No-vember!

 Wednesday. 7.30 a.m. A somewhat wintry morning here in Milton Keynes. Rain with snow mixed in, which I noticed as I looked out of the kitchen window earlier. I doubt it will settle, but still icy and snowy.

The digital thermometer currently reads 21ºc.

I went to see the musical 'Mary Poppins' at Milton Keynes Theatre yesterday evening. I parked my car in the carpark near the Xcape and walked through to the theatre, but never expected to see a huge queue of customers waiting to enter the theatre. I purchased a programme and a souvenir brochure in the foyer and then went up several stories to my seat and entered at door 10. That area is called The Slips (don't ask me why. I have no idea. I got a really good view of the stage and actually a lot better than I expected, as, on the website, when I booked, it said 'restricted view.' An absolutely fantastic show, not a complete copy of the 1964 Disney film, with some dark moments in the plot. There are a lot of new songs, which blend in well with the film's original songs. The overall show was energetic, to say the least, very colourful, and the dance numbers were overwhelming. Mary Poppins flies out at one point, and at the end, flies off through the auditorium. I'm not entirely sure how this was achieved, but I imagine there is a cable running across the auditorium and the actor playing Mary Poppins wearing some sort of harness under her costume.

8.20 a.m. The snow has stopped falling, and there is a sprinkling of the white stuff across the community garden and on some of the cars in Dexter Avenue, including mine. I doubt it will remain

4.15 p.m. There is now absolutely no sign of snow. 

Thursday. 5.35 p.m. It has been bitterly cold today. There was some ice on the car windows when I drove off to go to Life Group this morning, but the sun melted it off, although I did wipe some mist off with a cloth.

Friday. 8.40 a.m. It's bright and sunny out this morning, but I doubt it's warm. The digital thermometer currently reads 21ºc.

I have my washing in the machine as I write. I plan to try making tomato soup again. The washing up is done, giving me space to work in the kitchen.

Saturday. 9.55 a.m. It's a bit wet and miserable this morning. I suppose you could say it's a typical November day. The digital thermometer currently reads 21ºc.

I've just come back from Sainsbury's. Nothing really much to report, but it's definitely the best time of the day to go there on a Saturday, as there are fewer shoppers about.

Sunday. 9.20 a.m. The sun is out this morning, although rather weakly. 

The digital thermometer currently reads 21ºc.

Freaky Friday

Friday. 9.30 a.m. It's bright and sunny. The digital thermometer reads 24ºc.

I was resting on my bed. I'm waiting for my washing to finish. It's in the dryer. I hear the sound of a large vehicle arriving in the street. I'm intrigued to find out what it can be; perhaps a removal lorry? A delivery of something like an oven or fridge/freezer? Who knows? A neighbour is having a delivery of something. But no, it's none of those. I look out of the window and find it's a large car transporter, with one car on the top deck. The engine is running, but I can't see what it's there for. The ramp it down at the back. The vehicle has red lettering on it, saying 'Redcorn. Scrap vehicle specialists.' More and more intriguing. Is it there to take someone's car away? Yes, it would appear so. The driver has lowered an extension of the ramp to street level. Then, the car, which is on the top level, is tipped up. It's now at a rather precarious angle. Just don't ever ask me to drive such a vehicle with a car on top, at an angle of around 45º. Then, the driver goes to the forecourt of one of the houses further along the street and gets into a car which is parked there and drives it onto the car transporter. As I write, it is being secured with some sort of mechanism, which, hopefully, will prevent it from rolling off the lorry. It all looks incredibly precarious. 

So, why is this car being taken away? Has someone failed to pay the instalments on his/her car loan? Is it being reprocessed? I'm only guessing. Now the car is being lowered onto the lorry. Perhaps the driver has more vehicles to collect. This, of course, is only speculation.

The lorry has left Dexter Avenue. That was very quick and efficient. I reckon the car was being taken for scrap. Just a guess, but it looked fairly new, and t that might only be a guess.

Saturday. 8.15 p.m. It's been yet another mild day. It wasn't particularly sunny, but at least we didn't get rain, although we could do with a good downpour.

I have a new DJI gimbal for my recently acquired Sony digital camera. It is quite difficult to set up. There is an app which you download to your mobile phone, and it's supposed to be used to manage the device. I have managed to download it, but it is proving extremely difficult to set up with a password.

Monday. 10.25 a.m. It's bright and sunny again today. The digital thermometer currently reads 27ºc and, according to Carol Kirkwood on this morning's edition of BBC Breakfast, informed us that there was a fourth heatwave on the way.

