Arseinthis descends & Open Rebellion.

Sunday 27th Dec.

I know I said I’m feeling somewhat better. I improve daily and return to normal. I just don’t need to rush to normal as quickly as I seem to be getting there. Are you listening Somnos? Over the Christmas period going to bed late isn’t strange, so turning my light out at 1.00 am last night after the first two chapters of my last Terry Pratchett book is normal. There was no real need though to be up and about at 3.12 am. The same messages would have waited until a bit later, until a fair bit later in fact. No-one can be surprised should I have a snooze later.

As it was, I took the opportunity to deal with my post which included kind comments on the last blog posted just last night. So hard to  believe this new blog will cover the period of a New Year. As I wasn’t having breakfast today there was no rush on taking my tablets so I hung on until I found it was almost 8.15 am. I took  everything I needed to and then carried a coffee back to my desk. As soon as the mail was clear I joined Joey in the lounge. Mike got up about 9.50 am and I made him coffee then sat aghast as he fell asleep in the chair and ignored it. How can anyone spend ten hours in bed and be tired?To be fair he wasn’t well and couldn’t bring his breathing under control. I remember being told about breathing into a bag helping   so I stuck him in a back bin bad and kept breathing till the air had gone. Didn’t seem to help so that’s one old wive’s tale to ignore in future.

There was no urgency to go out for dinner today so I made something at home and tried to get him that way. At least while he ate the lamb and sweet potato mash I managed to eat the rest of the Titterton’s Pork Pies before he announced he was peckish again. We even had a pudding of syrup  sponge and custard  just to be on the safe side. We both relaxed after lunch until Mike announced it was time he was on his way. I know he had to see his Dad before travelling back down to Rugby and home. He brought the car to the front of the hose and I helped him load up. I knew he had a bag of washing ( which I would have done had he been staying longer) so I added a bag of mine since his machine would be on anyway. That means I just have to hoover tomorrow.

I found myself watching an unusual film called Beautiful Creatures which I quite enjoyed. The ending was left open enough for a sequel I think. I’d love to see it as I like a happy ending and it showed promise. After it was over at 9.00 pm I closed Joey in , turned everything off, took my meds and came through to work. There was quite a bit of mail to cope with but I’m under no pressure.

Monday 28th Dec.

I  read until 1.00 am last night then lights out. When I woke I lay there on my back for a minute before getting up. It wasn’t that I couldn’t move, rather that I was waiting for the right moment. It appeared the right moment was 2.22 am. I laughed, ha ha at the whimsy of the gods as they must laugh at my naivety and oft times stupidity. This felt a little spiteful and way outside the capabilities of my usual crew. Given that it’s been a while since I saw them even though I have felt their capriciousness a few times, I wondered if they’d been able to learn these new skills. No, this definitely had another’s touch. Should a fresh name be added to my Pantechnicon of the gods?

Without a doubt. Arseinthis seems to have stepped aboard the bus and is looking for new worshipers to give the adoration she craves. So far that adoration seems to consist of a sewer rat that got in the way of her mental thrust and a very small budgie. As yet she’s barely 6″ tall and is hoping to catch some of the weaker minds to help her grow in stature. Small but perfectly formed as they say. Perfect if you’re an opera star I think, as that seems to have been her model. Not just any opera star though. Swathed as she is in a bedsheet with one shoulder showing, and with a bosom you could rest your teacup on. Her vanity shows through as she asks, ” Does my bum look big in this?” Immense might be a better word though already lacking sleep I hesitated to use it.

By 5.30 am I’d had enough of hearing how Arseinthis deserved to be adored and thought she was doing such a great line in self-adoration that she wouldn’t miss me. I escaped to my chair in the lounge and promptly fell asleep until 7..45 am.  It was wonderful. I went through and took my meds and had a small breakfast before bringing a coffee back to my now unoccupied room.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            I worked until I was clear about 9.15 am then got dressed and went to Pauline’s for bread. It was strange to see the road so quiet and though there was one person chatting in the shop, I didn’t meet another soul outside. I bought some crisps, bread and my cigarettes to keep me going a couple of days. I know things will be back to normal tomorrow but I won’t be taking my bus to Chester as Yvonne will be in hospital why they check her and the baby out to make sure they don’t need to operate again. She actually has her fingers crossed as it will mean 3 days complete peace and quiet in hospital. I’m hoping it will be a natural birth this time.

