No swimming today ...

I can't believe it's a whole week since that lovely swim at Ostel Bay, that calm pale water, the sand underfoot, the warm air, the sun on my back ... A whole week in which we've felt horribly busy but have achieved so little! At least today was less cold again - two nights ago when I put the light out I noticed that there was a couple of inches of condensation along the foot of the bedroom windows, even with the double glazing. 

I had another lazy start after my late night, just managing to fit in my Italian lesson before coffee. Then I galvanised myself into getting rid of my two suitcases and the rucksack that's been sitting out since my aborted trip to Arran in late May when I was too ill to go anywhere - now they're all restored to the high shelf in the wardrobe, the one that necessitates my standing perched on the top of a library stool while I push them up over my head ... I survived.

After some lunch and a sudden flurry of phone calls/text messages/WhatsApps that had me despair of ever finishing the news article I was reading, I gave up and attacked the spare bedroom (I have someone staying later in the week). As the rain was by now battering down I didn't think of washing anything, but all the sheets and the bedspread are now sitting in the laundry basket waiting for Monday. Downstairs, Himself was cooking two lots of curry for the freezer ...

And at last I'd had enough. I had to get out. On went the new cagoule. I returned the borrowed umbrella to our friends along the lane, then set off down to the West Bay, where I took loads of (mostly unsatisfactory) photos of the waves as they crashed onto the beach and thought how hellish it'd be to be in among them, pounded by the small stones they pick up in their arrival. I returned by the road past the church, round the back of town, and back down the hill. 

I had a cheery welcome home mail from my travel insurance company, with a link to their claims page, which made it look quite a simple business to lodge a claim. I think this may be the next stage - but not until I feel slightly less tired. 

On that subject, and my current tendency to feeling suddenly rotten, I have a theory that when we got home last week and the weather was so good that I was determined to make the most of it, the business of making room to go for a swim on two consecutive days, to say nothing of the therapeutic effect of the cold water, kept the relaxation from setting in till at least Monday - I felt fine till I stopped!

You're all being amazingly patient with my self-obsession right now. Thank you!