Dave remarked that all the billboards on the A406 showing images of Her Late Majesty made it feel like Big Brother was watching you.
Having fallen asleep really quickly and slept through, I woke at 5ish feeling relatively refreshed, but then couldn't get back to sleep until much later, finally waking at 8.40 with an annoying headache I couldn't shake all day. The stress I think of yesterday - what with the roofers in the morning, trying to get last minute jobs done before going away and of course the deepening unease waiting to hear about the Queen. I was quite discombobulated once it was confirmed as it felt odd to know we were leaving the country tomorrow and would miss the mourning period and the funeral.
Packed and got our bits together for our Irish road trip, managing to get everything in the car and leave space for mum. Picked her up along with her relatively small suitcase and set off west to Bristol for our first stop at my sister's. She wasn't there but B welcomed us in, me rushing straight to the loo as I'd been desperate for a while. After we'd watched the new King's speech, B got us in fish and chips (2 nights in a row tut tut).
We started to hear of things closing or being cancelled out of respect, such as the Last Night of the Proms and Kew Gardens. And also a small local folk festival only having just got back on its feet after 2 years of COVID having to cancel last minute because of the royal death protocols of the venues it was booked at.
