Dot and I have just returned from the dentist, £216 poorer after an examination and cleaning. COVID regulations in place; so we had to arrive a quarter of an hour apart and wait outside until the door was opened for us. Fortunately it’s a beautiful day today – sunny and warm – so that was no problem. I can see how it might become quite unpleasant as autumn turns to winter. We’ll see what it’s like in 11 days’ time, when I am due to have some laser treatment on an upper right pocket – a snip at just over £300.
It was almost as nice yesterday when I went to St Augustine’s for the first time since March (I missed the previous Sunday because the plumber was still working.) Today the electrician is back, testing our sockets; so I’m temporarily without wifi and writing this on the laptop. Anyway, I found it a bit weird at church, with spacing and masks. But coronavirus seems to be making a comeback; so I don’t expect any relaxation in the rules any time soon.
In the evening Howard and Anna came round for a garden gin evening, which isn’t as riotous as it sounds: there was quite a bit of nibbling involved, most of which I couldn’t eat because it was high in fat. Still it was OK. Dot spent half of the afternoon (if not more) getting the garden organised, and we called into Morrisons to get some tonic water and a few other things. We also filled up with petrol.
And the previous day, of course, we had been on the road – our first long journey since arriving back from Israel. The weather was good, and it went well. We stopped at Caxton Gibbet petrol station for Dot to use the loo. We used Google maps, and it took us on a lovely route avoiding road works and through the very pretty village of Woburn. At Swan Close we sat in the garden while Oliver, Amy and Vicky sat in the conservatory. We took our own lunch and drinks (no gin) and had a really pleasant two and a half hours. Oliver seemed very pleased with his presents, and Amy opened one of hers. Oliver’s 18thwas actually the day before, but the children are both back at school. The journey home was even easier.
There has been a hold-up with the shower room, because the flooring is not in stock and, like the dishwasher, has no delivery date. We went back up to the Dovetail showroom, thinking of getting something more immediately available, but nothing at all seemed to be available; so we stuck to what we had and are awaiting a call. Meanwhile we have moved back into our bedroom. Happily the shower is usable.
In other news, we visited Lucy on Tuesday and had tea in her garden. She is intending to move back to the coast but can’t sell her house at the moment. Had quite a long chat about Paston and other things. It seems her aim in getting the Lottery money was quite different from what we are mostly doing, but I’m not sure she ever got that across. She seems to assume that you know what’s in her mind. She is still on chemo, so not feeling particularly well, though as always she hangs on, I’m happy to say. Her brother wasn’t given the best treatment and died. He and the three sisters all have the same rare cancer.
On Thursday, Matt popped in to return the combination lock for my bike. He had worked the combination out by using safe-cracking methods. It turned out to be a number I knew, but not one I had thought to try, which just goes to show. In the evening Dot went to an actual live PCC, which was surprisingly short.
The week went surprisingly quickly, as weeks do nowadays. We watched another James Bond film, and this was the first one that really wasn’t very good – Never say Never Again, with Sean Connery and far too much water. I should mention in passing that Norwich won the first game of the season, 1-0 away to Huddersfield.