Does Anyone Ever Listen? & Bacon is Best.

Sunday 7th Feb.

Quite a bitty night followed my lights out at 1.00 am. But at least when I got up at 4.14 am I was able to smile. I got out of bed wearing my slippers which I hadn’t worn when I went to bed. I listened to Mike coughing a lot too, I dare say he wouldn’t have had a lot of sleep either. I paid my visit to the loo and came back to log onto the computer. I like to open Skype too but it refuses to open and keeps telling me to check the internet- which is fine.                                                                                                                      On gmail I was horrified by the amount of mail and did my best to get going but I had to think of everything twice to be sure I had it fixed in my head. Like a OCD, I think there may have been a little residual tiredness there. I worked away until 6.00 am then went to take my meds and get a reviving coffee. When I came back the next batch had downloaded and I was way up high again.  I really wasn’t in the mood for it this morning. But, remembering how much might be there later, I carried on. By 9.00 am I was making headway and by 9.40 am I was up to date. I almost scorched the carpet leaving the room so fast.

I let Joey out and sat talking to him with my eyes closed, relaxing in the chair. Damn, it didn’t work. I put the TV on instead, there were two DIY SOS Big Builds on which meant I got interested and couldn’t go to sleep then either. The first one came to an end at 10.00 am and left me with a lump in my throat. At least Joey wouldn’t poke fun. The next one started and I really got involved in the family story, a youngster born with spina bifida whose brain had been largely destroyed by a cyst. Then you see this bright little smiley boy who tries to talk ( he’s only 18 months) and obviously understand much of what’s said, it was amazing. Then, despite being paralysed from the chest down was trying to pull himself along the floor.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Mike got out of bed half way through and sat down to watch it with me. Questions, questions but he soon shut up when he saw the youngster. When it was over I removed the fly from my eye(s) then passed Mike a tissue. We were talking about his night when the next programme started and it was Move to the Country (or something) and a couple with a budget of £1.2m , our collective jaws dropped. , even Joey’s.

At 11.30 am I had to (reluctantly) drag myself away and get dressed. That forced Mike into action too so he headed for his room. By midday we were both ready to go out. As usual we didn’t know where but it turned out that the car knew where to take us anyway……Prestatyn. In the CookHouse we were seated in a different place as our usual seats were occupied by fans of the rugby, and Wales were playing Ireland this afternoon.Look away now if you don’t want the results a week late…….it was a draw. We had a nice lunch and a wander round a couple of shops, Mike got himself a couple of tops for his holiday and I bought a couple as a gift. We came home.                                              Mike went into the kitchen to do Ju’s flowers for me and I came through to work. It was 3.00 pm. Next thing it’s 4.00 pm and Mike is about to go. I waved him off and returned to work. It took until 5.50 pm to get back up to date then I could go through and have something to eat and watch some TV with Joey. I watched till 8.00 pm, came through and cleared the decks again so I could stay with Joey till later so at 8.40 pm I was back with him till 10.00 pm. At that time it was definitely “Nite nite Joey, see you in the morning.” and I came back to deal with both mail and blog. Given time I was going to see if I could solve the Skype problem as well. I think I’ll have the time, just not sure about the patience.

Are you serious……………………………………?

…………………………………………Oh good, you’re not.

And for all the World’s grandchildren

Monday 8th Feb.

It was the Worst of times. It was the best of times. (Apologies to Charles Dickens).The worst of times was settling for sleep at 1.15 am and being brought back to the surface at 2.05 am.The best of times was sitting having a cigarette and clearing my mind (THAT didn’t take long believe me, I have a head start) before finishing the cigarette and just lying on my back and hoping for the best. Since there seemed to be no lunatic women around at that time, I settled for what I could get, a bit more sleep. I woke again at 5.34 am.  I headed for the kitchen with my usual detour on the way. Once I’d had the morning meds I was able to take a coffee back to my room and make a start.

First job I tried to load Skype again but it wasn’t having any. Then my system wouldn’t move and ctrl/alt/del had no effect. I had to wait for the ‘System not responding’ to clear which took ages. I gave up on Skype and went straight to mail. By now it was almost 6.30 am so the new day’s mail had started joining last nights remnants. It took until 9.28 am to clear. I went through and opened Joey’s cage, washed my mug then came back and got dressed. Better to present myself as human (approximately) when Bev gets here, if she’s coming today. I went back to the lounge to watch Homes Under the Hammer with Joey.                                                                                                                               I worked again at the end of HUtH and since Bev didn’t call I assumed she must be off this week. About 11.50 am I made myself some lunch and stuck an episode of Murder She Wrote on to give me company while I ate. It was just typical that I got down to about a quarter of my steak in ale with mash when I saw Bev approach. I almost threw my tray into the kitchen and dashed to open the door.

She stayed a good 20 minutes chatting and we had a laugh about music from the 60’s which came about because I’m wearing one of the shirts Yvonne got me for my birthday. The only thing missing is my bellbottoms and I’m not missing those much since I like the slim or skinny leg jeans now. Don’t tell any teenagers I’m wearing them though or they’ll never wear them again. I remember a pair of flared trousers I used to have 60’s/70’s that were tight down to the knee and then just flared out from there. I loved those trousers which I think came from C & A. They got harder and harder to replace once styles changed, the manufacturers never seem to think of the generation who wore them still wanting them. It’s all about the next style down the line. While I’m ranting about style too, why is it women have so many more styles and colours to choose from? It doesn’t just affect me during the normal year but at sale time too as there’s hardly anything for men. In the 18th C men were the peacocks, why not now? Since my daughter and wife used to pinch my shirts it seems we can all wear and share a lot. No skirts with my knees but load my shirts with colour.

Bev left and I attempted to finish my now cold lunch. I washed the pots and went back to work. It was pointless going back to Murder She Wrote as I’d missed so much. Anyway, I noticed Twiggy was the subject of a Who Do You Think You Are at 2.00 pm so I’d come back and watch that instead. I finished in time to go back and enjoyed seeing Twiggy trace her maternal ancestry with one or two surprises. I also saw Escape to the Country before making myself go on a catch up session. I was surprised I’d stayed awake throughout. It was a close call this time in catching up with mail and watching my Road Trip and typically I enjoyed the start very much but I never reached the auction before falling asleep. I slept through the quiz ‘Pointless’ too.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Somehow I managed to wake in time for 6.00 pm and instead of having the second quiz Eggheads I watched Missing followed by Bones. Then the TV went off and I had a period of just trying to persuade Joey to say Best Boy. I was flogging a dead horse and I don’t see things changing now. He seems to be in a pattern that suits him. I wished him a good night, turned the lights out and went to my room. I worked till 9.30 pm then broke off to take my meds and just be sure I have everything I need for tomorrow in my coat. Judging by today’s weather I’m going to need it. That done I returned to work and just kept going until I was clear and able to do the blog.

The Happy Flower

The Mudlark

Tuesday 9th Feb

I was in bed by 11.45 pm last night. As usual I had a read and turned the light out at about 12.45 am. It took a while to get comfy as whichever way I lie, I manage to push the fat to the highest point and it’s all bone at the point that touches the mattress. I can feel every spring. Anyway I must have managed it as I was woken up by a loud sound. It took me a while to realise it was my phone telling me I had a text. It was 1.12 am. I smiled and answered then settled back down. Ten minutes later as I’m nodding, it went again. After responding to that one I thought I was safe and settled for the third time. All remained peaceful. I woke by the natural order of things at 5.01 am. Not bad at all.

