And at 9.30pm tomorrow night's Tattoo was cancelled. I appreciate they wanted to hold off cancelling for as long as possible, but 24 hours notice would have been nice.
Probably a sensible decision to cancel. I see LNER aren't running trains north of Newcastle tomorrow.
Save travels to anyone in Scotland out and about tomorrow.
The strange thing is how still it is - just the faintest tremble of leaves. Dull and damp, but not actually raining - but according to the forecast due to cut loose in about an hour or so.
I even dreamed about it last night - that I went out to gather apples that would otherwise be windfalls. The garden had of course morphed into a vast autumnal forest and I couldn't reach them.
It is sensible to cancel the Tattoo, but it was cancelled too late for us to cancel tomorrow night's hotel booking and get a refund, so we are out of pocket for that.
(We are not going to travel into Edinburgh in a storm just to use our hotel booking!)
We have rebooked the Tattoo, but we couldn't just transfer to another night, we've had to pay for the second lot of tickets, and in ten days time (possibly longer) we'll get the refund for the cancelled show.
Rain has arrived here. Earlier I got the washing dried in record time, though using more clothes pegs than usual! Watching the shed roof as it lifts and settles, lifts and settles.
And the roof is off. Have just picked its fragments out of the flower bed, and popped two filled pots of flowers under the deck for shelter. We had a brief power cut earlier but it’s back on at least for now….
The main inconvenience is that, in the course of 35 years we've never quite got round to proper catches on the doors, so they spring open when it's windy, and have to be wedged shut with heavy bagfuls of CDs.
It was raining quite heavily when I got up, and a wee bit blustrous, but the rain had eased off by the time I was going to work.
I happened to look out around lunchtime (I'd brought lunch with me, on the assumption that I wouldn't want to go out), and there was heavy, almost horizontal rain. Apart from hearing the odd rumble of a wheelie-bin blowing over in the yard behind my office, it didn't seem too bad, and by the time I was coming home it was still blowing all the dust of the day into my eyes, but the sun was splitting the trees.
However, because I'm a brainless piglet, I forgot to close over the kitchen window (it's the type that's fixed at the top and swings open horizontally, and was "open", but resting against the frame), and when I got home, it was fixed partially open, and something in the structure/fixings seems to have jammed or bent and now it won't close.
Mr Cats, with a “storm, what storm?” attitude set off this morning driving to the better bus route, to go and visit an organ in the wilds of Aberdeenshire. (Nothing will keep Mr Cats from an organ in need…). He now cannot get home, as the busses are off due to fallen trees on the roads. So he is spending the night with the son and daughter-in-law in Aberdeen…. So glad I resisted his urging to accompany him on his trip.
Still pretty breezy here. Noticed some tree damage - we're a Leafy Suburb - notably one where a major branch had broken, thereby splitting the tree in two.
Howsoever, made it to the bank to pay in Premium Bond prize and was pleasantly surprised to find there were two - 50 and 100. I then went to Waterstones and spent the balance of a gift card the brothers sent me for my 70th - another 50 odd. That still leaves me with the one for my 75th (we are not an imaginative family gift wise).
Quiet afternoon recovering. Thai fish curry this evening.
We're driving from the East Riding up to Penrith tomorrow, then on to Oban via Glasgow on Tuesday. The weather may prove interesting at various points of the journey.
Safely to Oban, a bit blustery and the odd heavy shower on the way up but nothing concerning.
In England, Cheltenham is often seen as a place populated by retired civil servants and former foreign office staff. Is there a Scottish counterpart to this?
In England, Cheltenham is often seen as a place populated by retired civil servants and former foreign office staff. Is there a Scottish counterpart to this?
The Scottish Borders (Peebles area) was a bit like this when I lived in it - also notable for having the only Conservative MP in Scotland for quite a while.
That's a very unfair poem, although I suspect that to the writer, who was stationed there during the war, it probably seemed like the arse-end of beyond.
Now, how to circulate that to potential cruise line passengers to put them off invading Kirkwall? At least the Vikings brought some culture with them, even if the plundering and pillaging was a bit of a nuisance at times.
Ah, @Piglet, I came across this poem (speakers on) this morning.
