Puffy MacCloud

Sorry to read about your misfortune @Snowandrocks, and hope you can get the mess tidied up. I myself suffered a similar tragedy when both my new bird feeding stations blew over, thus spreading nuts and seeds over the length and breadth of the patio, which now looks like a giant muesli. The loss of the feeders was particularly disappointing as it happened in the middle of the RSPB’s Gardenwatch weekend and I had been looking forward to taking part. This was further kyboshed by the rule that only birds that have landed can be counted, whereas all the birds being blown across my airspace couldn’t land as they wheeched by, often backwards and finch-over-tit, until they disappeared over the garden fence towards next-door neighbour’s cat, which had taken station atop their gazebo where it sat with its mouth expectantly open and licking its lips. During all this El Diablo claimed that the maximum wind speed in my garden had been 25mph southerly at 09:06, whilst the BBC and MetO said that wind speeds had been in the high 50s mph. Curiously the high temperature of the day was 10.3⁰C at 05:45 then dropping like a stone to 2.5⁰C over 4 hours. Low temperature is now at 1.2⁰C. Humidity is now 89%, pressure is 1031.2hPa rising slowly, there’s been 2.8mm of rainfall today and in the last 24 hours and the dew point is at -1⁰C.

A year ago today my father died of Covid so I took my mother out for lunch, just to keep her occupied. One of my brothers and his wife joined us and, having not been able to attend the funeral because of shielding, I asked what had happened to the ashes. “I’ve got him,” says the bold boy, “in the bottom of my wardrobe.” “How long are you planning to keep him there?” “Until I get my new shoes, then he’ll have to go.” “Oh right.” None the wiser. Lunch was okay, the drive there and back less so. Dull drizzly breezy stuff and it appears it’s a bit premature yet for me to be getting in and out of the car and walking across a car park, although I think it was having to give my mother a boost with my shoulder under her bahoochie to get her into the Land Rover that did me in. Which is unfortunate because I’ll be repeating the operation on Sunday at bold boy’s birthday lunch in Eaglesham. Assuming I’ve caught my breath by then. Either way I’ll take the comfy car.

I thought I’d jinxed the sunshine after I mentioned it earlier when the breeze swung round to northwesterly, the cloud swept in and a sharp rain shower ensued. However, ten minutes later, the cloud and rain blew away, the sun came out again and a nice day was regained. High temperature for today was 8.9⁰C at 13:31 falling to a low of 4.2⁰C at 20:15 and now 5.0⁰C, humidity is 89%, no wind now but a maximum gust of 14mph at 02:17, pressure I 1031.6hPa rising slowly, there’s been 0.6mm of rain in the last 24 hours, cloud cover is currently 2/8 and the dew point is at 3⁰C.

Good Lord, there be sunshine! And shadows.

Today was another in the run of dull days from dawn to dusk but with the added elements of wind and rain, just to confirm its place as a dull Winter day. Now, I’m not complaining, but I could do with a chuffing change. High temperature today was 9.2⁰C at 22:10 (?) up from the low of 6.2⁰C at 11:15 and now 8.6⁰C, humidity was between 87% and 95% now 94%, wind 2 to 6mph westerly with a maximum gust of 22mph at 17:06, pressure dropped from 1030.0hPa at 00:13 to 1016.6hPa at 21:05 and now 1017.6hPa steady, 3.0mm of rain fell today and 3.4mm in the last 24 hours, cloud cover was 8/8 all day and the dew point is at 8⁰C.

Oh man, what? I went there for a week a couple or so years ago, to do the Orkney Isles, stayed for ten days and never got beyond the ‘mainland’. It’s the most interesting place I’ve ever been to, and absolutely steeped in history. Definite candidates to visit are Skara Brae, Ring of Brodgar, Ness of Brodgar, Maeshowe, the Broch of Gurness, Tomb of the Eagles, St. Magnus Cathedral, the Italian Chapel, The Orkney Brewery, Kirkwall town and Stromness town. After that it’s just museums, pubs, cliff walks and puffin spotting. I think you’ll love it.

And yet another Fifty Shades of Grey day today, except that the good folk of Ayrshire can’t take the excitement of all those possibilities so they settle for Five Shades of Grey. Or for ‘grey’ read ‘dull’, where 1 is hardly dull at all and 5 is as dull as an utterly dull thing. Today was a 2. Slightly dull. High temperature for the day is 6.6⁰C now, up from the low of 4.6⁰C at 07:54, humidity is 88%, wind 2 to 6mph southwesterly with a maximum gust of 9mph at 13:18, pressure is 1029.8hPa steady, there’s been no rainfall today nor in the last 24 hours, cloud cover has remained a resolute 8/8 all day and the dew point is at 5⁰C.

It might be "light splattery Scottish nonsense" to you but that's a blizzard to the Daily Expish.

