Scottish-Irish Skier

A farming question if I may... A few weeks back, some lorries turned up and dumped huge piles of what looked like manure on nearby fields ready for spreading. I was awaiting a stink but none occurred. A look at it from the road and it's not manure as I know it. It looks the same colour, as does the water running from it, but it's fine grained with no evidence of straw. No steam coming off it, so no anaerobic bacterial activity. Not chicken poo as OMG I know what that smells like from the fields at my old place. This stuff just really doesn't smell at all; not producing gases. I wondered if it was some type of fully composted material, which it seems to be. But where from? Maybe manure that had been completely 'matured' into this or maybe from what the council do with all the food waste collected in these parts? Anyhoo, the farmer can spread this over regular manure and/or chicken poo any day!

Posted wioot comment.

Took the 'Western road' oot ae Insch the day tae join the A96 before Huntly. Wis a sheet ae ice. Could feel the car stairtin tae twitch oan the bends at any sort ae speed and that's wi 'all seasons' snawflaked tyres oan. Nae been gritted ah guess. Rain + frost = black ice. EDIT. Wisnae a soul oan it. As we reached the A96, saw a car which had come oantae the road seem tae turn aroond and heid back. Cannae help but wonder whit it wouldae been like wioot ma all season tyres!

We re-homed a rescue kitten for this purpose. With respect to the weather, is East the new West in terms of wind direction? EDIT. He seems to enjoy sneaking up on the dogs as much as mice etc.

Crackin day the day. Photaes fae the dug walk. Looking south towards Fort SS and Premnay with Bennachie in the distance. Then west towards Tap o' Noth near Rhynie.

Snawin aw the way doon tae the base station! EDIT. Couldnae help but notice all my new neighbours here have two cars. One normal 2WD and another high ground clearance 4x4. This ties in with the folk next door saying it's 'like Narnia in the winter'. Anyhoo, just replaced one older motor with a 4x4 to fit in with the locals! We have very exposed, quite sunken at points lanes approaching our hamlet on a hill crest. The fences either side might as well be snaw fences. Westerly or easterly fills them with drifts. Live Webcams - Cairngorm Mountain WWW.CAIRNGORMMOUNTAIN.CO.UK Our live webcam images update every 60 seconds, refresh your browser to ensure you are viewing the latest image.

It is an easterly flow. Just imagine aw this pish wis SNAW!

Relentless rain here but at least the wind has dropped. Ventured oot fir a raither driech walk. Dug mighty suspicious of the new water feature that had popped up at the side of the road. And no, the mound is normal and not squidgy. water feature.mp4

That clay (glacial boulder clay?) soil sounds like the culprit! That would certainly explain the lawn detachment!

Is there some sort of membrane underneath the lawn? Maybe put down by builders / previous owners to stop previous plants coming back up? The way it bursts suggests maybe. If that's down in Oyne, springs appearing like that as the water table rises in natural valleys would be entirely expected, but grass should be rooted and the layer permeable normally.

Blawin a hoolie and Lashin doon. Wind really picked up in the last 15 mins! Glad of that shelter from the trees aroond the hoose to my east next door. They're giving me all their leaves tae collect aifterwards though.

My daughter tells me some of her friends in Inverurie are reporting power out. Went oot in a t-shirt and shorts tae put some rubbish in the wheelie bin. That was not a pleasant experience!

Give the wind is coming from the ESE/E in this storm, you should be quite sheltered by the hills. Bennachie will be affording me some shelter, as will the trees of my next door neighbour!

So like me, everyone was out at 9.00 am walking their dogs this morning. Wind really picking up. Rain now starting properly.

North of the red warning area and oan the top of a wee hill. Good for the rain I suppose, but we just had the massive hedge oan the new hoose taken down by half as we had no view. Feeling a bit exposed now! But then it used to be that low from an examination, and the hoose has survived many a storm. Solid Aberdeenshire granite should keep it in one place! I'm stocked up and going nowhere until it blows over.

I suspect Mini Miss SS's tennis will be called off! Best stay at hame the morn. Dreich oot. Glad the new hoose is oan the summit of a wee rise.

This had to happen after our posts... Fresh August Snowfall in the Alps - The Whiteroom WWW.SNOW-FORECAST.COM There has been up to 30cm (a foot) of snow reported across high slopes in the Alps over the past few days. Glacier 3000 near Gstaad in Switzerland posted the largest...

Erm, huh? Surely this photae is a mistake? https://web.archive.org/web/20230807191820/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-66380834 Your pictures of Scotland: 28 July to 4 August Otherwise I need tae wax up the skis! --- EDIT - Absolutely pishin it doon oan 'n' aff. Fe*k's sake. Mrs SS is in Cannes wi Mini Miss SS tae make up fir ma wee sneaky ski trip tae Italy in March. Pure rubbin it in she is. It's cooler there now, which bodes well fir some heat coming oor way.

Finally the weather's been better. Telt the wife that Aberdeenshire was pretty dry / sunny in the summer, and was nae worse than the eastern borders for snaw (white lie). 2 days aifter we arrived it started raining and has done just about every day since. Then the neighbours tell her it's like Narnia here in the winter, with the road often impassable. Climbed up to Dunnydeer hillfort yesterday. You can see why the Picts put a fort there - you can see for miles in every direction. And what a view it is. Wis kindae breezy as you can hear, but that was nice as it cooled you off on quite a humid day for a fairly steep clamber. At aboot 7 secs you can see Tap o' Noth hill above Rhynie, which is an impressive fort site tae. 20230728_153432.mp4

Crackin rainbow this morning. Some angry clouds over Bennachie too, but so far the thunderstorm have skirted us.

@Mair Snaw @Snowandrocks Thanks for the welcome. I pass through Oyne on the way to the office, Inverurie etc. Mrs SIS and I love all the old granite houses lining the road there - so pretty. The past owner put harling over the old undressed granite façade at the front of our new abode. Was the fashion in the early 90's. It's coming off as soon as possible! Pre-snaw pint sounds good. Finally got internet, telly up and running this morning. Off for a stroll while it's not raining now.

Hello kilters, now my appearance doesn't herald a possibility of snaw as it normally does. Just popped in tae say I shall, henceforth, be reporting from Premnay, near Insch, Aberdeenshire, which is now my new home. New job is mainly work fae hame, but office is in Westhill on outskirts of Aberdeen. Didn't know the inland area well even though work took me to Aberdeen a lot over the years, but we all fell in love with it when we came hoose huntin. It's like a mixture of the borders and the highlands. Rich farmlands, green forested hills and valleys, with granite capped heather clad peaks towering over you. Really stunning. My hame office now has a view of Bennachie, and what a view it is. I have heard rumours it has decent snaw tae, and to top if aff, I'm an hour or so from both the Lecht and Glenshee. Shout out to fellow kilters in the area. I note that as central Highlander by birth, I can understand Doric. Mostly. And what a glorious welcome from the weather. Aw the best to all and look forward tae the winter in due course! Cheers, SIS Pic is Bennachie fae just outside the gairden. Cannae wait fir ma first ascent!

Not sure if this has been posted. Turning colder with snow on the way WWW.METOFFICE.GOV.UK The UK will get colder later this weekend with a northerly airmass dropping temperatures and introducing snow to the forecast next week.

Since I'm gonnae be away that week, I might as well twist.