Nelson wouldn't go to sea without a Thames waterman as his helmsman...

[xanantha]

I have had a very wonderful day with Laura. We met at Embankment Tube and caught the 12 o'clock boat down to Greenwich. It takes a little bit more than an hour, but it is such a nice way to see London. And also very relaxing as it is just sitting & I don't even feel like I have to try and concentrate on what the boat bloke is saying about the

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[chiasmata]

There's a small boy (well, a hulking great one, actually, but he can only be 10 or 11) living next door to me who is forever playing 'cricket' on the road outside - which is lovely in itself, as the road's a quiet, straight, one-way street with speed bumps - and has rung our bell about four times in the last few weeks because he thought his ball had found its way into our garden. He's so, so polite about asking to check the garden, so I always let him in, as his dad knows me well enough to say hello to and presumably knows we are not the dangerous-to-children sort. Last time this happened - yesterday, in fact - his dad was waiting on the street for him when we returned, and told him off - and apologised to me that he'd disturbed me, which was quite unnecessary, although thoughtful. I feel quite sorry for the kid, actually, because I've heard the way his parents shout and nag at him (thin walls, terraced houses), and although he might quite easily be a little horror at home, he comes across as a meek little thing when I speak to him

[xanantha]

The youngest of the three "children" (Ella & Eben now being in their mid-late teens) who lives next door is always polite. He says hello if he sees me while we're out & he always comes & asks if he can have his ball/frisbee/whatever back if it comes over into our garden... The other weekend some of his wee pals made the most of their being a gap in the fence between our gardens towards the far end of them & there were a few "heroic" missions, but it wasn't a problem at all. And I know if I'd gone & said something they'd've apologised - and meant it...

My Brownies all say "please" and "thank you". This is because they are lovely. If they forget you generally don't need to remind them - either a look or another Brownie will do the trick. My horrid Cambridge Brownies, however, were much less hot on such little things. As I wouldn't give them what they wanted until they said please they started learning though...