I went straight through to take my meds and have some breakfast. This morning I did two rounds of toast as usual but could only eat one. I felt sick. I don’t want to jump the gun or anything but I do wonder if I’m pregnant. It would have to be a phantom pregnancy of course since I could only possibly ever have relations with a ghost. Isn’t it strange to hear it called relations as though we do it in front of an audience? No wonder male impotency is such a problem, the thought of the in-laws being there.                     As usual you’ve made me digress. It’s a couple of days I’ve felt a little off first thing and I wonder if my anti smoking tabs could be doing it even so late as 3 weeks after starting them.

I went through and signed on. The first thing I did was set the computer to restart from a previous date to see if it would solve the Skype problem. It actually brought back to old Skype logo to my screen but whatever the problem is, it’s still there. I’ll have to ask my nephew about a downloader. Ignoring that problem as something I can do nowt about, I went into my mail and almost fell off my chair. There were a lot and at 6.00 am I had ten minutes and there’d be a lot more too. Unfortunately I wasn’t going to make much of a dent in those before going out. I  got dressed so there were no last minute complications about getting on the bus then I started. By 7.15 am I’d dealt with 32 and was quite pleased but there was still twice that to go. The thought of making them go crossed my mind but I decided against that way. I opened Joey’s door and left the house.

I caught the bus without a problem though it might have been easier if he’d lowered the step. He was in a race with another bus from a rival company so I just sat forward, head resting on my crutches and drifted away. I got off in Chester at 8.45 am and as Yvonne wasn’t there, starting walking to meet her. I thought she’d have Reuben with her this morning too, but when she came into sight it was just Amelie again. Roobs would be joining us a little later it seemed. We went into a shop close by where we met to give Yvonne chance to use her phone, it’s like a telephone exchange sometimes. I pushed Amelie round until she was done. Once she was and took the pram back Amelie woke and with a cry said she was hungry. We headed for our favourite shop and the cafe.                                                                                                                                                                          I nipped to the loo while Yvonne ordered then took baby on my lap for a few minutes. As soon as Yvonne had donned her cape she fed Amelie and I ate my toasted sandwich (that I hadn’t wanted and had refused. Doesn’t anyone ever listen to me?) Once she’d been fed, I had Amelie back while Yvonne ate. I was pleased to get one or two little smiles (From Amelie not Yvonne, she scowls/growls to keep you away from her food).

Once we’d finished coffee and breakfast we went to get Reuben some pyjamas and I also found a sweet pair of pink dungarees with a cat’s face on for Amelie. I found a gilet for Roobs too for when it gets a little warmer. We went downstairs so Yvonne could get something and then out to another shop and another. Then we took a slow walk down to a cafe within a church which has a playcentre. I had another hold of Amelie while Yvonne ordered me a cup of tea. A few minutes later Roobs and Ugo arrived. Roobs was quite taken with the goat figure I’d bought his last weekend when shopping and Ugo seemed more than pleased with the chocolates I’d taken him.The special toys with a penguin and an owl that have 55 songs and can sing singly or in a choir we left with Ugo to read the instructions and sort out rather than let Roobs see them yet.

Once I’d finished my tea I saw it was time to go for my bus. Yvonne walked with me to the stop and out timing was perfect. The idiot driver didn’t lower the step again and this time I didn’t even have the aid of a pavement. Then he was so anxious to go, he moved off while I was still retrieving my travel pass. It was a job to reach a seat upright. Still, I did and assumed the position on head on hands and eyes shut to speed the journey.                                                                                                                                                                        When I got off the bus I called in at Pauline’s before dashing home to have a wee. I said hello to Joey, put my shopping away, took my coat ff and started work. That was at 1.10 pm. I didn’t get to move again until 4.20 pm just before the Road Trip. Not that I’d finished work but as a reward for having done so much. I fell asleep during the auction (Damn) and slept through the quiz as well. I woke up to realise the news was on. When that fact penetrated my brain I realised Missing had started on another channel and grabbed the remote. I followed that up with Bones and thought maybe that was enough of a treat for one day. So at 8.00 pm I turned everything off, made sure Joey was locked in and came back through. I spent until 10.15 pm getting finally up to date with mail before starting this, my blog. Early night I hope and no going out tomorrow. I want to get some washing done.

Gorgeous

My baby and her baby

Wednesday 10th Feb

11.30 pm to bed and a read till 12.20 am so I could finish the book I was reading. I woke once in the night to  visit the loo but had no problem dropping off again. 3.28 am was my time of being awake even though it was 3.31 am before I swung my legs out of bed. I logged onto the computer and headed straight for my gmail messages. There were just 27 this morning. By 4.35 am I’d finished those and moved on to the kitchen to take my meds and have breakfast. I put the washing machine on a quickwash. Today I had some Shreddies but after half an hour felt nauseous and had a bad headache. I wonder if it really is a reaction to the Champix I’m on to give up smoking. My mood is pretty low still too. I put the washing on to dry, went searching for batteries for an automatic air freshener and then found it was empty before taking a coffee back to my room. There were just 8 more messages to deal with which were done with by 5.40 am. I decided to lie down to try and clear my head.                                                                I rose again at 7.10 am and after checking my in box, wish I hadn’t. I went to empty the drier instead.

There was no use hiding. I worked till 9.00 am then stopped long enough to get dressed and to open Joey’s cage and make vague promises about HUtH at 10.00 am. I needed to get a move on if I wanted to see that. I did the best I could but was still 22 adrift. Still, I went to see my programme anyway. At 11.00 am I apologised to Joey and came back to work. I was clear at 11.50 am and wen to see to my lunch. I was going to have a cottage pie with two baps but when I buttered them I thought how nice they’d be with bacon on. It just so happened I had a packet in the fridge that had to be eaten by 13th. If ever a sign was needed, that was it. So that’s what I had for lunch.Two rashers of bacon on each bap and a little tomato sauce.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              I watch Bargain Hunt while I was eating and I knew that one team made a record profit at the auction. I wanted to see that but fell asleep just before the auction and didn’t come round until 1.55 pm. I slunk back to work.

At 3.45 my work was clear again and I decided to take a break. I wandered through to the kitchen and laid out some new coffee pods for the Tassimo machine as I used the last one this morning. I tidied the tinfoil from the grill where I’d done my bacon and tried to make he room look like someone cared. Then I went to the lounge and chatted to Joey. The conversation lasted about 10 seconds as I saw Dil approaching half an hour early. I bolted into the kitchen and started making him a cup of tea determined not to appear surprised at seeing him. He told me he’d been to a meeting in the Heritage Park over the road which finished early. There was no point in driving nearly an hour back to work then out again.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      We managed to have a good chinwag about our weekends, his being much worse as he’d been laying laminate flooring in the bedroom and redoing his bathroom floor. He still has twinges. We watched both our programmes, The Road Trip and Pointless before turning off and getting the games out. I believe the term they use is ‘least said, soonest mended’ so we won’t dwell on tonight’s results. I’m sure you’d only be bored. To put it another way, when he got up to leave at 9.30 pm I was ready to give him his birthday card to take home but keep the present to give to the first deserving person to walk past the house. I thought better of it but only because I’m a good brother who isn’t always out to beat his brother in every game.

After Dil left I did my usual tidy up then closed Joey’s cage before he came out to taunt me, washed the pots and then took my meds. Turning the lights off I was free to go through to my bedroom to start catching up again. That took me till 11.10 pm and then a quick blast at the blog means I hope to be in bed about midnight.

My delight.

Having a chat.

Thursday 11th Feb.

