It was a very foggy morning. Not much fun driving along the Tweed Valley to Cardrona first thing.

There were huge flocks of geese flying over the house today. Very chatty too!

I am really looking forward to reading The Bending Cross, A Biography of Eugene V. Debs by Ray Ginger. Some of Debs’ quotes really resonate today, esp his statement after being convicted of sedition in 1918. www.marxists.org/archive/debs...

@heraldscotland.bsky.social is complaining that Mhairi Black is stealing Scots actors’ jobs. I think it’s her acting debut so that’s just the one job to date. Slow news day I guess? 🙄

From zero to five. Wordle 1,600 2/6. ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

It was a driech walk this afternoon. Cold, wet (the river is huge) and pretty much dark already and it’s not even 5pm.

My #cat is so lazy. She hasn’t shifted from my bed all day and is refusing to sit on the blanket I laid out for her.

Currently reading The Promise by Damon Galgut.

People are setting off fireworks here already. My cat got the fright of her life and doubt she’ll be out from under my bed anytime soon.

Currently re-reading The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham.

It was a very wet dog walk today.

Some great books here.👇 #publishingscotland

Boo!

My Wednesday walk with friends was back in the dark tonight. Saw the plough for the first time in about six months.

Pretty much as soon as the clocks change in Autumn I have the urge to start some sort of wool project. Knitting or crochet? Scarves, socks or cushion covers… 🤔

Private Eye.

First snow of the winter on the Glencoe mountains.

Sir David Attenborough has championed a bid by Wildlife Trusts and Northumberland Wildlife Trust to raise £30m to buy the entirety of a 15-sq-mile upland Rothbury Estate 🌲🌿 You can help by donating here 💷: www.wildlifetrusts.org/appeals/roth.... BBC article: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

😂

@mrjamesob.bsky.social Yes, sea otters do hold paws when sleeping so they don’t float away. It’s called rafting. Only the sea otters though.

If they push this then I expect Labour to fall even further down the polls in Scotland than they already have.

Trains to and from a major Scottish railway station were subjected to significant disruption after a swan was spotted on the tracks 🦢

I was quite a weird teenager and used to sit in my room listening to Leonard Cohen. He was a pretty cool guy though.

Around 12.58pm on October 27, Scottish Fire and Rescue raced to Victoria Street, Dunbar, after a building became engulfed in flames. Fire crews remain in attendance.

I should definitely be up by now but my hand is needed as a pillow. #cats

The gritters have been out tonight. First time in a while.

Starting Folk by Zoe Gilbert tonight. #books

I genuinely thought this was a spoof version of the site. Now I’m fuming.

I think it would have been more effective to leave the space where the flag had been rather than add a white outline of the removed flag in these pictures. (It’s hard to switch off a picture researcher’s brain when looking at edited images…)

Neither of us were too happy about going for a walk in this miserable weather.

I can confirm, after eating the whole pack tonight, that these are delicious.

This is a great idea! More info about it here as The National has a paywall. #mentalhealth news.stv.tv/west-central...

I can’t stop playing the NYT puzzle Strands.

I definitely want to watch this two part series about American buffalo. I must have read or watched something about them when I was really young because I’ve been fascinated by them for as long as I can remember. m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5...

Flipping heck, was this not one of Hitler’s big ideas…?

Uh oh, Tom’s Diner was just played on Only Connect. I’ll be annoying everyone who comes near me for days now as I won’t be able to stop singing it.

The interview on #c4news with Virginia Giuffre’s brother was very, very moving. I don’t often cry but that really affected me. 😞

Someone seems to be very interested in Hamza’s Hidden Wild Isles. #cats

At the Jim Clark museum.

🐸🐸🐸

"The SNP are on a very dangerous tack. What they are doing is trying to build up a situation in Scotland where the services are manifestly better than south of the border in a number of areas.” When asked whether that was a bad thing, Lord Foulkes replied: “No, but they are doing it deliberately.”

Wow, what a turnout! I love Boston.

First time I’ve watched #Strictly this year. Ellie is joy in human form.

Currently reading The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller. #books

I’ve been to see I Swear, the true story of a local guy with Tourette’s who lives in Galashiels (about 3 miles from my house) at the cinema in Gala. Funny and very moving. A big round of applause at the end.

Pretty sure all 70,000 geese flew over my house last night. And they’re still flying over this morning.

The geese have been going over all day and now tonight too. It has been low cloud so haven’t actually seen any yet.

I gave in and put the fire on. It’s the first time since the spring.