Silly Title For A Blog Post!

I can't think of a better name to put in the title of this blog post. And why not? I may think of a better one, but it doesn't really matter.

Wednesday. 10.55 p.m. I was sitting waiting to go out after 9 o'clock this morning and as I waited, the telephone rang and it was the renal unit at Milton Keynes Hospital. My appointment with a consultant there is cancelled. This is a relief to me as it must be due to the consultant there looking at the results of my recent blood test. I was advised by the nice lady I spoke to that I should contact my GP at Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre to discuss where my care will go next. Just a relief that nothing suspicious was discovered.  I then drove to Aldi in Bradwell Common to do a top-up shop. 

I attempted to telephone Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre this afternoon. I could not get through, even after around three attempts. You get through to the appointments line after you get the 'menu of options, but after being held with nothing but a voice telling you which options to select and that you can make your appointment online, I just gave up. Well, I did attempt to make an appointment via the online facility, but for some reason, it has been blocked, so it annoys me that they tell you it is an alternative to the telephone system. I shall just have to have another attempt tomorrow morning.

Thursday. 12.20 p.m. It's a strange sort of day weather-wise. It started out dry and mild, but as I write this the weather has changed for the worse. It's howling a gale outside (just as well not inside!) and I reckon it will rain before the day is over.

At long last, after around half a dozen attempts, I have managed to get through to Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre. I will get a phone call from my doctor on 11th June between 2 and 6 p.m. 

I have bought a food processor. I have spent vouchers I earned from doing online surveys, one of which is something I have been on for around 10 years, where I have to log anything I buy, books, CDs, clothing etc. As you log your items, you earn points and then, when you have enough, you can cash them in for vouchers The site is called Consumer Pulse. The only way you can get involved is to have an invitation, which I did. Over the years I have been able to trade my vouchers in for a Panasonic Freeview box, a Hitachi HD television, a Panasonic microwave oven and several more items. I got most of these items from Argos, and recently I bought myself a new electric kettle, toaster, kitchen knives and more recently the Bosch food processor. I am with other online survey sites, each earning points which can be converted into either cash or vouchers. If Amazon points, it allows me to buy books and virtually anything on their site. I have today ordered a digital kitchen scales which I intend to use to do some baking. I have also done some market research where you chat via Zoom (which is convenient since we were in lockdown at the time.) and earned considerably more than doing the straightforward online surveys. The cash from those has gone into my savings account. I would like more similar surveys.

Later. 2.30 p.m. The post came at around 1.30. I picked it up from the floor after it came through the letterbox. One envelope, with an address window in it. An appointment has been made for me at Milton Keynes Hospital on 21st June. Wait a minute. Didn't I have a telephone call from the hospital to tell me there was no need for the appointment and that it had been cancelled? What is going on here? No wonder the NHS is always in such a financial mess, with this sort of craziness going on. It just seems a waste. A definite case of the left hand not knowing what the right is doing.

More . . . Of What? 2: The Sequel

(Friday) So, more of the same? I can't think what's likely to change. Not a lot. If anything.

We're being told that there's yet another variant of the coronavirus Covid19 virus. This time it's in South America, I think Brazil. Boris Johnson has closed the borders and nobody from those countries is allowed in. When I think of him closing the borders, it makes me think of him literally standing there, arms akimbo, one foot on British soil, the other in the sea, like one of those Gillray cartoons you see from the 19th century (or was it earlier?) with a defiant look on his face, tousled hair blowing in the wind and the virus held firm in a sort of fishing net. Or Winston Churchill, in similarly defiant mood, standing on the White Cliffs of Dover, with Vera Lynn's plaintive voice on the soundtrack of a scratchy black-and-white piece of British Pathe newsreel, with his words from his famous speech comes out of the loudspeaker of an ancient radio 'We will fight them on the beaches and on the landing stages. . . if England and  her Empire should last for a thousand years, men will say . . . this was their Finest Hour.' Not that in any way am I suggesting that it's Boris's 'Finest Hour.' Far from it. 

I can also imagine Boris as Gandalf, in the first of the "Lord of The Rings" books and films, "The Fellowship of The Rings." The party of dwarves, lead by Gandalf, enter the Mines of Moria and they get to The Bridge of Khzad Dum. It is guarded by the great monster, the Balrog, a fire-breathing creature which confronts Gandalf. He shouts at it 'You shall not pass!" In this case the Balrog is the coronavirus covid 19 virus, huge, round and covered in spikes things and bright green/blue. It is Boris Johnson who bellows at the thing "You shall not pass!" meaning it can't come into the United Kingdom. But in the Lord of The Rings, Gandalf fights the Balrog to the death and then he too falls to his death. But I won't give the story away as to what then happens. Poor old Boris. I don't envy him being PM during this pandemic. He's never going to be right, whatever he does. A very difficult job. Damned if he's right or damned if he's wrong, or words to that effect.

