Dawn

This was taken just before half-past nine this morning, shortly after an 8.46am sunrise, looking southeast across the Dornoch and Moray Firths to the distant hills of Ross-shire.  We were about to set off for 'work' at the Alzheimers shop, had risen in the dark, and would only have an hour or so of daylight when we returned home in the mid-afternoon.

The days are short now and remind us of our one winter foray even further north, when we spent a few days in Finnish Lapland to celebrate a wedding. At least here the temperatures don't plunge at night to below -30C.

Happily, we're less than a week away from the shortest day and, although the coming months will probably see the worst of the winter, can look forward to the steadily lengthening days and to that glorious moment when something - perhaps a single snowdrop - tells us that spring is waiting to spring.