Brass Monkey Bus Stop & Bitten by the tsetse fly.

Sunday 22nd Nov.
I made it to bed early, had time for a read and turned out the light at 12.30 am. It was still a bit of a shock to be perfectly awake again at 2.55 am.                                                       After a flying visit to the loo I came back and logged on. In amongst the variety of mail it was lovely to see so many likes for  last night’s blog and of course the wonderful comments. I always get some pleasure answering those. I finished what mail there was by 4.50 am and suddenly felt tired again. Rather than go through to my chair, I turned the light out and gave sleep another chance. Sleep accepted and the next time I woke it was 7.09 am. Dn Dn Dn. When was the last time 7.00 am and bed were in the same sentence without Mike’s name being mentioned? (Rhetorical question).                                                                                                                                                                                                  I went through to the kitchen and took my meds, made a coffee to bring back and prepared to go into battle.I grided my lions ( whatever it was they didn’t like it )and dove in.It was no fun.I got to 76, did ten and checked again and it was now 78. I’d do another dozen or so and check, now it was 93. This is not the way it was meant to go.

By 9.00 pm I was on 93 and five minutes later on a resuscitator when Mike walked in. Unbelievable, not even one battle. I went through to join him in the lounge leaving the post to self combust in my absence. Mike may have been up but nothing told me he was awake. I had to catch him at the right moment. I waited until his eyes closed and each time they did I spoke as though I hadn’t noticed. The eyes opened again. When he was ‘compost mental’ I suggested that as he wanted to visit a place for his fish foods which was beyond where we usually ate, why not stop on the way through and have breakfast instead of lunch. I think he agreed. I could taste the bacon already.                       I went to get dressed and carry on with a bit of work while he tried to open the roller blinds on his eyes. I heard him go through to his room a few minutes later.

At 10.15 am we were on our way. We needed to be there before 11.15 am as they stop serving breakfast at the Bells of St Mary’s then. We got there at 10.35 am and paid for our plates. I just had to wait for my tea so I could take a tablet. Once that was done I hoped no-one would get in my way. 3 rashers of bacon, 2 sausages, 3 pieces of fried bread, i fried egg, 1 spoon of scrambled egg, 1 plum tomato and a few beans. Mike had an extra sausage and an extra fried egg but no scrambled egg or tomato. We didn’t make any toast just then. All that bacon on display and I was so restrained.                                                                                                                                                                                                      It was really nice as a change. I had two slices of toast and Mike just 1 afterwards but I got plenty of butter for it and Mike had strawberry jam on his. I finished my cuppa and as Mike went to the loo I stood outside to enjoy an after meal cigarette. I don’t know how Mike’s willpower holds so well. He’s been stopped for 4 weeks now and says he doesn’t mind. I hope I cope that well when my turn comes.

We drove to Criminal Bay and Mike picked up the fish food he needed then as we walked round he chose a couple of Christmas presents. They were really nice. It was quite funny really as Mike often says he doesn’t ‘do’ Christmas and he often says it about birthdays too, yet here he was shopping.                                                                                                 We left there and drove into Rhyl to visit Homies as there was something else he needed, which we got, and then went to Matalan for a look round but neither of us bought anything there. Finally we drove home. I struggled to keep my eyes open on the return journey but it was that or be mocked.                                                                                              We arrived back about 3.00 pm. I made Mike a coffee while he did the flowers from yesterday. Then I went to do a little work. I was up at 166 but couldn’t stay there as Joey had been without company most of the day. As I went back to the lounge Mike was trying to  put the new baize on the card table. I helped and was able to talk to Joey at the same time. That job was finished about 4.00 pm and I had to come back through. Mike got his stuff together and headed home.

I stayed glued to my office chair until 7.30 pm then went for  some tea to take my second lot of tabs. Joey started coming out a bit as I put the TV on so when I came back though at 8.00 pm I left it on for him. There was a film on at 9.00 pm so I had to make a concerted effort to get the numbers down. I managed it but I knew there would be more later. I have to have bloods done at the hospital in the morning so I need to rest a bit better tonight. Of course tomorrow’s work  will pile up while I’m out. It’s the nature of the beast. I went through to watch the film. Damn, I wish I’d learned to read. I thought it finished at 11.10 pm but instead it was 11.45 pm. It was a gallop to come back and complete the blog. We’re looking at 1.00 am bed without touching the mail.

Monday 23rd Nov.

I made it to bed for 1.00 am. I only had about ten minutes with my book before trying to settle. It wasn’t easy but eventually I dropped off. I dropped on again at 3.09 am and was wide awake. There was a sudden need to pass water ( thus proving I’m no witch…….warlock , well there’s no need to be rude).                                                                             Back in my room again I logged on and checked my gmail. Heck there were loads of emails from Yvonne with pictures of Reuben.  It was like she’d been sending them all night. Still as it was only 3.15 am that was a distinct possibility. I was clearing messages until 5.15 am when I went too take my morning meds and scoff some cold toast. I wanted to do the washing but realised I’d have to leave the drier on when I went out and I won’t do that. It’s going to have to wait till Wednesday as I have the hospital this morning and then MuJo are visiting. Tomorrow is my visit to see Yvonne and young toe cruncher.( My toes).

I left the house at 8.10 am and walked to the bust stop which was still chock a’block with the pimplies. It wasn’t long before a school bus came and I saw my bus pull in behind. The driver must have been there for a count of three and I must have been in clear sight in his rear view mirrors hopping up the road with sparks flying from my crutches. He pulled out and beggared off when I was withing 20 feet of his ‘I hope your wheels fall off” bus. Did I mention it was piggin’ freezing this morning? No, then let me mention it now, it  was brass monkey weather,so bad my sheepskin coat was shivering. (OK, poetic licence there, I don’t have a sheepskin). The next bus to arrive did so at 8.35 am. I had to borrow a blowtorch to release my shoes from the pavement. The latest people to arrive at the stop thought I was a statue which is probably why he chap next to me hung his brolly from my arm while he read his paper. Someone carried me aboard the bus.                                                                                                                                   We were in town within 5 minutes and since my appointment wasn’t until 9.00 am I had 20 minutes to get to the hospital. It’s one of those places I have to stop regularly on the journey to remind myself to breathe. Still I got there with 5 minutes to spare and only one person was called before me.

Once released, and I knew I wouldn’t bleed for long as the blood was already frozen in my veins. I could hear it crystalise as I walked back into town. There was a temptation to stop and go round LIDL but I decided as I needed to go to m chemist to get home quickly. This time I only had a 5 minute wait for the bus and I was soon back in Greenfield. I dropped my prescription request off and came home.No need to get chips and curry sauce from Pauline’s as I know I’ll be eating out today and I can call in there tomorrow on my way home providing I’ve been to the loo before getting on the bus.                                                                                                                                                          Since it was barely 9.30 am I had chance to do some work when I got in. No before spending a few minutes talking to Joey though who definitely wasn’t talking to me in return. About 10.30 am I had to break off to go and brush up the seed husk Joey happily scatters about. I didn’t know what time MuJo would appear. It urned out to be about 11.05 am.

I did drinks, passed them  gifts and we chatted for a while before it was time to move off into town.Mu went to the bank and Post Office while I accompanied John on his regular visit to two charity shops. Then the cold was biting so much we took refuge in the chippy where it was wonderfully warm. The cold had hit my kidneys and I needed a wee so I headed for the loo to be presented with an ‘Out of Order’ sign on the gents. Oh how I wish I was wearing my kilt….wait a minute, it’s bloody freezing out there, no I don’t. The ladies wasn’t occupied so I went in there and locked the door…firmly.When I came out I checked my skirt wasn’t caught in my panties and went to our table. Mu joined us pretty quickly.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  After eating we took a walk down to the third charity shop.While MuJo were inside I spotted a game of Trivial Pursuit in the window. It was a special edition which I thought might have more questions. MuJo came out as I was finishing a cigarette so I said I was going back in to look at the game. Instead, they went in and bought it and another different one. They refused to let me pay.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Leaving there we headed back up town towards the car. I needed to call in a shop to see if they had any farm animals, but before we got there we called into a hardware shop that sells decorations. John wanted a couple of birds ( don’t we all?) for his tree. They also saw an LED plant that radiated colour in waves, it was nice. While they looked for the birds I paid for the plant. I got the lady to give it to them as a prize before they left to save arguments but it turns out they really aren’t as green as they’re cabbage looking.(Damn). I managed to get the farm animals and we went to the car.

Next stop Flint. Mu wanted ALDI so I bought chocolates for Temptations there. Once she had what she wanted we drove over to Temptations and went in. Mu ordered the drinks and I said hello to Ceri, Sian and Kyle and handed the chocs over. We enjoyed the warmth though it certainly wasn’t as cold in Flint.                                                                  From there we paid a visit to Homies and to BuM where we all picked up a little something. It wasn’t catching though so you’re all safe.                                                                            We drove home again. John had some cake to take with his tablets and we chatted a while before they left to visit his mother who’s well into her nineties now. That was about 3.30 pm. I waved them off at the door and it had just started raining. John said “You know the photo of Ju in the ‘Love’ frame?” I told him I did. All the time he was walking away up the path. “Well when you get back in, you’ll find a £20 note for the flower. We’re not having you pay that out as well as everything else.”                                     They were too far away for me to argue but I have the memory of an elephant and you can believe it doesn’t stop here !!

I started work on the piled up mail, taking a break from 5.15 pm to 6.30 pm. Then I came back and caught up so at 8.00 pm I was free for DIY SOS The Big Build. I was a wreck as the second story was a man who lost his wife to cancer much as I lost Ju only he had 6 young children all in a 2 bedroom house. The finished product was amazing as it was now a 6 bedroom house, a fantastic open plan downstairs with a great kitchen and a wonderful garden with playhouses and sheds for the children as well as a football pitch. Seeing people cry affects me so I was almost blubbering as I came back to my room at 10.00 pm to put the finishing touches to my day. I need windscreen wipers on these glasses.

Cold Day in Colwyn Bay.

Just before the explorer fell in the sea. Man Overboard!

Tuesday 24th Nov.

I son’t know whether there were remnants of last night’s DIY SOS in my brain or whether I dreamed while asleep but I was convinced Julia was in the other room in bed when I woke. That was at 2.49 am. It’s  3.18 am now and it’s taken until now to realise it’s not true. I don’t know whether I’m more grateful to the period where I believed she was back or now when I know the truth. Either way, there’s a huge void inside me and it’s Ju shaped. She’d have been so excited we’re seeing Yvonne and Reuben today and excited at the thought of maybe more Christmas shopping.She loved this time of the year and buying presents. She was the kindest of people, always thinking of others. Photographs of her surround me and I daren’t  look up yet.

I signed into gmail while all this thinking was going on. Despite what’s thought men can multi task (cough) and I was answering or generally dealing with mail. By 3.40 am I’d temporarily cleared gmail and was working on Talktalk stuff which still comes in despite nothing going out from there to friends now. That only took ten minutes and I signed into ebay. I knew I had time for a few fun searches. I needed them. At 4.00 am though I went to take my meds and make a coffee.                                                                       By 4.30 am I was back complete with coffee, ready to do battle if necessary. It was actually fairly steady going until the dread hour 6.10 am when the floodgates opened.     I worked hard to hold the flood back but when I had to stop at 7.15 am there were more than I had started with. I started to get my coat on and get the bag of gifts for the new baby I was taking with me. With candles in jars in there I had to watch the bag didn’t swing into my shins while I walked.                                                                                               Shouting goodbye to Joey I locked up and started out towards the bus stop. I was lucky not to make itall the way there before the bus pulled in beside me at the kerb. Howard saving me from the rain.

I nodded for most of the journey which was good as the journey goes much quicker. In Chester Yvonne and Reuben weren’t waiting fir me so I started walking in the direction they were coming from and having a cigarette as I did so. I met up with them soon enough.  Unsurprisingly enough for a man with a bladder the size of a pea, I wanted to pee. We went into a Cafe Nero for our morning drink as our usual shop wasn’t open for another ten minutes and Yvonne didn’t think the current rain was enough for me to decorate the pavement and no-one would understand if I walked round with a look of sheer bliss on my face. So, I went to the loo in the cafe and then refilled straight away with a pot of tea.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 When we came out our shop was open so we went in to buy some things for Yvonne’s hospital bag. I was carrying the stuff and was heartened to hear from Yvonne that we weren’t going to have an argument about paying for these items today. I was pleased right up until the moment we argued. She said she meant we weren’t going to argue because SHE was paying !!! I can’t help it if I didn’t understand. I thought her statement lacked clarity. I took the easy way out by pushing her over, pinching her debit card and paying myself. Much easier than arguing. I did buy some slippers as part of  a stocking prezzie. In another shop I got a couple of silly gifts to go into a stocking too. There are times the stocking is much more fun than the main gift.

