Thread: Irn-Bru Special Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.


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Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :
 
Happy New Year, Scots people! (Yes, it's not the new year yet, but what's five hours among friends.)
 

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Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 
I'm actually down south right now, but happy Hogmanay to all anyway and hope to catch up with you soon.

BTW, and this will totally out me as a non-Scot, I can't stand Irn Bru (though I do think the adverts are brilliant).
 

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Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
Even as a person of pretty unambiguous Scottish ancestry, I loathe and detest Irn Bru. It tastes to me of liquid bubblegum, and the colour genuinely alarms me. But then, I also loathe and detest whisky, and have never eaten a deep-fried pizza.

I shall spend 2012 working on my 'true Scot' credentials.

A guid new year to ane and a.*


(*A good new year to one and all)
 

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Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :
 
Nasty stuff. But happy new year to all Scots and descendents thereof.
 

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Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
My nephew used to admit to liking Irn-Bru but since he has moved on in the world seems to prefer single malt. As a lad a bottle of the stuff with a fish supper was the height of epicurean delight - easily obtainable in Paisley but perhaps not so much in the rather salubrious Cotswold village where he now lives.
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
tell us about last night

well, we had a wee ferintosh and we lay on the quiraing. It was pure stontian!

and I took some bad photographs of fireworks from a windy rooftop on The Mile.

But the morning is fair and bright.

A Happy New Year to all.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
I was reading a Hogmanay recipe by a top chef in the Times the other day for deep-fried something (I wish I could remember what it was and who it was by - Heston Blumenthal perhaps?) with Irn-Bru ice-cream. This thread title made me think of it.

Anyway Happy New Year to those of you in the north, hope the weather isn't too rough up there!
 

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Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Somewhere does deep-fried balls of butter in an irn-bru batter with an irn bru coulis.

I'm pure Scot, and I can't stand the stuff.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Yes! That was it.
 

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Posted by ken (# 2460) on :
 
"Irn-Bru" is Scots for "Tizer"
 

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Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
I love irn-bru, but gave it up, and it has to be said I feel better for not having it.
 

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Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
Where's SCZ when you're having a discussion about Irn-Bru?

Am currently in Englandshire, but returning north tomorrow. Happy New Year to all.
 

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Posted by Derf (# 2093) on :
 
Irn Bru is nasty stuff. My Mum has some cans in for when we visit but I don't think scz realises so they never get drunk. She was trying to send me home with them last week on the basis that they were about to go out of date.... I reassured her that I didn't think they were going to go off!

Happy New Year to one and all.
 

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Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by ken:
"Irn-Bru" is Scots for "Tizer"

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quote:

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Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
But then, I can't taste any difference between Pepsi asnd Coke ....

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quote:

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Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
That's what I think, but my (Scottish) wife vigorously denies it. (And are/were they both made by Barr's?)

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quote:

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Originally posted by Ariel:
The sugar volume in Coke does depend on the locality though as they make it sweeter for some countries than others.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Derf:
Irn Bru is nasty stuff. My Mum has some cans in for when we visit but I don't think scz realises so they never get drunk. She was trying to send me home with them last week on the basis that they were about to go out of date.... I reassured her that I didn't think they were going to go off!

Happy New Year to one and all.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Ariel:

quote:

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Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
But then, I can't taste any difference between Pepsi asnd Coke ....

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It's close, but Pepsi is nicer - slightly less sugary. The sugar volume in Coke does depend on the locality though as they make it sweeter for some countries than others.

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At least in the U.S., Pepsi is also less acidic, which is why I prefer Coke flavorwise.
 

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Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Deep fried balls of butter sounds glorious, but the irn bru batter would put me off. Perhaps deep-fried butter with Mackie's vanilla icecream shortbread fingers and a wee dusting of icing sugar?

One of the foulest things I have ever tasted was deep-fried coconut ice-cream balls which had been fried in the same fat as a week's worth of fish and chips. This delicacy had been made for school dinners, but the dinner ladies had been dubious, so had asked a couple of parents to taste test before they were served up.

(This was c2001, prior to the introduction of Healthy School Meals.)
 

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Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by North East Quine:
Mackie's vanilla icecream

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Now you're talking - yummie!
 

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Posted by Peppone (# 3855) on :
 
Irn-Bru is good for hangovers. But ice cold coca cola is just as good.

My advice, get up somewhere between 5 and 7 just as your heid starts to thump, take two Nurofen and a can of VERY COLD coke, and go back to bed. (This is assuming you have nothing in particular to get up for.)

[ 02. January 2012, 15:27: Message edited by: Peppone ]
 

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Posted by aig (# 429) on :
 
Surfacing after New Year; Irn Bru is my friend.
 

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Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Although I probably haven't had Irn-bru for over 30 years, I can just about remember its taste, and IIRC it was vastly superior to Tizer.

I wonder if Peppone's hangover cure works with paracetamol - D. can't take Neurofen so we never have it in the house. My own remedy is also more prevention than cure: take a couple of paracetamol (preferably Solpadeine*) before you go to bed, along with a reasonably big glass of water. If that hasn't had the desired effect by 6 or 7 in the morning, repeat. As soon as you can face it, have some bacon and eggs and lots of orange juice.

Hope you all had a good Hogmanay.

* You can't get Solpadeine or equivalents over here, so we have to stock-pile whenever we're home on holiday ...
 

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Posted by chive (# 208) on :
 
Have any of you tried firey Irn Bru? I know it's been out a while but I can't get it in deepest darkest Sassenachland.

I'm coming north of the border in a couple of weeks and will try and source some while I'm there.
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Severe gales.

The tree in our back garden - a magnificent old Gean cherry has blown down. Just going out to investigate the damage (looks as if it may have landed on the shed/fence).
 

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Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :
 
We just recovered the wreck of our trampoline from the garden. Having had it blow away previously, it was pegged into the ground. And, the first thing I did this morning was confirm it was still where it should have been. A few minutes later our neighbour was knocking on the door ...
 

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Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :
 
Oh, and the front gate has blown out with the latch pulled out of the wood. And, the back fence is coming away from the supports and is currently held in place by the (hopefully sufficiently weighty) bin.

Windy day.
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
It has indeed completely crushed the garden shed and crashed through the fence. We have a friend who is an urban lumberjack, so will phone him presently.

I shall miss it. It's been the dominant feature of the garden all the time we have lived here. I suppose it went back to the building of these houses - so in the region of 80 years old. And it was beautiful - dappled shade in summer, dark crimson in the autumn, a sunset-catching mesh of branches in the winter, and in spring a glory of blossom. I am really sorry I shall never see that again.
 

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Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 
That's so sad Firenze

We are still in Herefordshire, but driving back later. Staying till today rather than returning yesterday is looking like possibly not our most wise decision.

Some wags are starting to call this one Pandabaws. Sounds worse than Hurricane Bawbag, I saw on the TV the Christmas tree in George Square has snapped near the base, and the Clyde looks ferociously high.
 

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Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
there are millions of pictures of IrnBru which must be about loads being sold and drunk.

Is this now Scotland?

the weather seems awful today - I hope you get things fixed and stay safe!
 

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Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
Well, I'm currently sat at Luton airport.

We got to within about 15-20mins off Glasgow this morning, then had to turn around and return to Luton as the wind was too strong to land in either Glasgow or Edinburgh...

Am rebooked onto tonights flight, so fingers crossed the wind drops sufficiently! (It should do...)
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by kingsfold:

Am rebooked onto tonights flight, so fingers crossed the wind drops sufficiently! (It should do...)

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You should be: the trees are barely stirring out there. And the Edinburgh airport live arrivals is showing landings - since the weather has been moving eastwards, I should think Glasgow will be open as well.
 

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Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
OK, so am I allowed to say that I'm thoroughly fed up with the weather?

I did make it back last night, thankfully. And found all remained undamaged, equally thankfully. And I'm glad we've not had weeks on the trot at -7C or whatever. But I am so fed up of the wind and the rain, the howling of the chimney and the draught it causes, the perpetual clattering of a loose cable against the window and the seemingly never-ending water falling from the sky. I did actually see blue sky and a strange shiny yellow orb giving off warmth when I was in Englandshire - I'd forgotten what they looked like. I'd even welcome a few days at subzero temperatures if they were clear and the sun shined....

Somehow I don't think it will come to pass - that's what I get for living in the west of Scotland.
 

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Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
And there have been lots of awful pictures about the damage and he wind and wetness on BBC website. It does seem the worst year - there have always been some windy, wet, cold, snowy ones, but this seems even worse. I do remember as a child when electricity went off, and that seems to have been awful atm again. We didn't have anything to warm us like electric stuff, except we always burned wood in our rooms.
 

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Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Just popping in to offer sympathy - you've really had it a bit rough. It's been blowing a gale and p*ssing with rain here most of today, but not really in the same league (although we had no post the other day because the roof had blown off the main post office).

for all of you.
 

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Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
And lo and behold, Strathclyde has another yellow warning for wind today.... I thought it was all supposed to quieten down a bit.
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
We spoke to our insurers, who are having busiest storm damage claims season ever. Since we will be away a good part of the rest of the month, they were happy that a visit from an assessor could wait for a few weeks.

It means I have no idea what has happened to the stuff in the shed, since I am not going to try and investigate with half a ton of tree lying on its buckled roof. Looks as if February will be busy.
 

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Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
That's awful, Firenze. Our whirly sheered off at the base, but I've put it back up, it's just 6 inches shorter than it used to be.

I was kept awake from 3am -5am by howling wind, lashing rain and a repetitive banging from a neighbour's garden, but today has dawned bright and clear, with a pale blue sky.
 

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Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
Ooh, ooh, ooh - I can see the sun . And blue sky .

Sorry about your damage Firenze. I am however glad it was your shed and not the house or you!
 

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Posted by Wet Kipper (# 1654) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by ken:
"Irn-Bru" is Scots for "Tizer"

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quote:

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Originally posted by chive:
Have any of you tried firey Irn Bru? I know it's been out a while but I can't get it in deepest darkest Sassenachland.

I'm coming north of the border in a couple of weeks and will try and source some while I'm there.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Shaggy:
Every time I come back to Scotland (for I sadly live in England now...) the first thing I do is stop at a newsagent and buy a cold glass bottle of Irn-Bru.

Nothing beats it.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Shaggy:
Every time I come back to Scotland (for I sadly live in England now...) the first thing I do is stop at a newsagent and buy a cold glass bottle of Irn-Bru.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Firenze:
... of the things we had to drink last night - Cava, Chardonnay, Burgundy, Late Harvest Muscat - none was Irn Bru.

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Sounds as if it was a good night, Firenze - were you reaching for the paracetamol and Irn Bru in the morning?
 

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Posted by Sober Preacher's Kid (# 12699) on :
 
Just to prove that Canada is Little Scotland, they sell Irn-Bru here.

They even sell Diet Irn-Bru (sugar-free, for diabetics like me).

Piglet, there's no excuse for not having Irn-Bru.

[ 06. January 2012, 02:42: Message edited by: Sober Preacher's Kid ]
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by piglet:

quote:

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Originally posted by Firenze:
... of the things we had to drink last night - Cava, Chardonnay, Burgundy, Late Harvest Muscat - none was Irn Bru.

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Sounds as if it was a good night, Firenze - were you reaching for the paracetamol and Irn Bru in the morning?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Sober Preacher's Kid:
Just to prove that Canada is Little Scotland, they sell Irn-Bru here.

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Yes, lots of us Scots had to escape years and years ago and go to Canada because sheep and cows were filled into the area they had lived for ever. So maybe why their more modern things are there. Anything about that apart from Irn-Bru?
 

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Posted by Sober Preacher's Kid (# 12699) on :
 
Eh? Other than the fact that the entire Canadian banking system is modelled on Scotland's? Or that Standard Life's first overseas subsidiary was in Canada and sold Canada's fist Life Insurance policy? Or the fact that Canada's education system is more like Scotland's than England's? Or the Scots-infused United Church of Canada and the Presbyterians?
 

