Category: A Walk

Dancin’ – 28 October 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Actually a very interesting and useful dance class for a change!

It was a pleasant drive to Brookfield today. Light traffic on the motorway and a blue sky with fluffy white clouds overhead. A marked difference to the dark grey clouds hanging over the Campsie Fells when we left the house.

There is a children’s dance class in the hall before us now. Normally they aren’t a problem, but lately they have been taking longer and longer to pack up which eats into our class time. They were even later this morning and we only had a one hour time slot due to The Committee needing to set up the hall for their Halloween party tonight. I don’t think our teachers were very pleased and we got the impression that words would be said to the organising Committee.

The teachers made good use of the limited time we had for the class but the Sally Ann Cha-Cha that was the warm-up was a shambles. Nobody seemed to know where they were going and no two couples were in time with each other. Thankfully, things got better after that. We started with the Tango which got tangled with Kirsty’s tango in our heads and it took a few tracks before we were entirely happy with it. But we did manage to master the Prom Turn to Rock Turn with a bit of help from Jane. It had baffled us a fortnight ago.

Next up was Joy’s Waltz which we sort of know, but are not fully cognisant with. We sorted out a few problem steps in it too with help from Stewart.

Last dance of the morning was the Quickstep and Scamp devised a neat shortened version of the routine that would allow us to dance it without stopping. Clever teacher, Scamp! And with that our hour was up and the class was over.

We drove home through equally light traffic. I don’t know what happened today to give us a record time of just over 30mins for the run home.

We both had a fairly lazy hour after lunch, reading and basking in the sunshine while I chased an errant bluebottle round the house but didn’t catch and release it until much later in the afternoon. I think it found its way in while Scamp was in the garden, potting up a Yew tree she’d asked Jamie to bring up. She was also increasing her numbers of pelargoniums and geraniums by taking cuttings of both.

Dinner was to be Fish Risotto and we didn’t have any smoked fish in the freezer, so I booted up and went for a walk over St Mo’s, then down the path behind the school that would take me to the shops. That’s where I found todays PoD. It’s a bit weird looking, which is ok for Halloween, I suppose, but it’s actually the seed pods of a clump of Flag Irises that grow in a boggy area beside the path I liked the colours and the shapes of the seed pods and the seeds themselves. I may go back tomorrow and collect some seeds to sow. Don’t know if they will grow or not. We’ll find out some day, hopefully.

Prompt for today was “Sparkle”. I don’t have a very sparkling personality, but I did think up today’s sketch which was a pink ice cream sundae with sparklers sticking out of it. A splash of paint and a cherry on the top made it look quite festive, I thought!

The dinner worked very well and the bluebottle was released into a cold Saturday evening.

Tomorrow we’ve to have heavy rain all day, but an hour extra in our bed. Don’t know if I will take that walk over to St Mo’s to collect some seed. We’ll see.

 

Out to Lunch – 27 October 2023

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It was a dull day and it really needed a decent pub lunch to brighten it up.

The house still feels a bit empty after the mountaineers have gone back down south to the flat lands. I hope they are pining for the heathery hills now.

Scamp was out at FitSteps in the morning and I was trying to get my new white mouse to do what I want it to do, but that requires an app to be installed first. Heavens it’s just a three button bluetooth mouse, not a washing machine. Why do they, the invisible ‘THEY’ need to make things so complicated. I eventually gave up and decided I’d just have to get used to it.

When Scamp returned, we couldn’t be bothered going far, so instead we went to Broadwood Farm. By that time I was hungry, so a Large Carvery portion would hit the spot. Scamp, on the other hand wanted a Fried Chicken Burger. What came for her wasn’t what she wanted. I’m not to blame. She called the girl back and told her what she had expected to find between the two halves of the bun. The girl apologised and brought something that looked almost the same, minus a gallon of spicy sauce. Happy customer, if slightly embarrassed for giving the chef more work she didn’t need. It’s not my fault this time. I asked for exactly what she said and my Large Carvery was lovely. I think the Broadwood is feeling the pinch now from McD’s next door. Fewer staff on the floor and fewer punters sitting at tables.

On the way home I went for a walk round St Mo’s and brought home a photo of two dandelions.That made PoD.

