The dehumidifier has been working well today!
By lunchtime the clouds had lifted a little so I ventured outside
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...
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.
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.
After a foray into town and Prestwick..just two hours to do four things, plus a cuppa and wander round the garden centre sale corner (nothing worth having)...which would have taken me a very long day by buses....
Back home to get the apple cheese done.
Some apple butter recipes don't add sugar...some do, 1 apple pulp to ¾ sugar by weight. I use 1:1 as I want this to keep..I have just opened a two years old jar, and the contents are fine. Apple cheese is basically Apple butter cooked down further to get a more solid preserve that you slice more than spread.
Ideally you would put it in jars that have no shoulder so that you may empty the whole jar onto a plate..so easy to slice...and eat with a good strong cheese...or you can take it a little further like Membrillo and then spread it in a lightly oiled flapjack tray...then cut it into squares...
And while I was doing that, two machines were also busy for me, making bread and yoghurt!
The washing up and the floor can wait till tomorrow...
Duolingo French lessons and bedtime for me now!
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!! 😄
Today started clear and still..and was even at 7⁰ at lunchtime!
Still a trifle fresh..so I concentrated on reducing Stuff... starting with a boxful of all sorts.....that could just have been chucked out...good thing I didn't.
I found our original wedding certificate that I've been hunting for for years...a few addresses on bits of paper that will go in the address book at last... important souvenirs of my racing career... useful things that will go to the workshop...mostly sorted properly now, and a carrier bagful of bits in the bin.
I've gathered two more small boxes of things to sort ... mostly important, but that have been "put on one side for Ron"....meaning later on!! I'll look at them tomorrow.
My bedroom is looking better...one box of "should I mend this" and another of various sewing things are now with sewing and fabric in another room.
After a nice chat on messenger with a friend yesterday and half an hour on the turbo I had a reasonable night's sleep, only being awake at one point for a short while. A tidy bedroom should help that too.
After yesterday's bread disaster...it looked as if I hadn't added yeast, but that is the first thing that is measured out...
I changed from 50/50 white and wholemeal to 75/25 white and rye...as that is what was in the cupboard!
Getting somewhere now!!
Today's turbo ride was a lot better too..it helps to have the right music...a request programme with Gary Innes on Radio Scotland... traditional, country, pipe music. I loved the title of one piece"the dashing white eejit" !!
Tomorrow's weather looks hopeful, so I've done the washing already..well, the machine has!!
It all sounds busy busy...but not really....the sorting has meant a lot of sitting down. The bread machine did all the hard work making the bread.
It is only 9.20 pm....time for a short Duolingo lesson then bed and book!
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 😎
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....
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.
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!.
I dislike staying indoors all day...but....
I woke again at 8am (there are some interesting programmes on in the wee small hours, especially by 5am!)...as it was so grey and dull compared to the past few mornings.
So I missed the recycling collection..no big deal, I don't have much in the recycling bucket stack.
I planned to go for a walk before the wind got up again...did my French practice..then as I made a cuppa in the kitchen I missed a call....no name but the number was half familiar... eventually I received another call and it was from a friend that I haven't seen for years..last time we did a trip through North Wales near where I used to live..she had met Pirate on that trip...and like everywhere he made a lasting impression. She hadn't realised that he had died...
We ended up chatting and catching up for about 1½ hours....at least !!
So next year must have a north Wales trip...so many friends to see there.
As I had my belated lunch the clouds roll in and the wind started whistling around the house again...
One job to be done outside...lift the last of this year's red beetroot..there are a few yellow left to come yet.
Then get on with cleaning a couple of chainrings to sell, as the next loaf baked...I'm trying the middle sized loaf this time. After that finished, time for the turbo..
Just over nine miles in 35 minutes...and the resistance up to 3 for the last 15 minutes...
The knack is to have the radio on and concentrate on that!!
I'm not keen on it...but if it means better sleep and a healthier fitter me...I'll keep at it.
Washing first, on before breakfast..and by 3pm it was half dry.
So it is luxury evening with the central heating on low and the dehumidifier by the clothes rack and kitchen radiator! The house needs a bit of warmth and airing once in a while anyway. I am mainly keeping the living room warm enough. No point keeping all the house hot!!
A warm living room was needed today as I have been sitting cleaning bike bits..rather cruddy bike bits!! One derailleur ready to sell (and photographed) and the other clean except for one jockey wheel which I need to undo, but the nut is resisting...I have left it to soak with WD....and cleaned and old Campagnolo chainring. It won't bring much in, but it is still usable...and a clean piece sells better.
I've had enough now...more tomorrow...now for French lessons...and then a book!
I found a Joanne Harris ( of "Chocolat" fame) book in a charity shop yesterday...and it is following the same main character again....The Lollipop Shoes"...
I got brave last night and mastered the screen of my "new" bread maker...
And the result was tried this morning..with homemade marmalade if course!
A nice extra after breakfast to get energy for a trip to town on the bus.
I went out as near to the bus time as possible...and got quite damp in five minutes!! Thankfully it was dry by the time we reached town..and stayed dry.
