Spring

I know that it is still a few days until (astronomical) Spring starts, but today was a very fine dress rehearsal. The sun shone throughout the day, and it was delightfully warm. I had emerged from bed at 6:30 and started my day, as usual, with coffee and news. When Di came down for her tea, I went to shower and dress.

We walked to Zoe's to take Ellie to school. She was very chirpy this morning. As she charged into class, Di went home for breakfast and to head off to Pilates. I went for my usual walk. It was so nice walking in the morning sunshine, with just a light jacket. I arrived home about 75 minutes later and sat down for my breakfast.

The morning was spent with some domestic chores and then some admin. Nothing of note. When Di arrived back, we sat down for a light lunch and then sat in the Orangery to enjoy the sun and consume some more from our Kindles. We went to collect Ellie from football practise, then took her home.

All-in-all, an uneventful day.

Own Devices

 I was awake stupidly early again. There was a damp, grey start to the day. Di pottered down at seven, and we had our morning drinks and prepared to take Ellie to school. We left to walk around to Zoe's a few minutes earlier than usual. In doing so, we bumped into Paul (our next-door neighbour). He announced that, having been trying to sell his house for a year or so, he is finally moving out next week. It will be a shame to see him go. He and Ali have been perfect neighbours.

We took Ellie to school and then Di went home for breakfast before heading off to Ramster to meet with Kathie. They had a day planned at an exhibition being held there. I went off for my usual walk. As I walked, the greyness gave way to blue skies, and it turned into a lovely morning.

When I arrived home, I had breakfast and then went back to Zoe's. She had left her freezer door ajar the other night, and now we had to ditch all of the contents. She, of course, could bend properly to empty it, so I provided a helping hand. When I returned home, I was clutching Ellie's iPad. She wanted me to show her how to make a presentation. I installed PowerPoint and checked that it was all working in preparation for a quick lesson after school.

I went for another walk as it was such a lovely day, then grabbed a bite of lunch before settling with the Kindle until it was time to collect Ellie. I brought her back here, and we set about creating a presentation. We prepared the first slide together and included some graphics that we captured as a screenshot from Amazon. Once she had seen how to do this, she created the next slide without any intervention from me. She's a quick learner.

I took her home, then returned to prepare dinner for when Di got back.

Mouth Mining

 I was up just before seven. It was dry, but light rain was forecast. I grabbed a coffee and read the overnight news.  di wandered down and completed her occasional blood test while I went up to wash and dress.

We walked around to Zoe's and collected Ellie for the walk to school. Dropping her off in class, we both headed home for breakfast. What? No walk, you exclaim! No, I had an appointment with the dental hygienist this morning, and there wasn't time to include a walk in the schedule.

Once back from school, we had breakfast, and I prepared for my trip to Chichester. I took the bus and then waited until the hygienist was ready. With trepidation, I entered her lair. That was when the "treatment" started. (She referred to it as treatment; I would re-categorise it as sadism or torture.) As I left, there was a queue of prisoners who had just been brought from a black site or Guantanamo Bay to wait for her ministrations.

Once the bus had delivered me back home, I spent some quality time with the accounts before getting on with some research. This continued into the afternoon. We went to collect Ellie from school and take her to Chichester for her weekly appointment. Traffic was remarkably light this afternoon, so we had no delays.

After dropping Eliie back, we returned home, where Di did some work on her latest sewing project while I prepared dinner for us both.

Mothers' Day

 I was awake very early, but stayed in bed until 6:30. I have no idea why I have been waking so early, but I don't let things like that bother me. It was another bright, if chilly, start to the day. I sat in the kitchen, with my coffee and watched a few YouTube videos that I had been meaning to catch up on.

Once Di had come down, we chatted over breakfast and then got on with the day. Being the 15th of the month, there was admin to complete. (I do the main household admin on the 15th, just as I pay most monthly bills on the 15th). I finished off with some research, then started preparing lunch.

Being Mothering Sunday, we had invited the girls. Kim, unfortunately, couldn't make it as she is suffering at present, has had a foul week at work, and has a significant essay to complete for University. We told her we would rather she didn't come, so she wouldn't stress over the "lost" time for the essay. She did, however, phone and had a long chat. After the call with Kim, Diane went to collect Zoe. She was able to have lunch with us, and we had a lovely few hours before taking her back in time for Ellie to return from Pete's.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent with our Kindles.

