Alberto's Hutte

31st December 2017 (Sunday) ...... 10.30    Mmmm, ....  not a bonnie Sussex morning .... we have wind and rain;   however it is forecast to clear away by Michael and John in the kitchen preparing stovie ingredients. lunch time.   Not much planned for today, but I will go for a walk in the afternoon. 20.00    Jings it’s been a wet and windy day... more or less all day;   but not as windy as in The Royal Burgh.    We had something like F6 in Sussex..... the Fife Weather Station (Lochgelly) had a gust of 55 mph  (F10).    There must have been some bonnie waves crashing over Elie Harbour wall at High Tide!     Lucky for me that Stewart .... got some photos of the waves rolling into Woodhaven Bay;  very windy indeed.... not an afternoon to walk the East Links.    Elie photos are courtesy of Stewart (Barclay) er ....now Former Top Secret Roving Reporter (hereafter FTSRR).... while I am down in ‘Sunny Sussex’. I haven’t been out of the house today.... though the rain did stop for

30th December 2017 (Saturday) .... 11.00    Jings ... it feels like summer in Sunny Sussex this morning, although we do have plenty clouds scuttling over.    It’s The bottom of 'Tower Ride'. actually a perfect ‘drying day’..... with a nice breeze and a temperature of 14c.   My ‘plan’ was to stay in and shake orf the cold, but if the weather stays like this I’ll have a walk ‘roond the block’ in the afternoon. 20.00     I went out before lunch, stopped at Ray’s the Barber’s, and had my hair cut by a bloke who had been at Merchiston in the 1980’s, went to Australia where he trained and worked as a technician, and is now back in the UK cutting hair.    I’m not sure if having my hair cut was the best idea I’ve had;   my heid is cauld now.    The original intention was to leave the hair cutting until next week. From the barber’s I bumbled my way down to Superdrug, at the bottom of the town, to buy toothpaste.    This is the second time I’ve been down to the river, and back

29th December 2017 (Friday) ....13.00      We woke up to a miserable, wet and windy morning;   but that has cleared away leaving us with ‘clouds and sunny Elie yesterday... by Stew.... oops Top Secret roving reporter. spells’, on a brisk wind.    John had to go to a shop in Eastbourne;  and, as this was the perfect morning for that kind of mission, I went for ‘the  run’.... and to get some wet look photos of Sussex from the car.   The shops were busy .... I went to ‘Boots’ for cough mixture and toothpaste, when John was in a clothes shop .... I forget the name of it.     We came home via Eastbourne sea front, then into the Sussex countryside:  by this time the sky was clearing and ‘sunny spells’ were reasonably regular. Last night I watched a film until 00.45 .... this is very late for me;  it was one of those kind that I had to see how it finished.   I wouldn’t have started watching it if I’d noticed when it finished!    That said ..... I did enjoy it. 18.00    We had a n

28th December 2017 (Thursday) .... 10.00    We have a perfect ‘Sunny Sussex’ morning .... frosty with rime, and a wall to wall blue sky.  It’s a lovely morning Janice and Michael  .... 'Blackboys Inn'. for a walk, but the pavements are icy, and will be so for a wee while yet.    The sun is beginning to shift the rime, and, if it’s still ‘wall to wall’ blue sky at midday we’ll be wearing shorts.     In fact we have the same kind of morning that you have in ‘The Royal Burgh’(I’ve checked the Fife Weather cameras) .... but we don’t have a beach to bumble along. My cold is beginning to break and I’m beginning to feel better.    I should stay in and keep warm today in an effort to shift it quickly.....but, I must admit the temptation to go out is very strong. 22.30     We have been watching ‘Endeavour’ on the tele, hence the late update. I did go out ... eventually .... but not walking;  Janice Michael and I went to the ‘Blackboys Inn’ for lunch.     It was busy, as all

27th December 2017 (Wednesday) .... 11.00  Mmmmm I don’t know if The top of Uckfield High Street. it’s cold outside, but we do have wind, with rain and sleet, so it will be cold.    I have no intention of going out to check.    The forecast is for this weather to clear away during the afternoon with the chance of overnight frost and icy roads tomorrow morning.   19.30   The rain/sleet petered out about 14.00, and the sky slowly cleared, and we now have a clear sky and a low temperature;  we might have frost tomorrow morning.   This will mean slippery pavements for the early part of the morning.    Sleeping ‘in’ would be a good plan I’m thinkin’. The Royal beach. I’ve had a lazy day today.... though I do have a cold, however it doesn’t seem to be too bad.    I’ve had worse.    The ‘plan’ was to have my haircut tomorrow, but, if it is cold I may rethink the haircut .... the weather forecast is excellent;   bright, sunny and cold.    I’ll get out for a walk in the middle

