Post 317: It’s only the current bun to cheer us up.
What’s better than sitting in a British hothouse on a British spring day?
Nothing really. I decided I could do a little more today so tried my best to push the envelope in every direction.
The winter takes its toll on the conservatory which just becomes a dumping ground for the furniture but also a million beds for the bloomin’ cat!
So with a determined intent to evict the cat and take back what is essentially mine anyway, the conservatory was going to be my happy place, just for today.
I woke and did the usual checks and realised I’m not only alive and well but I am more well than yesterday.
Small things matter — well I really do hope so — and being able to lift both legs independently up off the bed sheets.
It seems an unlikely thing but it means I have more movement and that’s great. I’m already happy.
I also feel more alive since we landed back home in the UK. Now I sound like a fugitive hiding away in the south somewhere. Why do I feel like this country doesn’t need me any more, any of us any more?
We take so long to become useful citizens but then we all become readers of our own history in the making… without really making it.
I’m now too old to worry about such things and in any case it’s not my bag, so I’ll stick to waking up to a few positives.
Legs, arms, shoulders — this is where you should be singing “knees and toes, knees and toes”. Ha ha. Days as kids in Boys’ Brigade (which I loved) and the general feeling that a bit of exercise in the morning was good for us.
I think it is but rarely maintain a thing more than a 1.5 minute tooth-brush cycle. Woe is me.
My Darling is away working hard and unable to pick up her new car. It will have to wait till tomorrow when it’s been arranged to be ready for us.
But she’s all excited and wants to do some preparations for herself because she doesn’t want to spend all day waiting for the money to officially get passed over from one account to another.
It is easy these days to spend money but sometimes you wonder why it takes so long to do such a simple thing.
Anyway I mention it because I’ve had a text from my Darling about some details on the agreement — she’s going to send a pound today to save a heap of time tomorrow.
That’s the theory anyway.
So I rummage around for the details to photograph and WhatsApp her chat and get back to my own business of the day, namely sunning myself in the conservatory where I can do no harm.
Well that’s the theory.
I’ve been busy doing nothing but realise that the conservatory is too hot to sit in. It’s there that the recycling box sits and today, far from the cold air outside in the shade, in the conservatory it’s sweltering and so the door to the garden needs to be opened if I’m to take advantage of the first sighting of the sun since we’ve been back.
I make a lovely decaf in the cafetière I wanted so badly and stir a glass of Laxido to wash the coffee down with; oh the colourful lives we lead.
The moment I take the covers off the upholstered lounger sun chair there’s a housemate who jumps straight on the seat pad.
“Ge-roff-there-ya-monster” or something like that was gestured to the cat who thought I was being unduly nice to him but soon found out I wasn’t.
The monster then found a comfortable spot to join me in an impromptu day of sun worship. A book, a coffee just brewed, the sun — who could want more?
The photo today is of the totally relaxed posture of Mr Vicious who looks like he’s done it plenty of times before.
The seat I was lounging in was an unknown quantity for my back and shoulders and head and neck position and yet it was just holding me in the right places. What a result.
So by the time I had received a call from the youngest during his dinner time (at work at Nymans) I was onto my second coffee and the 40th photo of the comfy cat. The time had come for the lady of the house to reappear from work, tired and excited.
The pound had been accepted and the finance pathway opened up, and a big bag of goodies appeared beside her as she gave me a big but weak hug. She needed the bed that was calling her and as I pushed her in that vague direction she melted away to rest awhile.
The bag still sat there, filled with all the cables and mints that fill your car these days and were now needed to be tangled into the new motor tomorrow.
While I returned to toasting my nose with Mr V.
A successful day for all of us. Tomorrow’s exciting pick-up should be a walk in the park for my Darling who deserves so much more than a trinket to drive, but it’s a start.
Our evening visitors arrived as our eldest lad rang for a catch-up and was cut short sadly. We shall ring him tomorrow and find out which “Wainwright” he will be hiking up (or down).
After another day when I kept away from trouble, I feel rested and recovering.
Thank you for helping me, all of you.
Next week’s wedding is now all arranged. Our friends are excited and ready. More about that later.
I was called by the local hospice today, just a check-up, who I’ve learned have sadly lost a few activities on and off site, some very important ones. The cuts keep coming whilst the patients keep coming faster.
A horrible sign of the times.
Good luck.
