Eventually, the mist lifted…

Eventually the wind swung round to the north and the mist lifted, at least until the wind changed again… Algy was so relieved to see some light and colour in the world once more that he flew straight down to the sea and found himself a perch on a rock where the tide was washing in. The world looked entirely different on a fine day, and Algy couldn’t help wishing that it would be fine just a wee bit more often… But there was little he could do to influence the weather, so he decided to make the most of the sunshine while it lasted, even though the wind was still decidedly cool.

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Flaming June…

For days and days and days – that felt like weeks and months and years – the dense Scotch mist had smothered the West Highlands of Scotland with a dark and exceedingly thick wet blanket. Algy had heard a distant rumour that this would be the hottest, sunniest weekend of the year to date… in the UK…

So, in the middle of the afternoon, in the middle of the year, Algy perched on a dripping fence post and studied the moss growing on top of the post in front of him. As most of the world had vanished, it was almost all he could see, but he was glad to discover that at least some things seemed to thrive in these conditions…

Flaming June, they call it.

adventuresofalgy:

The summer was drawing to a close, and there was a different sort of feeling in the air. Algy had heard that many people visited fun fairs at this time of year, for a final fling before the holidays ended and they had to return to work or school. It was almost impossible to find a fun fair in the West Highlands, but fortunately Nature stepped in where humans had failed to provide. So Algy had to fly no futher than the nearest birch tree to enjoy a ride as exciting as any in the fairground, although he was sorry that there were no toffee apples to eat afterwards…

Have a fun weekend, everyone, and if your holidays are coming to an end, enjoy those last few days! xoxo

This time it was the beginning of summer, not the end – but the ride was the same! Algy’s birch tree could not keep still for a moment today…

Algy hopes that all his friends in the northern hemisphere will enjoy the summer ahead… if they can find it!

It was midsummer, and although the weather was cool and showery, the sun managed to make its way out from behind the clouds from time to time. When that happened it felt quite warm in the more sheltered spots, but – best of all – it released the wonderful aroma of the wild bog myrtle.

At this time of year, the whole of the area around Algy’s home was filled with the fragrance of this aromatic plant, and Algy loved it. He flew up to warm spot on the headland, where he knew the bog myrtle grew across the peat bog and right up to the bare rocky outcrops that protruded from it, and found himself a warm rock beside a low, green bush. Burying his beak in the shiny leaves, he inhaled happliy 🙂

[For those interested in botany, bog myrtle is also known as Sweet Gale, and its Latin name is Myrica Gale.]

imiging:

– Cotton grass is one of the more delightful features of the West Highland peat bogs, and Algy is fascinated by it every summer. He loves to sit among the fluffy seedheads and watch them blowing in the wind 🙂                                               Algy made this GIF today especially to celebrate imiging‘s exciting new monthly GIF feature. Algy loves photo-GIFs!

Photograph and Gif of The Adventures of Algy are made by Jenny Chapman

adventuresofalgy.tumblr.com

Algy’s Books / Facebook / Other blog : LovefromAlgy

Club imiging Member

This so charming GIF was especially made by our VIP imiging Club Member for the amazing imigif day n°11 curated by imiging. Submit your own creation to join the party next month. Let’s Gif today!

It’s cotton grass time again, and Algy loves to relax in one of the drier spots in the peat bogs, surrounded by the fragrance of the aromatic bog myrtle, just watching the fluffy seed heads blowing in the wind 🙂

Algy sends a big fluffy hug and his fluffiest thanks to his kind friends @imiging for featuring this GIF in their amazing imigif day earlier this month. He hopes that many more of his friends will join in the fun and create original GIFs from their photographs for the next imigif day on 1st July.

The weather had turned cold, grey and very damp, and Algy felt in need of a wee change of scene. He decided to fly across the water to the sheltered harbour of Tobermory, a village on the Isle of Mull which has the distinction of hosting the only real bookshop for many, many miles around. Tackle & Books (the dark grey and maroon building just to the left of the bright red one) has a good children’s book section, and Algy was delighted to see his own books on sale there 🙂 

Algy found a cold iron railing at the edge of the water and perched there in the drizzly rain, studying the view across the harbour. He thought it was a good thing that the human residents of Tobermory had decided to paint the harbourside buildings in cheerful, bright colours or – on such a summer’s day as this – the scene would have looked very drab indeed…

This post is especially dedicated to Algy’s friend @petrinakent 🙂

Day after day, the Scotch mist smothered the land, and the world became darker and greyer and wetter. Not a day passed without rain, and the precipiation very rarely stopped. Drizzly rain, dripping rain, splashing rain, torrential rain… the endless clouds tried every trick they could think of. When the rain did stop, it was only for a breathing space, and before long it started again.

As it was supposed to be midsummer, Algy was beginning to feel a wee bit discouraged, but he was happy to see that at least the wild irises at the edge of the sand dunes were doing their best to provide a few bursts of sunshine. As he leaned back on the tall, sturdy leaves, he remembered some lines from a poem:

Weed, moss-weed,
root tangled in sand,
sea-iris, brittle flower,
one petal like a shell
is broken,
and you print a shadow
like a thin twig.

Fortunate one,
scented and stinging,
rigid myrrh-bud,
camphor-flower,
sweet and salt—you are wind
in our nostrils.

[Algy is quoting part I of the poem Sea Iris by the 20th century American poet H. D.]

Algy flew down to the dunes, and found the place deserted. Although it was almost summer, there was very little sign of life except for the determined larks, who were still singing despite the gloomy weather, and an occasional mournful seabird drifting here and there on the wind. The islands were obscured by mist, and the sea looked sullen and grey. As the drenching mist swept in from the ocean and the tall grasses bent low in the wind, Algy took cover behind a clump of Marram grass, where he was glad to see that some cheerful daisies and sunny buttercups had appeared at last, to brighten the place up a wee bit.

Algy left the beautiful, sheltered garden and flew back home, where he found as fine an example of Flaming June as you could hope to see… He perched on a patch of prostrate juniper, which was clinging as closely as it could to a damp rock, and gazed out across the peat bog in the whistling wind, keeping his head tucked well down to avoid the worst effects of the driving Scotch mist. He had to concede that in view of the fact it was nearly midsummer, the weather was a wee bit disappointing for the time of year…

After a few days of bright but chilly sunshine, the sky clouded over and became exceedingly grey. The air felt icy, and it looked as though it might snow again at any moment. Algy and his new friend, little black Teddy, were sitting at the edge of the peat bog, surveying the desolate scene. Teddy was wondering whether he might not be better off back in Germany with his kind friend snirg-fundstuecke, but Algy explained that the West Highlands were not always this bleak; in due course, all the browns and blacks and greys would turn to greens, and by June the whole peat bog would be covered with the pretty, fluffy seedheads of the cotton grass, blowing gently in the breeze…