
Laters
Shel
Sunday, 3 June 2018
Friday, 1 June 2018
Whisky, Whitby & Windows 10 Part 1
First off - whisky! Our trip to Scotland in early May started off with a 2 night stay in Forres in an AirBnB, which turned out to be a lovely old Victorian place with lots of character and a very nice host.
We toured Benromach Distillery, as it was literally down the road, and we decided to take our whisky taster away with us as we had to drive to another distillery straight after. And saying that, promptly bought several more to go and a bottle of Benromach 15 year old (sherry cask, hint of smoke - gorgeous!).
Next we flew off to Tamdhu Distillery in Knockando, near Aberlour. Now this was an interesting tour - I know, you’re thinking “Aren’t they all the same?”, but far from it! This distillery isn’t usually open to the public, only during the Speyside Whisky Festival, so their reception and tasting area was in an old station ticket office next to a defunct railway and unlike most tours, we were allowed to take photos inside the distillery itself. It was large scale and modern, unlike Benromach, which was a much smaller affair and with very traditional processes and no computers! I did sample the 3 that were on offer, but they were all batch or cask strength and just too strong without adding more than a few drops of water to it - and what’s the point of whisky if you can’t enjoy it without watering it down? I didn’t buy any, and didn’t feel bad about it as the tickets themselves were £30 each, but did find out from chatting to them that they do a 12 year old Tamdhu and only sell it in M&S. I shall be looking out for that one - and it comes in the most stunning weighted bottom cut glass bottle - just what you need in a zombie apocalypse (as one guy at the Edinburgh Whisky Experience said to us a few years ago as we were gazing bewildered by the array of whisky on offer!). We’d like to think we know a thing or two about whisky now, but we’re always finding out new and tasting them too.
On our way to see family, we stopped off at Glendronach Distillery near Huntly, which we toured last year, for 2 bottles of their 18 year old “Allardice”. Again, Oloroso sherry cask (are you seeing a theme here? My fault, I’m afraid!), and heaven in a glass.
***
Got to split this into 2 parts, as I can’t see the text at the bottom of the page doing this on an iPad, so more in a bit...
Laters
Shel
We toured Benromach Distillery, as it was literally down the road, and we decided to take our whisky taster away with us as we had to drive to another distillery straight after. And saying that, promptly bought several more to go and a bottle of Benromach 15 year old (sherry cask, hint of smoke - gorgeous!).
Next we flew off to Tamdhu Distillery in Knockando, near Aberlour. Now this was an interesting tour - I know, you’re thinking “Aren’t they all the same?”, but far from it! This distillery isn’t usually open to the public, only during the Speyside Whisky Festival, so their reception and tasting area was in an old station ticket office next to a defunct railway and unlike most tours, we were allowed to take photos inside the distillery itself. It was large scale and modern, unlike Benromach, which was a much smaller affair and with very traditional processes and no computers! I did sample the 3 that were on offer, but they were all batch or cask strength and just too strong without adding more than a few drops of water to it - and what’s the point of whisky if you can’t enjoy it without watering it down? I didn’t buy any, and didn’t feel bad about it as the tickets themselves were £30 each, but did find out from chatting to them that they do a 12 year old Tamdhu and only sell it in M&S. I shall be looking out for that one - and it comes in the most stunning weighted bottom cut glass bottle - just what you need in a zombie apocalypse (as one guy at the Edinburgh Whisky Experience said to us a few years ago as we were gazing bewildered by the array of whisky on offer!). We’d like to think we know a thing or two about whisky now, but we’re always finding out new and tasting them too.
On our way to see family, we stopped off at Glendronach Distillery near Huntly, which we toured last year, for 2 bottles of their 18 year old “Allardice”. Again, Oloroso sherry cask (are you seeing a theme here? My fault, I’m afraid!), and heaven in a glass.
***
Got to split this into 2 parts, as I can’t see the text at the bottom of the page doing this on an iPad, so more in a bit...
Laters
Shel
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