I returned to work until 11.00 am then went to keep Joey company and turn the TV on. We (I) watched the absolutely terrible UK version of buying lockers which haven’t been paid for. At 12.30 am when Bargain Hunt came on I had lunch. Back to normal meals Yay. After lunch I came back through here just to keep up. There was a constant stream of post from across the world. One thing that affected me deeply was the outpouring of love for my friend the beautiful Jo Robinson who lost her husband suddenly on boxing day. She’s been supportive of so many other people it’s nice the support is going in her direction now.At 4.30 pm I went back through to the lounge  until bedtime. I watched the first part of The Hobbit which though good, didn’t grip me in the way the LOTR films did. But it was the same with the books too. It was a pleasant few hours though. I was ready to turn off at 9.00 pm as usual when Joey decided to come out, hedge hop my forehead and go land on the mirror to argue with himself. I had to wait for him to go in so I could lock up, turn off and go through. That was about 9.15 pm.

Since then I’ve dealt with my post and coped with arguments with my daughter about my birthday. I want to slip a £10 max budget on a gift and limit it to a shirt. She has other ideas. I don’t want a fuss or I’m going to start believing the hype that I’m getting old. I still have an 18 years old’s brain and damn him he says he wants it back.

Cat allergy.

A life on the open road

Taken in hand by a Beautiful Woman.

Tuesday 29th Dec.

I turned my light out at 12.30 am to get to sleep sooner. It didn’t work too well as for some reason I was tossing and turning. Eventually I was away so I’m not sure I gained any sleep time. I woke at 2.17 am to a screeching in my head “But they must believe”. I saw the one with the super bosom for her tea, and tray for those behind which I hadn’t noticed somehow yesterday. She was about 4″ tall giving me hope that the sewer rat had reached the end of it’s short life or the budgie had found a more suitable recipient of it’s belief. A short time with Somnos could do that. Whatever the reason Arseinthis sounded desperate. I have to hope that there are no weak minds about. I’m so glad Mike has gone home since he’s susceptible to the siren song of a woman. Their chances with me are strictly limited since I can barely( pun intended) remember what a woman looks like. So yet again I’ve been woken for nothing.

One night last week before Christmas arrived I was just nodding off when a woman came up behind me and encircled me in her arms. The soft feeling I had in my back was enough to startle me awake. The whole thing lasted about 20 seconds which might be a record for me. Getting back to sleep proved difficult. Getting back to sleep this morning was proving just as difficult. I turned to my mail and dealt with that but it was soon done so there I was at 3.45 am with nothing to do. I got back into bed and started to read hoping that would help me drop off. All it got me was a few chapters further on in my book.                                                                                                                                      By 5.30 am I realised I’d no idea at all what I’d just read and it would be tonight’s reading again. The thing is I know what day it is. Yes it’s Tuesday but it’s also the day everyone is back in work. Under normal circumstances that would hold no fear for me but today it does.

I got out of bed and went through to the kitchen to take my meds and to have breakfast. The last few days have been no fun with the meds as I’ve wanted to vomit every time I’ve taken a drink to swallow them. I think my head is fixated on a what if scenario if the milk was off. Anyway today I decided to take the meds using Pepsi max as I usually do with my pre-foodies. Ugh, that was awful. Pepsi Max doesn’t mask the taste of tablets that start to dissolve ………… milk does.                                                                        I had two small rounds of toast that had gone cold and made a coffee to take the two after food tablets. My coffee I took back to the bedroom and has just finished the four pieces of mail in my inbox when the daily deluge started. It didn’t worry me at all today as I had time on my side.                                                                                                                         I couldn’t remember whether the DWP (Dept. Works and Pensions) started their phones from 8.00 am or 8.30 am. Normally it wouldn’t bother me as Yvonne makes and takes my calls for me but today she’s in hospital being monitored….or she was at the time. They’ve since sent her home saying they’ll start on 31st but today the head isn’t engaged. So,it falls on me to make my own phone call scary as it is. I chose to try at 8.15 am and after the usual push button 1 a few times got through to a human being. The call centre is in Scotland and I got through to a very patient person. A call that might normally take 5 minutes took 20 minutes of stuttering that annoyed  even me. The young man on the other end didn’t try to finish my sentences, allowed me plenty of time to answer his questions and was generally very helpful. I explained (again) that I NEVER answer the phone so he’d have to leave a message if he wanted something. I came off the phone a nervous wreck and totally drained but I’d claimed my state pension to start next month (January)

