When Mike left to go home last Sunday I scuttled through to my bedroom and started work. It was 7.00 pm and dark before I’d finished. I went through to the lounge to put the light on for Joey who wasn’t very approving of my being so late. He gave me quite a mouthful, the force of which made him nod his head.. I didn’t dare laugh. I mention it now because I can hear him chunnering so it must be getting dark this week too.
To ward of the berating I turned his light on. It wasn’t too dark luckily. However it doesn’t seem to have stopped him dressing in his angry hat which I suspect he wears just for me. I had no choice but to leave him again and concentrate on the post I haven’t been able to do today. At least he’s in the light.
We lunched in Prestatyn at The CookHouse and then while walking it off afterwards bumped into Sharon, my daily ( well, my once weekly anyway) and were able to offer her a lift home. She works 364 days per year as a chambermaid with just Christmas Day off and still comes to tidy up after me (mainly Joey really) every Tuesday.
On Monday I was indoors all day as usual. I dealt with my washing and drying, did Joey’s food and water and gave him as much attention as possible in between dealing with my mail which still exceeds 300 a day.
Tuesday rose fair and bright but not until I’d already been up a few hours. It’s averaging about 2.15 am at the moment so maybe 2 hours a night. Still, I get the early morning mil out of the way. At 7.30 am I was out of the house for the bus. I always choose this one as there’s generally no-one else on for a few stops and by then I can keep my eyes close and pretend to be asleep. One day I will be and will probably sail past Yvonne and the kids in Chester and find myself back home having done the round trip. But not today.
I got off the bus at a different stop because the driver went a different way. How confusing. My pick up would still be at my usual stop though. As fast as I could I got to the place we meet and being there first lit a cigarette. I glimpsed them coming into view a little way off and his behind a bush. Yes, that probably did look weird in the middle of town. As they got close I jumped out and said ‘BOO’ then apologised to the little Japanese lady I caught. I should have known Reuben wouldn’t be in a kimono. Roobs screeched with pleasure and ran to grasp my legs. If I hadn’t been able to grasp the street ash tray it would have been Timber I was shouting. We had a good morning together but 11.30 comes far too quickly.
The journey home was more nerve wracking as there were a few passengers but pretending to be asleep put anyone off sitting near me except one woman who probably didn’t interpret the snoring properly and sat on the pocket of my jacket. She almost hatched out my tube of ‘Lockets’.
I got home and had less than half an hour before Sharon came. I did mail for the afternoon then and had my lunch after she’d gone.
On Wednesday I stayed in again. Dealt with mail and also the postman brought me a couple of coins to add to my lists. I looked through some Christmas stuff for gift ideas.
Thursday necessitated a quick trip to Pauline’s to restock the cigarettes and to get my Lottery tickets. I moved so fast Flash would be proud of me. I was back 5 minutes before I’d left….oh no, that was the clock that had stopped wasn’t it. I saw no-one except my postman until evening when Mike arrived. Tells me he’s on a new regime now so that he wants to be up no later that 8.30 am every day. He’s hoping it will bring his sleep pattern into line. Up to now a sledgehammer hasn’t managed that.
On Friday morning I didn’t get up until 2.45 am and considered that a lie in. Almost died of shock when Mike was up before 8.45 am. He must be using an alarm but I didn’t hear it. My postman came and intrigued me by bringing a letter which should have contained a coin, you could see where the pouch had been stuck to the middle of the tri fold letter. The envelope had a slit in the bottom and the coin was not there. I had to contact the seller to approach the post office. Luckily it’s not an expensive coin but it was the last this particular dealer had. I don’t want to slam him for the money back but I’m hoping it might just be found floating about a post bag or in a sorting office somewhere.
Mike returned early from seeing his Dad in Manchester and helped me wash my hair. I think it needs cutting again one last time before Winter, just like grass does.
Saturday it was another 2.45 am for me and an agonised 6.20 am for Mike even though his clock was set for 6.00 am. I wasn’t well as bronchitis has set in but I still had all the rubbish dealt with and put out for collection before he made his way through to the lounge where I’d put his coffee. We had a good shop followed by a coffee then shot over to The Range to grab a couple of things. In Flint we went to Temptations for a chin way and to give sweets to the staff before picking up some frozen food and going home. He made me put the frozen food away…with my chest….he’s all heart. After that we went to Rhyl for lunch so he could get some specialist fish food. Back at home I worked while he watched football then we shared some TV time when I’d done.
I expected last night to be the usual but I was to be surprised. Bed at 12.10 am, read till 1.00 am then sleep. That part followed the usual plan. But I had a small period of wakefulness at 2.17 am then a longer on at 3.22 am when I visited the loo and decided to walk into a wall on the way back to my room. I brought a picture down which lodged partly behind a radiator with a heck of a clatter bringing me to my senses and waking Mike who called out to see if I was OK. Apart from dented pride I was. I still had to spend some time sitting on the side of the bed having a smoke and trying to decide what had happened. I went back to sleep at the time I’d normally be getting up. I slept until 7.04 am. I started work on the mail as soon as I’d taken my meds and brought a coffee through. I was in a panic as the normal deluge had started arriving by then. I was startled to have Mike appear in my doorway. I looked at my watch and it was only 9.30 am so I was even more startled. I went through to make him a dink and stayed to let Joey out and try and sort out what we were doing today. I left 74 pieces of post in my inbox at that time.
We decided it would be a good idea to head for Flint to see if Argos had the electric screwdriver he wanted and they were showing in their catalogue so at about 11.00 am we left. Flint didn’t have one but they checked and found Mold did and kindly reserved one for him. We had a quick coffee in Temptations ( a chance for him to drool over Sian) and then headed off for Mold about 15 minutes away. Once we’d parked up I showed him the way to Argos and he got what was needed. We were leaving the store when a loo became a necessity, the shop advised him there were no public loos open today (?) so I guided him to the nearest cafe I knew so he could go. We ended up having sandwiches for lunch but as he pointed out, we couldn’t complain as we’d had our Sunday lunch yesterday. After lunch we walked round a couple of shops looking for some gift wrap and I picked up about half a dozen sheets. I’ve got a little time before the next batch of (unwrapped) birthdays hammers on my door. April, May and November are the worst months for birthdays for me but at least this month’s are wrapped now.
Coming back it was fun with the sat-nag on listening to the way he wanted us to go while Mike and I had decided on the pretty route over the tops. The poor fella in the sat-nag must have been going frantic looking up all the roads to try and adjust to our route.He did pretty well. We were home for 2.00 pm and did Ju’s flowers before sitting down to try and watch a not very good film. I fought bravely to keep my eyes open. About 3.30 pm Mike asked if I was going to sleep and I told him I’d better go and start work. He decided that would be a good time to start for home. I turned the TV off. After making sure he left and running a metal detector over his luggage, I locked the door and returned to the computer. The figure now could almost have been a historical date like 1066 it was so high but I don’t know any events from 213 AD except I think the Romans were still slaughtering the Brits at that point. I worked until 6.10 pm and then went for some tea. I think I started watching something like NCIS but it wasn’t long before I was undergoing eyelid inspection from the inside again. I didn’t wake up until the closing music of one episode at 7.55 pm.
I scorched the carpet moving fast enough to get back here. It took me till 10.35 pm to clear the mailbox and that was with cutting corners. I’m (fingers crossed) gong to be greased up and in bed about 11.30 pm.
Looking Hopeful.
Blatant Advert placement.
Monday 18th April.
I was in bed fully basted by 11.45 pm. I read my book until 12.45 am then it was lights off and settle down. At some stage during the night I got up to go to the Piddle Palace but no accidents and no ciggie on the side of the bed either, just back to sleep. I woke this morning at…wait for it…….6.32 am. Am I becoming human again and starting to enjoy a proper sleep cycle or is it just Somnos on holiday? I woke with a terrible headache but that seems a small price to pay. After the usual visit to the loo I went straight to the kitchen and took my meds then made a coffee to bring back with me. No breakfast today. I signed into the mail and found 56 messages overnight. It was 6.50 am so the next batch wouldn’t be too long in coming.
The next batch arrived late but just as I was finishing the overnight lot. Oddly enough, it seemed to come in fits and starts today rather than en masse. I just had to keep going. I was clear at 9.37 am and was exhausted. I knew more would come but decided that what I needed just then was rest and my chair beckoned. I just lay there with my eyes closed wanting sleep. Joey had a singing squawking session but I couldn’t move. Somehow I managed to turn the TV on in time for HUtH . The feeling that I needed to sleep wouldn’t go away though I did manage to stay awake for the whole programme. When it finished I came back to work but after twenty minutes the bell rang. It was the warden and she came in for half an hour to chat about things and see how I am. When she left there was no time to come back and finish off, I needed to get on with lunch. Braised steak and mash today.
Lunch and Bargain Hunt out of the way I returned to where I’d left off to try and get myself into a good position again. I sat there going through the motions (no missus not THOSE motions, stay with the script and stop writing your own lines) until I was clear a few minutes before 3.00 pm. I was sure if I went to my chair I’d get my power nap and feel OK again but the Zzzz’s wouldn’t come. I watched Escape to the Country which I have often missed thanks to the Zzzz’s filing an inappropriate flight plan. At 3.45 pm when it finished I came back to see what else had arrived and to clear it up. I even managed a little look at Ebay. Lots of birthdays next month too. At 4.30 pm I went to watch PYMWYMI (see Blog Cast List) and then since my Cold Case appears to have finished, to watch a quiz. At 6.00 pm Without a Trace came on and I had to use matchsticks to keep my eyes open as I was going to watch The Antiques Road Trip next. I managed it. Then it was time to watch Sanctuary before coming back to work. I turned over and didn’t even get to see the start before I was asleep. I didn’t wake till 9.30 pm either which meant I was late. I closed Joey’s door and wished him goodnight, took my meds and came through. Clearing the post took until 10.50 pm so starting the blog was late. I’m aiming for 11.45 pm and given that it’s only fifteen minutes away and all I have to do is sort the photographs and choose my music I’m sure of making.
Far away thoughts.
Ready for anything.
Tuesday 19th April.
I was safely in bed by 11.50 pm after dealing with an extra message that came in. I read my book until thee were just white pages left and felt cheated that the author hadn’t at least put a few doodles on them. My light went out at 12.40 am and I settled quite quickly. I had no problem getting up this morning and was going to go straight into getting dressed until I realised a) it was still quite dark without the light on, and b) doing that might mean a damp carpet as I hadn’t been for a wee yet and wanted one. I resolved that straight away and turned the light on as I left the room. It was 4.10 am so I guessed the last couple of days were flukes. Coming back from the Pee Parlour I logged onto the computer and my mail box. Just 31 to deal with seemed OK .That took me until 5.54 am when I shuffled down the passage to the kitchen and the waiting drugs and breakfast. I put the washing machine on while I was there. After breakfast I returned to my nest with a cup of coffee. More mail was waiting. A friend I was worried about recently had the love of her life, a much younger man who didn’t know of her feelings break his friendship with her. It was childish and petulant. She was angry and I thought that was good. The problem was she didn’t stay angry but after 3 days got in touch and ended up declaring her true feelings for him. Now he’s responded and also declared his love for her. At this point I should be pleased for her and wish her much happiness, and I do. But I’m worried about the effect the next time he has a tantrum and unfriends her on Facebook again.
I finished the main batch of mail at 8.45 am. Today the people are coming to see if I have asbestos in my kitchen ceiling before they do the kitchen and bathrooms. They could only give a time of between 9.00 am and noon so I wanted to slip out to Pauline’s just before 9.00 am so I’d be in. I was back in the house by 9.05 am having been to Pauline’s and to the sandwich shop to get myself a ham SALAD bap for lunch. I’m pretty sure I’m covered for my 5 a day for the next month now. I checked ebay and found I needed to pay for something I’d won which was great as I’ll have it well in time for when needed now. At 10.00 am I watched HUtH with Joey though his vocal support almost frowned out the programme. After that I returned to work but had only managed a few messages when the man came to check me out for asbestos. Well, not me personally but you know what I mean. That was about 11.15 am and he was doing so much more than I expected, taking samples from all the rooms for a start. He’d said it would take about an hour when he came and yet I was surprised when he said his goodbyes at 11.45 am. He said he wasn’t leaving me in a deathtrap but I had to ask him to repeat himself as the voice was a little muffled by his mask and the hand he held over his mouth.
I took my pre-foodies and put my ham salad bap on a plate, picked up a yoghurt and went to my chair. I turned the TV on ready for Bargain Hunt and after 15 minutes started eating. The bap made a really nice change though I don’t want you to start equating the words salad and nice together in my mind. When 1.00 pm came I went back to work. There seemed to have been a breech in the dam and heavy leakage in my direction (it’s my age I think). It took a while to clear up but I was back in there for 3.00 pm to see Escape to the Country. Again I returned to work at 3.45 pm and had a little session of ebay too. At 4.30 pm my serious viewing started with PYMWYMI followed by Pointless which was in turn followed by Road Trip and Sanctuary during which I stayed awake. That made it easy to take my meds and to say goodnight to Joey with no rush. I ambled through then feeling that wasn’t enough, I went back and came through with my now infamous Quasimodo walk. I was disappointed to find I didn’t have a belltower to climb and beams to scamper along as I made the bells talk to me. I made do with the mail instead. And this time there were 72 waiting, cruel, very cruel. I was clear by 11.05 pm but only because I ignored most of the messages by a multiple poster who writes quite a bit on a subject that doesn’t interest me.I do respond when the subject does.
I think I shall still be in bed before the witching hour makes me become human again.
Prepared for rain
Liquid eyes to hypnotise.
Wednesday 20th April.
In bed at 11.56 pm and because the new book I ordered hadn’t arrived I had to re-read a pamphlet on poltergeists. I didn’t want to start on a full book and have to leave the new one alone if it arrived today. I am really anxious to continue with the Uhtred story. My light went out at 12.27 am as I headed towards sleep. I’m pretty sure I had been lying in bed awake and thinking of my mother for a while before swinging my legs out this morning. It’s possible I was dreaming though as I hadn’t looked at the clock until I moved. When I did it was 3.34 am. I thought it was later. After a visit to the Palace of Piddle I returned to my room and signed in. I worked on my mail until I finished one at 4.44 am and decided that was a good time to break for breakfast and my meds. Rice Krispies and toast this morning since I couldn’t decide between the two. I’ll be the size of a barn shortly. (Whaddye mean I already am, and no,I didn’t call you shorty). After eating I washed the pots and brought a cup of coffee back with me.
The overnight and early morning mail kept me occupied until 7.11 am. I had time to get dressed before the deluge hit. When it came it was in fits and starts again so for a while the figures didn’t look too bad and they refilled only when I got low. At 9.15 am I broke off to go to Pauline’s for tomatoes and cucumber to make sandwiches at lunch time, I didn’t bother with a lettuce because of the waste, I’d probably throw it straight in the bin. When I got back I checked my phone for messages from Jade, nada, and then carried on with the mail until 9.55 am when my TV session with Joey called. HUtH. It was good today. At 11.00 am I came back to work and carried on with the messages until the box was clear at 11.55 am. For lunch I made two beef and partial salad baps which I ate while Bargain Hunt was on. I kept trying to tempt Joey to come and eat with me but I think he prefers manners. I was going to catch a quick forty winks at 1.00 pm but I’d no sooner shut my eyes than I got a text. Jade asked whether she could come tomorrow instead. I replied that I didn’t know if I was having visitors tomorrow or Friday and I’d have to let her know.
I went back to work until 3.45 pm. I dealt with mail and also with some things on ebay. I was doing searches and sending some of the results to Yvonne in the hopes she’d let me buy something for them. I don’t know where that child got such an obstreperous nature from. She seems to forget that I reign supreme and that my word is law. In fact I’d go so far as to say she deliberately thwarts me every chance she gets. I don’t know where I went wrong but I’m paying for it now. I bet she’s not like this with her husband, unless of course it’s he that has usurped my authority. But no, she was like this pre-Ugo. At 3.45 pm I at in my chair and closed my eyes, even Joey wasn’t going to stop me. I Zzzzz’d until 4.26 pm which couldn’t have been better since PYMWYMI started at 4.30 pm. I was surprised not to find Dil there grinning at me but tonight it was almost 5.00 pm before he arrived. I made him a cup of tea and we had a little natter before Pointless. Ae 6.00 pm the TV went off and the games came out. In the Yahtzee he won three straight games and then surprisingly so did I. On the second sheet it went 4-2 in my favour. In trivia he had four pieces of pie before I’d got my first but I fought back and managed to reach the sixth. When I got to the centre he asked a kind question I was able to answer and it was all over bar my dancing on the table shouting “Ha, ha, I won, I beat you! Could you help me up off the floor carefully please.” We did have time for one game of cribbage and he took a great lead which he maintained most of the way round. At the critical juncture though I pulled the pair of 5’s from my sleeve and gathered enough points to win. I led him out of the house to say goodbye so he couldn’t slam all the doors as he went. This was the Slaughter House and he was blue.
After washing the pots, taking my meds and saying goodnight to Joey I came through to see how bad things were, I hadn’t been here in 6 hours. It was bad, but not in a Let me out I’m leaving home kind of way, more a Heck, I’d hoped to get some sleep tonight kind of way. I was knocked for six though when I opened a message from my friend Hugh to say that Victoria Wood had died. This is a great loss to entertainment as she was a superlative performer. A real talent with her comic routines and a very talented writer of both comedy and serious material.Then I had message from Yvonne with the same news saying “Bloody cancer again.” Because she was ill such a short time I wonder if it was pancreatic cancer that took her do quickly. I finished the mail at 11.15 pm and went straight on to the blog. It will be midnight.
Bite size
You spin me right round baby…..
Thursday 21st April.
Bed was actually 12.15 am and reading took until 1.20 am before I realised I was only halfway through a long chapter and had to put my book down anyway. I marked the place carefully, nipped to the loo (and back) and turned the light out. I saw it was 1.27 am. Sleep wasn’t long in coming. It was an awful dream filled night so I was glad to see 5.32 as I woke, and about four hours isn’t bad. First job of the morning was another visit to the loo then back to log on. Firstly to the bank to check my pension was in- it was, then straight to the mail. I worked until 6.30 am then went to take my meds and get a coffee to bring back. Once back I cranked up the output to try and finish what I had before anyone flung new stuff at me. I didn’t make it so was at my desk without a break until 9.35 am.
You’d have been proud of me with the speed I decided what to wear and how quickly I put it on. So , what if I wasn’t exactly colour co-ordinated and had put my lounge pants on in error. I changed and looking a little more subdued went to Pauline’s to get my lottery. I accidentally bought a Twix as well which I accidentally ate when I got back. There were just a few extra messages to clear and I just had time before going in to change Joey’s seed and water and putting HUtH on for us. MuJo arrived about 10.30 am which was a pleasant surprise. I saw to drinks then passed John his birthday gifts to open or not as the mood took him. He said he’d rather wait until we got back from wherever we were going. There were a lot of questions raised about where t go for lunch, all of them raised by John because we just reminded him it was his birthday, his choice. In the end it was decided we’d go to the Bells of St Mary’s. We left the house very early at 11.20 am even though they don’t start serving until 12.00 pm, I think it’s a case of once a decision is made you act on it before it gets changed. We arrived about 11.40 am and I got the carvery tickets and the drinks while John found a seat. Then he and I took our pre-food tablets so we were ready for the kick off. Noon found us lining up to be served, the first in the queue.
I had my usual roast beef dinner but here they serve onion gravy with huge chunks of onion in and the mashed potato is really nice.We all seemed to enjoy what we had. From there we went into Prestatyn to look at a couple of shops. I managed to get a toy each for Nathan and Reuben to make up for an outfit I’d got last week for Amelie. I’ll be able to dish them out on Sunday when we go to Jo’d birthday meal. I also picked up an extra head, this one in black and a Buddha. John seemed to be the fittest I’ve seen him in ages walking round shops. I had to stop. About 3.15 pm we set off home with a detour to John’s mother’s house. She’s well into her 90’s and he wanted to check she was OK. We got home about 4.00 pm and John started on his gifts. He laughed at the Dalek and at the motion sensor whistling parrot. He adored the hip flask designed by my friend Sarah of First Night Design http://firstnightdesign.wordpress.com , she’s a fantastic artist as well as a lovely lady. He liked his fleece but I think he was impressed with my choice of his porcelain soldier figures as he didn’t have any of them and on was of the green jacket rifles like Sharpe in the books by Bernard Cornwell. I’d just put the antiques programme on when the doorbell rang and it was Bert with a parcel. We were having quite a long chat on the step when Mike arrived like a bolt of lightning. The speed his little legs were moving told me he was due an urgent visit to the Piddle Palace. Bert said goodbye and I went in.
MuJo were on the point of leaving having seen Mike arrive so we said our goodbyes and they promised to come again next week. I came back through and watched to the end of the show with Mike then excused myself to catch up,promising I’d be back in by 7.00 pm no matter what. I juggled as much as I could then kept my promise. Only when I was back in did I find they’d cancelled the Antiques Road Trip to show a programme about Victoria Wood. So many funny clips. When it was over I came back through to work and Mike said he fancies an early night too. Now I know this one is an alien. I caught up about 10.45 pm so might be in bed by 11.30 pm tonight.
Muriel and John aka MuJo
If she tells me to ‘Say Cheese’ just one more time when I’m lactose intolerant……….
Friday 22nd April.
I slithered into bed at 11.45 pm last night and took to my book. I read until 1.00 am ans only stopped because I feared reading until the end of a chapter which was many pages away. I need to pace myself too as I don’t have the next book in the series which Muriel says she’ll bring with her next time. It was strange when I got up. I wanted to go to the loo which as ever wasn’t a problem, but on my return I couldn’t find my glasses. Quite seriously I must have spent ten minutes looking for them. I looked beside my bed in case they’d fallen, in the bathroom in case I’d put them on the windowsill, in my dressing gown pockets and in the lounge in case I’d been in there and put them on my table. I don’t think Joey appreciated the light going on. I checked the kitchen too. It was at least he full ten minutes before I realised I was using them to look for them. At no point had I checked my boat-race. Worse still, I came back to my bedroom after having apologised to Joey and putting the light out to start getting dressed. It suddenly occurred to me how dark it was. I glanced at the clock and it was just 2.35 am. I hadn’t even slept for an hour and a half and here I was preparing myself for a new day when my compost was most definitely not mental.
I signed into my mail and started working on the messages. By 4.00 am I was up to date and took a chance on a lie down, it worked, I lay until 4.50 am. Getting up I checked on new messages and there were none at that point. I decamped ( love that word, I feel like Baden-Powell) for the kitchen where I took my meds then prepared the boxes for the next week. I brought a coffee with me when I returned at 5.40 am and found more messages had arrived. All in all I stayed with my face glued t the screen until almost 9.30 am when Mike got up. I left the last few messages and went to make him a drink. Joey was delighted to have us both in the room. I put HUtH on at 10.00 am bu fell asleep in the chair for part of it. When I woke, the postman had been. The last picture I’d ordered, a shame it hadn’t come yesterday. At 11.00 am I got up to start peeling my sweet potatoes and Mike went to get dressed and then came through to say goodbye. By the time I’d finished I just went ahead and started the cooking and took my pre-food tabs. I ate at noon. I waited until Bargain Hunt was over at 1.00 pm before washing the pots and then going to face the computer. There were 121 pieces waiting for me and odd bits more coming in. I wasn’t able to move from my seat until 4.22 pm, and believe me, my seat was feeling it. I took a break for my antiques show then worked 5.15 pm to 5.45 pm and took another break when Mike sent a text to say he was on his way.
At 6.00 pm I has Without a Trace on and held back my scream when Mike arrived back and I missed the important conclusion where one missing person dies and one survives and I’ve no idea how or which. I made a coffee for him and left it in the cup honestly. At 7.00 pm I went for a shower and Mike washed my hair for me as usual. He mentioned something about a haircut/beard trim again but luckily I was deafened by water in my ears and didn’t hear a thing, especially as the forecast is for a very cold weekend with snow possible. Question of Sport was on when I came out,my team lost. I watched Sanctuary and then Have I got News for You. At 9.30 pm I closed Joey’s door, went to take my meds and wished Mike goodnight as I was coming through to work. As I was working on the mail he kept popping in and out until finally at 10.30 pm he announced he too was going to bed. I finished the mail not long after at 10.40 pm and was able to start the blog. Hopefully I’ll be done by 11.30 pm (ish) and can get back to the half chapter I left last night.
Horticultural Guy
The groupies follow him everywhere
Saturday 23rd April.
