FOG AU NATURAL

For 3 days we have have clouds sitting in the lower parts of the landscape. However, if one happens to drive out from one's house (in the suburbs of Glasgow) low and behold, there is sunshine and all the cloud is sitting in the valley below.

This is what caught my eye when driving back from Helensburgh to Milngavie. These trees (in a circle on a hill outside Bearsden, called Castlehill - very, very old site) were hidden in the fog which enveloped the rest of the suburb.

I pulled off the road on a farm track and grabbed my camera. This is the outskirts of Glasgow, showing the pylons which bring our electricity to the city. Yes, it is countryside, complete with horses and cows.

And here is the farmer's hay all stacked and ready for the winter.

I then rushed up to Mugdock to where there is an escarpment giving a fine view of the city below.

It really was socked in and did not lift... at all.

Above the Milngavie Resevoir looking east. The temperature was 2 degrees above zero and stayed that way for 2 days.

Fog is more an east coast thing; we seldom get this. (In the past - before the days of the city being smoke-free - it was a real problem both for health and buses trying to navigate. Iain recalls having to get out and walk ahead with a newspaper wide open so the driver could 'see'!)

WATER ENGINEERING

All eyes have been on Copenhagen this week. Quite right. To that end here is a video that I found absolutely fascinating. The title is The Ancient Ingenuity of Water Harvesting.

"With wisdom and wit, Anupam Mishra talks about the amazing feats of engineering built centuries ago by the people of India's Golden Desert to harvest water. These structures are still used today -- and are often superior to modern water megaprojects.

To promote smart water management, Anupam Mishra works to preserve rural India’s traditional rainwater harvesting techniques."

The video is 17 minutes long and is here on the internet.
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LAKE CHAMPAGNE

Hear ye! Hear ye! Did you know that there is a 'Champagne Lake', i.e. a glut, in the world just now. The supermarkets and off-licence shops are offering bottles for sale at a very much reduced rate just now. (M-m-m-m, come to think of it, maybe this is what they do every year in the pre-Christmas push for sales.....!)

Be that as it may, Maggie and I feel we must do our bit to help the economy. No we haven't quite sunk into the North Sea yet but there certainly are signs of slippage. Either way, the stuff has to be drunk.

Actually I have another reason to buy this and that is to do with the fact that Alastair and Dawn (with the help of Mairi beavering in the back-room, so to speak) have planned a 'Re-Wedding' here next August. The hall - Glasgow Piping Centre - has been booked. I took the opportunity to lay down a few bottles to help our Florida visitors celebrate (of course!) but I also felt they might need a little help to adjust to our climate. We get thirsty here but it ain't due to hot weather!

Now the really important part of this exercise, of course, is for Maggie and I to find a couple of flute glasses ... m-m-m maybe we should experiment with another shape? ... and test the stuff. Ah-h-h ... August is a long way, away!

ALL ABOUT ENERGY

In our house there is energy and then there is Energy.

Iain is getting on well as he works out in the front garden every day building a wall. He is using the setts to make an edge for the hard-standing on which his car is going to be parked. That is energy of which he seems to have a lot of these days.

Then there is the issue of ENERGY. Now this is a photo (yes, fairly unremarkable) of our back garden. In passing you can note that one of the 2 cotoneaster tree/bush is trimmed and the second is about to get the same treatment). However what I want you to note carefully is the fence at the back, in line with the turquioise drying pole. This marks the edge of a kiddie's park which is adjacent to our garden. Just out of site is a park bench.

Iain was telephoned by BBC (news magazine programme) who asked if they could interview him about his views on Scotland and the energy crisis. He has been working on this topic for some time. This all developed because there was an article published in our Glasgow newspaper outlining his thoughts which you can read here .

The lady, Julie Peacock, who arrived to interview him and her cameraman took one look at the state of our interior (!!! stripped walls etc!!!) and suggested that they hold the interview in the park at the back. And this is the photo of the cameraman shooting them as they spent over half and hour (!!!!) sitting on the park bench airing the problems and possible solutions to the energy situation in Scotland.

Iain came back into the house absolutely white with cold! Whew! A high price to pay!

The good news is that the programme went out a couple of nights later (last week). On the night of the broadcast he went into the studio to take part in a live panel discussion. I felt it was a rather well put together documentary on the topic of energy problems and possible solutions in Scotland. He came over well but wished he had had more time to develop the topic.

A week later:

This is the finished wall!