Thursday, November 24, 2022

Mechanical elves

 

Lots of activity this morning. The 30 something New Zealander with dreadlocks is up and about in the pre-dawn with his family collecting seaweed. He's driven his (very ) old Land Rover and equally old trailer down to the shore. The collapse of the farmers gate has enabled him to gain access to this stretch of beach which is an unexpected and presumably welcome commercial opportunity. The wet suited New Zealander wades into the sea while  his Scots wife and three (very) young children sit on the shore with torches and shout out encouragement. Angus can't help but think that any rational soul would need ample doses of Gods ambre nectar to walk into the North Sea in November in the half dark. We understand that the New Zealander ( accepted by the locals as a de facto Scot ) and his wife have a small company that produces sea weed relishes. This seems to be a highly improbable niche market.


In town we stop to chat to a very sad looking fellow waiting for his mistress outside the Post Office. By Starbucks we pass a man at a pavement table deep in conversation with his Labrador. ' Isn't it great ! We're both dry' says the man. At  Cafe Nero another man is chatting happily away to his 'mutt'. Angus isn't the only dog conversationalist in town. 


We head off down the coast to see the Christmas window displays. We take our excitement where we can find it.. 


The local furniture shop has set up a RNLI inflatable in the shop window. This is populated with mechanical elves singing ' Can you see what I see ?' A group of six foot tall mechanical penguins off to the side are swaying happily and singing 'O Holy Night'. This mix of music makes for a very seasonal - if atonal -  sound. 


The local art gallery has its Christmas show. The show is big ( I mean BIG  ) on pictures of Highland Cattle. Angus can't help but feel that the artist has thrown a plate of spaghetti over his subjects.

13 comments:

Lisa in Tokyo said...

I must confess that Charlie is the proud owner of a stuffed bottle of Jack Russell's FuzzYard (Woof Woof) Whiskey: https://fuzzyard.com/jack-russell-s.html I'm sure my mother, who was honored as a Kentucky Squire for her dedication to Jack Daniels, would have approved. I am surprised the case you mention has gone all the way up to the Supreme Court, as there is quite a long line of cases involving other parody dog toys - Chewy Vuitton anyone? I used to teach some of these cases in a class on trademark law and the courts usually seem to agree that no one is likely to be confused. Perhaps the Justices just needed a break from the big stuff?

Those holiday displays are really something.

WFT Nobby said...

Nobby and I can both relate to the "isn't it great, we're both dry" level of human - dog conversation.
Cheers! Gail .

Tigger's Mum said...

What is it about New Zealanders and seaweed? Mine has just bought a small trailer so that she can resume her seaweed collecting habits now that we are back in Blighty. Paw smacks Mr T

Coppa's girl said...

I'm sure that I've read that seaweed is the latest "in" thing in fine, if not unusual, dining. It's one of those odd things that someone has found is edible and therefore a niche market has been created. One of the chefs on one of the "Master Chef" shows prepared a dish including seaweed foam. The name remained in my consciousness as being somewhat improbable!
No problem with being dry here today - Indy and I have just returned from a lengthy walk through the local fields and it's a pleasant 23ºC.

Travel said...

Penguins like to perform at holiday time

Poppy Q said...

Not sure too many kiwis have a taste for seaweed, although most of us have a great fondness for sushi. Waters pretty cold here except for maybe jan/feb.

Melinda from Ontario said...

I could be tempted by a dab of seaweed relish on top of a cranberry-Brie laden cracker...but only just a dab.

Gemma's person said...

I enjoy your in store pictures. Makes me feel as if I am there. Elves in a blow up boat made me laugh.

Jake of Florida said...

Two Thanksgiving Day rituals. Macy's 3-hour parade followed by a condensed dog show. But something super special today: a beautiful PON named Micah opening the show in the voice of the TV actor, Ray Romano. Micah was all silky fur flowing. White and grey. Sophie might have finally met another dog she'd actually enjoy paying some attention to. We were excited to see this unusual focus on a PON.

Anonymous said...

Lol

Angus said...

Jake of Florida - Thanks for the Micah story. Went to find it on the web and lo and behold there is a very carefully groomed PON. This is not a look that Sophie strives for - she prefers muddy fields and the 'country girl' look !

Jake of Florida said...

But imagine the rom-com movie based on the chance encounter of these two dogs from different ways of life.

Janet said...

I saw this on Twitter, and it's too wonderful not to share.

Des @desdelboy
Good evening.
Service dogs being trained to sit through a play! There are actors on the stage performing a musical for a theatre full of dogs.

It was posted 11/24. Would that I could share the photo.