Off to Bath to buy some bits and pieces for my birthday party next Sunday. We stopped off at the Methodist church in Manvers Street. There is always a welcome in this clean and bright place with plenty of social activity for the older people.

someone has taken the trouble to provide this helpful flyer

Sam Evans, 26, he passed away three years ago 24th of May leaving a massive hole in our hearts he was a big man with a massive heart. There is not a day goes by then we don’t miss him we love you Sam xx I saw this outside the homeless shelter attached to the church.

A sign in a lovely flower and plant shop hinting that we should not take it for granted.

Sweet Little Things bedecked shop

Bath is a unique place because you can see a huge variety of shops and establishments in a very small area so you don’t need a car to explore it. I find the side alleys among the most fascinating because you never know what you’re going to find.

I accosted a woman in the women’s shop ‘Next’. Welcome its mostly a woman’s shop. I’ve told her she had a voice very much like singing to which she replied that she didn’t very much like the sound of her own voice. I said that her sibilants  added to the character. The point is that we have always not to merely speak but to use our voice and she was not using her voice to its full potential in my opinion anyway,

Someday when I meet my Maker I will have to explain all my weird conversations with strangers and I will simply say ‘I did my best to draw something out of the situation’. I only spoke to about six strangers today which was somewhat short of my record. I made the mistake of approaching a couple where the woman was eating a sausage roll and I should have checked her more carefully because she was from Holland and she looked at me in  a wooden way and said  ‘ what to do you say?’.  I was a bit naughty on reflection because I caught her with a mouthful of food.

Never mind you can’t win them all.

Feedback from last night’s initial ZOOM meeting – which I mentioned in yesterday’s diary-  were encouraging.  As I say we had a debate about whether to record the meeting or not and the person who was concerned wrote to me in a very positive and objective manner. As she is anonymous I will publish the letter in full. Here it is:

and another letter