John's 2016 Thread - A Year of Normality 4

The new thread will be here soon, please pop along and pay a visit.

BOOKS READ IN JANUARY

1. The Handsome Man's De Luxe Café by Alexander McCall Smith
2. Mistletoe and Murder by Carola Dunn
3. The Corridor of Certainty by Geoffrey Boycott
4. I Should be so Lucky by Judy Astley
5. Death of a Prankster by M.C.Beaton
6. Death of a Glutton by M.C.Beaton
7. Playing it my Way, My Autobiography by Sachin Tendulkar
8. Burn by James Patterson
9. Hunger: The Autobiography by Sean Kelly
10. Theodore Boone: The Activist by John Grisham
11. Things I Want my Daughters to Know by Elizabeth Noble

BOOKS READ IN FEBRUARY

12. Shakespeare's Champion by Charlaine Harris
13. Born to Ride by Stephen Roche
14. A French Affair by Katie Fforde
15. Die Laughing by Carola Dunn
16. Fred Trueman: The Authorised Biography by Chris Waters
17. NYPD Red 2 by James Patterson
18. Mightier Than the Sword by Jeffrey Archer
19. Death of a Travelling Man by M.C.Beaton
20. Eddy Merckx: The Cannibal by Daniel Friebe
21. Magnificent Seven:Yorkshire's Championship Years by Andrew Collomosse
22. The Afghan by Frederick Forsyth

BOOKS READ IN MARCH

23. Head of State by Andrew Marr
24. The Eagle of Toledo: The Life and Times of Federico Bahamontes by Alasdair Fotheringham
25. Agatha Raisin and The Blood of an Englishman by M.C.Beaton
26. Nadia Knows Best by Jill Mansell
27. Last in the Tin Bath: My Autobiography by David 'Bumble' Lloyd
28. A Cotswold Mystery by Rebecca Tope
29. Bring Me Home by Alan Titchmarsh
30. The Haunting by Alan Titchmarsh
31. Second Honeymoon by James Patterson
32. Death of a Charming Man by M.C.Beaton

BOOKS READ IN APRIL

33. Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer
34. Sleepyhead by Mark Billingham
35. Glorious Summers & Discontents by Mike Atherton
36. The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine by Alexander McCall Smith
37. The Maiden by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
38. Witch & Wizard: The Gift by James Patterson
39. Slipless in Settle by Harry Pearson
40. The Good Life by Martina Cole
41. Takin' the Mick by Mick Grant

BOOKS READ IN MAY

42. A Highland Christmas by M.C.Beaton
43. Body of Evidence by Patricia Cornwell
44. The Seafront Tea Rooms by Vanessa Greene
45. Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear
46. The Road to Gandolfo by Robert Ludlum
47. A Mourning Wedding by Carola Dunn
48. Ruling Passion by Reginald Hill
49. Black Powder War by Naomi Novik
50. The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah

BOOKS READ IN JUNE

51. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
52. Cross my Heart by James Patterson
53. Starry Night by Debbie Macomber
54. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
55. The Cat Who Turned On and Off by Lilian Jackson Braun
56. Death in Ecstasy by Ngaio Marsh
57. Target by Simon Kernick
58. Fall of a Philanderer by Carola Dunn
59. An April Shroud by Reginald Hill
60. Death of a Nag by M.C.Beaton

BOOKS READ IN JULY

61. Vintage Murder by Ngaio Marsh
62. The Magic of Christmas by Trisha Ashley
63. The Book of Summers by Emylia Hall
64. Her Giant Octopus Moment by Kay Langdale
65. Hope to Die by James Patterson
66. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

BOOKS READ IN AUGUST

67. Blood in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope
68. Angels by Marian Keyes
69. The Flood-Tide by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
70. Gunpowder Plot by Carola Dunn
71. Invisible by James Patterson
72. Wedding Tiers by Trisha Ashley
73. Vanish by Tess Gerritsen
74. Dishing the Dirt by M.C.Beaton

CURRENTLY READING

Loving by Danielle Steel
The Bloody Tower by Carola Dunn

BOOKS ADDED IN 2016

1. Dark Fire by C.J.Sansom
2. Friends Forever by Danielle Steel
3. Private Sydney by James Patterson
4. Not Quite Nice by Celia Imrie
5. The Swallow and The Hummingbird by Santa Montefiore
6. The Manning Grooms by Debbie Macomber
7. The Case is Closed by Patricia Wentworth
8. Mrs Jeffries Dusts for Clues by Emily Brightwell
9. Skinner's Ordeal by Quintin Jardine
10. Deception in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope
11. Alfie the Doorstep Cat by Rachel Wells
12. The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
13. Trouble in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope
14. Confessions: The Private School Murders by James Patterson
15. The Best Day of Someone Else's Life by Kerry Reichs
16. The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams
17. The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy
18. Jack Hobbs by John Arlott
19. The Captain's Diary by Bob Willis
20. A Donkey in the Meadow by Derek Tangye
21. The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
22. A Death in the Dales by Frances Brody
23. The Little Shop of Happy Ever After by Jenny Colgan
24. A Vintage Wedding by Katie Fforde
25. Reckless:The Life and Times of Luis Ocana by Alasdair Fotheringham
26. An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
27. The Monuments by Peter Cossins
28. By Heresies Distressed by David Weber
29. Truth or Die by James Patterson
30. The Shadow Hour by Kate Riordan
31. A Year of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman
32. Return to the Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez
33. Unnatural Exposure by Patricia Cornwell
34. The Body Farm by Patricia Cornwell
35. The Third Life by Caroline Gray
36. The Associate by Philip Margolin
37. Theodore Boone: The Fugitive by John Grisham
38. No Place Like Home by Debbie Macomber
39. I am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley
40. Speaking From Among the Bones by Alan Bradley
41. The Haunted Season by G.M.Malliet
42. Playfair Cricket Annual 2016 by Ian Marshall
43. The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild
44. Wisden Cricket Almanack 1970 by Norman Preston
45. Cricket and All That by Henry Blofeld
46. Solomon's Song by Bryce Courtenay
47. Tandia by Bryce Courtenay
48. Leaving Everything Most Loved by Jacqueline Winspear
49. Murder in the Afternoon by Frances Brody
50. Sidney Chambers and the Forgiveness of Sins by James Runcie
51. A Girl's Guide to Moving On by Debbie Macomber
52. The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson
53. Alert by James Patterson
54. Redemption by Leon Uris
55. Death and the Olive Grove by Marco Vichi
56. Time of Death by Mark Billingham
57. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
58. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
59. Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman
60. The Raiders by Harold Robbins
61. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
62. A Dangerous Place by Jacqueline Winspear
63. Death of an Avid Reader by Frances Brody
64. Death of a Policeman by M.C.Beaton
65. Slaying the Badger by Richard Moore
66. Mrs Halliburton's Troubles by Mrs Henry Wood
67. Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich
68. Superfluous Women by Carola Dunn
69. The Death of Lucy Kyte by Nicola Upson
70. London Rain by Nicola Upson
71. The Lake House by Kate Morton
72. NYPD 4 by James Patterson
73. The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
74. Scaredy Cat by Mark Billingham
75. Another Woman by Penny Vincenzi
76. New Spring by Robert Jordan
77. Black Notice by Patricia Cornwell
78. From Potter's Field by Patricia Cornwell
79. The Reversal by Michael Connelly
80. Milk Glass Moon by Adriana Trigiani
81. Old Boyfriends by Debbie Macomber
82. Silver Linings by Debbie Macomber
83. 1105 Yakima Street by Debbie Macomber
84. 6 Rainier Drive by Debbie Macomber
85. 8 Sandpiper Way by Debbie Macomber
86. Mountain of Black Glass by Tad Williams
87. Die Trying by Lee Child
88. Reamde By Neal Stephenson
89. The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
90. Edge of Eternity by Ken Follett
91. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1969 by Norman Preston
92. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack Australia 1999 by Gideon Haigh
93. The J.M.Barrie Ladies Swimming Society by Barbara J. Zitwer
94. The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay
95. The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
96. The Last 10 Seconds by Simon Kernick
97. Dark Blood by Stuart Macbride
98. Spider Bones by Kathy Reichs
99. Christmas at the Cupcake Café by Jenny Colgan
100. This Country Business by Max Hardcastle
101. Stalingrad by Antony Beevor
102. A Midsummer's Nightmare by Garry Kilworth
103. The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman
104. The Witness by Simon Kernick
105. Get Even by Martina Cole
106. Shadows in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope
107. Malice in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope
108. The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan
109. Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop by Jenny Colgan
110. Death of a Dreamer by M.C.Beaton
111. The Villa By Rebecca Ley
112. When The Lion Feeds by Wilbur Smith
113. Naamah's Blessing by Jacqueline Carey
114. Song of the Skylark by Erica James
115. The Secret of Orchard Cottage by Alex Brown
116. Lonesome Road by Patricia Wentworth
117. The Treatment by Mo Hayder
118. The Ambleside Alibi by Rebecca Tope
119. The Troutbeck Testimony by Rebecca Tope
120. Odalisque by Fiona McIntosh
121. Emissary by Fiona McIntosh
122. The Wings of The Sphinx by Andrea Camilleri
123. The Track of Sand by Andrea Camilleri
124. The Song Collector by Natasha Solomons
125. The Ice-Cream Makers by Ernest Van der Kwast
126. The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell
127. The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion
128. Murder House by James Patterson
129. Indemnity Only by Sara Paretsky
130. Deadlock by Sara Paretsky
131. Vanish by Tess Gerritsen
132. Killing Floor by Lee Child
133. Murder Underground by Mavis Doriel Hay
134. When the Bough Breaks by Jonathan Kellerman
135. Sacrilege by S.J.Parris
136. Prophecy by S.J.Parris
137. 15th Affair by James Patterson
138. Sweet Tomorrows by Debbie Macomber

