Saturday

Just a quick one this morning.  It's dull outside and feels nice and cool after quite a warm night - at least, it felt warm to me and quite sticky.

I reckon I had too much to eat last night.  Or drink.  I had some very odd dreams overnight, some quite sad so, between them and the heat, I am feeling unusually unrefreshed and a bit frazzled around the edges at the moment.

I've got one of the basics sorted out on the phone - how to text.  I'm taking the advice of a friend and just learning a bit at a time.  So you may very well only get very brief entries next week, or, indeed, nothing at all.  There has got to be a way of moving photos into a blog but I haven't found it yet.  Maybe that should be the day's new thing!  Youtube, here I come!

With all the fuss at home about packing for next week, I've only gone and left my Kindle at home which is a right pain and something I had better not do next week!  I was feeling a bit lost without it so had a good browse of Mum and Dad's bookshelves and emerged with an old one, The Ascent of Man.  People of a 'certain age' might remember the TV series that gave rise to the book.  I am sure it's very dated now, discoveries and scientific understanding have both moved on considerably since then (the early 1970s, I believe) but it's fascinating in a broad sweep sort of way and very readable.  I like how understanding he is of older ideas and theories that are now demonstratively simple and foolish and his understanding that the theories and ideas of today could be equally so when placed in the context of time.  As he says:
"That seems a terribly childish theory today, a hodge potch of fables and false comparisons.  But our chemistry will seem childish five hundred years from now.  Every theory is based on some analogy and sooner or later the theory fails because the analogy turns out to be false."
I like that!

Today I will be popping out early to get some meat from Bob the Butcher (Chapman's of Baldock, the best butcher for miles around) and then on to Tesco to get bits and bobs for next week.  Things like luggage labels, small tubes of things, etc.  I've decided to have a small, overnight bag with just the things I will need for my two nights at Suzanne's, totally separate from everything else so I don't have to go rootling in my suitcase.  So I need a few bits and bobs. 

Apart from that, I think the main event of today is to sort out Mum's collection of cookery books.   With Dad's permission, I will keep her personal collection of hand written family classics, penned by Mum and very splashed and stained over the decades, and a few others, such as her good copy of Delia's classic, but most can be picked over by Gail (cleaner) and Maria (care assistant) and then, I guess, Maria can take them to the charity shop her company supports or they will be recycled.

For the first time ever, I have runner beans to share with Dad before he has any to share with me.  A triumph, believe me, and one we both had a chuckle over last night.  On the other hand, his first-planted tomatoes are ahead of mine by about a week, I guess. 

Well, I had better stop waffling on and stop.  Have a good day, whatever your plans.  xx