Enthusiastic but incapacitated

Canal bridge with added people.

One of those found items you find when out and about.

Barge headed under bridge.

Ali & our bikes on the towpath.

Today the sun shone for unfamiliar and frankly strangely long periods of time. This breach of conventional weather conventions allowed us to explore the lovely civic amenity tip at nearby Bo'ness. As non-residents in this grimly fiendish place we're not entitled to tip rubbish here but they kindly broke the rules once the car registration had been logged in Falkirk's Big Brother memory and signed up for possible crushing followed by the necessary extermination process. These green and unpleasant recycling boundaries are new to me, Alex Salmond of course will be getting a strongly worded text or possibly even a Saltire shaped cynical Tweet of some description - any day now.

Then it was to the garden centre for some back breaking gardening stuff, plants, compost and the like. We also visited a local farm shop where a Cairngorm beer and Strawberry cider sales pitch was underway, a fatal error was thereby made and various beers and ciders tested and duly purchased. Next it was Daffodil Tea Time at Abercorn Church, we behaved ourselves very well, bought the tea and the daffs and then moved on to...hit the nearby canal via bicycle, as you do.

The canal trip involved bikes, beer, wine and sunshine. I also discovered that the air-con in my car actually works (quite disconcerting), turns out it's been the hottest March day since February as well. An Easy Riding paradise along the canal banks unfolded and so we ended up here, where we relaxed in the sunny beer garden watching at least one canal boat and numerous colourfully dressed cyclists, yummy mums, social workers, Subarus, Game of Thrones extras and ner'do wells go by. The return journey passed a lot quicker than I expected and confirmed a travel theory of mine about going there and back again; it seldom is as far as you actually think. Then it was home sweet home and a little more of the dark dark bitter bitter Cairngorm beer and pork chops, mmm.