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Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Talking of Scoto-Canadian Presbyterians, D. was playing in a concert at the local Press Button B church (affectionately known as "the Kirk") this evening; he shared the billing with a local blue-grass band and the St. John's City Pipe Band.

Although I really don't like bagpipes, I did get a bit misty-eyed when they came in playing Scotland the Brave ...
 

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Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
piglet, pardon me for asking but if you don't like porage and you don't like bagpipes, are you really a Scot?
 

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Posted by PeteC (# 10422) on :
 
She may be a resident of Scotland by birth, but she's certainly naw Scawts.
 

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Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
Got back home last night to find out the drama that I had missed, of the police sealing of where we live as one chimney came down and they were worried another might!
 

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Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
piglet, pardon me for asking but if you don't like porage and you don't like bagpipes, are you really a Scot?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Cottontail:

quote:

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Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
piglet, pardon me for asking but if you don't like porage and you don't like bagpipes, are you really a Scot?

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We're allowed to hate them. No one else is.

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Thanks, Cottontail!

I like haggis, love Drambuie, laugh at Scotch & Wry and make a very decent Cranachan - am I forgiven?
 

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Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
So, I'm thinking about the possibilities of holidays this year, and where to go, and I'm thinking islands again.

What can folk recommend in terms of Scottish islands then?
 

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Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
Shetland, Shetland, Shetland, Shetland, always Shetland!

I may be a little biased in this respect!
 

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Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Cottontail:
Shetland, Shetland, Shetland, Shetland, always Shetland!

I may be a little biased in this respect!

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quote:

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Originally posted by Cottontail:

quote:

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Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
piglet, pardon me for asking but if you don't like porage and you don't like bagpipes, are you really a Scot?

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We're allowed to hate them. No one else is.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Sioni Sais:

quote:

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Originally posted by Cottontail:

quote:

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Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
piglet, pardon me for asking but if you don't like porage and you don't like bagpipes, are you really a Scot?

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We're allowed to hate them. No one else is.

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I don't think bagpipes are to be liked or hated; they are to fear or inspire, as they are a military weapon.

(Sioni: Dad born in Edinburgh, Scots grandmother)

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quote:

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Originally posted by kingsfold:
So, I'm thinking about the possibilities of holidays this year, and where to go, and I'm thinking islands again.

What can folk recommend in terms of Scottish islands then?

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If you follow Cottontail's suggestion of Shetland I shall be very very very very very very jealous indeed. Just saying

It's been a while since we did an island, must rectify that (most recently took a boat trip round Ailsa Craig, though we couldn't land which was disappointing. Before that we were on Bute last year for Hogmanay, we liked it a lot though I must admit I prefer my islands a bit more remote). For my birthday last year I got this book which is very good for daydreaming and adventure-planning purposes. It is also very good for stroking that way when you have a really beautiful book you're really proud of
 

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Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
... As Jo Grimond would have put it: Shetland, where the oil comes from.

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... and the sheep look worried.

Orkney is where you want to go, Kingsfold.
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Islay has a lot to offer ( distilleries for one, or, indeed, eight) and you get Jura thrown in, if you fancy somewhere wilder and less peopled.
 

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Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
We interrupt the normal programming to bring you the newsflash that I've had a moment of inspiration that I sincerely believe can single-handedly improve the Scottish national diet by massively upping the consumption of vegetables.

I bring you... Vegetables deep-fried in batter!

As you were...

AG
 

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Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
It'll never catch on health and faff, though if you can persuade the chippy to sell it you might have more luck!
 

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Posted by mrs whibley (# 4798) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by kingsfold:
So, I'm thinking about the possibilities of holidays this year, and where to go, and I'm thinking islands again.

What can folk recommend in terms of Scottish islands then?

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We're going to Shetland in May. Accommodation costs were very reasonable, but the ferry to get there (we will want to take a car) is a bit ouch.
It depends what you want from your island. If you don't want to particularly do anything, but just want to cycle, walk or sit and enjoy islandness I can recommend Luing or the Slate Islands. Bear in mind that on Luing there is not even a pub, and mobile phone signal is patchy!
 

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Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
I also love Mull and Iona and Arran ; all nice not huge ones.

They all have good places where you can stay on holiday and are good to walk around and up hills.
 

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Posted by joan knox (# 16100) on :
 
I was just reminded via a card received today from a friend, that we are off to Iona for a week in July - ooops... had absolutely forgotten. Have been paying it off in instalments for a year!
 

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Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 

quote:

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posted by JtL:
It's been a while since we did an island, must rectify that

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Can't remember, are you ahead on the island bagging quota at the moment, Jack? Or am I in the lead after last year's Orkney trip?

I've been to Mull, though not Iona, and want to go back there at some point. I've also been to Arran, but don't especially want to return.

I was wondering about Islay/Jura, and also Barra (landing on the beach just has to be done!!): we've got a long weekend in June courtesy of some public holidays, so either of those options might make a nice short break.

Hmmm, Shetland... do I make Jack very very very very very very jealous? Or maybe Mull & Iona? Decisions, decisions. Mind you, I'm now thinking I may have to buy that book.
 

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Posted by Derf (# 2093) on :
 
Ooooh, have you two got an official tally going? I might have to try and add mine up to join in (probably trailing way behind). We're thinking of heading to somewhere in the Hebrides this year, but the conversation didn't get much further than when we'd need to go to avoid the midgies.
 

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Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 
I think kingsfold might be in the lead now. Of islands I have set foot on (as opposed to sailed round), I'm now up to 5 I think (Arran, Bute, Gt Cumbrae, Harris/Lewis and Shetland). Definitely need to add to that total, there's so much still to see (though I'd happily go back to any of the ones I've been to already too as I loved them all).

According to The Book, Jura's a bit of a b***** for midges.
 

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Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Jack the Lass:
I think kingsfold might be in the lead now. Of islands I have set foot on (as opposed to sailed round), I'm now up to 5 I think (Arran, Bute, Gt Cumbrae, Harris/Lewis and Shetland).

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I think you could quite legitimately count the various Shetland Islands separately. There are over 100 of them! The sixteen inhabited ones are Mainland, Yell, Unst, Fetlar, Bressay, Whalsay, East Burra, West Burra, Muckle Roe, Papa Stour, Trondra, Vaila, Foula, Fair Isle, and the Out Skerries. You might also count Mousa, which used to be inhabited.

Depending where you've been, that should catapult you into the lead!
 

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Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 
Sadly I have only been to Mainland, but it gives me a good excuse to go back!
 

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Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
Don't forget Skye, Jack. You went from Uig to Harris/Lewis, so I'm sure you set foot on it!

I'm claiming:
Great Cumbrae, Arran, Mull, South Ronaldsay, Burray, Glimps Holm (well, OK, I drove over this one) and Lamb Holm and mainland Orkney. And I've set foot on Skye too (but only briefly on a day trip). SO I'm only in the lead by virtue of having been to Orkney last year....
 

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Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 
I'm not actually sure I did set foot on Skye to be honest - we drove over the Skye bridge and up to Uig, and we were so late I think we pretty much drove straight onto the boat! The way back I think was the same.

All I remember of Skye was on the way up feeling very very queasy (hangover and migraine, great combo!), and on the way back being relieved that we got through Skye and onto the mainland before the car died! Perhaps we should go back there, and do it justice.
 

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Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
That could take some time....
 

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Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Cottontail:
... you could quite legitimately count the various Shetland Islands separately ...

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And the Orkney ones too? In which case my tally's not bad:

Orkney: Mainland, Westray, Sanday, Stronsay, Eday, Papa Westray, the Holm of Papa Westray (!), Shapinsay, Rousay, Egilsay, Gairsay, Hoy, Flotta, Cava.

Shetland: Mainland (airport en route to Norway)

Western Isles: Skye, Harris/Lewis

Other islands (in no particular order): Newfoundland, St-Pierre, Bell Island, Iceland, the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight, Achill Island (Ireland), Ellis Island (New York), Sotra (Norway)

That's 26 or 27, depending on whether you count Harris/Lewis as one or two.

Still collecting ...

PS Kingsfold, I'd forgotten that you went to Orkney last year, in which case going to Shetland is permissible. Just.
 

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Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :
 
I'm of Scots-Irish ancestry. Does that count?

I've never had Irn-Bru, but we do have a branch of Tesco here. Perhaps they could source it for me...

I do like a good Islay single malt and I hope to have one or two next weekend.
 

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Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
Just thought I'd join in the Scottish Island bagging! I've been to Gt Cumbrae, Bute, Jura, Mull, Iona, Skye, Lewis/Harris. Think that's it! really would like to make it to Arran, but have moved to the wrong coast to make these adventures straight forwardish!
 

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Posted by Derf (# 2093) on :
 
Oooh, I might be doing better than I thought.... Bute, Skye, Mull, Iona, Staffa, Inchcolm (which is an easy one to add - we could even do a shipmeet trip there one day), Orkney Mainland, South Ronaldsay, Shetland Mainland, Yell, Unst. So the trip to the Northern Isles helped a lot. There's some obvious ones I've not done (Arran and Millport for starters).

I suspect scz would beat the lot of us hands down, and even better he's sailed to lots of them.
 

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Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :
 
My list:

Skye, Arran, Mull, Iona, Orkney; Mainland, Lambholm, Burray, South Ronaldsay ... does Birsay count?

Not as numerous as some lists though.
 

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Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Derf:
... South Ronaldsay ...

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I didn't count South Ronaldsay, Burray, Glimpsholm and Lamb Holm because they're connected to the mainland by the Churchill Barriers. That pushes my total over 30 ...

quote:

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I suspect scz would beat the lot of us hands down, and even better he's sailed to lots of them.

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I was going to say "how else do you expect to get to an island?" but I suppose you mean he actually sailed the boat himself.



Alan, I suppose the Brough of Birsay counts - after all, it's an island except at low tide.

[ 16. January 2012, 00:46: Message edited by: piglet ]
 

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Posted by Derf (# 2093) on :
 
By your logic we'd all have to knock Skye off our lists! I did have a look at the map to try and work out which bits are separate islands and which we actually set foot on as opposed to just drove over.

And yes, scz actually sailed the boat. He's done a lot of sailing round the west coast over the years, although not much recently. Just getting the boat back from Skye convinced me it really is the best way to see the west coast.
 

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Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
Well, I've also been to the Brough of Birsay, so...

However, I do think you need to count South Ronaldsay, Burray etc etc. I mean, you wouldn't say Skye wasn't an island as it's connected to the mainland by a roadbridge, would you? And I think most people would count Eriskay, South Uist, Benbecula, North Uist and Berneray separately, despite the fact they're linked by causeway/bridge. (come to that, we all take about Harris & Lewis as two separate places, though that's quite definitely one land mass!)

[cross-posted with Derf! Except that when I went to Skye, the bridge wasn't there.]

[ 16. January 2012, 08:29: Message edited by: kingsfold ]
 

---

Posted by Derf (# 2093) on :
 
Oh yes, I've been to the Brough of Birsay too.

Definitely sounds like we should have some island bagging shipmeets.
 

---

Posted by joan knox (# 16100) on :
 
Okay... let's see:

Outer Hebrides:
Lewis
Harris
Nth Uist
Benbecula
St Uist

Inner Hebrides:
Mull
Iona
Staffa
Erraid
Skye
Lismore

Firth of Clyde
Bute
Great Cumbrae

Shetland
Mainland
Yell
Unst
Mousa
St Ninian's Isle [tidal...is this cheating?]

Orkney
Mainland
Burray
Hoy
Lamb Holm
Sanday
Sth Ronaldsay
Shapinsay

Still to get across to Inchcolm, Arran and would love to see St Kilda...
 

