Car Booty & Priya and Penny Depart

Sunday. Since Mike’s phone said thunderstorms today and mine said very overcast, both for the same area we felt justified in going out in short sleeved shirts and lightweight jackets. We were not disappointed. Maybe we didn’t tempt fate by putting the top of the car down but we did travel mainly with the windows fully down. Very handy too when Mike’s stomach isn’t up to much. We traveled into sunny Cheshire to the hidden ( shopping) village of Blakemere for a car boot sale. It may not have been as big as our local one at Rhuddlan or even the Countess of Chester Hospital one we went to last week but this was Cheshire and the goodies on offer were good. There were a couple of things I’d love to have got for Reuben if only they hadn’t been PINK, his father wouldn’t have approved at all. But I did manage to get a great pop-up tent and also a crawl through tunnel that also fitted onto the tent.

For myself I found a wooden hand which could hold a candle but also ( and this is what I’ll use it for) an incense cone, a wooden box with a Buddhistic image in gold on the lid. I paid £2 for the latter item and later saw them on sale at £12.99 in the shops at Blakemere. I also bought two nice ( and expensive) tapestries at £1 each. I got a really nice CD/Radio player that Mike wanted for just £4. All in all a very productive morning. I also found but didn’t buy a game called Scrabble Trickster which allows players to get cards which lets them among other things, spell a word backwords, put a word on the board wherever they want, turn a tile over and use it as a blank and steal the previous player’s last score. What a game that could be. I’ll have to think about it though I’m actually half regretting not getting it now.

 

Scrabble Trickster

 

 

 

 

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Naturally our first stop after the car boot was the cafe scratch that, loo, after which came the cafe. A nice cuppa revived us for a walk round the shops. Two fantastic shops which sell imported items, mainly wooden from Indonesia and Thailand, 2 antique shops, a craft place, a huge pet shop, complete with some pets, I think there’s a baby shop( though I’m fairly certain you can’t buy or sell babies there) and then an attractive courtyard filled with shops with gifts, a tea room, an ice cream place, sweets and various gift places. It’s a great place to visit though I aim that more at the ladies than the gents, Mike says I must be more in touch with me feminine side but the sarky beggar forgets it was his idea to go the last twice.

It took an hour to get back home and on to lunch at The Ivy. Yes, today I remembered the chocolates. Shella was back at work after hurting her back and we had a nice chat. Angie was there and Mike put a smile on her face with a Terry’s chocolate Orange I got yesterday. The meal was lovely, though very filling. My first ever panini which was filled with road beef, fried onions and mushrooms and a dish with coleslaw,( I didn’t have the cheese and the horseradish sauce Mike had) , a small side salad and some chips. I didn’t know paninis were so big. Neither of us could manage lemon meringue pie which was perhaps as well since by the time we’d let our belts out a notch there was just one piece left and I’m not noble ( or daft) enough to say “After you bro”. I did leave there disappointed though. Oh, not because I didn’t get my hugs, there was no problem on that score. Yesterday I’d asked Tariq if he could put some glass into a picture that Yvonne had bought me and which had been damaged for some time. Tariq does all his own framing so has a lot of glass about. He made me shake hands that he wouldn’t argue about accepting the money for lunch (YAY) on the understanding that I only paid him for materials and not for his labour. Reluctantly I agreed after getting agreement he would take payment. After the job was done he told me the charge was 55p which is probably about 35c U.S. The man is a horse trader. I shall think of some way of getting a gift.

Mike ran me home and disappeared quite quickly. ( I have that effect on people) giving me the chance to catch up on the 132 messages in my box. That took a while and it was nearly 6.00 pm when I went through t wash up from this morning and then to watch an episode of Midsomer Murders for relaxation. At 8.00pm I came back through to start again.

Monday. Not every day starts with good news. I’ve heard from Jo, one of my wonderful nieces that Penny and Priya (pictured) have departed to join Ju so they can play inside her dressing gown again. You’ll remember no doubt that Jo took over looking after all four of our special girls after Ju passed away. Amy and my beautiful Bernie passed away a while ago  so now the last two have gone to join them. So sad.

Priya enjoying her morning cuppa Tea. R.I.P

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Feeling unwell today I went back to bed after doing my mail and then carrying out kitchen duties. I was woken by a knock on the door, not that I knew that’s what it was at the time. Only when I sat up and my mind began to work ( despite what A C Flory says) did my mind begin to twig some poor soul was stood on the doorstep. It was my nephew David ( do I really have a nephew approaching 50?) and there he stood despite me telling him just to walk in. He’d brought a batch of Sheet Music dating from around 1905 for me to see. There was only one that meant anything to me by Gen. Lew Wallace , the theme tune to the book he wrote ‘Ben Hur’. It had a very frameable cover as did some of the others. I wasn’t able to help him really as I know nothing of music other than some I like, some I don’t. I suggested taking it to a specialist music shop as they may be interested in displaying it or even playing it.During the time we were chatting David reminded me he’s promised last week to buy me lunch today and despite my saying there was no need he went off to the sandwich shop for some filled baps. He also went shopping for me to Pauline’s. As soon as he mentioned the brand and his Uncle ‘Dave'(I hate it) she knew who it was and just said “100?”.   David was taking one of Ju’s prized horse figures today for himself but I also found some old jewellery boxes filled with costume jewellery he could take for the stall. I finally got dressed !

David was due to be home for 1.00 pm but while we were talking about car boots I’d told him of the two tapestries I go yesterday and he asked where I was putting them. I explained where and why and that I’d bought a pole to put them on as well. He offered to do the job there and then. I refused as it was already 12.25 pm but he said it took no more than 20 minutes to drive home.(They haven’t invented a car that fast yet except in F1). We did the job regardless and I’m afraid i was 1.00 pm before he left so I hope the motor mechanic at his end was a patient man.

