Wednesday 13 April

I woke to the sound of trains rattling through the valley. When the wind is in a certain direction they are particularly audible. And I thought how nice it would be to go on a long train journey. My sister had planned to retire this year and we had hoped to go by rail across Europe down to Sicily, where the train goes on a ferry over from the mainland. It looks very dramatic, and Sicily is a place we would both like to visit. However at the moment, I would settle for a trip to Edinburgh to see my niece, who has been locked down there for ever, it seems to me. 12 April does not yet seem to have brought me any benefits, except a haircut next week.

I have been trying to book a ticket to swim at a lido. Why do these places have such inscrutable websites? It is not just me either. I turned up one time at Charlton Lido and said I cannot make this booking system work. The girl was very huffy, so I gave her my phone with the app, no good: tried the online booking from her computer, no good. So I got a free swim. And some really should employ a proof reader:

Hampton Pool Web Enquiry

Following the Government announcement on Monday 4th January 2021, in response to a rise in Covid cases, we will temporarily close the pool at the end of the day of Monday 4th January 2021. We will be in touch about any bookings you have, please bare with us as we process these.

Apologies for late posting: I watched Amanda Owen, the lovely Yorkshire shepherdess with her husband and nine children in Swaledale, and was then too tired to write. She is obviously never tired, and looks wonderfully glamorous, galloping round the hay fields in a mini skirt, with a crowd of adorable children in her wake. So in her honour, “Where sheep may safely graze.”