Back To Normal?

So, what is 'normal' after something like eighteen months of various forms of lockdown? We're obviously not going to return to life as it was before the pandemic, that is for certain. It would be great to think we will, but I'm certain our beloved politicians will want to keep us under some form of regulations for as long as possible. Never in peacetime has Britain had so many regulations in place to restrict citizens' rights. And with nobody making any sort of effort to question any of these laws and regulations. We seem to have rolled over and just comply. It makes you wonder what would happen if we were invaded, as we were very nearly during the second World War.

Saturday. 3.40 p.m. I was sitting reading, minding my own business, just after I'd had a bite to eat for lunch. Then, for no reason, the fire alarm went off throughout Dexter House. Alfie doesn't like it. He hates loud noises. Our other dog, Poppy, was similar. She was scared witless by fireworks and around the time of Bonfire Night, November 5th, she would hide in any place she thought she was safe, like under our bed. But this fire alarm is so loud and ear-piercing (well, I suppose it has to be, particularly if it went off at night and you were fast asleep. Enough to wake you up.) But it gives me a splitting headache, so I decided it would be a good idea if we went out, hopefully, until it stopped. Which we did. Ending up doing three circuits of Oldbrook Green. No doubt someone in another flat had burnt their toast or forgot to take something out of the oven. But as I sit here, several hours later, I have a sneaking suspicion someone in one of the flats below me IS SMOKING! Well, what people do in their private space is up to them, but when it comes through into MY private space, that's another matter. I'm beginning to wonder if it's that which set the fire alarm off. I don't know who managed to stop the fire alarm. Last time we had a similar experience the fire service turned up. I went out and stood with Alfie on the pavement outside until we got the all-clear to return to our flat. Perhaps some people just should never be left alone with matches.

Monday. 7.35 a.m. What's this? Nothing for Sunday? Probably because there wasn't anything to report. Now, there's a thing.

12.40 a.m. I've been cleaning the kitchen. Well, the excitement is too much. But it had to be done. I've cleared away a great deal of clutter. Some have gone in the cupboard in the area where the kettle is, along with the tea-making equipment plus mugs. The sugar canister which I purchased in T.K.Maax several years ago had begun to get rusty. That's the problem with anything metal. So I decided it had to be retired and replaced and I drove to Waitrose as I have been in their homewares department and thought I could get just the thing to replace the old canister. It's perfect and made of pottery, so it's not going to rust. Just right and looks quite stylish. No rubbish in my home! I also needed to get some easy-peelers, those small easy-to-peel oranges (or are they satsumas or tangerines? I'm not sure.) Around a year ago, probably more, but around the time we had the first lockdown (probably March 2020.) I thought it would be a good idea to eat more fruit, possibly the 5-A-Day the government recommends. I hit on at least three of these small, juicy citrus fruit, together with an apple and probably fruit juice. Sainsbury's have them, but also most other supermarkets. Some are better than others. Some can be very pithy and almost inedible. You occasionally get a not-so-good batch, but most are very tasty. Good as they have vitamin C in them. I also take a vitamin D tablet with my morning medications, as directed by my doctor and I've taken them for well over a year.

Tuesday. 6.45 a.m. I'm determined to reach my daily target of 10,000 steps, recorded by my FitBit. I think around six circuits of Oldbrook Green must be at least that many steps. It's supposed to equate to around five miles, so it makes you realize how far I must have walked since I've moved to Oldbrook. Alfie has become somewhat reluctant to walk that far, insisting some morning that we return home directly once he's done what he needs to do (I don't need to describe what I'm referring to.) He is a very determined little person, amazingly strong when he wants to be.

