Fresh Ayr

 The wind was chill today...and the bus was late!!!! Hat scarf and gloves were definitely necessary!

Lunch in Waterstones 

Views from the new bridge.

Then a wander over to the North Bank..after finding a smaller but double layered steamer in a charity shop.

I went to the library early..the WiFi is good there... and it is warm..and we gathered upstairs...starting with cake and birthday greetings..leading your first topic...

The birthday "boy" is one side of the whiteboard, our teacher the other 

Then the teacher had printed out on a double sided A4 sheet , and article from Le Figaro newspaper. We took turns to read paragraphs...I was pleased with how I did!

Back home on the bus, and time to make supper then sit seeing...

Sew and sew

 Grey today....front and back..but at least nothing like in NZ or France or North East Scotland..

Zig zag cushion cover blocks..I pressed the seams open at the back 

I've started making the Viyella lining for Our Shirts quilt.

A productive although not very active day ( apart from half an hour on the turbo post coffee pre breakfast)

Making...or trying to make...travel plans.

In May it looks like the plane gets in too late for the train from Bordeaux.

And the Flixbus goes via Toulouse!!

A research job for a morning!!

Cold....and hot....

 No bike ride outside yet....

Looks nice.....view from the back door.

But.....damp and cold...

So...

View from the turbo trainer!

Then after half an hour...

Not much better.

I went out at lunchtime and if anything it was colder.

Out by car, as vac bags needed...and that is out  on the edge of town.

Then swing past the travel agent to congratulate them on being prize winning..again...and enquire, just in case...

I have bought tickets for a fortnight in May....to France...now to fill in the rest of the pieces of the jigsaw....which bus, which train...and where do I stay?!!!

I had other things to do in town....check with the Dancing Thistle....all my greetings cards were sold so none to return home!!

Get a magnetic bracelet mended ...which they did for nothing!....

Then home, supper and sewing.

It is getting colder...has been doing so throughout the day...well...it is at least supposed to be cold and wet...it is winter...unlike New Zealand where it is supposed to be summer.  I'm not sure which is worst, that, or the high temperatures they are having westwards in Australia, just "over the ditch"....

Blustery

 I got the third carful done today...and rest!

And there just happened to be these three pieces of cupboard back leaning against a skip for timber..... they look in good condition...that will do for backing lino.print blocks..... possibly with more than one layer....

The weather deteriorated from then on...so I spent most of the day on light housework and sewing!

This is the back of the quilt. I've cut the Viyella for the lining, next step is to see the pieces together.

And as the wind whistled round the house ..and in the vents and keyholes...and other places I'm not sure where ...!!

I've been working on the cushion patchwork...over halfway on the fourth block now.

Speech from a good man

 Minnesota

Recycling!! And Corvids

 The heap that I'll be taking to the recycling company eventually 

This is now mostly in the back of the car

And today's load cleared the grass

My back is complaining a little!!

The corvid news is that the jackdaws are back, it is pairing and nesting time for them and the crows.....

My landlord says that he'll get someone out in a couple of weeks ...by which time the birds will have moved in!! 

First footing

 The first weekend in January is usually the date that the Ayr Roads Cycling Club go down to their club hut for First Footing..but snow and ice made that unadvisable!

I went by car to the house the other side of the burn to the hut, down by the Stinchar River. It is the next one down from the Girvan and meets salt water at Ballantrae.

That is where Pirate's ..and now my..great friends live...so it was coffee cake and discussion first! Then I went round to the club hut to see who had come down by car with the soup! 

The hut has benches and chairs a cooker and a stove. Up until at least the nineties I think some would overnight there to be able to extend the area they could ride on a weekend.  There aren't many club huts like this left nowadays unfortunately, but it used to be a fairly common thing, and not just in Scotland. A little like the bothies, but not for allcomers.

Our friends came from their house after a little while and their arrival made it 20!! They have had 24 one year....but the last four had to stand!!

Great fun, great craic, old friends and new.

Soup,cakes, biscuits, bread, tea ....and a wee dram! ( Not for me as I had to drive home)

Then they were off, with an average of 30 miles to ride home.

We went back to the house for our lunch (not having shared the soup in the hut...those who rode down deserved that!) and more talking....

It is so enjoyable and energising to share good talk , discuss all sorts of things...

Then an hour to drive home in the afternoon arriving still in daylight..always a bonus!!