leukaemia-limbo-dance

It’s been a funny old day. What was planned wasn’t quite what happened but there we are – that’s life!

I was up early in readiness for my little yoga class to fulfill my challenge for June, and I managed to creak my way through it. I had planned to do my normal class with Jaime at 9.15, too. However, John had a medical consultation at 10.00 and, although he said he’d be fine on his own, there was just something that niggled away at me enough to say I’d stay at home and be there.

I was pleased I did because, although it was a pre-op assessment, there were lots of questions that needed both our heads to find the answers. This is all in preparation for a biopsy on the prostate at the end of June. The assessment took quite a while and afterwards our heads were buzzing full of what’s involved.

John had started down the route of consulting those in the private medical arena but thought now he didn’t need to go ahead. I wondered whether another discussion, face-to-face with someone might help, so he’s cancelled one and stuck with the other. We’ll see.

This morning my head was also filled with anxiety over a poorly cat. Shadow has not responded to the thyroid treatment he’s been taking and is as skinny as a lath. The vet had advised me to go back after a couple of weeks anyway, so I booked up to see the vet at lunchtime.

The vet was straight with me. Investigation is needed to find out what is going on with Shadow’s mouth – but the anaesthetic could bring on a heart attack. Or, examine him under duress – which could bring on a heart attack. He’s a very poorly cat. On the other hand…… ‘if you want to go down the (euphemistically-called) RIP route, I’d support you’.

Discussions to be had with the boys methinks. After all, the cats are theirs…..

This afternoon, John went out to visit his friend Hobbo and left me to my own devices at home. Honestly, I thought my strings had been cut. I wafted about for a bit with a million and one jobs to be done but, without the impetus of John behind me, I wasn’t quite so motivated.

In the end, I got a chair out of the shed and sat in the sunshine sunning myself for a while, communing with the Universe. It’s the first time for a long time that we’ve actually had sunshine.

I got on then, after about half an hour, to do a few bits and pieces before John came back and then we both sat out in the garden in the ever-receding-behind-a-cloud sunshine. Nice.

Meanwhile, the plasterer has been here all day putting up the plasterboards. He’s worked hard and has nearly got them all up and fixed. Tomorrow, the final boarding, then the beginnings of the skim…..

This evening I went to my prayer group and was pleased to be in the company of bright, intelligent women. We had a good discussion and I came home uplifted but with plenty to think about.

Michael popped in this evening to see how Shadow is doing, had a cuppa and stayed for about half an hour before shooting off home again. Paul had popped in earlier in the day to pick up a credit card he’d left behind, and we spoke to Andrew on the phone this afternoon. Can’t be bad – all three sons in one day. More nice.

I have mostly ignored the goings on in Parliament and the repeated ‘let’s draw a line under…..whatever the latest issue or scandal is’, but I am aware of the bleatings of the Prime Minister’s friends, which seem very shallow to me. I may be in the minority here, but goodness me it feels like a horrible, sticky little mess.

Susie Dent’s Word of the Day? It is ‘struthonian’ (1960s): one who ignores unwelcome facts and buries their head in the sand. From the Latin ‘struthio’, ‘ostrich’. Ha!

Take care everyone. God bless. Let Him carry you.

What a fabulous weekend. Exhausting, but fabulous! The Kenilworth Newbies had been invited to a wedding. ‘No children allowed’ said the invitation…… ah…. hmmmm….. oh, well, alright then, you can bring the baby. Which, of course, meant that we had William and Thomas to stay. Oh, what bliss.

The whole family arrived on Friday evening so that the grown-ups could get togged up in their very best clothes on Saturday morning without sticky fingers all over them. Eeh, it were lovely.

We played and chatted – mostly William, who has such a lot to tell us, but Thomas did his utmost to compete. The only problem is that we don’t always understand what Thomas is trying to tell us yet. We read stories, watched TV (of course) and splish-splashed in the bath, before settling the pair of them into bed.

