1 Well, the Sage did get up this morning and took Ben for a walk, though it wasn’t until nearly 8 o’clock. I took advantage however and had a lie-in, though I didn’t go back to sleep. And later, Weeza rang to ask if I was happening to plan to go to Norwich this afternoon, because Zerlina’s after-school childminder has the awful chest infection and bronchitis that I did (I reckon I had a mild dose, so many people are really ill). I said, of course, that it would be a great pleasure to look after z for a few hours. And so it was. Darling little girl, she was lovely. And I did a couple of odd jobs to save Weeza’s time (or Phil’s) in the evening, clearing and restacking the dishwasher and sorting and folding the dried laundry. I asked what z had learned at school today that she hadn’t known this morning, and she said that they had been taught about road safety. So I suggested that she’d show me how to cross the road safely, which she did. We’d just gained the kerb when a car came round the corner. I asked her (knowing it wasn’t entirely fair, she wouldn’t have been told about it) what would happen if a car came round the corner when we were halfway across the road? She considered the matter and told me that we’d both be run over and squashed flat.
2 Although I have hardly been to the cinema for several years, Elle’s fine influence means that I’ve seen four of the films that won awards at the Oscars. That is, Life of Pi, Django Unchained, Silver Linings Playbook and Skyfall.
3 Today there were the interviews for the new Rector. Only one candidate, he and his wife are very likeable. However, since it’s considerate if he’s successful for his parishes to know about it first, we won’t be told for a while. I suppose, if he isn’t, we’ll be told sooner.
4 I didn’t arrive home until five to seven, but had dinner on the table by twenty past. Simple mind you, sea bass, french beans and fried potatoes, the last taking the longest of course, since I had to peel and parboil them to start with. I’m afraid there were awful air miles in the beans, but Tim had bought a boxful and, since the air miles had happened, my concern is to help Tim sell them all – that is, by buying some, because I know that he has to sell nearly all to make any profit at all. Zerlina had pasta, ham, cheese, cucumber and red pepper for her tea. And grapes. I was going to give her spaghetti bolognaise, but she chose the cheese and ham instead. Obviously, if I’d been cooking for the family, she’d have eaten what everyone else had, just in case you’re wondering.
5 I wore a dress for the first time since we’ve been looking after Ben. Every other day, I’ve worn jeans with increasingly muddy bottoms. I mean bottoms of the legs of course, not bum level. That isn’t muddy. It’s not that it’s warmer, just that I was being a bit sociable at lunchtime. Tomorrow, I shall have my hair cut. Jolly good, it grows surprisingly quickly and, although I rarely look in the mirror, I’m generally aware that I look a bit haphazard and scruffy much of the time. I did get around to putting my rings on this morning though. I take the view that a bit of bling takes the eye from my lack of personal grooming.