Ochiltree

 Lunch in the village Hub in Ochiltree today..they have a café and also local art, gifts and produce is sold there. 

Maybe another outlet?

Then a post-lunch wander. 

For Fresca...its a plan!!

 

Vaguely to scale!!

I dream of changing the kitchen and bathroom at least...but, not my property.  I'm sure that if I had the cash and asked the owner, he'd say, Well it's not worth doing anything on that sort of house...and he would probably be right!

I'd love to find a secondhand kitchen that would fit though....

But...how much baking do I do now? Practically none.  Not worth it for one person...and there are other things to do.

Having cleared half a kitchen bench....it is now full of boxes of things to sort, that were in the study.  Some to go to op shops for charity, some to fleabay.

I managed a short walk today as the temperature warmed...

From the edge of the village, a clear(ish) view of Goat Fell on Arran. Just a touch of snow on the tops.

When I'd had enough of moving boxes I went on the turbo...just turning my legs over, with enough resistance added for twenty minutes. 

Now at 8pm the wind is whistling around the house and it is raining...looking at the met office map, there is a large patch of hail showers due around midnight. 

We'll see what tomorrow brings....

Tidy? And a touch of Winter

 

I was not about to go out in that!

And I didn't...apart from taking some recycling to the recycling bucket stack.

Because I worked on tidying the kitchen and clearing the first half of the bench...just about done it..

The living room is over sofa-ed...with work in progress stacked...

Organised chaos....

And this is the rug that was asked about..well, half of it!!

A present from my mate Big Pete. Apart from being a part time potter...and gardener..and art mover (his business) he did house clearances. 

There are a some family heirlooms on the old sofa. I'm digging them out to give to Daughter when they come up for a couple of days next month. A still life oil painting by grandpa, and also by him a picture in enamel of Christchurch (England) harbour. Then , made from shell casings, a vase and a teapot. There is a small box as well but she may already have that.

Calming the state of the place, so that I can do things without having that sitting at the back of my mind. 

She has taken on Pirate's genealogy research too..she is good at that! But I need to organise what I have.

She is following up all sorts of leads on my family tree. Nothing concrete yet on the French leads...but that is problematical, with genealogical DNA testing being illegal in France. What we need is documentation...which for refugees then as now is difficult.....

Not a lot

 No photos today...no going out either...

We haven't got any snow in the village, but I can see the next one 200 foot higher up, just over a couple of miles away, and the snowline is at the top of that village.

I've done a little bit of kitchen sorting.. empty jars and cordial bottles up to the Sewing room aka Room of Doom...two trays of apples now on a shelf under the kitchen bench so that they are out of the sun..when it does come through the kitchen window!

Paper plastic and spare bottles to the recycling buckets. Fife friend gave me a bag of empty wine bottles with screw caps..

These have been cleaned, de-labelled and soaked in a Milton solution for 15 minutes then drained. They are now ready for the next batch of apple juice production...When I get Roundtoit....

Creativity has ground to a halt...not surprising really as it is at freezing point during the day and apparently going to get down to -8⁰C the next two nights.

So many things that I SHOULD be doing....

So much I need to do.... hopefully tomorrow....

Wet and dry

 A day of showers..and ear and eye tests...and paying for new lenses (£120) and new specs (£119) and having an ear test...all good!

The small art and crafts shop. The Dancing Thistle, took four smaller prints, tiny bowls a berry bowl and two other various bowls plus a couple of bud vases... brilliant,!!

Waterstones lunch to celebrate everything. Then I did the rounds of the op shops...and the ones in Prestwick...looking for curtains. 

Practically all had nothing!!

We had heavy showers.. luckily I was on a bus

But later the light was fun

We did it!

 Through the front door on its back....up end and turn..walk it through the living room door...walk it to its place set down and....

                   Voilà!!!!

The covers need replacing....but it looks like the bed part has never been used.... so worth every penny.

My helper went away happily holding a jar of homemade chutney...made with the plums of another member of the cycling club!!

It has been a beautiful..but cold..day....and the primulas and primroses are still flowering. Last January's -10⁰C hardly checked them...and they haven't stopped....

Ending

 Housework done, I drove to Fife friend's house late morning, and waited for him to walk back from chapel ( which in Scotland means Catholic...I wonder why it has ended up that way round here)

Then to Dunfermline where the sofa bed resided that I was buying....

The owner has said that it was 5 foot wide..

It was.. BETWEEN the arms...

I now know that I can get a 6 foot sofa in the back of a Berlingo with no rear seats and the passenger seat as far forward as possible!!!!

We were about to give up when it decided to cooperate!

Back through Dunfermline...and there were lots of people walking away from a park....and Xmas floats....and Papa Smurf driving in the other direction on a motorbike!!

We both needed a coffee after all that!!

Then a good drive home...and arriving just as night fell.

Picture tomorrow to prove that it was done!!

Beginning

 The sliver of new moon has disappeared as the sun rises in a clear sky.

A new season starting frostily and Robin and blackbird are shouting a warning..a local cat slinks by.

Time to hang the washing out on the line...it is forecast to be dry today.

Stock

 Gallery duty today...and time to change stock around a little....plus to consider what might sell in the small art and shop in Ayr that is relocating.

Fresh work in the Smiddy Gallery.

My prints are coming from there too, and the smaller ones will go to Ayr.

