Saturday 19th March 2016

As the world turns, the year moves on. It is now almost light when the alarm goes off at six in the morning. Now, I am thinking that my eyelids are getting thinner as I get older, because as soon as it is light, I wake up, which can be a bugger in high summer. In the back garden, in the new flower beds, the Fritillaria imperialis have now started to show above ground and are flowering furiously, with apparently, more an 1cm of growth a day at the moment, and new shoots showing daily too, pushing clumps of loam out of the way as they reach for the sky. I really hope these will be as spectacular as the ones I saw in Holland last spring. Time will tell I guess.

But as we rush towards the Spring equinox here in the northern hemisphere, in the south, it is the opposite, the last of the golden days of autumn before the long cold dark nights start stretching out for months ahead.

Friday

I woke up at half six, refreshed and with a chesty cough, but I no longer felt like death, which I saw as an improvement. As I posted on Faceache, you only realise how ill you have been when you start to get better. So, I spring up having heard the water boiling in the pot meaning coffee would soon be ready.

I have the day to myself, and despite feeling better than I did on Thursday, I did not feel like doing too much, in fact a day if leisure seemed very appealing, but with a trip to the butchers at some point, as I fancy some steak for Saturday.

As predicted, it was dull and overcast morning extended into the afternoon. I was going to see if St Mildred's was open in Preston when I went to the butcher, but in the end I knew it would be locked, so put that off for another time later in the year. Mid-morning I do go out, and drive out towards Thanet before taking the turn back towards Canterbry, then the Nash road to Preston. THe last of the winter broccoli was laying rotting in the field, and elsewhere, workers were busy getting the fruit trees ready for the new season.

Sadly, they already sold out of the wild garlic bangers, but promised more in the near future. So made do with tow topside joints, a shoulder of lamb, four ribeyes, pork pies, pork steaks. We won't go hungry, but then it is not just for this weekend, this will last for several weeks.

I had also bought a handmade Cornish Pasty, which are every bit as good as their pork pies, so I warmed that up in the oven whilst I put the rest of the shopping away, so it would be ready to eat once the kettle had boiled and my tea had brewed. I know how to live.

I edit lots of shots of churches whilst I listen to the radio. Outside it begins to drizzle, so I make a brew and turn the heating up a notch: The cats were telling me they were cold.

At three I go out to collect Jools from the car hore place, as it had to be returned before five, and she left work at four. Anyway, I had noticed a field of grass that had been mown over the previous two days, and I forgotten to snap, so I took the camera along with the big boy lens to get some shots. The light wasn't prefect, but good enough for what I wanted, with the lighthouse in the distance, just sticking up over the end of the filed.

That done, into town to Townwall Street where the yard was, and thus having to negotiate the roadworks and single lanes. Despite being a few days before the equinox, it was bitterly cold, and so I put the heated seats on, and for the first time ever, the heated steering wheel. And yes, you read that right. And it was needed.

Once Jools had handed the car back in, we drove into the rush hour traffic towards the Eastern Docks and then up Jubilee Way and so to home. Phew.

I had also made a huge pan of chilli in the afternoon, so all there was to do was cook the rice, warm the chilli back up, and we had dinner. And even if I say so myself, it was damn fine chilli too, not too spicy, but enough warmth to feel it in the back of your throat. Yummy. Heck, we both even had a small second helping. As you do.

We had a double helping of The Don, as Jools caught up on last week's episode, but then fell asleep during this week's. After we got caught up in the Loretta Lynn documentary on BBC4; he son being the star of the show, I'd like him as a friend cum drinking buddy. The music was great too, a strong woman kicking against a male dominated industry. I learned much.