It is almost two o’clock in the morning and high time I was asleep.
Instead I am sitting in bed, writing to you, albeit rather sleepily.
It has been a very busy day.
As you perhaps remember, it was the day when I was due to collect the car from the MOT station and transport it across to my parents’ house, which is a long way away.
The MOT station is a long way away as well.
I called Elspeth whilst I was getting dressed and suggested that she might really enjoy going to her dentist appointment via Windermere and the garage, her dentist appointment being about fifteen minutes’ drive in the opposite direction entirely.
I might even have added that she had no need to feel guilty if she was too busy, and not at all to worry about me walking the hundred miles there with the dogs and all of my luggage.
I think it was the dentist. I might not have been paying proper attention. Anyway, she kindly agreed, and hardly rolled her eyes and groaned at all, which I thought was remarkably civilised. I would have found it difficult not to be grumpy about an extra hour’s trailing about, but she wasn’t at all.
She agreed to come across at half past eleven and collect me, and since it was still only nine, I dashed off with the dogs for a high-speed trot over the fells. This left me breathless and hot, because I am very pleased to be able to say that the winter has finally given up and sloped off, and we have at long last been bathed in gloriously warm sunshine.
I managed the whole lot in just under an hour, and rushed home to shovel some porridge into myself before Elspeth turned up, and had even pegged out the washing by the time she arrived.
In the event we had a lovely drive over. Elspeth has an open-top car, just like Barbie does, except Elspeth’s is blue, with some plastic bluebells on the dashboard, and the top was open. This is a very nice thing indeed when the sun is shining. She played the Carpenters loudly on its very satisfactory stereo, and we joined in, tunelessly singing about being on the top of the world that every time we passed somebody I knew they laughed and waved. Indeed, it was such a happy journey, along the back lanes in the sunshine, the woods filled with bluebells and new leaves fresh on the trees, and singing that we were on top of the world, that I was entirely sorry when we got to the garage and it was over.
The car was ready, and after that was the journey south, which was not at all bad really, as long as I kept remembering not to put my foot on the clutch, and really for a little car it went very fast indeed.
The sun was still shining when I got to my parents and released the dogs, and that was very splendid as well. Lucy came across, and we talked and laughed and ate some splendid sandwiches, and admired the car. It needs a really good clean. I do not know how it got to be so full of sawdust, but it goes like a small and doggedly determined rocket, so it will probably be all right.
I was going to stay the night with Lucy, but when we got back to her house we suddenly thought that really it might be quite nice if she came to the Lake District, because she has got a couple of days off, and it would be a happy thing to do in the sunshine, so we loaded the cats and dogs into the car and came up here.
After that we had an Indian takeaway because it was too late to cook. It was almost too late for a takeaway as well, but fortunately we rang the restaurant whilst we were passing Kendal, and they rolled their eyes and grumbled, but kindly shovelled all of their leftovers into a bag for us and we took them home, we will be eating Indian Takeaway for days.
Regrettably we forgot to go to bed, and not very long ago we realised that we had been talking so much we had not even noticed the grandfather clock striking midnight.
It is long after two now and I am going to go to sleep. My eyes will hardly stay open and I have no longer got any idea if I am writing drivel or not.
I hope this sunshine carries on. It has been a very lovely day, and I have enjoyed myself very much.
