Day 336

On the go since 06:50. It’s now 21:15, and I’ve just got back from my walk (a short one tonight, in the perishing cold; should have worn more than two jumpers and a fleece). Two and a half hours spreadsheet work first thing, then emails, then radio, quick lunch, more spreadsheets, M to station to go back to London for the second weekend running (another parenting errand), monthly reporting, then A to work (because it was dark and horrid, and I couldn’t with a clear conscience let her walk down the winding road through the Heath in the dark – we were bemoaning the fact that that’s a fact, a sad fact of life now), more emails, then my Zoom with Colonel L, cook tea for O and me, then a quick game of chess, followed by the walk. My fingers are still numb although I was wearing the leather gloves I bought when we first moved to Norway.

And I missed Strictly! You know, I’m even sicker than ever of the room on the schedule the TV and radio broadcasters are giving the damn World Cup. I miss playing and watching football, but being invited by the media to watch this one is, bluntly, the same as being invited to watch a public execution. I just hope they annul the whole thing. And I’m disappointed that Germany went out yesterday, because it’s giving so many people the excuse to falsely claim that politics and sport don’t mix. No, they’re one and the same, and the sooner people learn that (especially right-leaning sports people playing for cricket and football for England) the better.

Perhaps I’ll watch Strictly on the stick. Perhaps I won’t. Because I’ve not even put pen to paper with Aggie yet, and time is pressing.

Cold hands.

It was good to hear Colonel L tell me on our call that they, too, have many chess sets. It’s a fantastic game on so many different levels. The game O and I played tonight was, again, one of serious carnage on both sides, but then I’m finding that playing against the clock does remove some of the more defensive ideas and waiting for moves.

I need a sit-down and a chill-out.

Perhapd I’ll just write four chapters of Aggie tomorrow. It’s 21:26, and I really need to slow myself down, catch breath.

Thank God O did the washing-up when I was on my walk. And who says parenting is difficult?