Latest reading stats:

Books on shelves at 1-6-16 - 2165
Books added in June - 23
Books read in June - 10

Revised book total - 2178

Pages to read at 1-6-16 - 937,201
Pages added in June - 11,793
Pages read in Junel - 3,329

Revised total pages to read - 945,665

JUNE'S READING STATS

Books Read...................... 10

No of Authors.................... 10

New Authors......................3

Male Authors..................... 4

Female Authors.................. 6

Pages Read.......................3,329

Daily Avg...........................110.97

Book Length avg.................332.9

Congrats on your new thread, John. Gosh, what a week you and yours had. I'm sorry for your loss. Congrats on Amy's new job. What good news. I'm so sorry to hear what happend to Karen. Please give her my love. I'm thinking of her. Love and hugs xx

>12 johnsimpson:, Thanks Barbara, Karen says thank you but she is still worried and nothing will be done until Monday.

We have had a steady day, after having breakfast we sat watching the Battle of the Somme memorial service on TV before I had to pop out to get a few bits and Karen made and baked the sponge for my birthday cake. Once I got home with the few bits of shopping I had to take the sponge's to the freezer in the garage until she puts it together and decorates it on Monday or Tuesday as my birthday is on Wednesday.

Once I had done this I made us a pot of tea and we watched a bit of tennis before having some lunch, after this we watched more tennis until it was time for me to go and pick Hannah up from school. Hannah was quite chirpy and told me her elbow wasn't too bad, we got home and she dashed into the house to see grandma. She played with her toys before having something to eat and then watched My Little Pony on TV. Soon it was time for her bath and then after some milk and a bit of colouring I took her home.

Once back from taking Hannah home I made us both a pot of tea and am now watching Wales V Belgium in the Euro Quarter Finals.

READING STATS AFTER SIX MONTHS

Books Read...................... 60

No of Authors.................... 44

New Authors......................16

Male Authors..................... 25

Female Authors.................. 19

Pages Read....................... 20,297

Daily Avg...........................111.52

Book Length avg.................338.28

Happy New Thread, John! It is difficult to wait til Monday. I wish Karen the very best.

Happy new thread mate. Will be keeping Karen in my thoughts throughout the weekend.

>17 vancouverdeb:, >18 PaulCranswick:, Thanks Guys. Meanwhile Karen has applied for a couple of jobs as she thinks she is ready for a change.

Had a good morning and Amy and Andy arrived just before noon, they are staying for a few hours and have brought my birthday card and present. Karen is currently applying for a couple of jobs online at the moment. I am watching live coverage of the first stage of the Tour de France on TV.

Happy new thread! I hope Karen's job hunt goes well.

Happy new one, John!

>21 drneutron:, Thanks Jim.

>22 scaifea:, Hi Amber.

Very pleased for Mark Cavendish winning the opening stage of this year's Tour De France, lovely to see his daughter on the podium with him to get his prize and flowers and then to get the first Yellow jersey of the Tour.

Nice to see some sports news other than the European Football stuff. I get most of my sports news from DWTV and they are preoccupied by how well the German football team is doing. I do enjoy hearing about the sports over there as most of the time it is the same old boring news about American Football here in Alabama.

Let's see how chatty we are, when you first log on LT on Wednesday 6th July, check your zeitgeist and post how many talk posts you have written, thank you. Can all who read this spread it about so we can get a good response, it is a bit of fun but it will be interesting to see the figures. I have set up a group called talk posts for the totals to be posted.

>25 benitastrnad:, Hi Benita, I thought it was time for something other than Football and with the Tour De France starting on Saturday I thought it was apt. I will still be mentioning Cricket and my beloved Yorkshire until the end of the season in late September.

Amy and Andy left around 9pm on Saturday evening and they were going over to Howard and Leni's to discuss the pantomime script that Andy is writing as he is having a little problem with the slapstick scene and where to put the music in.

After a late breakfast we decided to go off for a drive and ended up in Ilkley in the Yorkshire Dales, we had a coffee as soon as we arrived and then went for a mooch around. There was a food market on with local producers showing their wares which was rather nice. We popped into the Grove bookshop which is a lovely independent bookshop and has a good selection of books and always has a wonderful window display. We had a pleasant three hours there before heading for home.

Hi John, thanks for your message about July 06 and Zeitgeist. I need help, LOL! How do I know how many talk posts I've written?

A steady day for me, after taking Karen to work I got back and had breakfast before putting the washing on the line. After this I started to cut more of the old lilac tree down before a tea break and then a bit more tree cutting. Thought I would have a break and popped to the chemist to pick up our prescriptions and then back home for a pot of tea and a quick look on here.
After a bit of reading and a couple of little inside jobs I went and finished cutting down the lilac tree with the help of another pot of tea, I cut all the bits up that I could with the pruners and big loppers and put them in the garden re-cycle bin. I have some thicker branches that need the pruning saw and I will use them in my chininea. Once all this was done I made a pot of tea and watched the cycling on TV and during an ad break I made myself some lunch. A mix of cycling and reading before it was time to pick Karen up from work.

On Karen's work front, she was a bit tremulous about what was going to happen today but as it turned out nothing was said to her and she wasn't called into the office although the lady who seems to have got it in for her was busy with the new manager. She hopes that they have chatted and that is the end of things but she is still a bit cautious about what tomorrow will bring. Once she was home she applied for a couple more jobs and one firm got back to her and she has to contact a lady to take things a bit further which she will do tomorrow or Wednesday, she rang and left a message to say that she cannot contact them tomorrow until 5.30pm or she will do it Wednesday morning.

Tell Karen I sympathize with her regarding the job applications. It astounds me how much time it takes to apply for jobs.

Hi John! Sending god job wishes to Karen. And yay for the Tour de France. : )

>26 johnsimpson: Please explain how to get the posting stats you want. I click on Zeitgeist and then go where???

A steady day once again, after taking Karen to work I got home and had breakfast before doing some book stats and read a couple of chapters before popping into town to do some banking. After doing the bank stuff I wandered over to the secondhand bookstall in the market house and ended up coming away with four books but it only cost £2. I then made my way home and had a pot of tea and read for a short while, I had another pot of tea and watched a bit of tennis before starting the upstairs housework. I got the housework done and then made myself some lunch and had it while watching the Tour de France. After this I went into the garage to start tidying the unit up and get rid of some junk ready to move the unit when the windows are replaced next week. I have a bit more to do and then move the unit and my big art cupboard so the fitter can get to the windows.

Karen has put a days holiday in for tomorrow and it is her weekend off so she is not back in work until Monday and she is taking me out for lunch tomorrow for my birthday, I will be 53. Robert has just dropped by with my cards and because the teachers have been on strike today, Louise and Hannah have made me some cupcakes for my birthday.

Amy came from work and picked her mum up and then came here as the hairdresser was coming at 6pm, we had our hair cut and then we had something to eat. We had a chat about her new job which she starts in August and then she left for home around 9pm.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/226457#

The link to the Talk Posts group.

Happy Birthday, John!

Happy birthday mate.

Happiest of Birthdays, friend!!

Best wishes!

Happy Birthday, John! I hope you have a perfect day!

Happy birthday, John!

>34 LovingLit:, Thanks for the link Megan.

>35 DianaNL:, >36 PaulCranswick:, >37 scaifea:, >38 jessibud2:, >39 Dianekeenoy:, >40 lit_chick:, Thank you for the birthday greetings dear friends.

It has been a lovely day for my 53rd birthday, after a slight lie in we got up and had breakfast before I opened my cards and presents. Karen got me a lovely tweed summer jacket and a FatFace T-shirt and the Dad's Army DVD. Amy and Andy got me a Weird fish T-shirt, Bruce Springsbream Prawn to Run. Rob, Louise and the girls gave me some money so I could get what I want, Hannah wrote the girls card for me which was lovely.

Once all this was done I put the washing out while Karen was on the phone and then we set off out, we popped to Rob's to drop the strimmer off and then went into town to pick up an order for Amy from Marks and Spencer's and then we decided to go to Holmfirth. We had a lovely time as it is the annual Art week, in fact it is the Fiftieth edition. We found a lovely pub to have some lunch and the staff and food was excellent, just what I wanted on my birthday. From here we had a mooch around and ended up getting five books from the various Charity shops and Daisy Lane Books.

Before long it was time for us to make our way home but we diverted to drop off a card and present to a friend of ours who has just had their second child, another girl called Ava Grace a sister for Heidi. We both had a hold of Ava who is tiny, only 5 pounds 4 Ounce but so lovely. Once we had had our cuddles we headed home and as soon as we got in I made us a pot of tea.

