"She contemplated the figure before her"

This illustration is not my work, it's by Debra McFarlane.

A month or so ago, GG asked me to order her some books for a course. I'm not taking part,  because I'm working while it's on, but I liked the look of one of the books, The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Armin. I found out that I could order a second hand Folio Society edition for myself for not much more than the cost of the paperback, so I went ahead. The book is hardback, slipcased, and is illustrated (with seven colour plates, interleaved) by Debra McFarlane. Remember how books used to be made? I'm thinking of my grandmother's leather or cloth bound books, published at the turn of the last century.

The Enchanted April was published in 1922, and tells the tale of four ladies who, barely or not at all known to each other, club together to rent a 'small mediaeval castle,  let furnished, for the month of April' as an escape from the ceaseless rain of London. One of them is a titled lady, two of the others are what would have been called respectable married women, and the fourth is Mrs Fisher, who, so far, describes herself 'as an Old Woman with a Stick'. She uses the Stick as her magic wand, entitling her to a sitting room of her own, and the Right to Have Her Own Way. Thus far (p.62) tensions are bubbling under. It's a funny, astute read. Of course, I can't carry the book everywhere with me in case I wreck it, but I have podcasts for on-the-go.

Got a lift down to town today, dropped off various things. CS dropped off the keys for our little run-around at the garage. I think she's going to have to be scrapped, after breaking down when we lent her to friends on an extended loan. The RAC indicated that she was in need of serious repairs. Fortunately she was sold to us eighteen months ago for a song, and is not our principal vehicle (who needs two cars when I can't even drive one?).

I collected a birthday cake that I'd ordered for tomorrow. The cafe lady asked me if I was going to have a takeaway drink.  I said no, because here in the UK, the average energy bill is set to rise by 700 pounds a year, with a further rise expected in October! So from April, that's at least 206 takeaway hot drinks that I'm going to have do without. I'm not sure that I even have that many takeaway drinks per year! Further savings will have to be made elsewhere. Maybe No More Book Buying.  It's true that our house has enough books to last us through ten more lockdowns...

Anyway, enough of the gloom-mongering. I've spent the rest of the day catching up on talks or watching them live streamed, or simply resting. Who ever thought I'd be any good at resting? Can't wait to retire! I bought a National Lottery ticket today, for the first time in years, to bring that dream a little closer.