Mid Winter break

The timing of my cold is somewhat unfortunate as we had decided to take a week off in Scotland.  Luckily I am much improved - only the persistent cough is making sleep difficult.

Today we were in Dumfries which has a mixture of elaborate decoration and decay in many buildings.  I do love the red sandstone which was a favourite with so many Victorian builders.  Robert Burns is a great favourite here, with signs, paintings, and statues, museums, ....

The River Nith runs through Dumfries, and is running high and fast at present, but not flooding.  The additional astonishing sight was the number of ducks paddling like mad to stay still while the water sped past.  There must be rich pickings indeed to expend all that effort.  I was unable to photograph them as first they were across the river from me, and also the sun was in my eyes.

It was a gloriously sunny day today, with only a couple of short showers, bringing rainbows.  There is scant snow on the tops of hills, and the air is so fresh, feeling especially good because I can breathe easy.  We enjoyed the views of the Nith estuary and were delighted in a nature reserve there to catch a couple of brief sights of an eagle being mobbed by rooks.  Far too fleeting a glimpse to photograph.

My current whodunnit reading is Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L. Sayers, a Lord Peter Wimsey adventure which unaccountably I have not previously read.  I chose it deliberately as it is set in Dumfries and Galloway - at a time when the railways still ran.  Now there are only many beautiful viaducts which decorate the landscape.