It’s amazing how much difference 5 or 6 minutes makes. If we leave, in the car at half past seven, we get to the Adsetts Centre at around half past eight. If we leave at quarter or even 20 past, we get there at around eight o’clock, or often earlier. Time for me to have breakfast, then, before opening up the desk!

The big advantage to having been there around eight, or quarter past each morning and not leaving until half past five is that my hours are looking very healthy. I can leave early on Fridays!

Have been up to the allotment. The cherries on the morello tree are almost all ripe. There are gazillions of blackcurrants on the currant bushes. The onions, shallots and garlic all need lifting. There are loads more raspberries. No point picking them all today, though. Time is ticking on and we are off away tomorrow morning. A Monday activity. I shall have to make sure Monday evening is kept nice and empty for jam making, freezing and drying. The apples are still quite small. Shall I pick them early and make chutney with them, or leave them and eat them as dessert apples? Depends on what else decides to eat them I guess. Picked them early last year because they were being attacked by some sort of insect.

I knew this was going to be a good growing year!

Back in the garden, sat outside with the laptop, a gin and tonic and The Builder, when his phone rang. One of his buildering mates asking if he were interested in a job in Lincolnshire if it comes up. So nice to sit outside and to look up where the place is and how to get there. Wireless connection is well worth all the hassle I had with Orange!

I had lunch with Freyja today. Met her at the Blue Moon café (a nice little vegetarian restaurant up by the cathedral). We had spicy vegetable concoctions and I had ginger beer and she had orange juice and I secretly handed over a training DVD and we had a natter and then we both went back to work. A nice little interlude in the middle of the day. It’s been a beautiful day today. Warm, still and not remotely humid. A lovely summer, so far.

And so to Saturday, which dawned bright and sunny and warm. I pottered about at home, doing basic Saturday chores. Then we had to drive into Sheffield, completely unnecessarily, because I had left my wallet in my intray on Friday afternoon. I had put it there in the course of the afternoon when I had occasion to wander off around the building. Didn’t want to leave it obviously on my desk. Made a mental note to remember to pick it up later. Completely forgot. Ordinarily would have left it there until Monday. Can’t do that, though, if we are going away overnight. Can’t go away overnight completely penniless!

We have decided to go to Salisbury down the Fosse Way, as far as Cirencester where it stops. We are only going so we can visit The Builder’s parents on Sunday afternoon. We do this every 6 to 8 weeks or so and have taken to making the trip down more of an adventure. Gets very boring storming up and down the motorway just for an hour or so of the APs’ company. We didn’t have anything much we wanted to do in Salisbury on Saturday afternoon and, in any case, are staying in Amesbury near Durrington. So we are going to explore the upper reaches of the Fosse Way. The Builder is familiar with it when it becomes an A road lower down, but has never done the upper B-road bit. It follows, in a much more curvaceous way than would have been original, a main Roman road, which went from Cirencester to – actually, I’m not sure where it went. A long way. Must find out.

And it’s ever such a pretty road. Dotted with beautiful little villages. We had lunch in a pub in one of them. This particular pub, full of friendly locals, only served sandwiches. That’s fine. A sandwich will do nicely. And the bread was fresh and the ham was nice and the cider well kept (strongbow can be a bit hit and miss in pubs, depending on how well they keep the barrels and pipes). But there are loads of other pubs in many other villages. There were lovely, green hedgerows and lots of trees. Lots to look at. And things to do as well. We may come this way several more times. There’s a roman villa we could visit, plus lots of things in the villages. Not to mention all those pubs to investigate.

Today, however, we were heading to Cirencester. Neither of us has ever been. It’s a roman town with some lovely mediaeval buildings. I believe that there is an amphitheatre and some roman walling somewhere but we didn’t see them. We did visit the rather splendid parish church. It has a fantastic pulpit, carved in stone and from the early 1500s. There’s a sermon timer on the wall (though I’m assured it is no longer in use!). Couldn’t find the cat and mouse on the roof in the Lady chapel, though.

Ooh. An ice cream barrow. Let’s have one. Cotswold ice cream. Very nice. And a very nice amble around the town as well. We ran across a Wittard’s coffee shop. Everything half marked price. A cute little milk jug for 5GBP instead of 10. Oh. But no. The half marked price appears to apply to the discounted price as well! So 2.50 GBP, then. In that case, we’re going to have 4 of those pasta bowls and a flower pot as well. All of that for 12 GPB. Quarter price!!!!!!!!!

And so on to Amesbury. I like Amesbury, though there is not very much there. It’s close to where The Builder used to live in Durrington, small supermarket, a few shops, pretty little town. We’re staying in a rather nice small hotel with very friendly proprietors. We’ve had a wander about and a potter. We’ve walked up to the Avon and admired the bridge. Can’t properly collect it though. There’s absolutely no way I can get a photograph of it. Have half collected it by walking across it and admiring it from the footbridge. We had dinner in The George (which the hotel man was a bit dubious about – although he was dubious about all of the eating opportunities in the town. Tried to persuade us to drive out to one of the villages. Clearly not a man who likes wine with his meals!) It was all right was The George. Full of overseas tourists, munching merrily. I had steak and chips; The Builder had a mixed grill. English hotels don’t usually go far astray if you have grilled things. It’s when you try to be adventurous in your menu choices that things go horribly wrong.

And now here I am, propped up in my bed on Sunday morning. Talking to you and supping tea. Another glorious morning. Will soon be time for breakfast.

It’s amazing how quickly I’ve got used to having the Internet available at all times. No unsecured network here. Oh – and SKY. I know we had it at The Mudhut, but it was up in the attic and we hardly ever used it. We’ve had it a couple of weeks at The Sidings, and really missed it last evening. News and cricket scores on demand at home!

Went to sleep on the bed watching telly last night. Again. Beds and televisions are clearly not compatible.

Now. What to do today …..

Oops. I’ve just made the bathroom all soggy wet. Really, really soggy wet. Using the hand-held shower. Water pressure stronger than I realised. Wall wet. Door wet. Carpet wet. Clothes wet. Wash bags sopping wet. Fortunately it is a nice warm day. Clothes drying out, with me in them. Used damp towel to wipe down the wall and door. The Builder has decided to have a wash rather than a shower. Imagine how soggy wet he would make the bathroom using the hand-held shower!