Prompt for today was “Beast”. The beast in question is a Weevil. Scamp spotted one at the top of the stairs the other day and came running with the message “There’s a beast at the top of the stairs.” I guessed it was an earwig or something similar and I was right it was a weevil. I scooped it up on a bit of paper and deposited it in the garden, apologising to it that I was sorry it was raining. It didn’t seem to mind and walked away. Any creature, large or small is a “Beast” in this house and I am called to fight it. Thankfully most of them are insects and I can handle them. Don’t know how I’d fare with a charging hippo, though!

I finally got confirmation today, after phoning Nissan, that we are now owners of our car, not leasers. It only took them a month to finally email us a document confirming our ownership.

Tomorrow we are hoping to get to Brookfield for a short, hour long dance class. Hopefully something interesting and short.

Climbing Higher – 26 October 2023

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Today the climbers were off to Ben Lomond hoping to bag a Munro.

While the mountaineers were driving to Rowandennan to start the climb, we were happy to have and extra hour or two’s snooze.

The first thing we chose to do was have a quick practise of the Tango which I thought I had down pat. That’s all I’ll say at this time.

Afterwards we dragged ourselves out into the real world, and drove over to Tesco for the inevitable shopping. We did add a couple of extra things just for the visitors and just for fun.

In the afternoon I went for a walk in St Mo’s hoping the sun might shine through the clouds. It did, but only on the distant Campsie Fells, but not on Cumbersheugh. A mist had come down just after midday, but then a breeze made it disappear, leaving water droplets on some of the weeds. One weed in particular had a spiderweb with wee beads of water. That became PoD on a dull Scottish day.

The climbers returned after their trip to the peak of Ben Lomond. Munro bagged! Simonne had some beautiful photos taken from just below the peak but the photos from the actual Trig point were covered by mist and rain. It’s Scotland. It’s like that. They just had time for a quick shower before heading off to dinner with Andrew, Cat and the kids.

Dinner was Monday served on Wednesday, ie Pasta. Actually Penne pasta and a very nice sauce with three types of tomatoes: baby tomatoes, blitzed plum tomatoes and passata. Don’t know what I did right but we both enjoyed it and I doubt if I’ll be able to make it like that again.

While they were off eating again, we drove to midweek dance class with Kirsty and a chance for me to prove that I didn’t have it down pat after all. Despite all Scamp’s encouragement, I just couldn’t confidently get it right every time. Finally I asked the teacher to lead me through it and it worked. That doesn’t mean she is better than Scamp, just she explained it differently and probably hauled me round with more confidence. After that we got the entire Tango to work almost every time.

Today’s prompt was “Dangerous”. I could have drawn almost anything to fulfil today’s prompt of ‘Dangerous’. In the end I settled for a lion. A pretty dangerous beast by all accounts.
With that said, according to the BBC, it is only the 10th most dangerous creature in the world. The Mosquito is the biggest killer with Humans in second place. Makes you think!

We drove home through driving rain again and when Jamie and Simonne returned we sat and talked for an hour with a wee drink to mark what was really the end of a great week. Unfortunately Jamie was driving tomorrow, so he had to abstain from the drinking.

Tomorrow will probably be another early rise, but a sad one.

Off to the capital – 24 October 2023

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Today we were going all posh!

We were all booked for lunch at The Kitchin in Edinburgh today and as we would be having a glass or two, we weren’t driving. None of us were.

We took a taxi from the house to the railway station and caught the train to Edinburgh (posh day, posh name for Embra!). Got off at Haymarket and walked up to our usual Nero. Suitably refreshed we walked up the Grassmarket because Simonne hadn’t been there before. Then on to the West Bow with its crowds of tourists and quirky shops and houses. Marvelling at the queues of Harry Potter fans waiting to get in to the HP shop. From there we walked down the newly reopened Playfair Steps to Princes Street.

Round the corner from Princes Street we found the tram stop that would take us to Leith. This was the first time any of us had been on the trams in Edinburgh. It’s a very comfortable, if slow way to get around the city and we enjoyed the ride. Scamp had done all the research and told us we’d be getting off at The Shore. From there it was only a short walk to The Kitchin. I could list all our choices from the menu, but instead I’ll just post a menu and let you guess! Not long after we were enjoying our ‘amuse bouche’ someone asked us if we were enjoying our meal. I thought it was one of the many waiters and turned to reply and there was Tom Kitchin himself!! I think Scamp was dumbstruck. This was the first time I’ve seen him mingling with the guests in the restaurant. In fact this is the first time I’ve seen him in the restaurant.

