The best part about not drinking is the time you get at the weekends, before anyone else is up… the roads are quiet, the beach is empty, the sea is calm, well not always obviously, but it was today.

Elly had messaged me on Thursday to ask if I was free to do a sea dip with her this morning. One thing led to another and it ended up being for sunrise (which is no mean feat at this time of year!) and in wetsuits, one of which Elly had to buy quickly! I don’t think I could go in without a wetsuit. I find the cold completely breathtaking in a wetsuit. Hats off to anyone who does that length of time without one!!

I woke at 2.30am to find my period had started.

Oh joy… that explains yesterday afternoon’s lethargy!

Elly was picking me up at 5.30am. I slept on and off between 2.30 and the alarm at 5.

The beach was empty.

There was only one other car parked with no people to be seen at all…. Turns out it was 2 girls from the Fit Body Farm, out for a run, as we saw them when they came back!

Ready to go in selfie. We couldn’t have picked a better day or time. The water was perfect.

I’ve always been told when you’re new to it, you should ideally go at high tide, when then wind is less than 5mph and coming from the east. That way you don’t get carried away from shore. you know how I like to follow a “rule” 😂

The conditions were just perfect.

The sun was just starting to rise.

Morning!!!

I love the colours in this next simple photo. The pinks and lilacs opposite the sunrise or sunset are always lovely.

It feels like we are really far out but that’s only because it’s so shallow.

I’ve found a hole in my wetsuit… I got an extra cold dip this morning!

Love these ripples in the water.

And again!

We stayed in roughly 20 minutes which is more than enough for me in this temperature. We both started to get cold at the same time.

I’m so chuffed with the photos this phone takes. The colours are so real.

The ripples seem real.

It’s forecast to be cloudy today.

We headed up and got dressed as quickly as we could. Hands and toes are always the coldest parts. It’s important to get them warm as quickly as possible. We went for a walk along the beach to warm up once we were dry. My dry robe looks like a dress!! It is a bit big now 😂

I’ve just noticed the heart shaped stone at our feet. The sun is rising fast but it’s still not even 7am.

I just had the best time. I’ve missed sea “swimming”.

For so long it’s seemed like too much hassle. Isn’t that ridiculous? When something you love seems like too much hassle.

I‘m so grateful to Elly for asking me to go today and bringing the sparkle for wild swimming back!

We were home for the back of 7 and it felt like lunchtime!!

I went for a warm shower and then Craig and I sat in the back garden, in the sun, for a coffee.

Look at Queen Khaleesi lying in the middle of the flower bed!

She’s loving the sunshine. It’s still nowhere near as warm as it looks!

We then headed back to Braehead so I could upgrade my Fitbit to an Apple Watch.

I only went for the SE because it’s the base model and is half the price of the Apple Ultra. It does everything I need it to do. It means I don’t need to carry my phone all the time. I say that and then imagine not being able to take a photo!!! Wonder how long it will be before the watch takes photos?!? ⌚️😂🤦🏻‍♀️📸

So back home and straight out to pick Gayle up for a wee lunch out. We were heading to Luss for lunch, but at the last minute turned in to Bowling to head to the gift shop called Paton Parcels.

Would you believe we drove straight into the Glasgow Kilt Walk!! There were people everywhere…. Our worst nightmare!!!

We had a sandwich with tea and cake in the Paton’s coffee shop. The radio was blaring, we could hardly hear to talk. It really wound up my anxiety for some reason…. Maybe it was that and the millions of people.

The Bowling Harbour was really pretty. The reflections were lovely.

The water didn’t move at all.

We walked down to the side of the Clyde and it was fairly calm too. There’s an old jetty out in the water, it was picturesque.

Looking back up to the Erskine bridge that we just drove over. if you zoom in to this shot, those two vertical posts are in the foreground and not part of the bridge. How random.

It was really cold so we didn’t hang around long.

We had a wander around the canal.

More reflections.

My friend helen will be so proud… she’s the queen of reflections!

It’s hard to believe there are thousands of kilt walkers milling around here… you can see some of them on this bridge!

I’ve been home since 3 and it’s still only 5pm. This is the longest day! I love getting up early.

There is a fair bit of anxiety today. I do wonder if it’s caffeine instead of decaf coffee maybe, by mistake…. That’s what it feels like, nothing more, just a jitteryness… I made that word up. 😂

I’ve had a great weekend but really desperate for some heat to that sunshine. ☀️☀️

Stay safe everyone ☀️☀️☀️