I came back to the computer to clear what I could and was forced to go to my chair at 2.45 pm. I had my lunch but by 3.45 I was asleep again. I woke just in time for my 4.30 pm Antique show and then came back to mail at 5.15 until 6.00 pm. I’ve managed to stay pretty much abreast of it today somehow. I watched TV from 6.00 to 8.00 pm and then came through for the night sessions. I’d had a text from Mike to say he’s been granted an exchange on his flat so he’s moving as we speak and won’t be down this weekend. That will be good in a way as he’ll be with his son for Father’s Day. If he does finish moving early, he and his son will be going to Manchester to fix his Dad’s washing machine, otherwise it could be the next weekend and I’ll have two very quiet weekends. At least he won’t be moaning I’m getting him up in the middle of the night for shopping.I won’t get any done. I’ll still be going to the Ivy though for my Father’s Day treat.

Tuesday. After finishing my mail this morning I became tired and nodded off in my chair in the lounge. That was about 6.30 am and I didn’t wake until almost 9.00 am. I doubt I’d have moved if it hadn’t been for the repeat prescription request lying in front of me on the coffee table. I got washed and dressed before dropping it off with the chemist and went straight back home as I wasn’t going to Yvonne’s today. The air had revived me enough to stay awake long enough to catch up on the mail again. Four messages suspending my online account with Santander. Do these moronic con men think I’m more likely to believe a message if I read it more often? The postman came with a new batch of keyring blanks for me and I was able to make up nice ones for my nieces.

By 11.00 am I was tired again and back to the chair I went. Zonk, I was out till 12.00 pm and though I didn’t feel like lunch I made something anyway. There was a made for TV film on at half past which I watched till it ended at 2.20 pm when I thought I’d better make serious inroads into the mail or I wouldn’t see my Antiques Show at 4.30 pm. I made it by the skin of my teeth. In a repeat of last night I went back to the computer at 5.15 pm till 6.00 pm and then TV until I called it a night at 8.00 pm. I’m following a couple of items on ebay at the moment so I checked up  on those before doing a few searches for things I like, walking sticks for one. After that I spent time concentrating on the mail again which included a further two notifications that Santander don’t love me any more. If I actually had an account with them no doubt I’d be heartbroken.

Wednesday. Such a major disappointment this morning to find in my mail box 5 separate messages directing me how to get back into my suspended Santander account. If they can’t get me with threats they’ll try to get me by being helpful. I also had 3 messages of love which was a surprise since as usual I’ve never met the ladies (?) in question. There was also a message with just one word…Hello. That went the way of the others. I suppose I shouldn’t complain too much as at least Mystic Myfanwy hasn’t been predicting my future fortunes again.

I had to get dressed and go out this morning though just as far as the corner shop. The sun was shining and it was really quite warm despite a breeze. We’re officially into Summer now so maybe this is it. Back home I decided to stay up and stay dressed in case my drugs were delivered ( they weren’t). I also decided to put a bid in on a game of Scrabble Trickster due to end this evening. The rules sound just about crazy enough to be a good laugh. While doing my post I came across a problem I’ve had before where my ISP suddenly decides not to send messages to any hotmail addresses. Everything I tried was getting returned as undeliverable and the steam was starting to seep out of my ears. In the end the only thing to do was create a new email address with gmail so now I have the same post going to both places and confusing me. Gmail breaks mail down into type, Social and Promotions and each is held as a separate list. The contacts list isn’t in an obvious place either. Somehow I managed to clear all the mail I save like payments to ebay until the goods arrive. Plonker.

I slept a good deal  of the afternoon though I did keep going to the computer when ever I was awake for more than 30 secs. At 4.30 pmm I went to enjoy my antiques programme and found I’d missed two messages on my mobile. Mike to tell me the move is going well but he won’t be here this weekend. Lee James to say he can’t make it tonight. A shame. At 5.45 pm though the door opened and Dil and Matt arrived. I made drinks as the Scrabble was set up. I don’t know why I bothered. It was a slaughter in the first game- Matt, and a massacre in the second game-Dil. I was demolished in the Nomination Whist-Dil again but I did win the cribbage so didn’t need a new pack of tissues. There’s a lot of humour expended on these games nights and I love them for that reason. We could be playing Snap  for all I care ( as long as I’m winning of course). They left as usual at 9.30 pm and after washing the pots and having a quick tidy round I came through to start the assault course of mail again. Now it’s time to go to bed and have a short read before witching hour is upon us.

Thursday. I won the Scrabble Trickster last night. Let’s see them beat me next week. If it comes early I’m memorising the rules.That should last all of half an hour. I’m still working out the differences in gmail but there are some definite pitfalls for me. I can’t find a way to  change the font style or size and two people I write to I layer the mail. They write a one line answer to my part of the message underneath mine, and I do the same to theirs. That seems to be a major faff. Currently I’m running between programmes dependant upon the message.

Since I put my prescription request in on Tuesday morning I the drugs back yesterday. It didn’t happen so when I went for bread this morning I stuck my head in the chemist. I let them know I needed a full spiriva kit and not just refills and that my gliclizide had run out. I was told they’d be here this afternoon. They weren’t and I’m not best pleased. This has happened before where they didn’t deliver because one item was missing. That’s not much good to me when I’ve run out of a drug. I shall have to pay another visit in the morning. There’s been a lot of mail today for some reason so a lot of time has been spent in here. With the heat I’ve been wanting to nod off more than once. I’ve been very good, and waited until a programme I wanted to watch came on TV. Then the rafters reverberated to my Zzzz’s. I did manage to see my new Big Bang Theory tonight though.

