Dunoon dusk

It's actually been a lovely day, in a chilly sort of way - snow on the hills, blue sky and so on - but I'm choosing to blip the heart of old Dunoon at dusk simply because so much time seems to be spent in the dark at this time of year. The lit-up building is Dunoon Primary School, which both my children attended; the old building (further away) is really old and was originally the Grammar School, the near block is brand new and is still being completed, replacing an ugly grey concrete (60s?) block. This is much more attractive.

I woke in the dark at 6am because the moon shone on my face - and I suspect because I was so restless for much of the night that I might as well have stayed up. I realise to my relief that I don't feel as despairing as I did in the Thatcher years - my constituency has returned the SNP candidate with an increased majority, so both he and my MSP represent me as I would want. I am still prone to rages, though - one came on this morning as I listened to Woman's Hour discussing women in politics. Think referenda, Scotland, permission ...

In the sunshine, we drove to Glenbranter, bought a 7ft tree, had the man chop off its bottom ... And had coffee and mince pies in the office while we paid for it. It's a Forestry Commission outlet, in the forest, and it's always lovely, manned by lovely obliging blokes. I think I shall add an extra photo just for the sake of the sunshine ...

And then we went a walk along the shore road at Toward, in the sun. This meant lunch was at 3pm, and then it got dark. But we'd had a mince pie ...