Day out..of sorts

 Today was CT scan day ...Pirate found that they work 12 hours a day and scan 35 patients a day....in a little cabin outside the hospital in Irvine.

Results in 10 days they say...

We had lunch out at the GRO café/restaurant/bakery at the end of Irvine Harbour Road....good organic coffee, sourdough toast, smashed avo, two large fresh poached eggs and fresh tomatoes...good atmosphere and good food..and popular! Luckily we had arrived just after midday..as we left the wait for a table was 60-90 minutes!! You can leave your mobile phone number and they call when actable is free....or you book beforehand!!

We have eaten at the other branch, by the Whitletts Roundabout on the A77 by Ayr..but I prefer this building. The food is good in both.

The wind was too cold for a walk afterwards...

Now he can to look forward (?!) to the MRI next Thursday...at least that is at our local hospital, but it will still be the same noisy, lying in a rattletube experience.

Lunch out

gate to the top level of the co-operative building 

Then the café gate...after Pirate's investigation we had a wee tiki tour and investigated a new café.

The name of the house...Sean Baile House...meaning Old Town House

The co-op shop...still thriving and in the original building 

 Dalmellington used to be a busy and thriving town in the times of coal and ironstone mining and steel production.

It has languished since the mines closed and industry left...but the community is now fighting back and pulling together.

chilling out....

 On Thursday we headed out by car, calling past the memorial to Davy Bell, a cyclist who wrote about many roads and tracks under the name  "The Highwayman"

We parked at Newton Stewart, and after lunch at the Belted Galloway cafe (to be recommended!) rode our bikes along the lanes to Wigtown, then headed inland a little to Spittal before hitting the lanes again back to the coast road and the bike path back into Newton Stewart.

Our route home was up the other side of the Cree Valley,so that I could see this....print inspiration?  Thankyou,Pirate!

 then on to Glen Trool...but the centre was closed

 chainsaw art...a red squirrel..

 and his habitat....crop being logged....

 then on Friday, after the Pirate's latest three monthly injection ( only six to go!) we had a little time to spare between things we needed to do....and headed for Maybole Shore....

 where the mist lifted a little

 evidence of early morning runs in the sand...

 then we returned to Maybole in time to see the mist darken and then reveal the almost full eclipse.
We both felt a little disorientated and queasy for a while...a common effect we found out later.

The living room is being sorted and tidied....one room at a time...and we are expecting our first guest of several on Monday!!

Today the sun shone brightly, making bikes the order of the day once more...and Southwards again, this time past Girvan to meet a friend on the beach for lunch...

About 40 miles ridden today....the housework and bike cleaning can wait till tomorrow!