1.15 am One last visit to the loo and to check that the dirty laugh I just heard is the result of Mike having a mucky dream rather than him having smuggled a woman in through his bedroom window. It was the former. I went to bed. It get’s confusing now. I got up at 2.21 am, but because of the end of BST is that really 1.21 am and I’ve been in bed for 5 minutes? Ten minutes earlier and I’d have woken up before I’d even got to bed. I needed to pee again, have I been drinking in my sleep or just having dreams of waves crashing on a shore? I went to my chair to try and sleep there. It worked and I got up at 5.35 am though back to the confusion again, it was really 4.35 am even though I hadn’t altered my watch. Am I in some kind of alternate dimension here?
The mail is horrendous again now I have so many blogs I follow on a daily notification. Most things seem to be coming through properly including those I left on Instant notification. The mail is so like it used to be that this last couple of months seems like a holiday. I concentrated on the mail until 9.17 am ( correct time) before going round the house altering clocks though maybe if I’d left them long enough, Mike would have got up to a shout of Good Afternoon from me. As it was, that’s when he chose to get up and it looked much earlier than it was. I had quite a lazy time seeing to Joey’s water and seed then getting him a new millet sprig and a new fruit bar. Once that was out of the way I was able to go and get dressed. By 10.30 am Mike was dressed too and we decided to have a stroll around Prestatyn before going to the CookHouse there. I wasn’t feeling quite myself this morning and I wasn’t sure whether to put it down to tiredness or stupidity. When I’d undressed last night I’d sat down on the edge of the bed to remove my trousers and my legs had been itching furiously at that point. Almost without thinking I’d scratched, and when I scratch, I really do. I couldn’t stop myself and quickly drew blood. They were sore all night and inflamed this morning. No point in worrying Mike so we went out. You can tell I wasn’t well when I say I bought nothing. But we had a nice lunch though I couldn’t finish ( don’t be daft, of course I didn’t leave any beef). After lunch we drove back the old road and stopped of at Jackson’s Nursery to see if they’ve set up for Christmas yet. Not as good as in years past but they’ve not done too badly. We had a drink there in their new cafe before coming home.
At home, Mike stuck football on while I came through and started answering mail. It’s coming through in truckloads now and I can see is going to keep me occupied. I had to use the loo in a hurry then returned to work. Football over Mike came through to show me some rings on ebay and offered to put some cream on my legs before going home, this week he wasn’t going to Manchester again. He may be back sooner this week as the kids are on half term and he isn’t looking after them. If he’s got enough clean clothes he’shave stayed but he needed to go back and do the laundry. My turn in the morning. He did my legs and I thought I’d pass out the damn things stung so much when the cream went on. Mike left and I returned to work. I took a short break from 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm then wished Joey goodnight and galloped to the loo again. Again at about 9.00 pm and yet again by 9.30 pm. I was sore and uncomfortable. I wonder if yesterday’s meal upset me or if this is as a result of the legs which must be infected again. I decided to finish the post and just go straight to the blog. I’ll cross my fingers I’ve done for the night and get an early night.
Monday 26th.
Early night maybe. Rough night definitely. Between the threat of yet another ‘visit’ to further discombobulate me there was also the real pain from my legs. I tried sleeping in bed unsuccessfully and then in my chair but I know it was gone 2.00 am before I dropped off. I woke at 4.57 am and hobbled off to the Piddle Palace unsure of what my stomach wanted to do. As it happened the answer was nothing which was great. I took my meds and put just one piece of bread in the toaster so I could line my stomach. I set the washing machine going and then made myself a drink. After taking my post breakfast tabs, I applied carpet fresh to the rug in the lounge and the hall carpet ready to give them a stiff brushing later. I’m having a visit from MuJo today but will have plenty of time to tidy before they arrive. I noticed Mike hadn’t done the flowers before he left so started those. I couldn’t see anything worth saving from last week so I started from scratch. I’ll be needing more flowers today while I’m out. I just hope I’ll be OK with my stomach and walking. For sure I won’t be having the usual chippie meal if that’s where we go. Maybe they’ll want panninis in Temptations but as it’s my turn to pay I won’t dictate what they have, just what I eat.
It was almost 6.00 am before I got through to turn the computer on and start the mail. Surprisingly it wasn’t too bad at that time though there were a couple of long responses to comments on the blog. By 7.30 I was up to date and able to concentrate on the house. Since I’m extending last week’s ‘rest’ I’ll leave it there for now. It was a nice day but a long day and the legs are weeping so I’m resting them tomorrow.
Who is this muscle man I see?
I’ll puzzle my way out of here.
Tuesday 27th
I found out last night my Talktalk mail account has been compromised and is sending out spam. I went to Talktalk to find out the best way to stop this and was advised to sit tight and wait for the spammers to get bored and move on. I don’t know if that’s the best way of dealing with the problem but it seems a poor way. I wonder if closing the account would solve the problem, but I can’t see a way of doing that even. I’ll keep trying to find a solution. I ran a full scan overnight and found four potential threats. When I asked it to clear them it couldn’t find two which seemed strange. One of my wonderful friends suggested a program called Malware Bytes to check for malware. It’s Free and I ran a test and it found a few potential problems. It’s worth a try if you don’t already run a malware program. Anyway, not a bad night. Read till 1.00 am, was awake till 2.00 am checking the scan progress before giving up and settling to sleep. Got up at 5.26 am.Started on mail until 6.15 am when I went to take meds. My legs are still sore so I’m not going out today but going to rest the legs and see if I can apply a dressing with antiseptic cream. Will hopefully manage to keep pace with mail.
Had to go out when cream was missing from my prescription. I went to the chemist where they phoned the doctor’s for me. The new scrip will be here tomorrow. I picked up some dressings and covered the worst parts of the leg in antiseptic.
Told you he existed.
I am the voice of Gruffalo
Wednesday 28th
Light out 12.30 am after a read of the Bernard Cornwell Muriel left for me on Monday. Warriors of the Storm, an exciting Saxon vs Norsemen book in a series. I was relaxed and ready to sleep if I could find a comfortable spot for my left leg. I did. I woke at 2.18 am ready to work. First I checked my bank for unauthorised withdrawals after the Talktalk debacle of last week, then I started on the mail. Both lots kept me going until 4.42 am when I settled in my chair for forty winks ( I hoped) but couldn’t quite manage it. It was far too early to start the hoovering so I picked up my book again.
9.00 am and I was able to hoover and also mop the laminate floors. The postie came and delivered a new parcel and it wasn’t even for me. Mike had something delivered here. At about 11.00 am someone came to replace the broken letterbox. He did both sides of the door and was gone within ten minutes. No more draughts. No more need for me to flap . Mind you Darren may have something to say next time he delivers something and feels the spring on this one. I could be counting fingers my side of the door.
I had an entertaining evening with Dil. I won the Yahtzee, Dil won the Trivia, I won the cribbage. The night was mine and to prove it I did a flamenco round the room.
This is a funny TV set.
I’m taking my men to the top of the hill.
Thursday 29th
Light off at 1.05 am and settled down in bed. I think I went to sleep quite quickly. I was disappointed Mike hadn’t come back last night but he said he’s unwell. I wonder if I’ll see him today. I woke at 4.30 am and made my way to the WC for bladder relief before coming back and powering up. First job of the day, check my bank is still OK. It seemed to be except for the million pounds I’d hoped to find there. Not too much post in either Talktalk or gmail and was clear by 5.40 am.A good time to get some breakfast and take my meds. At about 6.30 am I took my coffee through to the lounge and sat talking to Joey. I left the light off and so it was dark until about 7.30 am. He didn’t respond to me until it became light and I’m sure that was just to complain that I’d kept him awake.
Later in the morning I took a walk to Pauline’s to renew my lottery. She assures me I’ve got the winning ticket this time. That’ll be handy, maybe I should start booking things today? My exotic cruise, a culture vulture’s tour of Europe with a stop to visit friends in Spain and trips to Australia and America too. When I returned from there the mail was here in earnest and I had to forget Joey and plough in. I didn’t finish before I broke to see Homes Under the Hammer but I had to make up for it when I got back, spending the next two hours trying to reshape my nose with a grindstone. I had my cream delivered for my legs ( this doctor is mean and only prescribed 100ml tube. I gave Ferrero Rocher to my friend who delivered it. He was back again later with some tablets I missed but I didn’t issue a second grant of chocs. Lunch was a quick affair with my chips and curry sauce while I watched Bargain Hunt. The afternoon was blah, blah, blah until The Antiques Road Trip which didn’t disappoint. Mike arrived about 7.30 pm but we didn’t talk much because he brought food, yes, chips with curry sauce AND sausages. At 8.00 pm Garrow’s Law came on which he hadn’t seen before then at 9.00 pm two, yes TWO new episodes of Big Bang Theory. It was like a dream come true except not as good as the one where I marry Katie Hepburn. I left him with football after that and retired to work. I’ll be in bed by 11.00 pm.
Bad Weather
Some days you’re up….
And now for a magic voice……
Friday 30th.
Well I was finished by 11.00 pm and Mike kindly came through to dress my leg and to apply cream to the both. That gave us both chance of a conversation about how things are with his Dad. Mike’s been asked t take more clothes in but it doesn’t look as though much effort has been put into finding the shirts and trousers which have gone missing. That conversation over, I went back to his room to look at some rings on his tablet and also a ring enlarger he wants to get. Quite a few of the rings he fancies have been a half size too small as the UK doesn’t do half sizes generally. He’s hoping the enlarger will allow him more choice knowing he can increase it if too small. I showed him a machine which both increases and decreases the size which left us both wondering how that would work but at a price neither of us wanted to pay to find out. I returned to my room about 12.15 am for a read.
The light went off about 1.00 pm and I settled down but was up again at 2.25 am for the loo. I could see Mike was still on his tablet so I dropped in for another chat to see what his plans were for later today. He’s off back to Manchester to hand in the keys on the new flat his Dad’s never going to move into. I went back to bed around 2 40 am and managed to fall asleep again only to wake up properly at 3.38 am. I dealt with the mail until 5.00 am then went to the kitchen to take my meds and fill up the medicine trays for another week.
So sorry, I published too early this week but I’ll include tomorrow in the start of next week’s efforts.
It was a late night and gone 1.00 am before the light went out. It was a struggle to sleep at first but relaxation came and wallop, I was away. This morning I had the pleasant surprise of waking at 6.32 am. Wonderful, fully rested for a change. After a visit to the loo and a trip to the kitchen for meds and to make a coffee I came back to see how bad the overnight mail had been. Talktalk said it was never ending and gmail just screamed for help but with perseverance and the judicial use of the delete button I was eventually clear at 9.35 am. To celebrate I took a coffee in to Mike thinking he should be awake to celebrate with me or perhaps just that he should be awake. It was 10.00 am before he actually got up and took his drink to the lounge. There must have been something soporific in Joey’s singing as Mike just slumped on the edge of the chair asleep. Joey wasn’t impressed and stating his preference for an attentive audience, he went full volume. Even my eyes went wider at that. Mike’s flew open and he started drinking his coffee. A beautiful friend of mine says Joey amuses her and she thinks I may be exaggerating the noise a tiny bird can make. I’m sure some of you can put her right as to how penetrating their top notes can be and how loud the sound can boom out from those tiny lungs.When Mike gets out of his car on a Thursday night he can tell whether Joey is awake or not right away. Those dulcet tones carry a great distance.
We got dressed and left the house at 11.15 pm. I was under the impression we were going in one direction to pick up fish food but Mike decided there was no rush. We ended up in Rhyl looking for some light fittings. We found them after some effort and went off to have lunch. Our usual cafe was closed but we easily found another one that did a good selection. Mike had a lamb dinner while I had a ham one. It was while we were at lunch that Mike got a phone call and I heard him expressing disbelief. His father was on the way to the A & E department again. That’s yet another Sunday he’s been called back. His sister has gone to the hospital with him, not a fall this time,just a bout of non-cooperation and non verbalising they’re worried about. Mike refused to go straight away as he knows no-one would get round to seeing his father for a least a couple of hours by which time the bout of intransigence may well be over. We carried on with lunch and then a visit to another shop where I managed to find a light adaptor I needed.Then we came home. I made Mike a drink while he did Ju’s flowers then about 4.00 pm he left. He promised t text when he got back to Rugby but I had an awful feeling he could have a long evening/night ahead of him at the hospital. I hope I’m wrong. After Mike left I came through to the bedroom to work. There was as always a lot of catching up to do. I was here until 7.00 pm when I went through to sit with Joey and to have some rhubarb and strawberry tart that I’ll have to eat all alone since Mike had to go. It was a pure accident that it wasn’t in sight until he’d gone. I wwatched TV until 9.00 pm and came back through until bedtime. I’m going to read in here then try and go to sleep in the chair. Not for too long though as I’m being MuJo’d in the morning and need to tidy up and if possible get my washing done.
Monday 19th.
Last night’s experiment worked well. I read until 12.30 am then went to sleep in my chair. Joey didn’t object to my company. I only slept until 3.14 am though. At least I got an early start on the washing and all my mail before having breakfast at 4.30 am. After that it was a case of staying awake until MuJo arrived. I gave John his lights and let him have the adaptor I bought yesterday as his hadn’t arrived.
A long day and a lot of mail this evening but it’s been fine.
That’s funny looking pastry Reuben.
Perhaps I won’t have a piece of pie thanks….
Tuesday 20th.
A successful experiment. I read in bed until almost 1.00 am then went straight to my chair. I slept until 5.23 am which is really good. Out of the house at 7.30 am to catch my bus. Joey not amused at being left in his cage. He didn’t hesitate to let me know the minute he heard my key in the door. I had mail. The light adaptors arrived so I have replaced mine and saved John’s second one until I see them again. John left me a message on Skype that the lights were fantastic, he seems to really like the effect.
Sunhat
Rat Hat?
Wednesday 21st.
An unsuccessful night this time. I lay in bed after lights out at 1.00 am and had still not fallen asleep at 3.15 am. I got up and distracted myself with work for a while. At 4.00 am I tried again and managed to nod off but only until 4.55 am. It wasn’t worth trying too hard again as I needed to be up by 6.00 am anyway. I had to be out at 7.30 am for my bus. I dressed, had my breakfast and meds then cleared my post boxes until it was time to go out. I shall have to find the opportunity of a nap during the day, perhaps my bus journeys, so I’m compost mental for my games night.
