Well, that's the three things for today.

Those being, the blinding headache this morning which necessitated a visit to the pharmacy at the surgery, to check if I could take paracetemol as well as piriton & my antibiotics.
I can & have - another needed now.
By lunchtime my e mail account had been got at & a spam sent to all of my contacts claiming that I had been mugged & was destitute in Manila - please send cash!
G was in manila last weekend, so it was conceivable - I have had lots of texts, e mails & phone calls checking - the last one a couple of minutes ago.
Unfortunately some people have opened it, which is what I had done a couple of weeks ago, when it was sent from another friends e mail account, whilst G was last in Manila.
To add insult to injury, my account is now blank - no mails, trash, sent or, the real loss, contacts.
I'm hoping they can be found somewhere by someone cleverer than me.

I collected J & Th from school, having dashed into Solihull en route to buy something in M&S to use my free £5 voucher at the cardholders event.
Whilst parked outside the house some idiot managed to hit my wing mirror, despite it folding flat when the car is locked.
I have got it working again, but the mirror is wobbly.
Bother, bother, bother.
Tomorrow will be better.





 

and then the rain came........

Wimbledon was wonderful as ever, we watched an outside court match until centre court play & then two great matches - Williams, Ferrer & an average one in between, before catching the 493, or a bus with those digits in some order, back to Richmond & preparing dinner for the four of us.
P & N live in a beautiful artisan's cottage in a quiet cul-de-sac - idyllic!
We hit the shops again on Wed - window shopping, of course & a few charity shops - Richmond prices even there - with stops for coffee, before returning home to  watch some tennis.
P & N took us out for a meal - an excellent ending to a enjoyable day!

We removed all traces of ourselves from the house, before driving home yesterday - quite a slow trawl for those unaccustomed to the M25.
We arrived about tea-time, watched a little tennis over a late lunch & had a nap before aj headed off home.
I had  two sheets to deliver to all houses in the village - a job I had intended to do on Monday, volunteered to do as there is a church invitation to go out then.
The perpetrator of these two sheets - one A4 thick & shiny + a flimsy A5 sheet had been hassling whilst I was away, so I then set out in the pouring rain to do the deed.
How I hate about 75% of letterboxes, designed to prevent the passage of papers, especially A4 shiny  sheets!
I arrived at friend J's house one & a half hours later, job completed, soaked from the knees down. A true friend, she took me in & gave me a cup of tea & chatted for an hour whilst I dried out & the rain eventually stopped.  
I came home , had a banana milk shake - my latest craze - whilst watching recordings of last week's "Apprentice"  , then a hot bath & bed.
Mental note - remove laptop from bedroom to avoid doing e mails until 3.00am!

Shopping for Sunday's charity lunch, here, today, then Solihull to collect J & Th from school.

I wish that I didn't have an insect bite on my forehead which has closed one eye & deformed my face, as it feels uncomfortable, despite piriton & antibiotics.
I probably look pretty horrendous as well! 

Anyone for tennis?

After a wet, busy Saturday,cleaning, Aj rescued me, Sunday bbq lunch in richmond, with the family, most of them anyway, 3/4 sons with partners, a lot of fun (&wine).
Today we had a day pottering along the river & browsing the shops before tea & cake watching Wimbledon, on TV - Murray just through, Nadal OUT in straight sets!
The first time he's ever been out in a first round.
The real thing tomorrow, centre court tickets, row W, I think.
Brill.
That will be a late night, play whilst light allows/ match finishes, then a walk to the bus to get back.
Last year it was a very late night as we got on the right bus, going the wrong way.
P eventually rescued us in the car- nearly home!
I can't compete with W's blog (william's little world) for medical interest, but am now taking piriton, on Boots' equivalent, to deal with the bites on my head, suffered when mowing under the trees.
Nevertheless,I look forward to honing my mowing skills in a week or so.
Next time, insect repellant & a hat - shorts & a vest top was not one of my better ideas!
Lent

