Lighter

 Same times.....a clear sky makes a difference!!

Then...

I've shuffled the living room around slightly..made a little more room in the middle so that the sofabed works ok.

Sorted more clothes and books into bags so that daughter and husband (arriving Saturday) and Oily One and friend (arriving Sunday) can choose anything they need.

Op shops aren't taking books anyway, mostly, and are too full.of clothes donations.

Tomorrow is the turn of my study....

Still dark

 

8.05....then 8.20....I know... impatience!!

Then at 16.20 it was dark again after a mostly dry but grey day.

I went to Prestwick on the buses...Ayr was full of people and traffic so buses were being delayed... Prestwick was still busy...

Today's exercise was walking halfway back.... better than standing at a chilly bus stop!! I need to keep those extra kilos off!!

Then to Lidl to top up a few things as there will be four extra bodies here not three!!

I'm glad that I went on on the bus instead of in my car. The place was ramjammmed!!

Recovering

 Just washday and pottering around sorting...and a walk after lunch.

Just a quiet day not seeing anyone.

Teaching young alpacas about going for a walk

Birds on the lines... only on this pylon...

And the bird on a card.

I think I've written all the cards...I might do a few more if I receive one from someone I've missed. There are only twelve cards up this year....and two were hand delivered.

I'll carry on writing and posting letters....having something tangible in the hand means far more than an email on a screen 

Solstice Day

 I stopped on the way to the gallery to post a letter in Maybole... now it has a bypass and lorries on the A75 on their way to the ferry are no longer shaking the high street buildings apart... literally.... there is hope..

I must go back again to take a few more photos.

Today was my last gallery duty of the year... thankfully....I don't really enjoy "peopling" !!

Then a big shop ( for me) not because of the holidays, just a normal 2-3 weekly one. 

I'd let some of the basics run down as well. Normally I keep one in use and one on the shelf...and when the one on the shelf comes out, time to refill the shelf ..except that I hadn't!

Back home before Christmas 6 so I missed the worst of the jams...

Time to light a candle for Solstice.

Think of those not with us....we used to celebrate every one, now it is four I've seen by myself. And a light for the future.

Pirate...born in the year of the Hare....and I've always felt, even before knowing him, that every day one is seen is a good day.

Round and round...

 A day out with friends today, I drove down to Alloway and went with her in her VW campervan to the Velodrome in Glasgow.

The Women's Track Fund session was on, last one of this year, from 12.00-15.00...all ages from about 8-68!! The coach sorted them by age/ ability and they had riding, and training races and all great fun. 

Free drinks and cakes,  WTF mugs and t-shirts selling and as spot prizes.

I took a dozen cycling themed mugs that we had been given over the years and they are selling them for the group funds. (More Stuff out of the door to a good home!!)

Badminton in the track centre as the riders start to warm up...and Celtic football club stadium visible on the other side of the road, through the high window.

Ticking along

 Not good news about the crown..it was just a cap..so not enough height of tooth to put a peg in for a new crown....so end of January he will smooth it off and a new tooth will be added to my plate. The root is behaving so it can stay as long as it does!

Apart from that, I found a new café...called Puck....which is the thing that the coffee grounds are pressed into for an espresso machine.  It is where the kitchen shop used to be....a marvellous place, source of kitchen and pottery tools!!

Work at home carries on with sorting and reducing.

I've filled most of the space with books from the living room shelves....and there is a large carrier bag of books to go, some possibly to my daughter.

Half an hour steadily on the turbo trainer..must do this more often!

It wasn't fit to go out for a walk, let alone a bike ride!

I know....we used to ride whatever the weather, almost... shopping, commuting, racing, training...or just for fun! Walking as well....

Now I don't have to.....

I still use the bus as much as possible...the car gets its regulation once a week outing to make sure everything is working ok, and not seizing up!!

As ever the last place you lose any excess weight from....is the first place it arrives!

I do not want to buy any new clothes!!

Good and bad

 Good...got a load of cards written..then went on the bus to Ayr to post them.

I had to buy a stamp for one to France...just over double a first class letter stamp....the rest I already had stamps.

That is practically all of the "family" cards done.

Just after 3.30 pm...

Back on the bus after a cuppa.... mistake... don't get the school commute bus.....not good.

I made a large batch of tomato sauce before supper. Very good!!

Then bad....sitting down to supper one of my porcelain tooth crowns came off....good thing I didn't swallow it!!