Thank you for putting your talk post figures on the thread, nice to see how chatty or not we are, lol.

Book Sixty-One finished last night, Vintage Murder by Ngaio Marsh. This is the fifth in the Roderick Alleyn series and finds Chief Detective Inspector Alleyn in New Zealand taking a well earned break. Alleyn finds himself on a train with a theatrical company from Britain and is invited to the opening performance in the town of Middleton and the party afterwards for the manager's wife's birthday. The performance is excellent but the party provides a shock when a surprise goes wrong and the manager is murdered. Alleyn sees everything but is the death the product of Maori superstitions or something more mundane? Although Alleyn wants to remain anonymous he has to declare who he is to the New Zealand police and they are enamoured by him and his book on Detective techniques and would like him to assist. Will he be able to unmask the murderer? read and find out.

Hello everyone, hope you are all having a good Thursday so far.

Just when I had made up my mind and put in the paperwork to retire from the University after 23 and a half years, the Dean of the Libraries came to talk to me last Friday. In the course of that conversation I told him that I was going to retire at the end of the month. Later that day, he called me and in a lengthy conversation asked me to reconsider. I did not file my paperwork, and so have another 30 days to think about what he asked me. I was all geared up to leave and was in the process of cleaning out my office and even changing the address on some of my important mail, so I may have to rethink lots of things. It is very confusing right now.

>45 benitastrnad:, Sounds like it was an interesting conversation between you and the Dean and you will have a lot to consider it seems. Looks like it is going to be busy 30 days of mulling things over, the pros and cons of not retiring when you had geared yourself up to doing it. Sending love and hugs my dear.

It sounds like you had a lovely birthday!

>47 witchyrichy:, I had a lovely day thanks Karen and to add to it my daughter Amy is coming over to stay Friday night as her husband is going to a Transformers conference in London and won't be back until late Saturday so we are going to the coast and I know there are a couple of good book shops in Scarborough.

Happy Belated 53rd Birthday, John! It sounds like you had a wonderful day.

Happy Belated 53rd Birthday, John! So glad Karen has a new job in August. Good news!

Happy Belated Birthday John!!!!

I think I owe you one of these!!

>49 karenmarie:, >50 vancouverdeb:, >51 Whisper1:, >52 Berly:, Thank you ladies for the birthday greetings.

A steady day for us, after breakfast I popped into town to visit the bank to draw some cash out to pay for the door and windows on Monday and then I needed to fill the car with diesel for our trip off tomorrow. While I was out Karen did some baking and when I got back I made us a pot of tea, Karen read her book and I read the local newspaper and the Yorkshire post paper. Once this was done Karen decided that we needed to move my art cupboard unit in the garage so that Nigel can get to the window from the inside, this revealed Albert the big spider who live behind it.

Once this was done I made us a pot of tea and then Karen made some sandwiches which we had watching a bit of tennis. After our lunch and some tennis it was time for me to go and pick Hannah up from school, I dropped some buns and bleach off for Louise and then parked up near the school. Hannah bounded out of her classroom as she usually does on a Friday and gave me a big hug. I was in the bad books as I had forgotten the little animal chocolate biscuits that I bring for Hannah. We set off for home and before long Hannah had fallen asleep in the car but as soon as we got on the drive she awoke. About an hour later Amy arrived and Hannah was so surprised but then asked where Uncle Andy was. Hannah wanted Amy to paint with her so they did that before it was time for tea, once we had eaten we played for a while before it was bath time for Hannah. Once she had her bath she had a biscuit and some milk before I took her home.

>54 johnsimpson: Did Albert the big spider get relocated or terminated? "Once this was done" could have meant either.

:)

Wishing you a great weekend John.

Not sure what Ballance has done to justify a recall. Averaging 30 in the county game is hardly fair to those among the runs. Hildreth deserves a chance. Nice to see Bell-Drummond in the Lions team.
Who next for England manager? I don't think we should be appointing a foreign coach as England have always been so insipid with Erikkson and Capello and national pride says that there must be an Englishman good enough.
Shortlist of six:

1 Glenn Hoddle - If he keeps his mouth closed about the disabled; our last decent coach
2 Harry Redknapp - Is it too late for him; players love him though
3 Sam Allardyce - We would play like Iceland - the supermarket not the nation
4 Alan Shearer - Wants it; has the international experience but not as a manager
5 Steve Bruce - Would be our ugliest ever national coach
6 Sean Dyche - the Ginger Mourinho!

>55 karenmarie:, Albert is still in the garage but not sure where.

>56 PaulCranswick:, I was very surprised Balance got a recall, not sure what Hildreth has to do to get a place to be honest. I think I would go with the ginger Mourinho, he would certainly shake some of the ego's up and make them play for the country like they do for their clubs.

We had a lovely day out yesterday, we set off to Bakewell in Derbyshire with the rain just starting, we hoped that the further south we headed the better the weather would be according to the forecast. We arrived just after 10.30am and the rain which got really heavy down the motorway and on through Chesterfield had lightened, we were ready for a coffee so we headed to the nearest café. By the time we left the café it had just about stopped and we had a good look around this gorgeous market town. We visited numerous charity shops and Ellie's old book shop but found nothing to tempt me or Karen or even Amy. By the time we had finished and were ready to move on to Buxton the sun came out and it warmed up markedly.

We had a nice drive through to Buxton which is 12 miles from Bakewell and arrived to find that it was carnival day in Buxton along with the well dressing festival. We managed to get parked up and ventured into the town, the main shopping street was barriered off so that a wide trail was left down the middle for the runner's in the 4 mile carnival race and then the parade came down this section. Karen and Amy had a look around a few shops and Amy got a nice dress before we set off to Scriveners book shop. Scriveners is a book shop to behold but we found nothing we wanted which was a shame, we wandered back down into the town and found a café for a bite to eat and a drink before setting off homewards with a call to the Bookstore at Brierlow Bar about five miles outside of Buxton. This cavernous shop has 95% of its books at half price or less and has a wide range of fiction and non fiction, needless to say Amy picked up three books and we got eight so that is 21 books bought in the first nine days of July. After our purchases we made our way home and once home I made us all a nice pot of tea.

Amy stayed until about 8pm then she made her way home, Andy was due back sometime between 9 and 9.30pm from his Transformer's Convention which according to Facebook he had really enjoyed.

We have had a relaxing day today, after breakfast I put the washing out before making us both a pot of tea and then we read, Karen finished her book and went to find another she wanted to read. After a while she shouted down that we needed to stop buying books as seeing how many were in our bedroom and the little bedroom never mind all those in the loft were beginning to scare her. I sat downstairs and agreed with her but I am not scared but am starting to think I will never read all the books we have.

Karen came back downstairs with a book and we had another pot of tea and watched the build up to the Men's Tennis final at Wimbledon, after the game had been going five minutes Karen said she couldn't watch as it makes her nervous watching Andy Murray so I switched over to the cycling and she was happy then as she loves the Tour De France. Once the days stage was over she changed channels back to the Tennis and we watched the last few points as Murray triumphed against Raonic. Raoinc will be back in the finals again I am sure as he is a really good player but today it was Murray's day in front of his home fans.

We had a nice lunch and watched a bit of TV and I read before the Euro final build up began at 7pm, I read a bit more before Karen went upstairs to lie down and watch something else while I watched the footie downstairs.

Hi John! Too bad Karen got spooked that you guys have too many books. I know I have too many books, but it doesn't stop me buying more anyway. At the very least I have things to read if our finances go south, and on the high side I have a huge variety to choose from for any mood! And in the end daughter will get them all, and I'll leave it to her to sort out.

We watched Andy play brilliantly over Raonic. I've been a Federer fan forever, but as he's at the end of his career I need to find someone else to cheer for. Andy's getting a bit long in the tooth at 31, but seems to be coming into his own. Of course, Raonic may be a powerhouse soon, too.

Husband and I have become 'footie' fans in the last two years, thanks to daughter's interest in US Women's soccer. Football. Whatever. Sheesh. We watched as much of the Euro 2016 as we could, up to and including the final yesterday. It's become a matter of pride to us that we are starting to see the things the commentators mention just before they mention them. We are also realizing that we are summing up things at halftime similarly to the commentators, too!

>60 karenmarie:, Hi Karen, I was watching the final whilst on LT on the laptop and then I changed over to the Madeira live website and saw the fans watching it on a big screen in one of the parks in Funchal. I must stop looking at this site as I really miss the island after our second visit last year but hopefully we will get there in a couple of years.

In my Sunday newspaper, The Tuscaloosa News, there was an article about the astronomer Neil DeGrasse Tyson. He is the hose of the TV series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey on Fox network and is the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City. He is a very interesting scientist with lots of interests. Turns out he is also a collector. He collects fountain pens and has 40 of them. He has this to say about his collection. "Liquid in was the medium in which you communicated your thoughts." He knows his collection of 40 is "modest" compared to those of heavy-duty collectors, but "they're kind of like my children - each one has a different temperament, and not all of them behave the same way under the same conditions."

As soon as I saw this I thought of you and your collection of pens. He also collects geeky space ties and space vests. He is going to be the voice of the character Neil deBuck Weasel in the animated comedy film "Ice Age: Collision Course" that will be playing in theaters starting July 22. In that movie his character wears an animated version of one of the space vests he has in his collection. He said in the article that his part is just a few minutes and that he was there to make sure that the movie makers had the little bit of science that is in the movie correct. It sounded interesting and perhaps I will go see this movie now that I know that he will be in it.

