under another sun

Slept with the Juiliette windows open in our room, till we closed it first thing, but still heard an amazing dawn chorus at around four. Beginning to feel happier and more relaxed than I have for some time. Today I worked well on the novel. It has taken me some time to tune back into it, after a break, but I am there now. At lunchtime I took a walk in the sunshine for an hour. Listening to my new audiobook The Boy Behind the Curtain by Australian writer Tim Winton. A series of autobiographical episodes, read in a murmur by the author. I like his style a lot. I was in a good mood all day, except when I updated myself on the appalling fire at Grenfell Tower, near Latimer Road in West London. I've been past it on the tube a hundred times when I lived in Chiswick. Feeling incensed by how the Prime Minister Theresa May failed to talk to any of the local people affected by the tragedy on her visit. A failure as a leader and as a human. In stark contrast to Corbyn, who listened to peo...

Spent the morning trying to get my head around the Election results, and generally feeling heartened by them. Went to sleep not believing the polls taken of voters that there would be a hung parliament, and hearing the first to election results which showed a much smaller swing to labour. Awoke to find the nation reeling in surprise that the Jeremy Corbyn's campaign had been so successful, while Theresa May's robotic reputation of strong and stable, whiled doing U-Turns and hiding from the public had mysteriously not gone down so well.  What I am most pleased about is that there are clear signs that young people actually voted in their droves this time, many of them energised by Labour. This has to be good for democracy. Pleased also to see the MP I voted for, Caroline Lucas, who is the only Green MP in parliament greatly increase her majority. She is pound for pound one of the most effective MPs around. As I put on a rare Facebook post, we need bridge builders not balloon juic...

Up to buy breakfast, was asked what I thought about Jeremy Corbyn by the man in the corner shop, looking up from the Daily Mail.  The owner clearly thought Corbyn was a lunatic. Then a morning of sorting stuff out with Lorraine and Betty and going to Sainsburys and so on. We borrowed Jenny next door's lawn mower, and I cut our patch of grass which was thick and luxuriant. In the afternoon Anton and Anne came round, Anton armed with an apple and blackberry pie, made from the blackberries we'd found yesterday. It was delicious, as was the roast pork Lorraine made. All of us rather gorged on things, including cheeses afterwards. Anton very animated about politics this afternoon. Anne is a royalist, right winger which Anton finds difficult to accommodate with amusing results. Evening spent digesting foods, and getting ready for the week ahead. Watched a traumatising Scandinavian noir series called Beck, featuring people being buried alive in coffins by a psycho. Lorraine and I ...