Strange thumping noises somewhere within Dexter House. I suspect it's the workmen who have been taking out asbestos from the ceilings along the corridor in which my flat is. That section is complete and now they are working on the other section. They had to keep tenants away and we weren't supposed to go out when it was on (I have mentioned this in earlier posts.) Another company came in to plaster the ceiling and then another company has rewired, ready to put in new emergency lighting.

I discover the thumping noises are from workmen digging a trench in the garden. Along the edge of a lawn area, with some trench leading towards the building. It might be something to do with the wiring for the emergency lighting, but I'm not entirely sure. Emergency lighting outside in the communal garden. I think they are replacing the old ones. Probably more cost-effective and lower carbon emissions or something. Anyway, at least I know what's going on, or I THINK I know.

(Saturday)I had ordered a new coffee table from Amazon and it turned up during the afternoon. I wasn't expecting it to arrive so quickly. Then the reading light arrived. I began working to construct the table. Not difficult, but it takes time and with so many pieces, in particular the screws and other bits and pieces, I assembled most of it and then left it, and as I write this these sections are leant against the bookcase. I will finish it off later tomorrow morning. The Tomshine floor reading lamp was easy enough to assemble. It works with a power pack which plugs into the mains. The metal sections screw together easily and it stands on a weighted base which is round. I soon had it working, a range of light intensities. It helps to make reading easier and the head is adjustable on a sort of flexible section so the light can be set to exactly how you like it. I am pleased with it. It had controls on it's upright, on/off and another to adjust the setting of the light, but it also has a remote control with is magnetic and will adhere to the metal stand. It needs AAA batteries which didn't come with it, so I will need to go out and buy some later today. I am more than pleased with it and I wouldn't have found this without Amazon.

(Later) I went out with Alfie at around 7.30 this morning. I knew it was likely to be raining, but it looked as if there had been snow in the night as some of the cars parked along Dexter Avenue had a sprinkling of the white stuff. It was really cold and wet and Alfie was more determined to return straight home, but I encourage him to make sure he did everything he had to. We crossed over Oldbrook Boulevard to put the pooh bag in the bin and he soon trotted back to the flat. I think we're likely to get heavier snow later in the day. There's quite a wind blowing as I write this (9.10a.m.)

I went to Waitrose and bought a pack of AAA batteries and when I returned to the flat I put a couple in the remote for the reading light. Bingo! It works! You can even dim the light using the remote! The only problem is I have so many remotes now: one for the Hitachi television, another for the Panasonic Freeview box, another for the Firestick and another for the Goodman's sound bar. The one for the reading light can easily be confused for the TV remote. Oh, does it matter? Just got to get used to all this technology.

I have now managed to finish off the coffee table. A good deal wider than the red IKEA table which I've had since moving to the flat. It's quite fiddly and time-consuming doing up the screws, which are in rather awkward places. I have still got the drawer to construct, but it's done. I am wondering if it needs the top covering in varnish or something, to protect it from the odd spill it's likely to get, as such accidents can be wiped off. I always think that it's best to build these flat pack bits of furniture to do it in stages, as it can become somewhat frustrating, what with all the pieces and reading the instructions. Also made somewhat difficult with Alfie getting in the way, so he was put in the bedroom with the door closed. Just makes it even more difficult with a small dog who wants to get under your feet. He just doesn't like being left out.

Technical Problems and Medication

I've been having technical problems with my Panasonic Freeview set-top box. I think I've mentioned that I replaced Sky with Freeview. It made sense, because I didn't get the best value from their service and it was costing quite a bit for the privilege of having their service, and Freeview is, well, free. The new set-top box has been working perfectly successfully, but they keep on upgrading the software (I presume that's what it does, you keep getting messages to do this and then when you try to find channels, they have moved them around or added new ones. Somewhat annoying.) But after one up-grade, for some reason or other the box wouldn't connect by wi-fi to the internet router, which meant that I couldn't use the catch-up facility which it has, so couldn't use BBC iPlayer or ITV Hub and all the other similar services.  No amount of fiddling with the various settings would re-connect to the router. I have now got it working again, not connecting via wi-fi, but by connecting a cable to the box and plugging it in to the router. The cable purchased from Amazon and ordered on Thursday and delivered yesterday evening. One of the advantages of having Amazon Prime, you get next-day delivery on virtually all that they sell. The Freeview box is now working as it should and I'm enjoying watching a lot of archive material on the BBC iPlayer.

