I am normally an early riser, and this morning was no exception. At certain times of the morning I get light effects; this is the early morning sun shining through the trees and causing a pattern to appear above my fireplace.

I do not usually watch BBC One, but today I watched a very interesting and in-depth series of political studies conducted by John Simpson, who as the more senior ones of my readers will know, has been around forever. The program was called ‘Unspun World’ and is aired from 7:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning. John was talking with local reporters in more depth than we see on the normal newscasts, and I felt I really learned something from what was being said.

George Abaraonye

I felt a complete sense of disgust with the new president-elect of the Oxford Union. He seems to be some sort of swamp creature without any gravitas, and I think we can say goodbye to yet another cherished institution.

He was celebrating Charlie Kirk’s death, accusing him of hate crimes, when in fact Charlie was a good Christian, a good husband, and a preacher of traditional values. He accuses Charlie of hate crimes. I don’t think he is fit to be president.  He will definitely degrade the office of president – if he has not been persuaded to resign in the next three weeks. 

His wife appeared this morning on TV vowing to continue to propagate the message that Charlie, aged 31, had started. She said that he loved Donald Trump and Donald Trump loved him. God bless her and her spirit. It must have been difficult for her to speak and her voice did falter at certain points. The most difficult bit was describing when she returned home and her three-year-old ran towards her, saying, ‘Where is daddy?’. How to give an adequate response?

A view from my front lawn

We spent some time today on our allotments harvesting potatoes. I’m amazed that so many people leave the product of their labors, such as runner beans, marrows, beetroot and carrots, to rot in the ground because they somehow forget about them.

To visit or not to visit?

We had a choice to attend two big events today, both in Frome. One was the parade through the town, and the other one was the cheese show, which is held in a farm environment about four miles outside Frome itself. We did not attend either. The parade we previously found by us to be overcrowded and unpleasant, completely obliterating the cultural sides of this town.

We did not go to the Cheese Festival because we went to it two or three years ago, and it is basically the same year to year: a large number of cheeses assembled in the main barns, some art, animal shows, go-karts for the kids, agricultural machinery, and lots of food stalls selling rubbish food.

I can’t say it was a particularly friendly atmosphere there since most are families with their children running around and enjoying themselves. I am certainly not paying 19 pounds for this and maybe I am getting too old for this sort of mass entertainment.

We have plenty to occupy us at home. 

Further experiences of AI, Co-pilot

We returned home to work on our various matters, including drafting letters in connection with my forthcoming book. I have to say co-pilot is enormously helpful in drafting letters because they suggest alternatives. I don’t know how they do it, but it is very nuanced

If you are having difficulty with writing a letter, then write a draft one, ask co-pilot what it thinks, and as sure as eggs are eggs, you will get some helpful comments—things that you wouldn’t have thought of yourself .

The metaphor of eggs is quite widely used in many contexts; we know what ‘putting all your eggs in one basket’ means, but what about ‘teaching your grandmother to suck eggs’, or ‘you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs’. I sometimes feel sorry for foreign students learning English because the subtleties would be lost on them, and I don’t think they would even go there.