Diary > Tuesday 9th March

[Roobarb]

Me first again....

Felt a bit spaced out after having had only four hours sleep. I'd been so wound up about everything yesterday and in addition had been (and continuing to be) stressed out with all this carry on with trying to book a vaccination appointment. Before attempting to go to sleep I'd been looking again and one came up at the place just a few miles away. By the time I'd clicked it and put in my email address for a confirmation I was told it was no longer available. It's like trying to book tickets for a massively popular concert or like playing one of those puzzles where you play against the clock. Absolutely ridiculous when there's a hospital a mile down the road where they're being done. Anyway, that's what kept me awake.

Did some personal maintenance in the morning then put some chilli ingredients in the slow cooker for later. Spent more time clicking my way around the NHS website. Did some gardening but the soil was very wet after yesterday's rain so weeding wasn't easy. Tidied up the planters outside the front door, the front garden has suffered badly from the winter weather, it's north facing. It was milder out but I had to put an extra layer on than I started off with.

Met my friend J for our weekly walk at 5pm, she wanted to drop a parcel at the post office so we went a a different route. It was nice and light, not even dark when I got back home and I'd enjoyed the walk and of course the company.

I see the Palace has responded to the grenade that Megan had chucked in during the Oprah interview. They said that "recollections may vary ". Not half! I bet the queen didn't get much sleep either.
 I see also that Piers Morgan has resigned from Good Morning Britain after he was taken to task about his comments about Megan. What a mess all round.

Watched the DNA Family Secrets Programme, I quite like it but I'm going to have to skip through the opening part so I don't have to listen to Stacey Dooley talking about geneOlogists every week. 

Wet and windy forecast tomorrow, weather like a baby.

[DianaCanada]

Roobarb, sorry to hear you did not have a good night’s sleep, it’s awful.  Mine was okay but my sciatica kicked up this morning so I fell asleep after lunch, it tires me.  It has improved lately.
Haven’t been posting much, not much happening.  We went shopping at at a housewares store, wanted to get OH an Ugg bedspread for his birthday, 70th, but he said no, they were too expensive, even on sale.  He had commandeered mine for the winter, he has really been feeling the cold.  They are very soft, very warm.  I bought a shower liner.  Got home and there was a 20 percent off coupon from the store in the mailbox!  Later that day OH put up the shower curtain I got for Christmas, fabric with stylized birds, very pretty, along with the liner.  I happened to look in the bathroom closet for something, well there was the brand new shower curtain liner I bought a few months ago, and forgot all about!  I hope I am not the only one who does things like that.😁
Yesterday morning I watched the recorded interview of M and H as it was on here Sunday night but I had no intention of staying up for that.  I was doing laundry and some family history at the same time, so missed some of it, but enough to make me splutter and shake my head.  One thing I can’t stand is hypocrisy - if you want privacy, you don’t do an Oprah interview!
We watched the last of The Queen’s Gambit, did not end the way I thought it would.  Thought it was a good series, I guess they could do a sequel.  OH has more curling on TV this week, men’s championship this time, so happy to watch that.
Weather has warmed up here, around 8C most days.  Grass is beginning to show around the edges of lawns and under the trees.  Thought I saw a robin (North American) this morning at dawn, couldn’t quite see as he/she was silhouetted against the lightening sky, sitting on a branch.  It was singing and its song is unlike the loud trilling of the cardinals around.  Robins leave at the end of August but this is a little early for their return, but are considered to be a harbinger of spring.
So not much else happening.  Family is all well, thankfully.

[Caw1]

Oh goodness Roobarb can’t believe you’re having so much trouble booking a vaccination... not surprised your stressed out... any mileage in contacting your doctors surgery see if they can help?
Glad to hear you’d been able to meet your friend J for a walk and chat ... hope it helped your mood..

Can’t believe the bomb shell that women has delivered to the Queen... the royal family are in need of some modernisation but so much of their restrictions are down to constitutional matters.... saw a lovely comment on FB today about how private they want to be signing up with Netflix, pro photos before every announcement, podcasts on Spotify, interviews on open top buses and Hollywood mega stars! Oh well watch this space for next load of rubbish they come up with..

My day
It was a joy to open the curtains this morning and see a clear blue sky... after breakfast and some tidying up we went into the garden..
OH to mow the lawns and I edged and dug the front flower bed, got some lovely tulips in there all the heads have been nipped off as they’re just coming up... muntjac love them sadly... going to move them into the back garden I think as would love to see then flower!
 Then took out the lovely pink geraniums we had in a large pot by the front door... 6 plants cost .99p in total and flowered most of the year round for the past 4 years.... good value I’d say but now they’ve thrown in the towel and said enoughs enough!
Whist out the front we must of chatted to at least half a dozen people over the time who were walking past.. Nice to catch up with some we’ve not seen for a while..
After lunch put some chicken pieces with vegs, Piri piri sauce into the slow cooker then went back outside and proceeded to trim plants, replant some, tidy up the flower beds ...
I Went up the lane to friends behind us and sat out in the garden and we had a nice cuppa slice of tea bread and a chat... not done that for a very long time..
Had a game of scrabble... lost now three behind 😢..
After a shower we had dinner and then a zoom meeting for our investment club... not many of us this month sadly but good to catch up..
My new iron and cover arrived... got free Amazon prime for a month so taking advantage before it runs out...
watched tv...
How the weather lifts your spirits and good to get outside for most of the day... sadly think it’s going to be batten down the hatches tomorrow... well at least I can play with my new iron.. how exciting...

Stay safe everyone and look forward to brighter days.

Caroline

[Roobarb]

Diana, you're definitely not the only one who does things like that, I'm guilty too, usually with groceries. What's a shower liner? I don't think it's something I've heard of. Good to hear that the weather is warming up for you, it's lovely to see signs of spring.

