I went to Winchester to Frances MacKeith`s funeral on Thursday. She died peacefully aged ninety seven after an extraordinary life, A lifelong campaigner for peace, she went on protesting and being arrested well into her nineties. I have such memories of her at Greenham in the eighties, of joining her on marches in London, peace vigils, petitions, she never gave up. I also played in string quartets with her for years, she was always up for it. We played fairly inaccurately but with immense enthusiasm at least once a week. She had a cracking funeral,a real celebrration of her life.
On the way there I had a slight altercation with a bus so my battered car is even more disreputable than ever. And then I put my mobile phone through a warm wash in the machine, so I have not started the new year very well, but here are my New Year Resolutions:
1.Start a new writing project: bits of my `memoir` that I forgot to put in (there have been requests for more of the forties and fifties)
2.The usual: eat less and exercise more, get off that sofa!
3.Write a poem a week, not that anyone wants to read them, but it makes me feel better.