Hot on the heels of a very wet walk home from Silent Disco, Kathy and I headed for Waverley station to catch the first of two trains which would deliver us eventually to Oban, in the west Highlands, for a week of relaxation.

We’re staying in the Glenbervie Guest House, which I would recommend without hesitation.  It’s a beautifully kept house with a very warm welcome from Iain and Joan and breakfast is delicious.

It has been wonderful for Kathy and I to be able to spend time together without the worries of work or decorating or housework getting in the way.  This is our first decent-length holiday together and it has been incredible fun – whether walking together along the coast, taking a boat ride to the islands or sitting on the bed watching episodes of Doctor Who (Kathy has been poorly the past couple of days so the outdoor activities have had to be curtailed a little).

Aside from the guest house, a couple of suggestions if you ever find yourself in Oban:

• The Kitchen Garden is a wonderful delicatessen and coffee shop with awesome pies and a great cheese selection.
• The Cuan Mor is our favourite restaurant, beautifully decorated with local materials and serving incredibly tasty meals.

We return home on Saturday (exciting in itself just for the length of time we get to spend on trains) but we’ve got something awesome planned for tomorrow before we leave…

The week in Edinburgh was one of the best.  There seemed to be a lot of fresh talent coming through and I saw probably more shows than I have in any previous year.  Some more very brief reviews below:

Tim Vine – Punslinger ***
Exactly what you want (and expect) from Vine – lots of puns, well executed
John Gordillo – Divide and Conga **
Unusual show about politics and his father – brilliant in flashes but patchy
Honourable Men of Art ****
Extremely good (and completely different) on our second view – definitely one to catch
Isy Suttie **
Funny, enthusiastic and likable except when doing her characters (which made up about half the show)
Only The Brave ****
Amazing new musical with a phenomenal script and songs, only let down by an average cast and some technical problems
David O’Doherty ****
Excellent show from start to finish – noticeably sharper than last year
Bad Film Club ***
We watched Roadhouse and the banter was excellent
Dean Hagland – X Files Improv ***
Nice concept which worked surprisingly well through a whole hour
Alex Horne – Wordwatching ***
Good concept from a clever man (with nice AV trickery) though would benefit from a few more jokes
66a Church Road ****
Genuinely delightful storytelling from Kitson, though lacked a little of the poignancy of some of his other story shows
Silent Disco **
Still a good concept, but I preferred it last year when there were fewer annoying people

We’re about half way through the Edinburgh trip this year, so time for a round-up of the stuff that I’ve seen so far (in the order in which I saw it):

Andrew Maxwell’s Supernatural ***
Very funny (if a bit short) show
Political Animal **
Good concept but slightly lacklustre guests when we saw it
Andy Zaltzman **
Decent enough show but could do with more big laughs
Richard Herring ***
Enjoyable show which seemed to run out of steam a bit at the end
Josie Long ****
Fantastic fun but still slightly ragged at this early stage of the fringe
Honourable Men of Art ****
Awesome banter which ended with a triple jump competition
Not Everything is Significant ****
Excellent and thoughtful story show, crammed full of jokes
Terry Saunders ***
Decent enough story show but nothing special
Jon Richardson ****
Spot-on comedy, effortlessly delivered
Collings and Herrin ***
Enjoyable morning podcast recording
Matt Forde’s On Heat ***
Amusingly ramshackle panel show
Pappy’s Fun Club *****
Utterly awesome themed sketch show which put me in mind of Population 3; my pick of the fringe so far
Mark Watson ****
Very, very good hour of comedy from the likable comedian
Danielle Ward ***
Extremely slick and funny set delivered to (sadly) a small audience in the Pleasance Attic

Hello.  I won’t try and summarise all of the last year other than to say that it’s been largely awesome.

I’m currently sitting in a flat in Edinburgh, listening to Duke Special and watching the rain pound down outside.  After the stresses of the last couple of months (mostly related to work and decorating) it feels amazing to have a holiday.  Our annual trips to the Fringe are usually frantic, trying to cram in as many shows as possible, but there are also plenty of pockets of pure calm and this is one of those.

OK, so I should probably list at least a few of the significant things that happened to me in the last year before I descend into the usual list of Edinburgh recommendations.

- I got two new Apple computers (MacBook Pro and Mini) and an iPhone 3G
- I got promoted
- I got engaged

Not necessarily in that order.

Seriously, though, getting engaged to Kathy is the most incredible thing that has happened in my life so far.  The iPhone only barely scrapes into the top 10.