Winding down

Right. Today I tried to live a life of quiet retirement, with no unusual exertion or excitement. It did, however, begin with my regular Pilates class, in which we certainly exerted ourselves more than we've done recently. The class was depleted by holidays, and the dozen or so of us that were there were fairly stretched, doing some exercises that were so challenging that I ended up lying on my back with my eyes closed waiting for them to end ... We did have a laugh, of course - this class always does, but there were many grunts as well.

After that the main excitement of the day lay in haranguing Morrisons on Twitter - the one place where you seem to get a response from firms and organisations - because the local store had left its car park lights on all night (very annoying because they light up my bedroom) and all day as well. (In fact they're still on, and it's coming up to midnight). There was a reaction, but so far it's not being passed on ... And then I had the fun of seeing a reply I'd made, also on Twitter, liked by one of my hero reporters John Simpson, currently reporting on the Ukraine border. 

We went out late in the afternoon to pick up the odd thing from the shops and have a short walk along the front, though there was a brisk wind blowing drizzle at us. However, I did have the fun of seeing the little chap in the photo - the erudite among you can tell me if it is a Spotted Redshank (Tringa erythropus), which is the closest I can find in a swift hunt. I thought his wonderful long red legs looked rather splendid against that green sea - a high tide sea that looked amazingly clean, considering where it is. 

And that's it, really. And Dot Cotton is no more - that episode where she helped her friend to die was the first East Enders episode I ever saw, and I still watch it. There's some marvellous acting in it, as well as some less subtle stuff.

Tomorrow I really must get something on paper for that sermon...and come back to look at some of the journals I've been neglecting!