Day Off

We worked really late last night: right through until almost four o’clock, taking people home after they had finished getting drunk or having parties or trying to find somebody they could fall in love with, and mostly all three. This can turn into something of an ordeal at this time of year, because of course the young and beautiful dress to dance and to look stunning: and clothes designed to shimmer and glitter and seduce in hot nightclubs do not work very well in the unfriendly climate of the Lake District at the end of February.

Last night it rained hard, and freezing winds swept down across the lake. The road outside the nightclub was crowded with people trying to get in taxis, lovely girls soaked and shivering. Even in the warm taxi I was glad of my middle-aged woolly jumper and fur boots. It is very comfortable indeed to have reached the age of being round and wrinkly: and know that I won’t ever again have to wear a vest and high heels and leather mini skirt for an evening out. The nicest boyfriends took their jackets off and kindly draped them over the girls’ shoulders, which was heartening to see, and we rushed backwards and forwards in taxis until we had taken everybody home, and then we took the dog for a late-night blustery walk round the Library Gardens before we fell into bed ourselves.

My parents came to visit us this morning, we had only just managed to get past the dressing gown and coffee stage of the day when they arrived, and Mark was still shaving. It was lovely to see them, they live miles away so we all have to make a special effort to stay in touch. They had brought us some presents as well, Baileys Irish Cream which is Mark’s favourite, and chocolate and a box of gorgeous pineapple-scented candles which we have been burning ever since they left, and which are giving the house a pleasingly tropical perfume to fortify us against the slate-grey skies and icy sleet outside.

We went out for a jolly lunch in the cafe at the end of the road. I feel as though eating there epitomises some of the nicest things about being alive now, at this time in the world’s history, because it has brought a little bit of the wider world to Windermere in a way nobody had ever dreamed of when I was a child, and all cafes were tea rooms with steamy windows and crumbly cake. This one serves olives and prosciutto and roast peppers stuffed with creamy cheese: and even in the depths of Cumbrian winter there is a bright holiday feeling about going there for lunch.

It is a Mediterranean-style cafe, always warm and friendly, and everybody spills out on to the pavement when the weather is fine, and even when it is not, because the tables outside are protected by big scarlet canopies and warmed by a bank of wall heaters, and you can sit at them quite comfortably except in the very worst of the weather. It is run by a little group of absolutely delightful young people from Eastern Europe, who are clean-cut and fresh, and wear powder-blue shirts and try hard to make everybody feel special, which I like very much. They serve Merlot in huge bell like glasses. This was actually our breakfast, due to the late start, so my nose went pink and I got a bit giggly. Fortunately this didn’t matter because it is Sunday, and our day off, and we were relaxed and happy without having to drive anywhere or do anything or worry about anything: and my parents paid for the meal as a kind thing to do because we are a bit financially embarrassed at the moment.

So it was very nice. We came back and sat in our warm kitchen afterwards, and drank coffee and ate chocolate and talked about everything: and after my parents had gone we went back to bed to sleep off the leftover tiredness from working all night and also the effects of having had Merlot for breakfast.

We got up after a couple of hours so as not to waste too much of the day off time: and are about to occupy the last bit of the day watching an ace DVD that LoveFilm sent to us and that we have been looking forward to for ages. It is the latest part of a series which has been shown on the television (so obviously we haven’t seen it) called A Game Of Thrones, and the first ones were absolutely gripping, full of blood and astonishing things and adventures and passions. This is the fourth series and has only just been released on DVD and we have had to wait for ages. We have walked the dog and stoked the fire up, and I have written this, and we have got the chocolate that my parents brought: and we are going to sit down and be thrilled by exciting adventures in another world until it is bed time. What a splendid end to a day.

LATER NOTE: It was truly splendid, and well worth the wait. We watched the first two episodes. I squeaked and had to cover my eyes at the scary bits, of which there were many. Going to bed breathless with the excitement of it all. We live in a marvellous world.