Winter

With the wind swinging round to the north-west, and a few hail stones and claps of thunder over the past couple of days, it looks as if we might be in for some proper winter weather.  Doubtless just in time to frost the many buds on the roses.  Meanwhile, it has been WET.  I took the main roads to the hobby yesterday, and an unedifying experience it was.  Kamikazes hurtling through the rain and spray with no or insufficient lighting and scant regard for speed limits.  I decided to try my normal route home, but was thwarted by a road closure on the stretch that floods.  The consequent detour was slow and trying.  Driving narrow lanes after dark with oncoming headlights reflecting off the wet surface is a bit of a strain after a long day's unpaid work for the benefit of the community.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Jonathan is pressing on with redecorating the dining room, and we haven't heard so far that the new carpet we've ordered has been discontinued.  The rest of the house has to accommodate the fallout meanwhile, but does not present too many trip hazards.  I'm glad we've adopted a GSI policy for decorating.  The kitchen, our last essay in DIY decorating, came just as my old frame was starting to play up, so hopping on and off step ladders was not fun.  We found, when we lifted the old carpet, that the edge under the french window was sodden.  Turns out there is a significant gap between the window frame and the floor, which no doubt accounts for the slug trails on the carpet some mornings.  The work of our old friends Jokers Я Us Home Improvements, of course.  Their work on the front and back doors is similarly failing to stand the test of time, and they are up for replacement shortly.  We'll be out busking on the Pantiles ere long.


As for said old frame, the new exercises are making little or no difference, and I have an appointment with an orthopod later in the month.  Among other intimations of mortality, that appointment falls on the day we attend the thanksgiving service for a bench colleague's husband.  He fell and broke his neck some months ago in the garden to which he had devoted so much work over the decades, and which had also raised a fair bit for charity under the National Gardens Scheme.  Look it up: Little Gables.  Sad news too yesterday of another  respected bench colleague who has succumbed to breast cancer.  Two months older than me.  Hmmm. 

I have meanwhile had my new specs slackened off a bit: they were cutting tramlines in my temples.  One of the problems of having a big head (one way and another).  I'm going to have to get separate pairs for reading and computer work.  The varifocals are a good compromise, but not a panacea.  Question: should I put it off until after my eye clinic visit three weeks hence?  Roll on longer days and an improved Weltanschauung.