Saturday 27.10.2012

A quick trot out tonight at about 20 to 6 to mark the end of post-work walks as the clocks go back.

Yesterday it was sunshine, golden leaves, the last of the roses....and snow.

Today not so pretty and by this evening a cold wind, grey sky and snow-streaked hills made it feel more like December but the walking warmed us up and meant we were able to settle in front of Inspector Montalbano feeling virtuous.....

Monday 22.10.2012

Took a walk on the wild side this lunchtime (well, round half of the bypass anyway) just to get some air in my lungs:days are getting shorter and shorter.....

Tonight finally managed to catch up with You`ve Been Trumped. Leaves you completely speechless.

If you haven`t, catch it on i-player or You Tube.

Speechless..................

Sunday 21.10.2012

Just home from work and what a night! Stars,stars and more stars, a mild gentle breeze and the odd tendril of mist to add a bit of atmosphere.


On Friday it was a walk-in-the-wet as we took a different route round the woods forgetting how a season`s growth meant everything was higher and wider and as it was also soaking wet I might just as well have jumped in the bath fully clothed.


Today though it was a morning to abandon everything else and get going:

clear blue sky, crisp air and fiery colours putting a spring in the step....and a wag in the tail.

Wednesday 17.10.2012

I should start on the 11 questions (see post Friday 5.10.2012)because finding the 11 blogs is going to be even harder.

1.Why blog?

2.What are you currently reading?

3.Would it bother you if you never travelled by air again?

4.What do you understand by the word politics?

5.If you could become really expert at a craft (or, if you are, expert at a new one) what would it be?

6. Similarly, if you had the chance to become fluent in another language which would you choose?

7.Someone says they used to read but they no longer have time: how do you respond?

8.What was the last film you saw and what did you think?

9. If you suddenly lost everything you own (stuff, not people or animals but including photos,mementoes and souvenirs)how big a trauma would it be?

10. Have you ever said yes when you should have said no and/or no when you should have said yes and were the consequences dire or did it all turn out alright in the end? (No need for embarrassing details!)

11. Faced with a task you`re not looking forward to (maybe even having to compile 11 questions!)are you a "let`s get it over and done with asap" sort of a person or could you procrastinate for Britain?

So there they are for general rumination: now I have to confess that finding 11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers is going to be hard because I only follow 2 or 3 blogs and don`t know my way round the blogger-sphere.

However - nothing like a challenge and who knows what delights are waiting to be discovered..........wonder how many blogs there are related to whisky....or chocolate.....or Inspector Montalbano.............

Sunday 14.10.2012

Elements wonderfully changeable just now, not sure what the dawn will bring.
Tuesday night brought a sharp frost which appeared to trigger an almost instant turn of the leaves to gold and crimson and start them clattering to the ground.
So walking along the cobbled streets of Old Aberdeen on the Wednesday - sharp, clear and sunny - involved a lot of scuffing through said leaves and deep gulps of the fresh air.

Then on Thursday we were getting "amber warnings" about impending monsoons so dogs and I scuttled out after work - gloomy and spitting rain at 6 o`clock - on the grounds that the apocalypse was due.
Never quite arrived of course, not this time, though it was sensationally wet on Friday. From the window at work it was possible to see adults bent nearly double against the deluge while children in wellies sloshed about quite happily - perhaps your wellies need to be pink to enjoy that sort of weather.
And I still don`t know what we`re supposed to do having been given an "amber warning".

Monday 8.10.2012

Back to lunchtime walks when work takes up all the daylight.

Three quarters of an hour to get round the bypass, a cold wind and spitting rain but a chance to nosy in people`s gardens,
see familiar landmarks from a different angle

and admire some of the buildings.

Quite set me up for the remainder of the day.

Friday 5.10.2012

Now I could unequivocally answer the question "Which is your favourite season?" Never mind all the ballyhoo of summer and winter or all that bustin` out all over stuff of Spring.
When Autumn`s like this it`s the best - calm and peaceful, sort of resigned - "Well, that`s that, did the best we could, now we can relax until April."
Strolled up the hill a little earlier than yesterday with time to go right round the woods; still a little warmth in the sun, poetry-inspiring cloudscapes and that autumn pungency in the air.
Tellingly though, the beasts had vanished from the field. Yesterday they`d skipped along beside us for a while as we walked home. Today they were gone. Now that is a sign of the year moving on.