Thamesside

Undaunted - just - by the continuing bitter winds, I pedalled off this morning, to catch an early train to Cookham: it was worth it to escape the crowds coming in the other direction. There was a scattering of snow on the platform at Stroud as we passed through, but none by the time I reached Berkshire. Ten of us walked off together from Cookham station, passing Stanley Spencer's house before making for the wood that was partly the inspiration for Kenneth Grahame's Wind in the Willows. Despite an attractive few hundred yards of sunken lane and a few big, old beeches, it lacks much mystery today because of ill-management and the dual carriageway below.

Cutting short of Henley, we looped back through an attractive stretch of water meadows, still showing signs of flooding. Hardly any houses of note, I was surprised to observe, and all much more suburban than anything in the Cotswolds. It was a joy to catch a golden sunset from the direction of the Malverns as the train headed back to Cheltenham from Gloucester on the last leg of my homeward journey.

Tuscany - 2

If we had come all this way for unbroken sunshine, we would be feeling disappointed. The rain has bucketed down at times today, but luckily we weren't caught in the worst of it on our visit to San Gimignano this morning. And it is specially good fun swimming in the rain, as I did on our return, before lunch.

We are just off to eat more - to a restaurant in nearby Casole d'Elsa: we have been warned, it's a menu with no choices. Who's worried about that here though?

London

We've been by train to London today, with our grandsons. We managed to avoid the rain, and indeed it was warm and sunny for much of the time. So warm in fact that the boys' main memory may perhaps be of splashing about in the V & A pond after lunch in the adjacent café. More fun than most swimming pools.

On our return, the train glided (glid?) out of Paddington just as the sun was setting. Did Brunel design "God's Wonderful Railway" so as to afford an especially beautiful outlook at that hour? I doubt it, but all the way to Maidenhead the sky was a thrilling kaleidoscope of colour.

Driving off into the sunset

When my dear friend and work colleague Christopher Page asked whether I'd like a retirement party, I said yes, provided I didn't have to make a speech. Well, the party was last night, and a very good one too, but I was not to get off so lightly. I had prepared (and delivered - in response to all sorts of embarrassing reminiscences Christopher came up with in his speech in my favour) a "non-speech": this morning of course I can think clearly of all the witty things I might have said.

I had parcelled up presents for Christopher (who is about to be 50) and for Lisa, my wonderful secretary, and had them in a Tesco's bag. When we arrived at Christopher and Celia's house their son Leo pointed us to a parking spot near the (rather full) skip. I rested the bag on top of the skip for one moment whilst I helped Agnes with her baby carrier, when before you could say Synecdoche there was Agnes unwrapping one of the presents, thinking she had found something worth scavenging from the skip. Eek, I cried (just in time).

And coming away, we did indeed drive into the sunset, and (for a few minutes anyway) a beautiful red sky.