Posting done..with quite a wait.. people need to use the post office all year round, not just before Christmas!!
Then I had time to walk around town... today's exercise..the co-op shop's refurbishment is still ongoing..re-opening due on Friday. I didn't need much there so waiting is ok. A walk up to the top of the town followed. There is supposed to be a new art and craft outlet opening..but no sign of it.
I'm not to worried about that, as the proposal is apparently renting a shelf plus a percentage of sales. As it isn't in a part of the town with much footfall I am wondering how successful they will be.
A little different to the gallery and circle I used to be a member of...now in Frogmore street in Abergavenny, moved in from the outskirts.
There we did shop duty once or twice a month..those doing two had a smaller percentage deduction from their sales.
I found a small arts and crafts shop selling materials and finished work..not in an obvious place, but with a surprising number of people passing by..
The owner is friendly, and we have a fair bit in common..so I must get some stock out and take it there, even if just small prints to start with.
There used to be an art and craft and office supplies shop elsewhere in town, and she told me the latest news of the building...the rear now a yoga studio, the front and upstairs a gallery and artists' workshops...
No time to look today, I can look at that next time.
Back home for a rest, then give the cutlery and kitchen tool drawer a good clean and sort out...you don't realise just how grubby they get, even though you are putting clean items in !!
After supper... risotto from the freezer...some gentle mending.
I can't just sit... sitting quietly in good company is one thing. Sitting alone is a completely different matter.
The garage man has hurt his back..so no work for at least a week..could be just a little twist..but I think that it is linked to when he was knocked off his motorbike by a careless car driver.
So any travelling plans are on hold, even locally.
I sorted a few small electric goods that I don't need..an iron, two kettles, a coffee machine, a couple of fan heaters and a few other kitchen things.
They were collected today by Recycle Ayr, so if they all pass testing they will either go to people who need them or be sold to raise funds.
It has been colder and windy all day, with yet more showers ..the weather system is stuck over the Northern Isles at present, but tomorrow should see some dry and colder weather.
Which is fortunate as I have a fleabay sale to post...some handlebars will be on their way to Bristol.
All packed...my method is the "get out of there without moving will you " method of taping!!
Duolingo French lessons are proceeding...and why did they never teach us celui ci and celui là in school?!!
Trying still to reduce stuff....but then the book looks back at you and you think...Hi, friend.... can't get rid of you!!
Bit by bit, though, weeding out those that I won't use or read any more.
Bert/Caetano has been charging around all weekend, sometimes with added rain...it was officially 10⁰ and lunchtime...with a fierce windchill and savage gusts.
Draught excluding snakes have gone down ..but there is that ankle biter of a draught that gets ankles when you sit on the sofa....still haven't worked out where that one is from...I know where it goes to!
Much chatting on messenger and WhatsApp... including a friend who is having a little tiki tour around before heading to a friend's wedding at Te Anau. He was asking what places to go see.
Then Pirate's great niece in Kent with some good news.
It does break the alone-ness, which I find a hard thing.
4pm this afternoon, with the clouds scudding along.
Today the garage man wasn't happy with the calipers from his usual supplier....or the price....so they are going back and he will get others elsewhere.
So no travelling until at least the middle of next week... probably best to postpone for a full week, but I will see what the weather will be up to!!
Which gives me more time to get on with things.
I went on the bus to town to get some de-icer..and was pleased to get trigger spray bottles, not cans.
The snow had turned to cold rain showers....but as I did some sewing tonight I heard what sounded like hail against the windows...I was NOT going to investigate!!
I am mending a long sleeve cycling top of Pirate's, which will either be nice for the retro cycle ride at the end of May...or if it is too big for me will fit our Friend in France...who was also Pirate's clubmate over fifty years ago....
Pirate fell off his bike!! Many years ago.....good thing he kept it.
This morning it had been so cold overnight, that the car windscreen was frozen outside....and inside, like a sheet of little pimples..I should have taken a photo but was too intent on getting it clear so that I could drive down the hill to the garage!
That left a day to get busy indoors..and today's exercise was going up and down stairs!
I moved Pirate's papers back upstairs to a sideboard and small chest of drawers. There are still two stacks of boxes in the living room...one is bike bits to be cleaned , priced and sold. The other is three boxes of things from his display in his Celebrations..and a box of things to go to his nephew which need cataloguing and photographing.
The long sideboard is looking a lot better too..still a bit cluttered, but some of that is things to go, like the growing group of things in the kitchen..an iron, two kettles, one usual size one two cup size. A two espresso cup filter machine...or one mug...water in, coffee in, switch on and go...empty and wash the filter afterwards...things I don't need..or don't need multiples of!
I called garage at three...he wasn't happy as the parts had been put on the wrong delivery van at the motor factor...and ended up in the wrong direction at Falkirk!! They should have arrived just before he finished tonight, so my wee car will have a night in his garage ready for first job tomorrow.
The living room carpet has been vacuumed, the place looks reasonable..and at four in the afternoon we had our snow shower... described as "dandruff" by a friend in the middle of England who has a fair bit more!!
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