Post 291: Mummies little helper (morphine) saves the day.
I got up first today. It was 9:15am and the cat wanted his breakfast. To be honest, I wanted to have a go on the treadmill but I would have had a few people take exception to that, under the circumstances of this week’s trials and tribulations. So I looked away from it and carried on with my chores. Well, not chores exactly, but I consider checking outside to see what Graham the scrappy took away (in his new tipper lorry, which is way better than the old van) a necessary chore. In fact, the view was acceptable, the garden looked a bit empty, to be honest; great job me, great job Graham. That’s got rid of a ton of stuff including some inherited garden furniture that initially, 4–5 years ago after a family death and clearance, I ended up with too much stuff.
Now my head is clear of those bad memories dredged up every time I looked at them and we can enjoy our own garden stuff — which isn’t exactly fantastic, but it’s ours and it’ll do.
I suppose satisfaction is derived from many unexpected places so I’ll ride the happy wave and see where it takes me. I’ve got a session with my counsellor this Thursday so I could mention the happy clearance and see what she says.
I was back in the kitchen ignoring the cat cries, now he wanted to get back in the house and I was washing some pills down with some flakes of nutty corny goodness, when my Darling made an entrance.
I could see she was on a mission and so I asked her, between crunching the milky breakfast, “where are you off to”.
She turned away from me towards the kettle.
“To take you to learn more about coffee” she replied, “it’s what you wanted, remember?”
“Great” I smiled back adding, “am I fit enough?”
With that she said “you said you’re ok with the trip, not me”, “so it’s on you if you’re not.”
I was secretly as happy as I could be inside but I was a little apprehensive about walking around our sweet but busy county-town. Time would surely tell and as it was approaching 11am I decided that I’d better get out of my dressing gown and into winter wear due to the freezing drizzle outside.
This is not the best day to be doing anything outside, it’s horrible. But we’ll go anyway.
“If you don’t try you don’t get”
So I shot upstairs on the tired old stair lift at 1 mile an hour or less and made myself pretty.
My Darling had the keys to the car, she fed in instructions for the sat-nav to follow and turned into the very busy pot-holed road, driving against the cold wind and slaying the fears from my Darling’s worries about driving to a new destination.
My Darling has always found it hard to relax with a sat-nav anyway but with me chipping it makes things ten times worse!
Oh dear, it’s not a great start trying this way and that to find this Brewster.
We eventually found this factory room in a one-horse street in the back of the beyond.
In the emails that went this way and that between the owner and I, meant I had learned that there were three car parking spaces in front of the shop/factory/whatever.
Frustratingly, they were all full. I thought quickly and said turn around and head for town, there’s another roaster in the high street. After a little discussion where the initial worries about driving to this place were magnified by not being able to park nor turn back to town easily, we eventually did find a blue badge space in the town’s main car park and after squeezing into it we dismounted and I grabbed her hand and in a positive tone said that later on it might be a free space outside the other roasters, in the tiny lane.
We found the other roaster and brewster in the damp cold night street and opened the door to a relatively newly decorated old-fashioned styled coffee roaster with the smells and accoutrements of a by-gone coffee shop. It was friendly and warm and the opposite from the freezing mizzle falling from the gloom outside.
I’ll have a decaf coffee and an Earl Grey for the lady.
We were given a tiny white plastic sandwich board with the number 55 on it and left to find a nice spot to dwell a while.
We spent a happy hour and a bit chatting and puzzling over the for-sale section of the coffee brewing stuff. But I’d need to rise up the knowledge hill of amateur brewing if I wanted to buy anything. Anyway, I wanted to get back to the other brewer.
So we did.
As luck would have it, the coast was clear in the middle of the three car parking spots in this tiny lane.
Apart from us there was only the two owners and as we introduced each other the history was told in smart fashion and I learned a lot about my possible choices from Joe.
I had to fight my Darling to pay for my start-up kit, and lost. So I was doubly happy heading home with my new brewing present.
When we got home we were so cold the first thing I did was put on the kettle and had a brew. Yeah, tea not coffee. I wasn’t ready to plunge into the world of decaf coffee just yet.
It wasn’t until later I gave the cafetiere a shot and made my way through the process, analwriting down temperatures, weights, timing etc., just to get a feel for this, the first brew.
It was ok. I had to add some water to thin down the strong flavour but it was not bad at all.
As time goes on, I will perfect the process for my taste preferences.
As I drank the brew and held my Darling’s warm hand the evening passed by quickly and happily.
Other things that happened were good and bad.
It was nice to talk to my sis-in-law for a while. The holiday was the chief topic of conversation, that and medical stuff for us and what she’s going through too.
But I was aching by the evening and took a dose of mummy little helper, morphine, before going to bed. It helps to dull the pain but it’s the best. I wake up after 4.5 hours later for another dose and a wee, then it’s back to bed.
In all respects I got away lightly with the silly back crunching rollover yesterday. Yes, my back and shoulder ache but not much more than usual and I’ve not used the maximum amount of morphine today.
I’ll try my best to sleep off the day’s events so I’m ready for visitors tomorrow afternoon.
Good night
P.S.
The house smells of coffee now, and I like it.
Mr U.
