Menosonal; Seasons, They Will Change

August and into September spent almost entirely in The Grey on Dunoon's shoreline. I did visit The Hutch for laundry, showers, mail checks, but I just so love being in my van! I have to say that as early as August, there were signs of autumn already encroaching...

... not to mention all the berries that were already abundant. Particularly on the Rowan trees, where they were pretty much all red even before September kicked in. If my grandad were to be believed (and my pal Aitch, for that matter), then snow was on the way! Of course, those leaves turning could be something to do with the incredible heat and much less rain than we're used to getting around here - but those leaves weren't withering from drought; they were properly turning. 

At the end of August, The Cowal Gathering takes place at Dunoon Stadium and town. I tend not to go along to the main events, but I do always enjoy the closing fireworks, and this was the first year in about seven that I can recall when it was actually dry for the display.

That was just a wee taster... took lots and am keeping them for Hogmanay, as I probably won't be at any fireworks gatherings at that time.

As nature would have it, though, the rain promptly arrived about an hour after they'd finished. September, then, has been wet... hey ho. Good weather for hunkering down with the yarn project, some excellent podcasts, a few good viewing binges and generally just keeping myself to myself. 

Menootering No More...

The Menootering Tour ended, as Ducky told you, the first weekend of August when we came over the water to Dunoon. I do quite like being in town during this month as it tends to be buzzing, building up to the final weekend when The Cowal Gathering takes place. That does mean parking is a bit of a b*****r, but I just stay in The Grey and settle into kerb-side life by the shore. This means putting up with constant traffic (it's the main road from the vehicle ferry into town), some of it quite buffeting because, apparently, the suggested speed marker is taken as a minimum rather than a max...

But nothing quite beats opening up in the morning to scenes like this...

To be fair, most of the time it is overcast and probably raining, too, but on the whole, the weather this year has been kinder (although, as we all know, it's also worrying, the tropics arriving this far north...)

I didn't only stay in the main town. For one week, I drove a bit further down the peninsula to Innellan and parked right on the shore in a wee community park. That was rather fabulous and much more peaceful.

There were a lot of photos and links and memories of the trip to sort out, so most days I was working on getting the blog posts working as you have found them. Sadly, I had let the knitting sit unattended for some time, but a couple of weeks ago I did pick it up again... As Saturday Stitches is back and running, you will know by now (as will I) whether the cardigan got finished! 

There were some spectacular sunrises, though sunsets tended to be clouded over... particularly during the eclipse. Very disappointing, because I had a prime viewing spot, had it been clear. Instead, the clouds just got thicker and thicker and thicker... sigh... so yes, the world went dark, but not because of the moon boistering the sun.

I did get up to the Hutch, eventually... 

The Waverley was having a good time with all this not-raining weather, and appeared to have capacity loads each trip out. As it tours the Clyde Estuary, it does stop in at various harbours, including Dunoon, enabling visitors to walk the prom and visit the Castle Gardens... so that is where I 'planted' Ducky 6939, in the hope that one or other visitor will spot her and whisk her off on yet another stage of her great adventure.

Tomorrow, Hettie will bring you lots of lovely nature views from our wee part of Scotland's Secret Coast, but let me end today's post with another etherwobbly whinge. As I typed this today (two weeks before you read it), after a system update last night, I found that at the start of each paragraph, I have to retype my first word because the system is now 'eating' whatever I first put...😶 Not only that, but for reasons it alone can know, in the drafts listing, it has chosen to rename my 'menoizikul' posts and label... What the actual....??!! When I preview the posts, they appear to show correctly, so it will be interesting to see what happens when they go live... I'm pretty sure that this and the late delivery of posts is all part of the ever-creeping influence of the arsehole artificial mental thing... (am I becoming a GOW? [grumpy ol' wummin])

Menondering Along

After a couple of days in Edinburgh last week, it was time to meander southwards. The aim was to be with Aitch at her home in Northumberland for the Wimbledon Final. After some really poor weather, summer came up trumps again, and even on the day I departed the city, it was reaching 27'C! Anyway, there was no hurry, so I only travelled down to Galashiels and found a shady parking spot under some mighty trees, a little busy with traffic, but perfectly fine to spend a couple of nights and spend the Friday watching Wimbledon semi-finals. Those trees made all the difference to the comfort levels! 

