28August1997

28 August 1997
My dear folks,

It’s hard to be sure whether my day began at 0230 when I went to bed or 0515 when I was woken by a violent hail storm or at 0800 when my alarm went off. I don’t suppose it matters. In the event I rose most reluctantly, as did Mave who was settled beside me. He likes to pop up for a hug in the morning & to be sure that he gets fed at the first possible moment. I had an overdue appointment with the dentist. If you fail to make an annual visit – as I had - his assistant sends you a card with a tentative appointment & a request for you to make another if it doesn’t suit you.

The storm had blown away, leaving a lovely fresh day for a cycle ride through the park to Harley Street where Mr Healey has his rooms. He’s an excellent if elderly dentist although he’s getting a bit absent-minded, asking me at least three times whether Jones was down in Portugal or back in London. He peered & probed & took a few x-rays & arranged to get down to some serious work next week. On the way home I dropped in on Mr Volkswagen who supplied me with a back wiper that doesn’t fit & is looking for one that does. No luck! Thence via the health food shop to a house under decoration to ensure that all was well & finally home for a necessary kipette in the TV chair. All terribly mundane but then one has to come to terms with the mundane if one is to achieve a measure of happiness.

The telly is showing us a bunch of people who went for a roller coaster ride in Brussels & got stuck upside down in the loop for two hours. First time in 15 years say the operators but this doesn’t console the upside downers who look very miserable as they are eventually rescued. Mind you, the unluckiest person of the week has to be the man whose “disappeared” wife’s bones were discovered in a weighted sack at the bottom of Lake Coniston 21 years after she vanished. Some divers just happened to come upon them while they were messing around in an unlikely corner of the lake. Hubby arrived back from a cycling holiday in France with replacement wife to find Inspector Knacker waiting with the handcuffs.

Thank you to Cathy whose fax has just been sliced off the machine. I look forward to the 20-page account of your epic, as added to & corrected by your daughters. I see that your weather has been mimicking ours. Jones, I take it that you received the sunny weather outlook I faxed you courtesy of CNN, & that the sunny weather has arrived as forecast following Wednesday’s showers & gloomy guests. Bren, fingers crossed that the mine order comes through. Let us know the outcome soonest.

At this point, I have to type sitting on a stool as Mavis has commandeered my chair, curling himself in a ball on my sponge cushion. He indicated to me in the early hours that it was time for his excursion, coming into the study to rub a dub my ankles & then making little dashes for the top of the stairs where he would peer around to see if I’d got the message. I had & told him where to stick his ambitions for the night. Stefania bought a thick doormat for the flat when her Mum was staying here during my Canadian trip & this Mavis loves. He never leaves the flat without stopping to savage the mat first. Anyone waiting to exit has to wait until the mat has been subdued & his claws are properly sharpened. What a funny bugger he is.

As you can see, not much to report. The skies have greyed over again. I’m going to grab & Aldeia Velha & wander out on to the patio to salute the evening in lieu of a sunset.

Blessings ever
T