RIP Prince Philip

Yesterday saw the end of an era with the death of the Duke of Edinburgh. He was in hospital for a few weeks early this year and looked very frail when he was discharged so it didn't come as a shock. Of course, I feel desperately sorry for the Queen, who has lost her husband after no less than 73 years of marriage, but to die at home at a great age (two months short of his 100th birthday), having led an incredibly full life and remained in generally good health well into his nineties, seems to me more of a blessing than a matter of regret. What a hard role he took on as consort to a reigning monarch, a role he had to largely invent for himself. The Duke of Edinburgh awards that he set up to encourage young people to stretch themselves and develop skills and confidence while also contributing to their community are an extraordinary legacy. According to Wikipedia the award programme is now offered in no less than 144 countries. Rest in peace, Prince Philip.

We ventured back into the local woods today for the first time since we struggled round in ankle deep mud which nearly defeated our wellies several weeks ago, and all the mud has dried out. Green is just beginning to show through on the trees, and there are carpets of green which in a couple of weeks will be flowering bluebells. We headed down to the canal and past the canal side pub which will be reopening (outdoors only) on Monday. It was good to see it with flowers in the hanging baskets and tables ready to welcome customers. Everything looks so very much more optimistic now. Covid cases are low, vaccines are happening (primarily 2nd doses at the moment), and reopening shops and outdoor hospitality seems sensible and reasonable. Only another few weeks and it will be time for indoor hospitality and indoor socialising. 

I have made two bookings for Monday for things which have not been possible since last year. M and I have booked to go swimming in the morning as the pool will be reopening; then in the afternoon I am taking TG to get her first pair of pointe shoes for ballet. I used to take her sisters to Northampton to buy pointe shoes, but a shop has opened more locally which has a good reputation for careful fitting. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get an appointment for the day the shop reopens. It means TG will have the shoes in time for her next class. She is looking forward to being able to go back to dancing in the studio again next week. Her dance school has done a great job of keeping classes going by Zoom, but it isn't the same. 

I don't know when this wooden man appeared beside the canal tow path, but today was the first time I noticed him. I am an unobservant person in many ways, but I am surprisingly good at spotting things while walking, so I think it can't have been there long. 

I didn't write a blog post yesterday as I got distracted exploring Scrivener writing software. I have downloaded a 30 day free trial but have already decided that I will buy the full version as it will make writing projects massively easier. To try it out I have set up a project in Scrivener to keep my family history writing and notes together - it is so much easier to see what I have (and haven't!) done, and it has a facility to easily split the working space into two separate documents so that I can have notes open for reference alongside the section I am writing and switch easily between different documents.