A Happy New Year!

 Tuesday. New Year's Eve. 9.50 a.m. Yet another mild but rather dull and overcast sort of day. The weather is expected to get worse, with more wind and rain, and in Scotland, Hogmanay has been cancelled in Edinburgh, due to the weather which is forecast. I simply can't imagine Scotland foregoing their New Year's Eve celebrations.

I needed to do a top-up shop in Sainsbury's. Christmas is over, although stuff like mince pies are on offer, or, at least, they are very much in evidence. But there are Valentine's Day cards already on sale. No doubt there will be Easter eggs on sale soon.

I had a package arrive via Royal Mail this morning. It was the Bisoprolol tablets which I have been waiting for and which were actually ordered when I went to the surgery on Friday morning. It just goes to show that Pharmacu2U can deliver quickly when needed.

Wednesday. 9 a.m. I did see the New Year in. I watched the Jools Holland show on BBC 1.

This morning it is very windy. I took Alfie out, and it was difficult opening the door with the wind pushing against it and making weird noises. The strength of the wind was almost enough to blow you over.

Friday. 8.10 a.m. It's getting a good deal colder. Snow is forecast. An Amber alert has been given, meaning that temperatures below zero can be dangerous for those over a certain age (probably me included.) Also, danger of slips and falls, and dangerous driving conditions are expected.

Saturday. 7.35 a.m. I had the foresight to buy an extra bottle of antifreeze spray for my car. I got it when I was in Sainsbury's a couple of weeks ago. I also bought a large bottle of spray which you have to spray on your car's windows the night before and it is supposed to prevent them freezing over. I did this yesterday evening but I'm yet to find out if it has worked.

When I went out with Alfie about an hour ago, I found it was frosty, but as yet, no sign of snow. It seems that the north of England and Scotland have had snow, and it is causing problems with transport. I'm not so sure if we will get it this far south.

Sunday. 7.15 a.m. There was a scattering of snow overn night, but it's more like a dusting than what they have had in the north of England. I'm yet to take Alfie out, as he's fast asleep, so it seems unfair to wake him up.

9.05 a.m. I think Alfie was somewhat shocked by the cold when I eventually took him out.

I wasn't feeling very good when I got up. A bit light-headed and wobbly. I was scheduled to do refreshments at church, so I have sent a message via WhatsApp and someone will step in. I didn't think it was a good idea to continue, because of the blackout I had a year ago as well as the heart attack I had in church six years ago. Better to be safe than sorry.

Monday. 7.45 a.m. The snow has gone, but there's a thin fall of rain, if you can call it that.

I decided to come off the refreshment rota at church. I have been involved in this for well over a year, so it's time for others to step forward. I am still on the rota to set up communion, which I shall continue with.

3.15 p.m. I was doing my washing up at the kitchen sink this morning, when I notice a group of men in the community garden. They were all dressed in overalls, and I remembered that work was to be carried out, including the scooter stores which have been in place for around 3-4 years, but cannot be accessed from the main building here at Dexter House, because there is no ramp or specially adapted doors to allow the scooters to be taken out into the stores. An orange digger appeared and there is a fenced off area further over which is no doubt where equipment will be stored. Later, when I took Alfie out onto the grass along Strudwick Drive, I noticed a small truck being unloaded and the gate open and another larger lorry parked in Dexter Avenue, just below where the door comes out of Dexter House and I imagine it had further equipemt to be used by the workmen. Oh, the excitemnt of all this (Not. Scarcasm I'm afraid.) I will keep my readers imformed as this work progresses, or not.

Goodness Gracious Me!

 Friday. 5.25 a.m. It's bright and early, and I've already taken Alfie out. 

Yesterday, after going to The Oaktree Centre for Bible study and help with packing up Acorns, playgroup (I don't go earlier because it opens earlier than it used to. There are two sessions, and the second one finishes at 12.15.) I drove home and immediately went into the shopping centre to have a browse and go into Costa which is opposite Marks and Spencer. I had a cold drink, caramel (not sure what it's called), cheese and ham toastie and banana and pecan cake.  Very tasty. Then into Waterstone's. Bought two books, one from Anthony Horowitz, 'The Magpie Murders'. It's currently being shown on BBC1 and on 'Britbox', although I haven't watched it. I may once I've read the novel. The other, 'This Sweet Sickness', by Patricia Highsmith. I've read a couple of her novels, 'The Talented Mr Ripley' and 'Strangers on A Train' which was made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock. I think her novels are best described as psychological thrillers.

Saturday. 5.05 a.m. Alfie and I were out well before 5 o'clock this morning. He was doing his usual barking when he saw me getting ready to go out. The buildings in the city centre, which are normally seen from Oldbrook Green, were obscured by fog. Completely hidden by grey and gloom, but it was reasonably mild out.

12.20 p.m. My Sky mobile SIM contract will expire in June. I wasn't aware of this. I was under the impression that it was paid for with my iPhone payments, which are paid in instalments. I had an email informing me that this was about to happen and that I could end my contract or continue. I don't want to change to a different provider, so I telephoned the call centre (I was wondering if it should be open this morning, as it's a Saturday. Fortunately, it was. The young man who answered was extremely helpful. He informed me that I hardly use my data allowance, and he advised me to go for a lower allowance, which would reduce my costs considerably. So, I now have 6 GB of data and cost £7 per month. I also learned that my contract, which pays for the iPhone 12 I currently have, expires in June next year, meaning that I can upgrade to a newer model iPhone when the contract ends and the phone is paid off.

Sunday. 7.00 a.m. I have been up since well before 4 o'clock this morning. The reason was that there was a noise somewhere within Dexter House. I have a feeling an ambulance was called because someone fell over in the corridor, but I'm not sure, and I didn't investigate. Because I couldn't sleep, I read a chapter of my current book, 'Les Misérables.'  I did some clearing up in the kitchen and even cleaned the bath! I know, rather odd, but it's cleaner than it's ever been since I moved into the flat.

I took out Alfie at around 5.15, with him barking outside the bathroom door, where I get dressed. As I write this, the sun is shining and it's relatively mild.

2.45 p.m. I have been watching the National Theatre production of 'Much Ado About Nothing' on the National Theatre At Home app (and shown on my Hitachi HD television.) This production, which was originally in repertoire in the Lyttleton Theatre at the National Theatre's South Bank Home, is set in a 1930s hotel and has Katherine Parkinson as Beatrice and John Heffernan as Benedict. There was an element of a 1930s film musical about it, mixed with that of a Marx Brothers film, with mistaken identity and plenty of visual gags. I have also seen the David Tennant/Catherine Tate production of the same play, and, of the two plays, I think they had a far sense of chemistry than in the more recent National Theatre production.

Things Can Only Get Better?

 Friday. 10.50 a.m. It's another bright and sunny morning, but there is still quite a gusty wind.

Saturday. 12.20 p.m. It's quite windy today. I can hear it whistling around outside Dexter House as I write this. The sun is out, and it's reasonably mild, but little else.

Not a lot to report on here. Just another regular sort of day. I went to Aldi to do a shop. I was there around 9.15, and I was in and out of the store within about thirty minutes. A good deal quicker than if I'd gone to Sainsbury's. I think it's because it's a smaller store, with fewer choices, so you don't stand in the aisle attempting to decide which product to buy. The tills are faster, because they've designed their packaging so the bar codes are easier to find and scan, and you pack straight into your trolley and then pack your bags on a shelf. But I can manage to pack straight into my bags. In the process, I think I save around a third, compared to the price of a full shop in, say, Tesco, Morrisons or Sainsbury's. Certainly no loss of quality.

I have now managed to write around 24 pages of new material, which is now transferred from handwritten to word processing. That is somewhere in the region of 6,400 words. It's nowhere near complete, and I am still working on it so that it can be assimilated into what I have already written.

Sunday. 6.15 a.m. The clocks have moved forward one hour. This is the time I usually take Alfie out. I have a feeling that it has rained in the night because I think I can hear the rain outside (just as well it's not inside.) I have checked my bank account by going online. The balance is fine, which means I can go and put fuel in the car before I go to church.

7.15 a.m. Having now been out with Alfie, we discovered a light rain as we came out onto Strudwick Drive and the path awash. It was like walking in a river. Alfie would rather go back indoors, but after I'd picked up after him and went to the bin across Oldbrook Boulevard, we walked home.

1.15 p.m. I have been to church, but on the way, I went to the Esso filling station in Child's Way to fill the car with diesel. I went via Marlborough Street, and no sooner had I turned into Childs Way on the roundabout, that the alarm went off in the car, to warn me that the fuel level was low. I have had the car for around five years and never, in all that time, has that alarm gone off. I knew the fuel level was low because I have been keeping an eye on the fuel gauge.

