2007 — 31 August: welcome to the world...

..our second great grand niece down in far-off New Zealandland. No name chosen yet, I gather. All our best wishes to Mother and Child!

Today's first adventure

Not counting the crossword that we successfully completed, and the cancellation of the Southern Daily Echo that I had foolishly signed up to, this will be my lift to Lidl from Christa's good buddy Heidi. I have my little list all prepared. A domestic home-person's work is never actually quite done, it appears.

Minor banking triumph

From the figures now in our online account, it seems that Mrs Old Bank has finally capitulated and handed over the dregs from my old account to top up our shiny new one. As I've remarked, four months to do something that we were confidently told should only take two weeks. Incredible for those IBM and ex-IBM readers who remember the preferred Corporate adjective selected after the use of bovine excreta was banned.

In other news

It's 10:55. All meds and breakfast have been safely loaded. She's dressed, and up and gently about. She's also the one on meals on wheels reception committee duty today in less than an hour — I'd better remind Her! Although the night got off to a fairly poor start with two stabs of break-through pain, after that She slept quite well and things are looking much brighter so far today, though sitting is still not possible. But I propose to let Joy out of its confinement, as it were.

Good grief! Now it's 22:12. Mike P has been wished "Happy Birthday" as has, on reflection, our new great niece (though I'm sure she's grand too) — see above. The Lidl jaunt was a great success, apart from the American style cookies, which resolutely hid again. Plus a nice "well-fired" loaf from Sainsbury's. (I can remember their store in Harpenden in the 1960s actually smelling like a grocer cum delicatessen cum fish-monger cum butcher cum whatever. These days, all such stores seem to smell equally bland and air-conditioned. A loss to the nation's nasal tracts if you ask me.) Lunch1 awaited me on my return — again, excellent.

Then a walk for the pair of us as far as the bank and the Post Office. Junior's latest York University magazine to be forwarded. Following a cuppa and cream doughnut over the road, I hit the acquisition trail once again, to get some micro-porous surgical tape; jolly useful stuff, and in jolly short supply hereabouts, but I snaffled the last two rolls from Boots. Thanks once again for the lift, Peter. Another quite substantial walk after tea, then the evening round of meds and preparation for beddy-bye. And so another pretty Good Day hits the buffers.

  

Footnote

1  It amuses me (somewhat) to reflect that the cost of these meals on wheels for the pair of us exactly matches what was my starting salary in the UK computer industry in February 1974: £35 per week! A neat demonstration of inflation, I suppose.