Mute Swan at Orton Mere

By the time I’d been to work and hacked away at the keyboard constructing my slideshow for Monday, I was so tired I went to bed instead of blogging. This morning when I got up I had a cooked breakfast provided by Julia and managed to fritter a good deal of the day away watching Murder She Wrote and talking about Julia’s trip to Peterborough yesterday.

Starting from the end of the road we will be living in, she and my sister walked round all the local amenities – chip shop, Chinese takeaway, library, lakes, shops, gyms and bus routes. That is my order, she has a slightly different view of what is important.  They walked over 11 miles. She did tell me what it was in steps, but it was a big number and I forgot it. She has a watch that tells her this sort of stuff. I have a watch that tells me approximately what time it is, but I only wear it if I have an appointment.

Orton Mere – Dramatic filter

I always have to issue a warning with Julia and the number of steps she takes, because my sister and Number One Son, when walking with her, always do fewer steps. It’s because she has tiny little legs, and she has to take a lot more steps.  When walking with the kids she has been known to break into a trot to keep up.

The facilities. she says, are fine and she is now  lot more relaxed about moving.

Meanwhile, after reading the blog back to myself I am worried about my family. Where did all this reliance on watches come from? And why do you need a watch to tell you how far you have walked or whether you slept well the previous night? Admittedly, I measure  my walking in very small numbers these days, but I tell the time by how hungry I am and if I don’t yawn I know I slept well. Eventually, I’m convinced, the human race will die out because solar flares knock out the internet and nobody knows what to do without their gadgets.

Edward VII pillar box – Orton Longueville. From the days when we were happy to write a letter and wait, rather than email and then stare at the screen.