A Japanese watercolour ..

.. this is not.

I woke early this morning; actually before any one of the four small persons in the house. Also before sunrise. As there were two parents in the house and able to do the morning supervision, I headed out for an early run.

This was one of those mornings when the sky, the sea, the shore birds, and the warmth of the morning created a wonderful experience. The tide was at about the optimal for seeing and getting close to herons. And there are so many along the length of Snells Beach this summer.

In the five minutes before I took this picture the rising sun was hidden behind the headland, and the water and sky had much more grey. Later, the sky was less dramatic, the sun was more blinding, and the light striking walkers, shore birds and plant life, gave all a golden tinge. There was this short window for me, pausing in my run, at this exact spot, to get this picture.

Jesafly gave me the title for this, when she said it has the feel of a Japanese painting.

Mid morning, and I suggested taking four energetic children to the beach. My thought was to walk them down the cliff path on the far side of the headland in this picture. The boys asked to go to Algies Bay instead, where there is a great playground. We had great fun until the shivering set in; surprisingly not in Grandpa!

Picked up some lunch and ate it on the deck when we got back to the Beach House.

Then, J discovered that the firm which had brought her trunks and boxes from London was shutting at 3 pm; Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries had cleared them, and could we go and get them.

Back seats out of the Tino, emptied the boot, and off we tootled and just made it in time to do all the paperwork and load the stuff in as if it had been sized just for the car. Back to here, and followed a short time later by son and his wife (newly collected from the airport). Lots of busyness until a pleasant evening meal, a science fictiony sunset, and now posting a blip before an early night.