Scavenging

Today we were promised dryness, and sure enough, there were long dry spells and even sunshine as well as one or two inconveniently wet showers. With the forecast in mind, my pal and I had planned to meet in the morning (after coffee) to find some greenery for the church Advent Wreath - though as I write this the candles are still in postal limbo somewhere between Hayes and Finch and Dunoon. This has become an annual ritual for us; I have this vision of the pair of us in our late eighties still scrabbling about in the forest with our secateurs, and falling into wet ditches in the quest to get the best of the pink berries which we claim as proof that Advent wreaths should have purple and pink candles rather than red ones ...*

My blip shows the path high above Kilmun Arboretum where we climbed to get a proper walk in the same outing - though as we still had to squelch up Strone golf course in our wellies to the berry bushes we really didn't have to worry. The path winds inland from above the Holy Loch, with glimpses through the trees of shining water and slightly flooded fields in Stratheck, and crows high above us made guttural jokes at our expense as we slithered back down over wet stones.

Main casualty of the day was my thumb, which for some reason has suffered a sudden flare-up of arthritis at its base. All I did with it was clutch the top of a big plastic sack, but it was a cold day and I wasn't wearing gloves;  it'll be the pain killers tonight for me. 

A good day after a dreary start, even if it does end in a drugged stupor ...

*Joke!