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Hello, Elle!
It is a lovely day here, but quite windy.
The clock was very straightforward to change, honest!
I have always thought Everyman was on the less challenging side.
Bit like Rufus in the Guardian.
Had a nice time at Pine Cone.
I had a black pudding roll for a change!
It was smashing!
Christmas trees are all lit up already!

Hi, Rusty!
A glorious day here now....we should have delayed our walk until a little later!
I don't think we have any plans to go out again though ......daughter may pop over shortly....... and of course it will be going dark earlier now that the clocks have gone back.
I am glad you had a good time - did Miss O join you?
I am not envious of your black pudding...although I should enjoy a bacon roll!
It seems early for the Christmas trees to be lit up...but then it is their "business" to sell both trees and decorations, and obviously this will go towards attracting more customers, won't it?
Polhill Garden Centre always lights up their trees very early, although the emphasis there is mainly on selling the lights and decorations.
It always looks very pretty and is well worth a visit !

Hello, Elle!
Yes, both girls were with me.
There are trees and Christmas "stuff" on display 12 months of the year!
There were no jingling bells or Christmas trees or reindeers or Santa at Bethlehem, remember.
Lot of these "traditional" things are very modern.
And the time for lighting the tree is up to the individual.
So, we have a neverending Christmas at the Pine Cone!
The Stornoway black pudding is excellent, Elle!

Hi, Rusty!
I think the temperature is dropping quite steeply....
I have been out playing ball with the dog and it feels freezing!
We are supposed to get frost tomorrow morning!
And it will only be 5C when I go out at 8am!
Our daughter did not come.......
Since she went back to work full time, it is difficult fitting in all the children's activities........
Swimming lessons had to be changed till Sunday afternoon at 4 pm.......which does not leave a lot of time between that and this morning's tennis lesson!
Not to worry, we shall catch up in due course!
I am doing the ST Cryptic, now that we have been for the paper......

Hello, Elle!
Lucky you with the 5C.
We are getting 3C during the night.
Early dark tonight.
Good luck with your crossword!

Hi, Rusty!
I have been reading......
We have had a pleasant day in that it has been quiet and relaxing......
just what's needed sometimes!
I learned another piece of Cockney rhyming slang from the ST Cryptic crossword........"butcher's hook" meaning "look"!
There was one clue in particular that I rather liked ...
Monument such as Pisa's tower? (6,8)
Answer: listed building
A clever play on words, I thought?
I think my cousin will be phoning shortly.............

Hello, Elle!
I have been reading, too.
"Listed Building" is a good one!
Have they managed to stop it listing, I wonder?
It is amazing what they can do nowadays.
I was reading about my local Uni the other day.
They are working on a vaccine that they hope will prevent Alzheimers disease developing.
I am sure I read that cucumbers are involved in some way?
I think Oxford Uni is involved, too.
Could be a long way away, but a start has to be made somewhere, as Chairman Mao is said to have said!
Now, I am ahead of you, Elle.
I knew "butcher's hook"!
I had a look at Accuweather's forecast.
They give 1C for here at 6 in the morning!
That's a bit chilly!

Hi, Rusty!
All is well up North!
I haven't heard about the research by Dundee and Oxford universities into Altzeimer's disease, but it would be a godsend if such a vaccine could be / generated / developed / whatever the correct terminology is.
Any disease that affects one's self or one's loved ones is heartrending, but to endure the effects of such as Alzeimer's must be particularly harrowing.
To see a person change before one's eyes, for him/her to lose their personality ...even no longer to recognise their nearest and dearest, maybe to become abusive towards them.......
Alzeimer's is the most terrible disease.
I wonder what part cucumbers play?
You are becoming an expert in Cockneyism!
So "Give us a butcher's" means " Let's have a look"!
I wonder can I throw that into the conversation in the park tomorrow?
My two cockney friends will surely know it though!

Hello, Elle!
According to what I read Dundee Uni is a world leader in medical research.
Here is one item.
https://www.dundee.ac.uk/news/2017/vaccinating-against-psoriasis-allergies-and-alzheimers-a-possibility-research-shows.php
It would be wonderful if a vaccine worked.
I think it may be a virus that attacks cucumbers that is helping the research.
You are a scientist, so you read it, then explain to a thicko like me what it is all about?
Your cockney buddies did not know what "clock" meant, so fingers crossed (why fingers crossed?) they know "butcher's hook"!
Glad to hear all is well in the North!

Update, Elle!
This ties in with the first report I posted.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-41780810