I may not be here but I am thinking of you all.
Happy Clown
Sanity Claus.
Thursday 22nd.
I read until 12.45 am then turned the light off and tried to sleep. I don’t think it was too long coming. Neither was wakefulness though. When I woke at 3.02 am I found I was already sitting on the edge of the bed with my feet in my slippers. Since there was no way I was going back to sleep again (yet) I visited Looville and then came back to the mail. Talktalk was not available (again) due to technical difficulties the team was working on. I went straight to gmail. There was quite bit but it soon became obvious that many of the blogs I have followed for a long time just weren’t there. I didn’t have time to try logging into them separately so I turned to my WordPress reader and going through them one by one changed each Instant notification to a Daily one. Fingers crossed I start getting posts again.
At 5.45 am I went through to the kitchen and took my meds and also had breakfast. For some reason today my stomach thinks my throat has been cut. For some reason today I wish it had. I saw my wife, I saw Julia and I started to follow her but it wasn’t she.
Seatgrabber, Saving this for my mummy.
Stepping Up.
Friday 23rd
Mike arrived at some time after 11.00 pm last night. I made him a coffee while he told me all about the latest things in his week. It appears that the hospital have released his father back to the home again despite saying they wouldn’t do so until they’d found somewhere that could offer suitable care. The home itself have taken him but said they don’t have the staff to stay with him when he goes into a fugue state as he has been doing with some frequency recently. Mike goes there today to try and get some answers and to set in process the giving up of both the new flat and the old one, now knowing his Dad’s onset of dementia is becoming quite rapid.
My light went out about 1.00 am and I had trouble getting to sleep. I was up again at 3.56 am catching up on mail from Talktalk which is now live again. I was not clear on both addresses until 6.50 am when I was able to get my meds and do the week’s meds before going out. Not out quite as early today as Mike will drop me off.
Trying the Pops Frown.
Saturday 24th.
Light off 1.00 am after a read. Woke up at 2.02 am but after a cigarette and a good talking too, decided to try again. It worked. Woke up at 4.09 am. but a good talking too didn’t work as I think my ears were going la, la ,la ,la while I tried. I got up, and while in an upright position decided to visit the Piddle Palace then come back to work. Talktalk was live this morning though still holding it’s head in shame at recent revelations. It’s ridiculous that a firm this size, that holds the banking details of so many of it’s customers can be hacked 4 times because they don’t use encryption software. That is NOT putting the customer first and I would imagine will not only cost them future custom but will also lose them many existing customers who aren’t tied in by contract. I wonder in fact if people will be able to end their contract early because of Talktalk’s negligence. I know they talk of the hacking skills of those from the Deep Web but that’s also where the skills to encrypt and defend from hackers is found. It’s fairly simple to imagine that if you refuse to pay for these skills then someone is going to hack just to show how easy it is. Shape up Talktalk!
It was shopping this morning. That of course starts with getting Mike out of bed. I know he didn’t go to sleep before 12.30 am because I was talking to him at that time and he was using his tablet to look for a ring. I’m pretty sure he carried on after I left to pick up my book.So, at 6.00 am I went through to the kitchen to take my meds and have breakfast. At 6.30 am I took a coffee through as soon as I heard his first alarm, and called him. No response at 6.40 alarm, 6.50 alarm or 7.00 am alarm but my prompt at 7.00 am about cold coffee did the trick. Final score C2 A4. It later turned out I hadn’t heard his first alarm, only his nearest. In error he’s set it for 6.00 am so had in fact ignored 3 more which would have made his final A’s 7 which even for him would be incredible so I won’t count them. With a concerted effort we were still out of the house at 7.30 am though I think he was still getting dressed as he hopped to the car. We were at the Supermarket around 7.45 am and after I’d checked I could get money on my card ( I was worried about the hacking of Talktalk) we went into battle.
First off this morning were Ju’s flowers. A pretty bunch of mixed colours. Then a fairly long loop round the store until we came to the food section. That was quickly done as I needed to buy pop and sweets so would be eating bread and scrape (dripping) all week. By the time we’d got milk and just about reached the end of the buying I was still on the £50 mark. We went for coffee, or rather Mike did while I went for cigarettes. When I got back he’d glared at two members of staff until they realised they were sitting at our table and vacated. From there we went straight to Flint. A sweep of our usual shops left no casualties in his wake so we went for a drink at Temptations. Kyle served us without having to ask what we wanted. He was having quite a busy time of it. I finished my drink and went to the other end of the shop to buy some silver wedding gift wrap and a bag. We’d had a conversation over coffee about our jaunt last weekend and some baskets we’d seen that came with packing to turn into gift baskets. Yes, I know I should have bought them at the time but I wasn’t sure who I’d use them for back then. Now of course I had two ideal people whose gifts would fit the baskets nicely but could we think of where we’d seen them, could we heck. We racked our brains about where we’d been and tried to narrow it down. I was pretty sure it was the big Homies but Mike wasn’t sure. However he agreed we should retrace our steps. What a waste of time that was though we did find something smaller that might do the job. Anyone got some shredded paper?
We came home about 3.00 pm and unpacked the shopping. Once it was put away Mike reverted to football on his tablet and I came through to clear my mail. It kept me going until 5.45 pm when I went through and found Mike snoring. I woke him and made some tea after which I quite happily dozed off myself. We did watch some TV together, did talk to each other and to the budgie but at 10.00 pm I had to come back to work. Mike went through to his room to fall asleep in bed watching more football. It’s been a strange week and I may have to carry it on a little longer but don’t take that as an indication that I’ve lost interest in my friends or stopped caring.
Last night was a bit later than planned but I did getup to date before bed. I was going to have two chapters but was so close to the end of the book I couldn’t put it down. Pamela S. Wight is a master storyteller. It’s obvious she couldn’t care less about my sleep patterns though since she keeps me reading more. I finished it last night, what do I do now? The light went out about 1.20 am but I knew I could have a lie in. I was u at 2.40 am after hearing a noise and a cry from Mike. When I went through, the pile of Christmas presents had collapsed and woken him up in fright. He said to leave them until morning but I didn’t want them trampled on a loo run. I picked them up and went back to bed. I woke again at 4.31 am and this was the real thing. I made my own loo run and came back to power up and log on. The blog was getting comments and I was happy to see my spoof (or is it?) Buthidar’s post was still getting comments too. I dealt with my talktalk and then gmail post up to 6.00 am when I went to the kitchen to take my meds and have some breakfast. I had 2 crumpets today.
When I came back to the computer my talktalk had timed out. I had to close the site then sign back in. Then came the wailing and the gnashing of teeth when once in it told me it couldn’t find my account. Yet at the top of the page it told me I was signed in. Aaarrgggh !! I carried on with my gmail and then returned to sign in yet again on talktalk a little later.It did work the next time. At sometime after 7.30 am when I was clear I joined Joey in the lounge and opened his door in case he was ready to come out. I renewed his water and seed but the millet was OK since Mike had dealt with that last night. As there was no movement by Mike except another loo trip I returned to work at 8.30 am fully intent on keeping pace as long as possible today. It was 9.30 am before I took a drink in to Mike. There was no alarm to ignore today so I just left him to get up when ready. As I was working I didn’t actually hear him sneak through to the lounge but I think it was about 10.00 am. I went through at 10.10 am as up to date as I could be. There he was asleep in the chair but the spoilsport refused to fall over. He woke when I spoke to Joey and stirred enough to drink his coffee. By 10.45 am we were heading out.
I directed Mike to the new Homies in Holywell. I’d bought a wine glass a few weeks ago and was sure I’d got it from Homies in Flint but had found none yesterdy. Mike couldn’t remember them at all. I found them this morning and bought what I needed. I got some pillows, and a few stocking gifts while I was there so ended up very pleased we’d gone. From there we went to The Bells of St Mary’s for lunch, the usual carvery. Very nice too. No bouncing bomb potatoes, but there was an incident with an onion that repelled both knife and fork. Once we finished Mike felt it was a little too early to go home and set off to see his Dad again so we went into Prestatyn. They’ve just opened a new shop there TKMaxx so we had a whiz round there. Mike hurt his chest trying on some shoes but still ended up buying them. The place was a bit crowded for me but perhaps that’s because it’s so new. I took him for a coffee when we came out so he could recover his breath. It had happened as he tried to cross his legs. I didn’t realise you needed yoga positions to try shoes on. I sympathise as I know how difficult it is to bend down to get shoes on or tie them. I prefer slip-on shoes now but still have laced pairs.
We finally came home.Mike set about arranging Ju’s flowers while I started on the work I’ve dodged all day. There was lots of it. Once the flowers were done Mike came through to say goodbye and set off back to Manchester again before returning on the long journey to Rugby tonight. I worked through till 6.30 pm then had a break for tea and to watch yet another version of The Count of Monte Cristo. The Count was played by Jim Cazaviel this time. I’know he starred in an unfortunate religious epic by Mel Gibson, which I haven’t seen, but I have enjoyed him in TV’s Person of Interest. It was a well made film and to my mind done with a lot of sympathy for the book. I came back through at 9.00 pm after taking my meds and running the gauntlet of Joey’s squawks because I was turning the light out. I managed to find a leather jacket in Roob’s size .I’d caught up by 10.00 pm and was able to go straight on with the blog. An early night follows.
Monday 12th.
I was in bed by 11.15 pm last night, almost unheard of. Lights out at midnight and I settled down to sleep. I’d had no power naps in the day to help me. I was up again at 1.25 am and cross that I couldn’t settle again despite wringing my bladder out so that didn’t cause problems. I went to my chair and must have fallen asleep pretty quickly as I didn’t finish a cigarette. This morning I woke up spot on 4.00 am. That felt pretty good. I’d done such a good job on my bladder last night I couldn’t even make a detour on my way to the bedroom to sign in.I opened both my talktalk and gmail though I dealt with the talktalk first. I had pretty much cleared that by 5.20 am and was able to start on gmail. I was doing well but had to break off at 6.00 am to get breakfast and take my meds.
While my toast was cooling I put a wash load in. The onion incident of yesterday where it had shot out from under my knife and fork had splashed me with gravy so both my jeans and my top had to be washed before anyone started offering me a bib. After breakfast I came back to my room to continue work and deal with the new messages that had come in while I was away. WordPress was down with an ‘Oops’ message but luckily it wasn’t for too long. By 7.30 am I was temporarily clear again. It was just starting to get light so I went to open Joey’s door and change his seed and water. He didn’t move off his perch while I worked. I stayed with him a while encouraging him to talk before finally going to get dressed. After dressing I alternated between playing catch-up and searching ebay for a suitable watch for two someones for Christmas and a 25th anniversary gift. For the latter I chose a personalised label for a bottle of champagne, unfortunately the champagne didn’t come with it.
At 10.00 am was my homes under the hammer and I prayed to the gods that Val my warden didn’t come before the end this week. She didn’t, I had a five minute gap where I’d come through to work again and I’d just started answering a message. I let her in and she led the way to the lounge where she spent a few seconds trying to talk to Joey but with the volume he was creating he couldn’t have heard WWIII above it, never mind Val. For such a tiny object he’s very vocal. We talked about shopping as she’d been to The Tweed Mill yesterday where Mike and I had been on Saturday. I think I should get a medal for encouraging trade. Once Val had gone I realised I hadn’t dropped my prescription request off.Getting my shoes on I shot up the road as fast as I could move. It’s very unfortunate that the chemist is situated right next to the chippie and the smell of vinegar was making me hungry. I resisted and went home back to the mail and managed to complete everything by 11.55 am just in time to make lunch. Today it was lamb with colcannon potatoes which had carrots as the veg. It wasn’t too bad but oh boy, I could easily have got sausage and chips with a portion of curry sauce today.
After lunch I saw the auction of Bargain Hunt with both teams making over £100 in profits before turning the TV off and turning myself off for 40 minutes as well. Shame budgies don’t come with an off switch too. At 1.40 pm I woke to the karaoke chorus of the barmy bird arguing with himself in the mirror, and what a mess he’s made of the mirror again too. I returned yet again to the grindstone but was up to date within an hour. I carried on scouring ebay until 3.00 pm when I watched Escape to the Country. I need to have a reason to keep my lottery dreams alive. It was only a 45 minute break so I’d soon be back. Or so I thought, it was actually 4.30 pm before I came round just in time for Antiques Road Trip. I started watching and must have managed the half way mark but missed the auction. I woke again to find the news on so I’d missed the first quiz. It was 6.05 pm so I turned over to Eggheads. I couldn’t refuse to come back to work after such a long skive session. I spent the early evening catching up and then at 9.00 pm went to watch DIY SOS where a woman had adopted her dead friends 5 children to go with her own 4 and needed a much bigger house to live in. No matter how much you loved your friend and her children, that’s a massive sacrifice to take on so much. I won something I wanted on ebay for just £5.00, very surprised. There was more to do when I got back here and before I was able to touch the blog but I’ll still be in bed before midnight. I’m off to see Yvonne and Reuben tomorrow so I want to be rested.
Tuesday 13th.
The best laid plans of mice and men eh.I was in bed before midnight and had turned my light off around 12.30 am sure I’d be asleep the moment my head hit the pillow. It took some time. I woke again at 1.17 am. It took a cigarette and a move to my chair before I was able to nod off again. Even so, it was just 3.34 am when I woke up in there and knew I wasn’t going to get back to sleep again. I knew it wasn’t my bladder making calls on me as I didn’t need to go. I lit a cigarette and wandered through to the bedroom to turn the computer on. Taltalk provided plenty of new mail to keep me occupied though my mind was actually considering what I’d wear today. At 4.32 am I’d cleared talktalk for a while and opened my gmail account. At the same time I opened up my ebay screen to see what was on offer today. I managed to resist all temptations. While I’m out this morning I hope to solve one of the last two gift problems, at least for Christmas leaving me with just the one awkward one left. I wonder who that can be. Next of course are the birthdays on the run-up to Christmas, most will be cards but some will require thought as to gifts.
