When I get nervous, I bite my nails.Lake Myvatn, Iceland.Scottish country garden.Brussels sprouts anyone?Viviparous Lizard (taken by David).Sometimes you just have to help a fellow creature out.The land of Lakes, Finland.Best mates.Forget-me-not wood.Husavik, Northern Iceland.Locust.Is that sweeties you got?I’m a macaroni penguin. You can call me Mac.Morning mist.Pomegranate Strange that in the second photo they felt they needed to say which was the penguin.I’m the winner.Zavodovski Island, AntarcticaNuts…
Another odd thing about that picture (apart from identifying which is the expedition member and which is the penguin,) what is the point of taking a kilt and a bagpipe on a South Pole expedition? (Even if you ARE Scottish.)
Alas, I fear we may never know. Mind you, things do not necessarily always have a point; just reflect for half a second on Michael Gove, and you’ll see what I mean.
He’s a poisonous little man, a close friend of Murdoch. During Trumps campaign, and before May brought him back into government (some say on orders from Murdoch) he went to New York to interview Trump.
As I recall the result was as fawning a piece of low life “journalism” as you’ll see in a long time.
Reflecting on Michael Gove is not a pastime I’d choose, to be honest, but, half a second is acceptable, and I see what ya mean. He’s utterly pointless.
Poisonous, as Tris just said; backstabbing little toad and liar as well. He was a useless – worse than useless – Lord Chancellor / Secretary of State for Justice, and now, May has put him in charge at Environment. He is, naturally enough, a climate-change denier. What kind of incompetent, blinkered, ignorant and ideology-driven idiot of a Head of Government puts a climate-change denier in charge of their country’s environmental protection agency, I ask you? Oh – wait a minute…
edd…..Trumpy’s head of the Environmental Protection Agency is a climate change denier too. Weird things happen when the right wing nut cases are in charge. Trumpy’s Secretary of Education has a history of opposition to public education too.
When you think about Gove what springs to mind is his involvement as a minister in education, then justice and currently in environment, farming and livestock.
What may also spring to mind is his recent abortive attempt to win the Tory Leadership Contest. In mounting his bid for leadership of the Tories he was supported financially, by a not inconsiderable sum, by Theodore Agnew.
If you’ve never heard of Theodore Agnew, you’ll get an indication of the man from wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Agnew. You may want to do further research yourself, however even from the vanilla characterisation of Sir Theodore in wikipedia you can see he has interests in …education…and justice.
In fact it is given that his interest in education was the reason that he received his knighthood. I’m sure his various donations to the Conservative Party over the years were entirely co-incidental.
I’ve no idea what his interests or leanings are in matters to do with the environment, farming or livestock. However, I imagine he might have picked up some casual and passing knowledge in this area from his brother, Stuart Agnew. Now Stuart Agnew is an interesting chap; Chicken Farmer, UKIP Agriculture Spokesman and Climate Change Denier. https://anewnatureblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/13/ukip-farm-spokesman-stuart-agnew-his-deeply-unpleasant-views
You might also like to note the early link in the blog ( above) but I warn you not only is it from the MAIL, it contains some disturbing and graphic pictures of the realities of chicken farming ( free range…apparently) in the Agnew chicken farming business.
You’re not suggesting that wee Govey (I always think he looks like a house elf from Harry Potter, which is a little unfair to house elves, I know) could be influenced by the Noble Sir Theodore’s money. Goodness me. The idea!!
OK, we can probably take it as a given.
I wonder if the fair Theresa took all that into consideration when she appointed him… or was it the influence of Rupert Murdoch that got the little fellow his feet back under Tessy’s table?
WOW……winds that can be milder than Scotland! That would explain the kilt as Antarctic attire. But you’ve occasionally disclaimed in-depth knowledge of technical matters. Then you come up with “catabatic.” Don’t know what to think about that. 😉
His choice of clothes for the expedition is easily explained. He’s a Scotsman in 1904 so he would have one set of Sunday clothes and one set of work clothes and he probably took both with him. Simples.
