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
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12 comments:
I would enjoy a day like that. You have such pretty places to gallivant to. Coltsfoot has come and gone here, not nearly as much around us as there once was, for some reason.
We were in the bookshop today taking the books we cleared out this week then bought four more I don't think we have this downsizing thing right. The weather was so nice after all the rain we have had and we walked along the beach watching the children making sand castles some things never change.
Some days are like that - just have to get out and about.
Sadly quite a few towns round here are also vanishing behind boardings and closed signs.
Sounds like a very pleasant and worthwhile day! I love Willie Nelson too.
Getting around by bus works well and gives you time to look around. Some of the best coffee/cafe shops go out of business. I can think of two that I miss very much.
Getting out gives you something to do and keep your head occupied.
Just listening to an interview on Radio Scotland mentioning this.. One thing mentioned was our high rate of VAT, 20% being well over twice as high as other countries..plus the high power and rates costs for businesses.
Dont know about Scotland but in sputh of England high remises tent is killing businesses. I our old town the council owned most of the retail properties but wouldn't lower rents for political reasons - govt grant to councils are related to their wealth. Their wealth determined in part by the vaule of real estate they own. RE value for commercial properties is based on the rent they earn (or used to earn) and no distinction is made, it seems for a property empty and boarded up. There is no incentive for councils to find a market level rent and get their places leased out and trading again. A row of shops in our main street got demolished and apartments were built there - right in the middle of the main retail area. Meanwhile out of town retail parks have proliferated like mushrooms.
it is the same everywhere, but at least here we have the system of the Common Good, where the local authority owns property. Any monies from rents or sales have to go to the Common Good
I think that a lot of bricks and mortar businesses are finding it harder - not just rent and the tanked economy but "everything is cheaper on the internet" and people have completely forgotten about the triple bottom line
It's nice to get out even if what you find isn't what you'd hoped.
That orange and white boy reminds me of the late, great Stimpy, aka Awesome First Cat. Isn't it nice to have decent weather at long last? Even if it's just a day or two.
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