Month: November 2019

I was surprised when it was the alarm that woke me and not Isabella. Admittedly, she got me out of bed to go for a wee around 23:30 but I didn’t really wake up so was out for the count again pretty quickly. Considering she was asleep for most of the evening lying on a…

Isabella settled more quickly although we needed to endure some short-term wailing to begin with. I was up in the night a couple of times for calls of nature. Mine as well as hers although I wouldn’t have been wandering around outside if given the choice. Fortunately, the night was reasonably warm so I was…

In the USA today, most Americans will be celebrating Thanksgiving with the traditional family meal of turkey, green beans, pumpkin pie and all the trimmings. I’m sure all the turkey farmers are truly grateful that the tradition continues although the turkeys may think differently. Tomorrow is Black Friday where businesses offer discounts and sales encouraging…

The Earth moved for me as I was preparing my breakfast. In this location, the quake was so mild that others didn’t even notice. Having read the comments on LastQuake, the seismic website, I can see that it was not the same for everyone. The night was far from peaceful. I’d decided Isabella should spend…

We had the heating on yesterday evening as the dogs were a little damp and I felt cold. It was great to feel the warmth around my feet and Oskar was soon to discover the delights of the fan blower. Skinny was curled up on the rear bench seat which is somewhat different to the…

Nearly 6mm precipitation fell during the hour from 03:00. This was accompanied by thunder and lightning but of an insufficient calibre to warrant properly waking up for. l remember the flashes and the rumbles but the dogs hardly stirred so I went back to sleep. It was all over by getting-up time so we could…

Georgia’s dogs woke me at 04:20 but I must have been asleep at 22:15 so it was about time I get up anyway. I lounged decadently in bed until just before the alarm so we were crossing the field around 05:10 and on the Promontory by 05:15. There is very little moon and the sky…

No raindrops this morning only the remainder of the final quarter of the moon struggling to penetrate the hazy sky. It was darker so my headtorch was required for a little while but only on red. The dogs were initially a little slow but picked up an interesting scent whereupon they lunged forward as if…

Rain started to fall around 20:00 yesterday so we adjourned inside. Everyone, including Obi. There was thunder and reasonable rainfall amounting to 8mm but the show was all over by 22:00. The evening was cooler due to the rain as was the night. The morning was fairly dark as the sky was still a little…

Warm and insect-free was the order of the day for the Early Walk which went without incident. There was a fine collection of stars but no cataclysmic events that I could detect. These events are when a distant sun, weighing in at 30-50 times that of our sun, collapses and implodes due to its own…

I was awake before time but then fell back to sleep to be woken by the alarm. Another warm night with the door open and only one blanket and a sheet. Skinny is a regular inside dog and seems to have acquired a comfortable spot on the bench at the back of the van. He…

A little windy out on the Early Walk as we passed the German Motorhome now spending its second night in the car park at the Promontory entrance. Other than plenty of flashes from the distant lightning, it was quite gloomy thanks to the passing clouds. My Blitzortung software repeatedly sent me warnings of approaching storms…

Up and at ’em as usual just after 05:00. The walk went without incident and I left Luis and Oskar with Charlie whilst Fido, Obi, Skinny and I completed two circuits. We walked the rocks with dry feet and went back to the camping via the field. There are sheep in the field but they…

Morning came round all of a sudden as the alarm jolted me from my sleep. I’d been up a couple of times in the night but had slept well. We were out across the field under the filtered moonlight and heading towards the Promontory as usual. Our walks went without too much complication however Luis…

Alex has been clearing the soil washed down by the rain which has accumulated around the small cabins Ξ1-2, Manolis has been getting on with his removal from the building shell and Georgia has been rushing around being the boss. Manolis came to see me before 07:00 to ask if I would leave the workshop…

I hadn’t noticed until I went out that it had rained in the night, around 12mm which fell just before midnight. Skinny had decided to join us inside for the first time in a while meanwhile Obi continued to sleep in solitude outside under the canopy on the blankets. Be assured, he was offered the…

There was still a great deal of dampness about underfoot when we went out this morning. It was cooler thanks to all the rain. Our walk was more lively than usual and even Luis was bursting with energy. The compacted sand makes progress far quicker which probably explains how we were done before it got…

The forecast was a little economical with the truth as over 46mm rain has fallen since yesterday evening, all of it after midnight. The Early Walk was still by moonlight despite the cloudy sky over flat and virgin sand washed down by the heavy rain. The earlier rain was accompanied by thunder and lightning which…

It was amazingly warm as I got out of bed at 04:58. Ursula and Heidi were just ahead of us as we walked up the Promontory in nothing but moonlight. There were clouds so the moonlight was intermittent. There was enough to see where we were going despite some clouds and the sun was nearing…

The weather forecast predicted 0.87mm rain between Sunday evening and 07:00 Monday. The reality was that around 60mm rain fell before midnight Sunday! The tent sides have been put up this evening. The sky was very black for the Evening Walk yesterday and there was some mild humidification whilst we were out. The rain set…

I thought I might be a bit stiff after my marathon cycling expeditions yesterday but everything appeared to be functioning as normal. The dogs were not terribly energetic on the Early Walk but we managed our normal quota. It was warmer than yesterday and the sky was clear and starry. A few clouds appeared later…

We followed Ursula up the eastern track towards the end of the Promontory having diligently skirted around the van with dog parked for a few days near the main entrance. There was general lethargy, surprising really considering it was probably the coolest morning in a long while. The night was also cool as I had…

This morning two German couples left and yesterday another couple too. A single Belgian, who arrived yesterday afternoon left this morning to be replaced by a single Swiss guy who’s been riding his bike around Europe for the past three years. He has been back to Switzerland a couple of times but he’s mostly on…

Another warm morning out on the Promontory. Nothing particularly exciting other than a starry sky and a little wind. IZO accompanied Ursula and Heidi, this time on the lead. From the way my dogs were behaving, I had a feeling there was unusual. Ursula let him go once we arrived and he disappeared quite quickly,…

It was warm in the night as I woke up all hot and bothered so had to remove some covers. I was up early so we left even before the alarm went off. I was struggling to turn off the alarm as we walked up towards the camping main gate. It was dark and my…

Happy Guy Fawkes Day to everyone in UK! Unimaginable amounts of money will be going up in smoke tonight. Try explaining why an entire nation still celebrates an event which didn’t take place on 5 November 1605 to someone who is not from Britain. It was warm at 04:55 and is still 22.2℃ as I…

The curry was excellent and seems to have worked as a sleeping draught for me and for Ursula. She reported a good nights sleep too. There were no disturbances that I know of until the alarm broke my slumbers. It was warm so I went lightly clad: it was around 20℃. I walked the first…

Watching Detective Chief Inspector Foyle until late last night meant I was woken by my alarm even though I’d been up on a couple of occasions in order to complete important tasks. The sky looked reasonably starry but not cloudless. It was fairly cool too. Mindful of the two Cycling FreeLoaders camped out on the…

There were distant rumblings during the night as the storm slid past Crete up the Libyan coast. There were plenty of distant flashes to be seen as we walked round with the dogs. As usual, Heidi and Ursula had reported for duty long before we arrived. I didn’t even get out of bed until the…

Another early night yesterday after our visit to Houmas for the final meal of the 2019 season. I think I was in bed by 20:45 (21:45 the week before) so it was hardly surprising I was awake good and early. Not helped by a certain long-legged white nit-wit crashing about outside on the decking. I…