I recently up-graded my Fire Stick to one which now has Alexa voice control. This was bought for half-price during Amazon's Black Friday period, so it seemed a good enough excuse to get one. Not only do you get the range of video material but by using Alexa you can have games, which are voice-operated. I was surprised how easy it was to set up and get running. I'm really glad that I bought this when I did.

I have mentioned that I had been prescribed Sertraline and Temazepam. The first is a anti-depressant and the second is a sleeping tablet. I took the Temazepam for only a couple of nights but found that there were unpleasant side-effects. I don't think it helped me sleep, even though I had a hot bath and a hot-milky drink before going to bed. I still wake at around 4a.m. and was then unable to return to sleep, but the next morning I felt really nauseous and got horrible shakes, which didn't go off completely until around midday. I stopped taking it a day or two before I was due to drive to Worcester for Christmas, because I don't think I would have been safe to drive the car.

Later. I took Alfie out for his usual early-morning walk, walking along Strudwick Drive and across Oldbrook Boulevard and I couldn't help seeing 'that woman' who stands in the road stopping cars and asking for money. This must be the sixth time I've seen her. I was keen to get back to Dexter House without the possibility of her stopping me or even following me back. She's dressed the same way as she has been before, tidily dressed, wearing dark trousers or leggings, a short top, like a bomber jacket, has short-copped hair, mousy-coloured, aged mid 40's early 50's, height around 5' 8. When I got back to the flat I rang 101 and told the Police of this woman, because I'm concerned for her safety, either getting run over or even stabbed by someone (unfortunately these things happen.) She must live somewhere nearby in Oldbrook and presumably in a residential home for people with either learning disabilities or mental health issues. If so (and it seems more than likely.) she must have a key worker or at least a support worker, or even a social worker who would look after her care.

Later still. Having sorted out the Freeview box (as explained above.) the Fire Stick was playing up on Sunday evening. It would not connect to the wi-fi router. I could not get a connection until I restarted it (having gone to the Amazon site and searching for 'help.' This worked and it soon joined the wi-fi router and the problem was solved.

Telephone Troubles

My Diazepam tablets ran out yesterday. I am only given them in batches of 10. This is because they can become addictive and sometimes, if taken regularly, your body gets used to them and they become ineffective. I had to ring Ashfield Medical Centre this morning to at least get a doctor's appointment to either give me a repeat prescription or give me an alternative that have the same effect. They help me sleep and I'm not lying awake in bed at 2.30a.m. with all my problems going through my head, the biggest one being when will the D.W.P. sort out the possible pension that Carol had when she lived and worked in Bournemouth and the fact that I'm not being paid my full rent through Housing Benefit. With this in mind I began ringing at around 8.25 and eventually got through at 8.35. I'm still uncertain what time they are supposed to open the lines, because, before they answer, you just get a sort of engaged tone. Then, when I did eventually get through, there were no more than four other people in the queue in front of me. That infernal music you have to endure has changed, when you are put on hold, and the woman's voice who tells you 'we have a high volume of calls at the moment,' and 'sorry for keeping you waiting,' sounds less angry. Why did she sound so angry to me and similar to the voice of Shula in the BBC radio soap 'The Archers'? Sorry, but to me she does, and it's almost as if this 'voice' has a sort of tone to it suggesting, 'get off my line, I'm busy, and I don't want to be disturbed!' Then I eventually got to be first in the queue and I was ACTUALLY SPEAKING TO A HUMAN! what ever is the world coming to? I explained why I was ringing and then was told I should have rung another number for repeat prescriptions, which opened after 11a.m. Having given my date of birth and then name (I suppose they have to do this, so as to make sure that they're dealing with the right patient and that you don't get someone else's medications and it would no doubt be a contravention of G.D.P.R. (General Data Protection Regulation, yet another E.U.-imposed bit imposed legislation which I bet hasn't been voted on democratically in the E.U. parliament and no doubt invented by some faceless bureaucrat, or am I just being a pessimist?) I said that, because it wasn't on a repeat list, as are all my heart medications, I should perhaps have an appointment with one of the doctors to discuss this, also, how I was coping with taking the Diazepam, any side-effects etc etc. So, at the end of the conversation I was left none the wiser and hopefully going to get a call-back from one of the doctors when she told me that she would pass the information on to the duty doctor who was assigned to deal with appointments, once he or she had heard what the appointment was about.