26th December 2017 (Tuesday) Boxing Day ... so named because it’s the day that postmen etc, got a gift box from the people they served over the year.    The Birthday cake .... it was very tasty, practice is thought to have originated in Victorian Britain.    We have ‘sunny Sussex’ this morning .... the first since I arrived that is has been thus ....  a nice morning for a walk round to Leeann and Martyn’s. 22.30     Darcie, and her friends, enjoyed her family party, (the main party was a week ago at a ‘Party Venue’);   as did the adults, who enjoyed loads of food, various liquid refreshments.... with plenty of people with which to chat.   Martyn  cooked a huge (19kg) ham, which he bought at Smithfield Market, and it was absolutely delicious..... this naughty boy has had his share of food this Christmas.   ‘JB’ and I decided to walk home thee long way round, by way of .... some of party goers. Church Street, for some exercise;   and to visit the kirk.    The kirk was open

25th December 2017 (Monday .... Christmas Day)     Wishing everyone a very   “ M e r r y C h r i s t m a s ” ;    may you be surrounded by love, 'JB' getting assistance with present opening. and peace, this Christmas morning...... remember, the spirit of Christmas doesn’t have to be seasonal... it is, like love, forever.    It’s overcast but dry in Sussex.    Here, at “No 1”,  the turkey is in the oven, and the smell of Christmas is in the air;  ‘Puku’ is excited.   I may go for a daunder ‘roond the block’ in a wee while;  actually, there is a lack of outside activity just now, with only a solitary dog walker going down the street a few minutes ago.   There will be much excitement inside the houses, especially the houses with children in them, I have no doubt. 20.30     Welll.... this has been a really enjoyable Christmas, for all of us here at “No 1”.     Janice and Michael did a mountain of work in the kitchen, the result of which was an absolutely scrumptio

24th December 2017 (Sunday) ..... 12.00     We have another overcast, dry morning;  in fact it is forecast to be so for the next couple of days.    Janice went Aussie vegan chocolate  peanut crisp .... er ... biscuits. down to Tesco’s earlier and the shop was mobbed, and there were cars queuing to get into the car park:   customers were shopping for various things that the shop had run out of by closing time yesterday. 18.00    Everything is ‘in place’ for Christmas Day.... Janice and Michael are doing the Christmas Lunch, ... for 7 adults, plus Darcy and Sullivan, (Leeann and Martyn’s children, Janice’s grandchildren .... my great grandchildren).   Oh dear .... I feel old-ish.     I haven’t been out at all today, though I have been doing stuff on the computer .... and wrapping John’s present.  Actually I  feel that I may be coming down with a cold... so had ‘50’ in the afternoon.   It may be the fact that I had a migraine overnight, and I just need to sleep that orf. J

23rd December 2017 (Saturday) .... 10.00     Mmmmmm .... another overcast morning, but not quite so heavy as yesterday .... we might have a few ‘brighter spells’ later.   I’ll go out for a walk .... only down town, but I may take a different route to get there.   Uckfield is like Colinsburgh... er .... a road with shops at either side;  except that Uckfield High Street is longer, steeper, and has a lot more in the way of shops and Cafe’s.  14.30     I’ve been thinking.... yes I do that, okay not often, but I do it now and again:   anyway I’ve been thinking about Christmas being the “Season of loving and Goodwill”.      Why does it have to be seasonal?     There’s nothing seasonal about me;   I love my ‘girlfriends’ all the year round.... in fact I love all my friends all the year round.    I couldn’t live happily if love was seasonal! Yesterday, when I was ‘downtown’ I bought the Christmas copy of The Big Issue from Elie sunrise .... by my Top Secret roving reporter!     