Enjoy your pens - you are in good company and I would bet you feel lest guilty about them than you do about the books.

It has been a relaxing day for me today, after taking Karen to work I got back and had breakfast and a pot of tea before going to the doctors for my appointment about the Bursa on my left elbow. The doctor had a good look and printed me some information about the condition and told me to book a double appointment with Dr McLindon to have it drained on Thursday morning.

From the doctors I made my way home and had a pot of tea whilst waiting for the window fitter to arrive, Nigel and his sidekick arrived just after 10.30am and set to taking the back door out and replacing it with a new one and then taking the old wooden door at the side of the garage out and putting the old back door in its place. He also fitted two new windows at the side of the garage as the old wooden ones were shot to pieces. While they did this I read for a while, I kept them supplied with pots of tea and sorted out the plant pots and old plant trays in the greenhouse. Some pots and trays I no longer need or were damaged and so I bagged these up to go to the re-cycle centre and the other pots I will decide with Karen how many and of which sort to keep. When this is done I will make a start on taking the greenhouse down as I no longer use it and it has seen better days with two large panes of glass missing and cracks in two others.

The window fitters finished just before 5pm and they have done a cracking job so he gave me my receipt and I paid him then set off to collect Karen from work.

>62 benitastrnad:, How amazing to find an astronomer talking about his subject who then goes on to talk about his Fountain pen collection, I am in good company. To be honest Benita I am feeling guilty about my pen collection or the mountain of books, it was just Karen feeling overwhelmed by the books and she puts up with my pen collection as she has bought one or two of them for me.

Hi, John!

>65 scaifea:, Hello Amber.

It has been a nice day weather wise and after taking Karen to work I got back and had breakfast before getting on with a few jobs. I started in the garage and put my art cupboard back in place now the windows have been done. I moved some things outside ready to be taken to the re-cycle centre and then emptied a low unit that has seen better days and then I dismantled it and replaced it with an old school unit I got last Autumn from the school where I used to help out. I put tools from the old unit into the new one and then did a bit of sweeping up before loading the car with things for the re-cycle centre.

I had some small old bits of timber so I put them in the Chiminea and set light to them, I will use the ash to put some life into the borders. While doing this work I had a couple of pots of tea and when I got back from the re-cycle centre I had a pot of tea while I tried to read. After a while I did the bathroom and the kitchen as I will get no housework done tomorrow as we have uncle John's funeral to attend. Once I had done my cleaning I made myself some lunch before settling down to watch the cycling. I didn't see much cycling as I dropped off to sleep, luckily I didn't have a pot of tea in my hand and I woke up in plenty of time to pick Karen up from work.

Hi John - love and hugs to you and Karen. The day has gone okay here, but our water has been shut off since 8 am -and just came back on now! :) The city was hooking up a newly constructed townhouse development near to us today. Yeah for water!

The funeral of Karen's Uncle John yesterday went as well as could be expected, it is a shame that we only all seem to get together at these sad events. It was nice to share stories of Uncle John with each other and we have made an effort to keep more on touch with each other.

I first met John on my wedding day, I had met his wife Glenys but every time John came back to the UK from his work either in Ghana or Zambia I was working or we were elsewhere. John was talking to my dad who he knew as they grew up in the same village and wondered why he was at the wedding, my dad told him he was the Groom's father and a minute later I joined them and introduced myself, we got on well from the start and it was always nice to see him and Glenys.

Today we have been quite busy during the morning but from about 2pm it hasn't been too bad. We got up and had a pot of tea before I took Karen to the supermarket to do the shopping while I went to the doctor's for my appointment to have my elbow drained. The draining was quite painless and after he had drained the elbow he injected it with a Corti-steroid to help fight any potential infection. After this I had to see the nurse for a compression dressing that I have to wear for a couple of days. By the time I had finished Karen had done at the supermarket so I picked her up and we went to the nearby discount supermarket for the things we prefer from them.

Once this was done Karen remembered that she hadn't made her B12 injection appointment so we popped back to the doctor's so she could do it and explain that she needed it doing by the 26th July as we would be away, this is only about five days earlier than it is due. Once this was done we made our way home and Karen unpacked and put the shopping away while I put the washing on the line. Once we had done this we had a late breakfast and I had a pot of tea, Thirty minutes later Karen was ready for her pot of tea.

After another pot of tea Karen baked some ginger biscuits, enough for us to take some with us when we go down to London and I did the dusting and Vacuuming upstairs and then downstairs. When she had finished baking I vacuumed the kitchen floor and then Karen used the power mop to do the floor and then she did the bathroom floor. When we had finished we had a pot of tea and watched the cycling together but after half an hour Karen went upstairs to watch her programme then washed her hair and then put fresh bedding on our bed.

Since then we have just relaxed and had a late tea.

Finished book Sixty-Two last night, The Magic of Christmas by Trisha Ashley. This is the first in the Lancashire series. In the Lancashire village of Middlemoss, Lizzy is on the verge of leaving her cheating husband when tragedy strikes and she is widowed. She has her son Jasper to comfort her but worries what will happen to her home. Her late husband thought that Jasper was his brother's child as he was jealous of him and thought that Great Uncle Roly would leave the cottage to him and wanted Lizzy to go so he could divorce her and get "Dark Heart" installed in the cottage. As it turns out Roly says Lizzy can live in the cottage forever as he has left it to Jasper. To try and get back to normality, Lizzy finds her group, The Christmas Pudding Circle, a welcome distraction.

There is a lot going on in Middlemoss, actors from the new soap Cotton Common have moved in to the village and the village is gearing up for the annual Boxing Day Mystery Play. Whatever happens it promises to be a Christmas to remember.

I'm so sorry about Karen's uncle. I'll be thinking of you both.

Also, how was your #62? Did you like it?

>72 scaifea:, Book 62 was good Amber, don't know why I didn't add more.

Book Sixty-Three finished late last night, The Book of Summers by Emylia Hall. This debut novel was a really good read once I had got into it. Beth (Erzsi) has been sent a parcel, inside is a letter telling her that Marika her long-estranged mother has died, with the letter is a scrapbook that she has never seen before. At first she wants nothing to do with it but later she decides to go to the park and takes the scrapbook with her and starts to look through it. The book is entitled The Book of Summers and is stuffed with photographs and memories compiled by her mother to record the seven glorious childhood summers Beth (Erzsi) spent in rural Hungary. It was a time when she trod a tightrope between separated parents and two different countries and it was a time that came to a brutal end the year she turned sixteen.

Beth hasn't allowed herself to think of that time for years but the book brings her past tumbling back into the present, vivid, painful and vital as ever. Well worth a read.

We have had a steady day, after breakfast I took Karen to her dentist appointment, once she was done we called into a nice little bakery shop and picked up a couple of treats. Once home Karen had her breakfast while I went to get my Friday papers, once I got back from the newsagents I made a pot of tea and read through them both. We just chilled with our reading matter and a pot of tea until Rob arrived and then we had some lunch and we fed son and heir. Rob had been to a funeral of a member of the cricket club who had cancer. Not long after Rob left I went to pick Hannah up from school, it was her last day before the summer break.

Hannah was a bit tired and fractious when i picked her up and she quickly fell asleep in the car, once we got home she picked up a bit and was soon playing with her Duplo. We all had tea together and after a bit more playing Karen took her for a bath and washed her hair. Hannah had some milk and biscuits and then I took her home.

I have forgotten to mention that we have been harvesting a good crop of Raspberries from our fruit patch with more to come. The apples on the dwarf trees are coming along well and hopefully we will have a good crop of those.

Just catching up here--Hi!! Send some raspberries my way. : )

>64 johnsimpson: Mate, I am sure Karen doesn't begrudge wither the quiver full of pens or the mountain of books. If our ladies didn't have something to complain about they wouldn't be happy!

England made heavy weather of things yesterday and Ballance did little to justify his re-selection. I think that Vince might only have one more innings to stay in the team for now.

Happy Sunday, John. I finally have more time to read poszs on LT. Today we'll see Isabelle for lunch at her place. We'll take my in-laws with us. Love and higs for both of you xx

We have been very busy bees today, after breakfast we popped to Blacker Hall Farm shop to pick up some bread, after getting the bread Karen went up to the wine and drink section to try some new Gin's. While Karen was sampling the Gin I went back to the car and shortly afterwards Karen joined me and we made our way home. Once home I made us a pot of tea and listened to the cricket, after a while I turned it off and we went to our bedroom to sort out my T-shirts and jeans. After finding four T-shirts that really had seen better days and a pair of jeans that are only fit for garden and painting work I went out to mow the lawn. While I mowed the lawn Karen brought the Ironing board out and did the ironing.

After the lawn and ironing had been done we had a pot of tea and then I did some weeding and then finished off cutting down the old Holly tree. While I was doing this Karen decided to make lunch, I just managed to cut down all the branches into small pieces to put in the garden bin when lunch was ready. After lunch we settled down with a pot of tea to watch the last 40km of today's stage of the Tour de France. By the time the cycling had finished we had some homegrown Raspberries and cream.

