Seeing Double........

 

Saturday neighbourJ came up with flowers and told Hubby they are for me as a thank you for lending him out to fix her leak! Hubby told her she had already given me flowers and invited her in to show her. She couldn't believe she'd done it twice and told us of all the stuff going on in her life just now. She blamed the heat for messing with her head and we all laughed. As she left we saw her shaking her head and muttering to herself "I can't believe I did that!" When Son came Sunday he saw two lots of flowers and asked what event he'd forgotten hahaha. Daughter came over in the week and asked exactly the same hahaha. 

You may remember I have a problem with my right eye and Specsavers referred me to the Macular Assessment Unit at the Hospital who saw me in March when the doctor said no treatment needed yet but will see me again in two months. Well May went and so did June and July almost had too so time to make contact. It's not urgent so I used the email address given on their letter, then a week later I emailed again asking them to acknowledge receipt, then two days after that I phoned. Lots of excuses from an obviously stressed appointments clerk who then found me a cancellation slot! Which was this Thursday, that's good, at 8:50am, that's not so good! The only bit I really hate is having the drops in my eyes that make the pupils dilate as that stings like mad 😖 the rest is waiting between moving from machine to machine that tests and photographs in round and behind each eye. Optometrist looked through it all and said no change from last time so still no treatment needed phew! They can't explain the cause probably just age related wear and tear, and no cure. Keep monitoring on a little chart she gave me and go back if anything changes. It took almost till bedtime for the pupils to return to normal and my focus to feel comfortable again. 

Opening night for Theatre in the Forest was Thursday night and they had some great online reviews. 

Friday evening we stayed with O and the dog while Daughter and M went to see it, invited as it was Press Night. Daughter will be seeing it twice as I'm going with her, Hubby and O on the 11th.

So for our Friday night me Hubby and O had fish and chips from the chippy in their road and O wanted us to watch his current favourite film (he's already watched it four times) it's very funny. 

Have a good weekend.

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Don't Make Me Say It.........

 
Daughter came for lunch Monday mainly to get the dog out of the house as her landlord was sending round an electrician for the regulation annual electrics check, (in fact they've lived there for about 17 years and this is the first time). Lovely to have her to myself for a while and catchup. 

Tuesday I met with friendS and friendL for lunch, this has been postponed a few times when each friend had family with a health problem, so we had a lot to catch up on. We went to the  Belstead Brook Hotel which is just round the corner to where we live. They've a lovely restaurant area which is never busy at lunchtime (some of our topics we wouldn't want overheard), you'll never be hurried, plus they have a pensioner's menu of two courses and tea or coffee for just £11.95. We chatted away for four hours hahaha

It's lovely where I sit in the lounge when the French doors are both open as I get a great view of garden and watch the birds coming and going. 

Apart from this one spooky leaf that keeps staring at me. 

Hubby and neighbourA helped another neighbour with her leaking bathroom sink, Hubby fixed it eventually and she was so grateful that she's promised to take them out for lunch soon. I also got a "thank you for lending me your husband" bunch of roses. 

Because Neighbours (Australian soap) ends on 1st August for ever I decided to watch all July episodes to work out who is who and who is still in it and who they bring back for the finale. I last watched it about 30 years ago!  I'm pleased to report Neighbours hasn't lost its sense of humour. One of the young adults confessed to his mother that he was working as a male escort seducing wealthy women..... the portrait of the old Mrs Mangle fell off the wall 😂

Phew, see I made it all the way to the end without mentioning the record breaking heat! Oops I've said it now  🙄

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Flexible Planning.......

 
Now the hedge has been halved I can see what beautiful bark the flowering cherry tree has. What a shame it's been hidden for so long, although maybe it was because it was in constant shade that made it grow that way. 

Sunday Hubby arranged for us to visit Son and fiancé, as he was desperate to have a look at their building work so far. What's done so far looks really good, but still a long way from being finished, especially as they keep adding to the final vision. 

O and the dog were here on Tuesday and Hubby was out all day. I'm sure some things only happen because Hubby is out so I feel totally useless! The oven went on got to temperature and sausage rolls went in and then ALL the power went off. I didn't want to climb on the kitchen steps and couldn't see up to the fuse box enough to guide O so we left it all alone. Next door was out and next to that is someone not really capable of sorting it, so I phoned next house along from my mobile (land line won't work without power) got no answer, their car was there so thought they might ignore it if they don't know the number, so went and knocked but still no answer. Then I noticed neighboursL&G further down by their caravan. Told them my sad plight and L came straight up. Definitely the cooker caused the problem so he left that off and put everything else back on. I've put a note on the hob..... sausage rolls still in there, thawed but raw!

