Morning

 

The difference an hour makes

The first about 7am..and no birds....and the second one the starlings were up and busy.

Lunchtime in Largs

 A day out on the bus...a longer journey than I had expected...going into Ayr takes half an hour, Ayr to Largs takes just under two hours!!

I had about two hours wandering around the town, watching the ferry to Cumbrae (next time!) and having a look and chat at the gallery Studio44.

Quite a small gallery..front room size..with a selection of ceramics, glass, paintings and prints.

She has month long exhibitions, then a complete change to the next one..and is booked up until next year.  She is interested in both my pots and prints...so incentive to get going and to start with prepare the prints for sale and work out how much to charge!   At least I do have a stock of prints...

One of the local food thieves!!

I ate my packed lunch on the bus back from Largs...I didn't fancy sharing!

Speeding up

 Pirate is at last walking slowly instead of at a snail's pace!

No walk this morning...when it was beautiful... waiting for the weekly nurse visit..which didn't happen until 3pm...and then Pirate needed a siesta....by which time the clouds had come back in, and you could only just see  Arran through a luminous mist.

But the birds were singing well.

And while he was having his siesta.....I loaded the car with rubbish to go to the cowp....and the bags to collect the free compost (made from the green waste)..slot booked for tomorrow morning. 

Weekend

 Once a month on a Saturday, the youth cycling club in Johnstone...the Johnstone Jets..organise a day long competition at Glasgow Velodrome.

Monsters of Track...in other words the youngsters! The future of track cycling...three under sixteen groups in two year age bands, with so many in one that there are separate boys and girls' races. They are running with full fields of 24, which is the track limit for a 250m track like this..it varies according mainly to length but also width, both of which are fairly standard for indoor velodromes. Add to that , Women's events and open events...anyone over 16.  Each in turn, every time I the same order so that you know which group is going on..and five events each group.

We managed to arrive just after midday, a little before the lunch break. ( The commissaires...judges...need a half time break!)

It was great to see riders from our club...three women..racing. 

Then to add to that our Fife friend turned up unannounced...making a good day great.  Pirate had the best of times watching the racing and talking to friends (and so did I)

Today we had a slow start, but as the clouds lifted we had a walk along the Big Hedge to check on the birds and down to a pond to see if the frogspawn was there..a bit early for that!

We heard chaffinches, saw great tits and blue tits, sparrows and dunnocks, rooks and gulls...by the river we saw dippers and mallard ducks, but not the kingfisher. 

And now waiting in the masking pan are the markings of blood...or blush as some now call them (!) Orange marmalade.

Keep on walking

 Into the new year!

After my daily half-hour on the turbo trainer and lunch, we went out for a walk around Hannahston, our local nature reserve.

It was rather wet and muddy, unsurprisingly, but it was good to get out in a brief respite from the rain.. although everything was rather chill and damp.

Two spotted woodpeckers..hard to see as had I got and nearer, by leaving the hide, they would have flown away. After they have pecked at the peanuts, the other smaller birds move in to eat.

A buzzard on the prowl...all the gulls and jackdaws and crows moved on quickly!

And a perch for humans!! 

Owl box

Bat boxed 

Now just putting our feet up and relaxing.

Cleaning up

 I had two hours this morning before Pirate got up.....yesterday's apple juice and cordial processing labelled and stacked in the bottle racks, spare bottles bagged up to go to a friend. All little end of job things finished and tidied...recycling out and kitchen bench cleaned... space....for 5 minutes!!

Two washes done and racked. A little ironing from the last wash cleared up.

It sounds a lot, but it's a relief to clear out all the things that get left when you get called away to do anything!!

It was lovely to see the sun after days and days of grey, so we went out for a walk not far from the sea, on the coastal path near Alloway.

There were plenty of hedgerow birds around including a bunch of Stonechats. The rooks were gleaning in one field, other fields were waterlogged after all the rain.

We are aiming to exercise every day now..Pirate needs to keep fit enough for his hooded for op, and I need to lose my "spare tyre" that I have gained since March...

Then home for lunch and carrying on clearing out clutter.

Fleabay stuff has been checked and there are some items to relist..

Brother is arriving next Saturday....we need a tidy room for him to sleep!

And rest....there will be plenty of time to carry on tomorrow, with another storm..Gerrit..forecast.

Afternoon in Aberystwyth

A nice sunny start after parking by the prom.

Then a pootle around the town.

Would you believe that t his used to be the Milk Bar?!

And this was the post office, a beautiful building closed for a while and now it holds local businesses and ventures.

No starlings to fly their murmuration at this time of day.

Fifty five years ago I spent a couple of hours here on the beach..and it was all pebbles at the top, no sand.

I think something more solid than salt has been on the breeze!!

Yes, someone sleeps there every night...at least he has a roof over his head, unlike some.

And so to bed....it's nine o'clock now, the rain has swept in again, and the wood in the stove is making the occasional crackling sound.

The car is mostly packed as we have to leave by ten a.m. , and hope to see daughter again in the morning.