Scottish Standoff

It was the ultimate battle. Man versus nature. We were protected in a metal shell, though I have no idea whether it was effective as our opponents were Scottish. And cows. But the fact that the car that we were in was red probably didn’t help things. To be fair to them, it was more of a track than a road that we were attempting to travel down. Perhaps they thought that we were their keepers and had come to milk or feed them. Or maybe they were out enjoying the rare Scottish weather. We didn’t want to use our horn in case it agitated them into a stampede. All we could do is slowly edge forward. Eventually, one of them did decide to show its rear end to us as it walked way, and the others cottoned on. It might be making a stubborn rude gesture, but luckily nothing came out of that end.

Flippin' David

I was very proud of my pancakes this year. After doing a few test batches, I finally got the formula right. It’s best if you let it set in the fridge overnight. Add some oil so that they don’t stick and don’t start cooking them until you’re sure that the pan’s hot. That way, they don’t take long to get solid so you can be confident of a good flip. And don’t be afraid to leave them in there. I’ve produced some brilliant pancakes with leopard patterns owing to letting them turn golden brown. Then come the toppings. You can get creative and artistic or you can go with flavour. This year, I simply went for Nutella with a bit of Jiff lemon, which has the most annoying of caps to open. I eventually got it off permanently. I later found out that strawberries would have been a good call too. 

Green Day

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We’d just popped back to the cottage for lunch. We’d plans for an afternoon excursion and was just about to depart when we looked up at the bridge to see a gathering of people. This must be Green Day. We hadn’t been totally detached from world events and we’d read on the news that various environmental marches were taking place today, but we didn’t realise that there’d be one in our area. They’d made a banner and we wondered if they’d be stopping traffic or walking alongside it. Either way, we decided to set off before they obstructed us. Fortunately, we weren’t planning to cross the bridge, we’d just need to drive up the hill towards it. People were still heading over, and one man was attempting to drive a huge banner on a mobility scooter. As he approached the roundabout, it toppled over. We started to help him, but his entourage was already there to assist and we gave him plenty of time to complete his crossing. It was a good job that we’d made plans otherwise we might have joined them, which would have been interesting and we’d quite possibly start an England versus Scotland riot.

 

Ragdoll

This was an interesting drama with lots of promise, though the plotline did lack in places. There’s a good sense of dark humour and some of the murders are very novel, but it also exposes some very dark holes in the police force. And would you really trust the same people to manage a serial killer once they’ve failed three times already? Even the tactics that they take towards the end of the series focus on gung-ho tactics to protect themselves rather than the public. It’s a shame that we didn’t see any background to the characters that were targeted apart from the episode that they appeared in. The protagonist had quite a strong backstory to dip into but I get a sense that the conclusion did not justify his irrational actions. It must have been clear early on that the producers got bored early and turned it into a chase rather than a whodunnit, but it’s still entertaining.

Beauty and the Bridge

I just love this concrete bridge. It marks the gateway to the island, and it’s elegant, slim, stylish, and it gets

people from A to B. On a grey day it doesn’t even has to be painted, which probably suits Scotland. Occasionally boats moor up in front of it, but that makes the view even more attractive. The lighthouse just beyond the bridge is the perfect setting for man versus nature, and there’s very little that the bridge does to obstruct the view of the hills beyond. In some cases it’s better as it blocks out the monstrosity beyond it, until you get underneath it. I thought it was a small oil refinery but it turns out that it’s a salmon farm. Even though there’s a fair amount of traffic on the bridge, it's far enough not to disturb the tranquillity of the village. It’s a shame that I never physically set foot on it, especially when there’s a section of parkland beyond it.

Lost Underground #dreamdiary 130

We’ve gone for a walk around our old college grounds. We’re in a concrete tunnel that’s on the map as a public footpath. Even though it’s in a student town, it’s completely bare. There’s no rubbish or graffiti. I’m struggling to work out how it’s lit. We climb a hill, and at the mouth of the tunnel we walk into a beautiful summer’s day with blue sky. We’re also standing on someone’s lawn. To the left of us there’s a family having a picnic, and on the right there’s a large group of people having a barbecue. No-one’s the last bit bothered by our appearance. We reach the houses and there’s a gap between the two of them. There’s not even a fence separating the path from the fence. I call up the GPS map on my phone and sure enough we’re standing on the pink dotted line indicating a footpath. I wonder how often it’s used. 

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I know this is a mockery but I found the narration just a bit too snobby for my liking. There were too many characters using big words and way too many adjectives to make it an enjoyable tale. It’s as if Austen wants to show off her knowledge of the English language. The majority of the novel came from gossip rather than any event occurring, and how people reacted to other while attempting to remain polite and not offend anyone. Just think of the consequences if they did! Give me a rogue and a bit of conflict any day. Of course, misinterpretation can be a cruel thing, which is what the plot of the novel comes down to, but it does get confusing sometimes as the characters are just so plain as they are all alike. Yawn. Perhaps there’s a missing chapter or two somewhere. There definitely needs to be a spiced-up re-write. I like the fact that this book comes with instructions and that it lets you feel free to skip the introduction and make your own opinion of the book before being steered to agree with somebody else’s.

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