Wet and Windy Weekend

After the warm and pleasant weather last weekend (see the preceeding post on here.), we had to endure wind and rain all this weekend. Added to that we had Hallow'een last Saturday, with people knocking on doors 'trick and treat-ing' which set both dogs barking. As it is, Poppy is scared stiff whenever there's a loud bang, such as a firework being let off, and Alfie just barks continually. It's not so much the fireworks being let off, it's the randomness of it. Hopefully it is now over for another year. Guy Fawkes night was on 5th November, so being mid week there weren't likely to be as many firework parties as there would be at the weekend, so either last weekend or the weekend just gone would have been when people would have them but I think that Hallow'een has superceded Guy Fawkes unfortunately. You can see by the amount of junk that the shops stock and how they are attempting to make it a big thing to boost sales. As a child I remember we used to make a big thing out of November 5th which included not only fireworks but a huge bonfire and lots to eat, such as potatoes in their jackets, cocoa, bonfire toffee and a whole host of warming food. Unless it's a big community event I don't think people have Bonfire Night partys any more which is a shame. Probably a lot  of this is because people are unaware of the significance of the Gunpowder Plot and the attempt to blow up parliament in 1605.

Freak Hail Storm

I'd done two loads of washing this morning. I put it out on the washing-line in the garden with the hope that it would dry. I was hoping that there wouldn't be any rain and kept an eye on the sky as it began to cloud over. It had been out for a couple of hours and it seemed as if it would be alright for a couple more hours. But it wasn't to be. At around 1.15 it clouded over. I gave a further glance out of the window: no sign of rain. But then the heavens opened. I rushed out to retrieve the clothes which took up two lines which are strung up over the garden, from the house out to the shed (if you can actually term the clapped-out object at the end of the garden as a 'shed' which I doubt. I hastily grabbed fists-full of clothing and shoved it in the clothes basket, but the rains began to fall faster and faster. There was then a sudden very loud clap of thunder and it went extremely dark. Then I remembered that one of our dogs, Poppy, was scared witless of thunder and lightening. During the Guy Fawkes Night of November 5th she i terrified of fireworks and is happiest hiding under the bed or up close to one or other of us as the bangs and whooshes of fireworks are going on. So this afternoon. As I was rapidly pegging sopping wet clothes onto the clothes drier in the kitchen and over some of the downstairs radiators, she came up to me and wanted some support and comfort which was rather sad and as I write this she is sitting on the armchair with me typing on the Macbook. She had insisted on sitting on my knee but it would be difficult to write this with the laptop on her back so she is wedged in beside me. I think she is a good deal happier now. There is hail falling fast in the garden as I look out from the lounge and the grass is covered in white, some of the hailstones are around the size of peanuts. I'm just glad I'm not outside in it as these chunks of ice would really sting exposed skin

A Few Days Away- Part 1

Carol has been on Half Term for the past week. We haven't had a full week's holiday away, but  instead we went away on Wednesday and came back on Friday. We stayed in a hotel in Salford, near Manchester. We had a really good drive up on Wednesday morning, and visited  Rufford Old Hall, a National Trust property a good deal further north near Ormskirk. There is a link with William Shakespeare, which interested me as I have an interest in both his plays and his life. He was alleged to have performed in the Great Hall there. It was fairly bright and sunny when we arrived, but when we were inside it had begun to rain and the weather generally deteriated into low mist, rain and gloom. As it was Half Term they were doing Hallow'een things for children, which rather spoilt things for us. We had gone for the historic connections, not some over-blown superstitious nonsense which seems to have taken over in this country at this time of year, unfortunately. It's mainly, if not entirely, to do with shops making money out of the rubbish they sell connected with this so-called festival. When I was a child, November 5th was the thing, or Guy Fawkes Night, but it seems to have been overtaken by the other event, unfortunately.

Rufford Old Hall, National Trust property near Ormskirk, Lancs

Carol wanted to see the Anthony Gormley statues at Crosby Beach. It's something we've both seen photographs of, those mysterious statues staring out to sea, some partially submerged in the sand and others in the sea. As the weather was so awful, we decided to leave it for another day, although it wasn't too far from Rufford Old Hall. Another reason for  not going there immediatley was that the light was going. So we drove back to Sallford to find the hotel.