The food was just as lovely as you’d expect it to be in a Michelin star restaurant and with the ‘paired wines’ we were taken on a journey through the vineyards of the world by the sommelier. The same one we’d had the last time we had been there. Eventually we’d eaten our fill and sampled the wines and it was time to go.

The weather had been dull when we arrived, but when we headed for the tram stop the sun was shining and it being late afternoon by then, that lovely golden light appeared. That’s when I got today’s PoD which is The Water of Leith and the floating hotel, Ocean Mist.

We took the tram back to St Andrews Square and walked over to the station and the train back to Croy, then a taxi with a wisecracking driver took us home.

While Scamp, Simonne and Jamie watched Masterchef I sat and drew my reading of today’s prompt – ‘Shallow’. The story that goes with it is: “Those who are interested in scuba driving are generally recommended to spend some time paddling in shallow water. At least, that what I was told by a friend one day. A friend who doesn’t even swim! I think he may be joking with me.” Total fantasy, but it filled the comments box!

    

Tomorrow I think we will take it easy after todays excesses. Jamie and Simonne, however, are hoping to be out climbing again.

Climbers and Shoppers – 23 October 2023

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While Jamie and Simonne were climbing the Pap of Glencoe, we went shopping. That was strenuous enough for us.

Jamie and Simonne were up around six and out by seven on the road to Glencoe to meet up with one of Simonne’s friends to climb the Pap of Glencoe, a steep climb up to the peak above Glencoe village. We’d never climbed it or even considered climbing it. We did, however, many years ago take the path up to the lochan above the village. Mountain climbing newer was one of our pursuits.

While the climbers were away enjoying brilliant sunshine and blue skies, we were stuck in the cloudy central belt. With no great scenic views around us and no signs of weather improving we went shopping. Just over to Tesco to get something for dinner and odds and ends of essentials.

Later, after lunch, Scamp went out and raked all the leaves that the strong winds from last week had dumped on our front grass and I took a camera out for a walk in St Mo’s and my PoD was leaves too. A few copper coloured beech leaves still clinging to a branch.

When I came back I drew a distorted looking hand scratching the panel off a scratch card to reveal what might or might not be a lucky ticket. The prompt was “Scratchy”. Not the most interesting of choices, but at least it was done. It should have been done yesterday, but I was too tired last night to get any drawing done and I went to bed early. Luckily I’d offered an ‘amnesty’ to the Inktoberists and took myself up on the offer too!
Later I completed today’s sketch which was the even more vague, ‘Celestial’. Two sketches done on the same day. Both reasonable and both in ink.

Next thing to do was to roast the chicken we’d bought earlier and await the return of the mountaineers. Scamp made a great job of the chicken which we had with with Suffolk potatoes (to make the visitors feel at home, even if they don’t eat potatoes normally) and a salad.

We watched a tedious American GP which became even more complicated when two of the leading drivers were disqualified for having the wrong kind of wood on the underside of their cars – or something like that.

Tomorrow we’re all having a day off driving and we’re going out east.

Walking in Fife – 22 October 2023

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Today we walked round Preston Island which isn’t an island any more.

We drove over the Forth to Culross (sorry Hazy) today and nabbed a parking space just as its previous occupant was leaving. Then dressed for the cold breeze that was coming from the west, we headed east, along the coastal path and took some photos of the ‘new’ pier while Jamie and Simonne walked out onto the rocks at the end of the jetty. Actually, that’s where today’s PoD came from with Jamie looking like a professional model on the boardwalk.

After that we continued past the school and over the old railway, then turned right onto Preston Island. Long ago it was a man-made island, but more recently it joined up with the rest of Fife by using ash, from the now demolished Longannet Power Station. Now it’s a cordoned off area with ‘dangerous’ lagoons, although the exact nature of the danger has never been revealed. However it does give constantly changing views of the north and south coastline and the occasional ship sailing in to Grangemouth.

