New character 1

Did I say yesterday that the location of the sausage dispensing hotel kitchen was hardwired into Sophie's brain ? How right I was. This morning we find ourselves back at the exact same spot. The breakfast chef emerges, has a lengthy chat with Sophie, disappears and then re-emerges with half a pork sausage. This I will wager is going to be a fixed point in Sophie's day. 

Down the hill to the harbour. This morning we watch a heron, a flock of geese, half a dozen cormorants and some small brown fluffy ducks of a breed I've never seen before.

Scotland has become quasi-continental since we last lived here. Street cafes full of folks laughing and enjoying themselves in the morning sunshine.

We're spending a night or two in the wee house before the purchase of the new property is finalized. The kitchen fridge provides evidence that the last tenants were  soda loving Americans.