It was a nicer day today, mainly due to it being a brighter sort of dull. High temperature was 8.8⁰C up from the low of 5.8⁰C at 06:09 and now back down to 6.2⁰C, humidity went from 80% at 14:45 to 89% at 18:27 and now 88%, wind was 1 to 3mph south to southwesterly with a maximum gust of 10mph at 11:22, pressure rose from 1027.5hPa at 04:23 to 1032.4hPa now, there was no rainfall today nor in the last 24 hours, cloud cover was 7/8 to 8/8 and the dew point is at 4⁰C.

As I child I always thought Sundays were dull. Today is dull to the core. And a dull sort of dull at that. High temperature so far was 7.2⁰C at midnight falling to a low of 5.8⁰C at 10:11 and now 6.1⁰C, humidity is 83%, wind is 3 to 8mph southwesterly with a maximum gust of 11mph at 06:20, pressure is 1029.6hPa falling slowly, there’s been 0.4mm of rain today and 0.6mm in the last 24 hours, cloud cover is a thick 8/8 and the dew point is at 3⁰C.

There were twelve of us around the big table for the whisky tasting dinner at the Laird’s pile, plus a chef and two waitresses, and a very knowledgeable gentleman from Glenlivet who introduced us to various malts and a number of whisky-based cocktails. Food portions were small and whisky portions were large, just as I like it. The only black mark was when some sneaky blaggard spirited away (see what I did there?) the expert’s bottle of Glenlivet 15 Year Old Reserve, the nicest malt there, and hid it below the table for his own exclusive consumption. But I think I got away with it. A five-hour, six course dinner under any other circumstances might have been considered excessive. Back to general dullness today with a high temperature of 7.9⁰C at 13:18 up from a low of 6.3⁰C at 00:22 and now 7.3⁰C, humidity is 93%, wind 0 to 6mph southwesterly with a maximum gust of 11mph at 10:17, pressure is 1033.5hPa steady, there’s been 0.2mm of rain today and 0.6mm in the last 24 hours, cloud cover is 8/8 and the dew point is at 6⁰C.

Yesterday morning’s beautiful blue sky lasted until lunchtime and then it started to cloud over. The cloud didn’t come from anywhere, it just sort of appeared slowly out of nowhere and filled in gradually until by mid afternoon it was completely overcast. Still bright enough, but overcast. Today has seen a continuation of this process with the cloud cover thickening to the point that it’s been dull all day. Quite a contrast to yesterday morning. Temperature is now the high for the day at 7.4⁰C up from a low of 2.6⁰C at 00:11, humidity is 91%, wind is 1 to 6mph westerly with a maximum gust of 11mph at 11:28, pressure is 1037.0hPa steady, no rainfall has been recorded today and 0.2mm recorded in the last 24 hours, cloud cover is 8/8 and the dew point is at 6⁰C. I’m having dinner with the Laird tonight. He’s arranged a whisky tasting. This will get messy. I’m taking both of my portable oxygen bottles, just in case…

Welcome home @Hairy Celt, nice to see you've found your way back. You'll not have watched darts or snooker then? Frosty frost here this morning; -3.4⁰C at 08:00 and -2.6⁰C now, cloudless sky, sun’s oot, not a breath of wind. What’s not to like?

You only get a hangover when / if you sober up. Evidently this is an experience that @Mair Snaw has yet to meet.

Following what seems like a total lack of weather for day upon day recently, today we had every kind going. Well, except snow. And floods. Okay, there wasn’t a tornado either, but apart from that, everything. The day started bright and breezy, then dark clouds scudded southwards on an increasing wind, then it brightened up again, the sun came out, the breeze dropped, then it got dull, rained, got breezy again and then brightened up again. It was still light-ish until half and hour ago and now it’s proper dark. What an interesting day. And I got outside under my own steam for the first time in six weeks. A great day indeed. High temperature was 8.4⁰C at 03:09, falling to a low of 4.3⁰C at 09:13 and 4.5⁰C now, humidity dropped from 92% at 01:15 to 76% at 13:12 and 79% now, wind is currently 0 to 2mph coming back to northwesterly from northerly with a maximum gust of 20mph at 03:35, pressure has risen from 1015.9hPa at 03:48 to 1027.2hPa now, there’s been 3.0mm of rainfall today and 3.6mm in the last 24 hours, cloud cover has varied between 3/8 and 6/8 throughout the day and the dew point is at 1⁰C.

I appear to have woken up on a different planet; one with blue sky in every direction and a sun that casts golden illuminations upon the land. I rather like it. High temperature so far today was 6.4⁰C at 05:23 sinking to a low of 1.8⁰C by 09:42 and now back up to 5.3⁰C, humidity is 85%, wind is 0 to 4mph northwesterly with a maximum gust of 7mph at 04:49, pressure is 1025.1hPa rising swiftly, there’s been 0.2mm of rain today and 2.0mm in the last 24 hours, the sky is completely clear of clouds and the dew point is a 3⁰C.

