Blogtober Twenty Seven

It seems as though I may have been slightly premature with my talk of Storm Chloe. That's not to say that there isn't a yellow warning in place for most of Scotland, or it isn't blowing an absolute hoolie outside (60+mph during daylight hours in Orkney, higher elsewhere), but this bit of weather is, as yet, officially unnamed. We are a long way from Exeter, home of the Met Office.

However, at breakfast time, the sun was shining and Mocha was quite keen to go outdoors. I chose the most sheltered portal for the conditions, which happened to be the front door, and cautiously opened it. Mocha took in the air, without ever setting a paw over the threshold and, after a brief deliberation with herself, decided "Nah, thanks anyway." Sensible choice.

Today was household waste collection day. Our local council are currently trialling a new type of refuse truck, it's called a RotoPress and looks like the lovechild of a conventional bin lorry and a cement mixer (if that's not too hard core an image). The rear drum rotates, and so the manufacturer has claimed a revolutionary new design. Their pun, not mine. I wasn't completely convinced that the refuse lorry would turn out in a gale, but fair play to them, they showed up on time and once emptied, they carefully stacked the neighbourhood bins to avoid any wind-assisted escape. Returning the bin to home was hilarious, it wanted to go much faster than I did.

This isn't our one, I didn't feel like attempting a photo in a gale

During lunch, Mocha ramped up her vocals, a clear sign that she wanted to go out, so I left my soup to go cold whilst Madam decided whether the gale was any different to earlier in the day (it wasn't). She did manage to set all four paws outside the house this time, then hugged the front of the house for about three feet, followed by a swift about turn and a hasty retreat indoors.

Work emails trickled in during the afternoon, so I could busy myself making plans for the next few weeks. I don't like it too quiet or too busy, just ticking along is fine by me. Hopefully, we will have a period of less interesting weather once this current gale has disappeared off into the North Sea.

Now it is time to browse the African wildlife cameras on Youtube, attempt a cryptic crossword and try to ignore the wind and lash outside.