Wednesday was spent in the office and the rest of the week working. This week is half term so both sons and their families are away, one in Weymouth and one in Devon. Shelagh is now home but has a nasty cold. Her new bathroom is lovely and she now has level access to the front door.
It was the Historical Society meeting today and I went on my own as Shelagh didn't feel up to it. The subject was The Origins of Nursery Rhymes which was fascinating. Most of them seem to be about real people and events such as Georgie Porgie about King George 1st, Baa Baa Black Sheep about the wool tax, Goosey Goosey Gander about a man with the surname Gander who was sent to search houses for Catholics in the time of Oliver Cromwell, Mary, Mary quite contrary about Mary Queen of Scots and her ladies in waiting, Ring a ring o Roses about the plague, See Saw Margery Daw about an attempt by a politician to introduce an fixed wage for apprentices, There was a Crooked Man about the man who was sent to mark out the division between England and Scotland and was 'persuaded' by various landowners to include them in either England or Scotland which resulted in a very 'crooked' line.
Cinema on Monday to see Emma. I had already seen a version on TV and found it a bit boring but I thought the new big screen version might be a bit more interesting. Not really. Not one of Austin's better novels.
Theatre in Malvern on Wednesday this week to see The Cat and the Canary with Britt Ekland, Marti Webb and others. Staging was very good. Lots of howling wind, thunder and spooky goings on! Decided to take the A449 through Worcester to get there as it is the straightest route. Never gave a thought that Worcester might be flooded till I turned to go down the road by the racecourse which was closed. Found my way through the town by a combination of intuition and sat nav and over the bridge. The water was right up on both sides of the road. The racecourse and the cricket pitch were both under water. It would only have taken another inch or two to have been across the road. It was impossible to see where the river was by the Ketch as all the surrounding fields were under water. Luckily Malvern is on somewhat higher ground and I arrived in time to have a look round the town which I have not done before. I think to describe as 'hilly' would be a bit of an understatement. Any steeper and I would have needed ropes and crampons! Nice town though and a coffee and toasted tea cake in Costa was welcome.