12th November 2013

Today the weather has been beautiful, crisp and autumnal. And I've been itching to take pictures all day. Here are two I did manage to grab around breakfast time.

They show the Abbey Grounds, a few steps from the town centre, a lovely area gifted to the town by the Chester-Master family many years ago. I love it and it is on part of our walk to town. There is another beautiful park in Cirencester, called Bathurst Park. More of this in later entries. 

My mother, well into her nineties now, lives around twenty miles away, and we visit her whenever we can. The drive, from the Cotswolds into the upper Thames Valley is beautiful, especially on days like today. And of course I took more pictures, this one near Quenington, Gloucestershire.

For years I've thought it mad that the UK insists on being out of step, time-wise, with neighbouring countries. Why do we do it? It's crazy. And it costs us money, real money. People think I'm daft for raising the subject, but today I found that I'm not alone.

You know it makes sense :-D

Today we heard that Sir John Tavener, composer, has died, aged sixty-nine. At my age, early seventies,  this is starting to get to me. The number of people who are dying younger than me is growing. It makes me realise, more strongly than ever, that I am living on borrowed time since my heart attack. So little time and so much to do. All I can do is take care, keep busy and await the call. It might seem odd, but having been close to death, I know that when it was close a resigned peace settled on me. Events were beyond my control. My life was no longer in my hands and I prepared to hand in my resignation. 

I saw beautiful colours. That much I remember.