Lois and I make the most of a day of mixed weather - we stay in for a few expected deliveries, then go out for a walk to the post-box, just in time, because the rain is starting as we go - damn! And it's a wet afternoon so we have a shower and a nap in bed. We couldn't have done better than that with today's disappointing weather now, could we! Go on, admit it !!!!
Yes, deliveries keep coming, so we meet some more nice East Europeans who bring them to us.
flashback to March 8th: the legs of a typical East European delivery guy,
with the shoes of another one just visible behind him
We moved into this new-build home on October 31st but in some ways you could say it's just a shell of a house, and it's up to us to put in some pretty basic civilising features. We still need 2 more shelves in the kitchen, where Lois can put her cookbooks and favourite saucepans, and we also need to have another cabinet in the living-room to take all our piano books. See? Simples isn't it! Who doesn't need a cabinet for their piano books? [I think you're getting into the realms of fantasy here, Colin ! - Ed]
One of the 3 packages delivered today, however, is a mistake, we think. It's an odd-coloured cushion, so we'll have to check into that! I suppose 2 out of 3 deliveries being correct isn't a bad average really, is it haha!
delivered today: 2 white shelves for the kitchen...
..and a cabinet to take all our piano books...
...and a mysterious (mauve?) cushion that we didn't order: my goodness, modern life!,
the "returns" slip inside has the shelf details on, so "The Range"
homewares company must have screwed up again - no surprise there !!!!
With our deliveries safely gathered in, we decide we can do our little walk before the rain gets too heavy. See what we're doing? Yes, it isn't really rocket science is it!
we venture out for our walk, with the rain already starting - damn!
we pass the luxury care home that Persimmon are also building on the site
...finally we post a couple of letters
which is the "excuse" for our little outing
I get an email from my old friend "Magyar" Mike, with whom I studied Hungarian for 25 years (as you do!). He's even older than me, and he and Mary are now living in some sort of retirement complex in Nailsworth.
Like ours, his and Mary's lives revolve a lot around their grandchildren. But while ours are moving to slightly more near-at-hand, with our daughter Sarah and her family hopefully moving back from Australia to England soon, Mike and Mary's career-focussed grandsons are moving further away. Stephen, a lawyer, is moving to the Channel Islands, and Adam, a vet, is moving up to Washington, County Durham.
Mike and Mary's two career-focussed grandsons, Adam and Stephen
- picture taken in December 2021
Poor Mike and Mary!!! And while Lois and I are fortunate enough to have 5 grandchildren between the ages of 9 and 16, something for which we are eternally grateful, Mike and Mary have two grown-up grandsons, but sadly don't have any great-grandchildren to drool over - neither grandson has so far shown signs of wanting to be in a long-term relationship, which is a pity. However, there's still time, I guess!
"Magyar" Mike and his wife "Magyar" Mary,
with Lois (centre) in June 2014, enjoying some local ice-creams: happy times!
Come on, Stephen and Adam - time's getting short, get a move on !!!!
Flashback to 2010 in France, from left to right: me, Lois, "Magyar" Mike,
and "Magyar" Mary next door to Chinon Castle, France (not shown haha!)
Flashback to 2002: in the small border town of Sopron, Hungary,
close to the Austrian border - (from left to right) "Magyar" Mike, Lois,
"Magyar" Mary (Mike's wife) and our Hungarian friend, Ibolya,
standing in the car park in front of the town’s theatre
Happy times !!!!!
20:00 Lois disappears into the kitchen to take part in her church's weekly Bible Class on zoom. When she emerges we settle down on the sofa and watch this week's quarter-final contest in this year's University Challenge competition, the student quiz.
Every week, Lois and I try to get a minimum of 3 answers right that the students don't get. We just about manage it tonight, but you see, we're at the Quarter-Final stage of the competition, so all the weaker teams have been eliminated. So it just gets harder and harder each week, which is a pity!
Bristol in particular are a really strong team, especially McLaughlin. It wouldn't surprise us if they go all the way to the final this year.
1. Miss Pinkerton's Academy for Young Ladies on Chiswick Mall is the first location named in which novel first published in serial firm in 1847? Other locations mentioned are Vauxhall, Brighton, Chatham, Brussels and Waterloo.
Students: (Newnham) Jane Eyre, (Bristol) Wuthering Heights
Colin and Lois: Vanity Fair
2. After listening to an excerpt, the students fail to recognise the voice singing these lines :
"Oh my heart's in the basement, my weekend's an all-time low... etc"
Students: Velvet Underground
Colin and Lois: David Bowie (from his song "Queen Bitch", a tribute to Velvet Underground - bad luck students haha!)
3. An English Heritage site at Waltham Abbey is the location of the former RGM. These were the royal mills used for the manufacture of what?
Colin and Lois: gunpowder
Yikes, we just get our third answer just as the gong is getting ready to sound, and the quiz times out.
Still, we can go to bed in a good mood again, that's for sure!
22:00 We go to bed in a good mood - zzzzzzz!!!!!
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