We had a very good lunch at the Yacht Club. Tim had sea bass with tomatoes and olives, I think, and crisp fried polenta. This was good enough to take note of, to try for ourselves. I had a Barnsley chop – which is a pair of joined lamb chops – with a herb crust, potatoes Dauphinoise and ratatouille. Then Tim had raspberry crème brûlée with lemon biscuits and I had blackberry sorbet and pistachio ice cream with diced pineapple.

There were two couples at another table and I eyed – at a tricky distance – what they were having and everything looked pretty good. Once they’d finished their main course and ordered pudding (which I think was what encouraged us), they turned their chairs to chat better, which was when I realised that one of the four was my ex-brother-in-law. I murmured as much to Tim and wondered if he’d noticed – and indeed recognised – me as he’d given no sign. We finished our meal before they did and, as we were leaving, he gave me a nod and smile, so evidently he did. The early marriage between him and my sister lasted a very short time and its mistake was acknowledged amicably by both, so any slight awkwardness was over 40 years and more ago. I always liked him.

Tim cooked dinner tonight, which was pork chops in cider, mushrooms and onions, with fried slices of apple. We talked about recipes and recipe books, remembering that we used to cook lots of dishes from each book when we only had a few. Now, we often only do one or two recipes from a book because we have so many. It’s made me reminisce – again, darlings – and I might well share that with you in the next few days.