This latest update is intended to cover the last year up to May 2005. I guess an annual update is all that I can manage to do at the moment.

The biggest, and saddest, news of the last year is the passing of Allison's father - Gordon. Gordon had a stroke a few years ago and was finding it increasingly difficult to live by himself. When our neighbours moved out 2 years ago Gordon bought the other half of our house and we converted part of it for Gordon's needs. (This may give you a better idea of how it worked.)

Allison took a career break last year to help look after her Dad, so he was both physically close to the family and got to spend good quality time with his nearest & dearest before the end. He will sorely missed by us all.

For the past 3 years we have travelled back to Australia for very good reasons, other than just the usual ones of seeing friends and family. In 2002 it was my sister Susan's wedding to Craig. In 2003 it was Dad's birthday (and the Rugby World Cup.)

(I've just realised that I never put up anything about our 2003 trip. Briefly: the family got together to celebrate Dad's 80th birthday. We spent a wonderful week in a big beach house up at Avoca. I got tickets to the Cup Final and took Dad, my brother Iain and some friends. We all enjoyed the trip - despite the result of the game. Dad was thrilled and I feel I never have to buy him anther birthday present after that one.)

Earlier this year Billy broke his leg in an accident. Fiona drew a great picture in her school 'News Book'. Can you see how sad Susan & Billy are? Happily he has made a fully recovery.

My sister lives in Canberra and whilst we were staying there we took a day trip to Thredbo. It was the first time I had skied with Allison; in fact it was the first time I had skied in 15 years! Amazingly I didn't do too badly. At the very least I didn't injure myself seriously or fall over too many times. We put Fiona into the Ski School and she seemed to have a great time.

Work

Following Siemens doing the dirty on me after I was ill, I was out of work for a few months. Prospects weren't great in Telecoms so I moved back to a previous field (interior finishes) when I joined Muraspec in October 2003. Muraspec are one of the world's leading manufacturers of commercial wallcoverings. I sell their products to architects, designers, decorators etc in the West of Scotland and Northern Ireland. Muraspec is a good company to work for and I am doing pretty well.

(I just re-read this last section and realised you might not know what I am talking about. {That's what comes from leaving so long between updates.} At the date of the last report [31/3/2003] I was still employed at Siemens and I finished that update, saying that I knew the coming year would be better. In fact it got very much worse shortly after. Siemens unfairly dismissed me after I had been ill. I got compensation from them, but they made it very difficult, and I would have preferred to have my job. So now you know why I have changed jobs. All clear now?)

Starting School

Fiona left nursery last year and started school. If your kids have done this then you will remember how emotional it is. Her nursery had a 'graduation ceremony' and got the kids dressed up in capes and cardboard mortar-board hats. The biggest wrench for Fiona was probably leaving behind her fiancé. Robbie 'proposed' to Fiona when she wasn't even 5. Bought her a ring and everything. (Didn't ask my permission though - black mark against him there.) Even today if you ask Fiona who she is going to marry she says, "Robbie - of course." She goes to 'After School Club' at the same nursery so she still sees the 'ladies' who used to teach her and a number of her old nursery friends; even though they are at other schools.

She started at Giffnock Primary School last year. It was big day for all of us. She looked so lovely in her school uniform for the first time. She might have looked a little forlorn before she went in and when we left her at her desk, but she has settled in well and is doing really well. Her reading is getting better all the time and she seems to be showing a real aptitude for maths. (She must get that from her Mum.) She seems to enjoy all the activities, including gym and is making lots of friends. She is often around at their houses after school and at weekends. She is already agitating for them to come for a 'sleep over'. (Yes, she still watches too many American cartoons.)

She is growing up so fast, as you can see in this pic of her looking so sweet in her new summer uniform. (Love those socks!)

More Fiona

Fiona's extra curricular activities are keeping us very busy. She goes to a singing class on Mondays, Drama on Thursdays, and has just started tennis lessons on Saturdays. (She is already showing outstanding talent at this, needless to say. Get your bets on for a Wimbledon win before 2021.) She also goes to 'Tweenies' on Tuesdays. This is a sort of introduction to Brownies and seems to involve a lot of running around and shouting in the church hall. Although she did manage to make a rather interesting caterpillar out of one leg of a pair of tights, sawdust and some grass seeds.

She is showing a talent for photography, when she manages to purloin my digital camera. She likes taking pictures of our cats and herself. But still needs to learn about camera shake. (Although it makes an interesting, if slightly disorienting, picture.)

