Reflecting

No, I've not been aurora watching again this evening, but I have been reflecting on how I've waited all my life to see them - that time I went to bed in the College on Cumbrae instead of joining the younger choir members on a walk to the top of the island to see the lights ... and looking at people's photos and finding out about why our eyes don't always pick up the colours, and how Himself doesn't seem to see the colours even on the photos ... and anyway, the photo I'm posting today comes from today, as I went back out after midnight when I was locking up and realised there were green streaks over the dark Firth and took some more photos. 

Today was largely spent recovering from yesterday - although I did stuff, I felt pretty shattered the whole time. Sad, really, how long it takes these days to bounce back after a tiring experience; the word "bounce" is totally unsuitable and should probably read "trickle" or maybe "reel". Anyway, it meant not going down for breakfast till 9am and not rushing and doing Italian in bed even if I was so brain-dead that I kept making spelling mistakes.

I did, however, get out to Morrison's (deep joy - can't stay away...) to buy some venison for a casserole and some of the rather good Fever Tree flavoured Tonic, which makes rather a nice not-too-sweet non-alcoholic drink in festive moments. It was on offer, so I staggered back up the steep hill with two bottles as well as the meat and the local paper. I also made up the spare bed for grandchildren next week, all the while having a loudspeaker phone catch-up with Di about, inter alia, what might make a good front page illustration for Sunday's pew sheet (I'm preaching, so I was able to oblige). Stuffing even a double duvet into a French-style cover is quite trying, but I chatted away without swearing too much. 

We both dozed off after lunch but woke in time to go and clean the church, a task I rashly put us down for the other week because the rota now seems to have been left to two people and I thought it wasn't fair. Himself used the Henry on the runner down the aisle while I brushed - mainly plaster dust from the walls, interspersed with dead millipedes and - from between the pews - cobwebs and the odd desiccated spider. I finished off with some furniture polish on the pew ends; there's nothing like the smell of polish to shout "I'm clean!".

While Himself was preparing the curry downstairs later, I had an unexpected and interesting catch-up on the phone with my older granddaughter, who filled me in on all the gossip and discussed her future plans and aspirations. I was trying to convey how to me the small person she's used as an avatar on Instagram (her two-year-old self) seems to have been here only the other year, while to her it was another life - she found that interesting. And yes, she likes two pillows on the bed ...

On the eye front: after 24 hours of these drops, I can report that the eye looks worse than it did - very red, and pretty achey all round. I shall persevere for now, but I'm not happy. 

Extra taken looking up inside the church tower - a scary place!