During the evening, we heard from Jane. Cousin Liz has just become a great-grandmother. Grandson Harry's wife, Eunyoung, has given birth to twin boys (in Seoul). What a lovely bit of news on which to end the day.

Gentle day

I was up at a stupid time. Having checked the plumbing at 4:15, I could not get back to sleep, so at 5:30 I was sitting in the kitchen with a steaming mug of coffee and my Kindle. As the sun came up, it was clear that there had been quite an air frost, and the Orangery roof had the tracery of ice fractals sprayed across the ceiling.

Once Di emerged, as the clock ticked around towards eight, I went for my shower and then returned for breakfast before my weekly call with the cousins. There was all the usual jollity, and it was good to see Chris back home in Turkey after his trip to Switzerland. We heard all the latest gossip from Tim's family and collectively censured Trump for his idiocy (that'll teach him).

There was little else of great importance during the day. We cleaned the inside of the car between us. This also involved borrowing a vacuum cleaner from Zoe as ours needed charging. We then found that Zoe's also needed charging. What did become clear was that the two greatest sources of dirt on the carpets were a) Ellie's snacks, and b) Zoe and Ellie's cat, Beau. Clearly, the (white) cat's fur gets onto Ellie and also onto our shoes, and gets carried into our car.

During the afternoon, we popped out for a few hours for a bit of change of scenery.

Anudda Nada

It was another uneventful day. I was up soon after 6:30, and we followed the usual pattern until going to Zoe's to collect Ellie and take her to school.  Dropping her off in class, Di went home to prepare for her Cardiac Rehab session, and I went for my usual walk. During my loops of the estate, I finished the Jonathan Kellerman audiobook and started another, this one by Sally Rigby. I may be a mere 15 minutes into the story, but I am suitably hooked.

Back home, I grabbed breakfast, updated the accounts, and spent the remainder of the morning doing research. I will reveal the outcome in the near future (should it come to anything).

The rest of the day followed the usual pattern, with Kindle time and then a run to school to collect Ellie after her dance class. We dropped her off with Zoe and then returned home for a quiet afternoon and evening.

Nada

Today was a typical Thursday. I was up before seven and enjoyed a coffee while reading the overnight news. When Di came down for her tea, I went to get ready, and then when the time came, we went to Zoe's to collect Ellie and take her to school. Leaving her as she walked into class, Di headed home, and I went for my usual walk. I am now within about 35 minutes of the end of my audiobook, and can't wait for tomorrow's episode. For anyone who hasn't read any of the Alex Delaware series of books by Jonathan Kellerman, I think you are really missing out on great stories.

We completed our shopping list and headed out to Sainsbury's. Zoe had given us some paperwork to drop off with Jason (the Manager), and a list of bits that she needed us to collect for her. There seemed to be some problems to start with regarding the handheld scanners, but we managed to sort that out and get started. The usual Zombie didn't seem to emerge this week, so we shopped relatively quickly. I dropped Zoe's list and Di back at Zoe's and went home to pack our shopping away.

After lunch, we had some Kindle time, before I went to collect Ellie from school. I left Di at home to have a rest, as she had been on the go sorting out stuff at Zoe's earlier.

There's nothing else of note to report.

Just bits

 There seemed to be a lot of movement overnight, with car doors opening and closing. This kept waking me. In the end, I got up just after six. I went down to quaff a coffee and read the news. When Di stirred, about an hour later, I made her tea and went up for my shower. 

We both went to collect Ellie and take her to school at the allotted time. She was very excited this morning as they had a class trip to see the Mary Rose at Portsmouth. Di headed home for some breakfast and to head off to Pilates, while I went for a walk. My route was different this morning. I only did one of my usual three loops, but then crossed the main road and took the back route into the village. I stopped at the Chemist's to pick up Di's meds, then at the Post Office to return something Di was exchanging. I then crossed the road to the Barber's shop and had my flowing locks trimmed to a manageable length.

Back home, I grabbed some breakfast, then got on with some admin and some domestic chores. Zoe called. She was trying to complete some spreadsheet work on her iPad. It was not working properly, so I took Di's MacBook around to her so she could use that for now.

After lunch, we settled down in the warmth of the Orangery and had some Kindle time. We heard that there had been major disruption on the A27. This would affect Elli's class trip. The coach arrived back well over an hour late, so we waited outside to collect her and take her home. The sun may have been out, but there was a nip in the air. We were both glad when the coach finally arrived.