Fiona has inherited her mother's mania about animals - especially dogs. She has about a million stuffed toy dogs and even a costume so she can dress up as a Dalmatian. It was probably her favourite Christmas present.

Speaking of Christmas, Fiona was in the church Nativity play - as a cat?! I'm sure you'll recall from your Bible studies many references to a cat being present at the birth of Jesus. You don't? Never mind, it made a cute picture anyway.

I thought I'd finish the section on Fiona with some random pictures to ensure that you are bored totally rigid. This one was taken last winter near Port Patrick and shows Fiona's enormous interest in old ruins.

This is Fiona with another old ruin.

Hasn't she got a lovely smile?.

This is the disguise she uses to avoid the paparazzi.

Easter is such a good excuse to pig out on chocolate eggs.

This Fiona with her wee pal Adam Cabuk. (It wasn't a sleepover - he just put on Fiona's PJs when she got ready for bed.)

We spent Halloween with friends of ours - and their 2 boys. The kids had great fun dressing up. Does Fiona look at all devilish? Looking at all the pics it seems that most of Fiona's life is spent dressing up. But she loves it! As do some adults. (Hard as it may be to believe, no prosthetics were used to boost the authenticity of that last picture.)

I wonder how long it will be before she is asking for a real mobile phone?

Other News

Allison has decided not to go back to work after her career break. She is hoping to re-train to be a primary school teacher. We are keeping our fingers crossed till we hear if she has been accepted onto the course. I think this is great and will be a lot less stressful than her previous job. Her career break not only meant she got to spend time with her Dad, she is also around a lot more for Fiona. This is great for them and they have a lot of fun together.

My big project at the moment is to build Fiona the best tree-house in the world treehouse1 , treehouse2 , treehouse3 , treehouse4.

It already has a hatch in the bottom, a door in the side as well as a rope ladder. Plans are afoot to make it look like a castle. But is she satisfied? Of course not, she wants a roof and shelves and windows and electricity.

This last weekend we had my old friend Sam come to stay. She is visiting Europe with her boyfriend Sandy. Well, he was her boyfriend when they left Australia. But the romance of Prauge overcame him and they will be returning to Australia as an engaged couple.

Whilst they were with us we took them on a tour of the Borders. The highlight of this was a visit to the magnificent Melrose Abbey.

Finally

We hope you have enjoyed our update. I haven't been a very good correspondent recently and I will try and improve. Little and often might be a better system of keeping in touch than huge efforts like this. It would be great to hear your news as well - when you have a chance.

with all our love,

Hugh, Allison & Fiona.

OK, I'll by start with the old, old, apology. Sorry it has been such a long time since I was in touch last or updated this page. I can't believe it was the middle of 1999 when I last updated this properly. I guess this doesn't really count as an update - just a quick update of the past year. Once again I have excuses - as you will find out. I also have a new apology, sorry if you didn't get a Christmas card. I try to be good about that, but this year it was just too hard. I can't even remember who I did manage to get a card off too. So I'll just apologise to everyone.

It has been a funny old year. It started with me in hospital. I fell ill just before New Year and ended up going to hospital in an ambulance, unconscious. Apparently I fought the Accident & Emergency staff and they kept asking Allison to 'come clean' and tell them, 'what is he on'. It was very scary for her and my family for a while - but I knew nothing about it. Eventually I was diagnosed as having meningitis, which Allison had also had in September 2001. After a few days I was sent home, seemingly fully recovered.

In April we all went back to Australia for my sister's wedding. It was a lovely holiday made all the better by seeing Susan marrying her 'Mr Right', Craig Barnes. Susan had settled in Canberra with Craig and that is were the wedding took place. Everything about it was near perfect, the happy couple, the church, the lovely bridesmaids, the guests, the reception, the weather - everything. It was especially nice to have the family all together. We 3 'Scottish Bells' had a great time.

It was wonderful for Fiona as well. She enjoyed going to the beach and swimming in Grandma and 'Mr Teddy's' swimming pool. It was also great for her to go from having almost no family in Scotland to an instant extended family in Australia - Auntie Susan and Uncle Ross as well as my brother and his wife Iain and Jenny and their son Sam. Sam turned 2 whilst we were in Australia and Fiona had fun playing with him - and bossing him around! They shared icecream together and became best mates. Iain and Jenny are hoping to go back to Korea to adopt a sister for Sam. I am sure Fiona will appreciate having another cousin as much as Mum and Dad will welcome another grandaughter. We just need Craig and Sue to add to that to that total now! (Just kidding.)

