Crossed both fingers and toas, no rain today

Great rejoicing as I managed to get the grass cut this evening,  and, even managed a one hundred mile run out on the "Time Machine" today, down the A1 to Duns where I popped in to see Andy at Border Bikes, said hello to the "Steed of Steel",  and then back over the moors via Longformacus , Gifford, and Gorebridge.

Man who has hit the headlines, American Dentist Walter Palmer, has become a household name worldwide having taken himself off to Africa to go game hunting,  linked up with a couple of poachers and lured "Cecil", a lion being studied by Oxford University off the reserve and then shot and skinned it. Massive uproar about the incident, not helped by the fact that he had already caught having killed a bear in the USA.    I am sure that somewhere along the line he will get his "come uppers".

Watching "Police Interceptors"  on the TV, filmed in Yorkshire, very interesting, especially seeing how quickly the Police were responding to incidents.  Staff taking part in the programme seem to be very enthusiastic and well motivated. Wrong to suggest that they are better than Police Scotland, however with the recent adverse publicity it does raise some questions as to the effectiveness of this one massive Force.   
No excuses for the mistakes which were made regarding the recent fatal accident at Stirling,    however, thinking back to my early years in the Police, it was standard procedure to prosecute any driver who had lost control of their vehicle and been involved in an accident.  The Road Traffic Act decreed that you had to be in control of your vehicle at all times, so speeding, losing control and crashing would be an offence.   Nowadays, the majority of accidents are left for the Insurance companies to resolve.

Home to yet more rain.

Start again, having lost previous attempt,

Made it home yesterday after an hours delay at Heathrow,  BA seem to have lost an aircraft somewhere - so it was a bit of a sore bum waiting -  mind you we sat outside Fortrum and Mason's outlet in Terminal 5.  Not sure what these shoppers will do when England introduce the 5p charge for carrier bags !!    No more posing with fancy bags,   mind you, if they pay what these shops charge for their wares then they can afford the 5p.

My seat companion was from Tel Aviv and turned out to be a whisky buff and had photos of his ninety eight bottles of malt at home. Made it an interesting trip home, especially with the complimentary 1/4 gill  (double double) en route.

Arrived home to yet more rain, garden saturated and flowers totally wrecked,  unlike the drought type conditions down south.

As promised earlier,  photos of the two motorcycles I was looking at, and if weather is dry next time, perhaps a wee shottie.

 Royal Enfield

 Kawasaki 900

Managed to find a Lincoln City Police badge when raking in a second hand store in Staines, something to add to my assorted collection.

Where has all the sunshine gone ?

Sunday a.m. here in the London area, and , and of course it is still raining !!   We think they were telling us porkies when they said the weather had been good for weeks.  However, it has obviously been very dry as some of the crops here have failed due to lack of water.

Another day at the shops and in the company of William Hill,  where, despite having had a chat en route to Tom the horse his tips were rubbish and our pennies went straight into the old nags kitty.

Met William's neighbour who produced two motorcycles from the back of his garage , a Royal Enfield Bullitt, immaculate condition, low mileage and a retro 900cc Kawasaki roadster, also immaculate -  photos to follow when I get home.  More bikes to see today I think.

Visited a local Italian restaurant (Il Rustico) last night where we had a lovely meal, nice night out.

Just like home !!!

Well, Friday could have been a typical day in Penicuik, it rained from morning till night with grey skies, a bit windy so nothing unusual for us.   Mind you have woken up to bright sunshine this morning.   Back to yesterday, took ourselves out for breakfast and ended up at the Café at Fairoaks airfield, which is near to the village.   Even discovered that when I win the lottery I can fly down here from Edinburgh on a wee tottie plane-  they actually do runs several times a week with medical supplies.
Headed for the town of Staines ( Scottish word for stones !!!) wherethe ladies headed to a massive indoor shopping complex whilst silly me took myself off for a wander in the wet,  even found a "Greggs" (which has a home base at Loanhead, Midlothian).

Managed to pop into a William Hills, where a small donation was given for the benefit of horses in distress ! or is it me who is distressed as all failed to get a nose past the winning post.

Tea was a real treat, "Scottish lasagne"  (mince and tatties) brilliant, washed down with several draughts of a mild vino tinto.

