To think I watched that game from beginning to end – watching England was like watching paint dry .. they put nothing into the match – bored their fans to death and came away with one point —
The Yanks put everything they had into the game showing no little skill except in front of goal – had their fans on their feet throughout and came away with one point —
Where did I put my library book? Landlines by Raynor Winn about struggling against adversity on the Cape Wrath Trail during Covid is much more interesting — so far 👍
It’s impossible to tell where Seamus goes at night but he arrives at the back door most mornings looking as if he had just gone three rounds with Mike Tyson —
He wolf’s down his brekkie as if it is in danger of being nicked – struts indoors – claims the cushion nearest the fire and that’s his for at least the next six hours —
Mid-evening sees a demand for more food then rain – hail or snow he is off on the prowl again.
We had our knuckles gently inrapped by the vet this morning as Loki – our flat coat retriever – went through his annual checkup —
A visit to the scales saw the big lad gross 36.5kgs!
I had thought he was looking rather well as he approaches the six year mark nicely muscled out with a shine to his coat. Previous visits have seen him gross around 33 – 34 and a bit kgs so this is his heaviest ever.
My own recent enforced rest may have had the added welcome benefit of helping my poorly knee but it did see a few extra pounds go on around the waist – so big lad – it looks like you and I are going on a diet – especially with Christmas just round the corner 😋
Looking west through Glen Artney late this afternoon —and another —Feel the heat —Oops! Who put the fire out?That’s a wee bit warrmer —Warming up again 🤠
There was a time when the oil rigs would have an old fishing vessel on Standby in case of accidents requiring surface support —
Now that Mr Putin is threatening to run amok the Norwegians have had to send out a gunboat to guard their rigs – changed days – and not for the better —
The wee 350cc single cylinder motor in the Classic is turbine smoothe at any of the revs I have used so far. I think I read somewhere that this is down to it having two balancer shafts but I may have been reading about another bike – my auld heid doesn’t always retain the minutiae for long these days.
Whatever – there isn’t even a tremor through the seat – footpegs – narrow bars and mirrors. This would be great if I wanted a closeup view of my barn door shoulders which were useful for knocking people down as a flying wing forward on the rugby field. Not so easy to tuck out of the way when I raced motorbikes during a mid-life crisis in my later years.
No worries – help is at hand in a box down in my shed where I have a pair of Yamaha V-Max mirrors that last saw the light of day over twenty years ago on my first XJR 1300SP. The chrome is still as good as new and luckily Royal Enfield have used the same right and lefthand thread on their mirrors too —
Sorted! I found them a life-saver during the initial slow-paced ‘running in’ – with every second vehicle in these country districts being a tunnel visioned White Van Man running to a computer programmed delivery schedule.
So what’s next? Probably a tidy set of pannier bags if I can find ’em – so I don’t have to swing my gammy leg over that tailpack full of tools and ‘just-in-case’ stuff that I insist on running with. One of the drawbacks of being ‘old school’ 🤠
One thing I didn’t expect when I bought the wee Royal Enfield was the amount of attention it gets when parked up in the street – any street – mostly from folks who had bikes – or were wives of bikers in their far-off youth —
It must be something to do with the registration number which is at least fifty years old – perhaps more 🤠
With apologies to Snow Patrol for stealing their thunder – but now that my RE350 Classic has a few hundred miles under its’ wheels the motor is loosening up and I can spin her over without feeling she might tighten up or fall apart.
Nice to know she will hold her own on dual carriageways and easily sit with the traffic on ‘A’ roads. Bend swinging on lesser roads comes easy to the Classic – the limiting factor being ma heid as I have never used these OEM Ceat tyres she is shod with before. Suffice to say they haven’t given the slightest twitch even on our cold and wet leaf strewn November roads.
Roll on Spring when she’s fully run in and no doubt fitted with some of my favourite rubber – availability of tyres in the correct sizes will be the deciding factor when that time comes —
I’ve got to thank Royal Enfield for taking me back to old-style biking where even the cup of tea and the after-ride washdown becomes one of life’s pleasures 😊👍
Dad – home on compassionate leave on completion of training in the south —
He came home as a sergeant with a chest full of medals four years later – having fought around the Med – and up through Italy – before crossing the Alps and ending his war in helping clear up Belsen Concentration Camp —
That last photo was taken April 1945 .. the camp doctor is the guy standing front and centre surveying just a small portion of his handiwork —
Now – 77 years later the world stands idly bye and watches another deranged dictator commit similar crimes against humanity – will we never learn?
from-a-distance 