I made the midnight target with minutes to spare. I started a new book Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell. So much of it is familiar that I’m not sure whether I’ve read it before or whether it’s because it’s only recently I saw the excellent TV adaptation. (roll on the next series). I only read until about 12.45 am because the chapters were long and I prefer to finish reading at the end of a chapter even though on occasion that makes it very difficult to stop reading. Getting to sleep didn’t seem to be a problem.            No trips to the loo overnight but I did go when I woke at 4.28 this morning. Then it was a case of signing on and attacking my gmail messages. There were only 27 and I was clear by 5.35 am. I checked my bank and my State Pension had been paid , now based on a weekly payment rather than 4 weekly thanks to Yvonne. At 5.45 am I went to the kitchen for breakfast and to take my meds.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         After my cornflakes I was back in time for the deluge.

I thought I was prepared but I wasn’t. Things started slowly with just 1 then 6 but before I knew it they were on 57, 62, 71. I countered a threat from Microsoft of an update that would close my system in 4 mins thus kicking me out in the middle of something. I managed to put it on hold for 4 hours. I was done by 9.12 am and quickly got dressed and went to Pauline’s to do the lottery and get some bread. It turned into a bread only mission when I learned the lottery machine was down. When I got back I took the bread through to the kitchen then opened Joey’s cage door and refreshed his water and seed. He still hides in a corner when I approach the cage as though I’d hurt him. I’d have to catch the beggar first. I returned to work and found Microsoft was back on it’s 4 minute countdown. This time I left it and used it as an excuse to watch Homes Under the Hammer.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     When I came back it was finished and I had to sign back in again. There were only a dozen messages awaiting my attention which didn’t take too long to deal with. My postman came with details of my tax allowance for next year and then the both phones rang. I checked the mobile and it was an unknown (even though it was a local number) I refused the call and deleted it from the memory. I checked on the house phone and there was a message waiting. I always listen to them in case it’s something Yvonne has to deal with. No, it was yet another annoying message called at random to tell me I can claim from my bank. Well I can’t so bugger off will you !                                At 11.30 am I went through to the kitchen to peel my sweet potatoes and ready my sausages.

By 12.15 pm when Bargain Hunt started I was sitting down with my lunch. Ax the contestants were only part way through their buying when I finished eating I took my pl;ate though and washed everything I’d used. When I returned, they we’re ready to buy their last items each before going off to the auction. I tried really hard, honestly I did but I still managed to fall asleep before the auction. I didn’t wake until 2.05 pm and found Doctors on the TV. Disgusted with myself I turned the TV off and came through to work Joey squawking at my retreating back. He really doesn’t like the lack of sound around him when the TV goes off or I close my mouth.                                           Work was steady in the afternoon and I got a text at 4.00 pm to say Mike was on his way. I said I’d expect him about 6.30 pm ish. At 4.30 pm I abandoned all ideas of work to watch the Road Trip. I saw it to the end. I watched pointless almost to the end then must have nodded off just before 6.00 pm. I came round about 6.45 pm and perched next to me in his chair watching me was a Gremlin in the form of Mike. Guiltily I got up and made him a drink. By this time I’d missed most of ‘Missing’ but still had time for ‘Bones’ followed by ‘Would I Lie To You’ and then Murder in Paradise.

At 10.00 pm I locked Joey in, sent Michael to his bed and came through to work . My only interruption was when Mike got irate at the programme on TV and the contract they want ‘Junior’ doctors to accept and I went through thinking he’d called me. I finished the mail about 11.10 pm and started on the blog. I’m still hopeful for midnight.

Little Man

Coquettish.

Friday 12th Feb.

Midnight bed, read until 1.00 am then settle down.  Up at 2.10 am for a wee but I knew that wasn’t time to stay awake today. Back to bed and warmth.                                     Next time was different though, that was AWAKE time 3.44 am it read on my clock and I did verify it with my glasses on before moving. I powered up the computer and logged on going straight to my gmail.  Wonderful, only 32, I could knock those off in no time. In fact it took until 5.20 am with one or two more coming in.                                   Next I went through to the kitchen to take my meds. I decided against having breakfast as this is the morning I do my drugs for the week. I got my drugs drawer from the lounge and started. First of all one of my capsules split and started spreading powder everywhere then two tablets broke as they were being pressed out of a blister pack. Next, one got away and skittered across the floor. Naturally it played hide and seek before I finally found it. I was sorry I’d started. Then I prepared my next prescription request ready to deliver to the chemist’s on Monday. All of a sudden I started dry-heaving. All I’d had was the milk I take my meds with but I realised it was probably the anti-smoking drug as some people say you need to eat with it.

My coffee seemed to settle my stomach and I returned to the bedroom. I’m off to the nurse this morning and wondered what to do about these tablets. For a couple of weeks now I’ve known and others have mentioned that my mood isn’t as usual. For once they’re not being insulting. I’ve been low, I am low and the direction it’s taking isn’t what it should be. I’ve had some terrible nightmares which in one actually had me being violent towards someone else, that’s never happened before except towards myself. I’ve also been hallucinating- unless I’m being haunted that is. Seeing things running across my floor, seeing people approach in my peripheral vision who aren’t there sometimes even hearing things that aren’t there either. I think they’re all related to these tablets and I’m thinking I should stop them while I still have the common sense to do so.But, I have to ask. I may not have stopped smoking while taking them but at least I’ve cut down by two thirds which is pretty good.                                                      I carried on working.

At 7.15 am Mike’s alarm went off despite me telling him he needn’t set it. He wasn’t intending to go to his Dad’s until 11.00 am so he could have stayed in bed a while. Setting the alarm for that time meant he was intending to take me to the doctor’s.  If I were paranoid, I’d think he didn’t trust me to go. Anyway, I made him a coffee and took it through. It was up to him whether he left it and went back to sleep or got up. Eventually he got up. At about 8.10 am he ran me up to the surgery and then as usual carried on to his Dad’s or to Manchester at least.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Inside, it took Sister S about ten seconds to tell me to stop taking the tablets. She could see things weren’t right and said here was always the chance it would happen but we’d given it a good go. She didn’t harp on about carrying on with the non-smoking but said how pleased she was with progress made. She was there if I wanted more help and to ring if I needed her. I nearly laughed as I haven’t rung anyone in years so I’d be stuffed. When I left there I headed towards the bus but decided to go to the LIDL Supermarket as it would be warmer than outside. I got Ju’s flowers a day early. I still froze to death at the bus stop. When it came I was glad to sit down. I called at Pauline’s when I got off and did the lottery before going home to Joey and Homes Under the Hammer.

After my programme I came back to work to try and clear this morning’s batch. It took forever, or at least it did except for the break I took from 11.45 am to 12.30 pm when I had lunch. Today I just couldn’t be bothered so I went to the chippy. The curry sauce was terrible, like water with a raisin in. I couldn’t eat all the chips of course so the waste bin saw the rest as I’ve put Joey on a diet. I did return to work after lunch even giving up my Bargain Hunt as I wanted to reach the point of being clear before I did take TV time out and before Mike returned.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              I was clear by 3.00 pm and to celebrate I had a break to watch Move to the Country then I worked again from 3.45 pm to 4.30 pm and went to watch my last Road Trip of the week.I managed to see it all the way through tonight and started on my quiz. Part way through that I lost the plot and Zzzzz’d away for a while. I woke at 6.15 pm having missed the first quarter of my Missing Without Trace ( or whatever it’s called) but at least I caught the rest. Mike sent a text at 7.00 pm to say he was on his way so I watched Bones alone. Then ten minutes into Mastermind he arrived. I made a coffee and we watched the rest of it.

