Saturday 1 July
July. July. It is chilly, raining, grey and windy and this morning I had to shut the bedroom windows as it was so cold. But rain is good and not being as hot as it was a couple of weeks ago is also good. My friend Angela arrived mid-afternoon yesterday. In the rain. For some reason, I still find it exciting when friends who have never been here before first arrive, it seems so different to spend time with them in this new environment, so far removed from anywhere I’ve lived before (well, I didn’t really notice things like that when friends visited when I lived abroad in my twenties).
We had a cuppa, I showed her round, we chatted (actually, I had verbal diarrhoea so I chatted … gabbled) and then we drove a few miles down the road to walk in the marshes. I was head-to-toe waterproofed and wearing wellies for the first time in months. Angela was more stylishly dressed, though, hey, guess who got less wet?! Despite the rain and flies and midges, we had a lovely walk. We then went to the local pub and had a £4 round of drinks. I’ve only once sat outside at that pub; this time we sat inside. It’s the kind of environment where strange things happen, an odd un-pub-like pub. Anyway, we just wanted to chat so that was fine. Got home, had a late dinner (I still haven’t adjusted to how light it is in the evenings. We ate after nine, which is really late for me, and probably Angela too as she’s often in bed by then to set off for work at 03:00.
As with everyone who has visited, it is such a lovely opportunity to spend time with friends who ‘have to’ stay more than just a few hours. It feels like only into my early thirties that we’d stay over at each other’s houses more often. It’s good to be doing that again now.
We have some concrete slabs to take out of the boot of my car and need to check the spring, but then we’ll be off to Eyemouth and St Abb’s for a coastal walk. There’s no way we’d need to move heavy concrete or walk up to a spring in Lewisham.