Saturday Delicacies

As I sit here, chomping on a 'Murdoch's Macaroni & Cheese Pie,' I contemplate the day before me.

I should be fussing with the water in the washing machine but instead I had to dismember the chicken from last night and boil the bones for stock.  It is now almost noon which shows how slow the day has been.

  

I suspect I will begin with Morecombe v Solihull Moors in the English Cup, or if they insist on the useless female commentator I will revert to Sky for Reading v Bristol City.   

After this comes the big game of the day, I have booked my ticket (£12) on the Alloa website and will enjoy the Alloa v Heart of Midlothian game in what is now called the 'Betfred Cup.'  How these names annoy!

This finishes on time for me making use of the chicken, now in the fridge, for tea and being prepared for the other 'Betfred Cup' match between St Mirren and Aberdeen.  

If my eyes still focus I may watch Atalanta v Verona or West Brom v Sheffield United.  Of course I may just be asleep by then, or if the Heart of Midlothian loose I may be round the corner sitting in the local Police cells being asked about things flung from windows in an aggressive manner.  

"Not me guv."

While quite used to being alone I have noticed how I have become more aggressive and indeed angry at things in recent months.  Whether this is 'Lock Down' or my tiring mind I cannot say but clearly both are having an effect.  The numpties on Twitter were getting to me so I avoid it now for the most part, but on Facebook similar people arrive and wind me up.  Good job we do not carry guns these days.  Imagine if Donald Trump was to shoot those who opposed him?  Count the bodies...

I looked into those I encounter and find how mixed up many people are.  Confused about life, their place in it, sexually confused, not sure if they are male or female, gay or normal, some politically motivated but appear confused re what their aim is or where they are headed.  A sensible answer to one upsets others, answer them and the first is offended.  

Talking of offended I see one football pundit has been suspended by the BBC for using the term 'Handbags' during a game.  Several people, probably girlies, objected, and the man dumped.  How silly the BBC has become.

 

 

 

Good News and Bad, for Some.

Another Edinburgh Derby, another Derby played at Hampden, another victory for the Heart of Midlothian.  Rain, storm, offside goals and dives for penalties did not cease the onward advance of the men in maroon.  

Indeed it was ever thus, since the first cup final between these two clubs, the Heart of Midlothian winning by 1 - 3 at Logie Green Road, and in all subsequent major semi and finals the Heart of Midlothian succeed.  The last final was in 2012 where the wee team bravely lasted until the end of the game, not counting the one sent off, and lost by 5 goals to 1.  Tee Hee, it is inevitable the Big Team will win such games.

Look at the overall record.

 

1896

 

Since the first meeting between these clubs at the East Meadow in Edinburgh on Christmas Day 1875, which the Heart of Midlothian won by one goal to nil, success has always been with the men in maroon.  So far some 651 game have been played between the sides, the Heart of Midlothian winning 286 Hibs 206, mostly with the help of biased referees.  6 games were abandoned, the Hibs went home when the could not take another beating, or complained it was 'too cold.'   The Hearts have scored some 1100 goals and with the help off dubious penalties and their friendly linesmen Hibs have accrued, what they say, is 924 goals.  Hmmm.  In simple terms what this means is that if Hibernian wish to win as many games as us it could take them 20 years to catch up, but as you realise, that will never happen.

 

The sad news regarding the passing of Sean Connery is not a surprise, he was 90.  However, he is without a doubt the best actor Scotland has produced and will forever be 'James Bond' to one and all. He went from a milk round, horse and cart and all, to 'Dr No' and Ursilla Andress.  Not bad for a milkman.  He delivered in Comley Bank for the 'St Cuthberts Dairy,' my dad did the same round for 'The Edinburgh & Dumfrieshire Dairy,' known as the 'Dummy.'  He went from that to the United Wire Works.'  It does not seen fair...

 

 

I will not mention this, just in case the folks in Taffs Well are listening....

Annoyed by Blogger!

This new Blogger layout is not good! 

Slow awkward, difficult to find things and designed by a 14 year old.

Not happy!

However, I did come across, by accident, old pictures I had forgotten all about.

No wonder, they are gash!

This one is not too bad mind.

I was happy before starting this.  I had cleaned out the drawers, done the washing, fixed part of the genealogy, and was planning tomorrows work.  This is Spring cleaning continuing, mind you it began last year, in Spring!  I may finish it next year.