It’s been a funny day though. A message from Yvonne about Sunday. Ugo has to go away and needs to catch a coach so they’ll be with me from about 10.00 am Sunday till 1.00 pm. Not great but I can cope. I tried to tell her not to bother and save themselves the dash but NO, they were coming. Now a new message to say they’ll be here after all as his trip is put off by a week. If all those Nigerian con mails start again I’m going to get very suspicious. The window cleaner came and yes, I’d nodded of. I’ve decided never to clean the insides again so he can’t see me sleeping and think I do it all day .

Right, I’m off to bed. Sleep well all  !.

Friday. I’m really struggling with this gmail account. Not only do all my emails not arrive there, I don’t have the option of how to answer them ie. as layered answers, I write a line or two and then the recipient writes a line or two on top. Instead I have to write at the bottom of a long list of ongoing messages between us and scroll back up everytime I want to make sure I haven’t missed something. Within the last ten minutes I have at least discovered how to change the font, size and the colour. Yay.

After the usual morning jobs ( like waking up and dressing) I went to the chemist to find out what had happened to my drug delivery yesterday. At first I got some very blank looks like I hadn’t put the request in at all but eventually I was told they’d do what they could and bring my stuff round. Fair enough about an hour later Dawn arrived at the house with a bag. I asked her to hang on for a minute while I checked it in case I’d been given just the refill capsules for the spiriva. I hadn’t. In fact the spiriva wasn’t there in any form so I had to query that with Dawn. It wasn’t even sowing on the bag as an item owed. She said she’s go back and check for me and I’m sure she doubted I’d ordered it.  At least I had the now three drugs I’d run out of and I hadn’t run out of the spiriva. Just as well really as she didn’t return with it for me. And before you ask, I know I ordered it as I wrote on the request that I needed the full kit. The senility hasn’t hit quite that bad yet.

Yesterday I trawled through all Julia’s crafting stuff to find a machine I’d promised Yvonne. It took a while to find all the different plates that fit it it but eventually I managed it and prepared two big bags for her on Sunday. Picture if you will a wall. From right to left are a five drawer chest of drawers, a slight gap, another 5 drawer chest then a set of three plastic drawers full of craft material. Righto, got that? I need to get rid of the 3 drawer craft set so that I can move the left hand chest to the left  ( change partners do se do) so that there is now a larger gap in the middle. I want to fill that gap with a set of bookshelves which ebay kindly furnished me with this morning. 4 shelves high that fold down and the sides fold in over them. Amazing value at £23.99 and I had the option of free home delivery or delivery to an Argos shop for collection. I took the home delivery option and they should be here by Tuesday. With any luck that”s the day the game will arrive too.

There have been a lot of messages today. Only one from Santander to say my sign in is now blocked but one from Barclays again to say they’re having problems paying money into my account. I suggest they gather cash and send me that instead. I don’t mind if they close a non-existent account really. Regretfully there have been no declarations of love or offers of marriage today so during a gap between Antique Road Trips I took a shower. I removed the shampoos and bodywashes from the seat and used that to sit on this time. I still had to bend over to keep my arms from being above my head since there’s no Mike to scream for. It’s been along day and I expect a fairly long weekend but he does have a life of his own out there as well. I hope the weather stays nice and you all have a Great Weekend.

Cheese String Thing with cheese string

 

The laundryboy

Mucky Face

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday. Dawn came sneaking round a corner this morning and crept up behind me with a hammer. Dame Aurora can be a devil like that, one minute a headache, next minute the sun is glaring down saying get your lazy arse out of bed. I complied yet it was no later than 5.00 am. I wasn’t actually in bed anyway which is how the sun caught me. I’d been sleeping in my chair after sleep and I had an altercation in the bedroom. Sleep wanted to plague my rest with dreams and I’m like the BBC- no adverts. I returned to the bedroom where at least the sun wouldn’t bother me. It would take more than that to get through my curtains.

I turned on the computer, opened both my email programmes since the new one doesn’t seem to bring all my mail over and because some I prefer to answer in the format I use on TalkTalk. I was heartbroken to see that Barclay’s have also decided to suspend my sigh in but even worse, the Halifax are now saying they have problems with my account. This is getting so bad that yesterday I deleted a message from Paypal about a refund to my account before I realised  it might be genuine. Once I checked with Paypal it was. Another beggar has reused to honour the ebay agreement to supply goods after an auction and after I’ve paid. This lot haven’t even had the manners to respond to messages. Ebay raised a case, gave them 5 days to respond and then refunded me. I’d much rather have had the goods though as it was a lovely mirror clock with the Welsh Dragon at the centre. Last week I had a similar problem with a case for my phone. I’m waiting patiently like an idiot until I realise nothing is coming. The firm did initiate a refund very quickly but no apology or explanation of why they didn’t send it. I had to start again with another firm which firstly sent the wrong one and quickly corrected it. Once before I bought something, paid for it and waited. The seller marked it as dispatched. Three weeks later she admitted it hadn’t been sent an d she wasn’t going to as she didn’t like the price she got. Put a bloody reserve on it in that case!

