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Good afternoon, Rusty!
I am glad that you had a good time!
It is good that the Pine Cone is back on track.
I am impressed that the sheds etc have already been repainted.
That is good business sense!
I have looked up "spick and span" in Brewers.
It tells me that the phrase is a shortened form of "spick and span new"....used to describe something new and fresh.
It seems that a "spick" is a spike or nail; and a "span" is a chip.
A "spick and span new" ship is one in which every nail or chip is new.
Certainly makes sense?
Now ...11a: Putting an arachnid in pipe? (8)
S?I?K?N?
I have no ideas here?
I give in...please can you tell me the answer , with an explanation as to how and why?
My favourite clues were 6d: eradicate; and 10 a: mandatory.
It is extremely warm out.
The wood stain will dry quickly!




Hello, Pigale!
You are correct in thinking that I am not especially fond of gardening!
I do like the garden to look nice...but with as little manual effort (from me) as possible!
I have a problem with my right hand - with my thumb and the tendon up my arm....and so it is difficult for me to do anything with that hand /arm for a prolonged length of time.
I have had my arm in plaster on occasions , so am not wishing to go there again!
It is the reason why I no longer play tennis.
[Although table tennis (because if the way I hold my bat) is not a problem]
When we had our bid roller electric lawn mower, my job was to cut the grass!

Sounds a nice easy job Elle, but I doubt that type of mower would
be practical here view a) the size of the garden, and b) the fact
that it is very much on a slope; this makes mowing very difficult,
definitely a man's job!

I am a great 'weeder', or so my husband told many times!
and I enjoy doing anything that puts earth on my hands.... such
as planting, and again weeding. I was also told that I have 'green
hands' - a useful thing to have when one likes gardening!

Going out to enjoy a drink outside, and I am not saying what
kind of drink..................!

Good afternoon, Elle!
The Pine Cone is like a bright new pin after the paintwork to the wood sheds.
A "span" is a chip, really? Never knew that.
It's amazing the odd phrases that are part of our language.
It can be quite colourful!
Now, 11a, an arachnid could be a "tick", you know, the little creeping beastie.
Pipe could be "sing".
Which give us "sticking" for putting!
I can't quite see it, but I am sure our setter knows what he or she is at.

Good afternoon, Pigale!
There is another post from the loch today.
An intruding osprey!
I'm wondering if it could be a previous chick from the nest?
The blog you mentioned is very helpful, I'm sure.
It's a great day here, and we had a very good winter, so certainly no complaints from me!
The warm weather should be good for your ailments.
Paris-Roubaix was a great race, won by Philippe Gilbert.
That's four of the Monuments he has won now.
Only Milan-San Remo to win, to be up with legendary riders like Eddy Merckx

Hi, Rusty!
Thank you for the answer to 11a....and the parsing.
I would not have thought that "putting" and "sticking" were the same?
Anne B does not have that?
Leastways, I couldn't find a reference to it?
Yes, I learned about ticks last Summer, when my dog was bitten by one on her nose .
A very tiny white thing....the first time I had ever seen one!
And I didn't think of "sing" for "pipe"!
Well done in getting all that!
I am back indoors now.....and must think what we are having for dinner.
There is a Shepherd's Pie, cooked yesterday, that just needs warming up....
I think we shall have that...with some mushy peas!
What are you having?

Hello, Elle!
Chambers has a definition for "put" as "to append or affix", which seems fairly close to "stick"?
I've not looked in Collins.
A very good pal of mine developed Lyme disease and the experts in Glasgow thought he had been bitten by a sheep tick or a deer tick.
My pal lives on a croft on Skye, so it sounds plausible.
I had smoked mackerel and ginger nut biscuits for my tea and it was very nice!
Miss La Bamba has won an award at B&Q for her work and also got a £50 voucher from them.
And she got an "A" for her essay at Uni.
It sounds good to me!

Hello, Pigale!
I learned something very interesting this afternoon.
I do not know if you saw Mathieu van der Poel winning the Amstel Gold race in Holland yesterday?
I knew his father was Adrie van der Poel, an excellent rider, but I certainly did not know that his maternal grandfather was the one and only Raymond "Pou-Pou" Poulidor!
France's all time favourite rider!
"Pou-Pou" described his grandson as a "monster"!
He certainly rode a great race yesterday.

No Rusty! I certainly did not know that either!
All of a sudden I might take a keener interest in him - Pou-Pou was
a lovely man; I saw him being interviewed and I know he was
a great favourite amongst the journalists - always pleasant and willing
to answer their questions with a smile.
A shame Anquetil happened to race at the same time as Pou-Pou!
Anquetil was not all that popular with the public - often too arrogant.

Hello, Pigale!
Yes, Pou-Pou was a very popular man.
France loved him.
Anquetil won the Tours, but Pou-Pou won the hearts of the people.
This is one of my very favourite cycling photos.
The 1964 Tour.
Anquetil and Pou-Pou shoulder to shoulder on the Puy de Dome.
Epic stuff!

https://veloclubsofa.wordpress.com/2017/03/05/anquetil-poulidor-and-the-legacy-of-the-puy-de-dome/

BTW Rusty, you have heard of Louison Bobet I assume? He was
a great name in the years 53 to 55.
For a very long time, you could hear the public cheering the riders
by shouting 'vas-y Bobet' (come on Bobet!) even though he
had stopped racing for years! It had become a favourite expression, a
national encouragement to the riders during the old races.