Saturday 8th February 2020

Now, this will come as a surprise, that on the first of the weekend, we did nothing.

At all.

But, as ever, doing nothing, took all day to do.

We were going to dig up some of the middle patio paving to plant some ornamental grasses to break up the concrete, but there seemed little rush, the grasses are in tubs, we can move them to where we want, we could always dig on a warmer, brighter day.

We could have gone out on a bit of a churchcrawl, but it turned out there wasn't much pressing crawling to do. I have done loads this year so far, and maybe a weekend without it being a photoshoot is a good idea?

Did I just write those words

I did.

Anyway, the day dawned cloudy and rainy, with the breeze whipping the light rain into the back of the house.

We turned up the heating another notch or two.

And so for the morning, we stayed in; had breakfast, coffee, listened to the radio and mid-morning, I made a batch of mince pies with the jar of mincemeat we had left over from Crimbo.

We just had to wait for them to cool down so they could be gotten out of the tin without them falling apart. I make a fresh coffee in anticipation.

We drank coffee and had a mince pie. Then another mince pie. And the morning wore on towards lunchtime.

Why not have lunch?

I grate courgettes, mix the seasoned and herbed batter, and shallow fry a plateful of fritters. We eat them, dipping them in garlic mayonnaise.

Into the afternoon, and with few Premier games, its the Football League that takes the focus, and there's 6 Nations Rugby on the tellybox, only issue is to try to stay awake. Games merge into one, and one rugby game turns into the England v Scotland game at Murrayfield. In terrible conditions, strong wind and rain, a mistake-strewn game, England get the only try and win the game.

As soon as it is done, we put on our shoes and coats as we had an evening out!

Yes, its true. Mari Wilson was a popular singer of the early 80s, and one I have many records of. And she was playing in Deal.

We can be there in 15 minutes!

We get into Deal, its quiet apart from the ruggerbuggers wandering the streets drunkenly shouting celebrations on beating the Scottish. We call in the chippy for supper, battered sausage and chips, which we eat on the promenade, quickly in time before they go cold.

I just about manage it.

She was playing at the Astor Theatre, a fne art deco place just off the high street. Our tickets were waiting, and we joined the hundred or so others in taking our seats just beofre half seven. We had seats on the front row, and was very pleasant indeed.

No mosh pit here.

Mari came on wth two backing musicians, who veered towards cheesiness of Raw Sex at times, but Mari's voice is a clear as cut crystal, and was wonderful. She has just recorded a second set of standards, so sang those, talked between, and it was all very pleasant.

She began the second half with her first minor hit, Beat the Beat, and ended the night with Just What I always Wanted.

We walked back to the car, drove ten minutes to home, all to be all ready for bed, sipping a nightcap for ten.