Easter Sunday. Look, just put the thumb screws away, I’m ready to admit I had a lie in. What?, They’re not thumbscrews, just two clothespegs and you don’t really care? Well, nice way to be interested I must say.
So, it was 5.50 am before I woke. I know it doesn’t matter as I don’t have immediate plans at that time of the day but it’s worth noting because it’s unusual. Must you argue?, Because I think it’s worth noting that’s who ! I put the computer on to warm up as I left the room, it probably could have done with an overcoat this morning as it was really nippy here. Anyway, I had a wee, washed my paws and came back. Have you lot got noting better to do on a Saturday night but write to me?( Thank heavens). There was a lot of post, 84 on this first outing. I worked till 7.00 am then went to do the early routines so that I could take the antibiotic I need to have breakfast with. I don’t know who does the shopping round here but I’m getting mighty tired of cornflakes. No dilly dallying, back to work. It actually kept me going until almost 11.00 am and I only stopped at 9.00 am for a couple of minutes to get dressed. I wen though to the lounge to wish my nieces a Happy Easter, no they weren’t in the lounge, I texted them. I also texted Yvonne to wish her the same and to see why time my visit was to be today so I knew whether I had time for lunch. No answer so I guess they’ve gone to Church.
I had a bit of brisket and some new potatoes for lunch. No pudding to follow. I sat in the lounge for half an hour and returned to the pit to see to more mail. A text from Yvonne said they were walking home would have a cuppa and come. She wouldn’t be coming because of space issues in the car. A text from Ugo said Leaving at One, eta 1.40. Heavens how I laughed. I shall be an hour late at his funeral and still get there before him. At 1.25 I got another message from Yvonne to say they’d left. That meant I was safe till 2.00 pm. I actually finished just before then and wandered back through to the lounge and saw Ugo walking past the window with the others in tow. At the front door I asked what had happened to his ETA. He said it was Yvonne’s fault. He went through and was followed by his nephew Jude. A really nice young lad, then Del his mother’s partner and Christina herself holding the light of my chiropractors bank balance, Reuben. I’d had he heating on so didn’t feel guilty about divesting them of coats. I was sensible enough to take them out of the room before checking the pockets for stray gold bars etc. I took Reuben while Ugo made drinks for everyone- except me by the way though in all fairness he did ask. He had coffee and a can of traditional cloudy lemonade to make up for it. I was touched ( Who said that, come on own up. I have NOT always been touched) when Ugo handed me doorstep sized box of maltesers for Easter. It was nice of them to think of my figure. Then Christina opened her handbag….. PAUSE. Who remembers the Handbag of Mary Poppins? Well hers was smaller. Out came a three piece bath suite in a pretty peacock blue, a side table, a rocking chair complete with Grandma Moses and finally, a big box of chocolates for me. How thoughtful. I handed out my selection making sure Reuben didn’t set eyes on his before his dinner. We managed to slip Jude a few small chocs so he didn’t open his chocolate rabbit till later. I had given him some cash to pick something he wanted for himself though.
There was a bit off chatter for an hour or so then the time approached where they’d have to leave to eat. Reuben was getting a bit crochety and was eating Ugo’s arm anyway. Del was saying it would be nice if I paid a visit to them in London or perhaps to the house in Birmingham. I think Ugo had already explained I don’t travel much though. Del being a builder is making improvements to the house in Birmingham by boarding the loft.I’m not sure if that’s where they’d put me. Out came the cameras for a couple of posed shots.
Del, Jude, Reuben and Christina.
Del, Squashed Jude, Reuben, Christina and Querulous Bloke
Beware that very querulous bloke on the right. I think he may have been a lumberjack and from the looks of him everything is not alright. BTW, I didn’t take that one. Despite the shake, I took the first ( and better ) one. I returned their coats to them, watched Ugo steal all the cakes and biscuits and walked them out to the car. I didn’t carry Reuben this time as I’d never have walked or breathed again. I waved them off and returned to the house. After I’d sent a text to Yvonne to say they’d left and hadn’t had a single row I returned to my battle with your posts. The only thing on TV worth watching was a film from 1951, The Man in the White Suit which was on at 7.00 pm. I cleared the backlog, had some tea which included some of my lovely strawberry and rhubarb flan from Aldi then settled down to watch it. I think (Sir) Alec Guinness is one of the finest actors this Country ever produced. So talented. At 8.30 I decided to call a halt to the TV and concentrate on some personal mail, some comments on posts and of course today’s blog.
