08:00 Lois and I struggle out of bed. We have a standing arrangement with Sarah, our daughter in Australia, that we zoom with her and her family (husband Francis and the twins) at 9 am every Saturday (5pm Perth time), so we try to wash, dress etc and have breakfast before that time, and also make a pot of tea to have during the call.
09:00 We're there in Bedroom 2 on time, but there's nobody at the other end, which is a pity. Oh dear! But never mind, it's got us going early, which is the main thing.
We don't necessarily feel we need Sarah to text us to say she won't be around - we visited the family twice, in 2016 and 2018, and we know that Francis doesn't always give notice that he has a sudden urge for the family to go out - he's very much a creature of impulse! He will sometimes appear in the doorway and announce that "okay, let's go to the beach", and so fair enough, Sarah isn't always in a position to cancel a zoom at the last minute.
During this morning's zoom call, we also talk a little to our 9-year-old twin granddaughters, Lily and Jessica. They are tired, however - they've spent the day playing with their friends Samara and Gianna, but they're a delight to talk to, as always, and they are as keen as ever to show us examples of their artwork.
We love them to bits! They've been home-schooled by Francis for the past 2 months, and I think they're beginning to sound more English, and less Australian, but it may just be my imagination.
If all goes well, the family will be moving back to the UK in the spring. Sarah's been offered her old accountancy job back, in nearby Evesham, and the plan at the moment is for her to start work at her old office at the beginning of May. But we'll see. It will be so great to have them back in the country after 7 years away.
Who knew that Patricia Routledge was an accomplished and highly regarded stage actress before she took on the role of Hyacinth in this 1990's sitcom? In 1968 she even won the Tony award for Best Actress in a Musical. It was Groucho Marx who presented her with the trophy, and "he talked non-stop during the presentation", Patricia says, "so I wasn't able to give my acceptance speech".
It's a bit mad, but that's the way it is!
I decide, in any case, to put an alarm on my phone for 1 pm every Friday to remind Sarah and ask if she thinks the Saturday zoom can go ahead. Makes sense to me!
10:00 Sarah comes through an hour late, with a fair enough reason. Oh dear!
She apologises for the delay, and says she's been busy cleaning windows. The family are renting a house over there, and, every couple of months, their landlord does an inspection to check that the family are looking after the house and not letting it go to rack and ruin, which is a pain.
The next inspection will be in 2 days' time, Tuesday (January 17th), and as luck would have it, Francis has put his shoulder out, so it's Sarah who'll be doing most of the work to get the house ready. She's also got the do the family's "duty" at the Yacht Club tomorrow - I think it will be helping to clean the clubhouse again. These duties are also a pain but it means the family get away with a paying a lower annual subscription: but what a madness it all is !!!!!
Nedlands Yacht Club on the Swan River, Perth, where
the family's 20-foot boat Rioja is moored
flashback to October 2021: the twins showcasing the family's boat, Rioja
13:00 After lunch Lois goes out for a walk around the estate, while I wait in for Sue, who is the local courier for the notoriously bad Evri delivery company. Sue is supposed to be delivering a bathroom wall-cabinet and a set of coat hooks some time between 1pm and 3pm.
We've had trouble with Sue in the past. She once failed to deliver a package, saying that we were "out", whereas we were actually not only in the house but, also, we even saw her park her van on the other side of the street and then go off in the other direction before coming back to her van and driving off. She claimed she rang our doorbell, which we know is untrue.
And another point with Sue: if she knocks, she tends to knock once (unlike the famous postman), which, as I've explained to her, doesn't sound like a knock at the door, but just like some random noise in the vicinity, of which there are plenty. Always knock at least twice, that's my rule anyway!
Anyway, all goes well today, I'm waiting at the window for Sue, and she takes a picture which includes the bottom of my jeans legs and my stylish slippers, which is a nice souvenir - yes, a moment that will live for ever on the internet, which is gratifying!
a touching souvenir picture of the bottom of my jeans-legs,
and my slippers, as I open the door to Sue - nice one!
It'll be so great also to have coat hooks somewhere near the front door. At the moment, when we come into the house, we have to take our coats upstairs and lay them on one of the beds, as if we were guests at some awful party.
What madness !!!!!
20:30 Lois wants to go to bed on something light tonight, so we laugh and doze our way through a retrospect on one of the BBC's most popular sitcom exports, sold all round the world: "Keeping Up Appearances", starring Patricia Routledge, as the socially-climbing Hyacinth Bucket - pronounced "Bouquet".
It's great fun tonight to see Patricia reminiscing today about how people were absolutely terrified of her, not only on-screen, but also off-screen, when she was going about her normal business.
Poor Patricia !!!!!!
Patricia Routledge and Pope Benedict XVI
And who knew that Hyacinth's catchphrase, when answering the phone, "This is the Bouquet Residence, lady of the house speaking", which incidentally is available as a ringtone if you want it, was also Pope Benedict's favourite, and most acclaimed, impression?
Other impressions:
Hughie Greene: "And I mean that most sincerely"
Max Bygraves: "I wanna tell you a story"
Denis Healey: "Silly billies"
Harold Wilson: "I said this at the Brighton conference"
I hope you never asked Benedict to do any of those - he was rubbish!!!!
You may be thinking that characters like Hyacinth Bucket don't exist in real life, but you'd be wrong. Lois's late father, Dennis, who had a great fund of stories, to put it mildly, often talked about a woman he knew in his younger days in his hometown of Banbury, a Mrs Sidebottom, who insisted that her name should be pronounced Siddy-bott-ahm.
What a crazy world we live in !!!!!!
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzz!!!!!
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