Feet up, knitting to keep the fidgets at bay, a cooling coconut water on the side... 

The best thing was stretching into the morning with some of the best birdsong I have heard in ages. Merlin app told me there were seven different voices. I saw none of the birds, but was thrilled to hear them. Particularly the Thrush and the Blackcap, both rather scarce now.

Turn up your sound to see if you can make out seven distinct calls... (sorry about the traffic in between, nothing I could do about that!) If for any reason this little player doesn't work for you, please go directly to the file with this link.

I am also grateful that the weather was such that I could sit with the door wide open and gaze upon the soft greenery, and the drystane dyking that is probably as much as 200 years old... and that lone feather...

Menoddsany; When The Sun Hits

For one glorious week, there was sunshine, warmth, and fun over The Grey by the Clyde. Whilst spending those couple of nights at Barney-dog's place, I finally updated the sheers/bug guards/privacy screens... As seen here from inside and from the outside...

I was rather excited to have found these in IKEA, a much better colour than the repurposed white sari material I had used for the last three years! I have a pair on the back doors as well, and they are hung on proper rods, rather than bits of string... so a little bit more dressed up!

This setup was particularly lovely to have when sitting with my door wide open to let in the water breeze as I watched the firth ebb and flow...

I did get back into The Hutch for a week - the sun didn't last, of course, and along came the wind and rain and much cooler temps, and I needed to be around for one more dog-sitting shift. Before that though, Mac1 brought Barney for a visit, and he took to Snoopy in much the same way Nobby did before him...

On those days spent by the waterside, it was fun to watch the local school kids doing an end-of-year walk along to the town boundary and back, waving their Saltires and chanting the Scottish Soccer (football) anthem.

That was just one group - there were several, and all happy and smiling and waving as I waved back. Fairly lifts the spirits, that sort of thing.

...and you know it's hot when the YAMster doesn't don some headwear!

Menordinarisms; Sigh

After the visit to the gallery, another day of simply keeping company with my sister was had, and then I transferred up to the IKEA car park. I shop at the big blue-and-yellow barn, grab some food, and spend a couple of nights. As it happened, the weather turned. We had been planning a couple of day trips to outside activities, neither of which could be entertained in the almost monsoonal levels of water that decided to fall from the sky. It also got windy and considerably more chill than it had been for a month or so. Very disappointing... sigh...

At one point, when it was more like light showers than a garden hose, I took the opportunity to charge the van. Of course, I had to extend the line more than usual, because an entitled EV owner felt they could just use the space as a regular parking spot. This meant I was using up the spot that ought to have been available on the fast-charger side... 

The selfishness of this makes me fume. When the woman in her designer gym suit turned up, she made a point of not looking anywhere other than the car itself. She knew it was wrong, but did it anyway. Sigh...

While I sat there, too, another pair of women in the red Land Rover turned up after their shopping foray... and decided they could just leave their trolley where it was...

We were literally 50 yards from the trolley collection point. Too hard, apparently. So Muggins had to move it out of the way in order to drive out without risk of colliding with the thing... sigh...

During that stay on the Straiton hill, I observed boy racers throwing doughnuts in their suped-up third-hand vehicles, workmen deciding they could just tip their rubbish on the edges, and in the mornings it would be obvious that folk had parked to have their take-out meals and then decided that opening doors to put the packaging into the bin beside them was just too much hard work, so left if lying all over the ground... sigh...

I'm becoming a grumpy old woman!!! Seriously, what are people thinking? Not much beyond their immediate selves, it seems. 

Anyway, the weather persisted, so I decided just to head west again. I stopped for another couple of nights in Lanark, taking the now familiar looped route home. I was back in Dunoon by Sunday, and the rain was still happening.... sigh...

I'll hang around here for three weeks, then try getting back on the road in July. I have to go pick up some art, for a start...

