For the local three and four year olds it's a night of great adventure. One of the farmers has set up a Halloween Pumpkin maze. A hundred or so candle lit pumpkin faces, arranged on the ground in an approximation of a spiral, glow in the dark. From five until six squeals fill the air. The village hall car park is full of parents who've rushed home from work in order to get here on time. The lady who's made the Soul Cakes is doing a thriving trade. She's also overseeing the apple 'Dookin'. Thank God for the timeless innocence of life in a Scottish village. We laugh at the sight of a young professor trying to eat a treacle covered scone dangling from a string without using his hands.
The storm has smashed the fence around the outdoor seal pool at the Aquarium. The seals have been 'evacuated'. The retired farmer who weeds the cemetery tells me he helped install the Aquarium fence when it was first put in place. ' Guess they'll be asking me to go back down and fix it' . I think 'fixing it' will require some heavy construction equipment but I keep this thought to myself.
Be careful how you dispose of your Halloween pumpkins. Suggestions on social media that old pumpkins are good for hedgehogs are disputed by a local vet.
Another moody sunrise. Startled starlings murmur above us as we head down to the shore.
The dunes have been savaged by the storm. Matters have been made worse by large lengths of timber that have fallen off a cargo ship and been washed ashore. The heavy logs have acted like a battering ram and pummeled the dunes. I'd reckon we lost a good three metres of depth and a meter and a half of height. All the paths across the dunes to the shore are blocked by compacted kelp. This it seems is all highly unusual :https://www.facebook.com/p/West-Sands-Ranger-Service-100087381403469/
On the bluff above the harbour dog walkers and students are watching the waves roll in. The students are wondering if the Coastguard will let them surf. The dog walkers are ensuring their dogs don't get too close to the surf. On Monday the lifeguards had to order dog owners away from the beach after a labrador was knocked off its feet by the force of the waves. In the car park by the marine laboratory four youngsters have arrived on their bikes with a couple of six packs of lager. They're wearing shorts and sweatshirts and are sprawled on the grass verge chatting away merrily. They seem oblivious to the brisk wind blowing in from the sea.
Heading back to the car we pass a large group of Italian tourists heading towards the cathedral. There must be seventy of them. What must they make of Scotland at the start of November ? The Italians have foresworn bella figura style for warmth and opted to wear as many layers as they possibly can.
7 comments:
I'd love to have seen the pumpkin maze.
In my experience, even when all rugged up, Italians still manage to look more stylish than tourists from other countries.
Another wet and windy morning here in Aberdeen. Time to find out if some Schubert helps calm Nobby while I try to strip and trim his coat.....
Cheers, Gail.
Looks like some expensive timber that washed ashore.
Th pumpkin maze sounds great fun. I pity the poor coastguards having to point out obvious dangers . . . some people seem to be blind and deaf.
The pumpkin maze does sound like great fun, probably for the farmer who made it as well as the kids. Not much sign of Halloween here in our part of France. I was laughing at my husband for bundling up in his down jacket on the last day of October, but when we visited our local restaurant last night, I realized he was not the only one by a long shot. It's all relative, I guess. Maybe we should try the Schubert on Charlie, who will be visiting a new groomer tomorrow. It's another one of those things where I think Cherry must be whispering in his ear - Charlie is apparently the only poodle in the world who does not love being groomed.
A lovely picture of the sunrise and starlings. Thank you for the delightful mental picture of the pumpkin maze and the fun being had.
So the LWHBD is holding up well in the weather? It seems that all of that planning, engineering, heating have paid off. Well done!
It didn't work for Nobby..
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