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Hello, Elle!
I think the weather is better for fishing this week.
There have been reports of several Pacific salmon being caught and it is a mystery where they came from.
I am astonished you looked in the wrong place for "son(s)".
I typed "s", not "S"!
I agree with you on regional accents and pronunciation.
It can take a minute or two to "tune" in.
i am getting no picture from the loch.
Is Lassie still there?
Oh, speaking of accents etc.
I was watching the golf this afternoon, it is coming from Kingsbarns, in Fife.
One of the commentators said the weather was "getting dreich"!
Made my afternoon!

You are correct, Elle. I shouldn't have included the 'R' in my examples.
A schwa is only related to sounds, so spelling can be even more confusing particularly as we don't spell phonetically!
I don't have any references as I have disposed of my books. Suffice to say, English is the most illogical language to learn. Imagine trying to explain a schwa to a Pole or a Kuwaiti!

Hi, Rusty!
There were two ospreys in the nest when I just looked!
Neither was facing fully forward though, so I am uncertain which ones they were?
Possibly the now fully grown "chicks"?
But I didn't discover any new info on the blog.
It should be about time now for all the departures to Arica, shouldn't it?
So how does one pronounce "dreich"?
I have only ever seen it written down........never spoken.
Can you attempt to spell it out phonetically?
Have your latest book orders from Amazon arrived yet?


Ok, thank you, Kenyatta
You certainly inspired an interesting discussion!

Hello, Elle!
Lassie leaves first.
Then the chicks, lastly Laddie.
The folk at the loch are not very good passing on info...in my opinion.
I got one book today from Amazon.
"The Long Drop".
It is about an infamous murder in Essex in 1927.
Now, dreich is pronounced "dree", same as "tree" but with a "d" replacing the "t", and the "ch" sound is identical to the "ch" sound in "loch".
"Dree-ch", but spelled "dreich".
How's that?

@Chris
If this post does not get hidden in the chat.....

I am now reliably informed that your Groucho Marx quote and mine regarding the mahogany table are both examples of

"prepositional danglers"

I knew something was dangling somewhere !
Off for a healthy walk in the sunshine......

Thanks jazzy - I must try to find an opportunity to use the expression "prepositional danglers"!

Good morning, Elle!
A bit overcast here, after a lovely start to the day!
Hope you have not choked yourself pronouncing "dreich"?
I am quite chuffed with me today.
I have got a picture from the loch again.
It was to do with "site settings" and flash player being set to "ask", apparently.
I have changed it to "allow" and all is well again.
I Googled the problem and got a solution quickly.
Let us hope there are no schwas knocking about in the puzzle today!

Good morning, Rusty!
A fine day here, too, with a nice fresh breeze to liven up our walk.
Your phonetical spelling of "dreich " is good - I can now 'throw' it into the conversation!
I am okay on the pronunciaton of "ch" !
My cousin always said that it passed muster!
I do not know of "The Long Drop"?
Who is the author....and who killed whom?
My own books from Amazon are said to be arriving with the next few days.
I am about to make a coffee and then take a look at the crossword..........
Yes, hopefully, no grammatical or pronunciation problems today!

Hello, Elle!
If your Scottish cousin gives you pass marks on your pronunciation that will do fine!
Now, the Long Drop is a book by Robin Odell and Christopher Berry-Dee.
PC George Gutteridge was murdered by Browne and Kennedy, near Billericay..
The infamy part is, there is a school of thought that thought that the policeman's eyes were deliberately shot through, after he was dead, in case there was an image retained on them of the last thing he saw (his murderer(s).
Pretty barbaric if true. It was barbaric enough, anyway!
Browne and Kennedy were hanged, though the authors believe one of them was innocent.
If there are any grammatical problems in the puzzle I'll be no help whatsoever!

Hi, Rusty!
I had not heard of the murder of PC Gutteridge, although it sounds to have been very gruesome.
I have, however, heard of Billericay!
It is near Basildon, I think, in Essex?
The Scottish cousin to whom I referred is dead now, but I spent most of my life failing to understand a word he was saying!
He lived in Kirkintilloch near Glasgow, and had a very strong accent.
I often only realised that he was addressing me, when the sentence ended with my name! (which is, of course , also Scottish!)
He appeared on "15 to 1" once......William G. Stewart seemed a tad confused , too!
He was a lovely man (my cousin , not WG!) and used to call me "lassie"!
I haven't had much time to spend on the xword........
But wondered about 2d: Author of Brewer's simple guide in two languages? (7)
I thought of Boileau ( a French poet ) = author (definition)
Would that be brewer - boiler
Sounds like boil eau?
Or am I on the wrong track?