At 5.00 am I went through to take my meds and have breakfast. The expiration date on my milk was today so immediately my brain made it harder to swallow and there seemed to be a taste that shouldn’t be there. Rather than heave my tablets up and start again I gritted my teeth and swallowed. Of course when I made my coffee afterwards even that tasted a little funny. It was lucky I’d finished the bottle and was able to start a new one if needed. Breakfast over and back in my room I reverted to my feminine side again by struggling to decide what to wear. Last night I’d decided on jeans and my black leather jacket. Casual but I suppose not very smart. After ploughing through everything hanging on my wardrobe door ( because there’s no more room inside) I settled on shiny brown slacks and a jacket and waistcoat in a checked brown tweed. My shirt was purple and I just had to add a cravat. It wasn’t raining so I should be OK. I think I’ve decided in advance that as long as my bladder is OK I might as well call in at the chippy on the way home. Sausage, chips and curry sauce is calling to me even though I just had breakfast.
At 7.30 am I left the house to catch my bus.I reached the bus stop and was there about a minute before Howard drove up. He started telling me how a rival bus company is trying to run them off the road. It took a minute to sink in before I realised he didn’t mean literally but as it’s a big company they’ve changed their timetable to get to the stop before Howard’s bus does. I have used that bus to meet Yvonne at Broughton Park in the past but if I’m going to meet her in Chester Howard’s bus is best because the way it goes, via the Greyhound Park, knocks about 15 minutes off the time. The ride in was great as I was able to nod of in stages all the way. Yvonne wasn’t at the bus stop when I got there but I walked in the direction she comes and met her there. I did get a kiss from Reuben but it was accompanied by one raised eyebrow and a lowered head like he disapproved of something I’d done. Yvonne said he was in a grumpy mood. I know he’s just copying me and my look of “I’m watching you, behave yourself”. We nipped into a shop for a few snacky things and some bottles of pop as Yvonne gets thirsty quite quickly now. Reuben wanted everything on sight and started to fill his arms. What a tantrum when he was told to put them back but he could have one treat and some chocolate. And that was all he got too. If his behaviour hadn’t picked up they would have gone back on the shelves as well.
We headed for our usual shop and the cafe where I had a latte and a bacon sandwich with some of the bacon still in it as Roobs likes bacon. He’d just demolished a big bowl of Shreddies . Still as I fed him the bacon I had to keep counting my fingers. After we’d eaten I went to get a Christmas gift before we went downstairs. Yvonne tried to leave the shop until a gentle cough from me and threatening to trip her up with my crutch ( does that sound rude?) brought her back to look at coats. I couldn’t get her to like a specific one enough to buy it but she did very much like a big cape like thing in wool.I know what they’re called but can’t bring it to mind. If I think about it later I can amend this and you’ll never know. It was in the sale so she jumped at it thinking it would satisfy me. We all know that’s not going to happen don’t we? Still, I bought it and it will be one of her gifts. We walked down the street to look at some other shops. It was chilly but bright. Yvonne was looking for a costume for Reuben for Halloween. I think she settled on a monster. Appropriate today I thought. Eventually we had to head back up the street towards the bus stop. We had a look round a large store but I had to cut it short. At the bus stop Yvonne sorted the bags so I had my purchases. The bus came and I kissed them both and got on. I was waving as they started walking home. Sometimes I get the chance to do it again as we catch them up but the bus took a different route today because of road works.
When I woke up and got of the bus at home I was proud of myself, I didn’t need to wee.There was no rush so I was able to step into the chippie and get what I’d wanted all day. Of course with the smell of curry sauce coming from my bag I had to give Pauline’s a miss but I can go there in the morning. I let myself in the house, took my coat off and went into the lounge where I was berated by Joey for having left him alone. I had to be very apologetic. I plated up my lunch and kept Joey company as I ate it. Eventually the screaming became normal chatty tones.That changed again when I went to wash the pots and then went to start work in my room. Earplugs would have been good. Today I went through the mail and just deleted anything I wasn’t answering until I got down to manageable proportions. I kept at it until 4.30 pm when my Antiques Road Trip started. I watched my two quizzes afterwards until 6.30 pm then rather than coming back I settled to watch a film. A true story about a widower with two children who bought a zoo. Very much the feelgood factor. Joey was quite well behaved and even got braver, now landing on the drawers on both sides of the cage ( not simultaneously of course). He keeps trying to land on the TV but I think the heat coming off it puts him off. Good, there’s not much meat on roast budgie. At 9.00 pm I came through after turning the TV off and taking my meds a bit early. I was giving myself plenty of time for catch up and to do the blog. With luck I’ll be in bed by 11.30 pm.
Wednesday 14th.
And so it be. I climbed into bed at 11.26 pm and my light went out at midnight. It took a little time to get to sleep since I’d rested so well on the bus journeys. But whenever I did achieve sleep it was only until 1.28 am. That was when my brain decided that I’d had enough discomfort, sleep, dreams or whatever but today I knew my body had other ideas. Or maybe I was just feeling stroppy and didn’t want to fill my night with work as I have so often in the past. I took to my chair. I still don’t know why this makes a difference as it’s not especially comfortable and though it’s a recliner, I never use it thus. I keep it upright. I smoked a cigarette while I told myself just how wonderful more sleep would be which doesn’t work all the time. Last night it did and I went back to sleep until 5.50 am. That’s about five and a half hours in total. Remarkable. Of course on waking I was bright eyed and bushy tailed, oh no,that was the degus Julia used to keep wasn’t it?
I went to the kitchen and took my pre-foodie and put two pieces of bread in the toaster. That browned nicely why I took the rest of my meds. Then, I had a cigarette for timing before buttering and eating my now cold toast. I took my two post-foodies with a coffee which I brought back to my room. After powering up I signed into talktalk mail and started work. That took until almost 7.30 am when I logged onto my gmail account. By 8.15 am that was clear too. Time to get dressed ready for 9.00 am and a visit to Pauline’s. Bread, TV magazine and ciggies were what I went for but somehow a chips with curry sauce and a box of orange Matchmakers made it into my hands too. I came home before I could add anything else and let an unhappy (with me) bird out of his cage. He was so un-amused I should have called him Queen Victoria. He was even less amused when I returned to work instead of staying with him but I wanted to be clear for 10.00 am and the start of Homes Under the Hammer and also the possible delivery of something nice from my postie.
At 11.00 am I returned to work for half an hour just to keep an eye on things. I don’t want loads sneaking up on a Wednesday. I had nothing from my postie though which was disappointing. At 11.30 am I went to start peeling some sweet potatoes. Once I’d finished I took my pre-foodie then put some sausages under the grill. After their first turn I put the potatoes in the microwave for 7 minutes and emptied a mini tin of baked beans into a pot ready. Another two turns of the sausages and the microwave pinged at me. I turned the sausages one last time and mashed the potatoes with some butter. The beans went in for 2 minutes. I put the potatoes on my plate and added the sausages which I’d now turned off. Finally as the beans were ready I poured them over the potatoes and away I went. Joey didn’t seem happy to have me in the lounge again but he’d been squawking at me the whole time I was in the kitchen. I’d tried to keep up a level of chatter so he should be soothed by my voice but that didn’t seem to be the case. I received a few bollockings. I’d said he could come and sit on my shoulder while I worked but he still only seems to talk in and understand budgie which I’m not fluent in. Perhaps he’s just a real crosspatch by nature.
I saw my Bargain Hunt but towards the end of the auction my eyes were going. The programme just about finished before I was away with the fairies. I slept until 1.30 pm so I didn’t feel too bad about stealing half an hour. I came back to work and as I did noticed that the postman had finally been. Just the one item and in a very small though stiff envelope. It was a special label I’d ordered so was able to leave feedback straight away. I’d hoped for something else today but it’s down as a possibility for tomorrow so not too bad. There was a fair bit of post come in to both accounts so I took my time and kept going until 3.00 pm with one small interruption at 2.50 pm for an auction bid. I didn’t win. At 3.00 pm I joined joey for Escape to the Country, me to watch it, him to make as much noise as he could while I did. Next week I’m taking lessons in lip-reading in case that helps. Once that was done I concentrated totally on work ( OK and ebay) until 4.30 when the Antiques Road Trip is on and of course Dil could arrive at any time. And of course he did, it was just 4.15 pm and he caught me unawares. I knew I should have thrown him out at that point. I finished the message I was doing and followed him through to the lounge. Once I’d checked he was OK I went to make him a cup of tea.
We watched the Road Trip then our usual quiz until 6.00 pm. Once the TV went off the table came out and we started the Yahtzee. Dil won the first game 4-2 and reluctantly asked if I wanted to play again. I said I would if he liked and would count it as a separate game so he could say he won one. We played again and it ended 3 all. He said it was OK to combine the two as a continuation now and he’d won 7-5 . Out came the trivia and things started well. I had all six pieces of pie in while Dil was languishing on just 1 but as I either struggled to get back to the middle or struggled with the question when I did Dil soon caught up. He did the trip to the centre and had no trouble getting there but he didn’t answer my choice of question. We were in the same position now. It was getting very close to time for him leaving so when he next hit the middle I just asked the first question on the card without choosing the worst. He got it. Now he was able to leave the house whistling as he’s taken all the glory. To be fair he deserved it but I’m not telling him that. He left at 9.25 pm and I thanked him for coming. I went back in and washed the pots, had a quick tidy up and locked Joey’s cage door. He’s been both active and vocal tonight. For a while I thought he was going to join us and roll the dice. I wished him goodnight, took my meds and came through.
Lots of work to get through tonight but I was still able to start the blog at 10.30 pm. No more ebay bids tonight so I will be in bed by about 11.30 pm. I don’t think I’ll leave the house tomorrow.
Thursday 15th.
I made my 11.30 pm deadline and enjoyed a good read for an hour before turning the light out. Let’s say I was soon asleep. As has become the norm recently I woke up again. It was 2.43 am. It felt like I’d slept enough and I was tempted to stay up. I did try to go back to sleep but it wasn’t working. Instead of opening the computer I had a cigarette to relax me and went through to my chair. Even if I couldn’t sleep, I could relax there, but I slept. I woke at 4.42 am and this time there was no going back. I was satisfied though as it was about the four hour mark which I’m used to. I just realised, I bypassed the loo to come and power up and log onto the computer. The first thing I found was a message from John ( half of MuJo) on skype. He’d made a remark recently about me becoming Muslim ( absolutely no offence meant to my Muslim friends) and I pointed out he must have misheard, I’d said muslin as I’m a material guy. Today I was met with an excerpt of the Madonna song. I was left with only one thing I could say. “That’s right” I said, “I’m moving soon to live at Abakhan (A discount fabric mill) to a fabric-ated building”. I hope that brings this one to a close.
By 5.50 am I was clear with talktalk and logged into gmail. Before starting work I had a stroll down towards the kitchen but this time made the detour I should have made earlier before taking a drink. Vastly relieved I took a pre-foodie and then took my morning meds. After a timing cigarette I had some cereal, took my two post-foodies, made myself a coffee and took it back to work. Gmail awaited me. There were five more than when I left and I counted myself lucky. It took me until 6.45 am before I was able to take my first break which consisted of playtime on ebay. I was most dis-chuffed when it suddenly disappeared and the system closed down. Yet another update from Microsoft that I’d have appreciated a warning about so I could delay it until the machine isn’t in use. Obviously I had to wait for the whole thing to finish before I could log back in and get back to where I was. When this happens it could close down just as I’m about to bid and cost me an item. I wouldn’t be amused. When I did re-open it, there was nothing immediate I wanted to bid on though I was rather taken with a blue top hat from Christies. I behaved. I returned to checking mail and blog comments until 8.30 am when a great squawking reminded me I hadn’t let someone out. I did so at the double and the sound stopped straight away. I went back to my room and got dressed, checked there was no urgent mail and went back through to change his food and water and chat to him. I had no intention of leaving the house today so could afford to spend some time with Joey.
At 9.00 am work pulled me back to my bedroom.There was plenty to keep me occupied until 10.00 am when Homes Under the Hammer was on. I was just walking hrought when the postman called with two parcels. One was a Christmas gift I’d been expecting but the other was a ring stick for measuring the size of a ring along with some metal size rings. Since neither of these included the UK sizes but were for the U.S./Canada, Russia and Europe, the first job I did when my programme was finished was to run off some comparison charts so I can convert to UK sizes. I stopped myself from checking all my own ring sizes and concentrated on clearing messages before lunchtime. I’m afraid I had a chips with curry sauce again today (and for once there was plenty of sauce with it). Joey and I watched Bargain Hunt together though to be fair it was more like me watching and him accompanying with constant chatter and interspersed squawks of indeterminate origins. To put it yet another way he was a noisy beggar. I was really prepared to return to work after that but Joey must have hypnotised me. Fortunately he clicked his beak at 2.05 pm and woke me. Hmmm. serving as my alarm clock now, and ruining my viewing, I wondered if it was possible for him to be possessed by Oscar,after all I keep calling him that by accident, but then I decided No, he’s just another awkward beggar like Oscar was.
I worked the afternoon until 4.30 pm when the Road Trip was on. I lost three items I bid for on ebay as the price surpassed what I thought they were worth. I watched my programmes until 6.30 pm then came back for a quick catch up but at 7.10 pm I skived again to watch a film. A text from Mike at 7.55 pm said he was on his way. That meant arrival about 10.00 pm. The film finished at 9.00 pm and I came back to work again but at 9.50 pm I went to put the kettle on and prepare his mug. He came in at 9.55 pm just as everything was ready so I was able to pour the drink straight away. He told me it’s been a very tiring week and his sleep pattern is up the wall but that his Dad is out of hospital and in the home again. He settled to relax with Law and Order so I didn’t get to hear whether anything in the home has changed and how his Dad feels about it. Maybe tomorrow night I ‘ll hear after he’s seen his Dad. I left him with the TV about 10.45 pm so I could come and do the blog. With luck I’ll be in bed before midnight and not too much mail missed.
Friday 16th.
