The Ides of March have come and gone. The Ides, according to the ancient Roman calendar, fall on the eighth day after the nones, which fall on the ninth day before the Ides. All rather confusing. This however, does not mean that spring has sprung; some days are lovely, others cold and wet. Perhaps April will bring some warmth to the cold wet earth.
To add to the confusion of our daily lives, Ma forgot that the clocks had gone forward and was surprised when everyone arrived an hour early for work; she said she felt quite discombobulated!
We lost the key to the trailer. Steve is the only person confident to tow it and he had to saw through the lock, hence another wasted day. When Ma & Steve arrived at the quarry to collect gravel to resurface the garden paths, they were told it was now against the law as they did not have a tarpaulin to cover the load – more rules from our friends in Brussels! Eventually, we found the required cover, with another day lost. After spreading two tons of gravel, all our backs were very sore.
At long last, after three weeks of advertising in the Welllington Weekly, we had three replies from lovely ladies wanting the job of running the Tearoom. Ma had resigned herself to a summer of confusion with the Tearoom computer!
In the confusion of the week, Uncle Jamie’s birthday was nearly forgotten. We gave him a lovely weeping ornamental pear tree for his new garden.
Mother’s best-loved friend and companion has been quite unwell with a nasty cyst – Ma has to bathe it each day and give me nasty pills, which I spit out; poor Ma gets quite cross.
Work has begun on the preparation for the forthcoming film – they have resurfaced our farm track. Ma thought it was alright before, but gratefully accepted the new smooth surface, which runs down the avenue of linden trees across the park. The souls of our ancestors will surely rejoice when they walk down the silken road which leads to our beloved home.
Greenham, Nr. Wellington,
Somerset, TA21 OJR
01823 672283
