Sweet sleep

We had a long lie-in and our usual late Saturday pancake breakfast this morning. Clare was awake and up in the night feeling feverish, in reaction to the vaccine. I slept dreamlessly and deep in between waking up every two hours, with no obvious symptoms until lunchtime when I noticed soreness in and around my right jaw muscle, as I do when developing a sore throat and a cold. My weak spot I suppose. Living in relative social isolation means I've not had a cold for the past twelve months and for that I'm grateful.

Eleven million people vaccinated now and there's talk of everyone vulnerable and all under fifty will be vaccinated by May. Public debate about when restrictions will be eased and whether foreign holidays are going to be possible this summer is now heating up, even though it's too early to say anything with real confidence as long as virus mutations continue and a coherent strategy to prevent them spreading and an further immunisation plan to address new developments is worked out. In the face of rapid contagion due to ever more aggressive virus strains, caution is essential. Media cheerleaders and political pundits aren't too happy about this, and there's much futile speculation about the resumption of normal activities. Nature is giving us a master class in the need for patience. I think of this when I spot a heron watching the waters looking for prey.

Walking by the Taff for an hour before returning and cooking lunch, I saw a yellow wagtail perched on a branch on the river bank. Mostly we see pied wagtails and occasionally grey ones, swooping across the water, perching on stones and on the banks. It's good we have the variety, right in the heart of the city.

It was two o'clock before we sat down to eat, having started the day so late. Then my fit bit needed charging before going out again - it takes about half an hour - so I plugged it in at my bedside, and lay down to relax. It was two hours later when I woke up from a beautiful refreshing sleep. That means I've slept eleven hours since having the jab yesterday! Well, that's fine when there's nothing scheduled in my diary. It's like being on holiday.

In the evening, there was nothing I was interested in on live TV, so I watched the first three episodes of a French crime drama on More Four called 'A deadly union', which is essentially about a family stricken by tragedies made far worse through cover-up deceit and lies. Shot on the Cote d'Azur it makes great use of the Mediterranean coast east of Marseilles as its setting.