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July
1 - Woken around 6am by the sound of Sally gnawing on her bone! Managed to snooze on and got up around 7:15am . . . walked and found a penny. Poor old Sally - she pooped three seperate times, and each time, it was like she was producing pebbles!! . . vacuumed and managed to pick up most of the bits of bone that absolutely cover the house . . . sat in the garden for a while, but big heavy rain clouds threatened to live up to the 'heavy showers' forecast . . .PCd this . . .left Sally at home and walked to the Jewson warehouse in Speedwell and asked for someone’s permission to wander around the adjacent and much overgrown and vandalised old brick works that is apparently a listed building. Unfortunately the guy on the counter felt obliged to go and ask ‘the boss’ in the office and he came back with a refusal. I pleaded my case and explained about the website and all, so he went and asked again. (He would have said yes if he could.) He came back with another no and conveyed nonsense about how the place was unsafe ‘because of all the needles’ and I should try and get some shots from outside the fence. Well duh! Maybe I’ve become complacent because so many people are helpful and willing when I ask such things, but his supercilious refusal really annoyed me, particularly in view of the fact that the vandalised gaps in the fences, really made asking permission superfluous. Childishly I suggested to the nice guy behind the counter, ‘well I’d just have to break in some time then’! (Early on a sunny Sunday morning would probably be favourite.) Dunno if I’ll actually have the nerve – there ARE cameras on that builders yard! . . the weather didn’t look as bad as was forecast so checked out library books and ended up walking up Kingswood with Sally in search of a couple of the shots I’ve yet to bag. . .found a penny and another baseball cap, that should be ok after a wash . . . ate biscuits with a coffee and then salad and grated cheese sandwiches with crisps for a mid afternoon lunch . . . napped until 6pm . . . walked and scooped more pebbles! Found 12p and another big two inch diameter silver hoop earring, just like the other one I found recently. That makes two pairs stashed in my cupboard now. lol . . . PCd pictures . . . BB called . . . carried on PCing a handful of photos until gone midnight and then uploaded the additions to the Kingswood, Various and Regent Street pages on the new site. Couldn’t resist throwing up a couple of photos that I’d already taken, of the old brick works in Speedwell, which kinda explains why I really want to get in there to look around!! . . .ate three cheese and onion pastry rolls and crisps and bananas and biscuits before bed around 1:30am. pa
2 - Up around 7:15am . . . walked and found 4p. Forecast is for big heavy showers - got caught out in a short one! . . .pondered the library books but there wasn't much to be done in such showery weather. Ended up leaving Sally at home and driving to the Kingswood library. Spent a couple of hours there meticulously going through a couple of shelves of the 'local interest' books, looking for 'now and then photo fodder'. Ended up coming away with yet another handful of books, for just the one or two photos in each. Driving home around 12:30pm, got caught behind the refuse lorry and had to sit and wait until there was room to pass. As I sat, I spotted a pine table and chairs, dumped out in someones garden. Uh oh - gonna have to walk back and have a look at that! . . . cooked up four sausages, beans and mushrooms and ate with three slices of bread and butter for lunch. . . sunny spells. It's either succumb to the need to sleep, walk around and take a couple of local photos, or - aha - better walk up and look in that persons garden at that table. It looked real similar to the one I bought for £60, and I know from that one, that it is quite possible to sand/plane off a layer of wood if the surface is only pitted and scratched. . walked up the road with Sally. Blimey - ok - the top IS all scratched and written on by children, and two of the chairs DO have broken rails beneath the seats that hold the legs together, but it's definitely worth asking if I can have it. Could probably make up some matching rails for the seats with a bit of dowel from the DIY store, and that table top can definitely be sanded down (by half an inch or more if necessary - which it isn't) , and with a lick of antique varnish, it'd be as good as new(ish)!! Knocked on the door and the young woman quickly said I could have it, but she felt she needed to tell me someone else had asked a day or so before, but hadn't yet come back, so I'd better be quick. I WAS quick. Dropped Sally off at home, drove straight back up there and crammed the car full and managed to drive it all back in one go, with the hatch back open. The bolts to attach the table top to the pillar leg, are missing, but I'm sure I'll have some that will do, in my expansive 'nut and bolt collection'. (Its a 'guy' thing. lol). Only trouble is - where the hell do I put it all?!! SO much clutter in this house already, hardly room to move!! - but I just couldn't say no could I? It could end up being better than the one I bought that I'm using in the kitchen! Damn - knew I should have gone and bought that cheap belt sander they were advertising in Lidl the other week! . . .napped for a couple of hours but woke with the same nasty headache I'd developed in the library. Crunched more annadin . . .walked with a library book and tried getting some local pictures, but the weird light in the heavy showers sky made everything useless silhouettes. Gonna have to do em all again. Did get quite a kick out of figuring out where one of the shots was. The picture in the book has mistakenly been published in mirror image! lol Gonna have to wait for morning sun to try and get the shot to prove it. .Lots of the long straw like grass around the edges of the rugby field has been cut and left laying. Sally has been acting hunting dog like and sticking her nose into the grass this last week or so. The other day she came out with a dead mouse! It was kinda hard to tell how long it had been dead, because fur is kinda warm to the touch anyway, so I figured she’d just found a corpse. Tonight I was proved wrong. She definitely caught and instantly killed with a single powerful bite, a mouse in the cut grass!!! :o( It’s like I tell people – the wolf in her is just below the fur - as far as she is concerned, we don’t go ‘walking’ for exercise or play – we go hunting!! Poor mice. :o( Found 18p. . .PCd this . . .BB called . . .TVd. Ate corned beef and lettuce sandwiches with crisps and a banana and bowls of cornlakes . . .HEAVY showers! . . . to bed after 1am. paaas
3 - Up around 8:15am . . .walked with a library book and found a penny. Carried on walking and got serious with some Speedwell photos in a couple of showers. .back home around midday and returned Mums ansaphone call. Sis2 has sold her house and is glad to be rid of the problem! Sounds like all good news from her side right now. :o) . . . skipped food and PCd pictures - for hours!! . . . Sis1 popped in for a coffee. LB called by and handed me a bag of chilli sausages - 'because I'd said how good they were'! Hmmm? You know what else is REALLY good? A suitcase of used £50 notes!! lol . . Some talk from Sis1 about maybe sharing the driving and bringing Mum up to Bristol, because she had a week off!! Difficult, but I declined, because I was only down there 'recently' and will probably aim to go again around Mums birthday. I don't want to be forced into all that driving and sleeping over and stuff, just because it's convenient for Sis1s ever busy lifestyle! Feel a bit guilty. Sis1 took one of the bags of surplus earth I have stacked in the front garden . . PCd Speedwell pictures for hours more and finally uploaded the usuable stuff to the new site. I was right about that library book having mistakenly printed a mirror image of the real quarry picture. (Speedwell #2) :o) I'm gonna have to re-do the now photo though. I didn't get it (two shots stuck together!) quite right. . .walked late . . .touched base with Mum to confirm she'd seen the final of the come dancing program and was happy 'Tasha' had won. lol . . .BB called . . .cooked up four LB donated chilli sausages and just ate them with four pieces of bread and butter . . . TVd and ate biscuits till early. Plenty of noise till late, drifting over the miles from the music systems at the St Pauls Carnival. Jeeze - that must be SO loud to be audible here!! ps
4 - Woken by Sally at 8:15am . . . walked in wellingtons in the rain . . .The worrying little lump on Sally’s back seems to have got bigger, although isn’t causing her ANY discomfort at all!!!!! Got her to lay down and parted her fur and had a good look at it. It really does look like a ‘spot’- like we get. Pinched a good lump of her skin and gave it a very gentle squeeze, like I’d do if it was on me – sure enough, some poison was expressed!! Mopped it with tissues and praised her just laying there like that and made a good fuss of her, although she had no idea why. Gonna have to keep a close eye on that and maybe go see the vet! :o( . . . did laundry, TVd/PCd, trimmed my hair, cooked up three chilli sausages, two eggs and chips for lunch while watching Schumaker win the French grand prix. . .napped for a few hours . . . walked and found 2p. Sally found another mouse to kill!! :o( Spent five minutes doing 'litter duty'!! Must've picked up a whole case of empty beer bottles - someone had been sat on the seat drinking and just throwing the empties across the field into the grass! Grrr. Plenty of broken glass around too.:o( . . BB called . . . TVd. . . ate biscuits bowls of cornflakes . . . to bed at midnight. ps
5 - Woken by Sally at 7:15am . . . sunny morning. Walked and found another pair of sunglasses and another dog tag! . . called the number on the tag and was given a description of where to drop it back in. The guy didn't know the address!? Seems as though it's a divorce situation - he visits his ex and his kids every weekend - one of the kids had been walking his dog and lost the tag. I'll see if I can find the house tonight when I walk Sally - he gave me a good description of the place, and the approximate house number . . .Stuff on breakfast TV about Mums favourite Come dancing show, so quickly called Mum to make sure she was watching. . .Was stroking Sally and felt the lump on her back again. Felt worse!! Turned out some of her fur was matted with a little blood from where the spot had healed over, so it actually wasn’t worse at all really. Again – like I’d do if it was on me, I know from experience that taking the ‘scud’ off and giving another gentle squeeze, would probably express the last of whatever poison may be there. She didn’t complain or exhibit any distress, so very, VERY gently, I picked the scud off with a finger nail and then pinched a generous amount of her skin between my finger and thumb and VERY gently and carefully, squeezed up and out. Oh my god!!! Eeeeewwww!!!!! Whatever that lump was, and whatever had caused it I don’t know, but with very little persuading, the whole bloody thing came out! A grissley lump about a quarter of an inch (or more!) in length!!!! Bloody hell!!!!! Eeeeewwww!!!!! Eeeeewwww!!!!! Eeeeewwww!!!!! Just then Mum called back. Said I’d get back to her. Mopped up with tissues and cleaned up. Sally seemed none the wiser. The ‘lump’ has gone! Even found it hard to relocate the area of concern, now it’s all gone down! Could it be that whatever that was, (maybe a thorn?) will now be resolved? Gonna have to keep a real close eye on that for the next day or so – and maybe go see the vet, just to make sure everything is ok. Blimey – bit of a shocker/stomach turner/worry! Sally happily accepted a lump of 'you've been a good girl' chocolate without a care in the world. . Called Mum back and explained I had bloody hands and was in the middle of ‘operating’ when she called!!! :o| . . .Left Sally at home and drove to Lidl to have a look to see if there were any cheap belt sanders left, and to check out the cheap blood pressure monitor thingy that BB’d suggested I ought to get. No sanders – ended up impulse buying the £14.99 pressure monitor – and regretted it before I’d even driven out of the car park. What on earth do I want one of those for? I can see my journal degenerating into a record of bodily functions (as well as a list of what I eat!!)