I to the hills ...

The mornings are definitely beginning earlier these days. When I first managed to drag myself out of sleep the first signs of sunrise were orange streaks in the dark clouds, but by the time I'd finally got up and organised myself sufficiently to go and have breakfast, the sun was actually just above the hills on the other side and would in fact have shone annoyingly on my face had I still been lying down - the thing that makes me rise earlier in summer! The above photo - and I'm sorry it's yet another view from my window - is the view to the north, the view that vanishes in poor weather but which today was clear and beautiful in the early sunshine, covered in the snow which we never saw at sea level. I love looking at the mountains - I shall probably never get up another one, but they have lost none of their attraction over the years. 

I had to scamper a bit this morning, and was so late to my art class that my teacher had gone out into her back garden to inspect the damage done by the weather and had left her door unfastened for me to get in. There was I, wandering about - no dog, no Paddy, signs of breakfast still on the table; I tried her phone and it rang on the table beside me ... and then I looked out and there she was. Phew. I managed to put some texture in my sunlit sea today - I've not painted sea before, though my very first watercolour was Lake Garda; it didn't have the same lively sparkle as Loch Fyne on the day I took the photo. I'm happy to report that a man from the Council appeared just as I was about to leave after my lesson - he was there to inspect the wall that had fallen into the burn behind the house, and there were other workmen busy on the devastation of the promenade just across the road - all of which I reckon is quite impressive.

The rest of the day was pretty routine, except that we were both so tired everything felt a bit of a marathon - I think we were both a bit strenuous at Pilates yesterday. Choir practice was good because we had all  but one of our singers tonight, and we were practising one of my favourite Leonard Cohen songs. 

And then it was home to toast and marmalade and the second part of Silent Witness - not the most settling of viewing before bedtime! And there's much to be done at a relatively early hour tomorrow ...

I feel old, I feel old, ...but I don't like rolling up my trousers!

(Virtual Mars Bar for the quote spot - don't cheat!)