William couldn’t sleep. We read a couple of books. I sang some lullabies. “What are we going to do tomorrow?” William wondered. “Well, we’re going to make banana cake, aren’t we? And then we’re going to see Freddie in the afternoon at Uncle Paul and Auntie Harriet’s.” He ruminated a bit and then said “You won’t forget to take me, will you?” Fat chance of that! “No,” I said gently, “I won’t forget.”

“I think I need some warm milk to help me get to sleep,” he said. Oh? “Mummy gave me warm milk the other day and told me it would help me get to sleep.” Ah… right. I checked with Mummy. “I’ll go up,” she said. She wasn’t keen to make warm milk at bedtime a regular thing. Turns out William needed the loo. He went to sleep fairly promptly after that. Thomas, of course, had hit the pillow and was out like a light.

The next day, the grown-ups washed and brushed themselves up and looked rather lovely to go to their wedding.

After we’d waved bye-bye to Mummy and Daddy, we got down to the serious business of getting dressed and getting on with the day. First stop: the shops, to buy sugar and then make banana cake. Thomas fell asleep in the buggy, so William and I got on with the job.

The cake looked just right as I popped it into the oven. A rookie error, however, and it came out of the oven looking like this:

I had failed to put the loaf tin on a baking tray. The tin had lurched over in the oven, spilling half its contents onto the muffin tin below and had cooked at a 45° angle. Tasted good though!

Once Thomas was awake, we were off! Paul had sent us a photo of the luscious spread they had on offer at their house-warming party – and it was, naturally, too good to resist.

What a wonderful afternoon we had. The children were in their element, playing and running about with all the other children there. We were delighted to meet up with Paul’s old school friends again and other old acquaintances. It was a really good get-together. Regretfully, I was so busy playing and chatting I didn’t take photos…..

On Sunday, we all agreed it was going to be ‘chill’ time. Everyone was tired after the parties. Thomas, who had been as good as gold on Saturday, decided to treat us to the ‘terrible twos’ on Sunday and had one of the biggest meltdowns ever. Michael bore the brunt of it, with Thomas being very cross with him and following him out of the room just so that he could scream a bit more at him, in case Daddy hadn’t quite got the message that he was the bad guy. Hmmm….. I wonder if the trigger was all the pastries and sugar he’d eaten at the party on Saturday…..? Ooops.

This morning I was up with the lark to continue my 30-day Yoga challenge, and was just coming to the end of the Zoom class when the doorbell rang. It was the plasterer arrived to create magic in our dining room. Or, alternatively, create a helluva mess…… dust everywhere. Although, to be fair, he really did keep the mess down to a minimum.

We left him to get on with the job while we went about our day. I was busy in the kitchen when John’s phone rang – it was Paul. “Doing anything this afternoon?” Nope, we’re just chilling. “Can we come over? Freddie and me?” Well, of course!

So another lovely afternoon. And more cake made. This time it was ‘Devil’s food’. But once again, no photos – I really am rubbish at this lark!!! But suffice to say, they taste brilliant, and Freddie has taken a cake tin full of the muffins home with him.

An eventful few days which means that we haven’t fully caught up on the celebrations everyone was having to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Or all the shenanigans in the House of Commons today…..

Susie Dent’s Word of the Day today is ‘corrump’ (14th century): to destroy something morally, or bring it down to nothing. Can’t think what she’s talking about. Certainly not the Jubilee celebrations.

Take care everyone. God bless.

“Fancy a family picnic in the park?” Harriet asked us last week. Oooh, yes please, we all said (except Andrew couldn’t as he found he was working), and so we arranged to meet up at lunchtime today in Abbey Fields. Gosh, we so enjoyed ourselves.

We had wondered whether it might be busy/would we get a parking spot/how would the weather hold? But we needn’t have worried. It wasn’t too busy. We sailed into a parking spot as easy as you like. We didn’t have far to walk to set ourselves up. And the weather held beautifully and it was very mild.

