Up with the woodpecker

We were up at 5 to get The Principal to Folkestone for the 6.30 train. Driving back along Reach Road the light was just beginning to break at 6.30. I did a few bits and pieces and walked down to the bay to see what daybreak would bring.

It was calm, the waves small, the water almost clear of the chalk mud that normally discolours it. It was cold. A fishing boat came steaming across the horizon from Deal. The sun began to rise over the coast of France.

Walking back it was strangely quiet with no wind. The soft coo-cooing of the wood pigeons and a woodpecker drumming away across the valley. A wren flitting through the brambles.

Later I caught a glimpse of the intense brown foliage of a woodcock beating out of the woods - over from somewhere with the cold. A few turn up each winter when the frost and snow comes.

I worked on a blog draft. It's all very positive. Feels like the project is more realistic now. Since we know more about the numbers and the real possibility of sustainability. There's not going to be a lot of room for thrills and frills. But let's get on a clear path of financial viability and then see what we can do. I think it will also just take some time to work out what it means - the limits and freedoms - of being a community-owned outfit.