A tiro (which can also be written as tyro) is a beginner or novice. Two or more are known as tiros.
I’m a tiro when it comes to wildlife photography, but fortunately this little bird hopped off instead of flying away, so I got some of it in focus. Anyone know what it is?
Wednesday word of the week
Wednesday word of the week – Mull
A mull is a promontory. Mull can also mean to ponder or consider. Mulling wine, beer or cider is heating it with sugar and spices. Eg I went to the Mull of Kintyre and mulled over whether or not to have a glass of mulled wine.
Mull apparently can also be a form of non acidic compost or a particular type of muslim, so I suppose I could have sat on a pile of mull at a mull* in the company of a mull. We may have mulled things over together, but we’d not have drunk any mulled wine.
*Not Kintyre though as the soils is acidic there.
Now I could have mulled some wine and photographed that as I do like the stuff, but instead here’s one of the foghorn at the Mull of Galloway. (I don’t actually know the man in the picture, but he stayed there so long I took the shot anyway, then walked down to see what he was looking at. It was a HUGE seal. He (the man, not the seal) then pointed out various different birds and explained about the tides and other interesting stuff.)
Wednesday word of the week – Mutable
Mutable doesn’t mean ‘able to be muted’ which would have been my guess. It actually means liable to change or fickle. The meaning of words can change (wicked, gay, nice) so if mutable is a word which exhibits mutability, I might eventually be right.
Tulip flowers are mutable; often changing colour as they age or ‘breaking’ into intricate patterns as a reaction to a virus.
Wednesday word of the week – crenellation
You might have known that crenellation is the uppy downy bits on battlements. You can have a point if you did. To crenallate is to provide a castle or tower with crenellation.
Did you know the uppy downy parts also have proper names? The gaps are crenels or crenelles. The bits between are merlons. Here’s a sign to prove I don’t just make all this stuff up.
And here’s a picture of a castle, showing crenallation, which was taken on one of our trips and is obviously the entire reason for choosing today’s word of the week. It’s called Tantallon – isn’t that a fantastic name for a castle?
We got there early and had the place to ourselves for the first half hour. I really must work it into a story.
Wednesday word of the week – Paraselene
A paraselene is a bright spot, especially on a lunar halo. It’s sometimes known as a mock or false moon. I’m not sure I entirely follow, but it’s a nice word.
The picture is of the actual moon, taken by Gary. He’s one of the bright spots in my life.
Wednesday word of the week – nyctitropic
Nyctitropic is the movement, of plants, at night. Yep, daisies and cabbages are going to crawl out their beds and murder you in yours!
Nah, not really. This phenomenon is caused by changes in light or temperature. Usually it’s no more alarming than leaves drooping or flowers opening at different times. For example mirabilis jalapa and nicotiana sylvestris flowers tend to be droopy in the daytime, but perk up in the evening and overnight. That’s handy if you’re pollinated by moths.
I admit it’s not an easy word to drop into a story or casual conversation, but I’m sure you’ll find a way.
Wednesday word of the week – Futurity
I’d never heard of the word until my friend Anne Rainbow sent me the definition, saying she thought I might like it for this blog. She was right!
As futurity means ‘time to come’ the start of a new year seems the perfect moment to mention it.
There’s also a plural form of the word – futurities – which refers to future events or prospects.
I do hope that 2024 holds many wonderful futurities for us all. With luck, some of mine will involve travelling to interesting historical sights.
Wednesday word of the week – rummage
Campervanners often have to rummage. It can mean to search untidily and unsystematically. It doesn’t matter how tidily and systematically you pack your van, that kind of approach never works when it comes to finding the corkscrew and chocolate.
A rummage can be a confused miscellaneous collection. A rummager is someone who rummages. Once you’ve finished rummaging you will have rummaged for long enough.
To rummage out is to find amongst other things. To rummage about is to disarrange. (That’s another good word)
Rummage also refers to the arrangement of casks in the hold of a ship. That definitely needs to be done tidily and systematically or the ship will become unstable. Also it’ll mean the sailors have to rummage about to find their rum.
Wednesday word of the week – Craggy
A crag is a steep or rugged rock. Craggy can refer to a human face or the landscape and means rugged or rough textured. There are other versions of the word, for example in Scotland* the scenery got craggier as we approached the highlands, it was craggiest on Skye where the landscape is craggily magnificent.
Btw the pictures are all to illustrate craggy landscapes. It’s purely coincidental that the same photographer just happens to be in all of them not long after remarking on the size of my bum.
*yes I have been to Scotland. I have some pictures if you’d like to see them …
