Grey ships in a grey world

Less bleak than the title would suggest, but today wasn't really much for photos, inside or out. We were driving down the coast to walk at Toward when we spotted a ship heading down the Firth; when we drew level with the lighthouse I hopped out to take the photo. The foremost ship is the Rothesay ferry, almost at her destination; she is followed, extremely slowly at this point, by a naval fleet auxiliary vessel accompanied by a tug on the far side and a police launch quite close to the shore I'm on.

The naval ship is probably heading for the POL depot on Loch Striven, and seemed to be so slow at this point to allow the ferry to get into her pier; the tug is a common sight around here. But I've not seen a police launch in this role before, and couldn't help wondering why ...

Another late morning walk simply to give us daylight exercise, though it felt quite pleasant on our way back - was that just because it was nearly over? My recurring sprained ankle was being tiresome - it's been injured so often it sometimes seems to do itself mischief while I sleep. 

A busy afternoon followed - offering refuge to my pal who was waiting at the hospital for her man, and getting very cold as she waited, followed by a nightmare session on the computer booking flights and hotels around our planned holiday in February. One of the grouses about an otherwise excellent holiday firm is the difficulty of obtaining flights from Scotland, especially out of season, and we're ending up in hotels at Heathrow in both directions this time.

But that's for later ...