What … another good sleep! And another hot day lay ahead… that meant another early walk. Not quite so early, because I was not awake in time.
After a bit of flexing, H and I drove to Little Wittenham, where cars were already parked up and empty of occupants. I expect they were mostly the dog walkers that we encountered. It was late- around 07.30 as we set off with a temperature of around 18C. A pleasant breeze played across the meadow. This was now shorn of its taller grasses and dead wild flowers. These probably protected the lower growing plant life which was tinged with green. GREEN!!
And as H and I hit the path under the trees we found some quite lush greenery.
This lush dampness is quite unaccustomed these days, a tussocky tripping zone, which contrasted starkly with the path I had trodden a few metres back, which had open wide chasms, hungry for water!
I dashed into Cholsey Tesco Express on the way back, to buy a few items to make my contribution to the family late meal tomorrow. But Tesco had few of my requirements. Should have patronised a different flavour of supermarket.
T was relaxing as we arrived home, having ignored the first brekkie he was given.
And then there was quite a hiatus whilst I waited for my personal batteries to recharge themselves. It took them a while – solar power was not a contributor.
I performed a little research into recipes for a Summer pudding and a lemon posset for a family meal tomorrow evening. For 10 people. At the Illis.
The research indicated that I would need to brave the heat and add to the ingredients which I already had, Tescos having failed to fully supply me in the morning. (to boldly go with a split infinitive)
So I took myself to the very large Waitrose in Wallingford, which was not much better supplied than Tesco Express. Waitrose had lots of empty shelves, no green salad, and not much in the way of summer fruit. Then I discovered they had rationalised what little stock they had because many of the freezers and chillers were switched off. I eventually found a large bag of frozen summer berries, cunningly disguised, and nestling amongst bags of frozen peas. Bingo.
Once home, I set about making my deserts. I’m wondering if the posset will actually set, whether the deserts will become part of a midnight feast for T, whether they will taste alright etc.
It feels like a very long day, even though I have not done much.
The heat has been intense – up to 36C as I drove to Waitrose. My plants are just shrivelling up despite my making use of the hose whilst I still can.
One more day of it and then things might cool down a bit. But not a lot as far as Monday is concerned. High temperatures are persisting.
And as for rain – it’s anyone’s guess. But Wherever it falls, it is likely to be very heavy.
There was an interesting experiment I watched on TV involving 3 upturned glasses of water. One on a ’normal’ grassy patch, one on a slightly drier grassy patch and one on a baked hard dead grassy patch. The water in the glass on the hard patch went nowhere. The glass stayed full, whilst the other two emptied at different rates.
It is 18.30 and 33C. The temperature should be as low as 20C by 02.00. And by 06.00 it might be 17C. The coming week is looking cloudy and damp, with maximum temperatures around 25C. I wonder how long it will be before I start complaining?
There were sirens in the village yesterday evening. Apparently there was a field fire off Halfpenny Lane –
It’s midnight. And its 21C.
Thought for the Day
Marriage to someone with Alzheimers is not a good place to be. I’ve deleted the long, tedious list of reasons why.
You have to pretend all day, every day, that your life is not full of shit. It is though. This way of living is an unwanted job. And I’m one of the more lucky ones.
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