A Perfect Day

Hullo ma wee blog,

Like the same day twenty years ago the day of our anniversary was a sunny day. Back then there were days of solid bad weather before and after but we struck it lucky for our wedding day which allowed us to take a boatload of guests out to the island in the middle of the Firth of Forth north of Edinburgh for the ceremony in the ruins of Inchcolme Abbey.  Wednesday was a chilled out affair spent, just the two of us, sharing the garden here at home with Jess, the birds and a bottle of pink champagne to kick off an alfresco day enjoying each others company in the sunshine. We had thought of going away for the day, spending it in Edinburgh or further afield, but the weather made it an easy choice to relax and spend the day on the patio. It suited our mood perfectly.

Jess headed for her favourite planter tub at the edge of the patio and slumped down around the curve of the rim, head on the pillow provided by a weed and gave a contented sigh which said she too had nothing planned for the rest of the day but a spot of sunbathing and idle birdwatching. The birds chorused a 'welcome' from the hedge at the back of the garden for a few moments until satisfied we had settled down and they could resume normal business. The dominant male blackbird strutted the length of the roof with his chest puffed out and tail held high until he too was satisfied he could bring his mate down beside us to feed and drink the clean water we had put out. Soon the garden was full of quiet activity, birds came and went swooping past a dozing Jess The blackbird made several zig-zag runs towards her, head thrust forward as if to check if she was really asleep before returning back to his mate to feed at a safe distance. Jess' belly sighed her complete indifference and she closed again the one eye she had opened to watch proceedings with before scooting herself onto her back to lie with four paws aloft as if to say 'Look! I'm just chillin. Leave me alone!'

I brought out another bottle of  bubbly and we continued to chat and read or just sit and watch the comings and goings of our garden residents and listen to the music from the laptop beside us until the afternoon took a turn towards a cooler evening. I split some wood and lit the chiminea which gave us warmth for another hour or so before we felt the chill close in and  headed in to continue the rest of the evening inside, leaving the birds to have a final seed or two before dusk.

A perfect day.