Referendum

So for every 9 that said Aye, 11 said Nae.

The message to Westminster?

We'll stay, BUT....Nae Messin' wi' Scotland Nae Mair

work

Today's job has been finishing mending an old 1920s shed..part one was making a gulley at the foot along the brick base to take away rainwater runoff.
 Then stripping off the dubious looking weatherboard, revealing a bigger job than was hoped.  
Uprights had to be fitted in using shelf brackets !

We tried to source new timber, but 5 metre boards are special order only...and would have been nearly £50 for five,plus delivery.

"New" boarding came from a "retired" shed, and all the work had to be done with screws...you can imagine what wielding a hammer near a half rotten shed would have done!

Now it is weatherproof, doesn't lean when you put a hand against it and the end wall no longer moves in the breeze. 

Our next job in a month's time is to fix guttering to the shed.

I think our job will cost much less than the £2,000 quotes that the owner received from others but we can understand just why no-one else wanted the job!
Hopefully we'll get paid soon!!

Trip to Alkmaar

 ferry from Newcastle...well, Port of Tyne.....and a lovely sunset....

 then sleep(?!!) on the overnight ferry to Ijmuiden (akaAmsterdam, on the tickets!)

 half an hour's drive across Noord Holland, 10k past Alkmaar to Schoorl, where we stayed on a holiday bungalow site for a week.

 while we trained every day on the track, then raced on the last weekend.

 and saw plenty windmills and wind turbines

 and huge allotment garden sites around Alkmar

 and bikes for hire...

 sign for a pottery workshop, mainly for handicapped people in Schoorl...but others can use it too.

 by the main road and canal, houses with tile and reed thatch

 and bikes everywhere!!

 the velodrome at Alkmaar Sportpalais

 himself (on my bike as we had to bike share!) he did well in his races...not fast, but feeling better and it does him good mentally to be back on his bike

 after the racing, we still go in circles!  and we had supper together too...good Dutch food and hospitality.

 Then a day off...walking around Alkmaar. Our friends chose the boat trip..

 and we chose to walk...saw the building with the cheese museum which was the main cheese mart and import/export building by the quay.

 and a walk around the old town.  We know where we'll be returning to!

 of course we bought cheese...and good honey!

 back to the velodrome to collect our bikes from the stores

 and pack the car.........

 and on to the ferry again

 but not before frites and mayo!!

 and the smaller Dutch tall ship came into Ijmuiden as we waited to leave the harbour

 our last sight of the Nederlands...for now!

 and the sun set in a cloudy sky...

 time for supper, and bed....and a better night's sleep on deck 11 on the way back....deck 2 was rather noisy and hot on the way out!!

back to Scotland for a mountain of washing and gardening catch-up....

more incentive....

I've been loaned a "new" steed....it lives up to its name, even with just my heavier training wheels in it...here's hoping I can live up to it!!

incentive

Many thanks to Elaine of Bramble Rambles for her kind blogpost....I needed incentive, with everything that has been going on lately.

We're getting ready for some important pre-Masters World Track Championships racing and training, and it isn't long before we head to the Manchester Velodrome for the big event.

We've got all our regular lawns and hedges up to date luckily before today's twelve hours (and counting!) of rain.
Today we've been confined to barracks by the weather..at least the housework mountain has been reduced!

I'll be putting more in my etsy shop as soon as I can..and updating my website..high time!!
  I've been reviewing some of the black&white work by pegging it up on the wall above my computer....

We are making more enquiries about somewhere to move the workshop contents to ,up here...hopefully we've found the right person to talk to this time.
I'm getting much from using my new camera and making cards from my own images, photo or drawn. However I've come to the conclusion that I'm really more a 3D person.
So much to be done..

sorting the shed....

At last!!

Not sure how much less will be returned to the shed...but one can but hope!!

A day at the seaside

Today we went to Maidens Harbour Gala Day.

Our friend Rosie sold some flowering shrubs and plants, and fifty pots of home made jam and marmalade!!

I sold three small mugs and seven small herb plants......ho hum!!

Being beside the sea we had icecreams and the Pirate treated himself to a barbecued mackerel caught this morning half a mile away!!

The Pirate was great moral support to both of us- and it was he who sold the mugs!!
However he is feeling low- the combination of hormone therapy and yet more antibiotics is not conducent to feeling good in oneself.

He has even admitted to feeling officially old. Very unlike him.  He needs to ride his bike every day to feel good about himself, and we've just had two bike free days.....hopefully tomorrow's ride should sort that.
There is reiki therapy booked for next week for him, which we know has helped him over the past years.  I think I might just need it too.

Our funny peculiar weather is no help.  Autumnal weather in August, chilly nights and all!   Fruit has been ripening earlier than usual over the past couple of months, yet the sugar levels in the fruit seem low when you make preserves.