Tonight three songs in quick succession. All fantastic talent.
Monday. A night with not too much sleep and yet another late rise. It was almost 6.00 am again and I feel like I’ve now sunk into the decadent lifestyle of a Roman Emperor, if I could just get someone to peel the grapes. There was a first batch of 91 messages this morning, I’d have been better staying on the computer overnight, but I felt under no real pressure as I have no public appearances due today and can work at my own pace. I am however not going to practice working in the nude ever again just because it’s warm. It’s quite embarrassing taking the nets down for a wash and you’re in the lounge. You’d think people had never seen an un-ironed suit before. Huh, they should check my laundry basket ! Because I’m having to eat in the morning to take the antibiotics at the moment, I went through to the kitchen at 7.00 am. The fish can’t believe their luck, an extra hours light and early feed. I could barely believe my luck this morning either as I spotted one of my two assassins. He was on his own against the glass at the back of the tank. Unfortunately it wasn’t surrounded by the unoccupied shells of escargot dined upon. It will be just my luck to have bought a vegetarian.
I ate breakfast, dealt with all the meds and took my coffee back to the bedroom with the intention of dressing. But, as there was no rush I stayed in my dressing gown a while. There was lots of interest to comment on and lots to retweet. There were also lots of retweets of mine to say thank you for and more humorous comments on this weeks blog. People are very kind. I consider myself most fortunate in some of the wonderful relationships I’ve formed since doing the blog. I know some of them are with medical staff trying to cure me, but the rest in the main are just as barmy as me. Fortunately last time I saw a psych I got a form to show I’m cured so it’s puts me ahead of most of you if we ever get a right wing government in over here. I’ve noticed that many people post a lot more often than me and one or two wonder why I don’t up the pace and push the books more. I suppose the best answer is that I used to blog much more often on my other site and found I had to cut back. Since I’m not writing these days I’d only be pushing my older books and I don’t want to do that all the time. I think once a week, with the occasional extra thrown in midweek suits me.
At 10.15 am I finally got dressed and as it’s a bank holiday went for the colouful look. The sun was shining even though tomorrow looks bleak ( No love, not the second sight, the weather forecast. Honestly, some people. One loaf short of a picnic). So, mauve jeans, purple desert boots, a shirt borrowed from the lumberjack and then a green cord jacket to set it off , I’m nothing if not stylish, and I nipped to Pauline’s for ciggies. It’s no surprise I attract so many looks. It was only a quick saunter and today was actually warm so no heating needed. A bad sign, sure to end soon. I managed to clear the mail by 10.50 am and retired to the lounge. I was giving lunch some thought when I promptly dozed off. I was out for almost an hour so I pulled myself together and headed for the kitchen. I took my ’15 minute before’ tablet and then checked to see what I had still in date. A lamb hotpot seemed favorite today, two lovely baps and a slice of my rhubarb and strawberry tart to follow.
I washed the pots then headed back to the bedroom. Another 42 messages to go at. I remained there trying to stay awake until 3.30 when with just half a dozen to go I admitted defeat. Back to the lounge, turn Ben Hur on and straight back to sleep. Zzzzzzzz. Another hour nearly but at least the film is still on. I stayed with it till the end. There’s a particular section of the film where he’s in the desert looking at the horses of an Arab Sheikh. I can’t help but laugh as the Arab is played by a Welsh actor who has quite an accent. He does play an excellent rogue though.
Hugh Griffith … Sheik Ilderim
I decided to watch a couple of programmes on TV tonight for a break. One was 7 – 8 pm and the other 9 -10 pm so I made an effort with mail in between the two and then left the blog until after the last one. It would have worked better if some of you had taken a rest when I did so there were none waiting when I got back. But, that’s life. I hope to be out tomorrow so the mail will be a rush job before and after. Yvonne sent me a message tonight to say Reuben has now learned how to stand up using the rails on his cot. She sent me two pictures….
