Derbyshire 180 Chesterfield /where would we be/Christmas is coming but not to the High Street /what have I done today ?

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Thursday - I wondered where the week was going to . The hours are like water that run down a plug hole . You watch as they fritter away and ask yourself where are they going to ? And more importantly what have I done today to make the day worthwhile? Are you like me when you say something or think of something that it leads you onto something else or somewhere else . What have I done today to make me feel proud ? Heather Small and M People - Little did I know it but the song would be going round and round my head all day

I lie in bed again waiting for dawn . We wake early in the Spring and Summer . What happens to our body clocks this time of year when it is dark outside ? Do we just lie there thinking there is little to get up for? I cannot see anything of the dawn out of the window . It is raining again . Good job I am going swimming and not walking . What I would give to be abroad catching the last rays of Summer . Autumn is not being overly kind today as I hear the rain patter against the window . It is no Indian summer .

The alarm goes off . I rip my thought for the day off the calendar - Haziz today - he says "Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive " Travelling that makes me glad and we are doing very little this year . Travelling gives me a buzz I am missing . How far will I travel today ? Just to the swimming baths and back . Then work - a buzz meeting . Will that make me feel better ? I doubt it . As I swim I think about travelling . Where I want to go and where I have been? Round and round together with Heather the thoughts go back and forth .

As I clock off each length I think about old holidays and wonder if we will make Christmas away this year . Christmas is coming but not to the High Street . The adverts have not yet appeared on the TV thankfully . The first day of October is not the one that I want to start thinking about Christmas trees , decorations and presents . It seems that the High Streets are in decline . They have been for some while. Covid has just hurried the move to on line shopping along faster . The weekly shop is done on line or click and collect . We all bank on line . We can work on line at home . We dont need the shops anymore . And so they close . The local estate agents shop up for let . The best restaurant in Rhuthun closing its doors and going into home delivery . Empty shops pop up everywhere . The ones remaining are doing their best to entice us in . Decorations up early . A Christmas theme and Advent calendars in the shops . Bah humbug .

Day 187 Friday - the MMM magazine turns up . I read about tempting tours - Brilliant Brittany - ah there is a thought for Christmas as I read about Rochfort en Terre - a beau village . The pretty harbour of Trevignon , crossing the River Odet to Concarneau . The ideas come thick and fast as I flick through Google earth for a better view and check out aires . Charming Saint Suliac and quirky Quimperle. The ideas are going round and round my head but will we ever get there . There are only another 70 days before a decision will have to made whether to risk France or give up the whole idea . The whole of 2020 without a continental break . I swim and with each length try to digest the letter we have received from our solicitor . The new property has covenants on it . A pox on covenants which mean we should not park Gabby on the drive however we will park her there eventually once the wall comes down and the new drive laid . By 20 lengths I had wondered why you cannot put a shed up nor a greenhouse . The solicitor suggested removal of the offending shed or asking for an indemnity policy . Is this over the top? Probably . By length 40 I had wondered about solicitors in general . Has our house got subsidence or dry rot or rising damp? The list went on . Did all the locks work ? Why wouldnt they ? Would we leave the keys ? Would we make sure the alarm worked and leave instructions ? This all seemed over the top . I left swimming wondering why ask such questions ? Covid is looking to be rising in Wales . We might not get there at all . We spent the morning warning the solicitor of impending doom . She seemed unconcerned . We got a price for storing Gabby. If Wales locks up she wont be going anwhere . And I continued dreaming . Gorgeous Perthshire - perhaps on another day , On another holiday , Wild Wirral - we probably would do the Wirral once Covid went away and we were back in Wales . Amazing Central Europe - the articles went on and on making me feel saddened when I read about Budapest and remembered Haller camping with its tram . And finally inspiring Birmingham . A motley assortment of trips . Any would feel good at the moment .



Day 188 Saturday shop day walk day , cleaning day . Weekend feels no different to a weekday . In the shops all the assistants with the exception of one or two are now wearing masks . About time too I thought . Why shouldnt they? The numbers of Covid infections continue to rise . That bodes badly for our winter break . October will be spent at home as was almost every month since March . Our walk talks us down Longedge Lane . Even that lane looks dismal today . No footpath to walk on . I run the guantlet of the cars passing me by . The trees are turning slowly but there is no blaze of Autumn colour yet . The rain will come in later today . We are wrapped around by a deep low out in the Bay of Biscay . It brings in inclement weather . Heavy bursts of rain and a dampness that clings to everything it touches . This morning calendar offering was by Dogen . "One must be deeply aware of the impernanence of the world " True words and equally true of Covid . The positive side of me thinks it has got to go away sometime .

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