Alberto's Hutte

31st July 2021 (Saturday)      08.00 ..... There’s a light easterly breeze Sandwich Tern (sterna sandvicensis) bringing  low cloud in from the North Sea.... so we have heavy ‘Scotch Mist’ this morning;  a real dreich start to the day.   However, the ‘degree of wetness’ should decrease by 10.47,  leaving us with an overcast sky, which in turn should brighten up later in the afternoon.    I shall pick up the paper at 11.11..... if my projected weather plan proves accurate.   There’s first time for everything... almost. 22.00    The Scotch Mist eventually ‘dried’ away about 13.30 and we finally had a few short sunny spells in the evening;  that was when we had our exercise....  Michael and Janice going for a walk and me biking up to Chapel Green, planning to meet them there, but I missed them by minutes.   At least we got a wee bit of exercise..... and I got a few photos of the ‘Marella Explorer’ leaving the Firth;  her next port of call being Kirkwall. Janice and Michael spent the dam

30th July 2021 (Friday)     08.00 .... Last night I sprayed the entrance to a wasps nest that I’d spotted;  and it appeared to have done the trick because I didn’t see any wasps working this morning.   However, just to make sure, I thought I’d give the entrance another dose:  you could say I ‘polished them off’, because I picked up the wrong canister and used furniture polish.   The lavender aroma was the clue that had me changing canisters and hitting it with the right stuff:   the mission has been successful, because we have no wasps working the nest ....   nevertheless, if anyone sees fast flying, lavender smelling wasps,?  .... they’re mine!    We have a grey damp start to the day, but it isn’t actually raining, so I’ll get the bike out and go for the paper in a wee while. 09.00     I’ve been for the paper, (in the car ‘cos we have a spell of heavy Scotch Mist’) but didn’t go to the harbour;   I wanted to get back to Ivy and have breakfast.    I’m feeling brighter this morning,

29th July 2021 (Thursday)   08.00 .... It’s a grey and damp start to the day; Busy golf course.   the sun is supposed to break through by mid morning, giving us sunny spells and light showers.    Michael and Janice are away to Halbeath Retail Park (Dunfermline) leaving me ‘in charge’ ... in charge of ‘ me’?  Once the sun breaks through I’ll get the bike and out have a run round the villages....I’d better have breakfast and another cuppa. 21.30     The day is ending with rain, which looks like being here for the night.... it’s not that heavy but it is steady and .... wet.     Michael and Janice had a very successful shopping mission this morning;   both fridge and freezer are full.... the first time they have been full since the last time Janice and Michael were here a few years ago.    We started eating our way through it with ‘mince and tautties’, followed by strawberries and cream, for dinner. When Janice and Mike were at Dunfermline, I went up to Kinneuchar to have a quiet mom

28th July 2021 (Wednesday)   06.30 .... The forecast is for our area  to have ‘light rain showers with a gentle breeze’;  there’s still a Yellow Warning for heavy and lengthy thundery showers for Fife but they might miss us.   At the moment the sky is mostly overcast and Ferry Road is wet.... but it’s not actually raining.... and there are blue patches appearing so we will have sunny spells.   I could be a bonnie day albeit with a few showers. 09.00    We must have had a heavy shower overnight because there’s a lot of sand etc. been washed down the road/streets.   I’ve been for the paper, and to the harbour (in the car ‘cos I needed to buy milk) then came home by way of Balbuthie Loan and Kinneuchar.   I suppose I’d better have breakfast, then have a quick run round with the ‘oover, and perfunctory squirt o’ polish on the furniture. 10.30      All is good at Ivy;   I am having ‘morrrrrning coffee’ in front of the computer ‘cos it’s spitting rain.... I was planning to have ‘MC’ at Chap

27th July 2021 (Tuesday)    07.00 .... Fife is covered by a Yellow Warning for thundery showers from midday until midnight today, then by a Yellow Warning for heavy rain from midnight until 06.00 on Wednesday.   It would appear that there’s a ‘good chance of precipitation’ at some point, in the next 24 hours.    Actually there is a better feel to the air this morning, which means we have a lower pollen/pollution count.   I ‘plan’ to go out later in the morrrrrrrrning, after the sun has broken through .....  and the clouds are starting to build.   18.30    I eventually went out at 12.30, but only as far as Chapel Green;  in case I forgot about the Tesco delivery, due between 14.00 and 15.00.   It was misty and warm and I enjoyed a quiet contemplate on The Boss’s seat..... slightly disappointed 'cos I'd been looking for big clouds.   The beach was quiet (it was lunch time) but I imagine it would be busy once the mist lifted;  which it had done, by the time the Tesco van arrived