!! lololol . .stopped off at the DIY store and bought a new halogen 300w (figured the original 500w was overdoing things) bulb for a couple of pounds, for my garden 'night sun' light, which blew with a blue flash the other night. . returned home, waited for me to be all relaxed and then used the blood pressure monitor for the first time. I dunno what those different types of blood pressure actually are – but the instructions said that a normal ‘systolic’ blood pressure was between 105 and 140mmHG. Mine was 136. A normal ‘diastolic’ pressure was between 60 and 90 mmHG. Mine was 80. Heart rate was 66. I figure for a 40 a day chain smoker who eats junk food, that’s ok. . .climbed on a patio chair and changed the garden light bulb . . . cooked up a couple of the steak and kidney pies that next door gave me that have been in MY fridge for at least seven months, and ate them with chips and gravy for lunch . . . napped for a few hours . . . walked. Managed to find the right house and return the dog tag without any problem. Detoured down to the fire station cause they had their high rise platform up and were spraying their hose onto the training tower. Would have made a good photo, but I got there too late so all that walking for nothing. . . on the way back home, just down the road, I spotted a blackbird on top of a low elbow height hedge, right next to the pavement, not far from the pub!?. It didn’t move as I approached!! Oh no! There’s something wrong with it – more than likely been caught by a cat. The hedge it was sat on surrounds a garden I’ve often seen a cat sat sunning itself in. It was very obviously blind in its right eye. Seemed pretty obvious it was doomed (either from being re-caught by a cat, or who knows what from passing drunken yobs – it was in a terrible vulnerable position). It tugged at my heart strings but I figured it was really just best to leave it where it was and let ‘things’ take their course. Returned home and fed Sally. . .damn, damn, damn. That poor little bird’s fate preyed on my mind. Ended up getting a big plastic bucket, a rag to cover it with and left Sally eating, and walked all the way back down the road to see if it was still just sat there. Damn – it was! I snuck up on it’s blind side and made a grab, but it fluttered down onto the ground, just inside an adjacent garden wall. I leaned over, grabbed again, and was soon locking Sally in the conservatory as I stood in the garden with the bird in the bucket, wondering what the hell to do now! Figured the best thing would be to put it up on the bird table out of the reach of cats. Loaded up the bird table with some grated cheese and a bowl of water and tried to put the bird up on the table. It immediately flopped straight down onto the garden and headed for some plants to hide behind. So – it definitely couldn’t fly. No good at all – cat’s would have it in the night for sure!! Poor little thing – I ended up traumatising it even more by having to chase it around on the patio for a bit before I could catch it again!! :o( figured maybe the next best thing was to put it up on next doors new bathroom roof, and just let it take it’s chances. Stood on a chair, put it on the roof and then had to rush upstairs to peer out of the bedroom window and see how it was doing. As I watched, it waddled across the roof and then fluttered straight down into next doors garden! Within five seconds, I saw a cats face appear looking over the broken fence a couple of feet above where it had crash landed!!! Ohhhh NOOOO!!!!!! Raced downstairs with excited Sally in hot pursuit, dashed across the garden, flung the back gate open and let sally deal with the cat. She had a great time chasing it down the lane and over a wall. The bird was on the floor hiding behind a potted plant in next doors garden!! Secured Sally and then knocked on next door, armed with my bucket and asked if I could go into her garden. She let me through and I managed to retrieve the blackbird . . Back out on the patio and back to square one with a broken bird in a bucket, for whom I now feel entirely responsible!! :o( . . .Rushed around the house trying desperately to find something which could act as a bird cage. Tried calling LB to see if I could borrow a cat basket, but she wasn’t in. Ended up digging the big plastic trays that I’ve been meaning to get rid of recently, out of the back of the cupboard. One upside down, perched on top of the other, seemed to make a fairly safe enclosure. Put some newspaper on the bottom, put in a bowl of water and a saucer of grated cheese, and eventually managed to get the bird in there too, all placed up on top of the patio table for safety. It occurred to me that the nearby ants nest made that unsafe – those ants seem to frequent that table looking for whatever supplies it is they require for their army. The last thing I need is to come down in the morning and find the bird has been eaten alive by ants – thanks to me! Sorted through the conservatory and came up with four old Tupperware containers. Managed to ease up each leg of the table in turn and slip a Tupperware under them. Filled each Tupperware with water from the hose pipe. Bird hospital with a moat! Covered part of the box with an old sheet, to make it seem dark and safe for the bird. Nothing much else I could do. I rather suspected the bird would probably die in the night anyway, but if it didn’t, I’d have to rethink what to do about it tomorrow. .sat on the patio for a bit feeling responsible and sad. If it was gonna die in the night, I figured it wasn’t a bad last night. It was safe from cats. It had water. It had a saucer of grated cheese to sit and pooh in! The sky was cloudless and cool. A male blackbird was nearby on a TV aerial singing it’s beautiful territorial song. Not a bad way to let go. . . touched base with Mum. Sis1 was on her way down to visit! Mum knew from experience and my description, it was a young blackbird, rather than just a female which I’d thought. . . BB called . . . ate corned beef and lettuce sandwiches and bowls of cornflakes late . . . to bed around 1am. ps
6 - Woken around 6:30am by the noise of someone getting their car ready to go to work. The noises translated into a pecking bird in a big plastic box in my dreamstate!. . .oh dear. The bird is still alive!! I'd rather hoped it wouldn't be - of its own accord! Now what? . . .inspected Sally's lump site and gave it a wipe over. Fingers crossed/touch wood - it looks much better :o) . . . walked . . .moved the bird box across the patio onto a couple of chairs and put the patio umbrella up to keep the sunlight off the box. Don't think it's my imagination - that birds duff eye seems to be clouded over worse than yesterday! It isn't well at all - seems to be mostly just sat there with its good eye closed too. What to do? I'm SO loathed to take it in anywhere, cause I know from experience, it'll just be put down! Lets face it - a young one eyed bird just aint gonna make it in the world is it! What to do? What's for the best? Whatever I decide - I need something to put it in. Ended up walking back out with Sally and headed all the long way down past the Speedwell swimming baths and headed for the empty 'pre-fabs' I'd passed the other day. Sure enough, there were a couple of wire cages in the overgrown grass of the garden. A couple of old women who lived nearby, waiting at the bus stop, confirmed the place was empty, and had no problem with me taking those cages if I wanted them. Turned out they were actually too big and too heavy to carry. Probably more the sort that you'd keep a bunch of pigeons in. Walked back home - found 7p along the way. Ummmd and ahhd. Despite the awful commitment, I was fully prepared to give it a go with that bird, if it was possible it could survive in captivity. Should I go back in the car and pick up one of those cages? I bet the bird wouldn't survive a day and then I'd have more junk to get rid of!! . . gave the local RSPCA a call, explained and sought their advice. Predictably, it was a 'bring it in and we'll look at it, but it doesn't sound good'. .Mum/Sis1 called to touch base and see how the patient was . . . I HAD to make a decision! Figured the only way to get a feel for how that bird was doing, was to go and mess with it a bit, and see how much of a struggle and fight it put up. I eased my hand in between the boxes and was very easily able to pick the bird up. It struggled a little - but not as much as it should have. When I put it back down, it didn't scurry away into a corner, but just kinda sat there and then slowly closed it's good eye. That clinched it for me. It wasn't gonna make it. I wouldn't be doing it any favours prolonging the agony. :o( . . sorted out a large old ice cream tupperware container that Uncle TJ had given me, drilled some holes in the lid and carefully placed the bird in it. Left Sally at home and drove (trying not to brake too hard and shake the bird around) down to the RSPCA place, next to the dogs home. I explained to the girl behind the desk the situation, told her I was willing to take on its care if it was viable, and she said she'd have a look at it. Very quickly (as I'd expected) she confirmed it wouldn't make it and it would be best to put it to sleep. I asked to be present when they did it - by an injection apparantly - but my request was refused. It wasn't some weird, ghoolish request. Hard to explain. I just figured I'd brought this situation about, a life (none less than any other) was to end, I needed to face what that meant, and carry it. If I one day have to face that situation with Sally - no way will I be refused! :o| . .I thanked her, left the tupperware with her, and drove home in subdued mourning mood. . home by 10:30am . . .touched base with Mum and reported the inevitable outcome . . . sat in the garden in the sun not feeling like doing much. What on earth is life all about??!! . . What IS the point? More and more - and yet more - I find myself increasingly convinced, there is none! . . . ate corned beef, grated cheese and lettuce sandwiches with crisps . . . napped for a couple of hours until woken by LB leaving an ansaphone message . . . went to sit in the garden but couldn't - it appears to be 'flying ant day'. They were ALL over everything on the patio making their way to high points for takeoff, accompanied by masses of ground crew. Bad timing really - forecast for midnight onwards for the next couple of days is BIG storms!! . . walked and found a penny and a dog halter harness which is unfortunately too small for Sally (although I'm not keen on them anyway.) . . . PCd this . . .PS popped round for chats till early. . BB called . . .ate cheese and onion pastry rolls with crisps and biscuits . . . ended up TVing until the early hours watching 'The Blues Brothers' film - again. :o) . .to bed round 2am.ps
