Zoom meeting for church went well on Sunday evening. Getting quite used to it, worryingly. On Monday it was still cold, but we had some sun in the afternoon and went for a walk together to the Rosary, plus a little bit extra on the way back. Spoke to the Evetts on the phone; also, unexpectedly, Pat Burgess from church. Des came over in the evening to get back the book he’d lent us by Tom Bower on Jeremy Corbyn. He wanted to return it to the person who’d lent it to him… Finished reading the Antlers book on Scotland: some really interesting stuff in the second half, particularly a piece about the far north (Ben Loyal), and one on the island of Mingulay, near Barra.
Tuesday was milder, but we didn’t go out, partly because it was rather damp. Instead I sorted out the books that had been ousted from the shelves now hidden behind a wardrobe in the guest bedroom, and then we took down the Christmas decorations, because it was Candlemas. Strange how much lighter the house seems, presumably because it’s now uncluttered. Put the decorations in the attic, which Dot cleaned up while she was there. Later watched Norwich draw 0-0 with Millwall in another dreary game. On the plus side, I sent off my poetry book to the printers, and we watched a brilliant old film called The Train, set at the end of the second world war.
Wednesday was still reasonably mild. We received a delivery from Naked Wines, but no Hello Fresh this week, which makes a surprising difference. Dot had a Zoom meeting with a head, so I had a late bath, then sorted out some papers, which was quite satisfying. Later we picked up a proof copy of my book from the printers, then walked round Pilling Park and down the road and back. Dropped Dot off at Boots, and she walked home.
Yesterday was sunny and quite warm in the morning; so we went for a walk to the Rosary before lunch, and sat in the sun for a while. Strange sensation! We then picked up the groceries from Des and changed all the bed sheets. Watched The Dig on Netflix. This is about Sutton Hoo and had been widely praised. Glad to say it was indeed excellent. Ralph Fiennes was excellent as the man who found and excavated it and was then treated appallingly by the experts because he wasn’t an academic.
I gave the go-ahead for the poetry book, then Dot and I investigated her DNA and found a possible link with someone from Belfast. Have contacted, rather nervously, the owner of that tree. There seems little doubt that Dot’s DNA is Celtic, by a very large majority, and no English at all. What was going on in Glasgow 75 years ago?
We’ve been watching four series on TV in which the lead character is a rather neurotic woman (to varying degrees). Must be the in thing. We’ve just finished watching The Drowning on Channel 5, and it was pretty dreadful. The plot and motivations were very shaky, and possibly as a result the acting was unconvincing. No sympathy for lead character at all.
Sunny again today, and after a fairly productive morning we went for a walk after lunch, round the Cathedral up to the top of the Close and then back to Pull’s Ferry and along the path. Spent some time trying to find the cricket on All 4, and when we did, the Broadband link was fragile; so we decided to try it later.