Disturbing events

In the middle of the night, I felt a draught of cool air on my cheek. It happens when the wind is changing direction and veering from east to south west, and then west. It's bringing rain with it, and further inland where it's been colder, there'll be some snow over the weekend.

After breakfast and a spell of writing, I went to Tesco's to buy Valentine's day roses and cinnamon buns for Clare, and chorizo for me, so I could make a chicken and chorizo dish for lunch. 

Then I finished reading 'Una Muerta Imperfecta' and was interested to learn that there's an English version as well. J J Fernandez is a crime fiction writer with five crimmies to his credit. I thought this one was a murder mystery as it opened with an unexplained death, and a niece who's not satisfied with her uncles 'natural causes' autopsy finding. She thinks the truth is something else and investigates. It turns out her uncle was a victimiser not a victim, and her memory of being abused as a child was so successfully repressed that when she finds out there are other victims and confronts him, she represses this memory completely. It's a well constructed story, and as most of story is in dialogue form it's easy to follow and instructive about everyday conversation.

I walked to Llandaff Cathedral and then went on to the weir on the west bank footpath of the Taff before returning for tea. Although the air temperature was the same as yesterday, the west wind was more dampening than it  was chilling.

There's now a chilling wind in American relationships with Europe, since Trump announced his intention to meet with Putin in the coming weeks to discuss terms for a peace deal. Two guys who see themselves as strong leaders, in effect populist dictators bamboozling democracy to gain power, fervent in the belief that might is right. He's done this without consulting with President Zelenskyy or NATO allies. Vice president, Vance attending a European security conference made very derogatory remarks about European democracy, alleging the suppression of right wing political opinion, suggesting he's ignorant of differences between European and American cultures. Both feeling entitled to throw their weight around on the world stage. Heaven knows where this will lead.

Hopefully European nations will be driven to unite more firmly in defending their values, and invest more in protecting themselves against Russian aggression. There seems to be a lot of pessimism about at the moment in the political as well as economic sphere. Thankfully there will be a hostage exchange in Gaza tomorrow, so Hamas has decided not to obstruct the agreed process despite its allegation of Israeli cease fire breaches. No doubt Trump will boast this is due to his threatening rhetoric.

Hunting for something to watch this evening, I found there are four new episodes of 'Astrid - Murders in Paris' on Channel 4 Walter Presents'. I watched the first of them, and then browsed to see what else is new. I came across a Danish crimmie about a cold case investigation undertaken by a journalist, and watched the first and half of the second short episode and then stopped, having decided to take a break before bed.