26th July 2021 (Monday)     08.30 .... It’s cloudy and warm just now, but the sun should break through by mid-morning to give us warm sunny spells, with an increasing ‘chance of precipitation’ in the afternoon;  which precipitation could be heavy thundery showers.   Although I’m feeling ‘bright and breezy’, I’ll wait until the weather is the same before going to the ‘paper shop’.    Food! .... it’s Weetabix time. 14.30    It’s 25C in Ivy garden.... and too hot to ‘work’, even inside.    Actually I have been a busy boy;  I did the last of the polishing in the bedroom, then went up to Elie for the paper at 11.00.    Feeling ‘brave’ I ventured down to the harbour but I had no problem travelling (on the bike) in either direction.   It was brilliant watching all the action happening on the beach (the tide was out so it was a big beach): the Water Sports ‘troops’ were busy, getting the ‘water sports’ equipment ready for the day, and there was already activity on the water.    I met a lady f

25th July 2021 (Sunday)    10.30 .... Anna Kiesenhofer;  my word she shook up the ladies cycling world, especially the Dutch ladies cycling world:  Anna won the Gold Medal in the Road Race, in humid hot and hilly conditions.   She was part of a breakaway, more or less from the start of the race, and ended up, on her own for the last 40 kilometres.   Anna won the race finishing 75 seconds in front of the Dutch cyclist, Annemiek van Vleuten (who actually thought she had finished first):  the Bronze Medal was won by Eliza Longo Borghini (Italy).   I’ve been up to Chapel Green on my bike, before taking the car to get the paper, then along to ‘The Store’ in Anstruther.   The ‘store’ shelves were (mostly) well stocked; the beer shelves being empty but that didn’t bother me.   It’s a beautiful morning, with a touch of autumn about it when I was out.... now I will have a cuppa then do some ‘work’.   I don’t have much to do, but it will take me all day, .... working sporadically.   Oh I like t

24th July 2021 (Saturday)     07.00 ....   It’s another balmy, misty and warm Exploring the 'Crookit Skellie' - Earlsferry. morning with us, on the East coast, depending on the sun burning off the mist to give us a sunny afternoon;  whereas, away from the East coast, it is going to be sunny and hot (too hot) all day.   I haven’t been further than the front gate;  from which point I looked up Ferry Road, doon Ferry Road, and .... decided to have another cuppa.   It’s the weekend, so the villages will be extra busy.   Myra has invited ‘the Troops’ for morning coffee so I’ll do a bit of work, before biking up to Myra’s, to enjoy morrrrrrrrrrrrning coffee and ‘a sharing of village news’ at ‘No 3’.  I think you might find this interesting.... Cycling in Holland – BBC News feature. 10.00   I’ve been keeping an eye on the men’s Olympics Road Race (Cycling)... before watching the final 25 kilometres.   The race, 220 kilometres, was in gruelling, humid and hot conditions:  Richard Car

23rd July 2021 (Friday)    09.00 .... it’s a funny kind of morning:  one of those mornings when you’re waiting for your local Council to do something, but you know it’s never going to happen.    I think we need the sun to break through.   It’s actually a nice, balmy, quiet morning and warm, so should be warm in the afternoon .... once the sun burns off the low cloud.    I’ve been ‘round the villages’ and now I feel in ‘(almost) a mood for working’.    I’ll do a spot of ‘ooverin and dustin’ in the bedroom which should burn that mood off, faster than the sun will burn off the cloud.    Orf to have a cuppa and contemplate. 12.30     The ‘work’ is progressing at, almost, a rapid rate o’ knots;   I can visualize Janice and Michael having a place to rest their weary heads after the train journey.    To be honest the bedroom doesn’t need that much done to it, but it has to be as per ‘The Boss’ standards, hence the ‘work’.      I didn’t realise it at the time.... but Maggie was training me

22nd July 2021 (Thursday)    08.30 .... we had heavy Scotch Mist when I went for the paper at 06.30 this morning (in the car).   The sun should burn it back;  the sky is starting to lighten in places, so we should have a sunny, hot and humid afternoon.   I went to the beach after I got back, a sort of pre breakfast stroll:   the tide was out so we, a few folk out with their dogs and me, had a big beach to ourselves.   High tide is at 13.15, but it’s not a big tide just now, so there will be loads of sand to play with.... and plenty water, to paddle board across, in the bay.     Perfect holiday weather..... and the air is breathable this morning.... probably the dampness has lowered the pollen and pollution levels. 09.30     The Scotch Mist is, at times, heavy enough to be called ‘light Scotch rain’;   it’s wet, but, in a nice warm kind of way.    I like it:   then again I’m taking advantage of the fact that it’s wet outside, to   ‘oover, dust and polish the furniture, Michael and Ja

