I didn’t sleep that well- a bit of an up and downer going on, punctuated by aches and stiffness. No doubt as a result of yesterday’s adventures.
There was a bit of a necessity to get up – Pen and Evie were coming to visit before returning to Devon. They had been invited to join us for our farewell Illis meal this evening but they needed to be back in Devon.
The limbs were not very cooperative. I flexed but not for nearly as long as my workout tried to make out. It’s clearly on my side!
Pen was Parent Christmas in disguise, arriving with all sorts of treats, breakfast treats, teatime treats, anytime treats. It was a shame we couldn’t treat her. She also went bananas in the garden – sorting out and dead heading plants in pots. I am very grateful.
The stiffness and aches persisted, meaning it took me a long time to do anything and everything. By the time Pen and Evie left, we had a narrow window of opportunity to shop and prepare a two course meal for six of us. Luckily the Illis were not ready for the original deadline of 16.00 which became 18.00 and was actually 19.00.
A large pièce of beef formed the centre piece. Slices of this sat on a wholesome heap of ratatouille-like stew, extracted from a huge vat of the stuff that I had carefully prepared. Some delicious garlic roast potatoes accompanied the lot. It disappeared at speed, or much of it did.
Then there was the rather strange orange desert I prepared, minus any sign of any sort of orange liqueur. I jazzed it up and disguised it with a meringue and some cream.
The Illis are off to Peru at 3.00 am. It is a 24 journey that will get them to Lima. They seem to be travelling in the wrong direction, in that Lufthansa are taking them to explore Frankfurt airport first. Thence they fly to Miami and then to Lima. The Americans kindly insisted that they get themselves a transit bit of paper for exploring Miami airport. 72 hours notice required. Someone omitted to notice that 72 hour bit. So it was all a bit of a scramble. Luckily telling the time is not obviously an American skill because it came through in about 4 hours.
I felt sad to see everyone depart today, Pen and Co are off to Greece for 10 days on Tuesday.
But Minnie has arrived and will be with us until early September when the Illis return.
Now … My ankle, which has been troublesome for months, if not years, is now incredibly painful. So much so, I can hardly walk on it. How convenient is that with two dogs to exercise. It is not swollen or anything- just painful. I might have to do a crutch hunt.
However, this morning tells me that if I walk on it more, when tanked up with pain killers, and when I’ve massaged it with cannabis oil, it hurts a bit less. Maybe an ankle support would help. I have warned T that he might be in charge of the dogs.
Thought for the Day
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