The path round Preston Island is a pleasant enough walk on a good day and today was an exceptionally good day, especially after all the rain and high winds we’ve had. And it was warm too. Certainly warm enough to unzip jackets and let the breeze give us some refreshing air about ourselves.

We walked past the old salt pans that originated when salt was an expensive commodity, the pans being heated with coal from a local mine until a mining disaster closed the pit. The buildings are still there, but obviously they too are dangerous because they are behind a 3m high chainlink fence with access denied through the gate by a heavy duty padlock. It makes you wonder what’s inside the buildings inside the fence, because it’s safe enough for the grass cutters to keep the grass looking trim, but it’s too dangerous to let the public in. As Simonne said, “You can’t even take a photo through the tight chain link fence!”  Since Jamie won PoD, it seemed a shame not to give Simonne a chance at the limelight, or to be more accurate, the ‘Rim Light’.  Lovely bit of accidental rimlighting round her head here.

We walked on to find the bird hide looking over the estuary. Not marked or anything like that. No! If you don’t know it’s there, you obviously aren’t looking hard enough and we, the council, aren’t going to tell you. Brilliant idea, but hidden. Half a mile further on Simonne found another hide with the same laser cut shapes in the 10mm mild steel panels. Glad to see they had the common sense to allow the structure to rust naturally and fit in with the landscape.

From there the path followed the old railway line back where we crossed the railway line. I always find this the least interesting part of the walk. It needs a bit of creative landscaping to entice people to walk it. We crossed the railway and walked back to the car where we donated a free space to some other lucky walkers. We drove home.

After lunch everyone was happy enough to sit and watch an unispiring and utterly confusing Sprint Race as a precursor to the main American GP tomorrow. Yes, it should have been today, but given the time difference and the fact that C4 only get the edited highlights of the race, it won’t be shown until after midnight tonight. Really, who cares. Verstappen has won the GP, and the only folk racing are those in 2nd and 3rd places.

Dinner was stew which I started making on Friday, bagged and chilled in the fridge until today when it was served with potatoes and cabbage, while Scamp the non-meateater had ‘Rats’ (which is short for Ratatouille) instead of stew. Dinner finished with Crunchie Ice Lollies all round.

No sketch yet for today’s prompt of “Scratchy”. I’ll scratch around tomorrow for something.

Jamie and Simonne left to go to bed soon after dinner because they are intending to be up, breakfasted and out by 7am tomorrow to head for Glencoe. I’m hoping we’ll still be in the Land of Nod then.

Right on time – 21 October 2023

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We got a message from Jamie this morning just after 9am to say they were just leaving the hotel and they should be with us before 12noon.

Right on time the white Volvo appeared outside at 11.50. That’s Jamie. Always on time. After we’d decanted all the bags, rucksacks, jackets and boots, Scamp took the wee Yew tree they’d brought out into the back garden. Then we heard the stories about the floods they’d encountered on the way up and I was even more pleased that they’d decided to break their journey north.

After lunch which was a bowl of tomato soup, we drove to Colzium and walked the same route Scamp and I had walked last week. The burn was even higher today, of course because of the week’s rain we’d had and the big red acer at the top of the avenue in front of the big house was even brighter red, if that was possible. A photo of it made PoD.

Back home, Jamie and Simonne were getting ready to go into Glasgow to meet Chris and Yvonne for dinner, but found out that Uber don’t seem to like Cumbersheugh. Or more likely, the taxi drivers in Cumbersheugh discourage Uber drivers from picking up in the town. So it was the local taxi that took them into Glasgow!

Dinner for us was delivered from Bombay Dreams later in the evening after an irate phone call from the driver asking me to open the house door and turn the light on so he could see where the house was. I did as he asked and then he appeared very apologetic saying he’d been in the wrong street! Easily done in Cumbersheugh because when it was build it was numbered by writing all the numbers down on pieces of paper and sticking them at random on house doors. At least that’s how it seems. Who would be a delivery driver in Cumbersheugh?!

We watched Strictly on catch-up. Well, Scamp watched Strictly and I glanced up occasionally from my Inktober sketch. I don’t think I missed much.

The sketch prompt today was “Chains”. I tried steel chains and paper chains and neither of them interested me much. I eventually chose a key chain. The prompt asked for “Chains”, plural, but being a poor pensioner, I could only afford one on my key, and an imaginary one at that! That was my excuse.