7 - Woken around 7:15am by the noise of someone getting in their car to go to work again . . .weird little clumps of flying ants, all heads together in little star like shapes around the garden. Looks like the forecast storm front is moving in slower than they thought - not bad out but actually quite chilly in the breeze . . .walked and did a little 'litter duty'. Found 3p, a lighter and another pencil. Always plentiful supplies of pens and pencils strewn around, when I can be bothered to pick them up . . .PCd this . . .couldn't face doing anything at all and ended up laying back down to sleep for most of the morning . . .ate grated cheese and corned beef sandwiches with the last of the lettuce for lunch and then somehow ended up sleeping all the afternoon as well!! . . .next door called by and asked me to keep an eye on the place because they were off on holiday for a couple of weeks - again! Minutes later she called by again and handed me the contents of their freezer - like they'd done once before. A loaf of bread, a packet of fish steak things and a packet of chicken and mushroom pies. :o) . . . BB called . . . walked in rubber and wellingtons in the wind and rain. Very unpleasant out . . . TVd . . .drank a glass of red wine as I cooked up three of the fish steak things in the oven. Ate them with four peices of bread and butter. . . TVd until bed around 1am. pds
8 - Woken around 6am by Sally but managed to push her off and sleep on until around 7:30am. Woke with a real big nasty headache. Looks as though somehow the worst of the weather has blown through. Crunched annadin in the garden with coffee and cigarettes for breakfast . . walked and found 5p in coppers . . . phoned the library and was able to renew ALL the books I have out of the various libraries, without having to actually go there. That's neat. . . forced myself to tackle the conservatory and the understairs cupboard, and moved enough of the masses of junk around to be able to put the table and chairs I scored the other day, out from the corner of the cramped living room and into the conservatory. Moving the old dustbin in which I'm storing the small supplies of sand, cement and plaster I have left over from the unfinished kitchen building work, I went and put my bloody back out - AGAIN!!!! I can't believe it! Is this gonna happen every time I try and do ANY (heavy - at arms length) lifting? If so, I'm gonna be in big trouble with a half built kitchen etc, etc! If I was a blackbird, I'd put me down! :o( Crunched more annadins and managed to work through the pain and get sorted enough to leave the rest for some other day. It'll be worse tomorrow. . .dismantled the broken toilet seat and tried fitting the new cheap one that LB had replaced from her new suite, which I'd forgotten was laying around in the conservatory. Blimey - my old one was more broken than I realised. Uh oh - the new one won't fit!!!!!!?? I guess new lavatories are built with slightly different centres for the seat fitting. I tried and tried and tried - even modified the nylon hinge fittings with a hot knife - and tried putting some bits of the old, together with the new, but no matter what I tried, it wasn't gonna fit. Bugger! Measured the hinge centres and left Sally at home and drove to the DIY store to buy a new toilet seat! Figured with BB hopefully visiting again soon, I'd better make sure I got a decent one (women can be 'funny' about bathrooms and toilets! lol) so I bit the bullet and paid £20 for the best plain white one they had, which was actually almost the same as my old broken one. . fitted the new seat without a hitch and threw away both of the others . . . cooked up the other three fish steak things next door had donated and ate them for a late lunch with chips . . . napped for a couple of hours. Woke all painful and had difficulty getting on my feet and then straightening up. Coffee and annadin . . .walked and found a penny. Misjudged the weather, didn't wear my leggings, and got drenched! . . . PCd this trying to sit very upright, with gently steaming trousers! . . .BB called . . .scoured the house trying to find more stuff to throw away. Made use of next doors abscence and dumped a large number of old spray paint tins (from the bike days - red, white, and heat resistant black) in their bin. Ended up ditching a dozen old videos I've had laying around for years! I 'could' have blanked them and used them I guess, but I have loads more and never watch them anyway. In fact since the aerial was taken down when the roof was done, I can't even record anything anyway - not enough scart sockets for the cable and DVD etc, etc. Funny how managing to throw at least something away, makes me feel much better. Loaded my bin and some of next doors, as heavy as I dared for tomorrows bin day. . ate bowls of cornflakes . . . TVd until bed after 1am. paaas
9 - Up around 7:30am. Ouch!! . . . weird - 57 (!!!) guest book entries on the site, all advertising some casino or other!!?? Deleted them. Is this what I can expect every day, now that most ISPs are managing to filter out all the spam? :o( . . . crunched annadin . . . walked and found a penny . . . pottered around in the garden and ended up bringing the freshly emptied bin round and clearing out a little of the dreadfully overgrown pond. You can hardly see the water anymore - it's all just reeds! Managed to hack through and remove two great big heavy clumps with all the roots. Incredible how much of all that stuff has grown. Could really do with clearing more out, but the bin ended up more than heavy enough for one week, and it's nasty tough work - particularly when faced with more than one 'creature of the black lagoon'! Great big things almost two inches long and real fearsome looking! I suspect they are dragon fly larvae. Wonder if that is why the tadpoles never survive? . . . sorted through a little more of the masses of junk in the conservatory and ended up with a heavy bin again. .re-potted the man eating yucca in a larger plastic tub, and left it in the back garden. It's taken on the proportions of a small tree!! . . . ate grated cheese and onion sandwiches with crisps for a mid afternoon lunch . . .napped for a couple of hours . . . woke around 6pm and crunched annadin extra tablets . . . weather was ok all day - even some sunny spells. Right when it was time to walk Sally, it absolutely poured down! BIG rain done fall. Walked in leaking rubber. I need to buy new waterproofs . . dared to have a look up in the attic. Blimey! It looks pretty dry up there around the chimney stack. I didn't expect that. Wow - what a happy relief. Shame about how much water and debris is still coming down the chimney into the living room fireplace every time it rains! . . PCd this . . . BB called . . . TVd . . .DH called on behalf of SH asking if I was interested in supplies of tobacco for around £4 a pack. SH popped in briefly. Apparantly he's moved and is living somewhere else now! Declined the tobacco deal because I already have a fairly large amount stored in the house from LBs trips and such . . . ate a bowl of muesli . . . LB called just after midnight and popped down to have a handful of tobacco for some friend of hers who was staying over, who'd forgotten to pack her tobacco! . . . to bed around 1am after peering out of the window for a while at noisy drunks in the street. paa
10 - Woken by Sally around 3am needing to use the garden with her latest upset stomach . . . woken by Sally around 7:30am. Hosed the garden. Loads of snails all on the move out there, and even a slug feasting on - eeewwwwww!!! Crunched annadin extra tablet for breakfast. . .walked. Did some litter duty and ended up filling a carrier bag full of rubbish by the time I'd walked round to the only bin in the field! . .Oh no! Sally killed herself another mouse and as I grabbed her and pulled her away, another one tried to get away and ran around and ended up getting stood on by her back leg!!!! Actually - I'm starting to wonder if they aren't mice at all but something else like a vowl or a shrew. Can't find my wildlife book so I'm not sure how to tell. Wonder what has changed to make such a plague of them this year? Never had this trouble before. . .PCd . . . pottered around and finally got round to sewing up the combat trousers I split the seam of. Laborious, tedious unpleasant job. Darned up a few pairs of holy socks while I was in the mood . . .did laundry . . . cooked up a couple of small, next door donated steak and kidney pies with chips for a mid afternoon lunch . . .napped until around 5:30pm . . .touched base with Mum . . . walked and found 2p and a pair of rather useful safety goggles. Had to negotiate Sally around two different groups of people riding motorbikes around the field!! Grrrr . . .BB called . . . TVd . . . ate garlic sausage sandwiches with crisps and bowls of cornflakes . . .spent quite a while looking out of a darkened bedroom window as a group of a dozen or so kids all ran up and down noisily playing in the road. Bizarre - some of those kids looked well under ten years of age, many of them were girls, yet they were all running around until getting on for midnight!!?? At one point, one of the younger girls casually grabbed one of the cones from where the workmen are doing the new pavements, and dragged it into the middle of the road and left it there. A seemingly childish prank but in this street, SO likely to cause an accident. The first car to come down the road and encounter it, swerved at the last minute, dangerously close to parked cars. I ended up having to put my shoes on and go out and move it!! . . . TVd until bed around 1:30am. pas
11 - Up around 8am . . .walked in rubber in a heavy rain shower. Found 6p . . . Mum called to tell me James Taylor was being interviewed on TV. Tuned in . . . did washing and vacuuming chores . . . TVd and cooked up the four small chicken pies next door had donated, and then ended up eating them ALL, on their own, as I watched Shumaker win the British Grand Prix. . .walked and found a penny. Actually managed to miss the rain this time! . . . BB called . . . PS popped round for chats till early. .ate garlic sausage sandwiches and biscuits . . . TVd/PCd till bed around 2am. ps
12 - Woken by Sally around 9:15am!! Walked and found a penny. . . balanced my accounts . . . pottered around the house trying to collect up stuff to get rid of again. Ended up bagging up all the old multicoloured sheets and duvet covers and pillowcases and such like I've had stashed around the place for years. Left Sally at home and drove everything to a nearby charity shop and handed it over . . . ate garlic sausage and grated cheese sandwiches for lunch . . . napped for a couple of hours . . . walked . . . returned Mums ansaphone call to hear about her new iron purchase . . .BB called . . .Mum called again to tell me her new iron didn't work!! . . . ate bowls of cornflakes . . . early to bed around 11pm. p
13 - Woke around 6:45am . . .good weather forecast for today. Took the last of Sallys bones out of the freezer to defrost and then around 7:45, walked the long walk down to Eastville Park, along the river, up onto Purdown and then back down along the river to Vassals and back home via Fishponds. Hard to be objective, but I think on balance, my hernia has got worse! Had to hold myself ALL the way. Ended up getting cramp in my left hand and arm and a rather sore groin!!! :o( . . . gave Sally her bone and sat in the sun on the patio for a while watching her set about gnawing on it . . . had a glass of red wine as I cooked up double garlic chicken kievs with chips for lunch . . . somehow managed to sleep the entire afternoon away until around 6pm . . . touched base with Mum to hear about the iron saga. She'd returned the duff one, got her money back no problem and bought another different one - which she didn't like because the design means you can't help putting your thumb on the steam button all the time! . . .walked . . . touched base with BB . . . ate bowls of corn flakes . . . TVd until bed around 11pm. All in all I think I spent most of today asleep!!? ps