Here we are, setting up our little area and you will notice that we had our priorities right – everyone is getting a drink in hand. Tee-hee.

Not only that, but everyone behaved themselves. We were comfortable in each others’ company and we shared out the various activities between us. Of course, us girls had brought the kitchen sink with us ‘just in case’, but we had an amazing spread of food, games to play, adventures to be had and, of course, great topics of conversation.

Naturally, we were there courtesy of Her Majesty so Paul had brought cake…… and it was absolutely delicious. Red Velvet…..

We played football, tennis, chase, hide-and-seek and ‘pick-me-up-and-twirl-me-round-please-Grandma’. We took the boys to the park to play where they had a very happy three-quarters of an hour making themselves sick on spinny things. We practised flexing our muscles on the park equipment, doing chin-ups and hanging from a great height. We clambered over obstacle courses and squealed when we nearly fell off. And then we went on a riverside adventure…. and next time we’re going to take our wellies.

The kids had a great time dropping Pooh Sticks over one side of the bridge then chasing to the other side to watch them float by. Great excitement when they spotted their own and, what bliss, there was no competition, just delight that their Pooh Stick had made it.

Then it was target practice throwing pebbles into the river and aiming at a rock in the middle of the water. More thrills and excitement when anyone hit the target. Even the grown-ups!

When we had hoovered up all of the food, drunk most of the drinks, eaten our ice creams and generally exhausted ourselves at play, we thought it was probably time to leave. “I mean,” said Lily, “we’ve been here nearly five hours!” Wow. We were clearly enjoying ourselves.

We packed up and trundled the stuff to the car. “Pub?” Yes. Nods all round. Pub. So we walked up past the church and settled ourselves into the Virgins and Castle, where we whiled away another couple of hours….. Eeh, bliss.

The Kenilworth Sleaths all walked home to Michael and Danielle’s and were just in the throes of ordering a take-away when John and I left. We were tired. All that fresh air – it makes you tired, doesn’t it? And so we came home and put our feet up for a couple of hours, allowing us to reflect on a perfect day. We had had such fun. Thank the Lord for family and friends who hold us dear. Love is the answer whatever the question.

Take care everyone. God bless. Enjoy your extended weekend whatever you plan to do.

Oh, and before you go: Susie Dent reminded us today that ‘we can all be gruntled, ruthful, mayed, ept, couth, kempt, feckful and full of gorm. Each is a lost positive from the dictionary, just waiting for a comeback.‘ Any takers?

I was up with the lark this morning to do a yoga class – and very good it was, too. One down, 29 to go – but I am hoping that the habit will be ingrained by the end of the challenge and that I’ll still want to get up early every day and practise yoga. Let’s see, shall we?

We’ve had a busy day, generally speaking, with a visit from Richard and Jill. How lovely to sit and natter over lunch at the Saracen’s Head and then come home and sit and natter some more over a cuppa. Really enjoyed it.

In between nattering we have done our standard things of faffing about with the Lotus (John, that is) and watching the tennis on telly (me, of course). I also had fun this morning making some little pies to take on our ‘picnic in the park’ tomorrow. The recipe only made six, but they look good. Hoping that they’ll taste good too. Wonder if they’ll feed the five thousand?

This evening it was Quiz Night and we were Quiz Masters. I am always nervous when it’s our turn, just in case we make it too easy or too hard and it’s not enjoyable. I think it was relatively hard, but people did enjoy it. Hope so anyway. And some of the answers were inspired, with Brendan being awarded the badge for being the brainiest tonight – especially as he ‘knew’ the answer to why lobsters don’t die of old age.

Take care everyone, Covid is still about and weaving its evil spell so you need to be careful. God bless.