Time ran out and I had to go to the bus stop. Reuben helped by holding onto my crutch, trouble was he was lifting and moving it in direct opposition to the rhythm of my walk and I was all over the place. I didn’t have time to visit the loo before departing either so I’d be relying on willpower. I wasn’t feeling very well and was looking forward to nodding off on the bus.I managed that fine.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  At the other end I had to decide how urgently I needed a pee. It was too urgent for the chippie but not quite so urgent that I couldn’t call in at Pauline’s quickly. The trouble was, when I’d got what I wanted a small queue had formed at the counter.  By the time I’d got out we were going into Def Com 3 and the need was more urgent. By the time I got home I was hopping up and down on the step trying to get my key in the lock, and the hopping didn’t help. As the door opened I flew, dropping shopping around me and leaving the door ajar with keys in. Anyone hearing the cries of relief would have wondered just what was happening. I came back,  took my keys out of the lock and closed the door. I picked up the shopping and put away in the freezer some things I had bought. I took my coat off and carried the rest of the shopping to the kitchen.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Joey was my next priority. I opened his cage door, talking to him all the time. Being ignored as usual but at least he didn’t fly off in fear. His seed and water were changed and then I could go and see to me lunch. When I walked into the kitchen he started talking but when I leaned through to talk back he shut up again. When my lunch was ready I took it through and sat with the TV on low. He flew out of the cage and parted my hair but as usual he wouldn’t land. He did start talking to me though.                          After lunch at about 1.30 pm I came to work on the mail. 142 pieces (Thanks folks) and stayed until 5.00 pm then took a break till 6.30 pm. When I came back I caught up onm the rest pretty quickly so at 9.00 pm I could watch an historical programme on Prince Arthur and his murder by or at the behest of King John. I’m so sorry I watched it. Experts talking on the likelihood of who did it and how it was done. Different historians and their opinions, forensic psychologist to talk about John’s ability to do such a thing ( they were joking-right?). You might have well as said, Arthur was killed. No body was found but it was in John’s interest for it to happen since Arthur had a better claim to the throne. Only he didn’t….Richard on his deathbed declared John his heir and since Arthur had never visited England and spoke only French the English didn’t want him. Case closed.

I had time to work on the blog and will be able to finish the rest of the mail afterwards. Some better sleep tonight I hope.

In the doghouse?

Keep rockin’ or the polar bear gets it.

LYRICS:

Oh What will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney
Is there hope for the future?
Say the brown bells of Merthyr
Who made the mine owner?
Say the black bells of Rhondda
And who killed the miner?
Say the grim bells of Blaina
Put the vandals in court
Say the bells of Newport
All would be well if, if, if, if
Say the green bells of Cardiff
Why so worried sisters? Why?
Sang the silver bells of Wye
And what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney
Oh What will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney
Is there hope for the future?
Say the brown bells of Merthyr
Who made the mine owner?
Say the black bells of Rhondda
And who killed the miner?
Say the grim bells of Blaina

Wednesday 25th Nov

Well, the light went out at midnight after just a short read. I think I was bitten by the tsetse fly again yesterday and the sleeping sickness was upon me. It’s not like I didn’t take advantage of the bus ride to sleep.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                It was 3.49 am when I woke this morning so I was quite pleased. That’s getting on for 4 hours continuous.  I put my dressing gown on, turned on the light, powered up the computer, cleared my chair…..and nipped to the loo. When I got back, everything was ready for me. I started on the mail and when that was cleared at 5.11 am I went through to the kitchen and took my meds. I had my usual cold toast , put the washing machine on (it was heavy so I took it off again) and brought my coffee back to work. I just had time to clear what was there before the day’s deluge started.                                                                                                                                                                                                                    And boy did it start. I worked through till 10.00 am and still had 54 to go.  I watched Homes Under the Hammer with Joey who was obviously excited about some of them then came back to work some more only to find I was up to 77 now.

I was going to start again when there was a knock at the door. It was a pretty young lady from the gas board come to read the meters. The one outside was no problem but the gas meter inside had to be unburied. I’m supposed to be on the list for a smart meter but I dread to think how long the list is.                                                                                            At 11.20 am  I’d finished with her and made an attempt to clear some of the post. Then the post man turned up with a parcel for me and as I had to go through to the kitchen to open it I stayed for lunch. Lamb’s liver and onions with baby boiled potatoes.                                                                                                                                                                           At 1.00 am I returned to work and found myself back up near 100. I worked solidly till 3.25 pm and was finally- though temporarily- clear. Yay. My timing was perfect as the doorbell rang and my drug mule was there. I swapped the drugs for a box of chocs and went to put them away.                                                                                                                       There was no point in going back to work as I needed to have a general tidy up before Dil arrived. He did so at 4.20 pm. I made a cuppa for him and we watched Flog It as we chatted and then our quiz, Pointless. With our memories it seems like it might be .

When 6.00 pm arrived off went the TV, out came the table with it’s new baize covering and we started gaming. The first game of Yahtzee Dil won 4-2. I don’t know whether he wanted a second game to thrash me again but I’m going to be generous and say it was to give me a chance. Well, I took it and I won 4-2 this time. We settled on the draw. We opened the 20th Anniversary edition of Trivial Pursuits which was one of the two MuJo had bought me on Monday. It was much more difficult to play than the original which is where our memories reside. But, there were two highlights to the game when I answered a sports question to get my orange segment and then when I answered a second one to win the game and Dil’s jaw dropped as he was sure I wouldn’t know it.                                                                                                                                                                                    This game had taken a lot longer to play than usual so it wasn’t worth starting another game. Instead Dil left about 10 minutes early. I don’t blame him of course as he comes here straight from work and hasn’t eaten. He must be tired and tonight his leg was giving him some gyp too so I’m sure he’d be glad to rest it. Anyway, it just meant I could do my victory dance a bit earlier.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              I tidied up, washed the pots and tucked Joey in for the night then came through to work. Plenty of mail waiting again which I did first tonight. I started the blog at 11.00 pm and think I’ll make it to bed for midnight.

A take out lunch.

Look Mum,I’m a statue.

Thursday 26th Nov.

I don’t remember going to sleep last night. It may have been I was out for the count before my head hit the pillow. I’d put the light out at 12.10 am as I couldn’t concentrate to read. This morning it was a memorable time when I woke, 3.33 am. I paid a swift visit to the Piddle Palace and came back to log on. I had post enough to keep me going until 4.10 am so I chose that time to take my meds, have some breakfast and make my coffee. When I returned about 4.40 am there was more. OK, I could live with that. It held me until 6.00 am.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   At that point I decided to make the best of my break and take a cruise snooze. Fat chance!! It’s pitch black and Joey chirped at the vital moment and looking at the screen I see someone left the tap running. I dived in but still the level rose. I was still at it at 8.30 am when I had to stop to get dressed. I needed to go to Pauline’s for bread and my lottery tickets.I admit I’ve considered throwing my hand in if they keep ignoring my numbers like this. It’s getting to feel personal.

I got back at 9.20 am and took the bread to the kitchen. It was light enough now to let Joey out. I opened his door and he hopped up to the next bar and tucked himself quietly into a corner. I stood talking to him but got no  response so I moved away to the kitchen door and tried again. Still nothing. I’ll have to hope that maybe the TV going on at 10.00 am will bring him to life. It did. Bring him to life that is. I was fading away ready to doze and he was full of the joys of spring.                                                               After our programme I went back to work for a while as more stuff had com in the hour I was away. It took me till 11.45 am to do it and then I had to run and peel my sweet potatoes for lunch. Today I was especially thankful for bangers and mash. Joey on the other hand seemed to disapprove as he gave me a right roasting when I went to eat it. Of course he could have been complaining that I’d made him miss the start of Bargain Hunt.                                                                                                                                                 I was close to missing the end of it as my eyes seemed to want to close. I fought back and went to my room to see if more messages had come through. They had, so I didn’t  let them mount up. I kept making things worse for myself though by looking at all the Black Friday offers I’d been sent. In the end I ordered something from ebay that wasn’t in the Black Friday offers but I hoped would make a good Christmas gift.

By 3.00 pm the mail boxes were clear again and I could feel my eyelids going ready for internal inspection. I went through and sat in my chair,said hello to Joey and zonked. I was only out for 40 minutes but I felt so refreshed. There was a residual headache though but I think that was down to the disapproving one continually having a very loud conversation with the bird in the mirror who annoys him dreadfully.                                                                                                                                                                                                I cleared a few more messages before 5.15 pm and quiz time arrived. It was at half past six when the second quiz was over when I found out my organisational skills were lacking. I checked what time I was due back in the lounge (if at all) for another programme. I found I had just half an hour to work and then things to watch from 7.00 pm to 10.00 pm. First The Antiques Road Trip for an hour then One about a lawyer ( Garrow’s Law I think?) and then the next episode of The Last Kingdom. It’s like tasking a holiday only as we know holidays have to be paid for.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   I came back at 10.00 pm to start work on the blog and to clear the newest emails. Then at 10.45 pm Mike arrived and my plans took a nose dive rapidly. We both wanted to hear the news of the other and Mike’s week has been very active. I finally packed him off to have a coffee but there’s now no chance of bed before midnight. If I’m very lucky it might be half past the witching hour.

Friday 27th  Nov

I made it to bed for 12.30 am- just. Reading was limited to just half an hour before the light went off though.  I was up again at 2.20 am while my pea sized bladder did it’s work and for the time it took me to convince my body I wasn’t quite done with sleeping as it thought I should be.  At least I had time for a cigarette during the debate. I returned to bed and lay staring at the wall in defiance, determined that Somnos was not to win. I fell asleep again. I got up at 3.44 am and this time there was no going back.

Friday mornings being what they are I went to the kitchen as soon as the bladder had made it’s presence known again. I took my meds and sprays then prepared my cup for coffee and brought my drug drawer through. I added the new drugs that had come on Wednesday and then sorted the next week’s drugs out in the meds tray. At about 4.30 am I returned to the bedroom and powered up and logged on.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 There were quite a few messages in my gmail but there was time enough to deal with them before the deluge. I made a start. One of the odd things I noticed was a lack of Black Friday offers considering this was the day. Still, there was time, no doubt they’d arrive at 6.10 am. Only at 6.10 am just one message arrived in gmail and two on my Talktalk. I  dealt with them and sat twiddling my thumbs. At 6.15 am they were there. 104 for starters. It took until 9.50 to get clear enough to say good morning to Joey and take Mike a coffee. They both ignored me.

At 10.00 am I turned Homes Under the Hammer on and naturally Mike chose that moment to come in. Yawning, twitching and one hand seemingly doing a count of the body parts he deems important…..and I don’t mean his eyes. At the end of the hour he still hadn’t finished his first coffee. I had to return to my room and Mike had to get ready to go out. The work was still coming in .                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Mike left about 11.15 am to go to Manchester . I decided if I had a rare chips and curry sauce (cough) I could afford to stay here until midday, so that’s what I did. Joey and I watched Bargain Hunt and I finally think I have it figured, he loves the theme music to my shows and the exit music but can’t stand the bits in between.  Once it was over my eyes were on autopilot and closed. An hour and five minutes I was out so I had to dash back to work yet again and play catch up.                                                                                 In between bits of work  I wrote some more Christmas cards ready for those to go abroad. The nearer Yvonne gets to having the baby the more likely I am to forget. I now know that the baby is breech too which is a tiny worry. If it can’t be turned beforehand they’ll have to do a caesarian between Christmas and the New Year. At least someone is still making sure I get my Capricorn.

At 5.00 pm I went back to the lounge and readied myself for the quiz, so I had some tea and settled down in my chair. Joey was dive bombing me then going back to his cage and saying “Joey Joey” in a very self congratulatory way. I missed a few questions that way.                                                                                                                                                      After the show was over I knew my other quiz wouldn’t be on as they extend The Dancing Show to an hour on a Friday. I went back to work until 7.00 am. I had a text from Mike at just gone 6.00 pm to say he was on his way so maybe he’d be here to share the Antiques Road Trip with me.                                                                                                          During my messaging I had a reply from a lovely friend to say she didn’t know I was in Wales and that her church had sent a couple of missionaries over here some weeks ago. They were still here. I didn’t think anything of it at the time but all of a sudden I burst out laughing. It hit me…….Missionaries here, do they think we’re not civilised yet? I can imagine them hacking their way through the bush of someone’s ornamental pampas grass or bamboo only to be captured by the natives and eaten, or at least forced to eat pysgod a sglodian ( fish and chips) or bara brith. In fact, maybe that’s why they’re still here. I wish I’d thought of it while  I was answering her.

I went to the lounge at 7.00 pm and was horrified that the programmes had been changed and my Antiques Road Trip wasn’t on, instead they’d put the dancing show on later. I was still sulking at 7.20 pm when Mike arrived back. I made his coffee and we chatted a few minuted before Question of Sport came on. This was followed by Mastermind and at 8.30 pm I went for a shower.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           At 9.00 pm I had Have I got News For You for  a bit of light relief. It was very funny tonight. After it was over it was a case of locking the bird in his cage to a sound bollocking and telling Mike I’d be back later for my tabs. Off back to the slave labour then. At least I’ll be able to get an early night.