Big moon day

The moon is closer than usual & will appear to be 30% bigger tonight, so don't panic.
There was some advice re looking at it from between your legs - not sure why - sounds dodgy & accident prone!
Lawns are now all mown, with a great deal of frustration involved - the mower refused to pick up the grass, opting for clumps at 8" intervals - round & round trying to collect, then clearing out the channels - resorting to vacuuming it out at one point (not to be recommended!)
The field mowings can just lie - it is not needed for bowling this year.
I tidied the borders & removed a barrowfull of bluebells, adding scratches to the bites suffered whilst mowing under the trees/under the hedges, disturbing all biting insects.
I must look as if I have some dreadful disease - just need a sty on my eye.
I bought a new bed yesterday (as opposed to an old one, which may have been much cheaper, but not nice).
I am very proud that I made the salesman an offer on the sale price, saw the manager & got a 10% discount.
This is the way forward with my new austerity budget - will it work in M&S?
Tennis this morning - windy & cool first thing, whilst I moved the chicken run & filled the feeder, but it does look as though the is trying to shine.
Enjo y the weekend - flaming June! 

Are you happy?

Today is the happiest day of the year, apparently - something to do with summer, holidays & optimism over Andy Murray & Wimbledon - might be more than that, but I wasn't listening too carefully.
I am happy - I plan a day in the garden, B popping in after work & friends for dinner.
I would be even happier if the mower was functioning, ie the blades lowering & then rotating.

Yesterday I caught up on the gossip with a friend/ex colleague, which took over 3 hours - 2 M&S coffees worth of chatting& then met another friend in the Food hall as I shopped for tonight's dinner.
I came home, planning an afternoon in Solihull, then on to friends for dinner in Knowle, but having bought mower fuel, lounged all morning, the threatened rain not having arrived,& buoyed by the beauty of the mown lawns, I revised plans , put on old clothes &got mowing.
If only the mower had played the game, the blades had lowered & rotated, all would have been well.
Then he rains came.
After 45 minutes I was wet & frustrated, with nothing achieved - I gave up & did the Solihull trip eventually.
Today's another day - I'll take the mower by surprise, then settle for taking out the dead bluebells & digging that top border.

I had a poached egg & banana at 5.30am - a bit peckish.
That should stand me in goo stead for a day's work..  
 

Three men went to mow....

Or, in this case, one woman.
Hurrah, I have mown the lawns - not all of them, but the main one & it looks good.
This was not without incident - I started at 14.00 & finished at 22.15!
Firstly, I could not find the padlock key - eventually phoned B & found in 2 seconds.
First circuit without blades, second circuit with blades but not picking up grass.
Third circuit likewise.
Rob heard the mower & came to see if I was coping. Result, blades cease to work.
Eventually phoned JA - elderly farmer/mower technician who looks after the mower.
After an hour he went to fetch me one of his mowers & took mine away.
He gave me instruction & waited until I'd mown a strip. AOK.
Mower worked wonderfully, but I had to stop at 19.30 for a mtg here, at which point I had just emptied it at the top of the field & couldn't get it to start. Bother.
After the mtg, about 21.30, Chris came with me & started it - I had it on a slope - clever technique to empty & roll forward to leave grass behind, but mower has to be flat to start.
I'd just finished  at 22.15 when it ran out of fuel. Bother again.
It remains, under the tarpaulin, secured, on the top lawn.
I'm meeting a friend for coffee 7 shall buy fuel, then finish off the remaining lawns/field before going out to dinner for 19.30 in Solihull - that's the plan anyway.
I am so pleased that I can make the lawns look good as I really want to keep the garden looking good in G's absence.
I have put in new plants (mainly Morrisons 2 for £3 perennials, which are amazing.
I just have to cope with climbing a ladder to tame the wisteria & I am self sufficient, well, almost, with a bit of help.
Good day here, better than forecast.
Should I brave the Lotus?

