AS GOOD AS IT GETS PHASE DAY 182

DVT DAY 182

A.G.A.I.G DAY 182

Monday and I get up to the smell of bacon and coffee, a good way to wake up. I have breakfast with all my family there and take the opportunity to tease my eldest daughter as she is the only one working today. I find I have a present from my partner with an accompanying note. The present is a surprise and echoes my dandelion clock image of my life line. I am touched by the thought and the note, not for sharing.

My surprise present

We decide that over the next couple of days to do stuff, starting with a trip to Beacon Hill for coffee and fresh air. Before going I order some interlocking flooring tiles for the training area of the garage so the weights do not damage the floor. Pretty blue ones of course. I drive us to the entrance of the park and we set off for the cafe. We find the cafe closed! Sitting at a picnic bench we consult the internet that tells us this cafe is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. We are bemused at its closure, it seems to make no sense looking at the numbers of families that are sitting around the area. We abandon the park, saying farewell to the bear as we go.

A glum bear who can get no buns on Mondays or Tuesdays

I drive us to Bradgate Gate our local deer park that has been going for 800 years. We head for the cafe and settle on coffee and tuna sandwiches. The sun is shining and it is warm, just the excuse needed to have a Magnum ice cream. I sit and watch the small yellow birds seeking the seeds from the pine cones on the tree that we are sitting next to.

Not a tit but possibly a yellow wing or a siskin

We laze for a while and then head off towards the garden centre closer to home to restock and begin to prepare for next spring. We wander around and gather up plants and bulbs making plans on the hoof for the coming seasons. We end up with a trolley full of foliage and head home.

Todays haul to go in the garden for the spring.

I hang my washing out and notice that our clothes peg stock seems to have disappeared so resort to Amazon to put this right. We all sit around with a col drink and I order the tickets for Trentham Gardens tomorrow. We are going to go on the fairy hunt.

One fairy that is not difficult to find.

I change into my cycling gear and head for the shed for an hour of effort. It feels gratifying that I get through the hour. On the way back to the house I notice a large dahlia has come into bloom.

In for dinner with the family and I resist the cheesecake and go for plain strawberries, my major goal is to get my weight down, Oh to be just overweight rather than obese as my phone sees it.

My evening is spent running off the bill for the re-piping and sending a reply to the ombudsman with whom we are still at loggerheads with. It means another review by the ombudsman for a final and legally binding ruling. So that particular chapter is in the lap of the gods now. I am almost past caring now as the reality of the experience of being ill in Jamaica is way outside the comprehension of any “objective” agency. I finally get in the shower and get refreshed before settling down to write the blog.