The Dancing Thistle, although moving to bigger premises will still be a small shop...I'm looking forward to seeing how she arranged the shop for opening on Monday.

After supper I reviewed my stock of runner beans...taking the beans from the pods

More had spoilt than I had hoped..I think that next year I need to get a lot of different seeds sown earlier, and have them finish sooner in the year...

Getting these ripe and dry has been a problem. Hopefully an earlier start will solve this.

Holemaker

 

Thanks for the names! 

Yes, a bradawl or gimlet.  For making small holes ... sometimes pilot holes before making a bigger hole so that the wood doesn't split.

I wonder if these are different words for the same thing, but derived from different languages? Or via different fields of work.....wood, leather, metal ??

Things on a dreich day

 

Hoe head for brother

Pasta/clay rolling pin

Plate from Brittany 

Sharp pointy Thing...not a dibber!

Present from Pembrokeshire friend...in use as I fired up the bread machine!!

Which has just beeped to say that it has finished!!

It has been a miserable dreich day... steady rain on sodden ground...and going steadily darker too early because of low clouds.

I needed to go for a walk.... Sleep was elusive last night and this might help....I went on the bike on the turbo for twenty minutes instead!!

Mind you if I hadn't been commenting on a fb post at 2am I wouldn't have "met" another Rixon from Oz....

Change

 I'm giving this away....as on Sunday I go to collect a two seater sofa bed.

Grandma said...if you can't move, move the furniture!! ....some is moving out, some is moving around.

I've got a sideboard that needs to go too, but that will be sold as it is wood and worth quite a bit...and should more than pay for shelves with glass doors so that I can have my collection on show, but not needing dusting too often!!

I'll photograph the awl (?) tomorrow and the plate...then you can see all the treasures.

Very wet

 I managed to pick the last of the rather damp runner beans. Now they are on the greenhouse staging ready to be sorted and dry for both eating and growing next year.

From ten o'clock it "did what it said on the tin"....as forecast, with a yellow warning, cold, very wet and rather windy.

After lunch I had had enough..and saw a FB posting by Nae Sae New....a ribbed rolling pin for pasta...so I said I'd buy it..and went there in the car straight away!!

And found a sturdy hoe head that will fit the handle that my brother has..to clear his block paving drive of weeds....and a thing for making holes by hand with a Wooden handle....and a Quimper blue and white cake/biscuit plate with a cockerel design....as you do when you enter such a marvellous emporium!! 

The rolling pin is made for rolling out pasta...but could be used with clay....

Not much done for the rest of the day.. mainly chatting by message to various people and making a list of things to do when it is hopefully dry tomorrow.

Landed

 Back home...no photos today!!

I missed the way on to the Expressway by Llaneurgain (Northop in English!!)

So had a gentle start on old roads that I'd ridden and driven on at the end of the 70s...and topped up the fuel before getting on the big roads. Starting at a bit after  9.30 am was a good idea. The traffic was busy but flowing. 

Not at all stressful and an easy drive right to Tebay for my lunch stop and leg stretch. Also good dry weather all the way....until we approached the border...

Then I found that the screen wash had run out...so leaving the motorway and all the spray was preferable!! And the rain stopped. Thankfully!

A stop in Dumfries where a friend had offered a break...soup roll and a cuppa set me up for the last 55 miles. I think he needed the company ,as he works mainly from home, and his father died not long ago. It gave him a break too. 

Then a quick stop for essentials from the Co-op in Thornhill. From there to home is always an hour! 38 miles through the dusk with a bright pink sky and grey clouds...and arriving at 5.15 as it settled into night.

I think that everything is in from the car...the clothes washing ready, but that won't get done tomorrow as heavy rain is forecast. Cleaning the car out properly will have to wait as well. 

A good thing I came back today!! 

Friends

 A start before 9 today...and the first 70 miles took 2 hours.....with a couple of stops to check the route! Mostly on roads that I knew.... 48 years ago when I started to learn to drive in a Triumph Herald car!!

A morning of mountain passes, twisty roads and good scenery!...you could look at this on Street View!!

Up through Machynlleth...my first time on the new bridge over the river..raising the road above land often flooded...

Nearly to Dolgellau, but cut across by Brithdir to the road to Y Bala ( which means the place where water enters a lake) through the town then left to Fron Goch , and turn for Cerrig y Drudion. Then up and over by two reservoirs to Dinbych (Denbigh) where the high street was closed for the remembrance parade...

A quick trip to a convenient supermarket for provisions, then the road was clear....but having gone through the town, roadworks held me up for ten minutes!!

Finally on the road through Bodfari, turn left at Afonwen, up through Caerwys , over the Expressway, left at Lloc to Trelawnyd...where l headed for the home of friends that I have known since about 1990!!

Plus I had a bowl to deliver...and the nice surprise was that the recipient would be having lunch with them as well!

And this is the bowl...

And the thankyou for delivery..(specs for scale)

Some beautiful local work...

Now I'm settled in the travelodge just down the expressway a little...basic, comfortable, a good bath, a programme about Eric Ravilious on the TV..then other war artists... luxury!!

And Travelodge is 40 years old this year! 

I have stayed in the first one ever to open..a small one on the A38 North near Burton on Trent.. behind it the Trent and Mersey canal, I think...and at breakfast time you hear the gentle " dug dug dug" of a narrow boat engine going past. ...a good pub by a nearby lock, and the Barton Marina the other side.... What's not to like?!