I'm assuming that your mothers also told you that if you have nothing nice to say, then say nothing. Well, I'm saying nothing. No, hang on, there was a patch of blue sky on Monday. Briefly.

Yes, we had that here also, and I’m assuming because of the timing that it was the residual effect of a stunning sunset totally masked off by low overcast cloud, which had been the order of the day from dawn to dusk. Low temperature of the day was 6.8⁰C at midnight from where the temperature rose to 8.4⁰C at 10:46 and has dropped again to 7.7⁰C now, humidity rose from 87% at 02:16 to 92% at 17:34, wind was 2 to 8mph southwesterly with a maximum gust of 16mph at 04:25, pressure rose from 1031.9hPa at midnight to 11037.0hPa at 11:22 and hasn’t changed since, there was no rainfall today and cloud cover was 8/8 throughout.

High temperature today was 7.4⁰C at 14:39 up from a low of 1.3⁰C at 04:49 and now 6.8⁰C, humidity dropped from 95% at 00:33 to 84% at 14:36 and now 90%, wind 2 to 7mph southwesterly with a maximum gust of 12mph at 12:45, pressure has risen from 1018.0hPa at midnight to 1032.1hPa now and still rising slowly, there’s been 0.2mm of rain today and in the last 24 hours, and cloud cover varied from 5/8 to 7/8 with occasional sunshine.

There was pretty consistent rainfall up to lunchtime and then a brief chink of blue sky was spotted. That was as good as it got. The afternoon was dull and mostly overcast. Temperature high was 5.9⁰C at 14:24 up from a low of 1.1⁰C at 00:43 and now 1.6⁰C, humidity was between 90% and 95%, the wind was mainly westerly to southwesterly but swinging around to southeasterly with a maximum gust of 17mph at 10:28, pressure is currently 1004.6hPa rocketing upwards, there’s been 5.8mm of rainfall today with 8/8 cloud cover generally and the dew point is now at 1⁰C.

Sorry to hear that. Hope the painkillers worked. I still have a covering of snow in the back garden although the street out front is now completely clear. This morning is dull, raining, breezy and cold. This'll be January then.

Yesterday morning turned into a wee belter! Snowed from just after midnight, with thundersnow no less, until just before noon and then the clouds cleared and the sun came out, the temperature stayed low and a general air of brilliant white winter crispness became all-pervasive until sunset. A real tonic. Today, not so much as a gentle thaw sets in. The temperature rose from a low of 0.9⁰C at midnight to 7.2⁰C at 07:35 and has now dropped to 3.9⁰C, humidity is 88%, wind is 1 to 3mph westerly with a maximum gust of 15mph at 07:24, there’s been 0.2mm of rainfall today, cloud cover is reducing from 8/8 to 6/8 now, and the dew point is at 2⁰C.

Still snowing, although Diablo, he in denial. He say, “No snow todayyyy!” But there is. Temperature currently 0.4⁰C up from a low of 0.2⁰C at 07:17, humidity is 93%, wind is showing as zero but that’s because the anemometer is under three inches of snow, pressure is 999.4hPa rising slowly, and it’s snowing to the tune of around 7cm beneath 8/8 cloud cover.

Fell asleep in front of telly at some point, got woken up by a boom, looked towards window and there was a flash of lightning. Looked out and it’s snowing. I got thunder snow! Temperature dropped from 3.4⁰C at 00:06 to 0.6⁰C now, humidity is 90%, wind is currently 0 to 2mph southwesterly but with a gust of 17mph at 00:05, pressure is 996.9hPa steady and it’s snowing heavily. Dew point is at -1⁰C.

It's a struggle to walk the length of myself this morning and I’ve only made it from my bedroom through to the sitting room so far today, where the view from the window onto the street in front of the house is as different from yesterday as it’s possible to be. Where yesterday the entire village was out promenading in the bright winter sunshine, many giving me a wave on their way bye, some stopping to chat awhile, today we appear to be in the middle of a warm wedgie thingy and it’s pishin’ doon fit tae burst. Only the doggers are out this morning, on their dogging trail up to the woods. There are a lot of doggers in the village. They even have their own bit at the village fair in the summer, where they put on a display of their dogging skills. It’s very popular. I like it because it empties the beer tent so that I can get a couple of pints in and have a seat while watching them in comfort from afar. But that’s another story. Meanwhile it’s dull, windy and raining. Older daughter has made me a cuppa and is now out doing a shopping for me. Tomorrow she heads back to Spain; Barcelona to be precise, there its sunny and warm. Each to their own I suppose. Doggers for instance. Out in the rain, getting covered in mud, then spending hours sponging down the furry bits and washing the muck off one’s trousers. Don’t see the attraction.