Oh and having a kilt meant he would only need one set of skivs so it makes good sound financial sense as well.
Ooh, chips with mayonnaise – French fries, to be quite precise – they’re a Dutch favourite too and – I confess – I have been putting mayonnaise on my chips for many years now. Preferably garlic mayonnaise. Here at Schloß Freeman-am-Tay, we are devotees of mayonnaise in general also because we trace its linguistic origins back to the town of Maó in Menorca (Mahón in Spanish), and we have a soft spot for the Catalans, and for garlic mayonnaise in particular because the whole idea goes back to aioli anyway.
Rumours that it is named after a volcano in the Philippines are unfounded, and probably the product of a diseased mind. We have no truck with such nonsense.
@ ed…. There’s obviously more to mayonnaise than I imagined. What many Americans think of as mayonnaise is in fact “Kraft Miracle Whip Salad Dressing”…..white and creamy like mayonnaise, but sweeter and milder flavored. (The Fat Free version has no taste whatever.) And no garlic version for sure. I might try to ditch the ketchup and try mayonnaise with my fries. I believe you can get something representing itself as mayonnaise in little plastic packets at McDonald’s.
And I’ll pay no attention to that damnable lie about the Philippine volcano origin.
While you call them chips, surely anyplace close to France would eat FRENCH Fries. Not sure about the mayo though. In America they are always slathered with ketchup.
I love sprouts but they’ve got to have had a touch of frost for the flavour to develop properly. They’re fantastic used whole in vegetable broth, as a side dish when cooked with chorizo or diced bacon, or just steamed au natural. Top veg and no mistake.
Do the French fries in America have potato in them? I couldn’t tell.
The ultimate American french fries are said to be served at McDonald’s (the pinnacle of American haute cuisine.) I believe that you may have McDonald’s locations in Scotland. McDonald’s fries are thinner sliced than some others at lesser burger joints. I had sort of assumed they are made from potatoes, but I’m not entirely sure that everything at McDonald’s is what you would imagine it is.
Tris, the photos are life-enhancing as always, particularly the orangutans. I always appreciate them specially, even if I don’t always say so out loud.
Lessons will be learnt say’s the bloke from the council. Except the last time this happened and a coroner reported on it, lessons were not learned, because they sat in a report on some junior ministers’ desks. And no one did squat.
As for the queen’s statement: “Put to the test, the United Kingdom has been resolute in the face of adversity,” It sounds good, but it’s utter nonsense.
Put to the test, the government has failed in every conceivable way. The whole thing has been an example of how NOT to cope with a crisis. At every turn they have got it wrong. They have misjudged and they have fouled up.
However, the decency and kindness of ordinary Londoners across racial and religious divides, has been inspiring.
It says to me that the people are pretty decent and should be kept … and that their government are pretty crap and should be binned.
Juteman, I put broon sass on my bacon, sausages and Simon Howie Lorne slice, so I claim benefit of clergy and DEFY you to burn me at the stake as a witch!
Roofer mate (who does “weekend jobs” for me) was around clearing moss (mainly) from the NNE-facing roof. Nice & dry for a week so easy-peasey to clear off the roof yes? Problem is that its Sunday & you can’t disturb your neighbours much before 09:30. Around 10am here it was 25C in the shade and a full 44C in the sun. You’ll remember the NNE-facing roof aspect and the time of day…… 😦
If the people out the back actually cut their trees once every couple of decades this wouldn’t happen. Moss builds up in winter & due to the design of the tiles the roots survive/recolonise all the time.
So after a scrape/brush off we used the worst patio cleaner stuff sold in the UK (obviously IMHO & all that). Its called “Patio Magic” and is sold at B&Q/DIY places for about £3/litre. You’re supposed to dilute it to a 1:4 ratio but frankly it does bugger all when used that way. However used neat on a roof with interlocking tiles seems to prevent most algae growth and all moss growth without too much “bleed” back to the original tile colour.
I used it on a SSW-facing roof about 4 years ago & no moss grows there now. The elevation/canopy above it hasn’t been treated and grows moss in spring/autumn/winter.
