The very sweet and kind Salva Venia of http://salvaveniaxxl.wordpress.com/ nominnated me for the award Most Influential Blogger today.
It gave me pause to think about how influential I might be. I know there are bloggers followed by many thousands who hang on their every word ( can you feel the jealousy?) and who get many comments. But I think I’m followed by quite a few and that many of those read most of what I write. Some may even be of the same opinion as me on some subjects.
Yesterday I read a blog post which affected me deeply. It was from a woman who was born a man but always knew she was a woman. She’d moved a fair way because of the bile that some people feel they have to spout and was part of an internet group who accepted her for the woman she is, until someone from her past, from school decided to ‘Out’ her to the group. What made me sad was that from out of the group who had accepted her, there were people prepared to call her an abomination in the eyes of the church, because the bible is quite specific on issues like this and of course for some people the bible is never wrong. If the bible says the Earth is 6000 years old then by heaven the dinosaurs must have been and gone in that time along with the great flood of Noah’s fame. For some people there is no flexibility, no room for error and certainly no room for science. I know not all Christians are like this and I even quite like some of the lessons attributed to Jesus for living one’s life. Certainly the one I like most is that of tolerance.
Instead of venting my anger towards these people who will only hate even more than they do now, I thought I’d share with you something another friend recently sent me. I have no idea who to attribute this to but allow me to say , whoever it is has a fantastic straight face for humour and I love it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. And, if you should come across a transgender child or adult or a gay person you’ll extend tolerance and love towards them. Their struggle is hard enough as it is.
Dear Dr. Laura,
Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind him that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate.
I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the specific laws and how to best follow them.
a) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
b) I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
c) I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.
d) Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?
e) I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?
f) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an Abomination (Lev 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this?
g) Lev 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?
h) Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev 19:27. How should they die?
i) I know from Lev 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
j) My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev 24:10-16) Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)
I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help.
Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.
Sunday. It felt like the longest day today instead of yesterday, that was because I’d worked, seen to fish, eaten, drugged up ( and probably down) and worked again all without hearing a human voice. The fact that Mike talks in his sleep changes nothing. He was chunnering every time I went past his door but no matter which clogs I wore, nothing moved him. The sunshine was bright and I was considering going to evensong ( cough) when I finally heard him move. I gave up on Solitaire and went to make him a coffee. I got the usual grunt as he passed me to put last night’s mug in the sink, for me to wash of course. Another grunt as he passed me going the other way then he sat in his chair and lit the first cigarette of the day. ( Those between midnight and sleep don’t count and if you don’t sleep they all count as yesterdays). He asked what I’d like to do this morning and I just fell about laughing. Actually I reminded him he has to leave early today to meet his son and go to repair his father’s washing machine which they didn’t manage last week. Also, I reminded him that it’s Ceri’s birthday next weekend and she will be away so it would be a good idea to take her a card this morning.
About 10.00 am we set off for Flint and pulled up at Home Bargain’s so I could buy her a nice bottle of wine and a bottle bag. Then we headed for Temptations to deliver it. As I ordered our coffee I asked if she was in and typically she was on a day off. We’re not doing too well in that regard this weekend are we? Still, I was able to leave it for her and she’s back in tomorrow. When she sees it’s from the Brothers Grimm she’ll know exactly who it is. As we finished the drinks it was 11.00 am and Mike had said we needed to lunch about midday so I suggested we head straight there so we can gauge the wait. The trip took half an hour and the car park told us the good weather was still keeping people away and down on the beach. We ordered our usual drinks from Angie giving us plenty of time to decide what we wanted to eat. No sign of Tariq.
Allowing fifteen minutes cooking time we ordered lunch about 11.45 am and went outside for a smoke. We think it draws attention to passing trade if they see someone standing about with a cuppa outside. Angie let us know when the meal was served and we headed back in. Mike nipped to the loo and I just started eating as Tariq appeared. He’s amazingly handy and had just been making a wheelbarrow planter. He headed back to finish it and Mike reappeared. As soon as I said he’s missed Tariq he ignored the meal and shot off after him. I think I mentioned Tariq had made a great diisplay case shaped like a coffin for some of the gifts he sells. Mike wanted to order one as a stand for all his dragons and wanted Tariq to know he wasn’t joking. As it happens neither am I, one a bit slimmer would make a fantastic bookcase and I may just order one too. If the cafe is slow, maybe he can make an income from things he makes. Before we left I bought 100g of jelly beans and made sure Angie took the money, I also made sure I gave her the money for our meals while Tariq was otherwise occupied. Hugs and kisses from Anngie and Shella and hugs from Tariq ensures our further custom and I’ve now started ordering Christmas gifts.
Mike ran me home ( I wish he’d let me get in the car) and came in long enough to see something I’d bought on ebay. Then it was time to say goodbye for another week. I spent the afternoon catching up on mail amassed while were out. I was suffering such loneliness that I had to comfort eat half a BFG at teatime. If only Mike had reminded me it was still here and untouched he could have taken it so they could all have enjoyed it at his dad’s. It’s his fault I’m the size of a house. I watched a comedy film afterwards with some penguins and then finally came back here to get straight for the night. I’m off out tomorrow instead of Tuesday. I want to go see my poorly little grandson.
Monday. I was up to date with my post this morning before I had to leave the house at 7.30 to catch my bus. The sun was out and I was a physical wreck by the time I managed to get to the stop and then onto a seat. I sat on the left so that my vision wouldn’t be obscured by either a partition or a driver.Why I decided it would be good to see the journey I don’t know as I invariably either pretend to be asleep or fall asleep for real, today it was the latter . Not a constant sleep but lots of a few moments here or there between stops.
When I got to Chester there was no sign of Yvonne but I didn’t panic as I thought she’d taken my advice to meet in the Costa so that neither of them were too much in the sun. The heat and the sunlight had cranked up another notch or two while I journeyed. I was desperate to get rid of my jacket. She wasn’t in the Costa so before ordering a drink I sent a text. It seems she was at the bus station, just not where my bus comes in so she hotfooted it down to join me. We ordered drinks and the young assistant was kind enough to carry them outside for me. We ordered toast for Reuben but he didn’t seem interested though he was as bright as a button for me, just full of smiles. Yvonne said he hadn’t smiled at all over the last 3 days when the poor lamb has been so explosive from every conceivable place. Obviously his pops has a good effect on him. I was able to empty my backpack of the outfit i’d got Reuben last week and also a gift I’d bought her on Saturday. That meant I could fold my jacket up and carry it on my back now. That was definitely better. I may have made a mistake wearing grey and black in this heat but white is just not practical with the colour of my moustache and beard these days. We enjoyed the drinks and then started to walk in the direction of a shop I told her I’d seen from the bus. In fact, the place was even nicer than I’d expected with a heavy Oriental theme and some fantastic furniture. I managed to restrict myself to a couple of small items.
From there we walked back towards town and paid a visit to the market. We managed to get a cuppa there and gave Reuben a small sponge cake to try. He did eat some and then decorated the floor with the rest. We leave destruction behind us wherever we go. In truth Yvonne always tries to tidy up behind him. We continued on our journey. I’d meant to say there was a sale in one of our favourite shops but I forgot and we sailed on by. We tried a clothes shop that sold baby stuff but I didn’t have time to apply for a mortgage to buy the clothes in it. Since Yvonne needed some flip-flops we decided to carry on to Primark and see what they had for Reuben and get her sandals at the same time. I ended up with some shoes and a pair of lounge pants from there somehow too.
We went to Pizza Hut for lunch and had the salad buffet. Yes I know, I’m as shocked as you are believe me. But it was nice. From there we headed to Boots the Chemist and got a couple more tops for Reuben before I decided it was time I called it a day. Despite protestations they walked me to the bus stop and waited until it arrived. I felt so guilty as they’d have quite a trek to get home and it was still roasting. The outward journey was much better without my jacket though the heat still made my eyes droop. Back in Greenfield I dropped my repeat prescription into the chemist and made a point of saying I was having to use an old request as I didn’t get one with the current drugs. My subtlety probably fell on deaf ears though the young lady said she’s have to run one off the computer as the one I was using was too old. I’ll have to check the bag on Thursday to make sure I have one this time.
Then it was home and virtually straight into battle with the mail from today. I worked till 6.00 pm then had Law and Order for an hour while I ate the other half of the BFG, reluctantly of course but Mike going early leaves me no choice, I don’t want it to go off. At 7.00pm I rejoined battle and have been here ever since. Wish me luck.
Chester Cathedral
Chester Cathedral
Chester City Old Roman Walls
Chester City
Laughing for Pops
I’m in trouble again.
Tuesday. A strange start to the day. I worked from 04.30 am to 06.30 am on messages but suddenly decided I wasn’t feeling great. I lay down for a few minutes to recover and woke up again at dead on 08.30 am. I decided that was too late to start thinking about breakfast but that I’d better feed the fish before they made fish food of me. Then I made a cup of coffee, took my meds and returned to the fray. It’s funny how many people write when you’re away for ten minutes or so. At 9.30 am I went out to post a letter to the Pensions Agency. They asked me to provide a breakdown of the deductions in my private pension. I’m pretty sure it’s all tax but unfortunately the Pensions people are the ones with the paperwork which I sent to provide proof of the pension figure and they haven’t returned the damned thing. Anyway, since they know the gross figure and the nett figure surely they can manage a little maths. After the post box I called into Pauline’s for some fresh baps to enjoy with my SALAD lunch. If I’m not careful I could get healthy like this.
Back at home again I restarted my battle with mail. There was one wonderful message from Canada where a friend and fellow blogger had dedicated a Welsh Lullaby played by her on the harp to me. I’m not sure if that indicated that I send her to sleep or not but I’m taking it as a great compliment. If you haven’t seen it, I reblogged it. It’s not a Welsh harp she’s using but I’m sure it’s Celtic. There were also 4 messages about my non-existent account with Santander. I don’t know what I’m going to do since they’ve now suspended me ! Oh woe. There was just 1 message from a female bank manager with a scheme to make us both wealthy ( though 60-40 in her favour which hardly seemed fair considering all the effort I’d have to go to providing a bank account number for Santander). Mayhap my popularity is on the wane. By 11.30 am I was as up to date as I could get and decided to go and take my pre-lunch tablet and find something on the TV to bore entertain me for a while. I shall return.
Since TV is full of either football or Wimbledon I was back sooner than expected. I spent some time faffing trying to see if there was some photographic software that would allow me to get the cup of coffee effect or the sketch effect on the computer For some reason I ended up fascinated by the coffins you can buy on ebay, and what great prices they are too. I had to give up in the end as I couldn’t find anything that showed they did what I wanted. After a while I found myself nodding off over the keyboard and went to have a doze in my chair. I put an awful afternoon film on for company, luckily I slept for so long I missed most of it. Guilt forced me back to checking the rush of mail to say my Barclay’s account is suspended now too. If I’m not careful, it’s possible all the accounts I don’t have in all the other banks will go too. Such a shame that I can’t manage to hang on to them. I fear for the funds I don’t have in them either. Will they be confiscated. Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk when it’s teatime. I have to have tea tonight since I didn’t bother with breakfast. A quick toasted ham sandwich and I’m as right as rain again.
I watched my Law and Order then for some reason turned to the people who buy the contents of storage units. What an obnoxious pair are always at the front though in fairness maybe he’s marginally less so than she. Bidding prices up just to make someone pay more. It was almost a pleasure to see those attacked by her bitchy mouth actually make a good profit from the contents. It was enough to bring me back to the conmen. A lot of posts to comment on and/or retweet for people. I try to help authors as much as possible. I know how difficult the marketing can be. I’m up to date for now so it’s time for bed and a read. Night y’all.
