Month: February 2023

A lovely sunny day and not bitterly cold. Nevertheless, we all stayed in bed until late morning and then thought we’d nip up to Oakes’ for breakfast. Regrettably, we’d just missed it by a few minutes, so we had lunch instead!

We had a lovely time, and it was nice to spend an hour or two together with Andrew before he set off back to Cambridge.

John spent some time sorting out access to Twickenham on his phone and the computer, and Andrew assisted. Thank goodness. I’m not as hot as I used to be on the ol’ computer, so it was good have a young man’s head working it out.

Paul has secured tickets for the England vs Italy match in the Six Nations on Sunday, so between them they are planning how to get there. Exciting, isn’t it? Fingers crossed health permits…..

After Andrew left, I spent the rest of the afternoon rummaging in the old ‘utility’ room, which is actually a store now. The aim was to try and clear it a bit so that we don’t have to fight our way in. It’s not finished of course, because I did a bit, stopped a bit, then did a bit more. I have found one or two things for the charity shop though, so that’s helpful.

After tea, I gave Gloria a ring to see how she was doing. Naturally, dreadfully upset, but doing OK so far. Bless her, she was still recovering from a virus she’d caught that had given her a terrible cough, so that doesn’t help, does it? However, Christiana was there with her new addition to the family, young Nicholas, so that’s taking Gloria’s mind off dwelling on everything.

This evening we searched through all the various channels we now have access to again, since the scaffolding came down on Friday afternoon, to find something we fancied watching. In the end, we watched an old film called St. Vincent in which Bill Murray starred. Not very PC since the producers were the Weinstein brothers……. ah well, we enjoyed it anyway. It was a bit of a ‘feelgood’ movie which suited our mood.

Tomorrow, there’s more utility room to sort out, but we’re thinking we might go out for the day. There’s no Quiz Night this week, so we’re free to take our time. Not sure where we might go. Suggestions?

Take care everyone. God bless.

Andrew said he’d come home yesterday, so I went out and killed the fatted calf as usual. He suggested the family come over for a roast dinner. ‘That’ll be nice,’ I thought, anticipating that someone else would do the prep and the cooking.

Disappointingly, the Kenilworth Originals couldn’t come – Freddie has chicken pox and was still infectious. He was at the sore throat stage and not feeling his normal cheery self, snuggling up on the sofa, wrapped up in a blanket, waiting to feel better.

I wondered if there was anything we could send over to cheer him up. Lucozade? A comic perhaps? Yes, Harriet thought that would be nice, so I popped over at lunchtime, bearing gifts. Bless him, he was thrilled with the comics and a book of maze puzzles, plus his Lucozade.

The Kenilworth Newbies were available to come for a roast however, so plans were afoot to get things ready for about five o’clock. I didn’t rush away from Paul and Harriet’s though, staying for a cuppa and chatting to Paul for about an hour, which was lovely. I looked at the time. It was 2.20 – probably time to go to help Andrew with the cooking I thought, so I said my goodbyes and set off home.

I hadn’t been driving long when the phone went. It was Andrew. “I can’t talk now,” I said, “I’m driving!” “No worries,” he replied, “I’ll call you back, but just to let you know that I can’t find my car keys so I might not come home.” Whaaaaat? Still in Cambridge? And what about the fatted calf?

Two minutes later, a text came in. ‘I’ve found them!’ Well, that was good news. But, of course, I’d been hoping that Andrew would cook the roast….. it didn’t look like he’d be back in time to cook, but just arrive in time to sit down for the meal.

Fortunately, Michael came to the rescue. No sooner did he hear that Andrew was delayed than he set to and started prepping the veg. I put the joint in the oven, made the Yorkshire Puddings and an apple crumble, and then beat a hasty retreat to have a rest in the lounge.

John, meanwhile, had been entertaining the children and had switched from the Six Nations rugby match to Cbeebies. I swapped with him and entertained the children instead.

Andrew arrived home about 4.15 and conferred with Michael about the ‘cuisson’ of the joint. They agreed it needed a bit longer, so a bottle of wine was opened while they waited.

In the end, we sat down to eat about 5.30 (not too bad…) and enjoyed a delicious Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding dinner. We vowed to cook the same meal again when the Kenilworth Sleaths could join us, too. We do love our family time.

Today was a different day altogether. I was up early to answer the door to the roofer who was tidying up the last few tiles, and then I walked down to surgery for a blood test. John got himself up mid-morning and got ready to go to his follow-on exercise class at Tudor Grange Sports Centre in Solihull. Andrew slept on until mid-afternoon. So far, so good.

Our day was rocked, however, at lunchtime, when we received a message from Christiana telling us that her stepfather, Terry, had been rushed to hospital and it wasn’t looking good. We then received another message a couple of hours later to tell us that he had passed away. Oh my life! What a shock. Although Terry had been unwell for several years with one thing and another, this came out of the blue. Naturally, our thoughts are with Gloria, Christiana and Terry’s family, praying that they find the strength to deal with whatever comes at them now.

