Eclipse day

I got to bed on time last night and had a better night's sleep. It was sunny when I woke up, but the sky threatened to cloud over by the time today's partial eclipse of the sun was due mid morning. Clare cooked pancakes and I cooked garlic mushrooms for breakfast. I was nice to hear author Michael Morpurgo speak about his daily walk on Radio 4 'Saturday Live' programme. He lives on a farm in the Cornish countryside and takes the same route each day, appreciating the changes he notes as the days of the year pass by. Time to appreciate what gets taken for granted is one of the great gifts of old age he says. He's a year and a half older than me, and share the same experience.

Around half past ten, the sun was passing in and out of moving cloud. Armed with a completely black frame of celluloid film, we both took a peek at the sun with a small portion of it obscured by the moon. It was interesting later to see other people's pictures taken during the eclipse. The moon shadow seems to work its way from the top of the sun's disc around the right hand side, not straight across, as the moon's orbit is elliptical and it's coming past at a different angle to the rotation of the earth. I tried taking a few photos, holding the frame of film over the lens of my Lumix TZ95, and then with the addition of an old UV filter. I didn't have enough know-how or enough time in a hurry to override automatic settings and use a high enough ISO number for a properly exposed shot, so none of them were sharp, and the moon shadow was masked by the glare. Interesting colours after editing the images but not really portraying an amazing natural phenomenon at all. 

I cooked some veg, Clare baked a piece of frozen cod and I heated up yesterday's leftovers for lunch. Then I walked into town to buy a pan from John Lewis' to replace the one that caught fire two days ago. It was impossible to get it perfectly clean as the interior surface is very slightly pitted in places. Fragments of carbonised material are embedded in a few tiny pits, and nothing we tried would remove them. The embedded substance could leach toxins if used for cooking. I thought a new one was advisable. The pan in question was bought when we were in Switzerland over thirty years ago, so why not? Our other Swiss pans are still going strong.

This evening is the Women's rugby international match between Wales and England, so full road closures are in operation and buses re-routed until half past nine tonight. Thousands of spectators arriving early for the match mingled with the influx of shoppers. Women of all ages with confident smiles on their faces, wearing red rugby shirts walking proudly with husbands and children, or in groups. Growing interest in women's sports generally is contributing to an upbeat mood on match day, win or lose.

I walked back home through Canton, so I could buy a jar of olives in the Turkish supermarket. The shiny new pan fits perfectly on the the electric hob, the one it replaces was a centimetre smaller, so cooking with it will be a bit more energy efficient.

After supper, I continued watching 'Flowers over the inferno', then put all the clocks forward, and set out for bed an hour early.