4th
August 2019 (Sunday)
07.00
.... there’s a heavy bank of cloud
 |
| I see a touch of autumn colour in the grass. |
coming in from the North Sea that looks heavy enough to give us a bit of
dampness. I’m thinking (hoping) the
sun will burn it back, but at the moment we have a grey, warm, morning. I’ll get the bike out in a wee while , once
I see how the weather is going, and after another cuppa; heavy thundery showers are forecast for later
in the afternoon, but they are ‘hit or
miss’ so let’s hope they miss us.
10.00 Well ... I did the ‘Grand Tour’, got back
home, put the bike into the Hutte, then organised breakfast. By the time I went out 10 minutes later to
charge the bike battery, it was raining.
Not very heavy but definitely wet.
I doubt if the rain is ‘on’ for
the day... just passing showers/rainy spells.
When
I was at Chapel Green I met two lassies out jogging: then met them again, about 20 minutes later,
jogging along The Terrace... they weren’t hanging around. Not like me;
I’ve got ‘hanging around’ down to a Fine Art: that said it looks like I won’t be hang about
any more today. It’s a good day for
pottering around Ivy.
 |
| The rhododendron removal continues. |
15.30 And potter around Ivy I have! There’s a wee ants nest; no there’s a nest of wee ants under the slabs
outside the Hutte door, and they are the busiest, most aimless ants I have ever
seen. When Steve and I studied ants
nests in Cyprus, the ants were always doing something purposeful.... you know
taking food back to the nest etc. They
were also bigger... some ants were fully half an inch long. The ants I have are 3 millimetres long at
the most; but they can move fast, albeit
aimlessly. Occasionally two of them
will bump into each other, stop for about a second then scuttle off. It’s like they are looking for something. Then I saw a Queen ant, with a new set of
wings, and she too is wandering around without purpose; presumably she has come
from the nest... leaving my wee ants Leaderless; but refusing to use her wings. I know that ants have nuptial flights at
this time of year, usually on a humid day as it is today. But even I know that you can’t have
nuptials on your own!.... and I lead
sheltered life in the
 |
| After the rain. |
Ferry.
You need both boy and girl ants, with wings, from different nests, to do
the mating thing. It has been an interesting afternoon. I need a cuppa.
Oh
.... the clouds are beginning to build, and there is a storm (with lightning
strikes) to the Southwest of Edinburgh... round about Balerno.... as I type. There’s also a storm to the West of
Dunfermline, and one coming over the Firth making for Kirkcaldy. I definitely need that cuppa!
19.00 The storm I thought was heading for Kirkcaldy...
didn’t;
it came out way instead. We had
a few local lightning strikes... and loads of rain. The rain cleaned the streets, and flooded the
usual bits, when the drains couldn’t cope.
There’s another storm coming over the Firth and can hear the thunder
rolling in the distance. We aren’t
being bothered by dust.
 |
| Finished bedroom. |
I
had thought of going to the beach but saw how dark the sky was to the south so
I photographed the bedroom instead. It,
the bedroom, doesn’t look that different... only tidier: the paintwork has had a wipe down, and there’s
been much ‘ooverin and dustin’.... so I guess it must be cleaner. It took long enough; at least it seemed to, but I only worked intermittently. I’m happy.
20.00 Michael phoned to say that they are
travelling up tomorrow night, and will arrive on Tuesday morning. That gives me another day to polish the furniture. Then, because I have already polished the furniture, it could be a ‘play day’. The
forecast is for ‘sunny spells with the chance of showers now and again.... only
common light ones.
