Tag: seasons

Red and Green

~ Ruth ~ 5 Comments

Red and green always seems such a Christmassy combination, even at the beginning of September! And for the past couple of days as well as a trio of bluetits a little robin with its fluffy orange-red breast has been feeding at our bird feeder, so nature seems keen to remind me that winter will be coming soon. Thanks nature, I know the fast-cooling weather has been a little uncertain lately but personally I haven’t actually quite finished with summer yet, and surely autumn still needs to have her beautiful blaze of glory before chilly winter blows over us with her icy breath and frozen fingers… 🙂

Flower of the Day

Fandango’s One Word Challenge: Uncertain

The Joys of Spring

~ Ruth ~ 6 Comments

While spring-time fills my heart with joy

Plant pollen makes my red eyes itch

And constant sneezing does annoy

Hay-fever is a total bitch

Good anti-histamines employ

Reduce my allergies enough

To let me breathe, however rough

While scented flowers fill the air

I fill my lungs without a care

And wheeze until it makes me cough…

Ronovan’s Poetry Prompt: Itch

More Snowdrops, and Nearly Some Crocus

~ Ruth ~ 2 Comments

In between blustery rain showers earlier today I hung out the washing on the line to give it all a bit of a blow about and some fresh air to hopefully start to dry, and on the way back in I noticed that as well as the snowdrops a few tiny crocus plants are starting to flower, even though it is only the end of January and we live in the North of Scotland – how exciting! 🙂

Flower of the Day

Fruit Crumble

~ Ruth ~ 4 Comments

A chronological line up of pics showing a day in the life of two types of autumn fruits progressing from plant to plate 🙂

The fruit on mum and dad’s plum tree is ripening nicely just now, as are the brambles growing along the side of the road by the house. So the other day my husband picked some of both and I made them into one big fruit crumble.

After cooking in the oven I could see the fruit had been far juicier than I had anticipated so the end result didn’t look the best with all the juice soaking right up through the sugary cinnamony crumble topping but oh, the smell – and the taste – was absolutely delicious.

We had it hot with custard on the first day, then cold with vanilla ice cream the next… yum! 🙂

Weekly Prompt: Line Up

Scottish Summer Sea

~ Ruth ~ 5 Comments

Experiencing the usual combination of warming sun and chilly wind and showery rain all together clamouring for attention on the same blustery summer day can only mean that I’m definitely back in Scotland – a bracing walk along the pebble beach between Fort George and Ardersier this afternoon left me pink-cheeked, tousle-haired and smiling at the sheer magnificence of the ever-changing weather. It certainly feels good to be home again 🙂

Weekly Smile

One Liner Wednesday: Shit, it’s Hot!

~ Ruth ~ 13 Comments

Shit, it’s hot!

OK, so for all you people out there who live in everyday hot countries, it may not be hot by your standards, but remember that here in the UK we live in a naturally temperate climate in homes designed and built for keeping people snug and warm, not airy and cool.

And as most of us don’t have air conditioning as standard, when I tell you it’s well over 30-something degrees celsius outside I mean we are all also living inside in that sweltering, suffocating, humid heat, not sitting smug in a cool air-conditioned environment watching the heat and sun out of the well-shaded window.

Or, worse than being hot stuck at home, if you’re really unlucky you have no option but to commute to work all suited and booted in a sardine-packed moving metal cylinder travelling deep underground with NO air-con, surrounded by a whole host of other hot sweaty and grumpy commuters in the stagnant, stifling heat, many of who have no concept of personal hygiene.

We had some spectacular thunderstorms overnight last night, but disappointingly it’s still ridiculously hot today. And tomorrow is potentially record-breaking – if we do hit the predicted 37 degrees celcius (98-point-something farenheit) then apparently that will be the hottest July temperature ever recorded here in the UK – ugghh!.

So this mini-heatwave we’re having just now is absolutely unbearable for me – I’m soaked in salty sweat all the time, sticky and stinky, damp hair stuck to my scalp and forehead and neck, and I absolutely hate it. I don’t even do traditional beach resort holidays because I dislike the heat so much – lying on hot sand all day and being eaten alive by foreign bugs is my idea of hell.

I’m not even a huge fan of summer as a season in general – give me the balmy grey delights of spring and autumn any day over the black-or-white extremes of summer or winter…

So anyway, that’s why I feel perfectly justified today in saying ‘Shit, it’s hot!’

One Liner Wednesday