Thursday 15th April 2021

32nd anniversary of Hillsborough.

Eac morning, up to the 21st June, the sun rises ever more easterly, until at the end of April it is so far to the east, sunrise is hidden by the house next door. But by then it is so early we're still in bed, so don't see it anyway.

Back in December and January, we clung to any sign of the days getting longer, and now it is light from when we get up before six until after seven in the evening.

If only I was able to go out and enjoy it, maybe I will soon.

Because I woke up Thursday and my foot was swollen again, not as bad as before, but enough to make sure I had my foot elevated the whole day, meanig a walk was out of the question.

And, after 12 years in the ugly house, the Council is changing the bin pick up day, that will now be Fridays. So, no urgent tasks to carry out before work, just sit inside and wait for the central heating to warm the house up, by which time it would be time for work.

Work is work, and some days, some weeks motivation is hard to come by. Like this week.

I should be happy to have a job, one which pays me to work from the dining room table, but we have gone from a situation with the old company where we were all comfortable and happy, and all that has been thrown away. Three of our colleagues have been cast aside and I have a bad case of loser's remorse.

My foot aches, so I don't go for a walk, even though it is warm enough to walk and take snaps, it is too early in my recovery,if that is what is it, to risk taking any steps backwards. As it is, I have both eyes on the sunny weekend ahead, which I hope will be filled with orchids.

So, I work on, taking breaks every hour to make a brew, go into the garden to survey what was new, if anything.

The tadpoles are doing well. I topped up the pond with fresh rainwater, submerging more weed on the side, so they graze it in the warm sun. None have developed legs at all, so whether its front first or back first will prove whether we are surrogate parents to newts or frogs.

I have breakfast, then after what seemed like a gap of years, have lunch of defrosted rolls, pastrami and sliced pickled onions. My verson of a ruben, having substituted the butter for Belgian frit saus.

Yummy.

And the day continues.

I snap the Imperialis, as they are now at their peak, the largest two spikes are now 1.2m takk, and have a double collection of flowers round the crown. They look imperial indeed.

Shot of the day is a shot looking up into the crown, to see details of the innerflowers.

Might just work.

Dinner was our new favourite: fritters. But this time I use cayanne pepper, pepper, chilli flakes and nutmeg. And instead of lemon joice I use fresh orange juice and zest, which game them a wonderful sweet flavour.

I am just done when Jools returns home; at the start of her three day weekend.

After eating the fritters, dipping them in garlic mayo. We tidy up, get the plants in to escape the frost.

And again the day was done. There was the last of the live shows on the radio, which has been a real highlight, but come nine o'clock, I was dog tired, and my foot seemed to be getting better, so was looking for an night of undisturbed sleep.