Diary > Monday 8th February

[trystan]

The first thing I did was drop off Sarah's car at the garage. I'd put the key in an envelope, and had written my contact details and a summary of the work we want doing on it. So I parked the car near the garage and threw in the envelope to the floor of the garage. He waved at me and put his thumb up.

Really cold today! A few snowflakes drifting around. We went for our lockdown walk before noon today. More flakes of snow drifting around. It takes us about an hour to do our circular walk from our front door. We were thankful to have wrapped up very warm.

The garage rang up to give a better idea of what jobs need doing, so it looks like it will be there tomorrow too now.

The Hermes driver turned up twice today (he's forgotten about one parcel I suppose). We wave at him by the window, and he leaves it by the door. After we bring in parcels (and wash our hands) we leave them in quarantine in the hallway until the following day. Stuff from Superdrug, and some wool.

My new mobile phone is keeping its charge well. It's still at 44% charge and I last charged it yesterday morning. Still getting used to the buttons being in a different place.

Did a load of work, drank a lot of tea. It's salad night tonight, with poached salmon. Should be good.

Looking forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a good day.

Have fun,
Trystan

[DianaCanada]

Very cold today, feels like -13 C even now.  Only went out with the dog a couple of times.
This was our grocery pickup day but OH went alone, and put gas in the car too.  I put most of the groceries away and OH took the rest down to the basement freezer.
Am trying to stay off my leg for a week or so and see if it improves. I am considering calling my family doctor and perhaps setting up a call with a specialist to determine what is going on.
Spoke to my daughters again today, it was the older one’s birthday. We talked about streaming shows, they did not recommend Bridgerton!  Suggested we try Criminal UK which is on Netflix here.  We still have to finish The Scapegoat...we watch less than 2 hours a night together, so take our time!
Texted my son, he and girlfriend had been skating on his friend’s rink.  Not quite as cold there, though farther north. 
I have ordered a portable table with short legs so I can do jigsaws while sitting on the bed - not hard on my leg, unlike office chair.  Coincidentally the place that sells them is only 20 minutes away, but they do online sales only.  I found out we can get a huge fine for making unnecessary trips, so even if I could pick it up, I won’t.  Shipping cost was actually reasonable for the size.
Not much else to report. OH’s turn to do the evening meal, something to do with chicken.  We eat pretty plainly, I am no foodie, had something spicy last night and I am sure that is why I was dizzy this morning.
Hope everyone is well!

[Ruskie]

Every time I take the car for a service I have to remember to remove the house keys off the key ring. Several years ago the car had to get some repairs (ding in a back panel) and I forgot to remove the house keys which sent OH into a mad panic about someone using our house keys to rob us - he  ended up getting the locks changed. An over reaction I thought, but ever since I have been extra careful not to repeat the mistake.

What mobile did you have Trystan, and what did you move on to?

Diana. I love hearing about Canada. Just before covid reared it’s head, my daughter and partner were considering going skiing there, but opted for Japan instead. Since international travel will be off the cards for a while, I think they wish they’d gone there as they’d already been to Japan. Her partner’s father is Canadian. We watch a lot of UK TV series on Netflix and Stan and via some downloads OH does somehow.  I never remember which we what where. We love the crime, drama, who done it, how they did it type shows. Apparently Bridgerton is one of the most popular series, which says a lot. We could only manage to watch about half an hour before turning it off. I understand what they are trying to do with this series, but we found it to be rubbish.

My Monday was spent at my daughter’s house looking after her dog. Temperature was about five degrees cooler than Sunday though still humid. Quick trip to Aldi to grab a couple of things for a quick evening meal  before heading home, because I couldn’t be bothered cooking. Took dog for her usual walk - just a quick walk today. She barked at a small child on a scooter. I wasn’t too concerned or apologetic because the child was edging up behind us a bit too closely, and did so twice. We often see this child so he is familiar with the dog. Dog is literally all bark and no bite. 