I’m checking where I’ve been not where I’m going.

Yes, you hold on tight Daddy, I’ll keep you safe.

Saturday 28th Nov

I got my early night and was in bed by 11.35 pm after doing my legs. I read until 12.45 am and then settled for sleep. I didn’t wake until 4.39 am this morning, with no overnight trips to the loo. That’s great.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Saturdays being what they are- busy- I turned the computer on, went through to the loo, washed my face and hands then headed straight for the kitchen to take my meds and have breakfast. At the same time I ran over my shopping list to see if I’d missed anything. I brought a coffee back to the bedroom and did as much as I could for half an hour before taking time out to get dressed. By the time I’d done that, my outstanding post had gone from 17 to 93 and was gaining ground. I was able to do a few more before Mike’s alarm went off and it was time to head back to the kitchen to make him a drink.                                                                                                                                                                When I took the coffee in I woke him and let him know it was there just before his alarm went off for the second time. Panic had caused me to return to work. At 7.00 am Mike’s alarm went off for the fourth time and I had no choice but to remind him not to forget his drink and to tell him the time. I couldn’t return to work as I needed to get the food waste and the recycling bags out, making sure a good cold draught hit Mike’s bedroom. He went through to the lounge. I allowed myself another quarter hour of work before being prepared with my coat and bags. Mike was getting dressed in his room and after my prompting I didn’t want him being ready first. His morning score was A-4 C-2.

We made it out for 7.30 am by some miracle then Stirling Moss had us at the Supermarket by 7.50 am. As usual he got the trolley while I got my cash. First think was a new supply of sweet potatoes then it was time to choose the flowers. We needed a full change this week so got 3 bunches of mixed to display together. I picked up some teeshirts for Reuben but the rest of the shop wasn’t important really.                                                                                                                                                                                                                  After coffee we visited a LIDL not too far away to get some of their bread rolls then rolled on into Flint as usual. I picked up a few items from my fave shops then we took  the chocolates to Temptations and had our drinks and Mike’s teasted toecake. After there we went to another shop where Mike did some of his Christmas shopping and bought himself a pair of shoes. That necessitated three more shops on the look out for some innersoles he needed. For some reason I wasn’t feeling too grand this morning . We drove over to Prestatyn for lunch and we were quite a bit later than usual which didn’t help me much, but it was a nice lunch anyway.

It wasn’t too much longer before we were able to set off home. Joey was a bit disgruntled at being left captive so long but he did forgive us eventually. Once the shopping was away I came through to work. It was 3.00 pm. Mail up to  187 by then I did what I could. I still wasn’t feeling good but I think I discovered why. I was tired. So tired that I nodded off over the keyboard ( please Somnos don’t let me have sent out any idiot mil again). What was worse was waking up at 4.45 pm and thinking it was in the morning. I heard Mike go to the loo and I went to check on him and heard the TV going in the lounge. When he returned I asked if he hadn’t been to bed yet. He was looking very smug as he’d been through and seen me asleep (and snoring according to him). Luckily I couldn’t have been out above half an hour, but half an hour wasted.  I was due in the lounge at 5.20 pm to see Mastermind and give Mike some company so I didn’t manage miracles with the mail. I stayed there until 6.40 pm then was allowed back to work until 8.00 pm.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Then it was time for the Murdoch Mysteries and Murder in Paradise which took me until 10.20 pm when I was free to come and attack the blog post and anytime I have left I’m free to work on the outstanding 93 messages.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 The weather here is still cool, windy and wet. I don’t know if there’s any improvement on the cards. I hope so.

Wishing you all a Wonderful New Week with dreams come true and Hugs galore.

Suffering from the Wind & A Mouthful of Tea.

Sunday 15th November.
After finishing the mail last night, I went to bed and enjoyed a read until 01.10 am. There’s been a gale howling all night long. I was up at 4.18 am and was surprised after signing on to get a skype from MuJo as they’d been up all night with the storm. Sometimes it gets quite concentrated where they are. I started on the mail which was gentle enough at that time then as 5.00 am rolled round I went for my meds and some breakfast. I brought a coffee back with me.  When I got back all the Daily reports had been released to me and the mail outstanding was at 122. I must have done about 50  I thought before stopping for breakfast.                                                                                                          I remember seeing 8.15 am when I was working.All of a sudden I was coming awake and it was 9.25 am. Oops. I went through but Mike was still sleeping. I put the kettle on anyway. He got up at 10.10 am. I went through and joined him and also let Joey out of his cage. The storm was still blowing outside.

I managed to nod off in my chair for a short time too. I was tired but with lunchtime approaching I went to get dressed. Mike did the same. He said it was time for a drink as I was saying it was almost time to decide on lunch. He asked for bacon sandwiches at home instead of going out. I was happy to agree. While I  did the bacon, Mike cut and buttered the baps. I put a feel-good Christmas film on the TV and we ate.                                                                                                                                                                                                           We decided not to go out at all today but I suggested Mike went home early so he could travel while it was still light enough to see branches brought down by the fierceness of the wind. For once he agreed with me. So  , at 3.30 pm he gathered his stuff and said goodbye. As soon as he left I said my goodbye’s to Joey and came through to work. By that stage of the day It was already over 300 pieces of  post, not counting what I’d already done. I ploughed in and worked till 5.30 pm when I went in to give Joey a surprise and turn the light on. I had a piece of strawberry and rhubarb tart for my tea and watched a little TV.

At 7.00 pm I went back through to work and to see how my bid was doing on a snow suit for the baby to be. In the end I could have bought a baby for less so I searched for a couple more to bid on. Next one 8.30 pm. I caught up on mail and at 8.05 pm went back through to the lounge and my flight instructor. I’m apparently spending too much time in front of the computer,I know my rear end would agree.                                                                                                                                                                                                                 The TV turned on alright but I was a little puzzled when it wouldn’t turn to the channel I wanted. I sat on my chair like a lemon trying to find the right position where it would work. It wouldn’t. It kept skipping between a channel showing a fishing competition between 3 men somewhere in Africa and The Antiques Roadhow ( not to be confused with the Road Trip). I might have lived in peace with one or other selection but my head was close to exploding when it would change channel in the middle of a sentence I wanted to hear the end of. I think I’m haunted. I even changed batteries in the remote in case that was the problem. Still,it forced me out of the lounge earlier than it would have. No doubt Joey will complain he was locked in and the light turned off but as I’ve already warned you, he exaggerates.

I was back in time to bid on a snowsuit for a baby which I won. I was also in time to put as bid on a Le Creuset casserole dish that I didn’t mind if I won or not. Mainly because I hadn’t 100% convinced myself it was exactly what the person wanted. I won it anyway so that rounded my night off nicely. I changed my  email address with ebay and then remembered to do it with paypal too.

Monday 16th November.

Last night I got up to date with mail, had a read and still managed to get the light out at midnight. Granted the light was only out a minute before I remembered I hadn’t taken my meds. The terrible thought that maybe it could have me standing naked in the rain beating my chest as a coachload of returning female bingo players passed by, made me get up and take them.  I’m not sure what time I eventually got to sleep but I’m sure it wasn’t long.                                                                                                                                     It was 3.53 am when I got up. I would normally be glad of the chance to attack my post as I should have been going to Chester today . Yvonne and Reuben are booked for their flu jabs tomorrow when I would normally go. However I’m not going because poor little Roobs isn’t well. He seems to have a chest infection and a bad cough. He seems prone to things like this.It obviously runs in the family though I’ve been fine recently ( touch wood). So, I have all day to keep the mail in check now.

After a flying visit to the loo I came back and logged on to the computer. At that time there were only 20 emails which took no time at all. By 5.30 am I  was clear even with another batch of emails in. At that point I decided to go for breakfast and to take my morning meds. I was back by 6.10 m and mail was still a steady trickle until 7.00 am today, then it was an avalanche. It came, it came and it came. I remember a point where I read 83 so I worked on about 6 of them and checked,it was now 97. The more I did the more that came. At about 9.00 am I realised I’d made real headway and had just 26 again. As I checked them I found they were responses to the ones I’d already done and I was just creating an email echo. No  matter what I did something would come back at me.                                                                                                                                                  It was 9.55 am when I was able to go through to release Joey, see, it’s all your fault he complains not mine. As a treat I hung a new honey seed ring in his cage.He’s given up on the main one since he found the fruit in it. He’ll have scurvy soon if he’s not careful. I quickly swept the floor around his cage to get rid of the seed husks and then turned on the TV for Homes Under the Hammer.

I had time to return to work at 11.00 am and play catch up but my warden came at 11.30 am and was here chatting for half an hour. It’s great, some weeks she’s the only company I have bar Joey and he bullies me if I stay with him too much. After she’d gone I made lunch, watched Bargain Hunt then nodded off for an hour. I had to play a lot of catch up after that to make up for the sleep.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            I didn’t return to the lounge until 5.15 pm when the quizzes started. I was there until 6.30 pm then legged it before Come Dancing or whatever came on. Again I worked until 8.00 pm when I went to watch two DIY SOS’s. I have to be reminded of the goodness still in the World and what people are capable of.                                                                 At 10.00 pm I said goodnight to Joey, turned everything off and came back through to do the blog and any remaining mail.

A cough won’t keep me down.

When Mum asked if I wanted a penguin I thought she meant the chocolate biscuit.

Tuesday 17th November.

I managed an early night last night. Even though I read quite a bit I was still  able to turn the light out at midnight.  I had a small comfort problem which took a while to adjust to but I did get to sleep….until 1.00 am. After a visit to  the loo  I went to sleep the rest of the night in my chair. I woke at 3.03 am. I was still tired but that was the sleep for that part.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        It was time to log onto the computer. I was quite surprised just how much mail had accrued in gmail. It took until almost 4.30 am to complete. It seemed a good time to try and get another 40 winks so I lay on the bed, shut my eyes and was away. The next time I woke felt much better, it was 5.42 am. Before starting work I decided to go for my meds but didn’t want breakfast this morning. I brought a coffee back to face the fray.                                                                                                                                                                          It started well enough. Just ten messages on screen. As I worked my way through them the numbers increased. I had done a lot and saw the balance was 68 to go. I did a load more and the balance was now 66, and so it went on. The last one to be done at 8.36 am when the squawked demands of Joey sent me through to open the cage door. I was pretty sure he wouldn’t come out yet as it was still dark and overcast but he’d won his first battle of the day just getting me there to  talk to him.

I stayed with him a while and then at 8.50 am I got ready to go out. I started out fully intending to get on the bus but once outside started diverting myself towards Pauline’s instead. I gave myself a massive mental kick and moved back towards the bus stop. I stood far enough away that no-one in the queue would talk to me but I didn’t see a face I recognised anyway. When the bus arrived I let everyone get on so I had chance to change my mind at the last minute, but I did make it. In town I intended letting everyone get off and go about their business but someone kindly stopped and indicated that I could go first which was really nice. I got off at the best speed I could manage and walked towards LIDL.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         A quick waltz round the shop brought me a few things I could use for Christmas and I was able to get the weekly special offer brochure too. I left and started taking a slow walk down the High Street. The sky was looking grim but the rain held off. Half way down the street is a passage between two buildings. I went through there , through the library car park and into the new Home Bargains. I spent a full half hour in there and got a few nice things which will be perfect as stocking gifts. I felt much happier knowing I’d done it , scared and proud that I’d managed a trip alone albeit a short one and I’d stayed clear of people.

Heading back up the street I was thirsty. There was a little cafe with no-one in. I think I know why there was no-one in. I asked for a tea. It was a cup rather than a mug but I could live with that. First two tries though the man held the cup under the machine and pressed a button for water which came from another nozzle  from where the cup was. Third time lucky ( and he was bloody lucky not to have scalded himself) and he got water into the cup. It was a small cup and he only half filled it. He dropped a tea bag in the water, gave it a few stirs with a spoon took the tea bag out which now included some of my water, added milk (without asking) and charged me £1. It was as well I  had some saccharine with me as they had none. There was just about a mouthful in the cup ( now now, no need to be rude to me) which was gone almost as soon as I reached the table. Oh yes, I’m on crutches and carrying two bags but there was no offer to carry my tea over for me. There were some nicely handcrafted things in the shop but I didn’t stop to really look at them as I didn’t feel like buying there again.