Oh to get out and about again.  To get on a train and go somewhere.  To see sights missed, to pass open fields and dingy towns.  To visit London just so I could hate the sight of it!  Lock Down is one thing but while I cope with most of it I would like to visit somewhere soon.  Even the free bus does not run, not enough people using it as most shops still shut, or at least queues make life difficult for many.

I may slowly wander round to Tesco in the morning, just to see human life again.

Actually these pics are better than I thought.

At least proper football is near.  In spite of the mistreatment by the SPFL/SFA we begin a new season hoping soon to wipe smug grins of faces.  I suspect the Heart of Midlothian will feature on many Friday nights.  Something to look forward to.

Nothing Blog

It has been that sort of a week.
Nothing in the news bar election, which means Brexit.
No interesting items to read therein, just lies and more lies.
The football pages, the Edinburgh ones anyway, are full of lies re the new managers for Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian.  Names are plucked out of a hat, any unemployed manager is given a ring and asked if he is interested, a full declaration of his love for the club is then published.  Neither of the two clubs have any interest in these men, but anything is used to sell these days.  A Celtic coach has spent much time in the media, Hibernian did not contact him, they did not want him, most fans had never heard of him, but he was 'linked' to Hibs.  The Celtic fans, possibly Hibs ones also, clicked on the online story, wasting their time they read nothing but bull.  Story worked, nothing happened but such is the media today.

I have of course made use of Twitter, much better than facebook, to put right those who are wrong.  This does bring back various answers, educated ones from people in the know, far from educated ones from Rangers fans and gay boys.  Political ones are a dream, although so many comments appear to be 'bots' rather than real people.  
The disadvantage of Twitter is when someone posts a news item, say a football story, then everyone re-tweets this and soon the whole thing is dominated by one story, real or imagined, that never appears to end!  Nothing can stop this. 
At the moment Farage is dominating the page.  Quite why I know not, but there he is, constantly appearing again and again.  You would begin to imagine he has friends pushing this for him, surely not...?

  
This is nice.  
Press baron Lord Rothermere meets world leader.
Nice to see two men working for peace together.  How things have changed.  Today the 'Daily Mail,' the Lords publication, would be aghast at meeting such a man.  I suspect Adolf may feel similarly if he read the rag today...

On the genealogy trail I discovered one great granddad had a marvellous way in which to stop his wife nagging him.  He always had a way with women, however he did not reveal it to the wider public, well, not until the trial at any roads...

Otherwise Occupied...

I may have made a mistake.
The other day I scrutinised the games still to be played and splashed out £30 on a 'Now TV' 'Sky Sports Pass.'  This enables me to see Sky Football coverage on the laptop.  Now as I also have BTS for Scottish football this enabled me to view more than the occasional match.  
Since then I have viewed quite a few.
Yesterday I watched three games and did almost nothing else.
Today I escaped from church a wee bit earlier than I wished, cadged a lift from a young woman and arrived home in time for the Edinburgh derby at 12:15.  This was better than last weeks wimpish offering and questions must be asked why Hibs players are so well liked by referees.  But I'm not one to complain...
After this, while preparing a burnt offering which may be with me for ever, I watched a bit of Burnley v Manchester City, this was disappointing after the proper football from Easter Road and soon I turned on to the Rangers v Aberdeen game where another showing of Glasgow Rangers bias enabled the blue bigots to win by two penalties to none.  Mr Defoe must wonder what he has to do to be sent off!  He not only handled the ball twice he also clouted the goalie and then feigned injury. The ref did not see a blatant assault ten yards ahead of him!
What is more is for the first time I realised that the referee, Don Robertson, is in fact now a FIFA registered ref.  Apart from a friendship with Jim Fleming who heads up Scots refs how on earth did this man get to that level? 
I then caught the second half of the rather poor English offering, Manchester United v Chelsea, a somewhat meaningless game after the first one I had watched.  This contained little emotion and less football but a lot more money.
I considered watching the MLS game from the US after this but wondered if maybe I was becoming hooked on this SKY lark?  As I look around I note lots of empty and half empty cough bottles, rubbish lying around, papers unread, mail unopened, dishes unwashed.  Could it be I need to switch off for a while?  
Surely not... 

 

Sunday Suffering

It's bee a rotten few days so far.  The problem with the line was fixed but now the laptop is running slow.  Speed ought to be around 50-60 and is as low as 2 at one point.  Today I have it at 10.  There is a routine to go through and I will do this once the football is over but it is a drag.
I have run all the scans from Avast to check things are not hindered by bugs,  that took hours late last night, and all is clear, the switch off and on routine and search BT is next.  At least the laptop is clear of bad boys.  
On top of this my wee cough was improving and suddenly turned nasty again, much more bronchial than before and meant I have not gone out.  This is worse than before and they wanted me to do two readings later in the week.  They had better pray well to see if this will clear up in time, it is not good, why me I cry while being grateful I do not suffer what others suffer. 

