It's Snow Joke...

When I watched the weather forecast last night, the west of Scotland was a little oasis of clear skies amidst a blizzard-racked Britain.  Great, thought I, we've escaped the worst of it for another day.

Everything's relative.  I got up this morning, and the ground was white.  The road was slushy, too. 

We were due to go in for some more Christmas shopping, so we decided to give it a go.  The weather was sufficiently bad for there to be pockets of slush covering the fast lane of the A737 and the M8.  And yet...  The loons were still hammering along in their big executive cars and 4x4's.  Okay, they were going at 60 instead of 100, but...  Don't they know that ice + snow + low temperatures make for dodgy driving conditions, and that the best way of ensuring their own safety (and more importantly, everyone else's safety, because I don't really care if they want to top themselves - it's Darwinism in action!) is to SLOW DOWN???!!!!

We made it into Glasgow safely, did our shopping, and made it home, too.  I've at last bought a portable hard drive to back up the computer with (three lost half-novels later) and I also indulged in Dr Who - Remembrance of the Daleks.  Now I need them to release either The Happiness Patrol or The Greatest Show in the Galaxy...  Though I suppose I could indulge in Silver Nemesis...

Supposedly, we'll be getting more heavy snowfall tonight.  We've battened down the hatches in readiness - my only requirement is fat bars for the birds.  Okay, they can get by on grated cheese, apples and Fruity Nibbles (we spoil our birds...) but I wanted something fatty and full of energy for the blue/great/coal tits to feast upon in their hour of need. 

The dark red chrysanthemum is now indoors for the winter.  Whether it survived last night's frost is another matter....

But the Begonia Escargot is another matter.  Oops!  I think I've killed it.... 

Ah well.  If at first you don't succeed, buy another one...

It's Snow Joke...

When I watched the weather forecast last night, the west of Scotland was a little oasis of clear skies amidst a blizzard-racked Britain.  Great, thought I, we've escaped the worst of it for another day.

Everything's relative.  I got up this morning, and the ground was white.  The road was slushy, too. 

We were due to go in for some more Christmas shopping, so we decided to give it a go.  The weather was sufficiently bad for there to be pockets of slush covering the fast lane of the A737 and the M8.  And yet...  The loons were still hammering along in their big executive cars and 4x4's.  Okay, they were going at 60 instead of 100, but...  Don't they know that ice + snow + low temperatures make for dodgy driving conditions, and that the best way of ensuring their own safety (and more importantly, everyone else's safety, because I don't really care if they want to top themselves - it's Darwinism in action!) is to SLOW DOWN???!!!!

We made it into Glasgow safely, did our shopping, and made it home, too.  I've at last bought a portable hard drive to back up the computer with (three lost half-novels later) and I also indulged in Dr Who - Remembrance of the Daleks.  Now I need them to release either The Happiness Patrol or The Greatest Show in the Galaxy...  Though I suppose I could indulge in Silver Nemesis...

Supposedly, we'll be getting more heavy snowfall tonight.  We've battened down the hatches in readiness - my only requirement is fat bars for the birds.  Okay, they can get by on grated cheese, apples and Fruity Nibbles (we spoil our birds...) but I wanted something fatty and full of energy for the blue/great/coal tits to feast upon in their hour of need. 

The dark red chrysanthemum is now indoors for the winter.  Whether it survived last night's frost is another matter....

But the Begonia Escargot is another matter.  Oops!  I think I've killed it.... 

Ah well.  If at first you don't succeed, buy another one...

(no subject)

It's time for my second trip to Alloway Parish Church, and another post devoted to the stained glass windows. 

These are less showy than yesterday's offering, and I'm afraid I didn't quite make the grade in terms of the Brilliant Photography Award - they're a wee bit squint...  But, they're beautiful examples nonetheless, though these photos don't quite do justice to the intensity of the blues and the purples.  When we saw them, the light was shining right through them, and they looked stunning.

They're a bit later in date, having been made in the early twentieth century, and there's something a bit Art Deco about the design and the style.  I particularly liked the horseman at the top:-

 

My camera was getting fed up of taking pictures in dark gloomy spaces at this point, and it got decidedly huffy when I tried photographing another window in the set.  But here it is anyway - don't blow it up too much, as it's a bit blurry:-

 

Unfortunately, I didn't photograph the third window in the set - it was interesting because it featured a little biplane, which is certainly not the kind of thing you expect to see amongst the religious imagery.

But even these lovely things didn't match up to the windows in the south wall, which were absolutely glorious.  To see what I mean, you'll just have to drop by and take a look tomorrow!

Hope you're all having a good weekend...

(no subject)

It's time for my second trip to Alloway Parish Church, and another post devoted to the stained glass windows. 

These are less showy than yesterday's offering, and I'm afraid I didn't quite make the grade in terms of the Brilliant Photography Award - they're a wee bit squint...  But, they're beautiful examples nonetheless, though these photos don't quite do justice to the intensity of the blues and the purples.  When we saw them, the light was shining right through them, and they looked stunning.

They're a bit later in date, having been made in the early twentieth century, and there's something a bit Art Deco about the design and the style.  I particularly liked the horseman at the top:-

 

My camera was getting fed up of taking pictures in dark gloomy spaces at this point, and it got decidedly huffy when I tried photographing another window in the set.  But here it is anyway - don't blow it up too much, as it's a bit blurry:-

 

Unfortunately, I didn't photograph the third window in the set - it was interesting because it featured a little biplane, which is certainly not the kind of thing you expect to see amongst the religious imagery.

But even these lovely things didn't match up to the windows in the south wall, which were absolutely glorious.  To see what I mean, you'll just have to drop by and take a look tomorrow!

Hope you're all having a good weekend...