I returned to work for another hour or so and then at 10.35 am got dressed and went to Pauline’s to collect a free lottery ticket, my new TV magazine and a meal which for a change was steak cottage pie with mini roast spuds and veg. Pauline said it was proving popular. When I ate at noon I could see why. It did make a difference to the usual microwave dinners you get. Even Joey thought so, or at least that’s what I imagine he was saying when he sat on top of the cage bobbing up and down and squawking. Either that or he was testing the springs in his legs for a high jump and was egging himself on.

After lunch I caught up on the mail that had come in before returning to the lounge and my chair. The intention was to do an internal examination of my eyelids but despite having the TV on it seemed one of the small gods was hovering nearby, It may have been Somnos or one of his brothers or perhaps Arseinthis still smarting about some of my earlier thoughts and seeking sweet revenge. Never let it be said that the gods are benevolent, they’re as vengeful as can be. I opened my eyes and sat up attempting to take an interest in the goggle-box but it couldn’t grip me. It’s lucky I think Joey’s brain is small enough to be missed as nothing stopped him providing the entertainment I needed. At 5.00 pm I had a light tea which was good considering the amount I’ve put away over the holiday period. I watched my quiz, some film or other then turned over to watch the last hour of Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather during which he appeared in the final scenes.                                                                                                                                                    At 9.00 pm I turned off, locked Joey away and went to take my meds. That done I turned the lights out and came through for a last go at the mail and to do the blog.

I can’t find my legs. Anyone seen em?

Portrait of innocence.

Wednesday 30th Dec.

My light went out about midnight, remarkably after the antics recently of Somnos I slept until 5.17 am. I don’t know whether I dreamed the rumour that (My) Brother Jake has fixed Somnos up with Arseinthis to try and increase the stature of both. Though I’m nor sure Arseinthis could manage a change in stature without falling over. I’m not sure if goddesses get bra fittings but I’m sure hers will contain at least 3 x’s and I’m sure I’m talking kegs here. Anyway the sleep having been enjoyed it was time to get up. A visit to the Palace of Piddle first then through to  the kitchen to take my meds and have breakfast. Breakfast being a necessity today as it’s games night and no time for tea. I had a message from my friend Charlie last night that she’s made me a cake and Lis, her Mum, will be playing messenger with it today. She herself will be over to see me during the first week in January. Apparently it’s a walnut and banana cake so anyone of you who want a slice and a cuppa feel free to pop in.

Once breakfast was over I nipped a card round to Bert next door who is 70 today. He doesn’t look or act that age. He’d be out of the house to pick up his morning paper at 7.00 am. One of the best neighbours it’s possible to have, Bert collects my bins and recycling bags after collection on a Saturday and makes sure they’re safe on my porch. I started to work on my mail which this morning was way over the 100 mark with more coming in all the time. At 7.15 am I pause because the sky has just descended with a clatter outside my front door. When I checked it was the bloody wind throwing my big wheelie bin and little food waste bin around like toys. I had to fix the lid of the food waste bin. As I was finishing Bert appeared with his paper and thanked me for the card. I told him to drop in for a cuppa and some cake this morning.