Good news however in that the Heart of Midlothian have reached yet another cup final.  This I was able to enjoy via the laptop yesterday.  How lovely to see the victory, how lovely to see goals for our side.  Sadly however Aberdeen today threw away the game v Celtic and lost, not only by having two men sent off for violent conduct but also having the manager and the assistant manager sent off for things said to officials.  I did not see this game, a thing called 'Premier Sports' has arisen to make money out of Old Firm games and I refuse to be conned by yet another money making scam!
So we look to the end of May when we meet the green bigots in yet another cup final.  We have played them three times in this game, winning twice, and look forward to the great day.

I see that nice Mr Farage has risen to oppose the 'establishment' again.  He has created the 'Brexit Party' to do this, a party including the CEO's of several large businesses and the sister of Jacob Rees-Mogg who has deserted the Conservative Party and boasts of being a mother for eight  years.  She failed to mention the nanny she pinched from Jacob or the private schools however.  So the elite are lining up to fight the er, establishment!
I see a problem here.
This of course is just Farage wanting to get into the EU house again and line his pockets, nothing more.  A cash cow stares him in the face, he will never get into Parliament and the money is his aim.  Add that to what he has made from Brexit and it is no wonder he can afford to smoke.
His new party has nothing to do with UKIP being accused of some £300,000 worth of illegal data being used during the 2016 referendum?  Clearly Farage would know nothing about this?  It would be trying if he and others, such as Boris and Michael, were to be drawn into something uncool would it not?
I await developments.

Lunch, Football Books and Doves.

As one of the near million or more who opened a can of beans today I began to cogitate on the worth of this fine food, a food that was is so important to our health that during the war it was declared an 'essential foodstuff.'  It has been essential in my house for many years.
Somehow beans grown in South America made it to Europe during the 1500's, possibly by being swiped from Spanish and French ships by English pirates, and bean stew became popular world wide, the world being Europe and the Americas and the rest did not matter much.  Haricot, also known as 'Navy' beans for some reason are covered in tomato sauce and make a complete dinner for many in the UK.  This tells us much about them!   
Heinz, who sell the most, and probably many 'own brand' types also, claim that around 50,000 tonnes of beans arrive annually for their Wigan factory from the Americas, a fact which might change come Brexit!  Their sauce is based on a US model which originally contained pieces of pork (pork & beans still on sale somewhere)  first produced in the UK by Heinz in 1928.  The beans had first been sold as an expensive foreign import in 1901 by Fortnum & Mason at 9d a tin.  Considering some earned around £1 a week then (with 240d to a £) you see how pricey it was.  Today Heinz and other charge considerably more but wise folks like me buy own brand beans, considerably cheaper and if you don't like the sauce ad a bit of imitation Lee & Perrin's sauce to spice it up a bit.   Even the English queen likes the beans and has given Heinz a Royal Warrant, she always has some on order, probably for Philip.
Pie and beans, meaning a Scotch mutton pie, was a staple of my diet in Edinburgh, in this wilderness these pies are unobtainable and the English mince pie is frankly disgusting!  Therefore my diet suffers.  Being cheap and flexible they cover a lot of mistakes leaving me feeling fed even though no restaurant would remain open if they offered what I ate.  I however suppose it is possible to live on a diet of beans?  If this is cheap I may give it a try.

Someone indicated a book might be missing from my collection.  This usually means they have nicked it so I had a quick check and all the appropriate books are in their rightful place.  It may be someone did not look close enough....

Someone was watching me with the tins of beans muttering "I'm game for dinner" and when I looked he had hopped it.  I wonder if he had obtained the wrong idea?  He ought to know we don't eat birds like him these days...usually...

Sunday Thoughts..