Tomorrow we might all go out for a walk somewhere, or maybe we’ll point the hillwalkers at a local hill and let them get on with it!

 

Windy & Wet – 19 October 2023

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Windy and Wet sort of sums up the day.

Today we woke to rain on the back window and a blustery, gusty wind at the front. It wasn’t going to be a nice day, that was for sure.

I think we lay too long this morning because everything seemed to happen in a rush after that and before we knew it, it was time to get dressed to go out to the tea dance at Glenburn. I wasn’t looking forward to the drive over the Kingston Bridge and then onto the M77 before navigating the labyrinth of streets that take us around the north of Paisley to the community centre where the dance is held. I needn’t have worried, because the roads were fairly clear for once, a combination of warnings on the TV and radio about high winds and torrential rain, and the fact that the schools were on October holiday. So we arrived in plenty of time to a nearly empty dance hall.

People did trickle in during the first quarter of an hour, but the floor did look a bit empty, compared to what it usually looks like. We danced Waltz Nioli to two waltz tracks and made a reasonable fist of it. Then a sequence dance, any one, they’re all mostly the same. Next up was a Cha-Cha which we finished, but that’s about all we could say about it. We tried to do the Tango we’d learned last night at Kirsty’s class, but I’d forgotten the steps right at the end. I don’t know if that would have improved it at all, but later, when we got home we did have a look at the video of the steps Kirsty had demonstrated and we’d danced through a couple of times. Suddenly it all fell into place. More practise needed for next Wednesday. It would have been rather a dull tea dance if it wasn’t for David and Carol injecting a bit of humour into the proceedings. I enjoy their company and sense of humour.

Drove back home by the usual M77, M73, M80 after we’d navigated the labyrinth again. Even the motorways were a lot less congested than usual.

Back home I decided I needed a walk in the park to clear my head and to get a couple of photos. Actually I got seven, but very few of them were worthwhile, which strengthens my argument for taking a break from “one photo a day” for a while. PoD went to a low viewpoint photo of some of the leaves that had been shaken from the trees by a combination of wind and rain.

Today’s sketch was finished just after midnight last night. A ten minute sketch that took about fifteen minutes if the truth be told. The prompt was ‘Plump’. This one was a bit of a struggle. I couldn’t think of anything that would fit the prompt, but then I remembered Tweedledum and Tweedledee from Alice in Wonderland and the brilliant Matt Lucas characters. Fifteen minute sketch and done!

Lots of things to do tomorrow, mainly preparing for the visitors to arrive. Hope the weather is kind to them.

Windy – 18 October 2023

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It was a breezy old day today.

We have been bombarded with warnings of extreme weather from Storm Babet from now until the weekend. We seem to be on the edge of it with a yellow warning in place for heavy rain in the next few days. The wind did get up later in the day, but earlier it seemed quite normal.

We spoke to Hazy in the morning and heard about Neil’s chest infection which has kept him off work today and given Hazy the opportunity to get her nurse’s uniform on. We discussed the progress of Nelly the split rock’s new split that seems to be progressing really well.

After we said “Cheerio”, Scamp and I drove to Tesco and bought a few odds and ends to feed our visitors who are hoping to arrive on Saturday after a long drive..

After lunch, we turned the sofa in the back room into a bed, stripped it and put on fresh sheets. We also completed the transformation of the back bedroom from a dumping ground into something that people would want to sleep in. Still some hoovering (Dysoning) and a bit of dusting to do, but the transformation is nearly complete. I even washed the window so the chilli plants could look out!

With that done, I felt it was time to go out for a walk in the wild outdoors and took the A7 out for a walk in St Mo’s. While I was out, Scamp started the prep for tonight’s Smoked Fish Curry. It’s a really old recipe from a book bought in Woolworth’s! That will give you and idea just how old it is, and it was originally for Egg Curry, but it works really well with smoked fish too.

There wasn’t much to see in St Mo’s but I did get a little cameo of an aspen leaf pierced by a reed spike and that was PoD sorted. Inktober prompt for today was Saddle. Instead of the obvious horses saddle, I drew my bike saddle. I’d completed a fairly rough pencil sketch last night, but wasn’t sure how to finish it. I tried using black ink from a brush pen, but that just didn’t look right, so I redrew it in pencil and then drew over it with a couple of ink pens. That left it as a line drawing to which I added some texture and shading … badly. Still, it fitted the brief and it’s up on Flickr now.

