The old churchyard

I was awoken in the early hours by the long awaited storm, but turned over and went back to sleep. By 6 30 am the cats and the dog were miaowing and licking my ear, but I managed to ignore them a little longer. The clocks only changed yesterday, so 6 30 is only 5 30, really.

Eventually we all got up and breakfasted. After I'd listened to a radio discussion on existentialism and watched The Railway Children ( bank holiday Monday film from 1970, always makes me cry), I took B for a walk. She did not want to return and I had to remind myself of dog whispering skills. It worked!

My friend Angela cycled over to see me, and we had a chat and a snack before setting off on another dog walk. The sun is so welcome at the moment that we feel we should not waste it! We did a few loops of local lanes, which was useful as I discovered a little pond and a large non-muddy field for dog running (B likes to chase the birds!). Best of all, near the old Priory, we found an old cemetery, complete with the surprisingly well preserved ruins of the former church. We admired the ornate tombstones and B decoded the scents, before ambling back via another set of fields. Then I washed B, because she was muddy...

Angela and I started to watch a film. There is no actual TV here, but there is a DVD and projector. Angela chose House of Mirth, based on the novel of the same name by Edith Wharton, but decided to leave half way through, as she thought it was getting depressing! I watched through to the end, and it was indeed upsetting. But I had to get on: lamb chops to cook, and then an attempt to set up ITV on my screen, via Now TV, in the WiFi enabled annex, so that I could watch the new Maigret, with Rowan Atkinson as the straight guy. History in the making! It worked. Better than watching on the iPad.


Being without TV and WiFi, apart from in an annex which is not totally comfortable, is a challenge. But thought provoking. I had to remind myself a few days ago that, in 1992-3, I lived all alone in a small flat in a shoe manufacturing town in the Czech Republic, without WiFi and no English language TV. The radio was my best friend, and I subscribed to the BBC radio listings magazine and the Guardian Weekly. When I returned to the UK in July 1993, I had never been better informed as to arts, culture and current affairs.

It' s easy to forget, in the Age of Google, that no so long ago, we managed fine without the internet! I plan to watch some more amazing films on DVD this week.