I woke up at a reasonable time this morning and knew that the dawn had broken. The birds were singing their heads off and the light was creeping under the blackout blinds. But I knew it wasn’t sunshine. Nevertheless, I raised the blinds in hope. Nope. No sunshine. Just a grey sky and a damp garden. Ah well, I thought, maybe it will brighten up later.

Regrettably, the sun has been notable by its absence today. We have had plenty of dark skies and several bouts of rainfall. There was one moment when the sun peeped through the clouds as John and I walked up to the dry cleaners in Kenilworth. It was so warm that it caused us to comment on its heat. But two minutes later it had gone and we were commenting on the cool air instead.

I wonder when we are going to get some lush weather? I could do with a bit of sit out on the swinging chair in the garden with my book. Maybe tomorrow? It’s the first day of June tomorrow – surely we are in for some decent weather soon and we can cast the clouts……

We scrambled ourselves ready this morning to nip over to the Kenilworth Newbies to babysit for an hour while Michael and Danielle went to look for a car. They came back not having bought one. However, we think they may have narrowed down the choice of carriage to accommodate their larger-than-expected brood. Fingers crossed that a decent vehicle comes on the market shortly.

On the way home, as it was nearly lunchtime, I suggested we go to Oakes Farm for a bite to eat. John has been feeling particularly miserable in recent days as he frets about the situation with his prostate cancer. Not having heard from the consultant, we have been pestering the secretary and anyone else who would listen. In the absence of anything sensible from the NHS, John has been investigating private consultations to see what can be done.

This morning, however, it was the GP John contacted, and he was actually quite helpful, revealing that he had had the results of the MRI scan (which we haven’t received) but they weren’t as positive as we had hoped. Then, out of the blue, a text message came through, announcing an appointment for John to have a ‘pre-operative assessment’ by phone next Tuesday. We’ll see what’s what then but, in the meantime, John is all over the shop with anxiety, as you can imagine. Not sure I’m a lot of help but I am trying to keep an even keel on things as best as I can.

Meanwhile, John has been determined to do a bit on his car this afternoon. This time, it was sorting out a wiring harness for the door of the Lotus. This involved lots of soldering and fiddling with tiny bits of wire. John has a specialist tool for the job and a large box of little connectors, all different colours, to play with.

He decided to play with it all at the breakfast bar in the kitchen. I was in the lounge when I heard a clunk and a tinkling of something all over the floor, followed by, “Oh, sh*t!!!” As I rounded the corner of the kitchen, I saw all the pretty-coloured connectors strewn all over the floor. Ha! We then spent a happy hour together at the breakfast bar – John with his soldering iron working on his wiring harness, and me with a pair of tweezers encouraging the connectors back into their respective homes in the box. Eeeh, we do live an exciting life!

In between times, I have been pottering about with a bit of housework and intermittently watching (or fast-forwarding) the tennis. Some of the matches have been fabulous – and the standard of play absolutely stunning – so I am enjoying watching.

And there we are. Another day over. And tomorrow, I start my 30-Day Yoga Challenge to raise money for Cancer Research. Thank you to everyone who has donated. I am thrilled because every penny helps.

The link for donations is here if there is anyone else happy to add to the coffers of research that only charity currently funds. Or, at least, I don’t think Cancer Research gets any/much money from the government, do they?

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/annes-yoga-challenge-giving-page-9

Take care everyone. God bless.

I know we don’t go to work, but there is something psychological about a Monday, isn’t there? It reminds us of those days long ago when we dragged ourselves out of bed to get into the office or wherever it was that we did a few hours in exchange for some pay.

So we felt lucky this morning that we could stay in bed for just a bit longer and generally relax a bit. In the aftermath of what has been a busy few weeks and being ‘on the go’ we are both feeling quite tired.

“What are your plans for the day?” John asked. This morning I planned to get on and finish writing the quiz ready for Wednesday evening and then this afternoon? I shrugged. I didn’t really know – I thought I’d better keep it free just incase the Kenilworth Newbies needed a hand. In the end, they didn’t call us, so we were at our leisure.

