Not just for drying clothes.

Living in a flat in the West end we have high ceilings so a pulley in
the kitchen is a great place to dry clothes. Also a good place to dry
my home made pasta. Easier than I thought to make, but not on the
first attempt I will admit, but this second batch was tasty and very
filling.

Getting to grips

My cousin Judith, from the far flung fields of Lincolnshire, dropped by and we took her out for a wee cruise.  Usual weather requiring a double reefed main and a handkerchief of genoa.  Once underway Judith was on the helm.

And you say that the boat could capsize and we would all drown if I get this wrong?

Actually it's not all that difficult.

Steady as she goes, aye aye.

Quite fun this, what was all the fuss about?

Alternative activites for windy days

Dear reader, as you know we have been on the boat this week, sailing around our local Clyde waters. As luck would have it we have been subject to a windy spell of weather, nearly all from an Easterly direction. On Wednesday at Largs it was like the Levanter off Gibraltar, screaming down the hill and giving me the willies about even getting off the berth, so we decided to head South to the Robert Burns Museum in Alloway, near Ayr.  For any of you that have been to a supper at the end of January or appreciate the musings of our national wordsmith this is a good day out.

There is the museum itself, where there is a collection of memorabilia on Burns life and some interesting interactive displays.  At the back of the building a cafe restaurant which opens onto a well laid out garden.

Then you can take the short walk down a path to the cottage where Burns was born.  On the way you pass some fun sculptures of characters from his poems, wee sleekit, cow'rin tim'rous beastie here, which for those of you who know your Burns, which I don't, will appreciate was a metaphor for the working class farmers being downtrodden by the land owners.

A Tam o Shanter wind vane, pointing to the East wind.



The cottage.

The bed that Rabbie and his siblings were born in.

The grate.

Brig o' Doon bridge where Tam's mare lost her tail to the pursuing witch, who couldn't follow them over the running water, the River Doon.  Good day out and if you're like me and find the Scot's and local Ayrshire words unfathomable then there are useful translations next to all of the scripts on display.  Maybe something I need in the blog to explain what I'm on about?

Windy with showers

We have been having a few days away on the boat, not going too far
just around the Firth of Clyde. We were thinking of returning to
Glasgow this morning as the forecast was pretty grim but Julie
insisted that we have a go and it was one of the best days of the
season.
Great sail over to Kilchattan Bay for lunch and we are here in Largs
in a calm sunny evening. Tomorrow is also forecast to be horrible
too, well we'll wait and see.
It was great to see Brian and Ian yesterday for what again turned out
to be a great day's sail. Ian proved to be a terrific Quartermaster
on the wheel and Brian wasn't bad when he got a chance. Should have
taken a photograph when they were on board.
Apologies about the dippy photo of me cooking a tuna rice recipe but I
was told it had to go on, something about women's lib.

Unfortunate day for some

I don't particularly like displaying other people's misfortunes but
they are a diversion from the normal routine. This morning a poor
yachtsman found himself on Lady's Rock being buffeted by a strong ebb
tide. Not clear how he managed it, there was little wind, we'll be
generous and assume that it was his engine that failed at a critical
time. Lady's Rock is at the South end of Lismore Island and we pass
14 or so times a day, as I have posted in the past you have to be wary
of the tides around here otherwise you could easily end up on the
beach. The Oban lifeboat was out there in double quick time and
hauled him off before the tide went out too far, so hopefully not too
much damage.