Making hay while the sun shines

A rather obvious title for this blip, for that is precisely what's going on in this photo. An unusually heavy array of machinery had clearly been brought in to take the hay off this field and bale it; they had a wuffler as well as a baler and a couple of tractors, roaring about on between the rows of green on gold. Not as romantic as a row of men and maidens scooping up armfuls and piling them into stooks, but considerably faster. We had a lovely lochside walk, ending for me with a paddle in the loch (a sea loch) while trying to keep my balance among the stones of the shore. And, in an echo of childhood, I skinned my heel because I was walking in bare feet and sneakers ...

Working back to the very early morning, my extra photo shows Venus rising above the Firth of Clyde just after 3am. I like to sleep with the bedroom curtains open, which often means an early wakening when I jump over to pull them against the sun, but I don't know what made me open my eyes at 3 o'clock. I was lying on my side, and this incredibly clear light was there in the sky, right in my line of sight. The dawn was just beginning to show above the hills - you can see a faint greyness in the sky - when I went to unplug my phone and take the photo. I also fired up the computer to see what it was I was looking at - it's a miracle I got back to sleep at all.

I think the weather may well break again tomorrow - there are more weather warnings on the app I use. We hear that Boris Johnson is taking a fortnight's holiday in the West of Scotland, so I do hope he gets some of our rain  as well as a veritable plague of midges. We would hate him to miss out ...