Deer, deer...

Another lovely sunny day, and I've had time to get out for two walks with old friends - with Jean in the morning, who I hadn't seen in person since sometime in the autumn, and with Val in the afternoon (our regular Thursday afternoon slot).

Jean and her partner Graham have had a much harder time during the Covid period than we have. Their eldest daughter lives in Sweden with her partner; they are both musicians, and their income - of course - disappeared, apart from a small amount from online teaching.  They've been fortunate to be able to get some compensatory arts funding, but obviously it's been extremely stressful. Meanwhile Graham's been going through the final stages of treatment for prostate cancer; on that score, the indications seem to be OK- he is making a good recovery. They have a younger daughter and a son too, both - fortunately - living only an hour or so away. But there's been a lot of stress for the whole family. It puts our niggles about lockdown weariness into perspective.

Jean pointed out the deer to me, as we walked through some woodland near her house. This one came to check whether we had carrots or not; we didn't, and the whole herd soon moved off to check out a more promising visitor at the other end of the field.