I finished reading with the end of the half chapter and turned the light off at 12.27 am. Sleep was almost instant. When I woke I felt as though I’d been aboard a ship all night and didn’t have my sea legs. That didn’t make going to the loo easy. ( “Vertigo?” Mike asked later,”No” I replied “it was only about 4 metres/yards.”) You can imagine the fun trying to keep my aim true, a drunk with palsied hands. Still, at least I managed not to walk into any walls this week. It was 2.07 am and if I’d been dreaming about Vikings after last night’s reading I couldn’t remember where I’d buried my hoard this morning.I suppose I’d have had a problem being a Viking though being neither a Dane nor a Saxon but a Briton that both sides fought after they’d invaded my Country and pushed us further and further back until the border between us and them made getting to us difficult. Wales held the original inhabitants of the whole Country just then and I don’t mean 2.07 am this morning.
After ‘loo time’ I did emails until 5.00 pm then went through to the kitchen to take my meds and have some toast for breakfast. I brought my coffee through and carried on until 5.45 am. At that point my box was clear. I was just relaxing onto the keyboard when I was startled into wakefulness by Mike’s alarm going off. It was 6.00 am. I headed for the kitchen to make him a drink and the alarm was still going. It honestly occurred to me that maybe he’s popped his clogs in the night. Suddenly it came to an abrupt halt. Had it run out or been turned off? I put the kettle on and then stuck my head round his door. He was still with us as I could see he’s changed position. I made a drink and took it through. When I said “Coffee up”, I got a reasoned response with minimal foul language. He was actually in the lounge with his coffee at about 6.15 am. Amazing. He ‘s going to bed early, going to sleep early and now getting up early. Not understanding the change that’s come over him I carried on and dealt with the recycling stuff, getting it outside ready for collection.By 7.15 am he was dressed and ready to go. Even claiming to be awake at that point. We left Joey at the window looking sad at our departure.
Things went well at the Supermarket as in I got what I wanted and even what I needed to a degree. Of prime importance were flowers for Ju and we picked three nice bunched including some Iris’s Mike found. We zipped round and found the till that our friend who insults Mike and receives as good as she gets was in charge of. Once he’d had a good session with her we were ready to go. By pure coincidence today Mike remembered he wanted some lights for his fish tank so we decided to forego the coffee in McDonald’s and go to see if they had any elsewhere. Well, we had to try The Range first. They didn’t have quite what he wanted so we had to have a drink and a bacon bap to console ourselves him. We tried a big pet shop close by and then the pet shop in Flint. That meant a drink in Temptations and another round of female- Mike banter. I suggested a couple of places that may well have the lights he needed and we set off for Rhyl. One shop had almost exactly what he wanted, just not long enough. We made a note of the make to try later on the net. We went for lunch.
After lunch we had a little wander round the shops in Rhyl and I found something I hoped would appeal to both Karen and Jo. As I’m seeing them tomorrow I’ll find out if I’m right. We headed home. Once the shopping was unpacked and away I was able to come and check the mail. I worked from 2.30 pm to 5.45 pm getting it down before feeling I could take a break. Mike was watching his beloved Manchester United play a game on the TV. Not literally on the TV, the programme was on TV. At 6.00 pm when it was halftime he went through to his bedroom and TV so I could watch a film in the lounge. I made him a coffee and some tea as a thank you. Ugo was coming to put something in the garage later so I was ready to help. We got it done very quickly so that just after 9.30 pm I was able to start the rest of the mail and the blog. The mail was done by 11.15 pm.
Can you see the reflection in the eye?
Can you see a little flying saucer just above his head?
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.
It was a late night and gone 1.00 am before the light went out. It was a struggle to sleep at first but relaxation came and wallop, I was away. This morning I had the pleasant surprise of waking at 6.32 am. Wonderful, fully rested for a change. After a visit to the loo and a trip to the kitchen for meds and to make a coffee I came back to see how bad the overnight mail had been. Talktalk said it was never ending and gmail just screamed for help but with perseverance and the judicial use of the delete button I was eventually clear at 9.35 am. To celebrate I took a coffee in to Mike thinking he should be awake to celebrate with me or perhaps just that he should be awake. It was 10.00 am before he actually got up and took his drink to the lounge. There must have been something soporific in Joey’s singing as Mike just slumped on the edge of the chair asleep. Joey wasn’t impressed and stating his preference for an attentive audience, he went full volume. Even my eyes went wider at that. Mike’s flew open and he started drinking his coffee. A beautiful friend of mine says Joey amuses her and she thinks I may be exaggerating the noise a tiny bird can make. I’m sure some of you can put her right as to how penetrating their top notes can be and how loud the sound can boom out from those tiny lungs.When Mike gets out of his car on a Thursday night he can tell whether Joey is awake or not right away. Those dulcet tones carry a great distance.
We got dressed and left the house at 11.15 pm. I was under the impression we were going in one direction to pick up fish food but Mike decided there was no rush. We ended up in Rhyl looking for some light fittings. We found them after some effort and went off to have lunch. Our usual cafe was closed but we easily found another one that did a good selection. Mike had a lamb dinner while I had a ham one. It was while we were at lunch that Mike got a phone call and I heard him expressing disbelief. His father was on the way to the A & E department again. That’s yet another Sunday he’s been called back. His sister has gone to the hospital with him, not a fall this time,just a bout of non-cooperation and non verbalising they’re worried about. Mike refused to go straight away as he knows no-one would get round to seeing his father for a least a couple of hours by which time the bout of intransigence may well be over. We carried on with lunch and then a visit to another shop where I managed to find a light adaptor I needed.Then we came home. I made Mike a drink while he did Ju’s flowers then about 4.00 pm he left. He promised t text when he got back to Rugby but I had an awful feeling he could have a long evening/night ahead of him at the hospital. I hope I’m wrong. After Mike left I came through to the bedroom to work. There was as always a lot of catching up to do. I was here until 7.00 pm when I went through to sit with Joey and to have some rhubarb and strawberry tart that I’ll have to eat all alone since Mike had to go. It was a pure accident that it wasn’t in sight until he’d gone. I wwatched TV until 9.00 pm and came back through until bedtime. I’m going to read in here then try and go to sleep in the chair. Not for too long though as I’m being MuJo’d in the morning and need to tidy up and if possible get my washing done.
Monday 19th.
Last night’s experiment worked well. I read until 12.30 am then went to sleep in my chair. Joey didn’t object to my company. I only slept until 3.14 am though. At least I got an early start on the washing and all my mail before having breakfast at 4.30 am. After that it was a case of staying awake until MuJo arrived. I gave John his lights and let him have the adaptor I bought yesterday as his hadn’t arrived.
A long day and a lot of mail this evening but it’s been fine.
That’s funny looking pastry Reuben.
Perhaps I won’t have a piece of pie thanks….
Tuesday 20th.
A successful experiment. I read in bed until almost 1.00 am then went straight to my chair. I slept until 5.23 am which is really good. Out of the house at 7.30 am to catch my bus. Joey not amused at being left in his cage. He didn’t hesitate to let me know the minute he heard my key in the door. I had mail. The light adaptors arrived so I have replaced mine and saved John’s second one until I see them again. John left me a message on Skype that the lights were fantastic, he seems to really like the effect.
Sunhat
Rat Hat?
Wednesday 21st.
An unsuccessful night this time. I lay in bed after lights out at 1.00 am and had still not fallen asleep at 3.15 am. I got up and distracted myself with work for a while. At 4.00 am I tried again and managed to nod off but only until 4.55 am. It wasn’t worth trying too hard again as I needed to be up by 6.00 am anyway. I had to be out at 7.30 am for my bus. I dressed, had my breakfast and meds then cleared my post boxes until it was time to go out. I shall have to find the opportunity of a nap during the day, perhaps my bus journeys, so I’m compost mental for my games night.
I may not be here but I am thinking of you all.
Happy Clown
Sanity Claus.
Thursday 22nd.
I read until 12.45 am then turned the light off and tried to sleep. I don’t think it was too long coming. Neither was wakefulness though. When I woke at 3.02 am I found I was already sitting on the edge of the bed with my feet in my slippers. Since there was no way I was going back to sleep again (yet) I visited Looville and then came back to the mail. Talktalk was not available (again) due to technical difficulties the team was working on. I went straight to gmail. There was quite bit but it soon became obvious that many of the blogs I have followed for a long time just weren’t there. I didn’t have time to try logging into them separately so I turned to my WordPress reader and going through them one by one changed each Instant notification to a Daily one. Fingers crossed I start getting posts again.
At 5.45 am I went through to the kitchen and took my meds and also had breakfast. For some reason today my stomach thinks my throat has been cut. For some reason today I wish it had. I saw my wife, I saw Julia and I started to follow her but it wasn’t she.
Seatgrabber, Saving this for my mummy.
Stepping Up.
Friday 23rd
Mike arrived at some time after 11.00 pm last night. I made him a coffee while he told me all about the latest things in his week. It appears that the hospital have released his father back to the home again despite saying they wouldn’t do so until they’d found somewhere that could offer suitable care. The home itself have taken him but said they don’t have the staff to stay with him when he goes into a fugue state as he has been doing with some frequency recently. Mike goes there today to try and get some answers and to set in process the giving up of both the new flat and the old one, now knowing his Dad’s onset of dementia is becoming quite rapid.
My light went out about 1.00 am and I had trouble getting to sleep. I was up again at 3.56 am catching up on mail from Talktalk which is now live again. I was not clear on both addresses until 6.50 am when I was able to get my meds and do the week’s meds before going out. Not out quite as early today as Mike will drop me off.
Trying the Pops Frown.
Saturday 24th.
Light off 1.00 am after a read. Woke up at 2.02 am but after a cigarette and a good talking too, decided to try again. It worked. Woke up at 4.09 am. but a good talking too didn’t work as I think my ears were going la, la ,la ,la while I tried. I got up, and while in an upright position decided to visit the Piddle Palace then come back to work. Talktalk was live this morning though still holding it’s head in shame at recent revelations. It’s ridiculous that a firm this size, that holds the banking details of so many of it’s customers can be hacked 4 times because they don’t use encryption software. That is NOT putting the customer first and I would imagine will not only cost them future custom but will also lose them many existing customers who aren’t tied in by contract. I wonder in fact if people will be able to end their contract early because of Talktalk’s negligence. I know they talk of the hacking skills of those from the Deep Web but that’s also where the skills to encrypt and defend from hackers is found. It’s fairly simple to imagine that if you refuse to pay for these skills then someone is going to hack just to show how easy it is. Shape up Talktalk!
It was shopping this morning. That of course starts with getting Mike out of bed. I know he didn’t go to sleep before 12.30 am because I was talking to him at that time and he was using his tablet to look for a ring. I’m pretty sure he carried on after I left to pick up my book.So, at 6.00 am I went through to the kitchen to take my meds and have breakfast. At 6.30 am I took a coffee through as soon as I heard his first alarm, and called him. No response at 6.40 alarm, 6.50 alarm or 7.00 am alarm but my prompt at 7.00 am about cold coffee did the trick. Final score C2 A4. It later turned out I hadn’t heard his first alarm, only his nearest. In error he’s set it for 6.00 am so had in fact ignored 3 more which would have made his final A’s 7 which even for him would be incredible so I won’t count them. With a concerted effort we were still out of the house at 7.30 am though I think he was still getting dressed as he hopped to the car. We were at the Supermarket around 7.45 am and after I’d checked I could get money on my card ( I was worried about the hacking of Talktalk) we went into battle.
First off this morning were Ju’s flowers. A pretty bunch of mixed colours. Then a fairly long loop round the store until we came to the food section. That was quickly done as I needed to buy pop and sweets so would be eating bread and scrape (dripping) all week. By the time we’d got milk and just about reached the end of the buying I was still on the £50 mark. We went for coffee, or rather Mike did while I went for cigarettes. When I got back he’d glared at two members of staff until they realised they were sitting at our table and vacated. From there we went straight to Flint. A sweep of our usual shops left no casualties in his wake so we went for a drink at Temptations. Kyle served us without having to ask what we wanted. He was having quite a busy time of it. I finished my drink and went to the other end of the shop to buy some silver wedding gift wrap and a bag. We’d had a conversation over coffee about our jaunt last weekend and some baskets we’d seen that came with packing to turn into gift baskets. Yes, I know I should have bought them at the time but I wasn’t sure who I’d use them for back then. Now of course I had two ideal people whose gifts would fit the baskets nicely but could we think of where we’d seen them, could we heck. We racked our brains about where we’d been and tried to narrow it down. I was pretty sure it was the big Homies but Mike wasn’t sure. However he agreed we should retrace our steps. What a waste of time that was though we did find something smaller that might do the job. Anyone got some shredded paper?
We came home about 3.00 pm and unpacked the shopping. Once it was put away Mike reverted to football on his tablet and I came through to clear my mail. It kept me going until 5.45 pm when I went through and found Mike snoring. I woke him and made some tea after which I quite happily dozed off myself. We did watch some TV together, did talk to each other and to the budgie but at 10.00 pm I had to come back to work. Mike went through to his room to fall asleep in bed watching more football. It’s been a strange week and I may have to carry it on a little longer but don’t take that as an indication that I’ve lost interest in my friends or stopped caring.
I woke at 4.43 am this morning knowing there wouldn’t be the usual post but that it’s the day of my return anyway. The first day in the new blog. I worked on what post there was until 6.30 am then emerged from my pit surprised to see sunshine. It looked like the weather was smiling on me and it was to be at least two nice days in a row. I took my meds and made a coffee before spending a few minutes talking to Joey. Not that he was talking back, he could chunner for Britain, but never if I’m too close for comfort. Fair play, he’s trying very hard to talk and his name is recognisable but the only way I’m going to get him perched on my hand is with the liberal use of superglue. It’s probably time to stick with patience is a virtue while showing I’m not very virtuous. I always hope for same day results so by now he and I should have been discussing philosophy or at least whether green feathers are in this season. It was about 7.00 am when I returned to work with my cold coffee but I was very relaxed about it.
The relaxation ended at 8.00 am when Mike got up. Yes, unbelievable I know but it was totally unaided. One minute he was in bed asleep and the next here bothering me. I waited till he was in the lounge then checked his bed to make sure it was dry. It was ! I finished off a couple of messages and went through to the lounge to sit with him. Closing the lounge door I opened Joey’s cage to give him the freedom he needed then sat down. The last thing I remember was Mike trying to get Joey to come out. I was asleep in seconds. Just as well I’d sat down. It was nearly 9.00 am before I woke up and Mike was still trying to get him out. I have no idea where the time went this morning and I’d love to say it wasn’t wasted but I can’t. It was gone 11.00 am before either of us went to get dressed. I managed to do a few emails while I was in my room and also take a look at ebay where I had a few bids to see how things were doing. I’d been outbid on everything and had to decide whether I wanted to up my bids or just leave the items to someone else. I settled for letting them go. As I returned to the lounge that’s exactly what Mike was doing too.
We left the house at 12.30 pm to go for lunch with Lee and the family plus his Dad Di and Lynn his wife. As we pulled out into the traffic who should be in front of us but Lee with Jen waving from the back window of their car. When we drew into the car park of the Bells who should pull up next to Lee but his Dad so we were all able to go in together. It was great to be all together again. I love the family days. Dil went off to buy the meal tickets and Mike listed the drinks wanted and went to queue up for those. I got to hold Nathan for a while, at least until has Pops appeared and claimed him. Dil and Lynn had been to a car boot before coming to lunch so we were talking about what they’d got. When Mike appeared with the drinks I said it was a shame we hadn’t been there this morning too since he’d been up so early.”A good idea for next week” he said “when I don’t have to go back on the Sunday night”. The fear gripped me……….
We left the Bells at about 2.40 pm and went our separate ways with Lee promising to pop in for Wednesday night games soon and Jen agreeing to let him out. Mike and I drove home where it didn’t take me many minutes to nod off in the chair again. I think I was bitten on the bum by a tsetse fly while I was out. Between then and 5.00 pm I was conscious for short periods only. Usually long enough to say “Pretty Joey, best, best boy ” before nodding again but at 5.00 am Mike announced he was going. I waved him off then jumped into the mail and all that had accrued during the day. That kept me going until 7.15 pm when I went through to get some tea. I watched a few old episodes of MASH then at 9.00 pm came through to carry on working. The TV went off and Joey’s cage was closed to stop him flying in the dark. At 10.30 pm I was up to date and able t0 spend some time with the blog again.
I thought this was water.
Anyone seen a spare leg lying around?
Monday 10th.
I was up to the Piddle Palace at 12.40 am,not long after falling asleep. I was also up at 2.11 am and finally got up at 3.14 am. Though I didn’t feel tired I was still yawning as I sat at my desk replying to mail. The time gave me a good head start to leaving empty mail boxes at 7.30 when I had to leave the house. Chester today instead of tomorrow as Yvonne has midwife appointments for tomorrow. I even managed to get into Facebook to pick up messages from there which isn’t really any hassle wearing my invisibility cloak as I do. I stopped enjoying Facebook visits a long time go. At 6.00 am I broke off to take my meds and have breakfast.That done I took my usual coffee back to my desk to ensure I could clear as much post as possible. I was clear well before I had to go out. When 7.30 came I shouted goodbye to Joey and went for the bus with Ugo’s birthday gifts bouncing off my stick as i walked.
I was halfway to the bus stop when the bus drew up beside me to let me get on. Fantastic, I settled into my favourite seat and nodded off. The journey was over in no time despite the number of times I had to wake as we went over a bump or more accurately sank in a pothole in the road. When we arrived I lit a cigarette as Yvonne hadn’t appeared to meet me. A moment later I could see her in the distance pushing the buggy so I hid behind a pillar and waited to jump out on Reuben. It wasn’t much of a jump and all he did was smile and point.”Pops” he said as though Yvonne wasn’t aware. We greeted with the usual hugs and kisses and Yvonne asked if we could visit Boots the Chemist for something. We did that then returned to our usual pattern and went for a drink and some breakfast even though I’d eaten at 6.00 am. Reuben had a bit of a run about but wasn’t on his best behaviour this morning and ended up back in his buggy much to his disappointment. That gave me chance to look around the gents department while Yvonne picked up a shirt for Ugo’s birthday later this week. My gifts were safely on the handles of the buggy to save me carrying them. While we were in the shop Reuben decided to evacuate his bowels, heck he nearly evacuated the shop. Yvonne didn’t have a spare nappy with her so it was to be back to the chemist for some and to change him there. I almost went down the stair in the shop rather than share a lift but holding my breath I found the colour green quite suits me. As we got outside I noticed the gas companies arrive in a convoy of vans to look for the leak, they’d have had more luck with the Civil Defence Team looking for chemical warfare.
With time in hand we decided to walk round another shop which I rarely think of and even more rarely visit. Marks and Spencer has in the past been a very expensive shop while lacking in style. These days they are fairly stylish though no cheaper. They did have a nice cafe and we were able to get another drink there. Yvonne was very impressed with an elderflower which she said was the nicest she’s ever had, I settled for an iced coffee and cursed that I forgot to sugar it. A great temperature though on such a warm day. They walked me to the bus stop and I had time for a cigarette before I boarded. As I waved them off Reuben was proving to be stoic this week whereas last week he howled that the bus was taking me away. Eyes closed to prevent anyone fro talking the journey was again quite nice. In Holywell my next door neighbour got on. It’s rare to see her out on her own. As we got off we walked home together and chatted. I was glad to get inside the door though. I had mail which included a stupid letter from the DWP to tell me from 7th Aug they have decided to deduct money from my pension at the rate of £0.00 per week. Three pages it took to say that. Another tree wasted. I should mention that while the Internet was down last week I had a letter from them admitting their error and confirming the current deductions are wrong, I owe nothing. Vindicated at last. Yvonne is so pleased her efforts have done so much for me.
I let Joey out of his cage and set to clearing my email boxes. I also arranged to have a parcel redelivered on Wednesday that they’d tried to deliver this morning . I put my washing machine on with a colour catcher as I’d included a new red rugby top. There was a knock at the door and my friend from the chemist arrived with something I forgot last week. I dropped it on the console table in the hall till I’d finished. At 3.00 pm when I was mainly clear I took the drugs through and found the repeat prescription was missing so I had to go out again to see if they’d left it in the shop. Fortunately they had. Coming back I sat with Joey for half an hour then went to clear any other messages until 4.30 pm when I went to watch my Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is. I had another half hour on the computer after that ended and then went back for my quizzes until 7.00 pm. Another hour dedicated to the mail and then a two hour Agatha Christie Miss Marple before shutting Joey’s cage door and calling it a night. I cleared mail until 11.00 pm and then attacked the blog before a read and sleep.
A member of The Raffia.
Ahoy Mateys.
Tuesday 11th.
4.15 am was an ideal time to get up this morning. For one, I was awake but also I woke with the need to reach the Piddle Palace or float in bed. Making my way down the passage way in the half light with my legs crossed wasn’t easy but I was up to the challenge. Coming back I turned the computer on and started on the mail on my main account. I was actually done by 6.40 am and prepared to sit here twiddling my thumbs. Instead, inspiration struck. I went through to the lounge and took down the net curtain which should really be white but tended more towards the brown end of the spectrum because of these terrible smokers. I put the net in the machine with some liquid detergent and some whitener and set the wash cycle to quickwash. While it was doing and while Joey was safe in his cage I washed the window. It’s quite large and a stretch to do it. I took my meds and made a coffee. When the net was done I rehung it. I turned the lounge light on and urged Joey to leave his cage so I could clean it and replace his food and water. I added a tonic to the water. Had there been any chance of him taking a bath I’d have put a block of soap out too. Once I’d put fresh millet in I hoped he’d go back but he stayed sitting in his usual place on the mirror. I had to go really close to force him to fly off and find another perch. That earned me a right telling off but I’ve got broad shoulders and anyway I can’t understand a word he says. Once out of the way I cleaned the mirror to get rid of all the kiss marks from Joey admiring himself. I took my coffee back to the bedroom to check the mail.
I was done by 8.00 am and following a quick yawn decided to have a nap in the lounge. I took my empty mug through to the kitchen first and then sat down in my chair. The moment I sat, Joey started with a continuous high pitched bollocking which I guess was aimed at me. Luckily I had the TV remote to hand and while it didn’t actually control his volume, the sounds of Frasier was enough to shut him up. I got half an hours sleep, wonderful. I thought it would be good idea to get dressed then. I chose to wear slim leg rather than skinny so I’d be able to get them off tonight. Once skinny are on my bad leg they’re tight enough to look like they grew there. At 9.05 am I went to Pauline’s for fresh bread and some micro chips as well as my TV mag for next week. I’d gone early in the hopes of being back before the postman came. I was, but I needn’t have rushed as the parcel wasn’t for me it was for Mike. I know what it is because I actually found it for him but since I like it too I may have to tell him it was lost in a burglary, the only item to go missing in fact. “How lucky I was able to find one for myself ” I’ll say.
The warden whom I’d missed yesterday called to see if I knew that rent payments were to change but since I pay by direct debit it doesn’t bother me. She was glad that my not being here yesterday didn’t mean I was ill which was nice. She deserved her chocolates after that. I kept up to date with the mail all morning and only stepped away at lunch time. I had a cottage pie today while watching Bargain Hunt. The first time I’ve ever seen the programme with the same contestants as before. I fell asleep before the end and didn’t wake for almost an hour. A guilty conscience brought me back to work and your over generosity kept me here. Loads of mail. I only worked until 4.30 though and then left until 7.00 pm to enjoy my tea and my evening programmes. Another hour in here then back to watch a programme on the Georgian Kings which tonight was George II of Hanover and his popular wife Queen Caroline. I finished at 10.00 pm and called it a day. With a goodnight to Joey I came through to catch up again and to work on the blog.
3rd class railway, no roof.
Who’s lurking under the stairs?
Wednesday 12th.
There were a couple of false starts during the night which I ignored but the 4.15 am wake-up left me no choice. The slightest movement on my part jer, jer, jiggled my bladder and cause me agony. I had to wake up, clear my head and go. Once that job was done I was awake and that was that. I powered up the computer and signed into my mail boxes and also to ebay. Things were going well until I looked on ebay for something I wanted and the computer froze. I was on the point of issuing a mild expletive when suddenly it started to close down and the message about updates hit my screen. The expletive I issued was anything but mild. Sometimes I’m warned of it happening and I have 3 minutes to delay it till I know I’ll be free. I hate not getting the warning and having the system close when I’m in the middle of something. Today I was lucky in that I wasn’t working on something important at that time. I was also lucky that when I finally got back in the system recognised that I hadn’t closed it down properly and allowed me to reinstate where I’d been so I could not only check the ebay item, but carry on with my mail.
