In the Round....

... it's been a no bad day.

Up early-ish for a lift to the Bridge of Don from me mam on her way to work, to get the bus into town, to get the train back to Edinburgh, to have lunch with a couple of former colleagues, to walk home in the park through the sun.

Yesterday's nostalgia continued with a 40 minute wander round a couple of bits of Aberdeen's centre before getting to my train, with Marischal College striking a chord, all cleaned up since its sale to the Council (which as a former Aberdeen Uni student just seems... 'wrong' - I sat a number of exams there, and graduated from within those hallowed halls - even though all our classes were out at King's....).

The trip down flew by due in combination to getting the writing bug on an idea with a tight timescale of 11 days from now; playing Colin McRae rally on the iPad; and trying to get Phileas Fogg around the world on the same contraption. Burger lunch with Clare and Louise, then the sunny walk brought the wildlife out.

Spotting a Kestrel couple setting up home was a joy (and gives me a little wildlife project - would be great to see some Kestrel chicks fledge); but so was spotting a (probable) Peregrine. It had been a little confusing, as zooming in on a couple of images showed up some falconry type leather straps (jesses?) around the legs. I checked in with some people in the know, and after looking up a local birdwatching newsgroup stumbled upon posts about a Lanner Falcon / Peregrine cross that lived in Holyrood Park. I posted my pics, asking if it might be the same bird, but someone reckoned it was a straightforward male Peregrine. Which makes it a likely escapee, given its fashionable footwear. Lovely spot (even if it was a little after the fact).

Then the cat simply trumped them all. By being... so damned catty relaxed in the sun.

Home, and decided not to go to tap class, being bunged up with a cold, and not fancying the ride into the headwind back into town. Good decision really, listen to your body. Let it rest.

For the record, gasman visit 6 (with 4th different engineer) this morning (George attended) and the circuitboard was replaced. Boiler is... still cutting out after 10-15 minutes, and has to be reset 3 or 4 or more times before finally staying on. So visit number 7 will be tomorrow to look at replacing the wiring loom. Two weeks ago today we put in the first call about it...