Here comes the Moon again, in a circle of colours. Last night it shone so bright it woke us from our sleep.
A2 is rereading The Paper Eater by Liz Jensen.
Author: admin2
Sky News
A celestial selection box! A backdrop of cirrus, contrails in all directions, a circumzenithal arc at top right, a tiny sundog at bottom leftish and a Kelvin-Helmholtz wave left of centre. Atmospheric Optics used to explain all these things but something has gone horribly wrong.
We had a warming meal of spag bol and apple crumble on another chilly day and scored 10 on the GSQ.
A1 is reading The Sins of Our Fathers* by Asa Larsson. A2 is rereading Gods Without Men by Hari Kunzru.
Moonrise
The gibbous moon soars above the clouds and trees on a chilly (-1.4 °C) night.
A1 is reading The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard. A2 is reading Last Night in Montreal* by Emily St John Mandel.
Sunrise
Here comes the Sun — and a flock of pigeons.
A1 is reading White as Snow* by Lilja Sigurdardottir. A2 is reading The Ice by Laline Paull.
And yes, it’s cold today.
Sundowner
A2 went to town today for the first time in weeks. On the way home she saw this pretty sky with the low sun behind a cloud.
A1 is reading The Ice by Laline Paull, a near-future “cli-fi” (urgh) novel whose plot-driving event happens on Svalbard during the total solar eclipse of 20 March, 2015. We pondered going to Svalbard for this (extremely expensive) or the Faroes (just very expensive, but clouded out anyway), but ended up watching it from the UK, where there was a 90% eclipse — blog post. Anyway, the book was somewhat off-putting initially, being very blokey and privileged (arms fairs, private clubs, rich bastards), but rapidly paid off further reading with terrific writing and some very affecting quotes from real polar explorers as chapter headings. An excellent read.
A2 is reading Never Coming Back by Tim Weaver.
Pies for Yorkshire
We had a substantial meal of shepherd’s pie/cheese and tomato pasta bake followed by this apple tart (which underwent a rapid unscheduled disassembly when taken out of the tin) and scored a substantial 12 on the GSQ.
A2 is reading White as Snow* by Lilja Sigurdardottir.
The Owl in Daylight
Our scare owl reflected in the calm pond.
A1 is reading You Can’t See Me* by Eva Borg Aegisdottir. A2 is reading No One Home by Tim Weaver.
Cold Case Coppers Come Knocking
Current crime fiction fans A1 and A2 were surprised when a pair of detectives (bearing a slight resemblance to characters Catherine Cawood of Happy Valley and Steve Arnott of Line of Duty, who are standing in for them in this photo) turned up unannounced to question A1 about a 1996 unsolved murder close to his former flat; sadly he couldn’t help them with their enquiries.
A1 is reading Cold as Hell* by Lilja Sigurdardottir. A2 is reading The Arsenic Labyrinth by Martin Edwards.
After Debi
The sun shines on the rainy window after a stormy night.
A1 is reading Wolf Pack* by Will Dean, but gave it up due to the annoyingly staccato style. A2 is reading Stigma* by Jorn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger.
Diwali
It’s Diwali! The Sikh Temple opened their gigantic box of fireworks and filled the sky with whooshing crackling sparkling sprays of light and colour.
A1 is reading The Creak on the Stairs* by Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir. A2 is reading Cold as Hell* (too right it is) by Lilja Sigurdardottir.
We had meltingly tender Italian beef stew and trifle for our family nosh and scored THIRTEEN on the GSQ; thanks everybody.
Fallen Leaves
Abandoned books on a bench.
A1 is reading Stigma* by Jorn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger. A2 is reading The Creak on the Stairs* by Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir.
Long Fine Legs
Hello harvestperson!
A1 is reading You Were Gone by Tim Weaver. A2 is reading The Broken Bridge by Philip Pullman; third book in a row featuring an arty teenage girl with family problems and psychic powers.
All the Leaves Are Brown
And the sky is grey.
A1 is reading The Spanish Game by Charles Cumming. A2 is rereading The Rapture by Liz Jensen; dire warnings about climate change which of course have gone unheeded.
Nature’s Trinkets
Bronze leaves and scarlet berries sparkling in the rain.
October was our coldest, wettest and second least sunny October since our records began. Same as July, but even colder, wetter and darker.
A1 is reading The Blackbird by Tim Weaver.
Devil Cat from Hell (for Halloween)
The diabolical Deimos, and the new camera’s OTT simulation of HDR.
A2 is rereading After the Crash by Michel Bussi.
A Ray of Sunshine
At last (but it didn’t last) a bit of brightness lights up the dark and oppressive skies.
A1 is reading Missing Pieces by Tim Weaver. A2 is rereading Red Pill by Hari Kunzru
We had chicken pie and apfelstrudel for our family dinner and scored a better-than-usual 12 on the GSQ.
Mistification
We were hoping for a lunar eclipse today but all we got was fog followed by black clouds followed by rain. No doubt the moon was eclipsing behind it all regardless.
A1 is reading Never Coming Back by Tim Weaver. A2 is rereading England, England by Julian Barnes.
A Grand Day
It is a dark and gloomy day in the wettest October since our records began but our solar panels have made a thousand pounds this year.
A Walk on the Wood
A ladybird ventures forth along the fence.
We had porky vegetables and fruit salad cake for our Sunday dinner and scored 11 on the GSQ with the inestimable Faye as quizmistress.
A1 is reading The Last Goodbye by Tim Weaver. A2 is rereading An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris.
Everything Is Illuminated
A2 strung lights on the fence and A1 photographed them.
A1 is reading The Man on Hackpen Hill by JS Monroe, which started off entertainingly daft but got progressively sillier.
We are watching Bodies.
Long to Rain over Us
Today was the rainiest day since our records began: 55.5 mm and counting (59.7 at close of play; more in one day than we’ve had in three months this year). An exceptionally rainy day last year was also on 20 October but it came from the other direction.
A1 is reading Black Thorn* by Sarah Hilary — 370 pages of horrible people being horrible to each other. An exhausting read.
Puffballs
A2 went out to light up and strengthen the fence in advance of Storm Babet and discovered these tiny puffballs growing alongside.
A1 is reading Outside* by Ragnar Jonasson, which was unbelievable and rather stupid. A2 is rereading Revelation by CJ Sansom.
Two Little Dogs
A matching par of parhelia. There was also a faint circumzenithal arc.
A1 is reading Reykjavik* by Ragnar Jonasson and Kristin Jakobsdottir. A2 is rereading 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard.
Oh No!
A sad stick in the road screaming because it has lost several limbs.
We scored an equally sad 9 on the GSQ after our family meal of stew followed by parkin to warm us up on a day when the temperature dropped to 1.1 °C.
Light and Shadow
It’s Light Night! Among the advertised attractions were illuminations in the ginnel. A2 went out to look but there was nothing to see at our end except street lamps shining on fallen leaves. Oh well.
A1 is rereading The Outsider by Stephen King.