Apocalyptic

We were very late getting out this afternoon, so late that we nearly didn't bother. The promised dry spell - sun, even - around noon hadn't materialised; it had rained steadily after a dry start had tempted me to hang out washing (fool) and I'd had to take it all in and spin it again. We headed south, for the sky seemed slightly lighter there, and began to walk. To the south-east there was some pale blue sky with peach-rimmed clouds. The sea  was calm.

But when we rounded the corner this is what confronted us. The red glow is the sunset beyond Bute; the blackness was what in fact opened all over us as we turned back halfway along the Ardyne shore. We scuttled home through Toward Castle grounds, the trees thrashing in a sudden gale, the mud round our feet compounded by this year's leaves. When we emerged back onto the road, the sky was clear as the storm vanished upriver.

Good walk, and a string of photos. I shall add the one I took before getting back into the car, just to show how changeable the weather is.