9.15 p.m. I have now managed to get the app for the DJI gimbal to work on my iPad. I am in the process of setting it up. As usual with gadgets you buy these days, the instruction manual that came with is extremely basic. You can usually find information such as this on YouTube and after an online search, I have found a far more detailed instruction manual which I have managed to print out, using my Canon printer. 

Another Week Of Excitement? Don't Bank On It.

 Monday. 6.40 a.m. Here I am, early morning, in my sitting room (lounge to some. Makes me think of someone laying nonchalantly on a chaise lounge or sofa, literally lounging.) It's dark outside. I'm not good at this time of year. Lack of light or something.

10.10 a.m. There's an annoying sound outside in the street. It's a high-pitched drone. I think it's council workers cutting the hedges along Dexter Avenue. The hedges are definitely in need of a trim, but at the moment it's really getting on my nerves and not helping my concentration. It is a continuous drone sound, a single note that goes right through your head and, as a result, clears all the ideas you ever had out of your brain. Just horrible.

I have been transferring some more handwritten material onto word processing. It's a piece I started and had more or less forgotten. It relates to what I have already written, but you would call it 'meta.' That is,  set in a sort of parallel world of the central character of the longer piece (if that makes sense. Meta, referring to the fictional world.) Much like in Shakespeare, the 'play-within-a-play' in 'Hamlet' uses theatrical metaphors as a device. I'm not going to discuss it further on here as it is still in development and I don't want to give away any plot details.

Tuesday. 7.45 a.m. Did I say, a week of excitement? But this is Fogeyville (my name for Dexter House.) I don't think there's any likelihood of any sort of excitement, except for the regular Wednesday afternoon tea-and-biscuits session in the communal lounge. I did go the first week, and I attempted to start some sort of intelligent conversation, and I drew a complete blank. There's to be a Christmas party on Friday afternoon, but I will be elsewhere at that time.

It's another relatively mild morning, although I have found my gloves, and I'm wearing one of my long-sleeved Marks and Spencer Rugby shirts. Really warm. I wanted to iron it, using my steam iron, but it just won't work properly. It won't reach a high enough temperature and therefore produce steam to work efficiently, so it looks as if I'm going to have to replace it. Looking on the Argos website, I have discovered you can get a cordless steam iron, which would make things easier without the electric cable getting in the way. I did set up my ironing board in the kitchen, but there's so little space, it makes it very difficult. 

4.45 p.m. I've just got back from Camphill, after another good day in the theatre workshop. I'm so impressed by these people, most of whom have some form of learning disability. Some have real problems with communication, but they manage to get up on stage and perform, have to remember not just lines, but where to stand and then create a character. Just quite emotional. There's one lady who came in to see whether she would like to be part of the group, and, after only a couple of weeks, she's contributing, taking on a part and by now is really confident. The group works so well, and it's a real delight to be part of it all.

Bouncing Mail and other inconsequential Matters

Wednesday. 12.15 p.m. I keep getting the wrong post delivered to my flat. I have a feeling that the Post Office, or at least the so-called organization who are responsible for the delivery of our post, is not up to much. At one time we used to get a post at least twice a day, the first delivery at around 7 a.m and a second delivery at around 11 a.m.  They were so precise with their deliveries you could almost set your watch by them. Now it seems to arrive whenever the postman feels like delivering, sometimes before midday, sometimes around 2-3 o'clock. What is going on? And then I get misdirected mail. I have a letter here for the gentleman who possibly lives along Dexter Avenue or who MIGHT possibly have been a former tenant of this flat (I won't give the address for security reasons.) I gave it to the postman who happened to be passing along the corridor, but it has come back rather like some sort of boomerang. I should have written 'not known at this address.' If I had it in at the S.H.O's office within Dexter House, do you suppose it will then bounce back like something on a piece of elastic?

The workmen are back, building the scooter sheds. I suppose they are going to be called scooter sheds, but I can't think of a better way to describe them. We've had a couple of days without any work going on in the community garden, but it seems all is activity. There are several vehicles parked either on the road or the grassed area along the side of Strudwick Drive, one being a very large concrete mixer. I presume this is for the foundations of the aforementioned sheds. As I walked past they seemed to be releasing water from this enormous vehicle and using one to the two tipper trucks to ferry the concrete into the garden and then transferred to what will, I assume, be the floor for both sheds. 

Thursday. 6.30 a.m. I woke up, then went back to sleep. But did it really matter? Alfie got his usual outing and it was slightly chilly, but the sun is out as I write this. Alfie booked in at The Groom Room at 1 p.m. for a haircut. 