In the end I didn’t see Bert because his family picked him up but Lis came with the cake. I think she remembered I’m not a fan of cake as she suggested I give it to visitors. She left about 11.30 am after a coffee as she was going out for a birthday lunch with her daughter in law. I did myself some micro chips which I had with cold meat left from Christmas. I didn’t tell Joey I had chicken on my plate. We watched a double show of Bargain Hunt together then I left to return here to work. More emails to go at. At 2.00 pm I’m intending to watch a film with Nicholas Cage who I don’t rate at all, but some of the films he’s in are good. National Treasure today.                                                                  When we reached 2.00 pm I got a text from Mike to say he was on his way. That meant about a 4.30 pm arrival. I started watching the film and at 3.30 pm Dil arrived unexpectedly. I made him a cup of tea and we chatted about Christmas as we watched the film, Dil having said to leave it on as he enjoys that type of film. It finished about 4.00 pm but we left it as the film Monsters inc was due on which would bide out time till Mike arrived.

Dil heard the door about 4.30 pm so I went and put the kettle on. Someone walked in wearing Mike’s face but carrying fruit so I knew it wasn’t him. These aliens are devilish clever. Anyway, we needed the third player now so the TV went off and out came the Yahtzee.The first 6 games I was swindled and bamboozled as the pair of them got Yahtzee after Yahtzee with no effort and I just played wallflower round the edges. I think Mike won 4-2 over Dil and I just got nowhere. The second set of 6 started badly I recall but then I felt the tingle in my throwing arm. Once we realised it wasn’t a stroke I threw and actually got a Yahtzee. Huh, I made it look so easy as to be criminal. I won three games but only drew the match.

Out came the 20th year Anniversary edition of Trivia. Surely I could show my mastery here. But no, as the game came to an end, despite me having answered lots of questions, some of them even correctly, Dil had 5 pieces of pie, Mike had 4 pieces and I was drowning in the shallow end with just 3. Like I said, swindled and bamboozled. Dil went home at 9.30 pm and I sat with Mike to watch 2 episodes of Would I lie to You. Believe me, they would. After that I was able to come through to do the blog and answer my outstanding mail which was at 79 at that pint. I will be in  bed for midnight though.

Thursday 31st Dec.

OK, this morning I was in open rebellion, I just wasn’t sure who against. I got to bed around 12.15 am. I started to read but was visited by Mike who wanted to show me something(s) on his tablet. It turned out to be shoes, wingtip, co-respondent, two tone call them what you will. He finally left me about 1.00 am which left me smoking a cigarette and half way through a chapter. I read on. The book went down and light went off at 1.15 am.                                                                                                                                              I was sitting on the edge of the bed wondering why I was awake at 2.44 am. When trying to go back to sleep didn’t work I fired up my poorly sick computer and visited the bank to check my money had gone in (it had) and then to gmail to see what was waiting for me.

At 4.12 am I was still wide awake but currently finished. I decided to sit in my chair in the lounge and see if I could nod off there. Maybe Joey could keep at bay whoever it was who delighted in keeping me awake. I did manage it and didn’t wake until 6.25 am when I just went straight through to the kitchen for my meds and a coffee. I didn’t linga longa for breakfast as I knew there would be plenty of mail to have a go at. I wasn’t wrong and just ploughed straight in. I had no idea what time Mike would get up or when we would go out so I needed as little work as possible waiting for me when I came home. Plus, Yvonne was going in hospital this morning  and I didn’t know how long everything would take,

Mike’s alarm went off at 7.30 am which was a big surprise. It only took going off three times to get him up too. But first I took him a drink through and made sure I woke him as well.  We left the house before 8.30 am with the intention of going to Chester and I hadn’t at that time made much of a dent in the mail. Part way into the journey I suggested we detour slightly and go to Broughton Park . If we couldn’t get what Mike needed there we could just pick up where we left off. There’s a shoe shop Mike is quite dismissive of but I persuaded him to look anyway . Lo and behold he was lucky and for a lot less than we’d looked elsewhere. He wanted trainers to start a weight loss programme next week. Personally I think his heart will explode and that’s the only way he’ll get rid but watch this space as I may be forced to eat my words. While we were out we visited a farm shop cafe for a sausage sandwich breakfast. Very nice it was too.                                                                                                                                                                              We had a really good look around Broughton Park and I bought a few gifts. Then we move on again heading for Chester but this time detoured to have lunch at a big Supermarket. The fates intervened.