Its awful stuff in terms of its marketing (ie its bugger all use for black algae) but it seems to do a good job on preventing “stuff” attaching itself to your roof and growing.
I have a deal with Scottish gas which gives me free electricity on a Sunday. So despite the 25 degrees here, I’m stuck in the house washing, ironing, making soup, and burn cleaning the oven, not to mention vacuuming… Oh joy…
It can be quite annoying being at the mercy of a neighbours ill considered tree planting and/or lack of maintenance. A lime for example, planted as a small sapling will one day grow into a huge aphid infested tree that drips aphid honeydew over everything under it. All garden structures turn black as the sticky mess is colonised by algae. I’m glad to say this is my mother in laws problem not mine.
My problem is I have about 100+ feet of hedge and the neighbors on one side refuse to cut it so it’s an effort to trim the vast expanse of top. It looks unkempt from my side and must take up about ten feet of their garden.
I’m so glad not to have trees overhanging the house though. That’s a bummer so enjoy your beer.
I recently planted a Kliftisgate (sp?) rose to climb up into the neighbours trees. According to the info on the website, it can grow to over 80ft and can kill trees.
Hey hey hey. 😎
Wanted to reply to Conan the Librarian @ June 18, 2017 at 13:47. Seems that that direct method of saying that this Glaswegian has an aversion to cheese on chips is unavailable. Mind you, a few drops of balsamic vinegar adds a lot to chips. You East coast folk need to get out a bit more 🙂
Au contraire Douglas, I don’t have cream with my strawberries, but balsamic vinegar; I talk a good chip, but I haven’t had any in years, although I do get the craving passing a chippy.
I get tiny little lizards living on the steps on the way down to the main road. They come out on hot days and soak up the heat. Not absolutely sure but they look like the viviparous lizard posted today. Last summer I saw one being attacked by two birds. They flew away when I approached and left behind what can only be described as a crime scene. Kind of wanted to draw a chalk outline around the victim.
They are fast movers but this one obviously wasn’t. I had two heavy bags of shopping and concrete is hard to dig so I just left the wee fella for a passing cat. It’s what he would have wanted.
It’s what I want too… remember that when I fall off the perch (or one of my garden birds gets really angry with me for getting the wrong seed and peck me to death).
Terry – The lizard in the photie is a Scottish Lizard, lots of folk think you don’t get them here but you do. They are hard to spot and in my limited experience like to colonise felled forestry areas. The bleached tree stumps being favourite sunbathing sights on sunny summer mornings or unseasonably warm spring afternoons.
I’ve not seen many on my ganders but they are around, they just don’t exist within the range of domestic cats.
The only indigenous lizards we have in Scotland are the viviparous and the slow worm although I believe the sand Lizard was introduced to the Hebrides from the south coast of England and is doing well. The Lizard in the picture is a young one, the adults can grow to around 5″.
oops sorry I’m late but you all seem to have managed to post LOADS of comments. I don’t know if you know this but I like the orangs too 🙂 However lots of admire – I also love a baby elephant, heck who doesn’t. Teh Scottish garden was gorgeous. And I think the badger and fox were hiding from Tories and planning to name a pub after themselves.
Me too. I am now about to go out and buy chips, probably tomorow, as they are unavailable on a Sunday, it is possibly a West of Scotland religious insanity. Who knows?
Anywhow, they will be sprinkled with a sea salt and a balsamic vinegar. I am salivating at the thought.
Better than than your ‘brown sauce’ on chips stuff.
Although I agree with you about balsamic vinegar on strawberries. That suggests that you are not a vulgarian, and indeed, a man of fine taste and flavours. Perhaps a touch of black pepper?
Once upon a time a beautiful and clever commentator sent Tris a video of a baby orangutan. Tris thought they were so cute he decided to feature one or two on Soppy Sunday. Then one day he forgot to post one and the beautiful and clever commentator became very annoyed and said “where is my orang?” And an orang was added. Since then orangs have been a feature of SS because lo and behold it turns out they are very popular with many of the handsome and clever commentators on the blog.
