Month: June 2026

John’s Lotus is still sitting in the garage cuddling his ashes. He’s in the driver’s seat. Now, this may all seem a bit macabre to you, but to us it’s great comfort. Can’t tell you why, but it is.

Mind you, he hadn’t been in the driver’s seat for the last few months. I’d taken the front seats to the upholsterer for repair. They were finally finished last week and I drove down to Ditton Priors to collect them today. It was a beautiful trip – sun shining, gorgeous countryside, hardly any traffic and memories of John and me doing the trip a couple of times before. Lovely.

Paul came round to pop the seats in the garage this afternoon as they are a bit on the heavy side. They just need fixing into the car now, the engine starting and we’ll be having a little jaunt around the village again. Might take John with us….. hehe.

Meanwhile, when Paul arrived and walked into the house, he said, “Crikey, Mum, why are you all in the dark?” Ah, well, there’s a story behind that, of course. “I’m practising,” I replied. He looked puzzled. “All the curtains closed to see how cool I can make the house – ready for the heatwave.” Ah….. he nodded. “And so I can tell Dawn how cool it is at mine in case we decide it’s too hot to go to her house on Saturday after Lizzy’s ordination.” Ah-ha…. “See? “I reminded him, “I’m not totally crazy!” – as I thwacked, and thwacked again, yet more flies dozily resting by the kitchen window…..

In other news, on Monday last, I met up with my college girls, Liz and Anita, to visit the Weleda Garden in Ilkeston. I absolutely loved it. Plants being grown to be turned into homeopathic remedies and skin care products. Brilliant. Right up my street. And guess what? I bought some Arnica. If you know – you know……

I put my sensible head on this week and decided to get someone to investigate the problems with my washing machine and tumble dryer. Washing machine is irreparable but still usable. The machine makes a noise like a rocket going off when it spins. Something or other is worn apparently, and it’s not worth replacing. The tumble dryer however, needs a new circuit board – easy enough. Excellent.

I put a wash on after the engineer had left……. I went into the lounge, then a few minutes later came back to make a cuppa. As I wandered round to the fridge for the milk, I wondered why I was paddling…… oh, Lordy, the utility room was awash. The washing machine was trying, in vain, to fill with water. Mop and bucket to the fore!

The engineer returned the following day and re-attached a hose he’d failed to attach properly previously. It’s working now. That’s good isn’t it? And not only that, the bonus is that it forced me to clean the floor!

And then there’s been a bit of gardening…… well, mostly weeding, with the side of the house growing tons of weeds in between the paving slabs. But the gardening thrill must be my haul of blackcurrants.

Hehe. Who snaffled the rest of them then? Pesky birds…… grr…… I’m doing nothing but feeding snails, squirrels and birds these days!!! Ah, well, they’re all God’s creatures and part of life’s rich tapestry, I suppose.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Ah…… what a time I’ve been having! Landed back to base in Balsall after a fabulous time in Turkey – and immediately set off on more adventures. Lucky, lucky me!

First of all, there was some catching up to do: there were long-lost friends to entertain for lunch; a morning of helping to look after my goddaughter’s daughter; a coffee morning with one of my cousins; and a couple of days of Thames Path walking.

Lunch with my long-lost friends was entertaining – we reminisced like nobody’s business and laughed like drains. Great fun after a gap of forty-odd years!

The following day, I thoroughly enjoyed helping to look after Flo, Pete and Dawn’s granddaughter, for the first time ever. She was amazing. Such a character and so delightful. I mean, I generally like looking after children anyway, and ones’ own grandchildren are just the best, but Flo came in competing with the best! A fabulous morning.

A couple of days later, I toddled over to my cousin Janet’s for a coffee. We hadn’t seen each other in really quite a long while, so it was a blessing to have a good old catch-up. We may not belong to the same generation as such, but we get along so well, it’s lovely to enjoy each other’s company.

It had also been a while since I saw my friend Ann, with whom I walk the Thames Path. The last time we planned to walk we had to cancel, so we were both looking forward to it.

It turned out really well – despite the weather and the ‘Fawlty Towers’ hotel we stayed in!! Wonky floors; a no-shower shower; a door that you couldn’t open; and a kettle that wouldn’t boil? Erm…. yes! Rain and thunder and lightening? Also yes……. but we kept smiling.

Historically, I have resisted a long walk – the book recommends 12 miles a day, at which I have baulked. However, on our first day, we managed ten miles. We were both delighted with our progress and ploughed on for seven miles on our second day. The sun began to shine then, and although I was a little footsore, the thrill of doing a bit further than expected was great compensation. We look chuffed with ourselves, don’t we?

Following on from the walk, I filled my boots at Cheals Restaurant in Knowle with my ‘fine dining’ friends from the Bereavement Group, before trotting off on a Yoga Retreat weekend.

I loved it. I know it wasn’t entirely the case, but it felt like the weekend had been tailored to me. I mentioned this to Jaime, our Yoga Guru, and she said she had thought about my needs for the weekend, so I felt made up. How kind is that?

And here’s the class of 2026 – all chilled and grinning like Cheshire Cats!

Fresh from the Yoga weekend, I fell straight into babysitting for the Kenilworth Newbies who celebrated their 10th Wedding Anniversary in Venice. It wasn’t an arduous task at all, of course, because I love the grandchildren to bits and it was a pleasure and privilege to be able to help out for a day or two.

Michael and Danielle had a brilliant time sampling the sights, sounds, food and drink of the world’s most romantic city. And don’t they look glamourous as they relax in the sunshine?

I said goodbye to Andrew again on Sunday as he set off on another culinary experience in Cornwall. A new restaurant, Mor, is being opened in Carbis Bay and he’s there with former colleagues setting it all up. Today, they’ve had an evening with the sponsors, Rolls-Royce – and apparently, a Rolls-Royce car was driven into a cleared space in the restaurant…… blimey!! That’s making a statement, isn’t it?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my ‘flying high’ experience culminated in the development of a ‘fly factory’ in my kitchen. Just a few flies at first, then a few more and then…. I mean, it felt like thousands!!

I mentioned it to Pete and Dawn when I visited them yesterday – there might have been Prosecco involved – and explained that I was hunting the little devils down. Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

And, not only that, I was looking for a dead body. I mean, surely, that many flies must be feeding on something nasty? Pete shook his head and said, mournfully, “You’ll never find the source.”

Of course, I have spent the day searching and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning…. and naturally, Pete was right, as he so often is, no source was found – no dead bodies, no leftover food, no rotting fruit – in fact, nothing that warranted such a volume of the dastardly things. Ah, well, maybe tomorrow there’ll be fewer of them floating about by my kitchen window. Hope so, anyway – the thwacker is worn out!!

Take care everyone. God bless.