A vital link

Resolution: write a coherent post before I fall asleep at the computer ... I ended up not putting out the light till 2am last night - a bad idea, as I had to be up and in my right mind in time for the resumption of Pilates classes in the morning . Six hours' sleep isn't really enough. However, this was the beginning of a noticeable improvement in my mood - the combination of some really demanding stretching and weight-bearing along with the hilarity of the small class (several people appear still to be on holiday) seemed to kick my metabolism into more activity than it's had for a while.

After lunch I suggested that if we walked in Benmore Gardens I could take off and do something extra while Himself took it slightly easier with his sore back. This extra turned out to be an extra loop of hill, taken at a good lick to show myself that I could still do it, and the psychological boost was palpable. There were several groups of visitors, including family groups - all holiday-makers, mostly from England. (Our own schools went back today).  My blip comes from the path past the pond after I'd reunited with Himself in the formal garden; the pond-weed is immensely solid-looking now, though it's more patchy at this bit. There were lovely smells, and the first colours of autumn creeping onto the tops of trees and in the laden rowan trees.

The news continues to be desperate: I can't help thinking about women dusting down their burkas left from the last period of Taliban rule, and the girls who have a good education wondering if they'll ever be able to use it again. And as for the scenes of desperation from the airport: Saigon writ large, I'd say.An appalling situation, and the UK stuck with a gormless PM and a largely absent Foreign Secretary: dire.

Thank you to everyone for their kind concern about the bleeding organist, who is, of course, completely fine and more worried about the effect of the cleansing wipe he had to use on the organ keys. I'm amused to be reminded, yet again, of the power of the eye-catching headline...