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'Hutte' news....... 24th July....06.30- looks like being another warm humid day but there is a touch of fog around the Firth just now. Off to get organized for the SCHR Meeting at Cupar. Update later. 23rd July..... 11.00 picked up Jems as arranged and have been working on 'kirkstuff' for a meeting in Cupar tomorrow morning....so I have been 'panickin' Alberto style....which is fairly laid back panicking! I have done most of the work but there are things I want to do yet. Maggie is out in the garden sorting her pumpkins out...it seems we are going to have three or four of them! Pumpkin pie I have heard of, so we will probably mooch a recipe from Donna or Helen (of the cauld feet and lives in Aztec, New Mexico) and do some real American cooking with the innards....supposed tae be good for you! That reminds me I have to go and make a bread. Update when less busy! 13.30 ...Jockie Murray and Davie Budd, who I used tae work beside on the building sites, dropped in for a surprise visit. They hinnae changed...Jockie is 74 and looks the same as he looked when he was 50...(does that mean he looked auld when he was 50?)...and Davie still covered in pent.....and his van fu' o' empty turps drums! We talked aboot politics, you know Iraq, the Middle East etc ....s-x was never mentioned once...just like on the building sites....it was braw seeing them again and catching up with some 'penters' gossip! A guid laugh! 19.30 been up tae Alberto's wood and scoffed some mair rasps....tomorrow I will take a container up and bring some hame for Maggie...maybe! The photograph is for all St Monans exiles....I couldn't miss the roses by the caravan site entrance...very romantic! I am off tae get stuff ready for tomorrow morning at Cupar. 22nd July....Breezy morning (F3-5 NW) with a bit of cloud around....cool for the time of year...forecast is for a spell of summer 14.00 ...roll on winter and the cool days...this is murder....it is 77f (25c) in the shade in Ivy Cottage garden. Alberto cannae stand the heat, it makes him all excitable and stuff. It is another braw day but windier than yesterday, and there is a touch of the 'thundery headache' in the air. I think I shall beetle off tae Alberto' Wood where it is nice and cool...and I have been neglecting it. Maggie is happy as Tesco arrived and she has been sampling some of the goodies.....she cannae go to Alberto's Wood cos' she would fall over everything...... busy checking the insides of her eyelids in the hutte just now. Offski now...update later! 17.30 ...Alberto's Woood is 'bearing fruit' as you can see from the photograph. Those rasps, and quite a few more like them, are no longer there...... Alberto is very fond of rasps and shall bike up there tomorrow for another little snack! I am off tae Jems in a wee while and will update when I get back. 22.00 ---Had a busy evening at Jems sorting oot his photographs and music....managed tae make another CD for his car....ours is an old car and still uses tapes! Tomorrow I have tae pick Jems up at Enster as his car is going in to get it's brakes fixed...some computer thingy aboard the car said they were needing done. A nice sky as I biked home but a wee bit to dark tae photograph....quite romantic and I thought....Alberto!.... remember tae go up tae the Wood tomorrow for mair rasps! Off tae dream now as we have an early start with Jems in the morning! P.S. I 'saved' Maud (my pet spider that lived in the wing mirror...see 15th July). We are going up tae Auchnagatt next week and I thought Maud might be better off in the 'Hutte'.....until Maggie finds her cobwebs! How do I know she was a 'girl? Female spiders by and large have big 'butts' whereas male ones dinnae have much in the line of 'butts' at all! On that note I wish you all Goodnight .... or Good Morning to New Zealand! 21st July.....bright breezy (F4-5 NW) autumnal type of morning....a grand morning for annoying somebody! Thinking 11.30 - been tae Leven, got the ink that I needed ....and I have been doing a bit of pruning in the front garden since since I got back. In the afternoon I am going tae put together a wee picnic and drag Maggie up tae Gillingshill for a cup o' tea and some fresh air.....it is 65f in the shade in Ivy garden (that's just over 18 o' they other things...Celsius) so it is a really pleasant day. Must go...big 'flap' on...got the soup tae get organized....'The Boss' is pruning stuff in her bit o' the garden now! 16.00 - back from Gillingshill....it was beautiful and I got a few photographs....while Maggie played with the video camera till she ran oot o' Battery power! It is 72f in the shade in Ivy garden now (22c) so it has been a summertime day for a change....the beach is busy...and Jems is oot there sailing. The photograph is of a Spear Thistle (at Gillingshill) the classic Scottish Thistle......it's for all you exile Scots oot there! 21.00 - we have a Tesco delivery tomorrow morning so I cannot go anywhere early apart form collecting my paper....when I do that I continue on out of Elie and bike home via Balbuthie Loan and Kinneuchar in an effort tae get fit...ish! I did go out this evening tae Balcaskie to photograph some 200 year old beech trees.....Maggie, sometimes known as 'The Boss', sorted out the filming she did this afternoon. I am now off to make the Horlicks before bedtime! 