Not trying to lower the tone of the blog, but I did find an article in the paper yesterday about a new material being used in the manufacture of men's trousers.  material is designed to absorb the odours of flatulence (farts that is).

Ongoing saga about the massive traffic holdups on the south coast, with seventy four miles of commercial lorries waiting to cross through the Chunnel.   Major problems with illegal immigrants trying to get into the UK from France. French authorities seem to be taking very little action.  One thing for sure, this would never have been allowed to happen at a  German port.

Name the day !!!

Not sure if it is an age thing but we were sitting here in the sun - YES - sunshine as I am visiting the Johnston's of Chobham in the region of Londinium (as the Romans may well have said),  Comment by Mrs B about why young Stuart is working so late, this being Saturday - me , I thought it was Friday, and then after a few minutes pondering William had to tell us it was only Thursday!!!   Too much high living perhaps.

Left home on Wednesday afternoon and ran into big tail backs on the A720 city by pass, total grid lock due to the new road works at the Gogar round a bout which are to last for forty weeks. Add this to the folks heading into the town to see Lionel Ritchie what a jam -  RGB took twohours for what should have been a fifty minute trip.

Into Edinburgh Airport and had my first trip through the new security search area, long queues,so it took a while to get through,  Mrs B used it last week and it took longer to get through the queue than the flight took to Belfast.

The airport is really quite smart now, lots of good shops, bars etc, certainly going upmarket as it gets busier.

Flew to London with British Airways, which left on time, arrived on time, plane was new, spotless and comfortable and the two double G & T's en route went down a treat.    Terminal 5 London Heathrow, no problems getting out or being picked up.

As I have said already, sun has been shining all day which is a treat for us, pity rain is forecast for tomorrow.  Another day, another story.

A few more days of life,

Sunday was good with all the sport etc taking place.  So Andy Murray fought back after all for a fantastic win at the tennis.  Young Mr Dunne, eventually lost things a bit, dropped several shots at the Open and did not even manage to win the Silver medal for the best amateur player,  hard luck -  but at least folks know who he is now.

Monday, off to the airport to collect the three Ann's who had been having a bit of an away weekend in Belfast which they all seemed to enjoy -  caused a bit of a stir in the village pub when their host appeared with three women in tow.

Longish run down to Ayr to do a job there,  despite the bad weather took the motorbike and enjoyed the run,  the roads were pretty busy so there was no point in playing heroes, just took my time and dodged the potholes.     the road from the A74 through to Muirkirk was really busy so it looked like a lot of the "heavies"  were cutting across country to avoid the M8 which was closed at Livingston due to a multiple crash , fire and fatality.

Popped into Mauchline to catch up with Dennis and Carol Anne who I have not seen for ages, good wee blether - lovely to see them.  Lovely museum to Robert Burns in the village, pub named after Poosie Nancy, and nearby a statue to "heilan mary"

Folks have gone on for long enough about the beggars on the streets of Edinburgh, one every fifty yards it seems, from genuine homeless to the Eastern European run by the  gangs - saw one lady last week being dropped off by her minders and settled in for the day.  However, latest incident happened when a tourist told a beggar he had no pound coins in his pocket and was then then stabbed in the stomach with a syringe.  He was bleeding badly, sought help at the Scotsman Hotel where he was staying and was taken to the hospital for treatment.  The Police managed to arrest the culprit,  but it does not reflect well on the City,  where there have been numerous complaints about the beggars over the past few years.

Now getting "fantoosh" new modern bus shelters as a French company have won the contract, so the old shelters are being removed and these new objects are popping up in their place - you can charge your phones, go interactive, lots of things for the hooligans to vandalise,  however, when the wind blows, there is little or no shelter from the elements,  design over practicality.

Into the Royal Infirmary yesterday, still amazed how many folks / and patients are happily puffing away at their fags under the NO Smoking signs.   BUT the Doctor did comment on the fact that despite everything I was still hale and hearty looking !!! 

Sport - spoiled for choice.

Despite a couple of days of  rather non summery  weather which has put me off having a ride out on the motor cycle,  and after a couple of very early rises, which necessitated a wee bit of a snooze in the afternoon - lots of sport on the TV to watch.