Blethering this morning with two women, I was hoping to get a word in, the subject of counselling people came up.  One who was employed in similar business said that the biggest problem today was people being unwilling to 'take responsibility.'  I had to agree that she might be right here and wondered why?
Society, that means 'us' has brought us to this level from government legislation, teachers fancy ideology (often unwritten and confused) and parents who themselves refuse much responsibility and await others to take the blame or sort things out for them.
This is not new, Cain slew Abel and when asked about this did not take responsibility, he would have avoided such if he could but it was brought to his attention anyway.  People, including ourselves, are no different today.  However the social conventions that controlled us have been eroded by liberalism at every level.  The school pupil, sorry 'student' gets off with wrong doing with no punishment, the punishment for crime does not fit, politicians at all levels lie to us (see 'Brexit') and retain their positions, and the media leads us in celebrating badly behaved broken celebs and simplifying life into 'good and bad' with no moral base in between.
The result appears to be an attitude in many that when things go wrong it is not their fault it must be someone else who is responsible.  There is great difficulty in taking responsibility upon ourselves. 
Not everyone is thus imbued but there is that streak crying out throughout society and it continues to erode individuals life, sometimes with sad results.  
I of course am completely innocent.

The great thing this weekend is that the Heart of Midlothian remain top of the league.  Not only but also Hibernian, the wee team from Leith find themselves in second place and the even wee'er  team Livingstone are now third in the table.  The Glasgow media still speak of the blue and green bigots of course but the reality is their teams are guff and we know it.  
Things might change of course, their referees, SFA and media will do all they can to overthrow us but we can defeat them once again.

'The Team For Me.'

Another book finished and I am glad to have read 'The Team for Me.'  Our friend Mike has put together several books, I am not jealous, and the latest one is a brave account of his fifty years following the Heart of Midlothian.  A jolly atmosphere filled book where all aspects of football fan, from the programme to the reception provided by Glasgow policemen finds a place.  Many times I knew I had been there, many times I understood how the author's emotions jangled, many times I understood why tears appeared, that comes from following a football team, especially this one!
However fans from all clubs will emote as they read.  The grounds change, the club names may be different and the league or division may be higher or lower but the situation in which a man's life is lifted to the heights or brought down to the depths depending on the result of a football game does not change.  This is a book for the 'real fan' not the one who changes scarves at the start of every season t follow the one seen on TV, this is a book the real fan can understand.  
As an example of that as I read I could not get out of my head sitting behind the goals at Love Street Paisley with the sleet in my face as we huddled together singing "We shall overcome" while the  Heart of Midlothian were losing three nil to a St Mirren side that were getting relegated and we scored the first goal two minutes in!  Thank you Danny Ferguson!  Bah!

At just after noon the boiler man arrived keen and willing (keen to be elsewhere and willing to find a reason to charge) and soon he had decided a new boiler was required.  As it happened the landlord, the daughter of the deceased man I knew, was in the building, not that she wished to see me of course, and he rushed off to discuss the deal.
I never saw him again!
An hour or so later a call from the plumbers announced the 5th of October would be a 'New Boiler Day' just in time for winter.  So this sounds very good indeed to me.  A Friday morning which tells me it will be working by noon so they can take the rest of the day off!  Fine with me, I shall run away for an hour or two and let them get on with it.

'The Team For Me' by Mike Smith

Edinburgh Reporter

Much to my delight another book fell through the door today.  A book all football fan everywhere can relate to, one man's obsession love of the Heart of Midlothian, who can blame him for that?  You will all understand that once a football team becomes yours, and it is 'yours' then you can never leave it.  Wives and children, jobs and money, fame and fortune can come and go but these are fickle things, a football team remains for ever!

Of course as I have several already on the go it would not be possible to read this at the moment so I just dipped into the foreword by the great Jim Jefferies, a man who began his career as a 16 year old with the Hearts, eventually became a stout captain and later led them to the great 1998 Scottish Cup win, a result some of us had waited almost forty years to behold. What a great man to have write the foreword! 
Naturally with so many live games on different channels today I have not been able to read further, well I mean I glanced at the first chapter or two and found myself understanding what life was like when following a football team in the flesh.  The getting ready, the transport there, the avoiding supporters of jealous lower teams all rings true, but I have not read further.
The author?  One Mike Smith, a writer of note who has written several books of this type, most notably 'Hearts greatest Games' which concerns 50 of those triumphs, compare that with the  Hibernian's book 'One Win in 1973,' which did not sell well.  
Look at the time I must sleep, I better take a book through with me....

O Happy Day!

This was destined to be a good day, the sun shone through the chill wind, the shops were empty again, no new neighbour moved in the flat next door as yet, and I will eat properly tonight!
What else do we need?  I will tell you what we need, a good result against the green bigots!