Menodiddly; This And That

Slightly limbo this past week. The Grey went in for his service last week, which went well, although there are some repairs that require attending, which requires parts to be ordered. I am preparing this post on Tuesday and still no word. Slightly concerning, because until the repairs are done, his first official MOT (roadworthiness) can't be performed, and the deadline for that is tomorrow! I am hoping that as you read this, things have moved or are about to.

Anyway, whilst waiting for all that, I've been doing my usual, listening, watching, reading, yarning... got a bit more done on WIPs as per my post on Saturday Stitches, but also, being me, working new projects, too. Like this...

Say what?! Read all about that one on the upcoming stitches post.

I received the following update from the Lake District... oor wee pal has been undergoing some spring shenanigans, it seems!

I hope the wee lad didn't have too much of a hangover from that! 

While on the subject of dogs, I had some disappointing news about my current guide dog sponsor pup.

There was a bit more spiel than that, but that's the essential stuff. As compensation for the ongoing sponsorship, I have had a substitute puppy assigned, who is at a similar level as Buttons, in that she is due to go to full training. Once the pups are at training, there is usually only one, at most two, further pupdates, before then being signed off and then a new puppy comes my way again. I believe there is to be a full pupdate for Clover, coming up in June, so will share a bit more about her then. Meanwhile, isn't she pretty?

Menondering; This, That, The Other...

April is a slightly challenging month for me. It didn't used to be, but the way things have fallen, it has become something of an administrative month... and I am finding, despite once being an ace administrator, that I am now a bit more of an ostrich. I have to work hard on myself to get things done. Home insurance, vehicle insurance, vehicle registration, vehicle service... and now for the first time, add in MOT (in early May, but still to get booked), certain other fiscal matters. I am realising my age and the desire to not have to deal with all this stuff. Gone are the days when things were set in place and then left to roll over. Now, every year, one must do one's diligence and be prepared to shift to yet another provider to get the best deals. 

Ugh.... Anyway, bit by bit, I am chipping away at the tasks. In between, I continue to distract myself with viewings, listenings, and yarnings. 

I have been watching Person of Interest on Prime... the looming of AI makes this a disturbing, yet riveting watch. Now we also have The Copenhagen Test and The Capture, two shows taking us on a trip into the hi-tech chicanery available to us. On a lighter note, there have been the likes of Great British Menu, Beyond Paradise, and Race Across the World. 

Books listened to have been from authors such as L J Ross, Richard Osmond, Stuart MacBride, Marion Todd, Denzil Meyrick, and Alex Pine. I am reaching the 'caught up' stage for most of these now and am on long waiting lists for the next in series (if at all they are yet available). 

I did a podcast post recently, but this week, on The Rest Is Politics: Leading, the interview was no less a person than Volodymyr Zelenskyy... and if I tell you it was beyond impressive, trust me - it's fifty minutes of your time well worth spending. The warmth, the charm, the dedication, the logic and strategic-mindedness... the common sense that flowed from him was moving in the extreme. I am going to embed it here - but you may have to go to Spotify for the whole thing (or find it on your own preferred platform).

Me...no....

I could, I suppose, have kept this for a Nature Friday offering... but I have nothing else to share today, so here it is... Easter Sunday outside The Hutch. Yup. During the night, with Storm Dave, the snow came (and then went, because, you know, rain...) Enormous winds. Early, early doors on Sunday morning, sunrise almost fooled us, just before another snow shower. Then another brief (half an hour) brightness, before, by 9 am, it all collapsed into the grey again. It was so cold, the snow fell as graupel (snow pellets, aka soft hail). And the day got greyer from then on... 

Menopdate; A Bit Behind

Last month, I received a couple of little updates from Nobby... I know that several of you will have seen this as you follow him on his new book of phisogs address. However, I also know that a few, like me, have resisted that platform, so here we read about Nobby and Dru having raised some funds for charity (well done to them!), and more recently, Nobby's latest coiffure...

Smart, spring cut, I think we can all agree. Sorry that I am a bit behind with posting these... I feel a bit behind myself in general. Spring has been so slow to start here - one might say, elusive to non-existent. There have been bursts of brightness on occasions, and when the sun has appeared, there is some real warmth with it (breaking into double figures, just). The snow, graupel, sleet, gales, a prodigious amount of rain, and, incredibly, on Sunday, there was the most incredible thunder and lightning. Not something one expects in temperatures hovering around freezing. This little article was informative.