Such a shame about Brian Connelly.
Wednesday. Very little to report today. I was almost fooled by a message marked from Google this morning until I realised Google can probably spell better. I had a message from the Tax Service HMRC to say they owe me a tax rebate which may well be true though the message wasn’t, and a message from Barclay’s Bank telling me how to de-suspend my account. This was actually followed by a genuine message about Barclay’s which still drew little attention from me as I still haven’t opened an account with them. The weather was still nice so I stuck with salad stuff for lunch. There was a message from LinkedIn to say it’s been 5 years this week since I started the Buthidars and I’ve had two kind messages of congratulations from friends on that site.
I worked much of the afternoon to get as clear as possible before games night, However, I started watching a film with Miss Marple where I couldn’t remember whodunit. Everybody turned up in the last quarter of an hour and I was busy seeing to drinks when it ended so I’ll have to watch out for the repeat of the repeat. Since Lee joined us tonight we got the new Scrabble out to introduce him to it. Dil-1, Matt- 1, Me-0, Lee- 0. Not an auspicious start. At Nomination I beat them hands down finally breaking my duck. And the last game, Crazy 8’s, well Lee took that off me but at least I came second and he went away happy. Following the usual tidy up and the traditional washing of the pots I came through to find 82 messages awaiting my attention. It’s now time to have one last burst of energy and head for bed.
Another loss to music.
Thursday. Such a lucky week you’re having. The highlight of my day was having a delivery from the chemist and finding a new repeat prescription request enclosed. I’d been up and working at just gone 4.00 am without too many weird messages. Normal breakfast at 7.00 am though I was daring and had cereal instead of butter lathered toast. At 9.30 am I went to Pauline’s for the new lottery tickets. The Euro is 19m on Friday. I could force myself to manage on that though I might have to let the servants and the family go. At lunch time I suffered the last day of green stuff this week though I confess it was only a token amount since the rest had wilted so badly. I did make up for it with coleslaw on my meat and salad cream on my potatoes.
For some strange reason I started watching a cowboy film after lunch until I saw that the Miss Marple from last night was to be repeated. So, I went and worked up until the last half hour of that . I got the right baddie but I admit it was probably because that’s the person I wanted it to be rather than any great deductions on my part. Since I’d had the two meals I have to eat in a day I got away with nibbling a packet of crisps for tea. I won’t be telling you what I had during the evening though except that it’s named after the planet of war in Holst’s suite. A little more work to keep me ticking over was followed by my Law and Order, an episode of Murder She Wrote ( Both of which I’d seen) and my new episode of Big Bang Theory. I was heartbroken to see there are just two more to come in this series. That done and a smile still lingering on my face I came back through to catch up on mail and do the blog. Tomorrow Mike says he’s coming and I’ll be able to get him to show me how to email from my phone and also how to pay for an app using paypal I hope. Then I can have the fantastic pho,to lab which lets you make such great changes to pictures.
Friday. I thought I got up this morning at 5.05 am but after about an hour of messages it was only 5.10 am unless time was really dragging. There were a couple of minor blips in the mail with those prannocks in Nigeria, but thick skinned as ever I ignored them and concentrated on the positive, the main part of which was this piece of superb entertainment compliments of my good friend CJ at http://morguemouse.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkbZlautuUc&list=PLH1hyB3WyeKRvFu6bsepeFvsNPXzd8uWr
I checked the bank and that put a smile on my face as the pension had arrived. Not fantastic but any complaints I have to lay at my own door not theirs. At 6.30 am I went through to feed the fish ( to a cat if I had the choice) and to have my breakfast. I reverted to toast again this morning to make sure there was enough milk for the arrival of my bro. I took my meds and went back through for a while with my coffee. I was staying fairly on top of things so I decided to take a short break and make Mike’s bed. I went for bright, bold red polka dots because I know how much he likes plain dark colours. Maybe that’ll shift the beggar in the morning. I set the washer going and returned to the bedroom. Ouch, 58 messages in less than an hour !!!! There was a welcome interruption at 10.30 am when the usual “On Way” message arrived, allowing 3 hours I said I’d wait for my lunch until he arrived.
I caught up again in time for the washer ending it’s cycle ( we were working in tandem- boom boom) so I set it to dry. I worked on and off until 1.00 pm then as I was clear I went to put the stuff in Mike’s cup. Again my timing was good as he arrived at 10 minutes past just as the drier ended. I might just have let it go a tad too long as the creases wouldn’t shake out. If I don’t do some i***ing soon I won’t be able to get into the kitchen. I’m willing to pay £10 per hour for two hours a week if you know anyone daftwho doesn’t mind some light cleaning and heave i***ing. It’s not bad once it’s under control. If anyone thinks that’s a mean figure I can only claim I’m not au fait with current rates for domestics but I do know it’s above the minimum wage.I folded everything and put it in the basket then joined Mike in the lounge, poor soul is coming apart at the seams.
By the time the coffee was done I was starving and Mike said he hadn’t stopped on the way. Naturally we went to the Ivy. It was woefully quiet again. Maybe the predicted bad weather for the weekend will send people in. I hope so. Obviously we were able to have a great chat with Tariq today and even a little with Shella who was the only other staff member there but she was cooking our meal for part of the time. Mike talked about the bookcase Tariq is making him to hold his dragon collection and it may be ready next week. When it came time to go Tariq plonked himself in the chair next to me and started “Just this once David, go on, just for me, this once.” Mike responded before I did “Ever heard a phrase to do with hell freezing over?” and on it went back and forth between the three of us, one Yea and two Nays. In the end I compromised and said I wouldn’t leave a tip. He professes his friendship and says we are more than just customers which is fantastic but I have to make him understand I don’t take advantage of friends.
Tariq walked to the car with us ( probably to make sure we left) and told us all the plans he has for outside, a chicken run, an aviary, a waterfall into the stream ( one does exist but needs a boost to be of any value) and maybe even a car wash. He knows we wish him well. Mike drove us home and as I made him a coffee we started on the phone. OMG these things are not easy for Old Farts. Eventually I got the app I wanted but not via the method I wanted. I also got the email account set up so I could send pictures to my computer. Unfortunately it now means I get emails on my phone which I didn’t want. You win some you lose some. After that Mike cut my hair and trimmed the beard so I was able to shave and get back my muttonchops. Having a shower next was a doddle, before I went I got Mike to spit on my hair then quickly blow, a wash and dry in no time flat. I donned the new lounge pants as promised. Say hello to Mr. Grumpy.
Mr Grumpy
We watched part of a quiz together then I started to watch the new Law and Order before I realised I’d better come and go to battle with the messages again and do the blog. So there you are, a much more interesting day
Saturday. I was up to date on messages this morning before going though to allow the fish to know it’s daytime and to have my breakfast. I put the tank light on and backed away quickly so I couldn’t see the faces Michael says are very sad when I don’t feed them. I don’t believe him but why take chances? Just before 7.00 am when I’d finished taking my meds I boiled the kettle up and made Mike his coffee. I thought I’d try things a different way this time, wake him with a coffee so that when his alarm went off it would catch him before he’d fallen asleep again. Alas, the best laid plans……….. I took the drink through, spoke loudly enough so that my neighbour held out her hand expectantly and left.There had been a response of sorts. I’d no sooner cleared the room when his alarm went off. It rang about three times then I heard him turn it off. Success. Like heck. He went straight back to sleep.I went from the kitchen to my room with a drink and as I passed by his door called out ” Your drink’s going cold Bro”. Total effect, zilch, nada, nothing. I went back to mail. The alarm went off again and again it was allowed to ring three times before it was turned off, and not against the wall either. Again no movement. I knew it was going to be a late start. A few minutes later a voice piped up ” Why didn’t you say there was a drink there”? I replied “Sorry” and gave up. Another few minutes and the voice appears again ” You dressed yet”? “Just about” I responded having been dressed since before 5.00 am.
We were out of the house at 7.55 am. Miraculous. Better still, his eyes were open so there was a fair chance we’d complete the journey accident free. We’d decided to do the shopping then head for Chester to see Yvonne and Reuben as Mike hasn’t seen them for a while. I let Yvonne know in case she wanted to make use of us for shopping while she had us. She was delighted and we arranged to meet about 10.00 am. We were doing quite well on my shopping when the call of nature came for him thunderously sudden as usual so he departed and left me to carry on. Moments later I got a text from Yvonne asking me to get some Imodium Instants or she wouldn’t be coming out with us. It sounds like Reuben’s tummy troubles had caught up with her. We went through the check out and went for a drink. Coffee for Mike, orange disinfectant for me I think. It wasn’t long before we were on our way.
We were on time and Yvonne met us by the front gate .I handed over the tablets and she went to take one straight away. Mike and I took a seat in the lounge. We could hear Reuben upstairs chunnering away to himself. Yvonne came through and squinted at the light asking if we thought it bright. It was, but not worryingly so….I thought. She brought Reuben down and went off to put some slap on before going out. Mike and I entertained Reuben. When she came back looking remarkable pale for someone wearing make up we put Reuben in his trolley and set off. It was evident she was starting with a migraine. She had to run on ahead of us to get some migrilieve from the chemist and we joined her there.She was actually taking tablets at the counter.
We managed to get to the first shop on our list when Mike’s call of nature stuck it’s head (sorry) in again. Off he had to dash again but almost completely back to the city centre. Yvonne went with to show him the way and so that she could watch for me coming behind them. I had the purchases wrapped I’d bought for my nieces birthday and followed on. I found them at a cafe so we sat and had a drink. Yvonne was by now feeling rough and had to leave and go home to lie down leaving her poor son in our charge. We still had a few shops to go in looking for phones and TV’s and some cheese for his mum but he was an angel. He just watched the world go by from his trolley until we were nearly home again and he nodded off. I wonder whose genes he has.
Making sure Yvonne was OK again and could manage with Reuben Mike and I took our leave to carry on his hunt. We first went and had a baked potato lunch each with drinks and a piece of lemon meringue pie to follow. Afterwards we were actually able to find the phones he wanted but not the TV. We eventually headed for home stopping on the way to pick up a BFG which he promised to help me eat this week so it didn’t go to waste in the bin ( as I call my stomach now). It was almost 5.00 pm before we finally got home leaving me super stressed about the number of emails that would have arrived in almost ten hours. After unpacking the bags and putting the food away ,I found out 137. It was quite a while before I got to see any TV. When I finally came through at 9.00 pm to catch up I decided to make sure this blog was ready to go out before finishing the mail tonight.
New Shirt
Just a few toys out Ma.
Art of Concentration
Playing with the new app. pho.to lab
Wishing you all a Wonderful New Week with unlimited Hugs xxxx
The wonderful Shawn Bird of http://shawnbird.com/blog/ had made this little video and dedicated it to yours truly as it’s a Welsh lullaby. I hope you enjoy her talents as much as I have.
Sunday. What a cracking day! The sun was shining when I got up this morning like someone had forgotten to turn it off yesterday. The fish were talking to me, no unnecessary messages ( more on that subject later) , and the butter on my toast was just right. After breakfast I changed my bed, unfortunately they told me I could only exchange it for another bed but hey ho, you win some you lose some. So I put clean bedding on instead. I’d bought a new sooper-dooper mattress protector which I hope will hold my memory foam mattress topper in place for a while as the damned think keeps creasing and can be very uncomfortable.