Yes, family time – even more acutely aware of how important it is today.

Take care everyone. God bless.

It’s the rugby season and the start of the Six Nations, kicking off with the contest for the Calcutta Cup between England and Scotland. We had high hopes as we sat down to watch, but were as disappointed as last year when we lost. It was an excellent game though and very keenly fought, so we enjoyed it nonetehless.

Between matches, we took ourselves out into the garden for a bit of fresh air. John filled up one of the green bins with more hedge clippings and I emptied all of the growbags that are now surplus to requirements, tipping the compost under the hedge at the bottom of the garden.

I also inspected the bird feeder that I had so carefully hung up down there. I had watched a squirrel for a good twenty minutes this morning, hanging upside-down, stuffing its face and emptying the blooming thing! True enough, the bird-feeder was half empty……. can you spot the squirrel, hanging on by its tail?

We both felt pleased with what we had done in the garden, but were positive that we’d done enough and, if any more gardening were required, we’d be doing it tomorrow.

I had lazed in bed all morning, feeling as if I had overdone it a little yesterday. I mean, I only sorted out papers, so it shouldn’t really have been arduous, but I did spend a while doing the job (all afternoon) so perhaps it was the time taken rather than the activity itself that told on me.

Anyway, once I was up and abluted, I nipped up to Oakes’ to buy a bit of meat and veg. I was in the mood to buy something exciting, but didn’t see anything particular that took my fancy so I came home with just meat and veg. Ah, well.

Nothing more to report – at least, if there is, I don’t seem to remember it!! After all, one can only write so much about eating meals, drinking tea, bed-making and watching TV, can’t one?

Take care everyone. God bless.

Oh, for the day when I can say we are on top form!! We are better but not best and it’s more than frustrating now.

We lazed in bed this morning. John thought he’d try out the heavy-weighted blanket that I had been gifted for my birthday and he thoroughly enjoyed it. I finally got out of bed at mid-day just as Danielle texted to wonder if we were up for a visit from her, ‘Tom and Ollie’. Yes, of course, we thought we could manage that!

It was lovely to see her and the children – but we did use Paw Patrol as a bit of a baby-sitter in the absence of our energy to play. I quickly grabbed a photo of them all just as they were getting ready to go home and were putting their shoes and socks on……Thomas really hadn’t been sitting that close to the screen all afternoon, I promise!!

After the family left, we sat for a while and rested a bit before we went outside to clear some of the hedge clippings into the green bin. The binmen cometh tomorrow. We puffed and panted a bit, but we got up some of the leaves from the path as well and filled two bins. We were rather pleased with ourselves. We had actually done something useful today! John puffed and panted a bit more as he gathered some wood and coal for the open fire in readiness for the cold snap they are promising us next week.

After tea, we simply watched TV, and I cleared three folders of papers from the Job Squad days. We had kept the documents for the required five years and it’s now time to get rid. That’s a little bit more clutter out of the way. Still a bit more to go, but we’re on it.

And that’s about it. Every task is like walking through treacle but we are at last doing a few bits and pieces. Maybe we’ll feel properly better next week? Fingers crossed.

Take care everyone. God bless.

We have had a day of ‘not a lot’ and we have mostly felt tired today. One step forward, two back?

We were up early and trotted off to Heartlands so that John would have his immunoglobulin infusion this morning. I dropped him off and got back home, just as the Heart Foundation arrived to collect our old dining chairs. That’s one bit of clutter out of the way anyway.

I made a cuppa and thought I’d quickly phone the hospital appointments line to see what was happening about my eye referral. ‘You are in a queue. You are Number 28.‘ Ha! So much for a quick phone call. The upshot was that they can see the referral on the system and it turns out it’s a ‘regular’ one rather than ‘urgent’ which I had originally understood it to be. “There is a waiting list,” said the appointments co-ordinator. “What timescale am I looking at then? Six months? Twelve months?” Apparently it’s 18 months.

I went into ‘I’ll sue’ mode if the cysts in my eye turn out to be cancerous….. and naturally, I was then on the phone to the optician to see if there’s anything they can do speed the appointment up. I am awaiting a reply.

I collected John from the hospital and we came home for a bite to eat. John popped the telly on and sat and watched ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ while I promptly fell asleep, only waking up two and half hours later ready to cook some tea.

John spent some time on the computer, trying to establish a connection with a company from whom he’d bought some toys for the children, via Wowcher, and not yet received. Apparently, there’s a bit of a wait before he can speak to anyone about it….

We did Quiz Night this evening which was great fun. Lovely to see everyone and share stories as well as our knowledge.

And that was us today, folks! Tired again now, and off to bed.

Take care everyone. God bless.