We’d just started lunch when my phone went…..I missed it. It was Yvonne so Mike rang on his phone. Long story short as most of you will know is that my new granddaughter was born at 12.20 pm after Yvonne had a section. Amelie Rose was 9lb 3oz. It was just before 2.00 pm so we said we’d be over to the hospital in a flash. I was able to buy a beautiful bouquet, some chocolates (though I’m sure wine would have been more welcome) and some cards. We wrote the cards in the car with the rain bouncing off the roof again. We were at the hospital by 2.30 pm and went to the ward where eventually we were told Yvonne hadn’t been brought up yet, just sit over there till she’s here. We did and it was 5.00 pm before she was brought up looking tired and in pain. The baby was beautiful, well, ugly in the way most new babies are ugly but beautiful nonetheless.

A beauty all of her own.

It was 8.00 pm before we got home and brought some light to my budgies life. I started work for a while, Mike watched TV. Eventually I took a break and had a sandwich but when a film came on Mike wanted to see I left him to it and returned to work for the rest of the night. It’s been non-stop. Late in the day now but close enough for me to wish all of you a Happy New Year. I hope it’s to be a fantastic year for you all.

Friday 1st  Jan.

Well, here we are on New Year’s Day and we’ve survived another year. I didn’t stay up last night to usher in the New Year but I got to bed just before the midnight moment. Mike stood outside and watched the fireworks for a few minutes then came in and wished me a Happy New Year. After he’d gone I resumed my reading till 1.00 am. Lights off I found sleep. Wakefulness found me at 2.10 am. I went through to the loo and found that Mike was still awake and playing on his tablet. His meds weren’t helping him find sleep , mainly because he had forgotten to take them I found. I went back to bed and read a little more until about 2.45 am I tried again for sleep. My wish was granted and I slept until 4.04 am. I checked on Mike and found him well away and using his buzz saw.

I worked on mail until 5.00 am then it being Friday I went through to take my meds and to prepare my drug trays for the next week. When I came back it was with coffee in hand. It was only 5.45 am so I had 25 minutes before the onslought. Because I’d caught up with last night’s mail I was able to mess about on ebay looking for the shoes Mike wants. On the subject of last night’s mail, I don’t think another post has had the response of last night’s announcement. Even when Ju passed I don’t remember such an outpouring of kindness. It was like the switchboard lighting up in a very large hotel there were so many comments. Thank you everyone.                                                                  The influx at 6.10 am brought 117 messages to deal with. That was OK. I was in and had the time. At 8.40 am when I’d caught up I took a walk out to get new lottery tickets only to find Pauline’s wasn’t open. I knew I’d have to ask Mike a favour and see if he’d pick them up for me or perhaps nip me somewhere before he had to leave to see his Dad. I came back to carry on working for a while.

#CHAMPIONSAWARDS    When I returned to the mail  I was surprised and delighted to find I’d been given a new award and had been sponsored by the founder Seumas Gallacher.. I haven’t been accepting awards for some time but accepting this gives me the ideal opportunity to pointedly recognise some deserving people. This is part of thr reason for the award’s creation……………. there are already gazillions of splendid Awards, recognising the goodness of so many of our fellow scribblers and readers… supporters all in their own way, worthy of a thousand special ‘thank you’ nods… the intent of these CHAMPIONS AWARDS is to differentiate those fine people who go that extra special mile for others… my fervent hope is that this will circulate and ‘viralise’ (new WURD, Mabel, settle down) and trigger your own CHAMPIONS AWARDS for those you know deserve it :                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         The rules are simple.

Recipients, if you choose to accept and wish to propagate the CHAMPIONS AWARDS, please do the following:

1. Post this Award Sticker on your blog, with the hashtag #CHAMPIONSAWARDS
2. Acknowledge the sponsor of your Awards.
3. Choose at least five of your own nominees and advise them accordingly, attaching these 5 guidelines.
4. Keep it simple… no need for explanations for the Awards… we know how great these folks are.
5. You are free to give out these Awards as frequently as you wish.