Karen decided to go and wash her hair and I went back out into the garden to do some more weeding and once finished I was hot and sweaty so went for a shower and a fresh set of clothes. After all the work of today we are now sat watching a bit of television and I am catching up on LT.

My landlord notified me today that the parts for the window came in on the Friday afternoon delivery truck. She thinks I should have my window replaced as soon as the window guy can get there next week. I am happy. It has been two months since the window was broken out.

The new Poldark series is on TV over here so I will be watching and knitting in front of the TV tonight.

It is a glorious sunny morning here in Walton with the temperature set to reach 82 and 86 tomorrow.

Good afternoon, John. Here the temps are 30C and above for the next few days.

Happy Monday!

Good morning, John! It's going to be a scorcher here today! I do a little something outside, then come inside to cool off, then back out I go. Glad you are having some good weather! Have a great week.

>82 Ameise1:, Hi Barbara, I watched the Tour de France enter Switzerland today with a good finish in Bern, just a shame Cancellara couldn't get a stage win. Tomorrow the temp could get to 34C.

>83 Berly:, Hi Kim.

>84 Dianekeenoy:, Hi Diane, I had jobs indoors most of the day but kept popping outside, gorgeous weather tomorrow up to 34C but then tomorrow night we are supposed to get thunderstorms and the temp will drop as the week progresses.

The Book of Summers is now added to my list. It sounds delightful. Unfortunately today every book I try to add, the touchstones always default to A Game of Thrones...what the heck?

>86 Whisper1:, I found it was doing the same thing Linda. I must say that I am enjoying Her Great Octopus Moment, both this and The Book of Summers were part of the Richard and Judy book club selections of 2012, Karen picked them up at the time and they have been on the bedroom bookcase which is filled predominately with Karen's books but I read nearly all what she reads but that doesn't work the other way round.

P.S. Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan are a married couple who had a very successful morning magazine programme on T.V. and are both now authors.

Good morning, John. The tour has a wonderful but very hot day off in Bern. Are some of the ciclists going for a swim in the Aare. It is probably still a bit cold. Have a nice day my friend.

I forgot to complete my day yesterday, after taking Karen to work I got back and had breakfast before reading for a short while and then had to pop into town to pay a bill at the bank. Once done I made my way home and made myself a pot of tea and came on here to check a few things.

After another pot of tea and I watched a little bit of the Daily Politics show I cleared the dining table and got the Danish oil out and gave the table and chairs their three monthly oiling. Once done I left it to dry and made a pot of tea before going upstairs to get all the recent bills etc and filed them away, whilst doing this I sorted out out of date paperwork ready to be shredded. I still have some more to do on this score but at least I made a start, by this time it was nearly 3pm so I stopped at a good point and put things away and then brought down the stuff to be shredded and the booklets and envelopes I put in the re-cycle bin. I was feeling a bit peckish at this point so made my self something to eat and had this while watching the Tour de France on T.V.

At the next break I went and polished the dining table and chairs while listening to the cycling, once done I watched a little bit more cycling before it was time to go and pick Karen up from work. The temperature yesterday hit 29C and we were both hot and bothered by the time we got home. As soon as we got in I made us a pot of tea and we chatted about the day we had both had and then Karen went to wash her hair. It was a bit too hot to feel like eating so another pot of tea was had before we decided we should eat. While Karen prepared some food I went and picked some more of our Raspberries, we have had a really good crop so far and we only have five plants and there are more to come. By the time we had eaten the phone rang and it was Amy wanting a chat, while they chatted I checked my phone and saw that Rob, Louise and Hannah had had a good day at the beach and they had all caught some sun although Rob looked a bit burnt, he should know better by know.

Once Karen had finished chatting with Amy she went online to book the Pantomime tickets so we could get the seats we wanted and the day we wanted. Last year because of the wedding planning etc. we were late and only just got hold of tickets. Andy is writing the Panto this year and it is a take on The Hunchback of Notre Dame, apparently the script is funny and he just has a bit left to write, Panto auditions are taking place and they start rehearsing in September. Whilst I was online we watched University Challenge and Only Connect before the first of three programmes looking at the Battle of the Somme. I flicked from LT to the Madeira website and looked at the Funchal Marina webcam and the Ritz Madeira webcam, the Marina webcam is better as it moves every thirty second between twelve views and you can see traffic moving and people walking on the promenade. I really should stop this as I am getting addicted but I desperately want to go back here and hopefully we may do next year. If I get a decent lottery win I would like to go and live there and maybe open a bookshop as there are only two bookshops that I could find and both just sold Portuguese copies obviously but there were no other languages sold so if you had forgotten to buy or take books with you, you were a bit stuck.

Today has got off to a fine start with warm sunshine as soon as we awoke at 6.30am and as I type it is well into the high twenties. After taking Karen to work I had to pop into store to get some milk as Karen is drinking more as she is doing the milk diet for a week to lose a few pounds before we go down to London for a few days next week. Once back I put the first lot of washing on the line before setting the second load of washing off. While that was doing its thing I had some breakfast before putting the second load of washing on the line. I have just read for an hour before coming on here. I have a couple of jobs to do later but it is just so warm I just want to sit and read and post on here.

Hi, John! How fun that Andy is writing the Pantomime! Very cool. Speaking of which, here's hoping you make it through your heat wave okay! *grins*

>91 scaifea:, Thunderstorms are forecast for this evening and tomorrow with a gradual fall in temperatures as the week progresses, so much for the heatwave summer we were forecast. I think this is why I look at the Funchal Marina webcam everyday so that I can see what a lovely summer looks like.

Oh, but thunderstorms in summer are my favorite! Especially if they break the heat a bit. I love the afternoon ones, when it gets supernaturally dark and you can cozy up with a cuppa and listen...

Good morning, John! The other day, Kevin was getting a little cranky. I immediately said to him that he should have some lunch since he seemed a little peckish to me. He had no idea what I was talking about...seems like I'm using some of your expressions and didn't realize it. I bet you didn't realize you were sharing more than books! I just love hearing about your and Karen's day! Have a good one today!

>93 scaifea:, I don't mind the odd thunderstorm but we have been waiting for some decent summer weather and we get two days and then thunderstorms expected with flash flooding and the weather then goes downhill a bit. As long as we have some nice weather from next Thursday when we go down to London for a few days then that's ok and hopefully we will have nice weather at the beginning of September when we go to Oxford for four days.

>94 Dianekeenoy:, Hi Diane, it would seem like you are using some of my expressions no wonder Kevin was bemused, this normally happens when you spend time with someone. Amy picked up different accents from her housemates when she was at Nottingham University and even now she has a bit of a Bolton twang to her speech even though she has never spent any time in Lancashire. I must admit I am amazed that some folks on here enjoy my meanderings of our daily life, I just don't want to come across as boring with what could appear to be the mundanity of some of my days. Hope you are having a lovely day my dear.

Following on from my earlier post about what I am getting up to today, after reading for a while I decided to have a pot of tea then went outside for a smoke before oiling the long dresser and the display cabinet in the dining room. By the time I had done that I was dripping with sweat so had a quick wash down and then went upstairs to do the bedrooms and the bathroom. I took my time but still ended up sweaty so another quick wash down before coming back downstairs to put the Vacuum and dusters away and then time for a pot of tea. I read a bit more before it was time to go and pick Karen up from work.

When Karen got in the car she told me that she had had her "Counselling" session from her incident at work a couple of weeks ago. After talking to the lady she asked to speak off the record and told her a couple of things to clear the air and that was all sorted, she will have it on her record for twelve months and then it will be wiped.

We have had a relaxing but hot evening and may get some sleep even though it is very stifling in the house, tomorrow will be a different day for me as I usually do the shopping but staff double discount week starts on Friday so we will wait until then. I will do the downstairs housework but I will get some decent reading time as well.

>97 johnsimpson: Can you imagine my 90 per cent humidity every day here in Kuala Lumpur, John. I can get bathed in sweat just lying in bed with the aircon on!

Hugs to Karen.

Well the projected thunderstorms have bypassed us and we have had another warm and sunny day, the temperature has dropped slightly but is has been quite stuffy. After dropping Karen at work I got back and had breakfast before reading for about an hour. After this I popped into town to pick up a couple of bits and then nipped to the Hospice warehouse shop and picked up a couple of books. After leaving the warehouse I made my way home and had a pot of tea before reading my rail magazine and watching the Daily Politics show. After another couple of pots of tea I got on with the downstairs housework and when this was done I made a pot of tea and watched the cycling until it was time to go and pick Karen up from work.

Hi John! We get afternoon thunderstorms frequently here in central NC USA in the summer - had a gullywasher last week where we got 3/4 inches of rain in about 20 minutes. We lose power frequently with these storms, too, drat our local electric company!

>96 johnsimpson: I, too, love hearing about your days. My biggest question, though, is this - what kind of tea do you brew?

Oh! 29 C ! Not my cup of tea at all. It is about 23 - 24 C and that is warm enough for me, John. We are having a nice cooler summer this year - so far. We have not needed out air conditioning for many days.

Our heat index for today is predicted for 100-115F. Yeesh.

Stay cool over there, friend.

>100 karenmarie:, Hi Karen, we used to use Yorkshire Tea bags but when we went to Costco we found that I could get a bag of 1250 tea bags from Typhoo for a couple of pounds more yet the Yorkshire tea was only 560 tea bags. As I get through about 70 tea bags a week and then there is Karen, this size is more cost effective.