At 8.30 pm I went to get a shower.My mood was so low I didn’t even ask Mike for help with my hair. I noticed however that I’d have to ask for a haircut before the weekend is out. Between 9.00 – 10.00 pm I saw Shetland which is a really good thriller before finally closing Joey’s cage door ( don’t worry, Mike made me go back to let him in) and returning to my room. I was working on my mail when Mike came in and sat on my bed. He was worried my mood could mean I was cross with him despite knowing there was no reason. Once he was sure he was OK he decided to get up my nose in general by talking while I was trying to work. He was still there when I finished the mail and started the blog.  I had to physically overpower him, truss him in a sack and roll him along the passageway to his bedroom.  I still think there’s just a chance I might make midnight.

What Pops bought me.

With Bunny ears tucked under my chin.

Saturday 13th Feb.

I was in bed by 12.10 am with so much cream on my legs I almost slid right out again. I went for two chapters last night but had to settle for one and a half or I’d have been awake all night. The chapters are so long. So lights out about 1.00 am  and though I saw 1.20 am come and go I must have been asleep soon after. I woke at 4.48 am and don’t recall any nightmares but I know there were a few dreams that were uncomfortable though I can’t recall the content luckily. I attacked my gmail messages and cleared them by 5.50 am so went straight to the kitchen to have some breakfast and take my meds. I was just coming back to work when I heard Mike’s alarm for the first time. I know he didn’t sleep well last night so I took him a coffee and decided to leave him without a second call. If he got up great, if not, well so what.                                            He did get up 5 alarms later at about 6.50 am. By which time I’d been in hear over half an hour with the mail. He was ready to go by 7.20 am.

Having been to LIDL and got the flowers yesterday I didn’t want much main shopping this morning. Mike got a trolley, I got my cash and we bypassed the fruit and veg and went straight for the children’s clothes.  We made our way round and picked up what I needed and then after paying went through to get a coffee at McDonalds. My phone went with a text. It was my niece Karen who wanted to know if we were going over to collect the pies she got for me yesterday. I confirmed YES and arranged to meet at lunchtime. Off we went to Flint where we looked for a trolley for Mike to move a washing machine. We had no luck at what Mike thought was a reasonable price. Then it was coffee time so we got the chocolates from the car and headed to Temptations. Double trouble today as Kyle was off so we had two Ceri’s to contend with. One we don’t usually see as she usually does afternoons.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   We had a drink and Mike had his teasted toecake while the girls raved about the chocolates which were special handmade ones (not by me I hasten to add). Afterwards we looked at a few more shops then realised how late it was getting and had to head off on the next stage of our journey. Mike was worried our 40 minute journey to Colwyn Bay wouldn’t be done in the 45 minutes we had so he took the route I hate most-The Expressway- donned his cloak of invisibility with fingers crossed and revved the car up to a minimum of ten miles above the maximum speed all the way. I was really worried the g-force might leave me with a smile that ended round the back of my head when we got there. We made it with about thirty minutes to spare……..on the day before we left. I knew that electric storm was trouble.                                                                           Karen was already there when we arrived, but it’s only two minutes walk to her home from there. We were meeting in a pub called The Plough in Old Colwyn. First we traded kisses then we traded gifts so I had my precious pork pies. We chatted for  a few minutes before I ordered drinks and the food.  I had steak and ale pie with mash and it was excellent. Karen had a chicken burger which came with fries and a big side salad while Mike had fish and chips and he later said the fish was great. We were there for about an hour and a half.

Eventually we had to go as we still needed to find Mike’s truck, get back home with the shopping and see to Joey. I needed to work. Having said goodbye to Karen we drove into Colwyn Bay Town Centre and looked in a few shops before eventually finding one the same and at the same price as we’d seen in the morning. He took it……then thought better of it and paid. Back to the car again and this time without the cloak of invisibility and crossed fingers  we drove home the pretty route and as sedately as Mike ever drives ……..up every other driver’s exhaust pipe while cursing every driver on the road as incompetent, female or as a granddad (which he tends to forget he is).  At home we unpacked the car and put the shopping away. I released Joey but he wasn’t speaking to me and didn’t move from his perch. I had to leave to start work. Mike did Ju’s flowers into a lovely display for her.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     It was 3.00 pm and I worked like a Trojan ( not the virus honestly) till 6.00 pm then went to watch TV with Mike . NCIS then two more programmes I’ve forgotten already. At 9.00 pm I cam back through again to try and keep up with the mail to give me a clear run at the blog.

Face Off

Howdy pardner

 

 

 

 

Mother for a Day & The Death Count Rises.

Sunday March 15th 2015

I was given a treat today ( Mother’s Day?). It was 5.02 am before I got up so a possible four hours sleep. I was ungratefully grateful though as I felt I could have been given more since Mike will get his lie in and I can work undisturbed a bit later when he’s on his way home.  Still we must accept what we’re given I suppose. Heck, that sounds churlish now. I got on with answering mail until 7.00 am when I needed to feed the fish. I made the mistake of putting a suggestion box nearby recently and someone suggested moving the tank to my bedroom so I don’t have to come out to feed them. I’d have let that go if another whose finwriting I don’t recognise hadn’t suggested removing my bed since I don’t make proper use of it anyway. It seems I could manage to get the tank and my chair from the lounge in here. I removed the suggestion box. Now I’ve given it a little thought though…………..

There seemed to be one solitary bronze cory swimming about when I turned the tank light on and yet it was daylight outside. I think I could get quite peeved at them having a lie-in after the trouble I’ve had from Big Al in the past if I’ve been a couple of minutes late. I suppose they could just have been playing hide and seek though as they started appearing as I opened the serving hatch. I dropped some food in and left them to it., my painkillers were waiting with my other meds. I took everything and made a coffee to take back with me. It wasn’t too long before I found I was up to date. I took my mug through to the kitchen for washing later and settled myself in my chair to relax. I think I was hoping to relax into Zzzz’s but I taped my chin up first so there were no more bear growls to disturb Sleeping Beauty. As it happened, Sleeping Beauty nearly gave me a heart attack when he walked in at 8.35 am and he hadn’t even wet the bed. I couldn’t get over it. I never see him at that time on a Sunday even when I’m trying to get him up to go to a car boot sale. On very shaky legs, I got up and made him a coffee.

We nattered for a while and then I put Frazier on TV. We weren’t due to be out at lunch until 12.15 pm so there was plenty of time. At half past ten I asked if Mike would fancy a detour on the way and he said “Fine, where to”? I just needed a couple of things from a shop.We left at about 10.45 am and were in Prestatyn by about 11.15 am. It didn’t take too long to pick up a few little things for Reuben as I was taking gifts for my nieces as well as Yvonne and Ugo. By the time we came out we needed to head straight off. We knew the best route to take to avoid some road works and though slightly longer we weren’t far out on our arrival time. We did have to tour the carpark twice though before settling on parking in the road. As we got out of the car and collected our baggage we could see Karen at the door of the pub holding Reuben who pointed excitedly when he saw me and croaked “Pops”. As we crossed the road he recognised Mike and gave a cheer, Mike dropped his hat on Reuben’s head which pleased him no end. I got a kiss and we went in. Glad to be rid of them I handed the gifts out and Yvonne passed Reuben one of his books which he started to read. Not for long though as there was too much activity around him. My great nephew Taylor was there as well apparently nursing a hangover of some proportions. I started to feel, like the honorary Mother of the Day with so many families celebrating Mothers Day today.