14 - Poor nights sleep waking up and tossing and turning! Up around 7:15am . . 3 PSB wins in the mail. A dry month last month so that makes up for it I guess. . . walked . . . sorted through my wardrobe and took out all the T shirts with pictures and writing on, for donation to a charity shop. I feel just too old to wear such stuff - figure 'old' guys wearing such things look a bit weird - like old guys with long hair! . . . checked through a couple of library books before loading up my rucksack and heading for Kingswood with Sally around 10am. . . did a couple of photos. Deposited the PSB wins and drew some money out of the building society. Donated my T shirts to the 'Age Concern' charity shop, because I guess I'm gettin pretty concerned about my age! lol . . carried on walking despite the occasional drizzle and strong breeze and bagged a few more photos here and there. Spent quite a while exploring around Hanham Mount. Never had a good look around there before. Usual sadness over the vandalised and neglected state of everything. .briefly shopped a little on the way home and bagged half a dozen packs of reduced price garlic sausage slices (only 39p for a 12 slice pack! That's a cheap sandwich - or several! :o) ). . . home around 2pm . . . ate garlic sausage and lettuce sandwiches with crisps . . . napped for a few hours . . . walked in a little misty drizzle . . . PCd some of todays pictures with the portable TV on next to the PC. . . BB called . . . PCd more. Oh NO!! The local news reported that the old derelict listed church building in Blackhorse Road is the scene of a big fire!! 'Oh no' - on two counts. First of all, the recent pictures I tried to take of that place weren't any good - I'd peeked through an open doorway that was supposed to be sealed up, and had seen much worthy of photographing inside, but hadn't done so on that occasion. Despite the danger and missing floor etc, etc, I'd intended to maybe return without Sally and have a proper look inside the ruin. Missed my chance if it's now been burned down! It was (in it's own way) a beautiful impressive old building. Yet another - YET ANOTHER case of mindless vandalism and destruction of that which cannot be replaced!! Doing this new Kingswood Website has given me a much greater appreciation of such things. Just because I poked around it and had a look at that building, I feel an attachment to it - and am personally hurt that someone should torch it for a few minutes of excitement. Bastards! :o( Secondly - I've missed a good photo opportunity, of fire engines etc for the new site! . .PCd until around 11:30pm and then uploaded a handful of Kingswood pics to the new site (Hanham Mount, High Street, Regent St.#1, Various) before calling it quits for today - need food! . . .ate garlic sausage, grated cheese, mayo, lettuce and tomato sandwiches with two bags of cheese and onion crisps, a banana and a couple of chocolate biscuits . . . to bed around 12:30am. p
15 - Up just before 7am. Misty drizzley out again . . .couldn't resist. Walked with sally and then carried on walking up Kingswood to see which building had been torched yesterday. Sure enough, it was the main Wesleyan Chapel I'd tried to photo the other day!! What a tragedy! :o( Tried to take some photos, but too much undergrowth all around and nervous firemen restricted what I could do. . carried on walking and got an update of shots of the Kingswood Heights building site - sure is growing! . . . back home mid morning and spent the rest of the day PCing pictures and desperately trying to get something useable out of todays sortie. Fended off hunger pangs with a banana and biscuits. Ended up adding a couple of the shots from yesterday here and there on the Kingswood pages (High Street, Hill Street, Building Site), did some words to go with what I'd already put on the Hanham Mount page and then uploaded a whole new Blackhorse Road page with the burnt church pics to the new site. Called it quits around 4pm needing food bad. . . ate garlic sausage, grated cheese, mayo, lettuce and tomato sandwiches with two bags of cheese and onion crisps, a banana and a handful of biscuits (again) . . .napped until around 7pm. Woke overheating and feeling a bit sick! Shouldn't have slept immediately after SO much food. Returned Sis1s ansaphone message and heard all about her weekend Paris trip. She'd bought me some tobacco. :o) Thanked her and confirmed I'd buy whatever she'd been kind enough to get for me. . . walked and found 9p. . . PCd . . amusing guest book entry asking for 'my' autograph!! lololol Guess I should reply and let him know that 'I' am actually nobody . . . BB called . . .PCd until around 11pm and added a few more pics to the Hanham Mount page on the new site . . .ate bowls of cornflakes and a banana around midnight . . . TVd until early. pa
16 - Up just after 8am. More drizzly rain. This is turning into a pretty poor summer . . .walked in wellingtons . . .PCd and added a latest updates page to the Royal Forest site . Should be useful, if anyone ever actually looks at the thing!. . the drizzle cleared so headed out on a short walk with Sally to bag a couple of photos. Found a penny. Couldn't resist and ended up walking all the way back up to see what has become of the burned out church. Much as it was yesterday except its now been cordoned off with temporary fencing . . .ate garlic sausage, grated cheese, mayo, lettuce and tomato sandwiches with two bags of salt and vinegar crisps . . . PCd a few pics and updated the site. Uh oh - run out of web space again!! Oh no!!!! The site address is gonna change too, because of that 'Wanadoo' takeover! I'm not sure I'll be able to keep it going (beyond the end of the year? - if at all?!!) in the way I have been! :o( Oh well - easy come, easy go. Messed around and made enough web space to carry on for the time being, by moving the Kingswood pubs elsewhere. All getting rather messy and complicated behind the scenes. . ended up with an agonising headache, despite annadin tablets!! . . .walked and found 2p. There are times (more frequently of late) when my hernia really hurts, is very 'hard', and very difficult to push back in place! It's ok when I'm at home cause if needs be I can lay down and do it - more difficult/embarassing/worrying when I'm out and about!! :o( . the usual nonsense of moped riders rampaging around the field and across the cycle track. I habitually take photos of them, but haven't yet succeeded in getting a number plate in focus! One guy tonight rode by - then rode back down the road later, one handed, wearing a full face crash helmet and talking on his mobile phone!!! For goodness sake!. . .BB called . . .ate yet more (they ARE VERY nice) garlic sausage, mayo, tomato and lettuce sandwiches with crisps. . . . TVd till bed around midnight. Not sure why but seemed to submerge into a real 'down' feeling throughout the evening. Worst period of feeling down for quite a while. I think it was kinda connected with an overwhelming sense (based on what I see every time I go outside the door - or even just look out a window!) that society seems to be breaking down into unpleasant antisocial madness, everywhere, ALL the time!!!! :o( paas
17 - Woken by Sally at 7:30am . . .walked in the drizzle . . .vacuumed around the PC a little . . . popped next door and gave her my old cub/scout uniform from when I was a kid. Just couldn't bring myself to throw it away. A cap from cubs, the neckercheif, woggle, shirt, trousers, badges, berry etc. from Scouts. She used to be an 'Akela' until recently and should be able to get rid of it - or throw it away if they don't want it all. Fit for a museum probably!! I called at her door wearing the little cub cap! lol She didn't seem to notice for a while! lololol . . . PCd and finally got round to downloading a free FTP client to try, rather than just use Explorer as I always have done.(iNTERNETSoft - FTP Commander 7.2) . .Mum called to touch base and tell me UncleTJ'd had a nasty fall!! . . PCd for hours and managed to sort out most of the server log on/connections I use in the new FTP software. . . received feedback from the site from a 'TF' who'd had a look at the 'Kingswood site' and wondered if I knew some place in Hanham his wife's father used to live in the early 1900s and did I have any photos of it! Um - err - it's a big place (now)! Give me a clue? Couldn't help being tantalised by the challenge so replied, asking for more info on where it may be. PCd until mid afternoon - PCd this and uploaded it with the new FTP client software before stopping for a sandwich . . .ate garlic sausage, tomato and lettuce sandwiches with crisps . . . napped for a couple of hours . . . walked and found a penny. All the way round the field I could hear stones being thrown at windows! Turned out to be a bunch of kids in the school yard tennis courts lobbing stones and quarter bricks and such at the school windows! At least two were smashed as I sat on a boulder despairingly having a cigarette. No point in calling the police - they wouldn't come - and if they did they wouldn't do anything cause they were only kids. What else can ya do but try and ignore it? Dreadful dreadful dreadful!! It 'hurts' to have to ignore such stuff!!! :o( Considered looking into video cameras to see which would do the business best with the PC - could have really got some neat shots of them doing it, and then maybe just posted a copy on video through the school letterbox! That way I'd not feel 'quite' so powerless. . as I sat having a cigarette at the edge of the field, a motorbike pulled up and then a car pulled up behind it. Hard to put into words how or why (body language/little nuances etc. ), but I knew pretty instantly they were gonna 'do a deal'. The bike riding kid was buying. I was in a 'mood'. I'll be damned if I was just gonna look the other way and pretend I didn't know what they were doing. I watched - and kept watching - and was seen by the bike guy watching. His body language immediately showed he was uncomfortable and didn't want to carry on with what he was about. The car driver was busying himself with something in the car and wasn't even looking at the bike rider - he was just waiting for him to come up to his window. With me still staring, the bike rider uneasily sauntered over to the drivers window and pulled his full face crash helmet up onto the top of his head so he could speak to the driver. A couple of words were exchanged which saw the car driver immediately turn round to look at me. They were clearly both 'unsettled' by being watched. A few brief words were exchanged and somehow I was able to glean they were gonna meat further on up the road somewhere else. The car took off and the other guy got back on his bike and followed!!! The words don't do what happened justice. It absolutely WAS gonna be a drug deal without a doubt. Need me a hidden video camera!!! :o( . . . BB called . . . ate bowls of cornflakes and biscuits . . .TVd . . . touched base with BB . . . TVd/PCd till early. pas