I walked slowly to the bus stop and didn’t have too long to wait before one came. Ten minutes later I was walking into Pauline’s and picking up my TV mag, some micro chips and some chips with a certain added subject that some think I over-indulge in.  Back at home it was 11.00 am and I stood unpacking the shopping as I talked to Joey. He seemed quiet this morning. I left to do 45 minutes on the post before going back to do lunch. I can’t mention what I had but the two baps I had with it from LIDL’s fresh bread range were beautiful.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Bargain Hunt was on as I ate and Joey didn’t make a sound. Afterwards I closed my eyes in the chair and didn’t hear a peep from him. I slept till 1.55 pm and then had to return to work. I was away until 5.15 pm and expected a fuss when I got back to the lounge. Not a sound though he’s still moving around as usual. I had the last of the strawberry and rhubarb tart for my tea and just sat talking to him. I was there until 9.00 pm and though he came out to sit on the mirror he was quiet all evening. I really must be in the dog house. Just as well I’m in all day tomorrow.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                At 9.00 pm I took my meds, turned the TV off and said goodnight to Joey. I left the lounge door open so I could hear him but he’s still been quiet. I had a good catch up on mail then did the blog. It will be an 11.30 pm bed night I think.

Dick Turpin’s ride to York.

Black Bess, the faithful steed.

Wednesday 18th November.

I achieved my 11.30 pm bed more or less. I read till 12.30 pm, turned my light off and settled down. I woke up at 1.21 m thinking it was later, once I’d focused I suggested Porcinus ( for it could only be he from the laugh) go away and procreate. I didn’t even bother swinging my legs out of bed I just went back to sleep.                                                   I woke again and my bladder suggested I get up, so I did. It felt as though it was light outside as I moved but on reaching the bathroom I could tell it was not. I could also tell from the fresh laughter that Somnos was on the case and I was now wide awake. It was now just 2.01 am.                                                                                                                                I refused to show any disappointment or anger so I just signed onto the computer and started on the mail. By 3.15 am I couldn’t stop myself yawning and as I  got up to date on the mail decided to go sit in my chair in the lounge and see if I could sneak a little more sleep in. I couldn’t but at least I couldn’t sense the presence of the gods. By 3.30 am I was back at work which was still trickling in. At 4.15 am I lay down on my bed, pleased the mail box was empty. I closed my eyes and woke up at 5.00 am refreshed.  Time for my meds and some breakfast, Rice Krispies today since I don’t want to hide another tub of butter in my moustache.

I return complete with coffee at 5.35 am and pick off the odd email whilst waiting for the onslought of the daily notifications. It started at 6.05 am and grew and grew. I was thinking I’d never leave this room today but of course I did the moment Homes Under the Hammer was due on. That was the time Joey decided I was worth talking to at last.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       At 11.00 am I came back and started again. This time I made real progress and cleared the last one at 11.55 am in time to do lunch. One noticeable thing was that there had been no sign of the postman up to that time but I suppose I could have missed him as the weather was foul out there and for a while I was concentrating on the TV screen to try and hear what was being said. I just got yup to walk to the kitchen when there was a knock at the door which made me jump about three feet in the air. The delivery of some green baize to cover the card table.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Lunch was pleasant and uneventful. I left a lot but it was meant to feed two so that was expected.  I watched Bargain Hunt and saw it to the end but did manage to nod off in the chair after that. Even half an hour perks you up  so I was twice as perky as that. I came back through to leave feedback and to deal with more mail. I’m glad some parts of the world must be asleep now. I’ve decided that I should ask that people who want to write do so between 12.00 and 12.02 am BST and if they can’t manage that not to bother. I’m sure I’d cope fine then.

At 5.00 pm I went back to the lounge. Dil had sent a text to say he was running late and would be there between 5.00 – 5.15 pm. I prepared his cup and put the TV on ready for our quiz. He was there in time for the start. We watched that and then out came the games table and the Yahtzee. In the first game Dil won three on the trot and I won the next three. There was no chance he’d want to leave it a draw so we started a new game.  One of the gods must have felt they owed me a favour as I won the first 5 of the 6 games and I’d had Yahtzees in 4 of the games, one even having 4 Yahtzee and a score of over 600. Dil tore up the score sheets at the end smaller than confetti so no-one could see them.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             We moved on to Trivial Pursuit. We both managed to get 5 of our segments pretty quickly but struggled to get the last. I achieved it first then Dil a few goes later. Then it was a struggle to land in the middle though when I did he asked me a sports question knowing I’d blow it. As it was approaching his time to go, when he reached the middle I asked a  reasonable question which he answered. At least now I was sure he wouldn’t kick a cat on the way out now. Honours more or less even again.                                              I had a quick tidy up then washed the pots. I took my evening meds and went through to close Joey’s cage door and wish him goodnight. It was time to come through and catch up on my mail and write the blog. No problem, I reckon another 11.30 pm bedtime but I’m not sure I’ll read tonight.

I’ll take a running jump I think.

You watching Mum in case I whiz past?

Thursday 19th November.

I slept until 4.07 am today from about 12.30 am. Not too shabby for a change. My snoring obviously didn’t disturb Joey and his occasional chirp didn’t disturb me. Though I must add that it’s funny, the past twice I’ve slept in my chair,Joey hasn’t come out of his cage early on but has stayed in a little fluff ball, head down, asleep. I paid my morning visit to the Piddle Palace and then came through to the bedroom to sign on. As with most days there was plenty of your post to keep me going but today I only did half so I could break off at 5.00 am for meds and breakfast. Cornflakes today, heck I’m so health conscious.                                                                                                                           After that I made a coffee to bring back and start the second half. A few more had trickles in but I wasn’t worried. I was making some progress when at 6.10 am the deluge started. Over 100 messages in about five minutes. I started working in earnest ( a little village in the back of beyond) but by the time I finished at 8.40 am I was workimg on answers to the ones I’d just done.

I went through to the lounge to open the cage door for Joey. He looked at me as if to say ” Shhhh, budgie sleeping” then curled his head back under his wing and ignored me. I sat down and had a cigarette trying not to disturb him. As soon as the cigarette was out I went to put my shoes on and my coat then headed for Pauline’s. I needed bread and milk as well as the lottery tickets. I left a note on the door just in case any parcels came while I was out. They didn’t.                                                                                              Back at home I unpacked in the kitchen. I told Joey I’d be back in time to watch TV with him then came through to answer the next set of mail. My wonderful friend in Australia had written her usual comic responses to my emails to  her. That kept me going for a while. In fact just long enough for ‘Homes’ to start.                                                      After my programme was over I was well behaved and returned to work without complaint. No audible ones anyway. I knew I had only to work for three quarters of an hour and I’d be off again, this time to prepare lunch. I peeled sweet potatoes, set the sausages going on the grill (or under it if you prefer) and opened a tin of veg. In the very last minute I made myself some onion gravy and I was set. It was wonderful.

I came back through at 1.00 pm with the intention of staying here until 5.15 pm but was rewarded when my hard work meant an empty box at 4.45 pm instead so I got some Flog It. The only time I made appearance in front of my desk was from 6.00 – 6.30 pm because after that I had an antique show, The Big Bang Theory and The Last Kingdom. Once 10.00 pm and I stopped swinging my seax (no that’s not a dirty word) at the Danes (sorry Birgit, you know I love you) I came back to my room. I didn’t know what time Mike would arrive tonight so there was no point in staying up. I might as well work till he got here which as it happened was 10.30 pm. I made his coffee  and had a quickish chat with him before coming back to finish off the right side of midnight.

Oh, there was one thing I wanted to share with you all tonight…

Five weeks tomorrow is Christmas Day !!!! But less than that when you get to read it. he he

Advert. Stuck for gift ideas?  Ebay is full of them. I was looking for a personalised box the other day and came across this gem

A brilliant personalised gift.   Number  371469034697

Filled with a variety of teabags or maybe sweets this could be a very special gift. Check the size of the sections first as there are others specifically for teabags.                              P.S. I understand you don’t have to have a friend called Samantha, he he.

Friday 20th November.

Lights out about 12.40 am, I was ready to sleep. Up again at 2.21 am but not ready to wake. I nipped to the loo and saw Mike was still on his tablet. It seems like me he’d been to sleep and the woken. He couldn’t get back to sleep though and was waiting for sleep to come and drop  the tablet from his hangs. After my loo  visit I went back to my room and took up the book again for a short while, about a cigarette’s worth. I turned the light off again and slept. Up again at 3.33 am  but this time I knew I was awake. I went through to check on Mike and at last he’d fallen asleep again. Great, I couldn’t cope with the two of us wandering around and bumping into each other. I may be awake but I’m not sure I’m sociable.

I opened my email on the computer and there were enough to keep me going until 4.51 am. I had a cigarette then went through to the kitchen to take my meds and to prepare my pillboxes for next week. That’s my boxes for pills and not machine gun nests. I returned coffee in hand about 6.40 am and just took my time with the emails that trickled in. At 6.10 am the flood started when all the daily notifications from WordPress posts were sent to me.. As I worked I watched the numbers jump,23, 49, 67, 93 until finally they started responding to my work and coming down. It was 9.20 am before I managed to get clear and release Joey from his confinement. ( no , he wasn’t having a baby).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           After a major struggle with his alarm clock and with me bringing him coffee, Mike got up around the same time as I went through to the lounge and joined me. He was really pushing his luck as he had an appointment in Manchester at 11.30 am and he was still sitting with me at 9.55 am. I’m not sure how he did it but he left the house at 10.05 am. He has a turn of speed Superman would be proud of but it’s one I’ll never see on a Saturday morning.                                                                                                                                         After he’d gone I watched Homes Under the Hammer with Joey doing a running commentary in fluent Budgie. Then I came back to my room and started catching up again.

I wasn’t clear until 12.05 pm and had to scoot to get my lunch.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Once lunch was over I fully intended returning to work straight away but somehow I just ended up dreaming about it. I know you’ll find it hard to believe that I could fall asleep in the middle of the day ( cough) but it just happened. If it’s of any comfort I missed the auction part of Bargain Hunt again.                                                                                    The long awaited return didn’t happen until 1.50 pm so to make up for it I did without my early entertainment and waited until my quiz at 5.15 pm. At 6.00 pm when I could have worked I got hooked on a programme about King Arthur which was interesting and left a lot of questions at 7.00 pm it was the Celebrity Antique Road Trip and Mike returned halfway through it and then at 8.00 pm was Mastermind. Such hard work all this viewing.                                                                                                                                        At 8.30 pm I went for a shower and Mike washed my hair for me to save me putting my arms above my head. We both know I’m in a delicate condition today. Then I went back to the lounge, made a sandwich for us and watched Michael Portillo’s train ride through Germany until 1.00 pm when I came back to work. I was pretty sure I’d be in bed before midnight at that time but Mike came and did my legs afterwards and now I’m not so sure. There was a fair bit of post.Still, if you all read a bit faster than I type maybe I’ll make it yet.

Saturday 21st November.

Lights out 12.30 am. Lights on 2.10 am I was having doubts about Somnos’s parentage. After another try I gave up and went to sit in the lounge. I smoked a cigarette for the heat and light as it was freezing last night. I’d have snuggled up to Joey but he was having none of it. I did drop off again and woke at 4.50 am. Now I knew for sure that Somnos worked behind a bar. Saturday, the day I shop early and he allows me to sleep late. I had to have breakfast , take my meds, do all the bins and recycling bags and then try to get Mike up at 6.30 am as well as try to get some mail done. It’s not like the small god doesn’t know that I have a flood of mail at 6.10 am. I don’t know where or when but there will be a reckoning. It’s not even like I’ve refused him any favours recently, mind you, I haven’t done him any either.

I’ll make it easy this week and just tell you the score with Mike was 1C -3A  I would have called him more than once but I was busy. Anyway to be honest, taking first the food waste and main rubbish out and then the recycling bags ensured blasts of cold air right into his bedroom which I’m sure worked better than a call. The three alarms were all it took then. I left him alone while I tried to shift some post but he got dressed and presented himself ready to go out at 7.25 am.                                                                        I had only to throw my coat on and add a dashing flat cap and we were away. Though there were cars with snow on there was no snow on the roads. We got to the supermarket safely. Tatws first and then flowers. I was ready to leave then but Mike suggested some food first. I went to the chocolate aisle. OK, I added some meat and sausages to the mix and even some biscuits, milk , butter and yoghurts. See,you’re surprised now. I bought a couple of nice candles for Christmas too.                                            We sat with a coffee and discussed our next move. It was as cold as ice (cue for a song there) outside but the sun was blazing down in our eyes. We headed for Flint.

We parked up outside Temptations then walked over to Homies and then to B&M (BUM) where we both picked up a couple of things. That went in the car and out came the chocolates for the girls and Kyle. Kyle saw us coming in and mouthed to me  “Usual”, I nodded yes and worked my way to the counter through the puddle of drool Mike was leaving as he spied Sian on the front counter. I paid Kyle, passed over today’s chocolates and picked up the tray of drinks with Mike’s teasted toecake.                                    Once we left there it was the Original Factory Shop next where Mike persuaded me to buy myself some new slippers as it seems my old ones have been disturbing him walking about on their own at night. Mike bought some gloves. Then we went to Poundland for some paintstripper anti-deodorant for Mike. He usually squirts it and applies a naked flame so he can get rid of the five o’clock shadow on his chin and that’s 5.00 am !