There's absolutely no certainty at what time the call-back from the doctor is going to be. I can be barely an hour or two, but it was getting nearer and nearer to midday when they still hadn't returned my call. I went upstairs and was laying on my bed when the phone rang and I ran downstairs to the phone in the hall (that is, the landline phone) and picked up the phone, expecting it to be one of the doctors with the awaited ring-back. It wasn't. A foreign-sounding woman with an Oriental sound to it, telling me she was 'from the Windows department' which immediately rang bells, as I could tell it wasn't a curtesy call. I know, from  really nasty experience, that all these calls are a scam, they just want to get into your computer system and hack your details, bank account numbers and so on. I told her I knew it was a scam and told her to get off my phone and all I got back was a load of expletives F you B . . . F you B . . .  F you B . . . which told me all I needed to know, so I immediately put the telephone down. You know the old saying 'once bitten, twice shy,' which is about all you need to know. For a  start, no sooner had she said she was from the Windows department and that 'there's a problem with your computer,' I knew it was a scam because I don't have a Windows computer. End of story.

I had another of these 'scam' calls, this time on my iPhone. I can't see where they get my number, landline or mobile. I don't intentionally give my numbers out and they shouldn't actually be phoning me because I'm signed up to the preference service which is supposed to stop these unsolicited calls. Then there are those calls that, when you pick them up, nobody answers and there's just a long silence until you get this weird 'good bye,' at the end. What is that all about?

Later I got yet another call, from of all people, Sky. They knew that I had closed down my Sky Television account and even gone as far as sending back the Q Box and all the paraphernalia that went with it, including the cables and the two remotes. Sky sent the packaging, very cleverly posted in a flat-pack format and you have to assemble it yourself and use peel-off adhesive strips to keep it all together, along with pre-paid postage labels. But I wasn't swayed by the marketing tactics of the young man on the other end of the phone. I said I now had Freeview and I had no intention of resubscribing, basically because of the cost and the fact that I didn't need even half of the channels. Apart from that, the Panasonic Freeview box I now have is perfectly adequate. It allows you to record and also you can use catch-up with such things as BBC iPlayer, as well as having a dedicated Netflix button and if you look carefully, such things as YouTube and even Amazon Prime video, which means you don't need to set up the Fire Stick which can be quite touch and go whether it will work properly.

Cutting Costs

Since my lovely Carol passed away in December, my financial situation has been in meltdown. You may have read in my blog posts about my situation regarding Housing Benefit and Teachers' Pensions as well as more recently Pension Credit and the fact that the D.W.P. had discovered that Carol had paid into a pension when she worked in Bournemouth. Still no response regarding all this but those people for work for these government departments work slowly. (One speed, slow and stop.) But elsewhere I have managed to reduce my outgoings, Anglian Water have cut my bill to an amazing £6 per month and I recently ditched Sky television. I now have a Panasonic Freeview box which does virtually the same as a Sky Q box, including being able to record television programmes as well as having catch-up services such as BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, ITV Hob (is it called ITV Player? I don't know.) as well as the Channel 4 catch-up service. No real difference in picture quality or any loss or anything-quality and, frankly, I don't miss Sky in the slightest, except possibly the amount I paid per month. I am still with their broadband, nothing changed there, and it's around £28 per month, and also I have Sky Mobile, which I set up around 4 months ago, with a brand new iPhone 7 and my monthly bill for that is an amazing £19.50 and they doubled my data usage for the same price, which can't be bad. Also, at the end of each month, any data that isn't used can be saved and either added to the next month's data or can be cashed in for accessories for your mobile, which is one of the reasons I chose to move to Sky Mobile.

The last thing that needed sorting was my car insurance. I knew it was about to need renewing. Then I got a letter in the post marked Swinton Insurance, the company which I have the motor insurance with. Last year's premium was just over £1000 and this year the just under half of that, with a monthly payment of around £48. Which pleases me, as you can imagine.

