Hah, I was frazzled and it showed, the other night.  Thank goodness that Tim was able to print out the paperwork.  I sat going through it all while he was talking to the dentist – it was an assessment for future work – and made sure it was all okay before paying another huge bill (all relating to the London flat: all I can say is that it’s a good job I was frugal after Russell died because half of what I saved has now gone on the work and loss of income) and okaying the quote for repainting.

Then we went on into Norwich and chose his birthday present with remarkably little fuss and no stress.  And I looked at flowers on the market and didn’t find anything I wanted – maybe it’s not a great time of the year.  I didn’t want florist roses, the lilies were in tight bud, it’s not a time of the year I’d fancy chrysanthemums and irises just don’t last more than a day.  So I left it.  And we called in at a very nice butchery on the way home, that my late mother used to like but I rarely have visited in the last fifteen years.

It was decided to buy pork and I suggested that LT might cook his particularly delicious slow-cooked Chinese-style belly pork dish, which he agreed to do.  And we bought a couple of quiches from the deli counter for lunch.  The friendly assistant, i was surprised to see, was the same one who used to be there years ago, I’d thought she was near retirement age when we first started going there and yet she looks almost exactly the same.  So either she looked sixty when she was forty or else looks sixty five and is well into her seventies.  When we got home, we looked again at the quiches and decided one was enough to share – we also decided, eating it, it was more of a pie than a quiche but it was jolly good and excellent value.  We’ll have the second one today.

We didn’t do a great deal for the rest of the day.  I’ve wrapped LT’s other present – I know, darlings!  It’s not his birthday until Friday week and there will be no last-minute panic!  And he cooked his dish and everything was just so, and there’s enough left over for tonight, with the addition of a few vegetables and some rice.  And I weeded most of the squash bed and he hoicked out the pea plants, which are finished.  Oh, and I paid my tax bill, which isn’t due until the end of the month, but might as well be got out of the way.  The country’s finances seem to be so wretched that I reckon it needs the money more than I do.

Today, I see from Facebook, is the second anniversary of Eloise cat coming to live here.  I’ve never lived with a cat before and she brings me much joy.  I love her dearly.