I wondered if our family has been hit by some mysterious virus overnight, when this morning at breakfast, there was a pretty universal bout of middle-distance staring. You know how it is when despite all the usual Monday morning chaos of sandwich making, school uniform ironing and finding your cheque-book, your entire family sit at the table and stare silently off into the distance.
I’m used to having one of them doing it, but today I felt as if I’d woken up in a John Wyndham novel.
I did a lot of chivvying – that’s what mothers are supposed to do, isn’t it? And eventually they all made it out of the door. What they’re doing now I wouldn’t like to guess, but hopefully it won’t be my problem for a few more hours.
As it is a thoroughly wet and dull day, I decided to take the dog out for a decent walk (he’s a lovely dog, but oh boy does he dislike other dogs – makes for interesting encounters) – the advantage of wet days, is that only the hardy and generally more sympathetic dog walkers seem to go out in this weather.
We tried a new spot somewhere in the outskirts of Milton Keynes. I’d been with a friend once before – probably twenty years ago, but I was pleased to find the car part quite easily, and it was quiet, just me and a couple with a nice, well-behaved collie.
Half way round our walk, I saw two enormous black birds – shags or cormorants? on this flat barge in the lake – sharing it with two swans. I wish I could have found a better spot to take a picture, but this was the best I could do – inevitably it’s a middle-distance photo. In my defence, it’s hard to take pics on your phone whilst simultaneously holding a mad dog’s lead, a full doggy doo bag, a training clicker, a couple of pieces of sausage and a glove.
So this is it.
All I can say is, the black birds were huge and the swans didn’t seem to mind them being there at all.
Mostly Motley 