[Roobarb]

Hope the car repairs don't turn out to be too expensive Trystan. Hope you've found the important buttons on your phone, it took me about a fortnight to go through all the settings on my new one. They do make life difficult sometimes.

Diana, it might be a good idea to phone your doctor even if it's just to get some advice on things like whether you should be exercising or resting it. I haven't seen any of the programmes you mention but have heard a lot about Bridgerton. Hope you enjoy your jigsaw.

Ruskie, not surprised you can't be bothered to cook in that heat, I'd be living on salads.
I suppose you must have to time your dog walks for when it's a bit cooler too.

My day:

Another bitterly cold day, I could hear hailstones during the night and everywhere was white this morning. Once again I'd had only about four hours sleep, I'm missing my walks in the fresh air but I'm not going to chance it on the slippery footpaths. In fact we had blizzards most of the day so the furthest I went was to the bin. The couple across the road were having new windows and doors fitted throughout all the awful weather.

Got myself in a right stew again today, not because of the washing machine, this time it was the hot water. I have the old type of boiler and a hot water tank in the airing cupboard. When I open the airing cupboard door in the morning I usually feel a lot of warmth and any damp towels have dried overnight. That wasn't the case, it felt cold and I convinced myself that the water wasn't heating although the water was running hot and the central heating was on. I decided to wait till the house was properly warm and have a shower and hair wash and see if the hot water lasted, which it did. I then turned off the heating and the water on to see if it heated again but was worried that if something was wrong the pipes could get too hot and cause a problem so I turned it off after about ten minutes. Later in the afternoon I phoned my friend A, she'd had a problem recently with lack of hot water but had heating. Turns out hers is a combi boiler and although she isn't a plumber she does have certain knowledge and was able to reassure me that there are built in safety measures. I then put the water on to heat while we were talking and when I tested it after a while it was really hot, I was so relieved. I didn't relax though until I'd had a long hot bath late in the evening, I knew then that the water was heating ok. I really don't want to have to have anyone in my house at the moment.

Amongst all that I had very little appetite so didn't eat much till evening. Hadn't done much either apart from some more vacuuming and a bit of drawing.
Am hoping for a more settled day tomorrow.

[Caw1]

Great to have the diary back... thanks for starting it off Trystan a bit of de ja vue from when you very first posted the diary an eon ago!
I think Hermes have improved their delivery skills.... much needed... I had parcel from Lakeland delivered by them the other day... actually rang the bell waited for me to answer it standing away from the door, face coverings on and quick photo of delivery and off he went...
Diana - hope your leg improves by staying off it if you can... good excuse to be waited on eh! ...
I watched Bridgerton out of curiosity... quite bizarre... but it’s a bit of escapism and harmless.... glad I didn’t live in those times... been most popular series ever I think...OH thinks it’s a load of rubbish....

Ruskie - we could do with some of your warm weather at the moment! Your OH bit extreme with changing locks.... I keep my keys separated now... as had car accident donkeys years ago and used to have great bunch of keys all together and in the accident they made a right mess of my knee when the got embedded so after that always kept car ones on it’s own!

Well today woke up to smattering on snow... had none yesterday but bitterly cold..we were up early... well for us! Expecting boiler chap to come and fix the pump in the boiler....
After breakfast had a shower and tidy up... he arrived and yes had to replace the pump... had this boiler for 5 years and if you include the pump that was in it from new this is the third one! First one went after a year... replaced under guarantee... this one just outside five year! Cost £200+... OH spoke to boiler company to say not of serviceable quality... long story to boring but he’s not happy!
Had long conversation with the admin girl from the Butterfly Project that I’m attached to with all the sewing I did last year as I’ve still got 🌈 fabric... another long story... going to see if any of the nurses at my doctors surgery would like a 🌈 top... so no sewing yet...
Phoned my friend who’d had a positive test for covid on Friday... she’s feeling pretty grim, slept quite a lot... said NHS had been excellent and she’s had two phone calls from them checking how she is... shame as she’d just been given a date for her vaccination.... apparently she can go back to work on 13th if she’s feeling ok and doesn’t need another test which I find staggering and so did she!...
After lunch, which was late, by the time boiler chap had gone etc...
Had two games of scrabble which I lost both... considering I went out once scoring extra 50 and had another high score... then I had a load of rubbish low scoring tiles... now just two ahead...
Started to snow lightly and was very cold when we went out to do the bins!
Dinner was stir fry turkey strips in lemon and ginger sauce with rice and vegs...
Watched usual Monday night tv....
Still snowing lightly when we retired...
Hope everyone else is ok and not suffering too much with the weather...
Keep safe, stay warm...

