The 8am Ladies

When sunrise is 5:15am and sunshine is already starting to flood  into the bedroom, 8am seems like the afternoon and so I was more than ready to start the day by walking through a quiet town to meet the group of ladies choosing to swim at that time.
I have upped the ante and by dint of getting there slightly before the others I can compete with their speed of readiness for the water. The sea felt so warm today that I didn’t notice any involuntary intake of breath as I waded in. It’s a much quicker immersion than that at Porty because many of the ladies work. There is no time for frolicking in the waves far less handstands- it’s a serious in and out.

I took the bus to Kirkwall later just to get some things at  Lidl. Yes they have a Lidl but no M&S. I found the town quieter than I’ve ever seen it. There were no cruise ships in and the streets were almost empty. I thought about a coffee at Judith Glue’s shop opposite the Cathedral which is always busy, but not today. I didn’t hang around but caught the next bus back to Stromness.

After lunch I visited the Pier Art  centre to look at the work of the Higher Art pupils at Stromness and Kirkwall secondary schools. I’m always amazed how good these young students’ art is.

To round off the day nicely as I look out over a  restless blue Hamnavoe studded with little white horses and Orphir on the other shore looking as if it’s behind a heat haze, I am wiring into a can of G&T. Its thirsty work being on holiday.

  My arm has made a remarkable recovery and the painful restricted movement, I feel, was an unusual reaction to the jab on Thursday and nothing worse. I took the somewhat dangerous decision to pass on a link to research on the subject to the orthopod daughter. She hasn’t replied…..