Later. I took Alfie to The Groom Room, getting there well before the appointment time of 1 p.m. Alfie was yapping when I released him from the cage in the back of the car and excited to be out and going in to be pampered by the young lady who took him from me to begin his haircut. I had just over an hour to fill before going back to collect him, so I went into T.K. Maax, which is along the parade of units from Pets At Home. A good place to pick up a bargain. I got a really nice Moleskine notebook, which I had wanted for some time. Ideal hardback notebook and just the right size to slip in a pocket when I'm out and about and I want to make a note of things. 

Alfie was really pleased to see me when I went back to collect him from The Groom Room! He's now looking trimmed and tidy. He even had his teeth cleaned! His breath was getting somewhat smelly and I would never be able to do this as he would bite me. I know he's little, but he has exceptionally sharp teeth and I wouldn't want to upset him or hurt him. He went back into the cage in the back of the car and I heard not a single peep from him on the way home. How does he know when we get home because as soon as I turn off the car's engine he starts up barking.

Friday. 6.15 a.m. A bit of a shock for both of us when we went out at around 5.45. A thin and weak rain, but nevertheless, still got a slight wetting. Alfie was not impressed, and soon made straight for the door after having a wee on the grass.

I've been told that the woman who comes in to clean the communal areas in Dexter House has been told by her supervision that she hasn't been doing her job properly. She had an audit and didn't come off very well. She is leaving some areas uncleaned. I can clearly see the dust on the banisters and rails of the stairs leading up to my flat and underneath has never been dusted, nor any of the top of the bricked areas around the place. Will it now improve? Will she need to do a better job? Who knows. I could use my new Vax steam mop to clean around the area of my flat but may wait until I know whether there will be an improvement. Let's wait and see.

As I write this, at 4.05 p.m., it is quite sunny, although a little windy.

Things Can Only Get Better. Or Can They?

Today (Tuesday 23rd March 2021) is the first anniversary of the original lockdown. It hardly seems possible that we'd still be held in the grip of this 'thing.' We're now being told that the rate of infections and deaths in Europe (does that mean the EU?) is increasing, and there's the threat of a third wave of covid-19. Please can we stop running away from this thing and just get on with releasing us all from the prison of lockdown? So can things get better? One would hope so.

I went to Sainsbury's this morning, around 7.45. There were very few other customers so it was easier to get in and out quickly. It helps to have a shopping list and stick to that. There were no people on the manned check-out tills. I don't mind using the self-service tills, but I often think if you don't use the manned tills, supermarkets will see this as an excuse to not keep staff working on the manned tills. 

It's really sunny this afternoon. Warm enough to not have to wear a jacket? I'm not so sure, but getting that way. The daffodils are almost completely out on the grass walking down Strudwick Drive. 

(Wednesday) Not a great deal going on here, but no surprise in that.

Being told on BBC Breakfast that we are likely to get the 'Third Wave' of the coronavirus in Britain. Surely we just need to clamp down on people going abroad and not taking the restrictions seriously, such as quarantining. Let's just hope we can keep this thing out and keep things aiming for a complete removal of lockdown by the summer, if not earlier.

I've had a text message from the NHS to book my second Astra Zeneca covid-19 vaccination. I could have followed the link in the text message, but though it probably better to ring my surgery and got an appointment for Saturday morning at 10.10a.m., so that means once that's done, I should be a little less likely to catch this wretched virus. 

I keep on getting mail for tenants who have lived in this flat. You would have thought that, if and when you moved to a new address, you would take the time and effort to set up a redirection with the Post Office so that your mail is delivered to your new address. I did this when I moved from the house in Eaglestone. It was a simple process, done on line, for a reasonable cost and I had it for around 6 months, by which time all  my post caught up with me at the new address (I have to admit that my Driving Licence didn't get changed, as regarding my new address. But that is now rectified and my new licence arrived the other day, only after some considerable effort on my behalf. I got another piece of post the other day. It arrived late, I think around 2.30pm., which was a bit of a surprise (I have noticed post comes later and later. Possibly caused by the pandemic, but I'm not sure about that.) Anyway, I opened it. But unfortunately it wasn't addressed to me. Well, if it's come through my letterbox I assume it's for me and I will open it. As I have had post sent to a house in Dexter Avenue and not Dexter House, I thought it must have been for that address, so I went over to that house but the gentleman who lives there told me it wasn't for him and that the name of the former tenant which was on the envelope had moved away years ago. Well, it must have been some while ago as I've moved here a good eighteen months ago, more or less. So, what to do with this post? I could just chuck it in the bin, but no, I handed it to the SHO, Barbara, and she can give it to the postman who can send it wherever such post goes (probably in a bin! I only jest.)

