Before I forget. If odd things happen to this blog in the next couple of weeks, panic ye not! I will be moving the site to a new host, and this may go surprisingly smoothly… or not.
Even at this young age, I occasionally get up during the night for reasons of easement, and last night was no exception. During the day, I had drunk a fair few cups of tea, a fruit juice and over three litres of water, which is about normal for us, and no wine, which isn’t. Even though it is attached to the house, our bathroom at 04.00 hours in February, in the dark, is not the most hospitable place on the island. I can’t imagine what it’s like for those who still have an outside inconvenience. A Gazunder under the bed, I guess, and if you were wondering why ‘in the dark,’ it’s because I don’t turn the light on in case it wakes up the cat we no longer have. Old habits. The garderobe business seen to if not seen, it was back to bed to resist the temptation to get up and start work, and to try and sleep.
It was around that time, either before or after, that I became aware of an unusual sound beyond my earplugs. I started wearing them when the cat first became an alarm cat about 20 years ago, and now I can’t sleep without them. Last night, I heard what, at first, I thought was a small truck or a bike approaching on the lane, but it continued at the same pitch for a while, and I wondered if it was a boat. Now, it’s the early hours, I’m trying to sleep, and I’m thinking through boat timetables. When is the Stavros due? Has there been bad weather…? Maybe it’s a navy ship going in or out, or the wind’s changed direction and it’s the coast guard… In the end, I had to take the earplugs out, and I discovered it was a helicopter. Unusual, but not unheard of. The helipad is used for some civic, church and military arrivals, pilot training, and emergency evacuations. Mostly, though, it’s not in use at that time of night. Let’s hope it wasn’t an emergency.
[Edit. 06.35. As I publish, I hear the helicopter coming back…]
Still, I managed to get back to sleep, despite the chatter of the cockerels who debate the time of day on all night, and was up and about by six. So, here I am, doing my usual ‘direct from my waking thoughts to you’ slot on early morning scrolling, and heading into another cold but hopefully sunny winter day.
Here’s the bit you’ve all been waiting for: Yesterday, while I was pottering about in 1894, Neil was pottering about the village with his new phone, having a get-to-know-you session with its camera and taking photos for these pages. He came home with quite a crop, and I’ll show them to you when I am back next week. Here, though, is a small gallery to get us started.
