Learning

 French conversation this afternoon.

I arrived half an hour early...and so did our tutor!! It was good to chat...in French.

I find it much easier one to one, rather than in a class ...and no pressure to "converse" !

Also the room in the library isn't small with hard surface walls. like the Alliance Française...you can imagine what that did to my ADHD brain!!  

Learning about how I function ..or not as the case may be!!

Only six of us this time, as three

 are on holiday. Our homework for a fortnight's time? Using the various ways of saying "many"....write some sentences.Should be fun!!

Just before the bus stop, my next village up friend was in the car park with her husband ..and I got a lift home....very welcome indeed.Despite the sunny periods today the wind is chilly. Now it has been rising steadily for a few hours..not up to gale force yet...and we are forecast overnight rain.

yo-yo weather

 From low mist in the morning..through rain showers..to sunny intervals..and a couple of almost hail showers...and back to mist in the evening!!

Indoors jobs....moving a small chest freezer to the studio...and turning the bench 90⁰ because despite careful trimming with a saw...the gap was 1 cm too narrow!! Then floor cleaning...mopping there and steam cleaning the kitchen and bathroom floors..Despite the showers, this dried nicely..a quick vacuum through and lunch while everything dried! 

Bread maker set to work after lunch..

Tried to sort paperwork...at least I have the bits of paper together to note stock levels in the stock book ....

Eventually got around to 30 minutes on the turbo, after message chatting with sono #2...

curry from the freezer....and yoghurt on the way in the yoghurt maker overnight.

It sounds a lot....but it wasn't really.

gallivanting...sort of...

 Just the need to be OUT !!

Bus to Ayr first...then as I had time to wait, a  Long Black and a very decadent Brownie in a fairly new coffee place..Puck's. They know their coffee and make the best cakes!

Next to the Smiddy Gallery at Culzean.

Not just to top up my cards, but to give the person on duty a toilet break and a chance to fetch her lunch from the café...

Another wait for the (hourly) bus back to Ayr, which was a good excuse to visit the secondhand bookshop near the gallery...and spent £7...on three books and two Willie Nelson CDs!!

Back in Ayr....where next???? 

The next bus was the slow bus to Glasgow. No time to go all that way (it takes 2 hours, twice that of the express service) so just to Kilmarnock. Which was a grave mistake...I hadn't been properly for three years or more. It does have a new bus station...but the streets are full of boardedup shops, both our favourite cafés have disappeared..one appeared to have been destroyed by fire along with two other shops....

but I did find a very reasonable Italian chip shop...selling real (not prepackaged) chips...

Back on the bus again, arriving in time to board the wee bus home at the same time as my friend from the next village up!

Then home to relax...

pictures of cat politics this morning on the way to the first bus, the old High Street in Ayr and Coltsfoot at Culzean

what a change!

 A beautiful day today...still a little touch of chill in the breeze this morning, but then it myst have been 10 degrees or so warmer by this afternoon!!

Shallots were planted in pots in the greenhouse, a small bed weeded....aand lunch was al fresco on the garden bench!

The Daisies were blooming in the grass....first time this year..it must really. be spring!!

Oops....not sure what I've done!!!

I took my car down the hill first thing for its annual MoT test of fitness ...and it passed well. I'd only done a little over 6,000 miles since last year, so I went to the NFU Mutual office at the mart to sort the insurance.

I was in the up to 20k miles bracket...so brought it down to 8k to give me some leeway...and saved £28 per year...not a lot, but every little helps.

As it was near I went to the garden centre for my "free" hot drink...as a member...which has just risen to £15 p.a....you get two free drinks a month.  Which made sense when we did call by often....and 10% off plants and seeds looks good until you see the prices!

So I went to the family garden centre near home and got 4 bags of topsoil and a bag of potting grit. Not something you can do without a car!!

A funny note...no plum tomatoes..seeds or plants!!

As it was still warm and dry and I have a tub of fence paint...the outside of the back fence was painted....exercise and fresh air!!

hibernating

 Most of the weekend has been indoors!! But at least today it turned cold and dry....so the washing went out on the line and dried!!

I've finished more batches of cards ready to top up stock at the Smiddy. I'll have a day out by bus if I can get a dry day this week.

This was last night's sunset

My new phone has difficulty focussing with shots like these... The lights are runway lights at Prestwick Airport.

what a day!!

 Plenty to do indoors today....the cards are coming along well..and I did another half hour on the turbo!

at 5.30 it was a beautiful morning...birds shouting about it, clear sky....

Then at 6am the first hailshower landed ..and it was rinse and repeat all day !!!

northwest

southeast

dark clouds coming over again.

Gallery day...and cards

 Yesterday I did my first gallery duty day.

Travelling by buses....no point using the car if you have a bus pass and not a lot to carry!

I makes for a long day ..but it makes sense.

I topped up my cards...but found that I was down to one which is a view of Arran through a Culzean courtyard archway. and the chook cards had all gone!

Both were remedied this afternoon after I'd done half an hour on the turbo...I'd waited in for a delivery while it was sunshine and showers...and it was getting windier and colder!

View from the turbo...with bread trays protecting the garden from feline attention!

I'll write the backs tomorrow and possibly do batches of red grouse and rook cards as well.  After that I need to think of more designs for this size (150mm square ) and the smaller (100mm) square cards for the smaller shop, the Dancing Thistle.

It looks like it will be a wet and windy weekend so I doubt that I will be going anywhere. 

It is lovely reading about all the family gatherings...and the Kent Possees keep in touch..I have found out what two of mine are up to...50% success...but they all have their own lives. I'd like a little more contact though.