We were seated in the dining room and attentive staff came round to take our orders. I was just going to have the main so had to suffer watching everyone eat before me. It was worth waiting for though. For anyone in the Old Colwyn area of North Wales- The Plough is great..As we were getting through the main, Taylor couldn’t eat any more and was a bit green about the gills so I gained some potatoes and some roast beef.. Not being as piggy as some of my relatives I didn’t have a pudding despite being told Chocolate Fudge Cake was on the menu for my benefit.After we’d finished we moved to another area to sit and chat for an age. Eventually it was time for goodbyes though. We waved everyone off and then set off ourselves. I felt sorry for Mike, in a few hours he’d have to come back in this direction to collect his daughter and grandchildren and taken them down to the Midlands.First though he was going to watch his beloved Manchester United play while I tried to get on with some work. He almost woke me a couple of times when they scored. He left just before 6.00 am and I went through to get some tea and watch an hour’s TV, It turned into two hours and it was 8.00 pm before I got back in here. I haven’t been able to move since. It’s now 11.30 pm and there’s still a way to go. MuJo are coming through tomorrow so I daren’t leave too much.

Monday.

I can’t really say the day started well as at 4.04 am the day hadn’t really started at all. Three hours or less sleep is going to be difficult today without the opportunity of a power nap. I got up and went to the loo then came back and replaced the bulb in my overhead light that decided to blow the minute I tried to turn it on. The computer was turned on and I logged into the first of my mail boxes. By 6.00 am the remainder of last night’s post was done and I was ready to start today’s. I did a quick run through to see what could be deleted as that always made it look so much less. The con-men mut have just returned from their late Winter breaks as I had 3 messages purporting to be from banks warning me of problems on accounts I don’t have, that were going to be suspended unless I provided full details of how to clear my non-existent accounts of all funds to the rip-off merchants. There was also one from the Tax Office regarding my tax refund that required full details of my bank account for payment to be forwarded. I must say, I’m crossing my fingers big time for a tax rebate this year ( and soon) but don’t intend to do it this way. I think I’ll be happy just to bank a cheque. I’m more in favour of putting money into my account than giving some thieving toerag the opportunity to take it out.

I broke off from the mail at 6.30 am as I needed a break after a particularly long message. Feeding the fish seemed to fit the bill. I’m sure Friday 13th has been told that it needs a break from routine and has decided to move itself to a Monday – THIS Monday- for a change. I turned the main kitchen light on then moved over and turned on the light to the tank. Instead of a hive of activity I got nothing. I started scanning the tank inch by inch until suddenly I saw some movement. It was one of my synodontis doing the dance of death in the air bubbles at the top of the tank. I checked to make sure it was dead and not just trying the backstroke before removing it. Big Al came out and moved to a corner. Little Al came out and moved to a different corner. One of the hoplos eventually came out and settled in the front corner and proceeded to lie there looking dead. I was starting to make myself bald at this point when I saw the two bronze corys move across my vision. A dart of orangey red told me Morecambe was still with me even if he didn’t want to put in an appearance at my voice, maybe the pitch was too high with panic. Moments later Morecambe headbutted Wise into the open. I could see one of the plecs attached to the pump box but to be honest I wasn’t too worried about the plecs as they’re virtually indestructible. I waited and waited. Pepper appeared. I lifted the lid again to check but the second synodontis, the second hoplo and the ancistrus are at best, all in hiding. The only new things in the tank have been the pictus which may have been ill, the plants which should have been OK and a barrel Mike brought which was scalded before being allowed in. The barrel only went in on Saturday though. What is going on?

I took my meds and made a drink to bring through. Concentrating on the mail had been hard as I couldn’t get the fish out of my mind. It has at least helped me make a decision that I won’t be getting another tank. Anyone considering putting 10c in my paypal account ( so that’s none of you then) can reconsider now. I just tried to distract myself via work. Unsure of what time MuJo would arrive I got dressed at 9.00 am and then took a walk to the chemist to deliver my new prescription request. I was back for 9.20 am in time to have a word with my friend Darren the postman. He had nothing important for me today. I told him not to start planning on donning his shorts anytime soon with the forecast being for Siberian frosts this week. Blimey it’s bad enough with the rain. I came back in and started having a quick tidy round. It was about 10.20 am when they arrived and I’d spent the intervening time looking at the fish tank. There was some good news in that the second hoplo appeared. I made drinks and we gassed about our respective week last week, and future plans. Eventually I asked John to come take a look at some of the leather jacket’s I’d saved on ebay, most of which I’d lost with not seeing him last week and I got a better idea of what style he wanted and also a better idea of the size. It’s more than I was led to believe last week. They told me they’d finally got the four poster bed they wanted last week and today we were going to look at some material to frame it. A nice brocade I hope so it’s in keeping.

We went to lunch. It was The Bells of St Mary’s today. We were lucky to arrive at 11.55 am before it got too crowded so were able to order our drinks (lime and lemonade for me) and then get in the very short queue for our meals. Naturally I had the roast beef, a Yorkshire pud, whole onions in onion gravy, cabbage, carrots, roast and mashed pots. Somehow John managed to find room for chips on his as well. It was a lovely meal. It was well gone 1.00 p.m when we left and headed towards home and a place called Abakhan which sells a variety of materials, craft stuffs etc,, etc. We were there a long time and though they both found materials they liked it was a case of the other didn’t. After my next birthday we left to pop in at another place that gave me feelings of deja vu.  I knew we were going to Flint for a coffee at Temptations so I suggested we called into a shop that sells curtains and see if there were any they both liked that were already made up that might do the job. We arrived and I sent them for coffee while I picked up some chocolates for the girls. I joined them in there and handed over a tin of Vinnie’s biskwits I’d found and gave Ceri the chocolates for the staff. After there we took a walk over to the shop with the curtains and lo and behold they found some they liked. They needed three pairs and that’s just what there were left. The whole lot came to less than a third of the price of having some made. We had chance to look round a couple more shops as well but there is definitely something wrong, I spent nothing. Flint will go bankrupt.

We headed for home where they had time for another drink before having to start their journey home. It was almost 4.30 pm so I was expecting to go straight to watch my TV programme. Shock, Horror, it had not only changed time to 5.15 pm it had also changed channels. I had half an hour on the computer, made a sandwich for tea and then settled down with the remote. I watched that till 6.00 pm and then gave myself a treat with a half hour quiz afterwards. Then I could hide no longer. I washed the pots , took a look at the fish and found poor Morecambe in a terrible mess. He’s lost most of his wonderful colour and doesn’t seem able to fight the current. I doubt he’ll survive the night. This is a bummer. John had wondered earlier if the water was over oxygenated so I’ll have to look that up. Maybe the flow of water is just too strong for them too. Some fish like a fast flow, some don’t. I came back to work very sad.And here I’ve been ever since despite wanting to get an early night- correction- being ordered to get an early night.

Ooh Look, Toys

I’ll direct the choir.

Tuesday.

T’was 4.50 am this morning and at least the time was creeping in the right direction compared to yesterday, but still shy of 4 hours. I’m pretty sure thinking back that I woke up flailing this morning. It’s possible I was mid dream which would mean something disturbed me. Of course it could have been the dream itself. I told Mike the other day I’d had a strange dream of a pure white kitten playing around my feet, perhaps the little beggar sank it’s claws in.                                                                                 I paid a visit to ‘Tinkle Valley’ and then turned the computer on. There was a large backlog to think about. I got stuck in and started making inroads into the waiting mail. I broke off at 7.00 am to go feed my fish. I wish I hadn’t. The tank looked like a ghost town. The only fish in sight, one of the hoplos, was lying in the front corner looking distinctly dead. I tapped on the glass to no effect and I sat on my haunches and stared for ages looking for the movement of a gill or anything. That in itself was a huge mistake as I couldn’t get up from that position and cramp started to set in. I had to drop my knees to the ground, grab hold of a work surface and pull myself up on one leg with the other following. I got the net out and went to pull the hoplo from it’s resting place. As soon as the net touched it , it shot out across the tank. I was relieved it was OK. Within 2 minutes Big Al appeared from wherever he’d been hiding. I just don’t understand the behaviour of the fish recently. There were always fish evident and in play from the moment I went in there before. Now I drop some food in and there’s no reaction. Oh , wait, the two little bronze corys have come for a nibble but Big Al just sits there brooding. The hoplo was back in it’s corner. Of Morecambe there was no sign nor of Wise.