Then earlier in the month I got a telephone call from SSE, and they can reduce my yearly payment for gas and electricity by around £300. Being on a pay-as-you-go meter system it means you never get behind with a bill and can see from the meters how much you are using, but I would like to have a smart meter because you can see how much power you are using and also pay via an app or on-line rather than having to top up at a shop. But, as you will know if you read my blog posts, that I've had two companies say they can install a smart meter but when they arrive at look in the meter cupboard, they say they can't go ahead because they would need to drill a hole through into the house, basically because the gas meter is on the outside, in the meter cupboard, whilst the electricity meter is on the inside of the house. Why on earth were they not put together in one place? It makes life difficult if the gas runs out in the winter, you have to go outside with the step stool and a torch, especially when it's cold and dark, and it's quite an effort to then put the card in the slot in the meter and go through the process of checking the amount left on the meter etc etc. But the work has to be done by my beloved landlord who doesn't want to spend any money on anything in this house, and that would include dealing with the smart meter.

I have now learned that my current tariff includes what is called Economy 7, which means that the cost of electricity is a good deal cheaper over night, which I never knew. Which means in the long run it would be cheaper to do my washing at night and hopefully save quite a considerable amount on my electricity bill. Goodness knows why I haven't discovered this fact until now I have no idea. 

Wet Weather and Cancelling Sky

The weather has changed, but I'm not sure whether it's for the best or worst.  It's become wet and a good deal colder.

As I sit in my lounge, in my favourite armchair, with the television on and looking out of the window at the garden, the sun is going in and out. It was raining this morning when I went to the Men's Breakfast at church, but by the time I drove away it had stopped.

Enough of that. I have been meaning to cancel my Sky Television subscription. I'm not getting the use of all those channels. I doubt I watch much more than 3-4 hours per day. I don't know what the average length of time most of their customers spend watching their channels. Most probably if you're a sports fan and you have the additional sports channels, which I don't have, you would watch far more. I also have broadband as well as a Sky Mobile package. I wanted to cancel the television element and switch over to Freeview. For obvious reasons with that you don't have a subscription. Not as many channels but if I don't watch so much it made sense to switch over, but I needed a decent ariel which I don't currently have. When we first moved to this house we had a Freeview set-top box and we had to use an indoor ariel, so the picture quality was not very good, which is the reason we set up a Sky subscription. The alternative, Virgin, was out of the question, because their signal comes via cable, which it appeared from investigation wasn't available in Milton Keynes, somewhat surprising when one considers how new the city is. You would assume that Virgin would have installed a cable system, but there isn't one, so Sky was the only choice. There's never been an ariel at this address, which is the reason we had to use an indoor ariel for the Freeview box we had when we first moved into this address. But to receive a half-decent picture it would be necessary to have an outdoor aerial. I looked around on the internet and found several local companies who could do what I required and one company's website had a section on which you could send messages via email. I left a message, along with my telephone number and they rang me this lunchtime and said that someone would come round to do an assessment and give me a quote.

I got a call from the aerial company and they said they could send someone within ten minutes, was I interested? I said I was and the engineer came in a van with a large ladder on top. He came in and had a look at my television and went out to look at the wall outside the lounge. He gave me a quote and then said he could install the ariel immediately, so I agreed, I would like the work done. The next problem was getting his ladders into the house and through to the garden. The only way was through the kitchen window. The aerial had to have a long metal pole attached onto the wall with brackets. I'm surprised how high it was up, compared with those aerials attached to the neighbouring houses.

The engineer checked that there was a signal reaching my television. When you first use Freeview you have to set up the tuner, which is built into my set and the various channels have to be scanned, rather like downloading apps and other software from the internet. I presume they are downloaded from the television transmitter. This took about ten minutes and then the set was up and running. Unlike the Sky Q box, you can't record or watch catch-up services such as BBC iPlayer, so I intend buying a set-top box which has the Freeview channels and connects to the internet via wi-fi. I have quite a few Nectar points as well as Argos vouchers owed me from doing on-line surveys, and, as I write, these are on order and should arrive within a week, so I can go and buy the Panasonic Freeview box I have seen on the Argos website. As Sainsbury's owns Argos and Nectar, I can use the Nectar points and Argos vouchers to pay for part of the cost of the set-top box.

