Quiet water

This is Loch Striven this afternoon - low tide, just on the turn, with barely a ripple on the water other than that caused by the incoming tide. The sun was hot and there was very little air moving, and the sea water was clear and appealing despite the weed and the mussel shells that would have made paddling painful. I'd had to brave a slippy shore to get this photo, with the bladder wrack popping beneath my trainers.

Today was as summer in Argyll can be, one of those days that make me glad to live here, glad not to have to be anywhere else. Because such days have been so hideously rare this summer, I turned it into a holiday in the way one hardly ever does when at home - the only work I did was to wash all the contents of the linen basket and dry them outside. Tomorrow there will probably be rain, and I shall go to the supermarket.

Deep joy ...