Another highlight of the trip was climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I cannot recommend it highly enough - do it if you get the chance. We were lucky and had great weather for the climb. (In fact we had good weather most of the time during our trip, a pleasant change of luck compared to other visits) The views were superb and we could see for miles. (It was obviously lovely to see all the family together, but one of the best bits of that was having grandparents on hand who were more than willing to look after Fi whilst we did things like climb bridges.) Everyone is required to wear grey coveralls for the climb, to prevent lose objects falling out. Just before we climbed several hundred metres above Sydney Harbour Allison's biggest fear was expressed to me when she asked, "Does my bum look big in this?"

In late summer we spent a weekend in Blackpool and were lucky enough to get the only sunny Saturday of the entire Summer. (The wind was blowing at 40 mph, but in the UK, especially this last summer, this counted as good beach weather. Fiona actually went in the water - and loved it! She also went for the traditional donkey ride.

Allison's dad, Gordon, has been living alone in his flat for a few years now. Since his stroke 3 years ago he has occasionally found it hard to cope. So we all thought it would be great if he moved a little closer to us. Our house is a 3 storey late Victorian structure, which has been converted into 2 houses. The split is rather unusual in that we have half the ground floor and all the first floor. Then our neighbours had the top floor and the other half of the ground. To cut a long story short, Gordon sold his flat, and bought the house next door. We are converting the other half of the ground floor into a 'grandpa flat', with a connecting door to our place. If you look at this magnificent picture (even if I do say so myself) it may make more sense.

Then, on a Friday late in September, I started getting the same symptoms as I had had at New Year (pins and needles travelling up one side of the body). Recalling how bad it had been then, I immediately called an Ambulance. But the pins and needles weren't as severe and passed more quickly. By the time I got to the hospital they had passed and I was feeling a little foolish. I was also acting a little disoriented, having difficulty finding my way out of casualty after the doctor sent me home. This established two themes, doctors not being thorough and Hugh being disoriented. But just disoriented enough not to notice that I was having problems. I tried to carry on and went to a week long training course in England on the Monday. I felt awful and went back to Scotland on the Thursday. 

Early the next week I went to work. Whilst I had been on the course we had moved to a new office. It took me hours to find the new address and I nearly crashed several times. On the way home I was arrested by police, on the lookout from the morning, for an erratically driven Volvo. I was tested for drink, and then drugs and was, of course, negative to both. Despite the fact that I had been throwing up in the cell whilst waiting for the police doctor, to take the blood sample for the drugs test, I was simply released. No one, not the police or the police doctor, asked the obvious question - 'if he isn't drunk or drugged, why has he been driving erratically and why is he now vomiting?'

Allison had to come 40 miles in a taxi, with Fiona, at night, to collect me. Then drive around for about an hour trying to find my car. The police had left in a car park and taken me to the station in one of their cars. I was no use. I didn't know the area and also had a headache that was making me cry with pain and instructing the taxi driver to stop occasionally so I could throw up again.

If some of the details seem a bit vague then that is because, by this stage, so was I. In fact, when I got home that night (8th October) I went to bed and pretty much didn't get up again for a couple of weeks.  Allison had to write a diary for me afterwards so that I would know what happened. I don't recall virtually any of it. Apparently I was agitated, 'headachy', occasionally being sick. I even got sent to see a psychiatrist, perhaps I was going mad? To all intents and purposes I suppose I was. All I remember are some extraordinarily vivid hallucinations/dreams.

It took until 20th October before Allison convinced a doctor that I had something serious and I was admitted to the Victoria Hospital. I was then transferred to the neurological ward of the Glasgow Southern Hospital on the 23rd. A course of high powered, broad spectrum, intravenous antibiotics was started and I started to improve - slowly. But I was a bit worried early on. I couldn't do simple mental arithmetic problems set for me by the doctors. I can also remember writing a list of things I wanted Allison to bring me. One of these was my cheque book. After 5 attempts I gave up trying to recall how it was spelt. The first look in the mirror was a bit of a revelation as well. I had a Robinson Crusoe beard and I had lost about 2 stone. I could see ribs!! Since getting away from hospital food I have enjoyed putting most of that back on.

The doctors finally went so far as commit themselves to a diagnosis of encephalitis. - which just means a swelling of the brain. It was also agreed that this is what I must have had at New Year in 2001. Basically they said they knew I was sick because some of the constant barrage of tests they gave me showed 'abnormal' results.  Then they knew they had made me better when the tests showed normal results. In other words they don't know what caused it, they don't know how they had made it better and they don't know if, or when, it might happen again. I was released on November 5th and returned to work at the beginning of December.

