Morning!

As I wasn't tied to the house awaiting phone calls or engineers or deliveries, and the weather prospect looked promising, I was up and out at the crack of dawn with Archie - JR dropped us in Holyrood Park. The pond was frozen, with all the swans and ducks huddled up the other end, which perhaps gets a wee bit of sun at some point in the day.

We had a huge walk! I hadn't intended going quite so far, but it was so lovely - no wind, crispy frosty underfoot, pink skies.

Instead of walking back round by the Parliament and getting two buses home, I suddenly decided to walk right through the Park instead, and get one bus home. There are so many paths and trails going in all directions - great for dog walkers and joggers, and even dog joggers. The path through the wee valley was mainly level, with a long climb up at the end - by jings I was puffing! Archie was very good - he kept stopping and waiting for me to catch up.

He had lots of dog encounters to keep him happy. He'd even spot them away off on the other side of the valley and run over to meet them, but he always came back when called. I also use my whistle, which I always have with me on my house keys.

This is Archie looking at the city waking up. Actually he was barking at the funny wee cars. You can see Holyrood Palace, the Castle, Parliament, Calton Hill and Dynamic Earth.

That coffee when I got home two hours later never tasted so good! I've washed and dried Archie's paws and beard, and now he and I will be relaxing for the rest of the day. I may get some reading done, in between dozes.

Anyone else watching 'The Legacy'? A brilliant Nordic family drama.

That leftover roast dinner pie went down well last night. We ate the lot in one sitting!