This weekend...

This weekend started with a bang... from a burst balloon or two. The new management hosted a drinks and nibbles session with a silly teambuilding game... that turned out to be great fun. Basic premise was to create a balloon couch... and my team won. G'on yersel Rak.

More photos here

On Saturday we headed over to the Museum at Hamilton. The girls love to go there and the intention of the day was to do stuff with and for them. They have renovated the whole top floor and have curated a fantastic exhibition on the first Scottish super star Sir Harry Lauder

We are talking early 20th century here... and his music is rather twee now... but I have serious respect for the man who brought Scotland to the world in a fresh and creative way (for his time).

I love the fact that he had costumes and personas for each of his big songs. What's better is that the costumes are on display in Hamilton.

Well worth checking out if you are in the area... oh and its FREE!!!

Afterwards we headed over to Hamilton town centre to kill sometime before we headed to the Mausoleum :: I managed to score tickets while in the museum.

We headed to The Capocci Man (a bit of an institution in Hamilton) for a quick snack. I have to say the space is looking good... I haven't been there since the smoking ban... Their latte was lovely!

You need to give Hamilton museum 24hrs to book a tour of the Mausoleum... but we were blessed that there was a tour planned and we could join it (all for £3.70 for the 4 of us... no way!!!)

The Mausoleum is the 10th Duke of Hamilton's legacy... designed to hold the bodies of the Hamilton family (or at least the important ones). Its basically 3 spaces... a furnace, the cript and the chapel.

The furnace kept the chapel nice and toasty... with air vents bring hot air to the space above. What was amazing was the chimney was built underground... with it coming out at the Gatekeeper's cottage 100 feet or so from the Mausoleum. Unfortunately its a wreck now. Genius design.

The cript is pretty scary... but harmless. Cooler than air temperature... dark but dry. Nothing for Yvette Felding to get excited about really.

The dome is amazing... with fantastic use of natural light.

Every detail is brilliant. The vents, for example, are beautiful... and no doubt were effective in their day.

The floor is something else. Truly special... with a vivid sun in the middle.

Lastly... the most special detail was the doors. In the same vein as the gold Doors of the Canonici in the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral in Florence (which are amazing to see btw)

Awesome!

Check out more photos here

Afterwards... Olly and I played ping-pong in the back garden and finalised our meeting preparation (although not at the same time).

On Sunday... Olly and I led church at the Salvation Army in Airdrie... and absolutely loved it.

Bobbito came along to accompany Olly with a couple of songs (thanks bro!)

We love the folk in Airdrie. They have a muck in attitude... and have really come together while they were leaderless. Great to be part of.

Later on we hung out together some more... this time with the dog :-) and then spent time at a faith barbecue gathering at the Corps.

Fantastic weekend. My thanks to my family for making it extra special.