Bangs and flashes

My birthday started at 05:40 as the Thunder and Lighting rolled in - see extra, albeit in the distance.

Once that had receded we were woken by the sounds of gunshots. We are staying in a lovely converted farmhouse on the outskirts of San Lawrenz on Gozo: but by its very nature that means we are in the countryside and happen to be here when the (brief) shooting season is open.

So periodically throughout the day there are gunshots: they seem particularly loud at 6:30 am when you have the windows open for air.

As the horrendous news comes in from Las Vegas you appreciate the need for balance between traditional customs and livelihoods and regulating unreasonable access to guns.

The rest of the day was overcast but dry. We visited a glass blowing unit in a craft village then pottered around/ dozed before out to a nearby restaurant for some delicious asparagus (soup in my case) followed by some red snapper (my wife had rabbit) and I rounded off the meal with fresh pineapple flambed in rum ( not local I suspect!)