Honest Lad and Lass week

Time flies, nearly as fast as the swimmers and cyclists at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.  Quite an event massively helped by the last few days of fine warm weather,  which hopefully will clear up after this wet front moves across the country.  Certainly been a great advert for Scotland, with the added bonus that our athletes are performing very well.  Trying to compromise so lots of events have been listened to on the radio rather than watching the TV, really good coverage as "5 Live "scoots from event to event, and has the benefits of no replays.   So far so good with the home countries picking up medals all the time.  Nice to see young Scots swimmers, judo etc doing well , however the Brownlie Brothers are some athletes - no doubt about that.

Been using the Steed of Steel most days to commute up and down to the Mercat Grill,  just as well getting the benefit of the weather while I can.

Was down at the grill early this morning as we had a large group in to watch the ride by of the Hundred and seventy four hourses taking part in the Musselburgh Honest lad and Lass ride out - this one has been getting bigger each year.

 

It was reported on the news that Glasgow has nearly 95% hotel occupancy, so no do doubt the hotelliers are rubbing their hands with higher prices,  just as Edinburgh will be with the start of the Edinburgh festival.

Big demonstration march along Princes Street today, so guess what,  trams were suspended (no detours available !!!!).

 

Commonwealth Games - bring them on.

Home, feet up, wine to hand and waiting to watch the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games coming from Glasgow. Just a bit surprised at the number of commentators who are generally based elsewhere in the UK.    Anyway,it is about to kick off, and Edinburgh is not being left out, having the diving competition here, which will be three times Edinburgh has been actively involved.

Weather is brilliant with temperatures up to around 25 c, so hot in fact that patients in the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, are complaining about the extreme heat.  Fans and additional Air Con units being brought in and the staff are waiving the checks they have for personal electrical equipment - which in reality is an excuse to stop people using their own equipment so  they have to pay extortionate prices for the in house TV and radio facilities.

Had another good ride out today, over to Duns via Longformacus and homewards through Greenlaw, Carfraemill, Crichton Castle, Gorebridge and Temple -  good to see Andy Mimms at Border Bikes again, busy as ever.

Horrendous tragedy with the shooting down by pro Russian rebels of the Malaysian flight last week - denials everywhere - especially from Russia, and all sorts of conspiracy theories.  Do we call them criminals, murderers, cannot call them animals as animals have a higher set of morals. Would not surprise me if Putin allowed a Russian plane to be shot down so that he could shift the blame away from his allies.
Could have a boycott - France are building a massive helicopter carrying warship for Russia which, although nearly commisioned is still in France -

Where have all our Polis gone !!  that might well be a common complaint during the Games as Police are drafted in from all over Scotland to help out in Glasgow - long hours, lots of complaints from the Officers involved and mainly because our commercial security companies could not do the business again, just a repeat of the Olympics fiasco.

Fiasco-   is an immigrant family claiming £55k per annum not something worth questioning - keep saying it, but we have to be the laughing stock of Europe, if not the World or Commonwealth ( the Aussies have been mega critical of Glasgow)  but - what incentive is there for folks to work hard and try to save - none, none, zilch, zero, just let the spongers rule supreme.

Never mind - it can only get better.

A brief break

Just a had a quiet thirty six hours away from home.   Not too far,  headed to Peebles and had a wander round the shops.  Nice to see a High Street without any f the multinationals in sight  ( apart from Greggs - who are Scottish and based at Loanhead).    Wetherspoons are opening a new pub in the town next week, having taken over an old one and done a good refurbishment - might waken up a few folks,    I popped into the Crown for a bacon roll but was told breakfasts had stopped five minutes earlier,   So crossed the road and a wee café did the business - hit the spot
Even bought a new pair of good shoes at Rogersons and another wee treat in the kilt shop (shush).
Back up the road to the Barony Hotel where we were booked in for their D.B.& B. deal and a couple of treatments in the Spa -  nice and relaxing,    Even found myself drinking Recorderlig cider and enjoying it - might just be tempted again.
Only thing to disrupt my peace of mind was a phone call to Garmin UK,  seemed simple,  but after a long wait things went from bad to worse - so a call back is  needed next week when I am calm.
Anyway, watching the Open Golf while waiting to head home, and then back to work this afternoon, needs must.

