Thursday 17 August 2023
My routine of sorts is all over the place this month. I was thinking about mornings in Scotland compared to mornings in London. In Lewisham, I usually write this first thing with a mug of tea, sitting in my favourite old armchair next to the balcony door with the door open (for most of winter too). Here, same kind of time and with a mug of tea, sitting at the dining table looking out at the bird feeder. In winter, I sat on the sofa in the living room. I have no idea if I’ll revert to that location in a few months’ time. The view is different and the noise levels are different between London and Scottish Borders. I surprise myself by thinking that I don’t have a favourite.
In Scotland, I watch the birds, trees and weather. It’s wonderful, I love it. In London, it’s all about traffic, trains, people and we can see tree tops and roofs; there is a lot more going on. But I think the main thing is that I like having the door open and a sense of outdoors, whatever the environment. It’d seem easy to just open a door or window in Scotland and have cleaner, fresher air and the sound of birdsong and a river flowing. However, it’s a lot chillier (but that’s okay) and there are likely to be midges and other insects getting in. It is a real problem in large areas of Scotland.
I spoke to the neighbour’s friend who’s British but lives in New Zealand and stays here every summer. He said he has no plans to leave New Zealand and certainly not to return to the UK. He also talked about how frustrating it is here when it’s a beautiful summery day but you can’t really go out and sit outdoors because of all the midges. I said how I’d have most meals outdoors in nice weather, but can’t because of the midges. It is such a shame. I did, however, see and chat to him because I had been sitting outside for my lunch and strawberries and meringue (a one-off kind of dessert, honestly). For some reason, despite being sunny with not much breeze, the midges weren’t really around. It was a genuinely joyful endorphin rush. In fact, speaking to him made me postpone the writing I was doing so I could go outside and appreciate the sun, which I did.
If someone had told me I wouldn’t really be able to sit outside at every sunny opportunity in Scotland, would that have made a difference? I wouldn’t have quite been able to believe them. I still love being here enough for that to be sort of okay, but being restricted to what and when you can do/be outdoors is probably the worst thing about living here. That’s not just the midges, it’s also the rain, a few other persistent flies and that it’s not usually as warm as it looks.
Today, it is forecast to be “partly sunny”, the temperature between 10°C and 18°C. Sunrise was 05:49 and sunset is 20:43. In Lewisham, 18°C to 24°C, 05:47 and 20:19. So it’s just started being a later sunrise here than in London, but still more daylight into the evening. Right now, it’s not sunny but I am optimistically going to hang out yesterday’s late afternoon wash in the hope it will dry, which I’m sure it will.
Today is otherwise all about painting the small niches in the otherwise teal annex, writing and going out for a walk later on.