It was after midnight before I made bed but only because I had to deal with my legs first. The new cream called Aveeno really is stopping much of the itching. When I did get in bed you could say I slid between the sheets. I read until about 1.00 am then turned my light off and tried to settle. It didn’t work so about half past I decided to try from my chair instead. So this was the first of 3 nights I’ll try the chair first as was suggested to me in a comment a few weeks ago. Last night it worked, I went to sleep quite soon. I was up again at 4.29 am, ready to face whatever the day, Mike or Joey have to throw at me. First things first, a visit to the Piddle Palace on my way through to the computer. Then sign in and log on to my talktalk account. A fair bit of mail but I was delighted to gain a new follower on the Buthidars who was kind enough to agree with one of my blogs. That’s always nice to read. At 6.00 am I took a break to take my meds and to prepare my drugs tray for the next week. I noticed one item that hadn’t come with my last prescription request when I found the empty bx in my drawer. I’m sure I checked I’d ordered the right number of things but maybe I’m mistaken. I’ll have to take another request up this morning when I go to Pauline’s for the lottery.
For a change I had some cereal for breakfast and once I’d finished and taken my tablets I took my coffee back to the bedroom. That was at 6.40 am. It took me until 7.05 am to clear the talktalk post and I was then able to open gmail. No too much there and I was clear by 7.40 am. I rewarded myself by checking ebay out until 8.00 am then before the fun got too much I went to open Joey’s cage. He didn’t flinch as I opened the door but as I backed away I was subjected to abuse again. Why do I bother? I went to get dressed so that I’d be ready to take my prescription and visit Pauline’s. The chemist wasn’t quite open when I got there so I spent a minute reading all the signs in the window. It’ll soon be time for the flu jab again. When they opened the doors it took all of 10 seconds to leave the request in their box. It’s marked as urgent but nothing will be back until Monday afternoon at the earliest. I walked down to Pauline’s and accidentally found a BFG looking very lonely which I rescued. I picked up cigarettes and the lottery of which I have great hopes, if not tonight then at least for the 12 million rollover tomorrow night. I’d prefer tonight’s and to leave tomorrow’s for some other lucky soul. I came back to the house to find Mike had got up though there he was perched on the edge of his chair fast asleep and never fulfilling his promise of dropping off. I’d asked him last night whether he wanted waking up or would he prefer to get up naturally. He said “Naturally please.”I was surprised as he has an appointment in Manchester at 11.30 am. He was cutting it very fine when he finally left about 10.10 am. I had no idea what time I’d see him again.
I watched and enjoyed Homes under the Hammer and today the postie dropped off the leather jacket I bought for Reuben. It looks good and should be great with jeans for him. I returned to work at 11.00 am and sat considering whether to make a bid on something I was watching on ebay. I wasn’t convinced it would fit. But, I kept my options open and watched it in between answering messages. At time minus 10 seconds I decided to try and put a bid in £6 over the nearest bid but I lost it by £1 by someone who’d also thought ahead, only further ahead than me. I really didn’t mind. The stamping of my feet as I walked to the kitchen at midday to get lunch had nothing to do with losing. I put my food in the micro and then because I’d had my phone on charge overnight, though I’d better check it. There was a message that had come in less than 10 minutes ago from my dear friend Lis who wanted to know if I was in. I was, and texted her back to say so. I had to leave my lunch in abeyance when she arrived a few minutes later. My pre-food tablet would just have to be patient waiting for food to join it. I made her a coffee and we sat chatting about how busy she’s been with her daughter Charlie having bought a new house. What a surprise for us both when she mentioned Charlie walking to Ystrad Mynach to take the train and me reminding her that’s where my father was born. Charlie’s house is very close to where he was brought up.
When Lis left about 1.00 pm I had my now cool lunch but decided to leave the BFG till teatime. I couldn’t watch my Bargain Hunt as it was over so I went straight back to playing catch up with the mail. I stopped at 3.00 pm to see Escape to the Country. I really stopped, I missed Escape and I missed the programme that followed when I should have been working and woke up at 4.20 pm just before my Road Trip started. That meant I had to give up my two quizzes in order to catch up again. Since I wanted to take a shower at 7.00 pm I changed my bed and put new pillows on as well as getting fresh clothes out to wear afterwards. Joey had a ball telling me off for the lack of attention this afternoon. When I came out of the shower all squeaky clean and shiny I checked my phone. Mike had sent a text to say he was on the way so he should be there by 8.15 pm. I watched Question of Sport then during the small break I put stuff in Mike’s mug ans turned the kettle on. I settled to watch Mastermind and sure enough in he walked at 8.15 pm. He had to make his own coffee as I wasn’t moving from the TV. Mike’s Dad is back from the hospital and in the home and it seems like he’s resigned himself to staying there. That would be good news for Mike as he’d know there was a care team in place all the time. We watched Have I Got News For You before I asked him to find a programme I’d missed on Wednesday. The DIY SOS Big Build where they’ve taken a whole street in Manchester and are converting it into homes and training facilities for ex-servicemen suffering with PTSD. It was a mammoth task which is over two programmes so no doubt next Friday I’ll catch up with the last one. The two Princes , William and Harry were there to give a hand and droves of people gave up their time and pay to help. It was an amazing programme and it’s good to see someone taking the plight of these heroes seriously.
At 10.30 pm I shut Joey’s cage door, went into the kitchen to take my meds then said goodnight to them both as I came through to tackle the blog. It was touch and go on time but I will be in bed for midnight.
Saturday 17th.
Quite simply I lied. I mean I could have been in bed for midnight but I wasn’t. I was sitting on the edge of the bed preparing to do my legs while AVG was doing scan of the computer. Mike came through to say goodnight and offered to do my legs for me. Since this is a real treat I accepted almost before he’d finished offering. I didn’t have to bend into awkward positions now. And while my legs were being done, AVG encountered some threats which we both got interested in and I had to hop over and tell it to counter the threat and wipe it from the system. This happened 3 times. Anyhoo, it was nearer 1.00 am before I got to bed and I still needed a little read. It was 4.41 am before I woke and I was at least still in my bed though the intention originally had been to make this the second of 3 nights on my chair. I’ll have to start again. No dreams, no nightmares just wonderful sleep, but that’s what last night was. Does that mean I should go to bed later?
Before I forget, I won’t be blogging fully next week. I’m taking a week off. I’ll be around during the evenings and fully intend to carry on posting a piece of music every day and will no doubt keep you up to date with games night. But unless there’s any blisteringly important news I’ll give your poor eyes a rest.
I paid a visit to the loo then came back and logged on. Talktalk mail was the first to be hit and I managed to clear what little there was by 5.30 am. Gmail next, but I had to take a break at 5.00 am to get breakfast and take my meds. As usual I brought my coffee back with me and I intended to finish the gmail as soon as possible but a new message was emblazoned across my screen to say AVG had found two more threats which became three before I had chance to move. I actioned them in turn. I wasn’t sure what one was but the other two were both adware threats. AVG seems to be very efficient so far. The threats dealt with, I carried on. There was more mail in talktalk which I cleared then back to gmail again to finish. It took until exactly 6.30 am. At 6.30 am of course I heard the first alarm from the other bedroom. I went to the kitchen and reboiled the kettle and made a coffee. I took it through and was grunted at when I announced it was there. I came back to my room to pick off anything new that had come in. The alarm went off a second time. I went through to take a look and it had made him turn over. I decided in view of the lateness to bed last night, I’d spare him further calls so at that point the scores were 1C– 2A. I had a few more pieces of mail in my inboxes so I was happy enough clearing those. By 6.50 am I was temporarily clear again so I took the opportunity to get dressed. I realised then that something was missing….. no more alarms. Mike must have turned it ff at the last ring. I gave him another call just to remind him coffee was there and if he didn’t bother then fine. But he did bother, he swung himself out of bed and went through to the lounge. OK, the minute he got to his chair he fell asleep again but he’d tried. Final Score 2C– 2A.
Eventually he found the strength to raise himself and get ready so we weren’t too late leaving. We got to the supermarket about 7.50 am. Ipicked up cash while Mike got the trolley and we went into battle. Amazingly there was a clothes sale on and I didn’t buy a thing. That didn’t stop me filling the trolley with lots of other non-food items though. ( mainly sweets….but before you shout at me, as gifts, not for myself). Truth was, little actual food went in the basket other than bread and I still spent over £5o.00. We went for coffee before moving off on the next leg. I wanted to buy a bottle of champagne and the reputation of the one I had in mind was good. We got that and set off again, this time heading to park at Temptations. We had a look round a few of the shops there and then went for coffee taking a box of chocs for the staff. When I saw them open the cupboard it looked as though they’re mounting up so I suggested they start taking them home. Kyle chose his, the chocolates we’d taken in this morning. Coming out of there led to some discussion as to what we’d be better doing next. All kinds of ideas were mooted but I’m quite sure they wouldn’t let us in half of them. We’d actually seen a special kind of bulb that works like a disco light which I know John (MuJo) wants which requires a converter from screw (Edison) to bayonet fitting. It seemed highly likely we’d get one at a specialist lighting shop in Holywell so we headed there. Luck wasn’t with us. We hit the chippy for lunch. Not Mike’s favourite place but we were next door at the time. Once we came out of there I tried to find my Christmas cards from the local area. I struck out again. They should be in during the next two weeks. This trip wasn’t turning out to be out most successful. We came home.I found a letter from the DWP to tell me they’ve finally repaid the £55 they owe me. Not bad from June is it?
By the time we’d unpacked the bags from the car and put away the shopping it was still only 2.00 pm. Mike concentrated on watching his beloved Man U playing a match wile I came through to work on my post. I worked until 5.35 pm and still hadn’t quite finished, but it was time for our Saturday evening quiz. It must have been a very long one because I stayed in the lounge with Mike until 9.55 pm at which time I came through to stay. I could only afford half an hour to work on the post which wasn’t very much considering I’d done a reblog today. But I daren’t take too long away from doing the blog ready for it’s midnight posting.
I wish you all a wonderful week full of Hugs and dreams come true.
Sunday 4th October.
I made it to bed by midnight though it meant typing with one hand while undressing (and redressing) with the other. I did have a short read and my light went out about 12.30 am. I think sleep came quickly but so did dreams. They were unpleasant and woke me in a sweat at 1.20 am. I had a cigarette and went to my chair in the lounge to try and nod off again there. Next thing I know it’s 7.44 am and I’ve just had my longest sleep for months. Maybe I should dream more often.
As I was already by the kitchen I went to take my morning meds and make a coffee to bring back to my room where I could start work. Power up, log on and into battle. Plenty of mail being a Sunday morning and as I worked I realised just how many of my friends are still missing comments as I’m not getting their posts. I don’t know how to fix it.
I was working when I heard movement . It was 9.30 am and Mike had just got up. I nipped through to make him a coffee and ask for an extra ten minutes indulgence while I just completed a few more messages. I went through when I was clear and he suggested I have very stretchy time periods in Wales as it was now 10.20 am. I bulliedtempted Joey out of his cage so I could see to new millet and change his seed and water. I wish I’d got him back in the cage so I could clean the mirror. I went through to get dressed. Mike did the same and kindly stripped his bed for me and put the bedding by the washing machine. I thought it was a bit much that he didn’t carry on and actually do the washing but it seems I expect too much. We left the house at 11.15 am and headed off for Prestatyn. We were there about 11.40 am and as we parked up saw Karen not too far away. Mike beeped the car horn and she turned round. Out of all the tens of people in that area, how did she know it was her we meant? Anyway, she explained Jo wasn’t coming as she has fleas………..or more to the point her cats currently do. She’s in the middle of a big clean up operation. Karen walked off ahead of us so we had chance to get out of the car and bring in the prezzies for the youngest kids. When we were catching up with Karen we could see she was talking to someone over a low fence by the playground of the carvery. I was delighted to see Dil and his wife Lynne were there as were two of their children. Matt and Jess plus Jess’s partner Paul and her son Rylan whom I’m sure I last saw on the maternity ward. He’s 3 now. Just a few minutes later Yvonne, Ugo and Reuben arrived. Yvonne looks quite large now, it must be uncomfortable in today’s heat. It was hugs all round.
We went inside and I saw my brother had been crafty and already got drinks and ordered meals for them all. That meant he avoided an argument with me when I wanted to pay. Luckily I was able to bully everyone else to list the meal and drink they wanted including Dil’s oldest son Lee, his wife Jen and their baby Nathan. OK ,Nathan didn’t exactly list anything but the offer was there. I went up with Mike to place the order and we felt redundant when the staff offered to bring the drinks over and deliver the non carvery meals when they were ready. Mike and I thought if we got our carvery’s now, we could taunt those who had to wait. It was a very long and very pleasant mealtime and I was able to persuade 4 people ton have a pudding afterwards, granted in the case of the 3 year old and ice cream not a lot of persuasion was needed. Finally at about 2.45 am we all had to bid each other farewell though Yvonne came to the £ shop to pick up a drink and a trolley full of other stuff. She had a bottle of Lipton’s lemon tea, I had a cold Pepsi Max.
Mike brought me home and I expected him to leave straight away to visit his Dad but before he left he insisted on helping me make his bed ready for my visitors. Soon enough he was on his way leaving Joey and myself alone for the evening. I worked hard until 6.10 pm when I was pretty clear and decided to go and have some tea.I watched nearly two hours of Come Dine With Me and suffered badly especially because the contestants were Welsh and two let the side down badly. I was then fascinated until 9.00 pm by a programme about the tomb of Cleopatra. A South American lawyer and amateur archeologist has a theory about where the tomb might be. And despite excavations having taken place in the same area in the past for different reasons the area has been written off as unimportant. This girl is a genius as the longer she’s there, the more possible her theory becomes though when first given permission to dig the archeological community and the Egyptian authorities are skeptical to say the least. I believe 2015 was about her tenth year, dring that time she found a stone very like the Rosetta stone but which predated it by at least two years and she’d recently found a new and very deep passage.The problem was, the programme came to an end with the end of this digging season and I have to hope that her progress continues to be filmed next year, and that there’s still something to be found. After all her hard work I wouldn’t like someone else to take over from her for the sake of a major discovery.
At 9.00 pm Joey had already gone to bed. I tried an Adam Sandler film against my better judgement, That’s My Boy. I didn’t even last ten minutes this time. Ben Stiller is another one that leaves me cold but there’s no accounting for taste. I could happily watch Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy films all day long though. I turned to work for solace and then to the blog.
Cousinly Love. Reuben and Nathan.
Monday 5th.
