What a wonderful morning to be alive.

I woke at 5.20 but lay and dozed until 8am.

If I’m honest, I think I thought about 70,000 thoughts in the time that I lay but I felt like I needed the rest.

At 8am the sky was already light, but the sun had not risen, so I quickly got dressed and grabbed the 3 Borders for a sunrise dog walk.

Not for the faint-hearted walking 3 dogs on lead in such a heavy frost!! Thankfully it’s a dry frost rather than black ice and I only slid once and had to deep breathe to recover… the dogs all came to my rescue at the sound of my heavy breathing!

If you zoom in, two ducks just took off from the water!

The sky is a beautiful light.

I try so hard not to get the electrical pylons in my photos but I liked the silhouette of natural with the manmade. (Note my lovely neighbours’ house right in the middle!!)

The pylons stretch into the distance as far as the eye can see.

I love the pink and blue of the sky.

A frosty fence post 😆

A spooky tree, named by our lovely friend Carole, who is no longer with us. Will always see her in these trees.

An icy gate… it’s been a while since I took a photo of a gate… 😆

Off lead!!

Found a big stone in the mud Mumma.

Lookie see 😆

As I turn round behind me I see the sun is almost there.

A beautiful sunrise and the light takes the edge off the burr cold.

I love the light of the morning.

Whatcha saying says Calaidh?!?

Get it over with says Freya.. I wanna play.

Just perfection. I feel so full of joy up here alone with the puppers. It’s so quiet and calm, so peaceful. It’s a wonderful way to start the day full of all the different light and full of joy.

A promise of a beautiful day.

Looking down over Beith and the snowcapped Goat Fell on the Isle of Arran.

Beautiful sunrise pose. They are clever girls.

The frosted farm road we walk on.

With the sunrise to the left on the way down the hill.

And the farm looking so pretty, on the right, in the warm light.

By this time, my fingers are so cold I can hardly manage the poo bags and the 3 leads but I’m still taking photos!! I love Frey’s face.

As I head back home I meet Holly taking Leo for a walk, so I dump the Borders on Craigie and do a quick swap for Khaleesi!! think she’s sticking her tongue out at me in this one.

I’m home by 10am and get stuck in to the housework.

I want to relax in the sunroom/snug later on and I need to eradicate all the dog hair that’s accumulated since last weekend.

On a roll. I hoover the whole downstairs, tidy the kitchen and get everything just so again.

I pop outside for a poo pick but there not much to be done and there’s a lovely warmth to the sun.

Craig leaves for work about 2.30 and I sit down.

Bhru to the left of me.

Freya and Khaleesi to the right of me.

And here I was stuck in the middle 😆 I love that I get up and down and there’s still space for me when I come back.

The sunroom brings light into the house. The sunrise, the sunset, the fire and the candle light. I think that’s why I suddenly love it so much. I don’t want to leave. 😆

Self care time. Donna Ashworth wants us to right about our critical inner voice. I don’t think the space on the page is big enough. 😆

I take people at their word so when people say they are going to do something I believe it will happen.

On the flip side, if people ask me, or tell me to do something in a certain way, that’s what I will do.

One of the the things that I get most irritated about is when these things don’t happen.

Either I expect things to be done and they are not or I stick to what I’m told to do and that remit changes and I am confused. I seem to be quite black and white that way. A two year old has a childish tantrum in my head when this goes wrong for me. Followed by a huff.

I don’t say a word.

It grows inside of me.

Until one day, for no reason at all, I blurt it all out or I get angry at something completely different.

What if I took everything at face value and listened, knowing it either might not happen or whatever I’m told to do would change?

Would the world end?

No.

Would it make my life easier.

Probably, yes.

I’ve also been questioning my day to day reality. There is so much of the world waiting to be explored, how do I cope with the mundane, day to day, same old, same old.

I feel like something has shifted this month. I feel much more relaxed with a day in the house and I’m so grateful for the time spent.

My go to detox is still to be alone and I do think I’m in danger of spending too much time alone. I know I need connection too. Since my illness in 2018, I’ve worked so hard to control my reality. Being alone gives me true control as nothing can upset me and I can’t upset anyone else.

The silence is wonderful to me.

I need to look for beauty in the noise too.

I want to focus on that more this year.

This has been such a reflective January for me!

I also wrote another (very) short story for the free Winter Writing Sanctuary with Beth Kempton. I’m enjoying the randomness of the topics she gives us to write about.

I was thinking about my 3 lovely sets of favourite jammies today too and realise that it’s so much easier to change when you come into a house of moulting dogs…. It keeps my outdoor clothes a bit less hairy. (Check me with even more control in there…. Control freak!

I hope you have a lovely Friday night. I have the candles on, fire lit and all the dogs are out for the count. That could be because this room is like a furnace. 😆🔥🥵

And we’re awake and out the back for some better cold air. It’s still beautiful.

I have also downloaded the SkyView Lite app so I’ll be out there looking for stars once it’s really dark.

Stay safe everyone ✨⭐️✨