I had breakfast and then put all the bins and rubbish bags out. At 7.30 am I went out for the bus. At the supermarket just up the hill ( one of two…Supermarkets, not hills) I got cash from the machine. I could almost hear it say “The Bank Manager- He say YES” and I considered shouting “I’ve won” but it was still quite early. I grabbed a  shopping trolley, loaded my sticks aboard and set off. The vases at home weren’t looking too bad but they were perhaps a little crowded and all four contained the same plants. I was bound to be able to weed some dead stuff out so I bought a nice bouquet of mixed flowers and a bunch of carnations. Then I edged up the vegetable  aisle, and note this….I stopped. I bought lettuce, tomato, cucumber and some Jersey potatoes. All bets are off if it rains though !! Baps next, cakes ( for my neighbour who is always taking in parcels for me or returning my bin from wherever the binmen leave it),a rhubarb pie, butter, milk, ( I considered cream but decided not), yoghurts, round the corner for bacon and lemon meringue pie. Then I needed biscuits, crisps, sweets and a bottle of beer. Somehow I managed to forget coleslaw and pickled beetroot.  The girl on the till waited until I had my bags set out in the trolley before ringing the goods through which was a great help. Then I got cigarettes from my friend who called me a taxi…No, she didn’t say “You’re a Taxi”, she made a phone call to get me one. He arrived a couple of minutes later and I was home for 8.30 am.

It didn’t take too long to unpack and put away the shopping but it took forever to get rid of some of the old flowers, trim the others and arrange the new ones so it didn’t look like I’d just bunged the bunches in a vase. I had to get very arty-farty. Mike usually does it so he must be more in touch with his feminine side than me. I knew I’d need the coleslaw for lunchtime so I went to Pauline’s, forgot the beetroot and bought more cigarettes instead. I think my mind might be elsewhere.  Perhaps a little worried about tomorrow? Back at home I laid into the mail again and by lunchtime was back up to date. I ate lunch watching an old film but don’t ask me what as I’ve no idea now. After lunch I just zonked out anyway.

When I woke I knew for sure I’d been out an hour and the mail would be there again, I had another catch up session. As long as I was free for 5.00 pm s there was a Miss Marple I haven’t seen. After that a Jack Black film was due to start. I managed less than ten minutes before I had to turn it off or bang my head against a few walls. So, I came through and I’ve been keeping pace with mail ever since.

I wish you all a wonderful week.

A killer smile

First Nursery photo

 

Funny Monster

Sticky fingers

Mother’s Day & Diabetic Review.

Sunday.

It started early enough, bed at 1.30 am last night, or at least that’s when I finished reading. Up again at 5.15 am and that was AFTER putting the clocks forward.  It’s stupid but I think I’d worked myself up to such a pitch about how I’d be today that it was almost self-fulfilling.  I was thinking of Ju as I did my mail and I was looking at her pictures as I went around the house but oddly enough I wasn’t the miserable git I’d expected to be.  I’d expected to be alone this weekend but that hadn’t been allowed and Mike was here though obviously as it was Sunday I only expected a few minuted with him between actually getting out of bed and leaving for his Dad’s. What a shock then to hear his alarm go off at 7.00 am when I was standing in the kitchen making my coffee. For one thing he’d watched TV late and for another the clocks had gone forward which would/could possibly deprive him of an hour’s sleep. Anyway, I put the kettle on for him ( he doesn’t like my podded brand of coffee). I was even more sure the alarm had been an accident after hearing no movement from him. Still, I risked making a drink and taking it through for him. I left it on the bedside table and just called “Coffee up Bro.” The response was a startled “OK, thank you, snore.” I got washed and dressed and drank my coffee while doing the last bit of overnight mail in my box. Lo and behold at 7.50 I heard mike call good morning and tell me he was awake. A few minutes alter he was in the lounge and I joined him there.

It turned out the thought of attending the first large car boot locally had appealed to him though I believe it was an attempt to occupy my mind really. We made it out of the house by 9.00am and drove to Rhuddlan. It was disappointing to see the car boot wasn’t as large as it usually is there, but after all it’s their first of the year. Still there were enough stalls to keep us going. We walked round paying careful attention to everything. I didn’t want anything in particular but Mike was hoping maybe to find another gurgle jug. We were approaching the last stall on the penultimate row when we both spotted them. A beautiful pair of jugs in a colour approaching gold. I thought they were from the sixties possibly and Mike agreed. The stall holder wanted so little for them it was a waste of time to haggle so Mike bought them both. We were well past the halfway mark on the last row when I grabbed Mike’s arm and drew his attention to a watch winder on a stall. Very smart looking. He never expected to see one at a car boot but he was a bit worried as he wanted a double ( or more) and this was a single. I said it would do for now at least keeping one watch wound until he found something else, but only if it worked of course. Mike asked about it and the chap said he’d paid £65 for it just over a year ago, and it worked fine. No way it could be proved at that moment but as he only wanted £15 it was worth the risk. I bought it and then added an 8 socket electric plug tower to my purchases for just £7.00  As we’d walked round Mike’s phone had beeped a few times and I’d seen him texting. Since I’d had a message from my niece Karen I didn’t think anything of it. We left and headed for a large supermarket close by that has a cafe. As we he sat eating toast then a bacon sandwich he asked me what I wanted to do about lunch. To be honest I wasn’t that interested today but he told me his messages had been from Yvonne and  they were meeting us between 12.30 pm – 1.00 pm at the Ivy for lunch.

I bought some chocs at the Supermarket then we made our way to the Ivy getting there in plenty of time. I know they didn’t know we were going but shock, horror, they’d let someone else sit at both our tables. We had to sit at a normal dining table until my eyes drilling into the back of their head made one group leave. We occupied our rightful place. Tariq came over for hugs and Angie to say hello. It wasn’t too long before a baby was thrust in my lap and Yvonne sat down next to me. Ugo sat next to Mike. Tariq brought the drinks over and while Reuben alternated between the grape and whine dance on my lap and trying to snatch my latte from the table we ordered lunch, except Yvonne who’s weight loss plan with a diet group has her refusing all food. Normally I’d argue with her but today I realised she could take Reuben before he stole my lunch. Yvonne wasn’t at her best today and I knew it’s because she’s so upset about Ju.  I could probably have offered more comfort than I did but was afraid of letting go.

