The game plan for this last week and
next week was really pretty simple. I suppose “chill out” would
have summed it up pretty well. Whatever you want to call it we felt
that we had earned a bit of a rest and that it was time for a bit of
a holiday. Not a “going away and doing” holiday but a “sit
around not doing” holiday.
Fat chance.
For a start we had a completely
unexpected and delightful telephone call from our daughter-in-law.
She was suggesting that she and our grandson should come down by
train to see us. Obviously we were thrilled and we really enjoyed
having them here with us but it would be stretching the truth to
suggest that it was restful. For a start it meant a frantic couple of
days getting their rooms ready. Until that telephone call they were
definitely low priority.
Then Marcia received an email out of
the blue. The next paragraph is for the sake of those of you who live
outside the UK so if you don't and you know the BBC programme
'Countryfile' skip it.
Every Sunday evening, the BBC
broadcasts a programme called 'Countryfile' which more or less
contains what it says on the label. It used to be devoted almost
entirely to farming but in the last few years the emphasis has moved
more towards people enjoying what the countryside has to offer. We
usually watch it even though neither of us is likely to take part in
some of the rather extreme sports they come up with. There are also
slots that deal with country crafts – thatching, basket making,
hedge laying: that sort of thing – and our wildlife (which, of
course, always interests me). They also have a 'Countryfile weather
forecast' with an amusing twist. If you have watched the weather
forecast associated with the news earlier in the evening, you will
see that the forecaster is quite formally dressed: if it's a chap he
will almost certainly be wearing a suit. Not so for the one during
the Countryfile programme. He, or she as the case may be, will have
dressed down: usually wearing jeans in both cases.
Many BBC programmes have magazines (and
websites) associated with them and Countryfile is no exception. The
Countryfile website carries a great deal of information about what is
happening in the countryside throughout the UK as well as about the
programme itself. The Magazine tab takes you to a section where you
can find out what each issue contains and buy a subscription if you
want it to be delivered to your home.
The email was asking Marcia whether she
would be willing to write a piece for the magazine which evokes the
sense of Devon. You may remember that she write a piece for this blog
– Journeys – a few weeks back and she has been using the idea of
journeys for this piece for the BBC.
Anyway, because she is already thinking
about the next book and expects to start writing that fairly soon,
she wants to get this article for the magazine out of the way as
quickly as she can. Holiday? What holiday?
Speak to you again next week – if I
still have the energy.
