Summer is still with us. Last Friday (August 9) was warm again. An odd day – Dot had cystitis and drank lots of water. I hung out washing and after an early lunch picked up Eleanor and her friend and drove them to Christ Church, Eaton, where Eleanor gave a shortish talk on kindness and compassion. Matt and Amanda came, and of course Bridget was there. Matt told me a lot about bees, some of it truly amazing, during tea and cake afterwards. Drove Eleanor back to the Great Hospital.
Dot rested most of day, watching the Olympics, which occasionally got so uninteresting that we watched an old episode of Vera. I went out for street meet: only me and Mark to start with, then Des and Chris, John, Tara (briefly), Jonathan and Matt. Dot stayed indoors. Lot of talk about house adaptations, prompted by John revealing the hat he was planning to move, which is very sad. Council workers have cut away much of the shrubbery by the steps. Not neat.
Saturday was warm and dry, but not all that sunny. Dot was a bit better, but she spent a lot of the day relaxing – though not before she watered the garden. She missed listening to most of the football – first game of the season, away to Oxford – because she thought it started at 3 instead of noon. City lost 2-0 and played badly; so just as well. After that she did the ironing, but that was it.
I sorted out some books and put two more boxes of slides on the computer. Meant to do more, but cooked meal (kippers from Cley, which were very nice) and got lured into watching last day of Olympics. Pleased that my favourite for a GB medal got a bronze (Georgia Bell), even though she was largely ignored by the commentators, who were obsessed by Laura Muir (fifth). Not as obsessed as they were by KJT, though, who would have got a gold in the heptathlon if she learnt how to throw a javelin. Cleared up and managed to notch up over 4000 steps in the house. Obviously I can’t throw a javelin, or do anything else that KJT does. Another odd day: miss Dot’s joie de vivre.
Sunday was very warm and sunny. Dot still under the weather – literally, to some extent. She didn’t go to church but was very quiet all day, though she watered the flowers and mended some chairs. I did go to church and played in band with Anna and Matt. Excellent sermon on kindness (to others and self) by Graham. Liz presided at Communion. Judy sworn in as churchwarden. Took Ray home afterwards: he didn’t seem any worse but said his legs had been bad. Meanwhile, Oliver has arrived in Waterloo for a couple of weeks. End of Olympics: wasted hours watching closing ceremony, which was like prog rock – very clever but boring. Songs pretty hopeless. Only good bit was Tom Cruise taking flag athletically to LA, though when he got there you wished he hadn’t.
Monday was hot and dry. A few drops of rain late evening. Did a lot of clearing up, as did Dot, who is feeling much better. Threw away old unused CDs. Picked up books from church and got them and quite a few others ready to take to charity shop. Caught up with emails too and sent quotes to Oliver and Amy. Put one or two books in library on the hill and added some steps: well over 5000 today, despite heat. Organised my room: Dot did living room and kitchen. I cooked chili con carne in evening after bacon and fried tomatoes for lunch. Bit excessive.
Tuesday – Hot again, and dry, despite weather apps saying it was raining. Howard came at 10am to regrout a tile or two in the bathroom. I put out books in the drive for anyone who wanted them, and one or two were taken. I wrote a poem and a bit, and an article on the Olympics for my website. Started playing through EP chess games that David LeMoir had had a problem sending: worked ok. Anne came at around 2pm, and she and Dot went for a walk, calling in at the garden centre for a drink before tackling Harrison’s Wood, where they got lost for a while. I went off a walk at about 6pm, but although it was mainly in the shade, I still got pretty hot and tired. Route: Foundry Bridge, Recorder Road, riverside path, Pull’s Ferry, up towards Cathedral but through to Recorder Road, couple of circuits of car park and home. Finished chili and watched rest of Spent, a comedy which had its points, but a lousy ending.
Yesterday was warm and dry again. Judy came round to watch The Chosen (3:3), and then we all went to church for Bible study, which went well for a while until someone (probably Steven) started talking about Muslims, after which it got a bit tedious. Afterwards Dot and I took the books to Age Uk on Plumstead Road, our usual charity shop, but they didn’t really want hardbacks. So we left the paperbacks and proceeded to Morrisons, to buy food for Friday’s reunion. After that I tried the books on the new Cancer shop near Boots, and they were happy to take them all. Lot of lifting. Felt quite tired towards the end of the day. Drank a lot (mostly not alcohol) – and watched quite a bit of TV, including the first new episode of Vienna Blood, a historical thriller, which is very well done. Tidied up in the bedrooms and in the house generally. Put crate and rucksacks in the loft.