The first poppy

The first poppy opened this morning. These were transplanted from the garden at Steve's parents' house in Berkshire. Or did we harvest the seeds from those and plant them here? I cannot remember. Their house was was sold in 2008

Coincidentally, Steve's sister arrived for a visit, and we promised her some seeds later in the season. We had a drink, then went out for lunch at the Old Fleece, a local pub which was unusually quiet. Steve was put out that there was no fish and chips option on Sunday, and R wanted the halloumi burger she'd had last time, but I was happy to be out and not doing the cooking!

I'm very tired today. Combining my almost-usual routine with evening cooking and companionship in Rockness took its toll on me. I'd thought it would be ok because I wasn't childminding last week, but I'm not superwoman. All the commuting added to the strain. Yesterday's community festival in Nailsworth was enjoyable: both Steve and I had stalls, but card sales were down, following the overall trend. Thank goodness Steve's sister bought some this morning!

Anyway, back to today: after lunch we headed off to St Mary's Mill, near Chalford, for the opening of the historic textile mill, with machinery that still works. There was also a microscope-photography continuous slideshow by John Ward, whose work is amazing. I went outside because I was cold and I thought I'd seen it before, but apparently it was a new show. Damn. Some artists had also put on a site specific installation about water, and they did a modern dance performance inside and outside the building, showing (I think) the fluidity of water.

After that excitement, we had to go home for a cuppa, then Steve went off to meet a photography client, R went back to deepest Wiltshire, and I went back to bed. Started listening to a programme about the Restoration and woke up when it was all over!