And Again……

7:42am and I am on the beach waiting for the 8am dippers to appear. I’m early because the bus fairly barrelled down the road this morning leaving me shivering in a fairly icy blast on the sand. In retrospect I should have just gone into the water there and then  because  when the others arrived and I finally got my togs off and went into the sea it felt warmer than the air. It was a spectacular first light again with that vivid tinge of orange creeping over the horizon.

My heated gilet kept me from exhibiting too much shivering as I made my way home and  I was in time to meet up with a friend I used to see regularly in Söderberg who now works in another part of the city but was in my  area this morning for a meeting at the University. I had a good catch up on news of her new job and new dog in that order.

It was a lovely sunny day with the sun low enough in the sky to flood the house with sunshine and show up every little speck of dust in its path. I was that domestic goddess with brush and dust pan.
It’s a pity that by the time Wendy Selkie arrived with Morven and Alexander just after 2pm it had clouded over and was looking cold and wintry again. However the house was warm and with the lamps lit we could ignore the outside gloom. She brought with her a card for me signed by the Stromness Selkies- it’s now got pride of place on the sideboard. These ladies are my A team.

The odd thing that happened today was the delivery of Christmas cards with one envelope empty. It hadn’t been sealed but how difficult is it to lose a card out of an envelope? The writing seems familiar in that it looks as though I should know the person but with the envelope unfranked there’s no way of knowing where it was posted. This is the first time this has happened to me- a Christmas mystery.