We were quite impressed with the size of this shell until we noticed it had a hole drilled at the top of it - and it was very light, almost as if it was made out of plastic! Bizarre. Wonder where it came from.
The wind was forecast to b-l-o-w, particularly later on, so reluctantly the team agreed that they would be out the house by 8.30 to catch the bp of day. But it is winter and the prolonged dark is making it harder to get up. I was up in time but didn't feel like waking up Peter. I was mooching about in a mood about the washing machine. I had been googling stuff about it and it didn't all seem that hard...even if I could find the right replacement part I could order it and we would be making some kind of progress. So I tried googling parts but they're obviously not making our model of washing machine anymore, so a visual check seemed essential. So I started pulling the machine out the cupboard wondering how on earth you get inside it.
The internet is so invaluable. I couldn't see anyway to get into it so I googled THAT and there were some handy tips. The screws were hidden under some plastic bits you just prize out. Once the top came off I could see where the filters go. It all looked a bit much and I backed off.
I got Peter a cup of tea.
To my surprise he got interested in the process I had started. We couldn't really be sure the parts we were looking at were the same as the ones we could see on the net so we decided to take some photos and take them to the spare parts Hoover and Washing machine shop down the road. An invaluable shop if ever there was one. This meant waiting until 10am but this was no hardship as it was already after 9.30. It's amazing how the time goes when you start to tinker.
The guy down the road was pretty positive, describing the part as "bog standard". We bought it. Then we attended to our running needs. In the Coop, perhaps shamefully, we bought two pastries each. It just looked like it was going to be a tough run. It was already blowing a hoolie, there was rain on the wind, the sky was dark, it was daunting.
We hid coffee in the long grass at Aberlady and went to North Berwick to start out. We have a thing going now where I take the road to Aberlady into the wind, but Peter prefers the beach, so we race to the 'mid-way' point. I have 6 and a half miles to run and he has more like 9 so he doesn't stand a chance. However it's fun to race.
I got there well ahead of him and ATE both my pastries, perhaps shamefully. After the custardy thing I felt pretty good but I thought I'd have JUST THE EDGE of the pain au chocolat but then accidentally wolfed the whole thing, and had half a bottle of juice and all of my flask of coffee, which is probably about a mug and a half. Surprisingly, I was fine to run after this, even though I felt rather packed full. Getting the wind at my back was an enormous buzz. There were 50mph gusts forecast and it felt like at least that. Running along the beach I was running at 7m10s pace which is the stuff of dreams these days. It was easy peasy. I felt high as a kite. Probably all the coffee was a factor.
I knackered myself out running as fast as I could with the wind behind but it was tremendous fun. We arrived in North Berwick very wind-swept and interesting. I'd run 16.4 miles and Peter had run nearer 19.
I forgot to mention that as we came back down onto the beach from the Archerfield path we saw first a golf cart full of police (strange!) and then I heard 'there's Mary' and there was our fellow Porty Alan Aitchison in his police uniform, along with a few other police striding along the beach. He said there's been an incident. We reckon it must have been a body. Seeing the police on the beach like that, with yellow rain-slickers over their uniforms put me in mind of the Wicker Man. The fragility of law and order contrasted with the wild, power of nature. Haha I have had too much coffee.
Peter has photos. I think it would make a great painting, reminiscent of a Jack Vettriano...
Anyway. We did a Tesco Shop in our running kit and then came home and tackled the washing machine right away. And it is now on. And it has been alright so far....It has been hard to type with all my fingers crossed.
Peter has better photos than me so I thought I'd scoop him by publishing first.
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