Diary > Friday 21st August

[Roobarb]

I had my new bathroom put in a couple of years ago, they told me that although the bath was the same length (it had to be to fit in the space) the design meant that the bathing area was greater. I was really pleased as I love a bath but when it was in I found that I couldn't lie down and relax without the posibilty of slipping down it. After a couple of tries at others I bought a really thick bath pillow that did the trick.

Annette, that's absolutely ridiculous cutting you off like that! What a shame you weren't ale to visit your niece when you were so looking forward to it. Very kind of the Asda driver to bring your shopping in for you.

[Viktoria]

The first night I slept here,removal day ,I had a bath.
Well I slid right down ,luckily it had not got the full amount of water in that l like ,deep, I had real difficulty in sitting up, no grips,all shiny and new .
SoI only took showers until I found those suction hand grips ,you know you wet them ,put them in place and pull a lever and gosh  is the suction strong!
Thank goodness for  “ Little old lady “magazines ,lots of helpful gadgets .
Saw in one today a really nice circular plant support, like a tower that you can
push into the ground or a container .
Ideal for my container grown everlasting sweet pea.
Also some D shaped plant supports ,two sizes ,they will be handy for the gladioli  next year,.

I must try to find the same tiles as a new bath will leave an area not tiled .
I think the shortest is 150 cm outer measurement so possibly 140 inside .
New floor covering too but what is in now is badly fitted ,ooooh when I think what I left!
I fitted it,one piece ,and exact, sealed along edges and  round fittings etc.
I was really proud of my handiwork.This is rubbish.
I will get there one day!
Two showers —— a normal one and a stupid great fixed  thing  “Rain  forest “
which drenches you in icy water before the warm water comes. However you have to climb in the bath to do anything as the large shower screen is fixed of
course !
I never use that ,just the normal shower, but love a hot bath.
Enough of my bathroom!
Might bake tomorrow , send some in to my lovely neighbour and next door but one ,we have each other’s keys ,he had a terrible run in with the nasty neighbour,did not ask what about ,but he is exPolice so keeps cool in all situations but still got a blasting ,seems to be the nasty one’s habitual way.

Well nothing from the Police re dropped kerb, so either they have too much to do or my son has not been reported at all ,soooo, is the dropped kerb legal,done officially?.
I can’t be bothered , truly, blasting people seems to be nasty neighbour’s habitual manner.
I am going to have a look to see if my potatoes have had babies ,tomorrow.
It is weeks and weeks since I planted one with millions of legs.
Well folks I am off ,a nice cuppa after kitchen tidy ,last tablets and bed.
Goodnight and a good day for you all tomorrow.
Viktoria.
P.S.I have mentioned the visit we made to a Dairy ,when at school ,and yes you who said we ought to leave the milk in the bottle are correct, the bottles are sterilised ,milk jugs aren’t,my point is the neck of those delivered to me are contaminated by the plug of cream which I have to remove ,it  is really stiff.
Even if I wipe inside the neck with kitchen roll it still smells sour ,and the milk sours pretty quickly.
After the dairy visit - you should have seen my Mum’s face when I informed her the milk ought to be left in the bottle!
It was thought common and scruffy to have a milk bottle on the table ,and as for mugs and beakers!!!, no way,cups and saucers,a teapot ,milk jug and sugar bowl and a hanging offence if you stirred your tea with the
sugar spoon .
 But yes the bottle is supposed to be sterile,so,leave the milk in it under normal circumstances .
V.

[River Tyne Lass]

Just trying to catch up ...

Friday:

Woke up very early and had breakfast.  I see a beautiful rainbow in the sky.  I have to go to the post office and want to get some bread at a local shop which sell all types of delicious bread and buns.
On the way, on the bus, I notice that the driver keeps looking behind at us all when he pulls up at stops.  What is he looking at?  I wonder. We are all behaving ourselves with our masks on.  One night earlier in the week when I had been going home from work a young man had removed his mask.  The driver had noticed this and had stopped the bus and spoken to this person in a very stern manner about it.  The young man didn't say anything back but just put his mask back on and we had all continued on.  However, today, everyone is behaving.  Then it dawns on me that the driver is not checking about this he seems to be looking to see how much room he has on the bus for other passengers to be able to get on.
I go to the post office and also get some bread.  Then I get a feeling like I don't want to be out, I want to be back home.  I feel like I want to get back as soon as possible.  This is a strange feeling for me as I usually like to go out and be out. 
In the afternoon at home I hear the wind blowing outside and it is very loud.  There is a large tree outside my living room window and I sit mesmerised watching the branches thrashing furiously back and forth in the wind.  The tree is like a person in turmoil trying to defend itself from the onslaught of someone much bigger and stronger.

[Viktoria]

Perhaps you were tired RTL, and even a feeling that the wind could be dangerous would cause unease.
I have “ bottomed “ a bedroom, the big spare one, this morning.
So much stuff waiting to be collected when they can come, by my family.
Some elephants in ever decreasing sizes, you know those tourists liked to bring back from India and Ceylon ,my OH was there for business
One set are book ends with a very ingenious secret compartment ,
I will keep,those but the rest can go toFlash Harry.
He will like to do magic with them. You know a small one on display, close your eyes,abracadabra ,open them and the elephant has grown ,he can be fooled seven times ,then he will want to do it himself and it will be worked to death!
Lots of storage jars granddaughter wants, the sewing machine ,a little cupboard which won’t fit in my bathroom but she has a use for it .
So roll on visiting ,if that ever comes!
Elephants , stuff for charity , etc etc .
All I can say is the room is dust free ,as tidy as can be given what is in there for other people , can’t do more.
Must make some custard ,to go with the jelly I made ,
Had Carnation milk but I love custard.
Must put some Custard powder on my order.
Does anyone know if a recipe my Mum used when stuff was still rationed —
It contained All Bran, Condensed  milk and cocoa powder .
Mixed up,and left overnight for the All Bran to soften .
Rolled onto balls and then dredged with cocoa powder when dried out somewhat.