Open Golf at St Andrews has shown how fickle Scottish weather can be, any time of the year, causing a major upset by stopping play all day yesterday and forcing play to take place tomorrow,  some of the players were complaining about the weather  ( fair weather golfers!!)  heard it all.  One consolation being that those who can go tomorrow will get in for £10.    Big scramble for hotel beds tonight as many thought they would be heading for home this evening - so bet your boots some folks will make a lot of cash tonight.   Nice to see two Scots sitting in the top six at the moment.  Young Eddie Pepperrel playing a blinder at 10 under and then goes and whacks a ball into the side of the Old Course Hotel  !!!  Double bogey in the offing methinks.
Shame that Tiger Woods seems to have totally lost his game, some commentators are suggesting that he might retire from the game, others are saying that he just has to let his coaches sort out his problems - still a crowd puller.

Davis Cup tennis taking place, Andy Murray not doing well at the moment, just hope he can pull something out the bag, otherwise it goes to match four later in the day.  Maybe he should not have played in the doubles, where he may have picked up an injury, or  is just tired.

Tour De France, going well, very spectacular, with todays route affected by heavy rain and making roads a bit dangerous.   Bad incident yesterday with a spectator throwing a cup of urine over Chris Froome, the tour leader,   inexecuseable  behaviour, seemingly brought about by comments based on speculation in the French press, add to that riders of the Sky team being punched, just not on.    I said the same thing a while ago when thinking back to the actions of the striking miners who threw bottles of urine over the Police on the picket line at Bilston Glen.
Drove past there yesterday and despite what everyone said when the colliery closed, there are now many more people working on that site than ever did when the pit was working.

Test match at Lords,  looks like England will need to build a wall in front of their wickets to avoid a good hammering by Australia and the match finishing today.

Mercat Grill has been very busy this past two weeks which are normally a bit quieter due to the Edinburgh holidays which finish today - had a 91st birthday, few assorted birthdays, reunions, a christening and a funeral party.

Mrs B and her two friends currently over in Northern Ireland for the weekend, interesting trip to see the Titanic exhibition, and a tour of the Belfast region, Newcastle and surrounds yesterday while the sun was shining.

Going to have a different day tomorrow with a job to do in Ayr, in the morning, and later in the week off to London.

One afternoon does not a summer make.

Might well be sunny In other parts of the UK,  but somehow we have missed summer this year.  BUT having said that it turned out nice this afternoon !!!!   (one bl**dy afternoon)  so having the "Time Machine" back in the stable and needing to roughen up the new back tyre I had a run out through Biggar, Broughton, Stobo and Peebles - very nice.

Mrs B and friends had themselves a good trip to Manchester last weekend to see Bette Middler in concert at the O'2, they said she was brilliant, a "one man" show, kept everyone going and had three standing ovations at the end.

Friend Dougz, is now suffering from Lymes disease having been bitten by a tick while we were away in France,  not so good as it attacks his immune system and can take many months, longer to recover if he is lucky.

I heard a comment about a declining interest in golf, and thinking about it,  not very much on Council TV as Sky have bought up all the TV rights, so not as many people watching, and then with the effects of the recession hitting clubs who cannot survive without memberships, etc. I was up at Hillend last week and Lothianburn Golf course, now closed is rapidly being taken over by mother nature.

Similarly, our local tennis club is on the verge of being sold by the Council to a housing developer - so on one hand we are encouraged and asked to encourage youngster to take part in sport, and one the other hand the local resources are being sold off.

Someone knows something

Just watching the news about the British Tourists being sent home from Tunisia,  for a country who need tourists it will be a total disaster to their economy.  BUT  I am sure the intelligence services must know something otherwise they would not have issued the alert.    I tend to agree that this is going to play into the hands of the IS criminals.

I suppose on the positive side we might all head for Greece to put some funds in their coffers,  what a pickle they are in,  just a shame they have to depend on the Euro politicians for their support , the money we waste on Brussels could have done wonders for Greece.

