Wednesday 27th February

It was cold in Eymet, but hardly any wind, just a clear blue sky and the sun shining high up with just a touch of warmth.  Slowly each day warmed up, until about four or five in the afternoon when it felt quite mild.  After the sun fell back over the horizon it soon got cold again.  But there was no rain, no drizzle, no sleety-snow, so in a way you could relish the cold, wrap it around you like a blanket, comfort yourself in it.

The plane landed about midday at Luton Airpost and there was snow in the air, but more than that – you could feel this biting wind, and overreaching it all was a dampness that went right through your clothes and into your bones.  My old Nana used to say she could feel the cold in her bones, and now I know what she means.  I hate these damp misty mornings, when you look out and can hardly see the end of the garden.  The damp seems to settle like a cold wet shroud, and no matter how many layers you have on it seems to permeate.

And there seems no hint, no glimpse of spring.  No sign of spring flowers yet, even the snowdrops seem to be hiding.  And so the Nations mood is bleak too.  We have lost our AAA rating, the very talisman which Osborne treasured and there is no sign of any growth in the economy at all, the news is full of even more sexual misdemeanours from the church and politicians.  Mind you it now seems that asking a woman (or a man) to go to bed with you is seen as a major sexual offence.  Why can these women not have simply said NO, or Fuck off?  (they had no hesitation in saying it to me) And put it behind them.  But it seems the whole situation has been turned on its head; if you feel offended by someone’s action then they must be guilty of some terrible sexual offence.  Some of this stuff is certainly a long way from Jimmy Saville territory, but still the News gives it credence.  And it all adds to the sense of depression, the bleakness of the outlook.

Seems strange now that it was only a few months ago we were all basking in Olympic happiness.