Another of Tesco's Daily diddles.

Was in Tesco's today when Grant called and he asked if I had spotted any of thier "daily diddles" -  not much time but I was a bit intrigued  to see the pricing of their semi skimmed milk.

One litre, 90p ;  box of six one litre cartons - £2.50,  BUT a box of six 500ml cartons was £2.95p !!!!! and the box with twelve one ltr cartons was £10.80p !!!!!     I wonder who works these out or how stupid they think we are.  Perhaps they overprice the 500ml cartons as they will be a popular size for lunch boxes.

You need to have your wits about you, the Brie ; yogurts; etc need looking at  and the sauce and salad creams are a real trap.

The Wonders of nature.

What a superb day today,  with weather like this who needs to travel,  |BUT, with rain forecast tomorrow we will be back to normal.

Just thinking that nature is wonderfull,  these flowers are in my front garden, and change inappearance depending on the weather, so here are today's changes.

This evening headed off for a walk to maintain my diary, so huffed and puffed up the hill and on a whim decided to take a walk into Penicuik Estate, but being adventurous took a side track through the field. Now, having lived here for forty odd years and within a mile of the place I found a bridge over the glen which I had no idea existed.  Wrought iron decorated railings and there were two plaques in memory of locals who appear to have died in the area.  A short distance away I found "Penicuik's Lost Garden"  which I always thought to be in another part of the estate.    There is a community group who have taken on the Lost Garden as a long term project, it must have been an incredible place pre war when it was in its haeyday.  Gives me an excuse to walk back up there again.

Early Bird calling

Still not enough hours in the day and have been up since 4 a.m. this morning. Hopefully we will have another warm sunny day like yesterday, no point in trailing the countryside when we can relax in the sun in our own back garden.

Back in time , our weekend in Wales finished off with another run out around the Welsh and English countryside along the border  and then back up over the Horse Shoe Pass.  The Ponderosa Restaurant was busy and there were about one hundred bikes in the car park.  The local Traffic Police were out in force following yet another motor cycle fatality in the area the previous day.

 They had the radar gun out to catch some of the real speed merchants.  Headed down the Pass, but was surprised to discover that it was really only one bend, which was pretty tame compared to the Dolomites.

Evening meal, bit of an improvement as we ended up in the local Wetherspoons pub, decent bottle of wine and a Sunday roast.

Monday morning, headed north, homewards and managed to avoid the many "scattered showers" which were dotted about the country.   Five hours, sore backside due  to the burst air cushion, never mind it has since been replaced, excellent service by the distributor.

Busy as ever at the Mercat Grill, big clear out so as usual yours truly is being kept on the hop.

 

Not a good advert for Edinburgh when three German tourists had their motorcycles stolen from Grove Street by some of the Pilton yobs, who were spotted on Facebook  with one of the bikes.  No wonder that my companion over the weekend , Graham, would not go and leave the bikes unattended - but a poor advert here for Edinburgh.

 

As predicted, trams have been halted twice so far due to traffic incidents in Princes Street, no way to detour a large tram full of pensioners on a free jolly to the airport with their bus pass.. 

 

World Cup football has been not too bad, although the Holland v  Argentina game was kind of boring,  unlike the Germany v Brazil game which showed how the game should be played.  No diving, no heroics, lots of skill, to prima donna players, just good old fashioned skill - hope they repeat their tactics in the Final.

 

Finished the cardio rehab programme,  only have a final assessment to complete next week.

 

The Steed of Steel has a collapse.

Another lovely morning here in Wrexham, so looks like another ride out into the Welsh countryside.

