Wednesday 18 March 2015

Sunny days and dazzling nights

Yesterday was one heck of a day!  First Gromitty came down with Butch and after the dogs had a mad hour in the house while we chatted and I had breakfast we all went down to the beach.

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Gromitty and I walked along, chatting and enjoying the view, while the dogs went wild!  Butch ran around like the crazy youngster that he is and after an initial running loony moment Pippa got down to some serious plodding, sniffing and marking.  She truly tried to claim the whole beach, the walk down to it and lovefibre's garden.  Where does she get all the pee?!

I had given Pippa her stronger painkiller before we left and forgotten that those plus age-induced doggy dementia means she sometimes forgets everything.  Halfway along the beach we decide to turn around, Pippa took another five minutes to notice and five more minutes to catch up.  I think that's going to have to be her last off-leash experience, too risky for an old dog who's shedding marbles to run off and then forget she has a human with her.

After our beach walk we went to see Alan (organiser of the tech wave) for a chat about a Tiree fablab and general natter.  The day was so lovely we all sat in their front garden and the dogs sniffed about and generally did doggy things while we chatted.  Eventually the breeze got through to Pippa's joints and we headed home.  The walk home was slow.  Poor Pippa, she loves to get out and about but her joints are really getting grumpy.  We took it at her pace and once home she spent the afternoon conked out in the sun recharging.

That evening was the An Iodhlann AGM, about an hour before I left I read a post on facebook that there was a pretty strong magnetic storm going on and it might be a good night to see the Northern Lights.

Got back from the AGM about 10:15, got camera and things ready, sat on the back step and watched the stars for half an hour.  Then I went around the front of the house and noticed the sky to the North was lighter than the South.  It got lighter, I spotted clouds as black outlines...

Out came the DSLR and I aimed and clicked.  I think I spent about an hour just watching and photographing.  My human eyes saw grey streaks moving and pulsing, the camera saw more.

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So much more!  It was all over by 11:25 and the ending was amazing.  Directly above the island all the "rays" met and pulsed and changed shape.  Amazing to watch.  So amazing that I forgot about the camera!  I did get one photo though,

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I tried one minute exposures thinking the light was too dim for the camera to collect.  Beginner's error, the photos were washed out with overexposure instead.

To summarise Tuesday:
Up at 9:30am, busy day with loads of fresh air, in bed by midnight with loads having been seen and done.

TTFN

Friday 13 March 2015

What is this?

There's a bright light in the sky and the concrete is dry...

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The wind isn't blowing a gale and the house has been warm all day without the heating on.  Is this the apocalypse?  The generators at the power station are humming away, maybe the rest of the world has vanished?

Nope!  Spring is coming!
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At Silly AM on Tuesday morning I was having a bout of insomnia brought on, as it turned out, by the electric causing the microwave to beep as it went on and off.  I started using my PC but then the power truly went off so I got the oil lamp, managed to put the chimney on without it exploding and knit by lamp light:

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As long as you're not doing something overly complicated it's actually rather peaceful to knit by lamplight.  So peaceful I made a humongous mistake and had to pull back a few hundred stitches.  But Mum will be happy to know her jumper is now at the waves chart.  Sleeve stitches waiting for pick up after knitting the body.

Speaking of knitting, *mumble* years ago I took some yarn and a book from Sue with the intention of knitting the rather nice lace item in it.  It took me so long not because it was slow but because of the border.  The original has a nice frilly border to compliment the pattern in the body but it drove me batty!  I couldn't get the pattern into my head and kept making mistakes.  So I consulted the island expert in lace shawls and did a simple yet complimentary garter stitch edging.  Then I got distracted by some deadlines.  Last week I found it again and finished the knitting.  This week I soaked and blocked it:

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It dried overnight and looks lovely:
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Close up of the detail:
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I am very happy with the end result and admit I'm also happy it's done.  One less item giving me guilty vibes for not finishing it.

I have had a physically exhausting day today.  Took full advantage of the wonderful weather and did the first line dry of the year.  Two loads of laundry washed and then dried in sun and breeze, lovely!  Even if I did have to wear boots to put it out and get it in because the back garden is water logged.

The trike got a good air drying too.  I found any new rust spots and treated them with rust cure in the morning and painted over them with car paint in the afternoon.  The patches may be black on the blue lacquer but they're weather-proof again.  Come Easter it's getting a good service; new chain, new rear tyre, new rear sprocket, more rust treatment and a darn good clean.  At either Easter or summer hols it's also getting it's first recoat of varnish.  The marine ply and varnish applied by the makers has done sterling work these past three years but it's starting to fail.  I shall order some new marine varnish (the good stuff) and give all the wood a clean, brief sand to key, and then a good varnish.  Hopefully that will see it right for another three years.

The trike's frame is under warranty for ten years.  I think at the rate the weather and air attack metal here we may be claiming on that.  If anyone ever manufactures something, be it material or item(s), that they claim is weather proof and corrosion proof and will last for years outdoors in all sorts of weathers, I think they should test on Tiree.  We have strong winds; salt air; sandy wind and rain; cold and hot in one day and rain that can find the tiniest of cracks.  Claim something can last five years in a climate like you might find on the Thames?  It should last two on Tiree.  The weather here makes light work of metal, rubber, silicone, paint, lacquer and more.  Could also be a nice earner for folk here; allow someone to attach a box to your house for a few years and in exchange for taking photos and checking every so often you get a rent and the manufacturer finds out quick if their kit can do what they claim.

So, yes, I have had a very busy day, in seven hours I sat down for a total of one and a half and the longest burst of that was a half hour knit.

I shall leave you with photos of a very, VERY happy dog:

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I shared these with the RSPCA rescue shelter in Halifax where we got her years ago, they were very happy to see smiling dog and I like to let them know she's doing well.  She's now snoring in her bed, I expect doggy dream yips soon.  But, I have laundry to fold and put away.

TTFN and I hope the sun finds you soon if it hasn't already.