Not gone, but easing

Staying awake last night to watch weather data coming in became an impossibility, so there was nothing for it but to toddle off to the goosefeather nest, though the airing cupboard would have been more soundproof. I lay there listening to Chopin doing a tune up on the roof tiles.  It remains to be seen at dawn if we lost any tiles.

Woke up to find Berneray is back on ‘Rapid Fire’ – that’s what various programs call the ability to give near instant weather conditions.  It’s nice to see Berneray is back.  We can have windy competitions lol

For us living on the edge of the Atlantic, it’s a luxury to sit indoors and see the figures rolling in, although I was able to guess each gust speed nearly correctly. Being brought up in a family that had two fishermen taught me well on how to ‘read’ the weather by looking at clouds, seeing what way the long grasses were blowing and the inevitable wetted finger held out in the breeze :) along with a look at tides and wave activity. Mustn’t forget the Shipping Forecast (and that beautiful haunting introductory music – Sailing By) on the radio in them days way back then.

I doubt if we’ll manage to retrieve our logs indoors until this afternoon, as the wind is still in ‘blow me away’ mode. In fact, it remains to be seen if they’re still out there! As they’re straw logs, I’m sure anyone finding one will think there’s a strange creature roaming these islands, depositing strange and very large ... ehhh ... capsules haha Oooo I could start a rumour lol

Have turned down the volume on the telly now that it’s not fighting to be heard above the storm - back to normal – bliss. I hope everyone and all the livestock faired well and remained safe in the storm. Have a good day :) Susan

Windeeeeee!

Am sitting here in all my clothes, plus the fleecy liner from my beloved Barbour jacket and ... a huge warm blanket. I wouldn’t look out of place in a wigwam lol  Despite the heater being on, and no draughty window at last, the cold is still felt. Perhaps it’s psychological as we’ve moved the huge faux polar bear rug in readiness for the woodburning stove to be finished and the workmen to return and remove these bliddy storage heaters. The one in the sitting room was seriously scorched, turning the place into a sauna, ignoring any attempt to turn the heat down. We had to switch them off at the mains.

Anyway, luckily, scooted out this morning to film fab waves. The first video is long, but sitting in the car, was shielded from the wind and rain. The second one was something else as I had to get out of the car – the road down to the pier was covered in tangle and small rocks. Took my gloves off and inadvertently the camera off my wrist! It landed with a thud on the concrete. I felt sick, but carried on catching a video. It worked fine! Whew. They can be seen on My Videos link.

Then today, of all days, the logs arrived for the stove. We donned our warmest coats and started the merry (not) task of lifting in the ton of logs. Early on, I bumped my shin on a metal bucket and promptly turned the air blue haha  I think my leg has turned blue too.

We had to stop that wonderful task as the wind was trying to whisk me away – only the clothes pole kept me on land. I’m so glad no one filmed it lol  Rendered useless with my lack of muscles, hubby sent me indoors, where I sat like a zombie thawing out and aching from the pathetic little work I did. It’s had to be tied up and secured until the weather calms down – which doesn’t look like any time soon.  There’s just been a 66mph gust and we aren’t even in the worst of it yet – that is forecast as going to be a Violent Storm 11, but I reckon it’ll go way beyond that.  Must remember to fill the flasks – just in case we get a power cut.

Am beginning to warm up again, having been snug as a bug in my goosefeather nest for a snoozy earlier. The noise of the wind in the chimney is loud, so if I put the telly on, the volume will be turned way up just to hear it above the wind.

The one thing that I’ve never really seen here before was the plethora of trash from the wheelie bins. It’s everywhere!  And what’s the betting the council won’t bother to pick it up! Some bins have gone for a run round the island as well.  Oh bring back the safer, sensible old ways we used to do it and have the bin men come in to the gardens to collect the bins instead of them being left outside on the open pavements, at the mercy of our wild weather.  I best off and get the flasks prepared. Have a good and safe evening everyone :) Susan

P.S. Eeeeeks! And a power cut to boot!

P.P.S. Mega eeeeks - am heading for the airing cupboard methinks :|
 

Tennis

Whew! Bravely watched the tennis final from Australia with Murray and Djokovic.  Am so disappointed for Andy as he played with all his might, despite injuries hampering him.  I screamed at the telly hearing one of the men in the talk box say that Djokovic was the better man, so won.  Hmph! I beg to differ.  He won against an injured player and that’s that, though I concede his playing was awesome too.  I do hope Andy’s foot heals soon as those blisters looked horrendous. Pulling a hamstring couldn’t have helped either, but he gave the game fantastic effort despite being hindered by these impediments. Andy should come to our island and do a bit of dune running in his bare feet.  That will harden up the soles of his feet and then he can sock it to the next player (grins).  Well done Andy! Off now to watch the weather as there’s a storm brewing and will give us a good rattle later on today. Have a good day y’all, Susan :)

FUN

Well, we are having a great time navigating our way through installing the new wood burning stove.  Note, I said we.  Ha!  I do the delegating bit and with any luck will receive my apprenticeship diploma in the not too distant ... lol

The chimney cleaner (a neighbour) came round and did a grand job clearing the tiny bit of soot that was still lurking in the chimney.  That has to be done before we install the Hebridean Hoola-hoop ( see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn9iEDGSr-Y ). The register thing arrived and needed cutting to the right size.  So hubby nipped down to the hardware store, returned and created zillions of sparks cutting the register to the right size.  Then it wouldn’t fit!  Air turned blue ... so I suggested folding it slightly.  Hmmm, works with card, but not with metal.  It held the curved shape.  So out to the shed again and more sparks to half the register to make it fit.  Ah ha – success!  Then the air turned blue again as the curvy bit that fits to the straight bit of tubing that fits through the register and into the flexi-chimney is the wrong shape.  Back to ordering something suitable that will hopefully arrive tomorrow.