>101 vancouverdeb:, Hi Deb, it has cooled down a bit to 25C and the thunderstorms bypassed us although rain showers are forecast for tomorrow and then warm and sunny through to next Tuesday.

>102 scaifea:, Hi Amber, that is a bit extreme even for me, hope you are ok my dear coping with that level of heat.

We have had a very steady day, after breakfast I put the washing on the line before we popped into town. Karen needed to go to the O2 store about her phone and then we nipped into M&S to look at sweaters and I came out with a nice mint green V-necked sweater. From town we drove to the edge of the city to go to a decorating store to pick up some paint, we got the wallpaper for the room from them but when we took the spare rolls back they only gave us a credit note so we thought we would use it to get paint for Amy's old room. From the decorating store we went to the Aldi supermarket to get a few bits.

Once we had done our shopping we made our way home and I made us a pot of tea, after our tea we pottered about before Karen decided to do some baking, I watched the cycling. Before long it was time for something to eat and then we watched the cycling together. Once the cycling had finished, Karen rang Amy and then washed her hair while I popped out to get my winnings from my lottery ticket, £25 and then nipped to get some cigars. Once I got back I made us a pot of tea before we had something substantial to eat.

I must say that my reading in July has slowed down dramatically but I will be back on track in August.

We are experiencing high temperatures each day. A few days ago it rained with accompanying thunder and lightening. Our Sheltie Lilly developed the habit of fearing the sound of rain, or anything storm related. She literally ran up the steps to Will, jumped on the sofa and shook.

As someone prone to migraines, barometic pressure is a big factor in the onset of headaches. I've been having some wicked ones this week. Fiorocet is my friend.

Like Diane, I enjoy hearing about your days.

Finished book Sixty-Four late last night, Her Giant Octopus Moment by Kay Langdale. This is my book of the year so far, it was a really great read and gets a bit emotional. Scout loves her mum and Joanie is optimistic and fun. Scout wishes that they could have a more conventional life, scout prefers books and they have to be in neat piles and her crayons lined up in rows and this doesn't fit Joanie's erratic lifestyle. When Joanie's deception over Scout's birth comes to light they go on the run.

Scout is clever and vulnerable, resourceful and anxious and seeks order among Joanie's chaos. But where and to whom does a child belong? I would definitely recommend this as a really good read.

I finally got my broken window replaced today. I am happy. Now I can truly cool my house. With that gaping hole in the side of it, it was very hard to keep it cool in the heat wave we have had this last two weeks. In a week I am leaving on a trip to Seattle. I have cousins who live out there. They have blackberry bushes and I have long wanted to go out to pick and preserve blackberries with them. My grandmother did this every summer when she was still living and I never had the chance to go with her to do it. I decided that this year I was going. I made plans with them and last night my cousin called to tell me that the cool summer weather has set the berries back about two weeks. I tried to get my plane ticket changed, but it was going to be to expensive to do so. I guess I will have a nice visit with them and the blackberry expedition will have to wait for another year.

Tomorrow I will spend most of the day cleaning up the broken glass out of the yard and out of my shoe rack inside of the bedroom. Then I plan on spending the late afternoon in a cool movie theater watching the new version of Ghostbusters. It is to hot to do anything else.

>107 benitastrnad: I would literally have to be boiling to watch the latest Ghostbusters movie Benita!

Nice to see Root play so well yesterday mate but Ballance and Vince are still failing to convince. I think that Rashid should have got a go on a wicket more likely to help the spinners late in the game - I would be surprised if Ali can bowl them out.

Have a great weekend.

Hi John! Hope your weekend is progressing along well. Congrats on reading 64 books already this year!

>107 benitastrnad:, Hi Benita, enjoy your trip to Seattle, shame about the Blackberries not being ready. I popped to the local shop earlier and passed a Blackberry bush, it had three or four ripe ones so I picked one and it was delicious, I think ours will start to be ready to be picked in a week so just right for when we gat back from our few days in London. Enjoy Ghostbusters tomorrow.

>108 PaulCranswick:, Root went on to complete a magnificent double hundred and with contributions from Woakes, Stokes and Bairstow we piled up a big score and then reduced them to 57 for 4 at the close with Woakes taking three wickets. Shah took some punishment with 1 for 213 off 54 overs, Rashid should have been picked though. Hope you are having a good weekend mate.

>109 karenmarie:, Hi Karen, not too bad a day but it is Karen's weekend in at work then she is off for eight days and we go down to London on Thursday morning. Finished another book this morning.

Finished book Sixty-Five this morning, Hope to Die by James Patterson. This is the carry on from Cross my Heart which finds Alex Cross at the mercy of Thierry Mulch who has kidnapped his family. Cross knows that he needs to do whatever it takes to get his family back even if it destroys him but Mulch is a tricky customer who seems to show no mercy. Will this be one case where Cross is defeated and his family pay the ultimate price or will he manage to get them released at his own demise, read on and find out. Another classic from Patterson.

We were quite busy yesterday, after having some breakfast I took Karen down to the doctors for her B12 injection appointment with the nurse, unfortunately she couldn't have it as she is a bit early which she knew but wanted it before we go down to London. The nurse said she could have it next week as this will only be a week earlier than it is due so she will have it on Wednesday morning. From here I took Karen home as she was having her nails done at 11o'clock when Debbie arrived, I left Karen and went to do the supermarket shopping. I don't normally do the shopping on a Friday or at about 10.45am as it is mayhem but staff double discount week started on the Friday so as it was the big shop week we added a few bits to get more discount. By the time I got back with the shopping Debbie was well on her way doing Karen's nails and we had a visitor with Debbie's four year old son, Lucas with her, Karen had got the Duplo down for him and the Thomas the Tank Engine trains as well. Once I had unpacked and put the shopping away and made pots of tea for us and a soft drink for Lucas, he had got his tablet out and was looking at Dinosaurs on CBeebies. He was telling me all about them and because they gave measurements out and I am just under two metres tall when they said a dinosaur was 16 metres tall I told him it was eight of me, he was impressed and we had a good time while mummy did Karen's nails. Just before they left I gave him a pound to get some sweets or whatever he wanted, he said thank you bless him.

Once Debbie and Lucas had left I made us a pot of tea before we went to Costco to get some bulk items and renew our membership, by the time we had done and got home it was nearly 4pm and we had another pot of tea. Karen made us something to eat so we had done by the time her best friend arrived just before 7.15pm, I was upstairs watching the Tour de France highlights. Tina left just after 9.15pm and I watered the pots and plants before it was time to retire to bed and read.

Today we were up earlier than normal as it is Karen's weekend in at work, I dropped her off at 7.45am and had to pop into store to see if they had the items in that were not available yesterday when I did the shopping. I got what was missing yesterday and then drove home to have my breakfast and a pot of tea. Once I was fed and watered I popped into town to do some banking and then made my way home, once home I made a pot of tea and read finishing my book not long after the cricket had started. I did my book stats of the last two books read and selected another book before reading my usual Saturday edition of the Yorkshire Post newspaper. I spent the next couple of hours reading and listening to the cricket before switching from the radio channel to the TV channel to watch today's stage of the Tour de France. During a commercial break at around 1.15pm I peeled the vegetables and left them in cold water and watched another 15 minutes of cycling before I had to and pick Karen up from work at 2pm. Once home with Karen I made us a pot of tea and we watched the cycling but after a while Karen went up to have a lie down on the bed as she was feeling a bit tired. Karen came downstairs a nd put the lamb Shanks in the oven and set the timer and went back upstairs to watch A home in the Sun and when that finished at 5.30pm the Lamb Shanks were done, she kept them warmed while the vegetables cooked and then we ate.

We have had a relaxing evening but Karen has gone back upstairs to watch TV while I peruse LT.

I have two books on the go at the moment and hope to finish them before we go down to London on Thursday morning, that will take me to 67 books read and I may finish a book while I am down there. Hopefully I will reach my 75 book target by the third week in August and then the rest are a bonus but I would like to hit the century mark, my previous best being 80 in 2013.

Hi John. Could I ask how many cups of tea do you get out of a pot of tea? 70 teabags a week sounds amazing to me. I have a cup of tea every morning and make 2 gallons of iced tea a week so that's only 13 teabags a week for me. I feel that I might be a tea piker compared to you English guys!

The tea discussion is interesting and I wait for your answer, John, to >114 Dianekeenoy: Diane's question. I should probably be making my own iced tea at home as I really like it a lot and I like it without sugar so it's also no calories. Now if I can only find the pitcher!

I make my own iced tea, and in the summer I make several 3 quart pitchers a week. I just devour the stuff. It is so refreshing and good on a hot day. I couldn't afford to buy it ready-made so make my own. I grow my own mint and often add that to the brewing just to change things up.

>114 Dianekeenoy:, >115 karenmarie:, >116 benitastrnad:. In answer to Diane's question we use one cup tea bags so that is why I get through so many a week. We both like specialty teas, Karen likes Assam and I like Earl Grey and Karen also likes fruit teas. We both occasionally have a cup of Rooibos tea which is South African and we picked up this after starting The No1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith.