---

Posted by chive (# 208) on :
 
I've been to a feeble number of islands. Really only Arran and Gigha unless Davaar and Cramond count. I did get stuck on Cramond when the tide came in and get rescued by lifeboat if that counts (I was 13 at the time). Also I suffered a head injury on Davaar which required stiches.

Maybe I should avoid islands!
 

---

Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Derf:

Definitely sounds like we should have some island bagging shipmeets.

---

Sounds a great idea
 

---

Posted by Derf (# 2093) on :
 
Apparently we did actually set foot on all the ones joined by the Churchill barriers so that's another few. I think scz may be counting but I'm not sure he'll beat Joan or Piglet.

Chive, how are you m'dear? Not seen you for ages - you given up visiting this fair land, or just wisely avoiding us when you do?!
 

---

Posted by chive (# 208) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Derf:
Chive, how are you m'dear? Not seen you for ages - you given up visiting this fair land, or just wisely avoiding us when you do?!

---

I'm actually coming up on Wednesday for a week. I'll be in Glasgow if you fancy a pint.
 

---

Posted by Derf (# 2093) on :
 
Oooh, that would be good. Do you and scz still have each other's mob nos to organise something?
 

---

Posted by strathclydezero (# 180) on :
 
Lewis/Harris is definitely one island! I can count 26 islands I've walked on:

Inchcolm
Arran
+ Holy Isle
Bute
Gigha
Colonsay
+ Oronsay
Mull
Iona
Staffa
Skye
Tanera Mòr
Eriskay
Seil Island

Orkney Mainland
Lamb Holm
Glimps Holm
Burray
South Ronaldsay
Brough of Birsay

Shetland Mainland
Unst
Yell
Trondra
West Burra
St Ninians Isle
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Sorry for double post - missed the edit window while Googling.

I'd also forgotten Vigra in Norway, where Ålesund airport is.

I think that's them all, and makes a total of 35.
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
This doesn't make much sense; I thought I'd missed an edit window with a post I was writing but the post didn't actually appear ...

What I was going to say was when I told D. about this discussion he reminded me about Mersea (a tidal island south-east of Colchester), the Isle of Dogs in London and a couple of Norwegian islands - Stord where we sang with the St. Magnus choir and Vigra (as referred to above).

Sorry for the confusion ...
 

---

Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
scz

(also :envious: )

[ 17. January 2012, 16:07: Message edited by: kingsfold ]
 

---

Posted by Derf (# 2093) on :
 
He does have the advantage of having lived in Scotland for a whole lot longer than most of the rest of us playing the game!
 

---

Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :
 
Does Eilean Donan count? Or is it simply too small to be called a proper island?
 

---

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Alan Cresswell:
Does Eilean Donan count? Or is it simply too small to be called a proper island?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by kingsfold:
Just thought I'd drop by to say,

"It's snowing here."

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Surfing Madness:

quote:

---

Originally posted by kingsfold:
Just thought I'd drop by to say,

"It's snowing here."

---

none here yet, but the temperature is meant to drop so you never know.

---

 

---

Posted by Macgyver's Apprentice (# 603) on :
 

quote:

---

Just thought I'd drop by to say,

"It's snowing here."

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jack the Lass:


In other news, we are hoping to go on an adventure tomorrow. Scotland is good for adventures.

---

Any idea where yet?
 

---

Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 
Yes, we're off to the Montrose Basin. Meeting up with some of my London friends who moved to St Andrews last year, so might go home via there. Two places I've not been to in one day, which is always good

Much of the east of Scotland is a complete unknown to me. It's one of the reasons I like living here, there's so much to discover,
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
The Montrose basin is my favourite bit of any train journey south because it's never the same twice. It looks completely different dependent on tide, light, weather, whether there's snow on the hills on the far side etc. I've seen it pink-and-gold, green-and-blue, grey-and-white, ochre-and-cream.

Good choice, Jack!
 

---

Posted by Jengie Jon (# 273) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jack the Lass:
Yes, we're off to the Montrose Basin. Meeting up with some of my London friends who moved to St Andrews last year, so might go home via there.

---

Oh weather predicting for St Andrews, whatever it is doing in Dundee it will NOT be that in St Andrews. There is some science behind this but from observations the relationship apart from difference seems unpredictable. Otherwise warm and windproof clothing but I expect you knew that and enjoy!

Jengie
 

---

Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
Flatmates have just suggested an adventure (one of them has her sister staying.) Am finally going to make it to St Andrews.
 

---

Posted by Derf (# 2093) on :
 
Are you going to hit a ball around with a stick?
 

---

Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
No Derf. We did however find a barbers that was advertising "free whiskey with every hair cut."
 

---

Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 
I was in St Andrews for the first time today too! Sad not to bump into you!

It has a very good cheese shop.
 

---

Posted by Derf (# 2093) on :
 
I'd rather have cheese with my haircut than whisky....
 

---

Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
Given how much I don't like having my hair cut, I'll think I'd rather have the cheese and the whisky. If that's OK?
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Was the cheese shop "Iain Mellis"? They have a branch in Rosemount, Aberdeen, and it's excellent. Our church Young Women's Group* went there for a cheese-tasting session; it was a really good evening, and good value, too, though I suspect they made a tidy profit out of after-sales.

*If you knew our congregation you'd understand why I'm included in the "Young" Women's Group - I'm not even the oldest of the "Young" women. Basically, if you haven't qualified for a bus pass, you're "young."
 

---

Posted by Derf (# 2093) on :
 
Kingsfold you leave me debating which is worse, whisky or having my hair cut! Not sure, but whisky is more avoidable. So probably I'll be sticking to the cheese.
 

---

Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
Kingsfold maybe the whiskey before the haircut will help the process.
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
Something different - did you lot see St Andrew's Uni hymn singing tonight on TV from 5pm? I was pleased to see and hear the whole time, with hymns being performed that had been made not late ago. I also liked seeing St Andres "church" where I was at uni. They had the students at the front of the church, not upstairs where as usual the choir preformed on Sundays.
 

---

Posted by Jengie Jon (# 273) on :
 
Do you mean "St Salvators" as St Andrews, St Andrews is slightly different? The choir on the balcony at the back was definitely the practice at St Salvators when I was there.

Jengie
 

---

Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
Did you visit Luvians bottle shop in St Andrews? If it's anything like the parent shop in Cupar, it's a whisky lover's wet dream.

AG
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jengie Jon:
Do you mean "St Salvators" as St Andrews, St Andrews is slightly different? The choir on the balcony at the back was definitely the practice at St Salvators when I was there.

Jengie

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by North East Quine:
Was the cheese shop "Iain Mellis"? They have a branch in Rosemount, Aberdeen, and it's excellent. Our church Young Women's Group* went there for a cheese-tasting session; it was a really good evening, and good value, too, though I suspect they made a tidy profit out of after-sales.

---

No, it was this one which apparently opened about a year ago, very near to Iain Mellis. The proprietor is a cheese judge and really knowledgeable, I was very impressed (cheese was delicious too).
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Oh, wow! Two cheese shops in one town!
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
That makes me want an excuse to go there next time I'm home, but it's rather off the beaten track for us; when we're in Scotland, we're usually hot-footing it from Edinburgh to Orkney and back.
 

---

Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
WE have two cheese shops in Glasgow as well.

There's an I J Mellis on Great Western Rd and George Mewes on Byres Rd. The latter is fabulous, and it's almost impossible to leave without buying lots & Lots of lovely cheese.
 

---

Posted by To The Pain (# 12235) on :
 
Mmm... cheese...

Popped down to Edinburgh in a hired van yesterday to fetch a mattress for a flatmate and stopped off at Burleigh Castle and Huntingtower Castle to make the whole thing feel like more of an adventure and exercise our Historic Scotland memberships. Huntingtower in particular is a very interesting castle, with a resident bat population and a great story of leaping between the battlements!
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Couldn't the bats just fly between the battlements?
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by piglet:
Couldn't the bats just fly between the battlements?

---

Not wearing all that armour and woad and badly-fitting plaid. (I've seen the historical epics: everybody dressed like that in those days - except for Mary Queen of Scots, who had a big frock).
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
Have you seen the pictures from Vikings in Shetland ? My family, we are descended from Norwegian Vikings, not from Shetland, but from Mull, MacLeans, but we've never performed like they do up there! I always like to see what they are doing every year!
 

---

Posted by To The Pain (# 12235) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by piglet:
Couldn't the bats just fly between the battlements?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by daisymay:
Have you seen the pictures from Vikings in Shetland ?

---

Having no Shetland connections, I've never been to Up Helly Aa, but about 25 years ago a couple of friends in Orkney (both slightly eccentric incomers from England) decided they'd build a long-boat and do a small-scale re-enactment. We went along and processed with the boat down to the nearest harbour and, since none of us knew the Up Helly Aa song, we sang On Ilkley Moor ba' t'hat instead ...
 

---

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
...in Gaelic, I presume!
 

---

Posted by joan knox (# 16100) on :
 
not in Orkney - that would have been Norn?
 

---

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by piglet:

quote:

---

Originally posted by daisymay:
Have you seen the pictures from Vikings in Shetland ?

---

Having no Shetland connections, I've never been to Up Helly Aa, but about 25 years ago a couple of friends in Orkney (both slightly eccentric incomers from England) decided they'd build a long-boat and do a small-scale re-enactment. We went along and processed with the boat down to the nearest harbour and, since none of us knew the Up Helly Aa song, we sang On Ilkley Moor ba' t'hat instead ...

---

You could have recited Hamish Blair's Bloody Orkney, but that was written by a grumpy sailor stuck on a freezing ship at Scapa Flow.
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
I wouldn't dream of reciting that libellous tosh.

I have a feeling that a cousin of my dad's wrote a "reply" to it - I'll have to do some digging about that ...
 

---

Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
Snowing here, but thankfully not really settling.
 

---

Posted by Jengie Jon (# 273) on :
 
I can report the same here.

Jengie
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
Most of the pictures on the Haggis Hunt show no snow now. Even up lots of hills. But I enjoyed climbing mountains when they were totally covered with lots of snow, not wet, when I was younger. I was climbing, not skying, and being careful not to slip down on the edge.
And where we lived, our home was up a hill, and the snow was never removed from it and we had wooden ones we used to whiz down over and over again - and some adults did it too. Nowadays they all seem to have plastic ones!
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
I saw some Irn-Bru cupcakes in a bakery in Dundee yesterday; the icing was that nasty orange shade, they had a wee Irn Bru decoration printed on rice paper sticking out of the icing and apparently they tasted of Irn-Bru, too. (No, I didn't have one!)
 

---

Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
I've seen the Irn-Bru cakes to. As i'm trying to avoid caffeine think that they have the potential to send me hyper!
 

---

Posted by Scots lass (# 2699) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by North East Quine:
I saw some Irn-Bru cupcakes in a bakery in Dundee yesterday; the icing was that nasty orange shade, they had a wee Irn Bru decoration printed on rice paper sticking out of the icing and apparently they tasted of Irn-Bru, too. (No, I didn't have one!)

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
These are not quite the same as the ones that North East Quine mentions ... but I think they're related!

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Scots lass:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
These are not quite the same as the ones that North East Quine mentions ... but I think they're related!

---

Those are the ones I made!

---

See, now I am going to have to have a go!
(And I don't even like Irn Bru.)

Anyone fancy an Irn-Bru cupcake bake-off this weekend? We could all post how they turn out.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Those Irn-bru cup-cakes look better than the ones in the shop!
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Hmmmm....got a lecture on "not getting sucked into displacement activity" from my PhD superviser on Tues. She gave me a list of things I wasn't to do .... but she didn't say I shouldn't take part in an Irn-Bru cup-cake bake off....

(adds Irn-Bru to shopping list....)
 

---

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
Thesis or no thesis - food still needs to happen.
 

---

Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cottontail:
Thesis or no thesis - food still needs to happen.

---

Irn Bru is not food. Ugh, why would you spoil a perfectly acceptable cake with that?
 

