Tempting The Fates

A few weeks ago CJ did a post on tempting the God of Data Transfer.  In fact when I tried to find the post I discovered that it was written in January.  January!  Where did the last seven - yes seven - months go.  I really did think it was just a few weeks ago.  Anyway the point about the post was that it is not wise to tempt the Gods.

Unfortunately I accidentally did something even worse a few days ago.

When Mum and Dad eventually gave up independent living and went to live with CJ and Jo they no longer needed their toaster.  That was about 15 years ago.  They had had the toaster for quite a while before that.  So the toaster was probably manufactured around 20 years ago.  A few days ago - it really was just within the last few days - I remarked on the longevity of the said toaster.  Big mistake.  Huge.  

For those who don't know The Fates are old and predate the gods. It is not entirely clear how far their power extends. It is possible that they determine the fate of the gods as well. In any case, not even the most powerful is willing to trifle with them.  So what was I thinking of when I, albeit inadvertently, tempted them?

So today The Toaster was consigned to the place where old toasters go and the new pretender arrived.  Tomorrow it is he who will provide our breakfast*.

What's the betting that I won't still have this one in 20 years time?

*  This was actually written yesterday and posted after midnight.

Goldfish Progress Report

Someone said that as soon as I put goldfish in the pond I'd become really interested in them and keep reporting progress.  Me?  They had to be joking.  Whether they were or not I have to admit that they hit the nail on the head.  I can't admit to being besotted with them or even knowing their names individually.  One is larger than the other four though.  I know that much.  I also know that they are growing.  They are not quite as reclusive as they used to be either.  So here is the current state of affairs pictorially.   They are not the easiest of things to photograph because if I stand over the pond to avoid reflections they very wisely dive for cover.  So these photos were taken through the kitchen window.  Perhaps one day they will be trained to pose for photos.

Another Grand Day

By the time lunchtime came CJ and I wondered what on earth had happened to the morning.  We'd both been up early (in fact CJ seemed to have been up most of the night) and hadn't been lazy but at the same time I certainly didn't feel that I'd actually achieved anything.  Nothing new there then.  In the afternoon Gaz popped in having cycled out from town on his 'fixey' and we spent a very pleasant  afternoon.  Pat and Dave came for dinner and then we watched the Olympic closing ceremony.

I can well understand it of you have already asked yourself why you are reading such mundanities.   It suddenly occurred to me when I woke up this morning that it was, to some extent, the mundaneness of yesterday which had made it special.   There had been no pressure to 'do' anything in particular.

So I had time to watch the birds as they had a bath in the waterfall into the pond.  I did wonder what the sparrow in the second photo was trying to do.

 Then as evening fell and we finished dinner the sky turned into a blaze of colour

and we settled down to watch the closing ceremony.  Perhaps it wasn't the sort of thing that many were expecting.  I had had absolutely no idea what to expect.  It was a young show for the young because when you think about it the Olympics may be viewed by all ages but they are truly the province of the young.

I thoroughly enjoyed it but, more than that, I found it a very emotional experience.  I'm not nationalistic but every other country seems to be proud of who it is so why shouldn't the Brits?  After all contrary to many expectations the Games went exceptionally well and Britain didn't do too badly coming third in terms of gold medals with only 9 less than China.

My Goddaughter, Louise, and her partner had been in London for some of the events in the middle weekend and I knew that they would be watching the ceremony.  They go off to one of the F1 GPs each year and it always gives me a warm feeling when I get a picture text from Louise in, say, Singapore watching the same race in person that I am watching simultaneously on the TV.   So last night as I watched we texted each other and shared the emotion.

As the lights extinguished and The 2012 Olympics came to an end I pondered on the spirit of the games and decided that I had two photos from the last part of the ceremony which were symbolic of my thoughts.  Firstly was Darcey Bussell when she was being lifted.  To me it symbolised the athleticism, the determination and the support on which each participant relies:

The second was these, to me, unknown young ladies who said it all:

I shall end with two snippets:

Bye for now.

Friday Was A Beautiful Day

In so many ways.  Pat and Dave, close friends from the other side of the valley, have had friends staying and wherever they went this week they found the sun (and kept telling us!).  So yesterday CJ was feeling good (by his standards) so we decided to go over to the West side of the Island to Uig and Reef and Valtos for their fabulous views, machair and beaches and see if the promised sun would make an appearance.  We had to do a bit of chasing but we did manage some sun.

Uig is not the place to try and get a cup of morning coffee however we remembered that last year we had had an excellent coffee from the machine in the café facility at the Uig Community Cooperative Shop which is an example of the considerable achievements of a small remote population and provides a range of retail facilities including a post office and petrol station as well as a community meeting hall.

 The view from the front of the coop says a lot

Then we went to the tiny township of Cliff:

Then we walked on Reef sands

Where holiday makers at the camping ground there were fishing off the rocks

Someone or two in the township of Carishader has a sense of humour:

As we came up to the old schoolhouse in Loch Croistean which is now a very friendly café we came across a pair of eagles soaring high above the valley:

All in all it was a Very Good Day.