After the obligatory half hour getting my breath back I went and got washed and dressed. Maroon jeans, different maroon shirt and a third maroon coloured desert boots. I bet you never thought there were so many different maroons in the world, well wait for it, I have another shirt which is also maroon and is different to them all. Still it gave me a bit of colour. I worked on mail for most of the morning. About 11.00 am I had a message from Yvonne to say they were running a little late due to car problems and would be there about half past. Sure enough they arrived about then and I carried the bags out to the car ready to go for lunch. Reuben was fast asleep in his seat, I really don’t think people should drive like that. We got there about 11.45 am and found my nieces sitting inside waiting. I couldn’t take my usual seats today as there were soo many of us and my usual place in for four. Still we were nicely placed and ha tables pushed together. I handed Karen and Jo the gifts I had for them and then excused myself to take sweets to Tariq for all the staff. It was an excuse to give him some money too and ask him not to allow any of the others to pay.
Coming back to my seat Karen and Jo handed me a bag which had a wonderful card in and a lovely checked shirt of a style I like. They’re amazing but never listen when I tell them s to stop wasting their money. Yvonne also handed a bag over in which there was a beautifully worded card, a nice triple photo frame and a wooden wall plaque, faded like driftwood with some very complimentary things written on it. I thought we’d done but no, Ugo moved another bag near which had a sleeveless lightweight cardie, socks, welsh tea bags, another shirt ( posh) and a new backpack. This was worse than Christmas, though actually knowing my daughter it wasn’t. I took Reuben on my knee before the girls kidnapped him and amid the biggest smiles and giggles he could muster he tried to get my beard off to try it on. Once I tired I played pass the parcel and gave him o Jo while I went and ordered drinks. Tariq brought them pretty quickly. I was disappointed to see that the sunshine had kept many people away today and he wasn’t too busy.
After a time I borrowed a pad from Tariq and Jo wrote the meal order. As I handed it over I went outside for a cigarette and Jo joined me. There, I bet you didn’t know I was coming apart did you. The warmth outside was great on these old bones and I felt OK too. We went back in and the meal wasn’t too long in coming. It was as nice as always. Afterwards Karen and Yvonne had pudding while some had more drinks. On the pretext of going for another cigarette I asked Tariq to work out if I owed any more and went through the usual song and dance of him wanting me to take money back. ” I don’t want to make money off a friend” says he. “Well, I don’t want to take advantage of a friend” sez I. I ended up taking half of what he offered back which still grated on me. I don’t want him to go kaput. Where would I eat then?
Before he eventually threw us out we left intending to nip to Abakhan to pick up some crafting stuff for Karen and as they hadn’t seen the great changed wrought in heir long absence we decided to have a drink too. There was a lovely little playground there for Reuben too. Soon enough it was time to go our separate ways so it was hugs and kisses for Karen and Jo as they left. Ugo was dropping me at home, picking up Reuben’s tent etc and going shopping ( at almost 4.00pm on a Sunday they’ll be lucky). As soon as I’d waved them off it was in here to catch up on mail. While we’d been out the subject had come up of messages being sent on Fb which you never saw if you hadn’t had dealing with that person before. That made no sense to me. Why would Fb not let you see a message you’ve received? Anyway, one of my friends mentioned she’d sent me a message so I went to Fb to look. I found nothing. Eventually I came across the ‘Other’ box and opened it. Shock, horror. There was nothing from my friend on there but there were some messages that I hadn’t seen that people must have thought I was awfully ignorant for not answering. There were absolutely tons of messages from laydeez wanting to be my ‘Friend’ though which I was glad I’d never seen.
Well, I’ve been at it fairly constantly since I came in and there’s nor sign of it slowing down. So, one last sally and then I’m calling it a night ( which it is anyway). I wish you all a wonderful new week.
With Auntie Karen.
With Auntie Jo
These were colour pictures until Yvonne played with a phone app. I think they came out well.
Monday. A most extraordinary night playing yo-yo’s meant it was 5.00 am before I got up. I turned the power on the computer as I passed by to pass water. I mention this only to prove I’m not a ghost yet since it’s common knowledge ghosts can’t pass over water. Those people who supposedly took a day off yesterday for Fathers Day have been hyper-active overnight though it seems that only 2 scammer have fathers. I can understand that as I’ve often thought most of them served drinks, ie were bar stewards. One was back to tempting me to try to log in with Santander while the other suggested my Talktalk phone bill hasn’t been paid. Tough luck guys !
After a staring competition with one of the bull nose plecs, Yeah, he knows who the boss is now. HIM. I had breakfast then for some strange reason, because the post was almost up to date, I went through to try and make a space in the big bedroom for the new bookcase when/if it gets here tomorrow. I had to move a lot of pictures and some of my certificates, great pendulous wax seals still intact. It made me laugh when I realised where these will have to go….up in the loft that we tidied so well. At least I know I have to go up there to get some of my books down.Then I had to move all Ju’s craft drawers then a chest of drawers and voila the space is there. No heart attack either. I got washed and dressed but there was a knock on the door as I was trying to get my second leg in my jeans. I had to hop and pull at the same time. I made it and there was the delivery man from the chemist with the next missing thing from my prescription. I’ve not had a new prescription delivered either for me to do my next request so I’ll have to ask the chemist to print me one off. I’m beginning to wish I lived nearer town where there are more Chemist shops to choose from. I’d just taken the medication through to the kirchen when there was another knock. This time it was the postman bearing my new Scrabble game. I thanked him and went through to the bedroom to check it out before giving feedback on ebay. The game is very tidy . The board is a similar size but coloured differently. I think there are less double word scores but now there are squares where if you place a word over them you get to pick a card which allows you to do something the normal game wouldn’t allow. Like putting a word anywhere so it doesn’t even have to touch another word. It says the cards are discarded once used and there aren’t many cards so I’ll have to check to see if they go back for other players to use or if once they’re gone, they’re gone. I shall report on the Wednesday game.
Lots of mail today and lots of blog posts to tweet and/or comment on. It kept me busy all morning so that when I went for lunch ( full of green and red stuff) I was still not clear. I watched a film during lunch and stayed till the end. So, at 2.00 pm when I went back to the computer, there was all the unfinished mail and a new batch too which was in the 70’s. That was my afternoon occupied. I had a while away between 5.30 pm and 8.00 pm before coming through to do the final battles of the day. I’m not sure of any reason to rush since I’m not actually enjoying the book I’ve just started. One of the old Flashman books. Tonight may find me changing to a different book which is rare. I usually finish what I start.
Yvonne found some more ways of manipulating photographs through an app on her phone………….
Global
Sketchbook pics
Sketchy
Teacup Love
Tuesday. It’s been a funny old day. Peaks and troughs, Ups and downs. I was up before 5.00 am and attacking the mail of which there was lots but only two silly ones. A last attempt ( I hope) for somebody to convince me they’re a bank and yet another woman with more money than sense who wants to settle it on me to disburse to charity when she most unfortunately pops her clogs. She’s heard of me through a friend but doesn’t tell me who of course. Why doesn’t she just write cheques for her favorite charities now while she can? They must think I was born gullible and just yesterday. I knocked off at 7.00 am for my daily confrontation with the fish, I swear they were all lined up near the front waiting. I must have disturbed a Union meeting when I put the light on. The way that albino cory shifted when the light came on I know who the shop steward is. I had a toasted bap, took all my meds and brought my coffee through to the bedroom.
Just after 8.00 pm I went to ebay and checked on the tracking of the bookshelves as I’m sure they said delivery today. This is what the tracking information gave me.
Date
Time
Status
17/06/2014
09:20
Courier Received
17/06/2014
04:15
Out For Delivery
16/06/2014
22:52
Processed at Depot
16/06/2014
21:39
Receipt at Depot
13/06/2014
09:40
Courier Received
13/06/2014
09:40
Not Delivered – Large Item
13/06/2014
05:01
Out For Delivery To Courier
12/06/2014
18:55
Hub Sorter Receipt Scan
Only the last item was not on there. So I saw that at 4.15 am my bookshelf was out for delivery. YAY A Peak. To me that seemed a logical assumption. Especially as I’d seen on 13th that the item was out for delivery to courier and again on 13th that it was courier received. So, all I had to do was wait. I was busy most of the morning transferring some pictures to my printstudio to arrange on some photo paper . I had two photo frames to fill, each with three pictures but each of a different size. I had to guesstimate the size on screen. When I was happy I printed them off and spent some time framing them and then hanging one of the frames in the lounge. That in itself was a feat since my hands shake a bit and I could as easily put holes in the wall, or broken my fingers as put the hook in the wall. But, I managed it without crying too much and it hasn’t fallen down yet. For lunch I had some of that green stuff again. A trough.
After lunch I suddenly found myself wanting to nibble on a carrot. I fought the urge and settled to watch the end of a McBride episode I’d started watching during lunch. After that I turned TV off, went and caught up with emails and then came back to the lounge for a sleep. I swear it’s chewing all this lettuce that’s making me tired. I knew if the delivery came I’d hear it. I’m not sure how long I’d been out but I was woken by a delivery van. YAY A Peak, who immediately went and delivered to a neighbour.A Trough. I ate a piece of chocolate. I heard another vehicle reversing, it was the gardeners. A Trough. Another half hour and as te gardener left I heard another one approach, surely this time……. but no, it was a supermarket delivery and that wasn’t for me either. I returned to work.
At 5.15 pm I was up to date with mail and thought I’d just check the tacking again which is when I found the last line added. A Trough. Which technically didn’t mean I wouldn’t still get a delivery but I don’t think time was on my side. Nothing came. Still, it must be tomorrow then. A Peak. My early antiques show was missing A Trough but I decided to watch a couple of quizzes instead then after a short burst on the computer my second antiques show was on. A Peak. While the programme was on I decided to let Yvonne know the bookcase hadn’t arrived. I knew she’d be cross as it’s what prevented me from seeing them today. As she responded I picked up the phone and found another message there. A major surprise, it was from Mujo asking whether I wanted to shop with them tomorrow as they’re in the area.I haven’t seen them since early in April and since all contact was quite short with no reason I felt I’d done something wrong or they had a major problem they didn’t feel like sharing. Since I’ve said I’ll be in waiting for this delivery but that the kettle is on…..I don’t know whether they’ll come or not. Yvonne was as surprised as I was.
The antique show having finished I’ve come through to take another stab at getting up to date. I’m almost there but needed to get today’s post down before I forget. Sorry, I know I should have waited.
Wednesday. First things first this morning, I went to the tracking site to see if there were any changes. None, still with the courier. Fair enough, it was still only 4.00 am but you never know. So, I went straight onto mail. I’m not sure if there are three fools out there or if it’s the same fool three times but I suspect the latter unless these days all conmen ( and women) work from a set menu supplied when they receive their certificate from the University of thievery. There were three identical messages purporting to be from Talktalk saying they were having problems with my last bill since I seem to have supplied my bank with incorrect information. No doubt that will work on some poor souls but not me since I pay by DD and it’s been going for years since Talktalk set it up. Let me repeat, IF AN EMAIL DOES NOT ADDRESS YOU BY NAME, IT’S A CON ! I sighed and reported it to the phishing section of Talktalk who have since told me they’re now in the process of shutting down the site after tracing the source of the messages. What’s the betting it’s Nigeria, World capital of connery, and if there’s no such word there should be.
