Oh dear. Another rain-scarred day, which is a pity for my younger sister Gill, who's celebrating her birthday today in Cambridge with her husband Peter and middle daughter Lucy, plus - visiting from London - her youngest daughter Maria and Maria's partner Tom.
A pity about the weather because they were planning to socialise with Maria and Tom in the garden - they unfortunately can't come in the house yet because of lockdown restrictions.
Gill, although 12 years younger than me, has been present at most of the big moments of my life, at least in the early days.
flashback to 1972: my MA award ceremony:
(left to right) my brother Steve (looking a bit disengaged), Gill,
and (looking suitably proud!) me
1972: Mine and Lois's wedding day: (left to right) Gill (14), Lois, me,
my father, my mother, and (looking fashionably disengaged again) my brother Steve (20).
Pity about all the folded arms! They tend to send a bit of a mixed message, I always feel !!!
My other sister, Kathy, was on holiday in Las Vegas at the time.
1972: my first job, standing outside a civil service department in Cheltenham: me and Gill.
I later found it would have paid better to get a job inside - damn!
Lois thinks the weather today has perhaps been less dreadful on the eastern side of the country, where Gill and family live - let's hope so!
10:00 A bit of a wasted day - in the morning we wait for the delivery of our groceries from Budgens, the convenience store in the village. All the items have to be swabbed down with disinfectant, as usual, and the fresh fruit and veg washed and laid out to dry on the draining board in the utility room.
next week's fruit and veg, washed and laid out to dry in the utility room -
what a crazy world we live in !!!!!
13:00 Lunch for two at home. We were supposed to having our first pub social meal today with friends in the garden of "The Plough Inn", but there was a unanimous decision to postpone till next month because of the weather forecast. Damn !!!!
15:00 A brief sunny period, and Lois nips out for a walk on the local football field. She gets about 15 minutes walking in before the rain resumes - oh dear! Meanwhile I do the exercises that Connor, my NHS physiotherapist, has scheduled for me today.
16:00 We relax on the sofa with a cup of Earl Grey tea and a scone (one scone each - we're "pushing the boat out" today haha!).
we get a whole scone each today - diet be blowed haha!
18:00 Pies for dinner: steak-and-ale pie for me, and rabbit pie for Lois. Lois has rarely had the pleasure of a rabbit pie since we got married - it's a favourite of hers from way back in childhood days, but sadly I can't abide the taste of rabbit. Call me fussy if you like! [You're fussy - Ed]
pies for dinner - hurrah!
20:00 We settle down on the couch and watch a bit of TV, the latest edition of the tea-time chat-show "This Time with Alan Partridge".
Quite a surprise on the show this evening - and I think Alan would be embarrassed if I said this to him, but "Alan, you know, you're becoming quite a poet!".
We particularly like his paean to the BBC tonight, which reminded us how lucky we are in this country to have good old "Auntie BBC" as she's often called!
And tonight Alan also uses his lyrical skills to sound a timely warning that we must never go back to the sexism of Benny Hill, Blue Peter, Pans People etc.
Twixt here and the horizon, flush to the sky,
lies a carpet of people, a meadow of eyes,
an orchard of ears, a-quiver with glee,
a nation reflected in the BBC
Wolf Hall, Panorama, cerebral telly, prestige drama,
And for those that don't get no grammar,
Call the Midwife, Homes under the Hammer,
A flickering friend in nights drawn cold,
A teat for the young, a stick for the old,
My dad watched the Beeb, just as my mum did,
Despite our concerns o'er the way it is funded.
'Course, there were morsels on ITV,
But quality, consistency, the BBC!
Look, I said, look at the delights up on screen,
A good goal in football, a speech from the Queen,
Pan's People, lovely, they look fantastic.
We've moved on from that now, as we oughta,
Just harmless fun? It could have been your daughter!
Still, three cheers from stakeholders and licence fee payers,
This ode like an onion with multiple layers,
I simply request that my message is heard,
That my thoughts now take wing like the flight of a bird [fx: bird noises]
And it's nice, in the behind-the-scenes reality-documentary-sequences to see Alan's burgeoning relationship with the show's make-up girl. And why not? Alan's been divorced for a long time, after all.
And it looks now like she's offering him a chance to get involved with her life away from the studio, which will be nice. Lois and I are hoping for good things here for Alan, who's had a rough time lately, to put it mildly!
On second thoughts, however, when we hear more details of the girl's problems, Lois and I think it might well be better for Alan to stay clear of this one after all - oh dear!
Yes, better stay out of this one, Alan! My god!!!
What a crazy world we live in !!!!!
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!
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