I was in bed before midnight again and despite my long sleep of last night I was still tired. It must be because there was no power nap. I read till 12.30 am and turned the light out. I was up at 3.46 am and felt great. Rested with no disturbances. I beetled to the bathroom and then came back to power up and log on. By 5.50 am I was up to date with my mail in both accounts and with the comments on my blog. Keeping pace from this point should be easy so I went to take my meds and have an early breakfast. After breakfast I put the washing on then brought my coffee back to the bedroom. Talktalk had logged me out (naturally) and when I signed in said it couldn’t connect to the right server and to check my account settings. Ridiculous since I’ve already been in there once this morning and if I don’t have an account how can I sign in? I just took a deep breath and carried on with my gmail instead. It wasn’t long before an email had me scuttling to ebay though. Yvonne had found a sheepskin muff that attaches to the handle of a pushchair or pram to make sure hands don’t get cold.
I took a break to see to Joey then worked until 9.45 am, took a birthday card to my neighbour Dorothy then settled to watch Homes Under the Hammer.Darren came and brought my latest parcel and thinks he’ll be bored over Christmas with no deliveries here. It was just before the end that the knock on the door came and there was the lovely Val, my warden. She came in to say hello to Joey and find out how things are with me. It’s only while chatting to her I realised I was actually shaking. I was obviously not in a people kind of mood this morning. Once she’d gone I went back tot he computer to deal with the mail, looked on ebay for stocking gifts then finally went to empty the drier and put the stuff on the airer. Time for lunch before Bargain Hunt starts. Beef in ale with mashed potatoes. I’d be surprised if the alcohol didn’t send me to sleep. Well it did, but during the programme and not afterwards, though I was awake for the final auction so it can’t have been for more than about 5 minutes. I did quite fancy another little sleep but I fought the urge and came back through to check the mail. There was quite a bit including one from my daughter three times. I’m not sure whether she thinks I have a memory retention problem. My response was the same each time anyway, I am buying you a bl**dy coat for Christmas !! Her Christmas suggestions are about £5 a go as though I’d let her get away with that.
After working I couldn’t help but do another trawl on ebay where I ordered the pram muff Yvonne had pointed out. I ordered a couple of other things at the same time.As far as I can gauge I need Yvonne’s coat and one more major prezzie before having just stocking presents to get. I shall have to keep an eye on finances now but at least I’m not under pressure. I suppose the worst part of this is that I still have 11 weeks left to buy more things as I see them and poor Santa will get backache delivering them. Maybe I should start a Santa franchise and deliver them myself. I refuse to buy a sleigh though just in case it doesn’t snow. Maybe I can persuade Mike to get an all-terrain vehicle. I went through to the lounge at 4.30 pm to watch The Antiques Road Trip and to have some tea. Since I’d already had my pre-foodie tabs for the day I had two crumpets with jam (jelly for my friends in America) on. I might have followed up with a few jaffa cakes. I returned to the messages at 6.30 pm after Eggheads which had a surprise ending today when just two people beat 4 Eggheads to win £12,000. It was unexpected because they’d lost three of their team and I think they were all over 70.
At 8.00 pm I watched a programme where they were trying to find the site of an ancient battle in Gotland near Sweden and prove or disprove it had taken place. It seemed the battle had taken place where the Danish army attacked and slaughtered the villagers in order to win a wealth castle for trading purposes. At 9.00 am I watched a fascinating programme about the Celts. It seems that maybe we didn’t come from Central Europe to Scotland , Ireland, England and Wales after all. The new scenario is that we may have come from the Phoenecians trading and perhaps adapted culture from their goods. Then it looks like Middle Europe may have become Celtic from Britain as it seems early grave goods there were based on a leaf blade design from here. It also seems that the Roman’s portrayal of the Celts as savages was just propaganda and that we had an ordered society with sophisticated tastes. The Celts sacked and burned Rome when a chief was killed by a Roman ‘Diplomat’ and the Romans wouldn’t hand him over for punishment. I loved a side story that the Romans paid a vast weight of gold to rid themselves of the Celts in some kind of peace but that the Celtic leader used fake wights to up the ante.
Tonight’s music is a request from my friend Suzanne at apuginthekitchen.
Tuesday 6th.
Light’s out 12.50 am. Suddenly awake 1.35 am. In chair at 1.45 ac (after ciggie) and slept till 6.44 am. That settles it, I sleep better when I’m upright. I really must give up drinking!(joke). Joey is amazingly well behaved. He doesn’t utter a peep during the time it’s dark and I never have to cover him up. No unwanted alarm calls from him. So much better than the four legged pet that used to own the place. Not that I’m getting the idea I’m in charge here, just that there’s someone like Mike who could sleep for Britain should it ever become an Olympic event. As I was already close to the kitchen I went to take my meds and make a coffee . I happened to glance at the calendar while I was waiting for the machine to finish and realised I’d taken Dorothy’s card a week early. I must hold back on one for another neighbour I was going to post on Thursday as she’s three days after Dorothy. It seems I’ve woken up in a bit of a low mood this morning. I’m going to Pauline’s to restock my cigarettes this morning ( and other things but I thought I’d mention that one) I have no idea what to say if she asks how Kelly is working out as my cleaner. She’s known both of them and is going to find it a bit strange that both have just walked with no explanation. Will she believe I’ve done or said nothing to cause it?
Taking my coffee through to the bedroom I logged on and started on my mail. I worked until 8.45 am when I got dressed and went to Pauline’s. She asked me about Kelly and all I could say is that I liked her but I haven’t seen/heard from her since she left on Thursday. She thinks it strange that Kelly should leave without a word too. I’d love to be there when she sees Kelly and asks why, maybe it would answer my query as to what I’m doing wrong. Back at home again I put my shopping away then scrubbed the bars in Joey’s cage and changed the sandpaper at the bottom. Then I had to sweep the carpet and floor below his cage to make the place look respectable. As soon as he moved back to the cage I cleaned the mirror above, where he likes to park his bum. After that he went and sat on the mirror again and seemed hell bent on making it s dirty as before. I reckon it’s all to do with the budgie on the other side teasing him. Once I’d finished there I left him in peace for a minute and went to answer the door to Darren. Two more parcels today, I had to open them to see what they were so I could leave feedback later. I’d tell you what came but it’s a secret.
At lunchtime I couldn’t be bothered and just stuck chips and curry sauce in. I didn’t really want it but had to eat to take the diabetic controls. I watched Bargain Hunt but since the one ‘expert’ I really can’t stand was on didn’t pay close attention. Joey was quite entertainment enough fitting himself through the hoop of one of his toys, then battering his little mirror as though announcing the end of his race. Talking of mirrors, the main one above the cage upon which he rests his posterior is as bad as before I cleaned it thanks to is beak battles with his mirror image. At 1.00 pm I struggled back to the bedroom instead of taking my nap. I started to catch up on all the messages I’ve neglected today. I need to shake this current mood off and do some work. I stayed until 3.00 pm then escaped to Escape to the Country where someone was looking for a property £900-950,000 in West Sussex.Some beautiful places there and it seems the best weather in the UK which title I always thought belonged to Cornwall. The show didn’t manage a success today. Back to work from 3.45 pm to 4.30 pm at which time I decamped for my Antiques Road Trip, and quiz, and quiz then work and film and search for the Holy Grail all of which brought me to 10.00 pm and my final goodnights to the faithful (choke) budgie. I started the blog first and will move to the mail afterwards time permitting which it will of course.
Nathan my great nephew Lee, my lovely nephew and Jen his lovely wife.
Last night’s request reminded me just how much I loved the fantastic Simon and Garfulnkel. This is for you Suzanne for the reminder. Thank you.
Wednesday 7th.
Lights out 12.25 am lights on 2.42 am. The loo, the kitchen for a cold refill and then a cigarette before trying my chair again. I woke at 5.42 am. I’m no accountant but I reckon that’s getting on towards the five hour mark. Result! Maybe I should use the bedroom as just the office and stick to my chair at night. Mind you, if I woke up in my chair middle of the night, I wonder if I’d have to try my bed next? Joey as usual didn’t utter a sound which was very considerate unless he’s such a heavy sleeper he didn’t notice.
So, at 5.42 am when I got up I wandered trough to the kitchen and took a pre-foodie followed by the rest of my morning meds. I put some bread in the toaster, had a cigarette timer then enjoyed creating a series of mini-Alps in butter on each slice before eating it. I took a coffee through to my room and then went to wash off the excess butter from my moustache for when I kissed Muriel today. Yes, today was a MuJo visit as well as games day so I’m sure you all felt my panic as the post increased and I wasn’t able to touch it. Telling myself not to worry, there’s always tomorrow doesn’t seem to work. Tomorrow brings it’s own post. I kept things up to date as much as possible until MuJo arrived but had to break to let Joey out and replenish his food and water supplies. I also had to clean the floor area around the cage again and did so by crawling around on my hands and knees with a dustpan and brush rather than use the hoover and upset Joey. I did a little dusting too. I found the time at some point to get dressed as well. Darren knocked on the door about 10.15 am with two more parcels for me. One in particular I was very pleased to get. I’d just turned Homes Under the Hammer on so was trying to watch, listen to Joey and open the parcels at the same time.One house was massive and had last been used as a day nursery. It hadn’t been left very tidy but at least no heavy structural work needed. I think it was a couple of friends bought it but I couldn’t hear too well over Joey’s argument with his reflection again. Anyway, they turned it into a superb 5 bedroom house very much in an Edwardian style but with modern fixtures. As we were getting to the point where they get valuations from two estate agents to see if there is a profit to be made, MuJo knocked at the door and came in. I had to go and see to drinks.
I dragged my feet a bit when Muriel asked if I was ready to go and eat. It was too early for me at 11.00 am So I managed to make us leave at 11.20 am instead. We were still entering the chippy at 11.45 am even after having gone round a couple of charity shops. We had a nice meal though I’m concerned that Mu isn’t eating enough at the moment. After lunch we took a walk round another shop then walked up to the new Homies. It’s quite a hill and obviously had an adverse effect on John as he had to leave to sit in the car. We went with him. By the time we reached Flint John was feeling better. Muriel and I went round the ALDI supermarket where I bought some bread and found some chocolates for the girls in Temptations. That’s where we went next and Muriel passed them over to Sian as she ordered drinks. We did a couple more shops afterwards before John felt the need to sit down again. I bought Christmas gift wrap?? We arrived home at 3.45 pm and Muriel asked if it was Dil’s car parked outside. “Never” I said, “far too early” . But of course it was. He’d been working locally and it wasn’t worth him travelling all the way back to work only to come back here again. MuJo said their goodbyes and left with my thanks ringing in their ears. Dil and I were able to sit and chat about how nice Sunday had been and how his grandson, my great nephew Nathan is growing. We watched part of a programme about swapping homes for a break then the Antiques Road Tip and finally our Quiz.
The moment I clicked the TV off Dil put the card table up and I got the Yahtzee out. It was a very tense, give and take session for the first 6 games and ended 3 all so Dil said there was no need to destroy the papers. He got fresh papers out as we can’t play that game and end up even. More nip and tuck, Dil won one then I did, then I did then Dil did then it was me again The last one should have been Dil’s and he started well but it’s all about finishing and I’m sure they heard his howl of dismay in Flint as I pulled the bird from the hat to win 7-5 overall. I was feeling guilty then. Out came the Trivial Pursuit and I started well getting 3 segments in quick succession including the hated sports category. But he soon caught up. I did manage to be the first to get all six segments but he was giving nothing away.As Dil finally got his last segment we were both heading for the middle and the deciding question. Time was getting on and I’d failed to answer his choice about 3 times so had to go out and come back in again. He finally made it to the middle and I just asked the first question on the card. No hesitation he gave me the right answer and could go home a winner. After he left I tidied up and washed the posts before wishing Joey a good night, taking my meds and coming through to start work.124 messages, and still nothing like I’m used to getting when WordPress notify me of posts by my friends. It still took me until 11.24 pm to get clear and be able to start the blog. It’s a late night tonight so I’m hoping for some unbroken sleep.
Thursday 8th.
It was a late night work wise but because I didn’t read my light still went off around the usual time at 12.50 am. I also got my wish of some unbroken sleep as I was up at 4.16 am. Still in my bed too. Once I’d done my trip to the loo I knew I was fully awake and not ready to go back to sleep. Before dealing with mail I powered up the computer and headed for my bank account just in case the DWP (Dept of Works and Pensions) had performed a miracle. They hadn’t. I logged on to talktalk first to deal with the mail, and then at 5.30 am onto my gmail account for a catch up there. At 6.15 am I was able to go and have breakfast and take all my meds having temporarily got up to date. After eating I filled up some small pop bottles from larger ones as I keep the small ones beside my chair, beside my bed and beside the computer. Plus decanting it into smaller bottles releases some of the fizz so it’s more or less flat when I come to drink it and I don’t sound like the bullfrog chorus. At 7.15 am I went to sit in the lounge waiting for it to be light enough to open Joey’s cage door. The earlier I do it the less of a roasting I get. Naturally having just eaten I nodded off before I opened the cage. I woke at 8.05 am mid-bollocking. He was not a happy bunniebudgie. I did his food and water but he wouldn’t exit the cage so I could replace the millet spray. I’ll have to catch him later.
I dressed and did a catch up on the mail till 9.00 am when I went to Pauline’s to renew the lottery. I was a little worried as she said she hasn’t seen Kelly (cleaner) which for her is unusual as she’s usually in 3-4 times a week.(Oddly enough Kelly does work in a very similar shop directly opposite Pauline’s called the One Stop that I occasionally drift in to. I also bought the local rag this morning to see if they have any adverts for cleaners. There were none I could see. I was trying to watch Homes Under the Hammer and double check the paper when my postie came with two more parcels. One was actually a free razor from Wilkinson to try. I think it may have to wait till Spring now. The other parcel was more of a puzzle in that it contained what I’d ordered (baby related) but also contained a free gift because I’d ordered two of the original item. But, no-one told me what the free gift was. It’s certainly not the fingerless gloves their packing note seems to indicate. I think it could either be seat padding for a car seat or perhaps for a high chair. At least that’s what I’m going to tell Yvonne and just hope she doesn’t come back and call me an idiot because it is fingerless gloves after all. The main gifts are quite clever. An attachment to a pram or pushchair handle that allow the pusher to tuck their hands into a sheepskin lined interior for warm fingers. Of no benefit to the pushee though.
