under another sun

Lorraine and I went into town this morning. Lorraine went to give the folks at C&H fabrics a box of biscuits for the staff as a thank you for helping reunite Pat and Maureen when they lost each other at the shops. Very kind they had been. I went straight to the station, which was full of purgatorial crowds emptying out of the trains and swarming in the lemming-like to the seaside. I met up with Matty boy, Isy and their exemplary little bairns Elsa (5) and Harry (3), who are currently angelic children. Great to see them, and Isy who I have not seen for ages. We stopped into the garden of the Battle of Trafalgar, where Lorraine soon joined us. There we had some food and some drinks in the garden, as it was a gorgeously sunny day.  Then we all moseyed down backstreets to the busy seafront, but close to the remnants of the old pier. There we had ice cream and sat on the stones as the children took turns in standing down by the sea, and it was all really nice. Meanwhile John and...

Up to Mill Hill this morning. Lorraine gave me a lift in the rain to Preston Park station where I secured a croissant and cup of tea. Slow journey up to Mill Hill, enlivened only by me finding an unattended bag on a seat when I stepped into the carriage at St Pancras. Nobody else bothered much by it, but I spoke to the driver just in case. He told me that things were less likely to be dodgy if they are left in plain sight. It is the hidden away things you need to watch for. Mum came to collect me from the station, and she drove us up to Barnet Hospital. No parking spaces there, so we had to drive off to park in a Barnet street. Into the hospital, and Mason sitting up and I was relieved to see him looking cheery and fairly well. He'd been talking to all the nurses, and was pleased to see us. Hung around with Mas chatting for a couple of hours, then Mum and I drove off to a pub on the way home for lunch. Mum later visited him again. Sat outside eating fish and chips with mushy pe...