We’re still getting hard frosts these mornings, but there are plenty of signs of spring in the weedpatch. Some snowdrops in flower, daffodils budding up and tulips poking through. Today I’ve finally got round to chopping down/pulling up the lobelias, and planted up some rather empty pots with primulas - £4.99 for ten at Fortnums, so I’ll probably pick some more next time I’m there.
Though the sun is now behind the clouds, the mid afternoon electricity consumption is being supplied from the solar panels and the battery, which the sun charged up earlier in the day. Staying on matters electrical, we charged the car twice in January - about the equivalent of a full tank - for an estimated £13.99, somewhere between a fifth and a quarter of the price of a tank of diesel. Of course, the capital cost of the new cars and the solar installations will never be paid off by savings on motor fuel, but one nevertheless feels modestly virtuous. (And they’re so much nicer to drive!)
We’ve been reasonably sociable of late. Sister-in-law Sandra came to lunch on Saturday, and we plied her with Wiener Schnitzel with pasta and ratatouille. Next day we visited a former colleague of Martyn’s for lunch: roast lamb (which I got roped in to carve) and a vast array of vegetables.
Surprisingly, my weight was down a bit when I got on the scales this morning, but I’m still short even of my interim target. I’m a little surprised that my dry January didn’t contribute more weight loss, but I don’t suppose Nozeco and the like are hugely less calorific than wine!
We had a visit yesterday from BT to do the preparatory work for the cut-over to digital telephone service. The footpath and the front garden will have to be dug up to get the fibre optic cable to the house, with a long dotted line of spray paint presaging the chaos to come. But the modem is installed, the terminal block is on the wall outside and the new router has arrived, ready to be hooked up. Stand by for shrieks of anguish as we try to get everything communicating with the new stuff. We were at the u3a computers group this morning, and were somewhat humbled by the skills and savviness of people substantially older than us. I dare say we’ll have more problems than usual to bring to the group next month…
As for the world of politics, each day brings another example of the orange one behaving like a mediaeval emperor, ignoring the legal and constitutional framework of his country, and threatening a trade war that will upset the world economy. His Majesty’s Government seems paralysed in this context, so I just hope that things are happening in the background. I can’t imagine that the Noble Lord ambassador designate will cut much ice with N°47, but - assuming that his credentials are accepted - he will perhaps be Macchiavellian enough to have some influence, on or beneath the surface. As ever, I’m grateful to be old and childless.
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