Weather & Glen Marnoch 40 yo

Scotland is being buffeted by rather strong breezes at the moment. A gust of 165 mph was recorded around 3.30p.m. on Cairngorm this afternoon and the worst is yet to come so they tell us. Many roads closed - either snow or trees down - Tay, Forth & Erskine bridges all closed to ALL traffic and Friarton & Skye bridges closed to high sided vehicles. The A66 is closed because of overturned vehicles, there are 2 overturned at the Rest And Be Thankful, Byres Road in Glasgow is closed, others such as the coast road south of Skelmorlie are flooded. 80mph winds blowing across the country with gusts higher than this. All Scotland's schools were closed by 12.30p.m.
On a more enjoyable note, Aldi released their 40yo Glen Marnoch Single Speyside Malt today. 3000 bottles between 450 branches. I visited Stirling before 10, no stock and one of my students, Alan Hall, said there were no bottles in Kilmarnock.
The bottle was on Aldi's shelves (when it was there) for £49.99 a bottle. I have heard that there are already bottles on ebay at £300.00. Just think of the extra profit Aldi could have made!

Snow

To quote Bud Neill:
Winter's came, the snow has fell,
Wee Josie's nose is froze as well.
Wee Josie's frozen nose is skintit,
Winter's diabolic intit?
the pic is of my local hill, Dumyat. At only 418 metres above sea level, it's not really a mountain, but the base of the hill is only about 5 metres elevation, so it is a good, solid, but quite easy walk to the top.
Our first snow of the winter today. Not a lot, but temperatures due to drop to -3 or -4 tonight with more snow tomorrow. Could make the roads rather difficult tomorrow.
My foot is still b____y sore. That nurse really is a sadist!

Damaged foot & record results for Scotch industry

In the summer of 2005, I was pulling my then 6 year old daughter through the surf on a beach in the Western Loire to the south of the mouth of the Loire. The water here has fine sand in it, so the water isn't crystal clear and I stumbled across some rocks and ripped the sole of my foot open on rocks and oyster shells. My foot was bandaged up and I spent a few days hobbling around. Some months later, I noticed that where my foot had been cut, lumps of hard skin were manifesting. Went to the quack who diagnosed verrucas. I maintained that I felt that there were pieces of rock/shell embedded in my foot. For about 18 months, I treated the foot with a liquid and had cryotherapy (liquid nitrogen) treatment on the sole of my foot. It didn't clear up, so I thought that I was stuck with it. It wasn't causing pain, just a little discomfort which I put up with.
Until a couple of months ago when the foot started to be painful. Went back to the quack who arranged for an x ray to see if there were actually any foreign bodies in my foot because, as he said, my foot shouldn't have been like this for 6 years. He also suggested that I recommence the cryotherapy.
At 5.00pm last night, I saw a sadistic nurse who treated the sole of my foot with the liquid nitrogen - as it has NEVER been treated before! I now cannot walk, I was in sincere pain driving home from the surgery last night, the damaged area is on the ball of my left foot, where the clutch pedal sits.
The good news is that the Scotch Whisky industry has reported record export figures - again! Export sales rose by 23% in the 9 months to 30th September, effectively achieving 2010's exports in the first 9 months of 2011! Brazil, with its 7% annual growth in GDP is the world's fastest growing whisky drinking nation: sales increased by 50% in the 9 months!
See http://www.heraldscotland.com/business/corporate-sme/exports-of-scotch-whisky-surge-to-hit-record-levels-1.1137758?3378