Having dropped Ellie back home, we headed home for dinner and a quiet evening.

Taxi!

 It has been a day punctuated by car trips between brief interludes of peace. I was up at my usual time and followed the normal morning schedule before walking to Zoe's to collect Ellie for school. Leaving her in class, Di headed home, and I set out on my usual walk. My audiobook chatted away through my AirPods, and I became quite lost in the story.

Once home, and with breakfast finished, I did some quick admin, then returned to the problem I was having with the in-car hotspot. This doesn't affect Di or me, as our phones have direct access through their mobile signals. Ellie's iPad, however, needs a WiFi connection, and the car's hotspot should provide this. I researched, I fiddled, and I faffed. Three times, I went out to the car to try different solutions. On the last occasion, everything burst into life. It was finally working.

Di was going out to lunch at The Oystercatcher with Pauline. I drove her across and then headed home for my own slice of stale bread with some gruel. I finished another book after lunch and then went to collect Zoe and take her to the hospital for an X-Ray. Leaving her at reception, I then drove across to collect Di. We got back to Zoe's just a few moments after she had arrived home by taxi. Almost immediately, we had to head to the school to collect Ellie, and when we got back, we did some of her chores before heading home.

 A few minutes after getting home, Amazon delivered my parcel. I have bought an Ottocast device that automatically connects with my phone when I get in the car, and starts CarPlay on the infotainment system (without needing to plug in a cable). This only took 30 seconds to install, and it seems to work seamlessly. I'm very impressed so far.

I had a quick dinner (Black Lentil Dahl), and then we drove back to Zoe's so that I could drive her to school for Parents' Evening. Ellie's teacher is clearly quite delighted with her. She had no concerns and commented on how kind and helpful Ellie is and how well she participates in class. She's also very pleased with her maths, her reading, and her project work.

Play Misty for Me

I was up just before seven. The first 90 minutes followed the usual pattern, and then we walked around to Zoe's to collect Ellie and take her to school.  It was remarkably misty. After we had dropped Ellie at school, Di went home, and I went for my walk. The mist was thick, and several times during the walk, I had to pause to clean the water droplets from my glasses. I completed my normal route without any of the discomfort that I had felt yesterday morning. Obviously, the rest had done the trick.

When I had returned home and finished breakfast, I had an hour of Admin, then contacted Zoe to find out whether the Sainsbury's petrol station had fuel. She confirmed they were fine (she has been coordinating pricing of the supply across the region while she is laid up at home). I took the opportunity to whizz around the corner and fill the tank. With luck, that will see me through until next month.

After lunch, we had some Kindle time before going to collect Ellie. It was bright, and the sun seemed to be trying to break through. It wasn't trying hard enough. The mist persisted, and when we took Ellie to Chichester for her weekly appointment, it was even more noticeable.

We dropped Ellie back at home, then headed home ourselves. We've just finished dinner, and a quiet evening is planned.

Old Friends

My knee was stiff and a little sore when I woke up. I quickly decided that I would give it a rest today and not bother with a walk. I wandered downstairs and settled with a coffee and the overnight news until Diane came down. 

After breakfast, there was a bit of a cleaning frenzy as we were expecting visitors. Once everything was ready, we settled down and awaited the arrival of Jan and John. Old friends are like favourite sweaters, they are just comfortable. We settled down over a coffee and some biscuits and had the usual catch-up on family news. Then, we popped across to The Lamb Inn at Pagham for lunch. Di and Jan had chosen the plaice, but they had run out, so Jan chose a vegetable wellington while Di chose salmon. Jon and I both had the roasted pork belly. As usual, the portions were hearty, and the food was excellent. By the time we left, the restaurant was full, with people waiting to be seated.

Back home, we settled with some tea and a lemon cheesecake while the conversation carried on. We chatted about some of the short city breaks we did with them over the years, and they commented on how much they were looking forward to their forthcoming river cruise in Portugal. (They head off, just as we get back from our cruise on the Moselle.)

We had a lovely afternoon, but John was getting tired, so they left soon after four. We settled down for some Kindle time and a quiet evening.

Final Cut

 It was a grey day, but at least it was dry. There had been some overnight rain, which had deposited a fine Saharan dust on the cars. I had the usual start to the day, involving coffee and news. When Di came down, I provided tea, then went for my shower. 

