Sunday 19th February 2017

Second day of the weekend, and turns out that despite us both being knackered all weekend, we were both wide awake at six, and the cats said that seeing we were awake would we find it in ourselves to feed them? Needless to day after thinking about it for a while, we did get up, feed the cats and make coffee. Sweet strong coffee.

There was the upsets from the previous day's football to catch up on. I stop after the first two games to make bacon butties and huge fresh brews. Then go back to the sofa to complete the football.

Once that was watched, I see that the sun was out, much against what the BBC had promised, so I got the idea that we should go out so I could take shots of snowdrops before the light went. So, I hurried Jools up, got my gear together and we drove to Waldershare, where around the old chapel there are hundreds of snowdrops in among the old graves.

I picked what I thought the most photogenic clump, lay on the wet grass and took a hundred or so shots. It was only when I got home I found that many of the shots could not be used due to dust, or looking more like cumps of mud, on the sensor.

Once back home, I walk along to the house at the end of the street, as his daffodils have finally come out, some eight weeks later than last year, but still feels early. As well as that, the first of the dwarf iris are out in our garden, a flash of colour just outside the living room windw, and everywhere else, there are the green shoots of other spring bulbs, including the large fritillaries showing above the damp and heavy soil.

That done we drove home to do some more relaxing, and listening to the radio. As you do.

Lunch was cheese and crackers, I opened a bottle of beer, intending only to drink half of it saving the rest for dinner. Only, I ended up polishing off the bottle sitting on the sofa watching the Fulham v Spurs game, but within twenty minutes of the start I was sound asleep. I wake up several times, check on the score and go back to sleep.

As the game finished, I wake up, but to say my head was wooly would be the same as saying it had a flock of sheep grazing inside it. Still, as I was awake, best make a coffee and prepare to listen to the 2nd game of the day, Blackburn v Man U, which also ended in a 3-0 win for the Prem team.

And by now it was evening, which means the weekly ordeal that is the phone call with Mother dearest. There is no news from Lowestoft, other than Mum has blocked ears. So I spoke loudly, just to be sure she could hear. Anyway, she did not laugh. The call lasted ten minutes, does that mean I am excused phone call duties for 4 weeks? Apparently not.

We watch a fine tele-visual program of a year in the life of a mountain. No really, and if you can, watch "Life of a Mountain: A Year on Blencathra" and marvel at the cinematography. I know we did.