I”ll eat my way out then.
I’m innocent, I want my lawyer.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
And tonight’s tunes
Tuesday. Not a great night’s sleep so not much enthusiasm to be ‘Up and at ‘em this morning’. I was tempted to text Yvonne and ask her to put the day on hold while I went back to bed. As a dedicated ( read addicted) shopper ( unlike me) I knew she’d be disappointed so I decided to carry on. Some of you will remember a few weeks ago me taking the wrong bus into Chester that had fortunate circumstances because of the route it took. Not to be confused with the wrong bus after going to the doctors that left me with a long walk to town. Swings and roundabouts eh? Well today I was to take that bus. But first, I got up, did some messages until 7.00 am, underwent the new routine with breakfast because of the antibiotics ( last day tomorrow), took my coffee back to the bedroom and got dressed. Some of you will have noticed an omission of which I only became aware this evening. I forgot the bloody fish again. Oops.
I checked the weather forecast for my postcode so I could see what coat to wear for my bus at 8.40 am. The BBC forecast insisted it was raining outside- it wasn’t. The second insisted it would rain at about noon- it rained at 8.30 when I went out and at noon in Chester I was sweltering inside a long waxed coat. I was taking this bus for two reasons. a) It’s quicker. and b) Yvonne and I were meeting at Dunelm Mill, an excellent homewear shop which has recently moved to new premises and acquired a cafe. Blah, Blah, Blah journey, I nodded off for much of it. I was five minutes late arriving but so was Yvonne so that was OK. We had a good look round and went to visit the cafe which she swore was good. It scored highly. the cakes/food was god value and good portion sizes, especially cakes she was pleased to see. I had a cold frappe which was so thick I had jaw ache trying to extract fluid. Good score there too. They were also helpful in supplying hot water to heat Reuben’s breakfast. Pity he didn’t get it as Yvonne added the wrong mixture to the wrong fluid and came up with gunk. Luckily he seemed happy with toast.
I was very lucky on a last peep downstairs to find toilet seats. I wanted a new one only it had to be blue. I’d seen some possibles on ebay but here was a blue one an a bit cheaper. From there we went to check another Supermarket, one of the Tesco Homestores where Yvonne was able to get a new bowl and drainer in the color of her kitchen. In the Costa cafe upstairs I had an ice cold lemonade made with crushed ice that was glorious. We hit a couple more shops then having been out nearly 6 hours started the long trek back into town. As this involved hills it also meant stops for me. When we actually made it we ended up going to yet another Costa where Yvonne found out the reverse of Reuben’s morning formula didn’t work an she had to buy a ready made milk for him. I had a pot of tea and Yvonne a latte….plus a cake which Reuben shared. As soon as she averted her head he also shared her plate….right onto the floor so there were actually two pieces to give back. She says she’ll make him do voluntary service there when he’s old enough. After which we ran and made our way back to her home.
We were only there an hour before Ugo came home from work and got changed preparatory to taking me home. We loaded up the car and set off. I was flagging a bit and almost nodded off a few times. I woke up with a start when we found my chippie was closed (again) and we had to go back into town to my favourite one. Ugo dashed of to get his meal from a different one as they don’t do what he wants but Yvonne went and got me liver and onions with chips while she had fish and chips. Back home again to eat them and Reuben was not impressed with his own meal in comparison to ours. By 7.45 pm they were on their way to put Reuben to bed and I was on my way to deal with the 162 emails amassed during my absence. I’d done 79 before I left. I wanted to get this done before the night was over as I’m prepared to leave some mail if I have to.
Let me say goodnight and leave you with two records to revive your memories.
Wednesday. Before we start Wednesday proper I want to ask if you’ll give a couple of minutes of your time to the case of Asufat Saliu
This is a copy of the transcript on Change.Org
My friend, Afusat Saliu, faces being returned to Nigeria. She has removal directions for 25th April. If she goes back, there is a real risk of forcible FGM on her daughters. She fled to the UK when her step-mother expressed a wish to have her daughter Bassy cut. Bassy will be four in May; two year old Rashidat was born in London – Afusat fled while she was heavily pregnant.