Day 2

Well, I would rather not have woken up at 4.45am, but it is a lovely morning with a warm day promised.
It may be that today is lawn mowing day, before the grass grows to knee height & will require the grass box to be emptied on every circuit of the lawn.
I doubt it though - I am having coffee with a friend, then plan to buy a new bed for the spare room, having calculated that the beds in there are well over 30 years old & rather pudding-like.
I have long wanted a double bed in there as 1. most guests are couples & 2. I will only have to make up one bed, not two & 3. there will be a lot more space in the room as when the grandchildren stay, en masse, they all like to sleep in there, necessitating 2 mattresses on the floor.
Have I convinced you?
I can then buy a new duvet cover to tone with the new wallpaper ( well, last year - old houses only get decorated on a 20 year cycle) - the remaining bed linen is all white anyway.
I shall also buy a headboard to add to comfort & protect aforementioned wallpaper.
I'm not sure why we don't have headboards in there  - an oversight?

I shall start the day with a bath & finish it bell ringing this evening.
I have suggested to J that we walk the one & a half miles to church & practice walking - the sat telegraph had a "Walk Your Waist Off" leaflet - I was relieved to find that I had been walking more or less correctly for much of my life.
Imagine finding that you had been doing it wrongly, possibly sniggered at by fellow pedestrians all of your life, & been totally unaware.
What a nightmare!

Enjoy your day.

  

The first day of the rest ot my life....

A new week, full of challenges, the main one being to mow the lawns - this may be "small fry" to many of you, but there is a lot of lawn, it is pretty shaggy & the ride-on mower is a bit if a challenge.
I failed as a used - car - salesperson on Saturday - I forgot that someone was coming to see the car & played tennis all morning!
Fell at the first post!!
I had a lazy afternoon on Saturday - the polisher had "done" the panelling in the lounge, leaving it in  chaos. I came home from tennis , made a salad &sat in the midst of the chaos, TV on, doing e mails & phoning friends, when I looked at the clock it was 8 pm.
I did eventually get stuck in - cleaned it all & put it all back, apart from a bookcase that I really can't move - all done apart from vacuuming, by midnight.

Yesterday I was up early, moved/cleaned chickens & baked scones for church, scones & chocolate cake for tea, vacuumed & made church by 10.05am - OK, 5 minutes late.
I went on to NW to take the service then home to welcome B, E, T & KP for a snack lunch followed by a visit to Maxstoke Castle open Day.
I took the Lotus - accompanied by T, out, KP, home - taking the opportunity of parking opposite the car park entrance with the FOR SALE notice on the windscreen.
We enjoyed the castle - hide & seek in the gardens, then home for tea.
B sorted hi tech paraphernalia for me - the phone & the kettle -  & showed me how to use the mower.
T's dead keen to mow the lawns - a chip of the old block.

Start the Week" on Radio 4 discussed Parkinson's Law - work expanding to fit the time available.
I have always been a great believer of this  - listen if you have time!!! 
I must go to buy a postcard - after tennis, anyway !

Rained off.

At Queens, but we managed couple of sets at Coleshill this morning before the heavens opened.
I came home to put the house straight - too wet to mow the lawns.
I prepared a lovely salmon salad to devour whilst watching tennis, surrounded by the mess that was the lounge before Brian came to polish the panelling - all ornaments down & the chest contents piled in the chairs.
I finished my lunch, but then caught up with recordings of "The Apprentice" & "You're Fired" & am still sitting here at tea -time.
I'll just have a nice cup of tea & then become a whirling dervish!!

I've had a lovely couple of days in Bicester, whilst Brian got on here, starting with a lazy journey across country, via Warwick for lunch.
We visited the circus on the school field on Wed evening - really old fashioned stuff that all of the kids loved.
Sermon done, a cake to make & put the place straight as some of the family may visit tomorrow - Th b'day.
party.
I visited MG en route to Bicester & Solihull on the way home, to deliver Th's present, so managed to see 7/9 g'children last week - not bad.
I don't suppose that I will manage that again.

