Moving on

“We got to Waterloo at eleven, and asked where the eleven-five started from. Of course nobody knew; nobody at Waterloo ever does know where a train is going to start from, or where a train when it does start is going to, or anything about it. The porter who took our things thought it would go from number two platform, while another porter, with whom he discussed the question, had heard a rumour that it would go from number one. The station master, on the other hand, was convinced it would start from the local."

Jerome K Jerome — Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)

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We put our guest on the train this morning in the hope that things have moved on since this account, written at the very end of the nineteenth century. At least it wasn’t raining. J was very gushy about our hospitality and our warm home for our part we were glad to see how much better she was than when she arrived on Friday night in a state of near exhaustion. We were, as you can see, all smiles.

Our main task today was to prepare bedrooms for TGR’s visit a week today. This involved quite a lot of furniture moving and cleaning up. Along the way I also put the chutney I had made into sterilised jars and went for a quick drink with The Dizzle. TGR actually FaceTimed early evening and we did some planning for her visit, most of which involved food and beer. Unfortunately I have a fair bit of work to do before I can enjoy a two week break ….

This evening we watched a Guardian Live interview with the historian Timothy Snyder entitled  "How has Russia’s invasion of Ukraine changed the world?" which was fascinating, insightful and actually very sad. Roosevelt’s quote that "war is young men dying and old men talking" remains largely true, although to this should be added women being raped and whole populations subject to genocide…