This morning I bethought to myself, listening to Kayo Dot during the drive to work, "I need to come up with themes for the blog before I sit down to write it." Which is a fair enough decision, given that scribing such inspirational and well-rounded thoughts and nicking other people's photos can take up to an hour.
So! Here we have a pre-plotted BOOJUM! and the first topic is -
Weather
This is a traditional British ice-breaker, obsession and (mentioned in early blogs) surely a reason why our ancestors went abroad to conquer hotter countries with more predictable weather. Yesterday we had an icy-cold, frosty start to the morning; today we have chilly wet weather and tomorrow might bring a heatwave. Yes, really. If we aren't having floods then we're suffering droughts, and hurricanes and tornadoes have recently appeared as occasional British weather.
There are sound scientific reasons for this variation - our position as an island off the Continent, bordering the Atlantic Ocean, the jet stream, the Gulf Stream, the North Atlantic Oscillation.
One thing about rain and darkness; it does create poetic light effects with illumination from traffic and streetlights and other signs. Best observed, however, from inside a car.
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| I bet he's thinking "Oooh, look at the subtle and convoluted interplay of water ripples and car lights." |
Nowhere near as bad tonight as last night, despite being wetter. This may be due to Conrad filling up his petrol tank last night; typically the meter was in the red whilst I sat, gnawing my thumbs, waiting to get to the nearest petrol station before the engine died. Tonight, with a full tank, no jam.
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| Traffic. Jamming. Oh, come on, you knew I'd pull that one! |
No, not A Flock Of, although they were in a flock. This flock was in Harpurhey, about as far from the sea as you can get (metaphorically anyway). My mind - yes I was driving but Conrad can manage two simultaneous things well - pondered on this. Do these urban scruffs no longer visit the seaside? Do they hand around like hoodie gangs with feathers on urban street corners? Why do they still have "sea" in their title? Wouldn't they be better called "scavgulls"? Or "ganterpies"? And do they taste good in a pie?
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| Seagulls. Never really trusted them since seeing "The Birds" |
Pumpkinless
Given the wince-inducing puns Conrad posted for Halloween, some readers might think "Good!". But, counters this blog's creator, lack of pumpkin means lack of Halloween Pumpkin Cake, which I tried today, in addition to Sophie and Manisha. It really is delicious. The rum-soaked raisins really helped, too.
I wonder. How much would airmailed pumpkin come to? Mind you, it wouldn't fit through the letter box.
I suppose Conrad will be looking for online pumpkin suppliers soon. I wonder also, can you grow them from seed?
(Imagine an imaginary pumpkin in this space)
At my bequest, Sophie's request
Only two people across the floor (all 150 of them) have realised that they can ask me to make a cake for Friday - and lo! it will be done.
Today Sophie asked for cherry scones - and with scones, you have to make sure they rise enough and aren't simply biscuits with aspiration. So I shall be looking for a good recipe. Oh, and cherries. What happens in December is a shortage of dried fruit as the amateurs who don't know baking powder from uranium hexafluoride buy it all up to make mince pies or Christmas Cake.
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| Baking Powder, Uranium Hexaflouride, so easy to mistake one for the other |
Okay, that's the blog done in 40 minutes, a saving of 20 minutes at least. Time I can now spend on that zombie novel ...
Top hole!
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