As we suspected, the Liberal party came out on top in the elections held in Canada on Monday. It is too to soon to say whether the Liberals have gained enough seats to form a majority government but, in any case, the media are dubbing this as the second election won by Trump as it was his intervention, calling for Canada to become the 51st state of the USA, which caused the swing to the Liberals. Last night, as the weather had improved so much and we are undergoing a warm spell, I decided not to bring the electric blanket into use and also dispensed with the use of a hot bottle for my feet. Although it is too early to say, I think I feel a little better for it and perhaps the use of the electric blanket was not doing me any good. Both Meg and I had little medical 'contretemps' yesterday putting our Tuesday venture out to see friends in some jeopardy but it is a case of 'playing it by ear' and seeing how we both feel after our breakfast this morning. Yesterday afternoon, our son called round and I was mighty pleased to see him as I had been feeling under the weather but he is to call round tomorrow and we will tackle the not onerous task of removing the empty storage boxes from the top of our bookcases. I have similar feelings this morning upon entering the study that I had when I had got our dining room restored to rights i.e. a feeling of relief that all was now neat and tidy and a joy to contemplate. I do have a psychological trait, which some would call a failing, that if I put things away I completely forget about them and leaving them around is a reminder that I have to take some action. But this is not a good enough excuse, actually, and my study now looks like the workmanlike place it is intended to be. Turning out the study has revealed one or two things I had put away in the past and forgotten about. Apart from the large photo I have discovered of Meg and I standing in front of the Lincoln memorial in Washington, my most precious find is the card addressed to Meg and signed by all of the members of the Erasmus linguist's group in which she appears to have been a really active and much appreciated member in her day. The little electronic clock which displays the current temperature was also another nice find. When we left Hampshire some seventeen and a half years ago, I think we think we filled three skips of stuff that we wished to throw away and, with the exception of some Christmas tree lights which were easily replaced I have not missed anything that was thrown away. But down in Hampshire, the local tip was not too far away from where we lived and although I made frequent trips there, we did rescue from there a cast-iron tree mug and a Lowry print both of which are in use today.
Knowing that I was still somewhat in a recovery mode after feeling unwell yesterday, I had to plan today's excursion with some care because I thought that the whole 2½ mile trip was probably over-ambitious. So I texted some friends down the road and was delighted that out Italian friend could see us for a few minutes and this had the bonus of only being a third of my normal distance. She was on her way to a funeral in any case and so we chatted for a few pleasant minutes and then Meg and I made for home. As it was such a beautiful day, I parked Meg in the shade of one of our conifers at the front whilst I sat on our garden bench, having made myself some elevenses. So we stayed here until our friendly carer arrived for a Tuesday sit session. I took the opportunity of her looking after Meg whilst I drove quickly down to pick up a newspaper and the carer very kindly folded a basket of clothes straight from the washer for me. To be fair, she is lightening fast at this job and reckons it is child's play after doing a mountain of washing for her own family. In the days when I used to take Meg out to Droitwich in the car and we visited the Worcestershire Association of Carers, we often picked up some amazing bargains. One of these was a beautiful boxed set of a dozen children's classics (such as 'Black Beauty' and 'Treasure Island') I bought this hoping that as Meg's concentration declined with her illness, she would be able to manage the simpler language and shorter length of a Children's classic. I think many children might encounter these when they are 9-10 years old but in event, the volumes in the boxed set were beyond Meg. But I was delighted when one of the carers indicated that her children would love to read some of these so I gave away the boxed set with a great of alacrity knowing that it would bring a lot of pleasure to younger readers. Even if the books were slightly too advanced, I suggested to the carer that she might store them away in a safe place and release them for example for a birthday or a Christmas present. After the carers departed I started to think about lunch but I was not inclined to cook a hot meal, So I made a salad based on some already de-frosted mackerel, boiled potatoes allowed to cool and served with salad cream, tomato, cheese and some pickled beetroot. I found the meal very enjoyable and managed to get some of it inside Meg as well after a bit of a struggle. Then I had in mind to cut the back lawn which is now 2½ weeks since the last cut and badly showing it. As some of the grass at the edges was so long and lanky, I even adjusted the mower settings to the second highest height but soon realised that this was unnecessary so reverted to my normal 'middle of the range' settings. The engine did not baulk (i.e. choke) with this slightly longer grass length and I am now a little more streetwise when I use the mower. In particular I tend to avoid using the left hand side (with the dodgy repair) under low hanging bushes and the slight enhanced engine speed means that even slightly longer grass presents no especial challenges any more.
© Mike Hart [2025]