Another day chalked down to idleness. However, much of it was spent in the car chatting to Julia so it wasn’t wasted. Sometimes I think the car is the only place we really talk. When we had the kids at home there was no chance for quiet conversation and since then Julia has developed the modern tendency to keep looking at her phone or work on her laptop.

I did have a list written for today, but the trip out stopped me carrying out any of my plans. It’s not a problem, but it will become one if I don’t get a grip and actually start doing something.

My writing is slowing down and my knees have gone again. They do this from time to time, Sitting on a low chair whilst having coffee this afternoon I was unable to get up and had to shift round a bit until I could position myself correctly to haul myself up using conveniently placed furniture. If I ever decide to write a novel from the point of view of a tortoise lying on its back, I now have some insight into the problem.

Heron, scratching

It became clear today, as i gave Julia a running commentary on the poultry farms we were passing, or the sites of antique shops which have now closed, that I am living in the past. The countryside I used to travel is now peopled by retired, or dead, versions of people I used to know and housing developments and artisan food shops have taken over the places where poultry and antiques used to clutter up the place. We passed a crystal shop today. I presume that a lot of their business is done on eBay, as I don’t see much call for crystals amongst the villagers or the few cars that constitute “passing trade”. This, I feel is good, and an example of online trading helping us keep minority interest shops alive.

We also saw a number of thriving local shops, including some community initiatives, and a community pub.  It’s good to see local communities getting together to do things, though I know many of these initiatives, particularly the pubs, don’t always thrive. There’s a reason why these things shut down and community spirit can’t always solve all the problems.

While we were out we saw men putting up banners to protest about the building of a new solar farm. I’m not in favour of NIMBYs and I am in favour of clean renewable energy. I have no problems with onshore wind farms, but am conflicted by solar farms. The amount of good farmland taken up by solar farms is something we cannot afford to lose, as we need to grow food. However, we do have hundreds of cres of factory units and similar things which could house solar panels. I would favour using this roof space, and make solar panels a compulsory feature of all new buildings.

Hoverflies on a poppy