under another sun

Up early, made coffee and tidied up a bit. Hideous apocalyptic dreams -- nuclear weapons exploding and other such restful stuff. A cheery morning with Mum. Sorted out her nectar card problems, did some tidying in the kitchen on hand and knees in a food cupboard, and so on. Mum fairly cheery, people being steadily supportive. She also had emails from her friend Jana who is planning to visit her which she is looking forward to. Fond farewells with mum, and I mooched off not long after noon by foot and bus to Mill Hill Broadway. Bought a ticket, bought a cup of tea, and jumped on a train. As my posterior touched the seat, the driver announced there had been a fatality on the line ahead, and the train and the ones further down the line were going nowhere. He advised us to get off and find another way into London. A slow bus to Kingsbury Circle, talking to Anton and Lorraine on board, then trained down to Victoria where I struck lucky and caught a train to Lewes which was almost ready to le...

Off by car to Elstree, and the early fifteenth century Waggon and Horses pub on Watling Street where Lorraine and I met Mum and Mas. Really good to sit in the beer garden, at an appropriate social distance and have a bite to eat and my second pub drink with them. Luckily the sky, having been cloudy all the way up, allowed some sunshine. Mum and Mas on good form generally and we sat outside for about three hours, the first time since well before lockdown. Strange not to see them in screens, and good to just be able to spend a good amount of time together. Mum snuck off and paid for the meal, which was kind of her too. Mum and Mas had all day breakfasts, which they have lots there.  The woman who looked after us, really pleasant and cheery, and recognised them, and took good care of Mum and Mas. Fond but socially distanced farewells. Off next to Kingsbury to see Sam and Jade, who are now living with Sian, in a street tucked away behind St Andrew's church. Now they have left Edinbur...