18 - Woken by Sally after 8am . . .took a big old turkey leg out of the freezer to defrost for a proper roast Sunday lunch later. It was going cheap for only 69p!!. . walked in occasional light drizzle and found 8p in coppers . . .PCd for hours and downloaded and experimented with another free FTP client. Round and round in circles and at the end of all of it, I couldn't get it to do a server to server transfer as it was supposed to be able to do!! Grrrr. In the middle of this infuriating PCing I got an e-mail reply from TF with a little bit more info to go on, about where to look for the house he's interested in, in Hanham. Happily used it as an excuse to get away from the damn PC for a bit. Checked out my AtoZ and then grabbed my tripod, spirit level and camera and jumped straight in the car and drove with Sally to Hanham. Parked up and wandered with Sally up and down the road he'd mentioned. Covered pretty much all of it but sadly no way could I find any sign of 'Jubilee House'. Newer properties lined the street, and it seemed pretty clear the house was no more. Asked a couple of (the older) people who came near, if they knew of such a place but no joy. Figured it was a lost cause so headed off up to the end of the street and started taking 'general area' type panoramic photos and such. Unfortunately attracted the attention of a bunch of horrible kids! They started demanding what I was doing, 'had I asked permission', saying I couldn't take pictures of them but they weren't gonna move, how much was I gonna pay them etc etc etc!! Jeeze - is EVERYONE brought up to be a 'git' these days?!!! . . asked a couple more people as I wandered about, but still no one had knowledge of Jubilee House. Got a few general street shots and was about to call it a day, when just then, a woman drove up and parked outside the one house in the street which looked as though it was an original and certainly older than all the rest. Excellent. Dashed over and put on my best Mr PoliteNiceGuy act, and asked her if she'd heard of the place. Oh my god! She HAD!! What a stroke of luck. Her house used to have a large garden which stretched up the street (where all the new houses now stand) and at the end of that garden used to be Jubilee House!! She could remember it before it was pulled down to make way for the new developments. EXCELLENT! A shame for TF it's gone, but at least I'd be able to take photos of where it used to be. BUT - the lady then casually dropped into our conversation, that she had the name stone from Jubilee House in her back garden!!!! WHAT?!!! Gold dust! I just HAD to get a photo of that - I just HAD to! That stone was apparantly carved by TFs wifes, fathers, uncle when he built the house!! I explained what I was up to and why and pleaded. She quickly said ok but first she'd have to go secure her dog. Aha - she was seduced by Sally's good looks (not mine!). lol Just then her husband drove up all concerned but soon joined in and took over the conversation. He had a pretty good memory and seemed to want to tell me all he could recall about when the house used to be there and about who lived aroundabout, and it all seemed to loosely fit the little info that TF had given me. Amazing. I was shown into their back garden and sure enough, there on the floor like a step in front of their garden shed, was the name stone from Jubilee House! Amazing. Just incredible. The man held onto Sally's lead as I dashed around nervously taking several photos on different resolutions of the stone, to ensure I managed to get a useable 'once in a lifetime type' shot. The woman admitted that she'd only in the last day or so, moved the stone to that position, from wherever they'd had it resting before. They'd rescued it from destruction when the house was knocked down. Blimey - it's enough to make ya believe in hocus pocus!! Sometimes things just kinda 'work out' don't they. I was SO excited to have got those pictures. 'Jubilant' almost. :o) The old guy insisted on walking me up the road to show me exactly where the house once stood. Eventually shook his hand and offered genuine thanks and bagged a few more photos before running out of memory. Felt all buzzy. :o) Made my day. Couldn't wait to get home and see if those pics were ok on the PC. . . PCd pictures while cooking up a pepperoni pizza. They'll do. :o) Ate late afternoon. . LB popped in with a huge left-overs, roasted Sunday lunch donation for me and Sally! Oh dear - too late to postpone the turkey leg defrost! Gonna have more food than I know what to do with. . . PCd pics until early evening and e-mailed them to TF in a 'build the tension/leave the best till last' order. lol Big files - took ages! Hope he gets as much of a kick out of them as I did bagging them. If it was me - with that sort of tangible link with the past - I'd get in touch with those people and offer to buy that stone!! I'd just HAVE to have it! . . .walked and found 3p . . .touched base with BB while cooking the turkey leg . . .checked e-mail. Couldn't help it - was kinda 'excited' to see what TF thought of my mails. Received a nice reply. :o) . . . ate the turkey leg with four peices of bread and butter. Not as nice as I'd hoped, but not bad for that money. . . PS popped round for chats and biscuits till early. PCd a bit until earlier. pas
19 - Woken by Sally around 8am . . .walked and found 5p . . . feel really tired. Just sat around doing nothing . . .PCd and investigated website hosting rates and such like for hours . . . stopped mid afternoon and had a large plate of LBs left overs with half a pint of gravy . . . napped for maybe an hour or so then woken by Sis1 calling in. She'd brought me the 10x50g packs of duty free Golden Virginia she'd scored for me. Gave her the £43 she asked for, with thanks. Gave her the SIM card out of my old mobile phone, so she can keep placing cheap ads in the Trade-It. Apparantly you get charged as a business if you place too many consecutive ads with the same contact phone number!? Chats (mostly about how sad and bad the world has become ) and coffee until around 6:45pm. . walked and found 7p. Couldn't make out where the sounds of breaking glass were coming from tonight. Somwhere in the school grounds, but sounded more like breaking bottles than windows. Managed to stamp out the grass fire at the edge of the field that someone had set before running away, which was threatening to keep going and get out of hand! :o| . . .shoes and socks smell smokey! PCd this - cause I haven't for a while. . .BB called . . . ate biscuits and cornflakes . . . TVd/PCd till early. pas
20 - Woken by insistant Sally around 7am. Need more sleep!! :o( . . . walked and found 2p . . .did laundry and sat in the garden in the sun . . . PCd a bit more looking at domains and hosts and such. Seems like ANY domain name, even remotely worth 'renting', has already gone! No matter how obscure the name you think up that you 'could' maybe live with, somones already thought of it and got it!! . . . split the remaining LB leftovers into two, and ate one platefull with a half pint of bisto gravy for lunch, followed by a couple of chocolate biscuits. . . ended up sleeping the whole rest of the day away until around 6:20pm!! Woke with a worse headache than before I slept! . . .crunched annadins . . . walked and found 4p . . . BB called . . .ate bowls of cornflakes . . . TVd until early. . .LB turned up around 12:30am all drunk, upset and tearfull and saying she couldn't get into her house!! Made her coffee, tried to consol her a bit, but she was so drunk I really couldn't figure out why she was upset. Some argument or other with her guy I think. Eventually escorted her back home and unlocked her front door and made sure she was inside before heading back home. paas
21 - Woken by Sally around 6:30am. Managed to snooze on until woken again around 7:30am . . .walked. One of the dog walkers told me there was a meeting in the rugby club this evening, to discuss the plans for the field!! Huh? What plans? How come I didn't know about it? Why wasn't the meeting advertised? What are they trying to sneak through? They gonna try and build flats on the field now?!!! Depressing prospects. Determined to try and attend the meeting. Made me feel a bit (more) down. .one carriageway of the 'emergency vehicles only' road next to the field had been blocked by a load of rubble!! Someone in a truck had 'fly tipped' their building waste - just straight into the road!!! 'Just' (maybe!!) enough room for the fire engines to get by I think. Incredible!! Had a rummage looking for 'anything' that would give a clue, but of course no indication at all of where it may have come from. I must NOT buy a video camera - if I did, I'd end up spending hours and hours skulking around and sat in the car trying to capture people doing such things! What on earth has happened to people?!! :o( . . . PCd. Poked around here and there some more, as I have been the last few days, looking at hosts and domains and prices and such. Had to wrestle with my conscience loads. I don't have much of an income. I DO live on a shoestring. I never have holidays and really don't spend much money (apart from smoking!) on 'luxurys' or 'frivolity'. I eat the cheapest food. I mostly wear charity shop clothes. In dry weather I wear the shoes that have a hole in. I deny myself many things that others these days take for granted. Crazy and sad and a complete waste of a life it may be - but I DO spend a lot of time messing around on the PC with my website and such. I guess it's my 'hobby' kinda. Would it be SO bad to actually throw away some savings and buy me some PROPER web space for a year or two? Can I really justify throwing money away like that???!!! :o( <wrestle, wrestle, wrestle> . . what the hell! Just do it (and repent at your leisure)! All nervous and shaking, I settled on one of the few domain names that were left that I figure I may actually be able to live with, went on line to http://www.dataflame.co.uk and filled out the order form, put in my credit card details (only the second time I've ever used my credit card details on line!), and signed up for two years domain registration and a years hosting of 150mb for a total of £58.59!!!!!!! That'll have to be my birthday and cristmas present to myself - for the next couple of years!! lol . .I think it was probably 'minutes' before I was regretting having thrown that money away. What on earth do I need a website for? I'm not actually sure what I'm gonna do with it (apart from the obvious overspill from my existing site(s))!!? And how do I know if that company is ok and my site/space will actually ever be accessible to anyone? Nutcase! :o| Oh well . . . spent some time doing a little housekeeping on the PC wrestling with my conscience. . . reheated the last of the LB left overs and ate it with another half pint of gravy . . . napped for a couple of hours . . .PCd. Blimey - looks like one of those virus e-mails (I get several every day!!) has had a go at my anti virus software program!!! Thankfully a restore corrected the problem. Cleaned up one or two more files and unused bits and pieces and managed to make enough space on my second (old) hard drive, to do a backup of all my 'I'd rather not loose these if I can manage it' documents. All these photos I've been taking has balooned it to 6.8 Gigabytes!! I really need to go through stuff with a fine tooth comb and delete all the rubbish and duplicates and experiments and such. . . left the PC running doing my 'backup' copying of all my data files onto the old drive, and walked at around 7pm . . .attended the meeting in the rugby club building with Sally. Small crowd of mostly older people and one guy from the council. Turns out, it was all about installing a childrens play area, and NOT about losing the field to developers (although of course it will mean Sally losing a little hunting space). The whole thing reminded me of such meetings in the past at work - where you have a bunch of people all wanting different things - and where I just can't keep my mouth shut and end up being one of the most outspoken people there (despite inwardly shaking like a leaf)!!! Dunno why I'm always like that. I guess I like to think I talk a little more sense, more concisely than some (but of course I often don't). Bloody ego!! :o( Theoretically, I probably actually shouldn't have been there. The meeting was aimed at those people who live directly bordering the field - they'd all been sent letters! It was kinda sad to soon see that everyone there (many of them elderly and decent), was far more concerned about all the antisocial behaviour, than seeing money poured into a childrens play area that would of course be instantly vandalised. Madness that there was no money to address any other issues other than the kids play area. If they don't deal with the various issues around the whole field ( like reinstating anti vandal waste bins - stopping motorcycle/stolen car access - encouraging the use of specific areas for the anti social gatherings of yobs - etc etc etc - all well known issues), it WILL inevitably be a waste of money - and just another despairing photo opportunity for me, of the equipments gradual destruction!! . Just like at work - whatever everyone said 'would be taken into account' - but then they were gonna go ahead with what they wanted to do anyway. Oh well - we'll see. . . BB called . . . TVd . . . BB called . . . ate garlic sausage, mayo, lettuce, grated cheese sandwiches with crisps and then biscuits . . . TVd until early watching an engaging film about a young lawyer - 'Rainmaker' I think it was called. . . to bed after 2am only to feel strangely wide awake and too warm, and tossed and turned for ages! I took the last of the 'generic' make of fluoxetine the day before yesterday, and am now back on the 'APS' brand - just coincedence I'm sure. There has been an uncomfortably familiar 'undercurrent' to my mood of late, which has made me wonder if I am becoming tolerant! Difficult to tell - maybe I'm just getting fed up with all the antisocial behaviour going on all around, and having to keep on putting up with the increasing discomfort of this damned hernia, and now, ever present weakness in my back, which all goes to severely restrict what I am physically able to do! :o( Ho hum. pas