O was quite pleased as he's on a "creating short stories on video" mission today and recorded one earlier he wasn't pleased with, but now the "Grandma/ cooker/ power cut" footage needed editing up nicely. 

It did edit up very nicely, O did a great job and did it quick enough for us all to watch it after Daughter got back and before they went home. 

SisterP came across this photo and shared it with us. The adult is cousinS, I'm in the middle at the front and the rest are my siblings. 1956.

Friday and Hubby still gardening even when it's hot. 

Dog prefers the shade. 

And I'm happier sitting for a while watching the fish and taking the photos. 

As you can see the dog is here again. This was all planned ages ago then all got confused and changed last minute. Wednesday night R and the dog arrived as Daughter and O were leaving early Thursday to drive far north somewhere for a wedding on Friday, they will meet E up there. The plan was Saturday to drive quite near to old friends who host an annual summer party weekend where all the guests camp in their field (cancelled the last two years of course so they were all really looking forward to it). We were taking R to and from work Thursday, Friday and next Monday with a relax weekend in between. 

     First major change was the party family very recently testing positive for covid so the camping party got cancelled, Daughter and O will now be coming home Saturday. 

     Second major change was R being invited to a friend's group social evening and sleepover Thursday night..... so what to do with the dog (she won't sleep alone and we won't have her upstairs with us)? M came and got her when he finished work at 9pm to sleep at home and brought her back just after 8am Friday on his way to work. Poor dog must get so confused. 

Of course these major changes cause so many more ripples, thankfully nothing we couldn't deal with.  

With this current heat wave forecast for dangerous levels through to early next week and covid numbers continuously rising it's probably best not to make too many plans.

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The Hedge and Hound.........

 
Quiet Sunday morning with the dog happily looking out the window and everyone else on computer and phones and I've only put my tablet down to take this photo. 

They went home Sunday evening. 

O and the dog were back on Thursday. 

This is a picture of a very fluffy dog after Hubby had to shower her down outside because she'd rolled in something smelly. While he did that I'd sprayed all the lounge with fabreze so it all smells a lot better. 

Our tall hedge has been cut down to a better size. Hubby loves having these bigger jobs to tackle. It just needs to green up again now. There used to be the children's swings, climbing frame and slide behind there which was removed a long time ago when they outgrew it all, so it doesn't need to be a hiding space anymore. 

Didn't realise just how wide the hedge had become. Shame it's the wrong sort of hedge for any topiary.  I'm sure there will be a better design for there now but it will take some research and thought. 

Any ideas will be appreciated by me, and by Hubby if it doesn't give him too much extra work. 

Dog was back on Friday for the day, she followed me everywhere. 

Hot already and heatwave coming, so use your suncream and stay hydrated and if I don't totally melt I'll be here next Saturday.

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Family of Performers........

 
As you know Hubby retired from being a volunteer blood runner and their events manager at the very end of last year, so we were surprised when we were both invited to the AGM and bbq, the Chairperson thought Hubby would enjoy keeping up with the friends he had made. It was a lovely thought and a lovely afternoon but unfortunately many of the old faces weren't there and there's been a good recruitment drive so there were many there that he didn't know. Happy that the charity is thriving but we keep in touch with the close friends anyway so doubt he'll want to go again. 

Daughter posted a lovely photo on Facebook of them working hard as Tudor mistrals. Reminded me how tall O is now. 

Monday I went down the drive for coffee morning and Hubby took R to work, taking a little longer as he stopped at the shop on his way back. Thankfully I had some house windows open so we all heard the dog getting a bit upset at being left alone (been about half an hour by then) so I went in and brought her out on the lead to sit with me until Hubby could then take her for a walk. So with taxi, shopping then dog walking Hubby missed most of coffee morning. 

Had a lovely visit from a very old friend (he's actually my age and that's not old, he's a friend that I've known since high school/ youth club days, but you knew that's what I meant). FriendBG was seeing other friends in the area and staying overnight so called in here before heading home more than two hours drive away. Apart from on Facebook we haven't seen him since his son's wedding about eight years ago so a lot of catching up to do. 

R has been working hard every day and that has included lots of rehearsals for this year's Theatre in the Forest production of Macbeth with a cast of five professional actors and six actors from the Red Rose Chainers Youth Theatre. It's lovely to see them all get poster billing. 

Hope you've had a good week too. 

Stay safe as there's still a lot of covid around.

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