Happy, Happy Talk!

Saturday. 6.20 a.m. If you read my blog posts regularly, then you would know that I have been attempting to find someone to look after Alfie when I visit my daughter and grandchildren in Worcester, because Alfie doesn't get on well and makes a lot of noise. There has been a bit of a cul de sac as regards one attempt, but now it seems I have found someone who can look after him, who has dogs. I suddenly had a brainwave. I had the idea that someone at Dexter House might be able to help if I were to go to Worcester and leave Alfie in the flat, but to have someone go in and feed him and take him out several times a day. I thought of Dave, who is a neighbour. I met him when I was about to go somewhere in my car, as he parks his car next to mine. He told me it might be difficult for him to look after Alfie, but his sister might. She loves dogs and has a small one herself, so Alfie would possibly fit in and settle if I left him for a long weekend.

Sunday. 5.50 a.m. It took quite a while to wake up properly this morning, which meant it was somewhat difficult to focus so that I could take Alfie out. He was wide awake and barking loudly, which is why I had the lounge door firmly closed whilst I got myself organized, dressed and ready to go out. It is a mild but somewhat overcast morning. We are being told that for the next couple of weeks we can expect another heatwave. I just hope it's not going to be as hot as it was a few weeks ago. My digital thermometer currently reads 71ºF.

12.50 p.m. There was no church this morning, but there was a picnic at Furzton Lake, but I decided not to go. I had intended to watch the M.K.C.C. service via YouTube, but, having got it all set up through my Fire Stick, it just buffered, so unfortunately I gave up. It just froze, which made it impossible to watch. I've been reading, more of 'Modernity Britain', David Kynaston's book on the later '50s and early 1960s. Very informative, particularly as I can remember vaguely some of the details, as I would have been around 10-11 during that period. He mentions the opening of the Lionel Bart musical, 'Oliver!' which opened at the then, New, Theatre, (Now, I believe, called the Gielgud Theatre. I was at Rushmoor School in Bedford, and we were taken up to London by the English Teacher to see the show. I was very much inspired by it, and it would have been my first experience of a West End musical.  It must have been quite radical in some ways, because the book on which it's based is quite dark in places, think the murder of Nancy by Bill Sykes. The set, designed by Shaun Kenny was very distinctive, imaginative and probably unlike anything a West End audience would have seen up until that point in time. I think it must have coincided with the marriage of Princess Margaret to Lord Snowdon. If I remember correctly, we saw decorations in the street which must have been for this momentous occasion, but, at such a young age, it might not have meant much to me. I do recall going to a Lyon's corner house, of which there were many, not just in London, but in all the major towns and cities throughout Britain at the time, but, now, long since closed. I think this branch was somewhere in the vicinity of the Houses of Parliament. We were all allowed to order whatever we wanted, and one boy being very bold and having a Knickerbocker glory, one of those sweet concoctions, created in a long, stemmed glass, and consisting of brightly coloured jelly, in layers, with fruit cocktail and topped with whipped cream and that completed by a glacé cherry. Very pretentious. Which is probably why I remember it, some 60-plus years later. It must have been that school trip to London, where we were waiting on an Underground station platform, and a train came in, and everyone got on it but it turned out to be the wrong train, so we all had to get on, otherwise some of the group would have gone without us. I don't know how it turned out, but no doubt we had to go back to the same station and start again, getting on the correct train.  The following year we were taken to see 'Pickwick', another musical based on a Charles Dickens novel. It starred Harry Secombe, but it didn't have the same impact or long West End run as 'Oliver!' had. That show was staged at the Scala Theatre in Shaftsbury Avenue, but now converted into a cinema.

I am gradually returning the stuff which was removed from the kitchen units before the refurbishment was started. I just want things back as more or less what they were before the work began. I have lugged two large plastic boxes which have been parked in the bedroom. More or less all the stuff under the sink is back, and I find quite a lot of stuff is duplicated, such as furniture polish. A lot needs throwing away. I have found a really great-looking unit on Amazon which would be ideal to take my HP printer. If I get it, the printer can be moved from the IKEA unit where it lives at present. It comes with wheels and can be pushed around and has space underneath to store printer-related stuff like paper and ink cartridges and even has a handy drawer.