Rhinos have appeared in the past and no doubt will again in the future.
They always remind me of the time that Bill Maher, a prominent American TV personality, made a joke about Donald Trump (back in his real estate huckster/TV reality star days) being fathered by one. Maher cited skin color and hair style as evidence, and (rather foolishly) promised to pay Trump $5 million if he (Donald) could prove him wrong. It was simply meant as a joke about his appearance of course, but Donald was not amused. When Trump sent Maher a copy of his birth certificate, clearly showing that he was fathered by an individual of the human persuasion, and when Maher subsequently failed to cough up the $5 million, Donald sued. After a period of time during which the courts seemed to not be much interested in the case, Donald withdrew the lawsuit.
Tris is very accommodating. When I pointed out that it would be nice if an indigenous American species be included, and suggested a rattlesnake, a fine looking rattler showed up. (And made return visits.)
Well, she sits admirably on a rhino? If rhin0 riding is the defiinition of a ‘good’ politician, then Ruth Harrison, aka Ruth Davidson is a our entirely bestest yet political leader. I find that a bit doubtful, but others may love her to bits.
The fact that they are verging on insane, does not excuse them their insanity.
I think, they speak for an absolute minority of the Scottish people.
I would like that put to the test.
I would like, when we have a Brexit deal laid out, for us to judge it. I doubt that most Scots will be ‘comfortable’ with whatever Theresa May might negotiate.
I may be wrong, but a separate exit, or non-exit strategy may be more appealing.
I thought it was a bison or an aurochs, something like that, but not a gnu or a wildebeest, and I’m ruling out moose and elk too – could it have been a water buffalo? Except we don’t have rice paddies and such in Scotland.
MUNGUIN'S NEW REPUBLIC 
Another odd thing about that picture (apart from identifying which is the expedition member and which is the penguin,) what is the point of taking a kilt and a bagpipe on a South Pole expedition? (Even if you ARE Scottish.)
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Alas, I fear we may never know. Mind you, things do not necessarily always have a point; just reflect for half a second on Michael Gove, and you’ll see what I mean.
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Here in America, I know that May just called him back into the government. I take it that he is perhaps useless.
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If only he were just useless.
He’s a poisonous little man, a close friend of Murdoch. During Trumps campaign, and before May brought him back into government (some say on orders from Murdoch) he went to New York to interview Trump.
As I recall the result was as fawning a piece of low life “journalism” as you’ll see in a long time.
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Reflecting on Michael Gove is not a pastime I’d choose, to be honest, but, half a second is acceptable, and I see what ya mean. He’s utterly pointless.
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I don’t like the look of the Gove fellow. Standing by Trump doesn’t help much either.
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I suppose you could at least say that he isn’t ORANGE. It’s a help.
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Poisonous, as Tris just said; backstabbing little toad and liar as well. He was a useless – worse than useless – Lord Chancellor / Secretary of State for Justice, and now, May has put him in charge at Environment. He is, naturally enough, a climate-change denier. What kind of incompetent, blinkered, ignorant and ideology-driven idiot of a Head of Government puts a climate-change denier in charge of their country’s environmental protection agency, I ask you? Oh – wait a minute…
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edd…..Trumpy’s head of the Environmental Protection Agency is a climate change denier too. Weird things happen when the right wing nut cases are in charge. Trumpy’s Secretary of Education has a history of opposition to public education too.
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When you think about Gove what springs to mind is his involvement as a minister in education, then justice and currently in environment, farming and livestock.
What may also spring to mind is his recent abortive attempt to win the Tory Leadership Contest. In mounting his bid for leadership of the Tories he was supported financially, by a not inconsiderable sum, by Theodore Agnew.
If you’ve never heard of Theodore Agnew, you’ll get an indication of the man from wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Agnew. You may want to do further research yourself, however even from the vanilla characterisation of Sir Theodore in wikipedia you can see he has interests in …education…and justice.
In fact it is given that his interest in education was the reason that he received his knighthood. I’m sure his various donations to the Conservative Party over the years were entirely co-incidental.
