On Monday I set my alarm early to go to Melton to visit mum;
I was pleased myself because I was on the road by quarter to seven. I decided to go the back way via Overstone
thinking that if I was early I would miss all the rush hour traffic but it didn’t
make any difference and in the end it took me almost 2 hours. I knew before I went down that Bet wanted me
to do some painting but I hadn’t realised she wanted me to repaint the entire
hallway including the ceiling and also the passageway in-between the kitchen
and the garage. But that was okay,
slight problem because she had no trays or rollers and there was no way I was
going to paint all the walls (and ceiling) with a fence brush so a quick trip
to B&Q almost as soon as I arrived was needed.
The choice of colour was green for the walls and white for
the ceiling, it wasn’t a big area to cover but not helped by the fact that I
was painting over that anaglyptic wallpaper and I was also heeded by the fact
that Phil’s mum insisted on holing the little ladder. There was hardly room for me and the ladder
let alone for her. In the end I insisted
that she grab a chair and talk to me in the doorway. This was a little easier but if she’d have
just left me alone and gone and read the paper I would have got the job done a
lot quicker.
It was a really hot day and I was sweltering, more so
because mum made me wear George’s old overalls which not only drowned me but
they were also really thick and heavy. I
still managed to get paint on my leggings so they didn’t do the job they were
meant to. Anyway I managed to get the
hall done and get a first coat in the passage way and then it was time to go
out for lunch. As I hadn’t seen mum for
2 whole weeks, the longest we have gone without a visit, and also she hadn’t
seen a soul over the weekend, I insisted on taking her out for lunch. We went to the Market Harborough Hotel in the
town which was a bit grot, but the food was okay and cheap and not only did it
get mum out of the bungalow but also saved her slaving over a hot stove on such
a hot day. After lunch we did a quick
shop at the Co-op.
When we got back to the bungalow, I touched up in the
hallway and did a second coat in the passageway and then mum cleaned the trays
while I went through her post. With
painting finished and trays as good as new, we then went into the bedroom to go
through the clothes that mum had picked out to take on the cruise. The cruise has 2 formal nights and
unfortunately it’s so long since she has socialised poor mum didn’t have a
whole lot to choose from. Day wear is
going to be crimpolene elasticated trousers with a blouse and a hand knitted
cardigan and for the formal nights she has trousers and another blouse and
matching jacket. Bless her, she has got
skirts but she doesn’t like wearing them and really just likes to be
comfortable. I don’t suppose she will be
refused entry to the restaurant but my main concern is that she doesn’t feel
underdressed. I had thought about going
to M&S here in MK and picking her an outfit but we have so different tastes
and I am not confident I would choose something that she likes. The worst case scenario is that we hire an outfit
on the ship but I’m sure it won’t come to this.
My last job of the day was to give mum a quick lesson on how
to use the new mobile phone that Billy had kindly got for us. The new phone has big buttons and it’s
specially designed for the more mature user in mind. Bett seemed to get on with it okay but the
real test will be when she has to use it when she is on her own. I left Melton about quarter past three and
didn’t have a bad run back although the motorway was really busy.
The flat was like a furnace when I got home even though Phil
had all the windows open. Our flat is
very warm in the winter which is fine but I swear when the sun shines it’s even
stuffier than the caravan. I didn’t know
what to do with myself and poor Phil was suffering with the heat as well, there
was no breeze and all the fans we have are at the caravan. I was sticking to the leather sofas and ended
up having a cold shower before I went to bed.
It’s a bit weird with Phil being back at work and I haven’t got
into a routine. When he last worked he would always come home for lunch so I
was always on a time restriction to get back from the gym ready to serve up at
midday. I have a million things that have been on the ‘to do list’ for ages but
I am ashamed to say with the heat and humidity this week I have been a little
lazy. I don’t know about anyone else but I have struggled to function with the
humidity. I was at the gym on Tuesday and
even though its air conditioned it was still hot.
Phil has been really really good on the diet and I am very
pleased with him. Okay we had a blowout
at the weekend but Phil is really trying hard.
He went to the cinema on Tuesday and didn’t even have a snack, something
that even I would struggle with. Part of the fun of going to a movie is
munching on naughty nibbles. I am not
sure how healthy Phil’s choice is from the wagon at work but he says that he is
only having a salad and I believe him.
I really hope that he perseveres because I know for a fact that he will
feel so much better when he loses the weight.
I am a bit concerned that the diet will go out of the window when we
sail to the Norwegian Fjords because the food is so plentiful when you cruise
and the choice is so tempting. But if he
is sensible I am sure he can still lose a few pounds.
On Tuesday when Phil was out I went to Sue’s for supper and
then I drove her to a jazz night at a village hall in just off junction
13. Sue did warn me that she didn’t know
that if it would be any good and when we got there it turned out that me and
Sue were the only audience! I had to
laugh; the night was okay, it was more of a jamming session for the musicians
but I knew a few songs and it can’t have been that bad because we didn’t leave
until it finished at 11pm. Having said
that, I am not sure if we stayed because we were the only audience and it would
have been embarrassing to leave early.
Still it made a change from staying in and watching the soaps.
I was glad to see that it had rained overnight on Wednesday
morning and the temperature was much more comfortable in the gym. I did a shop in Asda afterwards and then
went home to wash, dry and iron. In the
afternoon I went to pick up Phil’s prescription and then popped in for a cup of
tea with Sue. Phil was out at The Nags Head with the Wednesday night boys as
usual and told me that the results were all clear for Steve B’s biopsy so that’s
really good news.
I had a fairly productive day yesterday. First job of the
morning after Phil went to work was to sort out my wardrobe. Even though I have stepped up my gym routine
a lot of my clothes are too tight. I
have cut back on the wine and have mostly been on salad for the last 2 weeks so
I am not of the reason why. I am only carrying 4 extra pounds but I have no
option but to go up a dress size. I’m
not sure why everything is so uncomfortable, I can only put it down to middle
age spread. But we don’t have much
wardrobe space at the flat so filling a black bag certainly helped. I felt cleansed when I had finished. I also cleaned the shelf in the bathroom and
wiped all my bottles of potions. I put
them in order as well but I don’t think this will stay like this for very
long. After clearing and cleaning I went
to Lidl’s to get toilet rolls, Wickes to get gloss and my final stop was
Superdrug in the centre. Lunch was
chicken salad and when that had digested, I went to DW.
I was pleased to be busy being yesterday because I was
thinking about Sue all day. Brian took
her in the afternoon for a colonoscopy.
When Sue had our ovarian tumour removed, they found something at the top
of her appendix and wanted to investigate.
The procedure is not very pleasant and Sue had to drink a load of jollop
24 hours before hand and she also had to fast.
She’s had far more invasive tests over the last year or so but I know
she was worried about what they would find.
So was I but she phoned me last night to tell me that all is fine, no
cancer cells found. Thank god. Fabulous news and I am sure Sue is feeling very
relieved.
Today there is much to do.
I am off to the gym in a minute, Phil is going to get his hair cut and then he is
going to cook Omelette and home-made chips for Harriet. After lunch we are going to pack the bags and
are head to the caravan for the weekend.
Fingers crossed the good weather stays.
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