Yesterday,(Sat) we left in a convoy, fifteen bikes, and our leader took us out into the wilds,  we had about one mile on a dual carriageway and the remainder on everything from single track roads to the A5 - long sweeping bends, tight corners, through the mountains of Capel Curig,past the National Moutaineering Centre at Plas y Brennan,   the white water centre; mountain railways, copper mines, and some beautiful lakes and reservoirs.    Stopped at Lyn Brenig reservoir and visitor centre, then in the picturesque village of Beddgelen for lunch.
Only a few miles back on the road when disaster struck, my Garmin Sat Nav popped off the mounting on a really potholed piece of road, and I did not realise what had happened for a few minutes,  stopped had words with my following bike who had seen it but could not stop me due to the roads.    I went back and had a look but no trace ,it could have been anywhere and is likely to be in bits.     I had wisely marked up the route on a new road atlas so I knew where I was and how to get home, old style. So set off,  taking my time, admiring the views and at one point thought I had intercepted the group who were running a figure of eight route -  so sat at Betws-y-Coed for half an hour.  No luck so set off along he A5 towards Wrexham.
Had a "senior moment" and thought I was heading in the wrong direction - despite having the sun on my back !!  (heading east)   so pulled in to recheck the map - and like a friend of mine did recently, lost my footing and the Steed of Steel hit the deck (gently) no damage other than pride.  However I did have to flag down a passing motorcyclist who helped get it up again.  Thereafter a slow run, even saw the steam train on the Llangollen Railway .   End of the day made it back to the hotel about 25 minutes before the main group.
Headed out as a group for a meal - not a good choice "Frankie and Bennies" where we had three different tables -  place being busy our meal was eighty minutes in arriving and steak was "chuck" so it was not eaten.

Wrexham town centre was bouncing with activity, lots of scantily clad young ladies ,  semi drunk, police and bouncers at all the pubs.  We spoke to three Police who said that come midnight it would be wild with fights and drunks.   Bit too old for that so home to bed.

LOng wet day

Just as I started to make comment about the possibility of a hose pipe ban _  no sooner dais then the rains fell, and continued to fall for several hours-  just a pity that most of that time I was seated on the "Steed of Steel" and making my way from Edinburgh to Wrexham .  No idea why the M74 and M6 were so busy but they were heaving, and add the rain, mist, rain, mist factor, it was probably the worst run South I have had for years.
Bad queues from J 24 southwards to J 18 so weaving was the order of the day , over the Thelmwell viaduct and onto the motorway to Wales - really odd but it looked as though the country was being evacuated  hundreds of cars heading East - going to see the Tour De France, Grand Prix, etc, no idea , just miles of queuing traffic heading East -  hope it is not like that on Monday.
So, Premier Inn Wrexham, the group assembled and off into the town centre where we had a massive eat all you can Chinese Banquet,  far too much, now paying the price as the Gaviscom is in great demand.

Panda monium in Edinburgh

Turned out to be an exciting day !!!  maybe -  there is a saying about not being able to get blood from a stone -  today was my turn, and the plebotomist really struggled in her attempts, two arms, three holes and maybe not enough for the necessary tests.

But, later in the day I ended up at Edinburgh zoo and managed to drop in to see the two Panda Bears, who thankfully were neither hiding nor asleep - wonderfull to see them out and about climbing around their pens and then it was tea time - happy days.

Several changes in the zoo layout, new pool for the penguins, and the meercats have been moved into a new area near the entrance.

 Cheered me up to watch the wee chappies for a while.   Anyway, off to Ayr again early morning, need to waken the Steed.

IPA get their dates confused (maybe)

Slightly duller morning with the threat of a shower late, which makes a change from the last few days, but it is a bit more comfortable on the motor cycle.  Certainly not dull the past couple of days at the World Cup,   listened to the USA game last night on the radio,  nail biting to the end, and at Wimbledon, the young Australian  Nick Kyrgios  beating Rafael Nadal has caused a real stir,  so Andy Murray and Co, of the top seeds had better pull their socks up.

Down at the Mercat Grill last night for an IPOA dinner when our guests were Russ Baker and his family over from Ontario,  and as a great coincidence they turned out to be friends of Ray Massicotte who we met at the Hackenberg battery, near Metz on 13th June.    Super meal, Scottish theme so do not think we have our dates confused when you see the haggis appearing.  Two goes at the haggis last night, haggis cigars ( not the smoking kind) and haggis, neeps and tatties as a main.

 

Must comment on the motorcycle theme,   I see that Harley Davidson have produced an electric motorcycle,  ( might need a hellish long extension cable)  named the  "Livewire",  top speed 90 mph with enough power to do 100 miles between charges ( then need three hours to charge) rather than fill the tank - sign of the times.

At least I can get 200 miles before the Steed needs to top up and my botty have a rest, so that will be at lest one stop on our way to Wrexham on Friday.

Mr McInally now in upside down land - no sign of him dipping in the ocean yet.