My wife Allison has been a tower of strength throughout all this. At one stage she was:

• Organising the sale of her father's house
• Negotiating the purchase of the house next door
• Arranging the modification of said house
• Visiting me in hospital
• Visiting her father in hospital (He'd had a fall)
• Looking after Fiona
• Coping with her own demanding job whilst her company was being taken over

Fate had one more trick to play. Shortly after getting out we flew down to London for a weekend with friends. We got back on the Sunday night to find we had been burgled. I lost all my camera gear and my work PC. Allison lost a lot of jewellery and her work PC. This was probably a turning point, strange as that may sound. Things have been improving since then.

The insurance money paid for all new camera gear - including a digital video camera. We don't lose as much as we first thought. The burglars missed most of Allison's best jewellery - especially the irreplacable stuff passed on to her by her late mother. They stole our work lap-tops but that was a blessing as Allison wasn't able to put in her usual long hours slaving over her work emails

Last year had been awful work-wise. We got 'reorganised' and I lost some of my best accounts tp the other salesman. As a result I also lost the 'pipe-line' of potential business I had built up with them. In one case he picked up a £200k order that I had been working on for 2 years. I had to start from scratch with a bunch of customers who had not been looked after for a while and had little prospective business. So I had a very bad year in terms of figures - less than 50% compared to 110% the year before.

But that other guy left before Christmas and I have my acounts back along with the pipe- line he had developed. On top of that the accounts I started working on last year should produce some business in this one. I will have to work 6, 12 hour days a week until they appoint a replacement and perhaps afterwards (With the cutbacks that have happened I estimate I am doing the work that 6 people were doing about 3 years ago) but it should pay off. I hope to hit my target - despite effictively missing the first 3 months of the year. (Which runs from October to September for us.)

We had a lovely, if quiet Christmas. Allison had her usual triming the Christmas tree. Fiona still doesn't really 'get' Christmas. She slept in (as usual) on Xmas morning and the only thing that finally got her out of bed was the suggestion that she see if 'Rudolph'had eaten the carrot she left out for him and what Santa had done with the mince pie and beer. I expect it will be different next year.

Allison's father Gordon turned 80 on Boxing day an we celebrated with all his friends shortly afterwards. A lovely time was had by all and Gordon, as usual, rose to the occassion. Gordon Junior joined his sister and father for the event, all the Barrs together. The conversion of his 'grandad flat' should be finished tomorrow and he will be moving in the weekend after this.

Fiona continues to be an almost constant source of delight. She has german measles right now but is coping with that like she does with every other challenge - with a smile and little fuss. She is bright, well behaved and happy. She loves playing with her dolls and seems to have hundreds of them. She also loves her 'div-e-os' (videos.) When she gets a new favourite she watches it over and over. As it finishes she'll rewind it and watch it over - if she is allowed. She expects us to sit and watch with her, which is Ok if it is something interesting like 'Ice Age' or 'Shrek'. But not so good with some of her other choices. A recent favourite in this latter category was the cartonn 'Beauty and the Beast'. But it did give us an idea for one of her Christmas presents, the costume the heroine - Belle, seen here as worn at Grandad's birthday.

It is strange to her growing up with a very Scottish accent. She can roll her 'Rs' with the best of them - and a few other letters as well. Hearing her saying something like 'Grandma' or 'grass' is a revelation. She chatters away nineteen to the dozen all the time and has a vivid imagination in her play.

(31/1/03) It has turned cold again just now, but the daffodils are starting to show through the lawn and a new year unfolds before us - a year that will be better than the one that has passed. Dad turns 80 in August and we are looking forward to another family reunion and celebration in Australia - happily coinciding with the Rugby World Cup. (How did that happen?) I hope that all of you have a year as good as the one we are going to have.

All our love - Hugh, Allison & Fiona.

We spent 3 weeks in Oz in September/October last year - which is where Fiona was concieved. I hope to get some pics up some day - although we didn't do anything startlingly different to previous trips. We will probably have visited again (Xmas/New Year?) and have another batch of pictures before I get around to it.

In February Allison's father, Gordon, had a stoke. But as you can see from the pictures on the baby page he has made a fairly good recovery.

