Team Marksy

Just a very short post today. I realised I had promised to post pictures of our DIY Chess Armies, and had never got around to it.  So here it is.  It was made very simply using various little figures glued onto a set of old (non-official) Connect4 pieces. It takes a while to remember which ones represent which chess piece, so we'll probably mark them in some way. The kids love it. The board is the folding Kasparov set from Argos, which I highly recommend. It does come with it's own pieces but they just aren't as colourful as ours. 

In a dark corner of the garage, my old mountain bike lies covered in a thin layer of dust. She hasn't been used much since I got married, but as the kids get up a bit and can now ride bikes, and I get a little soft round the middle (this may be an understatement), I'm starting to look at ways to get fit again. I need something that doesn't necessarily take half a day (like hiking, fishing, golf, etc.) but doesn't need significant training outside the activity itself (like rugby) or a set time (five-a-side football). When I was a teenager, several centuries ago, I loved nothing more than getting this bike out and careening down the Brustin Brae and straining everything to get up the other side, before another downhill toward Cairncastle. The way back was a major challenge, and I loved it. So yeah I'm not really into downhill mountain biking  - more roads, with plenty of hills. I reckon I'd love the flat Coast Road as well. I'm a little conflicted on ...