Buon compleanno!

A combination of circumstances today had me falling by the wayside in my Duolingo Italian - fellow-addicts will know that if you miss the morning slot, not only do you lose your bonus points for being an Early Bird, but you also don't pick up those gained by your Night Owl session the previous evening - so it is perhaps guilt that has me address Himself in Italian in today's entry. 

Himself's birthday was one of the distractors this morning, lingering over coffee as he opened a great collection of parcels entrusted to me by our sons as we left Edinburgh at Christmas while the Facebook notifications of birthday wishes pinged on his phone over and over again, the modern substitute for the singing of HBTY. That's one of the photos above (and no, you can't see the pings.) Another factor was compounded by the weather: the hard frost made the thought of trying to de-ice the car in the dark all by myself before I could go shopping seemed a step too far, so we both went after breakfast and because I was trying to be brisk I put off the Italian until later. The frosted leaves of the London Pride beside the path seemed rather attractive in their icy coating, so that's why they're there. 

And the other two? One is the morning view just after the sun came up, not the usual one of the sea and the sunrise, but out of the other window, with St John's looking mellow in the golden light. And the fourth photo is of the frozen ornamental lake in front of Knockdow House, the one that's been shut up and dead since Russia attacked Ukraine because its Russian owners haven't been back ...

Shopping was as usual except for a few more cars in the car park: the shelves had great gaps which suggested non-delivery of some items and there were fewer people than is usual at ten in the morning. When we'd finished and put everything away and the present-opening was over I removed the Christmas tree back to the loft, along with two huge bags that brought stuff home from the family. This necessitated several climbs up and down the loft ladder, easing them through the hatch in the ceiling without taking the cornice down with a protruding corner - and not for the first time I wondered how long we would go on doing this. It's quite a high ceiling ...

After lunch, being determined not to be walking about in the dark again, we went out, again southwards (because we don't trust the state of the off-road tracks anywhere right now) and walked from the Ardyne to Knockdow. I could once more have flooded this site with photos of Arran as the sun set, but I've exercised extreme restraint. One noticeable feature was the sight of a pale grey cloud that reared up on the horizon for all the world like a bird with its wings spread out and its head looking to one side. it lasted about ten minutes before its head subsided into its shoulders. The moon soared over the hills, and three planets came into view - though as my star map app seemed to think I was on Bute it was a little confusing. 

We opened a bottle of champagne before dinner; dinner was salmon roasted in the oven with a topping of miso and oatmeal, with boiled baby potatoes and steamed pak choi with caraway seeds. For pudding we had a large slice of the amazing cake my daughter in law sent home with us - think chocolate, dried fruit, nuts and cherries ...

I think I have put on pounds. This over-indulgence will have to stop - but not just yet!