Wood-smoke

Another Monday, another early start... There was a sharp frost, and having delivered Alex to the station (where we made sure he boarded the correct train!) I came home and gathered the dogs for a pre-dawn walk along the river. I think the dogs and I are happiest when it's properly cold - Gemma was bouncing along, and I felt totally energised. It's a good job no-one else was around because I'm sure I had a stupid grin on my face for most of the walk!

The river's at its most beautiful in the early morning light, wreathed in mist. I saw the swan family - both parents and all eight cygnets - re-united once again. They were nearly the subject of my blip, but I decided to use this imageof a distant houseboat instead.

When we first moved to the area there were few people living permanently in house-boats, and those that did were usually found in official moorings. In recent years there's been an increasing number of people occupying rather dilapidated vessels, that scarcely look water-tight, and which can be found moored anywhere along the river.

Sometimes they gather together for a while to drink beer and party, and then disperse as quickly as they arrived. The boats seem to have few facilities, with heat being provided from wood that they gather on their travels. The occupants are usually male, and seem friendly enough, though sometimes their dogs can be a bit intimidating. Superficially their life appears simple and carefree, but I suspect that the glamour wears off after a run of cold or wet weather.

I returned home just before nine, and spent the morning painting the ceiling, which wasn't as tiring as I'd feared, though my shoulder hurt a lot for the first five minutes, before it had loosened up. I then did a bit of proof-reading before repairing some more cracks in the walls. My early start's catching up with me now -I shall have a quick browse of some journals before heading off for a relatively early night...