And a good result we obtained!
While the Glasgow media pander to the green bigots by declaring how weak Celtic's squad is at the moment (not counting the multi million players appearing for them today surely?) the fact of the matter is that the Heart of Midlothian tactics were better, even though the claim is they did not quite work, that the players were more determined, that our play was better and we scored yet another wonder goal!  Even John Beaton, he off the flashing yellow and red cards, did not book as many as usual indeed cautioning two of the bigot side, and overall the game went well all round.  

A happy manager as he sees his side begin to take good shape and prosper as they ought.  I look forward to the next few games, many of which we have every chance of winning, and note how the Glasgow media will ignore us until we threaten their hold, then they will unsettle our players with lies about 'bigger' clubs wanting them, the usual lies.  A good time lies ahead.

Dreich Saturday

I was somewhat surprised to come upon this van parked round the corner the other day.  I mean who would have thought a delivery van would be called 'Grabbit & Run?'  I would have said that was one of the local lawyers vans myself.  Fair to say he was facing the wrong way in a one way street so it is understandable that I thought it a legal experts vehicle.

Another gray dreich Saturday with cold winds a blowing.
This encouraged me to remain indoors mostly listening to my new neighbour downstairs move things in to the flat.
One thing about moving is the wonderful way nothing goes through doors.  On one or two nights I have heard strange noises and it was he and a companion pushing things through the window into the flat (He is on the ground floor).  Of course I offered assistance but he may not have heard me say this as I kept my mouth shut when offering assistance.  Clearly he and those assisting him have not yet finished as the noise has abated and he will no doubt return tomorrow to continue his movement.  I know it is a he as a letter arrived with a strange name and correct flat number so someone somewhere knows about him and is already asking for money.
The problem of flitting is the packing.  What do you keep and what do you throw away?  How do you pack it and how do you remember where you packed it after you arrive where you are going?  Some stick coloured labels on boxes, each pertaining to different rooms, other write in large letters the room, still others use numbers, all this to no avail as the box you wish is hidden under all the rest and you cannot find it.
When I moved here 21 years ago, almost 22 now, I had little to pack.  To move now would be torturous as I appear to have so much, where did it all come from and do I really require it all?   I suppose I ought to discover if I really need so much and dispose of the excess in charity shops and to be fair if I am continuing to be as forgetful as I have become I suspect I will buy most of it back again!
Most of what I have was required at the time, books are on the shelf, read once or dipped into as required but are these excess I wonder?  Clothes?  Not much as most people comment on my ability to shop at the charity shops, some rather too often I think.  I suppose some would wonder at what I have but I think most of it has a place.

 
I awaited with baited breath the Heart of Midlothian v St Johnstone game on BBC Alba this evening.  At ten minutes to six I switched on the laptop and found an update in the top left hand corner.
Eventually the machine woke up and demanded I 'RESTART NOW!' in that loving manner it possesses.  This I obediently did and after what seemed hours, partly because of my impatience as time was running out, partly because in my impatience I switched things on quickly and banged the buttons it all fell apart.  After many rude words and much finger twitching the game appeared two minutes after it began.
Over an hour and a half later I said to myself, "That's better out than in."  A worse first half could not be imagined.  Our lot appeared to consider going backwards the way to go forwards, I told them my opinion of this, they however continued to play a game of football unknown to kids in the playground.  Kids would try to score.  Kyle Lafferty, has he played football before? 
The second half was much better they started facing the right way, which was an improvement, and soon scored a goal, which was also an improvement.  For a while they pretended they were a football team and passed the ball to one another, checking the colour of the shirts worn by each side beforehand, something they had not done in the first half.  However it soon degraded into a slog and by the end we were all glad Barcelona were not coming in midweek.  We were not cheered by the knowledge that we meet St Johnstone next week in the Scottish Cup once again, oh joy!
Kyle Lafferty, has he played football before?

Snow Sunday

The walk to and from St P's this morning was enlightened by snow which began as I went down the road and thickened happily as I made my way back via the green bits.  Now it lies thick and unsettles those poor car drivers who have to struggle around in it.  The traffic was queuing up as I came home but none offered me a lift of course.  Hard hearted lot!

I fear this man found it all a wee bit confusing. Rain and seawater he understood but snow was a puzzle to him.  He and his mate sat there staring into the distance looking askance at the snowfall.  I hope he is not still there as he might be covered by now. 