So, spring is a bit behind, too. The daffodils out in the backyard barely got their yellow glowing before the big storms hit at the start of the month. Very poor showing. 

Anyhoo - that's all for today. Soon the week will be behind me, and I'll be wondering yet again what I have to show for it. Although I did have a big spring clean in the kitchen last week and this week have been learning some new knitting technique. Not entirely unproductive...

Menotin...

... well, I am in but not, sort of. Visitor imminent. Have been tizzying up The Hutch (not much, just a little), preparing The Grey for his first runabout since before Christmas, and generally just excited at getting to meet a pen pal after so long. You can read more about that in this space next week. I'll just leave you with an image of the new rug in the spare room and a couple of fun colour-ins...

Menorminating: Situation What

March arrived - with a bang, for some. You don't need me to tell you of the despair and disgust felt here in The Hutch. 

So distraction is the need, the therapy. All my usual stuff: binge-watching, batch-listening, yarn-working mania. The yarn yarns have their place on Saturdays, so let me share a bit of the other. First, let me show you the contrast between the end of one month and the start of another:

After a couple of days of the blurgh, there was another morning of brightness before it all fell away once again. But when that brightness shows, the whole room becomes a palace...

I long for more than one day in ten of such light and warmth (it reached 9°C!) At least that was two days in the past seven. More will come, I'm just getting impatient now. I particularly wish it to be at least dry for the weekend after next. That's when my visitor will be here.

Anyhoo, for those of you who can access British-made dramas, I can recommend a four-parter called The Game. It may not be the most clever of plots, as such, but the interplay of the characters is what captured my interest - and with two of my favourite actors, Jason Watkins and Robson Green. Very bingeable.

Another series I have much appreciated (enjoyed isn't quite the right word for a program that deals with the subject matter it does), is called Catch Me A Killer. Micki Pistorius was the first serial killer profiler in South Africa, and this series is based on her autobiographical book of the same name. It is not for the faint of heart, but if you are keen on forensic policing and the courage of one woman to bring in this detective approach, then definitely give it a go.

Then it's the season of the cooking shows, so Masterchef Professionals and Great British Menu let slip three eps a week. 

For my Aussie fix, I have watched the latest season of Mystery Road Origin, as well as a documentary exploration show called Hunting Outback Gold. Highly recommended.

Recent podcasts have included:

Uncovered - from the Canadian Broadcasting Company. Investigative reporting of the true crime and revelatory nature... There are lots of seasons to pick from, so that'll take a while.

Crime Next Door - from BBC Sounds... can you access that from outside the UK? I'm sure it will be available on your chosen listening platform.

In case you are despairing that I am listening only to true crime, take heart. 

Joe Marler Will See You Now - total mayhem! I am giving the tubular link, although I watch it on Spotify. It is available to listen to only on BBC Sounds, but much of this daft show relies on the visual. I wonder if this item will work overseas? Joe is a retired Rugby player who has quite the line in patter/banter and has an ability to draw others out - hence the premise of the show.

Screw This - Let's Try Something Else - that's the Spotify link, but it is also available on Apple Podcasts, and I think that's all. A shame, because I think most of you would enjoy this program. It is only six eps and spends time with various community initiatives around the UK, from buying a farm to building a local wind turbine to creating hubs... It's a real feel-good, ground-roots kind of show, full of hope and positivity. A much-needed mood-lifter...

That'll do you for now. Roll on springtime!!! 

Menoops... Stop Press

Well, Thursday crept up on me all of a sudden... so here I am posting on the hop!

Mac1's visit passed with next to no photos: the weather did what our weather does, so no outings of any note (one brief trot down to the shore and back). Time spent nattering as only sisters can, sharing views on various artistic pursuits, listening to podcasts, watching Great Pottery Throwdown and Winter Olympics (mainly the curling). Eating. Plenty of eating. A puzzle or two. It was a real treat to have her here for a full six days. 

Then she was gone. I still had the crochet, the Os, the rugby 6 Nations, podcasts, puzzles, a couple of binge-watches...

