A day of two halves ...

Definitely. The two halves, I mean. Just like the football match I was at at a time when I'm normally just out of bed, having got up at 7am not to keep the footballing grandson waiting. The extra photo for today shows the scene - bright blue sky, gentle but biting wind, the red and white strip of Spartans (our team) playing away somewhere near Cramond in a cage which the spectators - all 20 or so - were not allowed to enter. We ended up perched on an embankment - my son called the Exective Box - to get some idea of the play... and in the end it was a serious win for Spartans, just as grandson James had predicted. It was actually really exciting - lots of good passing and intercepting - so that I was able to forget that my legs were gradually turning jointless with standing still in the cold ...

And then back to the house, to hot soup and an early lunch, to a quick word with the older grandson before he went off to play in his match, to packing up and loading the car and being given another wonderful goodie bag which supplied tonight's dinner and more and which I never take for granted...and home along the M8, catching a glimpse of the snowy hills to the north as we drove onto the ferry.

In an attempt to ward off the growing stiffness (standing and then driving) and because it was a beautiful afternoon, we had a quick cuppa (I had mine in the garden) and drove down to the Ardyne for a walk into the sunset. That's where I took the main photo, just before we got into the car to come home again. The tide was far out, the sea calm, and the clouds an interesting stippled effect on the sky. There were the warbling cries of oyster catchers and curlews, and I knew yet again that, unwilling to leave Edinburgh though I had been, this is where I love to live.

Do miss the family, though - the moment I'm home!