I’ve no idea what his interests or leanings are in matters to do with the environment, farming or livestock. However, I imagine he might have picked up some casual and passing knowledge in this area from his brother, Stuart Agnew. Now Stuart Agnew is an interesting chap; Chicken Farmer, UKIP Agriculture Spokesman and Climate Change Denier.
https://anewnatureblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/13/ukip-farm-spokesman-stuart-agnew-his-deeply-unpleasant-views
You might also like to note the early link in the blog ( above) but I warn you not only is it from the MAIL, it contains some disturbing and graphic pictures of the realities of chicken farming ( free range…apparently) in the Agnew chicken farming business.
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LOL Jake.
You’re not suggesting that wee Govey (I always think he looks like a house elf from Harry Potter, which is a little unfair to house elves, I know) could be influenced by the Noble Sir Theodore’s money. Goodness me. The idea!!
OK, we can probably take it as a given.
I wonder if the fair Theresa took all that into consideration when she appointed him… or was it the influence of Rupert Murdoch that got the little fellow his feet back under Tessy’s table?
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PS: Stuart Agnew sounds a completely revolting character. He’s no oil painting either, as it goes.
They seem to be brothers from hell and Gove fits in nicely! You might say “like a g(L)ove!”
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That’s the whole thing, Danny. Compared with Scotland the catabatic winds down there are mild. I bet he wasn’t wearing underwear either!!
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WOW……winds that can be milder than Scotland! That would explain the kilt as Antarctic attire. But you’ve occasionally disclaimed in-depth knowledge of technical matters. Then you come up with “catabatic.” Don’t know what to think about that. 😉
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Indeed Danny; I had to Google it myself. Now had it been derived from Latin…
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His choice of clothes for the expedition is easily explained. He’s a Scotsman in 1904 so he would have one set of Sunday clothes and one set of work clothes and he probably took both with him. Simples.
Oh and having a kilt meant he would only need one set of skivs so it makes good sound financial sense as well.
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@ grieg……makes perfect sense now. 😉
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And are those green sprout thingies grown anywhere around the capital of Belgium?
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You know, I shouldn’t be in the least bit surprised if they are, though probably not at the airport.
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LOL. They might even grow outside of Belgium.
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I seem to recall from my brief visits to Belgium that the national dish is chips (fries) with mayo.
How can you be that close to France and have such a cuisine?
So it wouldn’t surprise me if they enjoyed sprouts.
They are a pretty plant though…
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Ooh, chips with mayonnaise – French fries, to be quite precise – they’re a Dutch favourite too and – I confess – I have been putting mayonnaise on my chips for many years now. Preferably garlic mayonnaise. Here at Schloß Freeman-am-Tay, we are devotees of mayonnaise in general also because we trace its linguistic origins back to the town of Maó in Menorca (Mahón in Spanish), and we have a soft spot for the Catalans, and for garlic mayonnaise in particular because the whole idea goes back to aioli anyway.
Rumours that it is named after a volcano in the Philippines are unfounded, and probably the product of a diseased mind. We have no truck with such nonsense.
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LOL
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@ ed…. There’s obviously more to mayonnaise than I imagined. What many Americans think of as mayonnaise is in fact “Kraft Miracle Whip Salad Dressing”…..white and creamy like mayonnaise, but sweeter and milder flavored. (The Fat Free version has no taste whatever.) And no garlic version for sure. I might try to ditch the ketchup and try mayonnaise with my fries. I believe you can get something representing itself as mayonnaise in little plastic packets at McDonald’s.
And I’ll pay no attention to that damnable lie about the Philippine volcano origin.
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But washed down by the best beer in the world. Smakelijk!
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You have to hand it to Belgium, Conan, when it comes to beer, they DO have talent.
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It’s probably another of the horrific aspects of the EU, Danny.
When the UK finally shakes off the shackles and applies to become the 51st (or 52nd) state of your country, we need never eat the foul things again!