Having left the Oaktree Centre after church, I had just got on Chaffron Way to return home, when a car came right up behind me, insisting that I get out of the way. I was going around 45-50, which seems a reasonable speed to be doing. The driver would not reduce his speed and remain tailgating me until I got to the roundabout on Fulmer Street, so I decided to peel off to the left. These incidents seem to be getting worse. It seems totally out of order. People don't seem to have any respect for other drivers and just want you to get out of their way, or else. I find it totally unnerving to have a car behind me, almost touching the bumper of my car.

5.45 p.m. Watching the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race on BBC1 (which has just finished, with Cambridge winning both  the men's and women's races.) I'm intrigued by the commentators. Why do they all have such oversized microphones (this is the same with all sports commentators, especially motorsports.)? Is it some sort of 'we're big and important, so we have to stand out by holding such oversized microphones? Technically, they surely don't need to hold a microphone, and not each has one. They could easily have small mics that clip onto their clothing. I think it might be so they have something to hold. They're props. If they didn't have them to hold, they wouldn't know what to do with their hands. Then, why do each of the commentators have them? With four people, it must be difficult for the sound operators to keep the sound balance.

Impartial Media?

 Saturday. 6.05 a.m. It's a completely different sort of day, on the weather front, compared with yesterday morning. It is mild and snow free. It hardly seems possible things could change so drastically, but that is what the weather in this country is like changing virtually hourly.

6.35 p.m. After the row caused by Gary Lineker, the BBC football pundit who made some comment about the Government's immigration proposals, which contravened BBC impartiality rules, many of the usual football programmes on BBC1 have either been cancelled or cut short. As someone who isn't a football fan, I find the fact that virtually all of BBC1 on a Saturday is taken over by football totally unacceptable. It has to be the most boring sport ever invented and when they have any sort of programme on the subject, they have talking heads who waffle on and on endlessly about the game. So, as far as I am concerned, they can keep him off our screens for as long as possible.

Sport seems to get more than its a fair share of screen time on television, on all channels. Whenever there's a big football game, it can often displace other programmes and it's not just the actual game which takes over, but we have to endure hour after hour of droning 'so-called' pundits rambling on and on and on. So, while we have all this sports stuff, why is there nothing about the arts? We used to have a raft of art magazines on television, Omnibus and Arena on BBC channels and on ITV, 'The South Bank Show.' You could hardly move for adaptations of stage plays on television on BBC1 during the 1960s and 1970s. On a Sunday evening on BBC1, 'Play of The Month' showed adaptations of world theatre, such as Ibsen, Shaw, Shakespeare and many more. No doubt they didn't get very high audience ratings, but at least the BBC wasn't churning out endless soaps, game shows and reality television shows. Or shows with 'so-called celebrities in them. 

The arts seem to be sidelined in many areas of life. The government treats the arts as something that shouldn't be taken seriously, particularly in education. It should cover a wide range of pursuits, not just fine arts, but also music and drama. But it most definitely should be taken seriously, because drama and music particularly lead to jobs which are important to the economy of the country. You only have to consider theatre, with big West End productions drawing sizeable audiences. Then there are the subsidiary employment activities which are important to the theatre, such as costume design and making, set design and building, lighting, and management, both backstage and front of house. This then leads on to cinema, with similar subsidiary employment in front of and behind the camera. Photography, set design, editing and so on. This, too, with television. Never more so, with the growth of streaming services such as Netflix, Disney + and Britbox. And, of course, traditional television services such as BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and 5, all producing not just drama but other genres of programming.

As regards the arts on television, why are art programmes hidden in the schedules? If BBC1 or BBC2 has an arts magazine, it's almost always aired in a late-night slot. Very rarely would it be shown earlier in the evening, say, 7p.m. Even when ITV had 'The South Bank Show', it would be shown around 10.30 p.m. on a Sunday.

Blow Winds, and Crack Your Cheeks!

Thursday. 8.10 a.m. Another Shakespearean weather quote is used as a blog post title. This time it's from 'King Lear.'

It's been extremely windy all night. I could hear it as I lay awake at around 2 o'clock. But as I write this, it has calmed down.

1.05 p.m. This morning we had the first poetry session, which is part of the U3A. There were only five people there, including myself. The idea is to read poetry you might have written (I haven't, but one Dexter House tenant had.) We took turns reading our favourite poems, taken from a handful of poetry books the two leaders provided. I will have to browse online and possibly print off some pieces for the next session.

Saturday. 8.20 a.m. It's really windy again. The path along which I walk with Alfie when I take him out, which runs alongside Strudwick Drive, has a really wet patch under the trees which overhang. It's not currently raining, but it must have rained overnight, which must have been the cause of the puddles.

1.30 p.m. I had a doctor's appointment at the Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre booked for 10.00 a.m. It was raining quite hard as I drove across Milton Keynes and got to the car park in good time. I was good and put on my face mask, as requested by the surgery and then found that the computerized system was not working so I told the receptionist that I had arrived, which sounds crazy as I was standing directly in front of her (that's me being totally literal if you see what I mean.) I sat and waited and then the doctor came out and called me into his office. He took my blood pressure (131/67 mmHg. Sorry, I don't understand these measurements.) Then my pulse (56 bpm) and I discovered my cholesterol level is 3 mmol! I have to say I'm really pleased, as they tell you it should be less than 5 mmol. It's all my hard work paying off it would seem, drinking cholesterol-busting drinks as well as 2 or 3 easy peelers (small oranges with thin skin) as well as an apple or other fruit. At least 5-a-day, as recommended by the NHS. My weight is currently 104 Kg, which sounds about right for my height and age.

There is a new show on at around 4.30 p.m., immediately before Pointless on BBC 1. It's called 'Make It To Market', and it's about creative people, for example, artists, sculpture, carvers and so on, and how they are mentored and supported to develop their careers and become successful. One artist was on this programme and she used 'Procreate' the painting and drawing software which I have on my iPad. It just goes to show how this can be used to create and design material that can be sold.

I discussed the horrible phlegm which is produced at the back of my throat, and he examined my throat (I had to 'say aah!' when I opened my mouth for him to see. I think that was the first time I've had to do that since I was about 12 years old, so a good many years ago.) He told me there was no inflammation to be seen and that I should drink plenty of water. Generally, it would appear my health is in good order. I also discussed the fact that I can experience fatigue from mid-afternoon onwards, and he told me that would be a result of my taking my medications. 

Sunday. 8.30 a.m. It's decidedly colder this morning. I have a feeling we'll be having more snow.

Hello Sunshine!

Thursday. 6.25 a.m. A good deal cooler morning, thank goodness! 

I'm continuing to clear out bits and pieces, leftover in boxes from when I moved into Dexter House. There were two large packing boxes, marked 'Pickford's', which I was given by the moving company. One has been emptied and broken up and the remaining one is partially empty. I'm really keen to know why on earth it contains the horrible old, broken kitchen clock from the house in Eaglestone. It has no use as it doesn't work. It's going in another black bin bag. I got some really large and tougher bin bags when I was in Sainsbury's yesterday morning and I have already filled one, and it has gone out to the bin bag yard. Or whatever you want to call it. One or two bits and pieces and that's the job done. 

Friday. 8.20 a.m. Not so hot, and not 'Fry-day.' Sorry about the pun, but when I first keyed in the word 'Friday', I accidentally got fiday which morphed into Fryday. I intend to keep the pun. Monday can then become Punday. You have been warned!

Friday is my washing day. We now have two brand-new washing machines which are digital. They are actually an improvement on the old 'dial' operated machines. It has taken me a while to get used to them. I can now set the correct temperature,  using the touch screen, much like using my iPhone or iPad, which is a help. I put my load in at a few minutes before 8 a.m., set the machine to wash,  which is around 60 minutes (the screen shows 59 minutes. Why not the complete hour? Who knows and who cares. Another of life's little mysteries. I went back to my flat and read for a while. Then, at a few minutes before the wash cycle was due to finish, I went back to the laundry room and put my clothes in the spin drier. I went back once more to my flat and gave the drier around 35 minutes and when I returned, I soon realized that I hadn't turned it on! Then I got an earful from another resident, informing me that I hadn't dried the rubber seal inside the washing machine. I wasn't even aware that I was supposed to do this. What difference does it make? It doesn't. No good arguing with some people. I think she had got out of the wrong side of bed.  Just went over my head. I shall remember in future. 

Saturday. 8.00 a.m. Sunny and bright, but not much else at the moment. I think it might be a little bit windy.

11.15 a.m. I have been watching 'The Goodlies' the 1970s comedy show, on Britbox. I'm not sure whether I saw any of the episodes when they were originally shown on BBC1, but it's certainly funny and holds up remarkably well compared with what we have currently. It might be a bit ropey technically, a bit like the early days of Doctor Who, but that doesn't matter when you have such originality. It bugs me that you get a message as it starts, warning you that some of the material 'may offend.' You, we know things were very different 50 years ago, but, quite honestly, if you don't like it, just don 't watch.

More of The Same?