A walk in the City

Must be Wednesday, and it has been raining (again) , worse to come, forecasters are suggesting 30C plus in the South east of England, while we on the other hand we will get more rain - but no hose pipe ban !!

Edinburgh trams ground to a halt again, this time caused by five baloons on a piece of string ( not City Councillors) which became entangled in the overhead wires - so £740million project stopped for a couple of hours while the power was switched off -   need to give the drivers a pair of wellies and a fishing rod with a stanley blade taped on the end !!!

Beggars out in the city - not sure why, story about one immigrant who reckons he will be able to send about £40k home to his dependents -    we are certainly mugs,  money in the bank gains no interest;  means we are not entitled to any benefits, so perhaps we should just fritter any income away then joing the benefits queue.   Felt a bit like that this morning at the chemists when I had to stand in line with  the Methadone crew.

Had a wee wander through the town this morning and for the first time saw the plaque in the Grassmarket where a German Zephlinn dropped a bomb in 1916 - and took time to read the boards outside the pubs relating tales of Biddy Milligan and The Last Drop where the public hangings took place, probably not as vicious as the actions of the current middle eastern terrorist groups.

Fortunately we live in a society steeped in history, a beautiful city which attracts visitors from around the world and has raised comment from many over the years.

He would certainly get a surprise at the changes now, as would John Muir, our East Lothian explorer who is also renouned around the World.

 

An IPA motor cycle section weekend in Wales

Winding the clock back to last weekend and I found a few photos of my trip to Wrexham with the IPA British Motorcycle section.

Here we are heading off on Saturday morning from the Premieto one of their r Inn, Town Centre , Wrexham,
then it was off into the wilds of Welsh Wales .   We did stop, as I reported earlier, at the Ponderossa on top of the Horseshoe Pass , where I spooted this unusual replical of a Ural Combination.

The car park was very busy, although the Police did tell us that there were a lot less than usual,

Really strange how we had no problems with our bikes in Europe, leaving them unattended, not a problem,  yet in Edinburgh we had three knicked by the local yobs.  In Italy  Mr McIinally and the guys took the micky out of me when I was seated in the shade.  Here we had our own security man who made it his business  to keep an eye on the  bikes , cheers Mr Foulton.

 

 

 

A walk in the high park.

Home after my trip to the shops,  but I did stop for a super bowl of mussels in white wine at the Mercat Grill, excellent - and for me a change from my usual choices.

Changed and out for a walk, before the rain came on -  same route as yesterday, into the Penicuik Estate, and over the hidden bridge

Had a quick look into the Lost Garden but was out for a walk, not a "gander",

In the days of Baby Blaikie, on the Tv you had the choice of windows on children's TV, square, round, etc,  but for me it was a gate and in the distance, a sight well worth restoring which must have been amazing years ago,

.  Next time I should be into the garden for a closer look.

Many moons ago when Penicuik House was occupied by Sir john and lady Elizabeth Clerk, there was literally unlimited access to the esate , roads and paths, however, the current occupant, Robert Clerk, has imposed a few restrictions which do give his family a bit of privacy,  so my only views of teh new Penicuik House were somewhat limited.

Nice wak, nice day,  but I am having a serious look at using walking poles and having a bash at Nordik walking - much more effort need

ed but more beneficial.

Not a room with, but a car park with a view.

Managed a bit of a day off today, down to the pub with a new consignment of meringues and baking, then home , changed and off to Ocean Terminal.

Rooftop views, on a still clear day of the harbour ,

 Beats doing the window frames at the pub, but not quite as bad as painting the forth Road Bridge.

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.