Patience

The patience was that of Gus who waited uncomplainingly for me while I was being carried away by the pre-dawn colours over a landscape softened by mist. Usually we head straight into the woods, but today I knew that I didn't have time to climb up through the woodland onto the top of the Knott, the light was changing too rapidly. This is another One Street entry, the view opens up from Silverdale Road no more than 400 metres from our house.

The lads and I had the day to ourselves, as Wifie was on her Tai Chi day. It was dry enough to spend time in the garden and lane cutting back the ivy that is overwhelming the wall and everything else. There's always a difficult balance to strike as dense ivy is so good in so many ways for wildlife: cover for the breeding dunnocks and blackbirds, autumn nectar for late season insects, and seeds for wintering birds. Now is one of the few times it can be cut back without having an impact on something else.

Later in the day, Gus and I went to Jack Scout where the still, milky water of the Bay was merging with the cloudy skies. The tide was slowly falling, and mudflats materialising from the water. The redshanks and oystercatchers were beginning to move from their high tide roosts to the water's edge. Such a beautiful, peaceful place.

Half an hour there left me in a mellow enough mood to cope with the car's alarm being set off as Gus and I tried to get back in. The supposed fix of the fault was no fix at all, and it turned out to have been a lot more expensive than I had originally expected. Oh well, I wasn't going to let that sully the mood of a beautiful day.