Sunday. 7.40 a.m. It's raining, although it's very light. In fact, I would so as far as to say it isn't really proper rain, more like drizzle. I will need to take Alfie out again before I go off to church. The kitchen is tidy. The washing up from yesterday evening is done and there's not much more to do. There is nothing worse than coming home to a pile of dirty pots and pans in the sink.

2.15 p.m. We did go out and then I went to church. On the way home I went into Tesco in Oldbrook Boulevard and got a sandwich in one of those offers where you get a sandwich, a drink and a snack.

3.55 p.m. Now watching the Jubilee Pageant, which is on BBC1. Some incredible creations moving along The Mall. Extremely colourful and dramatic. This is the final event of the four-day special weekend. A lot of amazing floats, really clever and funny. Just shows that we can produce this sort of thing as good as anywhere else in the world.

I have signed up to Britbox. It streams through my Fire TV stick on my television. A lot of BBC, ITV, Channel Four and 5 material, particularly what I  would call 'classic' comedy, such as Dads Army, Some Mother's Do 'Ave 'Em as well as drama series. I'm surprised there's Shakespeare, from the RSC, material which is from 'live' recordings which have been streamed to cinemas in the past. The first couple of weeks is free, then £2.99 a month and then £5.99 a month thereafter. 

Monday. 6.20 a.m. I was out a good bit later than I have in recent days.

So, Bojo (Boris Johnson) is to face a vote of no confidence this evening. The required 54 Conservative MPs have handed in letters to the 1922 Committee, which is what triggers the vote, which is to happen sometime tonight. I think it can't happen soon enough as he can't be trusted, and if you can't trust your Prime Minister, then he must go. As regards the so-called Partygate Scandal, which is behind this confidence vote, and the fact that he and many of his ministers as well as civil servants, broke the Covid-19 rules by holding parties within Number 10 Downing Street, while the rest of us in Britain followed these rules more or less to the latter, then he must go. But the question is, if he loses and is forced to resign, who will replace him? Frankly, in my opinion, the regulations were unnecessary and people should have been able to make their own minds up as regards their behaviour to have people fined was a step too far. Also, if the PM didn't understand the rules he had enacted into law, then how could you expect the members of the public to understand them? 

11.25 p.m. The British Museum currently has an exhibition I would have liked to go to on Stonehenge. I also knew they were publishing a book and thought, rather than visit, which would have been quite a strain, knowing my health issues, unfortunately, I would buy the book. I looked on the British Museum website but couldn't get it to function (not good as they will lose customers.) and I attempted several times to buy the aforementioned book. I then searched several online bookshops and avoided Amazon (as I give them plenty of custom as it is!) I then went on the Blackwells website and found the book, which I ordered last week (I think possibly Tuesday or Wednesday. The four-day Bank Holiday has obviously disrupted the delivery (and I had several emails from the courier company telling me it had been dispatched etc and then this morning another saying it would be delivered before 11.30 a.m. I heard footsteps on the stairs and realised it could have been someone delivering my parcel, which it was. A large, very well wrapped parcel marked Blackwells and inside, a somewhat spectacular book all about Stonehenge! Really well produced and presented and will keep me interested as it's a subject which intrigues me and I visited with Carol a few years ago and where we joined English Heritage, which manages the site with the National Trust. 

Tuesday. 5.40 a.m. Another really mild and quite beautiful morning. A mist hanging over Oldbrook Green and the rising sun glowing through the mist. I was lost in thought as I walked around, with Alfie sniffing every blade of grass. Suddenly I was approached by another dog, which I see regularly, with a lady I have spoken to on several occasions. This dog jumped up at me, which jolted me out of my thoughts.

Yesterday evening at 9 o'clock, the news came through that Boris Johnson had won the No Confidence vote, although many of his MPs had rebelled. He keeps on saying he can now 'move on,' but it means he's not in a safe position. Around 40% of his MPs don't support him, which isn't a good place to be in. He is, in effect, hanging on by a very thin thread.

Spring In The Air

That is metaphorically and actually. Each day that passes, it's getting lighter each morning earlier and earlier and at the same it, it's warmer. Yesterday was particularly sunny and warm.

Wednesday. 3.45 a.m. It's still and quiet on the weather front.

I have contacted Amazon regarding the missing DVD. This, via the online 'chat' function. It is the third attempt at sorting the problem. I am being sent a replacement DVD of the new, Stephen Spielberg directed 'West Side Story.' I have just this minute received an email telling me it has been dispatched and should arrive sometime today. I am still intrigued to know what happened to the first place containing a DVD. According to the Amazon website, it was 'received by the resident.' Not true. The delivery driver wasn't doing his/her job properly if that's the case. We'll wait and see what develops.

9.55 a.m. I was up early and my first outing with Alfie was around 6.20. Why hang around in bed when it's bright outside? Not sunny, but still bright. I don't think Alfie was awake when I went into the lounge to find him curled up in his bed. Never mind. I washed up from the evening before. I can't stand having dirty pots and plates in the sink, so I soon had it all done and put it away. We went out for another trot around the park at around 8.15, and then I thought I might just as well go to Sainsbury's. Go early mid-week and you avoid the crowds you would probably get on a Friday when people have been paid. Then I discovered that some bright spark had decided to rearrange the shelves in the store. I've been shopping in there for goodness knows how long, and you get used to where things are, but to suddenly find it all in different places is somewhat annoying. What is the reason for all this? No doubt they're preparing for something new in the store. I don't think I was the only customer to be somewhat lost as there were one or two others with annoyance written all over their faces. I do think if they are going to do this, they should at least have notices up telling you where the products have been moved too. Surely not much to ask. Never mind. Things will sort themselves out eventually.

1.30 p.m. There is a light rain as I write. Drizzle, I think the word to use is. It was similar to what it was like a few hours ago. Alfie doesn't like getting wet, but still wants to go out, but the moment he feels a raindrop on his back, he'll be back through the door and no doubt be curled up on either my bed or in his little nest beside the television. 

6.00 p.m. The 'West Side Story' DVD arrived at around 4.45 this afternoon! So that issue is now resolved.

There seems to be a rash of new game shows on television at the moment. BBC 1 has Pointless, which seems to be a more or less permanent fixture at 5.15 five days a week and now it's joined at 4.30 by 'Bridge of Lies', which is hosted by Ross Kemp, formerly of EastEnders. Then on BBC2 there's one I hadn't come across before called 'Lightening.' 'Eggheads moved to Channel 5 a couple of months ago and is on at exactly the same time, 6.30, that it was on when it was on BBC2. This might explain why the new kid on the block, 'Lightening' is on at the same time. Then ITV has 'The Chase' on at exactly the same time as Pointless. On ITV they have Tenable, Tipping Point and The Chase, one after the other. It really is taking it too far and totally unimaginative of ITV to just put one after the other. Why no drama in the afternoon schedules? The BBC has done rather well with their drama offerings, with Doctors doing well just after lunch, followed by such things as Father Brown and Shakespeare and Hathaway. Always good to watch that and pick out the cleaver Shakespearian connections, plot devices or character names worked into the plot. But it's a shame that BBC1 stopped showing children's programming in the 4-5 p.m. slot. I know they moved it all onto the BBC children's channels, but to just churn out endless gameshows really shows a total lack of imagination. It's obvious that game shows are cheap to produce, well, certainly when compared with drama. I presume the jackpots on Pointless (and other similar shows.) comes from the Television licence. As for ITV, it's just the slippery slope really, more dumbing down. Some questions on, for example, Tipping Point, are just plain embarrassingly easy, such as 'what colour is grass, or the sky?' Not really going to challenge a child for more than five or six really, or is that how they see their daytime audience? A lot of toddlers? Now, one doesn't expect Open University type programming (No, not like the 1970s lectures which were broadcast at nighttime for students.) Probably produced just up the road, here in Milton Keynes. But come on, at least have more difficult questions.

The Sun Has Got His Hat On!

Saturday. Too right. The sun has definitely got his hat on and he's coming out to play. It's really warm and sunny. This afternoon is the funeral of The Duke of Edinburgh. Only thirty people were allowed in the chapel at Windsor Castle but some 800 troops in the parade within the castle. The Queen will sit, alone and masked. Poor woman! That shouldn't be allowed, even with social distancing. (Thinks: 'social distancing' is an oxymoron. Never thought about it before. A contradiction in terms.)

I've just been to Waitrose for a few items, including eggs. They are double-yolkers. But, just tell me, how can they be certain that they have double yolks? Surely double yolks in chicken's eggs are rarer than, dare I say it, hen's teeth. You wouldn't know an egg contains a double yolk until you crack it. It's a bit like saying, which comes first, the chicken or egg. Are they guaranteed? If I take it back when I find that one doesn't have a double yolk, can I get a refund? Do they have an X-Ray machine to check? I remember, years ago, going to the egg-packing station which was in Bedford, somewhere in Horne Lane, probably where a carpark now takes up the land (probably not, as I have an idea it's been redeveloped, with flats there, but couldn't be sure.) Anyway, as the eggs went along the production line (packing line would probably be more correct. No chickens were harmed in the course of this entire procedure.) and at one point they were held against a light which showed if they were bad (well, I imagine that was what it was for.) So, perhaps that is how they would be checked for double yolks. All this sounds very like the Ardman Animation film 'Chicken Run.' If you've not seen it, you must, it's brilliant, and has to be one of my all-time favourite films. Clever, funny and so original.