John beavered away on Mum’s affairs again, getting the run around from one council to another. He is a good man, helping me. He knows I am grateful, but I’m just not that great at showing it…..ah well, maybe tomorrow…..

Meanwhile, we both took a little potter up to the shops to buy some nice things for lunch and our evening meal, which we both enjoyed. The walking bit is a bit of a struggle for John just now, but he’s pressing on and took himself out again this afternoon to get a breath of fresh air.

I decided that a spot of Roland Garros was what I needed, so spent much of the afternoon watching that before I finalised the quiz. Honestly, the quiz took nearly all day, I was so slow! Anyway it’s finished now, so all good.

And that’s been us today. Not a lot to report really.

Take care everyone. God bless.

We have had a busy weekend at Lucy’s wedding. It was beautiful. I wore make-up and more or less cried the whole lot off before we’d even started, what with this emotion and that all welling up unasked and uninvited. But I didn’t care and didn’t mind because the event was such a happy one.

We were blessed to have Jack stopping with us on Friday evening and overnight so that he wouldn’t get lost in the throngs of people at his house on Saturday morning. Apparently, the girls were up at about 5.30 a.m. to make the journey from Lucy’s friend’s house to Pete and Dawn’s just after six – and then the preparations began: the Bucks Fizz and croissants for breakfast; the posh PJs and robes with their names on to float about in; the love and laughter and, of course, the hair and make-up.

I might have this wrong and be wildly exaggerating, but not only was there a bride, but four, or was it five(?), bridesmaids and the Mother of the Bride; plus (seemingly) half a dozen other women there to take care of the making-up and styling of hair, as well as the Mother of the Groom putting in a late appearance. And Pete, of course, who kept well out of the way unless it was to serve food and drinks.

There was a last-minute scramble to retrieve Lizzie’s contact lenses, with Ben having to rush to the church to collect them from one of the Groomsmen (don’t ask) and then rush back again before the bridal party could set off and she could see to sort out the train to Lucy’s dress. But set off they did and Lucy was hardly late at all. The congregation was ready and waiting, having been invited to arrive a good three-quarters of an hour to half an hour before the service began. So it was all as slick as could be.

Meanwhile, Jack was as good as gold at our house, having set himself a schedule to keep to. Within it, he found time to walk up to the shops with me to buy more cat food and have a snack before he got dressed in his suit and we all set off.

In the excitement, I forgot to take photos except for one or two. Here’s us, happy as sandboys after a glass of prosecco at the reception:

We had drinks and milled about with people while the photographer took lots of photos before we sat down to the wedding breakfast. Hmmm, I wonder if Jack ate the chocolate bar he popped in his suit pocket to stave off the hunger pangs? I never did ask. We just drank prosecco……

Here’s another photo I took though, of the lovely Dawn, looking absolutely stunning in her wedding outfit. The suit fitted her perfectly, and her colour choice just right. There wasn’t another guest who could compete in my opinion.

After some very good speeches – all short and to the point, witty and wise – and toasts to the bridesmaids, Mums and Dads and the Bride and Groom, we tucked into some great food for the wedding breakfast. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

I had promised Alison that I’d dance – which I did but not for very long. By nine o’clock I was bushed and decided I’d follow John who had already retired, and go to bed. Alison danced on with the youngsters until midnight apparently.

And here’s the bride herself – photo courtesy of John – and, no, we didn’t capture one of Tom with her on the day – although he was there! Hehe.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Crikey, the week has zipped past and we’ll soon be saying ‘Good Morning’ to Friday already! We’ve put the bins out – which normally classes as excitement for the week but not this week – there’s been far more thrilling things on the horizon.

