Saturday 31 October:

Moira and I first got together 51 years ago today!
Went to get the newspaper and buy a few provisions first thing… it started raining just after I’d set out!
Decided to cook some meals (macaroni cheese and cauliflow/broccoli cheese) for Iris+Rosa’s return from Devon tomorrow… before settling down to read the paper (all about speculation over a possible national lockdown next week and, of course, Jeremy Corbyn!).
Urban Sketchers took a ‘virtual’ trip to the south of France at lunchtime (Albi) and, as always, it resulted in a very enjoyable couple of hours with some lovely people. I suspect that there’ll be a few more ‘virtual’ trips to faraway places over the course of the next few months.
An afternoon of rugby (three matches outstanding from last season’s Six Nations!)... I watched Italy v England (England won with bonus points) and the second half of Wales v Scotland.
Watched a Magi Hamblin documentary in the evening.
Mr Johnson announced a 4-week national lockdown from next Thursday (but schools and universities to remain open).
Image: unfinished(?) urban sketching drawing from Albi. 

Friday 30 October:

Despite (or because of?) the very gloomy, overcast morning, I went for usual harbourside walk. Very dark… and a completely change from the dawn of two days ago.
Had a very interesting zoom chat with artist Sue Mansfield (about the potential anonymous icon gifts at Saint Stephen’s). Interesting woman – part-time artist, virtually full-time senior nurse.
Alan and I exchanged brief facebook messages yesterday and I got the distinct impression that he and Lesley are struggling with the Covid situation… all the uncertainty and a sense that it might continue for ages yet and, if so, how would they cope? So I decided to write him a letter (well, I ended up sending an email!).
Cat-sat with Ink in the afternoon… he’s been in a very good mood all week – spending lots of time just sitting on my lap and purring loudly!
Evening telly: ‘Michael Palin’s Quest for Artemisia’ (17^th century Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi) and ‘Between The Covers’.
Image: this pre-dawn morning starts with strolling down Leighton Road in the dark (as you do)…

Thursday 29 October:

My heel was incredibly painful during the night, so I decided to give my dawn walk a miss today. Instead, I finished my ‘Fahrenheit 451’ book – really excellent.
Moira and I had morning coffee both still in our pyjamas!!
Did some more sketching in the afternoon (and enjoyed listening to James Taylor via spotify… a very long time since I’d heard some of the music).
Also finished watching an excellent documentary on Count Basie.
Jeremy Corbyn was suspended by the Labour Party today “over his reaction to a highly critical report on anti-Semitism” (BBC)… lots of mixed (+predictable) reactions.

Had our fortnightly Asda delivery (good that we seem to have our 'slot'!).
Watched another episode of ‘Portrait Artist’ before bed and starting my new book (Bev Thomas’s ‘A Good Enough Mother’).
Image: staring out of the window scribble. 

Wednesday 28 October:

Up early for my usual dawn walk (rather beautiful Autumn morning) before poached eggs+toast breakfast… and before our 8am Wednesday ‘Blokes Prayer’. I have to admit that I ended up feeling slightly frustrated by it all. I always try to ensure that others tell us about their concerns/what’s happening in their lives etc… and everyone duly contributed, but I realised, at the end of our session, that no one had actually asked ME how things were in my life etc etc… and it left me feeling somewhat frustrated and a little flat.
Morning coffee with Moira (indoors – it had started to rain!).
Caught up on various minor admin things and thought about a location in Albi (South of France) for urban sketchers on Saturday (narrow streets make google streetviews difficult).
My turn to Ink-sit in the afternoon – and he was in very good purring form (but still didn’t fancy going outside!).
Had a lovely zoom link-up with Pete in the evening – good to chat about the olden days!
Image: This morning at the Marina. 

Tuesday 27 October:

Very grey and drab outside, so decided to skip my dawn walk… and, instead, opted to carry on reading ‘Fahrenheit 521’ in bed.
Morning coffee inside as usual these days.
Wrote a ‘Reflection’ for my vague Covid blog – trying to sum up stuff that had happened over the past month or so (so I can perhaps compare these feelings in say March - hopefully, having come through the winter months relatively unscathed.
Helped Moira cut up a whole load of fabric for her latest quilt project (her hands weren’t big enough to keep the straight edge from shifting as she cut)… it’s a pretty enormous project and I admire her determination and focus!
Read more of my book in the afternoon (and also collected a couple of new books from StorySmith – it’s their 2nd birthday!).
Watched ‘The Water Diviner’ film on telly at the end of the afternoon (while Moira was cat-sitting) and then ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ and ‘Bake Off’.
Today’s daily UK death figure = 367 (highest since May); daily cases = 22,885.
Image: Pink flowers in Ru+Stu’s garden (don’t know what they’re called). 

Monday 26 October:

My first dawn walk since the clocks went back (sunrise 6.50am-ish)… the usual route and, yes, hardly anyone about (which I much prefer)… BUT it was raining (quite hard)!
Anyway, still very enjoyable (even a fisherman out – hiding under his umbrella!).
Back for poached eggs+toast breakfast.
Rather surprisingly (after I delivered the early morning cup of tea to her at 7.35am), Moira was up just after 8am to prepare her breakfast… and make our morning coffee (this is a good hour earlier than usual, at least!)… she complained of feeling hungry and reckoned her body clock hadn’t yet adjusted after the clocks went back yesterday!).
Went to Hugo’s for some fruit+veg+bread (Moira reckoned it would be my one point of proper human contact!).
After a miserable start (weather-wise), it turned into a rather lovely, sunny day.
Ruth, Stu+I+R are at Hope Cove, Devon for half-term so Moira and I are Ink-sitting all week (until Sunday). Today was my turn… and Ink seemed very pleased to see me.
Watched final ‘episode’ of the Michael Palin reflections on his various travel documentaries, than ‘Only Connect’ and ‘University Challenge’.
Image: Marina at dawn on a very wet morning.

Sunday 25 October:

Clocks went back… so dawn was an hour earlier (which somehow felt much better!).
Moira and I went for a 9am harbourside walk on a lovely sunny morning… but, sadly (but understandably), an awful lot of other people had done the same!
Home for coffee and the Sunday paper.
Bacon sandwiches for lunch… somewhat ridiculously, my body clock told me it was lunchtime at 11.15am! I ignored it…
Started watching ‘Long Ships’ film on telly (from 1964) after lunch… but it was SO unbelievably awful that I gave up after 30 minutes! Instead, I watched a Michael Epstein’s excellent 2011 documentary for ‘Imagine’ - entitled ‘Lennon: The New York Years’ - on catch-up… and then later a ‘Count Basie’ documentary.
Image: sketchbook scribbles made while watching the Lennon documentary.