Today it has rained heavily ALL day!! Despite that, after a long lie, Honey and I went out for a run round Arthur’s Seat (clockwise). It was our first run in 10 days and I felt pretty unfit, but managed to get round and complete the 8km in just under an hour. There were very few people out and about and no cyclists.
We were in for a treat at the pond at the back of Arthur’s Seat, where the signets/swans live. We saw a couple of otters! I’ve never seen any otters on Arthur’s Seat before. Its the same pond where Toads were migrating back on Day 30.
I wonder whether Otters come out when it is raining?
The photo didn’t come out too well, but I managed to get a wee video. Check out below, it includes a bit at the beginning of me running. The sound didn’t really come out, I guess that is because my phone was so wet from the rain! It took ages to get it to open and start to video, due to my fingers and the screen being so wet.
I looked up what the spiritual meaning of seeing an otter means! This is what I found:
“Otter is a creature always up for a bit of adventure, letting curiosity direct them. They don’t worry about what’s left behind but look forward. What a great lesson from Otter Spirit: You can’t embrace new things if you’re always clinging to the past. Your change of perspective doesn’t mean you forget about difficulties, but with a smile, you develop a new point-of-view.”.
“What’s great about the otter symbolism is that you are focused only on what’s ahead and not on what you left behind.”.
“Otter’s motto is: “Play as if no one is looking, and if possible, have someone join you!””.
This totally makes sense in my current life. Yesterday I made the final payment on the canal boat ‘Discovery’, tomorrow I collect the boat documents, keys, etc…As the quote says “You can’t embrace new things if you’re always clinging to the past“.
This has given me reassurance on my new life adventure! I always find spiritual connections when I am making big changes in my life, which is reassuring for me. I believe it is my Dad, Grandmother and other relatives who have died giving me signs and messages that they are alongside me and spurring me on 🙂
After the run I headed along to Word of Mouth for a pot of tea and connection with the local community.
I was surprised to see that all tables and seating areas now have plastic screens, separating each diner from each other.
Hard to see in the photos, but you kind of get the idea!
On Wednesday 30th September 2020 (Day 190) it was Global Action Day. Across the world, thousands of venues and places of work turned red at 8pm to highlight the urgent need of support the live events sector needs to survive the Covid-19 crisis. Thanks to Brian for posting about this on his Facebook page 🙂
I found a few photos online, click on the photo to see it full-size and caption on where it is:
To find out more, check out the links below:
For someone who works in the events industry, this is dear to my heart!
It feels that the government has forgotten the 10,000 magicians that work in the UK. There are no Covid Safety guidelines for magicians!
Face-Mask Corner
Today we have me! I spent ages trying to find a jumper that matched my face-mask 😉
I was inspired by Gilbert’s face-mask on Day 159, so bought one from the same place. It’s from a knitwear company called Mars Knitware. It’s a mixture of polyester and anti-bacteria yarn, made individually for both adults and children in Leicester.
Readers Corner
Today we have one post.
Joyce
Joyce left a Facebook comment on yesterday’s blog (Day 193), saying:
“Video saved 
Great work Jim.”.
Thanks Joyce 🙂
It Made Me Smile
By coincidence, Fi sent me this for the blog, saying it made her smile!
It includes Otters!!
I can’t upload the video off Facebook, but found it on YouTube. Here is the Facebook like to see the original post – https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2429997760634509
As I come to the end of the blog, I am starting to feel excited about my new adventure of living on a boat, I was feeling a bit daunted about it all yesterday. I think it is going to take a few days to really sink in!
I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me over the next 4-8 weeks, downsizing everything I own, getting my flat up to rentable standard, renting my flat out, moving and learning all about boats and boat life!
People who live on canal boats, seem to measure a year, by the winter. For example, I’ve heard over recent weeks “I survived 3 winters on a canal boat” or “I lived like this on the boat through the winter”. I guess, winter is the hardest time, which I will discover very quickly as I will be moving in as winter begins!
Today it has rained heavily all day! This evening on our bedtime walk at 10pm, the rain was a little lighter. There’s going to be a lot of flooding about tomorrow.
Hope you have had a more dryer time where you are today.
Thanks for reading.
Jim xx