At 5.30 am I went through to start taking my meds and have breakfast as I’ll be unlikely to have time for tea tonight, it being Wednesday and my games night. I’ve marked all the cards ready. I chose to have cold toast so put the bread in before I did anything else, then took my sprays and started popping pills. I used the rest of the milk in my mug for the morning coffee from the sooper-dooper Tassimo machine, Morning cafe was the poison of choice today. Once the pills were done I had a cigarette before cutting and buttering my toast. It was fantastic except for the greasy moustache afterwards. I took my two after food tablets then went for a wash. Coming back to the lounge I closed the door behind me and opened Joey’s cage. He didn’t seem too bothered about coming out at that moment but that may be because it wasn’t fully light then. I sat in my chair and watched him giving one of his toys hell. First a telling off, then grasping the neck of the bell he tried to prise it off. I’ve noticed in the past that budgies are very deconstructive. I’m surprised Australians don’t harness this power for demolition or something.
Joey’s Palace of the Four Bells.
I half nodded in my chair but kept repeating phrases for Joey to learn. He hasn’t mastered “Come on Mike it’s nearly afternoon” yet or “Good Morning Mike, wet the bed have you?. Truth to tell he hasn’t even got Good Morning yet, he seems to like “Joey, best best boy” most of all. And of course he loves his mirrors. The one in the cage gets a regular talking to but it’s the large one outside that entertains me most. Not only does he almost splatter when he lands after flying round the room a few times in a manic way, but he also loves cuddling up to his reflection. At 8.00 am I tried the TV but kept getting a ‘No Signal’ message which was very annoying as it meant I should go back to work. I spent an hour and a half or so sorting the mail and then got dressed and went through to try the TV again. This time it worked so I prepared to watch the house auction programme. I’d just settled down when someone knocked on the door. It was Darren with the post. Two parcels for me today, both rings. I opened the parcels in front of the TV. I liked both.
At 11.00 am I went to check on some ebay pieces I was looking at. Most things that piqued my interest were this evening so if I want them I’d have to put my max bid on before starting my games night. I also brought my mail back up to date before lunch. Today I had a beef filled giant Yorkshire pudding with roast potatoes. It wasn’t bad but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it again. My Bargain Hunt was on as I ate but I didn’t think the teams would do well today. I don’t know whether I was right as I nodded off before the auction stage and didn’t wake until 1.30 pm. It was back to my desk then. I worked through until 3.45 pm then went to watch the end of an afternoon quiz. The sun was blazing down through my window and it was drowsy, drowsy, gone. When I woke at 4.25 pm Dil was there smiling and said he’d arrived at 4.05 pm but couldn’t wake me. I don’t believe he tried but it’s possible he’d been there that long. I made him a cuppa and we watched Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is and our usual Quiz Pointless. Once that was over out came the games table and the Yahtzee. The first set was three games each again so we decided to carry on with another set. My mistake, Dil won that four -two. Out came the Trivial Pursuits and battle recommenced. That resulted in a win for me and as it was 9.35 pm Dil had to leave. I did a quick tidy, made myself a chip buttie, washed the pots and came through to catch up. 102 messages waiting and no wins on ebay. By the time I got to start the blog it was 11.15 pm. Don’t make a noise in the morning, I might need to sleep in.
Reuben and Friend.
Reuben and more friends.
Thursday 13th.
It was about 1.15am before I turned the light off this morning. I struggled to sleep, no doubt as a result of the noddy sessions of yesterday. I was rather surprised to wake at 4.56 am and find myself stretched out on the couch in the lounge. I don’t remember going there and it wasn’t a planned trip as my slippers were neatly laid on the floor in front of my chair on the other side of the room and I hadn’t brought my spray out. Despite it being Summer I was surprisingly cold too. I paid a trip to the loo and then headed straight for my bedroom and the warmth of my dressing gown. I fired up the computer and signed into both email accounts to find you lot had been very busy during the night.
At 6.00 am I went through to the kitchen for breakfast and to take my meds. I sat in the lounge and ate in front of Joey’s cage. He didn’t seem very happy so I opened the cage door and told him to come and share. That got me a bollocking. He then flew out at such a pace that all the husks from the seed he’d eaten came out in a cloud and descended on my last piece of toast. Joey flew around a couple of times and landed on the mirror. It was his turn to get a bollocking when I found out how much cleaning up I’d have to do later. For now I left him to it and returned to work. By 8.15 am I’d cleared the immediate threat from the mail boxes and broke to get dressed, except for my socks. I rejoined Joey in the lounge and turned on the TV to watch Frazier. The postman (Darren) came at 9.40 am an delivered my last parcel and a Christmas catalogue…….. in August???? The last parcel was a new doorbell which I intend to put up tomorrow. Now Darren had been I put my socks on and my shoes. The left one was difficult to get on today as the foot is swollen whereas the right leg is the one that has the swelling from ankle to above the knee and is suffering from the cellulitis. I definitely have what they call ‘Old ladies ankles’. Putting padded gloves on I grabbed my coat and sticks and walked to Pauline’s shop to grab fresh bread, bacon, chips with curry sauce and had my lottery tickets renewed. I came back post haste to watch Homes Under the Hammer with Joey.
At 11.00 I got a brush and dustpan and cleaned he floor around the cage. Joey flew squawking around my head that I was too close instead of just moving elsewhere. Anyway, as i was down on the floor kneeling I can’t see I was invading his space. I stood up and changed his seed and water without any fuss from him, that will come when he sees I haven’t given him new millet. At that point I’m shutting my ears. I went through to work for half an hour or so and then came back at 11.50 to take my pre -foodie. I had the chips with curry sauce for lunch and watched as much of Bargain Hunt as I could before drinking of the waters of Lethe. Wham, I was there one minute and gone the next. I woke after half an hour and like last night had no memory of what happened. I came back to work at 1.15 pm and stayed until 3.00 pm when I watched Move to the Country. I’m becoming addicted to programmes like these recently. No wonder I never do any writing. About 3.30 pm Mike sent a text to say he was on his way so if the traffic is kind I may see him about 5.30 pm, though he is travelling at the busiest time. I’ve not seen any more of him than usual this week even though he’s been on holiday. I had another hour on the computer 3.30 pm – 4.30 pm and then it was most of the evening off. Mike arrived at almost 6.00 pm in time fr two of the quizzes then I excused myself for an hour before coming back to watch Endeavor (The Young Morse) and Person of Interest. I had to cry off the second one of the latter as it would have meant starting work again at midnight. Starting at 11.00 pm was bad enough. It’s gone midnight now, a new day and yet I’m still doing yesterday’s blog. Go figure.
Friday 14th.
I finished at about 12.30 am this morning. Mike had come in to show me a ring he liked and was still there when the blog was finished so I also brought ebay back up and showed him a few I’m looking at. He must have left about 12.50 am and I got into bed to read. The light went pout at 1.45 am and I don’t think it was long before sleep claimed me. Just as well really as I must have had the top layer of skin from my itching legs under my skin at that point. I woke at 5.03 am and switched the computer on as I passed by heading for the loo. Once back I signed into my mail. I was working well when I heard a noise at 5.30 am. I went out and found Mike had gone to the loo and was fast asleep and snoring well sitting there with his head almost on his knee. I expressed my shock at finding him up but there was no response. I tried again with the same result but when I told him not to go to sleep there, he grunted at me and shuffled past to go back to bed.I just returned to work until 6.10 am when it was time to take my meds and replenish the boxes for the next week. That took until 6.50 am when I returned the meds drawer and made a coffee to bring back with me. At 7.10 am I was up to date and decided to go through to the lounge and watch TV for a while. I wasn’t sure what to do about Mike after knowing he had a late night so I waited until 9.00 am before taking a coffee through and letting him know it was time to shake a leg. He didn’t. I passed his room ten minutes later and just shouted through to say the coffee was cold. That shifted him. I carried on my way to get dressed.
While in my room I just did a little more catching up before joining Mike in the lounge. His face was bleeding slightly and he wasn’t sure how he’d done it. Personally I think he’d been slapping his face to wake up when one of his knuckleduster rings had slipped round. He’s got so many rings on hid fingers I’m checking to see if he’s got bells on his toes. Never mind that talk about pots and kettles Michael, these are intelligent people and not interested in your cookware preferences. It was gone 10.00 pm when he left and the mood wasn’t great as he’d received a phone call regarding the new flat for his dad. The decorator is ready to start but can’t until the electricians have finished. Trouble is they’ve been twice on the warden’s day off to collect keys despite being told what days to come and they’ve just left when she hasn’t been there. Mike has to try and get them back today and finished so the painter can go in tomorrow. That meant he was late seeing his dad and may be late back tonight.
I made myself sweet potato mash with sausages for lunch and topped it off with baked beans. Glorious. Especially today when I don’t think it’s stopped raining yet. They forecast rain and possible floods for the end of the week so I’m thinking I might need the ark to stop by and collect me. Actually I’m halfway up a hill so I should be OK. After Bargain Hunt was over, and you’ll be shocked to learn I stayed awake for the auction, I returned to work for the afternoon. At 4.30 pm I came away from the computer to start the evening programmes. Antique show, quiz, quiz, then Mike sent a text to say he was on his way back so I expected him around 7.30 pm. Then it was another quiz followed by two episodes of MASH. Mike arrived home in between the two. I made him a coffee and sat with him to see how his day had been. He’d almost had to pull over on the way home with a migraine. I went for a shower at 8.00 pm and left him trying for another ring on ebay. It’s quite worrying as he’s already got more rings than fingers……….if he’s only got ten fingers that is. He was still on there when I finished the shower but he’d lost that particular ring as the price had gone up alarmingly at the end. We watched ‘Would I Lie To You’ then Ripper Street before I took my meds at 10.00 pm and came through to work before bed. I really shouldn’t have been away so long, the post was heavy. I must say though I was getting plenty of laughs from responses to the extra post I did today. I started the blog at 11.00 pm.
Claiming New Territory.
Some days you’re up……..
Saturday 15th.
4.27 am this morning and the world looked grim. Gone are the bright mornings and the nights are starting to draw in too. Any earlier and I would have had to resort to turning lights on. The one good thing is that the rain appears to have stopped. Once I’d visited the loo I came back and turned the computer on. It wasn’t too long before I was in amongst all the messages and posts from last night. I’m sure you lot are nocturnal. At 6.15 am I broke off to take my meds and make myself a coffee but more importantly to boil the kettle ready for Mike’s 6.30 am alarm. Actually I timed it so that I got the coffee in first and brought his consciousness top the surface in time for the first alarm to go off. In both instances the result was the same , an acknowledging grunt followed by turning over and going back to sleep. I had things to do just then like empty the bins and take the food waste outside. All the recycling bags had to go out too. When I got back in Mike showed the true spoilsport spirit by getting out of bed on his second alarm. A-2 C-1. I can’t really invent something to crank the scores up as that’s what he predicted I’d do. I got dressed and went through to irritate Mike for spoiling my fun but I ended up feeling guilty because his stomach was a bit off colour.
We left the house just before 7.30 am and were in the Supermarket by 7.45 am. I picked up cash while Mike got a trolley then we made a start. First thing kids clothes as there was a sale on. Then flowers for Julia. We’ve sort of gone for a mauve , purple theme for her this week. Calamine lotion was next to see if I can end this interminable itching on my legs both of which are painful to the touch now. I’m pretty sure I have cellulitis in them both now. Not just old lady ankles any more. Mike’s stomach being off he had to depart at the run leaving me in the shop talking to myself. I did manage to get through the tills on my own except for some reason they expected me to stop half way and pay. Such spoilsports today. Mike came back just as I had finished there and we went for coffee. From there out to the car to pack the bags away and to have a smoke while discussing the next leg of the journey. We went straight to Flint and got the odds and sods I still needed then went to visit out friends in Temptations. As we left there we decided just to bring the shopping home and unpack.
On the shopping was stored away I expected we’d go for lunch but instead Mike started fixing my new doorbell which I’d bought from ebay this week. It sounded great as long as it wasn’t too close. There was a discussion as to what to do with the day and it was thought best we went to Rhyl and let Mike trawl round the second hand jewellers for the ring he wants. Something with a blue topaz, his birthstone. He particularly wants London blue. We had no luck for him but in one place I fell in love and acted very impulsively and treated myself. He wasn’t too chuffed with that. I suggested he find the stone he wants and apply it to a ring he has where the stone has been lost. That would be much less expensive. After a very long slog it was time to come home. We’d been out from 7.30 am and wouldn’t be in until 4.15 pm. I was already wondering how bad the post would be. It was less than I thought, bad rather than disastrous. I ploughed straight in and left Mike in the lounge. When I stuck my head in there he was snoring for Britain and didn’t hear me giving Joey some millet or nattering to him.
Mike woke at 6.00 pm and I was back in the lounge then. We had a cake and watched a bit of TV till 9.00 pm when I left to come back to work. I do expect to get to bed sometime tonight.
It’s possible I wasn’t fully compost mental last night. Light’s out at 1.00 am yet 3.00 ish am saw me wandering round the kitchen intending to find something to eat. My hand reached out for the pull cord to turn the light on without me even thinking that the kitchen has a light switch not a pull cord. What I did of course was set off the alarm. Within moments I realised I have the perfect way of getting Mike up straight away as he came galloping out of his room to see what was wrong. Then I got an intercom call from the emergency warden services to make sure I was OK. Considering I’d probably just woken her up from a deep sleep for a false alarm she was remarkably nice about it. Of course Mike was back in bed and snoring before I’d finished saying “Everything is fine.” Needless to say,I didn’t get anything to eat. I went back to bed and eventually got up as usual, fully aware this time, at 5.08 am. After a quick visit to the Jade Palace ( ever since I got a discount on a bulk buy of green paint from the fella painting the local Chinese restaurant), I came back and powered up the machine and went straight into my first email address.
Heck there were a lot and many of them were comments on last night’s blog which I promised my lawyers I’d read more closely in future, ever since I read the blog had been well executed because I was in a hurry and it actually said I was a bloke who should be executed. Critics eh? I worked my way up the list until 6.00 am when I went through to the kitchen to take my meds and make as coffee to bring back with me. With a coffee and a fag to fortify me I was ready for anything. Actually most of what I had to deal with was easy but required comments or at the very least a like. Like all other authors I get notified of reviews and new books released and I think it’s my duty to tweet these and on rare occasions I’ll even send them into Facebook. Indie authors require every bit of help going to offset some of the advantages an author with a traditional publishing house sometimes has, a bigger budget promotion schedule rather than the odd free tweet from another author. If I ever write another book I’d want to go Indie again because of the tremendous cameraderie there is .
By 8.12 am I was pretty much up to date so I took my empty mug through to the kitchen and then came back to see if I was bidding on anything on ebay today. I played around on there until around 9.00 am then just refreshed my mail box and caught up there. I opened the second email address to see how bad that was and there were 64 so I went into battle there too. Not for long though. I heard a noise. It was 9.26 am. I moved towards the lounge only to be met by what seemed to be Mike in looks just coming out. “OK” I said, “just tell me what you’ve done with him. Then we can see about getting you back to your Starship.” “Oh, har de har” he replied. I hadn’t realised he spoke French. He’d already got the kettle on for his drink so I left him to it. We sat together while we tried to remember what it was he’d asked me to remind him about yesterday and I’d forgotten, then a discussion on some music or other followed by an internet search on his tablet on the author who wrote the books depicted on the posters I’d bought for Reuben yesterday. Name of Shirley Hughes and she appears to have been quite prolific with children’s books since the 1970’s. We probably wracked up most time trying to decide what to do today until finally we settled on going back to Broughton Park where we went last Sunday, to see if we could find Mike some slim or skinny jeans. We left a few minutes after 11.00 am.
When we got to Broughtom we parked up and entered the Tesco store where I’d been so lucky in the sale last week. Amazingly enough he was able to find two pairs, one reduced to £8 and one pair to £6. Even better, when we got to the counter they had been reduced to £4 and £3 so two pairs for less than half the price of one originally. It was 12.30 pm when we came out of there and I suggested lunch and then carry on. We went to the pub where we’d eaten with Karen on her birthday. We were seated and had the chance to order drinks which came quite quickly. I took my pre-foodie and then we were able to order lunch. We both went for the Sunday roast option but went for the supersized because of extra Yorkshire puddings and what the menu described as lashings of tasty gravy. The meal came and we started. Mike was the first to voice disappointment that the ‘creamed mash potatoes’ were reconstituted and powdery. I wasn’t far behind him in finding that but I was also disappointed that the lashings of gravy wasn’t really enough. Fair play though, the meat was lovely. The stuffing balls were solid and I hoped the grave might soften them but there wasn’t enough. Mike asked the waitress if we could possible have some more gravy in a gravy boat. She said we could but they’d have to charge for it. I agreed so she disappeared. We carried on eating. We were getting towards the end stages of the meal before she re-appeared with the gravy boat. I think a thimble might have held more. This was gravy for two people for heaven’s sake. I wasn’t amused. When we got up to leave I left the meanest tip I’ve ever left in my life.
We had a trog round a few more shops before it was time to leave and come home. Mike hadn’t found the third pair he’d wanted. It was getting on for 4.00 pm when we got home. We had another natter for a while then I closed my eyes for a quarter of an hour though I didn’t sleep as Mike was still talking to me. At 4.30 pm my nerve broke and I needed to come through to work. Mike gathered his bags and I waved him off before locking the door and starting. 183 messages on the first account, I didn’t touch the other then. I worked until 7.00 pm then went through for some tea. I had a little trifle left over from yesterday and -wait for it- an apple. By 7.30 pm I was back hard at it.By 9.30 am I’d cleared most of what was there in both mailboxes and just had a few personal messages to answer.I’d done those by 10.00 pm and went through for a break. I watched half an hour of TV which was a comedy, satire news quiz. Then back in here at 10.30 pm to do the blog.
Monday.
OK. so it’s fairly obvious I’ve upset him unless he just thinks I’m not doing enough on his behalf. I shall have to resign, that’s if you can resign from a god with a contract. I turned the light off for sleep last night at 1.00 am. Next thing I know is I’m awake and ready to go to work. It was 2.26 am. I was left wondering if I knew anyone daftsensible enough to want a job as Promotions Manager for a god and his brothers. It doesn’t pay well but maybe you (may) get a good night’s sleep in exchange for some work. Still, there was no point in complaining, at least I get a head start on the day and the work won’t be in a backlog situation. I have a guest post I need to prepare for tomorrow and this will give me opportunity. MuJo were due this morning too so I was determined to be as up to date as possible before going out. There was absolutely no need to rush though, there was time aplenty.
I concentrated on the guest post first as I wanted to get it as near to a vision I had in my head but that would be easy to change if I didn’t like the end result. I was able to use up a couple of hours easily on it and was fairly satisfied with the end result. What confuses me is that the end result you see changes the minute you press preview. That which is written to the side of a picture is now written underneath. I’m sure if I reduced the size of the picture, the writing might appear where placed but I didn’t mind it the way the preview showed either so I settled for that. As I’ll be with Yvonne tomorrow it’s nice to know I just have to press the publish button now and it’s all done for me. Meanwhile this morning I was happy with the work I’d done and moved over to my main post box, and started there. It was a bit of a surprise how many were left from last night and how many were there, I think I was expecting about a dozen or so. I had to break off at 6.00 am to take my meds and make a coffee and then I carried on until I was clear ( for now) at about 7.15 am. By 8.30 am the other post box was also clear and I had time to get washed and dressed ready to go to Pauline’s and to the chemist/post office. Pauline’s didn’t take long as I got in before the Mother’s Mafia this time. I bought cigarettes not because I needed them but because I needed the change.
I walked up to the chemist and dropped my prescription request in the little slot in the counter and then joined the tail end of the queue of pensioners at the post office end of the shop. I hadn’t been quick enough to get there first. By the time I’d reached the counter, sent birthday cards abroad and got home again it was 9.30 am. I wasn’t sure what time MuJo would arrive so I came back to my bedroom to clear any more mail that had come in and then went through to tidy the lounge and light an oil burner. No news via the postman about my pension being corrected and then at 10.30 am the warden Bev arrived. She told me she’d called last Monday but there was no answer was I OK? I couldn’t think back as far as last Monday but something was at the back of my brain to say it was wrong. She was here about half an hour and as she left I came through to check. Last Monday I was ill in bed but she couldn’t have called, it was a Bank Holiday. She’d come on the Tuesday and I was out with Yvonne. Normally she doesn’t come any day but a Monday. I wonder if I can remember to tell her next week. It was while I was checking that online that I saw skype flashing with a message from John. Odd, as I’d be seeing them anytime soon, or would I? The answer was No I wouldn’t. Someone was coming to empty the septic tank and they’d been unable to set out so the day was cancelled till Thursday if that was OK. I said it was.
At a little bit of a loose end now I came back to the computer and started on ebay until lunchtime. One item I was going to bid for was already too high so I found an alternative to keep an eye on. At 11.50 am I went to start lunch. A goulash today with dumplings. It wasn’t bad though the dumplings could have had a little less herb for me. I watched my Bargain Hunt right to the end and then decided to nod in the chair for an hour. It only lasted for half an hour before a taxi drew up close by and sounded it’s horn to tell a neighbour it was here. The sound made me shoot out of my seat like my tail was on fire, which I was glad to see it wasn’t. As I was already on my feet ( Thanks ACE) I just returned to work. I worked from 1.30 pm to 4.45 pm on incoming then returned for my quizzes and an episode of Big Bang Theory. For tea I had a cheese and raw onion sandwich and then washed the pots before coming back through for what I hoped would be the final phase. I have something coming up on ebay at 10.25 pm which hopefully I’ll get to before doing the blog.By 9.30 pm I was shocked. I’d been going like the clappers to catch up but nothing had been coming in to build up again. I was FREE. I had to start the blog early or read. I chose to start the blog, after all I could break off at any time if more post arrived, and if there wasn’t much I could do it after the blog and then get an early night.
One email came though from Jane as a comment on last week’s blog. She suggested I must be doing OK on the female front with my new slim jeans look. I hope she didn’t look too closely at my female front or she might see I’m not far off needing a bra.( If I was dyslexic I’d only need a bar and that would be better). I had to tell her that so far I haven’t found a woman whose guide dog will allow me to get that close. I’m hoping to get old quickly as at least I’ll get close to the nurse bathing me.
Tuesday.
There were real problems getting to sleep last night with all the coughing. In the end I gave up. At about 2.00 am I went to sit upright in my chair in the lounge and slept until 5.06 am so I was quite pleased. I came through to my room to put a blogpost on that I’d worked on last night and which had been promised for today, then I made a start on the mail which it looks like I haven’t touched for a week at least.At 6.00 am I went to take my meds and get a coffee to rev me up a bit. I returned to my room and got dressed before carrying on with the mail until 7.15 am. I’d made quite a dent in it by then but I needed to get my shoes on ready to go out.
At 7.30 am looking undoubtedly young(er) and swish in my stone coloured skinny jeans I set off for the bus stop. Even at that time the sun was warm and the day bright. It felt good to be out. It’s so nice that the two days of Summer are here. The only trouble is, the other one was yesterday so what’s tomorrow going to be like? The bus came and I got in my usual seat, set my crutches at the right angle, stopped them from moving with my feet, and closed my eyes. I’m pretty sure either I nodded off or the bus has been fitted with jet engines to get us there faster. In fact we were late due to road resurfacing. I glanced in the direction I expected Yvonne to arrive and saw to my surprise she was pushing an empty trolley while Reuben on his reins next to it was running for all he was worth. He galloped up and clasped my legs. Yvonne was in fits of laughter because she says he started running the minute he saw me and she had trouble keeping up. I finished smoking my after journey cigarette before we went into a shop that opens before 9.00 am to pick up a few things. I bought Roobs some chocolate and then forgot to leave it behind when I came home later.
We went into our usual shop then to get a coffee and to give Reuben his Weetabix and let Yvonne have some toast while I had a latte big enough to float a battleship. Not a good thing for one who’s bladder is so small. After that we went into the store proper so I could look for some skinny jeans in Mike’s size in the colour I’d asked him about on Sunday, stone like mine. Fortunately I was able to find some and also got myself a kind of long sleeves tee-shirt. Job done we moved on to look for something for Yvonne which typically she wouldn’t let me get. At an H & M shop I found another tee-shirt which will make me look like Homer Simpson in a muu muu. Very bright and Summery. Yvonne was feeling a little dry so we headed off to get another drink, tea for me this time and a wee to make room for it. Then it was time to go and catch my bus home. They walked me to the stop but I wasn’t going to get much from Reuben as he was mid tantrum. I did get a ‘bye’ which was spit out with the speed of a machine gun and contained no warmth but he relented a little as I got aboard the bus and he was looking for where I sat. Only a little though as the driver was laughing at his fake crying in rage while his face was searching for me. I got a small wave as we pulled out. At least for a change I wasn’t watching them having to walk home in the rain.
