Let's Play Wolves!

[lupestripe]

My father moved back to Scotland two months ago, so Scotiacon presented the ideal time to pay him a visit, not least because his new house is in such a state that he can now accept visitors.

I left our hotel at around 8pm, having booked an extra night so Wolfie could stay for The Dead Dog Party. This also enabled me to have some fun during the day on Monday without the need to rush about or worry about packing. With all that done, I decided to grab an Uber to Glasgow Queen Street station as I hadn't paid for the train and didn't fancy dragging my suitcases from Glasgow Central across the city. The weather was also particularly gash, so I thought the taxi was worth it. The driver was pleasant enough and got me to my destination just in time to catch the 20:40 service. However, I only had a ticket to Stirling rather than Dunblane as my initial plan had been to head up north earlier in the day. A quick trip to the ticket office meant I could get the ticket I needed and I caught the train just in time.

Dunblane station is quite lonely in the wet and I ended up going to the wrong entrance, so my father had to drive around the convoluted one way system to find me. Once he had, I was reacquainted with his dog Edward ("don't you bite your daddy") and made the familiar journey back to Crieff. I say familiar as this is where my grandparents once lived and so I know the road through Braco and Muthill quite well. I do find Crieff a bit of a boring town and was a little dismayed my father had moved there, but his house is a wonderful new-build, while I have my own room there. I was surprised to discover this included my childhood bed, which he must have had transported from the family home, so this added an additional cozy air. After a cheeseboard as I hadn't had any dinner, we shared a few beers before my stomach pain meant I had to stop. Bed swiftly followed.

My stomach tended to dominate most of last week. I think it was reacting to the high levels of alcohol and rich food I had fed it, with my stint back at home not aiding this. Indeed, before the con, I was drinking a few beers a night while watching BBC iPlayer, catching up on shows like 'Race Around the World' and 'The Hairy Bikers You'll Never Ride Alone' in tribute to Dave Myers, who died of cancer earlier in 2024. Watching this when my friend Entei-rah was moved into end-of-life care due to the same illness was perhaps not the distraction I needed, but the programme was heartwarming at least.

Drinking whisky was perhaps not the best option either but we had booked a tour of The Glenturret Distillery, which is on the outskirts of Crieff. It is Scotland's Oldest Working Distillery, having been founded in 1763, and Jamie our tour guide was wonderful. We effectively had a private tour as no-one else was up here on a rainy Tuesday morning in February. Jamie had autism, something he told us about very early on, so I thought I'd test him about the furry fandom but he had no idea who we were. Still, he was full of interesting facts about the distilling process and we ended up tasting two whiskies in the tasting room at the end. As my father was driving, he was given Drivers Samples, which were effectively in little urine-sample bottles that he could take home with him. Meanwhile, I got to sample the real thing. One was a Triple Wood whisky and the other was a more peaty 10-Year Single Malt. At the end of the tour, he encouraged us into the shop and I think he was a little disappointed I bought the cheaper Triple Wood bottle for Wolfie for Valentine's Day. The thing is that he hadn't had this style before whereas I had bought him the 2023 version of the 10-Year Single Malt for Christmas. I also got a mini sample of gin and we enjoyed £5 off for being on the tour. In the shop, we also got to met Glen and Turret, the two mouser cats, although the former is not interested and the latter prefers chasing rabbits. Neither of them will hold a candle to Towser, who has a statue and plaque outside the distillery. This reads:

TOWSER
21 April 1963-20 March 1987
Towser the famous cat who lived in the still house Glenturret Distillery for almost 24 years. She caught 28,899 mice in her lifetime. World mousing champion Guinness Book of Records

Tuesday was a day off so after the distillery and another cheeseboard for lunch, we hiked up a local hill called The Knock with Edward. This brought back memories of doing the same with my grandfather as a child, although it was bitterly cold with low-lying fog. After hacking up the hill and through the ferns, we decided to aim for the next hill along, noting the snow-capped peaks of some of The Munros to the north. It was a very bracing walk although my stomach was in a lot of pain as we went, meaning I had to take it gentle. Once we got home, I ended up having a nap to try and ease it, awakening just in time to head for a pub lunch at The Murray Park. This fantastic pub is in the centre of the town and is where we held my grandfather's wake in 2018. This was the first time I had been there since then, and it was interesting that my father was friendly with many of the staff. He was also excited about the return of the Chicken Highlander, which had been one of his favourite menu items before it had been removed. It sounded good so I had it as well - it was chicken stuffed with haggis and wrapped in bacon, served with vegetables of the day. This was quite good, even if the chicken was slightly dry, while the selection of bread starter was a real winner. Served with salted butter and three different types of hummus, the only negative was the lack of bread relative to the condiments. Still, it was great, with the evening only being slightly marred by the carpet salesman conducting business calls on a table near to us. On a mid-winter's evening, the bar area was all rather cozy and in many ways it was the perfect place to be.

Wednesday was a work day so there was very little we did aside from in the evening, when my Dad cooked me sausages, baked potatoes and baked beans. This was the kind of plain food my stomach really needed, while I ended up not drinking any alcohol for the first time in about a week. We did take Edward for a walk though and generally caught up, with the two days being a great opportunity to chat through what was going on in each others' lives. Alas, with my train south booked for Thursday morning, I felt that we didn't get as long as we needed, which is something to learn for next time.

The journey to Dunblane station was largely uneventful and the train travel south to see my mother passed smoothly. I had around half an hour to change at Edinburgh Waverley station, during which time I called into the new Brewdog bar in the main concourse. I knew it was too early for a beer, nor did I have time to drink one, but I managed to get the stamps by buying a couple of cans to take away. Even then, I was worried, as the one member of staff had received a large coffee order for a table who wanted them delivered directly to them. Still, I managed to get what I needed and rushed back to the LNER service which was to take me to Darlington. There, amongst the building works as part of their £100 million renovation, I found my mother and step-father and soon we were headed back to their house for lunch.