After my programme, paper checking and parcel probing I returned to work and the little pile-up of messages accumulated in my absence. Now there’s a thing, why is there always a pile waiting when I go away, but very little when I actually sit here? I think there’s a little gremlin inside my desk top that holds back armfuls of mail until I leave the computer. The moment I do, it’s all released to wait for my return. At 11.50 am I dropped it all in favour of lunch. I put some Irish sausages under the grill while I quickly peeled some sweet potatoes and an onion which I then put in the microwave for 7 minutes. I kept the sausages turning and once the 7 minutes were up I put some beans in the micro, removed the onion and put it on my plate then drained and mashed the sweet potatoes with some butter.They joined the onion and I added four of the sausages. While the beans finished I mixed a small amount of onion gravy. I added the beans and purse the gravy over the sausages and the mash. It was a feast and if you’re hungry now I’m sorry. I watched bargain hunt and managed to wash up before the teams went to auction. What an unmitigated disaster. None of the items chosen made a profit and the only reason one team took some money home (£27) was because one expert made a huge profit of £120. That gives you the scale of the losses. Once Bargain Hunt was over I made a move. I wriggled my bum into a softer spot and nodded off for almost an hour. At 1.50 pm though I suppose conscience got the better of me (chortle) and I returned to work. Fair play, there was work waiting to be done and I needed to get down to it. I spent until 4.30 pm and the start of The Antiques Road Trip catching up and trying to remember what the heck I wanted to do an ebay search for, that I’d thought of either last night or early this morning. I should carry a pad and pen with me all the time as I’m getting very forgetful. Maybe I was going to look up a pad and pen? I enjoyed the Road Trip and the quiz that followed. I also enjoyed Eggheads before nipping through to see if I could catch up before 7.00 pm when I noticed a film I fancied. I couldn’t catch up fully but I did make a huge dent in it for later on.With Mike due (I think) there was no telling when I would get back to it of course. The message from Mike came at just after 8.00 pm and said he was on his way. That meant an arrival somwhere about 10.00 pm. I watched the film ttill 9.50 pm, ran into my room to do a couple of random messages then went back to catch WDYTYA (Who Do You Think You Are) until 10.00 pm which also gave me time for some supper and to tame my meds. Mike arrived almost on time and wasn’t very happy as he’s had a week rushing back and forth to Manchester to his father. He didn’t know my visitors hadn’t come or he’d have stayed here.
His dad is back in hospital again for various reasons and Mike, never the most patient of people finds himself getting annoyed at having to fill out questionnaires for admission to hospital when he was there so recently. He’s fed up of answering questions that he feels should be a computer click away. He was even more vexed to be asked to sign for an MRI scan when his father has had two so recently. They shouldn’t be asking if he has dementia in the hospital where the dementia was diagnosed just a couple of weeks ago. When he saw him late yesterday he’d just been transferred from A & E to a ward. Mike had gone up with him and waited in a side room as asked and been forgotten about so that when he came out to see if his Dad was ready, no-one knew he was there. We’re very lucky a large mushroom cloud didn’t appear over Manchester last night. From what he says,his Dad may be returning to the nursing home tomorrow. Watch this space.
Sunshine in the Park.
Friday 9th.
My skiving last night made it a late one. After doing the blog I didn’t get to bed until 12.35 am and after a short read my light went out at 1.15 am. It was fantastic to have a disturbance free night and not to wake up until 5.17 am. After skipping to the loo, hey ho, I came back and logged into my talktalk mail. There was no way I could finish it because at 5.45 am I went to go and deal with taking my morning meds and doing my supplies for the next week. It also mean preparing a prescription request ready to take in on Monday for another 4 week supply on the half of the drugs I run out of before next Friday. So far I’ve never been able to get all the dates to coincide on the one prescription but at least I’ve got it that I apply for a different half every two weeks . I also decided to have breakfast so part way through filling my drug tray I took a pre-foodie and stuck a piece of bread in the toaster.
It was almost 6.30 am when I left the kitchen.Still too dark and too early to open Joey’s cage. Even replacing my drug draw in the cabinet near him didn’t seem to disturb him and my presence didn’t bother him either. In the light he’d have been trying to hide behind his mirror if I got that close. Strange, you’d have thought he’d have been more alert to possible danger in the dark. So, I took my coffee back to my room after taking my two post-foodie tabs. I carried on with my talktalk mail and at 7.20 am when that was clear, changed to my gmail account. That was temporarily empty at 8.05 am. I took my empty coffee cup back to the kitchen and then opened Joey’s cage door. If I was expecting a grand entrance from him I was to be disappointed. He sat on his perch un-moving and ignoring the open door. I turned the TV on as it was too early to wake Mike and my interaction with Joey was zilch. I couldn’t turn up the volume while Mike was asleep but oddly enough Joey’s volume control worked on the up and seemed to stick. It’s just as well I wasn’t really watching what was on. Eventually he came out, flew one circuit of the room and landed on the mirror. What a row he had with his opponent. It gets so bad I’m sure he doesn’t like him. I’ve no idea why he keeps going back.
I’d no idea what Mike’s plans are today regards timing so I took a coffee through at 9.00 am and woke him. Then I went back to work on my mail. A knock at the door 9.20 am and there was Darren with another package. This time a remote control light bulb that changes colours to suit moods. I know the one I bought MuJo brings a lot of pleasure.I’m afraid quite a few of us males are gadget mad. Mike got up while I was opening my package in the bedroom. I put that away and left feedback then went to warn Mike to ignore any strange noises in the next few minutes s I cam through and jumped on the bag containing all my plastic bottle waste. I needed more room having not put it out last weekend. I finished off the last couple of pieces om mail then went through to the lounge. Frasier was on and Joey was still trying to talk over it. I tolerated the noise until Homes Under the Hammer came on then I started tapping my knee. It distracted him and the movement kept him quiet without it creating any noise of it ‘s own. The times I forgot to do it he started again. As the programme finished I said I was coming through to get dressed (at10.00 am !!) and left the room. Mike decided to do the same and called after me to see whether I wanted the TV off. I answered “Yes please”. Perhaps that shut Joey up having no competition. Once dressed I concentrated hard on work. Mike came through to say goodbye as he trotted off to see his Dad. I worked until 11.55 am then gave thought to going to the chippie for lunch. Instead I had one of the chips and curry sauce packs I get from Pauline’s followed by the last of the rhubarb and strawberry tart from ALDI. I just hope Mike doesn’t want it tonight.
I washed up during a lull in Bargain Hunt which was quite handy as had I left it there’s a chance the tray would have slid off my knee the minute I fell asleep which was the moment Bargain Hunt ended. The noise would no doubt of woken me and I’d have been even more grumpy old man than usual. The sleep lasted until 1.35 pm and was invigorating. I was ready then to come back to work until 3.00 pm when I had a small break and until 4.30 pm when I knocked off for my usual programmes. Once the Antiques Road Trip was over I kind of lost interest and took to inspecting the inside of my eyelids intermittently. At 6.15 pm I came through to catch up on emails. I showered at 7.00 pm so I’d be in time for Would I Lie To You. I made it in time for the programme and just a few minutes into it Mike sent a message to say he was on his way. I also saw Mastermind and considered going back to work but just after I’d put the kettle on and done Mike’s mug in he walked. I listened to the latest part of his saga with some disbelief. His Dad is still in hospital because the home he was in has had an almost total change of staff- from the top down- in the few days he’s been away. They insist on reassessing his needs before allowing him back. The new assessment is on Monday.If all is well he can move back to the home and complete his respite/convalescence/holiday whichever it’s necessary to tell him at the time. And just to prove me wrong about saying how antisocial he is, Mike saw him eating with the other residents last Sunday. It’s now a case of seeing whether he adjusts to the thought of full time care or is unhappy if he can’t leave when the holiday is up.
I put the England match on for Mike at 9.30 pm and came through to work. It took some time to deal with the mail and some time to show Mike the contents on an online magazine that fascinate me ( No madam, it’s NOT that kind of magazine at all). Finally I was able to get at the blog and I’ll still be in bed for midnight.
Gruffalo love
Count the fingers Gruffalo.
Saturday 10th.
I made the midnight deadline with minutes to spare. I was tired, and though reading a book I really didn’t want to put down ( The Right Wrong Man by Pamela S. Wight) I had to force myself to read two short chapters and turn the light off at 12.25 am. Waking up was at 2.17 am and it dawned on me dawn was along time off. I knew I was still tired and decided to try my chair in the lounge. Bingo, I fell asleep again until 4.46 am, a much better time. Too early to start putting the rubbish out maybe but just right for getting up to date on the mail. So, after the obligatory diversion to the loo I reached the bedroom to power up and log on. A slightly silly post I’d done on the Buthidars blog had received a few likes but attracted no comments thus far. Maybe I sounded too serious which beneath the joke I suspect I was.
Once the talktalk lot were out of the way I opened the gmail and started on those. By 5.50 I was clear on both and able to go have some breakfast and take my meds. Somehow I also remembered to refill my outside pill container in case I ate out. An improvement on Wednesday when I forgot it altogether but still filled my face with sausage and chips. As soon as I’d finished eating I emptied the food waste bin and put a new bag in and took the contents outside to the bin for collection later. Then I did the main bin , remembering to empty the bathroom and bedroom bin into it before taking it out. Now it’s just a case of remembering to take the paper waste and plastic waste out when we go. The glass and the tins can wait another week or so. As I came back in it was time to put the kettle on for Mike’s drink. When I took it through and woke him it was about a minute before his first alarm went off so I hoped the combination of the two together would have worked. Not a chance. I determined not to go and remind him about the coffee until I’d finished work on the emails but I heard the alarm go off twice more before he moved. Today’s score. Calls1-Alarms3, Winner-Mike.
Despite the late start we were still out for 7.30 am and shopping by 8.30 am. There were a few little extras I needed today but even so I knew there would be tears before bedtime when I found how much I’d spent. Mike was delighted of course and told the lady on the till it put me nearer the heart attack than before,Yay. I have no idea at all why I bought him a coffee. We packed the car and headed towards Flint making a slight detour to a shop called Charlie’s to get ideas for gifts and just to generally see what was around. After we’d been there we continued on to Flint. We went straight for our coffee and his teasted toecake and waited till we’d come out of there to go round the shops. Naturally I forgot I needed pillows at Asda, Charlie’s and all the Flint shops despite having it written on my list. As the morning drew on we decided to headed to the Dragon’s Rest for lunch and then go to The Tweed Mill. The food in the Dragon’s Rest was good and in my case very welcome not least because somehow bacon had made it to the plate. It enabled me to have my second set of foodie tablets anyway. The Tweed Mill was full of so many things I’d like in country clothing and full of excellent gift ideas too. We had a coffee before Mike tried on some shoes. He has a problem in that he has small feet for a man. Today he managed to find a men’s size 6 to try but it rattled about on his foot. That left me with a sinking feeling which needs explanation. I wanted to get him something nice for his birthday and chose some shoes I was sure he’d like. I took a chance on a man’s size 6 which is a 40 rather than the continental size 6 which is a 39 (also a ladies size 6). After the performance today I thought the shoes I’d bought would be too big. So when we came home I knew I didn’t want to disappoint him on his birthday, I got them out for him to try. At least if they were too big I could find an alternative. As luck would have it, I’d chosen a winklepicker toe and with a little insole he said they were fine. I was prepared to let him have them now but he insisted I take then back and he’ll try to forget about them for November.
We’d obviously put the shopping away before I passed the shoes over. Once they were away again I was able to work from 3.30 pm to 5.30 pm on some of the mail. I joined Mike in the lounge, technically I suppose I joined Joey as Mike was asleep. The minute he heard the start of the quiz he usually calls me for he woke. I stayed until 9.00 pm then came back on the attack again. Things went well and I rejoined Mike for another show we generally watch together. At 11.00 pm though there was no choice, I had to work. I concentrated on the blog and have left the mail for either Tom or Ron.(TOMorrow or lateRON). This brings me nicely to the point where I add my final music of the week. This time I’m finishing with a Motown record as I’ve always been a big fan. There are some fantastic artistes like Smokey, Four Tops, The Supremes and many others but this man had such a talent especially with duets but this is one of my favourite songs by him.
Have a wonderful week full of dreams come true. Don’t forget to HUG, make the Buthidars proud.
My light was off at 12.30 am and I was ready to sleep. It was a pain to be up again at 1.04 am though after a trip to the loo I went straight back to sleep until 4.06 am.Then it was definitely time to get up to start dealing with mail. I paid another visit to the loo first then powered up and signed in. It only took until 5.30 am to clear the talktalk mail and then till 6.15 am to clear the gmail box.Next I spent a little time answering comments on the blog before disappearing for my meds at 6.55 am. Meds all done I brought my coffee back and did some more emails then checked on ebay and put a bid in on a black homburg dating from about 1910. About 9.00 am I went to open Joey’s cage and got the cold shoulder even though I sat chatting to him. Scratching his itches seemed more important and I suppose I can sympathise with that. I went back through at 9.30 am to check comments on the blog and heard Mike get up at 9.45 am- Unaided ! He’s currently taking tablets designed to curb the urge to smoke. You take them for a month . For the first couple of weeks you take them and smoke normally, then the dosage changes. Today he seems to be smoking much less than usual and certainly much less than me where we would normally keep pace with each other. Maybe I should ask for some.( Don’t even think it). We talked for a while then he went to do the vase for Ju’s flowers and I started to give Joey more millet and another seed bell. Then I had to sweep the floor around the cage.
At 10.30 I was back on the computer and keeping an eye on the hat I was bidding on. At ten seconds before the end I increased my bid and was winning but at 5 seconds someone gazumped me by £1. I was as sick as a parrot even though I do it myself. The hat was just my size. To make me feel better Mike got dressed. ( believe me it’s always better to see him dressed) and we went to lunch. For some reason we decided to try Misty Waters and we haven’t been here since Ju died I don’t think. They always seemed to have spectacularly great meals or as bad as they come. I’m pretty sure ownership might have changed and there’s a new chef. The meal was great. I had roast beef and Mike had half a lamb. The quantities were good too, the only trouble was the potatoes seemed to have knife resistant skin. One of my roasties shot of the plate when I tried to cut it. It bounced off my lap and onto the floor. It almost happened again with my small boiled one. Mike thought it hilarious and knew he was safe because he’s slathered his meal with mint sauce which I despise with a passion.He suggested mine were the leaders of the escape committee. After the meal we started towards home but broke the journey to go to a supermarket. It didn’t take long to see we wanted nothing so we came home. Mike shot off to see his Dad and I came in to speak to Joey and to catch up on mail yet again.
