Badger Galore
Staying ‘Up Over’ for a while.
An email from Santa!
So.....earlier this week I received a text from the tenant in our house in the U.K, handing in her notice. It seems that she is going to move in with her partner who also has a house in Penrith.It was not news I wanted to hear particularly before Christmas as she has been a good and reliable tenant but I am happy that she has settled so well into Penrith after moving up from London.Will and I put the rental details on a few Cumbrian Rental Facebook pages and I put an ad on Gumtree in the U.K.Within a few hours I had some interest.....Hello! I'm very interested to rent your house is it still to let??..I live in Penrith town centre with my boyfriend we now are renting a flat for (400� per month ) but we are looking for something bigger because we will have a baby on Christmas. Please let me know.Thanks. From Santa.I thought is was a joke at first but sent off a reply....Hi,There has been quite a lot of interest in the property. Could you tell me a little bit more about you and your partner please?
Driving Miss Dulcie VIII
No 'Driving Miss Dulcie' for ages and then 2 come along at once!So.......Dulcie mentioned on Sunday bedtime that she had some itchy spots on her left hip so on Monday I rang Marie at Dr Hew's Surgery to make an appointment to see Dr Hew. There were no appointments left on Monday as I had to wait to ring until after Blue Care had been but Marie gave us an appointment at 2.30pm for today.It was a good job that the episode of 'The Virginian' was one that had been on before.....in fact I think I have seen it 3 times already!.....it made it easier to switch off. We started getting ready about 1.30 pm."I better go to the 'tut', " she said and off she went."Do you think you should change your blouse?" I asked, pointing out the pie remains from lunch she had spilled on it, when she came back."No, I'll just give it a wipe."She came back again with a huge wet patch all over the front of her blouse....but I said nothing.It was 1.45 pm when we set off."There are a lot of cars aren't there Nick?""Yes," I said."That's a nice yard.""It is," I said."That's a big car. I've never seen such a big car.""Look at that long grass in that garden! The buggers want to be shot! There's no excuse."Perhaps they had already been shot and that was why they were unable to cut their grass...if so it sounded like a good excuse to me.We arrived at Eight Mile Plains shopping precinct at 2.05pm."What time is it now, Nick?""It's five past two," I said."This sun is bloody fierce, let's wait in the shade over there."We got out and walked under the precinct canopy."Oh, we can sit here," she said, making to sit down at a table outside a bakery."Well, we could," I said "but I think they would expect you to buy something first.""Do we need bread?" She asked."No, we don't really," I said, so we carried on.At the Surgery I was expecting Marie but it was an unfamiliar face....and yet she knew Dulcie."Sorry, we are a bit early," I said.We checked in and took a seat."Are you Dulcie's son?" asked the receptionist."No, I am her son's partner, " I said."Oh, yes," she said, "I think I have talked to you a few times on the phone before. Dulcie used to bring us cakes and we have a tin here for her."She went and got it."Actually, I think we have another tin.....do you want to leave it until next time?""No," I said, " we can take it with us."The receptionist went and got it."That's not my tin, dear," said Dulcie.The receptionist disappeared with it again, saying "I think it's full of Marie's goodies anyway."She came back,"Dr Hew will see you now. Do you need your walker?""No dear, I can manage"....but the receptionist took her arm and guided her down the corridor.The waiting room was empty and there were no interesting magazines on the table.The receptionist came back."Do you want to go in?"I didn't normally..."No," I said, " I know if Dr Hew asks her how she is she will say 'Fine', but I told Marie she has a bit of a cough and some itchy spots on her left side.""It will be on the slip then," said the receptionist. "She was a bit wobbly and kept falling over to the left " said the receptionist."Yes, I know, " I said, "She should use her walker but she is 91 and it's hard treading the fine line between allowing her independence and interfering."" She is amazing though isn't she? She used to always come with cakes and biscuits.""Well, she still makes them," I said, " but we tend to make them together these days. If I make them on my own they are never as good as the ones she mixes though.""We have a few that come here that are in their 90's.....they are all women."As a man, it was a slap in the face by mortality."They all turn up in their Sunday best," smiled the receptionist."Well, she was in shorts but she changed into her long slacks," I said, "I wanted her to change her blouse because she had spilled some lunch on it but she wouldn't.""Do you know what is good for that?"........ I didn't....... " make -up remover wipes! You can just wipe stains away with them.""Well, I have learned about the cleaning properties of Bicarb," I said."Yes, and if you have a pan with a burnt bottom, just cover the bottom with bicarb and leave it overnight and in the morning you can just wipe it clean."What a very informative trip to the doctor's it was turning out to be!The phone rang."Excuse me, " said the receptionist and she answered it............she put the phone down."Dr Hew would like you to go in now."She escorted me down the corridor. I don't know why....I was not wobbly."Hello, Nick," said Dr Hew, " well, it seems that Dulcie has a mild attack of Shingles."I was gobsmacked."There is nothing much we can do now as they are on the mend but we could have done something a few days after they initially appeared.""Well, she only mentioned them to us on Sunday," I said, feeling guilty. " Crikey! Shingles can be nasty," I said."Yes, there can be pain with it," said Dr Hew."I've had no pain," said Dulcie, "they have just been itchy.""How can she have caught Shingles?" I asked."It is related to the chicken pox virus," said Dr Hew, " and if you had chicken pox as a child chances are it can flair up again as shingles in later life. Just keep using that paw paw ointment. Her blood pressure is good and her lungs are clear.""That's good then, I'm not dead yet." said Dulcie." Have a good Christmas," said Dr Hew."And you too," we said.Dulcie walked out of the Surgery with my trying to catch her up with her walker.We called at Aldi on the way home."Get me some biscuits Nick, I want some with my cup of tea when we get back.""Yes, we'll have to make some tomorrow," I said."And get me some of that paw paw ointment." She added.When we were nearly home she said,"We haven't had any lunch or anything, have we?""Yes we did. We had a pie remember?""Oh yes," she said. "Look at that dirty truck. It's a long time since I've seen a dirty truck like that!
'Summer is a coming in, loud now sing 'Boo Hoo'!'
Today is the first day of Summer..... following on from the hottest November for more than 100 years!'Oh, oh, Chango!'
Driving Miss Dulcie VII
The Bank of Dulcie was running low of funds and so the Managing Director of the bank required a trip to the ANZ Bank for a withdrawal.We set off about 11.30 calling at the Post Office first to pay the electricity bill.There was nowhere to park near the bank entrance, the disabled place was taken so we had to park a little walk away. It did not bode well.Sure enough when we got in the bank there was a long queue waiting and only two windows open, Bruce was at one and a young black girl at the other.Dulcie sat down on her walker and thumped the guy in front in the back with her elbow. He turned round."Sorry," I said."It's ok," he said."You see that plant," she said, nodding towards a sorry looking pot plant, "I want to take it home and water it."She sighed."The heat takes it out of you doesn't it? I'm so tired....then again I am 91.""Knocking 92," I said.Bruce had come out from behind the plexi-glass partition and was wandering round chatting to different bank employees."How many ahead of us now Nick?" Asked Dulcie not bothering to turn round to look."Five," I said.Bruce was back behind the glass but the young black girl was wandering around now with a piece of paper."It's a lovely carpet isn't it?" Said Dulcie."It is," I said.A man walked up to the door saw the queue and turned on his heels.A tall old man staggered out past us.Dulcie watched him and then frowned,"He's old!""And bald!" I said adding some black to the kettle!How many ahead of us now, Nick?""Two" I said.Eventually there was only one left in front of us....the guy Dulcie had bumped.It looked like the girl was going to be free before Bruce....the guy in front turned round,"You can go next, I want to wait for Bruce."I was hoping for Bruce....the young girl seemed to be new at the job.....Bruce knew what he was doing, but Bruce became free first so the man walked over and we ended up with the young black girl. We walked up to the window and she walked away and disappeared......there was still a long queue that had built up behind us.Eventually the girl came back."Hello."Dulcie handed over her pass book and the girl took it, opened it and tapped away at her computer."Have you got a driver's license?" The girl asked."No, dear," said Dulcie.The girl looked at a loss. She did not see me rolling my eyes.....this would not have happened with Bruce." I have a pension card, dear," said Dulcie handing it over with her Medicare card.The girl still looked at a loss."That's fine," said another woman who was standing nearby staring at a computer screen, probably checking her Facebook, while the customers she was supposed to be helping were waiting in a consultation room.The girl, slowly, began to copy all of Dulcie's pension payments since her last visit to the bank, into her pass book.I could feel the tension and frustration in the queue behind us.Eventually the transaction was done and we were free to go.We walked back to Roxy....I wondered about asking Dulcie if she wanted to drive.....but remembered she did not have her driver's license on her.