Wednesday 25th August 2010

And so, it come to us all; I am now 45 years old, and now enter a different demographic on surveys. Will I automatically become more conservative? It has to be said, we go to bead at a sensible time each evening, and rise at dawn, or thereabouts. Eat fruit. Although, we could do with doing more exercise, but other than that, we’re there already.



Yesterday was a glorious lat summer’s day; a day full of sunshine and light fluffy ‘Simpsons’ clouds. And so in the evening we went for a walk along the lane at the end of our street, past the pigs roaming in the wood, turned left down the rough track, down into the valley and up the other side, past the friendly horse, up the grassy path and over the hill where the wheat had been harvested on both side, and eventually up the final rise to the brown of the hill where Bluebirds nestles on the edge of the cliffs and the land falls down to the rocks below.

It was a warm evening, but blustery, and so it alternated between chilly in the wind to mild in the shelter of a hedge or house. The hedgerows are filled with berries and other fruit ripening, although the plentiful insects are all gone. Just about all fields of cereals have been harvested, and many fields have been ploughed as well. In the golden light as the sun went down and in that chilly wind, it really did feel as though autumn were already here.



We stood at the edge of the cliffs and watched as ferries jostled for position as a cruise liner crept out of Dover harbour; to the north over Thanet, dark skies grew and a rainbow appeared; But for us, sunshine and watching the ships and boats below. A fishing boat struggled through the swell, plunging into waves and swamping its deck.

We headed back and walked into the setting sun as the countryside darkened; we arrived home as the sun set, and there was time to put a pizza in the oven and settle down with a beer and wait for it to cook.

Today, as well as being my birthday, I got the formal offer of a job, although tempered by the fact they will not pay for transport when I have to go to head office, until the next project begins. This came as a shock, and something I will have to think about. I can get up to Manchester for as little as £19, if I booked far enough in advance, but I will not get that luxury. And I will have to find my own accommodation, which is also a shock. But I may be able to bunk with friends, so we shall see.



And in just four months it will be Christmas, and in the middle of winter. And so time passes and we get ever older, and hopefully, wiser.