I've seen that poem with various locations, Halkirk for one, and with "fucking" replacing "bloody". I suspect it did the rounds among servicemen posted to assorted far-flung outposts.
We went to the Tattoo last night and it was FANTASTIC! Dinner at the Cannonball, then the Tattoo. The Cannonball was very cosy and warm, so I regretted wearing a semmit in preparation for sitting through the outdoor Tattoo.
I'm still a bit cross about last week's Storm Floris cancellation. The rebooking process involved buying a second set of tickets, and then waiting for the first lot to be refunded, which ought to be soon, but no guarantee as to when the refunds will be processed. We were in a queue to rebook, and once we got through (fairly quickly) the website said that if we hadn't completed the rebooking within 20 minutes, we'd be returned to the queue. So it all felt stressful and annoying. We had to rebook IMMEDIATELY! But they can take their sweet time over refunding the Aug 4th tickets. They said most refunds ought to be processed within ten days, but might take longer.
BUT the Tattoo itself was brilliant. It wasn't something we'd have gone to if our Australian visitors hadn't been keen, but I loved it. No-one put a foot wrong, and it was varied, colourful, and impressive.
Comments
Save travels to anyone in Scotland out and about tomorrow.
Might make for an interesting amble to work!
I even dreamed about it last night - that I went out to gather apples that would otherwise be windfalls. The garden had of course morphed into a vast autumnal forest and I couldn't reach them.
We have rebooked the Tattoo, but we couldn't just transfer to another night, we've had to pay for the second lot of tickets, and in ten days time (possibly longer) we'll get the refund for the cancelled show.
Bummer about the Tattoo. I expect the tent and hoarding village in George Sq/Potterow plus other temporary Fringe constructions will be affected too.
The main inconvenience is that, in the course of 35 years we've never quite got round to proper catches on the doors, so they spring open when it's windy, and have to be wedged shut with heavy bagfuls of CDs.
I happened to look out around lunchtime (I'd brought lunch with me, on the assumption that I wouldn't want to go out), and there was heavy, almost horizontal rain. Apart from hearing the odd rumble of a wheelie-bin blowing over in the yard behind my office, it didn't seem too bad, and by the time I was coming home it was still blowing all the dust of the day into my eyes, but the sun was splitting the trees.
However, because I'm a brainless piglet, I forgot to close over the kitchen window (it's the type that's fixed at the top and swings open horizontally, and was "open", but resting against the frame), and when I got home, it was fixed partially open, and something in the structure/fixings seems to have jammed or bent and now it won't close.
Time to find a glazier ...
Howsoever, made it to the bank to pay in Premium Bond prize and was pleasantly surprised to find there were two - 50 and 100. I then went to Waterstones and spent the balance of a gift card the brothers sent me for my 70th - another 50 odd. That still leaves me with the one for my 75th (we are not an imaginative family gift wise).
Quiet afternoon recovering. Thai fish curry this evening.
Safely to Oban, a bit blustery and the odd heavy shower on the way up but nothing concerning.
The Scottish Borders (Peebles area) was a bit like this when I lived in it - also notable for having the only Conservative MP in Scotland for quite a while.
We know better though, don't we, children?
No it doesn't - it says "Ingibjorg is the most beautiful girl in the north"!
Name-drop moment: one of the members of Three Peace Sweet was in my class at school.
I've seen that poem with various locations, Halkirk for one, and with "fucking" replacing "bloody". I suspect it did the rounds among servicemen posted to assorted far-flung outposts.
I'm still a bit cross about last week's Storm Floris cancellation. The rebooking process involved buying a second set of tickets, and then waiting for the first lot to be refunded, which ought to be soon, but no guarantee as to when the refunds will be processed. We were in a queue to rebook, and once we got through (fairly quickly) the website said that if we hadn't completed the rebooking within 20 minutes, we'd be returned to the queue. So it all felt stressful and annoying. We had to rebook IMMEDIATELY! But they can take their sweet time over refunding the Aug 4th tickets. They said most refunds ought to be processed within ten days, but might take longer.
BUT the Tattoo itself was brilliant. It wasn't something we'd have gone to if our Australian visitors hadn't been keen, but I loved it. No-one put a foot wrong, and it was varied, colourful, and impressive.