We were due to meet up with Yvonne in the afternoon and as yet didn’t know the time so we went home at 11.30 am to unpack the shopping. I had time to hit a bit more mail and at 1.00 pm when we went out I had it just below 100 left. We went to the chip shop in town and as we sat I had a text from Yvonne to say they’d just left Old Colwyn. Fine, allowing them half an hour travel we had time to eat so I texted back, “Meet you outside Homies at 1.40 pm” Mike and I ate and went up to the shop a little early. Note this daughter, UPHILL for two old men gasping for breath, I know this as we were right behind them. I checked my phone which said “Reuben’s gone to sleep, will drive slowly and meet you at 2.00 pm”. With a pair of deep sighs we walked back downhill to go round town . We were just coming out of the pet shop when my phone went again. It was 2.50 pm. “There now, a little early”. I’m bloody positive a feral growl came from my mouth as we walked back up the hill.                                                                 Ugo got Reuben from the car as Yvonne stood there shivering. We ushered her into the shop. It’s a huge shop which is why she wanted to see it. Mike and I bullied Reuben, Yvonne got to look round and Ugo got to nip to the loo nearby.I had Mike’s help to bully Yvonne so that I was able to buy a few things needed for baby to come and managed to fill a basket. I was really pleased. I said she’d pay for that bank transfer !!!!!!

We parted at 3.00 pm and Mike and I came home. I was straight onto the computer until 6.00 pm. Celebrity quiz time followed, Sharpe’s Rifles then Murdoch Mysteries which had quite a heartbreaking ending this time and I greatly appreciated the talent of the acting in those final minutes. After that I was free to return to work to ensure I was post free and blog free before midnight. And I’m going to make it too.

 

 

 

 

 

The Sly and Sneaky Gene & The Great Postal Robbery.

Sunday 8th Nov.

Well, after a great night I managed to get the blog out on time and I even managed some mail. When I got to bed finally I read until just 1.00 am then turned the light off. At 2.00 am I gave up trying to sleep here and went to the loo. I spotted Mike still playing with himself ( come on girls- I mean on his tablet) then went to the lounge and sat in the magic chair.
I had my usual smoke then felt relaxed enough to try for sleep.At some point I succeeded and my eyes stayed shut until 6.04 am this morning. That was great and I came back to my room to turn the computer on. A huge disappointment (as usual now) with Talktalk letting me down. Their system is really pants since they did ‘improvements.’ Luckily gmail had plenty to keep me going.

It was 8.10 am before I went to take my meds and I decided against breakfast at that time. I’ll eat lunch and tea today instead. I opened Joey’s cage to give him freedom and hoped he’d come out so I could clean the cage later, then came back to a few more from gmail and then tried re-signing into Talktalk. This time it came on with 102 messages waiting. Some were duplicates and I managed to zip through those. It was 10.08 am before I finished there but didn’t refresh as I needed to get to Joey and his cage.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Just as I went through, so did Mike. I made him a coffee then nudged him awake to drink it and to help me get Joey’s cage of the base so the base could be cleaned properly.It took a while to be thorough with all parts of the base, it’s drawer and the grill that stopped Joey walking in the grit on the base. Eventually I went back through and nudged Noddy again to help me get the base back on. While he drank his coffee  I put fresh seed and water in the cage and a new piece of millet. That was Joey done and dusted. My turn next. I went to my room to get dressed and to check on mail while there. Nothing up on ebay today. Mike got himself dressed and we eventually left the house to find food at about 12.30 pm.

When we got to Prestatyn it was approaching 1.00 pm but fortunately the lousy weather must have kept some people in, there was room in the CookHouse. As always the food was nice but I cut my portion down a little as I’d eaten last night. We did a couple of shops in Prestatyn and I got a few items for Christmas stockings. Then we came home and I sat chatting with Mike in the lounge until it was time for him to go home at about 4.00 pm. His granson is in hospital with pneumonia at the moment and Mike’s son is staying there with him. Mike needs to pick his granddaughter up from a friends and look after her, making sure she gets to school tomorrow. Everyone hopes his grandson will be out of hospital tomorrow.

Once Mike had gone I attacked the mail again until almost 7.00 pm when I went through to watch a couple of programmes I enjoy. I was ready to come back through at 9.00 pm when Joey decided to come out of his cage. While waiting for him to go back again I got involved in a programme about psychopaths because it was a bout a serial killer that my brother in law John knew from childhood. Peter Moore was gay but targeted homosexuals while presenting a very different image to the public as a businessman bringing cinemas back to North Wales. The man has been behind bars for about twenty years now but MuJo still get birthday and Christmas cards from him with news about appeals he’s going to make.

Monday 9th Nov.

I read in bed last night as usual.The antics of Terry Pratchett’s witches kept me smiling but I was tired too. Lights out at 1.00 am. I tried and tried to sleep to no avail. At 2.37 am I got up and went through to the lounge. Sleep eventually arrived in my chair, I think it had missed the last bus and walked to get to me. I was up again at 5.24 am. After paying a visit so I knew my bladder was happy I went to take my meds and make some breakfast. Yes it was cold toast and butter again.                                                                I put the washing machine on before I started eating though everyone says it doesn’t suit me. I used fastwash at 15 minutes so I only had to wait a minute or so for the cycle to finish before putting the drier on. Ax that takes 3 hours there was plenty of time to come through to my room and power up.

Talktalk was still not at it’s best. Having done one page of messages I attempted to delete them only for Talktalk to log me out. Feeling a bit peeved I logges in again but it was taking so long to load I turned to gmail instead. I dealt with everything they had to throw at me though I had to throw some back and then turned to Talktalk again. It had loaded properly and I was able to work my way through the list. That took me till 9.10 am at  which time I needed to dress and get my prescription request to the chemist.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               I called in at Pauline’s on the way back to pick up a chips in curry sauce, just in case, you understand. I didn’t want to be out too long as the new postie is a bit erratic time wise and I’m hoping for a delivery today. When I got back the postie hadn’t been. I worked on mil until 10.00 am then joined Joey for Homes Under the Hammer, me to watch it, him to chunner through it. At 11.00 am I returned to work disappointed not to have seen the postie.

At 11.35 am my warden Bev came. Last week she’d been on holiday so I was able to ask her what the weather had been like hoping to brighten my day,  but it had poured down for her just like here. To be fair she did get some sunshine so it wasn’t all bad. We talked about my legs so I got them out and waved them about a bit. I have no idea why as she’s not a nurse. I hope I didn’t put her off her dinner.While she was here the postie arrived and he did have a package for me.                                                                             Bev left at noon and I took my pre-foodie tab and put my lunch in the micro. Yes, it was curry sauce and chips. Just as well Bev didn’t hang around. I watched Bargain Hunt while eating and my nemesis was on again. I think they chose him as an expert not because he’s any good but because it would get up my nose. ( No comments please about how roomy this particular schnozzle is).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              At 1.00 am I turned the box off and settled down for what I’d been wanting all morning, 40 winks. Joey wasn’t having any of that though. The moment all was quiet he set up such a racket. I had to start telling the vain little beggar what a pretty boy he is. Just to frustrate me further there was a knock at the door and another parcel was being delivered by courier. I was so pleased to  see this one as I can now pack my Christmas watches away for Temptations staff. The boxes I’d bought previously wouldn’t close with a watch inside them. Annoying as they’re far superior boxes but I’m sure they’ll do for something someday.                                                                                                                          I came back to work again until 3.00 pm even though there was a temptation to slide onto the bed and close my eyes for a minute. I went back through to Joey and watched Escape To the Country. I don’t want you to listen to him if he starts spreading rumours that I dropped off.

After the programme I went through to Mike’s room and started putting the watches in boxes ready for wrapping sometime. There were also a couple of gents watches needed boxing ( and they only just fit ) ready to go in bags which I did. After that I came back to check the mail again and started work on it . I caught up at 5.35 pm and was able to watch my quizzes. Joey came out of the cage and I noticed he’d dropped the millet again so I recovered it and put it back up for him. It reminded me I was peckish so I had a couple of mince pies.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                I had MASH on for a while but wasn’t really concentrating as I had a magazine. I was going to watch a film but noticed at 8.00 am there were two episodes of DIY SOS which I really enjoy ( despite the lump in the throat) so I watched those instead. When 10.00 p,m came I said goodnight to Joey, took my meds and came through. I worked on mail first and then the blog. I’ll make the midnight bed deadline but I’m going straight to my chair tonight.

The distance between feet and pedals is all wrong.

You never said it was electrified.

Tuesday 10th Nov.

After reading till almost 1.00 am I turned my light off and made my way to my chair. Sleep didn’t come easy as I was listening to the latest hit from Stormy Gale and the Flying Slates. I woke at 4.04 am and the damn record was still playing. I headed in the direction of my bedroom  and detoured to prove I’m no male witch as I was able to pass water. It felt I was there a long time but I was in the bedroom logging on at ten minutes past.                                                                                                                                              Talktalk more or less behaved first thing and I was soon into the swing of answering emails. I broke off at 5.00 am for breakfast and my meds. I wasn’t sure at that time if I’d be going to Chester. Even if I was prepared to venture out in it I wasn’t sure I wanted Yvonne to, if she went down in this wind we’d never get her up again. And if I rolled her home the new baby would get very dizzy. It’s just a month and a half away before there’s another new baby in my world. Things are getting scary at the moment as I realise that in just two short months I’ll be 65. Officially too old for everything. To be honest I’m surprised I made it this far and plenty of times I wished I hadn’t.

By 7.30 am the wind was still howling a bit but the rain had stopped. I started out. Unfortunately the wind was coming downhill as I was trying to get uphill. Fortunately,Howard pulled up alongside me before I’d completely run out of breath. I settled in my seat and nodded off. Though I was awake every time we pulled up at a stop the journey still went quickly. Yvonne had let me know she was determined to come so I wasn’t worried she wasn’t there waiting. I walked up the street and met them. Reuben showed enthusiasm when he saw me but Yvonne had a good grip on his reins. I got my hugs and we had a waltz round a shop while waiting for our usual cafe to open.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Once it did we took the lift up to the cafe and ordered drinks. I thought I struck a deal with Yvonne that I would eat a mince pie if she let me pay this morning. I seemed to get her agreement but she seems to have inherited a sly and sneaky gene from somewhere. She waited until I ate it before telling mt she’d transferred the money direct to my account from her phone while standing at the counter. Can you believe such deviousness, why can’t I do that? I got Reuben a jumper from that store but apart from tealight candles wasn’t successful with anything else. I’ve lost my superpowers. Yvonne even stopped me getting her a long shirt she liked.

You don’t want a blow by blow account of the morning but needless to say it was spent in and out of shops.I managed to get something ready for the new baby though. We made our way back towards the bus stop in plenty of time for me to nip to the loo first. I’d be able to call in at Pauline’s.  After hugs and waving to them I settle in my seat and dozed all the way home. I picked up a few things in Pauline’s and came home. After taking my coat off I opened Joey’s cage ( he wasn’t talking to me) and made some lunch. Once that was done I left the TV on for Joey and went to work. Ouch, Ouch, Ouch. It was 5.30 pm before I saw the light of day again ( metaphorically speaking ). I went through to find Joey flying round and round the room as though being chased but probably just trying to overlap his mirror image if I know him. he went back to his mirror perch when I sat down and started watching half my quiz.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            There was an interesting programme on the last hours of Anne Boleyn that followed and then instead of watching one on the period of Henry VIII I settled for another DIY SOS. It’s lovely to see humanity at it’s best. At 9.00 pm I came back through to play catch up and to do the blog afterwards. It’s going to be a reasonable night timewise I think.

Competition?

Quiet, artist at work.

My name is Joey, you probably won’t know me but I’m being held prisoner. It’s a small cage, which OK I admit opens into a bigger cage that I can visit to stretch my wings, but even so it’s a small world. My jailer has two legs like me (though fatter) and much of the time seems to be in the same cage. He’s OK I guess with supplying me with food and water but that’s not much of a diet is it. He jabbers at me too, saying things like Joey,Joey, Joey, best, best boy as though I can’t hold a decent conversation in linguabudgie. What astonishes me is how I see him change his feathers daily and sometimes leave the big cage often coming back hours later of his own accord.  Who is this jailer that he has that doesn’t allow me the same leeway? Well, he might have more feathers than me but they’re not as pretty and he can’t use them to fly as I can. I demand a retrial or at least time off for good behaviour. Please write to the Governor and demand my release.

Wedsnesday 11th Nov.

I was in bed for 11.30 pm last night. My Dad always said is I wasn’t in bed by midnight I was to come home. Still, I did have my book to read, I’m so looking forward to the Terry Pratchett one at Christmas. I read until just before 1.00 am, paid a visit to the loo then turned my light out. I was determined to sleep  in bed last night but it was quite a wait, I know I saw 1.30 am pass by before it happened. Anyway, I slept.                                                                                                                                                                                               This morning I was up at 3.52 am and just powered up the computer and logged on. The first batches of mail on both providers was easy peasy and I finished at 5.31 am. That seemed a good time to go take my meds and have breakfast. My stomach reckons I’m addicted to the cold toast routine now and is swelling in opposition, however some of the local schoolchildren are starting to look  at both my beard and my girth with some wonder. Last night I’m sure I saw a red nosed reindeer at the window checking me out.

