Black swan

My new year resolutions are going well in some ways, and not so well in others. Dry January is easy so far and I've all but forgotten about alcohol. However, my resolution to give up both cake and chocolate at the same time has been less successful. I think once the Christmas cake is gone (not long now!), I'll be able to live without cake, so if I just cut down on chocolate I'll be doing better. I've also given up milk in coffee, which ought to save a few calories.

The other thing I'm doing is making sure I get my 10,000 steps a day, partly for fitness and partly to prevent flare-ups of my RSI issues. I've decided the best way to achieve this is to have a break in the middle of the day (in addition to taking Polly on her short walk) and go somewhere nice for a walk. Today, after a morning at the computer, I went to Petersfield Heath and had a stroll round the lake. It was another grey day but that didn't seem to be affecting the birds. There were lots of coots, Egyptian geese (see Extras) and mute swans, and the pair of black swans were in the thick of it too.