It's A Scorcher!

It's been warm for the past few days. Supposedly at one point one of the days there were reports of one of them being the hottest on record. I don't mind it being sunny and bright but when it gets too hot then I don't like it. In fact, it's dangerous particularly if you have a heart condition which I have. It's just best to remain indoors and drink plenty, which I have been. Alfie can't manage heat, so we make a good pair. At night he can never find anywhere to lay to keep cool. I keep the windows open and the electric fan on.

(Tuesday) I had to really think which day of the week it was! The lockdown has blurred every day into one and because of this it's difficult to even think which day it is. I should be at Camphill, in the drama workshop, but I haven't been there since late March. I have absolutely no idea when I will be allowed back.

The heat has made life really difficult, as you might imagine. The kitchen has been overrun with flies, a sort of plague you might even say. I couldn't stand being in there and I have no idea why there are so many, so I had to get a fly killer stray from Barbara, S.H.O, of Dexter House and after a few blasts it worked, than goodness.

I have bought an Alexa Dot smart speaker. I already had Alexa on my Fire Tablet and Fire TV Stick, but I made the jump to purchasing one of these artificial intelligence gadgets. I was amazed at how easy it was to set up. It joined my wifi without any problems and once I'd downloaded the Alexa app onto my iPhone and iPad it was relatively easy to integrate it into my system. When it was first set up, Alexa's voice had an American accent, but once I had my address and Postcode in the system, her voice changed to an English accent!

(Wednesday) As warm as ever. We're supposed to get rain today. I do hope so as it's getting really uncomfortable.

(Thursday) It did rain. I think I might have been asleep. Even so, it was over very quickly.

Today is over-cast. After several nights when it's been difficult to sleep, it makes a change that it's a good deal cooler. As I write, it's raining. I have a feeling it thundered earlier but not entirely sure. I have the window open and Alfie is laying on the sofa near me. Asleep and awake. He doesn't like warm weather.

(Friday) It's another overcast day. Quite damp and dreary as we walked towards Oldbrook Green. Alfie came back somewhat damp. Not really raining, but nevertheless, damp due to the mist/fog.

(Monday) Still not a great deal to write about. It's a good deal cooler and we had an almighty rain storm at around 3 o'clock. It was stair-rods, so I couldn't take Alfie out as usual, but the storm soon passed and we went out for our by now routine jaunt around Oldbrook Green.

Stir Crazy

(Tuesday)This confinement is not easy. Just being stuck in my flat with just Alfie for company is having a somewhat deleterious effect on me. Mentally and physically. We are being told by the government that we can have one exercise session per day (which is all very well, but one small Yorkshire Terrier needs a good deal more than one walk per day.) I am reading a good deal more than I have done in some time, not just my book '"The Age of Decadence" by Simon Heffer, but articles from BBC History Magazine as well as History Today. Watching television has become somewhat predictable. Daytime television has become one endless session about buying and selling houses, mostly people who insist on moving to the countryside because they have more money than sense, and why would you want a house which is far too big for a couple, and probably have extra bedrooms for friends and family to stay so they can be entertained in the surroundings of a large house. Antiques are fine, but it's just becoming boring, experts driving around the British countryside and buying antiques which they find and attempting to sell them for a profit.

The government has bought in stricter controls to attempt to slow down the spread of the coronavirus. Over the last weekend a lot of people have not heeded the social distancing. People crowding onto Underground trains in London as well as at beauty spots. If they are young people, in the 18-30 age group, the chances are they don't watch broadcast television and probably not read newspapers (at least in print-form at any rate.) and are not interested in politics and wouldn't watch the daily press conferences. In general, the British don't like being told what to do. Unlike communist countries where the population is spied on and their citizens controlled by The State. Bureaucracy gone crazy. Just look at the EU and then you have a good reason for the Brexit vote. Many European countries, such as Greece and France, were invaded by the Nazis during the Second World War, so you can see how they would just roll over and be subjugated by the EU. A load of 'you can't do-this-and-that.' Control gone made, so that explains why it has such a hold over people's lives. Rant over.

(Wednesday) The sun is shining. It's a lovely spring morning. No wind and no rain. But we have to remain in our homes. I've taken Alfie out for his second walk of the day. It's eerily quiet. Rather like a bank holiday. Very little traffic around. But the silence is strange, to say the least. People seem to be making an effort to be socially distant. At Dexter House we can't use the lounge or kitchen. It doesn't bother me because I don't utilise them much anyway.

