To the swimming pool at a later time than usual, delightfully quiet. Halfway through my regular 25 minutes, dreaming as I swim, I notice grandmother and small child entering pool. Then treated to an excellent lesson on how to tempt a little child into the water. Grandmother, from steps into the pool, throws small floaty thing in and encourages grandson to come and retrieve it. This, the child happily does, entering into the game. Each time the object is thrown in a little further, the grandmother and grandson having a lot of fun. On my way out of the pool, I congratulate them both on having such a happy time. I asked the child what his name was. He told me, “Henry”. “Like the king”, I say. “Yes”, says grandma, “he recently received a postcard from his uncle addressed to ‘King Henry’!”

“Oh,” I replied, “our son is called Hal, like Prince Hal in Shakespeare’s Henry the 4th.” I then introduced myself to Henry and told him my name was Penny. As I made my way to the changing room, I called back, “Goodbye, Henry.” He replied, “Goodbye, Penny.”

We were on our way then to rendezvous with our son Tristan and his wife Laura to celebrate Mother’s Day early, as they are away on appointed day. We meet at the Mizu restaurant at the Lodore Hotel in Borrowdale. A regular haunt of ours, though we hadn’t been for some time. Excellent food as ever and a good crack over the lunch. And a fabulous bag of Mother’s Day gifts from Tristan and Laura. As we left, we encountered some wedding guests enjoying the sunshine and some fizz. Sitting on a wall were several women chatting. One of them was wearing some amazing shoes, high heels with plaited yellow and pink leather, which I felt compelled to admire. Opposite them, standing by the opposing wall, were a group of men. One of them said, “She’s very punchy, isn’t she? ” I was perplexed. One of his companions said, “She doesn’t understand what you’ve just said.”

“What does it mean?” I say.

“It means she’s lucky to be married to me!”

“By the same token, you’re lucky to be married to her, too.”

I didn’t think my answer went down too well with him, so I responded quickly, trying to be diplomatic, “Surely you are both lucky to be married to each other.”

Moving on, going back to the car, we behold the bride, beautiful in shining white, flowing dress, aflame in the sunshine, on her way towards the rest of the guests. The wedding ceremony had just finished in the gazebo, and she had a tail of other guests behind her. She was talking and laughing animatedly to one of her companions. I stopped her and said how beautiful she looked and that my husband, Bob and I, had spent the first night of our honeymoon in the same hotel some 59 years ago. I pointed towards Bob, who was ahead of me with our son. The bride immediately replied, “What is the secret?”

“Don’t argue,” I said. “It takes two to argue. If one of you refuses to argue, the argument will not continue.”

“That’s wonderful,” she said, then kissed me and said, “Thank you.”

A good day, so far!