cycle brain

One of the big changes over the last year has been that after living within walking distance of the shop for nearly all of its 23 years (latterly only 2 minutes away) I've moved outside of Perth. The shop now is a 25-35 minute cycle away.

When we lived in the city centre my other half was doing almost the same journey in the opposite direction. He would be a bit grumpy if he had to take the car. I never really understood it, despite being a weekend & holiday cyclist myself. He would enthuse all the time about the changing wildflowers and the birds he'd spotted on his journey. He'd sometimes encourage/nag me to come along with him in the morning and then I'd cycle home before the shop opened, sort of a pretend cycle commute, but I never really kept it up for any length of time. And anyway, I still hadn't got it. But I do now, from day 1, which was so foggy that I could only see a few feet in front of me. I couldn't understand why in coldest darkest rainiest November I was cycling along with a big smile on my face.

During the time before Christmas, when I'm in the shop all day every day for 5/6 weeks, my other half commented on how much better I seemed to cope with it. Of course there are times when I don't really look forward to it (usually at the end of a wet day) but half a mile in and it's all gone. I think it's been my saviour while building works next to the shop have being going on this last year and a half. I might even have thrown in the towel. Whether it's to do with endorphins or the space to think about things, or the changing seasons, the wildflowers; whatever it is it does good things. My other half now has a much shorter cycle to work and I feel his loss!

stockholm & helsinki

In the absence of summer.... a wee look back to a watery Nordic trip from this time last year. Never quite got round to blogging about it before. We had a few days in Stockholm before taking the ferry over to Helsinki for a few more. Before we left the weather was dismal (here & there) so we packed accordingly, but on arrival we hit a bit of a heatwave. It was hot!!

For anyone who has been to Stockholm (or Helsinki) you'll know that it's not cheap, so it was a diet of bread, cheese & water for us for most of the time (I won't embarass myself by listing all the food items I managed to pack into my suitcase beforehand!), and it was probably the most sober holiday for a long time (my husband is a brewer so beer usually features high up on the agenda) but we definately made the most of eating outside.   
   

One of the best things we did in Stockholm was to hire some bikes and get out and about around the many islands. It's such a joy to cycle there as there are cycle-lanes absolutely everywhere. It feels extremely safe - even in the middle of the city. And it was a perfect way to get about in the heat. I couldn't recommend it more.

  

We decided to book the overnight ferry to Helsinki after being told by a friend that it would be just as cheap or cheaper than a night's accomodation elsewhere. It wasn't. At least not compared to the places we usually stay! Oh well, we all have our different budgets (perhaps he's not quite a bread & cheese kind of guy). Having said that we both thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Our cabin on the ferry! (complete with faux view)  

This was our first time in Helsinki (I've been to Stockholm once before, K a couple of times) so would have liked to spend a bit more time here to get our bearings. Would have been great to get out and about on bikes here too. It was extremely hot (you don't quite get that from the photos) so we spent a lot of time lurking in the shadows.  

   

cycling in islay & jura

A few pics from our wee cycle/camping trip to Islay & Jura last week. Despite the much wetness, damp camping, brain freeze, and looking like a midden for 3 days, this is what made it all worthwhile.....

waiting for the ferry at Kennacraig

the 8th century Kildalton Cross

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Islay is all about the whisky so of course we had to visit some of Islay's eight whisky distilleries (and Jura's one).

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Debbie's cafe in Bruichladdich

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Finlaggan

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Port Askaig

looking over to Jura

The Paps of Jura coming into view

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ferry over to Jura

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the walled garden at Jura House

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Had a really nice time, lovely scenery and met some lovely people (between the wetness). The final night we gave up on the camping and got a room in the Port Askaig Hotel.....

.....but just to show you it ain't all glamour this was our first night's camping. Tent put up in the dark in the Kennacraig ferry terminal carpark. Four tent pegs and tied to the car!