---

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jack the Lass:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cottontail:
Thesis or no thesis - food still needs to happen.

---

Irn Bru is not food. Ugh, why would you spoil a perfectly acceptable cake with that?

---

As a fellow Irn-Bru hater, I am inclined to agree with you. But I thought about it again, and I conclude: a cake is a cake is a cake.

 

---

Posted by Jengie Jon (# 273) on :
 
I know somebody who a batch of these would be a perfect gift for. He took his wife around to a friends who had a deep fat fryer so that he could tasted deep fried Mars bar. He bought the bars and made his wife make the batter!

Jengie
 

---

Posted by Scots lass (# 2699) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cottontail:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jack the Lass:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cottontail:
Thesis or no thesis - food still needs to happen.

---

Irn Bru is not food. Ugh, why would you spoil a perfectly acceptable cake with that?

---

As a fellow Irn-Bru hater, I am inclined to agree with you. But I thought about it again, and I conclude: a cake is a cake is a cake.

---

Also, that cake doesn't taste of Irn Bru. Which made me a little sad.
 

---

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
Lookee what I found: FOUR Irn Bru recipes!

I can't be bothered with the ice cream, but the jelly looks fun, and the pound cake might be worth comparing to the cupcake recipe. The Gammon-in-Irn-Bru is a variation on the old Ham-in-Cola recipe beloved of Nigella, amongst others. Anyone brave enough?
 

---

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
Well, I made the cupcakes, except I didn't make them as cupcakes but as one square sponge, which I then iced and sliced.

The result is ... very sweet! I took note of Scots Lass's experience, and decided to reduce some Irn Bru in order to concentrate the flavour. But all it did was make the cake even sweeter. The whole thing was also a tad undercooked, as I discovered when slicing.

So ultimately, not unpleasant, but not very Irn Bru-ish either.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
I made the cupcakes too. They didn't rise much and were deliciously moist, but a bit too sweet and the irn bru flavour wasn't very obvious.

I iced half with butter icing, which I coloured blue, and added orange sprinkles. This was not attractive. I made a basic icing out of Irn Bru and icing sugar for the other half, which looked insipid, but at least not actively unpleasant. I wonder if boiling the Irn Bru to reduce it, then beating in icing sugar might produce a better icing?

(ETA - my family are enjoying them. Years of my cooking has made them willing to eat almost anything, and the cupcakes taste lovely, if a bit sweet, and have a good texture. The blue-and-orange colour scheme is not putting them off.)

[ 13. February 2012, 19:05: Message edited by: North East Quine ]
 

---

Posted by joan knox (# 16100) on :
 
[snippet]

quote:

---

Originally posted by North East Quine:
I iced half with butter icing, which I coloured blue, and added orange sprinkles. This was not attractive.

---

[snippet]

surely not??


the gammon in irn bru is sounding of interest... I think I shall attempt this when I get back home from where I am currently ensconced, apparently writing thesis, in non-distracted way.
 

---

Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
At risk of being purgatorial for a few seconds, is anyone else thinking that Cameron has practically guaranteed a "Let's get out!" result in any independence vote by heading to Edinburgh to tell the Scots how important it is that they stay?

AG
 

---

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :
 
I don't know about guaranteed, but it certainly makes it more likely.
It's in the interests of the Conservative Party winning long-term power in England to jettison Scotland, and I do sometimes wonder whether Cameron isn't perfectly aware of the potential of reverse psychology.

In reality, Cameron's target audience is his backbenchers. He wants to be seen doing something, and his target audience don't care whether it's sensible.
 

---

Posted by joan knox (# 16100) on :
 
Oh indeed, a perfect strategy to almost guarantee a swing towards pro-independence ...
either he is:
a/ an utterly arrogant slimy prat with the intellectual ability of plankton... or/

b/ an utterly arrogant slimy prat with a good streak of machiavellianism in him, who knows exactly what he's doing

[said in Christian love TM]

[ 17. February 2012, 11:15: Message edited by: joan knox ]
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
But...but...but... he visited a porridge factory and there was tartan ...Cameron clearly understands that we Scots are all about porridge and tartan, and not phased about the economy or anything like that....if only he'd said "jings, crivens, help ma boab" the pro-independence movement would be toast.
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
I thought the porridge was a Cruel Joke, to be followed by standing him in a bog in the rain and playing the bagpipes at him.
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
I reckon he must be very keen on getting you* on side if he went to the lengths of eating porridge.

* Although I'm Scottish, I feel I have to say "you" rather than "us" because as an expat I'm highly unlikely to have a vote.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
It must be difficult for Cameron to get good advice on What Scots Like, when he's only got one Tory MP in Scotland.

Perhaps we Scottish Shipmates should help out, and suggest a week-long itinery for him?

I suggest he starts with a Free Presbyterian Church service in the Western Isles. To help him appreciate this, someone should explain to him first the differences and distinguishing characteristics between the Church of Scotland, the Free Church of Scotland, the Free Church (continuing) of Scotland and the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, plus the Session/ Presbytery/ Synod/ General Assembly structure. I'm sure he'd find it all fascinating!!

Any suggestions for activities for Monday?
 

---

Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
After that lot, I'd suggest "Best bloody place is bloody bed with bloody ice on bloody head"!

AG
 

---

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 
Scottish Rain to Slake Softie Southern Thirsts.

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London suggests building aquaducts and pipelines to shift water from Scotland (which has had its wettest even winter) and the North of England to the increasingly dry and densely populated South-East.

I reckon some typical Scottish ingenuity and business acumen is called for. I'm sure money could be made.

[ 20. February 2012, 10:44: Message edited by: Sioni Sais ]
 

---

Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
What a pity my near namesakes, the Sandemanians, have died out.

I'm sure he'd have appreciated a nice bowl of kail soup!

AG
 

---

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by North East Quine:
It must be difficult for Cameron to get good advice on What Scots Like, when he's only got one Tory MP in Scotland.

Perhaps we Scottish Shipmates should help out, and suggest a week-long itinerary for him?

I suggest he starts with a Free Presbyterian Church service in the Western Isles. To help him appreciate this, someone should explain to him first the differences and distinguishing characteristics between the Church of Scotland, the Free Church of Scotland, the Free Church (continuing) of Scotland and the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, plus the Session/ Presbytery/ Synod/ General Assembly structure. I'm sure he'd find it all fascinating!!

Any suggestions for activities for Monday?

---

For Monday, I suggest that he is sent on a pub crawl of Govan. He should then be made to watch this episode of Still Game without subtitles.

As an aside, Ian Hislop related recently on HIGNFY how once, when when making a documentary, he got out of the car in Govan. Immediately, a man came up to him and said, (think broad Glasgow accent), "Ye're oot o yer depth here, son!"
 

---

Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 
I have just received an email, addressed to me but arriving in Spam folder thanks to gmail.

It starts,

quote:

---

I am associated in a senior position with a leading Scottish bank...

---

As I did not open it, I know no more.

I was wondering if perhaps the current political climate might have influenced such an influential person to resort to Nigerian scam tactics.

Posted purely as a light hearted warning about what some may be up to.
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lothlorien:

quote:

---

I am associated in a senior position with a leading Scottish bank...

---

---

Something you want to keep quiet about these days.

Re emails: the current crop tend to be the Deadly Attachment ones - eg, you have a booking with American Airlines or Attached Messages (this one from a spoofed friend's email).
 

---

Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 
I've also had several today, supposedly from Amazon about a cancelled order. With Spelling mistakes in it. As I thought, Amazon confirmed them as bogus and sent them for investigation.

Just a bit more about emails not necessarily confined to this thread.. Perhaps I should say "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance." Certainly is with the rubbish that's around.
 

---

Posted by joan knox (# 16100) on :
 
At the moment I currently have several friends in Spain who all independently of each other have had the dire misfortune of having been mugged and need help getting home... bless their wee hearts - although it is very fortunate they all have access to the internet to let us all know of their troubles. Unfortunately sending them money via a wire to some Credit Union or other really does cut into the cash I keep aside for chai latte and caramel macchiatto....
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
You wouldn't believe how many Good Christians from Nigeria want to put their life savings in your account to keep them safe from their Nasty Muslim relatives, when your e-mail appears on your church website.

There must be some way of harvesting e-mails from church websites, so that you can be bombarded with e-mails from Widowed Good Christians who are Very Rich, have Terminal Cancer, No Children, and Nasty Muslim relatives.

My favourite was from the Good Christian who prays daily in her Synagogue, including Prayers for the Kind Person who will provide their Bank Details. Guess that means no prayers for me, then.
 

---

Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
In light of recent events at Westminster, one finds oneself wondering whether "Can yer mother sew?" counts as unparliamentary language?

AG
 

---

Posted by Sober Preacher's Kid (# 12699) on :
 
This is a cross-pond dust-up too. The party in Strangers was for the Right Honourable Andrew Scheer, Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada who was on an Inter-Parliamentary Exchange visit to Westminster. He narrowly escaped the incident where a British member appeared to have overindulged and became violently demonstrative.

Translation: The Canadian House of Commons is off for a week and our Speaker was on a boozy junket to visit his pal the British Speaker when a backbencher got totally smashed and starting punching people.

To add some Scots flavour I have been reading the new two-part biography of Sir John A. Macdonald and he was a heavy drinker who would drink himself senseless for days at a time. He never apologized too.
 

---

Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
Just wondering if anyone is interested in a shipmeet some time in the next few months? If enough people express interest I'll start a new thread.
 

---

Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
Ah, now I need to be in your neck of the woods in May.... mayhap an evening meet on 18th May?
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Whereabouts were you thinking for a shipmeet?
 

---

Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by North East Quine:
Whereabouts were you thinking for a shipmeet?

---

Was vaguely wondering about Edinburgh, but am up for suggestions.

I'll put it in the diary Kingsfold, and let you know closer to the time if i'm around. Anyone else around to join us of we meet? (18th May, Dundee)
 

---

Posted by Derf (# 2093) on :
 
We could always do some island bagging - Inchcolm or Millport?
 

---

Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 
Ooh, now that's a good idea. Inchcolm looks lovely! I'd definitely be up for that.
 

---

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
I like that idea. Inchcolm is lovely.
 

---

Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
It sounds like we have a definite quorum for an Inchcolm trip, as I'd be up for it too....
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
I've never been to Inchcolm. Apparently I could take a train to Inverkeithing, then train to Dalmeny, then it's a 15 min walk to the pier; that sounds do-able.
 

---

Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :
 
We tried to go over to Inchholm a couple of years back. But got to the pier just after a ferry left and the wait for the next one would have been too long for the kids. We went back across the bridge to see the sharks instead.
 

---

Posted by joan knox (# 16100) on :
 
Oooooh, Inchcolm! That'd be fab.
 

---

Posted by Derf (# 2093) on :
 
It looks like boats run at 1215 and 1400 Sat and Sun from the start of April. Can't find prices but I know it's slightly cheaper if you're a Historic Scotland member.
 

---

Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Derf:
It looks like boats run at 1215 and 1400 Sat and Sun from the start of April. Can't find prices but I know it's slightly cheaper if you're a Historic Scotland member.

---

Can I confuse them with an English Heritage membership which usually gets me into historic Scotland properties (yes I know I like being awkward!)

Just looking at how easy this is my public transport. But it's looking good.

 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
If the date suits us, Full of Chips and I are both keen to visit Inchcolm.
 

---

Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
Started a new thread to discuss potential shipmeet.
 

---

Posted by Derf (# 2093) on :
 
Surfing given that confusing people is one of your skills I'm sure you could manage it
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
I'm hoping/intending to camp up by Loch Lomond, in June when I've time off school work, a nice place with nice walks etc and able to go on boats. What do you think of that area?
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
This site has useful stuff on the Loch Lomond National Park, including camping info.

