Another early wake up after a chair doze. It would be quite alright if I lived in a different time zone. The sleep would be the correct amount.
I eventually made sense of the dark of the early morning and did some tidying up and found other jobs to do. Including securing the back gate, which I discovered had freed itself of its weighty rock, and was banging (gently). That would give W and B genuine cause for complaint.
A look outside had revealed awful wind and blustery showers. It was so quiet inside that the storm without took me by surprise. It was not unexpected, because we had been under an amber warning for a few hours. Pen, in Devon , had received one of the Governments red warnings., heralded by all sorts of loud beeps and sirens on her mobile phone.
After a while, I took H with me to Goring. I wanted to buy a new lidded plastic box to put on my doorstep, to receive parcels. This was important because I had been notified by Royal Mail that they were going to deliver a parcel from Photobox. I knew this would contain the Christmas cards I had ordered and I did not want them to get damp.
So my top shop, Goring Hardware, produced the goods, along with some much needed oven cleaner ( ;/ ) and I took H out for a quick walk by Streatley Rec. By now, conditions were very nasty wind-wise. And the rain was not helping.
I dropped H at home, usually she comes with me to meet my Basingstoke friends, but I decided not to complicate my lunch out and to leave her at home. Just in case. At least she would be safe and warm if I got delayed etc etc.
Just as I was about to leave, the postman arrived with my package , which contained my Christmas cards of my composite sheep/ Wittenham Clumps / painting. So of course I had to write one for Sue and one for Jane. This made me a few minutes late leaving home.
The journey to Aldermaston was fine and merely involved dodging debris and poodles. I was only a couple of minutes late. It was good to be with old friends and they were both well. I had thought we might miss out on lunch due to the weather, but all was well.
Jane’s mother has developed dementia over the last couple of years and I gave her T’s hardly-used wheel chair. Jane said it was proving really helpful so I am glad I donated I it.
We did not sit around for quite as long as usual, and parted company. My way home was blocked by a fallen tree just outside Pangbourne. So I had to take the long way round via narrow lanes ( mainly lined with more trees) but finally reached home without further hold up.
As H went down the garden, I noticed that the protective cover for my garden table had disappeared completely. Nowhere to be seen in the garden. This had been a snug fit.
My lightweight winter green house was rocking away in a bid to escape the corner where I had placed it, and a couple of taller pot plants were rolling around in fits of laughter ( not). Rolling around – yes.
By bedtime, the winter greenhouse had managed to escape its location and was cosying up against the shed. Goodness knows how it managed this and what has happened to the plants inside it. Daylight will reveal all. A chaotic clear up for tomorrow that I could do without.
Mid Wales and its roads where I was last week seem to have a few problems.
Not a lot of fun out there . Ticks indicate familiar friends.
Darkness fell to allow more destruction to take place over the next few hours. My eyelids fell too and I missed the end of Strictly. Time to catch up.
At least we still had power at bedtime, probably because I had laid in a supply of heavy duty candles and charged up my power pack.
As I inspected the garden (from inside) when I went walk about in the night I could see the winter greenhouse was still where it had relocated itself. It came with little guy ropes and metal pegs which I ignited. Serves me right! But then how do you peg out guy ropes in a patio? Nails in the fence maybe? It had heavy pots in it too! And I had even shoved heavy stuff against it yesterday evening. Houdini shall be its name henceforth.
My Hotel Chocolat advent calendar has yielded some tasty daily treats including the following: caramel coffee; raspberry smoothly, carrot cake, lemon cheesecake. But today, as I licked my lips in anticipation, drool forming in the corners of my mouth, a BIG disappointment lay in wait . I opened the 7th to find it was empty! Vainly, 😊 I scrabbled around in case my eyes were deceiving me. But they were not. Hmmph! I wonder if they will send me a whole new calendar if I complain…Or just the missing chocolate?
Thought for the Day
So true if my best friend . Always either ne and there for me. Thank you Heidi.
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