An afternoon in the garden.

We are up by seven to a brighter morning, I have rye toast and honey for breakfast and Norman has Baker's dog food for seniors, after which we listen to radio four, while I drink my coffee, the news is full of the death of Margaret Thatcher. In death, as in life, she continues to polarises the nation. I tend to judge politicians on their actions rather than their words, I thought she was a "useful idiot", for the vested interests in the City of London, and bought into the simplistic ideology of neoliberal economics in a huge way. She was, however, a good wartime leader, because in a war things are simple politically and confidence and decisiveness are everything. As a peacetime leader her economic and social policies were disastrous, wiping out huge areas of the economy and burdening the country with a massive bill for welfare, as unemployment rose and older workers were allowed to be classified as disabled. We have never recovered from her poisonous legacy, she singlehandedly destroyed the postwar consensus of trust between the workers/voters and the bosses/government. She was the author of a doctrine of fear and greed, fear at the bottom of society and greed at the top, but she was also a product of that society. She married into money and became the spokesperson for it. The biggest mistake Cameron can make, is to wrap himself in her legacy, it will be his political shroud. As you can gather, I didn't much like her, her policies, or the people she represented. Anyone who has Rupert Murdoch and General Pinochet for friends, can hardly be said to have sound judgement. Hanne texts to say Felicity is at home, so I call the old girl and find her in poor spirits, which is surprising as she was really looking forward to going home, apparently she has had a fall out with Melissa, her daughter. She doesn't feel up to going to the Poppy Seed, so I promise to call in later in the afternoon. We collect Dolly and Teddy for half past nine, I tell Pip that I will come back at lunch time and mow the lawns, before wet weather sets in that is forecast for later in the week. Our walk round the Westwood is largely uneventful, the cold easterly wind is, perhaps, moderating a little, which means it doesn't feel quite so cold today. After returning the terriers, Norman and I drive to Beverley, park outside Sarah's house and then walk through the Bar to the Poppy Seed. Hanne, Thelma and Annie are in attendance, so I pass Normy to Hanne, while I go to use the toilet. When I return the waitress has brought my tea and I pour myself a cup, before Norman returns to sit on my knee. The women all want to talk about Margaret Thatcher, they all loathed her and Annie is singing "the witch is dead", which I find in poor taste. Even though I loathed everything she represented, her family will be mourning her and their grief should be respected. Annie and Thelma agree to sponsor my Marie Curie Swimathon, but I limit them to 2p a length as they are OAP's and live on a limited income. The party breaks up at eleven thirty and we drive back to Two Riggs to attack the lawns, which haven't been touched since last November. My first task is to collect all the dog poo that has accumulated over the winter. Neither Pip nor Andrew have seen to that either, fortunately six weeks of desiccation from the east wind has made it dry and odour free, although there is rather a lot. The petrol mower fires up after a little coaxing and within an hour the job is complete, although this task marks the opening of my gardening season, and there will be much weeding, pruning and trimming to do over the next few weeks. Once I am on top of the gardens they can then be managed with a few hours a week. The wind has dropped, the skies cleared and the sun is shining, by the time we arrive home, so I take advantage of the fine weather by making Mozarella and sun dried tomato Panini, with fresh Basil and a tossed salad, that I take and eat in the garden, Norman has some more Bakers. After lunch, I sit and read in the spring sunshine until the clouds reappear, about four o'clock, and then I give Normy his tin of dog food, before driving into town. We park at Tesco's and then walk through the Market Place and across Lairgate to Albert Terrace, where we visit Felicity. She is definitely a bit glass half full today and looks tired, but subsequently tells me she has taken two diazepam, after her argument with her daughter. The tablets calm you down but they also lower energy levels, however after half an hour or so, she starts to lighten up and by the time we leave she is much more like her old self. The problem with Melissa, it appears, is that the nursing home that was due to take her mum for respite on discharge from the hospital, refused her admittance, because she had come from a ward with a Norovirus outbreak. Consequently poor Melissa had to put an emergency care package in place at very short notice. She is a single mum, with two children and a full time teaching job, so she has her hands full at the best of times. Melissa is also due to stay over this evening and I counsel Felicity to avoid confrontation, as they will both be tired. We leave around a quarter past six and make our way back to the car, calling at the cashpoint to withdraw money for Alice's birthday, which I place into her card. As we approach the Chrysler, Sarah passes in her Peugeot, with Louis in the back, they have just been to do some shopping, so I tell her we will be coming to see Alice directly. The door is opened by Linda, Sarah's best friend, who is married to Mark and mother to Jamie, as well as Stephanie and Samantha. She has also called in to give Alice her birthday present, and like me, has given her cash. We stay until seven and then leave as Sarah and the children are going to Pizza Express and Linda is driving back to her house, which is about eight miles away. When we return indoors, I make tea and more honey and toast, the stuff is quite addictive and then read until bedtime.