Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Golden.

The six am weather forecast (  broadcast from London ) seems to think the extremely warm weather over Christmas has been a good thing. Angus isn't so sure. He quietly wonders what the summer is going to be like if the winter is this warm. Perhaps England will be the new south of France ? I guess that would give Scotland weather like the Pas-de-Calais. Let's hope climate change doesn't bring anymore of the storms we saw in October.

From 'The Fonts' cabin the view is of the moon  setting into the waters of the bay. The snow on the hill tops on the far side of the estuary glows. It's as bright as a northern day which is surprising as the Met Office has issued a yellow rain warning.  We watch seven deer wander down to the waters edge. In France some of the local vineyard owners would swear blind that their crop was heavier and the wine better in seasons when the overnight skies were clear and the grapes caressed by lunar light. 


On our way into town the cathedral ruins loom out of the half darkness. What a sight it must have been when the central tower and roof were still in place.


Some mornings are dark, some mornings are grey. This morning is proving to be  golden. There's already a large crowd of folks waiting for the Old Course to open up. In fact the crowd is so large we wonder if play is free over the Christmas period. 


The beach is home to twenty or so dog walkers. Local mutts seem to have been the proud recipients of flashing dog collars as Christmas presents. I'd first seen them a few days ago - now they seem to have become a universal canine accessory. They are decidedly practical in the short days and long nights of the Scottish winter.


Home, where we sit out in the breakfast room and watch the finches squabble over the bird feeder. There's a new brand of  'Robin friendly' bird feed that includes insects in the mix. The birds love it. Our consumption of bird food has doubled. This year 'The Font' has discovered a maker of candles that measure the hour. One white band burns every sixty minutes. It seems to work. If nothing else the candles soon warm up the air.

9 comments:

Liz Hamblyn said...

I gave bird feeders as presents to a couple of relatives as Christmas presents. They were very pleased with their presents. I will like to get one for our garden. Living in rural New Zealand we are fortunate to have many native and introduced birds in our garden.

Travel said...

I wonder what factors change the burn rate of candles?

Angus said...

Travel - Only one - draughts.

Diaday said...

Such a beautiful full moon photo and likewise the cathedral. Your breakfast table is a lovely place for your first meal of the day.

Pam in NH said...

I was just admiring the table as well. My Mother loved to read classic mysteries so I was raised with them. I confess to enjoying a Christmas themed mystery or two in the lull after wrapping, cooking and cleaning.

Coppa's girl said...

The table looks beautiful, but surely that's a glass of wine I can see - so perhaps not breakfast? These days I tend to use battery operated candles - they look festive from a distance.
I still have an illuminated dog collar from the days when I always took one of the dogs out before sun-up in the summer (both Labs stayed firmly in bed!). The collar flashed, traced and was also a solid light. I found it not long ago and to my amazement it still worked, yet it must be almost ten years since it was last used.

Lisa in France said...

The breakfast room table is beautiful, and I am rather envious of the Font being able to enjoy the views from the cabin/ Coppa's Girl, we also have battery-operated candles on our table, as the birds' cages are in the dining room and we don't want to expose them to smoke. They are actually quite pretty. We don't light our fireplace for the same reason, although I am sorely tempted.

Jake of Florida said...

I love to light candles but draughts from our AC are always a concern (year-round because of our temps). So we've found a few draught-free spots from trial and error.

The Life of Riley said...

Travel and Angus, The length of the wick also changes the burn time. Longer = faster, so many candles now come with instructions to trim the wick short before each use. I love the stripped candles and table decorations.