Have probably mucked up my email settings but we'll see what happens.
Friday 4th April
Dry morning Woken up by refuse collectors emptying wheelybin. When I was a lad they were called dustmen a very apt description in the days of coal fires. The first job when you got up in the morning was to clean the ash out of the grate and arrange paper, sticks and coal and light the fire. The ash went into the dustbin, hence dustmen.
Saturday 5th April
Winn went with Lyn to a quilt exhibition at Trentham Gardens.
I started to prepare a folder of things to be done in the case of our deaths. Ended up with 5 pages of items and addresses for action plus labels for the envelopes. Hailstorm in afternoon. Had dinner with Lyn and Ric.
Sunday 6th April
Woke up to find three inches of snow on the lawns. However the paths and roads were clear. Most peculiar, presumably the paving slabs and roads had retained heat from the day before.
Monday 7th April.
Cannot find my left hearing aid. Trip to Bletchley Park to the WW2 code breaking museum. Absolutely fascinating and amazing that 10,000 people worked there during the war and the Germans never found out about it. Saw Colossus, the first real computer, actually working. Hundreds of valves. lights and switches, a bit like the Kdf8 I first programmed in binary in 1963, but that had transistors instead of valves.
Tuesday 8th April
On duty at Museum. Searching for photographs of a Flying Flea built by a local garage owner in 1936. Unsuccessful. He flew it from the field at the back of our bungalow. My father built a Flea in 1936, but only made one flight. The propeller broke and he had to land quickly.
We have lost the keys to the garden shed.
Wednesday 9th April
Checkup at dentist. Asked him why he decided to spend his life looking into peoples’ mouths. Said he wanted to be an architect but the course was 7 years and he could become a dentist in 5. Funny reason. Keys to the garden shed found between the cushions on the settee. Also found several years deposit of dust behind the cushions.
Thursday 10th April.
Lovely sunny day. Usual general chat at men’s meeting. We are all pensioners, oldest 95. You wouldn’t believe how racist old men can be !
Friday 11th April
Wet and windy. Hoover day. Removed the dust from under the cushions on the settee. Still haven’t found my hearing aid. There is a penalty of £50 if you lose an aid.
Saturday 12th April
Showery and cold. SHOPPING
Monday 14th April
Grandma and I went with Margaret and Carol (Brenda’s daughter) for lunch to the Park Pavilion. Excellent lunch except that I ordered meat balls and didn’t realise it came with a huge dish of pasta. Walked round the park afterwards and got caught in a heavy hailstorm which appeared suddenly. Experimented with my webcam and the i-movie program and found out how to reduce the size of the files. So watch out for a video attachment with my next weekly diary.
Tuesday 15th April
Museum day. On duty from 9.15 to 2. No visitors.
The Flying Flea photographs have been found and show the Flea flying above the fields at the back of our bungalow. This triggered off a search for Wrights Aerodrome near Louth and on a website devoted to Lincolnshire Airfields I found a satellite photo showing my father’s airfield and also the houses where I and Grandma lived. (see attachments) and where my father had his chicken farm after he retired.
Wednesday 16th April
Have changed gas and electricity suppliers from EDF to British Gas. Should save about £100 per year but had to pay EDF £136 today to clear the old gas bill. Have I saved anything ? Warm sunny day. Washed the car.
Thursday 17th April
Cold dry day. Took Carol to station. She is on her way back to New Zealand. Had a chat with Chris on Skype. Had difficulty understanding what he was saying then realised I hadn’t got my hearing aids in (using an old analogue aid until I get a new one).Tried Video as well but the sound was distorted.
Friday 18th
Very cold wind today. Dull. Went for a haircut. Price has gone up for pensioners. Now £5 Mon to Thu £6 Fri and Sat. Is that still cheap ?
What do you pay in your area.
Saturday 19th April
Still very cold. Started new painting in acrylic. If I am pleased with it will attach it next time.
Sunday 20th April
Very cold
Monday 21st April
Probus meeting in the morning. Talk about the North West air ambulance service. Entirely supported by voluntarily contributions although the staff are paid. Wouldn’t want the pilot to be an unpaid volunteer. Surprised to hear that they have at least 3 call outs per day, sometimes 10. Based at Blackpool airport. Half the calls are to motorway accidents as the road ambulances can’t get through
Warm sunny day. Global warming is back.
Tuesday 22nd April
Even warmer today but on duty all day at the museum as afternoon trustee didn’t turn up. Had a class of 7 year olds today so quite noisy.
Car serviced today. Nothing wrong except for the cost - £188 – mustn’t complain I suppose as I think I forgot to get it serviced last year. However it has still only done about 10,000 miles between servicing. Lost garden shed keys again.
Wednesday 23rd April
Brilliant day, like summer. Rang Ken Goy, an old friend in a nursing home with his wife Mary, who suffers from Auzheimer’s disease. He is not very well so may visit him this weekend but it is a long journey to Louth in Lincolnshire. If we don’t go our next visit may be for his funeral.
Thursday 24th April
Got a replacement hearing aid today. Still not found the one I lost. Found the keys for the garden shed on the mat beside the bed ????
Friday 25th April
Grandma had an appointment this morning to have her eyes measured ready for the cataract operation on the 7th May.
An Irish nurse spent 5 minutes on the measurements and 55 minutes chatting in a strong Irish brogue. Everything OK.
Saturday 26th April
Set off for Louth at 9.30am. Lovely day, warm and sunny, arrived at the Old Rectory 12.45. Lovely old house, owner very pleasant. Only half a mile from Stewton House, the care home where Ken and Mary are. Went to see Ken at 2 o’clock. He was in the lounge and absolutely delighted to see us. We didn’t recognise the lady in a chair beside him. She was very thin and emaciated, mouth wide open, and then we realised it was Mary, Ken’s wife. She didn’t open her eyes and didn’t recognise our voices. Grandma held her hand and she gripped it so tightly that she had had to use her other hand to prise Mary's fingers open. We stayed chatting to Ken for an hour and a half. Every few minutes he would shake and cry out in pain. Very distressing.
We then visited Louth Museum where the documents and photos relating to Wrights Bus Service and Lincolnshire Flying Services are stored. Afterwards we walked through Hubbards Hills enjoying the sunshine and recalling childhood memories. Had an evening meal at the “Splash”, a pub beside a ford and a watery lane.
Sunday 27th April
Had coffee with an old schoolfriend of Grandm’a, and then a shandy in an old pub which had a photograph of Wrights first bus, a charabanc, on the wall.
Went to see Ken again in the afternoon. Very sleepy and soon fell asleep and couldn’t be wakened buy the nurse. We think he had been sedated as we have learnt since that he has prostate cancer.
Set off on our return journey at 3 o’clock. No problems until we left Buxton. There had been a terrific rainstorm and water was pouring off the moors and the road was covered with soil and stones. After two miles the roads cleared and we arrived home at 6.30.
We were pleased that we had made the effort to see Ken as it is likely he will not be with us much longer.
Tuesday 29th April.
On duty at the museum in the morning. No visitors.
Grandma played bowls in the afternoon with the WI and was very pleased with her performance. Perhaps she will in the team for the match next week.
Wednesday 30th April.
Gardening all morning, weeding, lifting old daffodil bulbs, planting petunias, emptying pots and filling a hanging basket. We both fell asleep after lunch. Sad to hear that our friend Ian across the road has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.
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