First time this year

First swim yesterday.

Twenty degrees in the water, 32.9 in the shade. Wonderful.

More gardening today. Weeding, tying up roses and peonies, sweating, losing things. I can't find the scissors. Normally I would blame Husband but I was definitely the last one using it in the garden. I remember my belt dropped off at one point so if I can remember where that was there might be the scissors. However, I've looked EVERYWHERE. Must be naughty elves.

One a day

The canes went quickly once I'd put them on Facebook marketplace so, pleased about that.

I was battling with myself over whether to go to exercise this morning. I haven't been for ages for a variety of reasons. Eventually I decided that I get hot enough during an ordinary session - it's in a church hall not an air-conditioned gym - and going in this heat I would be at risk of melting completely. So I messaged them only to find out it's half-term so it's not on anyway! Yay! Don't have to feel guilty. 

Instead I went out and did some gardening in the shadiest bit of garden I could find. A pleasant surprise: in between the weeds I discovered that the potatoes that had gone to seed last year, that I'd stuck in the ground, are growing. At least I assume that's what they are. I'm pretty sure of it.

What I haven't mentioned in regard to our holiday is ice cream.

My holiday mantra of 'One a day' fell far short this time, on account of Husband's sickness. We did manage to - what's the phrase? bookmark? No. One at each end. What is it? Anyway, we did at our favourite ice cream parlour.

I was so excited by my nutella sundae I failed to get it into focus!

The next time I had peach melba.

The grandchildren loved their exotica sundaes with coconut ice cream and mango.

And while we're on the subject of food, we also paid a visit to the 'croissant' café.

So much choice! And so delicious.

Bookend! Is that it?

Cor, it's a scorcher!

Tabloids often like to use that headline to describe a bit of warm weather and they would not be wrong today. Husband opened the pool on Friday and since then we've had grandchildren nagging, "Is it ready yet? When can we go in?"

It's taken a while to get the chemical levels right but maybe this afternoon will be 'jump in and freeze' day. It's pretty cold in there. 

Anyway, I spent a lot of last week clearing the garden of dead forget-me-nots ready for summer planting. Not that I have any summer plants yet except two dahlias. There should be four but two of them died so I'm sending a photo to Sarah Raven asking for replacements.

I've left a couple of little spindly things that I think I planted just before leaving. But I could be wrong. Much as I love the sight of buttercups they went in my rampage. They're very pretty but provide cover for the bad boys - bindweed etc. To make myself feel less guilty I picked them for the kitchen.

I'm doing well in my general garden tidying but there's one area I can't face yet, certainly not in this heat: the raspberry patch. Completely over-run with bindweed and other weeds.

I've also got quite of rhubarb to find a use for.

Now, what would you call these?

If you said daisies, I'd agree with you. I seem to have paid money for several pots of daisies. That's what having a posh name does. Fools us innocents. That said, I actually think our grass daisies are slightly prettier. Never mind. I'd like to say I live and learn but I don't.

Having stored away half a forest of bamboo canes I've put another load outside the front gate hoping they'll find a home.

* * * * *

Church yesterday was Pentecost Sunday and the pastor, Jordan, had asked me to say something about it, and then lead into a time of open prayer. That was fine; I was happy to do that. The church is a very lovely and kind family, and always pray with compassion and love.

So yesterday I opened it up and a regular prayed, and then a woman, a visitor started speaking. She said, "I've been sent here today to tell you that tis coming week is going to be momentous, the beginning of the end."  She was quite loud and vehement. "Things are going to be happening. Look out for them. Watch the television news, read the papers, listen out for events. We may have different views of President Trump but he's working for God." At this point one man walked out. She carried on in this vein for a little while then ended saying, "So keep your eyes open for the signs and look out for alien news!"

Normally after someone prays whoever is leading would say, "Amen." I sort of muttered, "urhum," into the mic. I didn't want to be rude.

Afterwards several people told me how upset they'd been that a lovely atmosphere had been ruined.

In which Husband is both lucky and unlucky

We drove the four miles or so to collect GrandDaughter3 from school and back. What we didn't realise was that Husband had left his glasses and phone on the roof of the car.

Amazingly the phone was still there when we got back. The glasses, which would have been on top, had gone but they were part of his 5 pairs for £13 set so no great loss.

He was less fortunate when cutting down saplings trees in the woods. He tripped, fell, rolled down the hill and crashed into a tree. He got up, climbed back up the hill and repeated the process: fall, roll, hit. No lasting damage but a sore ankle for a few days. This was before he got struck with gastroenteritis of course.

As a concession to "I can't face another hill, we'll just go for a short walk," Lobo and I did a 5 kilometre (altogether) wander along one side of the valley to Norea and Dho,  and then back along the other side.

I grumbled to Lobo and later to Younger Son about the misleading signposts. "Whoever wrote those signs should be sacked!"

There was one that said Norea 670m.

