Thursday.

Got back from Mikey and Sarah's about 4.30 p.m. today, having baby sat (or rather child minded) Sarah's family while she was away at a conference from Tuesday afternoon onwards. At one a.m. on Wednesday morning I woke to hear a creaking/crackling sound, and then felt our bed swaying. I assumed Ann was having a bad dream so said "Are you alright ? You're rocking the bed".
" I wasn't rocking the bed," says Ann "I thought you were. I'd better just check the little ones are alright". She came back a few minutes later and said "Lucy was out of bed. I think we must have heard her running down the landing". Well Lucy is a stout little party, but I really couldn't imagine that her running along the landing could have made our bed rock so violently. Anyway, as you'll have guessed by now, when we heard the news in the morning there had been an earthquake in the night, centred in Lincolnshire, and we had felt the effects in Buckinghamshire, which seems an amazing long way for the effects to travel. I had never experienced an earthquake before but I remember my grandmother telling me of one in the 1920's in the Norfolk fens that had set the china on her dressing table rattling and woken her up. The photo above is of Ann getting Lucy and Guy ready for school the following morning. At half past six this evening we had just had our evening meal (pork sausages from the farm shop at Semer - disappointing !!!), when the 'phone rang and Margaret Jarvis said she wouldn't need a lift in to choir practice, as she wasn't feeling up to it. I'm afraid she wouldn't have got one if she hadn't 'phone to say she didn't need it, as we'd both forgotten about choir practice being resumed this Thursday evening. We decided we aught to go, and in fact found we had time to walk to Church, so did. Practice went reasonably well I think, and we've still got time for an early night. Before I do though, I must stress again how early everything is this year. We have seen snowdrops, daffodills, primroses , violets, aubretia, and forsythia, in full flower on our way home. Called in at David Theobald's shop, which wasn't busy. So he locked up and then we walked round with himto visit his mother, June. It was lovely to see them both. Must close now, feel as if I'm having to retype every other word.Goodnight everyone.