I had my weekly call with the Empson cousins, with all of the usual banter and some discussion of our family consensus on the USA's attack on Iran. (The view being, we don't support it and think the PM was correct in his caution - having said that, we were also in agreement that the past 30 years spent winding down our armed forces, and particularly the Navy, have been disastrous.)

After the call, I returned to my edit of the Norway cruise video. Over the subsequent few hours, I completed the edit and added the background soundtrack. It won't win any Oscars, but it's finished, and I'm fairly happy with the 12 minutes of cinematic history. It now nestles quietly in the Family video library (accessible to the family through Jellyfin). I suspect the next project will be one of the river cruises.

Zoe and Ellie were coming for dinner, so I spent a couple of hours preparing. Zoe, Ellie, and I would have curry, while Di would have salmon. I made two separate curry dishes, a butter chicken for Ellie (using a Patak's sauce), and a chicken bhuna for Zoe and me. Di went and collected the girls and brought them back to us for dinner. When it was finished, I helped Zoe finish building a doll's cabin bed for Ellie's latest doll. This was a fiddly task, and with Zoe's inability to bend her knee properly was proving awkward. Having said that, she did most of the assembly. I just helped out with some of the final steps.

After Di had taken the girls home, we settled down for a quiet evening in front of the TV.

First Fix

 I was up at my usual time, and it wasn't long before I was enjoying a coffee and reading the news. Di followed me down after a while and, having made her a tea, I headed for the bathroom and made myself presentable for the day. We wandered around to Zoe's to take Ellie to school. As usual, it was all a bit chaotic, but we managed to get everything on track and dropped Ellie in class when the doors opened.

Di headed home before going to the Community Centre for her Cardiac Rehab. I set out on my customary walk with Jonathan Kellerman's novel unravelling in my ears. Once home, I started on breakfast as Diane arrived home. We sat and chatted and got on with some admin as the morning ticked by. I managed to add a number of novels to the spreadsheet, recording the books I have read. I have now managed to recall 752 books from over the years. I am certain there are many more, but until the relevant boxes in my mind spring open, they will remain a mystery.

I returned to the task of video editing. I have now completed "first fix" for the video recalling our cruise to Norway. There is still much to do, but the bones of the story are now in place. I still have to add "transitions" where appropriate, balance the sound, and add a background track with appropriate music.

During the afternoon, Diane took Zoe to the Doctor. She has been signed off for a further 2 weeks and has been referred for more X-Rays, MRIs and so forth. Clearly, this injury will not be quick to heal. While Di nd Zoe were at the doctor's, I collected Ellie from her after-school dance class. I got her home a few minutes after Di and Zoe got back. Zoe has arranged a lot of activities to keep Ellie busy over the weekend. We will, however, see them tomorrow when they come to dinner in the evening.

Northing Exciting

 There was nothing that could be construed as exciting today. I was up at my usual time, consumed my coffee, read the news and made some tea for Di. We both walked around to Zoe's so that we could escort Ellie to school. Today was World Book Day, so the kids had to dress up, and this year's theme was adjectives. Elli went as "sleepy" and went to school (with her friend Poppy) in their pyjamas. Some kids were more imaginative, but I must say that it did look funny outside the classrooms this morning.

Di headed home, and I set off for my usual walk. The weather was gorgeous (as befits West Sussex), and it was a real pleasure being out and about. Back home, after some breakfast, we finished the shopping list and then headed to Sainsbury's for our weekly raid. With the current troubles in the Middle East, it came as no surprise that there were huge queues at the petrol station. Fortunately, we do not need fuel at present, so we slipped into the store and completed our usual attack on their stocks.

This afternoon was split. We started with some Kindle time, but then Jasper had to take Diane to the vet, so that he was chaperoned for his monthly injection. While they were gallivanting in Oving, I collected Ellie from school and took her home to Zoe. I arrived back home a minute or so before Jasper arrived back with Di. We settled back down with our Kindles.

A message appeared on the phone. Could I walk Ellie around to he friend Poppy's? Five minutes later, Ellie presented herself at our door, and I walked her to her friend's house. It was only when I. got there that it became clear that this was something the girls had arranged between them, and Poppy's mum knew nothing about it. After a few awkward moments, I agreed to leave Ellie there and come back to collect her in 45 minutes. I went home and started preparing the vegetables for our dinner, and marinating the chicken in a soya, honey, and sweet chilli sauce. By the time I was finished, I had to head back and collect Ellie and take her home.

We are all tucked up in our own houses now and have no intention of venturing out until the morning.