Why do we have seasons?  Why did the good Lord not even things out a bit so we had more warm days and no snow days at all?  Why do the weather patterns change?  Where I sit was where the last ice age stopped some 8ooo years BC and man and beast then followed the green stuff that arose after the ice left and settled down.  All that ice melted creating the North Sea and since then the world has continued with the four seasons and a wide variety of changeable weather.  The snow reminds me we were threatened with Global Warming not so very long ago, is this still a possibility?  
It appears remote today.  Weather patterns do change the Sahara contains rock carvings that reveal how the whole area was once covered in vegetation, including Hippos and Lions and so on, today it is somewhat more arid.  The Sahara still creeps south each year, slowly but surely, will it ever stop?
I am not one to complain but while I enjoyed the walk home I would find it irksome if I had this for months on end.  There again hot sun for months on end also would be too much also.  

   
I managed, after much struggle, to find the Heart of Midlothian Scottish cup tie against the wee Hibernian team and must say how much I enjoyed this.  Not only did we play all the football and win the game by one mere goal but the banter with Hibs fans afterwards was excellent, none of them speak to me now!  I have not enjoyed a game so much in years and was totally exhausted by the end.  Not long after half time I began to wonder if a defibrillator might be required!  Justice was done and the Heart of Midlothian remain the big team in Edinburgh, as we all know.  I didn't need to shout at the referee in anger either, that shows how well he ran the game, apart from siding with them too often of course.

Having been at church for an enjoyable service this morning and then in Tynecastle via the laptop with almost 20,000 others I feel lonely now.  This place appears so quiet with the occasional passing vehicle and raindrops bouncing around here and there sweeping away the snow and leaving puddles for the workers early tomorrow.  There is little on telly, other football appears tame in comparison, the radio is not worth listening to tonight and even the late night dog walkers are staying inside.
Silence is a strange thing after noise.

 
Only one brave soul, or possibly daft soul, crossed the park when I was here.  A young female looking for friends I suspect and finding no-one about soon returned from whence she came and disappeared into the blizzard.  No dog walkers were to be seen.

Sunny Saturday

There is an unlimited amount of fuss in the media at the moment regarding the 'Honours.'  This is the system where the nation rewards individuals for what they have done for the nation or at east one small part of it over a lifetime.  Most of course go to the high and mighty regardless of worth though many indeed deserve a reward for their labours.  The benefit of such a system is that Lollipop ladies, gardeners, charity workers and individuals who have benefited those around them by helping out can get recognised and a wee bit of deserved publicity. 
The media however concentrates on media stars, celebrities or politicians and debate whether they deserve or not such rewards.  Personally I wonder at some 'celebs' who are given Knighthoods and Damehoods unless of course it is a suggestion, and not too subtle a suggestion, that it is time they retired and never came back.  On the other hand it is a wonder that certain people wander the streets as 'commoners' while many of us consider them worthy of such a reward, maybe their face doesn't fit?
At this point I must make clear that I have not been awarded a Knighthood, OBE, CBE or a BBC, in fact I have been ignored once again.  But there again I'm not one to grumble...

The thing people wish to see at football is goals, lots of goals.  So you can imagine how I feel having sat through two nil-nil draws!  The first was disappointing in that the sectarian bigots failed to either kick one another off the field or institute a riot.  This was disappointing as one would hope for this in a vain effort to have them both closed down.  This surprised me also as the home side, Celtic, ought to have been far ahead by half time and then in the second half they allowed their blue bigot opponents back into the game and indeed to make the better chances. All very disappointing.  In the end I was just wishing the depressing bigotfest to cease and allow me to have my after lunch (which was terrible) nap.
Then I had to ignore football completely until six in the evening.  At that time BBC Alba offered the full Aberdeen v Heart of Midlothian game, a proper football match between proper football teams, or at least they are on paper.
This game also ended as a no scoring draw but was much better in that we were involved.  The main grumbles were the BBC Alba director who felt the need to look deep into the eyes of each and every player,that is when he was not watching some character in the stand, the Aberdeen manager or someone on the bench applying an ice pack to a wound.  Someone needs to tell him that the game is played on the park and that close ups off ugly men are not required!  I wonder if it is a woman?  This would explain the incompetence as she searches for someone to pay her way.
The only other grievance was the expected one, John Beaton the referee has to send off a Heart of Midlothian player at each game, it is in his SFA contract!  This he did by practicing yellow cards for Hearts men but not for Aberdeen ones, even if the jumped into a defender leading with an arm and collapse him.  We have seen such refereeing before and no doubt will see it again.    
However having established a six game run without conceding a goal we can see how the team is being rebuilt, the right way from the back, and once all the injured players return and new ones come in the January sales we will see much improvement in going forward.  That reminds me will someone  give Isma Gonzalves his spectacles back sometime soon?