Someone's watching you...

Quite a day! FIrst new fencing panels were delivered at some unearthly hour this morning, before we'd got up; but at least we were in to receive them! Then I fitted two of them. The existing fence has reached the end of its useful life, as they put it; that is, its rotting away. These new panels are made of recycled plastic in the form of interlocking gravel boards a foot high, so I need to slot in six to make up one panel. This involves quite a lot of hitting them with a lump hammer while standing on a stepladder, because they are a very close fit.

Then we went to Cardiff for a performance of Handel's Acis and Galatea, in the evening, except that we arrived at lunchtime so we could go to "Fish at 85" in Pontcanna, a wonderful fishmongers/fish restaurant, where this friendly monkfish kept watch over us. They had a little competition running to guess its weight. I reckon 25-30 kilos. It looked about half the size of a human being and nearly as beautiful. The fish and food there is exceptional; they supply quite a few top restaurants.

Then we wandered around until the show, which was not mind-blowing. To be honest (if you care), I think da capo arias, which were the custom in Handel's time, where you sing a lengthy A section, then a shorter B section, then reprise the A section, often with a bit of added ornamentation, are a bit of a damper on the action. Imagine if James Bond sang a song while the circular saw was working ever nearer his crotch, only to have to go back to the beginning and do it all over again. The tension would be lost.

But the real high spot of the day was that IT DIDN'T RAIN. Not once. This must be a first since well before Christmas. Pretty nippy, though.