November 27. Day 331. The early bird

 Sleeping is something of a family specialty. I was trained in the fine art of snoozing by my mother. Mum doesn't only adhere to the idea of letting sleeping dogs lie but also thinks it is wrong to wake snoozing humans without good cause. If you are asleep, you need to be. Given that, there was no way I was going to wake her when the dogs and I went for our pre-breakfast walk on the beach. So she missed the butcher bird eating its prey and the dogs trying to catch and kill each other. She also didn't see the large number of mutton birds dead on the beach (apparently this is a seasonal thing). Mind you, I didn't see her taking on the crossword later in the day because it was time for my nap. She let me sleep. She always does. In the late afternoon we were both awake so we hit the beach with the dogs. Rumple and Winkle were happy to let Grandma share in ball throwing duties. Indeed they put on a classic display of why we all enjoy the beach so much. Still, it's considered most unlikely she'll wake to repeat it in the morning (and we won't wake her).