Saturday July 29th 2023

Well, this is the 8th full day of Lois and me house-sitting and pet-sitting for our daughter Alison in Headley, Hampshire. Ali is on a European railway adventure with husband Ed and their 3 teenage children. 

flashback to Saturday - Alison, Ed and the children speeding off from 

London en route to Paris on the first leg of their European adventure

Lois and I arrived here from Malvern on Thursday of last week, 2 days before Ali and family's departure for Europe, and it's taken us a full 10 days to realise we've made our worst mess of packing ever when we came here. Oh dear! In the clothes department, I only packed one pair of pyjamas, and Lois didn't bring any rough clothes for gardening in, or a "modesty blouse" to wear under her new low-cut dress.

At least we can say that we act decisively when we realise our mistakes, and this morning we drive over to Peacocks at nearby Bordon. 

we drive decisively to Peacocks at Bordon to remedy

deficiencies in packing - a slight touch of madness, isn't it!

Bordon is an army town, and we're guessing that this is where all the military noises are coming from in this area. It's rumoured locally that the Army is training Ukrainians, but we don't know if that's confirmed or if it's just a rumour. Perhaps we should be told?

We go into Peacocks, and Lois comes out with a modesty-blouse, some cropped trousers and a pair of shorts, which is nice. She always looks good in shorts and cropped trousers, I think.

I stand around looking shifty while Lois (behind me)

looks through some clothes of some sort

I stand around trying not to look like a shop-lifter, while Lois selects the items she wants. Eventually I get sort of tired, and I find somewhere to perch for a short time while she tries everything on - luckily there's a little pouffe-style bench in the shoe department where I can sit, and nobody's trying on shoes just at the moment, which is lucky!

What a poor little old man - don't you feel sorry for me haha!!! 

I don't have to look for pyjamas, because I ordered some online last night and they're coming by post later today. Lois and I have both realised recently how "old school" we are about nightwear. 

Younger people don't wear pyjamas that look like pyjamas to Lois and me, and when we visit our other daughter Sarah and her husband Francis in Alcester, we always think they're just lounging about in summery casual clothes i.e. T-shirt and shorts, until they let slip that they're still in what they call "pyjamas" and, if and when they've got to go out, they then disappear upstairs to "get dressed".

What a crazy world we live in !!!!

typical "pyjamas" for the modern young man and woman

- what a madness it all is !!!!!

Well, you can call us old fuddy-duddies if you like, [Too obvious to be worth saying! - Ed] but we're determined not to get left behind on the scrap-heap of life, and we're both anxious to "get down with the kids". That's why I have ordered some pyjamas that I'm guessing are probably vaguely fashionable, but the jury's still out on that one! Let me have your comments haha!!!!

Later I showcase them for my phone camera. Stylish or what?!!!!

my shiny-new "modern" pyjamas - hurrah!

Now at last I can really "get down with the kids"

[It's going to take a lot more than a t-shirt 

for you to do that and carry any conviction! - Ed]

And my modern "jim-jams" come just in time for nap-time, which is nice. And all that remains for another peaceful afternoon is for Lois to showcase another of her major skills - neutralising any threat from annoying flying insects.

"Look behind you!", I cry, as the wasp escapes to the ceiling...

..however Lois, also showcasing her shiny-new shorts, dispatches the wasp 

as soon as it returns to the window-pane. Bish, bash, bosh! Crash Bang Wallop!!!

What a woman I married !!!!!

And here are some of her new clothes that she bought today - the shorts, the modesty blouse and the cropped trousers:

And there's a nice surprise (in a way) in my emails, because at last, our water company Severn Trent, has sent us a bill for the water we've used in the 9 months since we moved into this new-build home in Malvern. 

I laugh when I think of all the chats with Severn Trent chatbots, and chats with their "Unhelpful Desk" personnel that I've endured over the last 9 months, in which I was repeatedly assured that "We have put our dedicated team onto the matter and you should be receiving a bill in the next 7 days", and other similar nonsenses.

Luckily I've been putting money aside each month, as I did for the much higher gas and electric bill from British Gas, which was nearly £800. What madness!

I just feel sorry for consumers who haven't had the foresight or spare funds to put so much aside each month.

What a crazy world we live in !!!!!

20:00 Well, we're on holiday for 2 weeks, aren't we, so we decide to watch something light and frothy to go to bed on. We turn to this afternoon's film, "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953) starring Jane Russell and an up-and-coming Marilyn Monroe.

I don't think either of us have seen this classic 1950's film in its entirety before, and we're really impressed by the script and the dialogue - genuinely well-written and funny. And the songs.

It's mainly about two "gold-diggers" - women on the hunt for rich husbands. And we watch the pair, played by Russell and Monroe, in action on the hunt for rich, unattached men, on a passenger ship en route to Cherbourg in France, and deciding on which table, and in whose company, they want to eat all the meals for the voyage.

They sneak a peek at the passenger list, looking out for anybody listed as "Mr so-an-so PLUS VALET", as being a good bet for somebody with a fortune or two, someone who'd be a good bet to target their "charms" at. They select "Mr Henry Spofford III", as the best candidate. And on the first evening, the waiter brings Spofford to the women's table.

Well, the smart little chap's got a valet - that certainly explains the "snafu"! Plus there's another couple of other guys in his "entourage".

And despite his young years, little Henry already seems to have a way with the ladies. Russell expresses her surprise that he's so youthful.

Oh dear! And later we see the two women getting together to vent their disappointment.

Tremendous fun !!!!

Also tonight we love hearing the familiar songs, like "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend".

And it's also fun to pick up some new words and expressions that Lois and I haven't heard before. For instance, we hear people talking about somebody being "on the square", meaning that they're honest and straightforward. We're both very familiar with the phrase "on the level" which means something sort of similar, but we didn't know "on the square". 

And did you know what "automat" means in the song lyrics above for "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" ? It's a "historical US" term for a cafeteria where you can get food and drink from a slot machine. Who knew that? [I expect a lot of people knew that! - Ed]

Fascinating stuff !!!!!

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzz!!!!!