One step

 First hurdles cleared, pre op tests all ok. Pirate needs to lower his blood pressure a little...he does stress over things....but they are all happy, and to top a good if lengthy hospital visit, the anaesthetist we saw is from NZ...her father's family was from the far North of Scotland. 

As she said herself, she isn't over here for the weather! One of her best mates is the daughter of friends in Whanganui...and although coming from a running and rowing background, she now runs and cycles....and knows all our friends in the local Ayr Burners Cycling Club !!

We said Kia ora to her...her reply was Kia kaha...stay strong.

Tidying and reducing

 I think I have found a way around the computer and printer not talking to each other....I have been battling through this for a day and a half....and remembered that I could use WiFi.....and just after 10pm I found the email. 

That will be tomorrow afternoon's job!

Meanwhile I have started the painful job of rehoming my old friends......books.....

Slow progress

 Every day at the moment seems to be a bit of this and a bit of that, never really getting a decent job done satisfactorily.

Saturday mornings we...or rather I..listen to the Out of Doors" programme on Radio Scotland. ( He slept through it, after making us a cup of tea....) That is 6.30-8am.  An interesting programme covering...well, out of doors stuff!!..with the added Mystery Noise, which this week was unsurprisingly a Japanese Macaque monkey. ( One went walkabout a couple of days ago...)

By 9 am I had had enough radio listening...so up to finish making breakfast and put the house to rights...Pirate eventually got up by 10!! 

We needed to see our landlord for some grant application paperwork to be signed. He lives fifteen miles away..and we were there by 12.30...he wasn't there, but his workshop worker was...

We decided to go for lunch at a friend's cafe in the local small town near his village...and caught him on the way back.

Paper signed, we will give that to the surveyor who will look at our lack of roof insulation...saving postage!

The water board were at our neighbours house, clearing the drains for her..they sent the camera down and along from our drain to check...nice and clean, thankfully...and he put the collar back on the drainpipe properly for us as well. 

Then Pirate decided that a good siesta was overdue...and I thought great..I can get on with the Ancestry research...but came to a stop after two minutes.

I need to get information printed as well as downloaded...if the computer crashes terminally, I don't want to lose anything or have to go back through Ancestry pages again to find things.

However the computer and printer are not communicating with each other...

Sometimes I can just go in and print....this time it is "getting printer information"....even though I have okayed the printer on the system.

And what does "print using the system dialogue" mean?

I think I need a resident IT assistant/nanny.....

On other research matters.. isn't it fascinating how handwriting has changed over the centuries, when looking at documents....

Afternoon out for myself

 This morning we had the preliminary survey...with luck we qualify for a new boiler (the old one is on its last legs) and roof insulation..first hurdle cleared....

I was supposed to be having a full day out on my own....and I caught the bus tomorrow at 11.40!!

Whilst waiting....

Rookery nookery....

Who are you looking at????...

We're going....

The bus I was thinking of catching going north from Ayr was just pulling out of the bus station....and the next one ready was going south...so I caught the bus to Girvan.

Our usual small cafe was still going..so straight there for lunch..but it was heartbreaking to see the state of the town...huge lorries still going right through the middle up the narrow high street, most shops boarded up or at least looking derelict.

Even the charity shops were closed....The Original Factory Shop gone..and replaced by something even cheaper and lower quality..but better than nothing if you don't have a lot of spare cash.

So after lunch a quick wander up the high street and back..

A beautiful find to raise the spirits.

And at least the harbour was looking busy.

Excuse the computer...not behaving quite as it should...

The sight of Ailsa Craig, ten miles away in the Clyde...

I found a little history to investigate on another visit...

Before catching the bus back to Ayr. 

It started fine drizzle as we arrived...and time was short after the late start, so back home on the bus.

Not much activity...no drawing done..but time out for myself.

It was a job to think what to do or where to go!!

Last ride for now

we managed to get to Glasgow before the worst of the latest storm...just thinking of Norway, where it was going to hit broadside.

Pirate had a roll around...and a chat with a coach who is retiring near the end of March. He is coming up to 65, has had a prostate scare, MRI checked and cancer clear...but has decided that life isn't just work! He is quite a good coach and can carry on with a few riders privately, while doing everything together that they want to, not waiting.

And coach took a photo of us as well.

 Now Pirate is doing his best to keep infection free before his op... No crowds, no shopping, no club dinners, and postponing friends coming to stay this month.

His phone is doing extra work...and he wonders why the battery runs down quicker than he expects!!

Doonfoot stroll

 

Where the Doon meets the Clyde...with views of Arran, and northwards up the coast.

We had a short walk, and hot chocolates and a scone...we shared the last one in the cafe just up by the first road bridge over the River Doon.

It was a break from being in the house...a break in the weather before tomorrow's cold front brings high winds and rain.

It was much needed.

Getting together and hopeful news

 Yesterday we had our cycling club AGM then two hour's track time at Glasgow.

Being a national race team as opposed to a local one means that we don't all get together often enough..and three members were away in Lanzarote for some warmer weather riding!

In previous years we have had the AGM in Pitlochry and combined it with a couple of group rides...but with basically only two routes available from there, both being hilly plus often it has been too wet or too icy...so an indoor warm ride was preferable!

Some had to drive three or four hours to get there, and they stayed over in Glasgow for a couple of nights and booked on other track sessions to make it worth it.

It was like herding cats to get that photo! Pirate enjoyed himself greatly, even just riding around the bottom of the track and the apron (the flat bit inside the Côte d'azure )

I tried to put a video on here that I had taken...it didn't want to cooperate!

The hopeful news is that the MRI has been cancelled..they obviously saw enough to start the ball rolling for a colostomy and stoma before the end of February.. let's just hope he passes the pre-op tests on the 5th....