Just before having breakfast at 7.00 am I rechecked the tracing site, no change so I went off the face the fish and their breakfast. As I opened the section of lid used for feeding, the little fantail came shooting to the top, mouth open. As it broke the surface a bubble seemed to form which popped, I listened carefully to see if any words floated up like, “Help me, I’m really a Princess in the thrall of an evil witch”………..Nada. So I counted my fingers as I withdrew them, just in case. I shut the lid, washed my hands and got on with taking my meds and having some breakfast in the form of a toasted bap. Then back to the grindstone. At 8.00 am, 9.00 am and 10.00 am, I checked the site but it still read that my shelves were Courier Received. I found that niggled me a bit with Muriel due to text me to see whether I could come out to play. I was half convinced I should give up and stick a sign on the door saying to leave it with a neighbour and just go out. Anyhoo, a knock on the door at 10.30 am revealed the courier with a remarkable short parcel. After signing for it and thanking him I went to the big bedroom and opened it. Let me clarify now that I’m an idiot, there’s never been any doubt about that. So, this should not surprise you. Before buying the unit, I checked the width to make sure I could create a large enough gap, I could. And knowing it was a four shelf until I was happy. But, I never checked the height !!!!!!!! It’s very pretty but only stands 44” high.
Be fair, they look quite spacious don’t they? In reality you can just about get a paperback to stand on three of the shelves and on the top one you can have what you like. I will say they’re unobtrusive. So, it was a case of having made my bed I’d better lie in it. I unfolded them properly , stood it in place and started loading them. I have an idea that at some stage I’ll be replacing them with something taller and little more roomy. I’d got about the first 4 Pratchett hardbacks on when the door went again. When I got there it was Mujo. 10.45 am and I was still waiting for a text. In they trooped and while I was making drinks the conversation flowed as though they’d seen me last week. No mention of any gap in or problem with our relationship. I passed John his birthday gifts that had been waiting since April and he loved them. We had lunch at The Bells because it’s a favourite of theirs then shopped in Flint for Muriel to get some Jeggings and price up some microwaves. Then a small detour via Holywell on the way home to shop at Lidl which was a surprise but which enabled me to get more coleslaw. Once they’d dropped me home they didn’t stay long as they’d bought frozen food so an ice cream and a small drink and they were off. It was now just gone 4.00pm so I couldn’t afford time for the books and flew straight to work. 107 messages while I was out. By 5.15 pm I had to leave them and go wash the pots from breakfast time before Dil arrived. I made it by the skin of my teeth as they walked in at 5.25 pm. There was a text on my phone from Lee saying he had a late meeting and couldn’t make it but would try for next week.
I made drinks while Matt and Dil had a look at the rules for the new Scrabble and then it was into battle. OMG it’s evil. You gain a lead with a good word and someone steals the score when it’s their go and they get to play as well. You play a great card which entitles you to treble your score even when it’s on a treble word score and then some evil devil plays a card which negates yours. And on it goes, you certainly find out who your friends are- there aren’t any. Dil won both games and also went on to slaughter us at Nomination. By this time it was 9.00 pm and we just had time for a quick Crazy 8’s which Matt won. I was a win virgin and they were going home. I was bereft.
Back to work to finish he last of the previous messages as well as the 82 new ones. It’s late and I need my bed. Night all.
Thursday. Well, such a boring day for you today. I was up at 3.55 am, worked on messages until breakfast and the annual fish staring competition which you can’t win when they send a plec into battle. After that I managed to put the rest of the loose books on the new bookcase but it does look diminutive there. I didn’t go into the loft to get my Pratchett books down as I have stuff to go up so I may wait until Mike comes and have him pass it. I’m a little afraid that If I bring the books down some of them will end up stacked somewhere as there won’t be room on the bookcase. I think a trip to a charity shop may be in order soon.
I ordered an outfit for Reuben online from Asda ( Walmart in the U,S,) and also a pair of jeans for me. It was only after I paid for next day delivery- thankfully inexpensive- that I thought, What the heck do I need another pair of jeans for, Mike will probably start counting those next and telling tales like he did with my shirts. I confess, it’s more than 7. Still, if they arrive before he does I can hide them away . When I wear them I’ll just say “New?, nah, had them for ages” and keep my fingers crossed behind my back. If I believed in Heaven I know I’ll never get there.
Maybe it’s the summer months or maybe they’re just doolally tap but I had another two offers of marriage today. Are these women blind? Are these women even women? I also just had the one woman with a fortune to give away and I’m the target of her generosity. It strikes me that if there’ s ever a genuine woman with a fortune who wants to share it with us mortals I’ve no chance as I just send them to the dead file now.
I hope you’ve all had a nice but less boring day than me. Perhaps tomorrow will be better.
Friday. 4.17 am.I got up. I wended my way in a weary way to wee. I came back and turned on the computer. First job, check the bank. Is there any money there for shopping this week or is that hollow laughter I hear really the bank manager and his staff? There was money, I can afford another lettuce yay. There was a lot of mail today which is probably a message from the great creator ‘ Mike Rowsoft’ telling me I shouldn’t have knocked off before midnight. Drat!! We interrupt this progamme for a News’Flash’. Mike has just informed me that it’s the Summer Solstice tomorrow. I’ve put in a request to go to one of them orggys I keep hearing about with knaked women. I’d hoped it was knackered women so I could catch one but he put me right, it’s them in the pink and crinkleys wot need an iron. I of course don’t need that since I’m so fat these days my skin is stretched making my smile look like rictus.
Back to the story. I dealt with a fair bit of mail and needed a break so went through to the big bedroom and made a pile of all the things I wanted in the loft. I remembered that both Mike and Yvonne had expressed concern about me trying for the loft on my own in case my legs were shaking and I vibrated holes in the flooring. Instead I went to get dressed and went out to get some baps in case Mike was hungry when he got here. There was a text just after I got back at 9.30 am to say he was on his way. I didn’t think he’d be dressed yet. I said I’d hang fire on my lunch till he got here. The washing machine went on and I returned to the mail for a while. My search on the trace for the clothes said it was waiting for a courier collection so it would be a while before they arrived. Hope fully before Mike lands on the doorstep though.
About 11.00 am I’d had enough again so went for a doze in the lounge. The Zzzz’s were just starting to buzz merrily when Mike arrived. The kettle wen on an I made him a coffee while he told me all about his last two weeks and I filled him in on mine. Mine didn’t take long. We’d just settled in our chairs when the bloody delivery van drew up. Mike offered to go to the door for me. He came back in holding the parcel. “What’s this then” he asked. I opened the top and drew out Reuben’s outfit. “Wow that’s great” he said ” really nice, I haven’t seen that one before.” I tried to move the bag away as though empty and put it in the kitchen where he might think it had gone in the bin. No chance. “So what else?” he asked and I was forced to confess. I might have got away with it by changing the subject and mentioning lunch. It’s fortunate he chose to tell me about a special picture that had been damaged in the move. He knew Tariq had replaced the glass on one for me and thought he might repeat it for him. I said it was highly likely but he could fight his own battles about payment.
Coffee finished we set off. The Ivy wasn’t very crowded and it’s easy to see the sunshine hasn’t been good for business. We sat and Tariq joined us for a minute then went to make the drinks. On his return Mike told him what we wanted to eat and asked the favour. No hesitation on doing the job but Tariq stipulated he didn’t want payment. Not my problem I thought. Lunch was fantastic and as we were finishing off Tariq disappeared with the frame. Mike and I went out for a cigarette ( each, we’re not that poor) then Mike went in to go to the loo. I followed and sat at the table as Tariq came out and brought the picture with new glass, a new back and fresh pins. A great job. As usual he disappeared again, to chat to another customer I think. Perfect, Shella came out from the kitchen to the counter so I went up and laid money down for the lunch. “Sorry, I don’t do the till” she said knowing full well the fight I always have with Tariq and loving every minute of the battle of wills. Mike reappeared and was delighted with the limited edition picture now behind glass again. As he’s just finished his drink he stuck a £5 note under the cup. As Tariq came over he took the cup from my hands ( how the hell had it got there?). I was afraid of no-one noticing it so as we moved away I told him to check the saucer. He tried to give it back then decided to accept it if we called it quits for everything, two meals, two coffee’s and the framing work. Yeah Tariq, that’s going to happen. We got close to the door before I told him the money for the meal was behind the counter and then we ran for it, or limped for it in my case. Another victory.
A shopping expedition to Flint followed to price up TV’s and for me to restock the ice lollies. Coffee with Ceri then home again. I had a session with my mail before joining Noddy in the lounge for the evening quizzes. Time for the ritual hairwash followed by a shower then the Antiques Road Trip. I would have come through into battle if buggalugs hadn’t found another quiz so I was delayed by an hour. It’s going to be t’other side of midnight tonight so Mike Rowsoft will be appeased. Hugs All.
Saturday. I had no problem getting up this morning. MY first bout and first refresh of mail were finished before 6.15 am when I decided to turn the fishtank light on. And, because this is the no feed day it was like light the blue touch paper and retire. When I thought it was safe I went back and had my breakfast and took my meds.I ‘m sure there were beady little eyes following each mouthful. As the time approached 7.00 am I made Mike’s coffee and took it through, waking him up with the usual endearment “Coffee’s up Bro.” He did stir and a horrified voice acknowledged me. It was evident that this first foray wouldn’t be successful but maybe while I got washed and dressed his alarm would do the trick. I was having a giraffe (laugh) . I was washed, dressed and most of the way through the second refresh before his alarm went off for the third time and finally shifted him. I think we left the house at half a minute to eight today, and yes, I did let him dress first.
The shopping itself didn’t take long today as it seems I had to buy most of my food from the vegetable counter, lucky for me, most of the sweets were elsewhere. We were both pretty astounded to buy a pair of trousers each in the sale at £2 a pair, a pair of socks costs more than that but I didn’t buy any shirts this time since the tell tale was with me. I did get a pair of lounge pants though. I wanted a pair with Animal from the Muppets on but Mike insisted a pair with Grumpy from Snow White and entitled Grumpy pants was much more appropriate. Once through the tills we went for a coffee then headed out to Ellesmere Port in Cheshire and Cheshire Oaks Clearance Village where our young friend Daniel from Temptations has gone to work. We took a bottle of wine and a good luck card only to find he’s on a day off.
Leaving Cheshire Oaks Mike asked what I wanted to do. When I replied I didn’t mind he suggested we head for the seaside town of Llandudno to visit our mate Brian who moved there a few months ago. He’s now recovered from his latest heart attack and is awaiting an operation to have the first of two stents fitted. So retracing our earlier path and then flying in the other direction we took the hopping on a trip. When we arrived and gave his dog it’s hugs, strokes and ear rubs, the three of us piled back in the car and went in search of food. Llandudno has many good cafe’s and restaurants but hidden away at the side of the town hall is the Cocoa House which is the oldest such establishment in the town and dates from I think the 1700’s. They do a wide variety of lovely food and it’s not too expensive. We took a slow walk round the town afterwards, the day was glorious and warm. Mike had forgotten to bring his hat and needed one but his heart was set on a specific type. We were spectacularly unsuccessful. He decided anything would do as long as it fit which is a challenge in itself as he has a small head. After a stop for coffee after completing one side of the street we set off to try the other. Still no joy but I suggested trying some shops on another street where we’d parked, blow me, the very last shop produced just the thing. I can’t get it to stay down over his face but at least it shut him up.
We dropped Brian back at his flat and headed home to unpack whatever shopping hadn’t melted in the heat. It took nearly an hour so it was approaching 5 o’clock before we got in. We put the shopping away and while Mike topped up Julia’s vases with fresh flowers I went to work on the computer. It was gone 6.30 am before I could join him in the lounge and we laughed or way through the Big Bang Theory. I made tea after that and then we watched a programme on Stonehenge. It was quite interesting but as soon as 9.00 pm came I left Mike to Hunger Games and came through to work. I’ve finished this a little earlier than usual as I’ve no idea how long the mail is going to take. I hope everyone is having a Great Weekend. Hugs.
