But it soon went "downhill" to steady rain...
So needlework prep was done...deciding on cutting placement for efficient cloth use.
this is one of the four squares that will be made into a cushion cover.
Later in the afternoon I had tbe luxury of a reflexology session, rounded off with some reiki healing.
I'm feeling far less creaky and more relaxed after that.
Then I "fed" the car ready for Friday. If I need to go anywhere tomorrow it will be on the bus!!
But not as wet as Corsica...floods after 500mm of rain.....
So an indoors day....Duolingo...now on tbe free version with ads.....I need to look for an alternative practice method...
Ironing, mending...starting to think what clothes are coming on the trip...so don't wear them now!!
Bubble wrap installed...
The rain started again as I drove north to the artists' group AGM..
Which started with "Nosecco"...non alcohol fizz!! an alcohol free apèro, with cheeses and crackers and oatcakes, figs, olives, tomatoes, wee stuffed peppers, grapes...and assorted meats for those who did...
finished off with a cheesecake using white chocolate to set it instead of gelatine and pomegranate "jewels" on top!!
A pleasant evening and job done!! A few things to change and hopefully two more 3D members if we can find ones that will fit into the team.
Then a wet and windy drive home.
I haven't driven in the dark for a long time!!
Today's foray to Ayr and Prestwick's op shops yielded two pairs of jeans, one pair of trousers and two long sleeved tops. I collected my order of 4 bras(the expense!!!) from M&S...most odd, you type in a number on a touch screen and a person scurries out through a door next to it clutching your items in a sealed bag....
All of said clothing is, of necessity, yet another size bigger....
Discussion has been had with daughter...
I am eating sensibly....but look at calories just in case...
Blood tests have been done..all ok and nothing even marginal.
Get back on the turbo for half an hour a day....meh!!...so I did it....as she said, if she can do it with chronic pain.....
Now to do it every day....
A convenient occurrence...the potters supplies people will be at Potfest in the Pens in Skirsgill Auction Mart in Penrith, 23-5 October...and I'll be passing by on the 24th...so that will be my first stop on Saturday!! I'll be able to collect my missing glaze ingredient...and maybe others...then!!
I'm looking at my squashes....and wishing them to hurry up and ripen!!
Daughter suggests some bubble wrap....not close around them, but enough to protect against a frost. That sounds like a good idea.
No photos again today..
what was the one thing that I forgot?...My phone!!
I woke early...before tbe alarm, thankfully, and decided to get on with it!
Once out, first job was to defrost the windscreen...and of course the internal fan decided to sulk. I had to drive the first ten miles with the screen wipers on and the windows open!
However a start at that time of day in order to be at the velodrome by 8am, meant that I saw an absolutely awesome sky...totally clear and colours from red on the horizon through to a clear blue above.
Set up and selling by 9, nothing big, nothing over £20...and after paying for the tables, about £200 in the bag after 4 hours.
A reassuring amount of sales, and as far as I could see more vendors but no dealers.
Packing up was well organised as I'd kept most things in the mushroom trays...brakes in one, stems in another etc..
As we were all leaving coaches were turning into the overflow velodrome car park and a wave of people were walking from the station...traffic was almost at a standstill coming towards Celtic Park, over the road from the velodrome.
Fitba'.....Celtic playing a home game,!!
I unpacked as soon as I arrived home..and I arrived to the front "meadow" cut short as my neighbour had given it its autumn trim at the same time as doing his own.
The stock is far more organised now and doesn't appear to dominate the room upstairs. I could even get back to selling on fleabay!!
For some reason I woke far too early...before 5...but at least the radio programmes were interesting. Walking and farming on Radio 4 then from 6.30 an hour and a half of "Out of Doors" on Radio Scotland.
I did hear most of it...honest!! but it is easy to drift....
I packed the car ready for tomorrow's Velojumble...doors for stallholders opens at 8, so I need to be on the road before 7.
I checked the ingredients that are needed for the clear glaze...one short...only needed for 4%of the ingredients...but I was certain that I had some. I checked the price of a kilo...and the price of carriage...
I'll be going near one supplier a week today..if they open Saturdays I'll be able to collect it and save an average of £6....
I need to relabel many of the tubs of glazes and ingredients are fading.
It gets chilly in tbe studio now, especially as next door's laurel shades most of the back garden by 3 as the winter sun is lower.
Change jobs...sorting books to pass onto new homes on my travels!
I had the jobs lined up...drive into town on quiet back roads, get specific things from two shops then collect my laptop.
Very nicely, with the extra work they did on it , they didn't ask for anything above the initial quote, which they could have done.
Then a late lunch in Waterstones....and a short blether with a friend in tbe small shop on the high street where she works.
Did I fancy another three hours in Ayr until the Italian evening?....I could have gone to the library and joined in on the Italian conversation group that alternates with the French one....
I need to socialise a little more, but...
I escaped instead!!
Back home I carried on hunting for tbe drawing book with glaze recipes...instead I found the notebooks with daily records of the pottery work I did from 2007-2012.
How I did all that...and worked part time..and had two allotments...two of my sons were still at home...
I wonder where all the pots are now?!