Embro, btw, currently experiencing the Forth Valley biteback for fine weather - the haar. Very heavy last evening, and, from what I can see by dawn's early gloom, still operative this morning.
 

---

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
I spent yesterday in the hills south of Edinburgh. Glorious hazy warm day. Drove back to Edinburgh, rounded the corner on the A702 just before Lothianburn - and there was the haar, as thick and grey and dramatic as you could wish.

Thankfully, today the sun has got through, and it is lovely in the toon.
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
And it was on the news today that it is one of the most warm days around this time. Was it nice? It looks sunny on the pictures we get on the computers on BBC News.
 

---

Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 
It's been lovely, such a shame to have to go to work! Yes, Aberdeenshire broke the all-time March temperature record today (the previous record was set yesterday).

A couple of days ago on blipfoto there were some absolutely cracking haar photos. We're enough inland that it's dispersed before it reaches us, luckily.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Yes, it was glorious here in Aberdeenshire, though I gather it was hotter further inland.

I overheard one woman remarking that the past week had been like summer "except summer doesn't usually last this long."
 

---

Posted by cattyish (# 7829) on :
 
The hairy dog was pretty much cooked as we walked around Fyvie Estate today. I was out in a strappy top, and I was roasting!

Cattyish, sunscreen out already.
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
It doesn't seem to be summery now! What do you think of these pictures? Taken early in the morning? Snow!
 

---

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 

 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
We have about an inch of snow here.
 

---

Posted by joan knox (# 16100) on :
 
there I was with pal strolling along Portobello Prom on Sunday, watching children splash in the sea, seeing the occasional smoke from a beachside barbie. Such a different story as I struggled through the sleet and high winds into the burgh today firmly wrapped up and be-gloved... brrrr!!
 

---

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
Gotta love Scotland.

(Substitute snow flakes for the hearts, and that is where we're at out my window right now.)
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
A week on from Cottontail's post, and guess what is still falling past the windows...

It's a day that would win prizes for vileness, even in December: in well-into-April, it is just Wrong.
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
Yes, I've just had a message from one of my friends (we were at school together in Blairgowrie) who lives in Edinburgh now, that she dislikes the "snow" today...
 

---

Posted by joan knox (# 16100) on :
 
No snow over here in Cumbrae where I am currently ensconced for the week... but 'tis cold.
 

---

Posted by ken (# 2460) on :
 
Do they still paint the rocks to look like crocodiles?
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
I don't understand the kind of weather we're getting - it's not just on your side of the Pond. On Palm Sunday we had snow, and today, just over a week later, it was 14°C (the average temp. at this time of year in St. John's is 5°C). Further west it's been even sillier; on the prairies they were having temperatures in the high 20s a couple of weeks ago, and by last week they had over a foot of snow.


 

---

Posted by busyknitter (# 2501) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by ken:
Do they still paint the rocks to look like crocodiles?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by ken:
Do they still paint the rocks to look like crocodiles?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by busyknitter:
And another piccie

(ps, that's mine and Ken's Mum, her first visit to the rock in over 70 years).

---

I don't think it can be 70 cos I think I remember going there once when I was a kid, so I'm sure Mum must have been there. Could be going on fifty years though...

I spent two weeks there in 2001 or so, on a Marine Microbiology course. If you think the big creatures look scary you should see the small ones!
 

---

Posted by busyknitter (# 2501) on :
 
Nope, I checked with Mum. You are remembering a trip to Dunoon when you were 3 (so I wasn't even on the scene).

Before last year's visit she hadn't been to Millport since 1939.
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
And what is the weather like today? It looked bad on the news - loads of rain? Any snow apart from the mountains?
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Not as wet as forecast today (but there's always tomorrow). What peeves me is the cold - bar that one freakish week in March, it's been around 10C at best, and frequently just a few degrees above freezing overnight. I'm fed up of socks and jumpers and cardies and fleeces.
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Busyknitter, are you the Family Date Rememberer? I recall once my sister and my dad phoning me to settle an argument about what year the family went to Cornwall for a holiday. I said I understood it was 1959, but as I hadn't been born at the time I couldn't be absolutely sure ...

We're heading to Irn-bru land this weekend (sadly, it's for my mum's funeral), but going to Orkney is always a Good Thing, even when it's for a Bad Reason.
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
May it go well in your sadness, and those of others too.
 

---

Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
Well, I have to say, it's blowing an absolute hoolie here, and there's been a fair amount of water falling out of the sky. Clearly normal service has been resumed.

How are the rest of you doing?
 

---

Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 
I managed to have the washing out for an hour today before the grey clouds made me too nervous. Of course, since bringing it in it hasn't rained once.

We're OK, enjoying Stirling, and I start my new job in Edinburgh next week (eek).
 

---

Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
Hello Scotland!

I thought y'all might like to see some of your own at the Scotland-Florida mini meet!

See ya later!
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
We had mostly not bad weather at all while we were in Scotland, although our ferry back from Orkney was delayed by five hours through a combination of high-ish winds and a buggered bow-thruster. However, that delay meant we discovered a really good eatery called the Shandwick Inn just off the A9 not far from Tain. If you're ever travelling that way and find you're hungry, it's what the restaurant guides would describe as "worth a detour".
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Sorry for double-post, but having thought about it, that restaurant doesn't really need a detour - you take the turning on the main A9 for Logie Easter Church.

That sign puzzles me: I wonder what it is for the other 364 days of the year?
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by piglet:
Sorry for double-post, but having thought about it, that restaurant doesn't really need a detour - you take the turning on the main A9 for Logie Easter Church.

That sign puzzles me: I wonder what it is for the other 364 days of the year?

---

I assume the name is about the location of Logie rather than the festival. Somewhere in the other direction there may be a Wester Logie.
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Sorry - I was being facetious ...
 

---

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
How very out of character!


 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by piglet:
Sorry - I was being facetious ...

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by North East Quine:
Skipped out onto our lawn to wash my face in the May Dew this morning, then remembered about the moss killer I'd put down on Sunday.

---

Is there something special about May Dew?

Moo
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Before the advent of modern cosmetics, it was your one hope of a successful skin care regime ( other than painting your face with white lead).
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
In Kirkwall the tradition is to climb Wideford Hill, which is a couple of miles outside the town, and wash your face in the May dew to make you beautiful. I've never done it (although D. has); an old school friend of mine said on Facebook today that she'd done it for the first time in her life. Maybe now she's turned 50 she reckons she needs it, but I saw her last week and she looked just fine ...
 

---

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
Here in the Burgh, one is supposed to climb Arthur's Seat on May morning to wash one's face in the dew. I've never done it, but my mother did when she was a student here in the 1960s, and she looks fabulous at 68.

In defiance of David Hume, I thereby infer cause-and-effect, and conclude that there is something magical in the May-dew.

 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by piglet:
In Kirkwall the tradition is to climb Wideford Hill, which is a couple of miles outside the town, and wash your face in the May dew to make you beautiful. I've never done it (although D. has); an old school friend of mine said on Facebook today that she'd done it for the first time in her life. Maybe now she's turned 50 she reckons she needs it, but I saw her last week and she looked just fine ...

---

When I was at school a youngster, I always went up the hill, mini-mountain, where we lived and washed my face on the 1st May - and then I'd take some special flowers to my mother - I can't remember which ones, but some were ones we never took indoors, something about them always living in the outdoors, by farms etc.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
I've always washed my face in the May Dew, (I need all the help I can get!) but I've never gone further than my back garden to do so.

I used to give my daughter's face a quick swipe with a dew-wetted hanky as well, but she's a teen and about it these days.
 

---

Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 
Moo, I believe it's specifically related to the festival of Beltane.
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Yesterday was sunny! And warm! Spent the whole day trying to catch up on a Springsworth of gardening (and I have the terminal exhaustion to prove it).
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Hailstones yesterday, snow today. However, since the snow stopped, the grey clouds have vanished and the sky is a glorious clear blue.
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Another (!) sunny day - but temperature still in single figures. Gardened until I reached my puggle threshhold - which sets in after one vegetable bed and a couple of border plants.

However, that is more than 50% of the patch planted up.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
I got the grass cut, but was then sent fleeing indoors by large hailstones stotting down.
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Firenze:
... my puggle threshhold ... sets in after one vegetable bed ...

---

I reckon mine would set in after one vegetable ...
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
On the strength of early sunshine, girding myself for another spell of digging when stuff starting coming down that was indisputably sleet.

May glut the gardening instinct by going out and buying plastic chairs instead.
 

---

Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 

quote:

---

May glut the gardening instinct by going out and buying plastic chairs instead.

---

How about a beautifully bound notebook from a nursery etc which sells gift items. Then you can plan your garden to your heart's content and make lots of lists re jobs to be done and plants to be bought etc. All inside out of the sleet and wind.

That should glut the gardening instinct and give pleasure to the eye and hand.
 

---

Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
Foolishly cycled to church this morning with a jumper not a coat. It rained on the way home
 

---

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
Here, it snowed.

Briefly, admittedly. But snow nevertheless.
 

---

Posted by Arethosemyfeet (# 17047) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Surfing Madness:
Foolishly cycled to church this morning with a jumper not a coat. It rained on the way home

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Surfing Madness:
Foolishly cycled to church this morning with a jumper not a coat. It rained on the way home

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
[QUOTE]'If the sun's shining, take a coat'. If it's pissing down, decide for yourself'.

(West Country proverb)

---

When I lived in the West of Scotland I'd have never gone without a coat, here on the East coast, it rains less so I let my guard down.
 

---

Posted by mrs whibley (# 4798) on :
 
Checking in from sunny (well, for the moment) Shetland! We have been here since Saturday and have had snow, hail, rain and some sun. We were very welcome at a local Methodist church on Sunday, and they have even lent us a replacement for the computer lead we forgot. I am now sitting with a nice glass of wine, watching the seals lazing on their rocks and hoping for an otter, while Mr Whibley has his nap. Bliss!
 

---

Posted by chive (# 208) on :
 
I'm coming up to Glasgow on Sunday so the weather must improve as I've turned into a soft southerner

Sadly going to be mental busy so won't be able to meet up with anyone, maybe next time.
 

---

Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
Bring your winter woollies... it's cold up here again.
 

---

Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :
 
And waterproofs ... or, maybe an Ark.
 

---

Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
But don't bother with a brolly - there's too much wind.
 

---

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
No True Scot uses a brolly. True Scots know that only a hood or a bunnet will do.

One can tell the tourists from the locals on the Royal Mile, simply by observing which are gamely wrestling with an inside-out umbrella, and which are merely huddled metres within a hooded anorak.
 

---

Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 

quote:

---

posted by cottontail:
No True Scot uses a brolly.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by kingsfold:

quote:

---

posted by cottontail:
No True Scot uses a brolly.

---

I learnt that fairly soon after moving up here...

---

So true! I let the one I moved up with die, and have just replaced it as I had to go to Moldova for a day (loooong story) and rain was forecast. It was blisteringly hot instead!
 

---

Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by mrs whibley:
I had to go to Moldova for a day (loooong story) ...

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cottontail:
No True Scot uses a brolly ...

---

Maybe they should.
 

---

Posted by mrs whibley (# 4798) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jack the Lass:

quote:

---

Originally posted by mrs whibley:
I had to go to Moldova for a day (loooong story) ...

---

Ooooooh - did you know I did part of my PhD research there? Bit of a trek for a day though - I was running around like a blue-arsed fly, and I had 2 months!

---

I think you mentioned Moldova either here or on your blog, so I did remember you! I was there to do some stuff with WHO and managed to visit 4 health facilities in Chisinau to interview people. Fortunately an interpreter, driver and (eventually) an itinerary were provided, and the delegation had pre-arranged the interviews, but there was indeed a certain amount of blue-arsed-fly-ness. And 6 planes in 48 hours. I went to see the cathedral in the evening, though, which was awesome.
 