In the meantime, we are awaiting the imminent arrival of the straw logs.  But the weather for ferries is slowing everything down.  However, the jet stream has taken a wander further north (gulp) so travel may be less disrupted, though there is plenty snow on the mainland of Bonnie Scotland.

Add to all this the fact that the one storage heater we leave on suddenly decided to overheat.  It’s been like a sauna in here for days.  So I called the housing people and they sent someone out to look at the offending heater.  Honestly, we could have cooked dinner on top of it!  The room temp hasn’t dropped below 23c today, despite windows being opened.  It transpires that the storage heater has had a mishap, ignoring the thermostat and the bricks inside are cracking.  Sitting a few inches from it, I can tell you it isn’t fun.  We had to switch the storage heaters off at the mains to make them safe.  It will be Monday, probably, before the offending article loses its heat and can be moved out of the house – along with all its electricity munching siblings.

After a snooze, I woke to find Miss Aurora asleep on HER chair.  Actually, it’s Tom’s chair, but he is relegated to the stool when she is occupying his chair.  She was snoring and it didn’t half make me giggle.  Out with the camera and took a video of her.  You can see it if you like at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5esRBQyUcAU

While hubby was preparing dinner – I know, I’m very lucky – someone turned up at the door.  I thought the logs had finally arrived.  Nope – it was the Avon lady lol  We had a chat n chuckle and I took the bag of goodies through to explore.  Two of the scooshy things didn’t work – the contents that should have been oily had emulsified.  Boy was I disappointed.  All was not lost.  I kept shaking the bottles, then hubby suggested putting them in a shallow bowl of warm water.  Yay!  It worked.  So I called the Avon lady and told her what had happened and how to fix it if anyone else comes across the same problem.

There.  That’s quite enough for one day methinks.  Have been filling shelves in my new craftroom, but it’s a slow process with all the other work going on.  S’great to see my crafty treasures again though :) Happy (Rabbie) Burns' Night and crafting everyone, Susan :)

Calm before the storm

As I write, a feather or raindrop would fall straight down as we’re enjoying the last vestiges of the calm before the storm. Are we prepared for the gales en route? Yep, you betcha!  The wind is making a nonchalant effort at moving the anemometer on my new weather gizmo, the Vantage Pro 2.  However, while our Earth weather is blissful at the moment, the weather out in space is something else, thanks to an Earth-facing gigantic sunspot.  They are given numbers and this one is AR1654 ( see Spaceweather.com ) and holds all sorts of nasty CMEs and geomagnetic junk that could, with the possibility of flinging flares our way, interfere with the internet, cell phones and other things electronic.

The Atlantic Bubble is on the move, though just about as fast as the current wind speed, thanks to a bout of ill-health. It’s months since I’ve made a card and I miss greatly the calming effect of such creativity.  I’ve discovered a method to put Aurora off jumping all over my work – a mist spray.  She just has to see the little container and runs a mile.

There – enough of an update for now.  Happy crafting everyone :) Susan

WEBSHOTS DEMISE

I’m sorry to have to let you know that all my Webshots albums have gone.  The company decided to change over, without notice, to one called Smile.  Believe me, it has wiped the smile off many members’ faces and hurt to delete so many kind comments that people had taken the time to write.  I have written on both my and their Facebook pages, but they deleted one of my comments that spoke the truth. They don’t seem able to cope with that.  Anyway, we’ll see if they honour the refund they promise to premium members.  The lawyers will have a field day if they don’t!

Regarding para #4 of your Facebook response to the many upset Webshot Premium paid users – “Finally, if you are an existing Premium user, you are free to terminate your service at any time for a pro-rated refund.”  I hereby terminate use of your service and expect said refund in the account from which it was taken today!  Am doing so on here as previous functionality of the Webshots site seems to have gone haywire.  Our lawyer is being kept informed of these matters.

So, no pix to show the world or see the world through other people’s cameras.  It’s very sad.  At the moment I don’t feel like putting them on any other photographic sharing platform.  Will take a while to get over this slap in the face! :( Susan

Hebridean Harvest Moon

After enduring about half an hour in a wind-chill of about 8.5c, have finally thawed out enough to type, while waiting for a glimpse of the Harvest Moon, and it paid off.

 

Of the few photos taken, only a couple are worth showing.  The sea was loud, the wind speed fairly more than breezy, so I was thankful for a garden guide rail to stop an involuntary scoot across the garden.  Added to that, although it wasn’t raining, the air was filled with kissy mist – not sure if it was from the sea or the sky, but was very glad of the shelter afforded by the side of the house during my wait in the name of art (well, standing in a dressing gown with only night clothes underneath, I think can be qualified as such).

 

It’s well over 40 years since seeing the rising of the Harvest Moon that I’ve never since been honoured to enjoy.  Indeed it was a sight for sore eyes and a memory never forgotten.  It rose from behind shallow northern hills and looked more like a UFO than our friendly moon.  It was also orange – no lunar eclipse – but of the same hue.  How I wish to have owned a camera then and filmed the sight as it rose higher, shedding its eclipse-like glow to a gloriously glowing white orb – ever reducing in size but increasing in brightness.  Ahh it was an awesome sight to behold and long before street light pollution was inflicted upon us.

 
By the time the street lights are switched off at midnight, and assuming the sky is clear or the moon still high enough to see, it will be the size of a marrow-fat pea.  So I’m delighted to have captured the moon’s momentary appearance through a cloud-filled sky.

 

 

Enjoy! Susan :)