Men at work

On a brilliantly blue morning, I was struck by the strong outlines of this scene - the telecommunications tower, shrouded in screens that the wind had shredded, St John's spire, the bramble and the parallel vapour trail. I'm not sure quite what was happening, but it looked, from the trail of mysterious vapour/smoke/moisture streaming past St John's, as if some kind of blast cleaning is going on up that tower.

And because it remained such a perfect day, an extra of HMS St Alban's, last spotted heading off down river from the Tail o' the Bank the other day, now moored alongside the re-fuelling  jetty on Loch Striven. Once you get over the incongruity of this very businesslike frigate in our lovely loch, it's hard not to admire its shapely lines. We met the captain, stretching his legs on the road just long enough to take a photo of his new command. 

And the perfect day moved into a perfect clear, dark night, with the moon "sharpened to an air-thinned blade", which is one of the best descriptions of a tiny clear moon that I've ever come across. We have Philip Larkin to thank for it ...