On Saturday, May 9 I felt distinctly odd most of the day: head was going round and feeling heavy (not an easy trick). Drove to Brian’s and picked up his computer – hard to distinguish which wire was which – and took it home, then with Dot to Magdalen Street, where we were able to park close to the computer shop. Took it in and chatted to the guy I’d seen yesterday: he thought the upshot would probably be buying a new one, but he’s going to have a look at what was going on. Brian is quite happy to buy a new one, and I reported progress to him by phone.
Then we drove to Notcutts, where Dot wanted to buy a hanging basket, but they were very expensive and not particularly alluring. So we got a couple of lavenders and a geranium. Notcutts is a garden centre version of Marks and Spencer or Waitrose. You can tell by the customers. Back home we had lunch and I lay down for a while as Dot gardened. Weather was sunny and warm all day. Eventually I had a bath. Des came round to return a book and suggest setting up a meal at his with Tara and John. We concurred. He is helping to teach a Nigerian refugee – a young lad – some basic English stuff. He said that many in that lad’s position are very poorly served by the services in place.
Salmon en croute for supper, and between us Dot and I tidied the kitchen and elsewhere. Read a bit of Earth’s Earliest Ages by G H Pember – really interesting. Watched the National Theatre production of Under Milk Wood – totally brilliant. Then a bit of Match of the Day. Less inspired.
Sunday – Surprisingly cold, but dry. Listened to good Worship Service in bed after a bad night. Trouble sleeping. Up late and had suppery lunch of mackerel fillets with mashed potatoes. Wrote to Phil Coomes, Kristine and Anne about an e-mail I received from a cousin once removed of David Coomes who is compiling a family tree. He wants to contact them; so I gave them his e-mail. Kristine already very positive, but I haven’t heard from the others – not surprising in Anne’s case as she is travelling up to Scotland.
In the evening drove to Upton church with Bridget to a concert by her husband’s choral group, Sine Nomine. Not mad about choral music, but it was quite enjoyable. The conductor was brilliant when the pianist got a bit out of sync. Drove back and had late tea, watched some football and the first episode of a new serial called Believe Me, about a woman who got raped and wasn’t believed. True story, I think. Also had FaceTime with David and eventually got a list of books he’s interested in for his birthday. Arsenal beat West Ham, which is good for Spurs.
Monday – Cold but mainly dry. Very busy day. Dot and I both had our feet done in the morning – clean bills of health in that area – and afterwards I called at the computer shop to sort out some details re Brian’s computer. Also a couple of phone calls later. All seems to be going well. Home for lunch, and afterwards Robbie (Jake’s mate) came to put some latex on the bathroom floor. While he was doing that I took Dot up to the dentist, where she had a tooth out. She had anaesthetic, so I went and picked her up later at the suggestion of the dentist. Good decision, I thought.
Sorted out a couple of things on computer, including sending books for David’s birthday, then got in touch with bank over the scam payments. I think they’re sorting it – may even get the money back, but my main concern is to stop them taking more. We’re getting a new bank card; so all should be ok. Meanwhile Dot miraculously found a pawn from my small chess set that had gone missing. Actually got entangled in trousers, which were in to be washed. Put the bins out and the car, because we had a call to say Robbie’s coming back tomorrow morning. Soup for supper. Spurs drew 1-1 after going 1-0 up, which is a bit disappointing. Watched a documentary about the ancient Hittites, and the second episode of that true-life drama about several rapes in a black cab that weren’t tackled properly.
Monday – Cool and windy. Spent quite a lot of the day researching and writing for Parish Pump. Up fairly early because Robbie came to lay the bathroom floor. Finished by about 11am – looks very good, but we have to stay out till tomorrow. Spoke to Sonata about bill and said I didn’t want the siren done – checked my insurance documents, and there’s nothing on there about having an alarm. No news from computer guy. Des came over to return a book, and we had a chat. Dot went to Matalan and bought a new waste bin for the bathroom. Cooked pies and veg for supper and watched the end of Mint, which was a pretty straightforward drama done in a very arty way. Then watched Rear Window, an atmospheric film by Hitchcock with a few holes in the plot.
Wednesday – Windy and cool with some sharp showers. Up early to work on Parish Pump, and by the end of the afternoon had completed four articles – one each on the Declaration of Independence, the 1966 World Cup, the cloning of Dolly the sheep and the creation of Twitter. Not what I would necessarily have chosen, but my top four out of the six suggested.
Bridget came round a little late because her next-door neighbour had dropped dead, and his partner was a bit upset. He did have a brain tumour, but he wasn’t expected to die yet. Bridget liked our new bathroom floor, as did Des when we showed it to him later. He had popped in to confirm a lunch date with Tara and John at his house. Ciara also called round to pick up the plants we had been looking after and to give us a bottle of red. she and Sean had been working hard at their cabin in Surrey for a few days.
Liaised with the computer man and Brian about installing his computer, and we have settled on 4pm tomorrow. Unless something goes wrong at the hospital, which Brian is visiting earlier. Went to Morrisons and spent £100 – one of our smaller shops. Later cooked a rather nice pizza before Dot left for orchestra rehearsal with Janet and Nova. At this point my mouse ran out of charge. Fortunately this still leaves my iPad and my iPhone…. However, charged quickly. When Dot got home watched Amandaland (not the best episode) and 2626 (unbelievably, the last).