Everyone said it was only a matter of time before the cuts being made by Police Scotland would affect the public,   well Mr House, explain how a couple (one dead) could lie in a car for three days after an accident !!! Hopefully Lomara Bell will recover from her injuries,  but only time will tell.   Just a shame he never buggered off ages ago and let someone who cared about proper policing and not kowtowing to his pals in Scottish politics.  Watched him on TV tonight, how scruffy this para military uniform looks,  what is wrong with him wearing a white shirt, collar and tie and looking smart.   Mind you, our politicians are interfering far too much in policing.   Last week one of the "hot topics" being discussed at "Bollywood" was electric dog collars !!!

Took myself down to Dalkeith tonight to see the opening evening of an exhibition held by Sharon Simpson, Caroline Gilmour and Fiona Horne, of photography, jewellery and glass work.  Lovely to see them and their work, have not seen Fiona or her sister Dot for about fifteen years.  Last time I saw Sharon I had a heart attack - yes, true.
Other former colleagues who arrived, Valerie McIlreavey, Gwendoline and Alex Calder,  good to see them.

Andy Murray, despite being on form was really up against a legend on top form today, Federar could not do wrong today.

My new "Country Seat"

For "auld yins" like myself, there is a nice new seat at the Flotterston Ranger Station, Pentland Country Park. Not sure who the wood carver is, (initials JC) but he has made a good job of the bench.

So keep your eyes peeled in case it appears in your neighbours garden sometime !!!!!

If it aint broke dont fix it,

Keep saying this but the earlier versions of Windows were fine, now this Windows 8 keeps screwing things up, I cannot even download from one of the cameras now - pain in the but.

Anyway,  despite the warm weather at Wimbledon where Mr Andy Murray is still in contention, we have rain (Scottish Sun) once again, so I would suggest that we have no hosepipe ban for at least another fortnight.   BUT the Scottish Open Golf tournament is on this week at Gullane, so drivers beware.
Was in Edinburgh couple of days ago, advice being - if you drive, leave your car or take sandwiches and a spare can of fuel; if you are a tourist, use the Park and Ride or go somewhere else.    George Street, the dearest place to park in Scotland, is now restricted to driving east only in sections, as the new cycle only lanes are now taking up the other part of the road - still does not stop the cyclists getting in the road of cars and buses.
Tram drivers tally is still rising, another pee brain knocked down playing dodge the trams out at the Gyle.

Talking of trams,  this is a shot of the Atlantic Wall, WW2 coastal defences along the coast from Zeebrugger,    lots of guns and equipment left in situ , just decommissioned by the Allies -  but between the defences and the sea is the modern tram line which runs for twenty odd miles, cheap as chips and a good trip out on a return ticket.  They need to keep clearing the tracks of sand, etc.

Tesco's daily diddle,  two half pints of double cream cost less than one pint.

Home in one piece

Eventually reached home on Wednesday evening after spending several very warm days in the saddle, not helped by the fact we were wearing full motorcycle kit - so regular stops fro cold drinks were very important.

Travelled to Amiens, and then through the battlefields of the Somme WW1,  where we stopped off at a couple of sites.  The first was at Caribou Hill where nearly the entire Royal Newfoundland regiment was wiped out in one single morning.  The site is beautifully laid out and there is a team of Canadian Volunteers on site, over for summer jobs from their Universities who give a good tour and a visitor centre with a full story of the events.  From there I went to the massive British War memorial at Thiepval where one of my relatives, Marshal Stuart Barclay is mentioned on one of the panels, as is one of my Aunt Rita's relatives, John McLeod.  It was unfortunate that the entire monument was closed off to the public as it was covered in scaffolding while being refurbished for the 100th anniversary events next year.  And the photos of the memorial will not load onto this computer for some reason.
In the village of Poiziers nearby we stopped at Tommy,s Bar, which had a super museum attached, with the outside are showing what life was like in the trenches.

Onwards to Ypres to one of our more expensive hotels, in the centre of the twon, rather than some of the cheaper ones we had used but which were on the outskirts of town although part f industrial estates.  We had made it in time to see the daily ceremony of the Last post at the Menin Gate which commemorates 54960 soldiers who loot their lives in the WW1 conflict.   The Menin Gate was originally the route taken by the soldiers into the battlefields, however the modern memorial was over the site.

The town was nearly totally obliterated during the conflict, however, it has since been painstakingly rebuilt as it was originally using old plans, drawings and photographs,  a wonderful place to visit.

 

To be continued.