Be ready.

Yesterday was cold with heavy, face stinging rain. Even the farmers wife ( and the dogs ) stayed indoors. Today the downpour seems to have blown through and there are patches of blue sky. More rain and even stronger winds are forecast for tonight. Our Indian summer seems to have come to an end.

Bunches of wheat and linseed for sale outside the cheese shop. To me the  prices seem surprisingly high. 

There's a group of a dozen or so identically dressed gentlemen in Starbucks. " We're Broncos fans " says one to 'The Font' by way of introduction. ' How delightful ' comes the reply.  He then asks " You gotta school in this town ?" On learning that we do he turns to his colleagues and announces " They gotta school here ". This seems to satisfy their curiosity because after that they go back to looking at their phones and lapse into silence. We are left in the dark as to why a dozen adult Broncos fans should be in Starbucks at break of day on a blowy October morning. Perhaps its a Bronco fans golf team outing ? Some of the men are in shorts which is an unusual clothing choice considering how cold it is.

On Wednesday the Defence Secretary urged all citizens to stock up on their 'Be ready' emergency supplies. Yesterday the Prime Minister did the same. This morning a leaflet from the electricity company comes with the post and tells us what to do if if the power goes off. Someone, somewhere is trying to tell us something. Later today we shall check on our 'resiliency' stores.  The torch batteries are all fully charged and the wind up radio works. There is no shortage of wine but we will need to order some more bottled water and tinned fish. The gas hobs will work ( for a while ) which means we can warm up baked beans although toasting bread will be more of a challenge.

Some theatrical music on the car radio this morning :https://youtu.be/7fLMEl6nPXk?t=165

Peculiar Scottish exams and why Scots go to university a year earlier than the English at 17 :https://alexanderhthompson.substack.com/p/exam-of-the-month-the-scottish-csys

Potato salad :https://theyorkshiregourmet.substack.com/p/the-glorious-indistinction-of-schlotzigkeit

A whale grave :https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-dug-into-a-weird-patch-on-the-seafloor-they-unearthed-a-watery-grave

Accents :https://news.osu.edu/how-much-control-do-we-have-over-picking-up-an-accent-a-lot-study-finds/