Spring Monday

We’re now just hoping that the bit about March "coming in like a lamb and going out like a lion" won’t be too true this year; it’s been another lovely day today, a frosty start and calm sunny weather for the rest of the time.

Most of the morning was spent in Derby; I had a routine hearing aid check (all part of the Boots service) and we got there in good time. This meant that we were able to visit Wilko’s, WH Smith and Lakeland before I was seen.

Afterwards we had quite a bit of time to kill before the 1300 bus, so spent it checking out the Market Hall and taking a walk along the river bank in the spring sunshine.

We’d not actually managed to visit the Market Hall before; it’s quite a classic Victorian construction, smaller than the Eagle Market alongside the Westfield, but with loads more character.

There is a particularly good newsagent (Poyntons)with an enormous range of jigsaws; if it’s still there in the Autumn we may well invest in a couple more for the lodge. If that doesn’t persuade Sheila to spend the occasional week on dry land, I don’t know what will.

Sally’s with us tomorrow, as she said yesterday, but that may well be her last visit for a while. My sister Jane will be visiting Monday to Wednesday next week, and we want to show her Derby on the Tuesday. Later that week, if the weather holds and the creek don’t rise, we’ll make our escape.

/please