Cold or Cosy?

I chose cosy.  Not really what one wants to be sitting front at the end of May though.

Simple Things

Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best.

I've been using the kitchen breakfast bar as my 'study' since I came back from NZ.  It has the same beautiful view but it is much cosier in this cold weather (the study has lots of glass and even though it's double-glazed it takes quite a bit to heat it in cold weather).  In hot, sunny weather it's so bright it cam be difficult to see the screen.  The only problem in the kitchen is that the bar chairs are a bit too low when using the breakfast bar for the laptop.  I've been trying to think of a workable solution for a week or more.  I can't find higher chairs.  Obviously I can't lower the bar.  I tried cushions to no avail (not supportive enough and they keep falling off).

So what am I now using?  What have I got more of in the house than anything else (possibly excepting CDs)?

Books!

Casablanca and a Bad Pun

Here's looking at Euclid

Hooded Crows

05555 is a Good Time to get up in the morning if the sun is already high in a cloudless blue sky.  Sunrise today was 0434.  I actually woke at 0553 and instantly decided that if I got up at 0555 I had an opening line for a blog post.  Since I arrived back in Scotland I have been so busy that blogging has had to take a bit of a back seat.  I think I'm correct in saying that it's been a time of the fewest posts  in a similar period since I started blogging in 2007.  So this morning just after 6am I was sitting outside in the warm sun on a perfect windless morning drinking my hot water and lemon and contemplating the day ahead.

It made a change from the foul weather we've been having with rain and gales and a temperature on one day last week of -5.5℃ taking the wind-chill into account (ok the ambient temperature in the shade was a relatively balmy +4℃).

I came up with lots of ideas for re-starting my posts but now that it is evening I have forgotten them all.

Anyway I had to go into town this morning to take the car for its service. I was to meet Pat in The Woodlands Centre for coffee.  As I was walking into the grounds I came across a Hooded Crow.  As a rule Crows do not allow humans to come too close.  This one, however, was keeping a wary eye on me but he was not going to abandon his meal.  I probably got within 12 metres before he flew into the adjacent tree.  He was soon down again though and allowed me to take some photos.  Unfortunately the sun was strong and the position was in sun and shade so the contrast exposures leave a bit to be desired.

Oddly the next best pictures I have of a Hooded Crow were also at The Woodlands Centre here.