Detail from King René's honeymoon cabinet

I have had a wonderful busy day in London, mixing my work with social activities.

Mr hazelh walked me up to Waverley so that I could catch the 08:00 service south on the train.

Soon after my arrival at Kings Cross I met my British Library colleague Stella for lunch. Stella was the fairy godmother of our Platform to Platform project last year. Amongst other things, she was our route to the BBC archive staff and their contribution of recordings and scripts for the Diary of the war podcast series.

Then I travelled by tube to Pimlico, and walked from there to the Tate Modern to meet my ex-colleague and dear friend Val. Although we correspond frequently, and I think of Val every day when I pass the pink rose that clambers up our yarden railings, we see one another very rarely.

First we spent 90 minutes wandering through the Rosettis exhibition. It was here that I blipped this detail from King René's honeymoon cabinet. It reminds me a lot of The red crosse knight tapestry by Phoebe Anna Traquair. Val and I were very well behaved in the exhibition, keeping our voices low as we shared our opinions of the exhibits. We saved the chat for later. This was a two hour marathon of crazy conversation in the gallery café. It was such a wonderful catch-up. I only wish that it could have lasted longer, but at 17:45 I had to leave for my next appointment.

In thunder and lightening(!), and well protected by my anorak and umbrella (so glad that I remembered to pack them), I walked to Lambeth Palace for an event hosted by the British Records Association. Here Bethany Ray and I collected our certificates as runners-up for the 2022 Janette Harley award (there's more information about this on my blog, see also the extra of the pair of us with Lord Salisbury), listened to a lecture about community archives, and enjoyed talking with other delegates at the drinks reception that followed.

My final meeting of the day was dinner with my niece Ailish and her boyfriend Danny at a restaurant not far from Lambeth Palace. Beth came with me since she and Ailish are 'cousins-in-law' (if such a label exists), and have known each other since they were babies.

After our meal, I travelled back to Ailish and Danny's flat in Forest Hill for my overnight stay in London. This is the first time that I have seen their place, and I like it very much. My bed is just like my favourite at Winsford's house in Pitlochry ;-)

Exercise today: walking (12,229 steps).