The morning started absolutely sodden..but thankfully the wind had abated.
Getting up isn't easy on a grey morning as sunrise becomes later and later...but on the commute to the gallery the sun peeked through the clouds!!
It was a long and chilly day...with one sale after three quarters of an hour....and noone from just after four until 4.28 when two women mooched in...mooched around.,.and sloped off, all without saying a word!!
One feels rather deflated after a day like that! The high point was restocking my section of the card stand, as they are selling slowly but steadily.
Onward to tomorrow!!!
Out on the bus today...saving fuel...and after two buses the first stop was the travel agents....
Tickets for the biennial trip to Aotearoa NZ sorted...and this time going from Edinburgh instead of Glasgow to avoid a 9 hour stopover in the wee small hours!Return to Glasgow as usual.
I see no point in going from anywhere outside Scotland, as then I'd have extra fares to pay!! Here the buses are free for 60+.....
Argos...very nice lad checked the website...agreed that getting a repair via that , wasn't possible. He gave me the customer support of the manufacturer....Yes, I know, and so did he, that the onus is on the shop.... .
But...we'll see. If that doesn't work I can try a consumer help site...maybe Martyn Lewis' money saving expert?
A text arrived as I was on the next bus, a short ride into Ayr...the computer shop...
Off one stop early to walk to see them.
They needed to contact my brother...so they could check if the remote access app was working between him and my computer....
A couple of shops to look at then home on the next bus....
After a cuppa , down to glaze preparation...stirring out where they had settled since last time...
The wind was roaring around the studio, no rain yet...and whistling around the back door in the house. Yet it doesn't feel that cold.
I'm supposed to be at the gallery tomorrow but I'll need to keep an eye on the weather forecast. If the wind gust level is going yo be over a certain speed for a few hours the Castle and grounds are closed. There are a lot of tall trees...and thanks to storms over recent years there are fewer than there were.
Overall a useful day with things falling into place without any big fuss!
I started tidying the sewing room today.
I had thought of early lunch and a walk...but the weather saw that thought and said HA!!!
Every time I put my nose out of the door thinking there was a break it started raining and blowing again!!
I found yet more bike stuff...I hope it will all fit in the car...and that a lot less will come back after the cycle jumble!!
The material for the patchwork cushion cover turned up, so that has been washed.
That is to make a cushion cover with the zigzag patchwork squares that I started in Mātangi in February '24!! I bought the cushion and this other fabric last year!!
It will be done....eventually!! If I can afford to go again I should take it with me to show the fabric shop in Mātangi!!
Anyway today the internet has been fair company..keeping up with friends and family afar. Sometimes I'm sure that I spend too much time on there...but quite a bit is useful time spent.
Plus there is learning French and keeping up the learning with news emails and reels .
I'm reading a Brief History of France..a little every night...it is fascinating how the roots of so many things that we take for granted are actually in France.
And a small interesting fact....the company producing the seeds that I bought in a Limoges supermarket...was started in 1734...
I was asked today to photograph some of my favourite tools....and found the peeler that I have been hunting for in the kitchen!!
What tools do you use "out of place"?
I look in the kitchenalia corner of antiques and charity shops...I adapt other things to suit and find textures...
I'm not sure where the orange thing came from...other textures can be from netting or the polystyrene disc under a frozen pizza...
Getting things ready for the cycle jumble at Glasgow Velodrome a week tomorrow.
I have two days at the gallery this week, so getting this lot in one place made sense.
Mostly in mushroom trays plus a couple of boxes. This should fill the back of the car.
No frames or compleat bikes this time.
Hopefully a decent amount will go. Even if it goes to the dealers, it will be gone!
The tomatoes are gradually ripening
and the bad news is that the microwave oven appears to be on the way out.
It has lasted 2¾ years...2½ if you take out the time I've been away..far less than usual.
Consumer rights say that things have to last a reasonable length of time....but what is that for one of these, before smoke appears from the inside works?!
One positive thing is that if I don't get a replacement I'll have more room on the bench!! It cost £80 (special offer) in January '24, who knows how much now?! At the moment there are other things to spend money on...like the work to put in the front fence and gates that I have. (job has been viewed, just awaiting the quote)
Heavy sharp showers today after a rainy night then pleasant morning. You can see the next eave of rain approaching!
and when I got there it was bright sunshine!
Conversations in French today, learning some phrases that don't get into an ordinary dictionary.
I wonder if there is a French phrase dictionary? ( of the polite one anyway!!!)
It is a special book week in the library, ad half term here starts on Monday..
I must go back and hunt down the others!!
There was also a display in the reference library about the fire service here and its history. There were three personnel when I arrived...and they agreed that they needed a "stop press" board...
Over the past five years we have lost a number of buildings that gave Ayr history and character.
Yesterday it was the turn of Hourstons department store.
Empty for a while, but apparently plans approved for its development and use while retaining its character and history.
The first photograph was by someone who happened to be in a nearby fairly tall building...they reported the fire first...Now tell me how a fire starts on the top floor ???
After breakfast today the man from the local fencing came to look st the job of putting in my fence and gates across the front.
I should get a phone call with a quote, hopefully tomorrow.