Dancing tonight was busy, busy, busy with six couples vying for a space on the dance floor to show off their Tango skills. It was a short dance, but with enough interesting moves to make our feet do a bit of thinking. I really like Kirsty’s style. She dances the man’s part, then the woman’s part, then to finish she enlists one of the good lady dancers to be her partner for the couple dance. What was a complicated set of moves, suddenly becomes a lot easier.

I think we may be going out into the wild weather tomorrow to go to a tea dance at Glenburn. Let’s hope we don’t get blown or washed away!

Tea for Two – 17 October 2023

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We were off to Troon today for afternoon tea.

Thanks to John and Marion we had a voucher for Afternoon Tea at Lochgreen House. We got it for our Golden Wedding and had hoped to use it sooner, but this year has been what Jackie would call a “Bourach”. A mess, a muddle, a shambles. Everything we planned had to be altered or something got in the way and the afternoon tea got pushed further and further back. Eventually we made the decision to have it either last week or this week. Even then it was going to be tight. Our final decision was made yesterday when we brooked it for today.

It was a foggy start to the day and the fog didn’t really lift until we were out through Glasgow, on to the M77 and climbing up into the Fenwick Moors. From there to Troon was clear and we parked down near the beach where there are usually hosts of wind and kite surfers, but wind surfers need wind and there was none of that today. Only the Glasgow folk, “down on the beach with their coats on” as my dad was keen to tell you. We, too, went for a walk along the path between the beach and the grassy foreshore, but eventually we found a path through the dunes that took us down to the beach. Where’s the fun of going to the seaside if you don’t get sand on your shoes?

It was a short walk, because we’d still to drive to the posh Lochgreen House. We arrived right on time and were seated in a booth and had tea, or hot water for Scamp, then we were served the three layer platter with hot food in the bottom, sandwiches in the middle and scones on the top. The scones being served with clotted cream and strawberry jam. I could almost see myself reaching for the Gaviscon when I saw that big quenelle of clotted cream!

Scamp played her vegetarian card and had a Goat’s Cheese Quiche, Vegetable Tempura and a Finger of Fish, not to be confused with a fish finger. I had Haggis Bon-Bons, Ham Quiche and a Sausage Roll that had never been near Greggs! Those were the hot foods.

My sandwiches were Chicken and Tomato, Coronation Chicken and Roast Beef with Mustard and Lettuce. Scamp’s were Egg Mayo, Tuna and Goat’s Cheese.

Two scones each, one fruit, one plain with that clotted cream and strawberry jam finished the platters, but there were six cakes to finish off too. Unfortunately, we were full by that time and asked for them to be boxed to take away.

All in all, it was a lovely afternoon in beautiful surroundings, waited on hand and foot.

Because we had some time to spare, we drove down to the big car park we usually go to and walked over the Ballast Bank to let our lunch slide down. It’s usual for us to walk over the top of the Ballast and down the other side, then take the narrow low path along the edge of the water if the tide isn’t in. That takes us back to the car park. We found a seat half way along the low path and stopped to look out to the sea. I took a few photos and then recognised a couple of folk walking towards us. They materialised into Ronnie and Millie from Brookfield. They had been dancing at the ballroom in Troon and, like us were stretching their legs with a walk in the fresh air. I think we might be going to that ballroom soon too, some Tuesday afternoon.

Drove home through the usual 4.30 rush. Thankfully we didn’t attempt the Kingston Bridge, but stuck to the M74/M73. Longer journey but much less stressful. Back home we had two cakes each. That leaves two to share tomorrow.

PoD was the view when we were climbing up through the dunes to get to the beach.

Today’s prompt was “Demon”. The demon here is The Demon Drink. As fearful a monster as any, and just like a genie, as long as he’s kept trapped in the bottle you are safe. However once you twist that cap and release him you are opening a Pandora’s box or am I just getting carried away now? Anyway, it let me splash on lots of red paint!

That was a lovely day. Good weather, good food, good company and great fun. Must do it again sometime. Now, where’s that Gaviscon?

No plans for tomorrow.