Mid Summer gone already

 Dear Marmite

One thing is for sure, from now on the nights will be drawing in and we are heading for winter now that we have passed Midsummer's Day. That is a really depressing thought but I can't help thinking it now I am back in a country that has four seasons. I thought about cycling down to Midsummer Boulevard to see the sun rise again this year as a way to mark  this day. I also thought about dancing around the rocks in my garden, or at least dancing around the bedroom to welcome the rising sun but in the end I rolled over and went back to sleep and let the world pass me by.

I went to the doctors last week to find out why I had been coughing for over three weeks and suffering from having no voice. The answer - hayfever! That was a result I least expected but it does account for my feeling better and then worse again. The prescribed nasal spray has been a game changer but the cough medicine makes me feel like I am falling off the edge of a cliff about 20 minutes after I take it so I am not taking any more of that. 

Now I know I am not likely to spread germs, I am back swimming again. Oh the joy! I spend an hour ploughing up and down the lengths with no coughs and wheezes. It is a little haven where I don't sound like I have been smoking 40 a day for the last 40 years!

One of the big joys of retiring is going off on jaunts. That is what I did last week. Destination - Ely. This was a place I had never been to before and immediately I felt an affection for the place. I picked up Margy in Cambridge on the way and we met Peter, Karl and his mother, Sandra on the grounds of the cathedral. The sun was shining and all was well with the world. 

Outside 'Peter's' dream home!

The cathedral was founded in 673 but its current structure was started in Norman times and has had bits added onto it over the centuries. The reformation and  then Oliver Cromwell knocked it about a bit but over all it has retained an impressive magnificence. It has been used in TV dramas and films as a substitute for Westmisnster Abbey   - no better recomendation for it than that!

I also learnt that Ely got its name from an Anglo-Saxon word, "Eilig" which means island of eels. So knowing that where else could we eat but an Italian restaurant which served anything but eels. Actually, Marms, I have never eaten eels nor do I have any desire to try them.

Today is yet another sunny day so I am off for a bit of open water swimming. Box End is a bit far to cycle to so this one will be in the car. Meanwhile the railways are at a standstill - strikes. The country is in the grip of a recession and even working people need food banks. We need someone to get a grip and sort out the mess that is the UK. 

As for you, Marms, you live a a country with wonderful weather and everything runs smoothly. We could learn a thing or two from Singapore!

Love you

xxx