On Saturday, the plan was for the poet to go and get the campervan. It needed a wash and he was going to arrange that on the way. Then we’d all pile into the van and go out for the day to a country park not far from where we used to live. I stayed home while the poet went to the lockup, but when he pulled up outside in the car, I knew something was wrong.
The battery on the van was flat. Again. This is the third time it’s been flat. I did think it had been replaced, but the more I think about it the more I think I must be thinking about my car. We did replace the battery in my car last year but I think we just kept our fingers crossed about the van battery.
The first time it went flat, we think the alarm had been running for several days during high winds, until it ran itself out. The second time it went flat, the van had been standing for months, through unprecedented rain, snow, winter, etc. We did think it might hold the charge for a couple of weeks. But, alas, it seems not.
So it looks like we now need to jump-start the van, with my car as we haven’t worked out how to do it in the poet’s hybrid car yet, then take it somewhere to have a new battery fitted.
We weren’t going to do that on Saturday, though, as we’d already lost some time with the poet going to get the van and coming back without it. So we jumped in the car and went to where we were going anyway, resolving to sort out the battery this coming weekend.
The walk we went on was 2 miles, and the longest walk the puppy’s done yet. By the last quarter he was moaning a bit, and he wouldn’t settle in the car, going or coming back. Once we got home, though, he went out like a light and stayed that way until about 10am the next day. Yay! We were lucky with the weather, but 2 miles is probably all we can manage for the next few excursions. My own old and aching bones will be quite happy with that too.
On Sunday we had a do-diddle day. We planned to do nothing and only did what we felt like doing. That included the poet taking his car to be washed and we did take the dog for a very short walk around the block. But generally, we had Sunday off. What we thought was a large gammon steak in the freezer turned out to be a large turkey steak, so we had a turkey dinner for our tea.
We had a lazy start on Monday because the poet was off on a long-distance 2-day work trip again, but he didn’t have to leave until mid morning. Once he’d gone, I spent much of the day trying to get used to my new glasses. I even tried doing some hard copy editing, but my reading wasn’t reliable enough to carry on. I did consider just taking the glasses off and reading it as usual, but that won’t help my eyes get accustomed to the new varifocals.
I watched Week 5 of the plotting with depth workshop. I walked the dog. I fed the birds. I put washing through. And I did a little bit of editing. But mostly I read, again practising with the new glasses.
On Tuesday I was determined to get some editing done, but after a few attempts I gave in and called the optician, asking what I was doing wrong or if she had any tips. She gave me a quick, on the spot lesson there and then, over the phone, and said if I was still struggling at the end of the week, to into the shop on Saturday and she’d give me a face to face as well, which was very kind of her and, in my opinion, above and beyond. (It’s free.) I suppose it’s cheaper than them making brand-new lenses for me from scratch, though, and scrapping the varifocals…
The dog was a pain in the backside for much of the day, even on his walk, which was another short one. It didn’t matter where I left him or moved him in the house, he found something to chew or shred or trash. I had to hide a roll of poo bags and throw a box of tissues away. Everything else had to go in drawers, and when he ran out of things he could destroy, he turned on one of the bedside lights (it’s operated by touch) then came and whinged at me!
I was glad to hand him over when the poet came home from his trip…
I gave up on the editing again, called the solicitor to let him know our landlord had served notice, so we’d need a rough estimate of completion as soon as he could tell us, posted yesterday’s blog post, which was already written so I don’t know why I’d left it (although I was annoyed to find that WordPress have started to only copy and paste in plain text so now I have to go and get any links again, even though they’re in the drafting file), and started today’s, and watched Week 6 of the plotting with depth workshop.
But again, for most of the day, I practised using my new glasses, choosing to read a Google Play Books book on the desktop screen rather than on one of the hand-held devices, and choosing to read the workshop assignment book to the end rather than the book review book I’ve been struggling through. I have watching the telly while also doing something on my phone or tablet off to a fine art. Now I just need to be able to work at my desk.
That means today I’d like to have a good session on the editing if I can, hopefully with my new glasses on but without if necessary. I can’t hold the job off any longer just because I’ve had an eye appointment.
© Diane Wordsworth
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