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While you call them chips, surely anyplace close to France would eat FRENCH Fries. Not sure about the mayo though. In America they are always slathered with ketchup.
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I love sprouts but they’ve got to have had a touch of frost for the flavour to develop properly. They’re fantastic used whole in vegetable broth, as a side dish when cooked with chorizo or diced bacon, or just steamed au natural. Top veg and no mistake.
Do the French fries in America have potato in them? I couldn’t tell.
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The ultimate American french fries are said to be served at McDonald’s (the pinnacle of American haute cuisine.) I believe that you may have McDonald’s locations in Scotland. McDonald’s fries are thinner sliced than some others at lesser burger joints. I had sort of assumed they are made from potatoes, but I’m not entirely sure that everything at McDonald’s is what you would imagine it is.
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Tris, the photos are life-enhancing as always, particularly the orangutans. I always appreciate them specially, even if I don’t always say so out loud.
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Thanks Ed. 🙂
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Me too.
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Off topic, I know, but Commander Cundy is a really interesting guy.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40315194
That, it seems to me, was from the heart. That is what policing should be about.
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Certainly the rest are platitudes.
Lessons will be learnt say’s the bloke from the council. Except the last time this happened and a coroner reported on it, lessons were not learned, because they sat in a report on some junior ministers’ desks. And no one did squat.
As for the queen’s statement: “Put to the test, the United Kingdom has been resolute in the face of adversity,” It sounds good, but it’s utter nonsense.
Put to the test, the government has failed in every conceivable way. The whole thing has been an example of how NOT to cope with a crisis. At every turn they have got it wrong. They have misjudged and they have fouled up.
However, the decency and kindness of ordinary Londoners across racial and religious divides, has been inspiring.
It says to me that the people are pretty decent and should be kept … and that their government are pretty crap and should be binned.
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Mayo on chips?
Burn the witch!
A’bdy kens yi pour broon sass on chips!
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Yeah Jutie, but that’s only in Dundee… an’ they come oot o the chipper!
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East coast surely? Not like the Weegie barbarians with their cheese and their vinegar. Though chips, cheese and broon sauce…hmm.
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LOL
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Juteman, I put broon sass on my bacon, sausages and Simon Howie Lorne slice, so I claim benefit of clergy and DEFY you to burn me at the stake as a witch!
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Did Piper Kerr play his pipes to placate a puzzled penguin? Was the puzzled penguin placated by the playing of Piper Kerr’s Pipes? Possibly.
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There’s nothing like a bit of wit on a Sunday morning, Andi!
#
Clever! 🙂
I’m imagining you lot all getting half way through and starting again.
Peter Piper? Eat your heart out.
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Currently dying in a heap here…
Roofer mate (who does “weekend jobs” for me) was around clearing moss (mainly) from the NNE-facing roof. Nice & dry for a week so easy-peasey to clear off the roof yes? Problem is that its Sunday & you can’t disturb your neighbours much before 09:30. Around 10am here it was 25C in the shade and a full 44C in the sun. You’ll remember the NNE-facing roof aspect and the time of day…… 😦
If the people out the back actually cut their trees once every couple of decades this wouldn’t happen. Moss builds up in winter & due to the design of the tiles the roots survive/recolonise all the time.
So after a scrape/brush off we used the worst patio cleaner stuff sold in the UK (obviously IMHO & all that). Its called “Patio Magic” and is sold at B&Q/DIY places for about £3/litre. You’re supposed to dilute it to a 1:4 ratio but frankly it does bugger all when used that way. However used neat on a roof with interlocking tiles seems to prevent most algae growth and all moss growth without too much “bleed” back to the original tile colour.
I used it on a SSW-facing roof about 4 years ago & no moss grows there now. The elevation/canopy above it hasn’t been treated and grows moss in spring/autumn/winter.
Its awful stuff in terms of its marketing (ie its bugger all use for black algae) but it seems to do a good job on preventing “stuff” attaching itself to your roof and growing.
YMMV of course.
/me crawls off to find some cold beer…..
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Jeeez, you have a fun life.