After breakfast I came back to my room but decided to create a washload of jeans before working again. 6 pairs went in, not dirty but creased. I came back to work and found the daily reports of the blogs I follow have loaded. Ah well, Into battle. That took until 9.10 am when I got up and creakingly stretched, then went to let Joey out. I could hear his plaintive cries from the lounge. As I went in there silence reigned. I talked to him but the left shoulder hunched up and he pointedly ignored me. Nor would he come out. I left and came back to work. No sooner had the lounge door shut than I heard him come out and fly circuits of the room tweeting.I guessed I was in the bad books again.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       I returned to the lounge at 10.00 am for Homes Under the Hammer. Naturally there was no silence from Joey then. He’s a rascal. I missed a good bit of the programme because someone delivered the new collection dates for the household rubbish but I found it to be gibberish. I spent an age trying to work out what they meant before sticking it up inside the pantry so I never forget which dare the collection of the big bin is due.

I worked again from 11.00 am to 11.45 am then decided to make my lunch. I’d just turned the microwave on when I saw the postie approaching. I was expecting a wallet and that’s what arrived. Very quickly too. I’m just waiting for a couple of hats now that might come anytime after Friday up to the end of the month. Deliveries from China are very erratic, as erratic as India it seems.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    After lunch and Bargain Hunt I headed back to work. I was just passing the front door when someone knocked. It was my drug courier again bringing the fortnightly supplies. I passed over the chocolates and put the meds on the side to check later. I worked till 4.20 pm which is when the door opened and in walked Dil very quietly probably expecting to find me asleep in the lounge. I made him a cup of tea and we settled to watch Flog It and Pointless. At 6.00 pm the TV went off and out came the games table.

Yahtzee was a  DISASTER. The first game was 3-3, the second 4-2 against me. I lost trivia though it could have gone either way as we both had all the segments. By now Dil’s grin was like the Cheshire Cat only before he disappeared altogether he had time for a game of Cribbage. Hallelujah !!! I won one. Only slightly diminished the grin disappeared and went home. I had a quick tidy up, had a few minutes persuading Joey it was time to go in the cage so I could turn the light off and then came through to work on mail, the blog and a few answers to comments on the Buthidar Blog I did today with it being 11/11.                                                                                                                                      I had a message this evening from Mike to say his grandson is home today. I’m so pleased and I look forward to seeing him tomorrow evening for all the details.

Elevensies.

Am I bigger or is the elephant smaller?

Thursday 12th November.

Light off at 12.40 am last night. I stayed in bed and for once there wasn’t too much wriggling before sleep came. Ten minutes later the clock said 3.07 am and time to get your lazy ass out of bed. Anyone who thinks that is completely wrong, I don’t own a donkey and if I did, it wouldn’t be in my bed. When I said I love donkeys, that’s not what I had in mind. It’s just as well I haven’t said I love pigs or someone might take me for a Prime Minister.                                                                                                                                    I paid my usual visit to the loo then powered up the computer. It took an age this morning. When it was finally live I checked my bank and there staring me in the face was the £10 my devious daughter had transferred to me. Even worse, my bank had not retained records of our previous dealings and held her account number so I could transfer double back as threatened. For now I am stumped.

One major shock when I signed in was no mail in my Talktalk account. Hopefully that’s because I’ve received none and not another glitch on their system. My gmail account had a few to be going on with at least. At 4.55 am when I was in the clear I went for breakfast and to take my morning meds.                                                                                 When I got back it was 5.25 am and very worrying to find still no messages on Talktalk and no more on gmail. Normally by this time I would at least have the daily updates on everyone I follow from yesterday. I spent some time on ebay checking for fun gifts for Christmas. At 6.00 am I gave up and went through to the lounge to shut my eyes for a while.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            At 7.15 am I came too and felt much better. Much crosser though when I looked at Talktalk. The internet service is free so I suppose you could say I get what I pay for and maybe they’re paying the price of their own popularity. But we’re paying that price too in terms of the lousy service. Honestly it’s been so much worse since things were improved recently. Anyway,I went round everywhere I could think of changing my email address for notifications to my gmail account. Hopefully tomorrow all the messages about your blog posts will go there.

After going to Pauline’s at 9.15 am I came back and checked the post again. Still no change with Talktalk. I did a few things like peeled some sweet potatoes and changed Joey’s seed and water. I watched Homes Under the Hammer and occupied myself until 11.15 am before going to prepare my lunch.                                                                                   At 1.00 pm Taltalk was still giving nothing away but the flow had increased nicely on gmail. I finished what there was and then at 2.00 pm closed my eyes for 5 minutes. It was a very elastic 5 minutes because it lasted until 2.55 pm. At that time I had a healthy queue in gmail but talktalk also gave up 3 pages worth of mail- it was back, but not with a vengeance as all my overnight mail was missing. All the stuff they gave me now was new. At least they were back and giving me something.                                                       Mike sent a text to say he was on the way so I worked hard. I was clear just before 4.30 pm and went through to let Joey see the antiques programme and to keep him company while he shrieks at the screen. Definitely not because I wanted to see it  anyway- or hear it.                                                                                                                                                 Mike arrived at about 5.15 am and after making his coffee we settled to our quiz Pointless, yes that’s the name of the quiz not a description of out actions. Then another quiz, an episode of Big Bang Theory, the real story of the Mary Celeste, two  more Big Bang Theories and then what I’d waited for, The Last Kingdom. It’s brilliant. The books are excellent but this series really  brings it to life. Finally it was time to come through and do some work on the mail and the blog. It shouldn’t be too hard a night as you won’t believe this but Talktalk is still playing up. It just refuses to load. They should scrap the changes and take it back to the way it was when it worked. Even if just for one person who has stayed with them through the worst.

Preparing my Xmas cards 2 years ago today. Just 3 months old.

I’m in the mood for real nostalgia tonight. A superb singer

Friday 13th November.

Lights out at 1.00 am after a few more pages of my Pratchett ‘Thief of Time’. I suppose I should have been spooked by the date but the only witches I’ve met have been white ones or sandwiches (sorry).  Perhaps it was spooky that I woke at 4.13 am?  My bladder started having a very one sided conversation so I made a trip to the Piddle Palazzo  then came back to log on. As expected Talktalk is still as useless as a chocolate teapot so I took the last move and diverted all my twitter posts to the gmail address.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               I worked on mail until 5.45 am then went to take my meds, have breakfast and prepare my drugs for next week in their pots. At 6.30 am I came back to find out Twitter had delivered all my notifications of posts to the new address. Magic, now I could get on. I could only work until 9.00 am though before breaking off to do a coffee for Mike in the hopes of getting him up and out. I tried to do the same for Joey but without the coffee. Joey managed it first but to be fair Mike wasn’t too much longer. About ten minutes.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      I’d want to say I went to sit with them but if forced to be honest, I sat with them for about fifteen minutes before nodding. As the TV was on with Frasier, I was conscious every time Mike commented on something or when Joey tweeted. I was fully conscious when Homes Under the Hammer came on though. When that ended at 11.00 am both of us left to get dressed (at last) and then Mike said his farewells as he left to visit his Dad. I came through to finish the mail I’d started and any more that had come in. I’m beginning to think there’s a little gremlin somewhere who sticks his head round the screen to make sure I’ve gone before he dumps a couple of bags of mail then runs. It’s fantastic not having to rely on Talktalk now.

At 11.45 I stopped again though I was pretty well done, so I could prepare my lunch. I’d been fighting a battle with myself all morning as to what I should have since I’ve got bacon in as well as my chips in curry sauce. I finally settled on the latter so I could have bacon tonight with Mike if he was hungry. Erm, don’t get the idea I’ve suddenly become generous and I’m sharing, he has his own bacon which is smoked and I hate it.                                                                                                                                                                               Following lunch I couldn’t think of anything that would please me more than to try and get into Talktalk. I wanted to put a note on their forum about the terrible service but they needed to send me an email which I couldn’t access to verify it!! When I did get in at some time after 2.00 pm it allowed me to look at one message and that was it. No deletions allowed. However at 2.45 I tried again, got in and deleted the lot. No problems there since it’s all coming to me at gmail now. Help, is there any way I can make it stop? At 3.15 pm I took a break and went back to Joey to see if Friday 13th has spooked him enough to want my company.

I stayed in the lounge and at about 5.30 got a text from Mike to say something had happened and he’d be back late tonight. I just relaxed with the TV until 6.00 pm then came back to work and have a look at ebay. I won something. At 7.00 pm I went for a shower and locked the front door. At 7.30 pm I watched an episode of MASH then Mastermind. I left a terrible stain on my chair as I suddenly glimpsed movement from the corner of my eye. As I leapt in the air I saw it was Mike  who hadn’t warned me he was on his way back. He made his coffee while I watched the end of Mastermind. There was a programme about a minister on the Falklands who will be leaving soon followed by an hour of Top of the Pops 1977 which I wanted to watch as Yvonne was born in December that year.                                                                                                                       At 10.00 pm I locked Joey’s cage and wished him goodnight, took my meds, wished Mike good night and came through to attack the work. As I came through I was laughing as Joey had been very loud when the music was on and also started headbanging in much the sane way that we used to when Status Quo were playing. Funny the thoughts that come to you.

I should be OK time wise tonight I think. Not so much mail I couldn’t cope with after the blog.

Saturday 14th November.

Last night was fine and I had plenty of time for a read. Light out 12.30 am and I’m pretty sure my lights were out soon after that.                                                                                         Waking time was 3.23 am  and even had I still been tired I wouldn’t have dared go back to sleep in case Mike woke before me and caught me sleeping when he was up. I’d never hear the end of it and he’s probably create a blog just to say how many tries it took to get me out of bed.He’d be very inventive though and people are always happy to believe the worst.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     I’ve woken this morning to news of the atrocities in France. Yet again an enemy too cowardly to show themselves has taken the lives of the innocent probably for no better reason than they were enjoying themselves. La Belle France, you are in my thoughts. Don’t bow down before this mindless terrorism. For anyone interested, here’s a post I did on this atrocity. lorddavidprosser1.wordpress.com/2015/11/14/mindless-terrorism/

I worked on doing the above post and on my mail from gmail until almost 5.30 am. I was actually able to get into Talktalk this morning but all I needed to do mainly was delete the post there as it was now duplicated on gmail. At 5.30 m though, I went through to the kitchen to take my meds and to have breakfast. That meant there’s just one further meal needed with tablets during the day and I could choose which one. I chose lunch.                                                                                                                                                                  I gathered up the rest of the paper/magazines ready to go out for collection, always assuming they’d actually pick it up this week. Then it was back to work until it was time to do Mike’s coffee. His alarm went off a couple of minutes early but I wasn’t going to complain. I went to do him a coffee. As I took it through the alarm sounded again but even in combination with my dulcet tones it didn’t move his caracase. So, I determined to take out the rubbish. It was quite nippy out this morning and Mike was lying on top of the bed with no top on. A draught may have slipped through while I took the rubbish out. I came back in for the paper waste just to be sure and by the time I returned then he was sitting in the lounge, tinged with blue and sounding like a typewriter.

We were on our way at 7.30 am and had started shopping at 7.45 am. I saw some things for the baby to be and also for my great nephew for Christmas. I loaded up on selection boxes to make sure I had enough and sweets to take to the girls today. I even put a little food in this week which might be why the bill was 50% more than I expected it to be t £60.00 ( they overcharged me £1 but I had it corrected) which in turn had Mike laughing almost hard enough for apoplexy. ( Not hard enough though). We had our usual coffee and I managed to complete a card with a sticker someone had left on a cup on the next table.                                                                                                              On the way to Flint we called in at Aldi for some waterproofing spray which I thought might be good for my hat in view of the rain we’re expecting. I managed to get a couple of things from there. We parked outside Temptations but instead of going straight in hit a couple of shops. I had a niggle that I was looking for something in particular in Homies but couldn’t remember what so didn’t get it.                                                                                                                                                                                                                           We had our coffee and had a slow stroll to one last shop to check something out before getting back in the car. I’d left the decision about lunch up to Mike today and he’d decided on Prestatyn. A twenty minute drive down the road and we were sitting in our favourite seats ready to  get a carvery. I took my pre-foodie first. I was only given two slices of beef but they were as thick as doormats and not much smaller. The meal beat both of us and Mike said it’s a first for me ever to leave beef. I didn’t want to but had I not the explosion would have been heard from miles away.

