A cool and pleasant day.

Woke at 6:00, then slept until 8:15, got up and had a light breakfast of rye toast with honey and my usual Italian coffee. It is much cooler this morning and the sun is obscured by grey cloud, after breakfast I wash and dress and arrive at Cherry about 9:30. The dogs and I head for the Westwood, and as we are slightly later, there are fewer dog walkers about. At Black Mill the cows are herded about the water trough, but Dolly ignores them and I have Teddy on his lead. Although its overcast, it is not cold and the walking is pleasant, on our way back to the car we pass a hawthorn bush, with unusual, beautiful crimson flower buds, which I photograph. Back at Cherry I give the dogs a drink, make a pot of tea for myself, and then set too to trim the ivy at the back of the house. It takes two hours, but looks nice once it's finished, the southern flower bed will have to wait until Thursday as I have an appointment at the bank tomorrow. I arrive at the Leisure centre intending to run in the cooler weather, but change my mind once inside. The reason is that I need to prepare my accounts for tomorrow and don't want to be over tired, so swim instead. A nice easy 4 x 400m on mixed stroke, just focussing on relaxation and technique and warm down with 100 IM. The cafe special today is plaice goujons, chips, peas and tea with brown bread and butter, and as always it is excellent. I call at the supermarket to buy a French stick, more Italian coffee and ante pasta for Louis' tea tomorrow. Once home, I make a caprese, (tomato and mozzarella salad with fresh basil and olive oil), pop it in the fridge to cook and then meditate for an hour. This refreshes me, and I make tea and oatcakes with honey and eat this in the Garden Room whilst listening to the news, outside the sun has burnt off the cloud and it is a lovely evening. At half past six I sit down to prepare the accounts for tomorrow, essentially I am putting all the bills for Cherry Burton into a separate account, so that I can have a better view of my finances. I have just completed this when my oldest grandson, Clement, rings from London. He has just finished the first year of an engineering degree at UCL, and is flying to Barcelona tomorrow with some friends, for five days. He is coming to Beverley next Wednesday and taking Louis to London for his fifth birthday next Friday. Later I ring his mum, my daughter Sarah, who is sitting her finals on a conversion degree to become a podiatrist. She has to defend her dissertation tomorrow, so I wish her luck. After eating my caprese, read for an hour and turn in about eleven. I am back on the school run tomorrow and need to be up for six thirty.