My Nominees are. Paula Acton of paulaacton.com/   Fiza Pathan of http://www.fizapathan.com/    Rob Goldstein of http://robertmgoldstein.com/    Laine Anne Jensen  of http://frommidnighttodawnlight.com/  and Melanie Marttila of Writerly Goodness at http://melaniemarttila.ca/  The list is not an indication that these are the only worthies as those are too numerous to list now but each of my friends above occupies a little niche that helps others. There may be more to follow.

At about 9.15 am I was straight again and went to sit in the lounge. It must have been just minutes before I was asleep. At some point Mike was there. I got an hello in before I was off again. I was expecting him to be off to his Dad’s today as usual but through the fog I heard he’d changed his mind and would go on Sunday instead. When I asked about lunch he said that’s why he was waking me up so I climbed my way back to consciousness. We settled on lunch in Prestatyn at the CookHouse then on to look at the sale at the Tweed Mill in St.Asaph.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Outside the CookHouse we saw a sign that said O.A.P.s got a reduced carvery Mon to Fri. We joked and said we wondered if today counted as it’s a Bank Holiday and also whether reduced meant the price or the quantity.  It turned out we got the reduced price today so Mike treated us to lunch , it also turned out the quantity was less (the meat) too but not enough to matter.

We had a ride to the Tweed Mill where Mike got a nice fleece for after the gym, I think he wants to look sporty. We had a good look round and stopped for a coffee in the tower coffeehouse but as time was getting on we decided to come home to Joey. We were back about 4.30 pm and obviously I had to come to work straight away having wasted the morning. I still managed to get some TV in during the evening, watching Judge John Deed with Mike. Then it was back here again with plenty to do.

Saturday 2nd Jan.

It was almost 12.45 am when I finished my Pratchett book. As always I was sorry I had, though this time I think there was some story missing compared to the usual Discworld books. Lights off ready to sleep. I was up for the loo as early as 2.20 am but managed to settle down again afterwards. Then it was 4.38 am and up. Not an unreasonable time compared to recent nights. Mike thinks that 7.00 am is still the middle of the night so perhaps I should complain more. He still doesn’t believe there are two seven o’clocks in the same day.Then he surprises me. His alarm went off at 6.15 am. I waited until it went off the second time before taking a coffee through thinking the second one may wake him a bit. It was the fifth one that finally forced him out of bed to fall asleep in his chair in the lounge.  I just turned the overhead light on and left him. He’s be ready when he was ready. Blow me, by 7.25 am we were on our way.

I bought flowers first in the supermarket, then bedding in the form of sheet and pillowcases then a beautiful little pink frilly dress with matching knickers and with pink roses sewn on all round. My bill was rising even before I got near the food. At the till eventually Mike’s grin got bigger as the bill did. We went for coffee. I bought a couple of cube photo frames on our way out into yet another day of rain.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          We headed for Flint and had a look round a couple of shops for some particular style of joggers Mike wanted but the legs were all far too long for him. We headed for Temptations and our friends where we got New Year hugs and kisses and thanks for the watches I got as Christmas gifts this year. They were liked. When it was time to go we headed off towards home then Mike detoured ti have lunch in Holywell. We settled on the Chippie so he could have fish. I settled on sausage and chips with…you guessed it….curry sauce. Very nice too.

Once the meal was finished we came home to unpack the bags and let Joey out. I was a wee bit annoyed that the recycling hadn’t been collected as I didn’t want to bring the bags which were now soaked through back into the house. We put the shopping away and tried to encourage Joey to say hello but his back was turned to us for hours. Mike settled with his tablet to watch his team play while I came to work and tried to made a dent in the 65 I’d left behind this morning plus what had come in between times. I did pretty well and was through with Mike by about 5.00 pm. When I say with him, I mean more in body than in spirit since I put a film on TV for us and promptly fell asleep. At least I was awake for the end and to turn over for the Iron Man 3 movie which I slept through as well. He didn’t complain too much as it seems I’m far noisier with the coughing when I’m awake.

At 9.00 pm I came back through away from the temptation to sleep and started work instead. I hope by the time I get through in here I’ll be tempted to sleep again, just in the right place next time.

The Wee One

Beautiful Grandbaby