Thursday 25 August 2016

Summertime and the Living Is Easy.....

Last week I went to Devon with dear old friend J and her daughter who writes childrens` books, well, they are actually for young teenagers.  Her name is Fleur Hitchcock and I am putting her name in this blog as I so enjoyed reading her two latest which were very exciting, real page turners and gave me a glimpse into the way fourteen year olds think and behave.   I also read thrillers by Susan Hill and Donna Leon (hers are always set in Venice) and also reread Sue Monk Kidd`s The Secret Life of Bees which I loved

Stoke Gabriel where we stayed in Devon was an ideal place to sit and read as we were in a cottage right by the water`s edge of the River Dart and could just sit outside watching the tides going in and out and. all the birds. It was a beautiful place. We also did what oldies like us do: go round National Trust stately homes and gardens and eat cream teas.  

Now back at home this week, I am looking after a quiet well behaved dog for a friend, and enjoying dog walks again but at a more sedate pace than with the dear late lamented Bradley Wiggins.
Dotty the dog seems perfectly happy, I was afraid she might pine for her owner. Her only fault is that she has to be forcibly ejected from sleeping in my bed at night, not a good idea especially in this heat.


Daughter J and grand daughter G are off this evening on a night sleeper to Scotland  where they are going to swim for eight miles in the icy waters of  Loch Lomond.  I am a bit worried about them but I think there will be lots of other people doing it and rescue boats if needed.

It is a very poor year for blackberries. I managed to pick a few  this evening but they were few and far between.    I wonder why.  



Wednesday 3 August 2016

The Eyes Have It....

I keep thinking of Quaker George Fox on his deathbed,who suddenly sat up and said ` I am clear. I am fully clear` 
After months and months of increasing fuzziness and blurriness, I had a cataract operation yesterday and today everything seems extraordinarily clear to me, and will be even more so, hopefully, when I have the other eye done in a few weeks time.
It was more of an ordeal than I expected, lying with my face covered up, except for an eye hole cut out and listening to the conversation of the surgeon teaching another one how to slice into my eyeball, remove one lens and poke a new one in   There were all sorts of interesting psychedelic shapes and colours. and weird noises from what I think was a laser machine. It took about thirty minutes, but it didn`t hurt at all.  When I took the eye patch off this morning, everything looked clear and bright. It was amazing and I am delighted.     
The trouble is I can now see the fluff on the carpets, spider webs on the ceilings and grimy windows, all of which I was blissfully ignorant before.    I have decided to go online and buy a new vacuum cleaner and give the place a going over. 
It is an ongoing saga, just keeping my ancient body in working order.  It is like owning an old banger of which I have had many in my time. Bits fall off and unexpected rattles occur and you wonder how long you can keep it on the road.     In recent months it has been eyes, joints, hearing, dodgy leg, to name just a few. What next I wonder?   But in the meantime I feel very well, full of pep and looking forward to joining dear old friend, J for a holiday in Cornwall later this month.