I've started a new drama series on Amazon called 'Leonardo.' I have had something of an obsession with Leonardo Da Vinchi, so this seemed a good show to at least have a look at. The part of Leonardo is played by Aiden Turner, who played Ross Poldark in the rebooted BBC1 series. I seem to remember him in another series based on the lives of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, 'Desperate Romantics,' in which he played another painter, Dante Gabriel Rosetti. I can't say it's particularly dynamic but they seem to have got the period right and it makes a change to have something that isn't about people being horrible to each other, jumping in and out of bed, car chases, or shooting up drugs or killing one another.

Sunday. 6.55a.m. I woke up at around 2a.m. This is normal for me. I had a shave and did my Bible reading on YouVersion, ' 2021:A Year Through The Bible With Nicky Gumble', and as usual, Alfie followed me from room to room. A time to then check emails and then back to bed. Alfie kept on prodding me as he thinks I will just jump up and take him out. If anything, he keeps me motivated. 

It's another bright and sunny morning, although not particularly warm, as I discovered when I took Alfie out as normal.

Later. I got back from Church to be greeted by Alfie, excited as he is usually when I come home. He was a real sight, hair everywhere. He had been rolling about on the sofa and it really made me laugh. Eventually, he settled down, but it made me think that his haircut is more than ever important. Just a pity it won't be until July.

Later still. Alfie needed to go out in a hurry, so we did just that. Oldbrook Green is heaving with life. People everywhere, sitting on the grass, playing football, some children in the skateboard park, others in the playground. Then, add to that the litter, which is everywhere. With enough bins, why can't people put their rubbish in the bins which are there for that purpose? Likewise, dog mess. Just not nice. I could go on, but I won't.

Monday. 7.50a.m. Yet another bright and sunny morning. 

Alfie had a bit of what I can only describe as a 'situation' this morning. As a result, he was somewhat smelly. To say he was embarrassed by it would be untrue. If he has an unfortunate accident (!) he gives me such a look that can only be described as contrite. The only answer to the situation was to put him in the bath. He doesn't enjoy it, but he was going to have to put up with it. I had to organise thing beforehand, run the bath and make sure the water wasn't too hot and I had enough towels and the plastic jug nearby to use to rinse him. He shivered a lot, which showed he wasn't enjoying things. I took him out of the bath and, he shook himself, which is what all dogs do when wet. I managed to towel dry him sufficiently to allow him into the lounge but the bedroom door shut tight as I really didn't want him in there. As I write this he is sitting in his favourite place on the back of the sofa, looking somewhat disheveled but I can't take him out until he is dry.

Roadmap or Cul-de-Sac?

(Saturday) The sun is out. The wind has dropped and I'm about to drive to my doctor's surgery, Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre in Bradwell Common, to get my second Astra-Zeneca covid-19 vaccination. I want to get there in plenty of time, just in case the traffic is heavy and you have to go through several sets of traffic lights through the centre of Milton Keynes and each takes far too long to change (why?? I often ask that.)

Later. I drove to Bradwell Common this morning. leaving at around 9.45a.m. I was, as usual, concerned that there might be heavy traffic. A bit crazy to even think that because, for a start, it's a Saturday, and most people won't have been out of bed even that late (well, my theory at least, whether it's correct or not I don't know.) No less than three sets of traffic lights to contend with and I wasn't sure that there would be enough parking spaces at CMKM. I shouldn't have worried as there was plenty of room. No queue right down to the Redway this time, just a few people queuing on the path from the carpark. I was told to be in the surgery five minutes before my appointment and it was around 10.05 when I got to the front of the queue and my actual appointment was 10.10. A man at the door asked me if I had any of the symptoms of covid, or if I'd had a test which was positive or if I had a raised temperature, to which I responded 'no.' Then, when the door was clear I went inside and a lady took my temperature with a sort of gun which was aimed at my forehead. I went through to the room where I would be given the vaccine. I was asked if I'd had any other vaccines lately, which I responded with 'no' and then the needle was stuck in my left arm and it was over. Last time, the first vaccine went in my right arm. The upper, more muscled area in each case. So, that was done and I was told that I didn't have to wait fifteen minutes before I could drive away.

(Sunday) The clocks have moved an hour forward. I woke in the night and, because I normally reset my clocks the evening before, I wasn't sure what the correct time was. I moved my wristwatch forward and then realised that it had automatically reset itself. So, I had to set it back! 

As I write, I don't seem to have had any reaction to the covid-19 vaccine, not in the way I did for the first one, waking in the night feeling as if I was going to come down with 'flu. Not even any discomfort in the area of my arm when the vaccine was injected. I just hope it stays that way.

Still windy, but bright and sunny.

(Monday) Today things are being relaxed as regards lockdown restrictions. Two households can meet! Well, the excitement is far too much! 

I've been doing some market research via Zoom this morning. I have signed up with several market research agencies and this was from a company called Podengo. Usually if you have the possibility of being selected for this sort of work you get either a text message or email, but to get a proper phone call which I did on Friday, late afternoon, is a rarity. The session was for an hour, starting at 10.15a.m. I had to evaluate a new app for the NHS for use if you are checking into a venue, such as a restaurant, coffee shop or other venue, and also, if you think you might have any of the symptoms of covid-19, to check and then, if you think you might be infected, to find out how you can get a test and then, once you have a result to let the track and trace system know and whether you have to isolate for whatever length of time. Just want to do some more as I am saving up to get my eyes tested and then get new glasses.

Oh now! Boris and his henchmen are doing a Downing Street press conference on BBC1 at the moment. I want to throw a brick through my television (but I won't, because it wouldn't be such a good idea.) I'm getting somewhat annoyed that 'The Repair Shop' is cancelled to have this on. Why can't it be put on the BBC News channel? Just waffling and most of the data is flawed. Why does nobody ever doubt the numbers? Why do we never hear from other scientists who criticise the numbers or the lockdown? It seems to me as if the mainstream media (BBC, ITV, Sky etc etc.) never question any of this. There are plenty of those who disagree with how this pandemic has been handled and the way the lockdown has been dealt with, without any dissent. I am somewhat amazed that the British people have just rolled over and allowed their civil liberties to be totally removed. It's like living under a dictatorship.

One minute we are being told about the 'Roadmap' out of lockdown, but in the next breath Boris is saying 'stay cautious.' So, it seems the road to freedom might possibly come to a dead end, a cul de sac, or at least a grinding halt. Real mixed messaging and confusing. Why do the four countries of the United Kingdom have different rules regarding lockdown? Would it not be less confusing if there were the same rules within the entire United Kingdom? Must be very confusing if you work in one country and live in another and have to travel between. Crazy.

Another Day Older

(Tuesday) Today is the first anniversary of the beginning of the first lockdown bought in as an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Covid 19. And what a year it has been! It's no exaggeration to say it has had an enormous impact on life in the United Kingdom, although why on earth Scotland and Wales, and possibly Northern Ireland, have different rules and regulations I can't understand. Surely it would be better to have all of the rules and regulations the same throughout the United Kingdom because some people would live in one country, for example, Scotland, but work over the border in England. Nicola Sturgeon would have different rules just to be awkward and because she doesn't like the English and wants desperately to be independent. I should leave it at that and not get into a debate on the pros and cons of Scottish independence.

It's turned out relatively mild today. Thank goodness the wind has calmed down.

I've got to really enjoy a great television show on BBC1 which has been running for a couple of years. I think it began on BBC2, but because it become so popular those in charge of these things at the BBC decided it ought to reach a wider audience, so it transferred to BBC1. It is usually on during daytime, at 4.30pm., where the latest season is currently and on every day during the week. It is also on during peak time, around 8p.m. on a Wednesday. What intrigued me today was an item which was bought into be repaired. a Kenwood Chef food mixer. My mother had one of these exact machines, being given one by my grandmother after she had been married for ten years. There was an earlier model, with a more rounded design, which was replaced by the more modern and squarer model. I do remember that the attachments, which included a mincer, juicer and a bean-slicer, worked on the original model, but when the later model came along the attachments wouldn't fit on the new model because the new model had metric screws, whilst the earlier model had imperial, so the attachments were somewhat redundant.

(Wednesday) 7.10a.m. Mild and dry this morning, but quite foggy nevertheless. I woke up and then went back to sleep and didn't wake up as I usually do and then immediately thought 'I ought to take Alfie Out!' and got dressed. I walked through to the lounge, at which point Alfie would normally have been barking and expecting me to slip the lead on his harness and take him out, tucked under my arm to carry him out, but he was asleep in his bed near the television, but as soon as I got close to him, it set him off on his usual noise.