We are still doing a spot of baby-sitting over in Kenilworth until Danielle is all healed up, and so we spent a good part of Tuesday and early Wednesday there. We were at home just minding our own business on Wednesday evening when a phone call came in from Michael. He’d had to take Danielle down to The University Hospital Coventry, for someone to look at her wound. It had come unzipped and a clean-up job, plus antibiotics, was in order.

I was just about to sit down and do the blog when we downed tools. Lily had stepped into the breach and offered to babysit, but the trip was taking far longer than anticipated so we were on the late shift. We arrived just before ten o’clock and I took Lily home before we settled in for an evening of TV.

Michael had said we could stay over if we would like to, especially as they weren’t sure how long they would be, so we took our overnight bags. By midnight, we were wondering whether to get our pyjamas on or not. “We’ll give it another hour,” we said. Just after one o’clock, Danielle texted to say they’d finally been seen and attended to and so would be on their way. They finally rolled in just after 1.30 a.m.

It’s never dull here, is it?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, John has had a week of ups and downs – feeling under the weather until the tablet that was missing finally kicks in and puts him back on an even keel. But it’s not just that. It’s the frustration with the broken NHS. Not only has nobody been looking at teeth and oral health, but it seems the prostate people have been having a sluggish time too.

Having been promised, in March, that the consultant would be in touch in 3-4 weeks, there’s been a deathly silence. We’ve tried to shake them up but the consultant ‘has been on holiday’ and although John is on the waiting list for a biopsy, there are no dates yet available and none planned. So says the anaesthetist. It doesn’t do you any good, does it, all this waiting about and the unknown? It certainly hasn’t done John much good this week anyway.

However, my go-to solution for anxiety is displacement activity. So that’s more or less what I did today. I spent the morning having a good clean round and took out some of my frustrations on scrubbing and swilling and polishing. And later on, ironing.

John went for a walk this morning to try and control his anxiety and then, this afternoon he had all the pleasure of another COVID jab.

I spent a happy forty minutes chatting to George this afternoon as he solved all my problems on the computer via remote control. Isn’t technology amazing? You don’t actually have to have the expert physically in the room with you these days. Marvellous.

About three o’clock we toddled down to Pete and Dawn’s for a cuppa and to hear how all the preparations for the weekend are going. Quite well, I think, but like every Mother of the Bride, Dawn keeps thinking up jobs for Pete to do. Hehehe!

The bridesmaids, the bride and the mother-in-law are all descending on Pete and Dawn to get ready for the BIG DAY and, as they do these days, the girls are having breakfast in their special PJs and dressing gowns. The dressing gowns were hung up, but a bit crumpled having just come out of their wrappers, so I set on to iron them smooth. I mean, you can hardly have the girls looking creased in the photos, now can you?

And so our day has flashed past again, with me peering into the future of tomorrow and wondering how I am going to fit it all in…..gone are the days when we thought we’d got plenty of time. Hey ho.

Take care everyone. God bless.

By the way, Susie Dent’s Word of the Day is ‘misken‘ (15th century): to refuse to recognise something by pretending it’s not happening. Can’t think what she’s referring to………

I didn’t feel too bad this morning when I got up, but John was feeling rubbish. However, we were able to get onto the doctor this morning to sort out a situation that had arisen with his drugs. For the last couple of weeks one of his tablets has been missing, so yesterday I nipped up to the chemist to have a discussion about where it might be. Apparently, it wasn’t on the prescription sent through from the doctor. Oh.

We were lucky – we were only the ninth person in the queue waiting to get through to the surgery on the phone. Well, that was after six attempts……anyway, it transpired that a passing thought that John had expressed about coming off one of his tablets was taken as a full-on wish and the consultant wrote to the GP, whereupon the tablet vanished from the prescription. All restored now though, so soon be back on an even keel we hope.

That is, if we ever take delivery of the darned things! We called at the pharmacy to collect them. The chemist had a search around, but couldn’t locate them. He looked on the computer. “Oh, yes, they’re done.” he said, and searched again elsewhere. Still no luck. He came back and told me that they’d be ready in fifteen minutes. So we came away with the intention of popping back up a bit later. John did go, but they were still nowhere to be found, so…….”We’ll deliver them to you tomorrow.” they said. Grrr……. I reckon they are lost.