In Afusat’s village, FGM is usually performed on babies, which is when Afusat herself was cut. If she is made to return and her family catch up with her, it is likely that she will be powerless to protect them from being mutilated. Afusat is also in danger as she escaped a forced marriage to a man 40 years her senior to whom her family is indebted.
I met Afusat in January. She hadn’t had much support, so I assisted her with finding a solicitor and working with him to prepare fresh evidence. This fresh evidence and recent case law was not referred to in the Home Office response letter. We ask that her case is reviewed as it does not seem to have been given due consideration.
Afusat came to England to protect her daughters. She helps out at their school and volunteers with the Refugee Council and other organisations to support women in a similar position, despite her own mental health issues. Afusat is a real asset to our society. Her daughters are little Leeds lasses and have a spirit and character that I worry will be knocked out of them if they taken away.
Our law says that Every Child Matters. I’m not willing to gamble on the risk of them being cut – a 13 year old died just this Sunday as a result of FGM gone wrong. It’s too late for Afusat – nobody could protect her, but we do have a chance to save her girls. Please sign the petition. If you want to read more about their journey, visit anjhanda.wordpress.com.
My Request to Home Office:
- Review new evidence, which was presented, but appears to have been overlooked
- Consider Case Law precedent, where a materially similar application for asylum was upheld
- Ensure the safety and well-being of her two small daughters who are now well settled in Leeds (including the youngest, who was born in London), but who are likely to be subject to FGM should they return to Nigeria
- Pay due regard to the imminent danger involved to her and her family should she be returned to Nigeria, given the latest information that Nigeria is unlikely to be able to provide sufficient protection for herself and her family
- Take note of the community contribution already made by Afusat
If you have some sympathy with this case you can sign the petition at , http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/uk-border-agency-please-review-the-fresh-evidence-submitted-for-afusat-saliu-s-asylum-case-properly?share_id=nxAWsfyQdP&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition
Please….. In the UK we don’t have female circumcision ( unless a medical necessity). This operation which is carried out without medical supervision can KILL. It’s wrong of the UK Government to subject young children to the pain, disfigurement and possibly death of an operation we don’t condone. Added to which are the strong possibility of reprisals at the hands of the stepmother of Afusat herself and the likelihood of a forced and unwanted marriage to a much older man. We have tolerated allowing illegal aliens here, we have kept Imams who promote a holy war between Islam and the followers of other faiths. Surely we can spare enough to help a genuine refugee? Thank you.
So, the night was long. It was probably about 1.00 am before I got anywhere near sleep and I was back up and working before 3.00 am. That’s not to say I wasn’t tired but for a while I thought I was dying. My brain was in stupid mode perhaps because my chest was playing up a lot. My head was leaning towards using the keyboard to write it’s own mail, probably without the delicate touch of my fingers. Having said that, I’ve written in my sleep before now in such a complicated language it would take an alien race to decipher it. At 6.00 am I felt I could probably sleep a bit so I took a final blast of the awful cough linctus and went back to bed. I slept until 7.500 am. It was a dash then to get to the kitchen and see to the fish in the hopes of forgiveness for yesterday. I’m a bad parent. They seemed a little indifferent to me this morning, not attacking the food as usual and no greetings so I must be in their bad books again. I took the last of the steroids today, had breakfast to take the penultimate antibiotic then had my other meds for pudding and took my coffee to the bedroom.
I worked on mail until 9.15 am then got dressed. I needed to get to the chemist as they’d left a note yesterday to say I wasn’t in when they tried to deliver some drugs. I don’t know why they wrote to me as I already knew I wasn’t in. Anyway, I wandered up there and collected the bag. I was sure something was wrong but had to wait until I got home before I opened it and checked it. Dalmations, there was a spray missing and no repeat prescription either. Back I went. Zaq told me the other spray would be in at 11.00 am and they’d drop it in. I asked yet again if it’s possible to mark any shortfall on the bag as it would save me having to come out again and they printed me off a repeat prescription while I waited. I called in at Pauline’s on the way home for some baps. By he time I got in I was a bit short of breath and I could have kicked myself senseless to find I needed milk. After a short break I made the third trip out and back. Incidentally, I’ve been in all day since then and the missing spray hasn’t been delivered.
