‘Cycle on your bicycle – leave all this misery behind’ – great song, even if R. says they’re too poppy. (Turin Brakes, by the way: brilliant band, terrible name.) Although this might have been a bit of overload (the large rucksack is out of the picture) so there was always the potential for the misery,or the jeans, to fall right off and roll into the road, as the potatoes have been known to do. But thanks to providence and a couple of stout bungee cords, I got home from M&S, the library, the greengrocers and Oxfam in not many more pieces than when I had set out. More impressively, I managed to avoid being given any carrier bags except for the big green M&S one which I couldn’t have managed without, the jeans being an unexpected purchase. (Our youngest son has now reached the size at which boys are obviously expected to spend all day in bed, as there are virtually no trousers anywhere with a waist size between 26 and 30. ) And even that one (carrier bag) when the assistant fished it out from under his till, had obviously been used before and returned to the shop.


This morning I started teaching again, for the first time since we left Ennis two and a half years ago. I woke up at five racked with nerves, but it all turned out fine, albeit with only two students as not many people knew the classes were restarting. The lessons, for new immigrants to the area, are funded by the local council, who also provide the premises, now in Enniskillen Castle which is rather fun and atmospheric. What’s more, when I explained to the staff that I didn’t have a car, they gave me a corner in which to keep the textbooks, so the bike carrier (and I) had a short rest on the way home.