At 5.00 pm I broke off to have some tea. Some rhubarb crumble I must have accidentally forgotten to send back with Michael. It would never last till I see him on Thursday evening. I had it with custard and not to rub salt in the wound but it was fantastic. After washing the evidence I sat with a film on, nattering to Joey every time he came out to do a circuit of the room. That meant I talked most of the way through my own film. It was quite funny as he stayed in his cage during the adverts. At 9.30 pm I abandoned another film starring Adam Sandler whom I never really seem to have got on with. If Mike had been here it would have stayed on for sure as Jennifer Aniston was in it with him. At least it gave me chance to come and clear more mail and respond to comments on the blog…. one of which by my lovely friend Teagan sent me hotfoot to her blog where she’d made the most kind comments about me, and others had joined in. I’m still glowing now. I would have been going to her blog anyway for my weekly helping of her serial which keeps me on the edge of my seat. Once the mail was clear I made sure to close down ebay for the night to avoid further distraction, more late nights and a further emptying of the bank account. That done I was able to start the blog safe in the knowledge I’d be in bed before midnight.
Monday 28th.
If you heard a strangled scream about 12.38 am BST this morning I apologise. It was me waking up about five minutes after I’d gone to sleep and finding out I needed the loo. And yes, I did go before I turned the light off. I was much happier second time round at 2.47 am as I knew I’d be able to see the green cheese that’s the moon a lot closer and the partial eclipse. Hmmm, it didn’t look very green to me but it did look awfully close and the effect of the partial eclipse was wonderful. Very ethereal, it was worth standing out in the cold in my dressing gown for. Yes, the old jokes are the best….this morning I opened the door in my dressing gown. Why have you got a door in your dressing gown? I’d been to the loo when I got up and come back to log on and start my mail before venturing out. I made a belated wish when I came back in since I forgot when I saw it all. Back inside the house I carried on with my post and with the comments on my blog.People are far kinder than I have any right to expect. My music choices seem to be hitting the spot for some of you. I just hope the memories they bring are all positive.
At 5.50 am I went through to the kitchen for my meds. I had breakfast so I took my pre-foodie, stuck bread in the toaster, had my meds and then a cigarette as a timer so the toast would be cold, then slathered in butter I had it. Wonderful. About 6.15 am I came back to check on further messages, cleared them and headed straight to ebay to see what I’ve got coming up today. A hat, not sure, a broach, don’t really need it now, a pair of trousers, Oh yes, I need those and an antique Victorian embroidered smoking hat, no question I need this. There’s also a bulk buy of watches would be great for Temptations if I can get them reasonably enough. Fingers crossed. Just as well my private pension kicked in today. Approaching 7.00 am I opened Joey’s cage door so he could fly free whenever he was happy with the light. I thought about putting the washing on then put it off as MuJo are coming today and I hate going out while the drier is still going. Instead I turned the TV on and sat down in the lounge with ‘3rd Rock from the Sun’. At 8.15 am I went to get dressed so that I could take my prescription request to the chemist at 9.00 am.
When I went out some kind person has kindly let their dog foul the tunnel connecting the bungalows to the main road. It was either like an Army assault course trying to avoid the pieces scattered about or like Rudolf Nureyev doing a series of spins across the stage on one toe. I made it and wondered whether to take the long way round on the way back. I knew I’d have to sweep the tunnel anyway. After I’d dropped the prescription request off I did come back the same way and after doing my pasodoble I got my brush out and swept the mess into the garden verge. My postie gave me a surprise by coming early this morning. Another sign-for package and I wasn’t sure what it was going to be as I’d forgotten a piece of jewellery I’d won at the end of last week. I checked it out and came to do feedback. It’s possible I may have spent a minute or two more on there. I needed to go to the kitchen to wash my breakfast post and prepare drinks for MuJo. I’d no sooner got in there than I saw them passing the window. Just 10.30 am a bit earlier than usual. Since I haven’t seen them for three weeks we had plenty to chat about though and Joey entertained them with an aerial display.
We left the house at 11.30 am and I hadn’t seen Val by then. I hoped she wouldn’t think anything was wrong. Up in town John visited his charity shops then we went to the Bells (not the Bells of St Mary’s) for lunch. I had some braised steal with boiled potatoes and they both had a roast pork dinner. After lunch we went to the new Homies shop in Holywell and it was great, bigger even than my favourite shop in Flint. Then a card shop and back to the car to head for Flint.First Mu wanted ALDI which was fine and we picked up what she needed before heading for Temptations. I’d bought the girl’s chocolates in Holywell so we could go straight into Temptations and order. Sian served me and then a few minutes later I saw Ceri and got a wave. There were a couple more shops to visit before we headed off again. Back in the direction of Holywell again so Muriel could visit LIDL for flowers and loo rolls. My loo rolls were sold out so she couldn’t get those. We went home where I made John a cup of tea to take his next tablets with. They left around 5.00 pm. I went to talk to Joey and got a rollocking again.
I had some tea then did some work until it was time for one of my auctions at 7.37 pm. I won that one. Being up to date I went to sit in the lounge and watch a comedy with Joey performing his acrobatics again. I remained there until 9.30 pm when I was due to check another lot but I decided against bidding as the price had gone up so much. I have a few tomorrow with luck so I was able to start the blog at almost 10.00 pm and with luck will get another early night.
Tuesday 29th.
Light off around 12.15 am and I was ready to sleep. I got up at 3.24 am and knew I’d been dreaming about having an argument with somebody.Since I can’t remember who it was in order to avoid it I’ve decided to go into isolation and avoid everyone today. I shall therefore be locking myself in the loo from about 7.00 am so I can’t start with Joey. Today’s blog may therefore be even more boring than usual if that’s possible. My first job of the morning after he initial visit to the loo was to check the bank. After I was satisfied an expected receipt was there I was able to start on the mail boxes. Both done and dusted by 5.00 am. That meant I was able to put the washing on as I’m not visiting Chester today, I have a cold I don’t want to pass on. I was also able to start some cleaning. Joey feigned sleep so he didn’t have to help but he always thinks he does his share by making the mess in the first place. I keep telling him not to spit but he gets seed husks everywhere.
I did my cleaning, I did my washing ( the machine got stuck on the drying cycle, the stuff was almost rigid when I realised). There was nothing interesting in the post and I fell asleep during Homes Under the Hammer which was the only interesting thing on the telly this morning. I was so confused when I woke up I took my pre-foodie and ended up making my lunch half an hour early. I fell asleep before Bargain Hunt even started. After lunch I came through to attack all the work I’d missed by skiving off in dreamland and had a fair bit of catching up to do. A knock at the door surprised me but it was my friend from the chemist with my prescription a day earlier than expected again. Much better than the often three days late. I had to keep hitting myself over the head with a stick so I didn’t fall asleep again as I have an important bid on during my Antiques Road Trip tonight. I took a break to watch Homes in the Country at 3.00 pm but was conscious of my bids all the time. At 4.35 pm I sat by the computer watching the countdown and with my 10 second strategy. I lost what I wanted because the same sneaky burger as before sneaked in. However 20 minutes later I won the next one by adopting his strategy over mine. The one after that I lost because I was involved in answering an email and only turned over just as the item was won. Still, along with one I won yesterday, this will mean I have enough of a decent present for the person intended.
After the stress of losing I returned to the lounge for the last of the Road Trip and then for my two quizzes. Joey was in full chatter mode to his small mirror in the cage and I’m sure he wasn’t answering questions with me. As I turned the volume up to hear it, he turned his volume up too. From 6.30 pm to 7.55 pm I concentrated on my mail to keep myself clear but at 8.00 pm I watched a DIY SOS followed by a search for the bones of Alfred the Great, King of Wessex and founder of modern day England. It seems that Henry VIII’s dissolution of the Monasteries did much in helping to lose the bones of King Alfred and his family when Hyde Abbey was destroyed. I can’t help but wonder sometimes what would have happened had William not invaded and the country had been left with Anglo Saxon rulers. Finally I turned the TV off and said my goodnight to Joey before coming through to try and convince you my life is interesting, and again clear my mail.
El Toreador fights the bull with his bare hands..
Wednesday 30th
I had an early night and it was great. I didn’t feel like reading and had to put my book down and turn the light off before midnight. I was probably asleep within a minute. It was an absolute pain to wake up at 12.10 am. However much I felt refreshed I needed more sleep so I went to my chair in the lounge and soon nodded off there. I woke at a much more reasonable 3.41 am. OK, I’m talking reasonable by my standards not yours. It didn’t take me long to clear the post from my talktalk mailbox but I was distracted by a search I wanted to do on ebay before I even started on my gmail stuff so it was almost 5.30 am before I was clear there too. I applied cream to my legs to stop the itching ( I hoped) and went to take my meds and have some breakfast. I was unsure until the last minute what to have and ended up eating my toast hot for a change.
Breakfast over and excess butter removed from moustache I returned to work. A few more messages had come in while I was away so I worked to clear those. I confess that I was glad some did not need replies because I know I was distracted. I’m having visitors next week. I’m both scared and excited to be meeting someone I’ve never met before even though we’ve known each other online for a while. I haven’t had visitors for many a year and to be honest I’m trying hard to think of ways to make them feel welcome and anticipate anything they might need even down to dishes for the dogs. As you can imagine, that’s going to please Joey no end as he’ll have to be cage bound a couple of days. Since I don’t cook here except in the microwave or via the grill, main meals will have to be eaten out but I want to make sure I can offer breakfast at least. So, I’m all the time trying to think of things for my shopping list for Saturday.
At 9.00 am I went to Pauline’s to get some cigs (even though it’s Stoptober tomorrow) some curry & chips and my TV mag. Guess what, a black forest gateau jumped from the freezer into my bag.I had to buy a loaf just to insulate me from the chill. It’s started defrosting now so I suppose I’ll have to eat it. Pauline also remembered that I’d never managed to find another cleaner ( is my reputation that bad?) and she kindly gave me the name and number of a friend who cleans. I’ll have to ask someone to get in touch with her for me. Naturally when I got back Joey gave me a telling off for going out. I wonder if they make a harness for a budgie so I can take him with me? If I get a cleaner it’ll be nice that he gives someone else a rollocking for using the hoover. I came through to keep pace with my mail and had a lovely message from my lovely author friend Paula Acton who’s birthday it is. At 10.00 am I went to see the Homes Under the Hammer and made a real effort to stay awake this time. I succeeded- just! There was a 2 bedroom house for sale with a guide price of £10-15,000 which went for £25,750. It was tremendous. Nothing too major to be done. They spent about £8000 doing it up and got a valuation at the end of £60,000. That’s almost £30,000 profit (less fees) for a short period of work and the satisfaction of seeing a property look so nice. Renting it out would give an excellent yield too, much better than money deposited with a bank. There are still bargains to be had at house auctions.
At 11.00 I came back to do the mail and at 11.50 am I went off to do my lunch. I was dickering between something a little different that involved lamb and colcannon mash or chips with curry sauce. Then I remembered that the chippy should be open for lunch and decided to go there instead. I got two small sausages, chips, mushy peas and curry sauce. I may not want to eat again this week. In the end I lost the battle with myself and there I was in the queue at the chippie. To be fair it was very nice but the chips were pale enough for me to think they needed emergency treatment. It was just as well most were hidden under the curry sauce. I’m assuming Joey doesn’t care for curry either as it didn’t entice him over. After lunch I came to my room to work . I stayed until 4.15 pm then went to prepare a mug for Dil. I glanced out of the kitchen window and saw someone walking away from the door area. I hadn’t heard a knock or the bell. I went outside to look and a young lady, about to get into a car came back towards me and introduced herself as Kelly, the girl Pauline had told me about. I brought her inside to talk and Dil arrived which made it easier for me to speak. Anyway, she starts tomorrow for two hours. Wonderful.
Dil and I watched the Antiques Road Trip and our usual quiz before the weapons of war came out. Yahtzee first and I won 4-2 so we had to play again where I lost 4-2 so it was honours even. It had taken quite a while so we only had time for the Trivial Pursuit after that. I’m pleased to say I won that even if I fluked the answer to the last question. Dil left to go home for his tea with a call he’d see me on Sunday as they’re coming to the meal on Sunday with the girls. There will be ten or so of us this time as well as Reuben and Nathan. After tidying up and washing the pots I came through and was able to start the blog at 10.30 pm so not too bad tonight.
Thursday October 1st.
After ignoring any further emails that had come in I was in bed for 11.30 pm last night. After a read I turned the light off at 12.23 am and didn’t struggle too long before I was asleep………….until 1.27 am that is. I knew I wanted more sleep but it didn’t seem possible in bed so at 1.38 am I decamped to the lounge and nodded off in my chair. Joey didn’t seem to mind the company. I slept until 3.01 am which was the point when I was awake in the way that says “That’s your lot pal.” I paid a visit to the Wee Room on my way past and then got to my bedroom to power up and log on. What a strange morning. I tried to log onto talktalk mail and was told I didn’t have the right to access this. I tried for gmail instead and was timed out.I tried for the bank and got in, my pension credit was there but still not the money they owe me. I’m sure they just hate parting with it. Yvonne phoned them for me later on. I signed out of there and tried my Barsetshire Diaries site and was also blocked, so I tried ebay- no problems there. I started all over again. Talktalk-fine, gmail – fine, Barsetshire – fine. Great,I started on my mail.
