Winter returns

Had a lovely lunch with ex-colleagues ladies bunch - a new venue at the local golf club which seemed like a popular choice.

It was whilst I was heading away to do some chores after lunch that I noticed the cooler air.  Glancing at my phone I saw a headline telling me that Wellington had dropped 7 degrees in 30 minutes - yikes!  We didn't have quite such a sharp change but it seems further south they've had plenty of snow.  The promised cold front seemed to manifest itself here as menacing clouds, wind and coolness.  Of course, that meant that I lit the fire in the evening.........still a very cosy and welcome pleasure.

Popped down to Monaco in the evening not expecting much but was treated to some lovely clouds and a couple of heron's indulging in a wee courting ritual.  Well, I think they were courting......it did look a little aggressive. They were too far away to capture but their actions involved leaping into the air together then engaging in some mutual kicking, flapping and pecking.  As I said, I thought it looked quite aggressive but maybe heron's have love-hate relationships....??  The one that came towards me just afterwards was certainly wearing his breeding plumage (extra) although it didn't look like he'd ironed it!