When we left the CookHouse we headed for another branch of Homies as I now remembered what it was I needed this morning. Some of my new Aveeno but with shea butter to try. I want to find which is the best one before trying to get it from the doctor again. Eventually we came home and after unpacking and putting the shopping away I was able to come through and work while Mike watched the run up to tomorrows Grand Prix, to get the grid places today. I worked from 2.00 pm to 5.30 pm watched our usual quiz when he called me and then worked again from 6.15 pm to 8.00 pm. I didn’t manage to finish but I have an agreement which says I have to spend some time in Mike’s company so I watched two programmes with him till 10.15 pm, washed a couple of pots then came back to do the blog and any mail I had time for.

Important.  If anyone receives mail supposedly from me with the email address as shown with any similar subject, Please don’t open it. I haven’t sent it. I’m very sorry but it seems I have a virus of some kind annoying people with spam.

I wish you all a Great New Week full of Dreams come true and Hugs Galore xxxx

Flying Feathered Fiend & The Bus stops for a Loo Break

Saturday 31st October 2015

I am the slave of a brutal master. As a blog I publish every week to enlighten the world about his doings and comings and goings. I publish on a Saturday night at midnight. That is, unless my ‘master’ suffers a brainstorm and allows one of his digits to publish a day early upsetting my routine and confusing all my followers. Well, I shan’t stand for it anymore and if he doesn’t extract his (wayward) digit, I shall go it alone.                                                                                                                                                                                               In tribute to you, my faithful friends, I shall not just recount the new week from Saturday  but shall tell you the rest of his doings that you missed from yesterday. He didn’t even get dressed….all day. At 9.30 am due to problems accessing Talktalk he went through to release that feathered fiend from his cage , turned on the TV to watch Frasier and then Homes Under the Hammer and promptly fell asleep. He stirred only when the other one of his kind went through to the lounge. However he didn’t stir for long and was in and out of sleep up to 10.45 am.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         At 11.00 am he came back to work and sat moaning each time he tried to log on to Talktalk without success. He found a parcel by the door which meant he hadn’t seen the postie man, or heard him. The other one came through to say goodbye and left my master alone to keep trying. Eventually he managed to sign in and do some work. But at midday he was off again. Food this time.

The other one returned at 7.00 pm and my Master was up to date so I allowed him a break. He took advantage by not returning until 10.00 pm.

Since that’s an end to the day when I inadvertently pushed the Publish button, I feel I owe you a song. This one may test a few memories.

I was in bed reading before midnight but only read until 12.30 am. The new day started at 2.26 am and I couldn’t get back to sleep in either bed or chair. I started to clear my mail once I’d paid my usual visit. That went quite quickly after I’d cleared a few new malware threats that had arrived via Talktalk. By 3.55 am I was clear and the inevitable happened. I woke up at 5.06 am with a sore neck. One good thing is I hadn’t carried on typing while I snored.                                                                                                           I took my meds and had a piece of toast for breakfast. At 6.30 am I took a coffee through to wake Mike up. It was a 2 Call, 4 Alarm day today as he struggled out of bed at 7.00 am. He said he hadn’t slept well last night.

We did the shopping and visited all the usual places during the morning. Then we came back to Holywell to look in  LIDL for the weekly specials then a trip to the local Home Bargains for some Christmas odds and ends. We picked up some braised steak meals from Maggie’s Kitchen ( the best Chippy in Holywell) and came home to eat them so Mike could be here to try for a ring on ebay. He was kicking himself for falling asleep while the auction was on and he missed it at less than half he was willing to pay. On the other hand I was kicking myself for not falling asleep and losing one that went for twice what I’d expected. Don’t any of you say Swings and Roundabouts on pain of an excruciating ‘Crutch on the Foot’.

I worked most of the afternoon and only went through to my chair when sleep was calling.  In the evening I was in the lounge for Murdoch Mysteries and Death in Paradise. Then it was straight back to work to keep up. Since I changed instant notifications to daily ones I’m inundated with mail. At least there was no pressure to get the post ready to publish tonight.

A Monster comes

Monster at the Gate

Halloween at 2 months, at 14 months and at 26 months

Sunday 1st November.

I read until 1.00 am this morning before turning the light out and snuggling down. I slept well I think but when I woke at 3.16 am decided it wasn’t enough. I gave myself a good talking to ( saved the budgie a job ) whilst having a cigarette. A visit to the loo and I tried settling again. It took a while to find the right position which made it possible to sleep again, but I found it. New wake up time was 5.21 am and that was much more acceptable.                                                                                                                                                         No doubt you’re anxious to know whether such a short  space of time necessitated another Piddle Parlour trip, well don’t be daft, of course it did. After that I was able to sign in (although Talktalk took so long I wasn’t sure it was working ) and start work on the mail. At 6.15 am I took a break for my meds and some toast.                                          After that it was hard labour all the way until 9.30 am when Mike got up. For once my being up to date and his rising coincided.  It didn’t mean he stayed awake when we got to the lounge though. I did at least get a conversation with Joey though he seemed very subdued this morning, sort of like I was expecting myself to be as today was my anniversary.

I went to take another look at the mail at 10.00 am and to get dressed. After a while I heard Mike go through and get dressed and pack his bag ready for going home. I needed a few more things to make Muriel’s birthday bag a little more special so we left the hose at 1.30 am and Mike ran me into town, he said if I was good, he’s let me actually get in the car on the way back. So generous, that’s the downhill stretch. I wanted to find a fleece and there’s nowhere in Holywell for that so we gave it some consideration and decided to lunch in Prestatyn and then we have the choice of two or three possible shops there.                                                                                                                      It was a wonderful lunch. My beef was so tender it just fell apart. Afterwards we went into Marks & Spencer and found a fleece. I took out a mortgage and bought one but to be fair it is a blue one and they’re always expensive aren’t they? No, it’s thermal so it should be good for her. Afterwards we went to the new Sports Direct that has opened and I also found one there. It’s unisex and a hoodie but should be fine for her gardening. AND it was in the sale too !

The crowds were getting bad so we went to Costa for a coffee. I was promised double points if I ordered a No 9 blend Old something or other. We both had one. Then we came home and I tried to catch up on some post while Mike watched ebay for a few rings he was thinking of buying one of. I did sit with him as much as possible until he left at about 8.00 pm. Then I apologised to Joey and left him alone for an hour. At 9.00 pm I gave him the last hour of my evening until I took my meds and came through to deal with the blog and the rest of the mail.

Monday 2nd Nov.

Bed at midnight and then I read until almost 1.00 am when I felt tired enough to fall asleep. With light off I had a problem settling into a comfortable position and went straight to my chair. Sleep followed quickly. It was 3.16 am before I woke. I tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t. I even tried the bed again but since it proved impossible and I’d run out of options, I just signed into the computer and started on mail. It was done by 4.45 am. I tried the chair again and managed another hour. A trip to Tinkle City followed by a trip to the kitchen to take my meds and make a coffee and I was soon back at hard labour.                                                                                                                                 At 8.00 am I was able to go through and sweep around Joey’s cage before letting him out. I did have to encourage him out in order to be able to get my hand in the cage to replace his millet spray. That done I was able to go and get washed and dressed. At 9.00 am I was on my way to the Post Office to send a birthday card to  Germany and get a couple of other cards out.

I was soon back home again checking out the mail. I was clear withing about thirty minutes and went to make sure Joey was OK. He seemed fine. I sat in my chair and must have closed my eyes for a minute. It didn’t take long to open them again when I felt a rush of air and found Joey had flown close enough to make my hair stand up. He was in the mood for some low level flying yet still won’t land anywhere except his mirror.                                                                                                                                                                                 I watched Homes Under the Hammer and every time my eyes closed he was back. I hate efficient alarm clocks. Out of the corner of my eye I saw two postmen. It looked like a new one was being shown the ropes. One seemed to be carrying a package but when I got to the door all I had was mail. A letter to arrange a blood test and there was  an appointment with the diabetic clinic.I sent Yvonne a text to phone for the appointment and she got me a great one later in the month.

Programme over I came back through to work. Just as well as the post was mounting again. I worked until lunchtime then went through to take a pre-foodie tablet and put a corned beef hash in the microwave. I fully intended to come back to work as soon as Bargain Hunt was over but decided it was a good time to inspect my inner eyelids. That took till 02.05 pm when I slunk back here feeling guilty especially when Nanny Cool was talking about not going out in the sunshine because of her NaNoWriMo commitments. I worked to make up  for it.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        My Antiques Road Trip doesn’t seem to be on this week but as I went through at 4.30 am I thought for the sake of giving Joey some company , ahem, I could put up with Flog It which is also antiques based. As usual I stayed until 6.30 pm then worked until 8.00 pm. At that time it was History, the seeking of the real place for the battle of Agincourt since mass burials of the dead haven’t been found and then the Reign of Henry VII and the founding of the Tudor Dynasty. At last it was rime to tuck Joey in for the night and come through to battle with my keyboard before retiring to read for the night.                                                                                                                                                                  Chester in the morning.

Portrait of a Young boy with no taste in Rugby shirts.

Tuesday 3rd Nov.

Since my book went down and light went off at 12.30 am I’m pleased that I didn’t wake this morning until 3.31 am. It’s a shame I can’t say the same for either Talktalk or gmail this morning. Even though I signed into both as soon as I returned from my visit to the loo, neither actually loaded until gone 4 am. Talktalk loaded first at about 4.15 but gmail wasn’t until 5.05 am when I returned from taking my meds and eating breakfast. Luckily there was nothing before those times to cause pressure. I was nicely up to date by 5.50 am and took a break to get dressed after which I spent a while searching ebay and then Ikea for dining chairs for Yvonne.

At 7.30 am I left the house and started my walk. I hadn’t made it to the bust stop when the bus drew up alongside me to let me clamber aboard. I thanked Howard and asked if he’d had a nice holiday. “Yes” he said “but it was too short”. My journey was peaceful and I nodded off a few times. When I arrived In Chester Yvonne was a bit late so I went into the chemist to see if I could find the cooling non-itch version of my cream with menthol. They stocked the other varieties but not that one. I’ll have to buy it online I think. As I was leaving, Yvonne and Reuben were just coming in. We went to our usual shop for a coffee but more importantly….the loo.  After coffee I bought a Christmas present for someone and then because Yvonne is too fat currently to give chase I bought her a prezzie for looking after me.  Reuben helped me walk by gripping one of my crutches so hard I could hardly move it.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       I needed a few things today if we had time so we set about getting them. Some more Santa sacks, and though I bought the last 5 I still need at least 4 more, then a shade for my bedroom light. I remember seeing a metal one I liked in a shop but had no idea how much it was. I’d checked some out on the net and found I could pay as little as £9.99 plus postage then there didn’t seem to be an upper limit. When I checked the shop, I still liked them a lot and they were just £7.99 so I didn’t hesitate.

It was time to be walking back to the bus stop. I joked with Yvonne that if I didn’t get to the loo I’d have to walk past Pauline’s again today. But, as we arrived at the bust stop, so did the bus. I hugged goodbye and got aboard, not even my usual seat as a comfort. We pulled away and went to the main bus station where it looked like we might be there a couple of minutes. I asked Howard and he said I’d be fine so I scampered as quickly as I could to the House of Relief. Aaahhh, I’d be able to call into Pauline’s. Like the inward journey I managed to nod off and wasn’t having to cross my legs in discomfort. I called in at Pauline’s and bought what I needed plus a chips with curry sauce (now my signature dish) which I had once I’d unpacked my bags and let Joey out.                                                                                                                                                                            Once lunch was done I had no choice but to come through to work. It was 1.45 pm. It took me until 5.00 pm to get clear enough to take a break and watch my quiz. On my way I noticed a note through the door to say the postie had left a parcel in my cupboard. I don’t know how I missed it earlier. It was Yvonne’s birthday gift and I was pleased it had arrived.

I worked again from 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm then watched an historical documentary on the Stuarts, in particular Bonnie Prince Charlie. It made excellent viewing. So many deaths from the dynastic rivalries between his followers and those of George I of Hanover. After that I came back through for a last push at the post and to do the blog.

Wednesday 4th Nov.

I changed the dressings on my leg before bed last night and then applied cream to the rest. It was just midnight as I got into bed to read and it was 12.55 am when the light went off. I woke up on the dot of 3.00 am ready and raring to go. Only after a visit to the Piddle Palace of course. I powered up and signed in. This morning there was no problem with the sign in to Talktalk or gmail so I was able to attack the post straight away.                                                                                                                                                                       I finished the first round at 5.25 am and went to take my meds and have breakfast. I returned at 6.00 am and started again.At 8.30 am I paused to get dressed then after emptying my mail bags at 9.10 am I went to release Joey. Any more post will have to wait now until all visitors have gone.

