Day out

 It started nice and sunny, the dandelions shining brightly on the lawn...

We headed out on different roads for a change, made even more different by roadworks diversions! 

Over one of the Forth Bridges, then we found a high point to photograph the various bridges..but there is more than just those...and the clouds and haze reduced visibility somewhat. ( On returning home we found that the Red Arrows flying team should have done a flypast in Edinburgh, but didn't due to the weather conditions.)

Tea and chat with a friend..then home via shopping...and the timing was good again to catch plenty of reduced items! We didn't get to ride our bikes together with him as intended, but the bikes got a ride in the car instead!!

Lunch on the wing

 

School clock

 Yesterday we collected my clock, the one that dad saved from the rubbish skip when he was working at a junior school on the edge of Bristol. The headmaster wanted a Nice New Electric clock....

The clock had never been overhauled...ever..and it is pre-1905.  The cost was £175, but money well spent.

Last time it ran was 15 years ago, and it stopped on 19 July 2005. The same day that dad died.

I was so glad that he had given it to me a couple of years previous to then.

Today it ticks again, the heartbeat of the house.  Dad would have been 90 today.

Pirate got a short ride in on his way home.

And we arrived to find no internet..and apparently whatever it was had also knocked out most of the UK banking systems...so despite not having hand storms, we were affected. So no engaging until this afternoon!

And so to another colourful sunset..still a bit pinker than I can show it, but I am getting closer.

A good start to the week

 One wash done and dried before we went out, and the car delivered to our local village garage.

As the weather is was still warm and dry, out on our bikes to post the latest eBay sale and test ride his new bike.

A few teething problems but nothing insurmountable and nothing to stop our ride. 

A detour on the way home to check a length of hedge on a quiet road that usually yields a good haul of brambles. Not ready yet! A meander through the lanes until we found a good patch of brambles, yielding a pound and a half plus a good amount of rosehips. 

Two boxes fit neatly in my pannier bag.

Lunch done and pirate has put his feet up for a siesta. 

The car's brakes are good again and we have a quote to clean and stone proof the underside. That can wait until next month and hopefully we can sell enough bike bits to fund that! It should keep the car going well for another couple of years at least. 

Now the next batch of washing is ready to go on the line, and the weather still looks good for drying. We have a thunderstorms weather warning, but no sign of them yet. 

Two jobs to do, list more on eBay and sow some vege seeds!

It sounds like a busy busy day, but it is surprising how much you can achieve at a steady pace.

As grandma said "the hurried I go, the behinder I get"!!

Easy Sunday

 Finishing the build of the Allen gravel bike

Needs different wheels..but it is done!

Garden supper, adding mushrooms to the onion and garlic, steaming the veges and adding cheese and oatcakes to serve. Nice and easy!

Saturday outing

 Yesterday we combined a few things..collecting and paying and seeing friends off from the southern end of the West Highland Way in Milngavie ( say Mull-gy..rhyme with fly)..they could then say that they had done it all!

Then we headed for Balnaha at the southeastern end of Loch Lomond.

It was, even at ten a.m., heaving with tourists..we thought to investigate the road further north to see if it would be worth a bike ride some other day, but after a couple of miles found a safe place to turn and return. Despite it being a narrow lane there were large Chelsea Tractors and camper vans charging up it. Passing back through Balmaha, all the car parking and overflow parking was full and yet traffic was streaming in along the four miles to the main road.

Next stop we had a bill to pay at a bike shop at the foot of the Campsite Hills..and good coffee and craic! Then over the Crow Road to Fintry, a fairly large village with a good sports centre. Good toilets and a cafe in the centre, and I should think invaluable in the winter as sometimes they get snowed in.

We had a rough map to follow, from our friend in the bike shop, and we set off towards Kippen..we didn't find the lane so just went to where we started dropping down the hill into Kippen and retraced!

The pointy hill just left of centre is Ben Lomond.

Back through Glasgow then one supermarket shop for a bag full of reduced items and home for supper!

looking across the Clyde on the way home

Then from my study ..a peachy apricot sunset, matched by the same colours before the sunrise a mere six hours later!

Sunset tonight

 there are sights like this all over the British isles...Saharan dust? Unsurprisingly there are thunderstorm warnings for the end of the weekend