John stayed at home this morning and went for a walk before tackling some carpet shampooing – I was mightily impressed to see what he had done!

In addition, he phoned through to the Coventry Council to research how we might continue to fund Mum’s Care Home fees. It’s amazing isn’t it, how quickly those little bits of savings go down the pan? He got through to a very nice young man who was exceedingly helpful and ‘put us on the list’ for an assessment. Might be a while before anyone comes out to see us though…..

While John was busy beavering away at home, I went out and enjoyed myself. I went to visit my cousin, Janet, for a good old natter, some scones with jam and cream, and a lovely cup of tea. It was smashing. It’s been a little while since we saw each other, but we always get on very well, so I think we both enjoyed our morning together.

This afternoon we thought we’d have a drive out to Hatton. Michael had seen a very nice table in the antique shop there that he thought we might like. Disappointingly, the table had been sold. But we enjoyed our drive out and we met my friend, Louise’s, sister Denise and her husband Nigel, in passing in the car park, and had a bit of a chat. It was very nice to see them.

We took a leisurely drive through the scenic route home and via the garden centre in the village, where I was seeking to buy a butter dish. They had a lovely one there, so I bought it and then we came home for a well-earned cup of tea.

I shot off to yoga class at tea-time, which I really enjoyed. I think I might be getting the hang of it at last….. hehehe – and then this evening, we sat and watched a bit of TV. Quite an eventful day, one way and another!

But what I’d like to know is, after some very good days, why do I feel so blooming irritable? Poor John is getting the thick end of it…….. perhaps I’ll feel better tomorrow?

Take care everyone. God bless.

Just because I haven’t mentioned it, doesn’t mean COVID isn’t still around. The ONS reports that 1 in 55 people currently has the virus; 1 in 36 people who have had COVID report Long COVID symptoms. According to one report, this time last year, infection rate was 1 in 1,000 (although I haven’t verified this figure).

Our Sundays don’t often resemble what I consider to be a Sunday. We are often rushing about, or finishing jobs, doing DIY or something of that nature. But today? We had a run out into the country this morning, stopped off at a café and had a cuppa and a bite to eat before a leisurely drive home again.

The drive out, of course, was necessitated by the leaving-behind of my coat at the Fig and Favour on Friday. So we made an effort to get up at a reasonable time and make the journey. Once we got there, we naturally fancied a coffee. Then we looked at the menu and were seduced by the offer of American pancakes smothered in maple syrup and served with a compote of berries. Well, I was, anyway. John simply ordered a croissant.

But look’ee here! A photo of me at the café wearing my Grace Kelly’s……….

Home again, and I encouraged John to try on his wedding clobber. Paul had very kindly come over yesterday to bring some nice shirts and ties for John to try on and see if anything was suitable. And there was. We have kitted the ol’ man out now, so I was able to take the shirts and ties back to Paul this afternoon.

I left John watching the Grand Prix and spent an hour at Paul’s. I might have stayed longer but there was a football match that he was keen to watch so, just before the four o’clock kick-off, it was kicking-out time. I am not sure where he will have watched the match as he doesn’t have Sky and local Leisure Club wasn’t showing it. Perhaps he went to the pub.

John had finished watching the Grand Prix and wasn’t that fussed about watching the footie, so he got the steps out and some guttering equipment, and went outside to have a go at shoring up the gutter above the kitchen. Meanwhile, I made pie for our tea…..

Ah, yes! A Sunday: a drive in the country; a visit to relatives; the Sunday papers and pie (or roast, but not today) – how nice was all that?

Take care everyone. God bless – and watch out for Monkeypox now, which is beginning to spread. Crikey, you couldn’t make it up, could you???