Kelvinside

It has become something of a Christmas custom for me to have a day when I travel to the West End of Glasgow to have a browse in some of the shops in Byres Road and the surrounding area and do some Christmas shopping. Today was that day.

Today's journey was made easier by the knowledge that, quite remarkably for me, most of my Christmas presents had already been bought, although there were still some people for whom I had not yet bought anything. The weather was also dry today and not too cold - always an advantage.

An hour or so after my arrival I was sitting down to a coffee and a banana & walnut cake with quite a few boxes ticked, among them my Blip of the day. I liked the effect caused by the sunlight on Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church and made a short detour to grab a quick photo.

A couple of bus journeys later and I was home, feeling quite self-satisfied with my day so far. However, I was on a roll and, after a relatively quick turnaround, I was on another bus, this time into Stirling with some specific items in mind. Back home again and a short dash, by car this time, over to a garden centre at Cumbernauld.

Ladies and gentlemen, my Christmas gift shopping is complete! With a whole week to spare! I'm not sure I've ever achieved that feat before. Or will again.

After dinner I made a start on writing my Christmas cards and, although there are still quite a few to be written, there was a bit of a bounce in my step as I walked back from the local post box shortly after 11pm. Phew! (The collection from that pillar box is at 9am, so I wanted to catch that.)

Smug dot com.