22 - Woke around 7:30am after very little sleep . . .walked in the rain . . . PCd this . . .messed around on the PC for hours doing nothing really!! It's gonna take a while to figure out what I actually want to do with my new space, and how to set e-mail and everything else up! Bottom of another learning curve! Got me a whole new toy! lol . . .ate garlic sausage, mayo, grated cheese sandwiches with crisps for a late lunch . . .popped round the newsagent and bought, wrote and posted a birthday card to Mum . . . slept all afternoon until gone 6pm! . . .downloaded windows updates. Walked and found 4p. Ended up chatting to another dog walker. Turned out he was into ham radio and had been on CB and we knew a couple of the same people years ago. What a small world. . . very warm out. Coffee in the garden and topped the pond up . . .touched base with BB . . . guitarred in the garden for a while . . . ate bowls of cornflakes . . . TVd/PCd till early. pas
23 - Woken early by Sally more than once, but managed to snooze on after telling her to leave me alone! . . . up around 8:30am . . . walked. Had a conversation with a lady dog walker. I was walking along the cycle path a little distance in front of her, our dogs were running about playing - just then a dark skinned guy with a fulll face crash helmet on a yellow moped came whizzing along from behind us. As he went by me, only inches away at speed (at 'least' 20mph) , I held out my right arm with an open hand and 'slapped' his left shoulder. He wasn't very happy about that! He put a safe (cowards) distance between us and then pulled his bike to a halt and said he was going to kill me. 'I'll kill you, I'll kill you NOW!' he kept repeating. Bit worrying when he started kinda checking his pockets!! I indicated with a pointing finger (scared and bluffing!!) that he should come back over to me. He continued rumaging in his pockets and shouting out 'I'll kill you, I'll kill you NOW!'. I just stood there waiting for his next move. Thankfully whatever he was looking for in his pockets didn't come to hand. I made an offensive gesture with my thumb and forefinger. He eventually carried on driving along the cycle path, across the pavement and out of the field, all the while shouting 'I'LL KILL YOU!!' as he went, attracting the attention of a couple of other dog walkers and workmen nearby. This carried on up to the very point he went out of view between houses down an ajoining street. Not a good way to start the day. :o( I carried on up and around the field as normal - trembling. As I was walking back down the field along the high hedge, I could hear a moped going up and down the road on the other side of the hedge. Sure enough, it was him. I think he DID spot me walking along, but I just happened to be approaching three other dog walkers who were stood chatting nearby, so I suspect that put him off whatever he was intending to do!!! So - I guess I live to walk (in some considerable fear!) again later! :o( . . .PCd this . . .Very wound up. Very unhappy. I have to confess, I actually spent a quarter of an hour or so sat in the garden, polishing the leather belt case from my big old lock knife, and polishing and sharpening the handle and blade!!! Too much more of all this, and I can see myself carrying it again!!!! :o( . . Ended up having to lay down and sleep for an hour or two. . . BB called early because she couldn't sleep(my fault apparantly! lol). . .skipped lunch. The mornings events seem to have completely removed my appetite! Hey – maybe I should start a weight loss program. When people sign up, I threaten to kill them (in such a way that I very well may mean it!)? lol . . . sat around TVing (but really mostly replaying this morning in my mind) until around 3:30pm. Really beautiful warm sunny day – needed to do ‘something’ with it! Leashed up Sally and set off for a long walk down the river. . . As I walked along, down towards Fishponds, a hundred meters or so ahead of me, coming over the brow of a hill on the left hand pavement, was a group of half a dozen or so kids, some on pushbikes. A four wheel drive with a guy talking on the phone was driving towards me past them, and then veered across the road and stopped next to the pavement and threw his driver door open to apparently block their path. They scattered and most of them ran back off the way they’d come. The four wheel drive pulled his door shut and still talking on his phone (I somehow assumed from his actions he was calling the police), dangerously did a U turn in front of oncoming traffic and took off in pursuit. I was walking as fast as I could, but was too far away and on the wrong side of the hill, to see what was going on or where they went. Out of sight the four wheel drive must have gone round the roundabout because he soon appeared again and then turned up the side street where two of the kids on a push bike had ridden. As I crested the hill, a police car was just pulling up on the other side of the road with its lights flashing! The kids were nowhere to be seen - probably down the usual nearby cycle track escape route. I stopped and watched as the police car drove by, kinda hoping to see it turn up the street the four wheel drive had taken. It didn’t. It turned round and came back and pulled up next to me!!!!!! I told them exactly what I’d seen and tried to make it very quickly clear, I’d seen absolutely nothing of use and suggested they should turn up that road and look for the four wheel drive, cause whatever was going on, he was in the thick of it. Incredibly, they insisted on laboriously taking down MY name and address and phone number, rather than chasing off down the road looking for the four wheel drive and the kids!! I couldn’t help laughing and felt I had to explain why - that only that morning someone had threatened to kill me. That MUST have sounded SO crazy! They MUST have thought I was a nut. When they DID finally drive off, they went in the opposite direction! Jeeze – some day this is turning out to be!!! . . Eventually reached Vassals and walked along the river. Near the weird ‘CB 1897’ engraved stone next to the river, I overheard a couple of old fishermen talking local history. Couldn’t resist asking if they knew what that stone was (I’d found a larger copy of the same thing in the burned out Churchyard in Blackhorse Road!?). They knew – of course, of course, of course – it’s an old County Boundary marker from 1897. Now I know. :o) . . . Walked the extra up onto Purdown. Hard to tell, but looks as though ‘some’ work ‘may’ have been started on the ruined monument. Sat around deliberately wasting time. I needed to time things so I reached the local field around the time I normally would – to get over any reticence about walking there after this mornings nonsense. Eventually back down to the river and walked along to Eastville park for more sitting, watching the fish jumping in the boating lake. Really was a beautiful day (and it DID occur to me, not a bad one to die, if it had to happen now.) . . big police action was going on in the area as I left Eastville Park. Sirens and vans and police all over the place, down ‘Easton’ direction I think. ALL the long walk back home, the police helicopter was hovering noisily above! Cut up through the local field after 7pm and went to the local store for milk and a can of RedBull. Sat in the field on the grass drinking from the can, deliberately just ‘being there’ for a while. Another dog walker started chatting and ended up sitting down next to me and discussing this and that and who knows what! Had to push my painful bulging, audibly squelching (eeeww!!) hernia back into place at one point and embarrassingly felt obliged to explain that I wasn’t ‘playing with myself’. Turned out he’d had three hernias!! He started telling me NOT to have a laparoscopy because you end up all ‘pumped up’ and full of air and in lots of pain!! Jeeze – just what I didn’t need to hear! :o( As I got up to leave and bid him farewell, he asked my name, I politely asked his, and then shook his outstretched hand. Funny thing is – I didn’t actually ‘register’ his name AT ALL. I never do in such circumstances. It’s kinda just a formality to get over and done with, to be polite. One pace away from him, I couldn’t have told anyone what his name was! Never seems to matter - but it DOES concern me I'm like that. :o( . . Dropped off the milk I’d bought, then carried on with Sally up to the takeaway and treated myself to a kebab and chips 'last supper' ! lol . . Found 2p . . . BB called . . . guitared in the cool dark peaceful garden for a while (peaceful except for emergency vehicle sirens, drunken noise from not distant enough karaoke pub nights, children noisily playing in the streets (why aren’t they long in bed?) – and what I trust were fireworks and not gunshots!). . . TVd/PCd till early. . showered and dared to sit around in my bath robe – should have known better! At 2am someone opened my garden gate and Sally started barking. Rushed to look out of the pre-prepared darkened bedroom window with the blind slats parted enough to invisibly look through. Three drunken yobs were calling on the kid next door again! I assumed it was the same ones who’ve been bullying him at school – probably the same ones who’ve done this drunken night time calling before. One was leaning on my gate, another was absolutely hammering on next door and shouting up at the windows for him to come out!! Sallys barking aside - if I had been asleep, I wouldn’t have been now! Must have been scary for my neighbour and her son – assuming they awoke (they MUST have!). Dragged my trousers and a shirt back on and went out. Can’t recall much of the conversation. I was tired and really wasn’t in the mood for it – I think I said something about how they were waking up the whole street, and then (I’m sorry to admit) largely repeated ‘Just F*** O**!’ over and over again until they did - after having thrown the expected abuse and threats at me of course! One of the comments they made in response to my ‘waking up the street’ criticism, was that they’d return at 4am and have another go!! . . got dressed and put shoes and cameras and phones on, and peered out of the bedroom window for a while. Really was happily amazed they didn’t immediately return and do some damage. . sad (paranoid) man that I am, I ended up sitting with my shoes on all ready to leap outside at a moments notice, in front the TV with the sound off, reading the text news and such until gone 3am before HAVING to go to bed. . . difficulty sleeping of course. Leapt to the window around 3:30am to see what the noise was. Turned out to be a drunk, a street or so away, returning home (or trying to!) He was SO drunk, only ‘just’ able to walk, he’d stumbled into the wing mirror of his neighbours car, and then took quite literally four or five minutes to negotiate his way through (what I assume) was his front garden gate, before disappearing with a bit more noise!! . . today has been THE antisocial behaviour day from hell!!! I couldn’t take many like this. :o( pas
