Colour

(sorely torn between this, and a nice close encounter with a Little Grebe pair)

Bad day for cycling; good day for wildlife. If only because, as far as I'm aware, wildlife doesn't get punctures. I'm now, of course, imagining the applications of a duck puncture repair kit... Anyway, any regular readers of my blips will know that any time I schedule a wee ride of my own, for my own pleasure, something invariably goes wrong.

Attempting a ride from Edinburgh to Aberdeen with my brother and I got a call when we'd made it to Stonehaven that my boiler had exploded; heading to the East Fortune Air Show last year and my tyre exploded dramatically in Musselburgh, leaving a three inch tear in the tube - punctures feature regularly, spaced over three bikes and at least half a dozen tyre combos. And so the Cotic >X<, the new bike, got in on the act today, and that was just an early morning 20 miler. And naturally it went at the furthest point from the house. And of course I didn't have a repair kit and pump because I don't have a wee saddlebag for that bike yet (the Kaff has a big Carradice that also went on the fixed wheel).

Grrrr! Anyway, it happened at Cramond, and at least let me spot a juvenile Great Crested Grebe off the sea wall (of course being on the 'fast' bike I only had my wee camera bag, and so my 200mm lens - the 500mm fits in the Carradice - and so the shot is hideously cropped).

There ensued another busy day much like yesterday, getting stuff done. Garage tidied (reminds me, what time does the tip close on a Sunday?) and punctures fixed (the Kaff had one from earlier in the week, I just switched to the >X< to commute); the wee wander to the Figgy had the regulars showing off; but now should really take stuff down the tip; then there's some final garden type stuff to take care of; then dinner, which will involve cracking crab claws open and smoking scallops; oh, and the hoovering and cleaning the bathroom.

What on earth am I doing still on here?!?!