Delicious tooth rotting delicacies , can’t find anything about them.
Can’t remember either if it was the sweetened cocoa or the unsweetened .

A mixed weather day ,changeable.
I wanted to get the little girl across the lane something for her birthday ,her Mummy got me the Tea for One box, she had every toy imaginable ,books etc— well Mummy is a teacher, I thought some plants etc but can’t get to the garden centres .
A book voucher if I can get one by post ,will look into,it.
Oooh ,I am in Postscript Book club, perhaps something in there .
I can’t let it go by ,they are very kind to me.
Well chicken already cooked yesterday,veges just need microwaving ,jelly there only waiting for custard .
So I will crack on after looking inPostscript catalogue .
Look after yourselves everyone .
Viktoria.

[ThrelfallYorky]

When we last re-did our main bathroom, OH was masterminding it as I was very busy at work. I asked for a bath with integral handles and usual tap arrangement "Just like the existing one..."
Himself selected a deeper, longer bath, really heavy, in pressed steel, with - no handles, and centrally mounted taps! "We'll not be re-doing this again, so let's get the best!"
Took 3 people to get it up the stairs, and the ( incredibly expensive) selected taps - integral with switch to above-bath shower - soon gave trouble, something sheared off inside them. so shower dribbled all the time - as I only ever used it to rinse my hair, I'd not noticed the other problem, the bath base at that end was curved and incredibly smooth and slippy - so OH couldn't stand safely for a shower in it at all!
It also was quite hard to keep immaculate, fitted into tiled area, part of which was almost an alcove, where the lovely (expensive) multi-fold shower screen projected out from the wall, close to the front-to-back deep washbasin / vanity unit...
So: sturdy grab handle obtained, and fitted, drilled into the tiled wall, and tap supplier told taps not fit for purpose ... they meekly supplied sheared off part, free ... so could it have been a design fault? With an expensive make like that? No, of course it couldn't, - but sheared off again, so it's ever since been with shower jammed off and inoperative.
Really slippery bath interior caught us both out - nasty. Several allegedly "none-slip" mats later, one bought that more-or-less works, but if you pull yourself up to sit up ( did I mention it's FAR too long a bath for me, I skid down if I try to sit up, ) it gradually ruckles up under your bottom and you slide inexorably towards the other end...
Oh, and the central taps are positioned so I have to sit up and lurch forward to adjust them at all ... so of course I slide around!!
It's a good job that it's only the house bathroom, and not the only one in the house, or I'd be filthy by now!
Moral: never let a gadget-loving, taller male plan and design anything that a gadget-hating small woman has to use - and clean- every day!
So you are not alone. The previous bathroom ( that I'd planned) may have been boring, with bath with handles, separate tiled shower cubicle ( known in the family as the "Tardis") and washbasin built backing on from wall of shower cubicle, but it worked, and was tremendously efficient use of the space!
By the way: please don't put too much faith in those suction-fitting grab handles. They can - rarely - come adrift, and literally let you down!

[Viktoria]

A timely warning !Yes, I try to remember to test them now prior to relying on them.
This bath is much larger at the shower end - a big square .
The idiotic glass ,fixed shower screen means you have   to get in the bath to clean and polish the screen,turn on the shower ( s)Polish the floor to ceiling tiled walls round the top end ,two sides.Turn on taps.
The “ Amazon Rain Forest “ Shower is a total waste of space.
Our other bath was cast iron double enamelled , enough space for hot water cylinder in those days ,later ample storage cupboard.
I need ladders to open the window here but there is no room for them!
Oh modernisation !
The plastic bath or whatever it is ,creaks when  I cross  the little landing,
quite eerie late at night ,all alone by myself with nobody with me!
So a pillow for the bath as Roobarb suggested ( I did buy a foot/ head rest
but the darned sucky feet come out of it when I try to remove it.)
Then a new bath with internal dimensions at least 10 cm/ 4” shorter than this thing!
Just ordered some books for neighbours’ little girls ,one has a Birthday coming up ,I will have some in hand for her little sister and some for Flash Harry.
He is a really good mimic ,I do voices when I tell stories ,and he copies .
Gosh, he will be in school just over a week.
 His other Nanny ( Mum’s mother ) is there “ To see what a big boy he is going in school!
What is the bet he asks can he ride there on his little ,about four miles an hour mini motor bike bought by his step grandad !
The answer is already NO .
He thinks some sign or other ,to do,with traffic approaching school ,says
“No children are allowed to ride motor bikes to school “.
He only rides it in the enclosed test field under supervision .
It must be battery driven.
His step grandad idolises him .
But the bike is strictly rationed.
Well little under the bed vacuum is charged up ,so I can do that, rest of carpet done .
Hope some nice weather tomorrow ,some dark colours to wash ,trousers and elasticated waists dry nicer outside ,take ages inside.
Well, last bit  of vacuuming then a bath perhaps, if  I don’t  post anymore you will know the bath has won !
A good day tomorrow for you all , 24 th of August, goodness for a boring time it is going by so quickly!
Viktoria.