---

Posted by Celtic Knotweed (# 13008) on :
 
We have finally got a large chunk of the summer holiday organised All of the transport/accomodation is booked for 2 weeks, partly in Orkney , partly in Shetland So the weather forecast for the last 2 weeks of June up there is now going to be awful... At least this morning down here gives me the chance to check that my waterproof is still proof!

[spelling not my strong point today]

[ 14. May 2012, 11:55: Message edited by: Celtic Knotweed ]
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Lucky you, CK. Are you culture-vultures? If you're in Orkney around the third week of June you might find something you like at the St. Magnus Festival. We were very involved in it when we lived there; with D. being the Cathedral organist, he was on the Festival committee, and I used to dash about doing front-of-house and general factotum duties (picking up singers from hotels, that sort of thing) as well as singing in the Cathedral choir and the Festival Chorus.

We've never been able to go back for it since we left Orkney; it wasn't a particularly convenient time for us to take holidays when we were in Belfast, and it would clash with our own Patronal Festival here in St. John's, so it's unlikely we'll be at another one.

The first few years we were away I used to get a little stab of home-sickness around mid-June, but it got less as time went on ...

very slightly wistful piglet
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Walked into the village in bright sunshine; walked home from the village in pelting hail.
 

---

Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
At this moment in time the weather actually knows that it is May!! Wonder if it will last.
 

---

Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by piglet:
Lucky you, CK. Are you culture-vultures?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by daisymay:
Luss

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sandemaniac:

quote:

---

Originally posted by daisymay:
Luss

---

Will you be travelling by Pimpernel Petroleum?
AG

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Surfing Madness:
Wee trip to Anstruther this evening to eat chips in the sunshine and walk on the beach with my flatmates, it was lovely.

---

Sunshine? In UK?

I have just spent a fortnight over there in the bitterly cold winds and the damp! Did it brighten up right after I left?


 

---

Posted by Arethosemyfeet (# 17047) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Surfing Madness:
Wee trip to Anstruther this evening to eat chips in the sunshine and walk on the beach with my flatmates, it was lovely.

---

Sunshine? In UK?

I have just spent a fortnight over there in the bitterly cold winds and the damp! Did it brighten up right after I left?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by piglet:


I don't know about the rest of Scotland, but according to my dad, Orkney's been basking in lovely weather for over a week. Long may it continue - we're hoping to be up there in early August.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Surfing Madness:
Wee trip to Anstruther this evening to eat chips in the sunshine and walk on the beach with my flatmates, it was lovely.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sandemaniac:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Surfing Madness:
Wee trip to Anstruther this evening to eat chips in the sunshine and walk on the beach with my flatmates, it was lovely.

---

You did go to THE chip shop, didn't you?

AG

---

Yes we did.
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Finally waking to cloudy skies and a light rain. I can practically hear the sound of slurping from a grateful garden.
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
may there be a good Jubilee in Scotland - and may it never be said "Elizabeth 2nd" but just Elizabeth. I'm off to Loch Lomond to camp there next week. It's a beautiful place to be at.
 

---

Posted by cattyish (# 7829) on :
 
I think I'll take a road trip to Auld Reekie tomorrow. How are the roads?

Cattyish, off to see my Grannie.
 

---

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
I'll pass you somewhere on the way, Cattyish. Road trip for me up to Inverness!

I've no idea about the roads outside the Burgh. Just do your best not to drive through the centre. The tram works are eternal ...
 

---

Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :
 
We took ourselves away for a few days just outside Ballantrae. With some glorious weather, overcast and cool on Sunday when we went to see the Gathering at Girvan (with wee man fascinated by the hammer throwing and caber tossing) but otherwise very un-Scottish wall-to-wall sunshine and warmth.

I did note on the way down that the matrix sign as we joined the M77 warned of the A9 closed at Calvine. Hopefully that had been cleared before you went that way to Inverness.
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
We had a good time camping in Luss, and the weather was generally good. On Saturday also, that was when the people carrying lit-up lights were there - and there must have been at least 2000 people watching and cheering. There were also loads of police to organise it.

We also had good times on the boats, all round Loch Lomond, and my sister did quite a lot of slow walking, which was good for her.

Luss village also has just a few, but nice, good ones, where we could eat and not always cook by our little tents.
 

---

Posted by Celtic Knotweed (# 13008) on :
 
Well, the tickets/booking stuff is all printed, we're (almost) packed (can't pack 1 or 2 things till we get home from work), and the maternal Knotweed is dropping over to give us a lift to the bus station. If all goes well, by tomorrow morning we'll be in Inverness, heading north to Orkney .

Kingsfold - many thanks for the loan of brochures and maps, some are heading north, all were useful. Will post them back to you in July!
 

---

Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
Just , really!

I've been annoying everyone I know about Twatt for days now...

AG

[ 15. June 2012, 12:06: Message edited by: Sandemaniac ]
 

---

Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
Enjoy - I'm sure you'll have a great time, and hope the weather is nice to you (it's wet & windy this side of Scotland at the moment!).

I'm still trying to plan my holiday... possibly thinking outer Hebrides...
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
North East Scotland - where old-fashioned boy-meets-girl romance still flourishes amongst the tractors and neeps.
(I live less than 10 miles from Echt.)
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sandemaniac:
... I've been annoying everyone I know about Twatt for days now...

AG

---

Have a great trip and give my love to the old place!


 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
It was so cold at the Stonehaven Outdoor Swimming Pool yesterday that the lifeguards and pool attendants were wearing parkas with furry lining in their hoods.

Full marks to the brave souls who went swimming regardless.
 

---

Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
I'm in Glasgow and there is sunshine, maybe the world is about to end.
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by North East Quine:
... Stonehaven Outdoor Swimming Pool ...

---

 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Got so cold and wet at the Portsoy Boat Festival, that we put the central heating back on when we got home, and had hot drinks all round.

The is the about the 6th time we've been to the Portsoy Boat Festival, and the first one that hasn't involved sun cream. Husband and daughter were wetter this time than the time their coracle capsized and left them swimming in the harbour!
 

---

Posted by Celtic Knotweed (# 13008) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by piglet:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sandemaniac:
... I've been annoying everyone I know about Twatt for days now...

AG

---

Have a great trip and give my love to the old place!

---

Oh, we did. Sandemaniac went wandering around Twatt with a camera (you can still drive round a great chunk of the airfield perimeter track!), and I managed to get sunburnt when we got a dry day.

Now even further north in Lerwick Youth Hostel (free net connection ), hoping for some dryer weather over the next couple of days than what we got this morning as we came into harbour! There was enough sunshine this afternoon that I was wearing sunscreen...
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Sunscreen????

Glad you're having a good time (although why you'd want to go to Shetland is beyond the comprehension of an Orcadian ...)
 

---

Posted by The Intrepid Mrs S (# 17002) on :
 
NEQ posted

quote:

---

Husband and daughter were wetter this time than the time their coracle capsized and left them swimming in the harbour!

---

Wetter than an otter's pocket, as we do say round 'ere...

Mrs. S, still laughing at that one
 

---

Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
Heading South for a few weeks. Just looked at the weather forecast for tomorrow it's meant to be 26 in London, I don't know what to do when it's that warm, I'm used to Scotland.
 

---

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Surfing Madness:
Heading South for a few weeks. Just looked at the weather forecast for tomorrow it's meant to be 26 in London, I don't know what to do when it's that warm, I'm used to Scotland.

---

It was warmer than that in those mad few days at the end of March in Aberdeenshire! 26 degrees in central London is very sticky, two shirts a day weather (yes, take a change for the afternoon).
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
What do you lot think of the Queen coming up to Scotland, Edinburgh? Will it be very busy with her there? And she's making her grandson important...
 

---

Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 
I can't say I've noticed Edinburgh being any more busy today than usual, to be honest. My impression having worked here a couple of months is that Edinburgers aren't that bothered by visiting dignitories - the other week the Dalai Lama came to St Giles Cathedral, when I walked past there was a very perfunctory group of people outside, not even enough to call a crowd - there were lots of barriers as I think they'd been expecting many more people, but the square outside the cathedral was pretty empty. I asked the security guys when he was expected (assuming the crowds would build up closer to the time of arrival), and they said he'd already arrived and was inside the cathedral at that point.

Also today has seen particularly good weather for ducks, so that has probably put some people off who might otherwise have turned out to have a look at Her Maj.
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
My parents were there regularly in the Queens Visit, and were sent every year - but when I was also to go, they never let me! It was only when I was a teenager, but they obviously just wanted to go together. And, of course, we saw many of the "royal family" near where we lived, but we kids never spoke to them - and then much later some of them were around and chatted. Not the "Queen" with me.
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Bizarre east coast weather: heavy fog - following on a very humid day with thunderstorms.
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Oh I don't know that it's that bizarre - we're as far east as one can get on this side of the Pond, and we're not known as Fog City for nothing. Every time I tell my dad (a very keen weather-watcher) that we've had fog, he'll say, "oh I suppose you had an east wind?"

Thunder and lightning will often follow humid weather and is the best cure for it; we had some the other night, and you could feel the air clearing.

Unfortunately the humidity came back ...
 

---

Posted by chive (# 208) on :
 
In the little corner of northern France where I spend my working life it was incredibly humid til about 2am then incredibly foggy (couldn't see 50 yards type fog) for an hour and then the morning came lovely and sunny. Travel across to the little corner of southern England where I live and it's pouring. Weather makes no sense at all, that's why we love to talk about it
 

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Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 
Same down here chive. The weather in Newport differs from that in Cardiff and the weather forecast acknowledges it in talking of West Wales, South Wales and South-east Wales. The latter consists of Newport, the lower lying parts of Monmouthshire and up the Severn towards Lydney.
 

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Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
I'm sort of thinking about my holiday at the moment, and whether mid/late Sept would be late enough to avoid the dreaded midgie...

Anyhow, I came across this game, and just had to share
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by kingsfold:
I'm sort of thinking about my holiday at the moment, and whether mid/late Sept would be late enough to avoid the dreaded midgie...

Anyhow, I came across this game, and just had to share

---

quote:

---

posted by daisymay:

And I always use "Jungle Formula" to keep the midgies not all come and bite me.

---

But is it effective? I have to admit, I'm not keen on covering myself in something containing DEET, especially on my hands/face. The last time I had a serious midge encounter, I used a DEET repellent, and I still got bitten, though to be fair, some of that happened before the repellant was applied. Midges see me and think "dinner"
 

---

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
Yes, Deet can strip paint and melt plastic - so what does it do to our skin?
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
My grandfather claimed that midgies wouldn't bother you if you swore at them in Gaelic. I only know one rude phrase but can report some success with it.
 

---

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :
 
I used to get bitten very frequently by mosquitoes and blackflies. Then I started taking garlic pills, and I get bitten much less often.

It used to be that when I was with a group, I was bitten more than anyone else. Now I am bitten less often than anyone else.

Moo
 

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Posted by Balaam (# 4543) on :
 
The last time I was in a Scottish forest in summer I used midge repellent.

The sight of the midges in the ointment was something to behold, They have become so immune to the repellent that they dive in and eat it.
 

---

Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
Yes, Deet can strip paint and melt plastic - so what does it do to our skin?

---

I have tried wearing tons as I have semi-allergic reactions to mosquito. And then I discovered that my reaction to the deet was worse than my reaction to the mosquito. I go for the less chemically mosquito repellents these days. (Smoke is the best I know, though it doesn't come in a spray-on form yet.)
 

---

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
Carry your own thurible?


 

---

Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 

quote:

---

posted by NEQ:
My grandfather claimed that midgies wouldn't bother you if you swore at them in Gaelic. I only know one rude phrase but can report some success with it.

---

quote:

---

posted by wodders:
Carry your own thurible?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
Yes, Deet can strip paint and melt plastic - so what does it do to our skin?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Balaam:
The last time I was in a Scottish forest in summer I used midge repellent.

