Alberto's Hutte

30th November 2016 St Andrew’s Day ..... Have a lovely, and happy, St Andrew’s Day wherever  you are on Mother Earth... and what better way Western sky over Earlsferry at sunset. is there to begin this ‘Scottish Day’, than with some of the best, ‘Fit Tappin’ Scottish tunes !     This is also Irene’s Birthday ....  “Happy Birthday Irene” .... I’m sure that Ken will have some secret surprise for you on your especial day. xx 08.00    There’s a bit of cloud about and it’s windy, but a nice enough start to ‘St  Andrews Day’..... considering it’s the last day of November.    I’m orf to have a cuppa while waiting on Jill (Nurse) coming to remove the catheter.    Must go ‘ever so slight Flap On’. 14.30    Jill (the District nurse) had to come back to re-insert another catheter:   obviously some work needs to be done to clear my problem.    The next move(s)  will be ‘sorted out, when  I go up to St Andrews on December 13th.    The good news is;   at Eastern sky over Elie, at sunse

29th November 2016 (Tuesday ) .... There’s a touch of ‘chill’ in the wind this morning .... it, the wind is from the WSW and F4-5, hence the wind chill factor.   I went out to West Bay this morning, and it was cold walking into the wind. 'Davaar' being made ready for renovation.      It was fine once I got onto the West Bay beach and had the wind on my back.     When Michael and Iain were ‘wee’ (small),  we  always went across to West Bay, to the picnic rock, because it was a bonnie, sheltered, and sandy beach.   That has all changed and where there was sand is now stones and rocks:   which might explain why the Ferry beach, and sand dunes are ‘growing’.    I’m assuming that the tide has washed the sand round from West Bay, into our main beaches.... because they are accumulating sand .... as are the dunes. I got back to Ivy just in time to get the kettle on:   Jimmy arrived as it began to boil.     Jimmy has just scampered orf home to have ‘50’.... I shall have a ‘li

28th November 2016 (Monday) ....  11.00    We had light showers o’ rain at the beginning on ‘today’;   I know ‘cos I got caught in one down at the harbour KIncraig cliffs. .... this was at 08.10.    Sunrise was at 08.16 but didn’t happen .... well it did ‘happen’ but behind the clouds.    The weather has improved since then, and I went out across the golf course to West Bay then home via the “Boss’s  Seat” .... where I ‘picked up’, advice and instructions.    When I go out walking, I am using a ‘walking pole’... this takes some of the pressure orf the knee;   and will extend my walking range considerably.     In fact I have two walking poles;   if I can find Maggie’s one!    We bought them for our Austrian walking holiday in 1997. Bunker work on the fourth fairway. 20.00    The village (Earlsferry ... the Royal Burgh of) seems quiet;   apart from tradesmen working on various sites:  all this activity has given me feeling that I should paint the front of Ivy, which is in

27th November 2016 (Sunday) .... 09.30    It’s a ‘drying day’... so I have a washing going through.      When I think of it .... I’m beginning to   understand how Busy sky over the Firth of Forth .... and The Royal Burgh! Maggie thought.    She did all the ‘housewifely’ thinking and planning;   I went out to work, clueless as to the planning it took to stay ‘alive’ etc.   Now I know how important a good ‘drying day’ is! We do have a ‘bright and sunny’ morning, though cool in the Northerly wind ... a good drying in point of fact.    I went down to the beach to watch the sun rise.... but gave up on that after I realised that the cloud bank it was trying to ‘rise’ over, was rising faster than the sun!    It was, as ever, bonnie and peaceful looking:   however, the sky was ‘busy’ with aeroplanes leaving jet trails all over the place, I don’t think I’ve ever noticed our sky so ‘busy’.    I’ve seen the sky over Sussex loaded with jet trails... but you expect that  with so many busy a

26th November 2016 (Saturday) .....  It was bonnie down on the beach at sunrise time, with clouds around to spread the sunrise colours across the sky.... “red Elie Bay half an hour before sunrise. sky in the morning etc.”     It looks like being a nice day, the ‘red sky’ was only there to be admired!    I’ll have a cuppa after this update, then go for a walk.... there’s not much exercise involved with taking photographs of the sun rise.    22.30     The “Red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning” that I mentioned above, was followed by a “Red sky at night, the Shepherd’s delight”;   so we should have a nice day tomorrow.     We have had a nice day ‘today’, in spite of the ‘red’ sunrise, but I did see a few showers rattling across the Lammermuir Hills, on the ‘sooth side’, and we did have more in the way of clouds.... but no rain. As it was a lovely afternoon I  went for a walk .... the beach, Chapel Green and home by the golf course walk, a distance of nearly 3k, and my