21st July 2021 (Wednesday)     06.30 .... the sky is overcast, with a light breeze from the East;  and, the thermometer is reading 17C so it is warm.   The sun should burn the haar/low cloud off in the morning, giving us a bright, sunny and hot afternoon. 10.00     I’ve been round the villages, and all is well.... the sky is beginning to brighten;   I’d better go out on the bike before the heat of the day.... and after another cuppa.    I met Marcia and Kirsty out with the dogs (note to me ... remember 12.30/5th August), and a couple of joggers.   It was one of those balmy, quiet mornings:     the dogs seemed in the for buzzin’ around.... then again Spaniel’s always do.    I had a long rest on Maggie’s seat. 15.00    After ‘morrrrrning coffee’ I decided to bike to the top of Kincraig cliffs;  it was misty but mist happens and I don’t have any misty photos taken from Kincraig.    It takes me 10 minutes to bike to the top from Ivy Cottage.... and I got my misty photographs.    The last

20th July 2021 (Tuesday)   07.00 .... ‘sunny intervals with a gentle breeze from the east’ is forecast for KY9 today.... already the thermometer is reading 15C, but the cloud/ haar does look slightly menacing at times; though, with a bit of luck, the sun should burn it back out to sea, giving us another hot afternoon.  16.00    Wellll .... I had a cracker o’ a ‘paper run’ this mornin’:   the haar was defusing the light, and I saw rectangles that just had to be ‘clicked’, all around me.    I did a fair amount of clicking on my way round.    Strangely enough I didn’t visit the harbour;   but did go to Woodhaven, for a change, before going through Elie Estate and into the ‘Pony Field’ on the way home.    It was warm then....   and still is with the thermometer reading 23C in spite of a cool onshore breeze.       guess it will feel slightly cooler on the beach. 'Maw with the five bairns following. There was a klaxon start competition on the golf course, with players starting from ev

19th July 2021 (Monday)     07.00 ....  there’s bit of mist this morning, but the Fraser signwriting the St Monans skiff. garden thermometer is already at 16C , so it’s going to be warm....  once the sun burns off the mist, which it should do by mid morning.     I’ve been up and wandering aboot the garden, admiring the greenness of it, ye Gods it’s wild but bonnie:  the ‘plan’ is to go for the paper later in the morning when the tide is higher. 10.30    We have an absolute cracker of a day;   bright, sunny and warm with a light breeze.... it will be hot in the afternoon.    I’ve been for the paper, and down to the harbour.... my word it’s a perfect day for the camera, and there was things happening all over.     We have a happy boy this bonnie morning;   who is about to make a mug o’ coffee to have at Chapel Green.    Enjoy your day. 13.00    I enjoyed morning coffee at Chapel Green;  loads of folk out enjoying the morning sun  including Suzanne, who was litter picking her way round t

18th July 2021 (Sunday)     09.30 ....there is a bit more cloud about this Anstruther. morning, but the air is warm (it was 16C at 0.600) so it’s going to be another warm/hot day.    I’ve been for the paper and had a trip to Ainster (I was in the car) to do some shopping in The Store’.    Letting COVID rip has had a side effect that the ‘powers that be’ didn’t think of:  the Store is having problems with deliveries, because the delivery people have so many drivers off that have had to self isolate, having been in contact with someone with COVID.   Many of the shelves are empty and deliveries are random and at any time of the day.  This will apply to most stores that depend on delivery vehicles.   The shop was busy considering it had only opened at 07.00 and I was there at 07.10 20.00     This has been a ‘rest day’, having spent the day watching the last day of the golf on Sky Go (Computer) and the last three quarter of an of the final Stage of le Tour.... which is a slow cycle into Pa

17th July 2021 (Saturday)    06.30 ....another hot day ahead, but it is breezier so the hot air is moving.... like a fan assisted oven:    just now the garden thermometer is at 16C ....and is forecast to get up to 24C in the afternoon.;   it’s going to be breezier so it should feel cool.     There’s a bit of cloud around this morning so between the cloud and the breeze, the air is comfortably cool.     I plan to go to the shops after 09.00, as I have a prescription to pick up. 11.30   It is a beautiful day.... and much more comfortable in the fresh breeze.   I’ve been to Elie to pick up my prescription;  there was a queue at the ‘paper shop’ so I thought I’d do the harbour first then get the paper on the way back:  I don’t have a paper today. There was much going on at the harbour, and on the golf course so I took a few photographs:  I shall now have a coffee before finding out what time  Stage 20 of le Tour is on the tele;  today stage is a Time Trial.... so not the most exciting v