The sight of the midges in the ointment was something to behold, They have become so immune to the repellent that they dive in and eat it.

---

If they're eating the repellent ointment rather than you I would count that a success.
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
And I'm pleased camping in Somerset that we don't have "midgies" here, but we've got lots of others that come into our tents.
 

---

Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
Have finally got the holiday sorted, at least, accommodation & ferries - the rest I'll make up as I go along. I'm going to the Outer Hebrides - Barra, Benbecula & the Uists (please note, island baggers, this will also include Eriskay, and maybe also Vatersay & Berneray ).

I'm now very excited (and hope the weather will be half-decent, which is probably a bit naive of me)
 

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Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Have a great time, Kingsfold.

We're going to God's Own Island™ in the third week of August.
 

---

Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
I did like Orkney, and would love to go back particularly to some of the more out-lying islands (wonder if it's to do with the cheese/oatcakes/beer?). But I would also like to visit Shetland. And Coll & Tiree. And Islay & Jura. Not to mention Harris/Lewis (I'm blaming that particular "want to visit" on Jack the Lass). Maybe even the small isles. And return to Mull and visit Iona...

So many islands to visit - I wish I'd started exploring more earlier. And am praying I can stay up here long enough to visit several more!

[ 27. July 2012, 21:26: Message edited by: kingsfold ]
 

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Posted by Derf (# 2093) on :
 
Hooray for more islands - sounds like an excellent trip. I'm sure I'll get to the Western Isles one day...
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
I'm pleased that 2 Scots got Gold and Silver for Olympics - I prefer that to English....
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Gold for Andy!!
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
What NEQ said - well done Andy!
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
Yes! And he's one on this winning picture .
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
One nervous household here - exam result day!
 

---

Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 
How did they do, NEQ? Hope new horizons and dreams have been opened up for them, whatever the results.

I think the results down south are out next week? My cousin is waiting on A'level results and is getting nervous now!
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
It was a game of two halves here; elder and younger produced very different results. We went out to dinner to celebrate anyway.
 

---

Posted by HenryT (# 3722) on :
 
Attracted by the title of the thread, I note that there's a 2 litre bottle of Irn-Bru in the office fridge at work. In Canada, and it's not mine.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Any one else up for the Aberdeen ship-meet? Surfing Madness has started a thread.
 

---

Posted by daisydaisy (# 12167) on :
 
Or even the Glasgow meet on Tuesday?
Right now i'm sitting at Euston station waiting for the sleeper to arrive, looking forward to my week north of the border.

[ 19. August 2012, 20:53: Message edited by: daisydaisy ]
 

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Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
Daisydaisy, any chance you can bring the sunshine with you? Hope you have a great holiday.
 

---

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
Daisydaisy and Aberdeen would have been very nice. But I am afraid I am in the middle of moving house, so no shipmeets for me.

I hope y'all have a great time.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Another time, Cottontail!

I've just been listening to Past Lives on Radio Scotland, about this splendid website, which I heartily commend.
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
There was a great performance up in Edinburgh at the Queen's Castle - it was on TV and I really liked it, good music and good dancing etc.

The girls, some of them, were a group wearing short kilts. Is that changing a lot about what we females can wear? I'd not want to wear a kilt, just a dress, or skirt in our Mac. What do you lot think about that?
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
We're just back in the south (with D's parents) after a week in Scotland meeting my new great-niece, who is absolutely gorgeous and then up in Orkney visiting my dad.

Weather was mostly very nice - dry and sometimes sunny but not horribly hot and sticky as it was in the south the previous week.

And only one midgie-bite ...
 

---

Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
Heading off for a few days with my parents who are up on holiday, Skye, Harris and Ullapool here I come.
 

---

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 
Spent 25 minutes in Scotland this morning with 'Mark Steel's in Town' visiting Leith, which is emphatically not Edinburgh. Well worth a listen.

[ 28. August 2012, 20:56: Message edited by: Sioni Sais ]
 

---

Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 

quote:

---

posted by piglet:
And only one midgie-bite ...

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by daisymay:
There was a great performance up in Edinburgh at the Queen's Castle - it was on TV and I really liked it, good music and good dancing etc.

The girls, some of them, were a group wearing short kilts. Is that changing a lot about what we females can wear? I'd not want to wear a kilt, just a dress, or skirt in our Mac. What do you lot think about that?

---

It's not uncommon in the circles I move in (lots of scottish dance) to see girls in mini-kilts - they're usually not the full deep-pleat and they sit lower on the hips but are basically kilt-shaped. These local designs also crop up here and there. I like the traditional kilt double-strap fastening on the skirts but I'm not so sure about the net underlayers. As it's basically a draped skirt it has less bulk than a proper kilt and shouldn't be too difficult to replicate (especially if you had a good dressform).

Essentially there are a lot of ways that girls can wear tartan, the challenge is to find a cut that fits well and will lend itself to the strong geometric patterns tartans provide.
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
Did any of you go to see the performance/competition that the queen and her husband were at? It's always been just up from us in Blairgowrie and we've enjoyed it and also enjoyed meeting the queen and her family.
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Thought my fellow-Scots would be pleased to hear that Andy Murray has won the U.S. Open.


 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
But what a battle.

I did think the Olympic win was a watershed though.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 

 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Jings, the bevvies'll be flowing like cold porridge in Caledonia tonight!
 

---

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
Wee Andy!
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
Hurray for Andy! and it was on the news this morning, which made me feel very happy! Well done!
 

---

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :
 
Looking at the front pages in the newsagents, it appears that the Scottish papers kept their staff working later than the London papers did.
 

---

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
He even gets a big write up on the sports pages here this morning.
 

---

Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
Went to Arbroath on Saturday, never been before, and while we didn't have that long there, did get to go to the Abbey, which we enjoyed. We'd cycled which meant we got to enjoy some beautiful scenery on the way, but it was rather windy on the way back!
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
It's an interesting Abbey and also there is good fish for individuals being sold by the river/sea.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Seriously stormy weather here.
 

---

Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by North East Quine:
Seriously stormy weather here.

---

and here....should therefore be perfect essay writing weather, but i'm being distracted by things inside the house instead of outside!
 

---

Posted by To The Pain (# 12235) on :
 
Yup, it's our recycling day and all the boxes were blown about so my front grass is littered with bits and pieces that resisted my brief wind and rain blown efforts to corral them before work. There are also panels down from the back fence and a few tree branches. Hopefully last autumn's gales mean that there shouldn't be too many trees vulnerable to coming down.
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
On the BBC news of Scotland it seemed there were many places where the water was all around and also where trees blew down. It does sound really bad. Has it affected many of you badly?
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
I was speaking to my dad today and he said they'd had 60+mph winds, but in Orkney that's just a peedie bit o' a breeze ...

He judges wind speeds by the top of the lamp-post outside his house - if it's moving about he reckons the wind's over 60mph.

Seriously though, I hope you're all safe.
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
Has it been as bad as it's been said in Yorkshire? When it's windy, the trees often come down, not just lots of water around...
 

---

Posted by cattyish (# 7829) on :
 
I had to explain to Mr C that having grown up in Caithness, hanging washing out in a howling gale was not a problem for me. It didn't dry, but that's beside the point.

Cattyish
 

---

Posted by chive (# 208) on :
 
I'm coming north of the border on Wednesday - yay. Won't be able to meet as doing a lot of travelling but looks like I'm going to visit here. Has anyone else been there?
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by chive:
I'm coming north of the border on Wednesday - yay. Won't be able to meet as doing a lot of travelling but looks like I'm going to visit here. Has anyone else been there?

---

Looks fun - not that I've been there, though.

And something else: I've been wearing today my trousers, Stewart one, which I've had since I was a teenager, and a woman who spoke Scottish (Glasgow-ish) as she walked by me today in London, she said, "That is something that only men wear - you should not be wearing that!" No-one has ever said that to me. And I also had a skirt, MacLean one, that fitted me as a young teenager, but it's gone now. Is it nowadays that people don't have women wearing that sort of trousers?
And when I was in Edinburgh, just a little time one day, I saw that there are now short kilts for women! I don't think I'd wear that, as I assume it should be only for men and boys, as the male ones in my family still wear them.
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
There was a fashion in the mid-1990s for short kilts for women and I had a couple - I still had almost-good-enough legs in those days ... **sigh**

As for the trousers, my mother-in-law (who's English* and in her 80s) sometimes wears a pair that could be construed as being Black Watch.

* but loves all things Scottish, including me.
 

---

Posted by The Intrepid Mrs S (# 17002) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by chive:
I'm coming north of the border on Wednesday - yay. Won't be able to meet as doing a lot of travelling but looks like I'm going to visit here. Has anyone else been there?

---

Never been to that particular place, but my uncle and aunt used to live in some posh house near Twynholm! The countryside around Castle Douglas is fabulous and the microbrewery at the lower end of the main street is definitely worth a visit - they make the Selkirk ale among other wonderful beers

Mrs. S, reminiscing ...
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
And again on the news it said there could be flooding in Scotland today. Has it been Ok or awful?

And on Sunday at church my little one (I'm a granny now) wore his kilt and people were impressed as he looks great. He was also in the children's choir - it was all about charity for parents last Sunday.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
We've had some lovely weather here in Aberdeenshire. Too little, too late for our farmers, though.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Spoke too soon. It's now coming down in stair-rods.
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
Yes, and I saw in pictures on computer that it was very very lots of rain whizzing around. I hope it hasn't caused really awful things happening.
 

---

Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
This is pretty scary - I've visited a couple of times as my ancestors lived in Dura Den, and often wondered what on earth it was like when it was wet - now I know.

AG
 

---

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
That flooding does look scary. On a nicer note, did any of you see the wonderful aurora earlier this week? There was footage on the Weather Channel here in Canada (Top 5 Videos of the Week, no less ) of a beautiful display in Caithness.

Made me feel quite homesick.
 

---

Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
Ah, piglet! I saw this and I thought of you!

AG

Wot no sig?
 

---

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
I have just come back from a happy afternoon visiting the Mansfield Traquair Centre in Edinburgh, a.k.a. the former Catholic Apostolic Church. The guide told us it is known as "The Sistine Chapel of Edinburgh" - an exaggeration perhaps, but the murals by Phoebe Anna Traquair are a technicolour glory, and are genuinely stunning. Has anyone else seen them?

The Centre is only open one Sunday a month, though private tours can be booked for other times. Something to keep in mind for a shipmeet?
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cottontail:
Has anyone else seen them?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sandemaniac:
Ah, piglet! I saw this and I thought of you ...

---

Love it!

Trinity Bay is absolutely beautiful - we've had a couple of mini-breaks up there (once because the local dramatic company was doing Pirates of Penzance - we'll drive for quite a long time for a spot of G&S).
 

---

Posted by Wet Kipper (# 1654) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by The Intrepid Mrs S:
my uncle and aunt used to live in some posh house near Twynholm!

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Wet Kipper:

quote:

---

Originally posted by The Intrepid Mrs S:
my uncle and aunt used to live in some posh house near Twynholm!

---

My parents have good friends who live in Twynholm. I think their boys (who are older than me) were friends with David Coulthard growing up.

---

I used to teach in a school not far from Twynholm. The cynical-beyond-his-years comment of one of my 15-year-olds was, "Aye, everyone in Twynholm is David Coulthard's best pal."

(*Not that I doubt that your parents' friends' sons were!)
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Got a charity Christmas card catalogue through the post. Many of the designs had a Scottish theme. I particularly liked "Christmas Carols at the Kirk" - a drawing of choirboys in red robes, white surplices and white "pie frills" round their necks, standing outside a church door. Are there any kirks with robed choirboys?
 

---

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by North East Quine:
Got a charity Christmas card catalogue through the post. Many of the designs had a Scottish theme. I particularly liked "Christmas Carols at the Kirk" - a drawing of choirboys in red robes, white surplices and white "pie frills" round their necks, standing outside a church door. Are there any kirks with robed choirboys?