I gave the studio brief sort out today , mopped the floor, put the six foot long table with folding legs out there. (This usually was used at craft fairs and village carnivals)
it only just fits....but at least the stove isn't lit yet!!
Then it turned wet and cold, which is no incentive to stay there!!
I spent a lot of today watching track racing. Do I miss it...yes, in some ways. It would take a massive amount of work to get back to it I think. I think getting back to riding my bike regularly will be enough!
That will build energy for furthering my art career. Which is hard work building back up alone.
So, early night tonight...while the wind whistles through cracks and roars around the house!!
Ha!...read from the bottom up this time!!
This afternoon's entertainment!
Brambles (4 pounds) Elderberries (1 pound) (Blueberries (1 pound) A Thumb of fresh ginger, a couple of star anise
two big cinnamon sticks and a dessertspoon of whole cloves...and half a pint of water.
All that was put in a large bowl over a pan of simmering water for about an hour until defrosted then softened...the rest you can see from the photos.
Well...just for the morning!
I'm not cutting pastries out completely!
A long black on its own is definitely missing that something!!
Birthday card posting accomplished in town..back home for lunch!
The afternoon was dry enough to put the washing on the line, apples were sorted. I need the cardboard box liners with apple sized dimples...I could only find one in my box stash...which should be even further reduced! I'm planning which apples get juiced next...they aren't quite ready and may need some sweeter ones to balance flavour and acidity. Some will be stored up in the bike/sewing room as that is the coolest frist free place. After the upcoming bike jumble...for which sorting and boxing needs to be done.
There's always something.
I did start the new lino block while watching the Masters World Track Champs from London...watched my friend from Alloway win the 50-54 womens pursuit gold medal!
I'll call it a practice block...I'm not 100% happy with it.
If you want to see the action it is on all this week ..look at Youtube, look for Full Gas Cycling....
And the good news that next year it will be in Newport!! 4-10 October 2027 is already marked in my calendar!!
I was up early-ish...and put the apple juice through a teatowel, then left it to drip in the jeely bag while I went to the gallery
which was a long damp day seeing not many people..mostly with dogs! You have a dog?...you walk....whatever!!
I put tbe juice through double thickness of pillowcase after I got home...and bottled then pasteurised it. Only seven bottles...and I can process four at a time....not economic sense to do four then three, but I didn't want it hanging around and starting to ferment!
After supper I started a batch of yoghurt with fresh starter. I'm not happy with how it has been turning out and if I can't sort that I might not bother for a while!
5 litres of juice pressed....That took all afternoon and into the evening, with a few breaks!
Meanwhile it was windy and chilly outside with a few showers...the heavier ones looked to be bypassing here!
The two plants with small peppers on them, and two pelargoniums came in to the kitchen windowsill. This will give me room to sort everything else that is left in the greenhouse. Then I can sow some radish and the like..if I can get Roundtoit!!
Earlier night tonight...I need to be up earlier to put the juice through the "jeely bag" and possibly bottle it. That can sit in the fridge until I get back from the gallery , then be pasteurised.
I ended up sleeping late after a long day...and missed a third of one of my favourite radio programmes..."out of doors"
I wish that I could sleep with the curtains open ..but some of the "security" flood lights from various houses at the back light up my bedroom...I hate missing daylight especially with the shorter days
Forecast checked...washing done promptly and on the line!!
Housework done..meh!!
I decided to see what the Coastal Artisans craft fair was like in Ayr...off on the bumpy bus . The roads are doing no favours to the buses sadly.
The fair was ...ok....but I didn't feel impressed. I'm not sure why. They looked to be making some sales which is good anyway.
Then a bit of a wander
and a cookie and hot chocolate in the Beastie Brews café before catching the bus..
Today started with taking the last builders bag of prunings to the cowp. I helped one couple lift up theirs and empty it..a bit of a job as it had been a bush with small prickly holly like leaves..and he had rammed the bag full!! Then they gave me a hand with mine...being half full of honeysuckle that was less of a job!!
Fill four bags with free compost then back home!!
It was a beautiful morning, fairly warm with a light breeze...time to go for a walk eith a bag and a box...I got a few elderberries for the box, and filled the bag with apples..These are not too juicy, but add a certain acidity and stop an apple juice blend from being excessively sweet. They probably help it keep better as well
The front of the sole if one of my work shoes had come adrift this morning. After foraging walk, a brief lunch and slightly less brief rest I headed back to Ayr on the 3pm bus...as it, as forecast, started raining!
First stop the Wee Cobbler for shoe sticking, which he did for £2!! But also pointed out that they were "on their last legs"..and because of their construction a whole new sole when it came to that wouldn't be possible. Bother!! So for now they are for the studio only, no walking or even gardening.
On to Lidl to replace the sugar on the larder shelf that had gone to make the last batch of chutney. While in the shop the wind and rain arrived with a vengeance!! Another customer commented that his fishermen friends in Girvan were staying in harbour for two. days!!
Back home to "decompress"...make and have a quick supper...write a blogpost...do a leçon and bed!!
Talking of blogger...the following/reading list is back..but does yours load slowly too?
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