07:30 Yikes!!!! Lois and I can't luxuriate in bed again this morning: Lois is going to get her hair cut by her stylist James at his Billy Shears salon, and then between us Lois and I have got to meet Terri, an estate agent, without getting too close to her, obviously, in case she's got coronavirus: she probably hasn't but it's just to be on the safe side haha!!!
Lois showcases her new shorter hair
the local "Billy Shears" hairdressing salon, owned and run by
Lois's stylist James
the face of Lois's stylist James, caught here
by mistake on surveillance cameras
The main event is going to be Terri's visit, however. She's an estate agent, who is going to value our house. Our daughter Sarah, who lives in Perth, Australia, with husband Francis and their 8-year-old twins Lily and Jessica, are interested in maybe buying our house, if they decide to move back to the UK after six years down under. It's important to get the market value apparently, to avoid any tax issues - what a madness it all is !!!!!
local estate agent Terri
We take all our usual precautions: windows open, doors open, and we keep 6 feet away from Terri at all times. We ask her to look round the house and garden on her own, opening any doors or cupboards etc that she feels curious about. Then when she's finished, she comes downstairs and into our front room, where we're sitting 6 or 7 feet away from her with a long table in between us. No intimacy today please, Terri haha !!!
flashback to 1986: we bought this house when Alison was 10 years old
and Sarah (now in Australia) was only 8 - happy times !!!!
After Terri leaves, Lois goes around disinfecting all the door-handles etc, again just to be on the safe side. Call us risk-averse if you like! [I've already done that twice this week! - Ed]
12:00 The news is all about Ukraine. What about that Putin eh? Imagine thinking it's ok to invade a neighbouring country and kill lots of people, not just troops but civilians, just because you're a paranoiac and a general madman and nut-case.
It's amazing to see that Russia has failed to create a civilised society with a decent government after all these centuries - and can I say, after 13 centuries in which the country has been allegedly so-called Christian.
In many ways Russia is more backward that England was in the 16th century, or even earlier, most historians would say. I certainly would !
Putin, a paranoid madman and general nut-case
"less enlightened than Henry VIII "
Henry VIII - "more enlightened than Putin"
We don't fully know yet what effect Putin's crazy paranoid venture will have on the economy here. But later Steve, our American brother-in-law, sends us this terrifying picture of a recent display outside a local petrol station.
What can I say but YIKES !!!!!
14:00 It's our "self-indulgence" afternoon today, so Lois and I go to bed for an extended nap and we are careful not to get up till 4:15 pm, and even then we do it mainly for a cup of tea and half a snail bun each - yum yum!
some typical snail buns - yum yum!
And when we sit down to watch a bit of TV, the last programme in Michael Portillo's new series, "Great Coastal Railway Journeys", what do you know? It's invasions all over again!
What madness!!!!!
It's nice tonight, however, to hear the details of that aborted invasion, which took place near the port of Fishguard.
the bilingual sign greeting Michael at Fishguard Railway Station
The mixed force of French soldiers and ex-convicts stormed ashore and into the area, looting local farms for home-made beer and other supplies. The small local militia unit was completely outnumbered, so the local community decided to take matters into their own hands, and not just the men but also the women.
The locals, including the women, are said to have used various tricks to deceive the French, many of whom were intoxicated, into thinking that there were more defenders than there actually were. The women in their traditional black Welsh hats and red cloaks, led by local firebrand Jemima Nicholas, are said to have deceived the French into thinking that they too were soldiers.
It's the stuff of local legend isn't it.
Eventually the real British army arrived and the Frenchmen were all taken into custody. But what madness, it all was !!!!!
a small group of local women in traditional Welsh dress, re-enact,
for Michael's benefit, their ancestors' spirited defence of Fishguard.
The funniest part of this story to me is that about 25 years ago, in the 1990's, 70 local women with an age range between 30 and 82, decided to weave a 100 ft long tapestry commemorating the "invasion", a tapestry that is now on display in the town hall. It was unveiled in 1997 to mark the bicentenary of the invasion.
This was a tongue-in-cheek cultural reference to the famous 224-foot (68m) Bayeux Tapestry that was produced by the Normans in the 11th century to commemorate their successful invasion of the British Isles in 1066, a tapestry which can be seen in a gallery in Normandy, northern France.
the opening scene in this long 100 ft (30m) tapestry
[space for my pictures: please check back to this post every 6 months
to see if I've found them yet haha!]
[I've got far more important things to do than that! - Ed]
And is William I ("William the Conqueror"), one of Steve's ancestors, the best match in terms of enlightenment and "advanced civilisation" to Vladimir Putin, perhaps? I think we should be told.
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!
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