20th July....06.30 - nice bright cool autumnal morning with a F3-4 NW wind...nice morning for a bike run. Maggie is feeling a bit 'iffy' with a 12.30 - went round by Balbuthie and Kinneuchar on the bike and got some photographs...it was fairly breezy (and still is). Since then I have scanned the paper, tormented Maggie and taken some photographs of the flooers in her bit o' the gairden. The rose is for Barbara...cos she likes roses....it's one that grows by the back door and always produces braw flowers...and will remind her of Hill o' Tarvit...and that I have yet to go there! Off tae see how the gowf is getting on...update later. 20.00 - well the golf was quite exciting though it might have been good tae see Greg Norman(the 'auld guy') actually win....but it wasn't tae be.....but I do like Padraig Harrington and he certainly deserved tae win.....the shot at the 17th was something else! It has turned out a braw evening but there is still a squally wind from the NW..... I am just back from a wee run on the bike efter sitting near enough all afternoon watching golf! Tomorrow we are going to Leven....probably by bus but it depends on how Maggie is! 19th July.....08.00 - a grey morning, but dry with a F4 W wind....looks like showers. I am off tae have a shower, breakfast then up tae Elie for the paper. (Maggie is resting her eyelids in the living room so she must have been 'up' in the middle of the night.) 10.00 - just been tae Enster tae buy feed for the birds and it is now pouring with rain...probably only a shower but a fairly long yin! I am going to do some work on the Chainwalk page....get the photographs in 'order' etc....it's a guid day for doing that. Actually it's a fairly wild day now with wind and rain....not nice for being on holiday! 19.30...we've been watching the gowf ...good tae see Greg Norman playing like he used to, maybe even better, steadier, but it is all wide open for the last day. We went out on Rum Rig around 13.00, the wind seemed not too bad (and the sea was fairly smoothe) for about 3 minutes with only the mainsail up, (we never did get the foresail out) then we started tae get hit with squalls...we sailed out intae the Firth aboot 1 mile but things got worse...at one time Jems says the water was over her 'gunnels' ...after a few knock abouts we set sail for Largo Bay but the squalls were becoming more frequent and you only got about 1 minutes sailing for 4 minutes or so of squall dodging ...sailing near enough into the wind and getting nowhere slowly. Eventually Jems started the engine and we motored into Elie Bay. I have too say it was worse than the time we went oot wi' Sydney last year (Sydney lost his 'bunnet' on that trip) and it is the first time I have ever had 'dry mouth' (I am a landlubber after all) with all the bashing around we were getting. When we were out in the Firth the wind would be NW Force 4 gusting F6 so it was fairly fearsome....for me....I have tae say I did not relax on this trip though I did quite enjoy watching for, and dodging the squalls....which meant not much progress being made....but I was surprised at my ability tae 'read the watter'! We had video and still cameras with us but didn't manage tae take any pictures afloat! The picture shows 'SuzieQ' who had just been tae Enster and back and also found it a bit bouncy....and they didn't have a sail! 18th July....08.00 22.30...Jems is off home, Maggie is off tae bed so I will now finish off the dishes, tidy up have a wee sort out of 'stuff' for my Chainwalk page . It is noticeably darker tonight...the nights are drawin' in, and it is only 159 days till Christmas. In New Zealand they will notice that the days are getting longer. I guess it would be ideal tae have a house here in Scotland and one in NZ so you could live a life of permanent summers, ....probably be a lot healthier too! I may just dream about NZ tonight...because the weather here has been so dreich lately! Going to the harbour tomorrow tae film and maybe sail but the wind forecast is for F5-6. Will have a cup o' tea on Rum Rig anyway! 17th July....07.30 - dreich morning with 'Scotch Mist' blowing in on what feels like an eastery direction wind (F2)....a guid day for watching 14.30 Took Maggie's bike oot tae try and get the gears set, so I went up tae the Chapel and pottered around there...the photograph shows the kind of day we have had ...though we have had short spells of sunshine. I couldn't get the gears tae work properly at all so I will set about doing that this evening ....if it is not raining! Maggie has been watching the golf...and so have I ...but I get 'frustrated' efter aboot an hour and have tae dae something else! Off tae sort oot something tae eat. 22.00 Didnae manage tae fix Maggie's bike so I downloaded a set of instructions which should dae the trick.....if I can unscramble the 'gobbledegook'. Tomorrow is forecasting rain so it will mean another days golf watching mostly.....plus trying tae fix the gears on Maggies bike in between times! 16th Jul 14.30 -It is fitting that today's photograph should be something to do with the local Post Office which is closing down today....hopefully a PO will start up somewhere else in the village but it will not be the same....not so many years ago this was the building where mail got sorted out and was delivered by 'local posties'.......now half of what used to be the PO is a holiday home! (The East Neuk is going to 'morph' into one big 'holiday home' owners...Ghost Neuk!) I suppose it could be called progress. I did go tae Cloughret Ha' and it must have been a long haul for a horse and cart...I guess that Cloughret H' had horses that would be used to trace a heavy laden cart up that particular part o' the road! 15th July....There is a strong wind from the west this morning but it still dry and fairly warm. 