I have a deal with Scottish gas which gives me free electricity on a Sunday. So despite the 25 degrees here, I’m stuck in the house washing, ironing, making soup, and burn cleaning the oven, not to mention vacuuming… Oh joy…
Still, a least you have a cold beer….
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It can be quite annoying being at the mercy of a neighbours ill considered tree planting and/or lack of maintenance. A lime for example, planted as a small sapling will one day grow into a huge aphid infested tree that drips aphid honeydew over everything under it. All garden structures turn black as the sticky mess is colonised by algae. I’m glad to say this is my mother in laws problem not mine.
My problem is I have about 100+ feet of hedge and the neighbors on one side refuse to cut it so it’s an effort to trim the vast expanse of top. It looks unkempt from my side and must take up about ten feet of their garden.
I’m so glad not to have trees overhanging the house though. That’s a bummer so enjoy your beer.
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I recently planted a Kliftisgate (sp?) rose to climb up into the neighbours trees. According to the info on the website, it can grow to over 80ft and can kill trees.
Hey hey hey. 😎
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Got some Father’s Day Polish beer in the fridge, Bit early for 7% beer but…
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Never too early.
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Wanted to reply to Conan the Librarian @ June 18, 2017 at 13:47. Seems that that direct method of saying that this Glaswegian has an aversion to cheese on chips is unavailable. Mind you, a few drops of balsamic vinegar adds a lot to chips. You East coast folk need to get out a bit more 🙂
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LOL. Indeed.
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Au contraire Douglas, I don’t have cream with my strawberries, but balsamic vinegar; I talk a good chip, but I haven’t had any in years, although I do get the craving passing a chippy.
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Strawberries and Balsamic Vinegar>?
Ewww err.
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DON’T FALL AGAIN.
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I get tiny little lizards living on the steps on the way down to the main road. They come out on hot days and soak up the heat. Not absolutely sure but they look like the viviparous lizard posted today. Last summer I saw one being attacked by two birds. They flew away when I approached and left behind what can only be described as a crime scene. Kind of wanted to draw a chalk outline around the victim.
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Awww, poor wee thing. They are usually too quick for birds.
I hope you buried the wee fella.
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They are fast movers but this one obviously wasn’t. I had two heavy bags of shopping and concrete is hard to dig so I just left the wee fella for a passing cat. It’s what he would have wanted.
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LOL. I’m sure it is.
It’s what I want too… remember that when I fall off the perch (or one of my garden birds gets really angry with me for getting the wrong seed and peck me to death).
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Terry – The lizard in the photie is a Scottish Lizard, lots of folk think you don’t get them here but you do. They are hard to spot and in my limited experience like to colonise felled forestry areas. The bleached tree stumps being favourite sunbathing sights on sunny summer mornings or unseasonably warm spring afternoons.
I’ve not seen many on my ganders but they are around, they just don’t exist within the range of domestic cats.
The only indigenous lizards we have in Scotland are the viviparous and the slow worm although I believe the sand Lizard was introduced to the Hebrides from the south coast of England and is doing well. The Lizard in the picture is a young one, the adults can grow to around 5″.
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I’d love to find one.
When i lived in Grenoble we had a few that sat and sunned themselves on our ‘terrasse’ every morning.
They were pretty fear;less unless you got too close, or made a sudden movement near them.
I miss them
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oops sorry I’m late but you all seem to have managed to post LOADS of comments. I don’t know if you know this but I like the orangs too 🙂 However lots of admire – I also love a baby elephant, heck who doesn’t. Teh Scottish garden was gorgeous. And I think the badger and fox were hiding from Tories and planning to name a pub after themselves.
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LOL. I did wonder where you were.
Do you like Orangs? Lord, I’d never have known.
We’re all hiding from the Tories right now, although most of us aren’t considering a pub. The Tris and Munguin?
Oooops Munguin says it would have to be The Munguin (and Tris)… The second part in small letters.
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Conan the Librarian,
June 18, 2017 at 15:01
Me too. I am now about to go out and buy chips, probably tomorow, as they are unavailable on a Sunday, it is possibly a West of Scotland religious insanity. Who knows?