At 6.00 am I called a halt and went to have some breakfast and take my morning meds. Following that I had a quick clean round and boxed some of the millions of ornaments before Kelly gets here to clean. I don’t want her to start off thinking I’m a slob. By 7.30 I was back at work but not for long as I was temporarily clear. I got dressed and went through to Joey to open the cage. Kelly is an animal lover luckily for him, and doesn’t mind him being out. She told me yesterday that she has so many pets, people think she’s an animal shelter and dump more animals on her all the time. She has dogs, cats and ferrets all in double figures. Those aren’t pets, it’s a menagerie. I took a walk to Pauline’s to do the lottery and she reminded me that there are big changes due at the end of next week. I forgot to ask her how much more it would cost. They’re adding more numbers t the lottery which to my mind makes it harder to win but they’re increasing the prizes on some of the lower wins. They already seem as rare as hen’s teeth. I have a ticket she can scan that tells the machine my numbers and to produce a ticket for Wednesday and Saturday. She won’t be able to use that next week but I must ask her if it can be used after that or perhaps I can get a new one.
At home again I had a quick glance at Frasier which I think Joey must have put on. The phone went and I listened to the message left which was to say that on her first day Kelly had to go to the vets and wouldn’t be here until this afternoon. Obviously I couldn’t reply but it doesn’t matter anyway as I’m here. As long as I can get to the TV at 4.30 pm. And talking of the TV, I watched Homes Under the Hammer again this morning. I’m fascinated by the changes some people wrought on the places they bought. I think I’d quite happily have most of them to renovate a property for me. After that I came through to catch up on my mail and leave feedback on a small delivery from my postman. But at 11.50 am everything stops while I get my lunch. I didn’t go to the chippy today but I did have chips with curry sauce from the freezer. I do have some normal meals like cottage pie in the fridge but I just have the taste for that today. I’m so easy to please. O.M.G. Something utterly strange and unusual happened, I fell asleep after my Bargain Hunt.!! I was unconscious until 2.10 pm and even then I had to try really hard to pull myself together. The sun was shining down through the front window tanning one half of my face a crispy bacon brown (Mmmm bacon). I struggled to my feet while Joey laughed and made my way to the bedroom (mine, not HIS) to check on my emails. One of them asked if I was OK as she was missing my comments on her blog. It made me think, there are a few I haven’t seen anything from just recently, some of my favourite people. I went through to wordpress to check I was still due to receive instant notification, and I am which worried me even more. I changed the rate from instant to daily to see if it makes a difference. I seem to remember someone once saying that wordpress cap the amount of blogs you can follow but I didn’t expect that to mean it would stop sending notifications to me of ones I follow regularly. No wonder I’m getting through my post so much quicker.
At 2.55 am Kelly arrived preceded by a knock on the door. I’d have to be a corpse to not notice what a pretty girl she is. It was during a brief conversation about my photo wall that it came out her husband died 4 years ago and that they would have been celebrating 15 years together this year. I thought she was about 18 and I think I have to start revising my guesses. Is this like the statement that policemen seem to get younger every year, I can’t guess a woman’s age at all now? We decided that she’d start to work on the kitchen and work her way round to the lounge and from there it depended upon how much time she had left. What she doesn’t do this week she can start on next week. She does know that she can’t polish on the TV table at 4.30 pm when the Antiques Road Trip is on. After being introduced to my hoover Kelly asked if it was OK just to do an hour today and to complete the stint tomorrow when she’s bring her own industrial hoover along. I didn’t realise mine was so poor. I agreed of course as it meant I’d be OK to watch my Antiques Road Trip on both days. She left at 4.00 pm and at half past I stopped work and went to the lounge. I stayed until 6.30 pm before coming back to work.
My phone was on charge in the kitchen so I kept an ear and an eye open for it. Mike texted at 7.20 pm to say he was on his way. I stopped work and went through to prepare his mug at 9.00 pm and watched a Law and Order episode while waiting. Mike arrived at 9.40 pm and nearly turned my shoes brown when I went to check the front door and as I opened the lounge door he was there. I made his drink but he had to carry it as my nerves were shot. I was filled in on the information regarding his father and it seems the hospital are OK with him going to the new flat so he must be doing well. Maybe a couple of weeks respite before he moves in but it turns out the home is right next to the flat anyway so he can chart progress on the removals. Mike seems less stressed and happier at the news. I’m glad. I’ve told him about an invitation to Dil’s anniversary meal in November but I’m not sure whether he’ll be with me that weekend as his birthday is on the Friday and he may prefer to have the weekend with his son and grandchildren. We have the family meal on Sunday this week to enjoy as well which will be nice. I watched another episode of Law and Order with him before coming through at 11.00 pm to do the blog. The mail may have to wait till the morning.
Friday 2nd.
OK. It was a late finish last night. Bed about 12.30 am and light off about 1.15 am but at least I was able to stay in bed this time and I didn’t have to get up in the night wither. I got up at 5.11 am and felt rested. I had to pay my visit to the loo now and leaving it longer wasn’t an option. I came back and brought the computer to life then started on the emails. I had to draw a halt to it as it’s Friday and my drugs for the week need doing so at 6.00 am I went through to the kitchen and took my morning meds and a pre-foodie. I put two slices of bread in the toaster then grabbed my drug drawer from the lounge and started filling the compartments in my drug tray. That took me about twenty minutes and then I was able to have my toast and make a coffee to take back to work with me.
I heard Mike’s alarm go off at 7.30 am so I went through to the kitchen to make him a coffee. He acknowledged the drink when I took it through but didn’t move. Nor did he move for the next alarm or the next or even my call that his coffee was cold that accompanied it. Finally at the fourth alarm I heard him go through. I finished the message I was dealing with and followed Mike. By now there was plenty of light so I wished Joey good morning and opened the cage. He preferred to stay behind his mirror and pretend I couldn’t see him, at least f0r a while. As Mike had a meeting at 10.30 am I’m glad he left about 9.00 am. You’d have expected me to return to work straight away but no, I found myself watching Frasier again. The postman surprised me by coming early this morning and banging on the door but the parcel I had to sign for was one I’d been expecting. It completed a section of presents I wanted out of the way. For all my failures on ebay recently ( including this morning dammit) I’ve had some good successes. There are still more parcels to be delivered in dribs and drabs from them, probably Mon, Tues, Wed of next week according to their guesses and then the following week as well. Real progress which I’m pleased about as Mike announced it’s 12 weeks today to Christmas Day. Not long at all. I will be ready.
At 10.00 am I had Homes Under the Hammer for an hour. Well for 50 mins really as Joey had a right ‘paddy’ for the first ten minutes. I’ve no idea who he was telling off or why but he was ferocious and his little head was bobbing up and down with emphasis. It’s just as well the show does a recap of the properties and their problems as they show you the changes made or I’d have missed the first one completely. It’s just as well we don’t all wake up in that mood or get angry all the time. I forgot to mention last night that Yvonne did phone he DWP about my money. Whoever she spoke to admitted the debt showed on screen but said no-one had requested payment in the office. This is now 8 weeks down the line from their admission. So he did it for me and told Yvonne it would take 4 weeks. She was seething, especially when he came back and asked for all my bank details to make payment. As Mike commented last night, why didn’t they just reverse the payment to where they took the money from? The DWP hold my bank details as that’s how they pay me. But it’s not worth getting in a tizz about. I am owed it, I will get it now. You do have to wonder at their efficiency though. What would have happened to some other poor soul who just accepted the debt and not queried it? How much interest have I lost on the money owed and what bargains might I have found on ebay with it?
I returned to work for an hour after my programme then broke at midday for lunch. I had a corned beef hash and I have to admit I don’t like the ones from Morrison’s now. Whether it was the herbs they seem to have added or perhaps that was a coat of mould I missed, it just didn’t sit well with me. I thought I might just shut my eyes for forty winks to sleep it off but though I tried hard it was no go.Disappointed I came back to work. There was plenty to go at too, and quite a few sales in shops I use. I was happy to note I beat most of the sale prices on ebay. One firm had the nerve to offer me a jumper at£14.99 instead of £19.99 yet last week I bought the same one from their ebay store at £7.99. I think it’s fun shopping for the best deals. Swings and roundabouts though as last week I paid £9.99 for a Goodsouls jumper I could have had for £4.99 today. I worked till 3.00 pm then took a break for Escape to the Country knowing Kelly was due back at about 3.30 pm after she finished her main job for the day. I was hoping her industrial hoover wouldn’t just suck my carpets up.Thank heavens for laminate. Kelly didn’t come. No phone call with a reason, nothing. I’m beginning to think it must be me though I didn’t say enough to be offensive and I’m very easy going about how the cleaner would work. Neither exacting or demanding. But perhaps there’s something else that no-one will tell me about? I mopped the kitchen floor.
At 4.30 pm it was the last day of my Antiques Road Trip. I stayed awake, it was very good. I remained in the lounge until 6.40 pm. They said Eggheads was on but when I turned over it was Strictly Come Dancing. Not for me thanks. I noticed an old episode of A Fine Romance with Judy Dench and her husband the late Michael Williams. It was excellent. As soon as it was over I had to ram 40 minutes work into 20 minutes so I could go for my shower at 7.00 pm. No word at that time about Mike coming back so I locked the front door, grabbed my change of clothes and went to the bathroom. When I came out clean and dressed to relax I went straight into the lounge and was just in time to hear my phone tinkle. Mike said he was on his way back, that meant with luck I could expect him around 8.30 pm. It was 8.20 pm as he was in time for the last bit of Mastermind. I found out his Dad is now in the home by the new flat but there is a question mark as to whether he’ll ever come out to try the flat. I suppose the biggest part of the decision making will be whether his Dad says he doesn’t like where he is at the end of the three week respite period or not. If he seems happy to stay where he is everyone will be happy.
We watched a programme on Patagonia of particular interest to me because of the Welsh families that moved there and still maintained the Welsh language and traditions. But they have some strange and amazing animals there too and some weather patterns that are quite unbelievable.After that I took my night time meds, locked Joey in his cage with a goodnight and headed back to work. Mike wasn’t too far behind and he seemed tired. As I was working I couldn’t hear the TV in his room so maybe he’s settled to an early night. I got my mail up to date by 11.00 pm and then started on the blog which I’m hopeful will still get me to bed early. I’m tired too.
Saturday 3rd.
I did manage to beat the midnight deadline last night and kept my relaxation reading down to the minimum so that my light went out at 12.20 am. I wriggled for a short while to find a comfortable spot then I was gone. I woke and got up at 3.11 am. There was no urgency for the loo but habit took me there first before coming back and powering up and signing on. Before starting my emails I went to my WordPress reader and changed all my favourites back from daily to Instant to see if it makes a difference. I apologise to all my regular friends who haven’t been getting likes and comments, Sally, Olga, Jane, Mary J and Sue, all of you, I’m not ignoring you but I’m not being notified of any of your posts. If any of you have any idea how I can deal with this I’d be happy to hear from you. After making the changes I waited to see if it made any difference to emails coming in. In the meantime, On with the Show, I opened my talktalk mail and my gmail account. The first was dealt with by 4.10 am and the latter by 5.55 am. I went through to the kitchen to take my meds and have some breakfast. I prepared Mike’s mug at the same time ready for his alarm going off at 6.30 am. I took my own coffee through to make sure I was still up to date with mail and to get dressed. As his alarm went off I was there with his coffee.I didn’t expect more than the neanderthal grunt I got and returned to my own drink pronto ! By 6.45 am I was up to date and I was dressed.
At the second ring of his alarm Mike sighed and got up. I heard him pad through to the lounge. I left him to it and had a search on ebay. I wasn’t in the mood for pushing him and decided he’d be ready when he was ready. He obviously wasn’t ready at 7.00 am. I should have been doing the bins but no, I wasn’t in the mood for that either. Somehow we were out of the house even earlier than usual at 7.20 am we were parked up in the Supermarket before 7.45 am. We’d actually finished the shopping by 8.45 am. One of these days I must remember to add food to my list. We were able to head for our coffee quite quickly. From there we headed straight for Flint and did a few shops before going to Temptations for our morning treat. This morning we had the pleasure of Ceri, Trudy and Sian, and those three had the pleasure of a bigger box of chocolates than usual. Mike had his usual breakfast. Trudy did our drinks which we enjoyed. Once finished Mike’s big question was what to do with ourselves for the rest of the day. He suggested my mood needed brightening (much like the weather as there’s a thick fog out) only he wasn’t anywhere near so polite.
I had no suggestions to make though wouldn’t have objected to the Tweed Mill. Mike would sooner extract his teeth via the door handle. As we left Temptations he turned towards Queensferry and then pointed out he’d taken the wrong direction for Broughton Park. I directed him another way. The place has changed enormously with the addition of 5 restaurants and a cinema complex, soon there will be three good shops to replace one that has closed.We parked by one of my favourite shops, Home Sense where I could get an idea about Christmas stocking gifts. We had a wander there, then in the ASDA home shop and finally Tesco where I picked up some more tins of sweets. That’s my postie and Temptations covered now. We went for lunch at a chain pub on the site but the service was atrocious today. The wrong things being brought though the orders had been quite clear. It’s never been this bad before. We started what I thought was our journey home when Mike asked what there was between where we were at that moment and home. I casually said Buckley just as we passed the exit and I ended up having to direct Mike yet another way. We had a good wander there and I was able to get some nice clothes for Roobs and Nathan for when I see them tomorrow. We finally left and got home.
I was saddened to find a letter addressed to Ju on the mat as well as a card to say there was a parcel left next door. Thanks Darren. We put the shopping away then Mike went to retrieve the parcel from Dorothy and I took something to my room. I found a parcel on the mat behind the door curtain. That’s one more item I’ve been waiting for and the parcel Mike brought was Reuben’s Christmas books. Going to my room to work I was surprised to find as I left feedback that I’d been offered a second chance on a ring I missed. I missed it by quite a bit but am offered it at my offer. A five colour gold ring. It will serve as an extra gift sometime. I worked until Mike called me to join him for a quiz at 5.30 pm and stayed there until 9.00 pm when I came back to catch up on mail. At 10.35 pm I was able to start the blog. Five minutes after I publish I hope to be in bed.
I wish you all a Wonderful Week full of dreams come true and Hugs Galore.
This blog is devoted to legal, historical and human rights matters, in which issues of general concern are addressed freely and spontaneously. It is intended to further an informal exchange of views in the democratic spirit of freedom of opinion and respect for the opinions of others, in an effort to understand rather than condemn, to propose constructive solutions rather than grandstand. The perspective is both from inside and outside the box and the added value lies more in the questions than in the answers.
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