After lunch there were multiple hugs, and no fight about the bill with Tariq as he left the room and I caught Angie. She didn’t want to do it but was persuaded. There was a disagreement about a tip though as she said no since I’d taken chocolates in. Lucky for me with so many customers she couldn’t follow me outside to fight. I’m learning. We went home and Ugo followed as I’d told Yvonne about Reuben’s outfits from yesterday’s shopping. I’m happy to say she loved them. They stayed with us a while then had to go. I did some work then went through to watch a bit of TV with Mike though he was actually on the computer himself for a long time looking at Ebay.I managed to nod off for half an hour though I was conscious of Mike having a long telephone conversation while I dozed. I made tea about 6.00 pm and then we did the fishtank  (finally) before watching a new episode of Endevour which is excellent TV. At 10.00 pm it was time to come through to see how much work was waiting and to get the days blog done. I’m happy to report I survived the day well and though I obviously miss Ju I wasn’t overcome with emotion and was able to concentrate on wonderful times with her, especially at the car boot we’d been to today.

Monday. Confessions first, I didn’t open my eyes this morning until Mike’s alarm went off at 6.58 am. In fairness it was a 2.00 am bedtime last night so I don’t feel too guilty. But when the alarm went off I shot up as though I’d been stung. It was as well I did because I heard no movement from Mike’s room. Without pausing to turn on the computer I went straight to the kitchen. The fish were the first priority when kettle on while I used my sprays and took my tabs. As the kettle boiled I made Mike a coffee and shoved my mug under the machine for a latte. I woke Mike as I put the coffee on his bedside table, conscious of the fact he needed to be gone by 8.30 am. There was a definite grunt of acknowledgement but that was as far as it went. I grabbed my drink and went to the computer and made a start. First I had to finish doing the ones I hadn’t managed from last night. At 7.30 I went through to remind Mike his coffee was there and he needed to get going. Hnnnfff. Not a flicker. I finished my drink and was taking my cup to the kitchen at 8.45 when he finally moved. I sat in the lounge with him till his eyes opened and focused a bit.

It was 8.45 when Mike finally left. I haven’t heard whether he made his appointment on time yet. As for me, I started in earnest on my mail and managed to get up to date at just gone 10.00 am. Mike had reminded me before he left that I needed to get dressed and take my prescription request in to the chemist. So by 10.30 am I was on my way there and called in to Pauline’s for some Branston pickle, and one of those accidental kitkats. When I got home there was a pile of mail and every piece was junkmail without exception, not unlike what was also waiting on the computer. It was mid-day before I made myself a sandwich for lunch and sat in front of the TV as I ate. After I’d washed the pots I continued to sit there until I nodded off. When I woke I had one of those muzzy feelings and decided I’d better do something, I did, I fell straight back to sleep. It was 3.45 pm before I woke again. I have no idea why but I still felt tired. Anyway, back to the computer to catch up which took me till almost 5.30 pm. I had a tin of pineapple rings then watched Law and Order. Once that was done I turned over to watch something else but kept nodding. At 8.00 pm I finally pulled the plug and came through to the bedroom. There was quite a bit of mail to answer but I was also nipping back and forth to ebay. I won a box to keep tea bags in with a clear lid so you can make a choice. I won a watch. There was another one I wanted and bid on that I missed when commenting on a friend’s blog post.

I’m currently watching another two watches tonight but one finishes at 11.57 pm and I doubt my eyes will be open that long tonight. I’ll have to put a bid in and hope for the best. I’m off now to complete the rest of my post and cross my fingers there won’t be too much more tonight.

Tuesday. April Fools Day. It felt like I got up this morning ten minutes before I went to bed. I woke at just gone 3.00 am according to my ever so luminous clock. I tried to just relax and go back to sleep but gave up at 3.50 and started work. I finished the first batch before 6.30 am and felt tired so I lay down for a minute or 60. At 7.30 I was awake again and went to see to the fish, take my meds and make a coffee. When I returned there was mail again including some from Yvonne to say she felt lousy with her throat (again) and it was great that I didn’t have to face her when I said I didn’t need her to come today as a friend was taking me to the doctor’s. I know she was glad. From my point of view it was a great way of dodging the bullet.

I worked on the mail until about 10.15 when I decided to get washed and dressed. I was being very good with my smoking this morning, stretching my last packet out as I have a bad chest. That was the bullet I needed to dodge though missing the diabetic review would be a bonus as I hadn’t asked a friend to take me. By 12.15 pm I thought, “Why the heck not, I can do this”. At half past I donned my jacket and made my way to the bus stop.I was actually at the point of turning back, even though the day was glorious, when a bus pulled up beside me. It wasn’t the bus stop, but the driver was letting someone off early, he asked if I was heading for the bus stop. Like an idiot I said yes and got on. I was in town before 1.00 pm. My appointment wasn’t until 3.00 pm so I wandered down the High Street slowly until I reached Kassidy’s. It didn’t look too full so I entered and took a small table out of the way. Chris mouthed a welcoming hello at me but my hands were shaking. In over 4 years of being here I’ve never been out alone and been in somewhere alone either. Dawn took my order and I waited for my cuppa to take a tablet. Chris came over to say how beautiful Reuben is and she could see I wasn’t myself. She’s a lovely person and just ignored my idiocy. I think Dawn had forgotten my tea so Chris went to do it for me. It arrived at the same time as Dawn brought my lunch. So much for 15 mins between taking the first tab and eating.

