We are really into the typical November weather being wet and blustery - but not particularly cold as yet. We are always pleased to see our domestic help whose day it is each Wednesday and I gave her a little present of some homemade soup (carrot and basil) for her to try. We went off to collect our newspaper and then started on a couple of visits that we needed to make. The first of these was to a furniture store which is set up so that individuals wishing to furnish a home can do at a minimal cost. Most of the furniture and household artefacts is donated by individuals who wish to de-clutter their own house but are more than happy to see any unwanted goods go to a good home and not end up in landfill. I particularly wanted to acquire a small occasional table to go into the corner of a room and as soon as Meg and I walked into the cavernous type rooms in which the furniture was stored, we saw something that caught our eye. This was a miniature drop leaf table which was oval in shape but the two sides folded down to create a small rectangular top. The wood was a mahogany or rosewood type of wood and it was in pretty good condition but with some minor scuff marks. What was particularly attractive was a tooled leather insert for the table top so this added to its charm. I needed this table to put a little table lamp upon it so after a little hunt around, we discovered a smallish table lamp but with an attractive 'autumn leaves' lampshade. I put the lamp on the little drop leaf table to see how they looked together and was then delighted to purchase the two of them together for £20. Then we went on the road to collect a purchase for the George store internal to Asda where I had ordered and paid for a little item on line and could pick it up at out local Asda store. As soon as I got the little dtop leaf table home, I could gave it a really good wipe down with a clean sponge and some warm soapy water and was pleasantly surprised by how restored it looked. I do have a little bottle of one of those special 'scratch remover' types of fluid which I have very successfully used in the past to renovate furniture and remove minor scuffs and the like. I then hunted around in my box of old light bulbs and discovered that I actually already had in stock a 60 watt mushrrom shaped bulb which Marks and Spencer had sold some years before calling it a 'peach' light. I wanted these items for a particular place in the corner of the room where I have created a little music and relaxation centre for the benefit of both Meg and myself when the occasion arises. The overall effect of the renovated little table with an interesting design of table lamp upon it, complete with its 'soft light' bulb, have created an effect far in excess of what i could possibly hope for when I woke up this morning. So I now have a little occasional piece which absolutely fulfills the function I had intended for it which was to create some warm and welcomingly looking relaxation space. The purchase from Asda was an occasional lamp with a small wooden base and a linen look shade of which I actually have another to illuminate a spare corner and this has now been pressed into service to illuminate the CDs which now have pride of place in an adjoining bookcase. So I have now managed to achieve what I wanted at minimal expense and hardly any 'running around'. There was also a bonus to this in the mid afternoon. My son was just leaving the house and I mentioned to him that the CD component of the miniature hifi systm I had inherited from him seemed to be on its last legs as whether it started to play a CD disk or not was decidedly 'iffy'. With a thumb he wiped clean the plastic lens cover to the laser unit with the player. This seemed to work short term but to make sure, I popped into the garage and located an absolutely brand new, and therefore clean, paintbrush which i use to give the lens cover a good clean. This has evidently been effective because I had a Renato Scotti (Italian soprano) disk in which the first track would not play but it would from the second track onwards. After my cleaning efforts, it now worked first time so that was another bonus to the afternoon.
This afternoon, Meg and I had a regular i.e. timetabled, telephone appointment with one of the doctors from our practice. We spent a lot of time discussing some of Meg's medication which seems to be unavailable so he is going to try to expedite this or prescribe another. His advice was all a bit general but I was pleased that he seemed as concerned about my health as well as that of Meg as it is important that I am kept going to keep 'the whole show on the road'.
© Mike Hart [2022]