Bustling. On and off

Although I had a nap this afternoon – siesta sounds so much better, but I can only claim a nap – I’ve got quite a lot done.

Today is the 36th anniversary of moving to this house. That’s over two-thirds of my life spent living here. The actual 2/3 anniversary must have been quite recent and I should work it out, yet it’s gone by unnoticed, so it’s quite possible that I won’t bother. Anyway, that means that tomorrow is Ronan’s birthday.

We had offered our buyers a week of vacant possession before completion day, which was 1st August. I refused to move on my little boy’s birthday, so it had to be the day before.

I’d tried to arrange a whole-family get-together tomorrow, but Gus has a friend staying and Weeza thinks they would like to just hang out, so they aren’t coming. Everyone else is, though. It wasn’t arranged until this morning. So I drove into Yagnub to the Co op to buy supplies that couldn’t be fetched in the independent shops, then came back to park and get the rest. The town was really busy. This is great news for local shops, but I couldn’t park and I had ice cream in the shopping bags. So I went home to put away the shopping and fetch my bike.

First surprise was, picking up the panniers from the floor, I found a hedgehog asleep in the porch. I put it in a box with food and water, hoping it will survive – it has eaten and slept again.

So I got the bike out, added the panniers, fetched my wallet, took them outside and locked the door … then felt the tyres. I unlocked the door, took the bike pump, pumped up the tyres, put away the pump, locked the door and was on my way.

There are two butchers in town. One has been there for about 40 years, but the proprietor died suddenly of an unsuspected aneurism about three years ago. Since then, another butcher has opened a shop in the middle of town and there are two excellent farm shops, ten minutes’ drive away, so there has to be less custom. I don’t use any butcher often, I don’t need to. John’s widow is about my age, so it’s not surprising that she has decided to close the shop for good, at the end of next week. I went in for some of their excellent sausages, but I didn’t see any staff I knew, so didn’t say anything. I went to the other shop for steak, I like to spread my custom where I can.

The good thing about a bike is that you can stop pretty well anywhere. I parked three times for four shops. I bought two massive steaks, 1.5 kilos in all, which i’ll cook on the barbecue tomorrow and slice up. I’ve bought salad and fruit, only easy stuff. Then I slowly cycled home. I’m going to buy an electric bike, I’m just too lazy for this and need a more appealing option. Driving is too tempting, but I should use my legs.

By the time I got home, it was lunchtime but I was knackered. I rested for a bit, made some lunch and ate it on the lawn and then had my nap. Then I pottered around, getting quite a lot sorted out and finally realised it was after 7 o’clock. So I fed the cats and chickens, got a loaf of sourdough bread on the way, fed the starter, marinaded the steaks, made a batch of lemonade and a batch of tea for icing and got dinner under way. I took my meal out to the table on the lawn and found that a hover fly wasn’t looking very well. It moved around, turned over, waved its legs, slowly died over the course of the next hour. I probably should have squashed it at the start, yet I don’t know if it was actually suffering.

The dough is now in a tin and will rise overnight. I’ve bottled the lemonade, removed the teabags from the other and put both bottles in the fridge. My back hurts, but that’s because I took cat food down to their barn in the wheelbarrow and wheelbarrow handles are too low, even for a short person. I was supporting a heavy weight with a bent back and that’s not good. I have filled a wheelie bin with cardboard, the other wheelie bin is half full of bottles and other recyclable stuff. I’m frankly wiped out and feeling my age. This would have been normal, with room to spare, a few years ago. I should make more effort and get fitter.

2 comments on “Bustling. On and off

  1. allotmentqueen

    Having moved several barrowloads of compost at the allotment recently, I have found it better to pull the barrow behind me. It makes me feel like I’m a carthorse, but it’s much better for my back as it is much straighter.

    Reply

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