I'm not really one to say 'I told you so' but as far as Kelly is concerned, the bubble simply had to burst.  I mean, just how long can you go knocking on two doors at once?  As so often happens in this sort of mix-up it's Kelly herself who has come off worse and maybe it'll teach her a lesson.  Anyway, I have a sneaking suspicion that David will see things a bit differently when he comes back from Venice although I for one really can't blame him making up his mind the way he did.  I always say in times of stress the best plan is just to get away from everything.  After a few days he'll be able to take a cool, calm look at the whole sorry business and then decide what to do.  In fact the Kelly affair struck the only damp note in what was otherwise a marvellous day at the Crossroads Motel fete.  I must admit I've not enjoyed myself so much for a long time.

 

After the torrential downpour of the night before, only an optimist could have predicted a bright sunny day on the morrow, but that's what we got.  Mother Nature really is incorrigible.  The weather was absolutely perfect and I can truly say that a great day was had by all ... (including Carney's roses!).  Mind you I suppose we should be the last to grumble if it had have rained.  If this drought goes on for much longer we're all going to be in a pretty pickle and that's for sure.  With water rationing in King's Oak looming up as a real possibility, my thoughts go back to something Hugh said before he left.  "If you think we've got problems, just take a look at Italy.  In parts of the country there, water costs more than wine".  I can just see myself washing up in a bottle or two of vintage Beaujolais!

 

The good news from Heywood Farm is that Benny and Ed seem to have got everything straightened out at last.  I must admit it's crossed my mind more than once that Josie was probably the real villain of the piece and it looks like I was right.  Benny may not be the brightest person in the world, but he certainly deserves to marry a girl who loves him for what he is and not for the size of his bank balance.  I suppose it was a bit underhand of Ed to deceive Josie the way he did but it certainly had the desired effect.  When he told her that Benny wasn't worth a penny she was out the door like a streak of lightening.  I don't suppose the poor lad will get over it overnight ... these things take time and I expect he'll keep on wondering occasionally whether he might possibly have misjudged her.  Anyway the real nagging worry for Benny is the baby.  Any father would want to visit his child and I can see all sorts of problems arising out of that in a few months' time.  It's a good thing he's got plenty of work to do to help take his mind off it all.

 

Mind you, Benny can count himself lucky that he's got a job to go to.  From what I read in the papers at the moment, more and more people are finding themselves out of work.  Although thankfully things are nowhere near as bad yet, I can remember my father telling me about the horrors of the Depression.  There wasn't much in the way of State help in those days so everyone just had to grin and bear it.  The trouble is that it's not just the lack of income ... it's also the silly feeling that somehow because you're unemployed, you're a failure.  I know it's absurd, but very understandable all the same.  I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that sometime soon we might see some clouds with silvery linings.