25th November 2016 (Friday) .... 09.30     We have another gorgeous , ‘crisp and sunny’ morning, after an overnight frost.    I went down to the beach to see The Breakwater, Elie .... at sunrise. the sunrise, over St Abb’s Head.... the furthest East point on the ‘sooth’ side.    There’s a light Northwest breeze that added a bit of wind chill, so it is ‘cool’;  but it was bonnie ... and well worth getting ‘up’ for.    I wandered along to the Breakwater then back home along the ‘bents’:   a very enjoyable, albeit short, walk.     Jimmy and I are going to Sainsbury’s (Leven) for ‘morning coffee’;   we’ll do some shopping when we’re there.    Sainsbury’s is the best for parking for Jimmy, and there’s a lift up to the Cafe.       18.00    Oh my word ... it is bitter cold tonight;   there’s dampness in the air which is making it feel ‘raw’, when exposed to the, Northwest, wind.    I know this because I went up to the third tee to watch the sunset, which is about as exposed as you c

24th November 2016 (Thursday) .... 09.30    It’s a beautiful, frosty morning, -2c in Ivy garden .... a perfect ‘get out and be active’ morning.   I’ve been out KIncraig cliffs, Earlsferry, from the sixth fairway. and scraped the car windscreen, which I suppose is being ‘active’,...  I’m now trying to warm myself up after the aforementioned ‘windscreen scraping’ before taking the car for a warm up run.    The ‘master Plan’ for today it to walk up the Chapel Green in the morning:  in the afternoon I have the Drop in Cafe.    In between I eat stuff.    Must go ‘slight flap on’ .... going to warm up “Sooper Buggy”. 21.00     I was a wee bit apprehensive about walking this morning, because of my sore knee, but I didn’t have any problems at all.    That said, I don’t ‘power walk’ I meander along looking at this and looking at that;  enjoying where I live.    It was a beautiful day for walking, and, with hindsight, I could have gone further, but was really happy with doing the ‘Chapel

23rd November 2016 (Wednesday)    09.00 ..... Oh my word .... we have a lovely crisp morning;   definitely a morning for getting things done.    The car has Chapel Green, Earlsferry,  from Woodhaven Bay, Elie layer of rime on it, .... I’ll scrape that then go up for the paper. 10.30    It’s gorgeous oot there ... I can’t visualize the ‘big push’ happening today, it’s far too bonnie outside.      The car has been de-iced, and I’ve been up for the papers.   I met Anne (my neighbour) who had been out for a walk, and she has convinced me that it is a day for being “out in the nice crisp air”!    I did have a walk round Woodhaven beach when I was out, and, with my knee feeling less painful, I think a wander up to Chapel Green is feasible.    I’ll have a cuppa .... the first one of the morning:   I’m feeling animated!   21.00     This is one tired ‘bunny’ that’s crawling orf to bed tonight .... I’ve been so busy that I didn’t even have time for ‘50’ at any time throughout the ‘day

22nd November 2016 (Tuesday) .... 09.00     Hmmmmmm .... it is not a morning for going out, being very wet and very windy .... in point of fact ‘very dreich’.    It has been wet and windy (F5 N) throughout the night, and is forecast to The Toft, Elie. remain so for another few hours, when the wind should moderate and the rain turn showery.  There’s not must dust flying around.     Weather like this limits my scope somewhat:   it means that I stay inside Ivy  and ‘work’, .... with little chance of being able to skive off for a daunder.    I think I’ll put the kettle ‘on’.  10.30    Cancel the... ‘not being a morning for being out’ .... it is actually quite pleasant, as long as you’re well wrapped up.    The wind is the most bothersome weather feature, ‘cos it is F4-5 from the North and therefore cold.    The rain is more in the way of ‘squally light showers’ ... annoying, but not catastrophically so.    I went down to the harbour, in the car, and had a walk about;   my hands