I have signed the Which online petition for action against nuisance phone calls - do look it up & add your weight, if time allows.
Time for tea!!

Ding dong

I've just returned from bell ringing - I'm getting better, probably because I've gone for three weeks in a row - practice makes, well not perfect, but an improvement.
Maurice took us up to see the bells as I have great difficulty in seeing what they are doing - I thought that they hung down to ring - they don't.
Up another three ladders & a lot of guano at higher level - fascinating.
There are six bells, one a replacement after the fire following a lightning strike in 1887, the newest added after the war.

If you want people to come & see you, just have a lie in.
Keith & a mate came to mend chests before 9.00am, I had released the chickens & gone back to bed with a cup of tea, for a chat on the phone with aj.
They mended two chests which were suffering from overloading,then they unhung heavy carvings, ready for decorating. Brill.
Later, Brian, a retired polisher came to size up a couple of jobs, which he will start/do tomorrow.
Three rooms - the main ones are all upside down, all needing jobs to be finished before I can clean/get straight - next week perhaps.
The dyson is upstairs, that's a start.
A local phoned to see the Lotus - told him that he couldn't see it until the weekend as I'd just put it back on the road & wanted to drive it for a few days first - perhaps not the best sales technique.
I've just eaten a lot of biscuits - oh dear, not the best healthy diet.

Raining.

Today I planned to mow the lawns, assuming that it would be dry.
Amazingly, it has just started to rain, so it may call for a change in plans - the house is in a state of flux as I've been reassessing the contents of the downstairs rooms/packing away/ giving away & generally reorganising.
A morning/day spent finishing at least one room would be good.
I had a brilliant day yesterday - the best for many weeks.
I was up early to sweep the yard - a wheelbarrow full of bits off the oak tree, in the main - followed by a thorough clean & move for the chickens, then a bath before going to Coleshill for a manicure & pedicure.
I now have shiny purple toenails, with which I am delighted - no polish on fingernails as it doesn't last long with housework & gardening.
I insured & taxed the Lotus, so all systems go - I do hope the sun comes out again as forecast.
It is still for sale, if you are interested - much better deal when on the road - MOT planned before 13 July.
Tomorrow I shall "split the breeze".
I went on to have coffee with a friend & then collected J & Th from school.
They were on great form - J had only scored 9/10 in her spelling test as she had forgotten to learn the words.
The one wrong - circumspection!!!!
J is 9!

I came home via JS to take on baking requisites, visited a friend en route & arrived home at the disgusting hour of 9.30pm, had a smoked salmon sandwich (sorry W) & an earlyish night, then spent until 2.00am catching up on emails.
Not a good idea - crampy legs from supporting the laptop & too tired.

A whole day to myself - I shall move mountains today!

Changed, but still no paragraphs!

Well, who needs paragraphs anyway!
I was up early to free the chickens, clean them out & fill the feeder - I hope they appreciate all of this care & attention.
Yesterday evening I went to the "Antiques Valuation Evening", with Charles Hanson, in Coleshill.
It was very good, he is charming & very chatty. He talked about his jobs, as an auctioneer & on TV, talked about & valued the items we'd put on the stage (including my painting of "The entrance to Sutton Park" - he knew of the artist!!) an auction of promises, then chat & further valuations, over supper.
I bought a £50 Hanson's voucher, to spend at one of their sales - they recommend 25 July, when they host the BBC.
A friend immediately asked if he could come with me - should be fun.
CH is going to come & do a valuation lunch for us out here, date to be arranged.
Wow! Should be great fun.

I have the Lotus outside on the verge with a luminous "FOR SALE".
Actually, I so enjoyed putting it out & it looked so good that I took steps to put it back on the road, whilst in Coleshill. Must follow it up this morning, then three services to prepare for tomorrow & cakes to make for the Family Service.
I'd better get going......

