You can take a horse to water...........

I spent nearly all day gardening on Sunday, and left Mason trying to sort out various problems with his project. I managed to catch up with a few emails which were overdue.
On Monday I went off to Pinner for a change, it is a beautiful bus ride and made a change. The weather is still terribly hot. When I got home I tidied up a bit.

On Tuesday Margaret called round, and we sat outside in the shade and had icy lemonade. Poor John was at home recovering from having a tooth taken out by the dentist. It was nice to chat to Margaret as we had not seen each other for a while. As Mas had spent all day on the computer or phone, we decided to go out for dinner at the Man in the Moon to break the monotony.
It was steak night, so we both had one. Ken came in, and said his TV had just gone wrong, and he had come to watch the football match so he sat where he could watch it, and we went off home once we had finished our meal.

On Wednesday we went swimming in the afternoon. As usual we separated to go to the changing rooms, Mas saying he would see me in the pool in a minute. I swam alone for 50 minutes, knowing he must have got talking to the guys in the changing room.
Another lady was swimming too, the pool was fairly empty, and I got talking to her. She was from Croatia, and had lived here for 15 years, she was wondering where her partner had got to, and I suggested that he and Mas were talking together; before long they both appeared.

After swimming for an hour I got cold, and with lots of protests from Mas, left the pool, showered and dressed, and walked around several football pitches looking at the variety of bushes and plants. After two hours of this, Mas came out, and we left! He had not done any exercise, just talked in the pool!

Catching up with friends

We had a fairly quiet Saturday doing our usual things. Pete called, and we talked about the skeleton illustration for his book.....later there were cartoons of small dapper skeletons all around me on the floor, I was trying to get the right attitude to match what I know of Skelton Yawngrave! Later I did some washing up , which is something I can do without thinking at all!

On Suday we sprang to attention after a long relaxed breakfast, as Diane was coming for an early lunch. Mason immediately began rewiring the TV and Video so that they no longer sit in a cupboard surrounded by flammable videos which they had for years, but beside the TV(temporarily). Needless to say this took twice the time that he had allowed for it. However Diane arrived on time, lunch a little later, and there was a lot to catch up on as we had not seen her for a long time. The weather remained unsettled, and later as Mas gave her a lift to the station for her journey home the rain began in ernest again.

Later Mex phoned and we got up to date with what has been going on which was very interesting. Unexpectedly Marion called in for several hours which was nice, but by the time she left we were so tired we could only stare at the walls and could hardly drag ourselves off to bed.

Restful times.

On Monday Toby and I walked to Edgware, and got a couple of things from the shops. After lunch Manu, Lela and Rebecca phoned so I was busy chatting for a long time! Romy called, and it was so nice to hear her voice; luckily Toby walked into the house while she was still on the phone. Mas made a nice dinner and we heard about the things Toby had been looking at in London; he has been away so long he feels like a tourist now. Later we all watched 'New Tricks' which we enjoy on TV before turning in.

On Tuesday we all went off and had a pub lunch and got more shopping from Stanmore. Toby went off to London again in the afternoon, and I took it easy. Diane and Pat called and chatted too. I am still feeling quite well, just a bit tired.

Toby came back, we talked while we had dinner, and looked at his photographs while we had dinner, and later watched 'Pie in the Sky'. I am finding it quite difficult to sit in front of the TV for too long before feeling fidgety, I would generally rather listen to the radio while doing something else, but it is nice seeing some of these programmes which are old and mostly repeats.

Blind Date and dusty fox

Last night we watched Blind Date which we have seen umpteen times, but it still makes us laugh; Blake Edwards films just have such good timing.

After breakfast Mas and I went for a shortish walk around the neighbourhhod as part of our getting healthy plan. As we came through the door the phone was ringing and it was Pete, who is planning to come to see us next week.

I managed to plant the hanging baskets and stuff more pansies into the window boxes. It felt really nice to be doing gardening again. There was no sign of the field mouse, but Mas thinks it has moved into the shed as someone had been eating the birds' fat balls.

A few days ago a big dusty looking fox came into the garden and was sniffing around under the bird feeder when he spotted a cat passing through the garden and gave chase. The cat however was much faster and got clear away.

Advice and garden flowers

Today I received a handmade card made by Milan from Monika, Oktay, Milan and Radovan. It was very sweet and funny. More emailing, and getting useful advice from Chris and Carol, and more phone calls.

I am feeling uncreative at the moment which always makes me feel bored, I hope it will pass soon. It does give me a lot of pleasure looking at plants in the garden. Mas has bought some flowers that need to be put into the window boxes and hanging baskets, I will try to get it done tomorrow.

Relaxing and talking with Toby and hospital visit

Toby arrived home late from Wales, due to bad weather and flooding on the railway lines. We had a nice evening catching up on the news and chatting while we had dinner with a nice bottle of red wine. We were all rather tired and later watched TV for a while before going off to bed.

The next day we had breakfast, and Toby went off to spend the day with Gerald, and Mas and I went to the Royal Free hospital; Mas accompanying me in case I had to have anaesthetic, but I did not. When we left the hospital we had a coffee and quick lunch in Belsize Park before returning home again. We had a nice dinner with Toby when he returned, with lots to talk about as usual.

When we got up we had a long breakfast drinking coffee, and eventually decided to go to The Man in the Moon for lunch which made a nice break. Afterwards Toby and I went for a walk, and also called into the Two Jays bookshop to look at the books. Toby left early to meet Pete in town for the evening, and Mas and I relaxed and watched TV for a while.

Walking in Hertfordshire and an evening with friends.

My special walking friend Jana came for a brief holiday, she came over in the morning and we walked across fields from Elstree to Letchmore Heath by an indirect route. The day was sunny and bright and we had a lot to talk about as we walked. We stopped at the Three Horseshoes and had a coffees before setting off by a different route to return to Elstree again as it was getting dark and cold; we had walked for hours which was great.

The village of Letchmore Heath, and the Three Horseshoes were used when making the film The Village or the Damned ( John Wyndham's Midwich Cuckoos) and also for some of The Avengers series.

In the evening our friends Monika and Oktay came over with Milan, and we all had dinner which Mas had specially cooked for us, and the conversation ranged through all kinds of subjects. They all left around midnight, and we tottered off to bed having had a really nice day.

Below views of the Three Horseshoes, and the closest shot of Jana that I am allowed to show.