There was no point me staying there all day so I carried on and took my meds then made a coffee to take back with me. Yvonne already knew I wasn’t going to meet her in Chester today as she knows I’m not well at the moment. She also knows I need to get back to being up to date with my post and a trip out wouldn’t help that. I have my Wednesday play night which will upset the applecart again. Even though I’ve no intention of leaving the house today I got dressed. Just as well I wasn’t going out as there was no co-ordination of colours. I worked solidly all morning until 11.30 am. I was making great progress but I’d have to think about lunch and I’d found a logical point to stop. Lunch was ready for midday, it was only a cottage pie but I sat down to enjoy it, watching Murder She Wrote. Afterwards I washed up and went back through. Concentrating was a real problem and the yawns were coming thick and fast. I rolled my chair away from the computer before I insulted someone with a gibberish letter ( Anyone any idea where Gibber is?) and I was gone. When I woke up at 3.12 pm the Zzzz’s were still bouncing from the walls. My neck ached. I went through to sit in my chair in the lounge and wallop, I was gone again. It was 4.55 pm before I woke. No point at all in going back to work as my programme is on  soon so I made myself a syrup sponge pudding with custard for tea, OK, OK I admit, 2 sponges then.

After PYMWYMI I watched most of a quiz. I say most of because I dropped off just before the end and woke up at the end of the next one. My befuddled brain couldn’t understand why the quizmaster had changed halfway through. I came back here in dread, and rightly so. Much of my good work from this morning undone. Nothing for it but to start again and persevere as long as possible. At 11.00 pm I had no choice but to start the blog.

I think they’re all quackers Mummy.

Is this how you walk like a duck?

Especially for my friend Suzanne Joshi.

Wednesday.

Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting a 3.43 am day as it’s only six days since the last. Come on Somnos, you’re getting repetitive now. I thought we were heading in the right direction. I suppose this is as a result of your celebrations of St Patrick’s day yesterday? Just coming home and thought you’d wake everyone up as you go to bed, well ha ha, so funny-not. Maybe I’m supposed to promote the small gods for their sense of humour?

I went to the loo to see if relieving my bladder would improve my mood but it was a lost cause this morning,. When I came back and logged on one of the messages was from a blog I follow all the time by Melanie Marttila. I found she’d included a talk which included a tribute to Sir Terry Pratchett by Neil Gaiman a truly fantatic author in his own right who collaborated on Good Omens with Terry Pratchett and was the first of his books I read.  http://melaniemarttila.ca/2015/03/17/tipsday-writerly-goodness-found-on-the-interwebz-march-8-14-2015/  well worth a listen and Mel’s posts are always excellent. The chat lasted about half an hour but was well worth it to me. He explained how that book had been written ( or co-written) and actually read a piece from it. I was reminded just how good the humour was when he described that two people had once gone spooning by the river and on one memorable occasion even forked. It was a touch of genius.

I worked until 6.30 am and then deciding I needed a coffee I headed for the kitchen. As I turned the tank light on, a light wasn’t needed for the room itself, I found myself staring at virtually nothing. Just the one hoplo in the same place as yesterday unmoving, but I’m not falling for that a second time. I spent an age scouring the tank’s hiding places for other signs of life and/or corpses. regrettably I did find a corpse half wedged under the bridge, it was so badly chewed I couldn’t tell if it was my second beautiful synodontis or maybe the ancistrus. At the end of my session, all I could say with any confidence is I still have 2 hoplos ( though one keeps playing dead ), 2 bronze corys (one is behaving weirdly) I’ve seen Pepper, Big Al and Little Al and the plecs. Whatever it is has gone through here like the plague.I really hope I’ve seen the last casualty now. It’s almost half my fish gone and unfortunately all the most visible,beautifully pattered ones. I took my meds,checked myself for buboes (See, I wasn’t playing with myself) and made a coffee to bring through. It was 7.15 am so I must have been with the tank a while talking to them and trying to find out who was still there.

I got dressed then started work again until 9.15 am. Cue music- 8 beats on the kettle drum to start then a rising strain of violins coming to a point where a bassoon farts in your ear and a piccolo picks up a rhythmic jig. I went out sans coat into the sunshine and found I wasn’t cold. Did the music herald the coming of Spring which officially starts on Friday, no, I’d left the ‘Music to Write By’ soundtrack from Steve Richer playing. All the way to Pauline’s I was talking to myself.”How’d you expect to write by music like that? You’d stand in the middle of the room conducting a phantom orchestra, no write.” I was nervous for some reason. I know I’d made a quick visit to the chemist on Monday slipping in and out so to speak but this was the first time out of the house since then, and I’d have to talk to someone. Even worse, behind me in the queue at the counter was a really nice lad, young Liam who used to work in the chemist and he spoke to me. It was all I could do to stutter a reply. I’m becoming reclusive again which means you lot will have to put up with my company. I went home and put the shopping away, coming back to the computer as soon as I’d done. By 10.30 am I was up to date and just keeping pace with anything that came in. At 11.30 am I stopped and gave thought to lunch instead.

As usual I ate my lunch while I was glued to the TV. A really unusual disaster though after the programme was over. I didn’t get up and return to work. I know you’ll all be shocked to hear that I fell asleep until 2.50 pm. I shook my not inconsiderable tail feathers and got back to work then though. I’d not long sat down when there was a knock at the door. Lucky for me my guess was right this time, and the chemist delivery man was there. I exchanged my drugs for a box of chocolates which for anyone new reading this is not a euphemism for a large sum of money.I concentrated hard on catching up on the post I’d missed again and establishing a routine of refreshing every time I caught up so I could keep pace. By 4.30 pm I was in a good position. Trouble is I knew I’d have to leave at 5.00 pm to get some tea before my visitors get here and by the time my evening was over I’d be back to a backlog of 5 hours. I didn’t hold out much hope that Brother Jake would heed my plea that you all sprained your wrists today. I was just reaching the point of refreshing when Lee arrived so I had to leave the work and see to a drink for him even though it’s only Adam’s Ale. We sat and chatted about the bump and how long they have. Probably about 3 weeks and things are still going well for a home birth. It was about 5.20 pm when Matt came in and again they were early. Talking to Lee I hadn’t been facing the window and Lee hadn’t warned me as he didn’t want to interrupt. I set too making drinks while they caught up. I remember Dil telling Lee not to hold Jen’s hand at the birth unless he wants his hand crushing.

After the gossip had been disseminated Dil got the games stuff out. We set up for Yahtzee but I don’t think anyone was really concentrating tonight. There was chit chat all the time and the games took forever. At the end I think Lee had won 3 of the 6 making him the overall winner but I didn’t have one to fit him. He had to leave us as it was 8.30 pm and he’d gone through my biscuits with Matt, and I wouldn’t get more out. “Good riddance” we shouted. Knowing we wouldn’t have time for a full Nomination the rest of us settle on Chase the Lady for the last hour. I had two problems and they both sat opposite me. My nephew is sneaky and likes to try to ‘lot’, my brother is just vindictive, sly and basically just a good player. Matt made an attempt and got them all bar one card which Dil dropped on me. I had 10 points, Matt 140. Matt and I did something similar to Dil where Matt dropped points on me which stopped Dil in his tracks. After a hard fought battle I won the game. It was almost 9.30 pm and time for them to go. Dil said to Matt on the way out ” And next week we don’t let him won.”

