I have now been 79 for a week. How long can this go on? Norman Wisdom said that three things happen when you get old. The first is that you forget things, and he couldn’t remember the other two. I know what he means. I forgot to make a note of what I did at the end of Thursday and all day yesterday (the 19th), but after extensive research yesterday has swum into a kind of focus. I put it all down to the global IT outage which played havoc in so many areas – but not ours. Not even David’s really, because his flight from Toronto to Gatwick wasn’t affected, though the airport was crowded and there was a huge amount of traffic on the M25.
He eventually ended up at Aylesbury – transported by Amy and Oliver, who FaceTimed us later in the day to give us information about his graduation, which is at 10am on the 26th. I have therefore booked rooms at the Old Mill for David and us on the Thursday night.
Yesterday was in fact pretty busy, and also very warm and sunny. In the morning we took some stuff up to the tip, including Dot’s printer, and then some books to the church hall for a sort of summer fair tomorrow afternoon. Met Robert at the tip and at the church hall. Is he stalking us? Back at home Des and Chris invited us over for a drink (non-alcoholic) in their garden with Sarah, which was very pleasant. Later of course we had the street meet, restricted to D,C, Dot and me, plus Jonathan, who was in jolly mood: he has stuck an official-looking notice by the steps, warning that CCTV is watching. This is intended to dissuade druggies and drunks, but I’m not sure it does. We don’t really have much trouble in that area. As to the street meet, we started out on the pavement, but moved into the shade of our driveway, which was much more comfortable.
Going back to last Monday, it was mainly overcast but dry till very late, other than a few spots of rain. Walked up to city to complete my Cake-and-Compline trail. Successful, but got very tired. Dot went to Morrisons, and we made the beds together after she’d done some washing. Cooked duck. Watched Tokyo Vice then first episode of The Jetty, with Jenna Coleman, which was quite good. After putting rubbish out I spent a while talking to Jonathan about living in Aspland Road. On the whole, I think he likes it. But see above.
Tuesday was cloudy with some sun. A bit of rain in the morning. Sent off for SD card and tyre inflater. In the afternoon I drove Dot up to the hospital to see her friend Joyce, who was pretty good, considering, and had other friends visiting too. Meanwhile I drove to Poringland to see my aunt Thelma, who is 95 tomorrow. Took her a card and some flowers, but she was asleep all the time I was there – apart, apparently, from when I was outside her room as they came in and checked her. I was there for 75 minutes, and it was really odd seeing her more or less motionless except for light breathing. Spoke to her and touched her, but no response. Still, I was glad I went. Got home slightly before Dot and posted David’s British Museum card to Amy, who as I write (11.20pm) is on the M40 near Banbury. This evening Dot and I went to a DCC meeting at Graham’s and had a couple of sausage rolls. Debbie said a lot. Dot said much less but said it better. Asked Howard to look at our bathroom floor. Watched Tour de France.
Wednesday saw a marked improvement in weather. Largely sunny and warm. Jude came round to watch The Chosen – Series 3:1. I went with her to church for Bible study: Dot followed. Ellie, Jude, Steven, Debbie. Bit hairy in view of Colossians 3:18ff, but put across what I thought was a sensible interpretation. Drove home – parcels arrived, and so I pumped up tyres, which were all about 6psi down. Hardly surprising in view of the length of time I had left them unpumped – and reassuring, in that they were all down by about the same amount. Spoke briefly to John while I was doing it, and to Mary : it’s Bob’s birthday tomorrow. Dot left her phone at home (and her glasses); so no way of knowing what she was up to. Cunning. Eventually she showed up after taking the long way home along the riverside path. Later I went for a much shorter walk up to Bishop Bridge and then back along the riverside path, plus a bit on the end, while Dot gardened. Had a chat with Des on return and later Claire called with a birthday present – a jar of gooseberry jam. Terrific! Watched Tour de France and a couple of episodes of Tokyo Vice. David FaceTimed about his forthcoming visit plus a chat about memories.
Thursday was warm and dry. A little cloud. Dot spent a lot of time in the garage, partly finding books to take to church for sale and partly getting stuff ready to take up to the tip tomorrow. I had a go at my new slide scanner and managed to get it to work all right – at least I got some pictures on to the computer. Will try a few more in the next day or two. Cut a few strands of clematis (or whatever it is) away from the kitchen window. Would like to do more extensive cutting, but Dot likes the look of it. Bridget came to clean as usual.