2.16p.m. At last! After nearly seven months my Driving Licence arrived in the post this afternoon! Very late delivery I must say, but at least it's arrived and sorted out. I didn't think it would ever arrive and it still makes me wonder what on earth happened to the original Licence. Lost most likely.

Oh no! Yet another wretched Coronavirus press conference from Downing Street this afternoon. This means the BBC1 schedule is disrupted so there's no edition of The Repair Shop and Pointless moved to BBC2. I really don't want to have to endure another of these confounded doom-laden conferences, so I prefer to avoid them by watching BBC2 while I eat my evening meal.

(Thursday) Out with Alfie really early, just gone 6a.m. It's mild. Thankfully, none of that horrible wind and no sign of fog. So what does the day have in store? Probably the more of same.

A Change In The Weather

(Saturday) The weather has become a good deal more wintry. It's to be expect I suppose. Generally, just as we begin a new year, the weather has a habit of becoming colder and there is the likelihood of snow and ice, making travelling, but whatever form of transport, difficult. Never mind, we can curl up with a good book, film or television series. I've finished watching 'The Crown' and have started on another Netflix show called 'Lupin,' a French series which has started streaming on the British Netflix site. It's good and seems to avoid a lot of the clichés of similar heist stories. 

It's reasonably sunny as I write this (1.30p.m.), but I have a feeling, if we go out, it will be cold. Alfie will definitely not like it, and neither will I. I must find my gloves as I don't want my hands to get cold. They can go numb and really hurt. A side effect of my heart medication.

(Sunday) Its a sunny morning. Actually a good deal milder than yesterday. The time, as I write this, at 9.53a.m. Church is on line again, at 10.30 on Facebook. Fortunately I can watch via my Fire Stick plugged into my television. The one problem with anything on line similar to that, including Zoom, is having to peer at a small screen. For a few minutes perhaps, but not around an hour plus. And with having on television I have the advantage of having a sound bar, so the sound is considerably improved.

(Later) We had a Freedom In Christ session via Zoom this afternoon. All was going well when Alfie, who was being somewhat demanding, wanting to sit on my knee and then jumping onto the sofa and then going off behind the sofa where I couldn't see him and then was immediately sick. I don't know what caused it but he has eaten his dinner and now seems fine. Everything cleared up and back to normal.

(Monday) The door which I got out through with Alfie this morning was locked. There appears to have been a problem, with the mechanism which locks it has fallen to pieces. I asked Barbara about this, because it meant I had to walk all the way round to the front door to get out and then take Alfie along the path which is beside Strudwick Drive. There is supposed to be someone coming to mend the door today. As it's a fire door it shouldn't, by rights, be locked. Just hope there isn't a fire as that would't be an exit when it should be open.

(Later) I have been out once more with Alfie and there was a workman repairing the door so we can go in and out of that door tomorrow. So pleased, as it's quite a long walk all the way to the front door and then along Dexter Avenue and eventually into Strudwick Drive.

I'm shocked that people cast off their face masking all around Oldbrook Green. I saw one flung into the hedge as we walked along the path towards the Green. Some people (it's probably a tiny minority) just have no thought for the environment and the fact that someone has to pick them up. There have been more Council workmen picking up litter. Some of the litter bins have been running over with rubbish and there's no end of litter flung on the ground. It makes me wonder how people live in their homes. Do they just throw litter on the floor when they've finished with it, usually crisp packets and the wrappings fo other food, sandwich cartons, sweet wrappings and so on.

(Later still) Yet another confounded coronavirus press briefing on BBC1 this evening. I just can't take any more boring waffle about numbers and miserable scientists (Chris Whitty can't be more boring if he tried and Matt Hancock is just behind him in the boring stakes.) Just needs jazzing up a bit, say, a couple of dancing girls, a band and a stand up comic. So I turned over to watch The Chase, but I didn't stay watching for long because when the ads came on there was one for constipation! Not what I want on when I eating my meal, thanks all the same. Switched over to Pointless, no awful adverts and I stayed on, even though it was on BBC2 this evening.

Pandemic Burnout

(Wednesday) Oh  no! Yet another press conference about the pandemic, shown on BBC1 tonight with Boris Johnson leading. I get the impression, right or wrong, that all the questions asked by the journalists are censored and some questions are evaded. You're not allowed to undermine the scientists or go again government guidelines regarding the pandemic. Oh dear! I just think Boris should be a good deal bolder and not listen that idiot Witty who keeps on saying that there'll be x thousands of infections and x thousands of deaths as a result of the covid pandemic when his predictions are inaccurate and produced from computer projections which have been out my umpteen thousands. He should listen also to other scientists who have produced far lower infections. Why on earth can't these press conferences go on the BBC news channel? When they're on BBC1 it means the early evening programmes are scrapped, at least one or two on BBC2. Pointless gets moved to BBC2. If people want to watch them, then go to the BBC news channel. I'm not sure it's not on there as well. Why does it have to be on two channels at the same time?

I listen to Julia Hartley-Brewer on Talk Radio. She's a good journalist and doesn't suffer fools. She's like me in that she doesn't believe the data that the mad scientists feed the government. I'm no sheep and have to do my own research as regards the pandemic. She was grilling some N.H.S. bureaucrat on the fact that hospitals are probably not as busy as they would be in a 'normal' winter. The testing system is flawed in that it gives false negatives, picking up 'dead' coronavirus. I could go on ad infinitum on this issue. As I've already said in the above paragraph, the government should be listening to a wider range of evidence from a wider cross section of research from more scientists before making lockdown decisions.

I had a weird dream last night. Well, nothing usual in that because most dreams, or at least those we remember, are odd. I was in a theatre. Took me back to when I worked in stage management. It was in Leicester. As I was an A.S.M. briefly at the Phoenix Theatre in Leicester in the early 1970s, perhaps not a surprise, but it wasn't clearly like the Phoenix. A theatre where some of the auditorium seats had been removed. I sat at a table with other people and one was an academic of some sort. I'm not sure what I was doing there. Was i part of the stage management team? Or about to be acting in a play? It seemed that it might have been a rehearsal. Some of the seats in the auditorium had been removed and some were facing the wrong way round to the stage. That's about it, but I've had several similar dreams, one where I had gone to Northampton (I think. But it seemed like Northampton.) and had been brought in at the last moment to be an A.S.M. or at least a member of the stage management team. I had no idea what the play was that we were involved in but I have had dreams where I am expected to take over a part, without knowing any lines and standing on stage and trying ro recall my lines. I think this is a typical dream that actors are supposed to have, having to take over a role at short notice and be an understudy for an actor who is ill or otherwise incapacitated. I think it is understandable when actors have worries about forgetting their lines.

I have divested the Christmas tree of it's decorations. I am so pleased with that little tree which I got from Waitrose. Absolutely perfectly for the flat. It hasn't dropped a single needle. My experience of 'real' Christmas trees is that, when you come to deal with them at the end of the festive period, you find the floor covered in needles. I have kept it watered during the Christmas period which might be the reason it has kept it's needles. After all, a real Christmas tree is like a house plant which needs care, particularly watering. 

The little Christmas tree is now outside in the community garden. I have given it another water, I hope it doesn't get lonely. It's going to be another frosty night and it won't like getting cold.

I got a text message from Nationwide to tell me that there wasn't sufficient cash in my account to cover a couple of Direct Debits which go out today. My only option was to go into the city centre and take out money from my second account, the NatWest and transfer it into the Nationwide. This had to be done by 2.30. I had around an hour and a half to accomplish this mission. I drove in and parked near the Point and rushed into the shopping centre. The carpark was virtually empty and when I reached the Nationwide I had to wait to enter as they're not letting too many people in and they have a one-way system due to the pandemic. I managed to take out enough to cover the Nationwide payment, from my NatWest account and I then had to wrestle with the cash machine. You can only pay in cash one note at a time and the thing was being difficult. Several of the notes I managed to insert in the slot were disgorged, but eventually I managed to get them all into the machine, but it was a tortuously slow procendure. It was as I walked back towards the car that I realised that I hadn't paid my parking ticket. I was in such a hurry that I clean forgot.

Very few of the shops were open. I think W.H.Smith and Boots were open, along with banks. Probably they are what they call 'essential.' 

I got back to the car to find a host of crows either sitting on the cars or all over the ground, like a swarm of flies. Very reminiscent to the Alfred Hitchcock film 'The Birds.' A couple were sitting on my car. Not the sort of bird you'd want to have an argument with, considering the look they give you with their beady eyes and their sharp and pointed beaks!

(Later) Boris is given ANOTHER press conference! How much more of this can a person endure? It's getting so tiresome. I know we have to be told, but endless ramblings and those miserable faced scientists and their graphs. Just turn off the television or watch another channel, which is exactly what I did. I put 'Pointless' on, which was on BBC2.