One long paragraph?

I apologise for the above. I do write in paragraphs, but they all get removed on publishing - help would be appreciated. Help would also be appreciated into explaining why my m phone does predictive text of late &, from today, is in Spanish. This is most disconcerting, some of my texts have been really strange! Had a great day - spent 3 + hours this morning with a novice preacher, giving feedback, then went to Knowle & Solihull to shop. I put up ads to sell the Lotus - photos with an info sticker across them - in Sh shop & Coleshill, there was a message from an interested party when I got home. Fingers crossed - I need an empty garage. I picked up an encyclopaedia at the charity bookshop, that they had had in today - they do requests, & paid the CA money in, rather late. I spent a couple of hours with friends this evening & have since watched yesterday's recordings of the apprentice & have stayewd up far too late. I bought the new Hilary Mantel novel, half price at Morrisons & was looking forward to starting it - too tired now. Tomorrow's another day!

Pied piper.

These chickens follow me everywhere, to the point that I have to keep the door shut - one met me in the hall yesterday when a friend was here, to our surprise. I've just found a plop in the conservatory, so goodness knows how long the house tour took!They see me in the conservatory & fly down the lawn to sit on the sill. If only husbands could be so devoted!! Managed to play tennis, although a grey morning & should be doing something useful now, but seemed to have turned idle since lunch. It has brightened up now - I must get going - must take the hanging baskets to Dawn to be filled, visit a couple of friends then home to shower before going out to dinner at a friends. I haven't cooked a meal since Sunday lunch so no washing up even. I could get used to this. I went bellringing last night. I'm rubbish, but they all say that it takes some months to become proficient.Highlight on Friday is Charles hanson, the antiques guy, doing a valuation at Coleshill Town hall. Going with a friend. What shall I take?? Everwhere is so green, rain tonight forecast which will be good.

Here comes the sun.

Apparently, summer starts on 1 June. It certainly did this year & we are now on summer day 4, with more warm weather promised. I even donned shorts yesterday morning, anticipating a morning of tennis. Unfortunately, this was cancelled as we didn't have four to play as some were on holiday. What else do you do pn a hot day, when you have been twarted? Housework - penance for believing that you should expect more. Actually, I needed to empty the large "Noble chest", as Keith was coming to repair it, ready to take the family archives. This got me going on scrubbing, washing & sorting, I worked my way through th scullery & kitchen, like a whirling dervish, with pleasing results. I dressed properly & went to Solihull to pick up J & Th from school, tea, after which I did a G & nodded off on the settee - along with a tired Th, before coming home for warmer clothes & out to dinner with a friend. A beautiful morning, woken by the cuckoo at very close quarters about 4.30am, so the chickens have had an early start to the day! Perhaps they'll manage better than the one egg today!!

Hangover, what hangover?

Well, the girly bring a bottle party went really well - about 20 of us, all having a good time, chatting & never a mention of church fundraising - a few other hair-raising tails though! I did do a sell on the church toilet twinning as I had a certificate on the toilet door, in readiness. The food was scrummy & the birthday cakes - one for Olwen & a second for Mia, Jan's Norwegian wild blue (?), 4 yesterday - one coffee, one lemon, teuned out brilliantly. All tidied up & the dishwasher on by midnight. The sun came out, eventually, so the doors open to the garden, even if we didn't venture out. A beautiful morning - washing & chickens out before 6.00am, a sermon to write & shopping to be done for tomorrow's lunch - Phil coming with friends, to catch up on the village news, after his sojourn in Tamworth. G off to Thailand tomorrow am, via MG for lunch & a chauffeur to HRW. Sounds like a good weekend. Quandry, should I use last week's "Trinity sermon", with which I was pleased, to explain the trinity to NW, or write the planned one on the centurian & his slave? I think that I may have to go with option 2, having done the planning, to get it out of my head. Enjoy your weekend, especially those for whom life isn't just one long holiday!