We walked quite a distance and then came across another sign that also said Norea 670m. "Well, that's not possible!"

When I was telling YS this he began to smile. "That's the distance above sea level," he said.

Well, honestly. It's in the biggest letters, obviously anyone walking by would assume it was the distance. Yes, it does, if you look closely, tell you in small letters how long it takes to walk there and how far it is to cycle there. Although on looking more closely again that doesn't make sense either. So I stand by my complaint.

* * * * *

Anvilcloud asked in his comment, "What are coopy down toilets?"

To my horror, I was introduced to them on the camp site on my first night on my first trip to France. After that I insisted that I be allowed to check the toilets before we booked in to any other camp sites.

What that helpful poster doesn't mention is the need to keep your clothes raised off the ground and out of the way of where you might pee.

I've looked them up and, apparently, they are very good for you. The squat position you have to take up aligns the colon, encourages bowel movement, and can help with some intestinal problems. It's also more hygienic, not sitting on a seat used by who knows who? And they strengthen your legs.

They're also popular in countries with water shortages because they use night soil, which is then used to fertilise crops.

As for the question, how do old people manage, again there are loads of answers, but maybe it's a third world first world thing: those of us in the first world are often not as flexible as we might be.

It's possible to buy a squatty potty on Amazon, or elsewhere, in the form of a baboo stool that allows you to get into a position similar to the squat but on an ordinary toilet.

I bet you're glad you asked, AnvilCloud!

Warning words

I've had to come in from gardening as it's too HOT! Woop, woop! Not that it takes me a lot to give up gardening.

My roses are doing really well. Ones I've had for a couple of years that have been a bit spindly have come into their own this year. Can't wait to see them all in bloom.

Anyway, back to the holiday. I'll see what I wrote on the very brief reminder notes I left myself. Ah yes, bowling toilets. One morning we all went ten pin bowling. I came last obviously but the interesting thing is that the toilets were old style, you know, the coopy down ones. I'd like to see Husband spend as long on one of those as he does on our toilet in the mornings as a matter of course. But, seriously, how do old people manage with them? I mean, sometimes it does take a while. How do they do it without falling in? At least these ones didn't flush all over my feet as is the norm.

Next, bunny rabbits. I don't actually have a photo of the newly-acquired bunny rabbits but I can tell you that Bellatrix is black and a great escapee. Possibly because Luna is always trying to hump her.

So, one morning I'd gone to the house for breakfast, Husband was poorly and everyone else was in school/work. I'd just sat down in the garden with my bowl of cereal when I noticed Bellatrix running free. 

Fortunately the garden is quite well fenced in but there are gaps - and it's quite a large space. Imagine for a moment, me running around like a crazed person, shouting at this stupid rabbit. I tried speaking nicely and quietly at first but when that failed I resorted to, "You rotten rabbit! Come here this minute!"

She ignored me.

I tried throwing a jumper over her and when that failed tried a blanket. All I had after that were chicken-poo-stained jumpers and blankets.

After twenty minutes I begged Husband to to get off his sick bed, come down from the bungalow, and help me. At least cut off alternative paths of escape.

So then there were two of us running around the garden. I actually caught her once and ended up scarred by the process. (And dropping her in the process.) "Right, you flipping bunny! This is war!"

She took refuge in the chicken shed. I followed her; she hid under the hutches. 

Husband meanwhile was using his brain in an effort to save his energy. We constructed a sort-of sided path from the chicken shed into the rabbit hutch. Then we sat down and waited. 

The chickens went in first - and couldn't find their way out. (I'm currently having a whatsapp argument with Elder Son over the intelligence or not of golden retrievers: I insist they are clever; he says they're stupid. To be fair, Theo had just stuck his head in a muddy puddle - but that shows he knows how to cool himself down, ergo, smart. But when it comes to stupid you'd have to go a long way to beat chickens.)

Eventually, over an hour after I'd first noticed she was out, Bellatrix fell into our trap. Then Husband went back to his sofa-reclining in the bungalow and I walked Lobo. After making sure the rabbits were very firmly locked in. (It appears they weren't that secure as she got out again later in the day.)

Regular readers might remember that last year I was attacked by the cockerel. (They've since swapped him for a much gentler one.) I didn't expect to be wounded by a bunny.

Lobo and I had several lovely walks, exploring the hills and valley. There are some phrases that should ring warning bells in my head when I say them. "We might as well keep on walking; it can't go up much higher," being one.

It can and it does. I have to stop several times to 'look for deer in the woods'. We're quite quiet apart from my Darth Vader breathing as I climb the hills, but I guess that would scare anyone. We didn't even have the satisfaction of reaching the top. It was always that bit further.

That photo was taken as we were about to investigate a ruined old house.

The other phrase that should alert me is, "It doesn't matter if GPS isn't working; I know the way."

Well, I sort of did and only got lost twice, one of those times being in the car park. Trust me, it's a confusing car park.