24 - Woken around 8am by noise from nearby builders working. That isn't enough sleep!! . . .walked - without incident - which seems to have become noteworthy in itself! Did 'litter duty' as I walked round the field, and filled a carrier bag full of vodka bottles and beer cans and deposited it in the only bin left over there, by the swings. Found a penny. . . PCd this - at length! . . .garlic sausage, grated cheese and mayo sandwiches with crisps for lunch. . . slept the day away (much unhappy dreaming) until around 6pm . . . walked. Wow - misjudged the strong wind - walked in a t-shirt and ended up really cold and couldn't get back home quick enough! . . .guitarred in the garden for a little while . . . touched base with BB . . . TVd mostly with the sound only just audible, listening out for 'things' . . . BB called. . . TVd/PCd until around 3am. Incredible how many people walk by all shouting and talking loud even at that time of the morning! pas
25 - Woken by Sally around 8am . . . walked and found 2p . . .Mum called to say thanks for the card and for me to sing a line or two of Happy Birthday. Ended up telling her to look out for a book or cassette of the poet Roger McGough, some live performances of whom I'd bumped into on the radio the other night. Took my breath away. Amazingly clever stuff, although, better when he reads it with his Liverpool accent than when you just see the words. He's the sort of poet who produces SUCH clever stuff, that it kinda convinces you to never attempt to ever write any poetry EVER again!! Ended up surfing for ages trying to find some of his work. Surprisingly little on the web!? Called Mum back and read her 'The Lesson' to give her a taste. She mentioned some local Cornish poet who gets on a local radio show so I had a surf for some of his stuff. Unfortunately the poet she mentioned happened to have the same name as the other guy who played Darth Vader in Star Wars (and more amusingly remembered by me as the 'Green Cross Man' on road safety adverts from back then) so I ended up getting huge returns on a Google search and soon gave up . . . cooked up four sausages, two eggs and baked beans and ate with four pieces of bread and butter while watching Schumaker win the German grand prix (yawn) . . . slept the rest of the afternoon away until around 6pm when woken by PS leaving an ansaphone message . . .walked and did a bit of 'litter duty' as I went round and filled a carrier bag with more rubbish for the bulging bin by the swings. Ended up bringing home the small hooded 'GAP' fleece that someone left over there which has been laying in the mud for the last couple of days. A wash then fit for a donation to a charity shop I think . . . guitarred in the garden for a while . . . touched base with BB . . .ate corned beef sandwiches with crisps . . . PS popped round for chats and biscuits until early. . . to bed around 1am. pas
26 - Woken by insistant pawing Sally around 8am . . .wow! One of those scary looking 'creatures from the black lagoon' (reminds me of the monster in the Alien films) , several of which sadly died as a result of me clearing some of the pond out the other day, has shed it's former self and turned into the most amazing big flying thing with a wingspan of around six inches!! Tried to grab a couple of photos, knowing the digital wouldn't like it . . .walked . . .renewed all my library books by phone again . . . checked out a couple of the books then headed off with Sally up to Kingswood to draw some money out and do some shopping. Took a bunch of photos, trying to concentrate on 'listed' buildings. Discovered I'd not reset the camera lense from when I tried the close ups of the dragonfly in the garden, so everything was out of focus and a wasted effort!! Grrr. The number of times I've done that!! . . real painful hernia all day again. Seems to have reached the point where it is more bulging and painful than not these days! It's starting to get me down rather. :o( Struggled home with a heavy rucksack of sugar and potatoes and such . . .cooked up four sausages, two eggs and baked beans and ate it all with four pieces of bread and butter for a late lunch . . . slept until around 6pm . . . walked . . . BB called . . .ate some mini pork pies and bowls of cornflakes. Funny coincedence - 'Aliens' was screened on TV tonight (undoubtedly the best of the series of Alien films). Watched - yet again - as Sigorney Weaver battled with dragonflies. . . TVd until bed around 1am. pas
27 - Woken by Sally around 8:30am . . . walked and found a penny . . . uncomfortable hernia. Just couldn't face doing anything and edned up just doing a load of laundry then sitting around aimlessly. . . Mum called . . . PCd a bit but not in the mood. . . mostly TVd the day away . . . LB called to tell me it was her last day at her current job tomorrow - and to ask if I could feed her cats AND two new rabbits (!!!!???) on the weekend. Ok (guess I must!). . .walked. Spotted a carrier bag in a hedge so grabbed it and filled it with litter as I walked around. Actually - what with the kids being on school holidays and such, doing this occasional 'litter duty' IS making a bit of a difference. I must look like a right weirdo doing it though! . stopped to put the roadworks sign that the yobs had knocked over, back on its feet . . stopped to buy a jumbo sausage and chips takeaway on the way home . . . BB called . . . TVd until bed around midnight. pa
28 - Woken by the postman delivering mail around 7:30am. Sally didn't bark? . . . walked. Did another round of 'litter duty'. Blimey - I've filled the bin up over there already!! . . I've been eyeing up a chair that's been thrown out in someones garden for the last day or so every time I walk Sally past it. Had to be done - asked the guys working on the house if it was rubbish and if I could have it. They seemed bemused but said yes. Struggled home with the detached/broken legs, dropped Sally off and then returned and struggled back home with the chair. Got me covered in dust! Squeezed it out onto the patio and hosed and wiped it all down. Oh dear - I think I'm gonna have to keep it. I think its leather and hardly a mark on it. The only thing that seems to be 'really' wrong with it, is that the feet will get left behind if you actually pick it up (at least twelve inches high) off the floor. (The retaining nut seems to have fallen off and the bolt has either sheared off or retracted into the shaft.) That and the recliner lever mechanism seems to be mostly non functional and just locked upright. Pretty sure if I tried to take it all apart, I'd probably be able to fix at least part of that, but for me just sitting in front the PC and occasionaly wheeling back and forth, although it IS a bit lower than what I've been used to, I think it may well be very useable just as it is - and a LOT more comfortable than the low backed one I have been using. In fact - being slightly lower - it kinda makes me sit more upright and feels like it could well be much better for my aching crunchy back, neck and shoulders and such. Hmmm? More clutter! :o| . . . PCd this, test driving the 'new' chair. I think it's pretty damned ok for nothing (things usually are! lol). :o) . . .started the car up to make sure it still starts . . . did load after load of bed linen laundry and hung it all out to dry . . .wrestled the old ironing board out of the back of the cupboard and hosed it down on the patio to get rid of the layers of dust . . . moved one of the desk drawer pedestals under the PC table across an inch or so, so that the new slightly wider chair will fit under the table. Couldn't resist having a closer look at the little that is wrong with the new chair. Turns out the tilt lever is perfectly ok after all. I just didn't know how to engage/disengage it. Also turns out that nothing has sheared off - it's just missing a large retaining circlip. I kinda get the impression that there may be a big spring or something missing because I'm pretty sure it should be higher and then sink down on a damper rod when you sit on it. Not sure. Sorted through my washer collection but couldn't find a single circlip!? Managed to jam on a different type of split washer as a temporary measure, even though it doesn't really make any difference - MUST be missing a spring. . .ate two huge mayo, corned beef, onion, grated cheese, tomato, lettuce and four peices of bread and butter sandwiches with crisps for a late lunch. . .PCd a bit, but mostly just to sit on the chair some more, gloating! :o) . . . guitarred in the garden briefly . . . called Sis2 and touched base and kinda tried to break the ice a bit from where I've not really spoken to her for a year or so. She seems to be doing ok . . . walked . . . touched base with BB . . . sat in the garden for a while. VERY warm out. . . ate biscuits and bowls of cornflakes . . . TVd until bed around midnight. Couldn't be bothered to put in the work to rebuild the bed with all the clean sheets etc so slept in the PC room instead! pas
29 - Woken by Sally around 7:30am . . . PCd this . . . walked. Actually - I take it all back. Doing occasional 'litter duty' isn't hardly making any impression on the mess over there at all!! Filled another carrier bag as I walked around, with mostly drinks bottles, vodka bottles and beer cans!! Ended up walking home with a tall elegant ornate metal candle holder someone had put out on the pavement with their rubbish. If I don't keep it, its exactly the sort of thing Sis1 would have . . . checked my bank balance. . left Sally at home and drove to Emersons Green to shop. Ooops - ended up spending rather more than I'd intended, but it seemed like there were some good deals to be had! A new pair of slippers for £3. (Yes - I AM an old man - I'm afraid that I'm just not comfortable around the house unless I have slippers!). A king size 4.5 tog summer duvet for £10. (At last! Don't seem to sleep too well in this hot weather when just under a sheet.) Replacements for two of my cheap frying pans and my chip pan, all for £8. (When I do a fry up, I seem to require at least three different frying pans. The old, old ones I've been using for SO long, have wobbly handles and no longer have any of the non stick surface left! I must have eaten it all!!! As for the old chip pan - I think there is a chip pan under all that congealed oil/fat somewhere!!) Stocked up on coffee and sugar and biscuits and red bull and such in the supermarket, and spent almost another £50!!! . . . back home and mail had been delivered. Oooh, oooh - a letter from South Gloucestershire NHS!!!! Must be an appointment for my hernia operation!! Unloaded the car and stashed all the shopping away and put on my new slippers and made a coffee etc etc etc - before sitting in the garden and excitedly/nervously opening the letter.