The Uncertainty Principle is a collection of very short stories in compact prose. Some stories are but a sentence long, while others last half a page or more. They run the range from personal missives to explorations of world history to commentary on contemporary (including pop) culture.
What made you decide to write this book?
After reading authors such as Lydia Davis and Sarah Mangold, I wanted to see what else might be possible through the form of the postcard-sized story, and the book-length accumulation of such pieces. Just how much can be said in a short space?
Where did you find the characters?
The stories are far more idea and even plot driven than character driven, meaning the idea of character is reduced almost completely to the narrative “I.” There ain’t much character to speak of, I’d say. But where there are, they came out of where all writing comes: anywhere and everywhere.
Share with the readers one little known fact about yourself.
The shorter the prose work, the longer it seems to take to complete. This collection took five years to complete, where a longer work, a more linear memoir, took only three years. I spent most of the time cutting, carving and shifting. Boiling down.
Are you traditionally published or an Indie author?
Uncertain of your specific definition of “Indie.” I have published some thirty books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction through various small presses throughout Canada and a couple of other countries. That said, this new collection of short, short stories is produced by Chaudiere Books, a small publishing house I run with my wife, Christine McNair.
If you could make one change to the world, what would it be?
At the toy store, she picks the soft baby plush, “Rocket Baby Play Set,” for her friend’s baby shower, this chewable rocket with space-dog peeking out through clear plastic window. Where are you, Laika, adrift? Saddest toy I’ve seen in some time, strange homage to the first animal to orbit the earth, the first orbital death, sent up in Sputnik 2 on November 3, 1957. Squeeze the plush rocket and Astro Dog barks, felt tongue playfully lolling, inert. Do you remember Dogs in Space (1986), the film starring still-teen INXS-frontman Michael Hutchence, a lesser-known alternate to the same year’s Sid and Nancy (1986)? One has nothing to do with the other; a story similar but Australian, more crowded and far more meandering. Squeeze the rocket, and the plush dog barks. Don’t dwell on what happens when the small battery dies, don’t think about euthanasia or the rocket-turned-crypt, a creature who died from the temperature spike; don’t think about the mass of ignored, broken toys as this yet-unborn toddler emerges from baby fat, worn rocket plush at the back of her playroom like Major Tom, lost and discarded, drifting in dusty space.
Many thanks for taking the time to join us Rob. I wish you the very best with your book.
Sunday. Since Mike’s phone said thunderstorms today and mine said very overcast, both for the same area we felt justified in going out in short sleeved shirts and lightweight jackets. We were not disappointed. Maybe we didn’t tempt fate by putting the top of the car down but we did travel mainly with the windows fully down. Very handy too when Mike’s stomach isn’t up to much. We traveled into sunny Cheshire to the hidden ( shopping) village of Blakemere for a car boot sale. It may not have been as big as our local one at Rhuddlan or even the Countess of Chester Hospital one we went to last week but this was Cheshire and the goodies on offer were good. There were a couple of things I’d love to have got for Reuben if only they hadn’t been PINK, his father wouldn’t have approved at all. But I did manage to get a great pop-up tent and also a crawl through tunnel that also fitted onto the tent.
For myself I found a wooden hand which could hold a candle but also ( and this is what I’ll use it for) an incense cone, a wooden box with a Buddhistic image in gold on the lid. I paid £2 for the latter item and later saw them on sale at £12.99 in the shops at Blakemere. I also bought two nice ( and expensive) tapestries at £1 each. I got a really nice CD/Radio player that Mike wanted for just £4. All in all a very productive morning. I also found but didn’t buy a game called Scrabble Trickster which allows players to get cards which lets them among other things, spell a word backwords, put a word on the board wherever they want, turn a tile over and use it as a blank and steal the previous player’s last score. What a game that could be. I’ll have to think about it though I’m actually half regretting not getting it now.
Naturally our first stop after the car boot was the cafescratch that, loo, after which came the cafe. A nice cuppa revived us for a walk round the shops. Two fantastic shops which sell imported items, mainly wooden from Indonesia and Thailand, 2 antique shops, a craft place, a huge pet shop, complete with some pets, I think there’s a baby shop( though I’m fairly certain you can’t buy or sell babies there) and then an attractive courtyard filled with shops with gifts, a tea room, an ice cream place, sweets and various gift places. It’s a great place to visit though I aim that more at the ladies than the gents, Mike says I must be more in touch with me feminine side but the sarky beggar forgets it was his idea to go the last twice.
It took an hour to get back home and on to lunch at The Ivy. Yes, today I remembered the chocolates. Shella was back at work after hurting her back and we had a nice chat. Angie was there and Mike put a smile on her face with a Terry’s chocolate Orange I got yesterday. The meal was lovely, though very filling. My first ever panini which was filled with road beef, fried onions and mushrooms and a dish with coleslaw,( I didn’t have the cheese and the horseradish sauce Mike had) , a small side salad and some chips. I didn’t know paninis were so big. Neither of us could manage lemon meringue pie which was perhaps as well since by the time we’d let our belts out a notch there was just one piece left and I’m not noble ( or daft) enough to say “After you bro”. I did leave there disappointed though. Oh, not because I didn’t get my hugs, there was no problem on that score. Yesterday I’d asked Tariq if he could put some glass into a picture that Yvonne had bought me and which had been damaged for some time. Tariq does all his own framing so has a lot of glass about. He made me shake hands that he wouldn’t argue about accepting the money for lunch (YAY) on the understanding that I only paid him for materials and not for his labour. Reluctantly I agreed after getting agreement he would take payment. After the job was done he told me the charge was 55p which is probably about 35c U.S. The man is a horse trader. I shall think of some way of getting a gift.
Mike ran me home and disappeared quite quickly. ( I have that effect on people) giving me the chance to catch up on the 132 messages in my box. That took a while and it was nearly 6.00 pm when I went through t wash up from this morning and then to watch an episode of Midsomer Murders for relaxation. At 8.00pm I came back through to start again.
Monday. Not every day starts with good news. I’ve heard from Jo, one of my wonderful nieces that Penny and Priya (pictured) have departed to join Ju so they can play inside her dressing gown again. You’ll remember no doubt that Jo took over looking after all four of our special girls after Ju passed away. Amy and my beautiful Bernie passed away a while ago so now the last two have gone to join them. So sad.
Feeling unwell today I went back to bed after doing my mail and then carrying out kitchen duties. I was woken by a knock on the door, not that I knew that’s what it was at the time. Only when I sat up and my mind began to work ( despite what A C Flory says) did my mind begin to twig some poor soul was stood on the doorstep. It was my nephew David ( do I really have a nephew approaching 50?) and there he stood despite me telling him just to walk in. He’d brought a batch of Sheet Music dating from around 1905 for me to see. There was only one that meant anything to me by Gen. Lew Wallace , the theme tune to the book he wrote ‘Ben Hur’. It had a very frameable cover as did some of the others. I wasn’t able to help him really as I know nothing of music other than some I like, some I don’t. I suggested taking it to a specialist music shop as they may be interested in displaying it or even playing it.During the time we were chatting David reminded me he’s promised last week to buy me lunch today and despite my saying there was no need he went off to the sandwich shop for some filled baps. He also went shopping for me to Pauline’s. As soon as he mentioned the brand and his Uncle ‘Dave'(I hate it) she knew who it was and just said “100?”. David was taking one of Ju’s prized horse figures today for himself but I also found some old jewellery boxes filled with costume jewellery he could take for the stall. I finally got dressed !
David was due to be home for 1.00 pm but while we were talking about car boots I’d told him of the two tapestries I go yesterday and he asked where I was putting them. I explained where and why and that I’d bought a pole to put them on as well. He offered to do the job there and then. I refused as it was already 12.25 pm but he said it took no more than 20 minutes to drive home.(They haven’t invented a car that fast yet except in F1). We did the job regardless and I’m afraid i was 1.00 pm before he left so I hope the motor mechanic at his end was a patient man.
I came back to the computer to clear what I could and was forced to go to my chair at 2.45 pm. I had my lunch but by 3.45 I was asleep again. I woke just in time for my 4.30 pm Antique show and then came back to mail at 5.15 until 6.00 pm. I’ve managed to stay pretty much abreast of it today somehow. I watched TV from 6.00 to 8.00 pm and then came through for the night sessions. I’d had a text from Mike to say he’s been granted an exchange on his flat so he’s moving as we speak and won’t be down this weekend. That will be good in a way as he’ll be with his son for Father’s Day. If he does finish moving early, he and his son will be going to Manchester to fix his Dad’s washing machine, otherwise it could be the next weekend and I’ll have two very quiet weekends. At least he won’t be moaning I’m getting him up in the middle of the night for shopping.I won’t get any done. I’ll still be going to the Ivy though for my Father’s Day treat.
Tuesday. After finishing my mail this morning I became tired and nodded off in my chair in the lounge. That was about 6.30 am and I didn’t wake until almost 9.00 am. I doubt I’d have moved if it hadn’t been for the repeat prescription request lying in front of me on the coffee table. I got washed and dressed before dropping it off with the chemist and went straight back home as I wasn’t going to Yvonne’s today. The air had revived me enough to stay awake long enough to catch up on the mail again. Four messages suspending my online account with Santander. Do these moronic con men think I’m more likely to believe a message if I read it more often? The postman came with a new batch of keyring blanks for me and I was able to make up nice ones for my nieces.
By 11.00 am I was tired again and back to the chair I went. Zonk, I was out till 12.00 pm and though I didn’t feel like lunch I made something anyway. There was a made for TV film on at half past which I watched till it ended at 2.20 pm when I thought I’d better make serious inroads into the mail or I wouldn’t see my Antiques Show at 4.30 pm. I made it by the skin of my teeth. In a repeat of last night I went back to the computer at 5.15 pm till 6.00 pm and then TV until I called it a night at 8.00 pm. I’m following a couple of items on ebay at the moment so I checked up on those before doing a few searches for things I like, walking sticks for one. After that I spent time concentrating on the mail again which included a further two notifications that Santander don’t love me any more. If I actually had an account with them no doubt I’d be heartbroken.
Wednesday.Such a major disappointment this morning to find in my mail box 5 separate messages directing me how to get back into my suspended Santander account. If they can’t get me with threats they’ll try to get me by being helpful. I also had 3 messages of love which was a surprise since as usual I’ve never met the ladies (?) in question. There was also a message with just one word…Hello. That went the way of the others. I suppose I shouldn’t complain too much as at least Mystic Myfanwy hasn’t been predicting my future fortunes again.
I had to get dressed and go out this morning though just as far as the corner shop. The sun was shining and it was really quite warm despite a breeze. We’re officially into Summer now so maybe this is it. Back home I decided to stay up and stay dressed in case my drugs were delivered ( they weren’t). I also decided to put a bid in on a game of Scrabble Trickster due to end this evening. The rules sound just about crazy enough to be a good laugh. While doing my post I came across a problem I’ve had before where my ISP suddenly decides not to send messages to any hotmail addresses. Everything I tried was getting returned as undeliverable and the steam was starting to seep out of my ears. In the end the only thing to do was create a new email address with gmail so now I have the same post going to both places and confusing me. Gmail breaks mail down into type, Social and Promotions and each is held as a separate list. The contacts list isn’t in an obvious place either. Somehow I managed to clear all the mail I save like payments to ebay until the goods arrive. Plonker.
