All is calm, all is quiet.....

It's been a lovely Christmas day, no wind, no rain.  I went for a walk along the shore this afternoon, listening to the calls of the curlews. I watched a heron take flight and land. Hundreds of geese took to the air in a cloud.  The sea gently lapping on the shore.  Wonderful.

I choose to spend Christmas on my own. I don't celebrate the religious significance of the season, for me it's more a mid-winter Festival. A time to reflect, rest, and of course, eat chocolate!

Last night it was nearly midnight when I went to bed and I saw the moon peeking through the window blind. So I pulled up the blind and went to sleep with the moon dancing off the water in the bay, silhouetting the Hoy Hills, and streaming through my window. I awoke to sunshine and luxuriated in being able to lie in bed with Button purring beside me, rather than feeling the need to rise to an alarm.  Though with Charlie the barn cat wanting breakfast and the hens no doubt tapping at the door, I didn't tary in bed!

Charlie having a (later than usual) Christmas Breakfast

The chickens glad of a calm day to get out and stretch their wings and legs....

The recent gales have heaped the seaweed in a bank by the shore

Water running off the field has gouged channels in the coral sand

And amazingly this is quite natural - the tide line with the seaweed neatly laid out in a straight line!

Now it's time to curl up on the sofa with a good book, a glass of wine and the smell of dinner cooking in the oven!