Logs collected – wind, the great non-event – an unexpected cuddle

… my mother called me into the garden, and there but all to no purpose desiring me to be friends with John, but I told her I cannot, nor indeed easily shall, which afflicted the poor woman, but I cannot help it. 

This could provoke an interesting discussion but not today. I am still fuming at the ‘controller’ daughter who insisted on ‘no speeches’ at her mother’s 80th birthday celebration. Had I known earlier I would have spoken with her in no uncertain terms.  Maybe there was something wrong with her, a bit ‘dark’ we could say.
Question to us all: What is the minimum pre-requisite for reconciliation with someone with whom you have had a difference?

.. In the Inn…We lay all in several beds in the same room, and W. Joyce full of his impertinent tricks and talk, which then made us merry, as any other fool would have done. So to sleep.

Lovely to see Pepys’ human side and his observations. I enjoy the thought of W. Joyce making wisecracks in the dark when they are all dog tired. Some people you can never keep quiet and in this case who would want to.

*****

What a strange sun. It looks like its a foggy winter afternoon but there is no fog. Later: It was due to a combination of smoke from fires in Portugal, and dust from the Sahara desert being sucked up by Ophelia and acting as a light filter.

Off to my favourite value-for-money forestry centre adjacent to Longleat. They have various types of logs – kiln dried, hard and soft, small and large sizes. You drive your car on to a ramp, it is weighed, and then you drive into one of the bays, fill up, and get your car weighed again. Follow the signs for Longleat, Warminster. BA12 7JS if you really need to know.

And now the story of the hug. At the sales window there is normally a Chinese woman who is forever helpful and always smiling and welcoming. This morning she was not there. I asked the young girl where she was to be told she was in the back office. “Would you like to see her”. I readily agreed. I said I missed her and I was not happy about buying anything without knowing she was there.  She was visibly moved and announced to everyone that she would give me a hug. I am not used to Chinese women hugging me (the first ever if I am not mistaken) but hug she did. It is so terribly important to value people. After all we could not get along without each other so why not give a bit of extra value and tell them. Go on, be Un-British.
Regarding the logs, for those who like detail, the picture of logs (left) shows what 100 kg looks like for which I paid the princely sum of £14.50 (DIY price). They deliver for an extra charge. You get at least twice as much as you would do buying nets of wood in the supermarket. They reckon the logs need about a month drying time  before use. In cold weather the supply shown will keep our dual fuel stove going for about nine days, though I admit that we do occasionally add coal as that heat produced is more stable and lasts a longer time.

clear and informative. You get what you pay for.