'JB' goes back tae Sussex this morning so we have a slight panic on (no we hinnae the mislaid tickets have been found).... however his train leaves Kirkcaldy at 11.42 which is not to early. When we left for Kirkcaldy I noticed a spider had spun a web from the wing mirror (driver's side) tae the wiper blade socket...it is still there... which just shows you how strong spider webs are....! 14.45 -I am away oot on the bike for a relax.... and tae burn aff some energy and calories! Update efter. 17.00 I went up tae Balniel via Colinsburgh and Balcarres....it was really braw and I certainly have burnt aff the extra energy! Maggie is doing something in the kitchen and I am going alang tae Jems' for a play on his computer......we have quite a lot to do tonight so I had better get organized..... meanwhile 'JB' will be arriving in London Kings Cross just now about tae start the trickiest bit of the journey....get from KingsX to Victoria or wherever by Undergrouind...during rush hour! 22.30 JB got home safely exactly on time....Ivy Cottage is quiet again though I am sure Alberto will make his usual early morning singing (?) noises in the shower! The Elie Post Office closes tomorrow but I am glad to say that we are not losing Graham and Elizabeth.....their contribution to the villages has been huge, and willingly given,....and luckily for us this will continue.....(the Post Office will probably resurface somewhere else in the village) The spider is still hiding behind the wing mirror....I think I may give her a name....! |
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06.30 "Good Morning or Good Night" from a fired up Alberto -it looks like being a no bad day in the East Neuk, pale grey clouds with loads o' blue holes....warm and less windy. Got Jems to pickup around 08.30 after which I must go up to Alberto's wood, apart from that, and some pruning, naething else planned.... now off tae have my shower and 'singing' session before brekkie. Yesterday I 'murdered' The Alford Cattle Show...today...probably Amazing Grace or something like that!
weather, warmer down south and warmer here than of late!. Apart from Tesco this morning.....I have nae plans except a bit more pruning in the front garden.....Maggie is 'happy' 'cos she will have her Tesco stuff tae 'play' with. Off up for the paper!
of annoying somebody reminds me that I am taking Maggie tae Leven this morning so I'm off tae shower and tae 'belt oot' some Mark Kershner songs when I am in it....that should get things movin' here in The Ferry!
bug that is doing it's rounds......she wants to go shopping before the golf comes on (11 o'clock) . In the meantime I will go for a quick run on the bike round by Balbuthie tae get myself fired up!
dreich morning again but dry at present.....if the weather keeps on like this we are going to be suffering from SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder)....something that is more usual in the winter months. I'm off up for the Courier and tae catch up with the local gossip. 17.30 this has been a frustrating day for Alberto....the weather has been too unsettled for doing anything long term ootside. I first went tae Enster tae the Store (my favourite lassie was working) for some messages...when I got back I set about fixing the gears on Maggie's bike which is more or less done....they needed a guid oil though the front gear change needs fine tuning...I then fancied going oot for a sail but there was nae wind then it started tae rain (and still is) so I ended up watching the gowf! I need some real exercise tomorrow so Cloughret Ha' it will have tae be if it is not raining...either that or a long sail...I'll see what the forecast is later! Today's picture shows the kind of day we have had....if it wisnae for the 'white hoose' we could say it wiz a grey day!
the The Open on the tele, though it may brighten up later...then I'll see what Maggie wants to do ootside! She will want to watch the golf right through probably 'cos she really like the gowf...so dae I.... but I get frustrated when I build up excess energy during the day so I have tae get oot tae burn it aff! That's Alberto...maybe he should dae mair 'ooverin'! (I did that last night before I went tae bed).
y.....07.30 nice bright and breezy morning, and cooler, more like late September....good biking weather. Off along for the papers before we go along tae the coffee morning....then Chris and Jems for a blether....and anither cuppa with goodies. Will head for Cloughret Ha' in the afternoon tae bike "aw' they calories aff"! 12.00 the coffee morning seemed tae be thrivin' when we left...I had two and a half coffee fixes so it was a success for me....and was a good mix of locals and visitors....we then visited Chris and Jems where I 'partook' of lemon tea and mair 'succulent necessities'....biking is a must this 'avo' methinks! Off tae make the soup....Maggie is resting in the 'hutte' wi Mark Kershner (a CD) so I expect she will end up dozing off as Mark is a relaxing singer...unlike Alberto who is nae singer! Update later. 
Update when we get back from Kirkcaldy. 14.30 well that is JB safely on his way sooth....cannae wait tae have him back...I'm bored with tormentin' Maggie already and will have tae go oot on the bike tae burn aff this excess energy! The photograph shows JB's train leaving Kirkcaldy at11.45 or so! Maggie wanted tae go shoppin' so we stopped at Aldi's on the way hame.....I dinnae particularily like shoppin' so I put a few wee surprises intae the trolley...one of them was a wee pair o' binoculars....just tae cheer myself up! 
