14 July 2024

I awake to good and bad news. 

Good news: the catfood has been eaten – my small-portion “starvation diet”, to stop fussy eating and ensure nothing left over (I don’t enjoy clearing out fishy rejects), seems to be working. Don’t tell Vicky.


The bad news is that, the need to keep the front door open overnight in case Stanley returns, means that there are two starlings fluttering about in the “conservatory” (see photo from yesterday). Merrily shitting over the chaos. My efforts to shoo them out simply add to their stress so I leave them be.


It is time to explore the beach, a kilometre away on the east side of the island. I set off with borrowed binoculars and play around with identifying nondescriptive birds perched on the fencing. Twite? Linnet? 🤔 What a great concentration meditation birding is.


The beach is stunning. The ochre house that one seems to see from every point on the island looks straight down it. I continue to wrestle with extreme reluctance to get into the water. Maybe tomorrow. 





Today is going to be a day of sport, with the Wimbledon men’s final (Djokovic and Alcaraz) and Spain vs England in the UEFA final.


From 2 pm until the end of the day the three of us are glued firstly to the community TV (until we are thrown out by a confrontational individual needing space for a private conversation) and then on a screen we found at Vicky’s. What a beautiful game tennis is, and what nonsense is football.







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