Hot air balloon leaving trail

The balloon had had its fuel burner on. There was almost no wind. It looked set to pass our house when I glimpsed it as I came out of the hairdresser's, so I phoned CleanSteve. Hope he got better shots !

Stroud's been roasting hot all day, but sometimes the dust, which apparently comes from Africa and is powdering the cars here, obscures the sun. My student WhatsApped to say he wasn't up for a lesson. I was very happy to have a free Friday, so I lazed around doing puzzles, wearing pyjamas, until V texted me to say she wanted to return my 'flit kit' of suitcase and burner phone. Her own phone is working again now . 

To prepare for her arrival,  I had a bath and didn't know what to wear because all my clothes stuck to me. Washed hair and couldnt bear to blow dry it because of the heat. V and I went to a cafe called Felt, because it's near the river Frome, but all the back garden tables were taken, so we sat at the front and had soup and toasties. The people who run the cafe are South African. V knows all the South African-owned businesses and church ministers for miles around (apart from the Fairy Shop) because she is South African with Indian heritage. What a pity she never knew my dear friend GS, also South African, who lived in Stroud and died almost a year ago. 

Came back and had some trouble with the back door, the locks had expanded in the heat and it wouldn't close. Steve returned from the market and miraculously the metal had cooled by then: he closed it straight away! Hung out some washing I'd done earlier and it dried in about forty minutes.

CS gave me a lift downtown for my hair appointment. It was too hot to walk. Afterwards I popped into Iceland and bought mini ice creams to take home. 

Apart from all of the above, the rugby world cup has started. I'm dismayed to see that it goes on for seven whole weeks! France is about to beat the NZ All Blacks. 

I finished reading the book I started reading yesterday, 'Mind on Fire' by Arnold somebody, about his experience of bipolar disorder. Wonderfully readable. I totally recommend it.