A very different day...in a different direction

 Up at 5am...off by 6am....we headed towards the Kingdom of Fife to help at a race....that because if last night's heavy rain was cancelled because of flooding.

So what do we do with nothing special to do, 120 miles from home?

Be tourists for a change, have time out!!

Earlie..then along the coast to St Andrews...

Then back to Culross...where we missed the last entry to the bishop's palace by 5 minutes....next visit, hopefully!!

Afternoon out

 I know we need to use the car less....but we couldn't do this from home...

We drove just under 40 miles to Moniaive and rode "round the block"...a bit over 20 miles!!

In the fresh air with very little traffic. Can't fault it and we feel much better, if tired.

In the garage...

No, not Trumpton!!

And....I know that some people were hoarding toilet roll....

In the mens' public toilets, photo courtesy of the pirate.

When packing our bikes back in the car we discovered that there was a guitar festival on this weekend!! It is quite a lively village!!

More travelling

 

It's a long haul up to Dundee...but worth it, combining it with as many other things as we can.

Back to Fife for the third garden centre lunch in three days...a good quality reasonably priced meal..and this is what is keeping garden centres going.

A fencepost mended, a cuppa and chat with a friend there then to the next where we were pleasantly surprised to find supper waiting for us! 

More putting the world to rights..and then the final stretch home.

Keeping in contact with friends with friends is important, and some need more than just a text or phone call.

Deliveries and collections..and a bike ride!

 

Barter! This plate has gone to Gatehouse of Fleet..in return for two pieces of beautiful wood, this one and a planed one that I already have.

"Kind words are the music of the world"

On to Castle Douglas to collect my clock. The clockmaker had missed a worn bush when he overhauled it last year, so if it stopped before being re-wound it refused to tick!

Now it is ticking nicely and keeping good time. However being older and on its original spring, won't go the full seven days. It is good to have it back on my wall.

As we were in Castle Douglas, what better reason for a bike ride and exploring new roads to us.

We chose one of the routes from a local cycling leaflet, and headed for Palnackie on the water of Urr. 

An attractive and lively small village with chandlery, community run village shop, school, artist with bookshop and gallery, pub, glass workshop, nice older houses and new ones being built.

Plus it has a decent bus service! All this and only 7 miles from Castle Douglas and 3 from Dalbeattie.

The Harbour Dog

Chandlery with various vehicles!

Not sure when these last went out! The Harbour used to be flushed out every tide using a sluice gate on the burn that flows there.

This one, originally from St Malo, I think, but once called Willem, now La Malouine ,a metal ship restored as a training ship, last sailed out three weeks ago.

Looking towards the sea.

Pirate received a phone call while we were looking around...we were due to meet friends back in CD for lunch...they were heading for Dalbeattie, early! Luckily it is a flattish ride to there.

Lunch in the garden centre..and retrace wheeltracks as we wanted to explore Palnackie a little more and it was the least hilly way back to the car!!

I think we will return again, and park there for a walking explore - and not go on early closing day for the village shop!

Trip to the race

 We went to see the Tour of Britain riders pass by, and have a short ride with our friend from Fife.

Having seen them whizz past, we left our car in Innerleithen and rode back with our friend to Peebles on the bike path and back road.

For scones, jam and cream and tea!!

The main bridge over the River Tweed.....but look at the flood height measure.....

No date plate on this bridge for walkers and cyclists...

This replaced an iron railway viaduct...the bike path follows the old railway track.

The railway was forced to cross the river as one local moneyed gent didn't want the rails on his land....now we have a nice bridge partly funded by European Union grants.....

I was just photographing this notice when a man with a strimmer walked up. He now owns and cares for the orchards because the original nursery is no more.

A quarter are Scottish varieties....a quarter English...a quarter cider varieties...and a quarter stock for growing grafting stock.  Mostly apples and a few pears.

It hasn't been a good year with cold and wet conditions at blossom time, but the variety Coul Blush was looking really promising.

Long may he succeed in his work here. I hope he may have an Apple Day some time in the future, but that will only happen with a lot of help.

Back in Innerleithen...extra time!! 2-2.....reds won in the end!

We decided on a different way home, retracing part of the ToB route in reverse as far as the Gordon Arms, then to Moffatt....roads new to us and a stunning part of the Southern Uplands

11 September.

 A dark day 20 years ago. I don't need to add to what was said about that.

A dark day 48 years ago. When an elected Allende was deposed in a military coup by Pinochet.

A dark day in 1878. When 268 men and boys died out of 325 workers at the Abercarn colliery .

That was almost 10 per cent of the population of Abercarn, Cwmcarn and Risca put together ( circa 3,400 in 1881)

An unnecessary explosion.Abercarn Colliery

Test day

 Pirate duly delivered to the local hospital this morning for two scans.

There was me thinking I had the morning to myself....but mid muffin and hot chocolate in the bookshop cafe in Ayr..

A nicely done fern, almost too good to drink!

And a phone call, Come and get me!!

One scan done, radioactive injection done...he then had to leave and kick his heels for two hours...so back home for lunch,luckily only a few miles away...and back for another half an hour of scanning while I started to read a book in the car.  

I don't do enough reading....

Once scanned, light relief was a mint tea each in the local farm cafe before heading for the dentist for him..he was getting a service check today!!

I did a little shopping in the surprisingly warm rain...it was forecast, and as they say it did what it said on the tin!

then home again on the back roads to avoid the school rush hour.

We hadn't done much physically, but are surprisingly tired!! 

So make supper while steaming some beetroot for bottling in hot spiced vinegar

..nice and easy...then watching the highlights of a stage of the cycling Tour of Britain before an early night.

We are aiming for earlier rising...a better use of each day... and a walk or a bike ride, weather permitting, after breakfast to set us up for each day.

Let's hope we succeed!