Winter sunrise over Hundon

Sunrise over Hundon

Wednesday: Another cloudless daybreak, with winter frost and a low mist on the hills. It has been the mildest of winters, without snow or fog or heavy frosts. Not a breath of air moves the trees beneath the perched birds, gathering in great numbers now to nest and mate, though I cannot pretend to identify them.

A pretty Thames walk

Thursday: Having failed to secure a flight through Lastminute dot con,  today we must drive down to the UK offices of Astellas near London, to return their computer and the pass for the building. The team sent me an email when I said I had been let down and couldn't get to Leiden, saying they were sorry not to say goodbye in person, and they had a card and gift for me!

We stopped near Windsor for lunch, overlooking the Thames with a good walk available for the dogs. The journey back though was the usual nightmare of rush-hour traffic, but on the doorstep on our return was a UBS parcel marked "extreme urgency!". It was the gift from the group at Leiden - a fine calf leather folder, with a thank you card of generous comments. All as welcome as they were surprising.