Relax!

Sunrise looking like sunset

And the Oily One thinking of what we should do today...

 We had a visit to Nae Sae New in Mauchline...no Haynes manuals that he needed....and a couple of small but interesting and possibly useful hand tools for me.

Then to Ayr to pick up a thermostat for my car which he can fit tomorrow.

A modicum of fresh veg shopping for him to make supper.....

Which was roasted veges...small potatoes, some parsnip, yellow beetroot (thankyou garden) a couple of garlic bulbs (") and sections of a small white squash (seeds now saved) and steamed carrots and sprouts....my contribution to the meal...tomato mushroom garlic and olive sauce from the freezer!!

He has moved on from having three meals on his menu list fifteen years ago.. curry, pasta with tomato sauce and pizza!!

A nice quiet day

 

Morning sun!! But not exactly weather to put clothes on the line!!

The dehumidifier has been working well today!

By lunchtime the clouds had lifted a little so I ventured outside 

Wave to the neighbours, then I found a tree full of sparrows!!

There was even some blue sky until I turned the corner....and there were the clouds rolling in again

Busy starlings

And busy cat.."who are you looking at????"

Back home just as the fine rain started again....lunch and print work...

Then just before 6, my phonecall!! He had forgotten that I no longer have a landline and had been trying that....so his festive cooking done sons gone out he could have a phone call in peace!

Good to catch up with an old friend and hear their voice even if you are still far away.

Then a quick supper , a quick check on blogs....and there are new blocks to carve...

After the Solstice

 

Light on the first morning..

Thunder last night, and after breakfast the rain, hail, gales resumed outside 

I have no incentive to go out of the door, even between showers!!

Inspiration is lacking as well 

Back to a bit more tidying, in case the Oily One (aka son#1 and eldest offspring) does decide to come up from Wales and stay for a few days!!

Festive Fun

 Last night was the end of season race night, for all ages and abilities...Pies and Pursuits...the Pies being mince pie prizes!

The pursuits were 8 lap (2 km) long in teams of three or four ( time taken on the third over the line) and there were also team sprints...start with three and the lead rider peels off after a lap, same again then one to finish.

And the commissaires had fun as well.....

I had to get a shot of her hat...

And the riders did too...

You can guess who won the pursuit (after several rounds)...

My club womens team

Our Transplant Star

And home late... getting back as the Weather kicked in!!

Disappeared day...

 Yesterday sort of disappeared, doing all those bitty jobs..

This was the final version of this year's card...they won't all arrive for Xmas, but it will be contact maintained..

It was good to start the day with some blue sky...and it did improve, nicely sunny with a bitter wind....the foretaste of this weekend?

And this morning...it was Friday... somehow although I've kept track of the numbers, the days left me behind!! This morning's job has been making the living room a welcoming place...things have been sorted so that each variety of Stuff isn't here and there...

Which is a great improvement...but I've reached the point where every surface is covered...so it is coffee and toast time then the last push..even if it all goes in a tray To Be Sorted this weekend as if the forecast is correct, I won't be going anywhere!!

Recycling collection missed...but not much to collect so that can wait.

Thankfully no appointments missed..as I checked straight away!

And if the weather doesn't turn pear shaped early (80 mph gusts forecast for Saturday) I can go out tonight to see friends.

De - Crinkled

 I had an appointment with a Physio who is also a sports scientist...he has worked for the NHS after qualifying....and was physio for Rangers football team.....and he rides a bike as well..just a mountain bike at the moment...and runs.

Completely different to the NHS physiotherapist assessment...she wasn't hands on, only talked about my ankle and didn't want my socks off....gave me the exercises and said I could be referred to a local hospital physiotherapist in a couple of months.....

He dealt with the whole me.

Learnt my history...then sorted my back, got my hips aligned properly. He likened it to a builder putting a good foundation down first....then treated my shoulder and my ankle and feet.....

And I have three exercises to do...one is for my shoulder...

Well over half an hour, £55 for first appointment...worth every penny.

I haven't done much since getting home as the gales rolled in again.

Just some reading.

I went in a couple of shops before my appointment....the usual Xmas Musak... including Elvis Presley singing "Blue Christmas".  And "First Christmas without you"    Hmm.

One step forward

 The car has been mended.....but I don't get it back today...the rear calipers fitted, back brakes bled..but the nipples on the front are rusty. Hopefully by lunchtime tomorrow.....

I did two lots of washing last night so as not to waste daylight...the first and half of thr second dried so much overnight on a rack in the kitchen that they didn't need to go out on the line! 