As usual I worked until the post was cleared just before lunchtime. I took a pre-food tablet, turned the TV on and did myself a cottage pie which I had with two fresh baps. About 1.00 pm I checked and cleared the mail again then returned to my chair to nod off. I had more than an hour and woke up when someone did one of those long snores that comes after they’ve held their breath, oh right, that was me. Wanting to be prepared for my visitors I made sure the mail box was empty, had a tin of pineapple pieces then got the cups ready while I fixed my ‘I won’t cry if I lose’ face. It was just about 6.00 pm when they arrived. I made drinks, cut out the small talk and went into battle over the Scrabble board. I won the first game after scoring an extra 50 points for Carotid leaving Matt in second place and Dil in third. Battle the second didn’t go the same way. Dil won, Matt second and me third. I dried the tears, stopped sobbing and dove into the cards. Oh what a whitewash, from a lame start I just took the hurdles and led all the way. Not so the cribbage though where Matt started slow and gathered speed to show us both the way home. Outclassed by an amateur, I’ll never live it down. Mind you, he’s very lucky I tripped trying to jump the table to throttle him. There have been some real sniggers from his direction tonight whenever he’s managed to ruin my play. As usual they left about 9.30 pm and I tidied up and saw to the pots. Straight back through here and I’ve been here ever since nose to the grindstone.
Two songs tonight should stir some memories with luck. I hope you enjoy them.
Thursday. Today I shall astound you with my brevity. I got up at 6.50 am -Shock and immediately went into my kitchen routine before remembering I’d finished the antibiotics and didn’t need to have breakfast. Did my tablets for the week instead. Took my coffee through to work on mail that kept me occupied all morning except for a nip to Pauline’s for my lottery tickets and putting the new loo seat on, great match. Still not received the spray missing from my prescription.
Had lunch. Kipped for an hour or so ( nothing new there then) Worked until 5.30, had tea and then instead of watching Law and Order I watched a Star Trek. Decided to watch the new Big Bang Theory episode (Hilarious, thanks guys ) before coming back through to try and finish everything before 10.00 pm when a new episode of Person of Interest is on.
I’ve mentioned Kitty’s blog before for the number of items of interest thrown up. Some of those items are also of horror and reading that Governments are preparing people for a war using old pictures of WW1 is bad enough but now I see that kindness is taking a walk out of our lives in an official way. Just see this…. http://dearkitty1.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/italian-racist-mayor-bans-feeding-homeless-people/
You’ll forgive me then for laughing at this I was sent. I’m known to be one of those who had great hopes about President Obama and the Obamacare package (when first presented). I honestly thought maybe the US would adopt a free health care system for all ( I know it’s not free, it’s paid via taxation) where private insurance companies had no say in the treatment of a patient. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZbFrAAV3-o&feature=youtu.be You have to be able to appreciate an obese surgeon general and a care package proposed by a Prez who smokes.
Lastly tonight- Who Cheered then ? Our records of the day. Just relax and let the memories was all over you.
Friday. Thanks to curnblog.com for reminding me about a fantastic song this morning. It’s from the film Goldiggers of 1933 and today when the spectre of war is around yet again, and some are going out of their way to make war sound like something we should glory in, this is a stark reminder of the reality of the post war era,
And just before any bright spark asks, NO I wasn’t around for the original but I used to love the old b & w films.
