7 Years.

7 years to the day since we first met in Glasgow.Happy Anniversary to us!

The Life of Riley.

I cannot remember the last time I struggled to get a disinfectant wipe out of its packet. I haven't seen a hoover in weeks. The washing machine has gone into hibernation and the dust pan and brush are gathering dust themselves without any intervention from me.I went for some retail therapy on Tuesday afternoon in the great shopping metropolis that is Garden City and ended up booking an appointment, for the following day, at the opticians. I have finally done something about getting some prescription sunglasses.Tuesday night Will and I went out to the cinema.......'Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation'. It was our first time at Hawthorne Cinemas and to be honest the screen in Cinema 4 was not much bigger than out new telly but we were out and about so it didn't matter. The film was OK. I did love Rebecca Ferguson (who?) though. She is Swedish and was in The White Queen on TV but here was a very British spy called Ilsa Faust. Such a British sounding name....scriptwriters are so clever.There were only 6 of us in the cinema but I wasn't exactly at ease as the two lads sat behind us appeared to have all the attributes needed to be lone wolf killer gunmen. The chunkier of the two, obviously not the brains, was as lithe as a Neanderthal and the thin one spent most of the film talking on his phone........"I do care," I heard him say at one point.......I didn't believe him.Perhaps the Neanderthal had forgotten to bring the guns but anyway we got out alive.I went back to Hawthorne Cinemas yesterday on my own......because I could........and watched 'Mr Holmes' with Sir Ian McKellen. It was in cinema 1 which turned out to be massive and quite a shock after cinema 4 the night before. The seats were faux leather and made a loud 'Pfffttttttttt' sighing sound as you sat down on them and the air escaped. I was the only one in at first but I was joined by a few other pensioners soon after.........'Pfffftttttt'........'Pfffftttttt'........'Pfffftttttt'. A young couple came in............'Pfffftttttt'.............'Pfffftttttt'.The film started and then three middle aged ladies tottered in...........'Pfffftttttt'......'Pfffftttttt'....'Pfffftttttt'........but they weren't happy with their seats so they moved three rows forward...........'Pfffftttttt'......'Pfffftttttt'....'Pfffftttttt'.......but then, you would not believe it, got up and moved back again!.......'Pfffftttttt'......'Pfffftttttt'....'Pfffftttttt'.......It was all I could do not to cry out "Oh, for Goodness sake!"So, Ian McKellan was an elderly Sherlock Holmes, in his 90's, facing death...........it was, I decided, not the best choice of film under the circumstances. It was a bit slow, tottering along as fast as Ian McKellen did.......but it passed a few hours.I returned unto Garden City in the afternoon for my opticians appointment. I was a bit early. There was a smartly dressed gentleman behind the desk and I assumed he was the optician.He asked if he could help and I told him I had an appointment but was a bit early. He called over a small, giggly Asian girl who laughing, said something that I did not understand but took to mean 'follow me please."Ah, she is going to puff air in my eyes I thought before I see the man later......but no, it turned that out she was the optician!She looked 12.I have to say she was very thorough and turned out to be very professional. The smart man was just the 'till boy'.....but following my eye examination he took $750 off me for my new thin varifocal lenses with anti scratch coating and my new Ray Ban polarised sunglasses.I do need them....he writes, as he sits looking out at the dull, grey, rain laden sky today.

Return of 'The Mole People.'

It was very strange to watch Julie and her hubby cut the grass next door this morning. They used to always cut ours first but Will had told them that we will cut our own grass from now on.......if we can get the old mower started that is.I tried to keep myself to myself.......not actively avoiding bumping into them but not helping it either.I was lurking in the shadows folding washing when I thought I heard a knock so dashed upstairs to see but there was no one at the door. Perhaps the knock had been downstairs on the Man Cave door. I rushed back down again no one was there. I went back up again and out of the front door as I could see Donna next door and Julie's hubby looking my way.It had been Julie knocking but we had missed each other and eventually she came around from the back of the house. She gave me a hug which wasn't necessary and I didn't really want due to how much she was sweating.We had a lovely chat about death, funerals, euthanasia and suicide; her Uncle gassed himself in Ballina, before I finally got back to wondering what the hell to do with myself today.

A brand new day.

So.....Will was back to his old routine yesterday.I faced a new one. It was strange for me to wake and wonder what to do next.I needed to get a repeat prescription for my blood pressure tablets so rang the Doctors. Bored Stacey could only get me in at 12.15 so I had the morning to kill.I admit I did a lot of sitting around.....the urge to get the washing machine on thwarted by the fact that the water was off. I sorted out some birthday cards for Up Over......there is a rash of birthdays at the end of August......but the time until I had to leave for the doctors pretty much dragged.I didn't have to wait too long in the waiting room. There were a few people waiting but most were pregnant women who seemed to be waiting to see a nurse.Dr Wang called me in. It has been quite a while since I saw him last.....way before my biopsy. He only asked about it after reading my notes and not because he remembered me."Did they look after you well?"I told him they were all very good. He laughed when I was telling him about the awful biopsy and the guy telling me to hold my breath and then forgetting to tell me to breathe again.He checked my blood pressure, 120 over 80, so that was good and he gave me the new prescription."Ok Doll?" said Shayla the Pharmacist from behind her dispensing desk. Even our trips to the chemist will be less frequent now I thought.I parked Roxy at Cooper's Plains station and caught a train into the City. I got off at Roma Street. I got some lunch and then wandered through the Roma Street Parklands. There had been an event on at the weekend called 'Alive'......celebrating Brisbane's parks.....it all seemed a  bit in 'bad taste' to me under the circumstances.The flowers were very colourful and Dulcie would have loved it and I remembered our trip here with her last year. I realised there were not going to be many places I could go and that did not remind me of her in some way.I wandered back over to Southbank and caught a train home.

Missing Dulcie.

We came back to Brisbane yesterday.Will is back at work on Monday and we wanted to have a day here to get sorted before the old routine starts up again......well, his old routine. Mine is going to be very different.It is very strange to be here without her.We are spending most of out time down in the Man - Cave and have been catching up on some TV.Last night we ate tea at 6.00 like we always did with just the two of us sat at the table upstairs. We had some of the mini pies we bought for Dulcie a few weeks ago when we had the goat pies.....which were too big for her waning appetite. We had mash, mashed pumpkin and peas and sweetcorn, all the things she loved but her chair was empty.We didn't have to rush out of bed this morning to check on her and we were able to go shopping to the supermarket together this afternoon for our weekly shop.I did all the washing from our trip today and got most of it dried. I wouldn't be able to do it tomorrow as the water is going to be off from 8 until 4 as they are renewing the water pipes one street over. The fates are conspiring to get me out of the house.....so I shall.All her things are washed and neatly folded and put away in their proper place. I have opened her windows to air her room during the day and close them again at night. Old habits die hard.We are going out to the cinema tonight......again something we have not been able to do for many weeks. I feel a bit guilty for looking for ward to it.