Bartimaeus

I am trying to do a few exercises daily. January weather isn't always inviting for the outdoors but I am doing some indoor squats and stretches. We have been doing some sorting out on the dull days and I found a pedometer I used in a staff challenge - probably a decade or more ago. Shane put a new battery in and I definitely do a lot less walking than I did when I was working, though it is winter.

I went to meet a friend, Rhona,  at the Dalmeny village cafe, where she would be with her parents. I set off at a brisk pace to catch the bus. Briskness was necessary as I had dozed off and woken later than intended, but also it was pretty chilly so dawdling was not recommended. Shane was planning a cycle ride so I let him know to look out for frost.

 My fast pace got me to the bus stop well before the due time and in fact the previous bus arrived late so I caught it and I didn't need to hang around waiting at all. I had knitting to do on the bus, grabbed on the way out and the journey passed quickly. It was frosty at Dalmeny too. The war memorial is at the bus stop. There was knitting there too, woolly wreaths of poppies in plain and purl.

My visit to the Dalmeny Village Hall and tea with home baking passed swiftly too with chats about knitting and boats featuring prominently. One of Rhona's parents' friends, has taken to reading the Bartimaeus blog. He recognised me immediately and greeted me warmly. As I was leaving he admitted he couldn't remember my name but he has no difficulty remembering the name Bartimaeus. I hadn't remembered his name either. He came over to chat to me while I waited for bus home and mentioned that when he tried reading the blog on his phone it was hard to see the text as it was too small. I said I would pass it on to Shane to see if he could do anything or suggest a solution. While we chatted, I got a message from Shane saying 'guess where I am' and enclosing a photograph of the Forth Rail Bridge.

We weren't all that far apart at all. I sent him a snap from the bus stop in reply.

That was a relatively bright day. The weather continued to make some cupboard sorting a good use of our time. Shane fitted in some painting and I managed to get the first of the gingerbread socks finished.

Having already abandoned one pair of socks earlier in the month, just as the first was almost done, due to lack of wool, I was having a similar problem with this pair. This is a yarn set especially for socks but this pattern had a longer leg than might have been anticipated plus I had omitted to switch colour for the heel, so I  had used more of the main colour than expected. I was weighing the wool every few rows as I went down the foot so that I didn't use more then half of it. I switched colours to the toe when I was half way through the ball. It should be just enough. Knitting new patterns keeps you on your toes whether or not it is socks. 

In another mental challenge, I had signed up for an on line course entitled Understanding Brain Health: Preventing Dementia. It is free and only for four weeks, so giving me something extra to do on dark damp days. There are short tests at the end of a section, but no essays or exams to pass. It is just for interest and hopefully improving my braining learning about itself.

When doing some physical stretching, I remembered an exercise that was on a programme several years ago about features linked to longevity. Shane and I had, at that time, no difficulty performing the exercise. It involved starting standing up with your feet crossed then going from standing to sitting cross legged on the floor as smoothly and with as little support or extra movements as possible to maintain balance and also  to return to standing in the same manner.. We now tried it and found we needed an extra step or hand to get up. Still, we could practise. A day or two later we both managed to stand from sitting with our legs crossed. We might need to keep practising that.

On a sunny day we stretched our legs with a walk from North Berwick to Gullane along the John Muir Way. The light on the beach was lovely and the sea quite frisky.

Shane was taking pictures too, and a good job as my phone battery had given out. I had brought a charger to use on the train but I tried two sockets to no avail on the way there.

We continued on, dodging the lapping of the incoming tide and Shane noticed an arch in the rocks.

I was drawn to the sad sight of a lost glove, not just any glove, but one knitted with much concentration by a better knitter than me. I hope the owner finds it. Someone has made it easier to find by lifting it off the sand. 

It was still getting pretty wet though. The owner may be getting pretty cold without it.

Once off the beach we were in woodland and found a fairy walk with carved houses, toadstools and placards with poems beside each house. The children's attraction made its target audience plain with the miniature gates to allow small people through with ease. I guessed I might fit but Shane didn't promise not to mock if I got stuck.

We were both prepared to be framed posing with wings and antennae. We didn't need the top step.

Our walk was book ended by excellent café visits, first in a book shop run by volunteers for St Columba's Hospice and Cherish in Gullane, called a teashop and emporium. We caught the bus to Longniddry station. An excellent day out altogether, even it hasn't been as sunny as promised. To cap it all, Nye was cooking a Hawaiian dinner for us when we got back. We popped into a shop in the way home to buy a pineapple, our contribution to the tasty rainbow coloured veg side accompanying the slow cooked meat that was shredded. It was so well done it practically fell apart itself.

The Dalmeny visit had given us both a job. My fault used pouch was falling apart. I had annoyingly aquired a broken nail as I set out, which not only made my bus knitting harder, it caught and entirely cut through the wool at the top of the cards pocket in my knitted phone case, when I went to pay my donation. It instantly unraveled and over the next couple of days longer strands of loose wool were tangling whenever I used it. I didn't have any of the same wool but found a similar one in a different colour, took apart the old rows and knitted them back up with both strands together until the cast off in the new colour. I hope it's stronger. It was every bit as satisfying making good that which was breaking then it was creating it in the first place.

Shane had set to work on the programming for the blog site and was pleased with the improved readability that he achieved for those using phones. I had told him that John (now I remembered his name) would like to talk to him about boat tech so when his cycling plan fell through for Friday, we both took the bus to Dalmeny. Rhona's parents were surprised to see us, especially since Rhona wasn't even coming this week, but we had a fun time chatting with all the others, despite quite a lot of mention of various health complaints, everyone was jolly and John was indeed pleased with the improvement made and enjoyed a long chat with Shane. We were in for a further surprise when Nara, a friend and ex colleague of mine, arrived and recognised us. Even better she was talking the bus into Edinburgh so we got a rare catch up. We were all enjoying our retirement and free bus jaunts.