08:00 I can't persuade Lois to stay in bed today, so it's a bit of an early start - she's got her haircut appointment with James, her stylist, at 10 am, and she wants to wash her hair first.
James's hair salon, "Billy Shears", where Lois has an appointment at 10 am.
It's her first haircut since early December 2020 because of the lockdown, so she's gagging for it haha!
James's handiwork - Lois's first haircut for over 4 months - my god!
11:00 We talk on the phone to our elder daughter Alison, who lives in Headley, Hampshire with Ed and their 3 children, Josie (14), Rosalind (12), and Isaac (10). We sort out some details about the visit this weekend - unfortunately there is no way the whole family can come.
flashback to August 2020 - the last time the family visited us
We decide that Alison will come on Saturday with just Josie and Rosalind. Ed has to stay at home with Sika, the family's Danish dog, who has fractured his leg and needs a lot of care and attention at the moment. Isaac can't come because it's his first swimming session of the new term.
We'll have to socialise with them outdoors, on the patio, because of the lockdown restrictions. And they'll have to leave by 2:30 pm at the latest in order to do the 100-mile journey home in time for another engagement - I forget what it is. And this will enable Lois and me to watch Prince Philip's funeral on TV, and it will also mean there won't be any chatter in the garden while the funeral's being broadcast: it's possible that could annoy the neighbours - oh dear!
I see that Queen Margrethe of Denmark has ordered flags at her Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen be flown at half-mast tomorrow. Fair enough, Philip was partly Danish - he was the great-grandson of the Danish King Christian IX (1818-1906).
Denmark reconsiders its decision to drop astrazeneca vaccine - what madness!
a story in Marketwatch suggests there's no big difference
in blood clot risk between Pfizer, Moderna and Astrazeneca -
what a crazy world we live in !!!!
I just hope they don't sue Lois who made her own version in 2013 for the 3rd birthday party we threw for our grandson Isaac : also the day our twin grandchildren Lily and Jessie (who are now in Australia) were born in Gloucester Royal Hospital.
Luckily Lois made what now seems the highly sensible decision to market her "Clement the Caterpillar" cake professionally. My god, the cake world is remarkably litigious, isn't it !!!!
Lois showcases her Clement the Caterpillar cake for birthday boy Isaac.
(left to right) Sharon (Lois's niece), Alison and Lois
seeing the first pictures of our twin grandchildren Lily and Jessie
born on the same day as Isaac's birthday. The twins
are now 7 and living in Australia.
the twins 2 days old
Happy times!!!
13:00 Mark the Gardener brings us a buddleja plant he's bought for us. Later Lois showcases it for the camera(s):
Lois showcases the buddleja plant that Mark the Gardener has bought for us
Lois is keeping a close eye on her vegetable seedlings, and later in the day we let them sit out on the patio to have a chat with each other: the lettuces on one chair and cabbages on the other.
Lois's lettuce seedlings collection (left) and her cabbage seeds (right) enjoy the afternoon sun
and have a stimulating debate on some of the issues of the day, including
Caterpillar cake questions and other caterpillar cake issues of interest to seeds.
to put it mildly!
Lois also finds time to bake some "Weetbix Slices", a New Zealand favourite - what a woman I've married - my god! She gets so much done in a day - why can't I be more like her???!!!!!!
Lois takes her kiwi-inspired "Weetbix Slices" out of the oven
She first made Weetbix Slices last year after reading Vanya's recipe on vjcooks.com :
Vanya's kiwi recipe
kiwi cakemaker "Vanya"
Vanya's finished slices
flashback to September 2020 - Lois's first "Weetbix Slices"
16:00 We have a cup of tea on the sofa, and Lois brings me up to date with the novel she's reading, Alison Lurie's "The War Between the Tates".
Erica is the wife of a college professor, Brian Tate, who has made Wendy, one of his students, pregnant.
When Erica finds out about Brian's affair, she throws Brian out of the marital home, so Brian finds a flat to rent, and Wendy moves in with him. Brian persuades Wendy to have an abortion, but now she's got pregnant again, this time by an Asian fellow-student: oh dear! Then this new Asian "father" unfortunately goes back to India or wherever, but another student offers to take Wendy on and take her with him on some trip out west and help her bring up the baby - what a great guy!
So Brian is on the shelf for the time being.
Prof. Brian Tate (right) with his pregnant student girlfriend, Wendy
Meanwhile Erica has finally got her old schoolfriend Sandy to go to bed with her. They take a few drugs to get in the mood, and the sex starts off okay until it becomes a bit "interruptus" - Erica suddenly remembers she's forgotten to put her "Dutch cap" in - damn! Better luck next time haha! But Lois suspects that there won't necessarily be a "next time" for Sandy.
And Lois is right again - Sandy reveals he wants to move out west somewhere as well, but Erica isn't keen to go with him.
So now Erica is on the shelf again too - cripes!
Lois is now only about 25 pages from the end of the novel, so our money is on Erica and Brian getting back together again, but we'll have to see!
What a crazy world they lived in in those days, in those crazy 1960's haha !!!!
20:00 We settle down on the couch and watch a bit of TV, a bit more of Jo Brand's survey of Britain's favourite 1970's comedies.
It's nostalgic to see clips of The Muppet Show again. Lois and I didn't know that Jim Henson first offered the show to the US networks but they weren't interested. That's why he brought the show to England, where ITV agreed to make it and put it on - it was filmed at Elstree Studios.
The fact that it was being filmed in England didn't discourage US celebrities from queuing up to come over and be ritually insulted on the show, including US comedian and "Mister Television" himself, Milton Berle.
Berle, like all the show's celebrity guests, gets heckled by the 2 old guys up on the balcony, Statler and Waldorf. Predictably they don't like Berle's patter, and they start making smart jibes about him, so he invites them to come down on the stage and be funny.
Lois and I didn't know that the song which accompanied the muppets cavorting in the very first sketch of the very first episode in 1976, "Mahna mahna", wasn't originally written for the muppets.
Mahna
mahna
(ba dee bedebe)
mahna mahna
(ba debe dee)
mahna mahna
(ba dee bedebe badebe badebe dee dee de-de de-de-de)
(ba dee bedebe)
mahna mahna
(ba debe dee)
mahna mahna
(ba dee bedebe badebe badebe dee dee de-de de-de-de)
It was written by Italian composer Piero Umiliani for a 1968 film called "Heaven and Hell", a pseudo-documentary about sexual antics in Sweden.
What a crazy world we live in !!!
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzz!!!!!
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