(Thursday) The weather has changed. That's what makes the United Kingdom what it is; the fact that the weather is so changeable. It has turned quite cold and there was a light frost on the cars as I walked Alfie along Dexter Avenue before 6a.m. this morning. It is sunny and bright, but as I say, it has turned chilly.

If anything, this current situation has got we writing again. I have pages of notes as well as part-written bits and pieces of stories, which are part of a far longer piece. I have started off on an entirely different tack with my current piece of writing, sparked on my a BBC documentary presented by Lucy Worsley about Jane Austen. I've always loved Lucy's programmes and she has a wealth of knowledge. I won't divulge too much of what I'm creating, but I can't think of a better way to spark off an idea than from Austen.

Later. I spent some more time writing. As a consequence, Alfie didn't get an earlier afternoon walk, but I took him out at around 4.15. I noticed that some of Oldbrook Green has been mown. They had done the end nearest The Cricketers public house, but the opposite side had only been mown along the edge. Such is my life at the moment that I have to mention such mundane matters as mowing. Unfortunately, whoever does the mowing, they have to run their vehicles over the grass and leave horrible tyre marks. It would be nice if this doesn't happen.

There's been a crazy woman (I'm not sure if she lives at Dexter House or not, or whether she's a friend of one of the residents. I doubt it, because visitors aren't supposed to come here at present.) who has been outside in the garden, sitting on a deckchair and who has been wearing what looks like a thick coat with a fur collar. She must be a bit loopy, because it has been really warm today. I saw here when I was standing at the kitchen sink doing some washing-up. She must have seen me because she waved. Another woman was with her and I get the distinct impression they have been drinking, what is probably wine, as I saw them with glasses in their hands and one of them produced a bottle and poured whatever the contents were into one of the glasses. The things you see from your kitchen window when you are doing the washing up!

Friday morning. I was surprised by how cold it is out this morning, when I took Alfie out for his walk. It was well before 6 o'clock. Am I crazy, or what? No, definitely not. If it's light, we'll go out, regardless, even though he makes a great deal of noise as soon as he catches on I'm in the process of getting ready to go out.

Foggy and Cold

(Saturday)From a cold, frosty morning yesterday, we now have fog. When I went out to take Alfie for his early-morning walk, I discovered fog no sooner I had gone through the front door. Then, walking along Strudwick Drive, I discovered think fog across Oldbrook Green, which meant I couldn't see the other side and the buildings around The Hub which are usually easy to see from Oldbook.

I went out with Alfie for a second walk at gone 10 o'clock this morning. The fog had lifted and it was quite sunny. We walked part-way around Oldbrook Green, but didn't do the complete circuit because there were two dogs running loose and I wasn't sure how they would deal with Alfie, walking as he was on his lead and behaving himself as he usually does.

During the night I woke as I sometimes do and it took me some while to get back to sleep. Last night I could hear the sound of cars having their engines revved. I'm not certain where they were, somewhere nearby, but possibly being driven, at speed, around Milton Keynes. This morning, when I went out, I was surprised to see a Mini sitting on the side of the road along Strudwick Drive, on a grassy mound, near the roundabout which leads into Dexter Avenue. It would appear that it had been stolen (I assume. No proof of course), no doubt taken by youths (only speculation) and 'Joy Ridden,' before dumped on that grassy mound. When I took out Alfie earlier this morning it was then I spotted it and, having walked Alfie towards Oldbrook Green, I walked back and a couple were there, with one of them on their mobile, no doubt informing the police of the vehicle. Then, a few hours later, Alfie and I went past, this time in pouring rain, which was the reason I cut this walk short, the car had disappeared, no doubt removed by the police and one would hope, returned to it's owner.

The continual sound of coughing from the flat beneath mine is driving me nuts. It wakes me up and then I can't get back to sleep. I think I might buy a pack of cough sweets and stick it through their letter box. Well, if it was me, I'd take some form of cough medication to relieve things. But my solution to the situation is to stick ear plugs in and therefore become totally resilient to the noise of coughing. Simple, really.

Currently reading a book called 'Six Minutes In May: How Churchill Unexpectedly Became Prime Minister,' and written by Nicholas Shakespeare. We get a completely different picture of the great war leader, but not the outstanding man he was to become, botching the leadership of a raid of the Norwegian town of Narvick, which was taken by the Nazis and caused a scare, since there was the possibility that Britain would immediately be invaded. Very well written and researched and adding to my learning of a period of our history of which I am very ignorant.