There was a brief burst of sun the other day. Enough of a burst to cause a slight case of sun-crazies. I took a hike around town. It was the first proper walk for 2026; that's how bad the weather has been. There were lots of others on the promenade enjoying the day. Smiles came easily. Dogs went goofy. The birds warbled cheerfully, and the Rock Doves took to formation flying. For all the world, it would have been easy to think spring was making its way in... if it weren't for the frost that fell as the evening drew in and the sleety storm that passed through in the night. The past two days back to situation normal. Sigh... a few more weeks.

Crikey, the weeks are racing by already... plans are already forming for March. There is to be a visitor from overseas. Then it will be Easter... 

...where's the brake pedal???

Menowercogitatus; Thursday Thoughts

It has been a while since I just sat and rambled on the keyboard. It's usually a sign that, although the year has started, the YAMster, perhaps, has not! Blog fodder is short in supply as winter keeps me confined to The Hutch. In all likelihood, I shall not be back on the road with The Grey until at least March, and as Grey is due his first MOT in April, it won't be for long or far - if, indeed, I go at all. 

Meanwhile, I have to guard against too much pondering. This is the time when my mind turns to my beloved other country, Australia. It has now been twelve years since I departed its shores, but I had spent more of my life there than in any other place... I will have to live until I am 79 to equal the same number of years in Scotland as I spent in OZ. That may not seem like a big number to some, but this body has always been older than its apparent years, and to reach 79 would be a milestone for many reasons. Apart from one exception, on my mother's side of the family, 77 was the oldest. From my father's genes, there's a greater (though still slim) chance of reaching the 80s. The fact is, I am my maternal grandmother's double, and she popped her clogs in her sleep aged 68. I am working on the basis that, if I survive the next 18 months, I'll beat her record at least!

Aside from the chronic arthritis, asthma (mainly contained), and CFS/ME, my general health is pretty good. I don't have to rely on any regular medications, and although I can no longer take long hikes or contemplate any form of running, I do stretches every morning, have seat pedals to work the legs (and lungs), and do enjoy a wee jaunt with the Rolls-later when the weather permits.

I have noted that I seem to have acclimatised completely to Scottish weather. Apart from the raw, damp edge that can happen on some winter days, I mostly don't really feel the cold. Mainly because I am so happy to wrap up in all the stuff I keep producing with yarns and hooks! I have always loved layering. In OZ, there is no such thing as central heating, so one endured the cold winters (and despite what you may think, Sydney could quite often drop to low single figures centigrade, and we even had snow a couple of winters, which is unusual). I did have a little electric fire, which the J's always enjoyed. So I was able to layer up with my woollies of all types there, as well.  One or two of you had noted that I appeared all wrapped up here at the Hutch; that is because, usually, I don't bother switching on the heating. This is not, as might be thought, a cost-cutting exercise, but simply that I do not like too much artificial heat. I learned to live without it, and it is one of the things that I really had to grit my teeth about in that year I spent nursing dad (2020...) He refused to wrap up in any way, even a knee blanket, and wanted the central heating on tropical. 

Now, I am a tropical gal - when in the tropics. I have no problem at all dealing with the heat and humidity. However, the artificial heating here in the UK is mostly overwhelming. It has a lot to do with the fact that windows are tight shut - and if there is anything else the YAMster is, it's a fresh air gal! I got in such trouble for even cracking the kitchen window to try and breathe... ugh... flashbacks.

I have always been a beanie/toque gal. Even when I had a full head of hair (and I did have a LOT of hair until 'menopolyxinaemia' took its toll), I was always sensitive to cold on my crown. Now, after meno and with the additional hit of the balding gene (got that from father, at least!), I have very little hair on top, which is one of the reasons I took the shears to what was left of length. Now, full-time headgear is a must. So, expect to see yet more works of wool art in that department!

Anyway, that's my yarn for today. Oh yes, even after more than a decade away, I still have Aussie in my speech. You can take the girl out of, and all that... to yarn is to natter, have a chinwag in Aussie. (Unlike the pure English usage of 'are you spinning me one?') There are some things totally ingrained; I even still come out with dollars and cents at times. Hey ho...