---

The only one I know of is Paisley Abbey. There is a brief clip of the Boys' Choir here.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Thanks, Cottontail! That was lovely. The Christmas card choirboys are a bit frillier than that. Cynical me thinks they've just picked a generic choirboy pic and captioned it "Christmas Carols at the Kirk."
 

---

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
I suspect you are right, NEQ. The Kirk can be a bit of a mystery to those outside Scotland.

Mind you, it's a bit of a mystery to those within too.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
There's also a generic labrador-in-front-of-a-fire entitled "Roaring Scottish Fireside" and a generic two-children-on-a-sledge entitled "First Scottish Snow." However the "Kirk" particularly appealed.
 

---

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
They really haven't made much of an effort, have they? The dog in front of the fire could have been a West Highland Terrier. The children in the snow could have been wearing tartan trews.

What's the bet the same cards are available with "Roaring Welsh Fireside" and "First Welsh Snow"?
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
The Kirk in London always has a special Saturday coming up to Christmas and there are lots of things for the children to play, (one is exercise and being timed to see who wins, in the service area) and lots to buy in the eating place and they have nice food for lunch and afternoon. It's Crown Court that's existed for many years. I really like it to visit there, and long ago my parents apparently belonged to it when they came to London.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Snow! Lots of snow!!
 

---

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by North East Quine:
Snow! Lots of snow!!

---

Big kid! You won't be saying that in January.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
I won't be saying it next week, if the school bus doesn't run!!
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
I've always enjoyed snow and I remember playing in it with lots of children some of course teenagers, in Dundee where we lived, and they did lots of "human beings".

Another thing: did you lot hear the news about and hour, about Scots Presbyterian church and buildings in Israel and Sots who lived there? They talked and told us about how they were there and not prejudiced.
 

---

Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :
 
I don't know if it's the same thing, but there's a thread in Purgatory about a hotel in Galilee run by the Kirk.
 

---

Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 
I've had this week off and been at home - I tried to go for a walk every day (weather permitting), I didn't think I'd be able to today looking at the rain this morning, but by lunchtime there were blue skies and it wasn't too cold so I wandered out to the park and saw snow-capped peaks in the distance. The Ochils didn't have snow, but the mountains further north certainly did. It was really beautiful
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
I'm in full mind-boggle mode. DC Thomson are selling "bronze portrait busts" of the Broons at £132 each. That's £1452 for the complete set of 11 Broons. Who would pay £132 for a bronze Broon?
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
Another thing I just saw on my computer this morning: Irn-Bru but not us. Should it be attached to another one? A long time ago it was absolute just one taste. They say it may be cheaper, and less work for speople, who may have to get different work to get money.
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
And we've been shown pictures on TV about the huge amounts of water in bits of Scotland. It looks scarey, but not everywhere. I hope it gets better, and also the trees being cut down too.
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
It seems very localised: I didn't even notice it being that wet hereabouts. But I'm sorry for Comrie (of the earthquakes) - it's a lovely wee village.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
It's soggy here, but no more than that.

Last night the council revealed its plans for more building in our area, just on the edge of the flood plain. Their plans showed the limits of a "1-in-200-years-flood" I pointed out that there had been a few of these 1-in-200-year-floods during the last 200 years. I think the ballpark figure is 9. Council person told me that calculating these figures wasn't as simple as looking back at the historic records (which would make them 1-in-40-year-floods.) Apparently 1-in-200-years doesn't refer to how frequently they happen.
 

---

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by North East Quine:
It's soggy here, but no more than that.

Last night the council revealed its plans for more building in our area, just on the edge of the flood plain. Their plans showed the limits of a "1-in-200-years-flood" I pointed out that there had been a few of these 1-in-200-year-floods during the last 200 years. I think the ballpark figure is 9. Council person told me that calculating these figures wasn't as simple as looking back at the historic records (which would make them 1-in-40-year-floods.) Apparently 1-in-200-years doesn't refer to how frequently they happen.

---

Quite so. It refers to how likely they will be in the future. Once in forty years covers any political career and most local government careers too, so it looks like they take a "it shouldn't happen twice on my watch" view and go from there.

It hasn't worked in places like Tewkesbury though, which has had two 1:100 year floods in ten years.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
In my village, historically, they've clustered. So there were three floods, two of them 1-in-200 year floods within one decade (1865-1875). I appreciate that conditions are quite different now (different population, drainage system, extent of ground built over) but if the houses in the main street in our village were 4 ft deep in water then, I can't imagine them not flooding at all in similar weather conditions today.

One council spokesman said he could understand my point because his own previous house had been flooded twice, 6 years apart, by 1-in-200-year floods.
 

---

Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
And there is another BAD FORECAST for weather in lots of Scotland. Our homes were always up hills and up the top of homes and so we never got loads of water into us. But one of the school places got wet!
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
St Andrews Day greetings to all Shipmates!
The sky is a wintry pearly pinky-grey with an almost full moon clearly visible, everything outside is white and frosty, the neighbours' birch tree stands stark and bare against the sky and I'm cosy inside with a mug of coffee reading a nineteenth century newspaper online. Bliss!

Hope your days are starting out well, too.
 

---

Posted by PeteC (# 10422) on :
 
Happy St Andrew's Day!!

Many Canadian aboriginals have more than a drop of Scots blood and a lot of French-Canadians do, as well. The ex-pat Scots settled down really well in the Canadian Wilderness after the 1759 incidents.

One of my great-Grandparents was a French-speaking McNicoll. His grandparents were Scots Presbyterians.
 

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Posted by Flausa (# 3466) on :
 
Our school's nursery put on a St. Andrew's Day Ceilidh complete with a piper and Kathleen MacInnes. The kids sang songs in Gaelic and Engish and danced, and we parents got to enjoy some homemade scones, shortbread, and millionaire shortbread. A fine wee celebration for Latha Naomh Anndra (Saint Andrew's Day).
 

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Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
That sounds great for the school performing at St Andrew's day!
 

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Posted by Japes (# 5358) on :
 
Happy St Andrew's Day!

I am having stovies to celebrate.
 

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Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 
We celebrated St Andrew's Day with that other Scottish staple - curry

Haven't there been some amazing skies this week? Loads of pink skies, especially on my morning journey to work as the sun comes up. It's been beautiful, and (almost) takes my mind off the temperature.
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
And the aureoles round the full(ish) moon have also been spectacular.

There has been beautiful hoarfrost the last few days as well, and wonderful sunset after glows.

Just a pity it's bloody freezing and dark by four.
 

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Posted by mrs whibley (# 4798) on :
 
Headed down to Peebles today. Rather unwisely we chose to take the scenic route through the Moorfoot Hills, where there had been some snow. It was very pretty but somewhat slidey! We slithered around Peebles for a few hours, then came back the dull way
 

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Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
Anyone know how long homemade tablet will keep for?
 

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Posted by PeteC (# 10422) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Surfing Madness:
Anyone know how long homemade tablet will keep for?

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About an hour


 

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Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by PeteC:

quote:

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Originally posted by Surfing Madness:
Anyone know how long homemade tablet will keep for?

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About an hour

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I wondered if that was the helpful sort of answer I would get.
 

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Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Pretty much indefinitely, I would think. However, this is pure speculation, as no sample has ever remained uneaten long enough for a proper scientific study.
 

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Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
A whole hour?
 

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Posted by Polly Plummer (# 13354) on :
 
I always laugh when I see a recipe for what to do with left-over cake: an unknown concept in this house.
 

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Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
Just saw this info this morning, (not about food), Snow and lots of freezing. I remember when I was young that we loved being removed from school, usually just an afternoon and then another day, and we loved using all the snow, and also going onto the loch that was frozen and we could practise "slipping" on the solid ice and adults had games there too! Will some of you being doing things like that?
 

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Posted by Derf (# 2093) on :
 
Well I managed to slip on the ice round the back of my car yesterday - does that count?! I'm not impressed with having to defrost the car morning and evening, so was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't iced up this morning. It's still flipping cold though.

Scz promised me snow by 10am, but it's currently falling as rain. How is it further north/west?
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
It's cold and wet and windy. And I have to go out. My current strategy is to sit with the heating off until such time as the outdoor temperature looks relatively attractive.
 

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Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on :
 
S'raining here.

If it melts the ice that's still lurking from Monday's snow, it will be fine. If not, the pavements (which are currently.. interesting) will be treacherous. Have got the Yak-traks in my bag!

I'm torn between thinking that bringing the car was a reasonable thing to do (too far to walk, and raining) or a stupid thing to do (if it gets colder and freezes). Oh, and there is a burst pipe in my building at work. It stinks, and worse still, we can't use the tea-room.
 

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Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
I eased myself over Beattock Summit this morning at 10am. The sleet in the valley turned to snow at 1000 feet, and it was a wee bit tricky for a time. Having just driven the same way back, the motorway is a little better now, but is covered in surface water, and the alternate route looked nasty.
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cottontail:
I eased myself over Beattock Summit this morning at 10am.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
... I didn't buy any as I thought I might not need them here.

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Really?
 

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Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 
We are just back from a very lovely relaxing holiday on Coll. Weather woes meant that we ended up arriving a day late, as the ferry couldn't land on the intended day, and we thought the same thing might happen at the end of the holiday too, although we did eventually manage to get on board and safely back to the mainland. It was lovely there - it pretty much prides itself on having nothing to do, so apart from a couple of beach walks and wanders round the village, we did very little. Well, apart from eat
 

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Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
Who is gearing up for Hogmanay? I will be dancing around the enormous Biggar bonfire, and contributing to the temporary closure of the A702, one of the main trunk roads south from Edinburgh!
 

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Posted by mrs whibley (# 4798) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cottontail:
Who is gearing up for Hogmanay? I will be dancing around the enormous Biggar bonfire, and contributing to the temporary closure of the A702, one of the main trunk roads south from Edinburgh!

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quote:

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Originally posted by Firenze:
... spending the greater part of New Years Day going Oh ma hied.

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I know this sounds daft, but as an exiled Orcadian, I rather miss spending New Year's Day going "oh ma heid".

We're going to friends for supper, which will extend to taking in the New Year, but the male half of one of the other couples who'll be there is a teetotaller and inveterate early-bedder* - he'll spend the first two hours eating (he loves his food) and the second two looking at his watch.

As soon as we've heard the local equivalent of "bongs", wished one another a happy new year and sung Auld lang syne (they think it's the Done Thing, but I've never done it in Scotland ) he'll start telling his wife they should really be going, and eventually he'll put on his wellies and go and start the car.

We love him lots, but he doesn't half make us

* If he stays up much past 9 p.m. he starts to turn into a pumpkin.

PS I hope you all have a great Hogmanay, and if you do have an "oh ma heid" moment, a couple of solpadeine and a lot of orange juice should help.

[ 31. December 2012, 01:43: Message edited by: piglet ]
 

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Posted by PeteC (# 10422) on :
 

quote:

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* If he stays up much past 9 p.m. he starts to turn into a pumpkin.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by piglet:
[
PS I hope you all have a great Hogmanay, and if you do have an "oh ma heid" moment, a couple of solpadeine and a lot of orange juice should help.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by mrs whibley:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cottontail:
Who is gearing up for Hogmanay? I will be dancing around the enormous Biggar bonfire, and contributing to the temporary closure of the A702, one of the main trunk roads south from Edinburgh!

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Quiet one this time, but we are moving down that way in February so may be joining you next year!

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And I am moving a little further away this year! Nevertheless, I have much family in the area, so will be in and around Biggar with reasonable frequency. Let me know if you need a local guide.
 

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Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :
 
I've started the evening with Monty Python Flux......there is no hope of any sanity!
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
You can continue being cantie and couthie on this thread.

Firenze
All Saints Host
 

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