The day started normally. 4.50 am and parts of me were raring to go, but having been I came back and turned the computer on. Lots of mail, but it never seems so bad when I have plenty of time. Among all the other mail was a post by Curnblog on Musicals. The fantastic song I’ve added had completely escaped my memory so I’m happy to bring it out for a dust down. Also in the posts were a few things from dearkitty1 who has been managing to upset me so much with her posts recently. She covers a huge variety of subjects which are usually full of information. Today was no exception. This evening for instance she posted a video of a nazi thug in the Ukraine assaulting someone in front of cameras during an interview. It was bullying at it’s worst. The trouble is, the nazi thug is legitimately attached to the current Government, a Government it looks like the West may have created by helping with the downfall of the legitimate Government…… using paramilitary units under this nazi to cause death and destruction. Since the incident he’s taken to wearing a suit instead of a uniform to stand for election. Heaven help Hungary if he gets in. Heaven help Hungary if this current Government is voted in and the West are still pushing for a confrontation with Russia. Is it worth all this aggro to have Hungary in the EU and NATO? Yet another right wing Government in power.
At 7.30 am I saw to the fish and found one of my super Assassin snails in plain sight. Still not standing on a bed of empty shells though unfortunately. I decided to have breakfast again thinking if I take my diabetic meds then and lunch time, means I don’t have to eat a tea if I don’t feel like it. I had the other meds, made a cuppa char for a change and went back to the bedroom. I finished the mail by 9.15 an and got dressed. Since I still hadn’t got the missing spray I decided to walk to the chemist. The young lady who undertook a search for me said it hadn’t come in either Wednesday or Thursday but may be in today’s delivers which was 12 boxes worth right in front of her. I said I’d cross my fingers and wait until they checked later or I’d have been there for ages. When I got back I receive a text from Lis asking if I was at home. I said yes and she responded she’d be there around 10.30 am. Normally I’d have settled for just saying “Great” but today I had an itch and Lis could scratch it for me ……..( you lot have got some very dirty minds). She has a car and is passing a supermarket. I asked if she could get me some ice lollies. Maybe I’m pregnant but I seem to be fancying them all the time at the moment. She arrived at about 10.30 am and I all but snatched her hand off. Of course I had to put them in the freezer till she’d gone. We had a great visit with loads of chat. It’s been a good few weeks since we last met up. She left about midday and I took my pre-meal tab then made a couple of ham/crisp/picallili baps for my lunch. As soon as I’d wolfed them down and taken the after food tabs I grabbed an ice lolly and had a really good suck. I think it’s the cold I’m craving more than anything. Two birds with one stone though, there are fruit juice and count as part of my five-a-day.
I had a kip in the afternoon and ended up going through later than usual to catch up. I was leaving the bedroom about 5.20 pm when there was a knock on the door. There was my pal Dawn from the chemist with my missing spray. I went to the lounge and watched my usual quiz then turned over for Law and Order. It was a fairly recent repeat so I went for my bi-annual shower. It was a chance to admire the loo seat which was a perfect colour choice. I remained in the lounge afterwards until 9.00 pm then came through to catch up again and do the blog.I have a little more mail to manage so I’ll go back to that now, after just leaving you with tonight’s music selection.
Saturday. T’was an early start this morning, as I crawled out from my bed. On the roof I heard the bounce of rain, and then inside my head. There’s no avoiding circumstance, I had to have a wee. Diverting the return journey I made a cup of tea. Oh woe is me. oh woe indeed, I suffered a great cough. And in that moment the handle of my mug detached itself right off. No slippers on my feet had I and puddle on the floor. I slipped and ended up you see wet bottomed by the door.
Serves me right I suppose. I should have put the lights on, should have ( as usual) worn slippers and most importantly, should have made coffee. Still I was awake and it forced me to do some housework so I now know what colour the floor is in the hall. Rather than sit in wet clothes I hosed myself down in the shower and dressed ( not in the shower). Just as well I was using Mike’s mug as I was able to go and make a coffee in mine to bring back to the computer. I’ll get another one while he’s away, he’ll never know he didn’t have a badger instead of a fox before. Since I was dressed it seemed a good idea to think about going out shopping this morning since the last expedition had worked so well. Still, at only 5.30 am I had some thinking time. I piled into the work. As usual there was plenty of it but I felt no pressure. I hadn’t quite finished by 7.15 am when I needed to make my final decision. The rain had stopped and luckily my rubbish was ready to go in it’s bags so what to do???? Right, I’m going.
