Sunday, March 30, 2025

The eclipse that wasn't.

Saturday morning saw a partial solar eclipse. The BBC had informed the nation that a colander as a lens and a piece of white card as a screen would provide a safe way of viewing the event. At quarter to ten a small crowd of parents , village toddlers , assorted dogs and passing bird watchers had gathered by the doocot. Colanders, that most mundane of kitchen accessories, were out in force and literally having their moment in the sun. Five minutes before the eclipse was due to happen a sky obscuring cloud blew in from the bay. Five minutes after it ended the cloud sauntered off. The rest of the day was noted for being cloud free. It goes without saying the village thirty somethings were disappointed about the way things turned out although their offspring were too busy creating mayhem in the daffodil beds to notice. The village dogs were there en masse adding to the chaos.

Overnight the clocks changed. The evenings should now be noticeably brighter.  We're rapidly heading towards the northern time when it's light until well after ten. This morning, without comment,  the radio plays this - which I'd never heard before  and is a sign of the times :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s906oiPNN34


This morning the sun is shining but there's  a piercingly cold wind that is likely to be the bane of any amateur gardeners who have planted their Dahlias out too early.


There's already a Mothers Day queue in the bakers. A group of fashionably  dressed  American girls returning from a Saturday night party agonize over what to buy. They settle on pink concoctions with icing sugar flowers on top.  From their conversation it seems that they intend to eat the cakes while thinking of their mothers. There may be some method in this ' I bought a cake and thought of you'  madness.


The all purpose biscuit has been repurposed .


The Gothic sponges have sold out and replaced by more anodyne offerings in yellow or lilac with Happy Mothers Day piped on top. These artisanal creations are retailing at £16.99 . 


Farmcations go up market :https://fowlescombe.com/  and here :https://loumafarmandretreat.co.uk/





13 comments:

Linda said...

For Lisa in France - 'holibobs' is holidays, and 'Crimbo' is Christmas. I could happily also ditch 'change up'. If we change up, why not change down? Or maybe, just change. Sorry Angus, will stop hijacking your posts with 'Irate, Tunbridge Wells' comments.
Eating a cake while thinking of Mum seems like a classic student solution to the Mother's Day issue.
Perhaps we didn't think of exporting Scottish pubs because all the classic Scottish pubs I ever knew were dire, unwelcoming drinking howffs. There's a good Scots word for you!

Anonymous said...

I came here to say what Lisa said about pubs. Plus Scottish men

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
While the Irish were exporting pubs, the Scots were exporting engineers and scientists... As for the Anon comment... assuming it is meant as an insult, they've clearly been meeting the wrong men. And there are a lot of very wrong men in all nationalities. Trust me, I've met a few... Thank goodness for the Scotsman call 'Angus', who brings us this wonderful daily roundup from a wee toon on the east coast of this Bonny Land. YAM xx

Angus said...

Hari OM - Thank you for salvaging my reputation !

Travel said...

I have a feeling photos of the Mum pastries are being sent, Mothers Day in the United States is first Sunday in May. Why, I have no idea, we never caught up with the rest of the world.

Lisa in France said...

I have to say all those pastel cakes and cookies make me rather glad we don't take much note of Mother's Day in our household. My family ran a flower shop, with my mother at the helm, and we were always just relieved to be able to collapse at at the end of what we scornfully referred to as an "FTD holiday". Maybe the baker thinks of it as a "baker's holiday"?

jabblog said...

Mother's Day is a non-runner here, too. Those brightly iced efforts make my teeth ache just looking at them.

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Angus, for the fascinating links at the end of today’s post. I found the post about the Myanmar earthquake very informative. The collection of Mother’s Day cakes, while quite pretty, would not make me want to indulge.
I hope the “Font” has successfully battled the wee bug and is ready for morning walks through town.

Lisa in France said...

Thank you, I would never have imagined that's what "holibobs" and "Crimbo" mean. Yuck. My personal animus is against "change agent".

Stephanie said...

We've come to regard any upcoming celestial "event" as an almost-sure prediction of overcast skies on the coast of extreme Northern California.

rottrover said...

I had no idea that Greek statues were originally painted. The ones pictured and the little video were fascinating and so beautiful. The only Scotsman I ever knew was my grandfather - a kind and brilliant man :). Continuing to send POTP to the Font!

rottrover said...

PS: Nothing in the baker's case looks 'delish' this morning.

The Life of Riley said...

Thank you for the link about exporting Irish pubs.