Though I didn’t need the loo this time I still bypassed Pauline’s having decided to go there tomorrow for what I need. Today I wanted to concentrate on something to eat as I hadn’t eaten breakfast before going out today. Trouble was nothing really appealed . I’d bought sausages and sweet potatoes at the weekend but decided I might have those on Friday. Today I ended up settling for chips in curry sauce with bread and butter. Since I’d missed my antiques show, I watched the weather forecast that seemed to say more to come, before going to my room to start on the mail. I was a little surprised at only 183 fresh item since this morning but I knew more would arrive as I worked. And so it proved. I started at 1.30 pm and only felt I’d made real progress at 5.15 pm when I felt I could take a break. Be fair, I was going to take a break regardless as that’s when my quiz starts. I allowed myself until 7.00 pm when the Big Bang Theory was over and while I was still awake. It took me until 10.20 pm to reach the point where I could declare myself clear, even if for only a minute. I took the chance to work on the blog instead. There will perhaps be time to work on any more mail afterwards with luck though an early night wouldn’t come amiss.
Wednesday.
A 3.18 am day. I’m not too disappointed as my light went out at midnight after just a very short read and I consider I got to bed early to relax. So maybe I admit to skiving last night and not going back to the mail after doing the blog. I don’t feel especially guilty.Anyway, after a visit to the Palace of Piddle I came back and booted up the computer (as against putting the boot in the computer which has tempted me more than once). I logged on to check the Eurolottery from last night and wished I hadn’t bothered. Still, it was a rollover so maybe it’s waiting for me. That’s looking on the bright side. I logged onto my main mail address and the glass half full was suddenly half empty.There’s a price to pay for skiving. Then I found that many of them had been dealt with last night from the other mailbox. Phew, it didn’t take as long as I feared to clear that bit. When I really got going on today’s mail I finished at 5.54 am which was perfect timing for breakfast. I went through and popped a few pills and took my sprays. To waste some time I came back through and made my bed then put the washing machine on. I’ll wait until the cycles of washing and drying are over before changing Mike’s.
I took my daily coffee back to the bedroom, cleared the inbox of anything new and then opened the second mail box. That took me until almost 8.00 am when I suddenly remembered the washing cycle would be over so I went through and started the drier later than I should have done. It should be ready about 11.00 am. Odd pieces of post were still coming through so I stayed here clearing them as they arrived until 9.00 am. I got dressed at that time and walked over to Pauline’s. She was quite busy but I noticed not a single one of the Mother’s Mafia from school, all the customers were male. Mind you, they must have wondered about me as I was wearing the muu muu I bought yesterday. It was a picture of tropical flowers that might have been better on a woman’s dress. Still, getting me out in a tee-shirt at all with no jacket on top is a rarity and the tee-shirt was my recognition of the sunshine so I couldn’t have cared less what others thought. I find sometimes I still have a little rebellious streak in me. When I came back and unpacked the bread etc I returned to work. I’m determined to keep a good hold on the numbers today so maybe it won’t be too bad when Dil and maybe Matt have been tonight.
I’d not had any luck last night with ebay ( thanks to my stupidity in forgetting the time) so I did spend some time there this morning trying to find new things to bid on. It’s still the nieces I have in mind. Between changing beds, washing, ebaying and catching up on mail it didn’t take lunchtime long to approach. I had a cottage pie and an episode of Bargain Hunt to watch, or in the case of the latter nearly watch as I fell asleep moments before the final auctions though I promised myself not to, and then woke up three quarters of an hour later as Doctors was starting. You’ve never seen such speed in turning off the TV. I returned to work. A fair bit had accumulated during my break and some of the new stuff was very interesting. I wasn’t rushing so I took my time to read what I thought was important. The afternoon passed quite quickly and quite interestingly though ebay is still doing it’s best to defeat me and succeeding. People are learning the ten second trick and probably doing it at eight seconds to prove they’re braver. It’s working, they’re winning more than me. Oh what I wouldn’t give for a faster computer.
Because I had breakfast I needn’t have tea now as I don’t need tablets but I went through at 4.30 pm to have an apple. A nice tasty green Granny Smith. I love the tartness that many people dislike. I’d be prepared whatever time they turned up now and I wouldn’t be caught unawares like I was last week. My brother is 6’4″ so it’s hard to miss him approaching so I was able to get in the kitchen and start making a cuppa as soon as I saw him. He was on his own again which was a disappointment though maybe it does get a bit boring for a youngster when he can be online gaming. Dil and I watched the quiz as usual and got some nice obscure answers. At 6.00 pm TV went off so the gaming could start. As usual we started with Yahtzee and for the first three games I didn’t get a look in , the jammy male server of drinks ( bar steward) couldn’t put a foot wrong. He got two Yahtzees, didn’t miss his bonuses and scored well. On the other hand I was struggling to get one of a kind with the dice never mind a Yahtzee. But on game 4 things changed and went my way a little.Such a shame (sarcasm) that the dice weren’t falling for him. I won the fifth game too. Game 6 was a struggle from the off. I didn’t think I’d get my bonus while he had everything he needed to get his. My name calling didn’t seem to faze him either. But all of a sudden things at the lower end ( keep it clean missus) started to work well. I neat him by a short head. Three all, even Stevens and honour satisfied.
Next up was the Trivial Pursuit. I won’t lie, he got his 6 pieces of pie while I only had 5. No matter how I tried to get the mnumber I wanted to land on the last colour I needed, I kept going just past it. Dil achieved his and worked his way back to the middle.It was my choice as to what question he would answer but they all seemed simple so I just chose one at random. The beggar knew it but didn’t know my second choice. Arrrrgh, he beat me! First blood. We went for cribbage next and despite cheatingbeing unlucky he beat me 2-1. I was crushed. I was glad he was going home so he wouldn’t see me have a tantrum and cry bitterly. He went home and I swear there was a swagger in his walk just to rub it in and he was so quick to say “Thanks, see you next week” in such a way that I knew it was a threat. I waved him off and hoped my neighbours hadn’t noticed I was four fingers missing on that hand.
After Dil had left I just tidied up a bit, took my evening spray and meds, washed the pot (there was only his mug) and then went through to start work. It wasn’t as bad as I feared but it still took me up to 10.50 am to get clear (without refreshing). It was time to start the blog so I can get to bed.
Determined face?
Thursday.
Some days the light can quite fool me. When I got up this morning at 3.28 am you’d swear it was much later like 3.30 am or something. As I made my way to the Palace of Piddle I pondered the reasons why I should be awake at this time. Granted I skived off early last night and after a very short read was turning the light out at midnight but even so, I wondered how many others find themselves thinking three and a half hours sleep is adequate. When I returned to the bedroom I booted up and logged on. I went straight to the bank but my money is still down and next week they will start recovery of the non-existent debt. I shall be going round with a begging bowl at this rate. I left the bank and went to start my emails. I was halfway through answering a long one when the computer decided to shut down. The people in Flint thought a high speed train had gone past when they heard my scream. No bloody warning !! Usually when microsoft are doing updates I can delay it a couple of hours but not this time. I put myself in a calmer place ( with the help of a bottle of galliano) and waited. When the update was on and the screen came back to the sign on, I did so calmly. It was only when it brought up my last page and showed it was timed out I got aggranoid. All that writing for nought.
I started again but only until 5.00 am when I decided I’d have breakfast today. I put two pieces of bread in the toaster on took all my meds. While waiting I put Mike’s bedding in the washer and set it going . Cigarette finished I buttered my toast, made a coffee and enjoyed my breakfast. I came back to work afterwards but the emails took forever to load and I was getting frustrated. I closed one address and opened the other which is usually superfast. Even that was sluggish today. At 6.30 am I went through to check the washer and found the cycle finished. I put everything om to day as cotton for 3 hours. I went out at 9.00 a to get my lottery tickets from Pauline and when I came back the drier said Cycle finished. I opened it up because it hadn’t had 3 hours yet and the stuff was still wet. I reset it for 3 hours calling it synthetics and left it. Back I went an hour later and it was ended again. The damned machine isn’t working by my watch that’s for sure. One more time I tried back to cotton again and gave it another chance to behave while I worked. I was up to date at 10.15 am and went back to visit the kitchen. One minute the machine said 1 hr 57 mins to go, a few minutes later it said 8 minutes.
MuJo arrived just before the time was up so as soon as I’d furnished them with drinks I turned to the machine and unloaded and folded each piece as it came out. I put it on an airer by the kitchen radiator. Obviously I was still holding a conversation with them while I worked and found out they’d had a bit of a rough week. By 1.30 am we were ready to go to town. It was market day but we still managed to find a spot in the first car park where it’s all disabled parking. Very handy. A bit further to walk but worth it for the room. We walked up the High Street and straight into one of John’s favourite charity shops. I actually saw a really nice oil burner but I didn’t get it then saying I’d call on the way back. Next stop the Chippie. I had liver and onions today but couldn’t eat it all. Muriel swiped the bill before I got to it and wouldn’t relinquish it. Next time is definitely mine. After lunch Mu went to the post office while I lit a cigarette and followed John up to the next two charity shops. There didn’t seem to be anything he wanted today. Walking back down the street afterwards they picked up a hydrangea from a stall and then Muriel went in and bought the oil burner from the first charity shop and presented me with it.
Back in the car we headed for Flint. Aldi first so they could do some shopping and where I bought some chocolates, then straight to the retail park and a drink in Temptations. I passed the chocolates over and said Hi to the girls then carried the drinks over. Once done I went out for a cigarette while MuJo relaxed a bit. When they joined me, John went to sit in the car while Mu and I looked round another shop to see if she could find, I think they’re called Palazzo pants. They’re very colourful anyway as she’s wearing a pair today. We didn’t have any luck for her though. We all had an ice lolly sitting in the sunshine and then started the journey home. Mike was on his way by then. I expected him about 5.30 pm. MuJo stayed with me a while and then left about 4.30 pm. I was able to get a little work done before going through a little late for the quiz.Mike arrived virtually on time about 5 minutes later at 5.25 pm so I made a drink and we enjoyed the rest of that quiz together. Then of course we had Eggheads and one of the Big Bang Theories. I said at 7.00 pm I’d have to leave Mike and do some work but I’d be back through at 8.30 pm for the new BBT. He let me go without moaning.
I remembered I hadn’t asked whether Mike had eaten so went back through at 8.00 pm. He was hungry so I did sausage, sweet potato mash, beans and curry sauce and had a little bit myself. I timed it beautifully for the start of the programme and then at part one adverts Mike washed the pots for me. I stayed with him until 10.00 pm then had no excuse to stay away from work for longer. I did half an hour on the mail and then started the blog.
I thought maybe some of you would like to meet Dil and Matt from my Wednesday sanity school.
Dilwyn
Matthew
Friday.
My light was off by 12.30 am last night. I’d gone for a wee around 11.45 pm and found Mike asleep in his room so turned his TV off. Maybe it was early nights all round.I don’t think it took me long to get to sleep as yesterday lunchtime’s sleep hadn’t gained me much. I was up at 3.56 am this morning bright eyes and bushy tailed, raring to get into action. Unfortunately when I reached the Piddle Palace someone was playing with the stop-cock ( bad pun sorry) and it was stop-start for ages. Oh the joys of age. Eventually I was able to go to the bedroom and power up, then sign in. Once there I went immediately for mail and found lots from last night. I knew I shouldn’t have skived after the blog. Anyway, it got done and I got a good start on today’s post until 6.05 am when I needed to take my drugs. Once that was done, being Friday the trays were now empty and needed filling. I got the drug drawer out and also the goodies I’d had delivered on Tuesday and replenished the trays fully. It will be two weeks now before I need anything else. The drawer went back in place and I made myself a coffee to take back to work.Oh wait, I’m not going to call it work this morning since it was a pleasure to read most of the posts which were Summery. Oz is different of course as they head for Winter but it seems the sun is still shining.
I had one con letter this morning but it just made me laugh despite the sad story it related of the woman who has cancer and not long to live. It seems she’s chosen me specially after reading my blog to give her fortune to so it can be donated to charities of my choice that involve children. Anyone with half a brain knows that if you gave me a couple of million pounds I’d be off looking for skinny jeans in all the colours under the sun. It’s possible I’d need matching tee–shirts and maybe a few casual jackets in bright colours too. It’s also possible that I might need a new home to house all the new stuff too. I’ve no doubt some would reach a charity but not necessarily all children related. Oops, bang goes my hope of a windfall then. I worked on both email addresses and by 8.50 am was pretty much up to date. I felt ready to nod off. Instead I headed for the kitchen to wash up some glasses Mike forgot, and my mug from this morning. I also filled the kettle and put it on.It was a couple of minutes to nine when I took Mike a coffee. He doesn’t set an alarm on Fridays so it’s all down to call. I just said ” Mornin’ Bro, coffee’s up, time to rise and shine.” The beggar did. Straight away, no arguments. He’d only grunted in response to me so I was sure it was a 3 C day at least.
He carried his coffee to the lounge and I sat with him talking about the problem with the seals on the car. It’s a young car and the makers say there should be no problem with the seals at this stage. They’ve offered as a goodwill gesture to cover 50% of the cost. They approached the garage who sold this very expensive model and who gave a 12 month warranty to cover the other half but the garage after a long delay say they’ll cover 10% of the remaining half, or in other words just 5% of the whole. Mike seems to have no choice but to go to litigation now. I’m pretty sure the wig and gown won’t suit him though. I managed a short snooze in the chair but felt aware of what was going on around me still At about 10.20 am he left to post a couple of letters and then to carry on and see his Dad in Manchester. I took the opportunity to come back through to work.The postman seems to hate me at the moment as he hasn’t called in 3 days. I carried on working to keep up to date until 11.40 am then broke off to see to lunch. It’s the day of the corned beef hash but I don’t in the least feel like eating.The chest has broken and I’m breathing like old bellows and constantly coughing. It’s just as well Mike is out or he’s be whinging. I did eat my lunch and yes, I did fall asleep during Bargain Hunt.( again). I didn’t wake until 2.15 pm but at least Doctors was over.
I half heartedly returned to my battle with the post and tried to keep up but it was running away today and all I wanted to do was sleep. It seemed I could do that anywhere. I proved it by folding up over the keyboard for a few seconds. I stayed at it until 5.45 pm to whittle it down even though I was missing my quiz. A text from Mike told me he’d be late due to an accident on the motorway. I watched the last bit of the main quiz then Eggheads, before at 6.30 pm going for a shower. I didn’t come out feeling better but at least I was cleaner. I went back through to watch a programme on the island of Honshu in Japan which was fascinating. Mike arrived home as it was going to start. I made him a coffee and we watched it even though Mike had seen the same one last week. It was only needed until 7.30 pm when Question of Sport came on. I was going to stick to BBC1 as there are no adverts where Mike can threaten me with calling Yvonne. Unfortunately at 8.00 pm there was a documentary on another channel about the conspiracy theories surrounding the death- or escape of Adolf Hitler.By the time it was over I was almost ready to ridicule the beliefs that he’d escaped to a secret place in Antarctica to train a new core of men. The fact that Russia had the bodies until the 60’s without admitting it obfuscated the landscape. Their tests say the body was Hitler but DNA tests carried out say not and they refuse anyone access to the bodies after that. What I did find myself believing with no trouble was that the OSS retrieved a huge cache of German gold that seemed to disappear. I imagine it funded the OSS/ CIA for a long time.
At 9.00 pm I came back through to see to as much mail as possible and then at 10.00 pm to do the blog in the hope of an early night. I want to go shopping tomorrow.
Director of Traffic
Saturday.
Mike warned me last night he’d never get up at 6.30 am today If I kept him awake coughing all night. How do you stifle a cough? I suppose the tooth marks in the pillow give you an idea. I got to bed at 11.30 pm and read only until 12.15 am. I think Mike had turned his TV off at that point. Suitably propped up I eventually fell asleep but disturbed myself a lot with coughing. I wondered if I’d be up for the 6.30 am deadline. As it happens in was 3.22 am. Enough light coming through the windows that I could get to the Palace of Piddle without turning lights on. It was only when I came back I had to turn my light on as no light comes through the window. If I open the curtains I can’t see the computer screen. I was coughing a lot, trying to keep it down by keeping my mouth shut but it can’t be done for long. Having said that, he hasn’t moved once when I’ve coughed so I worried about nothing. I cleared the rest of last night’s post first then started on today’s. Just the one address at the moment. At 4.55 am I decided to go have breakfast and put two slices of bread in the toaster. I checked the milk and found there was enough for my tablets and coffee so I made the tablets the next thing and followed up with the sprays.
I was done in the kitchen at 5.20 am and took my coffee through. I refreshed the post and did the ten or so that came up. Then I logged into my second address and started again. I was clear by 5.56 am and went to get dressed. That didn’t take too long. I went through to the kitchen to prepare Mike’s mug and write down my Saturday morning prediction of how long getting him up would take. I’m thinking a minimum of 2 A AND 2 C. As it happened it was 2A and IC because he like spoiling things.
The day has been good with shopping and then looking at fish when Mike had been looking for a specific food. It’s as well I’ve spent much of the day either here or sitting in the car. The bellows are not good today and Mike is giving me a headache fretting. I’m really drained though so am going to apologise for breaking Saturday up and am heading for my bed. Maybe hospital tomorrow if he doesn’t think things are any better, we’ll see about that. I suppose I don’t want another bout of pneumonia.
It’s possible I won’t be up to dealing with mail in the morning so don’t worry if I don’t respond. Thanks to you all for being my friends. I give you full permission to let your imaginations run wild at Mike’s antics today.
My light was out at about 12.30 am and I did fall asleep only to wake around 1.30 am. I expected a difficult night but after a smoke I tried again and went off no problem. I was incredulous when I saw the time I got up today, 7.12 am !!! That’s worthy of an encore 7.12 am. That’s a normal night for you sleepers-in people isn’t it? Heck that’s almost a coma. Of course there were drawbacks like my bladder for a start. I felt like a camel who’d stocked up. Also, I wasn’t able to get straight to work as I had to deal with my meds first so after the loo I carried on to the kitchen, a whole lot lighter though. I took my coffee back with me and signed in. First job of the day was to check the Lotto and the Thunderball then get all the swearwords out of my system before answering any mail. I can’t afford to lose any friends at this time of my life. I could get back to the pretense of being a gentle man after that.
Secondly I logged onto ebay to see if I had anything due to finish that I wanted to bid on today. There was but not until 5.20 pm. Plenty of time said he whose words come back to haunt him. Thirdly, I logged onto the first on my email addresses. OK, at that point there were just over 100 in that one but I had time. I was flicking between my blog comments to answer them and other blogs to make comments of my own or just to ‘Like’ if that what was required. There were personal messages too which took some time but they’re always nice to have. I didn’t pay much attention to the time and just kept going to bring the numbers down. Suddenly a sound startled me. In comparison to my own gentle stop-start flow, this was the Amazon rushing over a waterfall. 9.57 am and Mike was up. No alarm, no call, just a bladder. I left the computer and went to make him a drink. He walked into the lounge and plonked himself in his chair, not a sound from him.Once he heard me pour the water in his mug he moved though, just like a scalded cat, obviously afraid my shaking hands might spill some of his precious fluid. He says he moves that fast to help me if I fall but only after he’s enjoyed the sight for a minute and hidden the grin.
We had one of those long meaningless discussions about what to do, where to go of which the latter half is usually “You decide”, “No, you decide” until I suddenly mentioned that I wanted a pair of jeans. specifically light blue, slim fitting ( stop laughing at the back) or even skinny ( well, my legs are) and we had to figure out where best to go. So it was that it was almost 11.00 am before either of us got dressed and it was 11.30 am before we left the house. That was mainly due to me not being happy with the standard fit pair of jeans I was wearing nor with the colour which didn’t go as well with my tan jacket as a pair of light blue ones would. OK, I admit I might not be dressing my age exactly but I’m OK if you accept mental age. We got into Rhyl just after midday and found a parking spot on a side street. We were actually very lucky as it being a holiday weekend there were plenty of grockles (holidaymakers) about. Our first target was food. We decided to go to the Red Cafe as usual but when we approached the street saw a small cafe we’d been in once before and it was OK so we trotted in there. The menu was mainly breakfast dishes but I rarely turn down a bit of bacon so….. We had a large breakfast each. Mike had my horrible potato thing and I had his fried bread. Once I’d taken my after food tabs we left, lit a cigarette each and walked into the High Street. The clothes shop there didn’t have what I wanted or anything like it. The next shop had the size but neither the slim fit not the light colour. That meant a walk to the Matalan store and I was very shocked not to find what I wanted there either. I said we’d have to wait until next weekend and try the ASDA where we shop.
It was approaching time for Mike’s team to play so we headed for home, arriving here something like 3.15 pm We both separately had a look at ebay to see if there was anything there. There was and I may have to use it as a fall back. I also checked on the item I wanted to bid on and the price hadn’t changed from this morning. I’d be ready. I opened my email address again and found 204 messages since we’d been out added to the ones I hadn’t finished this morning and I hadn’t even open my second address yet. I stifled a scream so he didn’t call me a big girl’s blouse. I never know whether that means I’m the blouse belonging to a big girl or just a big sized girl’s blouse. I got stuck in. Mike came through at 5.15 pm to say he was going so I walked him out to the car in case he tried to sneak back. I stood and waved him off to be sure he was really going, then I came back in. A few more messages and you’d have heard the thump as I kicked myself. Not one of you remembered I was due to bid just before 5.20 pm and so thanks to you I lost the item and it went for the price I’d seen earlier , sob. I don’t think my nephew is ever going to get this jacket. I carried on until 6.00 pm then made a sandwich which I brought back to eat as soon as the 15 minutes for my tablet was up. I took the plate away and carried on, and on, and on. The nearer I got to the end the more work you monsters sent in. It was 7.42 before I actually finished the first address. I clicked out before I could see anything more.
I had to call a halt to the second set of mail at 10.30 am to start the blog. I had made good progress though, all things considered. Later on or tomorrow may not be so bad now.
Singin’ In the Bathtime Blues
Monday.
The light went off at 1.00 am last night. I’d been so busy I doubted I’d have a problem sleeping but still I found myself waking at 2.05 am. Like the night before I sat with a cigarette and then tried again. If it worked this time I’d have to consider changing my allegiance. I got up at 6.51 am, that’s two nights on the trot now. I’m having to wonder if Somnos is now playing fair with me and honouring his side of the bargain. I paid a visit to the loo then walked on to the kitchen and got drugged up for the day.I didn’t want breakfast so I took a coffee back to my room and signed on. The amount of mail was ridiculous, doesn’t anyone remember it’s a holiday? However, one piece of post stood out for me and I opened it straight away.
I guess I don’t have to wonder any longer who is affecting the sleep this last few days. Fair play, if he helps me I’ll help him. If your sleeping habit’s a dead loss, just say a quick prayer to Somnos. If the mood takes him he might help.Just don’t tell anyone I told you, as a small god he’s manageable.
I didn’t move from my chair until 9.15 to get dressed and then until 11.05 am when I’d had enough but was close to being up to date. I went through to the lounge and turned on the TV and sat watching DIY SOS over lunchtime. They only do a three day stint or I’d ask them to come and tidy my bedroom. For lunch I had a chicken dinner with roast potatoes and two veg. No sprouts I’m happy to say. It’s the first time I’ve seen what amounts to a Sunday lunch for the microwave. If I see one with beef and a Yorkshire pudding I’ll try that too. At 1.00 pm I returned to the bedroom. I didn’t even need a power nap at that stage. Lots more mail in so I worked through until 4.00 pm then took a break until 5.00 pm then had one little blast until 5.45 pm. Things seemed to be easing off a bit so taking a few breaks seemed OK. At 7.00 pm , after my quiz I came back for almost an hour then left again to watch a film from Marvel Comics with Thor, Loki, Iron Man and others in. I haven’t seen them since they were in the comics I got as a young boy when I was pretty sure I should have been a Super Hero but refused to wear my underpants on the outside.
I can’t decide if I enjoyed the film or not though I did actually snigger a couple of times like when Loki suggests The Hulk should kneel to him as the ruler of Earth and The Hulk just wipes the floor with Loki and says “Puny God”. And credit where credit is due, the special effects were quite good though they sometimes moved a little fast for these old eyes. On reflection, I perhaps wouldn’t go out of my way to see it again but I’m glad I’ve seen what they’ve done with some of the old comic book characters. Now I need to see The Green Lantern to see how he fared. So, I returned to my room at 10.15 pm and did messages for 30 minutes before starting the blog. I may have time to go back to the messages tonight.