As I finished Chris came over to squeeze my shoulder. I knew it was support. Si was cooking today so I wasn’t able to see him. I paid and left. It was 1.30pm. I had a look round the Supermarket and thought about going home. Instead I decided to try it. I bought a box of Ferrero Rocher and wandered to the surgery. I was there for 2.00 pm. I sat in solitary for the full hour before I was called and almost left a dozen times. When I got in, the Sister asked if there was anything she could do for me. I said No thanks. The review took only minutes and it appears my blood tests show an increase in my glucose levels so next prescription they’ll up the tabs even more. No checking my feet as usual or pricking of the thumb. My BP was OK this time though. What she did notice is that my chest isn’t and so I ended up with a prescription for anti-biotics. I think my stuttering responses took longer than the actual review but I handed over the chocs gratefully and left.

It’s quite a walk to the bus stop but I made it and within minutes two small buses appeared with Prestatyn as the destination. The first one left before I had chance to breathe but I got on the second one as it looked as though it was heading off. It was actually moving to the space vacated by the other one to give women ( girls) with trolleys chance to get on. It was awful, really crowded and I had  a youngster bouncing about on the seat next to me. It started off and to my horror bypassed my usual road and started leaving Holywell heading away from the Coast Road where Prestatyn is. I had to ring the bell to get off which was a very long way due to roadworks preventing he bus stopping where it normally would. It was a long walk back to town and to wait for the right bus. I decided to bypass the chemist when I got home as I’ll go in the morning and see if they have my other prescription from Monday ready yet.

I ploughed into mail when I got in and kept going until almost 6.00 pm when I decided to watch a film instead of my usual Law and Order. That took me till 9.00 pm when I almost ran back here to try and catch up. It’s almost 11.45 pm and I have about 10 left which I’ll go and do now. Here’s hoping for some sleep tonight.

Wednesday. Another 3.50 day despite it being a 12.30 pm finish last night and I still had a read. I did wake up feeling rough. The bronchitis is here with a vengeance so I’ll have to get the anti-biotics this morning. There were so few messages this morning I worked till 6.45 and hen decided to lay down. I managed to nod off until 7.35 am. It wasn’t worth starting again then interrupting myself so I headed straight for the kitchen to give the fish a treat. Instead it was I who got one when I found two of the plecs climbing the glass so I could see their fronts and their mouths as they cleaned the glass. I’m fascinated as they’re small and almost translucent.I have 3 in total. Two are about an inch and a half and one about two inches long. Anyhoo, I fed them and then followed my routine with meds and coffee before going back to catch the next batch of messages.

At 9.30 I washed and dressed, going for the lumberjack look today in my checked shirt. I took a walk to the chemist with my scrip. Unfortunately the slightly uphill walk took it out of me and the journey took a while. When I arrived I was told the chemist hadn’t so I’d have to have them delivered later. Not a major problem as the prescription I put in on Monday should be back and they can all come together. I started the journey in reverse. Much easier on the downhill slope. I did a few more messages then printed off a picture of Reuben on Tee Shirt paper and went to iron it on. I don’t know whether I didn’t obey the destructions properly or whether the  paper was old and faulty but the picture wouldn’t peel clean. It’s still a nice image but a little patchy. I’d just finished when I saw someone from the chemist approach the door. Yay, my anti-biotics, but when I got there that’s all there was. The man who delivered wouldn’t know about the rest of the drugs so I’ll wait till the end of the day.

11.30 am and I felt whacked and so packed it in for the morning and went to sit in the lounge. I saw the carpet looked bad so I got the hoover out. As soon as I’d done that I noticed the wood flooring looked bad now so I had to mop that down and did the kitchen floor at the same time. I put a load of washing in and decided enough was enough. At 12.00 I went to the freezer for a pizza and found some chips with Chinese curry sauce I’d bought. A rare treat as Ju hated the smell of curry. While it was in the microwave I buttered two baps and prepared a tray. As soon as it pinged my stomach rumbled and I tucked in with relish, that is, I didn’t have relish with it, just ate with gusto which is not another person. I put chips on one of the baps and loved having the butter melt everywhere. The other I used to mop up the curry sauce at the end. Yum Yum. The  bronchitis hasn’t robbed me of an appetite…..Yet.

I did a few messages during the afternoon and the delivery of my other drugs didn’t come which means another walk to the chemist’s in the morning. Still, I would need to go out for my lottery anyway. It is a pain though as I usually do my drugs on a Thursday morning for the week and there won’t be enough now. Maybe I’ll rattle less. At 5.30 pm Dil and Matt arrived so I made coffee and tea while they answered the questions on a TV quiz I’d turned on. After I’d brought the drinks through I put up the card table and got the Scrabble ready. Why the heck did I bother. Two games to Matthew. I was whitewashed and trounced in that order. I did however learn for the future that qis is a word. I got the cards out and we played Nomination where it was my turn to win convincingly. After that we decided to try Chase the Lady ( a version of Hearts on the computer) as Matt needed a reminder of how to play. Again I stood and did the victory dance before collapsing breathless to the floor. I’ve just this minute realised that means Dil didn’t win anything tonight. I wonder if he made Matt walk home. We said our goodbyes and thank yous and they left. Do you know they do a forty minute journey each way every Wednesday just so we can play games. I love them for the effort they put in for me especially as Dil comes straight from work without eating. I tidied away the empty packets of biscuits ( at least 6) from Matt and washed the mugs.