Unlike you three lovely Ladies, I am not a lover of Iced Tea and prefer a nice hot brew, we managed to get a nice pot of tea in Madeira but this was brewed in a tea pot and we had our specialty teas while out there. If I used a tea pot I would use two tea bags.

On a normal day I would have a pot of tea before taking Karen to work and then when back have breakfast with a pot of tea. Between then and picking Karen up I would probably have six or seven pots of tea if I wasn't busy out in the garden and then I would make us a pot of tea as soon as we were back home. I would have a pot of tea after our tea and then probably three more before taking a pot of tea up to bed to drink while I read. So on a really good day when I could sit and read I could have up to 15 pots of tea a day, how bad is that, ha ha.

I love hearing about your days, John. Thought you might like this photo: I visited an old friend in Pennsylvania and we checked out a new place for afternoon tea. We had typhoo for our tea choice and enjoyed each course from the savories to the scones.

All this talk of tea has me floating away! Once cup a day, when it 's cool out is sufficient for me. I'm not a fan of iced tea. My husband likes his tea but he cuts up fresh ginger to make his tea and adds a green tea / a red tea - all this weird stuff that I do not care for. He is a health nut.

I'm a philistine - I like hot tea with sugar, no milk. I like iced tea with lemon. I like hot coffee black, no milk and iced coffee with milk and sugar. I brew a pot of coffee every morning (unless I'm sick, which is when I like hot tea), which usually provides 2-3 large cups. I drink as I'm checking e-mail and the internet and reading until it's gone, then switch to water and iced tea.

Thanks for the answer, John! Inquiring minds and all that.....

I hope you are having a wonderful day.

>118 witchyrichy:, Thanks for that picture Karen, just how I like an afternoon tea served when we are out, maybe we will have one when we go down to London later in the week.

>119 vancouverdeb:, Hi Deb, I must admit I like my normal pots of tea interspersed with the occasional Earl Grey, anything else just puts me right off.

>120 karenmarie:, Hi Karen, inquiring minds usually get good answers. I like milk but no sugar in my tea and milk and sugar in my coffee.

We have had a good day, after breakfast I put the washing on the line before Karen got me sorting out clothes for our trip later in the week. By the time this was done it was time to go and pick Hannah up. We picked Hannah up and dropped her mum off in Ossett and we set off to go to Cannon Hall, we were near to the motorway when Karen spotted that Hannah had been sick, I pulled into a nearby lay-by and Karen cleaned her up. Karen noticed that she looked a bit pale and asked if she was ok and she just said she wanted to go to Grandma's. Instead of continuing down the motorway past our junction we came off at our junction and made our way home, on the way Hannah asked if we could got to the park in Walton. We parked up near the park and had a short time there before we had to pop home for the toilet for Hannah, we went back but after a while I made my way home as I was a bit chilled and needed a drink. Karen told me to go and she would walk home when Hannah had had enough.

When they got back Hannah had a drink and got the Polly Pocket toys down but she wasn't quit a hundred percent. We had something to eat and Hannah ate well but she looked a bit tired, she put a children's TV channel on and after a while Karen noticed that she had fallen asleep. Hannah had about forty minutes sleep before it was time for me to take her home.

On our trip to London I will be paying a visit to L. Cornelissen and Son art shop and to Foyle's bookshop, these are places I want to see and we will also visit the National Gallery. The rest of the time it will be Karen's choice of what we see and do.

Finished book Sixty-Six this afternoon, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender. This was an interesting read although I did struggle at certain points to follow the story. What if you bit into homemade Lemon cake and discovered that you could taste the emotions of who made it in every slice?

On the eve of her ninth birthday, Rose Edelstein bites into her mother's homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother's emotions in her slice. All at once her cheerful, can-do mother tastes of despair and desperation. Suddenly, and for the rest of her life, food becomes perilous. Anything can be revealed at any meal.

Rose's gift forces her to confront the truth behind her family's emotions, Mum's sadness, dad's detachment and her brother's clash with the world. As Rose grows up she learns that there are some secrets even her taste buds cannot discern.

This is a funny, profound, wise and sad novel to savour.

A fairly busy day for us, after breakfast I put the washing out while Karen put clean bedding on our bed. Karen was due to go to the hospital for a check up at the mouth clinic so after putting the washing out I gave the lawn a quick mow. I just had time for a pot of tea before taking Karen to the hospital when she got a call to say her appointment had to be cancelled as the surgeon had to go to theatre for an emergency operation. I could relax and not rush my pot of tea and Karen rang her friend to say she could meet her earlier now her appointment had been cancelled. We read while it was time for me to take Karen to meet her friend, after 40 minutes I took Karen to Blacker Hall Farm shop to meet Mandy for a coffee and a chat.

When I got back I dusted and vacuumed the bedrooms and cleaned the bathroom before having a pot of tea and a bit of reading. After this I went to a cash machine to get some cash out and pay a bill before getting back home and another pot of tea and reading. Karen arrived home around 2.30pm and I made us both a pot of tea before going to drop a card and present for a new born baby boy. I got back and finished my book and then had another drink before we made something to eat. We watched the news and a programme about railway journeys and then Karen went for a lie down and I came on here to update my thread.

In between typing on here I have just done some shredding as it is bin day for us tomorrow.

I am having fun watching the Democrat convention this week and doing some knitting. I made a hat last week during the Republican Convention and last night I made half of a pair of fingerless gloves. I will finish the other half tonight. I also have some packing to do for my trip to Seattle. I will be staying with my cousin who loves tea. She likes green teas and I prefer black, but it will be great fun to drink tea with her.

>124 johnsimpson:. Great review, John. I enjoyed this book as well. Hope you are having a nice day! My brother is here for a short visit on his way to Massachusetts for a wedding. He's alway so much fun to have around.

> 126, Hi Benita, I am fascinated with the conventions and hope that you get the right president.

> 127, Hi Diane it is a nice sunny day with a bit of breeze. Karen had to go to the doctors to get her B12 injection first thing this morning and then we went to the supermarket. Once this was done we got home and unpacked the shopping and put the washing on the line. After a quick pot of tea Karen sorted out the packing and I vacuumed the car interior and then washed the car. We have just had some lunch and then doing last minute things before we re, lax this evening before our early start in the morning. Sending love and hugs.

>126 benitastrnad: I usually don't watch the conventions, but I have watched some after the fact on Youtube this cycle. Last night I surprised my husband and myself by watching Bill Clinton's speech live.

Hi John! I hope you have a marvelous trip! Art shops, book shops, and the National Museum. My idea of a perfect vacation. What are Karen's choices?

>130 karenmarie:, Karen is with me on my choices and we will be going to Portobello Market and hopefully Camden Lock. We have a few ideas but we will just mooch around the areas we want to be and probably come across shops etc that we don't have here in Yorkshire.

We don't really want to do the usual high street stores thing, we like quirky individual shops so that is what we will do. On Sunday we will head off somewhere out of London that puts us in the direction of home.

All packed and ready for our trip down to London, looking forward to seeing a few nice places and picking up a few books and maybe a couple of pens and something nice from Cornelissen's art shop. I will treat Karen as it is our 32nd wedding anniversary tomorrow.

Wow. 32. Happy Anniversary, John and Karen!

>133 karenmarie: I had a look at what you are supposed to buy your spouse to celebrate 32 years John. Most sites stated no traditional gifts but a couple seemed to suggest some form of vehicular present. Would a wheelbarrow count I wonder?

Only kidding - have a great weekend, the both of you.

Happy Anniversary!!! I wish you many more years of happiness and a wonderful time on your trip to London. : )

Happy anniversary, John!!

It looks like you had a wondrrful London trip, John. Safe travels back home. Love and hugs xx

Happy Anniversary to you and Karen! I'm gad that the two of you have been enjoying your trip to London. My son and his wife of 1 year have been traveling Europe since July 19th. They have been to Paris, Rome, Venice and are now in London til Aug 2nd. I've yet to get any pictures of London, but so far their opinion of London seems very favourable. They tell me it is the cleanest city that they have been in so far. On Monday August 1st they are meeting up with my nephew / William's cousin who going to university in the UK. I am quite excited about it all.

Celebrating Yorkshire day.

>133 karenmarie:, Thanks Karenmarie.

>134 PaulCranswick:, Thanks Paul, I think she could have done with a wheelbarrow on Saturday for me to push her around as her feet were really acheing.

>135 Berly:, Thanks Kim, we had a lovely time.

>136 jessibud2:, Thanks Shelley.

>137 Ameise1:, Thanks Barbara, we had a lovely time.

>138 vancouverdeb:, Thanks Deb, we had a great time just mooching around.

Think a catch-up of our London trip is in order.

We set off early Thursday morning and arrived at our Premier Inn hotel just on noon, our room wasn't quite ready but that didn't bother us, we left the luggage in the car and after a quick chat with the lovely receptionist we headed into Uxbridge. After a nice steady 15 minute stroll we were in the centre of Uxbridge and found the underground station. We headed into the shopping centre and just as Karen was going into Monsoon I realised that I had left my birthday gift voucher and a small amount of birthday money at home, Karen called me some choice words, lol. We had some lunch and just strolled around Uxbridge which is a nice little area, we managed to pick up five books before heading back to the hotel.

