Took a train out to the almost-country, not too far from Milton Keynes, where a relative of the GF lives in a lovely spot along several waterways. The house itself is beautiful and historic, the gardens are wide and green, the hens copiously lay eggs. Less keen on the interior, as it’s a bit dark and very, very full of stuff in small Victorian rooms with overly coloured walls and too many pictures with little sense to the arrangement. The relatives themselves are some of my favourite of the GF’s though, with two alarmingly well-mannered and accomplished children.
In the train station, I was rather attacked by an angry woman who accused me – incorrectly – of bashing her car with the car door and was really unpleasant. Oddly, it didn’t shake me, though I did wonder if she’d find a scratch and demand I pay for it. I have no idea how these things work in the UK, as I have never had much to do with cars here. I suppose insurance comes into it, not that I have any insurance to do with cars.
After dinner we went for a walk along the waterways, encountering a family of geese (parents and children) who, fortunately, did not attack us. It has suddenly become very cold and in the evening especially I felt as though my muscles were seizing. It’s been a long time since I felt properly cold to the bone – though there is something about the British cold, where it comes along with damp and discomfort, that I think people who’ve lived in genuinely cold places, like Canada, need to experience to appreciate.