Yet more sorting......more rubbish in the wheelie bin for collection tomorrow morning ( landfill goes out once every three weeks).

Yesterday's loaf is a decided success...next time I will increase the proportion of rye flour...I do miss baking, but there are so many other things to do!!

Including a session on the turbo....

I had thought of a ride outside until I cleared the ice off the car before taking it to the garage!

Decorations are up....

That'll do!! 😄

Indoors

 I stayed indoors all day, with just a couple of trips outside to put recycling in the buckets..enough to change the air in my lungs? Possibly not!

The clouds were scudding along, with 50+ mph (80kmh) gusts!! At least the rain stopped by 11am.

I'd found all the socks and base layers that we had sorted out of Pirate's tallboy...in my suitcase!! I thought it was heavy!!  A third for the bin, a third for the op shop, under a third possibly to family and a few bits for me.

Now I have started sorting a box of bits and bobs... useful "gubbins" as Tigger's mum would say...

I found an old diary from 2020...with not a lot in it...a couple of birthdays, our friends' marriage in Blenheim NZ...we wondered why they had said to arrive in the afternoon! ( He already had Parkinson's...now with added dementia he is in a home in Essex. They had about twelve years together like us)

My 67th birthday..and the price of a new camera...which I didn't buy!

Not much else...

I tried a different setting on the breadmakers...which should have been better....

Not much lift in that! And yet not solid enough to be good Dwarf Bread!! *

I did half an hour on the turbo after message chatting with a friend..and listened to football games' "post mortem" on the radio to take my mind off it!

Miles, resistance and time....

Supper was a trifle late as I couldn't think what to make...it ended up being pasta pesto with veges and a lump of soft cheese!

Ten o'clock.. definitely bedtime..a bit later than usual to allow for digestion of course. 

*See Discworld by T. Pratchett 😎

Colours and weather

 It is so hard to get the colours right...what we see is not always what the camera sees...like the delicate light blues at the horizon.

I tried tweaking another shot

But that didn't work, really. 

All that lasted only a few minutes before turning to grey clouds..

Quickly put the wheelie bins out, and the collections came earlier than usual...not surprised with the forthcoming Weather.

By the time I was on the bus heading for town a little before 10, the sky was really dark and the rain came down...and then the drops on the bus windscreen were more splatty than splashy...

Fortunately it was just a heavy shower and like yesterday I didn't get wet in town. 

Large cheque paid in, time to relax and celebrate with  long black and a brownie at my favourite spot in town

Waterstones bookshop café....and I may have bought a book on the way out..

Duolingo French may be a good start, but a pocket dictionary and basic Useful French is a good addition!!

I bought a bottle of Milton before heading for the bus...the only place I'd found it was boots the chemist...I'd asked in a pharmacy nearby and the assistant had no idea what it was! It is produced for sterilising babys' bottles..and does very well for bike bottles and smoothie bottles.

Back home for lunch , soup from the freezer...and take the vacuum cleaner for a "walk" around the house!!

By 3pm it was looking more like nearly 4pm...

Curtains shut, cuppa, mince pie...get the house warm in case we have a power cut....

Stormy weather

 Another storm is rolling in as I write...but today started with a beautiful sky

The second parcel that I was waiting for arrived just after 1...and of course as I stepped out of the house on the way to the bus stop it started raining!

It stopped as the bus arrived in town, thankfully, but my coat was rather wet..and still was when I arrived home just before 4!! Only the outer layer thankfully.

With the rain gone, parcel posted, fresh food shopping done, I could pause and appreciate...

Then over the bridge and turn off Sandgate street on the high street.

A high street with many boarded up shops and sad buildings.

I must come back one early morning in the summer to get better pictures of the town, "warts and all"

But here is the Grain Exchange..one renovated building with the ground floor used for exhibitions and small fairs

But the block just before it also needs attention.

The old photos in the windows show the place as it was

There is hope that Newmarket Street which runs across from the Sandgate to High street will have its old buildings restored to their former glory..you can see where it meets the High street by The Wool Sak.

Presents for grandies bought, I just caught the bus home in time ! 

Arriving to a phone call to say that the other executors to Pirate's will have okayed the payment of his Celebration expenses..too late to go back into town..and to save time I'll return to town tomorrow and get the cheque straight in my bank account! Better than waiting for it to arrive in the post.

I arrived home in enough daylight..with the help of streetlights at the end..to prune some of the bushes in the front garden where the birds have eaten all the berries. "Green waste"  4 weekly collection tomorrow with the weekly recycling....I'll put them out by the kerb if the wind isn't too strong!.