Quizmaster
Look Hans, no Mum
Tuesday.
Not one of my best nights. Light off about 1.00 am after a little read. I dropped off but was awake again before 2.00 am . I slept again until 2.26 am then sat on the edge of the bed staring into space until 3.11 am when I finally got up and decided to work, not before a trip to the loo though to teach my bladder to let go. I think it has issues and might require therapy.I know I felt major disappointment when I saw my wife’s bed was empty. I was fully convinced she was there today. On my return I logged in and signed onto my main mail box and was so surprised to see it only had about 20 pieces of post, remarkable. I worked my way through some and found my machine was very slow to load everything so I logged out and after a minute signed in again. Much improved. I finished that post and opened my second one and did the same. I was clear by 5.56 am and went through to take my meds and have some breakfast.
Things were going so well this morning I felt I could afford a break so after breakfast I rebelled and didn’t return straight away. Instead it was Countdown and two episodes of Will and Grace. Even then I wasn’t sure about coming back but conscience got the better of me. Anyway, I thought, if there isn’t much work maybe I can get on ebay for a while. By not looking at the mailboxes I estimated I was still ahead of the game and was om ebay to my heart’s delight. Approaching 9.am I got dressed and readied myself for going out, not to see my lovely daughter as usual, but to get to the chemist with my prescription request a day later than usual because of the holiday. On the way there a post van passed me and seemed to hesitate, I wondered if it was Darren pausing to give me a wave as he turned the corner. On the way back I called in at Pauline’s to pick up a few pieces like the wonderful chips in curry sauce. When I’d got it I remembered I have the curry sauce mix and could do my own if I bought just micro chips, so I did. I’d just had time to unpack the bag when I got home and taken out the Twix that must have accidentally fallen in there ( I did pay for it, honestly), when there was a knock at the door. There was Darren with a big parcel for me. I was amazed it was here since it had only been posted on Saturday and second class at that. It wasn’t due until Thursday. That’s great though as Mujo can come anytime now even though it appears it will be Thursday anyway. Once I’d had a look at the jacket, and it looked fine, I found myself back on ebay as I left feedback. I’ve a few days before anything comes up in Matt’s size and now I’m going to be looking for one of my nieces too.
If you hadn’t been distracting me so much I’d have looked at the mail boxes so much sooner and seen a build up on both sides. Not a problem, it was still early and I had plenty of time. Still, it did take me until 11.50 am to catch up so that I wasn’t worried about going to lunch. I wish I hadn’t eaten the Twix earlier though. Having said that, I still managed some Jersey Royal potatoes, a lamb shank and peas with carrots. No pudding today though. Bargain Hunt was very good in warning me at the start there were some unfortunate surprises at the auction. It meant I didn’t feel too bad about missing the end as the Zzz’s floated past me. I slept through the next hour as well and woke at 2.10 pm to see Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen on screen tracing his family tree. I didn’t even remember turning over. I gave it an extra few minutes and decide I wasn’t all that interested, so came back through. I’d only been here moments when there was a knock at the door. A very polite Sikh gentleman had come to read the gas meter. Odd, they usually read both at the same time but I showed him where it was, and because I had no notice of him coming I hadn’t cleared it- even though I’m not supposed to. He just entered inaccessible on his hand held gizmo and left.
I started back on the post and was a bit startled when a message popped up on my screen. “David you old bandido, where are you? Off getting yourself a Filipino bride?” That last told me who it was. In fact could only be, John. Absolutely no concept of how to be P.C. He told me MuJo are coming tomorrow instead of Thursday and then, even though I’d see them, we had to have a conversation about our respective weekends. I sometimes wonder if he doesn’t feel starved of male conversation. Oh well, at least you know in advance when I’ve been ‘Wednesday-ed’ as my backlogs are always awful due to games night following. No-one should speak to me on Thursday if they want to retain their head. The conversation continued until 4.40 pm when I pointed out he was missing his antique show. That meant I only had 35 minutes of work until my first quiz. Never have my little fingers worked so fast on the keyboard. There were less mistakes when I fall asleep there but needs must when you’re trying to get to a quiz. I made it, but the mail boxes weren’t empty. 2 quizzes and an episode of Big Bang later I returned here. Taking my life in my hands I refreshed the screen(s) and got to work. Amazingly I was almost done by 8.15 pm and thought why not treat yourself ( meaning me) to some Would I Lie To You, so I did but only until 9.30 pm then I turned the TV off completely, took my evening meds and came back through to face the music. At first glance things didn’t look too bad, about 45 in total which I could cope with. I was so cocky I bet myself I could finish them all by 10.30 pm. I lost but wasn’t worried as I welched on the bet. It was actually 10.45 pm when I finished those and came to start the blog.
Tired out !
Wednesday.
When I got up at 4.17 am I didn’t feel as refreshed as usual. Putting my glasses on explained that, it was 1.47 am and I’d been to sleep for no more than 45 minutes. I went through to the lounge and settled in my chair and was soon well away again. I’m not sure what time I woke again but as it was still dark I went back to bed. My clock read 2.56 am. When I finally emerged refreshed and aware I’d slept it was 4.03 am. Everything felt right this time as it started with a visit to the loo for the spectacular (not) Niagara Drops. When gravity alone had done it’s job I returned to the bedroom and powered up ( the computer). Signing on I was reading the news and the piece that caught my eye most was about our Prime Minister David Cameron talking about making sure our lowest paid workers are removed from tax. I thought “That’s great” I’ve always felt the Tories have tried to keep money in the worker’s pockets. But as I read on, not for the first time recently my faith in the Conservative Party was shaken. In the Queen’s Speech where this announcement will be made Cameron talks of workers who work 30 hours a week on the minimum wage being kept from tax which to me means those normal people who work a 40 hour week will not be exempt and yet on the minimum wage they won’t be earning much. Then what caught my eye was a comment about the people of the UK giving the Conservatives a clear mandate to govern. Even I as a Tory voter know that isn’t true. They got in with a majority because people didn’t want to vote in a Labour Party in coalition with the SNP (Scottish Nationalist Party). The consensus of opinion was clearly that no-one wanted the SNP to be having a say in England’s legislation as well as Scotland’s. In truth, if there was any chance of a Tory Government in coalition with the Liberal Democrats everyone would have voted UKIP, so disliked are the LibDems after their recent coalition. I don’t know whose idea it was during the last Government to attack the disabled but I noted that not only is it to continue but that a new raft of plans to cut benefits is going ahead. Cameron is going to bring his Party down and it could be a long time before they get in to govern again. As far as money saving goes, it’s been shown that more would be saved by ensuring that tax is paid by foreign businesses operating here, and even more by chasing tax dodgers. I imagine some of this new legislation will stick in Her Majesty’s throat as she reads it out.
So, I opened my mail and found it not too bad again. I was able to rattle through it without too much pressure. I was up to date on the first box at 5.55 am and went through to have breakfast and to take my meds. I put two pieces of bread in the toaster even before I started on my sprays. With breakfast done and the washing up out of the way I took my coffee back to the bedroom my office and opened my other email address. Again there were less than 40 and some of those were duplicates so that too was empty by 7.30 am. There were probably plenty of things I could have done had I put my mind to it but after a short play on ebay I settled on going to watch some US comedies on the box for a while. At 8.45 am I went through to get dressed then had a general tidy up before I was descended upon. Once that was done I lit an oil burner in the lounge and came back to work until they arrived. That happened at about 10.30 am so I finished the message I was working on and went to see to drinks. I passed John a bottle of lime and lemon and a glass to help himself and opened a bottle of J2O for Muriel. Because it gets a little cramped where John sits in the lounge I suggested he came through to the big bedroom to have a look in a bag to see his missing birthday gift, the jacket that finally arrived. There’s more room in there. He tried it and liked it and in his rush to take a look in the bathroom mirror knocked over a candle stand they bought me for Christmas. There was no way I could have caught it and the big glass inner that protects the flame was shattered. Poor Muriel and I had to get down to clean it all up and hoover the hallway after the glass was collected and removed. By 11.00 am it was done and we were ready to head out.
We found a parking spot but John insisted there was another further up in a better place though Mu and I disagreed. She had to drive up to look and as we said there wasn’t one and someone else took the one we’d found first. We ended up having to go back the way we’d come and then carry on to eat at The Bells of St. Mary’s. That was fine as we all enjoyed it. Coming back we knew Muriel still needed town but said it would be better to do it coming back from Flint as the journey is easier. John convinced her she needed to do it first in case the shops shut so we went back into town, went to the necessary shops then back down the hill again and off to Flint. Muriel needed a couple of supermarkets so I was able to get some gerberas in case Ju’s vase needed brightening as well as some chocs for Temptations. After this we went for coffee where I saw Helen and a young girl I don’t know. They were quite busy so there wasn’t much chance to talk. When we’d finished we had a wander round a few shops looking for strimmer wire for Muriel to no avail and eventually went home. They left me at 4.30 pm which didn’t give me long to work before Dil and Matt arrived at 5.15 pm.
As usual we enjoyed the quiz but with Dil still maintaining he can’t read the questions on my TV . With me asking “What’d he say?” Dil didn’t get to hear too many either. At 6.00 pm the night started in earnest ( not strictly true, we were still in Greenfield). Out came the Yahtzee. Far be it from me to brag but I won 4 of the 6 games and was therefore declared The Victor. We opted to go straight on to cards and had a game of Chase the Lady. I’d like to say To The Victor Go The Spoils but it wouldn’t be true as I got hammered and Dil won hands down. Nomination Whist was no better as I trailed in third and last behind Dil. They refused to stay on after 9.30 pm to give me chance to regain a little honour and as they went they left behind a heartbroken and dejected shadow of a man. I waved them off though to be fair I may not have used all my fingers to do so. I tidied up , washed the pots and then made myself a sandwich so I could take the tablets I’d forgotten to take out at lunchtime. At 10.00 pm I went through to work but was only able to do so for half an hour before having to break to do the blog. I was sorry to hear Yvonne and Ugo were at the hospital with Reuben whose hand had swollen up badly and was very painful. They waited three and a half hours to see a nurse by which time the hand seemed less painful so they took him home and will take him to their doctor in the morning. The rest of the mail will have to wait till morning.
Catch-up time
Full of purpose
Thursday.
I read until 12.50 am last night and finished my current book. Off went the light. I must have caught the ‘I’m not stupid syndrome’ because the couple of times I woke I put my glasses on, saw the time and just said “Forget it!” 3.26 am was the wide awake , time to get up time. I might have complained had it not given me a chance to start last night’s mail remnants. I say remnants but when I got into the first mail box it was the whole cotton mill, so bad in fact that it took me till almost 5.00 am just to do up to midnight. From 5.00 am onward it seemed easy going. A break at 6.00 am for breakfast and to take my meds then from 6.25 am right up until I found I was writing gobbledegook because my eyelids had closed. I’m only guessing that was around 7.15 am as that’s the last time I remember seeing on the clock. I wasn’t away too long as a fir of coughing woke me, it was mine and having my head banging up and down on the keyboard wasn’t helping. As I sat up I saw it was 7.52 am. I don’t want to start my antibiotics too soon and the spray I carry to help me breathe had finally given up the ghost last night.( No doubt the shock of losing so many games). I took a couple of puffs of one Mike left here. It’s one they’ve tried me on in the past but which wasn’t very effective but I’m sure you’ve all heard the phrase Any post in a storm. I went and lay down on my bed for a while. Not to sleep but to try and relax the chest muscles.
Just after 10.00 am there was a knock at the door and it was my delivery from the chemist. I was so grateful. Not least because he agreed to take a letter into the Post Office for me which was ready to go out. I handed over a box of chocolates as usual for the staff . They’re very kind there. I doubt I’d even shut the door properly before I was tearing into the bag like a junkie after his next fix which is exactly what I was of course. I opened the spray on the move and took a dose. I’m sure it’s psychsomatic but I was sure I could feel the effect straight away. Only in improving the breathing of course, not clearing the bronchial tubes of their gunk. I need a sink plunger for that. Now I was off the bed I supposed I’d better get back to work. My timing was perfect. On my way back from dropping the meds off in the kitchen Darren delivered the post. One letter from the gas board with a prediction of how much gas I’d use in the next 12 months. I was thinking if Mike lived here I could just pipe him up and cut out the gas board altogether. I went back into my first address and finished off there and then opened the next one and started again. I hope you people have a conscience about how much ebay time I have to lose for you !!
At 11.45 am I broke off for lunch, a corned beef hash which I didn’t much feel like eating ( though it was very nice) but I have to take a second dose of the diabetes meds in a day. I watched Bargain Hunt while I ate and at least I stayed awake long enough to finish eating and washing the pots. I was away again sometime before the auction took place but was fully awake as the programme ended and was able to turn the TV off and come through. I spent some time on ebay and ignored the mail until I could do so no longer. I was preparing to knock off at 4.30 pm when I got a text from Mike to say he was on his way. About 7.15 pm I reckon. As he’s been looking after his grandchildren all week I didn’t expect him to get away so early today. So, I stayed an extra 20 minutes and brought the post up to date before I went through to relax. It was nearer 5.00 pm when I did knock off and fed up of coughing I ate a Rolo chocolate pudding as a treat then watched quiz 1, quiz 2, and Big Bang Theory. It was just 7.00 pm hen I saw Mike approach so I went to put the kettle on for him. When he came in we started talking about our week and how he’s hurt his ankle but doesn’t know how. He says he can touch it without it hurting but when he puts it down it’s an Ouch. I reckon he shouldn’t put it down then. He’s tired as it’s been a long week with his grandchildren. He loves them dearly but entertaining children isn’t fun at our age.
I stayed with Mike rather than come back through for a while. It’s nice to have someone around even when we don’t talk but on this occasion he was sewing a hole in his pocket and I wanted to see if he attached it to his finger. The spoilsport didn’t. I got to see a new Big Bang Theory and Brooklyn Nine Nine, magic but finally I had to come back through at 9.30 pm after I’d taken my meds. As usual I only worked on the mail until 10.30 pm so I had chance to do the blog, after that no matter how quickly I finished I was heading for bed. If I’m no better in the morning I’m starting the antibiotics again.
Friday.
Mike asked me last night to make sure he leaves no later than 10.00 am today and to take no stick when I go through to get him up. That should be fun since I went to the loo last night just before 1.00 am when I turned my light out and he was still playing games on his tablet. I might even have to revert to the glass of water he suggested as a way to make him move. Oh, this could be an excellent day.
I got up at 5.03 am and started as I finished with another trip to the loo before coming back and logging on. I have to tell you that this morning because I wasn’t really paying much attention, I almost fell foul of something I warn you about all the time. Below is one of the messages I got this morning. It looks completely genuine and made me panic at the amount it appeared my paypal account and ultimately my bank had been debited. Maybe that’s the intention. As it’s in German, also intentional I assume, and I don’t speak German my first instinct would be to click the link to go to paypal. I’m guessing that the sign in would have been recorded. Luckily I’ve trained myself always to open a new page and sign in to paypal away from whatever link I get. Once there I was able to see that my account was fine and I could delete this post as yet another con.
Sie haben eine Zahlung über 129,50 EUR an Carparts-Online GmbH (info@carparts-online.de) gesendet.
Alle Details zu dieser Zahlung finden Sie in dieser E-Mail.
info@tesabpoint.net This was the address the email came from and had I looked there first I would have known this wasn’t a genuine paypal message. Please, please, if you get a message like the above, always check the address it came from. NEVER sign into paypal from a link in a message like this. Sign in separately to make sure your account is in order and then delete the message so it can’t spread anything to your computer- if it hasn’t already.
The rest of my mail was straight forward though plentiful. I had a break at 6.30 am while I went and took my meds and then refilled the container for a week. Then I brought a coffee back and carried on working. I was clear and able to sign into my second box at 8.20 am Unsure of how it would be this morning attempting to get Mike out of bed I put the kettle on at 8.45 am and made a drink to take through.I thought I could appeal to his good nature first and if that didn’t work just lie and tell him it was much later than it is. Anyway, I didn’t have to lie. I took the drink through and woke him saying it was there, then reminded him he had to leave early and as he’s about to nod again, followed that up with the fact I needed to ask him a favour. I departed for the lounge to see if it would work. Would he be so intrigued as to what my favour would be he couldn’t go back to sleep. It took about 5 minutes and I thought I’d failed but in he walked. One call and no alarms is something of a record. He walked over, stood in front of me and asked what the favour was. I told him I’d like him to go to Pauline’s for me as I needed my lottery tickets and some milk. ” No problem. So you’re not getting dressed again today?” he asked. I told him no, I didn’t feel well enough. He has a very big heart. Thereafter followed a conversation about me starting my emergency antibiotics, I already have. Have I told Yvonne I’ve done so so she can let the surgery know. Yes, I emailed her this morning, she’s going to do it later. ” Good, as I was going to phone Yvonne and let her know you’re ill,if you hadn’t.” He has a very big mouth too. Of course I already have Yvonne on my case but that’s ok from a distance, it’s less comfortable closer to home. He’s shocking at keeping secrets as he’s more scared of her than he is of me. I don’t know how that’s happened.
Mike went to Pauline’s and picked up what I needed and a lot quicker than I would have been. I felt mean as it was pouring with rain and he was a bit of a drowned rat when he got back. I asked if he’d like another coffee before he left but he thought the sooner he got there the better. It was about 9.45 am when he left. As he did I came back to work so I could perhaps keep pace with the mail. I worked until 11.45 am except when the postman brought physical mail to deal with. I stopped for lunch. I had to have a curry and chips as Michael said so and because he ate my lunch last night when he got here. Though to be fair he didn’t know that until he was halfway through. Conscience didn’t stop him from finishing it though. He did tell me it was nice. A nice beef goulash with dumplings. I could have enjoyed that with bread and butter at lunchtime. Sigh. It was Bargain Hunt again today and I managed to stay awake for the auctions too. I did fall asleep after that though but woke up at 1.07 pm so not exactly a lengthy kip. Having been away from here for an hour though I thought I’d better return. I just kept pace with the mail all afternoon, not wanting it to get too far ahead as it will do when Mike gets back and I offer him my company and find out how things have gone with his dad today. Mike always has a lot on his plate and unfortunately I added to it this morning. Thoughtless.
I stopped work at 4.30 pm today. Not because Mike was due back yet but because there was an antiques show ‘Flog It’ on before my quiz and I quite fancied it. Then it was the first quiz up till 6.00 pm when Mike texted to say he was on his way, and the second until 6.30 pm. Then I had BBT till 7.00 pm followed by an episode of Who Do You Think You Are with Robert Lindsay for an hour. Mike arrived home at the halfway point so I made him a coffee to go with the mean he’s picked up at the chippie. Luckily this week he’d texted to see if I wanted anything and I’d missed the text. At 8.00 pm I went to get changed and take a shower, Mike came through to see to my hair so there were no hands above the head just to add to my woes. When I came out there was an interesting programme on an Egyptian Pharaoh I’d never heard of who appeared to have died from battle wounds. The confusing thisng was it seemed one blow from a spear would have paralysed him from the neck down but that would was healed. So two massive axe blows were inflicted ( one by an Egyptian axe) sometime later on a man unable to fight back. The question was, was he a prisoner of his enemies at that time or back in his own palace? I hung round a further half hour at 9.00 pm to watch a satirical news quiz Have I Got News For You where I couldn’t help but grin at the sarcasm and innuendo awash on the studio floor.
Finally I had to come through at 9.30 as I’d been missing so long. I had to work on mail until 11.10 pm before being able to touch the blog as the last two weeks I haven’t had chance to catch up on a Saturday morning and I’m really hoping to be allowed out tomorrow to do my shopping. and poorly or not I have to go early to avoid the crowds.
Saturday.
I managed to get to bed for midnight and enjoyed a read until 1.00 am. Once the light was out there were a few wriggles to get comfy but I think sleep came fairly easily. I don’t remember any false starts in the night and no calls to go to the loo. This morning I woke at 5.32 am so not bad by any standards. I grabbed the antibiotics from the kitchen and was able to take one at 6.00 am as I worked, i knew in advance I wouldn’t get far this morning. At 6.20 am I had to go back to the kitchen to get the kettle on for Mike and to take my normal meds. Just after his first alarm had finished I took a drink through for the second awakening. I made about half a dozen unnecessary statements to focus his mind on being awake and received a grunt to each. I left him then to make my own coffee. I happened to be in the hallway outside my room when the alarm rang again,I’ve never seen him move so fast. Straight out of the bed without disturbing the covers, and through to the lounge. I finished two more pieces of mail and joined him. He was just showing signs of life though to be fair, if that’s an indication of life then the rest of us are hyper when we’re asleep.
Things moved well and as we left the house and got in the car he took great delight in pointing out it was only 7.28 am. Yes, almost a new record I didn’t think it worth pointing out that meant it had taken him 58 minutes to reach this point. It took quarter of an hour to reach the supermarket where i got some cash and we went into battle. I got some potatoes while Mike looked at flowers. When I joined him we chose some stocks and some alstroemeria to replenish Ju’s vase. Next stop man’s fashion but I couldn’t find the jeans I want. I can get the jeans but not the colour or the colour but not the jeans (slim-fit), it looks like I may have to rely on ebay after all. I must remember too that the jacket I want for my nephew finishes today. So, it was on to doing the shopping instead. That didn’t take too long and we were soon having a coffee at MacDonalds. When that was done we both picked up cigarettes and made our way out to the car. On the way to the car I asked Mike for a minor detour on the way to Temptations. He agreed and soon pulled up in from of ALDI for me. I went to find some socks I’d seen the other day with Muriel, I shoul have bought them at the time really as I was only able to find one set in shades of brown and none of the patterned ones I’d seen on Wednesday. Still, I’d got some and at a huge discount. Then , before leaving I walked over to the fruit aisle Special Bulletin for Australia– I bought, bananas, grapes and strawberries. Real fruit. Mike even said “Now I know you’re ill”. He was shocked. I smirked and paid for the stuff I’d bought while he was still getting up off the floor. We went to Temptations where Kyle started pouring as soon as he saw us enter, and in went the teasted toecake for Mike.
Mike teased Ceri when he saw her as usual especially as another customer was sharing the information that she over indulged last weekend at a birthday party. She said recovery was a two day job. From Temptations we visited a couple of my favourite shops and the freezer shop before heading for home. Once there we unpacked and put stuff away and both settled down to look at ebay for a few minutes. My item wasn’t until 16.40 pm so after a quick look I started on mail again. It very soon came time to think about lunch. Mike needed a car deodoriser which we hadn’t found earlier and I thought I might check out a couple more shops for the jeans so we settled on Prestatyn. We couldn’t decide where to eat though and ended up deciding on the way. The Bells of St Mary’s was the final choice and we had a nice meal though Mike wasn’t very happy hat he was refused a sausage as they were being saved for the super sized meals. He should have got one as that’s what his plate looked like anyway. So just ignore him if he starts saying the same thing about me now, I didn’t have a sausage by choice. Afterwards Pestatyn was a bust for me but we did find the car smelly. Back at home again at 3.30 pm football was due on the TV at 4.00 pm so I left him to it and came through to my mail. When I nipped in at 5.00 pm it had only just started so back I went until 7.00 pm, when I took a break. Almost up to date. YAY.
When I returned to the lounge Mike knew the team he was hoping would win didn’t stand a chance. He agreed to turn the TV over and for an hour we enjoyed the Sounds of the Sixties which was great then an hour of the Seventies which was less so for me with the birth of Punk, no, not Mike he was the Forties. Most age groups bring about new styles and changes of music, I don’t think either word was appropriate for Punk. When I say it was truly revolting, I mean it. They wanted a revolution but had no alternative to the way of life we had. The disco era came and at least it was more about the music then. In the UK there was also a resurgence of Teddy Boys and a rather Fifties style of music but though the drape suits in their varied colours were enjoyed, it was never going to last. It was very brave of me but I didn’t even come back to work at 9.00 pm since there was a comedy film due to start with some big names, Dame Maggie Smith, Billy Connolly.Michael Gambon amongst others as fading opera stars in a retirement home. I turned coward within three quarters of an hour and left Mike to it. I took my meds and came back through. I should have come sooner. I worked until 11.00 pm on th mail boxes and then started my weekly farewell to you.
I hope you all have a wonderful new week, filled with joy, success, good fortune and HUGS.
