While it has been a fortnight since the last ‘Diary’, the cat Isabella has received a bundle of post from Catherine. Isabella is the receipt of quizzes which I will often help her out with, usually two a week, in separate envelopes! First class stamps, clearly an important cat. The last envelope said “Isabella, this quiz foxed 20 pensioners because they didn’t understand the answer, which was daft anyway. Dafter is that I should have put the two quizzes in one envelope”. Catherine forgot to thank the Postal Workers on her last three envelopes, so texted me to add it into the Blog!!
Today’s ‘Headliner’ tea towel was a present to me from my friend Pete. He had been to see his sister and they went to Knepp and bought me two of the most beautiful tea towels (actually four, but you won’t see the other two unless there is another Diary).
14 June 2021
Late getting up this morning, even Tilly and Tinker overslept. At one point I thought Tinker has passed away, she was so still. As soon as I got to the top of the stairs, she suddenly appeared. You can imagine ‘breakfast’ was flashing through her mind! Tilly emerged at 10.15 am. It’s weird cats have all that fur, yet they lay on a thick blanket! All my curtains are shut, it makes the rooms look cool. Surprise this afternoon, my Briar Roses are starting to flower. The Peony that Wade dug up, and I transplanted, are in full bloom, really exciting. Will send photos through to the family. Later on, disaster in the kitchen, ants crawling by the heating vent. I loathe ants. If I could extinguish them forever, I would. I sprayed them with a chemical and opened the windows to get rid of the smell. I spayed again before I went to bed, kept the dining room door closed.
15 June 2021
I had a good morning at the Club, walked there again, not too hot, bit of a breeze. After the Club I took the bus to Sainsbury, needed some tins for Tilly. Out of luck, no stock in until Friday. Fortunately, I do have some sachets in reserve. Home by 1.30 pm, ‘Team’ waiting for lunch, no peace for the wicked! Much hotter this afternoon. I went a bit mad and made some Leek and Potato Soup for the freezer. Rest of the day, rested.
16 June 2021
Town today to have a coffee with Wendy. Normally, we don’t meet until Thursday or Friday but storms are coming and I hate storms and the rain that comes with them (torrential). Popped into Wilko and bought more ant spray. Ants must be rife, not many ant products on the shelf. Home by 12.30 pm. Sue came for tea this afternoon and at 2.30 pm the Chiropodist came. Under my left foot I’ve had a lot of stabbing pain which turned out to be a corn. A relief to have it removed, nails cut and a massage (on the feet). It’s 8.50 pm and it’s still getting dark. I reckon the storm is on its way to Harlow. Time to put my trainers on, they have rubber soles.
17 June 2021
Survived the night, I took Rupert to bed with me last night for company. No thunder, plenty of heavy rain. I put towels and paper down by the front door, in case I have any leaks again but I was OK. It’s been a drab day, not felt like doing anything. This afternoon the smoke alarms were beeping. It seems to be every hour so I asked the neighbour to put new batteries in. It seemed alright for a while then it bleeped again so I thought it must be the carbon monoxide battery so I have a new battery to buy on Saturday.
18 June 2021
Been lucky today, no storms arrived. I was dreading it. Tinker’s having an ‘off’ day, hardly eaten today, very unusual. Very cold today, I wanted to put the heating on but I thought the ants might come visiting again. I did myself a hot water bottle and got a blanket for my legs. Panic tonight, shower head dripping a lot, thought I would need a plumber, but my fault, hadn’t turned it off properly.
19 June 2021
Grief stricken, my favourite four-colour biro has run out of blue and black isn’t far behind. Town today for the battery, put a thick coat on. It’s really cold. I met with Wendy and we had a coffee. We saw an OAP get on the escalator with a trolley bag and got it stuck between the steps (not sure what you call them). Luckily someone nearby stopped the escalator, then security arrived to help the man get up. He looked OK, must have been a shock for him. I don’t know if there is a notice about trolley bags, whether you can take them on escalators. It says pushchairs need to be folded, no one takes any notice of that. We saw a man who was carrying a child and the pushchair was not folded! Home to the Gang who were waiting for lunch. Quiet the rest fo the day.
20 June 2021
Last night went to bed at 11.15 pm, woke in the morning at 4 am, can’t believe I slept for four hours straight, can’t remember when I last did that. I was so surprised I checked the clock twice. Eventually, got up at 7.30 am, tea and breakfast, pills, feeding the cats, not quite in that order, cats first. Texted messages. It’s V this week.
24 June 2021
Haircut today, I’m smart again. Big jump to 27 June (Bruce and I’s anniversary). Amanda took me to Finchingfield. We fed the ducks. I love doing that and we saw about 7 ducklings. We had lunch out, Amanda had a thick Brie, spinach, onion pickle sandwich, some of the Brie kept coming on my platter and I had fish, lots of it, plus fries. It was an enjoyable day out.
28 June to 1 July 2021
Worried about Tinker, not eating much, listless, upstairs all the time and hiding everywhere. She could do with losing more weight but all of a sudden perked up. I was pleased. Amanda was concerned as well. Mind you, I had to give Tinker some Lactulose as well
2 July 2021
Amanda took me to the Manor of Groves, for Afternoon Tea. It was a present for Amanda from her clients for teaching them exercise on Zoom. Great tea, finger sandwiches, scones and dainty cakes plus a glass of Prosecco. It was lovely though in the evening the Prosecco knocked me for six. Not drunk alcohol since January as I’m on different pills. Wore my new shoes, skirt and blouse. Amanda said I looked lovely. Yes, I’ve been watching some football, mostly in the NCIS adverts! It’s my favourite series, seen it so many times, I think I know the words by heart and watching Wimbledon, of course.
That’s all my news for now. This is also the last piece of writing paper from Barbara’s Christmas present so I have done well. Like to thank Isabella for Tilly, Tinker and Blackie’s Alphabet Bird Tea Towel, we are still digesting it. We don’t get to see many birds! We, Tilly and Tinker, are indoor cats. Blackie is the only one who sees live birds.
Cheerio!!
I am very surprised that Catherine hasn’t described the ‘torture’ of the Alphabet Challenge. Some letters are so difficult. Last week was X, and the rules were that you couldn’t cheat with words like ‘xtreme’. The words really had to begin with X (and that’s mainly towns in China). Have just started Y and then only Z to go. Following that is a 26 word sentence, in alphabetical order, with no additional words. I’m going to need help with that.
Virtual Tea Towel Museum 