It's Raining, Menhir

What a difference a week makes. Last time I was writing about scorchers, this time it's dreich and bucketing rain with the impenetrable blanket of Nimbostratus back in residence. The weekend was OK though; a few cloudbursts but some bright and breezy spells in between.

We took a stroll down the road, then back along the shore. My wife collected this large piece of wood that looks to be off an old boat. I don't know exactly what it is but it's pleasingly rust-streaked, holed and pockmarked, so we've planted in the garden as a sort of flotsam menhir.

I keep an eye of Scottish politics. It's not like you could really miss it the past few days. I was very interested to note, from a Gastrobeach point of view, that the new Scottish Government will be seeking control of the Crown Estates, which means that rights to the use of the coastal seabed and foreshore could be handled by the Scottish Parliament in future. It would be good to know that the Queen no longer had strange archaic rights to the native oysters on the shore in front of my house! On a less flippant note this change would, of course, be of huge significance to all those involved in inshore fisheries and offshore renewables in Scotland.

I think I forgot to mention that we got the submarine hatch barbecue fired up last week. We were only cooking boring pork chops and sausages but it was a pleasure to be able to cook outside without being troubled by midges (they haven't quite started yet).

I'm ready for a large mug of coffee now. There's a wee bit of 'rocco' left. It says on the packet that it is, "A quality arabica blend of South American coffee beans and the Mocha bean". It's certainly chocolatey.

Just thought of the title for this blog entry. That's pretty bad. Perfect.