Course finished...

I was still in bed drinking tea and reading blips when the news headline pinged in that Pope Francis had died. My first thought was how marvellous to have managed to give his Easter blessing and then to die less than 24 hours later, though my second was what a burden to carry into your ailing last years, to have all these people looking to you as a leader and guide. I reckon I felt much the same when the late Queen met Liz Truss one day and died the next - quite a thought.

I just couldn't get going today. I was still finishing breakfast at 10.30am, and was trying to do my Italian after coffee in the midst of a flurry of organisational texts about our forthcoming concert in the church - we've not really been able to focus until Easter was past, but now ... I need to remember to guillotine the tickets tomorrow. 

I hadn't made any bread for lunch - it was too late by the time I thought of it - so we had an absurd lunch of a hot cross bun and a banana, then sat drifting in and out of sleep while reading the Sunday paper. It had a most sensible piece in it about the court ruling last week on gender issues, though I was finding it hard to concentrate for sleepiness. Eventually we both managed to rouse ourselves simultaneously and went out into the grey damp afternoon.

We decided just to walk along the old road at Benmore and back via the riverside path, a lovely peaceful walk after an initial encounter with a very large, wooly, barking dog who leapt from a car as we were leaving ours and bounced in our direction before its owners were finished closing their car doors. I asked its owner to restrain it, and when the hubbub had died said by way of explanation: "I'm sorry, I don't like free-running dogs I don't know." I was roused to ire when he said, smugly, "Well, you've come to the wrong place then" - and the rage rose and there were ... words. He kept justifying himself until I heard myself say "and I don't like argumentative men" ... Happily our paths didn't cross later and when we returned their car was gone.

That over, we were able to enjoy our first sight of the lambs that have clearly been popping out all over while we've been otherwise engaged. There were at least four different fields with lambs and mothers and plaintive wails of the odd lamb that had wandered, and there were two pairs who were clearly interested in us and came running on wobbly legs to have a look - I've put them in as an extra. But my main photo is the River Eachaig as it passes over the little rapids near the old bridge - I like it because of the definition of the water and the mists drifting over the hill.

And that was our day. I need to get my mojo back for tomorrow ...