Well, weren’t we lucky with the weather today? The forecast predicted thunderstorms, including heavy rainfall, but we were spared all of that until this evening. We were especially pleased that the weather was clement because we had agreed to drive to George and Sue’s, just outside Northampton, to meet up with them and Dave and Chris. An experimental first since lock down: a barbecue in their garden, socially distanced? Oh, yes please.
I had intended to get up about eight o’clock this morning to prepare some salads as accompaniment to the barbecued meat, but what I hadn’t bargained on was a rude awakening. Just after 7.30, I could hear a yowling sound dripping into my consciousness. Over and over again. It sounded very familiar but, for a moment, I wasn’t able to place it. Then bingo! It’s a cat yowling. I leaped out of bed and looked out of the window. Yep, sure enough, there was Rio sitting at the bottom of the garden, looking very affronted, with the intruder sat before him, swishing his tail. I knew what that meant. Two seconds later, fur was flying and high-pitched yelling from both cats pierced my eardrums.
I hot-footed it downstairs, unlocked the house and belted out into the garden. That was enough to see the black cat intruder off the premises. Rio was sat, crouching under a wheelbarrow, unhurt, but with much of his fur adorning the path. He was OK but didn’t resist when I offered to pick him up and take him for his breakfast, which he wolfed down, so clearly there was no lasting damage.
Honestly, it’s been a ‘cat-o-three-tales’ in the last few days! I’m hoping the tales don’t soon add up to nine…. can’t take any more!
Anyway, drama over, I got on with sorting out the salads, chilling a bottle of Prosecco and preparing some fruit to take with us on our adventure to the far-distant lands of East Northants. Not long before take-off, however, coming in from watering the garden, I heard the landline ringing. One ring too short, I’d missed the call. A few seconds later, my mobile rang. It was George. “Did you get my message?” he asked. “Erm, no…..I’ve been in the garden,” I said, apologetically. “Ah, well. Dave and Chris can’t make it. They’re feeling iffy, so don’t want to risk coming. Do you still want to go ahead?” What a daft question. Of course, we still want to go ahead. Obviously, we’ll miss seeing Dave and Chris and are sorry they are feeling poorly, but we certainly didn’t want to miss out on seeing George and Sue, too. So off we went.
But boy, it was HOT. We didn’t check the actual temperature, but even at 8.30 tonight as we drove home in the ‘cool’ of the evening, it was still 30 degrees! We sheltered under the shade of the gazebo and followed its shadow round as the sun tracked its course in the sky. The Prosecco tasted good in the heat, but one glass was soon followed by several glasses of thirst-quenching, re-hydrating water. No-one was keen on too much alcohol today.
After we’d eaten delicious chicken, marinaded Chinese-style, and succulent sausages, and we’d exhausted the available shade under the gazebo, we moved up towards the house and sat in the shadow of the next-door neighbour’s hedge, jealously listening to them splashing in their garden pool. Feeling exceedingly hot, I borrowed one of Sue’s cotton T-shirts, replacing the nylon top I’d foolishly put on this morning. I settled into my chair. Ooh, it reclines. I’ll do a bit of that then. Everyone was chatting; John had lots to say today; George encouraged him and soon, I was soothed by the sonorous sound of John’s voice and my eyelids drooped. I fell asleep. For hours.
How very embarrassing. Yet, George and Sue were so kind and said it didn’t matter, and that they were pleased I felt relaxed enough at their home to be able to take a nap. John teased me of course, said I’d snored a lot and that he’d made an outrageous suggestion to which I’d agreed – and how come I didn’t remember? I did remember waking up once, though, when Sue offered me a Magnum – two in two days(!!) – which I ate, and then promptly fell asleep again after I’d eaten it.
Reluctantly, we said our farewells to our dear friends and set off home. The sky was exciting, with the sunset spilling through the wispy clouds, and then we spied one very large cloud, rising like a mushroom plume. Oooh, does that look like it might turn into a thundercloud? We didn’t know it then, but it certainly did. The nearer we got to home, the larger and darker the cloud became until at last, the thunderstorm broke spectacularly at about ten o’clock.
On the way home, Paul FaceTimed us but we were driving so we waited until we got home for a long chat. It was so lovely to see him, sitting outside with a beer just chillin’ on his holidays. They’d all been to ‘Go Ape!’ today and had had fun so I was delighted to see him looking so relaxed. Nice.
Not so nice are the figures being reported on the virus – 102 deaths as of 5 p.m. yesterday in all settings and 1,148 lab-confirmed cases. Hotting up? We’ll see.
In the meantime, I am hoping that this hot, sticky weather doesn’t make life too difficult for you and that your days are peaceful and contented. God bless.