Routine.

Sophie leads the way down to the shore. The weather is segueing from blustery to 'nippy'.  Soon we will be at the time of year when 'nippy' turns to 'bracing'. The colder and windier the weather gets the happier the PONette becomes. There are decided advantages to having a long, double layer coat. Later today Angus will check to make sure that the wood fire in the drawing room works. There has been much talk of winter power cuts on the local radio. Rather bizarrely the government has not told people to be careful with their energy use - they seem to think that high prices alone will deal with excess demand.

No seals this morning ( they're out in the bay hunting for fish ) but lots of Skuas. Seagulls are worth chasing but Sophie is completely indifferent to Skuas. They are left in peace. Go figure !

 

Yesterday, one of the farmers spent the whole afternoon lining up the hay bales in a neighboring field. They have been formed into two straight lines. Today, Sophie checks each and every bale, carefully. She ignores Angus who is urging her to head home out of the wind. She gives me a look that says ' What wind ?'

After all that excitement the best thing a girl can do is wander into her 'zen' spot under the acer for a restorative nap. Later there will be a trip into town for a  coffee and a shared croissant. There may also be a detour to the fancy baker.

So starts the Saturday morning routine of a much loved family Polish Lowland Sheepdog lady.

Last night we watched not one but  two episodes of Die Kaiserin on Netflix. European television often used to have lacklustre production standards but over the last five years things have changed.