21st November 2016 (Monday) .... 10.00    We have a cool, frosty morning, with rime on the car windscreens .... and above the tide line on the beach:   it Our beach this morning. is very picturesque though not ‘iggzactly’ warm on the hands.    I’ve been down to the beach but didn’t go up to Chapel Green;   I’ll do that after lunch,.... when the temperature has risen to 3c... right now it’s still frosty. “Blob” (Bless his feathery butt) has a problem... two problems in fact, both of which want to muscle in on his feeding territory(s)!   I’ll try feed them in different corners of the garden... though I suspect that “Blob” regards the whole of Earlsferry as ‘his’ territory. The ‘Master Plan’ for today?.... I’m going to tidy up the computer desks in the morning, then go out for a walk after lunch. 21.00   The ‘Master Plan’ for tomorrow is the one that I had for ‘today’!   When Jimmy Bonnie sky over Earlsferry. came along for his morning cuppa we decided to go to Leven in t

20th November 2106 (Sunday) .... 08.30    We have a frosty start to on what is forecast to be a ‘sunny and cold’ day;   a nice day for wrapping up and going My first firework photo! for a walk.    Fortunately there is only a light wind, from the Northwest, so the wind chill factor isn’t that bad. Iain is off to work (in Edinburgh), and will go straight up to Auchnagatt after work.   He has had a busy weekend;   the most awkward problem being fixing my laptop.    With my desktop computer having Skype in it now, I hardly need the laptop at Ivy at all  ....  but will need it when I go to Sussex etc. I’ll do a wee bit o’ ‘ooverin and dustin’ then go for a wander up to Chapel Green. ... after the sun bumbles its way up....  from behind a bank of cloud.   For some unknown reason I’m feeling ‘playful’ this morning:   and the housework has suddenly dropped orf the bottom of the list of ‘things to do’!  21.00    It has been a cold day:   the car windscreen was frozen all day ....  

19th November 2016 (Saturday) .... We had a touch of frost earlier;   however the temperature rose rapidly and I didn’t have to scrape the car windscreen.   Iain didn’t have to scrape his windscreen either .... it has some kind of heater thing Elie Bay that got rid of the frost very quickly.     The ‘joy’ of windscreen scraping has been overtaken by modern technology! I missed seeing the sunrise (07.58), by five minutes, but it was bonnie down there nonetheless.    It’s not ,that cold ... there’s only a light breeze from the Northwest .... but I could see snow on the Pentland Hills (behind Edinburgh)... and all the way along the Lammermuir Hills on the south side of the Firth.  Iain has fixed the laptop;  it seems the problem was with a dud driver that it kept trying to update.    The ‘moose’ disnae ‘freeze’ anymore ....  that was the maist annoying thing about it;   you clicked then had to wait until it (the ‘moose’) ‘de-frosted’.    That could take a few minutes sometimes.

18th November 2016 (Friday) ... 09.30   We have a bonnie morning, ... a morning that has me feeling full of friskiness;   its ‘bright and sunny’ with a touch of Elie beach this morning. frost .... the frost should lift when the sun gets going.    I’ve been down on the beach to take the benefit of some Elie and Earlsferry sea air .... which explains why I feel frisky;   and, no ‘wind chill’ this morning .... there’s only a light breeze from the Northwest.    This is a ‘get out and play’ morning.... but first I must hang out a washing!     Must go .... lots of stuff to do now.   Enjoy your day! 22.30    Oh my word .... this has been an enjoyable day;   though it has been cold.    Snow could be seen on the Ochils, (beyond Kinross) and there is a dusting of snow on the North face of the West Lomond.    That said it was a lovely day for being out.   I met Joyce when I was on the beach; Joyce was doing a decent length of walk;  I was only going up to Chapel Green.    I have the feeli

17th November 2016 (Thursday) .... 08.45    Oh dear .... it’s wet, windy, and cold this morning, ... proper November weather really.    Towards the East, blue holes appear in the general greyness now and again, so we might end up with brighter, and drier, weather by lunch time:   my only venture outside has been as far as the back Elie Harbour beach this morning. door to feed “Blob”!   There’s an ironing to do... this is the perfect day for that kind of ‘job’.    Before that I’ll have a cuppa, then go for a run round the villages in the car. 21.30    Although the rain went away, to annoy someone else, we never had much in the way of ‘sunny spells’.... but it did turn colder.    The Lomond Hills have a light covering of snow;  they are, more or less in the middle of Fife, and are the first to wear the ‘winter look’.    Maggie and I used to climb them regularly .... in the summer months. When Jimmy arrived thus morning we decided to go to Leven;   Jimmy wanted some messages;