It was 4.13 am today and one of the few times I think I could have got back into bed and slept again. Trouble was, I had no idea how much work had carried over from last night and how much had come in this morning. I knew Mike wanted to go out today and didn’t know how much of the day I’d lose. So, I forced myself out, made the loo trek and came back to turn on. All of a sudden I didn’t regret my decision. Lt night I’d brought the antibiotics into my bedroom so I could remember to take them out with me. It also meant I could take the 6.00 am one without having to break off from work. However when 7.00 an came round I had to break off to feed the fish. Stan seemed a bit agitated when the light went on but I do know many of the cats don’t like too much light. I put it down to that at first. As I put food in I was checking them as they came darting in. I knew the chances of seeing the synodontis were slim and the ancistrus practically nil, but the rest are usually there on a food run. One face that was missing was Laurel. Looking down the side window I could see her occupying the place Big Al would normally be had she not evicted him. Something didn’t look right but I couldn’t tell until she moved. Her gill was going rapidly as though gasping for air and she seemed to be swimming more on her side than anything. I don’t have an isolation tank where I can monitor her unfortunately and I know it shouldn’t be an air issue as none of the others are suffering and both the air pump and the air curtain are working well. AS you can imagine I wasn’t a happy camper.
I promised myself I’d keep an eye on the situation but ask Mike’s opinion later. I took my meds and made a drink to bring back through. At 8.00 am I was almost up to date and went to sit in the lounge with my eyes closed. They stayed closed until 08.50 am when conscience got the better of me. I emptied the kitchen bin and added the waste bin from my bedroom to it. None of the noise disturbed Mike at all. ( note to self, Must try harder). Then I returned to work and refreshing the page. Ouch !! At 9.55 am I heard the patter of tiny feet. I’d prepared his mug so let him carry on and make himself a drink while I tried to finish. He crept along the hall and then expressed shock when I waved at him as he thought I was sleeping on the job. As if! (Shhhh). A few minutes later I joined him in thee lounge and explained about Laurel. He took a look and agreed with me she wasn’t well. Both of us were reluctant to take action and he told me about a miraculous recovery for one of his fish which gave me some hope. We decided to make no decision until we came home again. By the time he’d drunk his coffee, looked up something online and ODC’d it to death, got dressed and discussed where we were going it was almost 11.30 am. I made it worse as part way to the car I remembered I needed tablets in my pocket and had to go back. Eventually we were on our way to Rhyl.
We had lunch in the Red Cafe again, what Mike calls cheap and cheerful. I was going to have cottage pie again but Mike decided on an all day breakfast and when I saw there was fried bread, a subject that had come up on our journey, I changed my mind. One sausage, 2 bacon, 1 egg, 1 black pudding, mushrooms, 2 fried bread and some beans. Mike had 2 sausage, 2 bacon, 1 egg, 1 black pudding, mushrooms and 1 of those terrible potato creations you usually get with McD’s. From there we took a trip to our favourite fish shop to see if they had some of the Fish Science granules for Mike ( well, for his fish really). They had everyone but the one he wanted and all in a small tub. I mentioned a fish shop out of town that Ju and I used to visit when we went to Butterfly’s. I’ve only been in that direction once since she died. The plant and fish part has changed tremendously. We had a look at all the tanks and at all the fish before finding the food he wanted plus some he didn’t know he wanted till he saw it. I’m with him on that because I didn’t think I needed any either until my eyes lit on it. Coming out I remembered my antibiotic and luckily Mike had some drink in the car I’d bought for an emergency. We came home. It was almost four o’clock so Mike set off almost straight after a coffee on his journey home. I on the other hand started on my long journey into work. 6 hours away from the screen can create a lot of work and boy had it taken advantage of that.
I worked till 7.00 pm then took a short break for tea and an episode of MASH, then back to it. Mike let me know he’d got home safely and has promised to go to the doctor’s before coming up this week. He goes to Canada in 3 weeks and doesn’t want to take his chest with him. A suitcase maybe….. It’s been hard going tonight for some reason but I’m still ploughing on. Still, a break to start the new blog has been nice.
This is especially for Teagan
Monday.
3.59 am today. Somnos could not afford to give me even an extra minute it seems. As someone kindly pointed out yesterday, it seems that the balance is uneven. The less time I get to sleep, the more Mike gets. It’s like Somnos has decreed that there will be 14 hours of sleep allowed in this house, I get 3 and Mike gets 11. I’m going to try an official complaint in case it’s just Porcinus or Brother Jake being a bit lax. I paid my morning visit to trickle alley then came back and logged onto the computer. I was almost bowled over by the amount of mail left from last night, I needed to get into gear. Having remembered to bring my antibiotics through I didn’t have to stop work at 6.00 am to get one. At 7.00 am though, I had to break off to see to the fish. I was dejected to see Stan now occupying the corner adopted by Laurel and that he didn’t venture forth for food when I dropped some of the new stuff in, which included some tablets under the Fish Science banner specifically designed as a whole food for bottom feeders. Everyone else went mental when the granules were sprinkled and I was trying to spot where they were all coming from. I had a word or two with Morecambe but could fins no sign of Wise.I did however spot one of the synodontis working upside down on one of the bog wood branches. It took a while of watching to decide whether he was ill or just enjoying his feast. The jury is still out on that one. I have to wonder if there might be a problem with my water.
I took my morning meds then went back to work with a coffee. By 9.15 am I was pretty clear and able to spend a little time on Ancestry.com then at 9.45 am Darren my postie arrived and brought the recycling bags I’d ordered. I now have a blue recycling bag with handles for paper again.I’m sure the spares for plastic and glass will come in again at some stage. I put some washing on which included my bedding from yesterday. I’d made the change before Sleeping Beauty got up and though it was only a single bed I wish I’d waited for some help. I carried on working and it was getting on towards lunchtime when Mike started texting me. He’d driven a long way to make arrangements for is car roof to be sealed as he finds the bucket used for baling out gets in his way. They can’t fit him in and give him a courtesy car until next Tuesday. I got my lunch and returned to work straight afterwards. New texts from Mike to say he’s arranged for a new 5 foot fish tank now to replace his 3 foot in a part-exchange. The Green God raised his ugly mug and I sent him an email of a 8 foot tank I’d found om ebay. I was tempted to say I’d ordered that I was so jealous. Just imagine the new fish he can buy for this one now, and big ones at that. We saw a beautiful synodontis yesterday that made him draw in his breath sharply, and he does like Stan. Actually now I think about it, shopping with him for fish might be as much fun as shopping for myself and much cheaper.
I don’t know what was wrong this afternoon. I alternated between nodding off and working without ever moving from my chair. There may well be senseless messages floating round the Netiverse as we speak. I hope not though and I think my nod offs were lapses of seconds only. At 4.25 pm I gave up and headed for the TV and my antiques. I managed to see most of it including the vital last few minutes of the competition but it’s more than a little possible that I did eyelid inspection for some part of the events. I made myself a sandwich and had a mousse when the quiz started then sat and watched the rest before washing up. After the next short quiz ( about 30 seconds) I zonked and where I should have returned to work at 6.30 pm found myself waking up at 7.25 pm with just the light from the TV. Naturally I panicked then and came back through. I knew things were bad when I saw my gmail had well over 100 messages waiting, I dreaded seeing the main account. I had to steel myself and look though, as they had to be done. It would have been kinder to poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick. Not having a sharp stick to hand I just had to start work and hope for the best.
I feel as though I’ve been at it for days though in fact it’s only 11.15 pm. I have some more to do before bed but mayhap I’ll have some time in the morning before going out. I’m going to see Yvonne and Reuben though I felt very popular today when MuJo texted to see if I was free tomorrow. I don’t know if they’re free again this week.
You’re funny Mummy
Tuesday.
Getting up at 3.20 am was almost a pleasure this morning. I’d woken at 1.57 am and thought that was it, but couldn’t force myself out of bed. I’d tried to go back to sleep and obviously succeeded. I just hadn’t wanted to find out it was 2.05 am. Thanks Somnos ! For some reason my bladder was talking to me and it seemed to be saying “Move it” so I did. I wonder if I’m sleep drinking as I didn’t seem to drink more than usual last night. Once the sigh of relief reached my mouth I came back and powered up the computer. OMG ! There are enough emails from last night to sink a battleship.Maybe leaving mail till morning is not a great idea. It took me until 6.03 am to finish just last night’s stuff.
I went through to see to the fish. It was still dark so hall light on, lounge light on, kitchen light on all before tank light on. It was like Blackpool Illuminations. At fist I couldn’t see Stan and my heart sank but I did spot him a bit further away from his corner than usual. I couldn’t tell if he was struggling or not but I didn’t see him come for any food again as I dropped it in. I even opened the whole lid so I could try and drop some daphnia in the water near him. Unfortunately the flow moved it away again before it had chance to sink. I tried one of the new tablets I got for bottom feeders on Sunday. It’s worrying. Also worrying is having Morecambe come to greet me as usual but being unable to find any trace of Wise. We’ll be doing a clean this weekend so I may find how many problems I have then. On the plus side, one of the two synodontis is getting very brave at coming out of it’s shell hidey hole to eat. It’s so pretty with it’s beautiful striped tail even if it looks a bit like a hoplo at the front end. I think I saw the second one too pretending to be an upside down catfish on the bogwood, it may have been the ancistrus though as I couldn’t see the whole body. Big Al is still in thrall to Pepper and Little Al is a playmate for the bronze corys. The plecs are fine, the hoplos are fine which is why I don’t understand the spate of deaths in the tank.
I moved away and took my sprays then got a drink of milk to take the tablets. Enough milk so that there was enough left to make a coffee, which I did and brought it back with me. I got dressed straight away so there wouldn’t be a last minute rush and knowing what coat I’d be wearing tried to make sure I had everything I needed in it. Then I returned to work and was up to date for 7.15 am. No way I was refreshing at that time so I just gathered my bag for Yvonne and made sure it was handy by the front door. Coat on, bedroom light off, crutches on, bag in hand I left and locked the door at 7.30 am. I may have been a couple of minutes earlier than usual as the bus did not pick me up on the way to the stop so I had the weight of Yvonne’s bag the whole way ( Thanks a lot daughter). When I got to the bus stop and was trying to get my breath back I found I’d forgotten my bus pass. There was no way I’d have time to go back and get it and I didn’t want to catch the next bus in an hour. I’d just have to put up with paying the fare. The bus arrived. I asked for a return and he told me how much, I thought he’s misheard me. But no, when I checked it was right. How incredibly cheap the fare into England was. I know if it was the train I’d still be trying to get my breath back. I haven’t figured out yet if it’s a Welsh company looking after it’s own or an English company desperate to get us over there. I still don’t think they’ve repealed the law that says if a Welshman is found within the bounds of Chester at dusk any English bowman may shoot him so I can make my own guess about who’s company it is. lol.
Yvonne and I were meeting somewhere different today, a shopping area just outside the City and known as the Greyhound Park. I remembered to get off the bus early or I’d have had a long walk back. I waited around a shop called Dunelm until I saw Yvonne approach. I knew the moment Reuben had seen me as the hoarse ‘Pops’ was shouted and he was pointing gleefully like a demented conductor. It was just a couple of minutes until the shop opened so I made sure my bag went round the handle of Reuben’s pushchair and we got our greetings out of the way before the serious business of shopping got underway. Inside, the first thing we did was look round all the towels to see if the had dark green flannels for Mike.Typically they had every dark colour imaginable except green. That out of the way we went up in the lift to the cafe and got some breakfast and a drink.Yvonne is a big bully and wouldn’t let me pay again. I had a pot of tea for a change and it was nice then I turned my back to Reuben and ate a bacon bap, turning back in his direction and smiling once I finished it. He was having something with fruit in it toasted which reminded us of bara brith. I don’t know if he knew what I’d done but he kicked my knee. I jumped in surprise which was a reaction he loved so he did it again, and again, and again. Yvonne was saying “Poor Pops, give him a love better and say sorry”. Reuben just kicked again and cackled. Yes, I’m sure he knew what I’d done.
After the drinks we wandered round the rest of the store. Some beautiful and some tempting things but when we left all I’d spend was 50p on two items. I had to take some stick off Yvonne for that and my reputation suffered. We headed off for another shop but didn’t stay long as we’d said we could come back to it id we had time. I was surprised to see it’s closing it’s doors on 15 th as it’s a major store. Yvonne had wanted the craft store so that’s where we went next and she showed me how to shop. The master is supplanted by the pupil. There was a Mothercare next door with a great offer on a car seat for Roobs but ‘Madam’ wouldn’t let me buy it because she wouldn’t be able to carry it home- remember this.We hit another major store next just to look at gifts really and I decided I’d better take a later bus than intended. Yvonne told me that even as I said it a sweat broke out on my forehead at the thought of the mail piling up. It was alright for her, she was on a day off. Having bought nothing there we went back to the one we’d looked in so we could use the loos and have a drink in the cafe upstairs. This time I settled for a glass of iced lemonade which both Reuben and I enjoyed. I was very quick to answer the demand of “More” as my kneecap was quite close. Eventually it was time to go and catch my bus so they walked me back to my stop, presumably to make sure I left the Country. I was humiliated that the only spending I’d done had been the solitary 50p and tried to hide such a small bag from prying eyes. When my bus came I clambered aboard and with a last wave set off home.
When I got in it didn’t take me long to unpack so I was quickly able to start work. I did a few messages then sent Yvonne a text to say I was home safely again and thanks for a nice outing. She said she’s only just got back in as they’d gone back and bought the car seat that if you remember she couldn’t get home. She’d got it home. I really did work hard and by 4.00 pm felt I could leave the rest till later so I went and started making a meal to eat while my antiques show was on. I really enjoyed it, braised steak, colcannon potatoes and veg. I enjoyed the programme too and stayed awake till the very end. Once it was over I washed up and sat down to watch the quiz . I didn’t get to see much before sleep took over. I was away with the fairies from about 5.30 pm until 6.25 pm. I wasn’t interested in the news and came back through again. Obviously things had grown a bit from where I left them. I just kept plugging away at it until 10.30pm when I broke off to do the blog. I’ve decided that midnight is my cut off point no matter what tonight so I needed the blog out of the way first. It’s 11.20 pm now and as soon as the pictures and music are on I’m back to the mail again.
Not sure who’s going to draw first.
Ride my see saw.
Wednesday.
Well I didn’t quite manage the midnight cut-off last night but at least my fairy godmother didn’t make me lose a shoe, or even a glass slipper, on the way. No knocks at the door today then. I’m not quite sure what happened in bed either ( get your head out of the gutter you) since I read till 1.00 am then slept right through till 5.48 am without interruption. Maybe Somnos cut me a bit of slack last night or chances are he was off somewhere and left his brothers in charge again. It’s obvious Brother Jake had something to occupy his time because he certainly wasn’t listening when I asked for the Euro lottery last night. I paid my usual visit to the loo then came back and logged on. At 6.00 am I took my antibiotic, it’s the last day today, and carried on my last nights mail before starting today’s at just 6.20 am. I think I’m making good progress.
At 7.00 am it was time for the fish. It’s so light in the mornings now that I could walk through the house without lights but when I reached the kitchen I turned them on to see what I was doing properly. When I turned the tank light on I was half pleased to see that Stan has moved back to his original corner. He still doesn’t appear on top form though and I can’t seem to tempt him to eat. Of course he may prefer to do that in private.I put some food in and got them moving as I wanted to count the fish as I saw them. There’s never a problem with the plecs, they’re all but indestructable . Little Al and his bronze friends seem to be in good form and were darting about but Big Al, well I think I caught Pepper in the act of making whoopee with Al and they didn’t mind the audience. I won’t know for sure until I see some eggs and I’ll have to study up on those. There’s no sign of the Ancistrus but that means nothing still as hey’re known for burrowing themselves in. I have to look for some tail waving tht tells me it’s been out to eat. I could see both hoplos though I feared one was dead as it was lying in a corner near Stan and being very still I was almost on the point of putting the net in for him whn Big Al barged him which made him move quite quickly out of the way. Very sensible too as you wouldn’t want to be barged twice by Big Al. That left the synodontis and Morecambe and Wise. I only expected to be lucky enough to see one synodontis but they were both out together this morning eating from underneath the bogwood. I only saw Morecambe today again and I’m afraid this weekend’s tank clean is going to leave me with the remnants of Wise somewhere. I know that sometimes I’m going to lose fish to age and maybe disease but it certainly isn’t easy.
With the fish fed, I could now take my meds. Since Dil and Matt are due tonight around teatime, I thought I’d replace that meal with breakfast, so had the pre-food one before taking all the others.Then naturally I had a cigarette for perfect timing and had a small bowl of cereal. I feel no guilt that I used real sugar on it. Once I’d eaten that I used the extra milk in the bowl to take the two post food tablets. That done I was free to wash up, make my coffee and go back to work. I stayed with it until 9.20 am then dressed and paid a visit to Pauline’s for some staples, the food ones not the metal ones. Coming back I saw Gwynneth at her door offering a cup of tea to the gardener. We chatted for a minute about the cold morning and how Spring will be very welcome. I came home unpacked and set to work yet again. I just kept going at it steadily all morning, never rushing but trying hard to keep up to date which meant frequent refreshing. At 11.40 am I decided to give it a rest and concentrate on my lunch. Despite having meat in the fridge I wanted something easy and light so relied on one of my earlier purchases from Pauline’s, the chips in curry sauce. I went through to take my foodie tablet and while I was waiting until it was time to cook, did myself some bread and butter. When I actually put the microwave on I stood watching the fish.Pepper was swimming around with a smirk and amazingly I could see both hoplos and both synodontis at the same time. What I couldn’t see at first was Stan. When I saw him I was really upset. He was swimming to the surface as though to get air just like Laurel had and he didn’t seem too able to remain near the surface. I hadn’t seen him because he was behind a plant. As he sank again the flow of water ffrom the pump pushed him back towards his old corner where he carried on trying but from a position when he was upright. He’s not at all well.
I had my lunch with the TV on but couldn’t tell you what I was watching, or not watching as the case may be. As far as you can adore a fish, I adore Stan, he reminds me of happier times. Well, he reminds me of the first Stan Ju and I had anyway. Which is not to say I don’t care for this Stan in his own right. Mike is due to be bringing a replacement for Laurel tomorrow and I don’t know whether to stop him or just hope I’ve been unlucky. When I looked in on him after lunch he was still breathing and based on a real wish that he’ll recover I don’t want to remove him from the tank and put him to sleep in the freezer. I returned to work. During the nearly and hour and a half away the mail had managed to build up again. Before I started though, I wanted to run some Yahtzee score cards off ready for tonight. With a bit of vavavoom I managed to get 4 stuck to an A4 sheet and print some off. Then thanks to the remnants of Ju’s crafting stuff I was able to guillotine and trim them. I retained the sheet for the future. Then to work. I know I made a start and thought I was doing well but suddenly at some point I was doing nothing, except maybe snore. It was 4.40 pm before I woke and judging by the mail I’d been gone since at least 3.00 pm. There was nothing I could do, my programme was on and the boys will be here before long.
My programme ended at 5.15 pm and I went through to the kitchen to get a drink. I was just going to look in the tank when I heard an Hellooo, they’d arrived early. I turned the tank light off early and made drinks for Dil and Matt. The sound on my phone meant Lee wasn’t coming. I took the drinks through and they were absorbed in the quiz Pointless so as usual we sat and watched till it was over. As soon as TV was turned off Dil got the table out and I gathered the Yahtzee and the cards. Matt was on his usual form at Yahtzee winning 3 of the 6 hands. Amazingly I won 2 and Dil who actually managed to get 3 Yahtzees in one game, won just the one. In the Nomination Whist I was the runaway winner almost reaching the 200 points and in Chase the Lady, I showed them a clean pair of heels thanks to landing them both with 150 points early on. Thinking I was on a winning streak we started with Crazy 8’s but Dil was in no mood to take prisoners and was the clear winner. We’d timed it well and just reached a good point for them to leave. I waved them off and noted how cold it was outside. By the time I’d tidied up and washed the pots it was almost time for the last antibiotic. I took that and my evening meds as well then started work. My afternoon sleep had created a huge backlog which my playing time hadn’t helped. At 10.45 pm I started to do the blog so that was out of the way and as soon as I finish (11.35 pm) I’m back to the mail.
Thursday.
After quite a late night, or is that early morning? I’d hoped for a lie -in today. I can hear the laughter now, echoing round my bedroom as I got up. I’d had my favour yesterday and wasn’t due two in a row. It was 3.43 am and though I was my usual bright eyes and bushy tailed self I knew I’d suffer later. As us my wont, or rather need, I turned on the bedroom light and made my way to the loo and attempted to keep the noise down by not hitting the water in the bowl. I’m not sure why since I was the only one I could possible wake up and I was supposedly already there. I returned to my room and logged on to my email. Not as many as I expected left from last night but plenty from this morning when ‘The Colonies’ were awake.
Some of the pieces of post took some time to read. That’s not a complaint, indeed they were very interesting and in one case very humorous, but it did slow the work up somewhat. When I checked round the 6.00 am mark I was barely halfway through. I decided to leave the fish and my meds till 7.00 am when I’d feel I was making real progress and wouldn’t mind returning to it afterwards. Actually I think I was looking for reasons not to go near the tank for fear of what I’d find. But at 7.05 am I took the bull by the horns and went. I turned the kitchen light on but left the tank light off while I raided the lid to scan he surface in case Stan was floating there. He wasn’t so I turned the tank light on to the delight of the bronze corys and Little Al. Everyone else behaved with a little decorum as befits the loss of a tankmate. Loss really was the operative word too as I can’t find Stan anywhere. Granted I haven’t searched the plants but the tank is due to be cleaned on Saturday and I don’t want to disturb them twice. Another thing that puzzles me is for days I’ve been saying I can’t find Wise. Morecambe being red and Wise blue. I swear whenever I’ve seen a Thai fighter it’s been red for about a week. This morning I saw a blue fighter so is it Morecambe I lost, have I been hallucinating over the colour I’ve seen or have I got the wrong names attached to the wrong colour. Hopefully Mike’ memory will be a bit better than mine when he comes. I fed the fish, watched them all fly in to get some, then left them to it.
I took a foodie tablet first this morning so I could have breakfast. Then it was the turn of my sprays and my other tablets. Once I’d smoked a cigarette for timing I put bread in the toaster and made myself a coffee, or rather the machine did it for me. I had my toast and didn’t enjoy a mouthful then took my two after meal torpedoes with my coffee and wandered through to the bedroom to work. There were a few more emails to ass for the nearly an hour I’d been out, I must have spent longer with the fish than I thought. By 9.45 am I’d caught up and turned to my second account which fortunately had only a dozen I needed to see to. The postman came and amongst the junk was a letter from a specialist hospital service saying they wanted to let a specialist screening practitioner take a look at my bowel. Well, I think that’s very sweet but I hardly know them. I know it’a about 2 years ago they found blood from there, as I was the one with the dubious pleasure of sending them samples of something you’d normally be arrested for sending someone. They don’t take no for an answer these people.
Late morning and my eyes were beginning to droop a bit but I persevered until 11.40 m when I stopped for lunch.It was very enjoyable as was the episode of Murder She Wrote that I watched. Surprisingly enough, I was still awake at the end. I washed the pots and came through again. I saw Mike on Skype and told him not to bother bringing a fish as I’m sure Laurel’s death was not related to the shop she came from, I suspect it’s the hardness of my water or something and don’t want to be responsible for another death. I shall be content with what I have. Mike told me he’d be late coming tonight as he’s picking the grandkids up from school and staying with them till their Dad gets home. Unusual as he usually finished after the morning school run. He told me he’s got his new 5 foot tank (I hate him) but isn’t swapping the fish over until next week. By 2.30 pm I was fairly up to date again and went to the lounge intending to allow myself 40 winks. That lasted until I sat down and there was a knock on the door. As cagily as ever I opened it and found my warden there with another one whose face I recognised from the dim and distant. I ushered them inside with a “Quick, the creditors might be around”, and say them in the lounge. My usual warden explained that this was the lady who’d be taking over her patch in April but would no longer be able to call on a Friday and it would have to be the first half of the week. I just asked the original if I’d be able to win all the money back she’s taken from me to catch their reaction and they both laughed. Not a chance seemed to be the answer. The newbie asked if I’d been out at all today, ‘Hello, I’m still in pyjamas and dressing gown’ I just said “No”. So. I’ll be seeing the new one at the beginning of April.
