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.