Thru the glass darkly

I've started to mirror this blog over at its old home on Spymac but if any of you are thinking of moseying over there to check it out (or, Lindz, just swinging by there) I'd warn against it. Somehow during their migration to the all new improved formula Spymac 4 they seem to have had a taste bypass - probably a triple bypass! That thing is shockingly ugly! It's been hit with the ugly stick - correction it's been beaten to within an inch of its life with the ugly stick - and then they hung this groteque blue banner over the whole thing. It's fussy, crowded and ugly - that's 3 out of 3 - so definitely a triple bypass.
How do you like the experiment with justification? I once, in the early days of the web, had a web-site that I had designed that catered for lefties and orthodox types and the lefty version had all the text right justified. I found it fascinating but then I'm a southpaw.
There was no blog yesterday because we were having major altercations with out ISP/PTT combination - in other words our telecommunications infrastructure was buggered. After phone calls by the bucket full and complaints in the high decibels range we got a connexion but at that point I just couldn't be arsed. Even today the internet connexion has been up and down like a whore's drawers all day!
Enough already with the meta blog, lets get some meat and potatoes cooking around here!

You might not believe this but we've had a complaint about this blog -and not from the technoSM fascists either. No, this one was from, not only a loyal, if misguided, regular reader but actually from one of our own! That miserable old Scotsman who doubles as one of our correspondents wrote the following:

I want to complain about your blog, since it is so exquisitely ironic , inculcates such delicious schadenfreude, and uproarious laughter, that it severly endangers the health of very old people like myself who are unfortunate enough to read it.

If we continue to get complaints like that one I for one will be a very happy bunny. On a more serious note we also had feedbvack on the very selfsame day from our Northern correspondent Finn McEskimo who was responding to my blog about Spymac not being much snuff these days with the following:

Where could the blogging flock head to? We need either a new hobbyist-based site like Spymac used to be ...

Well, I'm actively looking around for possible new territories for disgruntled ex-Spymaccers to set up brand new homesteads and communitites. So far the community thing that Opera have set up looks the most promising inasmuch as we could set up a group or a community within that community. Strange really, and gorgeously serendipitous, that Opera is a Swedish company and our Northern correspondent is a Finn (both ways). More northerly than a miserable old Scotsman? Who knows?

The FarmTwins have been like whirling dervished since the weather broke back to dry (no, they haven't been dancing themselves into trances - it was a figure of speeech to indicate that they had been very busy - take it or leave it ,but do not pick holes in it please). The new ashcan, fabricated from an old indirect hot water tank is all but finished, the stove flue now has a creosote drain fitted (I've been meaning to do that for 3 years), the cowl from the stove flue has been removed, cleaned, and the bearing greased in readiness for winter and now turns (silently might I add) in the slightest breeze. There is talk of a delivery of a lorry load of logs at the weekend and so a fire is not out of the question in the near fututre. If they keep this up then all of the pre-winter chores will be complete before winter settles its cold damp cloak around our shoulders - and what will cock-robin do then? BTW I saw the robin this week - he returns every year at about this time and is a welcome visitor - worry not I keep a keen eye out for next doors' cats when he is about and always have a large rock handy to discourage any evil intent that they might harbour.