I took my nighttime tablets through to the bedroom and started on the mail. I was horrified it was back up to 84 again and typically my computer had joined a union and was working to a go slow. It took till 11.55 pm to finish before I could start the blog post. Time for bed said Zebedee, G’night all.

Thursday.I shall have to ask you to suspend your natural scepticism for a moment when I tell you that after going to bed at gone midnight and turning my light off at approx 1.45 am  I was rather disturbed to find myself awake and staring at the clock at 2.22 am.I was looking for a message in all those little ducks but determined not to get up so drifted back to sleep. No revealing dreams that I can remember. The next thing I knew is that I was awake again, this time it was the wakefulness of getting up and staring at my clock it was now 4.44 am. Even if I’d been tired at that moment there’s no way I’d have gone back to bed in case I woke to 6.66 am.

I started in on the mail and though there weren’t as many as yesterday they took me considerably longer. The first batch was almost at an end when I broke off at 8.00 am to see to the tank. I took the last meds in my boxes this morning but couldn’t do the next batch because my Monday meds hadn’t been delivered yet. I took my coffee back to the bedroom, crossed my fingers and refreshed the post. An extra 23 so not too bad. I cleared the remaining ones from pre-tank, cleared these also and then washed and dressed. By 9.30 am I was on my way to the chemist’s. I asked the young lady if my prescription was ready and she went off to check the boxes. No joy. A little panic set in as I have no idea what half my tabs do and wondered what I might do without their control. Dancing naked in the middle of a zebra crossing has completely lost it’s appeal these days. Seriously though, as some are diabetic controllers and some for my COPD along with anti-depressants I didn’t want to find out. I stood there for ages before she spoke to someone else who sent her to yet another person. Eventually she came back with someone else who told me that the prescription was in but they were still missing one item which they expected to be delivered today. If I’d like to take the rest of my stuff ( OF COURSE I WOULD) someone would deliver my last item later. Dawn who usually delivers my meds offered to bring it on her way home. She’s a gem, but I can’t believe they held my stuff since Tuesday rather than give it me minus one item which they’ve done many times before. As long as I know what’s missing I’m fine.  I called at Pauline’s while I was out and collected my lottery tickets….I want everyone to cross their fingers between 8.00 pm and 10.00 pm gmt on Friday please. The coffee’s will be on me as I fly everywhere to meet you all.

At home I did my tablets for the week. I can always add the missing ones when they arrive and they’re for an evening anyway. Then it was back to work to clear the mail before lunch time. My postman Darren arrived with one of the watches I won which I’ll give to Ugo tomorrow. At lunch time I had a pizza with some micro chips ( Hey, I just looked at the clock and it’s 11.11 pm…I’m getting spooked). I fell asleep afterwards supposedly watching a film on TV. Later I did a few retweets, commented on a few blogs and caught up again on mail. It’s a constant battle to stay afloat sometimes and I’m already dreading tomorrow when I’m possibly out all day while the mail accumulates for my return.

I was going to have some pineapple for my tea but when I’d opened the fridge earlier I’d seen a packet of sausages. Normally I’d have cooked them at a lunchtime and had some with sweet potato mash and maybe a couple of cold ones for tea on a sandwich. As I’ll be out for lunch tomorrow ( I hope) and having thrown a couple of unopened packs away recently I decided to cook them and have some for tea. There are 8 in a packet and I decided to butter two baps. I found that four sausages just fitted a bap nicely and ended up having the whole packet. So much better than waste and far too late to ship them off to Africa. I stayed where I was after washing up until a new episode of my Big Bang Theory had aired then at 8.30 pm came through to start yet again. There was plenty to get through and it was gone 11.00 pm when I was able to start the blog and freak myself out. I think I’ll turn the clock around tonight.

Friday.  So, Friday at last. I managed to get up at 3.58 am so had plenty of time to get the post out of the way and still do the fish, take tabs, drink coffee and have a last wee before going to catch a bus at 7.30 am.  Allowing for the time it takes to get to the bus stop and travelling time, I expected to in Chester at 9.00 am today. The first one to come was one that goes in a different way which I took once before but was very surprised today when it pulled in at 8.30 am. It meant I could be at Yvonne’s for 9.00 am and have time for a cuppa before our outing. With the bronchitis I had no choice but to take it slow, I was moving so slowly the roadside beggars were offering me money to move off their pitches. But I got there in time for my drink, and also to have Reuben dropped in my lap while Ugo and Yvonne got ready.

Our 9.30 departure became 9.45 am and then we had to go to a specific garage to fill up so it was actually 10.00 am or gone when we started. The journey was pretty good with a constant speed most of the way.My nerves weren’t too bad as Ugo kept at least one hand on the steering wheel at all times. Perhaps the staining on the seat gives him problems. When we arrived we parked up and I got us a 3 hour ticket. First stop Coffee and loos. Since I was with Yvonne the second stop was at a clothes shop where she found things for Reuben and Ugo. She as particularly mean today and wouldn’t let me pay for anything. I especially like a watch she got Ugo with something on the dial like, Why worry, I’m already late. From there to another shop she likes and then to a cafe Ugo likes. The man is an eating machine. We wandered a bit but time was being eaten up and with 25 minutes to go we headed for the reason for the trip, Titterton’s Pork Pies. I got my little stock in and then we headed for the car to set off back.

