Monday 29th February 2016

Leap year day.

And Monday. Yay, a Month with an extra Monday, just what we needed. And tomorrow, I am on me travels again, so making the most of one last day at home. And something to look forward to, I have an interview with BBC Radio this afternoon. But first.....

Sunday

And we had so many big plans for the day, and yet, time slipped through our fingers like sand on a beach. As usual.

I cooked the sausagemeat burgers I bought a couple of weeks back from the guys in Preston, a cross between a sausage and a burger. Perfect. They take about 5 minutes to cook, perfect in rolls slathered in tomato ketchup with a huge brew.

With Norwich losing again, there was no real desire on my part to watch the previous day's football on TV, so we frittered a couple of hours away before it was time to get out and do stuff. I needed a haircut, which comes round quicker and quicker it seems. And Jools needed to go and see Nan, so I drop her off in River then drive along the Alkham Valley into Folkestone, parking at the harbour. I did not take a camera, so was disappointed to see it was really low tide in the harbour and all the boats resting on their keeps on the mud. So, you will just have to take my word for it.

I walk up the Old High Street to the barber, he has just opened so I go straight into the chair, have about half a pound of hair lopped off, and a long chat too before I can escape. There seems to be a lot of people about, looking in the shops and galleries, seems to be working, the Creative Quarter, which is good to see.

Back in the car, up past the abandoned branch line to the harbour, up the cliffs to Capel then to Dover avoiding the main road into town as the roadworks are making a bad situation much worse. I go to see Nan, she lights up when I enter, Jools said she has been weepy again, and complaining. All she can see is the large clock at the end of her bed, seeing the seconds drag by day after day, week after week. She will be 102 this year, but has been trying to hold her breath so to pass out. We feel so helpless seeing her like this, very little we can do as she is too frail to move now.

We leave her and come home for a coffee.

We were going to have lunch/dinner later in the afternoon, but we both decided we were hungry, so I began to prepare and cook the steak and steak-cut chips. Oh and garlic mushrooms and sweetcorn. It was great, but of course meant that any further productive work was now postponed as we snoozed off a bottle of Proseco, which was nice. As was the steak.

I order a Rumtopf from Amazon, and so begin plans for what fruit to soak in rum and how great it will taste come Christmas. Many thanks for the suggestion La Belle!

After the football had finished, we drove over to the old folk's lace for a couple of hands of cards. And depsite trying to make sure they would have eaten by the time we go there, they had only just begun to eat when we arrived. But they cleared up and we managed one round of Meld in before it was gone nine and getting close to our bedtime, those retired folks stay up until the wee small hours, some of us have to be up at six. We drive back along deserted roads, back to St Maggies where the cats are waiting for supper.

Situation normal.