This may turn out to be a rather short and disjointed entry tonight, because we are on the taxi rank and the village is heaving with tourists in diverse shades of sunshine pink.
The Weather Gods have been at their most kindly and benevolent best for the holiday. This is wonderful, it is terribly sad when people come to the Lake District and have to squelch everywhere through unhappy grey chill. Today, however, the skies are a brilliant blue, with blossom drifting in great creamy clouds from the cherry and magnolia trees, and just enough gentle breeze to dry the washing.
I could feel it on my run this morning. It was later than usual, because of work last night, and the air was humid and damp. It was an odd sort of feeling, like swimming in a summery lake. Little patches of air were unexpectedly warm and still, and cool eddies of breeze swirled here and there, just the way the lake is on a hot day when you disturb the surface.
I was scarlet in the face from the unaccustomed warmth when I staggered back up the path. The children looked at me appraisingly and to my surprise, remarked that I had definitely become less rounded since their last visit.
Secretly I am a bit aware of this anyway, because my trousers fall down now if I do not borrow Mark’s belt, but it was quite encouraging to hear that it has become actually visible. I am not trying to become thinner, I am trying to be fit, which is a different thing, but I think as a side effect it is probably not a bad one. Mark does not mind in the least what I look like, but it might be rather splendid to be less wobbly.
Once I was showered and refreshed we dragged our chairs out into the garden and sat in the sun to drink coffee.
This was glorious. I could practically feel the Vitamin D seeping into my bones.
Mark had been tiddling around in the garden for ages, because of the holiday, and the sunshine, and was happily pottering about with his shed open and bits of inventions all over the garden. He was trying out the broken solar panel that he found in the old lighthouse last week.
It worked.
It did not work brilliantly well, because the covering glass is shattered into a million tiny bits. The glass is glued to the panel, so the bits have not gone anywhere, but grime and sand had embedded themselves down every tiny crack, and blocked out much of the sun.
I scrubbed it with caustic soda, and then Mark rinsed it off with the power washer, which made a huge difference. When he tested it on his little voltmeter it shot up to twenty volts, which pleased Mark very much. He likes the idea of energy from sunshine.
I made the most of the solar power as well, and pegged the sheets out on the washing line whilst Mark investigated the properties of the solar panel. He thinks that a coat of resin will make it almost as good as new, which will be splendid.
After that I made our picnics and he washed the taxis, which is what he is doing in the photograph at the top.
In the end of course we had to leave the quiet garden and come out to work, like coming on to the stage to take our part in a play.
We are here now, and busy, so I am going to stop writing for the night. I like customers better if they are not irritatingly interrupting me when I am trying to concentrate.
Have a lovely holiday.
