Thirty Two

 Yesterday was our wedding anniversary. 32 years. It seems like we're only just getting started....

I shouldn't have had that last half pint (I drink Harvey's whenever I can because it's brewed in Lewes, our county town.) I should have passed on dessert.

We have Damian and his builders on site today. Also Julia and her gardeners.

Little Soldiers

 Ivy is starting secondary school.

Long trousers, blazer, tie. The blazer has a shield on the breast pocket. The whole ensemble essentially military. Regimental. 

School uniform has hardly changed in over a hundred years.

I'm getting flashbacks.

My prep school. Little kids lined up like soldiers on a playground that is very like a parade ground. Winter. Frost on the grass and the hard surface underfoot all slippy with it. The air raw and smelling of coalfires. The teachers acting like the officers they would have been less than twenty years before.

Class One, dismiss! Single file. Left, right, left, right...