Water – hello

After the thunderstorms and downpours overnight on Tuesday I am delighted to report that John’s handiwork with the water butt proved to be perfect! It was FULL yesterday morning! Ooh, I can’t tell you how excited I was by the sight of water almost lapping the edges when we lifted the lid!! What a sight for sore eyes, eh?

Wednesday was quite a busy day for us one way and another. We were up early and out of the front door by 8.30, zooming off to Heartlands for John’s regular immunoglobulin treatment.

Bless him, he’d had a rotten night’s sleep and he was looking forward to a snooze in his comfy chair at the hospital. No such luck apparently. With new nurses on the ward, he was charged with calling the nurse back every thirty minutes so that they could check the flow of the infusion – to either speed it up or slow it down. That kept him awake. Not only that, he was waiting for a telephone consultation from Paneesha mid-morning, so that kept him on his toes and awake, too. By the time I collected John at mid-day, he was longing for his comfy chair and some shut-eye at home….

While John had been enjoying his morning at the hospital, I kept busy with a spot of painting, a bit of washing and hanging it out to dry (in a drizzle), tidying round, stripping beds and so on. Having spent much of my spare time titivating in the dining room recently, the rest of the house has gone to rack and ruin, so it was calling……. ah, it’s still calling, dagnammit!

After lunch I put a casserole in the oven, so that I could have an early meal before my open water swim later on at 6.30, and then I set on to peel, slice and freeze the pounds of apples that I’d picked from Paul and Harriet’s tree the other day. Great fun. There’s something very satisfying about ‘grow your own’, isn’t there?

I left John watching TV while I shot off for my swim. Just the two of us this time – Anita and me – as Linda is on her ‘olidays in Somerset. We enjoyed it again, and I thought I did a lot better at getting into the water. However, when I suggested such a thing, Anita said, “No, you didn’t,” making us both laugh. Oh…. alright then. Next time maybe?

We swam in the lanes again and did non-stop swimming to prepare us for the moment when we actually strike out of the lanes and get into the open lake. Yes, we agreed, nodding to each other, we can probably do the 250-metre circuit without a worry. Hmmm, hope so – planning to have a go at that next week.

After a significant lapse of time since Anita and I agreed we’d meet up in Solihull for a visit to the Apple shop and a spot of lunch, we finally made it today. And what a lovely day it was. We had such a lovely time together.

Anita planned to buy a phone. We browsed and fiddled with the display models; we chatted to the young man who was serving us. I thought I might buy a phone too. “Do you do deals?” I asked cheekily, “Buy one, get one free?” No, they didn’t – but they did price match. Boom! That’ll do. So we both bought ourselves a phone each. “There’s clearly no cost of living crisis in the Apple shop,” Anita observed, as she looked round the crowded shop. No, there certainly wasn’t. Ouch! I did feel a bit guilty about getting a new phone then. But I’d already paid, so………

Once the purchasing was over, we took ourselves off for a bite to eat. “We can try the Italian?” I suggested, thinking of Carluccio’s. Anita would have preferred an independently-run Italian restaurant. Maybe Cotes, which was next door? I baulked a bit at that one, it seemed to be very busy. We spied a Japanese restaurant across the road. “How about that?” I offered. We were a bit doubtful, never having eaten in a Japanese restaurant before. It wasn’t busy, so we braved it. And loved it.

John was busy on his car when I got back from town. “How’s your day been?” I wondered. “I’ve been asleep most of the day,” John replied, sheepishly. “Dunno why I am so tired.” Hmmmm, me neither?

“I’m just going to nip up to Pete’s,” I told him, “to give him his birthday present.” Right. John was just in the middle of gluing up his windscreen: “I can’t stop now,” he said. Well, I was only going to drop the present in, wish Peter a happy 70th birthday and not stop, so no worries. Hahaha. “John not with you?” they said; “Come in, come in.” they said; “Have a drink!” they said. Honestly, I really didn’t stop long.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Oh, by the way, Susie Dent’s Word of the Day is a reminder of ‘ipsedixitism’ (18th century): the assertion that something is ‘fact’ based on one person’s opinion. Once again, I have no idea to what or whom she is referring……chuckle, chuckle.