There are lots of you who participate in the meme of Thankful Thursday - let me today say thank you for reading that blather and note that I am grateful to a life that has afforded me worldwide travel and experience. Many memories to serve however many years are left.

Menoot; A Boomerang Post

There had been plans for visitors, but as we all know, the best laid of voles and women, or something like that! Mac1 (whose birthday was yesterday) called last Friday to say it would have to be postponed as she had landed hard on the pavement earlier in that first week, resulting in damage to her left arm and shoulder. Then Aitch, who'd been aiming to join us, took the nasty winter cold that is doing the rounds, as well as beginning to be leery of the deteriorating weather (it has been wild since the new year), so after a natter on Sunday, we decided best to err on the side of caution.

So let me today share with you what was posted five years ago on this date...

Menobernating; Courie Doon

To courie doon (Scots) or còsagach (Scottish Gaelic) is the Scottish equivalent of the Danish hygge, Welsh cwtch, Japanese ikigai... just about every culture has a word for that snuggling in for comfort and familiarity. Here in the northern regions, it's also akin to ideas of hibernation, or at least the desire to hibernate!

Often it pertains to having company, but one can courie doon just fine on one's own. It tends to be my preference for the festive season.

Christmas Eve, I sat through to 2 a.m. on the main day, as I watched in the early evening a couple of the Christmas specials of some favourite shows as well as the truly excellent Sir David Attenborough doing what he alone does best...

Yes, I was working the timelines... more on that in due course! Later in the evening, I observed the midnight mass, broadcast from Cambridge. The music was sublime, the choir excellent, and the words meaningful.

What does a little old veggo lady eat for her festive meal? Tattie and parsnip mash, Brussels sprouts, soy sausages, barley gravy and cranberry sauce. It may not look all that fancy, but let me assure you, it was absolutely delicious, and was followed by stewed plums and custard. I was perfectly satisfied!

That was a festive paper plate underneath - in place of having crackers and paperhats. It also saved the plate for a second use later in the day and thus cut down on washing up!

On Christmas night, I had an hour on video chat with the siblings - ain't tech wonderful for that sort of thing? 

Then came Hogmanay, and that too was spent with yarn, festive watching and listening, enjoying the BBC Alba ceilidh, and noting the turn of the calendar by sending out first-foot messages to the sibs. 

Leading up to Christmas, The Hutch had been burning a lot of light due to the deep, dark blanket cloud that blocked all sense of daylight... on Boxing Day, the weather changed dramatically. Although it had been gloomy, it had also been comparatively warm, almost in double figures some days. Now, with the almost cloudless skies and blazing sun, the temperatures bombed. Frosts are the order of the mornings this first week of the year, and I believe a little up the road from here, snow is making a nuisance of itself. Here by the Clyde, snow is a rare thing indeed. 

Thus, 2026 arrived, and life continues as it must. If only the news had changed as the weather did, with a deep cooling off. Sadly, instead, it seems the heat is being turned up. Let all of us, in our own way, create what peace we can. Let's see if we can make it infectious to the point of pandemic proportions...

Menordinarium

As we tumble down to year's end, things are slow in terms of activity. There will be little in the way of actual news from me for a while - other than the ordinary.

In the past week, I have done little more than blog, watch, listen... think. A lot of thinking is going on. Have to get myself geared up for 2026. Somehow, 2025 has floated by, leaving me a little adrift and feeling that I have definitely not achieved anything very much. Is this a factor of fading into age? Is it just me? Having a sense of purpose is important, and I may have fallen off that track this past year. I need a bit of a reset on my daily spiritual practice; I need to finish the almost half-dozen WIP crochet items I have waiting around BEFORE I start anything new ... oops, already failed on that one! 

Anyway, safe to say my brain is on overdrive as my 67th year looms and a sense of urgency to make the most of each and every day has been occupying me since returning to The Hutch. It doesn't have to be monumental or attention-grabbing. All that is required is that at the end of each day it is possible to lie down and say truthfully, 'good work today, lass.' As opposed to the more recent, 'rats, you forgot to do this, that, the other...'

