Interesting Times...

The last couple of days have been rather more full of incident than is usual for my quiet life.

On Thursday Ron, who has got into the habit of slobbing about in trackie bottoms, tried on every pair of trousers he possesses, even his suit, to find something to wear for his sister's 60th birthday dinner, and couldn't get in to any of them. So we decided that a trip into the Bill Tall shop in Plymouth was in order, and it was booked in for after yoga on Friday morning.

Before yoga on Friday morning I met the downstairs neighbours on the doorstep and was told about a problem with their gas fire. An engineer had been called for. Ty and I slithered our way through the woods for half an hour, then I went off to my class.

I was having a quick cup of coffee before leaving (about 11.45) when we had a call from the Eye Infirmary to say that Ron's lens and glasses were ready. The dispenser would be there until 1pm, so we decided to do that before the shopping. We had our coats on when the doorbell rang: Fred and Josie had had their gas cut off because it was so dangerous, he had been sent to the Doctor's and had a note for them both to go to Derriford A&E asap to be checked for carbon monoxide poisoning. So we dropped them there, then dashed to the Eye Infirmary. The glasses are great but when he tried the new lens it made his eye sore, so we put the old one back in left it to try again later.

Shopping was interesting. In very rapid succession he picked out a pair of black trousers, an extra long black shirt, a pair of black slip on shoes and a cream silk extra long tie. I can't remember the last time I actually made him go shopping as opposed to me doing it for him or getting stuff from catalogues. It's a bit too expensive to let it happen too often!

We had lunch in town - OAPs special cod and chips etc - and came home. My intention was to take Ty for a very long tiring walk so that he would be happy to be left at home while we were out, but it got very bleak with a biting wind and hard, solid, horizontal rain, so we had as much as I could stand and came back. When I turned back half way round skylark field, which is very exposed, he came along with me quite happily till we got to the gate, but then tried to take me off down to the woods instead of up the lane towards home. He obviously knew I was trying to cheat him!

By the time John and Steph came to pick us up at six the rain was torrential, and it didn't stop all night. It was a long drive to the Fox and Hounds (just over an hour and a half) and very unpleasant, but we had a lovely evening with good food and good company. On the way back the roads were flooded in places but just about passable - I read on the news this morning that there had been some places where people had had to be rescued.

That was Friday. Saturday dawned dry but soggy underfoot, and even more 'interesting', if that's possible. I'd hoped for a bit of a lie in, but Fred was ringing the doorbell very early, fully recovered from his scare of yesterday, wanting to borrow the chariot, which Ron had offered to him while his own car is being re-engined. So I got up and showed him how it worked. While I was doing that John next door came over to say his battery was dead, and could be take up Ron's kind offer of the loan of a spare one until he could get a new one (last week it was only the battery charger he needed). That sorted, I had a coffee before taking Ty down to the creek.

When we got back a young man was trying to start a people carrier which had been parked in a rather interesting manner outside the garages. He had apparently dropped some stuff off in his garage on Friday night and the vehicle had died on him in the pouring rain. He had walked round with one of those emergency power pack thingies, which of course was having no effect whatsoever, so I brought the monster truck round and gave him a jump start. I'm having a sign for the front door - 'Hazel's Auto Solutions'!