When they left it didn’t seem worthwhile trying to get a kip as I’d be finishing at 4.30 pm for my programme anyway, so I just carried on working and refreshed the mailboxes. Just before I knocked off for entertainment I had a text from MuJo. I was fully expecting them to see if I am free tomorrow but unfortunately it was to ask if I knew Terry Pratchett had died. I didn’t and it came as a major shock. I know he had alzheimers but he was only 3 years older than me, still a relatively young man. He was a huge talent and I’m sure was responsible for getting many people reading again. Children to follow the fun and adults to catch the many sharp comments in there. I loved his books and am only missing about 3 that have been borrowed at one time or another.
R.I.P Sir Terry Pratchett 1948-2015
I watched my antiques programme- and stayed awake
I watched the quiz Pointless – and nodded off halfway through until about 6.10 pm. I watched the latter half of another quiz and came back through. I haven’t heard any more from Mike about his ETA but maybe he’s staying down there for a meal,which makes sense as he’s probably cooking it. There was a fair bit of work to be done so I buckled down to it. Lots to be read of course. Mike strolled in just before 9.00 pm so I broke off from work to make him a coffee and have a little chat about his week. Soon enough I left him to the TV and a serial he’s following and came back through. I managed to get up to date temporarily with the mail and got straight on with the blog so I’m not under pressure after 11.00 pm. I can go back and finish at my leisure then.
Out for a walk
Stopping to smell the flowers
Friday.
Well, I managed an early night last night in as much as I turned my light off at 12.30 am instead of 1.00 am. I was tired. I’m starting to get the idea that the small gods have started a Ministry of Sleep somewhere and staffed it with insomniacs who are jealous of the sleeping classes and are trying to Nationalise Sleep as either an industry or a leisure activity. On one side you mustn’t take too much sleep as you need to show solidarity with your brothers in the Ministry and on the other side too much leisure makes you weak so Up the Proletariat ! In the meantime I was up at 4.06 am which means a maximum of three and a half hours and probably a smiley face on my records in the Ministry. It’s my guess that all the small gods will try to modernise by creating their own little Ministries which will each have a Mandarin overseeing them.( They heard of Whitehall Mandarins and thought they’d get the real thing). They obviously won’t go as far as elections as you don’t want to be too modern too soon do you? But I can see a Ministry of time spent in the loo on the horizon and definitely a Ministry of fruit/sweet games for phones and tablets as I’m pretty sure they invest heavily in gaming technology.
Anyhoo, risking the wrath of the other Ministry I paid a visit to the loo. How hard it’s going to be to explain that at my age it’s a stop-start process where you may still be having a whiz ten minutes after you thought you’d finished and zipped yourself back in. It’s a game of patience in a morning. Completely sure I was safe I came back and signed on. I got started on mail from last night that took me until 5.50 am . I’d completely forgotten it was a Friday ( let alone Friday 13th) when I decided to carry on and work until 7.00 am. When the time rolled round it was down mouse and off to feed the fish. I couldn’t do a head count as half weren’t showing themselves so I just dropped some food in and hoped for the best. Then I saw a flash of orange and looked round, I’m sure it was Morecambe and yet I’ll swear that recently I’ve seen the blue of Wise just not both at the same time. I wonder if one is now playing both parts to save me yet more heartache. Orange going, blue coming. I moved over to take my meds. That’s when I realised it’s Friday and I was about to take my last dose. The boxes need filling again and a new prescription request need taking in on Monday. It took forever as usual and I didn’t get to make my coffee until 7.45 am.
I started back to work by refreshing my mail box, always one of those actions you know you shouldn’t have taken the moment you take it. I thought as Mike is picking my niece up at the airport tonight he’ll be at his Dad’s longer so I’d let him sleep until 9.00 am. I almost had a heart attack and proved the Ministry of Whiz wrong when the cave man came into my room at 8.40 am under his own steam and without alarms. I went back through to make him a coffee. At 10.00 am I started putting my shoes on to go to Pauline’s and Mike gathered together his ‘at and coat to head off. We parted ways at the front door. At Pauline’s I bought some micro chips and a box of the chips with curry sauce I enjoy. I bought some sweets and my lottery ticket which if any small gods are listening I have high hopes for for tonight!!!!!!!! When I cam back of course all was quiet again. I unpacked and started work again. At 11.50 am I stopped intending to have lunch but remembered that the warden would be here today. Should I move the sign that says I’m out? No, I suppose not, she’s a pleasant lady and only has 2 weeks to go now on this round. It was almost speak of the Devil as there was a knock at the door and there she was. The warden I mean, not the Devil. She came in and we had a chat for half an hour which was nice then she left to go elsewhere. I was able to take my foodie tab and get some lunch. There was a parade in Londinium where Prince Charles was taking the salute with his sons. I watched that for a while until a shortened version of Bargain Hunt came on. I watched than, washed the pots and went back to work at 1.00 pm.By 2.30 pm my eyelids were drooping and I gave in. I fell asleep in my chair in the lounge until 15.55 pm. Kicking myself on the rump proved quite hard but I managed it. There was just time for a half hours work before giving up to watch PYMWYMI final day of the week.
I caught my programme, and the next. Instead of turning over for a quiz I turned for Big Bang Theory and started having a laugh. I’m not sure how long I laughed for but I’m flippin’ sure I didn’t see above half of the thing before being attacked by a flight of low flying Zzzzzz’s. I reckon I was battling them for an hour before coming out of the haze in the middle of an episode of the soap Hollyoaks. I rapidly turned off before anyone heard the theme tune . It was time to take a shower, yes, the month was up. As soon as I’d finished that and recovered I thought I’d better make up for the extra time I’d pinched by putting a bit of work in. I came through and for the sake of decency put some clothes on and refreshed my post boxes. Ouch!! Still, no use complaining. I just plodded on. There were some very interesting pieces to read though, not least from my friend Kate in Gibraltar who told of a near miss by a British sub and a Spanish boat inside Gibraltar territorial waters. The Spanish Navy wouldn’t have been so quick to try and create an incident if one of their boats ended up on the sea bed. She also had a saucy story to tell about a local and some viagra. https://roughseasinthemed.wordpress.com/
The artist.
The work of art
About 9.30 pm I nipped to the kitchen to make sure there was water in the kettle for Mike’s drink when he gets in. I think Lisa’s plane is due in about 7.30 pm and they expect to be half an hour or so deplaning. The airport is perhaps an hour or so away from where she’s going which is in turn about half an our away from here, so given his driving he should have been here quarter of an hour ago. Of course he might not be using the DeLaurean today in which case I’ll see him when I see him.. He arrived back at 9.45 pm so I broke off from everything again to make a drink and then to sit and listen to his day as he asked about mine. It was about 10.30 pm when I remembered I still hadn’t finished and came back to get rid of some more though at 11.00 pm I had to stop that too in order to do the blog. It’s nigh on midnight now and I think the rest of the post will have to wait till morning.
Saturday.
I had major problems getting to sleep last night. I’d turned the light out at 1.00 pm but I couldn’t find a comfortable position nor a really cool spot for my foot at the edge of the bed. Evan hanging the leg out didn’t work. At some point I did nod off only to wake up at 1.55 am. In despair I went to my chair in the lounge and tried. From what I heard this morning, Mike got up at 2.15 am after dreaming about a bear roaring and then actually waking up after realising he really had heard a bear roar. In an act of bravery and to save my life ( he tells me) he ventured through to the lounge and found I was the source of the growling. Lying in my chair , mouth wide open, scaring the sheep home. Relieved , he went back to bed and to sleep. I woke up at 2.37 am and that was it. As a certain character at Warner Bros. would say, “That’s all Folks.”
I came back through to the bedroom bypassing the toilet as my bladder hadn’t had chance to get the urge yet. I logged onto the computer and checked my lottery tickets from lat night, 2 winners gasp, £2.30 and £5. The private jet would likely be waiting another week then. I carried on to my mailbox managing to avoid the impulse to commit suppuku. There was plenty there to keep me going. By 6.30 am I was in the clear and yawning went through to the kitchen to see to the fish. I’m not sure I can be civil about them any more what with the sexual antics of Big Al and Pepper working their way through the Karma Sutra and Little Al seems to be eyeing up the bronze corys. I’m getting flashed of red or flashes of blue leaving me wondering if my eyes are playing tricks and unsure whether Morecambe and Wise or Morecambe or Wise survive. I’m seeing the synodontis out in the open behaving like upside down catfish chomping on the algae on the bog wood but at least I don’t have to worry about the hoplos or any of the plecs. The ancistrus is a real mystery since I’m never sure whether it’s alive or dead and buried since burying itself is what it does best which to be fair saves on funeral expenses. Sometimes though there’s a flash of tail which might just be a synodontis or is it……….?
Once they were happy I moved away and took my meds followed by making myself a coffee. There was no time to bring it back to the bedroom as it was almost time for Mike’s alarm. That’s all I needed. I put the kettle on. His Alarm went off at 7.00 am and the kettle boiled moments later so I took a coffee through and Called him gently by yelling his COFFEE WAS THERE, ON THE SIDE, JUST HERE BRO, DON’T LET IT GET COLD. I got the usual Neanderthal acknowledgements. I then took my coffee through and started to get dressed. At quarter past the Alarm went off a second time and was turned off a second time. Allowing a couple more minutes I went to the bedroom door and Called again, “DON’T FORGET YOUR COFFEE, IT’S GOING COLD”. I finished putting my shoes on and drinking my coffee and as I was about to go through I heard Mike make his way to the lounge. It was a miraculous 2 A, 2 C day. He even had the brass neck to suggest I’d have something to report to you tonight now as though it was something he’s won an award for.
While Mike drank his coffee I set about emptying bins and taking them outside along with the recycling bags. I wasn’t putting the new paper recycling bag out until I’d bought a thick black marker pen to put my address on or as Mike suggested some stick on numbers. Once done I washed my hands and came to sit down with Mike for a few minutes. I knew if I stared at him long enough he’d go and get dressed. He did. We must have left at near enough 8.00 am as it was a quarter past when we drew into the supermarket car park. I went to the cash machine and then posted a birthday card before we went in. The first job was to select some flowers for Ju and this week I chose some tulips and some flag Iris. At home the pink carnations recently mentioned to Yvonne by a masseuse in a startling message from Ju were still doing well while all about them died. After that we whizzed round and got the food I needed in record time as we were both very dry. Mike warned the woman on the till to speak quietly to me if the bill was over £20 as I scare easy. She laughed and took great delight in whispering £57 as I staggered and asked if I”d get change from a £10 note. A coffee was next on the bill.
From there we went to Flint to get a few items before heading into Temptations to see Ceri and Kyle. We had the usual. They were really busy this morning so there wasn’t too great a chance to talk and surprisingly the owners Julie and her husband were there. They’d just returned from a month away on tour with the boys Richard and Adam. Having known Adam for a while she was telling me all about the new album they’re doing next year for Mother’s Day and some new appearances this year including a mini Welsh Tour. They obviously have a great following here. As we left there I suggested w walk to one last shop as for a couple of says I’d had images of Mike getting a particular type of jacket he’s always loved. Oddly enough they didn’t have it but they did have just the jacket he needed to take on holiday with him to Canada which was down from over £100 all the way to £12 today. We shot off then to Holywell to a jeweller’s to get a battery put in his watch which has been stopping all morning, but only when he wears it. That done we went to lunch.
The Ivy was really busy and it was a case of shouting hello to staff as they shot past serving people. We managed to find a seat- not ours and settle down. I took chocolates to the counter and young Rob asked if we wanted the usual. He started making them. I popped to the loo and the drinks were being delivered as I came out. That meant I could take my pre-food tablet and decide what to eat. Mike settled on a fishburger in a bun while I had double bacon sandwiches, in a near aberration I almost ordered an omelette. Having given Angie the order Mike and I stepped out for a cigarette. Back inside we say Tariq and got a swift hug, Shella and got a quick hello and even Shirley who said Hi in passing. There were also other regulars in who nodded or spoke as they went past. Lunch over we didn’t hang about but headed for home.
Once the shopping was unpacked and away I asked Mike to nip to Bert’s for me and collect a parcel the postman had left. When he got back I asked him to open it. He revealed a brown leather jacket in an antiqued style. “That’s nice” he said. I got him to try it on.Sleeves a bit long but turned up they were fine. I think he twigged I’d ordered it for him at that point. It was a lot better than playing about passing a £20 note back and forth between us each saying we didn’t want it. He left it behind last week so I went at it a different way. Coat off, sleeves rolled up we set to cleaning the fish tank. One of the first things to turn up was the body of poor Stan, a bit nibbled round the edges. I was really sad. On a slightly bright side Mike swore he saw both Morecambe and Wise once the plants were disturbed. For the first time he also got to see one of the synodontis. With sponge changes, water changes and cleaning the glass it all took an age. It was 4.00 pm before I was able to come and start the mail. I had 173 in the gmail account but more than that in the normal one though some would be duplicated. I was allowed to work until 6.00 pm then went to sit with Mike. At some stage after tea I fell asleep and it was small periods of wakefulness until 8.30 pm when I came back through.
It’s been a long day and it seems to have been a long evening too. Work, work, work. What a life.
Mother’s Day flowers for Ju from Yvonne
Mother’s day flowers for Ju from Yvonne
I wish you all a Wonderful New Week. Love n’ Hugs.
I was pretty tired last night and couldn’t read for long. I think my light was out before 1.00 pm. I slept until 4.24 am and was up with the larks, or rather I was up before them to make their breakfast. At least there was chance to make a start on the mail, and what a bunch there was. Last night’s blog seemed to have a very good response. Of course I had to get a tissue out and dab my eyes as so many thought it funny I’d almost choked to death but we live in an odd world. Not one iota of sympathy that my tablets were wasted, that my wall was a mess or that my toes almost pointed up.
It was getting towards 7.00 am when I realised I was tired. It was the bruised forehead that gave me my first clue. Anyone watching would have thought I was trying to do a karate trick of breaking my desk in half. I just hope there were no garbage emails as well. I haven’t heard of any to date. I went through to the kitchen and played sneaky by turning the tank on first to see what I could catch them doing. Thinking about that statement now, it sound like I’m a voyeur but I’m not. Everyone was swimming about slowly with the exception of the Royal Bodyguards the dumb plecs, and his Majesty Big Al who upon seeing me swam lazily towards me, casually flicked his tail in disgust and swam slowly away again in an ‘I’m nor scared of you’ pose. I have the feeling I’m in the fishy equivalent of the dog house again.
Shoulders slumped I turned away and put the main light on and took my meds. Fresh ones, not those from the wall. I made a coffee and took it through to the lounge. It didn’t take long o drink and so I close my eyes for a minute that became an hour. It was almost 8.30 am before I went back to the bedroom to work. There was a lot of concentration going on so any early noise didn’t penetrate but finally I realised Mike was up. It was only 9.20 am, it was Sunday. I went through to make him a drink and he told me I’d been snoring away quite happily at 3.15 am when he’d been woken by a bang and padded round the house looking for the source. Unusually I’d heard nothing. He hadn’t even gone to bed until 2.00 am which made the puzzle of him getting up even bigger. I came back to finish the message I’d been working on when I’d heard him and then joined him.
We nattered aimlessly for a while…a long while since we didn’t get dressed until about 10.30 am. Then at 11.00 am we were on our way out and heading for Prestatyn. Once we reached there I suggested going to the Tesco Supermarket to look for something and while there Mike bought me tea and coffee pods for my machine and also bought sweets for The Ivy. We went to the shop I wanted to pick up some hessian Christmas sacks, some gift bags and a couple of small stocking presents for Reuben. I couldn’t understand why Mike was piling the bags on his arm until we were at the till and he tried to pay for them. There was battle royal as no way was I letting him pay for my shopping especially when it involved gifts for others.”Right” he said, “I’m paying for lunch then”. And he did even though I tried to. The Ivy was very quiet when we went in and Tariq was talking to us about doing Sunday lunches in the future though Shella isn’t keen and prefers to do different meals for those who don’t want the traditional. I can understand both camps as can Mike. We both like the traditional meal but there are plenty of places serving that. We probably won’t move no matter what they serve though a lot of the specials don’t appeal to me. I did drop plenty of hints that the Hotpot from last week was a welcome addition. By the time we left the place had started filling up quite nicely so maybe Tariq will have a rethink.
We left and came home so Mike could start his journey back to the Midlands. Ah, I’ve just figured out why he isn’t very tall, surely the Midlands is when the Baggins’s live in Tolkien’s book? Just a sec, I need to start running about now. He was calling it at World of Pets on his way to see if they had any female fighters like mine since they’re so colourful. That left me on my tod to try and catch up. A monstrous job given how long it had been since I touched it. 152 were waiting. I started at 3.00 pm and finished at 5.58 pm. At that point I needed a break badly and went through to watch some TV. I ended up with a Sherlock Holmes film starring Rupert Everett. I watched it while demolishing a piece of strawberry and rhubarb tart that Mike had had less than half of yesterday. There’s enough for my tea tomorrow too.
At 8.00 pm I turned off, went through to take my tabs and found the fish light still on. I waited till Big Al turned his back before turning it off then I legged it to my room. Someone had been very busy again so there was another pile waiting but as most were very complimentary I was in a forgiving mood. I finished those at 11.00 pm to start the blog and have no idea how many are waiting now. I may just have an early night as I’m being MuJo’d tomorrow.
Two very clever pictures doctored by Yvonne using an app on her phone called Cut Me In. Brilliant.
The trip to Paris Ju and I never got.
A change of venue,
Monday.
I didn’t get my early night after all but Somnos must have known he was risking his kneecaps to mess with me so I didn’t wake until 5.27 am today. Naturally today being the day of the visit I might have forgiven him for waking me a bit earlier. As usual I made the trek to the loo then came back and started on the mail. I needed to clear as much as possible. At 7.00 am I went to feed the fish. All of them moved to the back of the tank except Big Al who was joined by Little Al presumably for lessons in intimidation. It was the wrong morning to try glaring at me. “Boo” I said and watched Little Al skitter to join the others who seemed frozen in the water, little fins going ten to the dozen just to stay in place. Big Al had not moved of course when I’d spoken the first time. “Well, do you want feeding or not” I asked in very uppity voice. The others seemed to take heart from this and started to swim about normally. With a last glance Big Al turned as slowly as possible and swam over to Little Al as if to say “That’s how to do it.” I placed some food in the slot and resigned myself to warfare again. No more walking in and asking how my little fishes are. I couldn’t decide whether to turn quickly or to go slowly as had Big Al. I was resigned to doing it with dignity whatever. I didn’t quite full that off though as my feet turned one way and my body the other so even with my feet now pointing away, my body was still facing the fish. I almost had to unscrew myself from the floor to re-adjust my spinal column.
I took my sprays, had a pre-food tab, took my normal meds, smoked a timing cigarette and put the toaster on. As the toast was doing I prepared a coffee. The toast was nice with lashings of butter I could have floated a yacht in. It took two kitchen rolls just to clean my moustache and fingers. If I’f had anyone to kiss I’d have slid off them. I took the two post-food tabs with my coffee and went back to work. I couldn’t work for long though as I needed to be dressed before Pauline ( the cleaner not the shop) got here. I’d just made it before the front door opened meaning I needed a change of clothes already. I asked for some help to change Mike’s bed but as I couldn’t find nails we settled on just the bedding. That went quite well. Then I asked if we could do the lounge with visitors due this morning. I returned to work to try and catch up. Next thing I know is the sound of breaking glass. I have a tall stand in the hallway that takes tealights. About a dozen of them. Some in clear glass and some few in red glass. Pauline had run the hoover into the base of the stand and one of the red glasses was broken. I have two spare clear glass ones but no red ones. I don’t use real tealights there as it’s directly beneath the smoke detector so I shall have to check and see if the battery driven ones are intact before Christmas as they serve as my hall decorations. I have one group of lights intended to go round the lounge window for festive cheer.
Pauline left at 10.10 am and I came away (screaming) from the computer so I was ready for MuJo as they arrived. I went through to the lounge but decided against smoking in there so wandered into the kitchen and turned the fan on. It was about 10.45 am when they arrived. I saw to drinks and then listened to the story about why they were visiting today which is very unusual for them. They have a very full week ahead of them and they didn’t want to miss another week which is nice. The suggestion was we went to the Bells( of St Mary’s) for lunch for a change and then into Prestatyn if that was OK. I didn’t want to tell them I’d been there with Mike yesterday but I didn’t mind another visit anyway. Then John asked when was the last time I’d been there and I had to confess which started another round of ‘where shall we go then’ talks. In the end I managed o convince them the original plan was fine and we set off about 11.20 am.
It wasn’t too crowded when we got there which was nice and we had a choice of seats. It was my turn to pay and no-one argued this time for a change. We ordered 3 carvery meals and each had a coffee or a soft drink and the bill was still less than £20.00. You’d expect to have a poor meal for that money but not so. I do like the Bells, they might not allow me half a cow on my plate but they’re not mean with it, but everything else is help yourself which is great since I’m partial to my potatoes. And before anyone (anywhere) says anything, I had leeks and carrots too ( No way was I having sprouts or cauliflower cheese-ugh). Muriel had Turkey and John had Gammon with Turkey. There is also a half chicken option and even a fish and chips. Mike and I have said for a long time we’re going to go there for breakfast since that’s another help yourself meal and If I’m lucky they might do fried bread. The meal was very nice but we all left their full and headed down the road to Prestatyn. First stop the pound shop where I did buy a couple more sacks and a few other things. We then went for a coffee before John went to guard the car and Mu and I had a wander round M & S. Before heading home we had a trip to ALDI where you’ll be surprised to know I bought nothing.
At home they didn’t stay long as it was starting to get dark. It was about 4.00 pm. After I’d waved them off I scorched the path in my speed to get in and start work again. I’d been away 6 hours and who knows what I could expect. Well I got 183 and knew I couldn’t stop work until they’d gone as there would be another batch waiting from 4.00 pm onwards. No break for TV programmes until I finished at 6.55 pm. I went through to get some strawberry and rhubarb tart and watched a couple of episodes of MASH. At 8.00 pm I came back in and had 102 from that 4 hour stretch. I finished those at 10.15 pm and decided to do this early because I may decide to leave the post early tonight and try for sleep if I start yawning.
Talk to the hand pussycat
Tuesday.
It was 5.08 am this morning when I swung my legs out of bed and groped for my slippers with my feet. Years ago if Yvonne had been around she’s have gone “Yuk, tarantula toes” before I got my slippers on. It’s been so long since I saw my feet they might even have a comb-over by now. Anyway, I didn’t have he light on yet so I wouldn’t have sen them even if I could. I have a light cord over my bed but I never use it in case I tug the emergency cord by mistake. It’s a pain having to explain to the control what a divvy you are and believe me I speak from experience. I did a sharp left by my chair and turned the light on as I left the room to head for the loo and my rendition of Ol’ Man River complete with sound effects.
When I eventually got back I slipped my dressing gown on as there was a little bite in the air and then sat down and got ready for battle. The machine didn’t take too long to warm up and I was soon in the thick of it. I didn’t dare open the photograph one loopy woman had sent me as it would have meant putting teatowels over all the pictures in my room, especially the one with the teddy bear. My wife was no prude but I’m not sure she’d appreciate me getting both barrels at this time of the day, and as for my parents and grandparents, well…. nuff said? I did also have a new psychic who is quite sure I won’t bother to answer this first message. Well she got that right so why didn’t she wait until she was sure I would answer? If she’s thinking of wearing me down with messages she doesn’t know how many times I applied the Chinese Water Torture to myself in case anyone ever wanted me as a spy. I never broke down as I have infinite patience right up to the point when I haven’t.
Most of my mail was of the normal variety. I won’t say boring as it certainly entertains me. The trouble is there’s just so much of it. I took my normal 7.00 am break in order to make myself suffer feeding the fish. We seem to have undergone a sea change today though as Big Al is following Little Al around like a lost lamb unless of course Little Al is having exams and Big Al is following him round to score him. I’ll have to wait and see if Little Al tries to stare me down. Morecambe and Wise were floating about aimlessly looking pretty and Sharkey was having fun nudging a couple of the plecs though he gets no joy from the bigger one, all he’s likely to get there is a broken nose. There was no rush on for me today as I’ve asked Yvonne if she minds me skipping my Chester trip this week. I’ll miss her of course but at least I’m guaranteed an argument free day. I’m so under the thumb. For anyone who doubts this, please read the 100% factual My Barsetshire Diary.