22nd December 2017 (Friday) ....  We have another day of, ‘not so Sunny Sussex’ weather ahead by the look of it;  thick fog with occasional drizzle. Janice with the Christmas prize she won the other day.     Yesterday morning Windows 10 updated, and, when it was finished the laptop was not happy.    The ‘mouse’ was all over the place;   and there was a general malaise throughout.   Michael and ‘JB’ were able to fix the mouse , and the laptop was usable, but it’s not  as it was before the update.    I am not happy with Windows 10 updates.   Janice and Michael have arrived back from Eastbourne earlier;  they managed to get everything done and Janice’s appointment was brought forward..... I’ll put the kettle ‘on’. 21.00     Hill .... Uckfield High Street a hill?     Not this year;   I bumbled up it much easier than I did this time last year.   The fact that I ‘bumbled up it’ means that I had bumbled down to the bottom.... all the way to the bridge in fact.    Uckfield hasn’t c

21st December 2017 (Thursday) ....   Mmmmm ... it has been mostly foggy, in ‘Not so sunny Sussex’ today.... as you can see from the first photo, taken at Eastbourne. the Beachy Head restaurant this morning, when ‘JB’ and I went down to Eastbourne to do Christmas shopping.    Visibility was far better at sea level, so much so that we saw a yacht bumbling along half a mile off Eastbourne. In the shopping Mall I bought a calendar;   the lassie serving me was happy to take a Scottish note, and in the course of the transaction told me that she had toured all over Scotland as an Illusionists Assistant;   she had been ‘cut in half’ many  times, including in St Andrews.  Not only that she was one of the ‘Black and White Minstrels’ .... touring around the World.    This was in fact, after they became the ‘plain’ Minstrels: black painted faces having been declared politically incorrect.   By this time John and I were in need of food....we went into an Italian Restaurant and settled

20th December 2017 (Wednesday) .... 07.00     We have another grey morning, but forecast is for it to break up a bit and give ‘sunny spells’ by afternoon, and it is to be warmer for the time of year.     The grey weather is, as I am, moving South.  I am ready for the taxi, which won’t be here for another hour and a half ;  that gives me  time to unplug stuff and do the final checks.      I’ll have a short walk after breakfast.... need to check the beach before I go. ‘The Hutte’ might not be updated every day when I’m in Sussex;  it all depends on what I am doing, and what there is to write about.    My ‘project’ is to find out how much Uckfield has changed since the 1850’s.     I’ll start by going to the Uckfield Preservation Society shop;   it’s next door to a Cafe. The next update will be from Sussex this evening.  21.30     We (Michael me me at Kings Cross, hence the 'we') arrived in Uckfield  at 18.00.     This was one of the best journeys down I have had.    The

19th December 2017 (Tuesday) .... 12.30     It’s not the bonniest of days as far as the weather goes;   overcast and damp.... but a good day for doing the things This was the only time we saw the sun all day! I need to do.    I’ve been to Anstruther, fuelled up the car (I remembered it is diesel in this car), and even did a small washing.   The washing will hang on a clothes horse until I come home.   The car I’ll take up to Brian and Moira’s after lunch.... and, apart from putting a few final things into the rucksack, I am ready to travel.      I had a relaxing break up at Jim and Myra’s, for coffee, in the morning... a fairly busy morning... but, apart from going to the beach first thing... hardly any walking. 22.30     I have managed to get myself organised for my holiday in Sussex.... rucksack packed, tickets in wallet (along with railcard), ..... and toothbrush.   The toothbrush I usually forget.    The car has been ‘moored up’ at Brian and Moira’s, (where Morven produced

18th December 2017 (Monday)    07.00   .... we have a touch of early morning frost, with rime on the car windscreen;     it looks like being a bonnie day. Elie beach this morning.    This is good, because it’ a fair walk from Henry Gray’s down to Kirkcaldy Bus Station:   having said that I’ll stop at ‘Rejects’ for a cuppa, which is about the half way mark.    The ‘plan’ is to take Jimmy’s car up to Elie when I go for the paper, and leave it there;   that way I’ll have a car to jump into when I get orf the bus on the way home from Kirkcaldy.    Must ‘go’,  ever so slight flap on.... even though I got up an hour earlier than I thought it was.    When I looked at the clock I thought it was 06.30;  after a shower I found out it had been 05.30.      20.00    Today has been full of surprises for this boy... not least of which was the fact that it is 6.1 kilometers (3.8 miles)miles , from Noble’s Motor Recycling Complex to the Bust Station;   no wonder my wee legs felt tired.    In a