One down, four to go...

 I'm really hoping my owner has learned the error of her ways.

You'll be shocked (or perhaps not) to learn that when staying with YAM-aunty last week, Gail was so absorbed in watching the Tour de France on TV one evening she ignored clear signals that I needed to go outside and the result was a 'wee' puddle on the living room carpet. 

You would hope this mortifying incident might dampen Gail's enthusiasm for all things bicycle-related. 

And guess what? Result! Shortly after we returned home to Aberdeen earlier this week, a friendly woman and a very sweet teenage girl called Marta turned up at our house, and Gail handed over one of her bicycles.

Marta, who spoke excellent English although I'm told she comes from Ukraine, seemed genuinely thrilled with this gift and, after a small adjustment to the saddle height, she went on a short test ride up the street and then took the bike away to her temporary home here in the city. 

Right, that's one bicycle gone, four more (including a rarely used one rusting away in Torridon) to go.

PS from Gail: We have a few hundred Ukrainians recently arrived here in Aberdeen and recently a plea went out to all the local cycling groups for bicycles that might be of use to the refugees. I was delighted to be able to help someone whose life has been turned upside down by this terrible war in a small but practical way. I hadn't been expecting to meet the recipient of the bike - that was a lovely bonus.

PPS from Gail: It later occurred to me there were echoes here of my mother's experience as a 'war guest' (i.e. an evacuee) in Toronto from 1940-44, when she stayed with a kind and generous family who provided her with a bicycle and much else besides.