Once I was set up with Freeview and the aerial was working successfully, I then had to ring Sky to give them the news that I was ditching their television service. It wasn't long before I had got through and explaining why I was cancelling the television subscription. I have managed to do a good deal with the rest of the package because I have their broadband, landline and mobile. I have got the broadband down to £28 a month and the mobile data package has increased, in fact double what it was and still the same price as it was for half the amount of data, all for £19.50. How did I manage that? The call-centre tried to get me to continue with the Sky television element, for £45 for 18 months, but, no, I had made my decision to cancel it and go over to Freeview. With a Freeview Play set-top box, which I intend to get, you can have all the catch-up services, such as BBC iPlayer and even Netflix, which I already have an account with, so I don't loose the ability to record and playback all those services and without having to pay a subscription. I think one of the things that annoys me with Sky is the amount of advertising that their programming has. I was under the impression that once you paid a subscription you didn't have to endure endless advertising. At least that's not the case with Netflix. I realise that Sky is a commercial operation, like ITV, and depends on advertising for some of it's income, but they show them so frequently that it's so annoying.

The Return of the MacBook!

(Friday) I was informed by both email and text message, that the microwave oven I'd ordered through the Currys website would be arriving between 12.20 and 1.20 this morning. It arrived more or less dead on time and I had to sign using one of these crazy digital devices where it's virtually impossible to sign your signature properly. The parcel came via DPD, the courier company, who very kindly kept me informed of my microwave's journey from the warehouse. Very crafty to be able to keep a track of a delivery and to give fairy accurate information as to when a parcel is going to arrive. I had also ordered a box from Bilbliophile books a couple of weeks ago, a paperback of Gyles Brandreth's diaries of his time as an MP and, to make it even more worthwhile, it has been signed by him. I've always liked his style and erudite manner whenever he appears on The One Show and such radio programmes such as Just A Minute. I had wondered where this book had got to, but it arrived in the post, earlier in the morning, along with a DVD of 'The Favourite' which I got from Sky as part of my subscription, so I have that to enjoy at some not-too distant point in time.

At last! The telephone call I've been waiting for came at around 12 midday today (Friday) to inform me that the MacBook was ready for collection from Currys. They had found a couple of viruses on it and they were removed. So I went off to Curry's no sooner had the microwave been delivered. One lest thing to wait around for, but it's fixed and I feel a good deal happier that that rather nasty incident over the scam had been resolved. Although I got a telephone call earlier, one of those strange computerised calls, saying it was from BT, but after what happened exactly a week ago, I have my serious doubts that it was actually from BT. As a consequence of this I have now rung the real BT (well, I do hope that it was the REAL BT.) and informed them of the call last week. Apparently they are attempting to stop these malicious and false calls. You can get your provider to put some sort of software in their system to stop these sorts of calls, so I might call Sky, who provide my landline telephone and see if they can stop these calls and hopefully prevent a repetition of last Friday's incident.

Saturday morning. I've been out early with Alfie. Any idea that I might get some sort of lie-in because it's the weekend has completely gone out of the window. Alfie doesn't realise it's the weekend and that either of us could do with a rest. I did get up a bit later than usual, but not much. It would have been around 6.40 but the time we set paw and foot on the path outside the front door and the set off towards Eaglestone Park. Alfie came across a young bird as soon as I let him off his lead. I think it was a newly fledged starling. It was fluttering around in the long grass. Alfie, being a Yorkshire Terrier, showed his terrier instincts, and wanted to catch it. I had to prevent him from picking it up. I'm not sure what he would have done with it if he had, and I wasn't going to find out, so I had to pick him up, but when I put him down again, he tried to follow the little bird. No doubt the fledgling was being watched by it's parents from the safety of a nearby tree. But I managed to distract Alfie long enough for him to not follow the birdie. Then, in a tree at the rear of a garden which backs onto the park, we saw several squirrels playing in a tree. I thought they would make a really great photo and got out my iPhone in an attempt to get a shot or two, but it's not easy trying to get a decent shot with a Yorkshire Terrier in tow and pulling on his lead and barking. The squirrels were running up and down the trunk of the tree and then leaping from branch to branch above my head. They move very quickly and are extremely adept at hanging on to the very thin and bendy branches. But in the end I lost sight of them and we walked on along the path.

My car needed fuelling. The gauge in the car was showing low. I could have gone on for a few more days, but I didn't want to put diesel in until it was really necessary. The Renault Captur is a very economical car to run and I can go for several weeks on one tankful. I have been going to the BP station on Childs Way, behind he Xscape building, basically because it's convenient and I get Nectar points. When I got there it now seems they are going to give up on Nectar and set up their own points system. Annoying, because it means if you join it you have to have another card or app on your phone if you intend collecting them. At least with Nectar there are several places that give them if you shop with them. I also go to fuel there early because there's less traffic and it's easier to get out onto the road afterwards.