Zoë Bowyer

Yesterday I listened to Spirtiualized - Songs in A&E 5 times. Once while visiting the Fairhill Market, once while doing the rounds of the local charity shops (coincidentally managing to meet a heap of my family - Granny in a car on Mill Street, then Granny again with Auntie T on Church Street, Mum in Barnardos and Hannah outside Oxfam), twice while contemplating doing some housework (and reading a Good Housekeeping encyclopedia from the 1960s containing tips on doing housework) and once while doing the housework (not following the Good Housekeeping tips).

Then Gracie and I headed out for a walk. At Harryville bridge we ran into a fellow dog walker, though on this occasion he was without dog and had obviously spent some time in the pub. He kept us chatting awhile. We eventually made our excuses and trotted on down Railway Street, over Stick Bridge and down towards the river past the old squash courts. This is when it started raining. We walked on and did our usual walk, despite the lashing rain. At some point I regretted that I was wearing jeans and not waterproof trousers, at another point I realised that my walking boots were letting in water. I congratulated myself on choosing a marvellous raincoat as my top half was the only part of me that was dry when I got home. Gracie was so wet Dave thought she had been swimming.

But the leaking boots are a problem. Especially as I am heading off to Scotland next weekend for a week involving a lot of walking.