I slept a good deal of the afternoon though I did keep going to the computer when ever I was awake for more than 30 secs. At 4.30 pmm I went to enjoy my antiques programme and found I’d missed two messages on my mobile. Mike to tell me the move is going well but he won’t be here this weekend. Lee James to say he can’t make it tonight. A shame. At 5.45 pm though the door opened and Dil and Matt arrived. I made drinks as the Scrabble was set up. I don’t know why I bothered. It was a slaughter in the first game- Matt, and a massacre in the second game-Dil. I was demolished in the Nomination Whist-Dil again but I did win the cribbage so didn’t need a new pack of tissues. There’s a lot of humour expended on these games nights and I love them for that reason. We could be playing Snap for all I care ( as long as I’m winning of course). They left as usual at 9.30 pm and after washing the pots and having a quick tidy round I came through to start the assault course of mail again. Now it’s time to go to bed and have a short read before witching hour is upon us.
Thursday. I won the Scrabble Trickster last night. Let’s see them beat me next week. If it comes early I’m memorising the rules.That should last all of half an hour. I’m still working out the differences in gmail but there are some definite pitfalls for me. I can’t find a way to change the font style or size and two people I write to I layer the mail. They write a one line answer to my part of the message underneath mine, and I do the same to theirs. That seems to be a major faff. Currently I’m running between programmes dependant upon the message.
Since I put my prescription request in on Tuesday morning I the drugs back yesterday. It didn’t happen so when I went for bread this morning I stuck my head in the chemist. I let them know I needed a full spiriva kit and not just refills and that my gliclizide had run out. I was told they’d be here this afternoon. They weren’t and I’m not best pleased. This has happened before where they didn’t deliver because one item was missing. That’s not much good to me when I’ve run out of a drug. I shall have to pay another visit in the morning. There’s been a lot of mail today for some reason so a lot of time has been spent in here. With the heat I’ve been wanting to nod off more than once. I’ve been very good, and waited until a programme I wanted to watch came on TV. Then the rafters reverberated to my Zzzz’s. I did manage to see my new Big Bang Theory tonight though.
It’s been a funny day though. A message from Yvonne about Sunday. Ugo has to go away and needs to catch a coach so they’ll be with me from about 10.00 am Sunday till 1.00 pm. Not great but I can cope. I tried to tell her not to bother and save themselves the dash but NO, they were coming. Now a new message to say they’ll be here after all as his trip is put off by a week. If all those Nigerian con mails start again I’m going to get very suspicious. The window cleaner came and yes, I’d nodded of. I’ve decided never to clean the insides again so he can’t see me sleeping and think I do it all day .
Right, I’m off to bed. Sleep well all !.
Friday. I’m really struggling with this gmail account. Not only do all my emails not arrive there, I don’t have the option of how to answer them ie. as layered answers, I write a line or two and then the recipient writes a line or two on top. Instead I have to write at the bottom of a long list of ongoing messages between us and scroll back up everytime I want to make sure I haven’t missed something. Within the last ten minutes I have at least discovered how to change the font, size and the colour. Yay.
After the usual morning jobs ( like waking up and dressing) I went to the chemist to find out what had happened to my drug delivery yesterday. At first I got some very blank looks like I hadn’t put the request in at all but eventually I was told they’d do what they could and bring my stuff round. Fair enough about an hour later Dawn arrived at the house with a bag. I asked her to hang on for a minute while I checked it in case I’d been given just the refill capsules for the spiriva. I hadn’t. In fact the spiriva wasn’t there in any form so I had to query that with Dawn. It wasn’t even sowing on the bag as an item owed. She said she’s go back and check for me and I’m sure she doubted I’d ordered it. At least I had the now three drugs I’d run out of and I hadn’t run out of the spiriva. Just as well really as she didn’t return with it for me. And before you ask, I know I ordered it as I wrote on the request that I needed the full kit. The senility hasn’t hit quite that bad yet.
Yesterday I trawled through all Julia’s crafting stuff to find a machine I’d promised Yvonne. It took a while to find all the different plates that fit it it but eventually I managed it and prepared two big bags for her on Sunday. Picture if you will a wall. From right to left are a five drawer chest of drawers, a slight gap, another 5 drawer chest then a set of three plastic drawers full of craft material. Righto, got that? I need to get rid of the 3 drawer craft set so that I can move the left hand chest to the left ( change partners do se do) so that there is now a larger gap in the middle. I want to fill that gap with a set of bookshelves which ebay kindly furnished me with this morning. 4 shelves high that fold down and the sides fold in over them. Amazing value at £23.99 and I had the option of free home delivery or delivery to an Argos shop for collection. I took the home delivery option and they should be here by Tuesday. With any luck that”s the day the game will arrive too.
There have been a lot of messages today. Only one from Santander to say my sign in is now blocked but one from Barclays again to say they’re having problems paying money into my account. I suggest they gather cash and send me that instead. I don’t mind if they close a non-existent account really. Regretfully there have been no declarations of love or offers of marriage today so during a gap between Antique Road Trips I took a shower. I removed the shampoos and bodywashes from the seat and used that to sit on this time. I still had to bend over to keep my arms from being above my head since there’s no Mike to scream for. It’s been along day and I expect a fairly long weekend but he does have a life of his own out there as well. I hope the weather stays nice and you all have a Great Weekend.
Cheese String Thing with cheese string
The laundryboy
Mucky Face
Saturday. Dawn came sneaking round a corner this morning and crept up behind me with a hammer. Dame Aurora can be a devil like that, one minute a headache, next minute the sun is glaring down saying get your lazy arse out of bed. I complied yet it was no later than 5.00 am. I wasn’t actually in bed anyway which is how the sun caught me. I’d been sleeping in my chair after sleep and I had an altercation in the bedroom. Sleep wanted to plague my rest with dreams and I’m like the BBC- no adverts. I returned to the bedroom where at least the sun wouldn’t bother me. It would take more than that to get through my curtains.
I turned on the computer, opened both my email programmes since the new one doesn’t seem to bring all my mail over and because some I prefer to answer in the format I use on TalkTalk. I was heartbroken to see that Barclay’s have also decided to suspend my sigh in but even worse, the Halifax are now saying they have problems with my account. This is getting so bad that yesterday I deleted a message from Paypal about a refund to my account before I realised it might be genuine. Once I checked with Paypal it was. Another beggar has reused to honour the ebay agreement to supply goods after an auction and after I’ve paid. This lot haven’t even had the manners to respond to messages. Ebay raised a case, gave them 5 days to respond and then refunded me. I’d much rather have had the goods though as it was a lovely mirror clock with the Welsh Dragon at the centre. Last week I had a similar problem with a case for my phone. I’m waiting patiently like an idiot until I realise nothing is coming. The firm did initiate a refund very quickly but no apology or explanation of why they didn’t send it. I had to start again with another firm which firstly sent the wrong one and quickly corrected it. Once before I bought something, paid for it and waited. The seller marked it as dispatched. Three weeks later she admitted it hadn’t been sent an d she wasn’t going to as she didn’t like the price she got. Put a bloody reserve on it in that case!
I had breakfast and then put all the bins and rubbish bags out. At 7.30 am I went out for the bus. At the supermarket just up the hill ( one of two…Supermarkets, not hills) I got cash from the machine. I could almost hear it say “The Bank Manager- He say YES” and I considered shouting “I’ve won” but it was still quite early. I grabbed a shopping trolley, loaded my sticks aboard and set off. The vases at home weren’t looking too bad but they were perhaps a little crowded and all four contained the same plants. I was bound to be able to weed some dead stuff out so I bought a nice bouquet of mixed flowers and a bunch of carnations. Then I edged up the vegetable aisle, and note this….I stopped. I bought lettuce, tomato, cucumber and some Jersey potatoes. All bets are off if it rains though !! Baps next, cakes ( for my neighbour who is always taking in parcels for me or returning my bin from wherever the binmen leave it),a rhubarb pie, butter, milk, ( I considered cream but decided not), yoghurts, round the corner for bacon and lemon meringue pie. Then I needed biscuits, crisps, sweets and a bottle of beer. Somehow I managed to forget coleslaw and pickled beetroot. The girl on the till waited until I had my bags set out in the trolley before ringing the goods through which was a great help. Then I got cigarettes from my friend who called me a taxi…No, she didn’t say “You’re a Taxi”, she made a phone call to get me one. He arrived a couple of minutes later and I was home for 8.30 am.
It didn’t take too long to unpack and put away the shopping but it took forever to get rid of some of the old flowers, trim the others and arrange the new ones so it didn’t look like I’d just bunged the bunches in a vase. I had to get very arty-farty. Mike usually does it so he must be more in touch with his feminine side than me. I knew I’d need the coleslaw for lunchtime so I went to Pauline’s, forgot the beetroot and bought more cigarettes instead. I think my mind might be elsewhere. Perhaps a little worried about tomorrow? Back at home I laid into the mail again and by lunchtime was back up to date. I ate lunch watching an old film but don’t ask me what as I’ve no idea now. After lunch I just zonked out anyway.
When I woke I knew for sure I’d been out an hour and the mail would be there again, I had another catch up session. As long as I was free for 5.00 pm s there was a Miss Marple I haven’t seen. After that a Jack Black film was due to start. I managed less than ten minutes before I had to turn it off or bang my head against a few walls. So, I came through and I’ve been keeping pace with mail ever since.
Sunday.I woke first at 4.30 am but decided I deserve longer. I had a quick wee, refilled with some Pepsi, sat on the side of my bed to smoke a cigarette then gave sleep another shot. If it didn’t work, I was prepared to reload and try again. It did work and I managed to remain there till 5.35 am. It being Sunday when I usually have plenty of time I didn’t rush my mail, rather taking longer to enjoy some of the comments from last night’s blog. At 7.00 am I went to the kitchen, fed the fish, took tabs, had breakfast made myself a coffee and almost died of shock when Mike’s alarm went off. The rhythm in my chest restarted when there was no movement and the clock went quiet. Oddly it didn’t even join the other 6 in the bin that have been thrown against a wall. I took my coffee through to the bedroom and sat down. That was the moment Mr Awkward decided to make his move . I had to dart back to the kitchen to put the kettle on. I took the drink to the lounge where I found him sitting in his chair folded in half and snoring again. “Don’t forget your coffee” I warned him as though I hadn’t just that moment put it there. It doesn’t hurt to keep him on his toes.
As I went back towards my coffee I knew there’d be no way I could do many more messages so decided to get dressed. Having ascertained Mike was up in case we were going to a car boot and seeing the sun was shining I decided to dress for comfort and in a short sleeved shirt. Not that the sun ever sees my arms as I like the pockets a jacket affords. I swear if I ever holiday in Barbados I’m getting a man-bag. Now now you lot, keep those thoughts to yourselves please I have enough problems with Mike telling me he already has a man-bag nudge nudge wink wink.
I’d just finished the last of my drink when Mike’s voice came telling me to put my jacket on. I hadn’t heard a thing but he’d actually got dressed too. We were out of the house five minutes earlier than yesterday. When he opened his mouth to ask which car boot I told him to decide and he drove to Chester. We could see from the traffic it was quite big today. Mike parked up and we started walking round. Down one side of a row and back up the other side of the same row. We were on the scout for books for me mainly but also a Welsh Dragon broach he still wants for a friend. On the first side we managed to pick up 3 books and an unexpected timer for a game of Trivial Pursuit. We were on our way up the other side when Mike suddenly asked me to take the bags as he needed the portaloo and he dashed off. As I took my time and eventually reached the top of the row I stood waiting for him. It was odd, people seemed to be coming and going from one of the little cabins but not from the other. Then I heard the door and expected Mike to appear but unless he’d grown 6 inches and taken to wearing dresses it wasn’t him. I was puzzled. Two loos and he’s in neither, and he hasn’t passed me on the row. The only thing I could think was that he’d started on the next aisle thinking I was ahead of him. I gathered the bags and started down the next row.
