Annual back to school photo

The children are in different local authority areas so started back at different times. Thomas, aged 7 and James 5 on the right, started last week, and already James’s class is quarantining for 14 days. Apparently the mother of the child with COVID is getting a hard time as she posted on Facebook the kids had temperatures but were going to school as thought the virus was a conspiracy.

Ella aged 8 on the left and Nathaniel aged 6 went back yesterday, him with his COVID uncut hair. He’s never liked the barber so insisted on keeping it long. He does a cute toss of the head to get it out of his eyes. He declined the hair band Ella offered. They were both tired last night.

I’m tired now after another night of waking at 1.45. I listened to Melvyn Bragg’s In Our Time about Simone de Beauvoir. I really thought I understood existentialism for the first time ever. But that understanding didn’t last till morning.

Mr C took the van south of theTyne for its service. They say the gas heating isn’t working which is news to us. That’ll be expensive. It all has to be fine for the sale to go through.

Because I can’t drive yet Mr C had to get the bus back to Newcastle but missed the connection. He sat in Leazes Park with the paper for 2 hours and got home at 1pm. He’s had a quick turnaround to get back down to Morpeth to the dentist. We are both feeling a bit weary.

I had the book group by Zoom this morning, the jury was out on Elizabeth Bowen. 2 of us loved it, 2 hated it and 2 saw good and bad. Some didn’t like that they couldn’t relate to it because of the class of the protagonists. I liked it for that reason. I wonder if they liked Enid Blyton - the children in that were alien to me.