Thursday 18th Apr

Once the family are breakfasted and out, and I’ve cleaned up, I’m off to the library. Once again it’s a breezy morning but a pleasant walk, especially as I’ve eventually managed to break in the shoes I bought in the sales after Christmas. It’s entirely possible I wiped out all the saving I made on the initial purchase, with the subsequent cost of plasters! Anyway they’ll be good when the autumn arrives.

A busy morning in the library including a funny tasting cup of tea helps the time fly by. I even manage to finish all bar one of the clues in the weekend’s big crossword; I must remember to check it out later. I stop in to see the folks on the way home and give a basic lesson in how to auto-tune the TV, as they’ve lost BBC1 and BBC2. The response I got was, “It wouldn’t let me do that the other day!” Not a lot I could say really, as I took my leave shaking my head gently.

The afternoon brings my weekly cleaning session, which I am halfway through when the father-in-law calls by. He’s surprised to see me cleaning as the house isn’t dirty, to which I reply, “That’s because your daughter (Mrs P) always has us cleaning.” I then crack on with the ironing while having a final run through of this evenings talk. Once I have dispensed tea to the throng I pull my suit out of the wardrobe, dust it down and put it on. It feels strange as I don’t wear a suit much these days, when in my previous incarnation I used to every day.

I find the venue with no problem and on time, and am pleasantly surprised to see an audience of about 40. The talk goes well and to time, and they all seem to have enjoyed it. At least they said they did and quite a few come up to talk to me afterwards, I get a cup of tea and am invited to sign the visitors’ book. A pleasant evening and I leave with a good feeling. Later Mrs P gets the last answer on the crossword, to crown a nice day.

Yours with a warm glow

Jay