MuJo came and Muriel was persuaded to open her birthday presents a day early to please me. I didn’t mind really but nit was nice to see them so well received. It was decided that instead of the chip shop we’d have something to eat at Temptations so we avoided a trip into Holywell altogether. Poor John must have missed his charity shops as well as his favourite meal. So, we went to ALDI so Mu could shop and I picked up some things including chocolates for the girls. Temptations only had two flavours of Panini when we got there neither of which appealed to me or it seems to Muriel. John had a pulled pork one while Mu and I just had ordinary sandwiches. Mine were egg mayo.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 We had a waltz round the shops after lunch picking up odds and ends but Muriel wouldn’t let me keep them in case they were married. We soon headed home. Because we hadn’t been to Holywell we were much earlier than usual. They left me about 4.00 pm to go to John’s Mum who is in her 90’s. That gave me half an hour with the post before Dil arrived. I made him a cuppa and passed him his anniversary gifts before we settled to our usual viewing. At 6.00 pm battle commenced. In the first 6 rounds of Yahtzee I couldn’t do anything right and lost 4-2. In the second round it seemed I could do no wrong and won 4-2. With honours even we started on the Trivia. We weren’t far apart at getting the six segments filled after which it was a case of who could answer a question chosen by the other when we reached the centre. As it happened after three false starts it was me. Dil asked all 6 questions on the card to see if he could have caught me on another question but I answered them all. I even surprised myself.

There was still some time left so to the accompaniment of Joey trying to dislodge his cuttlefish from the side of his cage we got the cribbage board out. I was behind most of the way but towards the end of the second stretch I was catching up. Dil had first call and fell two short of winning. I on  the other hand galloped past him and won. There were threats. such grim and dark ones but Hey, that’s life, I won overall and I was smug.                                                                                                                                                                              At 9.30 pm Dil left to go home reminding me of the time we were meeting on Saturday night. I said I’d be there with bells on. I tidied up and washed the pots, some of which I’d just dirtied making myself a sandwich. Then it was into my room to face the mail ans do the blog.

Reuben copying how Pops walks……

How Pops should walk complete with swagger stick.

Thursday 5th Nov.

At midnight I removed the dressings from my leg and applied cream all round on both legs. There doesn’t seem to be a leak anywhere today so I left the dressings off. I swung my legs into bed and tried to get comfortable as I read. There was a tickle under the skin that didn’t respond to scratching that kept coming like a sexual surge and my legs kept jumping. I gave up reading and turned the light off just after 12.30 am. Somehow, somewhen I got to sleep. At least until 3.53 am this morning when the day started anew.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   For some reason I didn’t turn my light on straight away but headed off for the loo banging my toe on one of my crutches as I went. I imagined a few choice words and carried on. When I came back I turned my light on and moved the offending crutch then signed into the computer. Bank first. all was OK there and the manager reckons it’ll be even better if I put some money in. Then I turned to the post.

Ah the post. How cleverly it leads me on then sucks me in and spits me out. Talktalk wasn’t too bad with post just in the early 30’s though it still took some time to do. Gmail had less but took longer. I was clear for 6.00 am and went through to the kitchen. Just meds and a coffee today as my moustache is still butter saturated from yesterday. I took the coffee back with me and both mail boxes bit. Talktalk now does it in pages of 12 messages and showed 5 pages. I did page 5 and clicked on page 4 to start there but more had come in so the bottom half of page 4 now formed the top of a new page 5. I got it down to page 3 and clicked to start and found a new page 4 had appeared. One step forward one step back. I was at it until 8.10 am and then had to try and rush gmail in case more came in. At 9.15 am I went to Pauline’s to do the lotttery and get bread. When I reached the counter I found I’d forgotten to bring the lottery card out. I brought the bread home and went out again. Still, as Paulimne pointed out, it didn’t sound as much just getting the lottery as it would have the whole lot together.

I need to get a battery put in a watch but can’t face going to town alone so will have to wait until Mike’s here at the weekend. Instead, Joey can have my scintillating company unless I nod off. I can at least peel my sweet potatoes ready for lunch time. I behaved and didn’t nod off. After chatting to Joey with no response for a while I went to Mike’s room , filled his bed with hessian Santa sacks and started putting the appropriate gifts in the right bags. The bed was soon full and I hadn’t emptied all  the bags from the floor not placed all the jewellery and watches in boxes. I did note that I didn’t seem to have a jumper I should have though and after a thorough search decided I mustn’t have ordered it. I raced back to ebay to correct that mistake.                                                                                                                                                                                             At lunchtime I had my sausage and sweet potato mash, watched Bargain Hunt and then returned to work assuming (correctly) I’d be assaulted in my absence. I was part way through that task when someone knocked on the door. Dwr Cymru (Welsh Water) wanted permission to come and take some water samples and run some tests. Anxious to be sure there’s nothing in my water that shouldn’t be, I let them in. Twenty minutes later they were done and stood there admiring the effect of my library doors. I might have been less than subtle when I explained I needed to return to work. With stutters that took a further fifteen minutes. They left, I worked.

I gave up work at 5.15 pm to watch my quizzes until 6.30 pm. I needed to come back to catch up on work then as I intended taking from 8.00 pm to 10.00 pm off for the new series of The Big Bang Theory and then the series from Bernard Cornwell’s books about Uhtred of Bebbanberg, currently serving with King Alfred in Wessex. I did so and managed to stay awake the whole time. Then it was back  here to do the blog and have a final catch up with the mail before bed and a read of Terry Pratchett.

I have a giraffe growing in my hand…..

It’s getting bigger…..

Friday 6th Nov.

I read until 12.45 am and turned the light out. Caught a glance of something in my peripheral vision. Fell asleep. Woke again ready to get up and found it was just 1.21 am. Somnos was sitting at the end of my bed and suggested I’d slept enough yesterday to warrant a shorter night. I could use the extra time to glorify his name on the web. I treated him to a lesson in Olde English that included a few words I must look up later. Most of them ended in …..Off. I went through to my chair in the lounge where after a cigarette I slept until 3.52 am. I think Joey must have declared the lounge- his room- a god free zone as I wasn’t bothered again.

After a visit to the Piddle Palace I came back to my room and signed into the computer. I did the post until 5.00 am then went through to the kitchen to take my meds and also to do my meds for the next week in the appropriate trays. I had some toast for breakfast then at 5.50 am returned to work. Since the majority of the blogs I follow are now notified to me on a daily basis they come in en masse at about 6.00 am there were tons today.                                                                                                                                                      I went through to the lounge at 10.00 am to watch Homes Under the Hammer as usual and I still hadn’t quite finished the mail. Just as the programme started I saw the postie go past and he was carrying a parcel. I met him at the door. He had two. One was the jumper I’d ordered yesterday- great service, and the other was the Aveeno cream with menthol to stop itching. It’s supposed to work for 24 hours so I’ll cover my legs after my shower this evening. I’ll remember to save the box to show the doctor for repeat prescriptions. After the programme I worked for three quarters of an hour thn made my lunch which I ate while watching Bargain Hunt.

1.00 pm and I returned to Mike’s bedroom for the last stages of my battle there. Getting the gifts into the appropriate Santa Sacks prior to wrapping. This serves two purposes.1) It allows me to gauge whether I think there’s enough in the bag and see what’s missing. In some instances I know it was just selection boxes. and 2) It lt me see where I have spare gifts . The biggest disaster of the day was trying to get the watches I bought into the boxes I bought. Uh oh, no way Jose. That means I now have 12 boxes for bracelets of which I only have 3 and no watch boxes at all which I had to go online to order straight away.                                                                                                                  That little job whiled away most of my afternoon and at 4.30 pm when I would normally be watching an antiques programme I was actually clearing the bed and stacking the bags so Mike would have somewhere to sleep tonight. Then I had to come through here to deal with the afternoon post. I got back to my TV at 5.30 pm part way through my quiz.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Just after I arrived back Mike sent a text to say he was on his way. I figured he’d be there a little after 6.30 pm. I hoped he’d have his keys handy as I’d be in the shower then so the door would be locked. I wanted to be out for 7.00 pm to watch Mastermind.

No sign of Mike when I got out of the shower and I watched Mastermind right up to the last contestant before he arrived. There had been bad crashes on the motorway and he’d stopped near home to pick up some food. I made him coffee while he got stuck into his meal then watched as he opened his birthday presents. He was very pleased with the wolf duvet set from Yvonne and he seemed to like his little pork pie hat that I’d got him. The good news, it seemed to fit.                                                                                       We watched a couple of American NCIS and Law and Order programmes before I departed at 10.00 pm to come and work. I left him watching a programme about a football team owned by stars of the team he supports worships.

Climbing aboard.

Ready for Take-Off.

Saturday 7th Nov

Light off 1.00 am and up again 2.19 am. Didn’t seem fair and my legs weren’t even itching. I went through to the lounge and sat in the dark listening to the budgie snore. I had a cigarette  and he didn’t wake to complain. Eventually I nodded off in the chair and woke to the sounds of Mike’s first alarm at 6.30 am I can’t remember the last time I did that. ( slept so late I mean).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Being so close to the kitchen I put the kettle on and started taking my sprays and meds. When the kettle boiled I took Mike a drink through and woke him. It coincided with his second alarm. I finished with my meds and made a coffee to take back to my room while I got dressed. It was pouring down outside so I wasn’t venturing out in my dressing gown with all the rubbish.

Mike got up with his next alarm.  C-1 A-3 seems to be the set pattern at the moment. He plonked himself in his chair and slept for a few more minutes. I left him to it as I was getting dressed. As soon as I was done I took the food waste bin out then the paper and the plastic collections and finally the wheelie bin with the main rubbish. The glass and tin bags will be OK for a couple of weeks yet.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 I finished my coffee and took my cup through to the kitchen. Mike was finishing his coffee and also went to get dressed. We managed to leave the house at 7.25 am.                 Mike got the trolley as I held up the cash machine. For some reason it didn’t take long to fly round this morning though Mike said it was perhaps that I forgot to put food in the basket again, I can’t understand why he won’t count chocolate as food. Even though we had a coffee we were still out of there before 9.00 am.                                                     We had a detour in mind before Flint. I wanted the Morrison’s store for some selection boxes though we managed to pick up sausage rolls and rhubarb tarts somehow too. I smoked a cigarette as we packed the boot and then as we walked to the Home Bargains store which is also a little different to the one in Flint. I didn’t buy too much in that one.

When we finally arrived in Flint I sent Mike off to Argos to collect a package sent there for him from ebay. I went into Temptations to order coffee. Young Sian was on the gift counter and smiled beautifully for me. On the coffee counter was Kyle with Ceri, back at work after an operation. Wonderful to see her again and I told her so. She was kind enough to say it was good to see me too. Mike arrived, shot straight past for the loo then came back and drooled all over her. When we finished we did one more shop together then headed for home.

After unpacking and putting away the shopping I came through to start work on what I knew would be horrendous amounts of post. With going out to the Silver Wedding Celebrations tonight I can’t afford a big build up. I left Mike with the TV. Partway through I had a break and wouldn’t you know he found a Katie Hepburn film to put on. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner also has Spencer Tracy and Sidney Poitier my two favourite male actors. He’s a cruel, cruel man. I had to watch for a while but I also had to drag myself away or get nothing else done. By 5.30 pm I was up to date temporarily. Time for a breather before getting dressed to go out.

At 6.30 pm it was time to dress. I decided to stick to the same jumper but put on slacks instead of jeans. I was able to wear my grey suede comfy shoes. At 6.50 pm , the time we were due to leave, I was standing in the hallway with my coat on waiting for Mike to decide what to wear. And they say women are bad!! We made it out before 7.00 pm and reached the restaurant in Colwyn Bay for 7.30 pm. As I stood outside to have a cigarette Dil and Lynne arrived with Matt. We said hello and they went in. We followed not long afterwards. It was very warm in there but it turned out stripping was frowned on. Who knew? We said hello to those we knew which included Karen and Jo as well as Lee, Jen and baby Nathan. Moments later young Jess arrived with her partner Paul and her son Rylan. Lynne’s sister and husband arrived with their young son and her mother Renee who amazingly recognised me( even without the mask) and gave me a lovely hug. I haven’t seen her in more than 20 years .  Lynne’s son from her first marriage, Dean, was there and he’s still a pleasant young man.                                                                                                                                                                                                                 The atmosphere was lovely with very attentive staff and the meals were very enjoyable even if I don’t speak Portugese. One of my greatest joys was seeing my brother look so happy. One of my least favourite things was asking for an oxygen mask to help me get up the stair to the loo, yes I know a stairlift would have been even more helpful but you can’t have everything.

It was a wonderful evening but at 10.00 pm I had to ask if Mike was about ready to  leave. Lee, Jen and Nathan were going as were Jess, Paul and Rylan. I wasn’t going to be put to bed, but I did need to put the blog to bed. See what I did there eh? I paid another visit to the loo and then with the last of my breath said my goodbyes, making sure I left some cigarettes for Matt and retrieving my lighter off him so I could smoke. We drove home and Mike was able to watch his football on TV while I worked on the blog. I have time to check a few emails as well now.

Oops !

The family dinosaur seats 4.

The fantastic Seekers with the glorious Judith Durham.

May you all have a Fantastic week full of Dreams Come True & Hugs.