In a break with tradition, I looked out of my upstairs window at the birds at breakfast time.
The birds were up early too....
It was a misty morning and as I walked across the town, the church looked almost monochrome.
I passed a dipper and a selection of bejewelled webs on my way across the river and back.
…and by the time that I came back across the suspension bridge eight minutes later, there was a definite hint of colour about.
Looking straight up into the sky, I could see blue so when I got home, I jumped into the Zoe and drove up the hill in the hope that I could get above the mist and into the sunshine.
By the time that I was half way up the hill, I could look back down on the mist over the town in one direction and see it drifting up the Ewes valley in the other.
The mist lying in the Esk and Wauchope valleys..
.was flowing over the town on two levels....
It was one of the days when it was just a wonderful privilege to be alive and after a rather miserable night's sleep, I was completely cured of grumpiness as I walked back down to the car, looking back at the monument as I went.
he mist was retreating as I drove down the hill...
After an early lunch, I got my bicycle out and went for a targeted ride. My targets were to do enough miles to complete 600km and/or 400 miles for the month. As I was only 4km short of the 600km target before I set out, this was an easy target. I needed 30 miles to get to the 400 miles though so I chose a varied route that took in the new windfarm, Gretna Green (with people getting married), a railway bridge with a passing train, and some gentle flat roads with a helpful wind to get me home.
Since I had already taken over eighty pictures in the morning, I was sparing with the camera as I went round.
I saw a red admiral butterfly on the well established Michaelmas daisies but the new tall variety doesn't seem to have the same appeal and I haven't seen an insect on it yet.
The evening was brightened by a telephone call from Dropscone who was doing his lockdown bit by contacting elderly people who might otherwise be bored.
The flying bird of the day did not match up in satisfaction to the rest of the day but it was the best that I could do as I didn't have a lot of time to look at the birds today.
Footnote: I almost got a flying robin late in the day but not quite.