Bright and Sunny

I've done a great deal of writing in the last couple of weeks. Some of it rewriting and editing material which I have handwritten in a couple of notebooks. I'm transcribing it onto my MacBook and using the newly-acquired iPad. Dictation is speeding things up, but I have to keep checking as it has a tendency to come up with some hilarious alternatives to some words.

The idiot building the shed in the garden along the street is banging and sawing like crazy. I think it's a substitute for something, working off his frustration with the hammer and saw, but it's annoying me. I think some people don't realise that their D.I.Y. activities can be so irritating and annoying, they are so focussed, sort of O.C.D., that they don't realise it has an effect on those who are close by. Probably due to having to endure lockdown.

I've taken Alfie out but I am beginning to get somewhat bored with Oldbrook Green. Alfie loves to stop and sniff virtually every tree and lamppost, as most dogs  do, but I'm concerned when he picks things up in his mouth, and on several occasions he's picked up what I suspect are chicken bones, thrown aside by people who buy fried chicken. But they can be lethal to a dog as the sharp bits can get stuck in their throats or further inside their system and could kill them. I have had to extricate several bits from his mouth when he's picked them up and it upsets me that they could have devastating effects on my best pal.  I don't think people realise the danger of their actions in this regard and I have to be vigilant in removing these bones when Alfie picks them up.

Yesterday morning it was misty as I stood and washed up at the kitchen sink. I can see quite a distance from that standpoint. It's not so clear now because the trees are in more or less full leaf. You can see the Milton Keynes shopping centre and Debenham's building, but the mist was obscuring most of the distant buildings, which includes Sainsbury's. I know that it's that because it has an orange block of colour which stands out quite clearly.

This morning (Saturday) as I write this, it's again quite over-cast, but it's mild. Not exactly as the title of this post states, but at least it's mild.

I've been watching the BBC sitcom 'My Family.' First two episodes of the first series, which are on BBC iPlayer. I had seen later episodes, but not from the beginning. I can't believe there was so many series and episodes. It's not actually a brilliant series, but Zoe Wanamaker and Robert Lindsey are great actors. Any other actors in those parts wouldn't have made it as good, as Ben and Susan Harpur. It's actually being rerun, on Fridays, on BBC1. I image the BBC is running short of new material to show, because so many shows are furloughed due to the pandemic lockdown. It seems amazing to think that this series began 20 years ago and ran for an amazing 11 series. Some really hilarious lines and good storylines which other sitcoms can't compete with. There is one thing that bothers me, and that the actors who play the children seem far too old, or at least seem too old, for the ages they're supposed to be playing, and why is Nick still living at home with his parents? How old is he supposed to be? Surely in his twenties. The daughter seems far older than 16. Just not realistic, but does it really matter.

I have also watched the first episode on 'The A Word,' which, again, is on iPlayer with entire seasons available, so it's possible to binge watch. A drama series which I haven't seen before and interested me because it features a child who has autism and that was the specialism I dealt with when I worked in care with people with learning disabilities, so I have a fair amount of experience of the subject. It's great to have a drama series which isn't about cops and robbers, car-chases and men in lycra and is believable and the characters interact well and is well written and acted.

(Sunday) The iPad has decided to go into dull mode. What I mean is, I want to use it early this morning and I can barely read the screen. I can't reset it so it's bright enough to read. I think it's supposed to do this to allow you to read it at night without eyestrain, but actually it's making it worse so I can't read it and it's creating more eye strain. I'm going through the various settings to allow me to re-set it to counteract this, but, as I write this, that is not possible.

(Later) I managed to sort out the iPad. It was obvious really. I just restarted it and it came back on in the bright mode. I can't think why it wouldn't work with the brightness setting because I hadn't set it to be in dark mode. The problem was that I couldn't see what was going on and it was more or less impossible to read anything on it. Never mind, it's now fixed.

I've carried on with more transcribing of hand-written material, but I have now found quite a lot of my stuff on Google Drive, which I had forgotten about. I think it's like iCloud, meaning it will work across different computers and saves having to store on discs or other media.

The lovely D.I.Y. I have mentioned earlier has continued, but at 3.45 this afternoon, there is no sound, fortunately.

I took out Alfie and I saw people playing some sort of ball game. Oh dear, they're not supposed to be doing that. Either they are ignoring the legal requirement to not be gathering in such places as Oldbrook Green, or else they have not seen the sign (a permanent one, no doubt erected by the Council, either Milton Keynes or the  Campbell Park Parish Council cil, which clearly states that 'no ball games, barbecues etc.' in a very curt and rather puritan sort of fashion, as most of them do.) The notices which are put up around the park, on the outdoor gym equipment, are written in the typical officialese sort of language, but it wouldn't hurt to put 'Please' and 'Thank you on them,' but I don't expect the bureaucrats who write these sorts of notices to do such a thing.

Alfie Has Fans!

I am absolutely overjoyed by how well Alfie has settled into the flat at Dexter House. I was really concerned that he wouldn't cope with living in a far smaller place, considering we had lived in a much larger, three-bedroom house with a garden, where he could go when 'needs must.' He does get excited when it's time to go out for a walk (he has always done this, barking and generally making a lot of noise when he has his lead put on, for example.) He has met many of the other residents and they seem to love him. Well, he does have a sort of magnetic personality, loving being the centre of attention and all the fuss he gets. We are constantly meeting other dog-walkers, particularly in Oldbrook Green, the rather pleasant open space which is a short walk from the flat. We seem to meet the same people with their dogs, which means we have a sort of ready-made set of regulars. Although most of pleasant, there are one or two who aren't quite so friendly. The other day we came across this young man who had two dogs on leads and which had muzzles on. I think they were Staffordshire terriers, by their size and shape. Is it me, or are a 'certain element' under the impression that such dogs give them a sort of 'hard' edge? I'm thinking mostly, male, sporty types, of a 'certain age,' (probably between 18-35), with a sort of swagger. (I'm building up my character description for an archetype here, but never mind. Probably a character from the BBC1 soap, 'EastEnders. Probably based loosely on one of the Mitchell brothers.) Anyway, we had walked round the park once and had encountered this individual and then, on the second encounter, he saw Alfie, who, by the way was behaving impeccably, and when this individual saw him, he said, 'if he (meaning Alfie) snaps at my dogs, I'll  take their muzzles off!' What was the reason for this? Alfie wouldn't hurt a fly! He's well behaved and would never bite anyone, and certainly not get into a fight with another dog. He always wants to be friends with the dogs he meets, even though he can be a bit 'in your face' with his barking and running around. I suppose it's just that he gets over-excited. This 'individual' was being unnecessarily aggressive (or I suppose he thought he was.) and somewhat threatening (in a rather pathetic manner, so I thought.) He was using his dogs as a sort of protection for his no doubt, fragile masculinity. Somewhat sad and pathetic generally. Why threaten a harmless little Yorkie with aggression and threats in the first place?

Fridge-Thawing and Chasing Cats

I spent most of Saturday morning de-frosting the fridge/freezer. I had turned the thing off on Friday night, because the third of the drawers I had ordered from Candy was delivered by Parcel Force on Friday morning. I cleared out the old drawers and had to bin a lot of stuff that wasn't worth keeping and the rest I put in a plastic box and took next door because Shelley and Garry allowed me to put it in their freezer until mine was ready for me to replace it in the cleaned-out and defrosted fridge/freezer. I should have left the fridge/freezer door open because it didn't defrost as quickly as I'd imagined, so early on Saturday I left it open and it seemed to thaw relatively quickly. I had put an old towel on the floor to try and absorb as much of the melt water as possible and it soon became like a tidal wave had hit and it ran all over the floor and under the table. I knew it would be a mess but I had to cope with it until the whole fridge/freezer was clear of ice. It was the fact that there was so much ice that caused the problem with the drawers breaking in the first place, so much that it was difficult to slide them out. The old broken drawers can be taken to the tidy-tip in Bleak Hall late next week, along with lots of other refuse, the packaging from the Panasonic microwave and quite  few other bits ad pieces which are hanging around the house. It isn't worth going until at least Thursday, because it's likely to be very busy, because people seem to use a Bank Holiday as an excuse to do clearing-out of their attic, garage or wherever they have unwanted stuff stored. The BBC1 programme, 'Money For Nothing' is based on the fact that people throw out old bits of furniture, either because they want to up-grade it, they inherit it from relatives or parents, it's not fashionable or else it's past it's best, broken and probably past repair. Sarah Moore, one of the designers who fronts this show, along with Jay Blades, takes these items away before they hit the skips (having got special permission to do this because you're not allowed to remove items from a tidy-tip otherwise.) and these pieces of furniture is restored and 're-purposed.' It's quite amazing to see what becomes of these pieces of furniture, sometimes transformed into bright, funky and quite striking pieces.

