A Stromness Lane

To say that his Lordship and I are not entirely normal would hardly be an exaggeration, but is a unifying feature in our relationship.

It can hardly be normal for both of us to waken at 5:30am and decide on the basis of a little beguiling bit of blue sky and a few fluffy white clouds over the sea, that it would be a good idea to go for a 20 mile cycle run before breakfast.

No sooner had we left the Stromness 30mph speed limit behind, than the little bit of blue sky disappeared behind a huge shower cloud which swept in on the north wind, obscuring the view over Stenness and Harray, the rain stinging our faces with a freezing ferocity.

Perhaps I thought his Lordship might decide it was too miserable to continue, and we could turn tail and go back home, but nothing was said, and perish the thought that I would wimp out, so we continued our circuit getting wetter and colder with every mile.

But oh the bllss of arriving home to get out of wet clothes and bask in a hot shower made the misery disappear in an instant.

Later this morning, I'm meeting MsGable for coffee in Stromness. Our men have been dispatched to do their own thing, so we will be free to have an unfettered chat. How good is that, and what do you know, the sun has made an appearance.

For once the early bird didn't get the right worm.