4 days in November.

I've got all these photos stacking up but haven't been in the mood to say anything about them, so it's going to be an omnibus edition I'm afraid.

Last Thursday I was walking home from Shandwick Place just as the sun was setting and the light was really lovely. I happened to have my camera with me so I took some photos, but, disappointingly, they just didn't capture the magic. So I turned to the magic of Photoshop to ramp them up a bit. I don't think ramp up is quite the phrase actually. Anyway, whatever. Photoshop filter world has an addictive quality and it's hard to enjoy an ordinary good image once you've been in there blowing your mind with crazy colour and mind-blowing effects.

You see, you start with a little distortion as a kind of gateway drug and before you know it....

 

This kind of thing is happening. I think this is what zombies see when they're chasing you, isn't it?

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Then on Saturday morning Peter was away to combine Matt Jones's birthday run with doing a Tynecastle Bronze. It was a lovely morning and I thought I'd go an off-roady run in the park.

This reminds me of this...

I know. I couldn't help it. I spent ages trying to get a decent shot of the crows who were dancing about on the thermals and clearly having a great time, but I just couldn't get them in shot. And the one or two I did get were raggedy and in the distance. So out comes photoshop.

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 On Sunday I fancied going for a longer kind of run round the coast. Peter was happy to do whatever distance at my pace, having run 32 the day before. He was a bit hungover from running and drinking rum, which led to him making speeches. He was giving me a blow by blow account of the day before in minute detail, which I kind of resent as I'm having my reality in the present and don't want it filled with things that happened somewhere else yesterday. I protested in this manner; "You're going to tell me all about this now and then you're going to write it in your blog and then you're going to moan at me if I don't read your blog." He was full of a big coffee, and quite unrepentant, and said "Well there's an oral tradition and then there's a written tradition." And then he ran off, which he can always do in an argument. In our next lives he's going to be my pet mouse and I will hold him by the tail when I want to tell him something.

But anyway, it was breezy and the light was very good and it would have been hard to stay in argumentative mode for any length of time. We ran 11 miles round the coast and were blown to bits but quite happy after.

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So yesterday was my birthday and we just went for a tottie wee run. Nothing of note. It was a really grey day yesterday and I could feel the winter blues creeping on. Staying in the house too long isn't good. I hate dark grey winter days and I hate being cold.

Today the sun was supposed to be shining all morning, so at about 9.30am I dug PB out of bed and told him my plan. 4 hills of Edinburgh with a visit to the Botanics at the end. According to the weather it should still have been sunny by the time we finished.

The sun went away pretty much right away though. I'm glad we didn't know in advance. It was good to get out the house, and the run went well.

When we got to the Botanics we had an over-priced pot of tea and some cake which, judging by its dry texture, wasn't on its first day on display. It's such a shame the cafe is such a rip-off as the Botanics are other-wise fantastic. 2 bits of cake, a pot of tea for two and a 500ml bottle of water cost £12.30.

When we came out the cafe it was really overcast and cold and neither of us could stand to hang around, so we headed home - about another couple of miles.

Mr Heron doesn't like the winter and the cold either.

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