Shopping and dining

In to Coventry city centre to pick up a few bits and pieces, including some vital new cutlery at IKEA. I was surprised by just how much had changed since my last visit: the newly pedestrianised Broadgate, the disappearance of the Cathedral Lanes branch of Waterstones and the widened pavement on Warwick Road. I was particularly impressed by the complete removal of the subway under Greyfriars Road and its replacement with a zebra crossing. I pointed this out to mater as we crossed, only to be met by total bafflement: so successful had the removal been that she'd completely failed to notice that it had gone.

We rounded the day off with a less than successful family supper in the company of my sister and the kids. My nephew, always a stressful dinner guest, thanks to his habit of randomly wandering away from the table whenever the fancy takes him, was a long way from his best. Even I succumbed to the generally stressful atmosphere and started needling him about his inability to use a knife & fork — at he's old enough that he ought to know how and I don't think it does him any favours to allow him to reinforce his believe that he can't eat with his fingers — but, with hindsight, it probably wasn't the most productive thing I could have done...