Georgetown Cup

 Went to a cycle gathering today. I didn't compete..but about 140 did...in a 7 mile individual time trial.

It was also the annual get together of the Flying Scot club...FS being a marque of bike frame....the oldest one there was 1937, the youngest made were, I think, made for the Scottish track team at the Delhi commonwealth games. There was a prize for the fastest FS, individual prizes, but the most important, team prizes.

Sunshine and socialising, followed by calling by a friend on the way home for tea and inspiration!!

£250 worth of bell..

The 1937 model...

Entente Cordiale

Pirate's pal, also VP.

Summer..at last!

This morning, after I managed to get moving, I thought sun forecast, do the washing!

Got it going and looked out....

The reason behind it is that high pressure over Scandinavia is helping the North Sea turn into a cloud making machine...and the winds are blowing the clouds over Scotland!!

Then they did move on..

And it got very hot.... Scotland had the highest temperature in Britain, while the tables were turned while on points further South...and they got the rain!!

It won't last...but it is nice while it does.

Elderberries off their stalks

And tomatoes being jungly!!

I managed to buy a used (apparently only for a month) under counter freezer on fb marketplace....only nine miles from here...picked that up after lunch, then had to wait until I could catch the builder who has been working over the road...

Nice to have a natter with the neighbour he is working for while waiting!

It does actually hold a little less than the small chest freezer...but at least now I have one for ingredients and the other for meals I have frozen in portions and such-like.

And they are both nearly full! 

That is always the problem with chest freezers, finding what lurks in the bottom. 

Now that I am getting all the supplies organised properly I will be able to buy much less. 

I've prepped the veges for a pepperonata but run out of energy...so a quick supper of leftovers...with runner beans fresh from the garden.

An evening of YouTube... yesterday's Vuelta highlights and Time Team....it makes good company...plus chatting online to our friend in France.   Multi tasking!!

Keeping the radio...or YouTube on....so I don't feel soo alone.

Getting back to normal.. slowly..

 The antibiotics have really knocked me back this time...but at least hopefully they have done their job.

Sorting paperwork probably hasn't helped...it's that empty feeling...should be Pirate sitting in the other chair...

Up late....nap before lunch....but then I did start to regain energy.

I went to our usual foraging place, a field hedge by Greenan Castle ...with a good view of Arran.

Elderberries to go with the brambles and spices to make a winter cordial.

Pirate and paperwork and weather

 Pirate thirty years ago, just before we saw him racing and then got to be firm friends 

Pirate forty years ago

And playing the fool on a lads weekend in Butlins holiday camp sixty years ago!!

I felt tired and flat all day...it started badly as at 4.20 am a couple of large planes took off from the local airport and headed over us....

Healthwise I'm not 100%....back on antibiotics....and possibly a few hours sorting Pirate's papers wasn't a good idea!

However the cycling paperwork boxes are in the bike room, each section of paperwork is in fewer boxes as are the photos.  Best of all I can see most of the living room floor!!!

Having the house tidier is helping me feel better. I have two very large bags of clothes...from both of us..to go to an op shop...I'm thinking Shelter...as for many years Pirate was technically homeless...a hotel, a room in a pub, a caravan, a tied cottage while a farmer didn't need it ..at least he had a year's notice on that one..small cramped and damp rentals...we were fortunate to get this one. Eight years here and counting, now.

And then it rained AGAIN!!!! Friends in Kent are very grateful...their garden has been suffering from lack of water.

The West of Scotland has had more than twice the usual this past year. So my water butts are full to overflowing. 

Earlier bedtime tonight..a little bit anyway.

Hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Paperwork progress

 With another wet day here, I started putting Pirate's paperwork into better order...so that I will be able to make a proper history/archive later on. 

This will also mean that I will have my living room back ...and can start on other work!!

The other " paperwork " was an email that arrived confirming my spouse pension...relief!   I printed off he requested form and dashed into town to get it safely posted...they should get it in the morning... hopefully it won't take another four months for the next step!!!!

I found one photo in with the paperwork..which should be with three other photos...I think I know which box they are in..

I asked Pirate's friend in France if it was this friend's brother....too tall....but he did suggest a couple of names....and the track.is a puzzle too, but Palmer Park in Reading is a possibility .  I've asked in a couple of groups on farcebook..we'll see ... hopefully...

Sunday, Monday...

 

Sunday was overcast but dry...I was surprised how quickly the sheets wash dried!  Sunday was also a slow day, after all the driving on Saturday.

Mid afternoon I managed to get my bike in the car, and take a slightly circuitous route to Irvine Harbour to avoid road closures (a new surface being put down..at last!)

The idea was a quiet ride up and back along the shared cycle/walking path for an hour or so...I got three miles....and found a loaded apple tree, with enough just ripe enough to pick...I filled a plastic bag that you buy bread in....then another halfmile to some luscious large brambles (blackberries)...another full bag..which went in another bag!!....so with a full pannier, 8 pounds of fruit, I turned around....back to the car and home!!

Good thing I did, as had I gone on a longer ride as planned, I would have got rather wet.

Fruit cooked last night...and set to drip in a jelly bag..  

Today it has rained....and rained...and rained...

Someone is happy...

I finished making the jelly...the apple press was useful to get most of the juice...easier than squeezing the jelly bag...which you are not supposed to do....but why waste the juice as I am not making fruit cheese today. There is enough on the larder shelf already and jelly has run low. It is so handy to give as a present.

And still it rains... thankfully not as heavy as this morning....the ground was sodden already before all this rain.

No excuse not to do indoor jobs then....

Birnam

 Yesterday I made a trip to Birnam, near Dunkeld, 10 miles past Perth on the A9.

Quite a long way (108 miles) for a day trip, but worth it. 

One of Pirate's former competitors on grass track...who has the same initials, VP.... finished racing 22 years ago ..he is now 78...but carried on for many years as as official of the Scottish Highland Games Association...his wife still judges the dancing.

He has a grand collection of bikes, and restores them...and this special grass track bike belonged once to Jock Ward..a top rider on both road and grass, and a long time official in Scottish Cycling. It was also  a Flying Scot, a marque made at Rattray's bike shop in Glasgow.

Like Pirate, Jock Ward hasn't long since died...so VP decided to ride the grass one more time at the Birnam Highland Games, in their honour.

Our Fife friend came up to Birnam as well once he heard of the plan....his daughter, once a rider in the Scottish Commonwealth games team and a professional bike rider, started her racing career on the grass at Birnam, following her father's wheel tracks as it were.  VP did two of the four races and Fifer was his holder and pusher at the start.  These were both handicap races...the idea being that it is fair for all and no-one is made to look a fool!

It was a grand sunny day....and I don't remember when I had a day just to relax with friends, and watch the proceedings, last.

One innovation to add...there were women's events in the Heavies for the first time...tossing the caber, shot putt, throwing the weight over the bar....

The aim is to toss the caber end over end and land at "12 o'clock"....this isn't easy for any competitor 

One sprint heat on the way, stretching being done before the next 

Fifer and VP

No "54321 go" in the games....the cry is Take Hold!...and the whistle and gun follow quickly after!!

The cycling, like the running is mixed...only one girl today..

A Unicorn ( of course, this is Scotland) and a dinosaur..I bet that they have were glad if the internal fan to keep the suit inflated!!

Then the drive home...with two stops on the way home, one in a supermarket to cool down... And get the reduced items as well, of course!!