Fairtrade Clackmannanshire + Ben Nevis

Through my membership of the Co-operative's local Area Committee, I have been pushed into being the leader of the Fairtade Steering Group which aims to achieve Fairtrade Zone status for Clackmannanshire. Our first event, an African Kitchen cookery demonstration, will be held within Baxter's Restaurant in Alloa tomorrow evening. We have already had good coverage in both the local newspapers, Alloa Advertiser and The Wee County News. Did an interview with Central FM this morning which should be broadcast this evening. The event is already a sell out with a large waiting list for spaces.
Next target, the schools, some of which have already been contacted and the churches who, curiously, don't seem particularly connected with Fairtrade.
Ben Nevis distillery has launched McDonald's Celebrated Traditional Ben Nevis with a replica of an old label. This is an attempt to replicate the style of whisky which was bottled by the company in 1882. An almost impossible task as, at the time, the company also owned the nearby Nevis distillery and, historically, this label contained both Nevis and Ben Nevis whiskies. Nevis ceased production around 1908 and its whisky has long faded into memory. This bottling is limited to only 700 bottles.
See my tasting note amongst what I am tasting now: http://www.johnlamond.com/page12.html

Rain, rain and more rain

It has been a VERY wet November here in Scotland. So much so that now the soil is saturated, literally can't absorb any more rain - and it is still falling! Result? The M8 to the west of Stirling was flooded this morning with drivers having to be rescued from their cars by firemen. The road between here and Causeawhead in Stirling is flooded and impassable, as are the road to the east of Dollar, my wife's route into school, the unclassified road between the B9140 and the A91 into Alva. There is every expectation that more roads will be closed as the day goes on. Many train lines are also flooded and closed. Listening to Radio Scotland's Roads Report, it seems that some people have spent as much as 4 hours stuck in, or near, flooding. The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency are saying as I write that they expect water levels to rise for the next 3 hours. This is as bad as last year's snow and ice problems. We should call for Keith Brown's (Scotland's Transport Minister) resignation!
Last night's Parents' Night was successful, Kirsty seems t be doing well, even very well. She obviously takes after her mother rather than me!

Wallace Monument

Yesterday, as we are close to St. Andrew's Day, many buildings, castles, etc. were open to the public for FREE. The Wallace Monument is about 2 miles away from where I sit in my study. Despite its proximity, we have not visited it in the 6 years we have lived here, thus my daughter has never been near it - because the cost is, quite frankly prohibitive. £30.00 for the three of us. Just to climb up and climb down again.
Thus, as it was free (see it's true, we Scots are tight!), I took my daughter along.
The queues were extraordinary and it was freezing cold standing in the queue. They told us when we arrived that it would be about an hour before we would be able to get inside the monument. Then they told us that we would only be able to get to the third floor. One of the reasons for going was to experience the view and take photographs of our home area from the top!
We froze, we waited.
It was quite good, but it was not worth £30.00
Tonight is my daughter's first parents' night at secondary school. She had good reports from her primary school up until the summer, but i am not sure about how things are going at secondary. Now we will find out how she has really been getting on.

Drambusters' Whisky Festival

Down to Dumfries yesterday for Drambusters' inaugural Whisky Festival. Drambusters is the whisky club organised by Dumfries whisky shop, T.B. Watson Ltd. in the town's English Street.
This was a good wee festival, held in the Cairndale Hotel with 18 or 20 whisky companies (and me) taking part. I signed a few books, spoke to a LOT of people from all over: Carlisle, Kent, Glasgow, Germany, California as well as Dumfries. At most such festivals I have been to there seems to have been an upper age. At this one, that was exceeded. Possibly because I was situated at a central pillar and had no fewer than 3 seats, none of which I was using, I spoke to 4 people who were in excess of 80 years of age and 1 who was 92. That made an age spread of 74 years!
Met up again with Robertson Wellen, a whiskyphile Californian who runs a great guest house in Dumfries called "Ferintosh". The only hotel/guest house/b&b I have ever been at where I was left a small decanter of single cask single malt whisky by my bed! http://www.ferintosh.net/index.htm The three members of the Bavarian Whisky Pipes were staying with Robertson while they were in Dumfries.
The weather was appalling and my drive home was fun; strong winds, pouring rain and amateur drivers crawling up the road from Dumfries to the M74. Still I did the 95 mile return journey in an hour and 40 minutes. A steady 73 mph on the M74, M73 and M90, great thing cruise control!