Well, it was quite nice for a day or two. It didn’t last. This picture was chosen for today, in part, because Clare insisted I not use the one of her putting on her slippers, but nevertheless this does epitomise the day.
This is a totally crap picture, but it epitomises the day, entirely. The sunshine of Boxing Day was not sustained. We left Dundee at about 9am, I gritted my teeth and drove, and we staggered into Morecambe at about 2pm — an hour longer than it should have taken — battered by high winds, driving rain, surface water, low visibility, the lot. This is taken somewhere in the wilds of the Southern Uplands, in the indefinable watershed country between Tweeddale and Annandale, when I just had to pull over and stop for a few minutes.
I did get better pictures today but none which epitomised the day quite so well. Garth Hill became County Top #2 of the weekend, but the weather on its summit was, to coin a phrase, utter shite. What this chair was doing up there I have no idea but perhaps it had just been blown there from someone’s garden half a mile away. For the full tale of woe see my other blog.
The week has been a busy one but ends uneventfully. The weather was unconducive to a spell sat outside the pub, so the drinking was done indoors today. I believe this shot was captured through the window; a sensible approach under the circumstances.
It’s the first week of the semester, so the following things traditionally appear: lots more people (students); a collection of marquees with various AV equipment and heaters; and rain. It always seems to rain in Welcome week, year in, year out.
As seen from the Walthamstow Travelodge, looking south. Yes, I’m in London again. I like London. There are things to do here.
The uneventfulness of today was largely determined by this crap. Really, what’s the point in facing it? It is forecast to improve, so I just got on with stuff indoors.
Let’s permit Scotland to offer up its combination of mountain and seascape one more time before we have to head home. The Beauly Firth is the far end of the Moray Firth; this shot is looking inland, to the Highlands beyond. And yes, somewhere over there it is raining.
Normal rain too, that is, not a thunderstorm (although we did have one of those later in the evening). Can I be the first to come out with that hardy perennial phrase — ‘That’s the summer over’.
This summed up the weather today: some fine spells but the next bout of rain was never very far away. It also sums up the fact that I was at home and am going to remain here for much of the next eight weeks, so get used to photos of Hebden Bridge.
Being 42 