By mid-morning the ice had cleared from the fridge/freezer. I cleaned the shelves in the fridge section, taking them all out and wiping them as well as the shelves in the door. I was then able to turn the thing on again at the electric wall socket and it gradually started to freeze up, but not as much as it did before and producing too much ice. I think it will be more efficient, not having to work as hard and it doesn't seem to make quite as much as it did before and not producing a lot of melt water which gathered in a pool on the floor of the fridge section and trickling out onto the kitchen floor. So, around 10.30 the job was completed, and I wiped the outside of the whole unit along with the rubber seals in the door which had got very dirty. Job well and truly completed and the floor mopped and cleaned. I just have to make sure that it doesn't get as iced-up so that the drawers get broken again.

(Sunday) I had intended going out later than usual to take Alfie for his routine walk around Eaglestone Park. We got down to the area of grass where I usually let Alfie off his lead, but there was a black sat sitting in front of one of the houses within the park. Alfie wasn't slow in discovering it and the cat must have wondered what on earth had stuck it, because it shot off into the wooded area with Alfie in hot pursuit. I shouted at Alfie, but he wasn't going to come back immediately. I was concerned that the cat would run out and onto a road and that, if Alfie followed, he was likely to get run over by a car. But, having run after him and shouting loudly, he did eventually come back and I decided it would be best to put his lead on because I didn't want him running away, but usually he does come back to me, but knowing how he reacts to cats, I wasn't going to find out the difficult way.

Spring Sprung and Smart Meter No Go

(Monday)We were out earlier than usual this morning. Alfie can't wait to get out the door, he barely give me time to eat a bowl of breakfast cereal and drink a cup of tea. It was bright and sunny, but stlll chilly.

(Tuesday) I was surprised that there was ice on the car's windscreen this morning. I soon got rid of it with a spray of antifreeze. I had a good time with the drama students at Camphill. They are really good at remembering their lines. I had to stand in and speak for some of those who weren't available to rehearse.

(Thursday) Taking out Alfie for his early-morning walk (more like trot.) around Eaglestone Park, and we have been out well before 6.30. I don't know what the local residents think when they hear Alfie's barking as we leave the house. The trees are well and truly coming into leaf, intact the whole place is greening up well, so I think it's very clear to me that spring has sprung.

I'm clearing out more of Carol's stuff and have another two bags to take to Barnardo's in Oldbrook. The job is going slowly, but I'm getting there. Still not entirely sure what my situation is regarding accommodation, because I can't afford to stay in this house. I think I need to find a smaller home with one bedroom and with an enclosed garden for Alfie's safety. Infact, it needs to be dog friendly.

I've seen more birds on the feeding station. Although the lounge window is difficult to see through because the double glazing has got damp inside it and it's not possible to clean off. Whoever put in the double glazing in this house had absolutely no concept of the idea of how it works and the seal which is supposed to create a vacuum has been broken and this is what is causing the damp inside the air space between the two layers of glass. It looks really horrible, but there is very little I can do about it, and as a result it's difficult to get a clear view through the glass. It's a great shame, because it means I don't get a decent view of the bird station. It's the same with the window in my bedroom. That is really dirty and damp, meaning you don't get a clear view out.

I was expecting to have a smart meter installed tomorrow. This was after I got a telephone call from the company called Boost, who are part of OVO, around six weeks ago. We have been with Utility Warehouse in all the time we've lived at this house, but Carol was reluctant to change to a different supplier for our electricity and gas. We had a supplier come out around 2 years ago to install a smart meter, but when they inspected the cupboard (which is on the front outside wall of the house, facing the road.) they decided that it wouldn't be possible, basically because the gas meter is in the bin cupboard (outside) whilst the electricity meter is on the inside. If the new smart meter was to be installed they would need to drill a hole in the wall because they would need the cable to be installed in the smart meter. When Boost originally rang me, I told them there would be a problem, but they wouldn't have it. But the installers came TODAY! I had only just got in from doing some shopping. It was well I came back when I did otherwise they wouldn't have been able to inspect the cupboard. I never got any sort of communication from Boost to remind me which day they were supposed to visit, either a letter, an email or even a text message. I had to find their telephone number on line and then ring to confirm the day and time. It seems crazy that they couldn't communicate and then come a day too early! So, I will have to continue topping up the gas and electricity with the keys and card although it won't be in  smart meter which would make it easier as you can pay in a variety of way, via an app, or on line as well as with key and card, which you top up at a local shop.

Later. 3.25 p.m. It's really warm and sunny a few more birds flitting on and off the bird feeding station. I will have to fill the peanut feeder up. It's very low on food. I think the blue tits like this particular food. The other newer feeders don't seem to be so busy, or busy at all as I don't think any birds have visited them.

Later still. I was watching 'Money For Nothing' on BBC1. I had made a lovely cup of tea (actually a mug, but never mind) and had one of my own chocolate chip cookies to munch on. I was around five minutes into the programme (one of my favourite daytime shows.) when there was a knock on the front door. I was not best pleased that I had to get up to answer the door, but when I got there I discovered a man trying to encourage me to have a smart meter installed. What is going on here? He knew that I am on a pay-as-you-go tariff. I explained that I'd had engineers here this morning inspecting things with the idea of installing a smart meter and that they said it couldn't be done (see the above.)  He told me that I should get a lower tarriff because I couldn't have a smart meter installed. Whether this is going to happen I don't know, but this is beginning to get about as annoying as the constant phone calls telling me I can claim PPI. Which is crazy, because I have never had a loan on which PPI would have been paid.

(Friday) I've been attempting to get up in the morning a good deal later. I think it was habit to be up and about before 6 a.m. because that's what time I got up when Carol was going to work as a science teacher at Milton Keynes Academy. We would always start our day at around 5.45 with a cup of tea and watch BBC Breakfast. We'd then have a bowl of breakfast cereal and then Carol would go off to the Academy by around 7.15 a.m. She was always there about an hour before everyone else. Typical of Carol, working hard and usually sorting out other people's problems for them and not really getting any sort of reward or acknowledgement. So, this morning, I was more than keen to not get up quite so early, even though Alfie wasn't too pleased. So we went out at around 7.45. A lovely bright and sunny spring morning. It's certainly a good deal warmer than it has of late. The clocks move forward an hour on Sunday, so it will be light even earlier by this time next week.

Winter Weather, Viewing and Reading

Sunday started off with quite a shock to the system when I took Alfie our for his early-morning walk around Eaglestone Park this morning, because there was a more than usually very sharp frost. I had to make sure I was layered up, with a T shirt on and then one of my long-sleeved Rugby shirts and then my red Regatta fleece, topped off with my Regatta jacket. Last of all, gloves. It's not a good idea to get too cold when you have had a heart attack. Likewise, if it's too hot, as it was for a long period during the summer. Can infact be quite dangerous. I have already sprayed the car's windows with de-icer, although, by the time I took Alfie out, it was freezing up once more. So, running the engine of the car and having the heated windows on and the interior heater on should do the trick. I don't relish the through of driving with the windows either frozen up or misted over.

As the day wore on, the sun came out, but it was deceptive because it was still fairly chilly.

The BBC1 weather forecast at just before 6 o'clock this evening says that we can expect 'a short frost.' So, it's likely to be extremely cold over-night and even colder when I eventually take Alfie out tomorrow morning. Never mind, I'll just have to wrap up warm.

I'm currently reading a book called 'A Classless Society: Britain in the 1990s,' by Alwyn W.Turner. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm endeavouring to read about this country from around the end of the Second World War right up to the present day (if at all possible.) This latest book covers not just the politics of the era, from the downfall of Margaret Thatcher and her successor, John Major, but the popular culture, such as pop music, television and cinema.

I've also been reading 'Nutshell' by Ian McEwan. It's loosely based on a section of Shakespeare's play 'Hamlet.' It's told through the voice of an unborn child. A very clever concept for a murder. I won't say any more, but it's a well crafted piece of writing which draws you in cleverly. Well worth a read and written by one of our finest novelists.

Television drama. We're really spoilt for choice at the moment. There isn't anything better than getting caught up in a really good drama series. In some ways television has the advantage over cinema, because you've got an almost endless playing length. A film can only be a certain length, say 90 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes. Television drama is usually served up in one hour segments, which is a far more comfortable length for the average viewer to endure. I've been lent the DVDs of the first season of 'The Crown.' I don't have a Netflix subscription, the company behind this show. I'm really enjoying this series. It has really held my attention.

I'm watching the BBC1 adaptation of 'Les Misérables.' I've seen the musical, the original West End production, which I loved, as well as the movie which came out in 2012. I have also read the novel by Victor Hugo, upon which it is based. A good 1,500 pages. The new Andrew Davies-scripted adaptation opens up the narrative and gives far more context to the story. It's extremely gritty and realistic which makes it far more hard-hitting. It is being adapted in 6 hour-long episodes, which means there is plenty of time to do real justice to the story and the characters.

