This has been a nice week. Plenty going on but not too much. I have had a run each day and my ankles are just holding up. Thought I might break it down by listing each day.
Monday
Did some things at home. As Hannah was away jumping into freezing lakes in Cumbria Rachel set to work on decorating Hannah’s room. I went to see my mother-in-law who now needs daily visits, ideally in time for cooking her some lunch.
Tuesday
Art in the morning and lunch with Rachel in The Way Coffee House as usual. Afternoon run and taking mother-in-law to the local village shop. Although it would be faster, quicker and a lot easier for me to do all of her shopping, she understandably likes to maintain some activity and purpose. So we inch our way around the little shop and occasionally she throws a little challenge at me such as wanting some Hertz biscuits. I’ve never heard of these, I thought Hertz hired out cars. Alas it was Ritz biscuits, so mystery solved. Sometimes these cryptic clues are hilarious.
In the evening we went to the election hustings. We have a Conservative, Labour, Green and LibDem candidates standing.
It was chaired by an Anglican bishop and we think he was fair. The candidates took it in turn to give and opening speech and a closing summary. In between was the substantive part of the evening with questions from the audience.
We both thought the Labour candidate (left in photo), while well intentioned, was out of his depth. The Conservative candidate (right in photo and who is an Eton educated man, has been the sitting MP for many years).
The Green candidate was unexpectedly impressive. He was a little hesitant at first but soon got into his stride and spoke well and with genuine conviction.
The Liberal Democrat candidate was the only woman and was logical, knew her stuff, seemed very pragmatic and put up some strong arguments.
I think you may know where this is heading. We thought the Conservative candidate looked annoyed and irritated having to be there to justify himself. He was being held to account for his own conduct and that of his party, whether he liked it or not. He faced a few boos and heckles from the audience (this was quite justified I thought).
Wednesday
Again went to see mother-in-law and had another run. Also today I managed to pin Rachel down by taking her out for lunch. She had no choice really as I had booked a table and put it in our shared calendar. I think once I had managed to get Rachel, there, with a menu in front of her, we had a nice time. Just takes a little determination at times!
Thursday
My bit of volunteering in The Way Coffee House was today. I do enjoy this and it flies past. While I am their as a “host” my role is to serve and chat to folk as needed (I’m okay at judging the body language and other signals) and also doing a bit of washing up etc.
The afternoon was my regular appointment at the hospital with the kidney consultant. I had quite a long appointment discussing the current state of play and various blood and urine tests. The consultant kindly explained the results of the two recent scans. One was ordered by herself, the other was by Urology.
“Well he’s a man, of course he will try and out-do me by requesting a smarter scan”. While it hasn’t changed any of the headline numbers, it has thrown up a surprise.
I asked what the future will hold for me but there isn’t really enough data or an established trend to be sure, so it was side-stepped.
I’m thankful overall. So much so, I ran home while Rachel drove the car. I ran with thankfulness in my heart – as things stand, I could be feeling much worse and I am thankful I’m not experiencing too many symptoms. I have escaped very lightly and I wonder if this is helped by my young age (!) and also because I am determined to keep myself in good shape.
In the evening we had some friends around for a meal. I like mixing people up, so our friends get the chance of making new friends. We don’t have a flashy home, in fact we are very modest, but the important thing is company, relationships and all those conversations around the dining room table.
Friday
I had an Awayday to attend for the charity I’m a trustee of. Except it was only for the morning and it was in a rented room in the same building as where the charity is based, so not very extravagant. I have been there a year now and at the end of the meeting I expressed my appreciation for having been made to feel welcomed and valued.
Saturday
Parkrun day. I am getting into a little system with my friend Dave, who lives nearby and is also a Parkrunner. He drives these days and we come back to our house for coffee and toast afterwards. I was kicking myself as I chatted briefly to a runner who had come from Basingstoke that morning for the Parkrun. He said he was driving home afterwards and I think I was so stunned how someone would do that, I missed the opportunity of inviting him for coffee.
As I haven’t had a “long” run this week, I ran home after the 3 mile Parkrun. Well, it was mostly down hill for the 2.7 miles. In my mind I can see the numbers growing for our post-run coffee.
Originally I had planned to visit my mother for the weekend but I dutifully didn’t at her request. She has a bad cold, most unusual for her.
Sunday
We went it the early Sunday morning service, as is our habit. So you know, our church has two almost identical services on a Sunday morning. This is done as a way of managing the growing numbers.
In the evening we went to an alternative event at Com Church. It wasn’t really a traditional church service at all and, to be fair, it had the curious label as an “acoustic cafe”. We heard the lovely Beverley Trotman sing a number of songs, including some Christmassy songs.