I was about half way when Mike appeared and he told me he’d found a nice cafe in the hospital grounds and used the loo there. I’ve been going to that car boot for years and never knew of a cafe before.We were on the return journey up the row when the first of my chest problems happened. The pain was not pleasant and of course I wasn’t carrying a nitro spray. I was so glad of the crutches to lean on. Eventually I was able to move again if only to get away from Mike’s nagging. I was determined to carry on. I did so and a while later I had a repeat attack. Mike was carrying all the bags at this point so we finished the last row and went to the cafe to give me chance to recover. I had a tea and Mike his usual coffee. He also had a breakfast and forced me into a bacon sandwich to keep him company. Fried food must be helping a lot. After the food we finished the drinks in the sunshine on little tables in the garden. It was lovely. Yes, I even removed my jacket.
On the way home afterwards we made a short stop in Flint to visit Home Bargains. Mr Sarcastic said he was worried about me as I hadn’t shopped there yesterday. I made sure I got something- a pad of shopping lists ! We decided to have a coffee at Temptations so I bought chocolates for the girls. Today it was Trudy and Sian on duty as Ceri is away for the weekend. Later at home we unpacked and Mike immediately started reading a book on Northern humour ( like that’s going to help him). I rested a few minutes then answered some mail. At about 1.00 pm it was time to eat. Decision time, where? It was back to The Ivy in the end. It was nice to see everyone though Tariq was making something for his daughter so we didn’t see a lot of him today. But what we did see was nice. After the meal Mike dropped me off at home and left on the next stage of his journey. I’m afraid I got straight on with the mail till I finished about 5.30 pm. I went through to the lounge and just as I got the BFG out that I would have to eat to save wastage my bloody chest went again and it was a baddie. No problem, spray handy. The thing is the headache after using the spray means you can do nothing till it’s gone ( I know, any excuse). So I rested some more and eventually got to eat the BFG so the story has a happy ending.
Monday. 6.30 this morning on my second attempt to get out of bed. It didn’t give me long before it was time to head kitchenwards. Duty and custom done I took my coffee through to start answering mail ( I was going to answer it, not the coffee). An early treat was a blog post from the delectable ACFlory ( whom I adore) saying she’s had her first con-man letter. She reproduced it for us to peruse so for anyone who missed it here is a warning……Don’t believe the FBI wants to give you money. The proof of the pudding as they say……. http://acflory.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/omg-i-finally-received-an-fbi-scam-d/ . There was also a post from ThePinkAgendist who was the first across my bows this morning with news of the abdication of King Juan Carlos of Spain in favour of Prince Felipe. As an ardent Royalist I’m happy the Monarchy in Spain is to continue and hope Felipe can restore the popularity of the Monarchy there after Juan Carlos has done so much to dent it recently.
About 9.30 an I took a short stroll while the rain had ceased. I needed cigarettes from Pauline’s and also picked up a Twix while I was there. I couldn’t stop myself chomping it when I got back and I was delighted to find inside the wrapper a coupon to get one free. Unfortunately I was so full I couldn’t dash back and get one. There was quite a bit of mail this morning so I wasn’t really able to get away from the computer for long I thought. ………until I woke up leaning over the keyboard, fingers still twitching. I’d been out about half an hour I think. I went through and had the other half hour in a chair. It was getting on for lunchtime so I came back and caught up again before heading for the microwave. I had some Jersey Royal potatoes, a small piece of brisket and some garden peas. I enjoyed eating it in front of the TV while an early afternoon Antiques show was on. Once that was over I washed the pots and headed back to see how the post was doing. I spent an hour catching up then decided I deserved an ice lolly which I had while watching NCIS. It’s just as well it didn’t take long to eat as I dropped off almost straight away and could have frozen my assets. I slpt for almost two and a half hours so NCIS was history by then and the next programme was well on it’s way. I saw the news which confirmed Pinkagendist’s story but also showed the King . I didn’t realise how old he’s begun to look nor how bad his health is, walking using two sticks as he was.
I watched my Antiques Road Trip and managed to get every price wrong but at least I got my choice as winner of this section of the journey which was in Scotland. When the quiz came on I ran through to keep up as much as possible with the post then ran back as soon as Law & Order came on. I even managed to stay awake to watch it. Then for some reason I turned over to what looked like an early episode of Murder She Wrote. They were talking about 32 mb and 64 mb computers which kind of gave the age away. Once over it was time to come through and attack the mail and perhaps get an early night. With luck and if I feel better I’m going to spend time with Yvonne and Reuben tomorrow. It should at least make the post a little less boring for you.
Tuesday. On parade at 4.35 am this morning though I didn’t have my hands on my socks as the Corporal used to bellow down the room. I turned the computer on as I passed by making my way towards the loo. Given the hour I thought the post quite manageable today and a quick glance through didn’t detect any messages from dusky maidens, bent bank managers or very wealthy fortune tellers. Much of it was notification of blog posts and tweets that I was able to read and then tweet about or re-tweet. I worked until 6.00 am and left the last few messages until after breakfast. Naturally the fish got fed first then I had my meds, placed a bap in the toaster and made a coffee. Once breakfast was done I trooped back to the bedroom with my drink, got dressed and finished of the last few messages and refreshed. Ouch, that was a mistake but still, I have time…..
I finished the last message at 7.15 am and decided I was too much the coward to refresh the post again. I went to pack a few things in a bag for Reuben, paddling pool, bop bag, for Ugo, beer and beer and for Yvonne a candle and a kit to paint a glass photo frame. I made sure my backpack was closed properly. I left the house just about half past and was at the bust stop at the same time as the bus. The driver greeted me with ” Not got anything to break this time?” and I shook my head and smiled. I nodded off quite a lot on the journey but probably for not more than 10 seconds at a time as we hit every pothole going and stopped at every stop. When we arrived in Chester I stood as the bus pulled into the bes station. I always let others get off while I get my crutches on and today my backpack. Before I could move further the driver pulled off again. I thought he was just moving further down the row but no, the beggar pulled into the road. I moved up towards the door and pointedly pressed the bell. He knows where I get off. ” Where d’you want to get off?” he asked. Forcing myself to respond I told him “The first available stop” as I knew he couldn’t let me out on the road. ” I’m going into town but will be back here later” he told me. Knowing that could take a long time I repeated “The first available stop, I’m meeting my daughter.” It probably only took just over 5 minutes to get to where the first stop was but it was a lot further away from the cafe than the bus station is. Once he dropped me my little legs had to pump. I reached the cafe and sat down trying to get my breath and probably looking like death warmed up, my bags weren’t light. It was an uh oh moment as Yvonne wasn’t there. I checked my phone and sure enough there was a message. “Dadddeeee wherefore art thou?” or words to that effect. A sort conversation later showed she was at the bus station and I was at the cafe instead of the reverse. I went and ordered drinks and Reuben’s toast while she hurried on down.
When Yvonne arrived, she let me sit down and took over at the counter for me. I got Reuben out of his pushchair and stood him on my knees. I’m sure he recognises me as he tries to run away screaming. Actually he was full of smiles so there! We put on the ‘I want to be a Knight when I grow up’ apron and gave him some toast. He sat on the seat next to me quite happily as Yvonne ate hers. When it came time to go we nearly had to ask for a hoover but I surreptitiously swept the crumbs off the seat to the floor. “You can come back again since you tidy up” said the waitress who’d obviously caught my efforts. I hid my face so she couldn’t ban me. We walked up town where Yvonne bought me a picture frame ready for fathers day( and she reckons I’m not helpful eh). We did some general shopping and I was able to stock up on balls for Reuben’s Birthday Ball Pit and a few other things. This meant a typical row at the counter about who pays.Children are so difficult these days, I tried to force her but no, she reckoned I should pay as I bought it. Actually we got a few good things for Reuben in there and she was adamant I shouldn’t pay. I’m lucky enough to have size on my side. We went to a large clothes shop who’s name I can never remember but unusually I didn’t buy anything. I wish I could say the same about someone else who was determined to put the family in penury in order to buy father’s day gifts, not all for me I hasten to add.
I was feeling quite weary when we came out of that shop and we decided to go for lunch . In the end all I could face was a coffee. Oddly enough the cafe was opposite where the bus had dropped me off this morning. I told Yvonne I needed to go home and rest even though she said Ugo would run me home at 4.00 pm which was only 3 hours away and I could rest at their house until then. I had to turn er down and she waited at the bus stop with me for the 30 seconds until the bus arrived. I stepped on the bus and turned to wave at them both and Reuben burst into tears. Even the bus driver was heard to say Awww. When I was home Yvonne texted me to say he always cries when I go. At home there was a small parcel which proved to be the case I ordered for my phone….only it doesn’t fit. I’ve no idea whether the fault is mine because I listened to Mike say the Wildfire and the Wildfire S are the same size or whether the trader made an error Anyway I’m disappointed and had to send it back, the postage cost me more than the bloody case did. After I’d sent it back I kind of flaked out for a while.My feet were grateful. OMG, I’ve become a part timer with no staying power. My daughter is now better at shopping than me!!
When I revived a bit I had a ham sandwich for lunch and looked at my emails. Aaargh 132. But the worst news is that I’ve been notified that Asufat and her daughters have been picked up again and taken to the airport for deportation tonight. No-one will say what flight they’re on or with what airline. Frankly I’m disgusted, I think the border agency have been most underhand about this. The only hope left since the judicial review isn’t ready is Nick Clegg the Deputy PM. Though I wouldn’ t trust the man personally ( and neither do most of the country judging by the election results last week) he has spoken out against female genital mutilation and some of us have tweeted an appeal for his intervention. Maybe he can redeem himself in my eyes.
Well, a little bit of TV this evening but it’s time for concentration on clearing the mail and getting the blog done before midnight turns me into a pumpkin.( Yes Mike, I know the shape is already there).
All grow’d up.
Then it was gone, ‘Just like that’!
Wednesday. Now don’t all cheer at once but this will be a short piece. It’s late and I’m cream crackered. I was up at 4.35 am and hard at work by 4.45 am. At 6.15 am I decided to lie down for a minute that lasted until 7.55 am. We have long minutes in Wales. After that everything seemed to be done in a rush. Even the fish got a one word conversation ” Eat !” This was also one of those days when I had an extra post when I read the story of a wee girl with cancer who needs treatment in Germany as the options here have run out. I don’t exactly understand that since surely we share knowledge in the EU? But it’s a story I needed to share.
About midday I had a visit from my friend Lis whose going on holiday Sunday and wanted to see me before she left. She tells me the weather forecast in Cos isn’t mush better than we usually get here so I don’t envy her too much. The subject of Rob came up who’d died just a couple of weeks ago. His funeral was on Monday and it was apparently a sad and very moving occasion. Charlie ( Lis’s daughter) was there when a poem Rob had written for his wife was read out. Very touching.