"Dear MR JONES The NHS is introducing a new scheme, `Patients Choice', aimed at treating patients more quickly and reducing waiting lists.
At present, the longest time any NHS patient has to wait for surgery is 9 months at all hospitals and the majority will be admitted before 9 months.
The Patient Choice scheme is aimed at patients who have been waiting 6 months for treatment from the time they were listed for surgery by their consultant. Patients now have the choice of going to another hospital where they may be seen approximately a month sooner.
As part of this initiative we are writing to you regarding this offer. If, however, you have already received a pre-operative assessment date, or a date for surgery at your current hospital, we feel it is in your best interests to remain with your local hospital and in which case, you do not need to respond to this letter.
Should you wish to take up this offer please complete the attached questionnaire and return it to me, the Patient Care Advisor (PCA) at the address above within the next seven days. This questionnaire is to assess your suitability for surgery elsewhere.
If there are any queries with the information you have supplied, I will attempt to contact you within one week of the return of the questionnaire. In any event, I will contact you within four weeks to discuss the next steps with you. "
For goodness sake!!! That is the first contact they've made with me since my consultation back on 28th January!!! That's rotten to get my hopes up like that, that at last maybe I'd be 'done' and escape the daily discomfort I've been in for so long, only to be sent this politically inspired nonsense! My circumstances are such (living alone - Sally to walk and care for - having to make my way to the hospital - hoping to be out the same day, etc.) that I think I will NOT reply (god knows where I could end up) - I'll just carry on sitting it out and wait for the LOCAL hospital appointment - which I guess according to this could well be into October - in excess of a year since the doctors diagnosis!!!!! :o( . . . ate another two huge mayo, corned beef, onion, grated cheese, tomato, lettuce and four peices of bread and butter sandwiches with crisps for lunch. . .slept, not so much because I was 'particularly' tired, but more to try and shift my nasty headache. Slept the afternoon away until around 5:30pm!! Wow - its really uncomfortably warm. . .PCd this and used the OCR on my scanner for the first time. Worked really nicely. :o) . . . walked - sweating! Found 2p. Sat on a boulder watching the rather unpleasant world go by and drank a tin of red bull. . BB called . . . ate four defrosted sausage rolls . . .collected up some old pieces of wood and filled the bin up. Emptied the contents of my old chip pan into jam jars and then dumped the lot in the bin!. . . TVd/PCd till early . . . tossed and turned and couldn't get to sleep until nearly birdsong!! pas
30 - Woken by Sally around 7:30am! That isn't enough sleep! . . . LB called requiring rescuing of a cat caught frog. Very full of life - let it jump into my pond . . . walked and did litter duty. Another carrier bag full! . . .ate a bowl of muesli for breakfast . . . walked with Sally up to Kingswood to draw some money out of the building society. Very warm! . . . returned home all exhausted and couldn't help laying back down and catching up on some sleep until around mid afternoon! . . . lots to do! Really should be clearing things up and cleaning and vacuuming in advance of BB coming to stay on Monday, but I just can't face doing it all! I think I'll use the excuse that it's best that she knows the state in which I usually live - and I'll clean whaetever she tells me to, when she gets here!! My strangely 'wordy' mood of the last few days continued, and I ended up sat in the shade in the garden jotting down nonsense on scraps of paper!! Been a while since I've been in such a mood - a long while! I like it! I'm about two weeks into, the latest brand of Prozac ('Approved Prescription services Ltd' - my 'usual'). I am increasingly convinced that there IS a difference in the effects of different brands. I want to stay on THIS brand! :o| . . . BB called early . . . scribbled in the garden until gone 6pm and then walked with Sally over the field and ended up scribbling a little more, sat on the grass with some cigarettes and a tin of red bull, watching the sinking sun and drifting hot air balloons. . . fed Sally then went up and fed LBs cats and the two little rabbits. They really are VERY cute, but that's no life for them, stuck in a filthy hutch, surrounded by cats, and only let out to run around the garden once in a blue moon! :o( . . . briefly guitarred in the garden . . .PCd and typed some of my scribbles, without modification or re-ordering as is definitely required!! lol . . . ate huge mayo, corned beef, onion, grated cheese, tomato, lettuce and four peices of bread and butter sandwiches with crisps and then a banana . . . returned Mums ansaphone call and touched base until gone 11pm . . .BB called . . . to bed around midnight. pa
31 - Woke from a dream at 6:45am! Dreamt that a kid on a push bike had collided with a car at the busy junction up the road, and had fallen unconscious to the ground. Instinctively ran over to help, but didn't want to have to deal with it - so I woke up!?? The mind really is its own place! . . . pleasant coffee and cigarettes in the early cool of the garden. Gonna be a hot day. I love cool early mornings and late evenings on such a day. Makes the rest of the day bearable . . . walked and did litter duty - two carrier bags full this morning! Funny how I’ve kinda overcome the mental obstacle of picking up other peoples rubbish (when there’s no one around watching me). It’s possible to even actually get some pleasure out of having made a little positive difference. I don’t do it every time I walk – and probably wont do it at all when the kids are back at school and dropping huge amounts of litter all over, every day – but I walk aimlessly around there twice a day with Sally anyway, why not. The only danger I can see is that I’ll get all possessive about it and maybe start an ugly scene with anyone I see dumping stuff – I’m aware of that, so hopefully I’ll be able to turn a blind eye, and not! . . .Another letter in the mail from the NHS!!!! No – I’m NOT gonna get my hopes up! Good job too – “As you are aware, you are currently waiting for admission to Frenchay Hospital. Well DUH!! I need to check the information we have for you is up to date and valid. What - like in case I've died from old age while waiting? I apologise if you have already given me this information, but would be pleased if you would send the following information back to me in the pre paid envelope. If I do not hear from you in the next three weeks, I will assume you no longer wish to stay on the list.”
Yet more bureaucratic nonsense!!! What do they think – I’ve suddenly got better? Performed surgery on myself? Got someone down the pub to do it? All I need now is for vandals to set fire to the post box, or my reply to get lost in the mail – and I’ll be right back to square one!! Grrrrr!. . .trimmed a little of the garden honeysuckle to stop it interfering with the rotary clothes line. . . did laundry and PCd, catching up on just a couple of long overdue e-mail replies. PCd this . . .Mum called to touch base and we ended up discussing poetry for goodness sake!! She read me some of the Roger McGough poems she'd got on my recommendation from the library! I read her mine (complete with bad language)!! lolololol . . . somehow ended up sat in the sunny garden ALL day playing with more words!! Seem to be in a very UP mood!!!??? . . . ate a couple of sausage rolls around 5pm . . .typed the latest scribblings into the PC . . .walked and found 2p . . . fed LBs menagerie . . . ate pizza . . . touched base with BB . . . PS popped round for chats till early. He arrived bearing a piece of cake for me, his daughter had cooked! I was still in a very 'bouncy' (almost manic!!) mood and inflicted some scribble recitals and guitar strumming on the poor chap!!!!!!!!! Wouldn't blame him if he never returned!! lol . . . sat in the garden trying to get cool before bed around 1am . . . leapt to the window at around 1:30am with noise. Turned out to be a woman in high heels walking along with a couple of young kids following her who couldn't have been more than ten years of age! As they were walking up the middle of the road, they were playing with a football and happily kicking it into parked cars, without a word from their mother!!! What hope is there for all our future if peple are brought up like that?!! pas
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