I washed the pots and tidied round then checked the fish tank to see if there was any movement. Noting at all. It’s like running a tank just so I can see the bubbles. I came through and started work again. There were over 70 messages in the time I’d been away. It could be a late night but I stopped work at 10.45 pm to start the blog so at least this is done.

Wake up and smell the flowers.

Where have all the Flowers gone?

Thursday.

So, it was almost 12.30 am before I got to bed last night but I’d worked my way through the worst of the backlog. I was good and stuck to just half an hour of reading before I turned the light out. I’m not sure how long it took to get to sleep but I don’t think it was long.I got up again at 3.47 am and after bundling up in my dressing gown and turning the light on, I wandered to the loo to deal with Niagara Fails. I came back and powered up the computer and opened the mail. Even with what was left of last night’s it didn’t look too bad. I was done before 6.00 am though I created a further problem by refreshing and getting everything you workaholics had done between 3.55 am and 6.00 pm. Take a break why don’t you ! But, a doddle, I cleared that up by 6.50 am . I sat in my office chair and stretched luxuriously before heading for the kitchen. Oh dear, the only sign of life as I put the food in was from Little Al though I did eventually spot Pepper cleverly camouflaged against the bog wood. I stood there talking to any available ears for a while but to no avail. I need to conflab with Mike and see what direction we take. Personally I’m tempted to take either the pump or the bubble bar offline for a while.

I took a foodie tab then followed with the rest of my meds leaving enough milk in my mug for coffee. After a cigarette for timing I put some bread in the grill. As soon as it was ready I set the Tassimo going for my drink and buttered the hot toast. I enjoyed it and took my two after food tabs with the now ready coffee. I took the coffee back to work. I did the few pieces of post that were waiting then signed into my gmail account and started again. When I’d finished around 9.00 am there was time to relax and read a book I’d downloaded from a close friend a couple of weeks ago. It the next part of a fantastic sci-fi book set in the not too distant future. I kept reading and reading, gripped by the storyline  but I had to limit myself if I knew other work was coming in. Reluctantly I put it away. One more session should hopefully see the end of this part and with luck she’ll have written and rewritten the last part. If I keep smiling nicely maybe she’ll send it to me.

I went back to work in an attempt to keep up today as I have no idea when and if Mike is coming. He may have finished with his grandchildren after dropping them at school or it may be he has to pick them up and feed them too as he did last week. It’s no problem to me of course other than not knowing.  There was plenty of work to keep me going until lunchtime break at 11.30 am which rapidly became 11.45 am when I found an interesting post to read. I took a pre foodie tab, made myself some bread and butter then stuck a cottage pie in the micro. While it was doing I turned on TV and saw the last of Judge Judy screaming like a banshee at a defendant at the same time as calling him sir. I find her to be a disgrace to the judges bench but addictive viewing sometimes. As my cottage pie was ready so was I, for Murder She Wrote. It was surprising to see just how old an episode it was. There was quite a youngish version of the lugubrious one from Law and Order (Jerry Orbach), Bradford Dilman, Ernest Borgnine, Levarr Burton without his eye visor and even TV’s Batman Adam West as the murder victim.. Prompt at 1.00 pm  when the murder was solved and I was still awake I washed up and went back to my room. I worked as much as I could until about 2.30 am I started nodding at the desk. I repaired to my living room armchair and slept until 3.15 pm. That left me feeling fit enough to carry on ( Oh how I wish I could ). I carried on until 5.10 pm when I went to watch PYMWYMI.

I was ten minutes from the end of my programme when I got a text from Mike to say he wouldn’t be coming today. His care is still in a garage where it was supposed to be having the seals done to stop leakage from the roof onto one of the front seats depending on which way you turn. He’s had the car 5 months and when he first contacted the garage they agreed it was still under warranty. Today he had a phone call saying the job would be £900, how would he like to pay. Quite quickly he told them he wouldn’t be paying, it’s under warranty, to which they replied “It isn’t.” So it was under warranty on Tuesday but not today. One of the mechanics Mike saw admitted the leak is a fault known to Citroen as well so you’d think the company would be happy to pay for repairs to a known fault on an expensive car. They had allowed Mike to borrow a courtesy car while his was in the shop but are now asking for it to be returned tomorrow and for him either to pay for his repairs or remove his car. I hate businesses like this with no customer services and who are unhelpful in the extreme. The car is not suitable for purpose if you can’t avoid getting wet when out in the rain. On the other hand, Mike’s clogau gold watch broke last week an stopped going.He’s had countless emails from the company to see what he wants to do. He especially liked the watch he had which is now out of stock so they’ve sent a much more expensive watch to him and said he’s welcome to exchange it if he wants should the others ever come back in. They offered a full refund including all postage costs but I think this new watch will please him. They even arranged 24 hour delivery. THAT’S good customer relations.

The back and forth of texts took a long time so after he’d said he’d come tomorrow if he gets any satisfaction from them, I came through to work. Obviously the emails had built up again I just hammered away at them until it was skive time again. No way was I missing my Big Bang. One nice email I had was fromma young friend who told me her Mum’s car is named Sheldon after the Big Bang Theory, oh, she also told me I’m fantastic which was nice to hear without someone tacking ‘For your age’ on the end. Big Bang Theory was brilliant as usual though I did struggle to stay awake. It’s been a long day. I watched another comedy straight afterwards which I also find funny but at 9.30 pm I thought I’d better come back and knuckle down. I worked on emails till 10.30 pm then said enough is enough. Luckily none of you heard me so I was able to come over and start the blog. First day of Spring tomorrow YAY. I hope the sun knows, and all the plants. I think the eclipse is tomorrow too.

Do I get a ride now?

And this is how a duck sits Mr Squiggle.

Friday.

The phrase that sprang to mind this morning was Football is a Game of Two Halves.  As I woke up there was a smell of old sheep and the sense of a laugh in the air. I’d gone to bed early last night and had turned my light off at 11.45 pm. When I woke, it was 1.34 am. Even for Somnos and his family that’ quite a sharp reminder of who’s boss. Not even 2 hours. I was sure we were only playing the first half. I’d be tired enough for my chair if not my bed soon enough….wouldn’t I? I’m pretty sure they’re using the carrot and the stick approach with me now only they’ve shortened it to CICK for some reason. Certainly I’d felt the stick part of  CICK at less than 2 hours sleep, so surely there was a carrot in there somewhere. I didn’t need a trip to the waterfall having been there so recently so I just signed straight into my mail. Mmmm, there was a fair bit from last night but hey, I’m here early enough to cope. I saw 5.00 am come and go then suddenly I was coming round from a sea of nothingness with a very sore neck. It was 6.55 am. Somnos had relented and shown me the carrot. Why couldn’t he have relented when I was in comfort somewhere I didn’t know. I was so lucky that what was on screen was read only and not something I could carry on typing and sending out.

I went through to the kitchen. As I turned on the light there was movement in the tank so I rushed to the tank and put the lights on there. Oh joy, one of the hoplos was swimming across the tank as they used to and both Big Al and Little Al came forward for feeding. I was overjoyed. It was then I notives a rather badly decomposed corpse which had appeared from who knows where so I opened the lid. Looking down I saw two more corpses that had appeared. All three appeared to be larger fish and on one I could see the markings of a hoplo, that left the ancistrus and the second synodontis. There may will be three more yet of Morecambe and Wise and one bronze cory. A quick check this morning shows my survivors (fingers crossed) to be Big Al, Little Al, Pepper, one hoplo and one bronze cory. I’m happy to see them moving about normally.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          I fed them and went to take my morning tablets the last in the tray and then get the drug drawer out to make up the next week’s supply. By the time I’d done that and made a coffee it was almost time to be waking Mike had he been here. I felt like shouting into the empty room anyway. I don’t know what I’m going to do during the three weeks he’s away in Canada. Maybe I’ll lose the ability to shout, tell lies about the time or about his coffee going cold. For safety’s sake I may have to carry on as though he’s still here of course his score will go up heavily. A=0  C=20 for instance. No alarms, 20 calls. Instead I bypassed his room and carried on to mine to restart work.

