Sunday 27th October 2024

The annual question of "what to do with the extra hour in bed" had the usual answer.

Lay in bed, wide awake until its seven, or near as dammit. And ignore the cats as their stomachs will take some time to work on GMT.

Up and a slow start, make coffee and tea. Jill comes down, I make tea and an egg roll for her. Jools and I have fruit and more coffee.

It is a glorious morning, and we had promised Jill we would take her to the cliffs for a walk.

So, just about nine, we drve the five minutes to the Monument, parked up, and Jools and Jill went for a leg stretcher, and I inspected the grass surround of the monument for sign of orchids.

ALTs.

I found two dried spikes, so napped them, then the abundance of Harebells I saw there and on the cliff tops, before walking to Leathercoat Point, the closest pint to France, and look down at the waves lapping at the cliffs a hundred yards below.

My phone picked up the French phone signal, so was an hour ahead, suggesting to me and my stomach that it was nearer lunch time than it actually was.

Jools and Jill come back, and we drive home so that Jill could have a brew before she drove back along the coast to the Solent, and life in Chez Jelltex would return to normal.

Not that it was dull or not fun with Jill, of course.

Jill left, and we were both suddenly hungry, so I sliced the remaining beef, fried it in goose fat, then put them in two rolls, drizzled with warm gravy and we feasted with a huge brew.

Worked very well indeed.

After a shower, I settled down to watch football: 60 % of Chelsea v Newcastle, all of Norwich v Middlesborough and 60% of Arsenal v Liverpool.

Norwich came from 3-1 down to draw 3-3, but did not inspire confidence, and the latter game ended a 2-2 draw.

Meanwhile Man Utd lost 2-1 at West Ham, a result and performance which would cost the manager his job in the end.

Oh well.

Dark by half four, of course, and so we closed the curtains and had a slice of cake for supper with a coffee.