When we arrived near home we carried on so I could go to The Ivy and take a pie for Shella who knows them from her time living in Stockport years ago. I handed it over to Tariq like the priceless object it is. Shella had left to collect her children from school half an hour since so I reminded him to take the pie home. Yvonne and Ugo had a cake with their drink but then decided perhaps we should have a meal while we were there. I needed something as I hadn’t eaten all day, Ugo needed something as his toast, bagels, cake, more cake and yet more cake hadn’t done the job. As always I had a lovely meal and as always a fight about the bill, firstly with Yvonne and when I won that, a fight with Tariq who insisted I shouldn’t pay because of the pie. They took me home and dropped me off. First things first after hiding the pies in the fridge was to check messages. 141 so I was stuck on the computer until 7.00 pm when I watched some TV. But, while I was on the computer I was reading a friends blog,  the very excellent Melanie Marttila on      http://melaniemarttila.ca/  I came across two things I have to share with you. The first is an amazing children’s choir which blew me away  http://youtu.be/g7a2u9v0V0c     ‘Untrust us’ Crystal Castles covered by Capital Children’s Choir.                                                                                                                            The second is the same two cellists I gave you last week but doing another piece. This is a rock piece and should astound you . Therefore here are the two cellists again.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V7EugoweM4&list=PLrRtwIUSeaCEOxW7Ydgq2eDbFA84BdL5F&feature=share&index=2  Welcome to the Jungle.                            Enjoy.

I watched TV till Mike arrived at 9.30 pm then chatted with him until it was time to come back through to hit the mail. That took a while and as it’s now gone midnight I’m in danger of turning into a pumpkin if I don’t go to bed. I’m sure Mike would say I’ve already got the shape for it.  G’Night All.

Saturday. I slept till 6.30 this morning So I hadn’t managed to clear much  post before Mike’s alarm went off. At 7.00 am I shot through to the kitchen, turned the tank  light on, put the kettle on and took my tabs. The alarm went off before the kettle boiled but it didn’t take long to brew a coffee and take it through. As usual the alarm was wasted and Mike had gone straight back to sleep. I called out that a coffee was there and got the usual garbled response. I’m sure some message penetrated the brain but I’m not sure what it was. I busied myself clearing the food waste bin and the larger rubbish bin taking the bags outside to the waiting receptacles. That done, I came in for the assorted recyclable waste bags and tucked them under the wheels of the big bin so they couldn’t be blown away. I came back in, washed my hands and grabbed my own coffee. The second alarm went off and within minutes Mike came through with his drink. I stayed quiet and gave him time to wake up. I went back though to my bedroom and jumped at the chance to do a couple more emails as I got dressed.

We were on the road at 7.45 am, amazingly Mike’s eyes were open now and I trusted him to drive. To be honest, eyes closed he’s often a better driver than some out there. Eyes open and I don’t wear myself out on the imaginary brakes. We had a quick stop at Tesco’s for my baps and some coffee pods then set of in earnest ( no that’s not the name of the car) for our main shopping haunt Asda which is owned by the American Walmart group. Last week Mike was looking at a jacket he liked at £35 and today when we went in it was £10 so he didn’t hesitate. I managed to find a couple of things for Reuben in his next clothing size. Mike disappeared to the Loo and I started shopping as I didn’t need much. Always a tense moment is seeing someone I know, or rather knew. I saw two people I like was was able to avoid until on one aisle I saw the wife of a friend. She spoke to me but only to say hello and you could see she wasn’t sure it was me. We passed easily. I had almost done when Mike returned and I felt safe again but minutes later a voice, and the friend and his wife were now there. The conversation was short as I think John knows how vulnerable I feel but he did invite me along to the closing of the Eisteddfod (International Music Competition and show ) where my two friends (The Toastie Tenors)  Richard and Adam are appearing. I had to say yes. Conversation over we parted and Mike and I finished and left.

Leaving Asda we headed for Flint where we spent some time at the pet shop getting things for the fish and to clean the tank. Also admiring some beautiful glass fish they had.Completely translucent. After that it was time for a coffee which I’d missed at Asda and I was now completely dry. Ceri wasn’t in so the banter was very limited. He had to settle for his coffee and a teasted toecake. It didn’t take long to finish in there so we were home again by 11.00 am and unpacking. Since very little of the shopping was food today that didn’t take long. Mike was looking for something on his phone so I took a quick look at the actual mail, which could wait, then attacked the messages left from this morning. I worked steadily until Mike suggested he was ready to go to lunch so I packed in and we went to the Ivy.

It was really busy there and poor Angie looked run off her feet. She took the order for our drinks and we found a seat. By the time they arrived we were ready to order food and then some (cheeky) people vacated our table so we moved. Tariq ran back and forth delivering meals and we said a swift hello. We helped by folding some serviettes ready for use and then stood outside with a cigarette before lunch. Soon after we’d gone back in, Helen came out with our lunches and stopped for hugs. The food was lovely and very welcome. Things slowed a bit and Tariq was able to come and chat but I wanted him to disappear so I could pay. When he did disappear, Angie seemed reluctant to take payment and said Tariq would deal with it. That meant yet another argument. Only by putting money down and walking away can I win. I waited for Mike to finish his coffee and some more people came to pay. They were stuck for cash so I handed over £5 in coins. Tariq came round with a not , only it was a tenner. He must think I just got out of bed. I told him he can owe it to me, but if we don’t go there tomorrow I’m sure he’ll have forgotten before Mike gets back next month.

Back home again I was able to concentrate on the computer for a while before getting us some tea and settling to watch a bit of TV together, By ten o’clock I was itching to get back here or I’ll be up all night so Mike gave me permission and headed off to watch football in bed. No, they weren’t pla….well you knew what I meant anyway. I’m as up to date as I’m getting tonight as I fancy a read before sleep. Hoping you all have a Great Weekend. Massive Hugs all round.

Wiring Up.

Youngest swinger in town.

Mr Happy