At 9.00 am I got washed and dressed and took a walk to Pauline’s for some milk and my lottery. My coordination went to pot as I must have been walking in one direction but looking in another. I almost went down. A poor little taxi  driver here to take Joe to see his wife opened the car door in panic but I recovered myself well and tried to make it look like it was done on purpose. Doesn’t everyone do the Twist when they’re out? Back indoors and the postman came and delivered some Gothic gargoyle midge fragnets which I hope John will like to stick to the posts on his new bed. B the time 11.30 am arrived I was glad of the break and went through to turn TV on in advance of Murder She Wrote. I prepared a quick lunch by doing some bread and butter and putting chips with curry sauce in the microwave. I was done in time for the programme. It was about 10 minutes into the plot when there was a knock at my door. Hellfire, it’s Friday.It was my warden who’d come round to check I was OK but stayed for almost half an hour chatting in general . I may have missed most of it but it was still worth turning on the rest of the show. It was a big mistake however as I lost the last five minutes when I started checking my eyelids from the inside. That check took just over an hour and I didn’t emerge until 2.05 pm. Look at that, up more than 12 hours already though I don’t claim to have been awake that length of time. I got a text from Mike saying he’d be on his way in half an hour so I can see I’ll have a story ahead of me.

I returned to work and was approaching the half past four mark when Mike arrived. Naturally I finished the email I was doing and then went to make him a drink and find out any more in the saga of the car. He’s brought is original car home with him and given them until next week on Wednesday to let him know which path they intend to take.Full repair of the fault at no charge or a court case. He’s quite determined on this and I’m glad since they might not like losing money like this but the problem is theirs based on the now admission that he has been covered by a 12 month warranty, or rather the car has, he’d be lucky to get three. We sat and watched our antique show and then I made something to eat while we quizzed until 7.00 pm. Then it was shower time and I was heartbroken that I had to wash my own hair while he indulged in phone calls. Bloody priorities eh? We quizzed and then quizzed once more before – just a minute, I know someone will say I nodded off for half the last quiz so I’ll admit it now– I decided that I’d better get back to work. There was plenty of mail waiting and plenty more coming in so apart from a break to take my tablets my bum was in my seat. I stopped work on the mail at 11.00 pm to be able to do te blog and I have an idea that by the time I finish this I shall be saying “Blow it, the rest can wait for the morning.”

Saturday.

It was a bust night but I forced myself to stop and go to bed at 12.45 am. I allowed myself just a quarter hour of reading. Despite that and the lack of sleep from yesterday (aw come on, I wasn’t that bad) it was still only 2.46 am today. Still, there’s no point in complaining since certain small gods have selective hearing. Anyway I knew there was a lot of work from yesterday I hadn’t managed to do and believe it or not I also had a special blogpost I wanted to do. Yes, two extra posts in one week, I know, I’m spoiling you aren’t I. ( Quiet at the back! ).It was a very tight squeeze but I managed to do it all before 6.30 am when I went to feed the fish before waking Mike . Now it’s today’s work I have a backlog problem with. HELP!!! The five remaining fish seem to be OK and I’m so relieved about it. I was afraid to think of adding more again. Not that I can afford to add the ones I had before. I took my meds and set the kettle going ready for Mike’s coffee. I prepared the mug for him. Perfectly times the kettle boiled just in time for 7.00 am and Mike’s Alarm could be heard beeping away., not for long though as he was quick to turn it off and roll over. The coffee was carried through and placed on the bedside table accompanied by my Calls of “Coffee’s up bro, and when you’re up you can tell me all about the mucky dream you had that caused you to have such a dirty laugh in your sleep this morning.” The more I spoke, the better my chances of waking him, I hoped, I was rewarded with a series of ,little  grunts that meant nothing.

Once I’d run out of daft ideas I went to take the food waste bin outside and the recycling bags. Much to my amazement ( and disappointment) when I came back in, Mike was up. A grand total of 1 A and 1 C today. Almost unheard of. By the time drinks had been drunk, loos visited and clothes donned we only just made leaving the house by 8.00 am with two minutes to spare. On the journey Mike showed how much he appreciated me getting him up in the morning by having a rock station on the radio playing the most disjointed cacophony of sound possible, in truth even he said he liked it through gritted teeth. I was glad to arrive at the store…until I saw the cash machines were all out of order. It was trying to upset my routine. Mike grinned. We did the shopping fairly quickly and went for a coffee, one of which was free today. From there we rolled on to Flint where we hit Home Bargains and then next door to Jolley’s to see about the price of a water testing kit fr the fishtank. My knees buckled when we saw it as almost £28.00. Luckily the manager said he’d test the water for us before we bought the kit to see if there were problems that had caused the fish to die. That was nice of him. At his moment Mike was caught short and we needed to fly for Temptations. Ceri and Helen were on, and we managed a few pleasant words at least until Mike spoke and lowered the tone completely. He and Cyril another regular were also having a bit of a joke with Ceri. Once he’d eaten his teasted toecake  I asked if we could go home while I checked to see how a leather jacket for John was doing. I’d only need be there a couple of minutes.

The jacket was getting too expensive so we ended up unpacking the bags, taking a sample of fishtank water in an old urine sample bottle I hope I hadn’t used (joke) which Mike made me put in my jacket before we set off for lunch. The Ivy was busy and our seats had gone so we had to use the reserves again. Disgusting. There’s a great big chimney in the way so Mike can’t lech over Angie all the time. Ha, perhaps that’s why she”s given our table away. I took the chocolates to the counter and she said she’d bring the drinks over which i  fact Rob did in the end. Have I mentioned how much I like seeing him now he’s relaxed and accepted the hug situation like everyone else. Not that anyone ever gets forced to hug you understand.Once I’d taken my pre foodie I went and ordered which was a special lamb burger for Mike and a gammon steak for me. Tariq came out and managed a quick hug but he was busy working. He just wouldn’t ignore us. We had the meal, said our goodbyes, funny how many people you get used to seeing regularly, and shot off to Prestatyn for some special batteries for Mike and a pair of stepladders also for Mike, either were a fair swap but the ladders were more useful. Then we had to backtrack to Flint at one point taking to the hills to avoid an accident on the main road that two Police cars were blocking the road for. In Flint w took the water to be tested. Every test came up negative which in some ways was a great relief as it means it isn’t my fault. It has to be the second Pictus Laurel who came in with something. Mke and I went halves on a testing kit, it would have been churlish not to after the manager had gone to so much trouble.

We came home. It was just 4.00 pm. Nine hours since I’d last touched an email. Aaaaarrggh. There were hundreds. I’ll be here till Christmas. I worked until 6.00 pm then went and did some tea. Allowing myself no more than half an hour I came back through to find whatever I’d done had been replaced while I was away. I’d have to forego TV tonight in order to try and get this pile down. I stopped at 11.00 pm to see to the bog. Now 12.05 pm and I’m going back to it.

I’m liking the Feast

Are you sure saying “What a lot of balls is OK Mummy”?

This one’s for you Ju.     

I wish you all a Wonderful Week filled with Hugs.