I quit my job in April. It is a long and boring story. But I made quite a bit of money from share options after Esprit was taken over. This means that there is no big rush to find another job. It also means that I have been able to spend lots of with Allison and Fiona.

Since Christmas we have both been working very hard and have just tended to collapse at the weekend. We seem to be getting very suburban and settled. I have even been doing some gardening, which you may find surprising. We got a superb display of blue-bells during a lovely sunny month of May. The tulips we planted last year came up beautifully and I even built a rock garden!

But we have managed a few interesting outings and a few weeks ago we went to the Isle of Mull (off the west coast of Scotland.) The drive to the ferry port at Oban was gorgeous. Part of the trip was along the banks of Loch Lomond. It was a sunny evening and the snow capped mountains around the lake made a distracting view if you are driving. (Speaking of driving - I have a new car. A silver Mercedes C180. Allison has the same model in black as her company car. We must look like such D.I.N.Ks.)

On the car ferry across to Mull the views were even more spectacular. You could see all of Scotland’s (and Britain’s) highest mountains mantled in snow, Ben Cruachan, Ben Lomond and Ben Nevis, behind an island lighthouse. The Isle of Mull is not very big but it is surprisingly rugged and deserted. We went to Torosay Castle and it’s gardens. (Gardens designed by Lorimer it says in the guide book. Doesn’t mean anything to me either.) Not far from Torosay, on a rugged headland, is Duart Castle, seat of the Clan McLean. (How is that for a sentence redolent with romance?) You can see it from Torosay.

As we drove round the island we were surprised to see a sign saying ‘National Trust of Australia’. We had to go and check that out. Turned out it was the tomb of Lachlan MacQuarie, an early Governor of New South Wales. Seems the Australian National Trust had been to Mull to restore the tomb. Guess he wasn’t famous enough in Scotland for the locals to bother. In his eulogy on the side of the mausoleum it said something like, ‘deserves his title of ‘the Father of Australia’’. This seemed a little strange to me because I am Australian and I have never heard him described in those words.

Another surprise was the lovely sandy beach at Calgary. This sort of beach wouldn’t be out of place in the tropics, if only it had palm trees, warm water, girls in dental floss swim suits, other people, hot sun. OK, OK, it would look out of place in the tropics. But it was still pretty and unexpected. We stayed the night in the lovely fishing port of Tobermorey

The other big news is that we will be visiting Australia in September. We want to be there on the 21st for Mum’s birthday. (And, coincidentally, our second wedding anniversary.) We will probably be in Sydney for a week after this date. My brother Ross is flying in from LA at the same time and it will be the first time in 7 years that we will all be together.

Speaking of Ross, he has just got word that the film he has been producing has finally got the go ahead. Called ‘Fight Club’ it will be directed by David Fincher, who directed ‘Seven’ and stars Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Cater and Ed Norton.

That’s it for now.

Not a lot of news to report in the past 5 months. We had a quiet Christmas and New Year. Not much to celebrate in the first holiday season since Dorothy passed away.

About the most exciting news is that we have acquired a cat called 'Elle'. She is a lovely little thing. Mum is convinced she is a 'baby substitute' and that she will never have any grandchildren.

We havent had a long holiday since we went to Cyprus in May last year, apart from a few days in Paris in September. We were meant to be going skiing in February but arrangements fell through. So now we might take a cheap, 1 week break somewhere warm in the near future. Then perhaps a longer trip to Oz later in the year. We will let you know if we get our act (and the money) together.

We have also been very busy with moving house. We moved in on the 14th of August. If you want to see what it looks like then check it out here. We have been busy since and the place is now in some semblence of order. Still a few things in boxes but they are obviously not vital. We are going to have one hell of a garage sale. (Or 'car boot sale' here in the UK. Not many garages so you take all your shit in the back of a car to a field or a multi story car park and flog it out of the back of the car. (As opposed to the 'back of a truck'.)

Both of our jobs are hectic so it is a good thing that the house doesn't need much work. But I am enjoying myself. I have 4 salespeople now and I'm looking for a 5th to complete the team. (Anyone interested?)

My employers took the whole company, from all over Europe, to Brighton for a weekend in September. Lots of drinking but not much fun. Too much like hard work with lectures and meetings on the Saturday.

I had to rush back to Glasgow on Sunday evening, unpack, then pack again. The reason being that Allison had booked a last minute getaway for 4 nights and we left on the Monday for Paris. Our trip to Cyprus seems such a long time ago. But it was only May. Living in the UK you can get some amazingly cheap last minute bargains for package holidays in Europe.