The following two days were largely uneventful. My uncle and aunt came around on the Friday, so it was a good opportunity to catch up over a wonderful dinner of Ullerby lamb and vegetables of the day. There was dessert in the form of pie and double cream, while my uncle thanked me for giving him some football programs that he was able to sell. These were largely as a result of my father's move - I had no use for them and I didn't want them cluttering up my home - while he also presented me with my late grandfather's watch. It is the only thing I own that used to belong to him so it is pretty special, while my uncle has had the mechanism repaired so it is now fully functional. It was one of the first things Wolfie spotted as I saw him for the first time in five days at the Leeds Meet on the Saturday. What I find amazing about when I visit my parents is just how swiftly I drop into their routines. My father goes to bed about midnight, my mother around 10pm, and I found myself dropping into their sleeping patterns easily. It did help that on Monday evening I barely got any sleep, so was tuckered early on Tuesday, while the barking of my mother's two dogs means sleeping past 7am is pretty nigh impossible, but still I was impressed by my flexibility. I also basically outed myself as at least genderfluid when my mother told me she was going on a 'girly day' with my sister and I said that she never took me on a girly day. I then, for some reason, doubled down on it for the next few minutes. I don't think she twigged.

I left my mother's on the morning ahead of the meet, with my step-father driving me to Northallerton instead of Darlington as there was a rail replacement bus service on that part of the East Coast Mainline. With my suitcases and bags, it was the last thing I needed. On a drizzly miserable day, we were quite early though, so we dropped into Strikes the garden centre on the outskirts of town. Here I got a dress up rabbit book that my mother kindly bought for me, with me thinking I could do this on the train. Alas, the service was absolutely rammed and I didn't managed to get a seat until York, by which time I was quite grumpy.

The meet itself was very good, albeit rather quiet. We had set up a memorial for Entei-rah at the top of the stairs, providing a book where we could share our memories. I did this while everyone was on the fursuit walk, not fancying it as the weather was cold and rainy again. I found it hard to work out what to say, but I managed to say something at least. The rest of the meet was a catch-up with old friends, particularly Adia, with whom I spoke extensively. I was in one of my hyper bouncy moods, meaning I was due a huge crash, which came later in the day. Things got a little tense between Wolfie and I as I misinterpreted a few things he said, while having our in-depth future discussion once we had arrived home was probably not wise. In the meantime, I hung around with the Bazersea Cats Home crew for most of the day, speaking with Baz himself quite extensively too. Taneli arrived at around 2:30pm, as did Stray and Lupin, while Procyon stayed for the duration too. Baloki was there as well, but he left very early.

We were amongst the last people in the bar once everyone turfed out, staying until well past the normies arrived at 6pm. We then grabbed some good, thankfully at Meat and Liquor rather than Trinity Kitchen. I did check whether they did vegan food for Doveux - he was pleased that they did - and even though my cheeseburger and garlic fries was overpriced at £21, I still think it was a decent meal. It wasn't as quiet as it had been on our previous visit, which was reassuring as Almost Famous recently closed down and I know the hospitality industry is really suffering right now. I also had a rather tasty non-alcoholic beer here, which Wolfie slightly mocked me for, but which I thought was best based on the high-alcohol consumption of the day. This continued later at The Banker's Cat, where Wolfie initially went in to find seats as I explained to the bouncer that I didn't want to drag my suitcases through the packed bar. When he didn't come out in five minutes, we sent Procyon in to look for him, thinking he may have been having a shit. Of course, he had found a table but didn't want to vacate it in case it would have been taken so he waited diligently for one of us to spot him. We ended up leaving around 10:30pm, again with my stomach in pain, picking up a taxi from the back of the station. Interestingly, the black and whites take credit cards now, which is new.

I woke up early on Sunday morning with a hangover, but a shower dusted off the cobwebs. With our train not booked until 1:30pm, we had a lot of time to kill, although Wolfie didn't make it out of bed until four hours after me. I went to speak to the neighbours and gave them a key and my phone number in case there are any issues. We then headed off slightly early, deciding to utilise our McDonald's vouchers once again to get a £3 Big Mac medium meal en route to the station. We also picked up five packets of crumpets and some hay fever tablets as my mother thinks Wolfie's leg issues may be caused by too much histamine. It's worth a shot, we reasoned, as this has flared up again in the last week.

The train journey to Manchester was uneventful, although there was no information about our train on the platform at New Pudsey. We caught the attention of two women who were waiting for the same train and we got chatting, with these two separate people finding out they were both army babies born in Germany with an awful lot in common. We chatted until the train arrived before going on our separate ways, with us sitting right outside the toilet and cursing whenever people failed to close the door behind them. Once in Manchester, we had the fun of a rail replacement bus service to the airport. We just made this as there were only a handful of seats left. We had to sit separately but at least we weren't turfed off like the three people who had hoped to stand. I felt sorry for them as they had given up their seats for others. One of the ladies we had met on the train acknowledged us and soon we were on our way. The rest of the journey was surprisingly frictionless, although we did have the pain of Terminal 3 to deal with. Even there though we grabbed a beer and just waited for the flight, going to The Nook, our usual haunt. Here we discussed the future and concluded that we'd like to leave Germany in the near future. We'll await the election results this weekend and maybe leave thereafter, although we may leave it another month as that would better align with our summer plans. Still, being at home over the last three weeks and seeing friends and family have really highlighted where my heart is, and I think Wolfie will be much happier too. We have already started discussing how we would remodel the home, while bringing back loads of things has started the ball in motion. Indeed, our suitcases back were remarkably light and largely filled with food stuffs.