Written Monday morning 12th Oct. from 08.15hrs
It can’t be exciting all the time; the weekend was relatively quiet. On Friday, the weather was “irritatingly mixed”. Roger, back now for a week from twenty-one days of travelling to and exploring the Isle of Arran, suggested lunch and a walk. Rain showers were heavy, separated by varying lengths of dry cool and breezy weather. The countryside, thus with its autumnal shades looked just that little bit more vivid. The walking eased the lower back pain which had manifested itself a few days ago.
I suspect that there is now little hope of any further Indian Summer; we are almost half-way through October and the Jet Stream seems nicely ensconced far South of the U.K!
Saturday was spent watching movies and other T.V. programmes; I had no desire to venture out that day.
Yesterday, Sunday, I was determined to make better use of the day. I caught the end of Sunday Worship on Radio 4 but was much more inspired by the programme which followed, “Point of View”, where a well known writer/essayist reads on a subject of his/her choice, usually about something that’s relevant to the moment. The lady, whose name I forget, recalled, with astonishing detail, her childhood from the time her father walked out, leaving the once comfortably off family in much reduced circumstances. Such detail was brought to mind when the writer’s mother, still alive and in her mid eighties, wanted to declutter the kitchen, her trusty 1962 Kenwood Chef being consigned either to the “skip” or a charity shop. It had become too heavy for her to move from the shelf where it had resided out of use for decades; the daughter being summoned to get rid of it, and thus inspiring the “essay” shared with listeners to Radio 4 yesterday morning.
It was another cool, bright and mixed day which I was informed would remain dry for the afternoon. I had breakfast almost at lunchtime which is now often the case in these wonderful days of leisure. The plan was to drive to Parsley Hay, walk a little and possibly have a late afternoon Sunday lunch at the Royal Oak at Hurdlow. I don’t know about the lunch, but the extensive car park and overflow carpark at the former little- used country railway station was full. People were everywhere, walking dogs, cycling and running. I walked for a short distance and rang the Royal to book a table for around 3 o’clock. They were fully booked; I walked a little further, and resolved to prepare my own Sunday lunch at home; soup, poached salmon and various vegetables and some time later, fruit and a dish of porridge before going to bed. I had gotten bored with a late night movie at the end of the day….Fifty Shades of Grey….and slept soundly afterwards!
Thanks for reading, David.
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David's Cruise 