Winter Time (verse)

It’s half past four and feels like night Oh, how I miss the bright sunlight.

I’ll laugh at clouds and welcome rain when hours of daylight come again.

For darkness in the evening seems to blight my day and sour my dreams.

No longer can I see the sky. I want to hide indoors and sigh.

Can it be true that nature rules and clock watching is just for fools?

That we should sleep from dusk to dawn and work and feast in early morn?

After a meal the heartbeat slows, for eyes are tired, now to doze.

Until the Springtime we must wait, with curtains drawn, and hibernate.

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An extra problem

It seems all I can post at the moment are problems. The new one is deafness. I was deaf in one ear so put oil in for a week and then booked to see the nurse at the surgery for syringing. That is due on Friday. meanwhile I thought I would pop some in the ‘good’ ear in case that needed doing, too. That ear promptly stopped functioning so I am almost completely deaf! I can hear myself and high notes but not the TV or hubby when he speaks to me. I have to lip read. It’s a very quiet world when you can’t hear. Now I don’t know whether to put more oil in or stop.

I can’t hear the radio and we often had it on for the music. I don’t use ear plugs for the phone so it must just be wax – or an infection. I have tried swallowing and chewing and jumping around to get the blood flowing but nothing fixes it. I have run out of those forbidden cotton buds so I can’t poke around in there. I suppose I must stay deaf until Friday. I wonder if salt water would help?

Facing the future.

Step by step I am trying to solve one issue at a time, rather than getting overwhelmed by everything that needs doing.

There is a load of rubbish in the garage that needs taking to the dump, there is a bed of stinging nettles that needs getting rid of There are boxes of books that I will take to charity shops if I can’t sell them this summer. The family want us to get Power of Attorney so I have contacted one. I need to put my winter clothes away and get out my summer ones. I started my memoirs and gave up so I need to carry on. It all seems to be stopping me posting anything positive or amusing and I do enjoy making people laugh.

We had to write about dreams for our writing group homework and I forgot the one dream I had before covid. I wanted to take singing lessons! Of course the pandemic put paid to that and now I am getting breathless I’m not sure if it would be good or bad to try to find a tutor. Let’s see if I can find a funny image to go with this post?

Problems

Hubby’s computer wont let him reply to posts. I think it is because it is old but it maybe the broadband. I am on a network with him so if I disappear you will know why.

I have been reducing my computer time and contacts but try to keep wordpress. These last few weeks have been a struggle and I don’t think the rat saga is finished yet. There are bluebottles in the bathroom and something has been chewing the refuse bags in the garage.

I would guess it is a dead rat under the floor and mice in the garage but I need a plumber and a pest controller to confirm. It all costs!

Sunny Day

I need to post something cheerful for a change. The back lawn is now cut, the rats seem to have gone, we have an invite to a jazz evening next month, the parcel I ordered for a birthday came. I intend to cook a pie for tea (dinner) and the lttle dog is so relaxed he was sun bathing in the garden. Best Wishes to all for May Day.

The Rat saga.

I hope this is the last post about our rats. The pest control man and put down poison but the toilet started leaking . The wretched creatures had gnawed through the new pipe before he came! Today the plumber came back and installed a third waste pipe but warned that we should think about getting a solid one as the ones they used were temptingly soft.

That would be a big job as there is a pipe in the way that they would have to move and the floorboards would have to come up so we would need new flooring, too!

I’m just hoping the poison has done the trick. The pest controller is comimg back next week to check. Meanwhile I scattered some cloves and pepper down the hole as it suggested on line that they could deter rats. We’ll have to see!

We didn’t hear them last night but just keep our fingers crossed. Hey ho!

Moods

I did so want to write something cheerful to counteract all the depressing news. I was going to tell you about my ‘money tree’ cuttings and how I have finally got a phone consultation with a doctor about hubby’s cough.

However, I have lost the picture of the money tree and I still have to fetch the tablets that I think are causing his problem from the pharmacy this afternoon. I will ask them if they could be the problem as the call from the doctor isn’t for another two weeks and meantime I could be watching him make himself worse.

I know you shouldn’t use Google to self diagnose but when the symptoms match you can’t help but worry. The research into the effect of statins on lungs is pretty new and the problems only occur in about 5% of patients. ( according to an article on line)

I can’t sleep at night for the worry of it all and, of course, the health professionals refuse to discuss his situation with me. He forgets what people tell him and I have promised to look after him ‘until death do us part.’ I just wish I knew I was doing everything I could.

I know this is nothing compared with what is going on in the world but it is consuming my thoughts at present.

Film Review – No Mercy.

I have just viewed a film on U tube on my phone that I believe needs a larger audience. It was created by Louis Findlay and is a story about boxers in the UK.

It had a very natural and realistic script and the variety of settings photographed (mainly in London) was impressive.

All the acting was good, although I had one tiny criticism. When the wife talks of ‘sacrifices’ we hadn’t had enough backstory to sympathise. If there had been a short scene where she had said she wanted to move house, keep a job or do something she had to give up to stay home and support him it would have justified her rant.

All the characters were perfectly cast, from the smooth promoter to the cheeky taxi driver.

I’m not used to commenting on my phone but to anyone wishing to see an excellent film by a debut director – this should fit the bill.

Super surprize

One half of the family arrived this morning and stayed for lunch. It was better than any present. They had to put up with home made turkey and ham pie and salad but we were drunk on togetherness. I had some crackers and just had time to use the robot floor sweeper before they came.

They insisted my ‘mouse’was a rat so we are going to call it Rodney the Rodent. The seagulls were grateful for the turkey left overs but they are not getting any pudding. That will probably get finished up tonight.

It rained all morning so hubby went out at 3pm to get the paper. Of course the most popular ones had gone but he still brought one home full of puzzles, so if the tv is too dire I’ll have plenty to do.

I walked round the streets on my own this afternoon, using the route I would have taken with the dog. We MUST walk every day – but, boy, is it boring! There weren’t even as many houses with lights as there has been in previous years. Maybe we can have some next year. I guess it depends on how much electricity they use.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year.

Julie.

The Christmas List.

I sat down to start my Christmas cards this morning. I knew I had updated the list last year but HORRORS! the file would not open. I guess this is because I was using a very old list and updating it annually when I should have started a new one.

Now I shall have to seacrch out the paper copy for 2019 and try to work out any changes. I know some people don’t mind getting cards on computer but at our age we still like to decorate the room with them. I always like to see how many have robins on and if any are replicated.

I have bought some charity ones, and a few funny ones but I must admit the stamps seem very expensive this year. I don’t like to ask people to stop sending them and I’m happy to deliver locally by hand.

I started to write a short story yesterday and it has been buzzing in my head all morning but if I carry on with that I’ll get nothing done. I’ll force myself to ignore twitter and search for the old box of cards. Best Wishes to all, Christmas seems to have crept up on us so early this year!