2 (48) BACK AGAIN.

NOT QUITE THE SAME DAY. 

But close. 

I nearly gave up on this post for no other reason than ennui. Trouble with that is, it spreads. It becomes Churchill's black dog. It concludes with yet another dither over whether to modify the aged format of the current blog, close it and somehow conjure up a replacement, or pack it in entirely and have another go at painting. 

As usual my Leader gently leads me back to sanity. "You can't give up writing, you'd be lost without it," she says. "But you ought to go back to painting, too." I haven't put brush to paper for all of a decade. So perhaps, with no expectation of producing a masterpiece, I will. 

Sadly, when it comes to watercolour I am no William Blake, J.M.W. Turner, James Whistler or, by today's standards, Pauline Barnden, our daughter-in-law, who paints fascinating seascapes (example below). 

I have no imagination for anything like that. 
But maybe I'll have another go sometime, if only to see whether arthritis has had any effect on my brushwork. Won't be holding my breath.

READING. 

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne (pictured).

Even if the touts were not asking ridiculous prices for tickets (blame the Americans again) I don't think we could afford the all round cost of a trip to see this much vaunted two-part play at the Palace Theatre. So we ordered the recently published Special Rehearsal Edition Script which I have now read. 

Yeah. One or two uncertainties, but I like it. If I ever win the lottery I'll take Mo and the entire family to see it. Well, you never know your luck.

Terry Pratchett: The Last Continent. Think Discworld may have no place for any sort of  Australia? No worries. Find this one on the bookshelves and laugh your billabong off. 

HOME. 

Visitors. We seldom see folk from the mainland here nowadays so it has been our pleasure, in successive weeks, to welcome friends Kath and Bill Harrison (from Pitlochry in Scotland) and in-laws Marg and Mike Urry (from Alverstoke in Hampshire). 

Just a day together with each couple, but a most enjoyable day on both occasions. 

I have known the Grimsby, Lincolnshire, ex-policeman and cricketer, Bill, for 64 years. 

He and his wife, Kath, are high on my list of favourite people. 

Marg is Mo's oldest remaining sister. I have always liked her and her husband, Mike, even if he is a Thatcherite Tory. 

Can't wait to see them all again. Not many people share that distinction. 

What? 

Oh, you do if you've just read this.

All the best.