When Lis left about 1.15 pm I made lunch , ate it, washed the pots and had half an hour in the chair with a chorus of Zzzzzzz’s after which I went back to work. Things were really going well and I’d even managed to fins what I think is a good present for my friend in America. But, with just 16 messages left to do the front door opened. It was 4.40 pm. I looked out of my room and there were Dil and Matt. ” Twenty to five, what’s this have you gone part time?” Dil responded with ” No, it’s twenty to six as usual, your watch must be wrong.” There was a moment of panic until I realised I was looking at the clock too and that said the same as my watch. He keeps a very straight face when he’s lying to me which is probably why he does so well at Balderdash. I left the messages and went to make drinks. Dil’d walking much better so the treatment for the gout must be working.
I’d had a message to say Lee couldn’t make it tonight so we got straight into battle. Matt was battling with a box of biscuits anyway. We had two games of scrabble which I won convincingly but mainly because poor Dil ended up with 7 vowels twice. Then it was a game of Trivial Pursuit which Dil said would leave us time for some cards. We started at 6.30 pm and finished just before 9.00 pm and BTW I won that too though we all had full discs. We had time for a swift game of Crazy 8’s where I was hammered. My final score something ridiculous like 249 and Dil’s 27 with Matt somewhere in between. They left at 9.30 pm as usual so I tidied up, washed the pots and came through to deal with the 16 messages….and the other 82 I’d accumulated. So as I say, it’s late now so this has been short.
Thursday. Another 4.35 am day though I had been up an hour earlier to go to the loo. I swear my bladder shrinks at night. I worked till 6.30 am, got a smirk from the fish as I fed them early and then went to sit down promptly falling asleep till 7.15 am. Back to the kitchen for my meds so I don’t kill anyone today and had some toast for breakfast. After that I took my coffee through and finished my messages before getting ready and going to Pauline’s to get my lottery tickets. Though it isn’t very far, it dos take me a while to walk there and back so once indoors I refreshed my emails . I realised I’d forgotten to buy my baps but didn’t feel like the walk again so I used the emails as an excuse. I was working through them when a knock came at the front door. It was my nephew David and I’d forgotten he was coming. He brought some first day covers and some coins for me to look at and advise him of values. I couldn’t help with the first day covers as I know nothing about them but was able to help a bit with the coins. I got my laminating machine out and let him seal some of the covers for protection.They’ll display better on his stall that way too.
When I can I like to donate things for his stall as he raises money for the hospice Julia was in. This week I was able to find some badges and other things from various orders. While looking I found a very chunky silver ring I bought some years ago emblazoned with the Prince of Wales feathers and his motto Ich Dien. It was a very large size. I gave it to David after we found it fitted him. I also found a doll for his daughter, my great niece which came from Japan and is in a beautiful costume with an obi. David hates to accept gifts and went out to his car. Despite my objections he gave me two boxes of metal badges depicting the Royal coats of arms of the English Monarchy, 30 beautifully enameled pieces in all I think. I know there are more to the sets so I’ll have to look out for them. David left about lunchtime to go and help someone decorate so I flew in here to bring the mail up to date. Then it was a late lunch of Irish Stew ( Oh why did I forget my baps?) a little TV then more work.
The afternoon flew by and wouldn’t you know it I didn’t have a cage handy so it was teatime before I knew it. I didn’t bother eating with lunch being so late but I did get to sit and watch my Antiques Road Show. It’s very tight tonight so I must be sure I don’t miss the culmination tomorrow. I also watched Law and Order, stayed awake through Murder She Writted and then saw a new episode of the Big Bang Theory. Poor Sheldon couldn’t decide which new games machine to buy and Raj got to date two women. There’s genuine comic relief in that show. After that it’s back here to work . Lift that barge, tote that bale and crack the whip.
Mischief Planning.
They’re not Cadbury’s fingers but I’ll eat them.
Friday. 3.54 am today and the scriptwriter of that particular comedy has some explaining to do. It’s getting so I’ll be rising before I’ve even gone to bed soon. Anyway, it did give me chance of an early start on the mail. Among the batch this morning were two messages to say my account wirh Barclays has been suspended, one to say my account with Santander has been suspended and two purporting to be from paypal saying they haven’t been able to make payments to paypal on my behalf and I need to verify my bank details. I was so happy to see I haven’t managed to offend all the con artists out there yet. I swear though. the pages are more professional looking and the spelling has improved no end. Can I just make it clear to all you donkeys, it wouldn’t be worth your while attacking my bank accounts. Save yourselves the effort involved and just leave me alone.
At 7.00 am I went through to feed the fish and have some breakfast. Unfortunately I’d taken my before food tab when I realised I needed to fill up the drug case with another week’s supply. I had to move a lot smarter than usual to get it done and get my main tabs etc within the prescribed time limit, 15-20 minutes after I’ve taken the tab. I got washed and dressed before making my coffee today which I took through. There were only 6 more messages dammit so I was done pretty quickly. I’d run out of excuses why I couldn’t do some I***ing. I got the board out and started. A pair of pyjama trousers for Mike, 8 shirts and a pair of jeans for me. I’d had enough. There was a twinge of sciatica there. I left the instrument of torture out to cool but put the board away. The damn thing never seems to want to go back where it came from. Anyhoo it was time to sit down for a while. I put the clothes away ignoring the still overflowing basket and took to my chair. It wasn’t long before Old Ma Nature was tugging at my eyelids and I was well away. I came awake with a start when a loud Boooong sound echoed through the house. I had time to wake up and think about it while my heart stopped racing and decided it was the I***ing board fallen over. I went through to the kitchen cursing under my breath. The board was still in place. I checked the cupboard and there were no signs of anything else that could have mad the sound. I visited each room in turn looking for something that had fallen but I came up with zilch. My latest theory is that some aliens have got it in for me because I won’t go and be harvested. It’s either that or I’m going mad and I’m sure none of you would believe that for a moment.
It was 11.00 am and I hadn’t heard from Mike so thought maybe he’s not coming this week. I checked my phone and the email in case he’s been in touch and brought myself up to date at the same time. I was just going to put the phone on charge when it tinkled ( NO, not like that). It was the usual message.”On way”, as it was 11.45 am I allowed 3 hours to make sure I was free when he came. I had a quick lunch while watching an antiques show and then went back to my home office ( sounds much better than ‘The Pit’ doesn’t it). At 2.30 pm I filled the kettle and set it to boil and readied Mike’s mug. It was 3.30 pm before he arrived because the traffic was bad he told me and because he’d stopped to eat on the way. Right, he won’t be wanting his main meal now then. We sat and chatted until about 5 pm and he decided some sandwiches later would be nice. I went out to the shop for bread and some meat and picked up some small cakes for him too. When I got back we watched a couple of quizzes, being very hit and miss with our answers tonight then decided to have a shower. Mike saw to my hair first so I didn’t have to raise my arms above my head. After the shower I made the sandwiches and we enjoyed them watching NCIS. After that I excused myself for a while to come and attack some of my mail so I could be free for the new series of Law and Order. It’s such a different programme without the sardonic policeman Lennie, played by Jerry Orbach. So far I’ve only ever seen the episodes with him. I was shocked to see this series has Linus Roache starring as a deputy D.A. the son of our very own Bill Roache of Coronation Street.
TV over for the night ( my night anyway) I wished Mike goodnight and came through to work. It’s a late one but worth it.
Saturday. It was 5.10 am when I woke this morning. I was sitting in my chair in the lounge. I’d woken at 2.04, found myself unable to go back to sleep where I was, had a cigarette, tried again and as the old saying goes, If at first you don’t succeed, beggar off and try elsewhere. I had a touch of sciatica and the cushion on my chair was heaven. So, 5.10 am and it’s getting light. I went to the kitchen and tormented the fish by pretending to feed then and then remembering it’s Saturday- diet day( fish only). To add insult to injury I had my breakfast, took all my meds then carried my coffee back to the bedroom home office. There was plenty of mail to keep me going, my friends in the Americas and the Antipodes having been busy overnight. Any number of great blog posts to comment on. When 7.00 am rolled round I was so smug with my progress I was almost whistling. Mike’s alarm went off. Obviously no need to worry or rush, I heard the thud as it hit the wall so I went and put the kettle on.
When the kettle boiled I made coffee and took it through. Knowing it would worry him and annoy him in equal measures I was cheerful. ” Coffee’s up Bro” quoth I. I left the room and came back to finish what I was doing and heard Mike pad pad along to the lounge. I finished the last message and pressed send. Then I sauntered into the lounge myself and said ” Good morning. Looks a bit grim out.” “Then put it away before someone sees it” he spat back casting a blacker cloud with his frown than the sky outside held. Minutes later, following a grim silence I heard “I’s awake now”. All I could say was “Oh dear!” We didn’t leave the house until 8.00 am at which times the heavens were opening. Just a little different from the forecast Mike mentioned last night of a great weekend. And even though the heavens had opened both out phones showed the forecast now as overcast. We had to give up plans of a visit to Llandudno and instead shop locally. Surprise Surprise we found ourselves in Asda. I was surprised to find a rack of really nice trousers ( men’s) for £2 the reason for which soon became apparent. They were either 32 waist-short leg, or 34 waist regular leg. I’d need two pairs to go round me. I did manage to find something for Reuben but at twice the price.
The main shop didn’ t take long but when we’d finished I was as usual parched. We got a drink in the MacDonald’s cafe Mike having his usual and me having the stupidity to go for a mocha frappe. Have you ever got brain freeze and tried to keep your face as normal as possible so someone else doesn’t know. It’s damned near impossible so it wasn’t long before he was in stitches. “You never learn” he told me with obvious relish. We decided to stop in Flint on the way back to look for another bop bag for Reuben. The shop where I bought the last one had run out and another place I expected to be lucky, I wasn’t. We picked up some chocolates and went to annoy Ceri in Temptations. Business was brisk but there was no way she and Mike weren’t going to trade insults. Ceri is one of those people who makes you smile just by seeing her. I left Mike there and went next door to look for the bop bag and I found some. I did get one but Mike reckons the face on it is likely to give Reuben nightmares.
We took the shopping home, unpacked it and put it away.I had a session back on the mail again, opened a parcel from the real postman which was the case for the phone and then looked at a catalogue until Mike was ready for lunch. We decided on- guess where- and I took a picture frame with me that Tariq is going to fit glass in…on the understanding he lets me pay him. We were halfway there when Mike asked if I’d remembered sweets. I hadn’t so I had to grovel an apology when we went in. This was another busy place. Tariq was helping cook as well as serving as Shella isn’t well. That’s a shame and we sent out best to her. Mike managed to chat Angie up as usual and was throwing double entendres out like there was no tomorrow. It was a really nice break. We took to the hills after lunch coming home the roundabout way to avoid Coast Road traffic. I had the pleasure of another couple of hours in here while Mike watched the Grand Prix jockeying for positions on the grid. I managed a couple of hours TV with him which included the last ever episode of the Tomorrow People. I swear they’re here today after having seen some of the current magicians on TV like Troy. Amazing.
So, Mike has the football now and I have chance to clear the decks before tomorrow. I hope you’ve had a nice week and wish you a Great one to come.
A little girl, cancer and the need for a cure outside the UK. Help is vital no matter how small but perhaps you could just re-blog this on your page.
Thanks so much,
David
There is a little girl aged two who lives near me in Lancashire. Her name is Millie Rose Heaton and she is desperately ill with Neuroblastoma. Her family is frantically trying to raise the £250,000 needed for treatment in Germany. Millie Rose was initially given the all clear in February after twelve months of intensive chemotherapy and other vital treatments. However the cancer returned in March and there is no further treatment available in the UK for patients who are in relapse. It would be wonderful if we bloggers could help her and her family. The following Url is Millie Rose’s Appeal and the place you should viit to find out more.
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