I left the house at 7.25 am after donning my jacket and super-duper cycling gloves to hold the crutches, and toting 2 large bags struggled uphill to the bus stop. The bus was early of course and passed me half way. This driver wasn’t as generous as some and didn’t pull up beside me but at least he waited at the stop so I know he’d seen me. I took my seat and tried to pull some air back into my lungs. I had a coughing fit that had everyone else pull scarves over their faces, even if they didn’t have scarves. Eventually we set off on the ten minute journey to town. As I stepped off the bus with a smile at the driver I almost came a cropper as he hadn’t lowered the step and it was like falling from Cader Idris. I stood for a moment, lit a cigarette and started down the Supermarket path. It started to rain again as I pulled at a trolley and walked over to the cash machine. I never worry about getting robbed as there’s no one else
stupid
sensible enough to be out at this time. Cash safely in my wallet I put the cigarette out in my little pouch and head into the store. Ooh, Ooh, first thing I see looks like bags of doughnuts but a major disappointment, it wasn’t. It was those cakes you used to make as a child with your mother, some chocolate and a box of cornflakes.( Your mother was not an ingredient).
Moving on, I’m reminded that a dear friend tells me I should eat more fruit so I buy one of the super economy size punnets of strawberries. Suitable for a family of 24. I then move towards my bread and get two packets of baps, some crumpets and a malt loaf. For cakes, as somehow I find myself in that vicinity, I buy some egg custards showing my usual restraint. Well, not much point in buying strawberry tarts is there. I buy my milk and coincidentally there is cream there. Such a shame that the single and double cream have such short dates on so I have to buy extra thick. There are three appealing micro meals on the same aisle and some yoghurts. OK to be fair you can’t really call them yoghurts as they’re made by Cadbury’s and have Flake in them but the pots are like yoghurt pots. As I reach the end of the aisle I move over to the flowers and buy some roses and some carnations just so I can brighten up the vases for Ju. She loved roses. Off again I pick up some tomato sauce ( for Yvonne) and some sweet picalilli for me. Then it’s off to the pop aisle to see if there’s a special on my Pepsi max but end up getting Fanta Orange and Lemon instead, both zero sugar of course. Last and most important is ice lollies. Three boxes of 3 should be OK for a few days. Right, through the tills. Not my usual happy girl but this one doesn’t seem inclined to chat anyway. Ignoring the fact I’m on crutches, she started swiping items through before I finished unpacking. I had to rush the trolley to the end, open the bags into it and start trying to catch up with her manic pace. No chance, she could have had a tea break while I was trying. I paid and held out the loyalty card which was studiously ignored too. I ended up having to go to Customer Services to have them added by my friend. Then I was able to get her to call a taxi. I didn’t have much of a wait outside when a large mpv taxi drew up. “David?” he asked and as I nodded grabbed my bags like they were featherweights. I carried the flowers myself. Within minutes I was home and he’s deposited the bags on the step for me. It wasn’t even 8.30 am.
I unpacked and put away the shopping including some bacon that must have accidentally fallen in there. Then I took any dead flowers out of the vases, changed the water, trimmed the ends and placed the new ones in after trimming those too. While it wasn’t raining I walked to Pauline’s for cigarettes then came back and locked myself away with the mail till lunchtime. It was actually 11.15 when I cleared the last one and went through. having a little time to spare I sat in my chair and just zonked. It was 12.30 pm before I came to. Lunch .. I did a pizza and micro chips which I had with two of my baps, it’s glorious when the chips make the butter melt. Being on my best behaviour I had no pudding. The afternoon was well split three ways, mail, TV and dozing. I kept well on top of things until there was actually something on I wanted to watch. The afternoon’s fare had been Liam Neesom in Les Miserables. But I found in the evening I couldn’t really be bothered and was channel hopping. By 8.30 pm I’d had enough. I was bored by my own company and came through to enjoy yours.
A couple of songs to end the week with and a few pictures to brighten your day.
Bright as a Button
The Plan of Escape
Now you see it……Now you don’t