Caroline

ADDED - Glad to hear your hot waters not the problem you first thought... and you got to have a nice relaxing hot bath...
I’m sure you’re climbing the walls not being able to get out but in this cold with slippery pavements probably best to stay in the warm!

[Roobarb]

Caroline, I see we've posted pretty much together, we haven't done that for a while! I agree it's good to have the diary thread, thanks T.
Sorry to hear your friend's feeling so poorly. I was surprised too when my neighbour was allowed to go back out to work after having Covid but no further test required.
I bet the surgery nurses would love the rainbow tops. Glad to hear you'll be able to stay warm, albeit at a price!

[Ruskie]

Yes Roobarb, dog walks need to be later in the hot months and earlier in the cooler months, but the dog body clock still stays set at 4:30 year round. 

Home maintenance and appliance issues are always a huge pain.

Diana, do you have any ideas in what might be wrong with your leg? Always best to avoid Dr Google, but tempting nevertheless.

Caroline, good to see you back on he diary thread. You’re right - it’s nice to have Trystan back on board too. I remember his very first diary post last year.  I agree with your OH about Brigerton. As mentioned I didn’t watch much of it, but from what I gather it is not an accurate representation of the times. 

Your boiler sounds like a nightmare. Many years ago when I lived in the UK we had problems with our boiler and had our kitchen floor had to be dug up. I remember thinking how mad it was to encase pipes in concrete. My daughter was young at the time and had great fun playing in the cement dust with her cars.

Added: I am interested in how people cope with and recover from having covid. There are many nightmare stories in our news here, but in reality how bad is it for most people? One of OH’s friends in the UK had it and had to be hospitalised. Others who have it seem to be fine. I think that is the scary thing - you don’t know how it might affect you.

[DianaCanada]

Ruskie, hope your daughter and her partner do get to Canada some day! If they are skiers, can’t beat British Columbia, visited there a number of years ago, absolutely beautiful, Vancouver is stunning.
Caroline, hope your friend gets better soon, what a worry.  I had a long chat with a friend who has to go to one of our hospitals later this week for tests for a worrying health issue.  She is a bit nervous as that is where the local Covid cases are. I’ve put aside some puzzles for, in the garage, by the time she picks them up, no one will have touched them for days.  Your scrabble report reminded me that OH and I played cribbage over the weekend, I lost 1 and won 3.  I am so far ahead poor OH won’t catch up by the deadline we set, March 31st!  Maybe scrabble next time...
Roobarb, glad you still have hot water.  Why do things always happen at the wrong time of year?  We moved in here in December a number of years ago, and the furnace immediately needed replacing.  It was absolutely bone-chilling cold, I felt ill, and I have a high tolerance for cold.  Thank goodness we got it quickly!  Just hope the air conditioning doesn’t break down in July, I will whine like a baby.
My daughter’s one word for Bridgerton - “trashy”...and she watches all sorts of modern stuff...but that one strained even her tolerance. 

[DianaCanada]

Ruskie, I have sciatica from a piraformis injury 4 years ago.  It comes and goes but lately it’s been bad and I’m thinking it could be arthritis in the hip.  Otherwise I am healthy but it really is affecting my mobility. Oh, well, can’t get out much these days anyway.