After feeding time for the fish it was feeding time for me. I wasn’t having breakfast, just my usual array of meds. Pills and potions galore, you don’t need a meal. I made myself a coffee and there seemed less sediment coming in the water today, mayhap they’ve sorted the problem. I took the drink back to my room but before I restarted work I got dressed. About 10.00 am I was starting to flag. I could tell that as I’d leaned so far forward I could see under my seat. Trouble was the computer wasn’t down there. It wasn’t easy getting back up again either and I contemplated shouting the postman for help when I heard him deliver . I played that scenario out in my head first and realised the front door was still locked. If he wasn’t to break it down he’d need to come in through the lounge window. That was possible of course using he handle of his bag to pull the catch but then he’d set off all the window alarms and the police would come. They might anyway since my neighbours were bound to report a burglar. By the time they got here I’d probably have straightened up and then be charged with wasting police time.
The postie had brought me a book I’d ordered though it was a lot smaller than expected. Women tell me they have a lot of that in their lives. There were no measurements given on ebay though, but it’s still a nice book. I have one (somewhere) already which is a lot bigger ( women say they hear that a lot too) full of family history though it does need updating. Talking of books, my next email was from one of those companies that offers cashback on all purchases made through them. I signed up a long time ago but I’ve never done anything with them, I don’t know why. I also had an email from The Works who were offering free postage on a £10.00 spend and many of the prices were excellent like 5 books for £10.00 when they were £3.99 individually. When buying through this firm I was offered 21% cashback so it seemed to good a chance to miss. I still needed some stocking gifts and this was a great chance to lessen the list.
At 11.45 I ceased work and went to see about lunch. Braised beef steaks, baby boiled potatoes in herb butter and some mixed veg. It was ready in time for me to watch my lunchtime antique programme. Halfway through I dropped my tray off in the kitchen ready to be washed and came back to watch the rest. I saw some but somehow I managed to miss the end. Instead of going through at 1.00 pm I didn’t wake until half past. I washed the pots, put the washing machine on then realised I hadn’t changed my bed and added the bedding to the current load. I’ll have to do it in the morning. The work had mounted up again and it kept me going until 4.30 pm when it was almost time for Ugo and Reuben to come. An email from Yvonne tells me she told Reuben he was seeing me tonight and he went to the door to try and get out to come then. They both missed their morning mooch around the shops this morning.
Ugo arrived and couldn’t get in as I hadn’t unlocked the door all day. Wen I opened it Ugo was on the low steps folding the trolley and Reuben was on the top step with his hand out waiting for me to old it and bring him in. That must be the last time he allowed me to old his hand. Once I got him in the lounge and removed his coat, nay, even before I’d removed his coat there were ten pairs of hands picking things up. Ugo asked if I could cope and he’d go to pick up a meal. “Sure” I said. What an idiot. How long since I had a child this size around me. He ran me ragged until finally I picked him up and showed him the fish. I knew he wouldn’t be worried by anything Big Al could do. When Ugo got back we’d gravitated to the mirror so I could ask who was there. I put Reuben down and we moved to plate the meals up. Ugo was seeing to the sausage and chips he’d got Reuben and giving him pieces. Reuben was going from the kitchen to the lounge, depositing the food on the rug and returning for more. Ugo went through with his meal and sat with Reuben on his lap trying to feed both of them. Reuben didn’t like that and threw a paddy. As he was put down he swept everything off the table with his multitude of hands and somehow turned the TV channel over. Being told he was a naughty boy didn’t seem to have much effect. I had my sausage and chips once enough time had elapsed from taking my pre-food tablet. Reuben was still none too happy but brightened up when Ugo brought down a little toy dog that said “I wuff you, woof, woof” when pressed. A wonderful gift from delightful young author Patricia Carrigan whom I adore like a granddaughter. A little light came on where the heart would be which matched the light in Reuben’s eyes when he saw it.
They weren’t there too long after that as Reuben needed his bath before bed. No way was he going to give up the dog so I suggested he take it with him and I hope Ugo had a quiet journey . I had a quick tidy up and then came through. Except for taking my tablets I’ve been here ever since stuffing coffee creams down my face and working.It’s now 11.00 pm and time to have one last go at the mail so I can have a little read tonight.
Wednesday.
You’ll be pleased to hear today’s epistle will be short. Last night I turned the light off at one and fell asleep. I was up again at 1.35 am. Nothing could get me back to sleep there so I thought I’d try my chair in the lounge. I don’t know how long it took but I did nod off there. When I woke it was 4.51 am and it took my ages to see that because a) my neck was at a 90 degree angle, and b) the only light was from a lamp outside and I had to look at my watch as I hadn’t brought my clock through. Guiding myself down the passage towards my bedroom with my neck at that angle wasn’t easy and I kept hitting it on doorframes etc. I rubbed it with Fiery Jack ointment to ease it and then nipped to the loo. For anyone who’s never encountered Fiery Jack before, let me tell you something I should have remembered of old. Wash your hands FIRST even though you’ll be washing them straight afterwards as usual. Also, carry tissues as the tears will be streaming down your face. Washing only makes it worse. I once had a bad back and after easing my back decided to relax in a hot bath. That’s what I should have remembered today to.
When the pain subsided a bit I was able to gingerly go back to start work. All I can say is there was plenty of it and kit kept me going until lunchtime. I had to stand up and move about a bit for comfort and for the postman’s visit where he brought some jewellery I’ve been waiting for. After lunch I knew I was tired and allowed myself an hour though I didn’t sleep the whole time as the chemist brought round the missing bit of last week’s prescription. Very shortly after that someone came to read the meters. They’re supposed to make an appointment so Yvonne can arrange for someone to be here and the man told me he’d got data that said two appointments have been made, one today, one tomorrow. How stupid to send someone out to read the two meters on two different days. I let him in to do the gas meter on the understanding he moved any obstructions himself which was agreed by British Gas. He was happy to do so and put it back too. I had to get ladders for him to read the electric meter which is in a high cupboard outside. He was soon gone but I am cross that they didn’t make an appointment to do it. I went back to work after that until 4.30 pm and only gave up then in case Lee came early.
Dil and Matt arrived at 5.30 pm and I’d just made drinks when there was a text from Lee to say he couldn’t make it. It seems the traffic was very bad which is no surprise as it was rush hour. I enjoyed having the boys round and there was plenty of laughter, especially when Matt tapped the table for luck and a chunk fell off underneath. In Yahtzee Matt won three games, Dil two and I had just one. My bottom lip came out but no-one cared. In Nomination which most of you know is MY game, I was last. The scores weren’t a million miles apart but I lost. The bottom lip quivered, but no-one cared. In Crazy 8’s I wiped the floor with the opposition, winning comfortably. The bottom lip retracted to be replaced by the smuggest of smug grins, everyone cared and hit me. They left at 9.30 pm so I locked the door in case anyone had left a coat behind or their keys and started on the tidying up, the washing of the pots and the taking of the meds. It was about 9.45 pm when I came through and started work on the accumulated mail which I managed to finish for 12.10 am The blog is shorter than usual so I can go to bed before I’m due to get up again. P.S. I leaned down a moment ago and snapped the microphone off my headset so I’ll have to buy a new one this weekend.
Thursday.
I woke at 5.21 am which was quite good after last night’s late night.I was convinced I wanted to go back to sleep but it just wasn’t happening so I had to apply some of *Granny Weatherwax’s ‘Headology’ to convince myself to move. First and foremost was the promise of some breakfast a little later. I swung out of bed with such momentum I almost overbalanced. I was of course reluctant to admit that knowing some smartar*e will say how they knew I was an unbalanced individual. However I shall trust my judgement and suggest I don’t follow people capable of such slanders.
* Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg are part of Terry Pratchett’s Witches trilogy. Fantastic reading.
After logging on this morning I found myself logging off again compliments of a Windows update. Those thing can be a menace if you don’t notice the warning bar at the bottom and it closes down on you mid-sentence. This morning all was well since I noticed in time. It just delayed me. Still, I used the time to change my bed. Once back in again I started on the mail. I’m convinced I must be getting someone else’s as well by mistake. When I come across one by that devilish Sally Cronin talking about Chocolate muffins, I almost wish I was. On a ‘be nice to everyone’ day too. I swear that woman has a food fixation aimed at seeing me drown in my own saliva. You can’t tell her off though as she’s too nice.
I stopped work when I noticed it was 7.15 am. The fish would be waiting. Going through to the kitchen as fast as my legs would take me I saw the congregation massing round the front window. With spoken apologies ( in case they like the timbre of my voice) I opened the lid and put some flake in. Morecambe and Wise dashed to the surface to start eating. I put some little pellets in for everyone else and watched both Sharkey and Little Al dash for the nearest ones. I knew the grazers, the plecs would get to them eventually. Big Al just stayed where he was. I felt sorry for him in a way since he looked like the preacher where everyone had left during the service, or the General whose men have gone over to the enemy. I’d no sooner gathered those thoughts and was asking him how he was than he turned slowly , faced me and spoke. Since I don’t speak fish I have no idea what he said but I’m sure the bubbles came out blue. I told him it wasn’t my fault but he didn’t seem inclined to listen for as soon as I spoke he turned again and with a waft of his tail was gone. He didn’t go to eat but to sulk in his corner. I’ve no doubt he’ll eat when I’ve gone. You really don’t expect such language from a fish, I’m shocked.I suppose he could be talking about the deserters rather than me though?
I had my sprays and assorted tablets, made my coffee- forgetting my promise of breakfast, and returned to the desk. It doesn’t take long for the mail to accrue but in all honesty it wasn’t too bad. By 9.00 am I’d decided to take a break and venture to my chair in the lounge. I’d just got comfortable and was ready to drop off when there was a knock at the door. I came round unsure of quite where I was and also wondering why Ju wasn’t answering the door. She was very much on my mind after reading a very gentle piece by my friend Kim Gosselin about holding her mother’s hand as she passed away. Hmm, I think I have a leak, it’s raining on my face. I think the postman must have thought so too when I opened the door. “Caught you mid-wash did I?”he asked. There were two parcels, a small one for Mike and a larger one for me, that seems very fair. As I was closing the door I noticed some mail on the floor and found another smaller parcel for me too. Mine were yet another watch ordered for Christmas and two books for the same reason. Mike’s well that’s a MYOB until he opens it and shares.
Since I was awake again I went back to work and stayed there till lunchtime. I was a bit surprised at no answer from Mike after texting him about his parcel but no doubt he’s busy today. I enjoyed my lunch and after I’d washed the pots attempted to watch the rest of my programme on TV. I think someone drugged my Pepsi. It was 1.25 pm before I woke and came through and even then I think I was on auto pilot. I seemed to start a message from someone, nod off and come awake quickly to continue. Lucky it wasn’t emails or I may have written something odd. One young lady displayed a poem which she wrote as part of a threesome ( her description) and I could have had a lot of fun with that. I was tempted to ask where she kept her pen at the time but luckily a snooze took over and I was better behaved when I came to. Not that I’m into threesomes, it even used to embarrass me when the cat was watching. If staring was an Olympic sport he was a Gold Medalist.
By 4.00 pm I was clear again and went to watch a bit of the afternoon film. For a change, even though it’s Christmas it wasn’t a war film a cowboy or a Cecil B de Mille biblical epic. Just a gentle enjoyable comedy. When it finished at 5.00 pm I had something to eat to have the second set of diabetic tabs. It was getting on for 6.00 pm when I finally had a message from Mike in response to mine of this morning. He’s looking forward to seeing his parcel when he gets here. Watch this space. Doh!! I wandered through to the bedroom and have been steadily keeping pace with incoming mail as much as possible. I fully intended to be through watching my Big Bang Theory at 8.00 pm as I didn’t want to miss another episode like I did last week. I doubted I’d stay in there after that unless there was something exceptional on though as Mike isn’t due until about midnight. I did watch my Big Bang and as usual it made me smile as I made my way back to work. At 9.00 pm there was another text from Mike saying he was half way to me but the fog was bad so stopping for a wee and a coffee and he’d be here about 10.30 pm. I just let him know I’d have the kettle on.
It was just coming up to 10.00 pm when I had a heart attack as Mike walked through the door. He was sniggering as he explained that as he approached Chester the fog disappeared and he made good time after that. A rough translation of that is I went somewhat faster than the law suggests. I hadn’t put the kettle on so I rushed and did it then and made him a coffee. His life hasn’t gone smoothly this week and again he has to fly over to see his Dad tomorrow and sort out the care package. It seems the carers are not doing what they’ve been contracted for. It’s not an easy thing to deal with from a distance. He invited me to go over to Manchester for lunch with the family on Sunday and his sisters are going to throw him another little party to remind him how old he is. At almost 11.00 pm I left him and came through to see to the blog and finish as much mail as I could. I must go out tomorrow for lottery tickets and cigarettes so not too late in bed I hope. A midnight deadline.
Friday.
4.51 am didn’t seem like an unusual time to get up and so I swung my legs out, donned my dressing gown and made my way to the loo turning on the computer as I passed by. By the time I cam back it seemed like having to get up at that time was a cruel and unusual punishment only I wasn’t sure what it was that I’d done wrong. I’m no terrorist despite the fact I might put the fear of cat into the fish sometimes and I’m no thief despite the fact I might join the queue for more hugs despite having been hugged before. That’s only like trying to diddle the tax man though, a national pastime. Talking of hugs, one of my friends this week said that hugs of the virtual variety are definitely on the increase on the web thanks to my efforts. I’m thrilled at that and just think what an epitaph that could be.’He Hugged The World and The World Hugged Back.’ Who could ask for more. I know a lot of authors, bloggers and reviewers meet up so maybe the Hug aren’t always virtual. Anyhoo, I opened my mail box and was surprised Mike didn’t hear the strangled cry There were loads.
Only one stood out for me today that had been sent by a friend to inform me that Prince Ludwig von Pommern has titles for sale in Pomerania and Livonia . He sent me this as it was an area covered by us once or twice before on a website we had for frauds. There no longer exists a Pomerania nor a Livonia and nor is there a Prince Ludwig. The area was once part of Prussia but after Wilhelm II abdication became part of the Free State of Prussia until 1945 when it was gobbled up to be part of Germany and Poland. Please, find below a link to a Special and Limited Edition of 12 new Noble Titles with Ranks of Count, Marquis and Baron, featuring some of the most ancient geographical locations of Pomerania, Livonia and East Prussia. This is a limited edition, and NO OTHER TITLES OF THIS KIND WILL BE OFFERED TILL THE END OF 2015. Just as well really as he usually has a Count of, a Marquis of, a Baron of the same place meaning the area is flooded with nobles. That doesn’t happen in real life as the titles would vary according to the size of the place and a Baron might hold a small place in the large lands of a Count to try and simplify matters. So Christmas is coming and the fakers need some pocket money again. The Prince in question is the husband of an American business woman whose previous husband also sold titles for another area though these days claim to award them to deserving people.
Other than that the post was fairly normal, just plentiful. At 7.00 pm I went through to feed the fish and found Big Al in his corner with his back to me and Little Al hovering round his tail like a supplicant. Morecambe and Wise wasted no time in finding their food and Sharkey attacked his unopposed. No words from me would make Big Al turn round let alone go for his breakfast. I gave up asking and went to take my meds. This was the last set in the box so I knew the box needed filling up before the evening. I didn’t feel like doing it just then so made my drink and took it through to the desk. It was to early to consider making one for Mike. The work seemed to be going down slowly but I still hadn’t complete up to 5.00 pm and didn’t dare refresh yet. By 8.00 am I was at that point where I did it. That was a mistake. I had to plough into it again in order to clear it. At 8.30 am Mike’s alarm went off unexpectedly. I thought he was setting it for 9.00 am. He didn’t move however so neither did I. When it went off again after 10 minutes I went and made a coffee thinking he must be ready to move but he was still in bed when I went through. Telling him there was a coffee there I returned to my emails. Another ten minutes went by before the alarm went off again and this time he got up.It was now ten to nine.
I finished the message I was writing and went through to see him. He thinks I’m pale ( but not interesting) at the moment and probably unwell. He’s offered to go to Pauline’s for me before he heads off to Manchester.That means I can be a slob and not get dressed again today. He was on his way to Manchester by 9.45 am. I’d asked him why he didn’t stay there the weekend and spend time with his sister over from Canada and he thought I was trying to get rid of him. It seems he still loves coming up here to relax and have fun at the weekend so he should be back sometime this evening. It’s a long way to go just to avoid doing my hair.
The Postman brought just one measly letter this morning which wasn’t worth getting out of my seat for. I was on my way back when there was knock and a courier driver stood here with a package which could only be books. Great, that completes the gifts for MuJo. Having bought a replacement dressing gown last week I’m now informed the one they rescheduled for January will now be mid-December. They never responded to my request to cancel and choose an alternative which is why I bought one. So, I ( will) now have a spare. At lunch time I decided I’d better do my drugs and was halfway in when there was a knock at the door again-it’s like Picadilly Circus here today. This time it was one of the wardens who came in and sat down. I excused myself for a minute to carry on with the tabs in my hand before I forgot where I was when maybe my state of undress startled her and she said she wouldn’t interrupt me if I was in the middle of a job. As long as things were OK she was happy. I never got chance to sit down with her and tell her how black my life is and how unhappy I am. That would have had her leaving faster than she did.Perhaps she thought the dressing gown was for her benefit rather than as a statement of ‘I really can’t be bothered’.
Having now wasted the quarter hour needed for my pre-food tab I decided to just have soup today though with some bread and butter. Mushroom soup as my choice today because looking at the pantry that was the ONLY choice. I ate as I watched Bargain Hunt and despaired of their choices and then watched them pick up profits on two of them. My defence is even the auctioneer had given them low valuations so he was surprised too. After that I washed the post, STAYED AWAKE and came back here. I struggled to stay awake and answer emails or make comments but I made it until 4.30 pm when I decided on a short break. I turned the TV on and fell asleep. It lasted just over an hour and I woke up wondering where all the antiques were. I watched the latter half of the quiz that was on and then started on Eggheads and had some tea at the same time. The programme was just finishing as Mike came in. I put the kettle on for him then went to have a shower but Mike came through and did my hair first for me. That meant no hands over head and I was fine. After the shower w had an hour of old MASH episodes. I’d just got to my room to check on ebay when Mike shouted Mastermind was on. No way was I missing that so went back through.
At 8.30 pm I had to start work or I’d be up all night. I was really feeling rough. Sure I was going to be sick and none too sure about the other end either. I couldn’t give in to it however because there were 87 emails to deal with. They really kept me going. Once done I started on the blog before the messages had chance to pile up again. I needed an early night but wasn’t going to get my wish. In the end I had to admit defeat an packed in for bed at 11.05 pm.
Saturday.
I don’t know whether I was pricked by conscience (Mike would be quick to say Impossible) or whether there was some revenge because I jumped ship early last night but this morning it was 3.09 am. I was quite prepared to call the gods a name but realised they don’t have parents in the traditional sense anyway so it might not be an insult. I paid a quick slow visit to the loo, it’s all stops and starts these days, then came back , tried to make myself comfortable in the chair and turned the computer on. All the creases weren’t out of my bottom from last night so I tried stuffing a cushion underneath only to find my knees wouldn’t fit under the desk. I knew at that pointy I was just expected to suffer but I didn’t say anything about in silence.
Naturally most of N.America had been asked to write to me while I was asleep so my inbox was groaning at the seams. Untypically there was only one message I could see that could be tossed to the winds. A bank informing me that with regret they’ve had to suspend my account. I wouldn’t trust a bank that doesn’t know who it’s customers are so out it went. By the time 5.30 am came around I was flagging badly and needed a break. I went through to the lounge and promptly nodded off in my chair. It was almost 6.30 am before I came to. As I was closest to the kitchen at that point I fed the fish. All seemed well since the only ones I could see were Morecambe and Wise which probably meany Big Al had arranged a Union Meeting for bottom feeders. I privately cheered that I didn’t need to face him this morning and went about my business. That meant taking my morning meds and making my coffee. It was a quiet time to arrange to move things from one coat to another since it’s looking a bit grey out and I was intending to wear my duster coat if that was the case.
I boiled a kettle for 7.00 am and when I heard Mike’s alarm go off for the first time I mad his coffee and took it through. He ignored me like he had the clock but I persisted until I at least got a grunt. It was time to put the food rubbish and the recycling stuff out. Dressed in my Welsh flag lounge pants and a teeshirt I ran quickly up the path to place them at the end. I’d have looked like a rabid Nationalist of anyone had come around just then. Still, I might have been cheered for my patriotism. Back inside Mike’s alarm went off a second time. With a very deep sigh I got ready to go and remind him the drink was there. Before I could do so I gasped, he was up and moving around, after a fashion. The sound of shuffling feet and muttering followed him to the lounge. I sat down and tried to clear some more messages. Very soon though I needed to get dressed and then went through to see how Mike was getting on. “OK, OK, King of subtle, I’m going” he said leaving me confused at what he meant though I was glad to see him heading in the direction of his clothes, some of which I was holding in my hands.
While he dressed I attempted three or four new messages but he was ready quite quickly and stood in my doorway singing “Why are we waiting.” Just as well it wasn’t ‘Who ate all the pies’ as I was feeling pretty low about the size of my stomach which in turn was hanging pretty low now. When I’d gone out with the rubbish it had been damp and dismal so the duster coat and a waxed hat seemed a good idea. With the coat flapping round my ankles I felt the bees’s knees. We were supposed to be going to Rhyl this morning so I was a bit surprised Mike turned the wrong way. He tells me he changed his mind and decided to go after the shopping but I’m pretty sure he just forgot. We didn’t do too badly and were at the supermarket for 8.15 am. As usual I hit the cash machine, these big sledgehammers really work. Mike worked his way through the trollies till he found a freebie. Then we were ready for battle. Inside the doors 8 cans of pop on a special offer, potatoes, flowers for Ju then a wander to look at the sale clothing for youngsters. I did say Mikes’ only 3’6″ didn’t I? Ouch, Ouch, 5’6″ then, we all make mistakes.
The gents section saw some jeans reduced from £15 to £4 for Mike and a cardigan I quite liked at £16 to £8 which a member of staff reduced to £4 as we stood there, no way was I turning that down. Pity it’s not my size really. Then we actually moved along and bought some food. Not much as who can afford food these days, but the bread was cheap so I might have bread sandwiches next week. By the time we’d done it was time for a coffee, the only good thing to come out of MacDonalds for me. Then it was time to head for Flint. A couple of items in Home Bargains (Loo Bloo only purple) then across to see Ceri and the crown with their sweets. Another coffee for me and the usual for Mike with a drink. A swift visit to the frozen food shop for pizzas and it was off home. I was the poor slob who had to put the frozen food away again. I had my final book from the postman waiting which we both glanced at as I was explaining how a good family record book can help with the tree. Then at midday it was time to head off again. I got outside and had to put dark glasses on. Dressed in my duster ( no hat) I looked a right lemon. Dressed for Winter in the middle of Summer
This time he turned in the right direction and we headed off towards Rhyl. There was some discussion about stopping ion the way to eat or perhaps to stop and find somewhere in Rhyl. My common sense version won the day “Stop or die” so for some reason Mike kindly pulled up at the Bells of St Mary’s where I’d been on Monday with MuJo. We both had an excellent roast dinner before carrying on the journey. When we arrived in Rhyl I directed Mike to go round the roundabout, past the end of the High Street and then to take the third road on the left. Turning right meant a soaking as we were on the seafront at the time. He took the third left just as I realise I might possible have miscounted. “Not this third left Mike, the next one” I cried but too late, he took it. Luckily for me it had a right hand turn which took us to the road we wanted which I said I’d known all the time. We managed to find a parking place quite close to the aquarium. I was still wearing the duster and Mike put his jacket on and we walked into a sauna.All the humidity from all the tanks and we were wrapped like mummies. The sweat was dripping off us. Mike was here to find out about some lamps he wanted for his tank at home. Is that what he asked about? No, way, we had to explore the contents of about 100 tanks first fish by fish. All the time boiling away before he finally asked about the lights which they didn’t even stock. I had to be dragged away screaming as I fancied a couple of beautiful synodontis and some more assassin snails.
Synodontis catfish
We were finally on our way homes again and I had no fish or snails. All I had was panic at being out so long ( over 8 hours) and not having finished the morning’s post before I left. We got in about 4.30 and after setting up the i*on and i*oning board for Mike I came through to work.216 messages which included the unfinished from this morning, Oh joy. Mike left me to it until after his football than came to get me at 7.00 pm to watch a programme with him. We like quizzes. I did us something to eat while we watched so he doesn’t report me for neglect.I was allowed back at 8.30 pm but a little later he came through to tell me of a film he’s found to watch. I agreed to join him soon but it was 10.00 pm before I made it. It was a good film and kept me there till 11.15 pm when it ended. Thereafter it was time to abandon the mail so I could do the blog post. I am after all at your service.
Sorry Mummy, didn’t mean to trump!
I wish you all a wonderful new week and send you loads of Hugs. xxx
barsetshirediaries 