Anywhow, they will be sprinkled with a sea salt and a balsamic vinegar. I am salivating at the thought.
Better than than your ‘brown sauce’ on chips stuff.
Although I agree with you about balsamic vinegar on strawberries. That suggests that you are not a vulgarian, and indeed, a man of fine taste and flavours. Perhaps a touch of black pepper?
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OK. I guess it’s me that is the vulgarian.
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Try it. It is really nice,
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I shall. 🙂
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Unless I’m mistaken, strawberries and balsamic vinegar are served at Wimbledon. A great tradition I think!
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Good enough for the royal box, it’s good enough for Munguin.
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Always love soppy sundays. Noticed you usually have an orangutan on it, any reason? Personally I’ve always loved rhinos since childhood…
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Once upon a time a beautiful and clever commentator sent Tris a video of a baby orangutan. Tris thought they were so cute he decided to feature one or two on Soppy Sunday. Then one day he forgot to post one and the beautiful and clever commentator became very annoyed and said “where is my orang?” And an orang was added. Since then orangs have been a feature of SS because lo and behold it turns out they are very popular with many of the handsome and clever commentators on the blog.
Rhinos have appeared in the past and no doubt will again in the future.
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Ah yes. I remember that! 🙂
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Oooh… a “handsome and clever commentator” – that’s the nicest thing anyone’s said to me in a month of Sundays.
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That’s Panda Paws for you…
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I think the orangs are especially cute today.
They always remind me of the time that Bill Maher, a prominent American TV personality, made a joke about Donald Trump (back in his real estate huckster/TV reality star days) being fathered by one. Maher cited skin color and hair style as evidence, and (rather foolishly) promised to pay Trump $5 million if he (Donald) could prove him wrong. It was simply meant as a joke about his appearance of course, but Donald was not amused. When Trump sent Maher a copy of his birth certificate, clearly showing that he was fathered by an individual of the human persuasion, and when Maher subsequently failed to cough up the $5 million, Donald sued. After a period of time during which the courts seemed to not be much interested in the case, Donald withdrew the lawsuit.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/10/trump-files-donald-son-orangutan/
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LOL. Sometimes I wonder what US courts would get to do were it not for Trump and his litigation!
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Tris is very accommodating. When I pointed out that it would be nice if an indigenous American species be included, and suggested a rattlesnake, a fine looking rattler showed up. (And made return visits.)
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I like rattlers… sort of.
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We’ll do a rhino for you next week…
🙂
Orangs always feature becasue a) I love them, and b) Panda Paws would kill me if I didn’t feature them.
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Maybe because orangutans are a bit beautiful? To my mind they are the most photogenic near relatives on the planet.
Rhino’s are loveable too.
Obviously.
It is not a game. There are numerous squid, that seem charming. Humans are not necessarily the best folk on the planet.
Just saying.
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Squid? Yes, that’s OK with me.
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I think Dean only likes Rhinos because of his signed photo of the Ruthenfuhrer riding one.
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LOL.
I like rhinos, and certainly she has nothing to do with that!!
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Well, she sits admirably on a rhino? If rhin0 riding is the defiinition of a ‘good’ politician, then Ruth Harrison, aka Ruth Davidson is a our entirely bestest yet political leader. I find that a bit doubtful, but others may love her to bits.
The fact that they are verging on insane, does not excuse them their insanity.
I think, they speak for an absolute minority of the Scottish people.
I would like that put to the test.
I would like, when we have a Brexit deal laid out, for us to judge it. I doubt that most Scots will be ‘comfortable’ with whatever Theresa May might negotiate.
I may be wrong, but a separate exit, or non-exit strategy may be more appealing.
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Ruth on a Rhino? (sounds like a mobile phone game app tbh)
I’m off to google this!
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I thought it was a bison or an aurochs, something like that, but not a gnu or a wildebeest, and I’m ruling out moose and elk too – could it have been a water buffalo? Except we don’t have rice paddies and such in Scotland.
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