Happy birthday

Woke early and threw a random assortment of stuff in the case, tidied the flat and emptied bins etc then headed off south. Was a very heavy haar/low cloud all the way til beyond Newcastle, but not a problem as that made for a cooler comfortable drive. All straightforward, although the roads were pretty busy, and after a chat with A when I was about an hour away I met up with her and N at a pub by the canal in Great Linford.
The heat down here is oppressive…32 degrees and not a cloud in the sky so hard to find enough shade to make sitting outside comfortable, but we enjoyed sitting by the canal watching the boats and hearing about her day (decorated house with balloons everywhere, special breakfast with D then a walk with the dog), and remembering birthdays of the past. She seemed very pleased with the earrings I gave her (wrapped in deceptively enormous box!) and they looked beautiful.
We went for a stroll along the canal afterwards, admiring the boats and the fish and reflections of light on the bridges, and looked over at the church and thatched cottages of the village….all very lovely.
Left them to go home and I popped in to see K. She’s got the virus…or rather has had it for the past 10 days…and not been well at all despite having had both vaccinations. Tiredness, brain fog, coughing and (awful in this heat) a temperature. She looked pretty ropey as we sat at opposite ends of her garden to talk, even though she’s supposedly ok again to go out etc and I’m not sure how much she’ll be doing over the next couple of weeks…
‘Home’ toT&Kt’s to unpack and settle in for a while. Not sure what I’ll do while I’m here….play it by ear and relax a bit one way or the other I suspect!