August was a very busy, eventful and momentous month, and very different to July.

In July I was mostly in Scotland on my own. At the weekends I was really bashing my bus pass and going into Kilmarnock and Glasgow at weekends. In August I did not visit Glasgow at all – not the city centre anyway – and did not get on a single bus. All of this was because Jayne finally moved up here properly, having finished up with her job.

The month started with me back in Crawley. I had flown down at the end of July so that I could get to our family barbecue on the 1st. We had all the kids and their partners and their kids together in one place so Jayne was in her element. It was bloody hot though. I had got used to the relatively civilised temperatures in Scotland and had forgotten how tropical it was in Sussex!

The next day I was up early to ride my motorbike home. It was a 450-mile trip and I knew I would struggle to do more than an hour or so at a time because of the heat, and the strain on wrists, back and backside. It is only a 500cc street bike and not really built for long-distance cruising, and you could say the same for me. I intended to not rush and to take plenty of time to rest if I needed a break, but I was also determined to make sure it was still light when I got home. I did not fancy doing the last bit, along a small country road full of hills and twists and turns in the dark.

In the end it took me about 12 hours to get home, which was probably about 8 hours riding and 4 hours of combined comfort breaks. It was good to get the bike into the garage where it belongs though. No more having it sitting out in all weathers under a cover. I slept well after that, but got up early because Jayne was following with the cat. She had left later, after a final dinner with ‘the girls’ and drove up overnight. I think it took her about 7 hours because she only stopped once, just long enough to refuel.

It was a bit strange not having the place to myself and it took a little bit of adjusting to the new routines. After Jayne had been here a couple of weeks I took a couple of days off so we could do a bit of exploring together, visiting places like Troon, Falkirk, Sterling, Prestwick, and so on. We also took a trip into the Galloway forest park to see a waterfall, after first getting disastrously lost.

Although mostly working from home, I did finally get to ride the bike into work one day. I was dead chuffed that I managed to find my way in all right without any sat nav at all. Mind you, I did do it all on the motorways rather than some of the odd shortcuts that Google Maps sent me on when I drove in.

Jayne had thought she was going to enjoy having a proper break between jobs, but it was only a few days before being at home all day started to drive her up the wall and she called the local bus company to arrange an interview. During the month she had an interview, job offer, medical and test drive and is now just waiting for a start date.

The month had a couple of disappointing non-events. I saw an advert for a ‘vintage and vinyl fair’ in Ayr so went to check it out. It was like the record fairs in Horsham, Crawley and East Grinstead but instead of having dozens of stalls there were just two record dealers there. It was as much of an anti-climax as the partial solar eclipse. We went down to the Barony A Frame park to see it. I though tit would be a really good vantage point. There were a few other people there, with their picnics and everything. Unfortunately the Scottish weather did not work in our favour. In the late afternoon there was a break in the clouds and we thought it might be OK, but by the time of the eclipse it was all clouded over.

Apart from those two things, the month was great. Jayne got to meet and feed some highland cows, we discovered the cafe in the local hardware shop that does mighty bacon rolls, we had a good look around in Ayr, and Jayne got indulge in her personal crusade to feed everything by spoiling next door’s dog and by attracting huge flocks of birds every morning.

Best of all, we we were together at last in our new home, in time for our 25th wedding anniversary! We celebrated quietly by going into Cumnock for a slap-up meal. I even had a bottle of Kopparberg to wash it down.

The month ended much as it began, with us in England for a barbecue. This time we flew down to Stanstead, rented a car, then flew back the next night. With all the airport hassle, flight full of badly-behaved children, and everything it wasn’t great. In fact with the time to get to Glasgow airport, get through security, wait around for a delayed flight, and so on, it wasn’t a lot quicker than if we had driven. With the cost of the flights, airport parking, car hire and everything else it would have been cheaper to drive as well!

With all that going on, I hardly turned the TV on. I did watch the first couple of episodes of the new series of Ludwig and that was about it. No films at all. September might be different, when our sofa arrives. I sometimes wonder why I even bothered getting that nice big 4K television when I was spending more time out in the garage, putting up shelves and sorting out all my biking stuff. I have set up an old CD player in there and dug out the box of all my CDs and enjoyed playing some of them while I worked.

I think that August was a bit transitional, with Jayne and the cat getting used to being here, and us still sorting things out, so we will have to wait and see what sort of routines we settle into. The big change will be when Jayne starts a new job. Her being home all day every day just means that she cooks a lot and I think I will end up piling weight on if that continues.