Saturday 20th May - suddenly everything is happening at once

Why didn't I post on Wednesday? I really have no idea. I'd have to look in my diary to find out. I think it is the day I had a parcel of second hand books and a dozen sweet pea plug plants delivered, and also a lovely catch-up zoom with friends as well a couple of piano lessons to teach. Oh, and himself prepared the base for another little sentry-box shed for garden furniture.

Thursday is when it all began to unravel hour by hour.

I will gloss over my father ringing first thing to let me know that he had set the fire alarms off the previous evening at the sheltered housing place where he lives. Suffice it to say it was a good test of the rapid response and effectiveness of the care staff, fire brigade and paramedic, and all's well that ends well. 

The sentry box shed went up; clearing the area involved moving a lot of gardening stuff, was was heavy work.

Our kitchen sink blocking in the afternoon was the next event. More heavy work, emptying the cupboard under the sink, undoing and clearing a U-bend (surely this amount of blockage couldn't have been caused by a single green bean lodged in the bend?) and pulling out the washing machine. We have a home service contract with the gas board, so we called them as everything was still blocked.

'The earliest we can get to you is maybe Tuesday sometime,'. I started looking up last minute weekend breaks! No way was I going to hang about in a house with a blocked kitchen sink for 'maybe' four or five days. Luckily we found someone to come out on Friday, and they fixed it.

Meanwhile, there was my father's shopping to fit in. Thursday was no good - he'd gone out for the day. I was just praying that the man for the kitchen sink would come in the morning, so that we could do the shopping and take it round to the flat in the afternoon - and that prayer was answered.

BUT, when we got into the car to take the shopping round to my father's flat, it was time for the next 'surprise'. On turning the key, the car just said 'click'. We tried again. 'Click'. Third time lucky? Phew. We drove to the flats, planning how we would deal with the possibility that the car would not start when we wanted to leave...

Thinking about it, our poor little panda now gets started 9 times a week for very short trips;

Home to the flats to pick my father; from the flats to his bridge club; home again. That's 3 starts 

The same in reverse; another 3 starts.

And on shopping days; home to the supermarket, supermarket to the flats, flats and home again. Another 3 starts,and each journey averaging a bare mile.     

The car started when we left to go home, and we took the long road, about 20 miles round, to make sure the battery was charged! I must admit we did enjoy the drive through all the little villages, and up onto the downs. It seems ok now.

Today I had 18 sweet peas to plant out. That took me all morning and afternoon.

These were a gift from a friend; I'm hoping the copper tape and the grit will discourage the slugs and snails. SNAILS! There are scores of them, everywhere I look. I actually lost a snail - I had put it to one side to deal with it in a minute or so, and it RAN away! I kid you not.

I also have another 2 large pots, and 2 small pots at the back. I've run out of tape, but we had a couple of bags of 'Slugs be gone' wool pellets so I've used those.

I'm hoping there might be 18 sweet peas still there tomorrow...

I think this might be a glass of whisky night.

We have had a trial at making scrambled eggs in his microwave, ''well, I never knew it was so simple,' he said. 

And we have switched his hob off. 'Good idea' he said.

He has two, 1pt pyrex glass bowls which he uses to make his porridge, so I used one of those.

Crack 2 eggs into the bowl, add a lump of butter and a splosh of milk and stir it all up.

His microwave only goes up to 800 W, and he also keeps an extra pyrex plate in it (why? no idea), so if he zaps it for a minute, it is starting to cook, and the rim of the bowl is still only just warm.

Take it out and give it all another stir; and it is likely that the residual heat in the base of the bowl will finish cooking the eggs while he assembles the buttered toast. 

You nay need to alter the timings for your own microwave and equipment,

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