After driving down the MK motorway and leaving at the exit for Salford, we discovered that the place has a really nightmarish road system. It's one mass of duel carriageways, and the hotel itself is in the centre of a sort of knot of roundabouts. This is within walking distance of Manchester United Football Club's stadium. Sorry, I'm not that interested, but we did go and have a look. Having found the hotel and parked the car, making sure we had a parking permit on display inside the windscreen when we left it (otherwise we we likely to get clamped and would have to pay to have the car released.) we unloaded our luggage and then decided to go out and find something to eat, as there was no food available at the hotel.

We wanted a restaurant, not too expensive. Coming out at the roundabout we saw a  branch of Harry Ramsden's  (one of the famous fish restaurants.) the opposite side, but it then took us around 15 minutes to actually get to it as the traffic was so heavy. We decided that this was where we wanted to eat and so went in and found the place virtually empty except for an older man and a little boy. We had our meal and left and went back to the hotel for the night.

We were up early and out around 8.30, as we wouldn't get breakfast and decided that we could get something to eat as we drove up the M6 away from Salford and Mancester on the way towards Crosby where the Anthony Gormley statues were installed (for want of a better term.) We had found them on Google Maps, so had a vague idea what to expect. We were guided by the Crosby Leisure Centre, which we could see on Google Maps as a quite striking building which looked for all the world like something out of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a sort of U.F.O. crash-landed on the beach. We found a car park, as we had followed the signs from the main road, but it would mean a long walk along the beach towards the statues. It was by now beginning to look as if there was a rain storm brewing, with very dark clouds drifting in from the land. Also, there was a bitter wind blowing making it very cold, and we hadn't brought coats with us, unfortunately. We drove a little bit further, as we could see the leisure centre in the distance. We got a lot closer and eventually managed to park outside and saw bus-loads of schoolchildren arriving as there is a swimming pool within the leisure centre.

Our dogs and Hallow'en and Guy Fawkes Night

Some kindly soul had the imagination to set of a firework a few days ago. I know, it's a few weeks until 5th November and Hallow'en is on Wednesday. The shops have had fireworks on sale for several weeks now, so presumably someone has bought some and thought it a good idea to set them off regardless of the day, time, or the effect it will have on dogs, cats and other animals, and, no doubt, people. Alfie, our Yorkshire Terrier, has never really bothered with the noise of fireworks around November 5th (Guy Fawkes Night to those living outside Britain.)

Poppy, our other dog, is really terrified of them, but her tactic is to hide somewhere in the house or dive  into your lap, under the bed, behind furniture, etc. Alfie started barking and kept on barking for most of the evening. Now, whenever there's an unusual sound, generally from our neighbours who make all sorts of strange and peculiar sounds at all hours of the day and night, he will start of barking. And he just keeps on barking. He has never bothered about the noise of fireworks before now, so it's odd that he should start this year. Poppy, on the other hand, has always been jumpy with fireworks, however far away they are. We're not exactly sure what happened to her as a very young puppy. She may well have experienced something particularly nasty which frightened her as a pup, which might explain her fear of fireworks.

Alfie has discovered something living in the garden shed. It has nothing of ours in it, just junk which I presume has been left behind by former tenants, or even the landlord; an old bicycle frame, a really ancient mattress and odds and ends. The door doesn't close properly. Well, to be exact, it is off it's hinges and it's extremely difficult to close it properly. The 'something' has turned out to be a cat. Now, cats and our dogs don't mix (well, do dogs and cats get on in normal circumstances? Well, the answer is generally, not very well.)

The other day we couldn't find Alfie. He wasn't in any of his usual places, one of which is sleeping on our bed. We looked all over the house and in the garden. The french windows were open, leading from the kitchen/diner into the garden. Poppy went outside. She appeared to know where he was. One of Alfie's little routines is to go round the fence and check. Well, it appears to be what he does. Poppy was up at the end of the garden near the rickety shed (well, I'm sure a strong gust of wind would knock it over.) She started barking and ran towards the house and I went out to her. She was telling us that Alfie was in the shed. Not difficult to get inside as the door is virtually impossible to close. It is completely off it hinges. I went and managed to get the door open and Alfie was inside, perched on some of the junk in there. At the back of the shed, at a safe distance, was the cat. I managed to get Alfie out and in the house, but it would appear that the cat is what is drawing him to the shed.