Well, I got to church safely, and so had lots of other people with getting on for 50 of us there.

Above are the daffodils at the church, and below are the ones at home.

I went to church on my own because Joe had got up at 5.30 to go to the dawn service at Walesby Old Church (the "Ramblers' Church" which is now isolated from the village at the top of a hill in the middle of fields, the village having eased itself down into the valley over the centuries) where he was pumping the organ, there being no electricity in the church.

This rather dramatic painting of Walesby Old Church by Tom Robinson was bought by my mother with money given to her by her brother on her fiftieth birthday in 1978.

From there he and Colin (the organist) went back to the Reverend John Carr's for breakfast, thence to Caistor for 10 o'clock communion, and finally to Nettleton for the latter part of the service there and a change of car into mine for Joe. After a substantial lunch, Joe is now sleeping peacefully in the library. His grandfather, who did not go to church, but did clear the snow from the drive so I could get out, is also peacefully asleep in front of the television in the drawing room. I cooked the lunch, I laid the table, I dished up, Pa carved the chicken, I cleared the table, I stacked the dishwasher, I organised the Easter Egg Hunt (indoors this year). I am hoping that I won't sleep peacefully through Time Team, Antiques Roadshow, Larkrise to Candleford and No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency

Monday
Last night I fell asleep ten minutes before the end of No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency. I decided to find out about this watching TV on line that they keep advertising, and discovered that it is really easy so I have now caught up. Like Larkrise to Candleford, though to a lesser extent, it struck me as more of an essay into the themes of the book than an accurate chapter by chapter dramatisation, but nonetheless enjoyable. I like all this series of books though I am by no means a fan of some of Alexander McCall Smith's other novels, and I was very surprised by the number of people in the Swallow Bookworms who did not enjoy No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency when we read it a year or so back.

I loved the music, but my father, who a couple of years ago started to use a hearing aid, found that it made the programme unwatchable as it drowned out dialogue which was already difficult for him as he has never been good at understanding non-standard English accents. Wouldn't it be good if programmes were transmitted with two soundtracks so that those who wish could turn down/off the music track, and turn up the dialogue. The music of its nature must be added post sync. so it shouldn't be too difficult, and it would certainly be a blessing to many people.