Most of you have gathered that I am the cerebral type. I can easily get deeply engaged with philosophy, science, literature, art, music, and crafting... but all this serves as a great way to avoid dealing with daily life. The Hutch needs attention. I need to pay that attention. Even though I'd rather be learning about the esoterics of how wrong is wrong, and if there is a limit to the length of a string.

Anyhoo. One of the things that was becoming apparent was that my little OctoKan, who is nearly four years old now, was starting to show signs of reaching end of life. Lots of glitches, lots of go-slow, and sometimes unresponsive. To be fair to it, something that was intended purely as an intro product to laptops and Chrome-dedicated equipment, it has surpassed expectations. I have worked that wee machine to the same daily, almost non-stop extent that I did the much larger, more powerful and stronger, Voo-Voo the Vaio - who lasted me ten years. Black Friday loomed...

Welcome to Spinner, the Acer Chromebook Spin 314. I have moved up from OctoKan's 11 inches to a rather luxurious 14 inches. Look at that screen clarity! Blinding. It comes with 8GB of RAM, which means faster screen adaptation and better task performance.

I would have been happy to have had another Asus product, but this one was on offer for 40% off the regular price... £250 was not to be passed up! I'd like to think I will get at least five good years of work done on this machine. Nothing is ever going to be as solid or match up with the stalwart presence of Voo-Voo, but as long as I can keep blogging, the occasional video, lots of photo processing, researching, listening and watching, at the cost of fifty quid a year, I will not quibble.

I stuck to Chromebook because, despite having a background in IT, I am at that stage in life where continuation and familiarity are important - and add in the fact that Chromebooks come with ten-year support. If I got ten years from Spinner, then pop the corks!!! All one has to do is open up, let it set up, sign in with a Google ID, and then all that's left is a bit of fine-tuning for complete personalisation. Everything is synced from the Google platform. (Much as Apple did with Macs.) All I had to do was transfer the storage files native to OctoKan to Spinner. To do that, I zipped everything from Downloads (all my blog, crafting, puzzle, household, etc, files are 'children' of Downloads) and then put it into Google Drive. Then downloaded it into Spinner from there. Voila!

That was one 'daily life' item ticked off.

Another was to try to get some festive mood going. I dug out the tree. I couldn't deal with putting the two bits together, so I only mounted the lower half, then stuck the table tinsel 'tree' on top. I only used the crochet and knit ornaments this year, and did haul out the lights. It actually came out well, and as I look across at it whilst typing, I find it does bring a little smile. Now to get some candles... how is your Christmas prep going?

Menomoria - And An Etherwobble

Twelve months since Gail's passing. At once it seems like yesterday, yet so very long ago... Still deeply missed.

Meanwhile, Nobby may not be missing Gail quite so much, if this latest little message is anything to go by!

Now, apropos the intermutts... is anybody else having trouble with the timely arrival of friends' blog posts on their readers? I am discovering that quite a few posts are getting missed because they are not arriving. I know others have been having issues with comments. Then, when updating my profile picture, I discovered that my profile only showed Nobby's blog under my name, not my own! Sortable, but what a pain. Clearly, there has been some more tinkering going on under the hood.

Anyway, if I don't seem to be commenting at my usual sort of time on any of your posts, please don't fret - I'll find you eventually.

Love you all!

Menork; Ooohhh

I drove down and spent a night at St Cyrus, then the next wee stretch back at Friokheim. The plan was then to pay a visit to central Fife... but a slight misunderstanding between Miss Guidance and myself ended up in my taking a westward turn out of Dundee on a long and unforgiving stretch of road where it became necessary to give up thinking of throwing a U-turn and, instead, head to the next parking point in Cowdenbeath. It proved a worthy enough decision, as the rain was continuing to make its presence felt.

Except for that brief moment when the clouds broke... In the space of five minutes, it went from silver, gold, to amber-rose...

You will note, too, that there are very few leaves left on their branches. The clouds soon stitched themselves together again, and I was afforded no opportunity to view the Wolf Moon. 

Due to the inclement weather, combined with routine maintenance work, I also discovered that the Queensferry Crossing (new bridge) was closed until the 6th, so I ended up spending another three nights in the car park there. I waited till the 7th to transfer back into Edinburgh...