Caroline, I've tried contacting the surgery, I got absolutely nowhere and there's now a long message on the phone saying that they have been bombarded with phone calls and their receptionists are unable to answer any questions about coronavirus vaccinations. There's nothing on their website that's any use. There have been a few appointments coming up that are a bit nearer home but I do have a problem in travelling to them. Part of that is because I don't want to go to an area that has one of the highest infection rates in the country, the other part is that I've lost so much confidence after not going any further than two miles from home in the last year. The thought of going to a venue I'm not familiar with for this purpose unnerves me at the moment. Probably sounds pathetic and I feel such a wimp, I've never been like that before but I need to get back to normal at my own pace. Anyway, enough about me!

How lovely for you to have been able to spend time in the garden and particularly to have a cuppa with your friends, it makes such a difference. Hope you manage to rescue your tulips, you certainly had good value from your geraniums. Time for another 99p investment! I'm amazed that you were able to buy any at that price let alone six!

[radstockjeff]

Good start to the day. It was the two Oz grandson's birthdays this week. Jackson on Monday (15) and Pheonix 11  on Tuesday. Time lag of 11 hours does not help but we managed a Facetime encounter. Lovely to see them and granddaughter Juno out in the evening sunshine and fresh air. They were at a friends place just along the track from where they live; perhaps I should say dirt road rather than track (very dusty in the dry weather and very slippery when it rains!)  Happy memories from our last visit in 2019.

After many years both sons are now embarking on further education studies. Mark, having dropped out early in his Uni time, has now started an OU course on Computer Studies and Andrew (Oz) has signed up for a B.Ed (Primary) by distance learning. Both well over 40 but good luck to them. I can recall many years ago when I was about their age Mark saying to me (after he had dropped out), Why is Dad bothering with all this studying at his age?  Well the message has obviously got through to them both.

We are both beginning to come to terms with Nick's death, taking it day by day. It may seem odd to some folk that the Christmas wreath which we put outside the front door each year, we have not taken down this year. It is still quite fresh and I managed to fit a photo of Nick into the centre, well behind the foliage, so that we can all still see his smiling face as they come to visit.

All for now, and just a little off target perhaps, but good to catch up.

[Mowsehowse]

Good to hear from you Jeff, and to know you are all managing some highspots and keeping Nick's memory with you in such a lovely way. Great names the grandchildren have.

Really frustrating for you trying to book your vaccination Roobarb. It is quite odd how the on-line services work.... when H and I were on adjacent laptops booking simultaneously we found he could see one available the day before any showed available to me.  I take the point about driving... I was just getting back into it towards the end of last year, and now I haven't had the car out of the garage in nearly 4 months again. 

Diana, if you husband commandeered your special duvet last winter I think you are within your rights to get another one!! Lovely you have some signs of Spring... (I do adore hearing the birds singing again,) and I hope the warmer weather helps your mobility.

Always so busy as usual Caroline, what can I say! High 5 to you.
Amazing to have deer in your front garden even if they do eat the flowers. I have a friend in Cumbria who tells me the bluetits are pecking all the flower buds off her Mahonia, which is very cheeky!

Such a glorious day here yesterday, but I fear I may have to feed off that now for several days.  Walking along the front in the sunshine I bumped into 2 friends and was able to chat to them along the sands for a while. There was quite a chilly wind though.

[Caw1]

Diana - good to hear from you and about your shopping expeditions... I’d have just gone ahead and bought the Ugg bedspread for him anyway! I definitely identify with buying things stashing them away then rebuying  the item... short term memory 😂.
Glad your weather is warming up 8C sounds a lot better than minus anything! It’s a joy to see the spring flowers, blue skies and birds singing... they were definitely doing that yesterday... watching a pair of blue tits in and out of the box OH put up is lovely..

Jeff - so good to hear from you and I love that you’ve still got your Christmas wreath on the door with the photo of Nick inside it... I’m sure it brings a smile to your face every time you enter the house...
We too visited Oz in 2019... not sure if we’ll ever go back....😢 think our son will be the one travelling when they’re eventually able to...thank goodness for FaceTime...

MH - I’ll bet the sea was sparkling yesterday in the sunshine... I can just visualise it... as you say today a different tale!

Caroline

[Roobarb]

Pleased to hear from you Jeff, so lovely for you to be able to get in touch with your family in Oz to help celebrate your grandsons' birthdays. Were the names prompted by any songs? Perhaps they're fans of country music. The wreath sounds a lovely way to be reminded of your son on a regular basis.

MH, I've had a similar experience with the vaccination booking service, I'm using my old tablet just for that purpose so I don't have to go backwards and forwards when I'm using it for other things. On a couple of occasions I looked there and on my new tablet and the results were different. Really odd. I think I'd probably have a similar experience with the nearer one as I did with my chosen one the other night, they'd disappear before I could get chance to enter my details so I'll just have to keep looking.

[radstockjeff]

Pleased to hear from you Jeff, so lovely for you to be able to get in touch with your family in Oz to help celebrate your grandsons' birthdays. Were the names prompted by any songs? Perhaps they're fans of country music. The wreath sounds a lovely way to be reminded of your son on a regular basis.

MH, I've had a similar experience with the vaccination booking service, I'm using my old tablet just for that purpose so I don't have to go backwards and forwards when I'm using it for other things. On a couple of occasions I looked there and on my new tablet and the results were different. Really odd. I think I'd probably have a similar experience with the nearer one as I did with my chosen one the other night, they'd disappear before I could get chance to enter my details so I'll just have to keep looking.

Not sure about the names but if  I told you that DIL has American parentage that might be a clue!