Plenty of history documentaries to keep me occupied. I've subscribed to a streaming service called 'History Hit,' which I have through my Amazon Fire Stick. Really spoilt for choice. Original documentaries and material first shown on BBC channels. The popular television historian Dan Snow is involved with this project. He fronts several documentaries on the platform, some under the title 'Snow On The Road.'

I was looking forward to Sky's adaptation of Sue Townsend's novel, 'The Queen and I.' I have read the book and enjoyed it, but the actual film adaptation was, for me at least, a real let-down. The acting was generally rather weak, the whole thing more like a weak cartoon caricature that anything else. I gave up watching after about half way. Heavy-handed direction and a somewhat limp script didn't help. The same could be said of 'The Discovery of Witches,' based on the novel by Deborah Harkness. Just not the sum of its parts. The concept of the show had real potential but it didn't warrant the investment in time and effort to watch so I didn't see it through to the end of the series. Just a bit limp and uninspiring, unfortunately.

Alfie Visits The Vet

(Thursday)Well, the day got off to a difficult start. I looked out of the bathroom window as I was shaving this morning and I saw it was raining. So I thought that there was absolutely no way I could take Alfie out for his customary walk across Eaglestone Park. It was far too dark at that moment to go out, and when I had another look through the kitchen window I saw snowflakes falling.  Just a smattering or a scattering. It didn't settle, nor did it last long, fortunately, so we soon got outside, having gone through the routine of getting dressed without Alfie being aware. I kept him in the lounge so he couldn't see me putting on my shoes and jacket. Once outside it was relatively mild.

I have been concerned with the nasty mess which has built up under each of Alfie's eyes. It had become quite unsightly. I think it's caused by his eyes weeping, or at least, it's a bit like tears and builds up beneath each eye and over time it builds up and can be quite unsightly. It should be removed by merely wiping with a damp piece of cotton wool. Because of concentrating on other things over the past few months, I had neglected this. Under different circumstances I would have dealt with it. I took him to the vets within Pets At Home at the retail park at Bletchley, having been there earlier in the week to book an appointment. I took him in the cage in the back of the car, because he won't travel within the main body of the car without making problems. He just won't sit still. On arriving at the retail park, I parked the car and went to open the rear hatch where the cage with Alfie in it was. As soon as I raised the hatch he was out of the cage. Fortunately I managed to catch him. I had obviously not secured the gate properly, but he would have been off across the carpark if I hadn't been quick. I carried him inside the Pets At Home store and towards the vets section. Alfie, in his usual fashion, made an almighty sound as I carried him into the store. His barking echoed around the vastness of the warehouse-sized building. I got to the reception desk of the Vets For Pets section of the store. I had to wait with Alfie in the 'Dogs' waiting area (as opposed to the 'Cats' section. I don't think Alfie would have approved of sitting there, or if we had, he would have wanted to chase any pussycats away, as he does when any enter our garden!) It was some time before we were shown into the consulting room by one of the vets, called Bruno. I put Alfie on the metal-topped table so the vet could examine Alfie. He had to weight Alfie, and put a digital scales on the table and Alfie was placed on this device.

Alfie doesn't like me touching the mess under either of his eyes. I had hoped I could soften the mass of debris under his eyes, by using cotton wool soaked in water. I had imagined that, with time and effort, I could soften each area and it would eventually come away easily. But he only wriggled about and he growled at me. I don't think he would bite me, but he was getting really stressed each time I attempted to do this. Which was the reason why I had to take him to a vet to have the problem resolved. I was hoping that there would be a simple method of removing the built-up mess under Alfie's eyes. I was expecting the vet to have some sort of method to do this. Perhaps something which could be applied and would gradually dissolve the built-up matter. But he didn't suggest anything, but said that perhaps he would need to sedate Alfie to prevent him getting stressed so that he could remove the built-up matter. He then told me I would need to leave Alfie at the surgery and he would need to have a nurse to assist him to remove the built-up matter from Alfie's face. I was somewhat concerned, because if a sedative was used I was concerned for Alfie's safety, not that I'm suggesting that the vet didn't know his job and that Alfie would be in any danger if he had a sedative. But considering the last few months, any thought of loosing my best companion would deal me an enormous blow. He's been such good company during the time I had to go through with Carol being in hospital and her eventual death. So, I left Alfie with the vet and I was told that the surgery would telephone me when Alfie was ready to be collected.

I left the store and went to the car and drove home. I must say, entering the house, it was really strange not having Alfie there, to be greeted by him with his loud barking and yapping and coming up to meet me. Probably no stranger than not having Carol's presence in the house. It is taking a long time to come to terms with the fact that she won't be coming home. Particularly in the evening, when she would be coming home from work at Milton Keynes Academy and I would have our evening meal ready for her when she came in and we'd sit down together to watch television, usually the gameshow 'Pointless' on BBC1.

I got home and spent time resting. After about an hour I got a call from the vets to say Alfie was ready to collect. I drove back to the retail park and was glad to see Alfie with the horrible built-up mess gone, but each place where it had been pink and somewhat raw-looking. I paid the bill and was given a pack of antibiotics tablets. I have to give Alfie a quarter of each tablets twice a day and I should also keep cleaning each wound at least once a day with cotton wool and water which should prevent a further build-up of the weeping matter. Alfie, as usual, gave us a rendition of his barking and yapping and I put him in the cage in the back of the car and drove home.

I gave Alfie the first dose of the antibiotics. I have to give him a quarter of a tablet. They are large and you have to cut them with a knife which is quite difficult and then the section of tablet has to be crushed before it's mixed in with his food. You have to be careful when you cut a tablet, that pieces don't shoot out when they are cut and then crushed. 

A Wet and Chilly Bank Holiday

Well, it looks as if the summer is going to end in cold and gloom. Having experienced some of the hottest weather of a summer since 1976 we're now having to put up with rain and cold. I drove to Shenley Christian Fellowship with rain pelting the windscreen and walking from the carpark getting soaking wet. I refused to wear a jacket of any sort, which was a bit stupid, but I didn't see the point when I'd left the house. How is it we almost always get rain when there's a Bank Holiday? And can anyone tell me why banks get a holiday? What one earth have they done to deserve one? Why not nurses, police, ambulance crews, train drivers? Or any of a host of employed personnel? Anyway, as I sit here, in our sitting room, typing away at this blog post, I can see out of the window as the rain pelts down, making a noise on the window glass. Alfie, our little Yorkshire Terrier, poked his head out of the patio door from our kitchen and couldn't decide whether to brave the elements when it was definitely clear that he would get really wet when he had to go out the other morning quite early. He doesn't like getting wet, and who can blame him?

We did go out early as we usually do each morning. He came across a lady walking with a sort of wheeled zimmer frame who had a poodle with her. Alfie ran off to greet the poor dog, but he kept running rings around this white dog. He just wants to be friends and, possibly, play with most of the dogs we encounter on our early-morning saunter around Eaglestone Park. 

So, there's be a lot of people out and about, going for day's out to the seaside, probably National Trust properties, castles, stately homes, zoos (such as Whipsnade.) who will have their day ruined by rain. Well, it's what you come to expect when there's a Bank Holiday. Sitting in their cars, with Aunty Ethel and Uncle Maurice in tow, in traffic jams across the length and breadth of Great Britain, having to put up with the kids squabbling in the back of the car and husband and wife arguing about the best route to take to their favourite destination.  Having real problems with the map, getting it upside down and not being able to read it properly, probably because they've left their best reading glasses behind at home. The car windows steaming up, because of the wet weather. The children constantly repeating 'are we there yet?' Then when they get to the seaside, finding many attractions on the seafront closed for repairs, the ice-cream sellers running out of ice-cream or cold drinks. Endless queues at the sea-front cafes and restaurants. The sun eventually comes out, periodically, but then when it does rain, running to shelter under shop-frontages. Then, when they do eventually get back to the car, finding the sandwiches they've bought with them have gone soggy and the Thermos tea stone cold.

This evening we watched the BBC Proms concert version of 'On The Town,' the musical which has a musical score written by Leonard Bernstein, because it's the centenary of his birth. A really rousing piece of theatre done with real gusto and the L.S.O. (London Symphony Orchestra) conducted by John Wilson. He's done many concerts for the Proms, sometimes resurrecting scores from musical films such as those produced by M.G.M., and one year he did a concert based on the scores used in Warner Brothers animated cartoons and a hilarious one using the Tom and Jerry cartoon scores. The musicians looked as if they were really enjoying themselves, making all the odd sound effects, car horns, whistles, bangs and crashes. I'm so glad that the BBC shows the proms, even if they hide it all away on a minority channel such as BBC Four. A pity really, but at least they're broadcast somewhere. Just a pity they couldn't put it on BBC1 so that more people could discover the wonders of classical music, which isn't all long-winded symphonies, some of the lighter pieces could introduce a completely new audience. Mind you, we weren't watching it 'live' and had it on iPlayer. The wonders of modern broadcasting.