Next times, misleading signs and sheep and goats.

There it was gone

They were short of volunteers at Zac's this morning so I popped along to help. Before I went away Zac's looked like this:

This morning it looked like this:

The main hall hasn't been used for for about ten years due to the damp and decay. We had great plans to redevelop it but, sadly, what with Covid and inflation in general, rebuild costs shot out of control. We had raised what we thought was a large sum but it wasn't enough, and, to be honest, we couldn't haven't justified spending the new amount required anyway.

A structural survey last year revealed the hall to be in dangerous condition and we made the decision to demolish. A whole lot of delay mainly thanks to our surveyor's tardiness and next door's decision to have their own survey done (that we had to pay for!) meant we watched anxiously for any deterioration for fear it would fall down of its own accord. It didn't, thankfully, and eventually demolition happened while I was on holiday.

Cost a lot of money! And still more needed for making good the walls. There won't be any left over to do anything with the space just yet. Maybe I'll scatter poppy seeds. Yes, that would be nice.

We're still able to run our normal services so I see this as a new beginning. So long was spent talking about "when the hall is done and we've got all this fancy stuff," it's almost a relief to have made the decision and concentrate on the future.

Where to begin?

With GrandSon4's big day I think.

First communion is a huge thing in Italy - and I assume in other Catholic countries - and GrandSon4 had to attend weekly classes for months ahead of it to prepare. The church was packed with families - who also get invited to a big meal afterwards. Each of the new communicants had a small role play in the ceremony. GrandSon4 was one of those chosen to read.

I didn't understand the service obviously and spent a lot of time studying the ceiling.

Afterwards it was time for photos and then the meal.

Nuora had been very busy making matching outfits for all of them but she still found time to make these lovely little gifts for the table for each of us.

The menu was eight courses plus a delicious strawberry and cream meringue celebration cake. I did take photos but the dishes were a bit colourless so won't include them. I'll just say it was a lot of meat! Including a dollop of raw minced beef. GrandSon4 ate my two helpings of that!

We left the meal a little early because Husband was tired but I was just pleased he'd made it and managed to eat everything, including seconds, and drink wine as well, both white and red.

My thoughts on the rituals? Well, I hope somewhere in it GrandSon4 found a true understanding and faith. GrandDaughter3, meanwhile, said to me, "I want to be just like you because I love Jesus too!" So she was listening to what I'd been drilling into them saying anyway.

GrandSon4 was very happy with his new mountain bike though, and especially happy with the bike alarm that he can control remotely.

How does your garden grow?

The first thing I did when we got home was check to see if the peonies had bloomed in my absence. They hadn't. But the roses are beginning.

The garden has also grown a mini-marrow/large courgette and rhubarb flowers.

And I've spent some time today clearing the beds of bindweed and dead forget-me-nots. Still loads to do but I am definitely becoming a gardener. If only I could remember what I've planted and where.

Also went through the 602 emails I've received and was able to delete about 590 without reading. And am just being tempted by an email from the holiday cottage company we use. I - we both - need a holiday. But Husband has various hospital check-ups in the next month or so, so we won't be going anywhere just yet.

More holiday stuff to follow . . .

And we're back!

So, how was the holiday?

Let's say lots of it was great but other bits less so!

It was a lot colder than I had packed for, resulting in me having to buy two vests for some extra warmth. When the sun shone it was lovely but it didn't shine that much. Apparently May is always a bad month.

But that's a minor problem compared to Husband ending up in hospital.

Fortunately it was only one day while he was tested, prodded and poked, x-rayed, and rehydrated by drip.

It all began the second Wednesday of the holiday. Bad diarrhoea combined with Husband not drinking enough water left him weak and feeble, hence the hospital trip. Gastroenteritis was diagnosed and he was sent home with drinks to help replace the lost essentials. I say sent home with; I mean told what to get at the pharmacy. Nearly £30 worth. Makes me grateful that prescriptions are free in Wales. That said, he had very good treatment at the hospital for free.

Further test results revealed a bacterial infection so Thursday of the next week he was given antibiotics, which worked well and quickly, thankfully as the following Sunday was GrandSon4's first communion and celebratory meal, plus we were due to begin our journey home on the Monday.

So, that put a bit of a damper on our holiday. No day trips into the mountains or the beach. No trips anywhere in fact. So I spent a lot of time walking Lobo and exploring the hills nearby. 

Younger Son and Nuora were in work and the children were in school for the second and third weeks of our holiday so I did some cooking and shopping too. And walked back and for up the hill from the house to the bungalow we stay in to see Husband, deliver food, etc.

Here I've circled Younger Son's house so you can see the setting. It's very beautiful and peaceful. Our little bungalow is just up the hill from the house. It's not far but it seems like Everest when you've done it 75 times in a day. (No exaggeration there at all. Well, maybe a little.)

Now the rest of the posts will be much more cheerful!