We passed the young receptionist on our way back and she said hello, we checked in and took our luggage up to our room. As we got to the door we found that a Congratulations banner was stuck to the door and as we entered the room we found a bottle of Red wine and two glasses were propped up against two towels that had been made into a double swan necked bowl and some pot pourri sprinkled into the shape of two hearts on the bed. We were so surprised at this lovely idea. We thanked Daniel who had taken over from the young lady and we thanked her on Friday morning, what a lovely surprise.

After unpacking we had a quick nap and then got ready to go and eat, unfortunately Karen wasn't feeling too well by the time we got to the restaurant next door but she managed some soup and a bit of dessert.

London Trip part two.

We got up earlyish so that we could have a pot of tea in our room before heading off to the tube station to go into Central London. The tube from Uxbridge takes about 52 minutes as we are at the end of the Piccadilly line westbound. We got off at Leicester Square station and as we got out we found a Patisserie Valerie to have breakfast. Once we were fed and watered we wandered up Charing Cross Road and passed the theatre where the Harry Potter Cursed Child is on and made our way to Foyle's bookshop. We had a good wander around the store and came away with three books, tow pocket London maps and a canvas Foyle's bag. From Foyle's we wandered up towards Tottenham Court Road to get to Great Russell Street to find Cornellisen's art shop. I had a really good look around this old shop and treated myself to a wooden box of Schminke acrylic inks. From the art shop we headed back down towards Tottenham Court Road (TCR) and found a Waterstones book shop and we popped in and came out with two books. As we left Waterstones we headed in the direction of TCR tube station and Karen saw a nice ladies fashion shop and came out with a really nice Cardigan/Shawl as she was feeling a bit chilly. We mooched around and found a nice coffee shop, we had two lovely coffee's which came with a shot glass each of Smarties (M&M's). From the coffee shop we headed towards Trafalgar square to get to the National Gallery, we popped into a number of small stores for a browse before going into the National Gallery.

We had a lovely time in the Gallery but didn't look at all the paintings as we only wanted to look at the type of paintings we like, we saw Van Gogh's Sunflowers but I wasn't that impressed and as Karen took a couple of photos I told her that I was a better artist than Van Gogh on sales as he only sold one in his lifetime and I have sold three. A few other people viewing the Sunflowers smiled and laughed at this but hey it's true. We saw some lovely paintings that we would love to have on our walls and if they grab you like that then you know your on a winner. From the Gallery we found a coffee shop for a drink and a quick bite to eat before we headed down Regent's Street, we had a browse around a little market just off the street before heading to Hatcherd's book shop for a browse and then we went into Fortnum and Mason's store. The selection of tea's, coffee's and assorted biscuits to go with these beverages was amazing and then as we went to the first floor they had a writing and stationery section. I perused the Fountain pens and stationery while Karen looked at crockery.

As we left F&M's it started to drizzle a little bit but I spotted the Burlington Arcade so we headed there to get out of the light rain. We had a lovely wander up and down the arcade before crossing back over the road and dashing to the Large Waterstones store to get out of the rain which was a little bit heavier now. By the time we left the store it had stopped raining and we were feeling rather hungry by now. We headed back towards Leicester Square underground station as Karen said there was a nice Italian restaurant nearby that she had spotted when we were having breakfast earlier that day. We found the restaurant, Sartori's and popped in and got a table for two, we timed it just right as the pre-theatre crowd were starting to appear. The restaurant has a pre-theatre menu as well as a normal menu and after perusing both we opted for the Pre-theatre menu as it suited Karen better and it was a good deal. After having a lovely meal and the staff were great we headed to the underground and made our way back to Uxbridge. On our way back to the hotel from Uxbridge station we picked up some milk for our pots of tea and a bedtime glass of milk. Once back in our room we both had a relaxing bath and then watched the first Rugby League Challenge Cup Semi-Final on TV.

London Trip Part Three.

We got up slightly earlier on Saturday morning to get an early train as we were headed for Portobello Road Market, we had to change at Baker Street from the Metropolitan line to the Circle line to get to Ladbroke Grove which is the station for Portobello Road. We arrived at about 9.45am and some stall holders were only just setting up but we had a good mooch around at the Ladbroke Grove end and made our way steadily up Portobello Road. We found a nice coffee shop and had breakfast before continuing browsing Portobello Road, their was lots to see and some of the street food was fabulous. We popped off the road into stores and mini arcades to look around antiques and even found a lovely man who deals in Fountain pens, we had a good chat with him and he knew Gary who runs the Yorkshire pen show and asked me to pass on his regards next time I see him as he had done some work for him as not only does Henry sell pens and restore them but he also makes pens but they start at £500.

We had a lovely time strolling up this famous market and stopping off at numerous stalls looking at what they were selling and before long we were heading towards Notting Hill. I thought my watch had stopped by the time we were in Notting Hill as according to my watch it was only 1pm but Karen said it was correct, I thought we had been at the market longer. By this time we were ready for a drink and found a coffee shop near to Notting Hill Gate underground station, after a quick drink and asking about Little Venice we had a change of plan and decided to head to Knightsbridge and pop into Harrods. We got the train from Notting Hill Gate to South Kensington coming out of the underground at The National History Museum and walked towards Harrods. Karen picked up some chocolate as a present in Harrods (Not a big bar at those prices, ha ha) and we had a look around and went to the Great Writing Room to look at Fountain pens. Look was the operative word as most of the pens were £500 and above, one was around £47,000, we wandered to another room and found Harrods gifts which were not that badly priced and there we found some pens just under the Hundred pound mark.

Karen decided that there was nothing more she wanted to look at and we made our way out and headed to Harvey Nichols but she was a bit disappointed so we weren't there long. By this time Karen was feeling a bit sore and tired so we went to Knightsbridge underground station and got a train back to Uxbridge. By the time we had done our 15 minute walk back to the hotel from Uxbridge station she was worn out bless her. We had a pot of tea and showered before heading to a nearby Indian restaurant, the food was lovely and we had a good meal and a bit of alcohol. By the time we left we were full and we headed back to the hotel to pack our weekend cases and bits and pieces we had bought ready for leaving on Sunday morning. I got my road atlas out to look for somewhere to bob into on our way home and we decided to call in at Stratford-upon-Avon as it was only a slight detour off the motorway home.

Wow, what a wonderful weekend you guys had! You could be a guide, sounds like you covered the best parts!

London to home via Stratford-Upon Avon.

We had a good nights sleep on Saturday night and woke up refreshed on Sunday morning, we gathered up or belongings and checked out of the hotel and thanked them for our lovely stay. We packed up the car put Van Halen in the CD player and headed for the M40 and Stratford-Upon-Avon. We left at around 8.45am and got to Stratford for around 10.30am, once we had got parked near the river we headed towards the town and found that there was a Sunday market being held on the banks of the river on the town side. As we got to the bottom of the main street this was the start of the market and it was the local Owls trust that had the first spot, we were able to stroke the chests of a couple of owls and Karen took a couple of photos.

As we headed up into town we came to a nice looking café and went in for some breakfast, I had an absolutely lovely full English whilst Karen had poached eggs on toast. Once we were re-filled we headed up into town looking in various shops etc and by the time we got back to the river to look around the market I had got a couple more books. We had a good look around the market stalls and picked up a couple of nice things for Hannah, Karen had already got everybody else a gift whilst in the town. Once we had one the market we had a coffee at a nice new coffee shop that had only been open for two months run by four lovely young ladies before getting back to the car and heading for home.

We arrived home just after 5pm and we had phoned Amy to get the kettle on as we were thirsty, Amy and Andy had been house sitting for us and looking after Leo since Thursday lunchtime. Amy finished her job at Northern Gas on Wednesday and had some holiday days to put in and Andy had taken a few days off so they came to ours to help us out. It was nice seeing them both and they had had a good time at ours and Leo was pleased to see them. We had a couple of hours or so with them before they headed home. Amy was starting her new job this morning so hopefully everything has gone ok for her on her first day.

We have had a lovely few days down in London and would go back to the Premier Inn in Uxbridge as it is a good base, no problems about the congestion zone and it has free parking and is only a mile and a quarter from the motorway. The Underground station is easy to get to and we got around changing stations and line easily. Just another six weeks before we go down to Oxford for four days now.

I will try and post some photos later but some are on Karen's phone so need to get them sorted out.

>106 johnsimpson: This book is now added to the tbr pile. Many thanks for your excellent review.

Your London trip sounds really lovely. Glad to hear that you enjoyed it so much.

>146 Whisper1:, Glad you liked the review Linda, I am always a little bit cautious not to give the plot away when writing a review but I really did enjoy it as it is something that you can resonate with after reading reports in the newspapers about events that are similar.

>147 Ameise1:, We really enjoyed our trip and will go back to stay in Uxbridge again and do other parts of London as it was a good base for us.

Our London Book Haul.

Lonesome Road by Patricia Wentworth
The Treatment by Mo Hayder.
The Ambleside Alibi by Rebecca Tope
The Troutbeck Testimony by Rebecca Tope
Odalisque by Fiona McIntosh
Emissary by Fiona McIntosh
The Wings of The Sphinx by Andrea Camilleri
The Track of Sand by Andrea Camilleri
The Song Collector by Natasha Solomons
The Ice-Cream Makers by Ernest Van der Kwast
The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell
The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion

I should go back to Mo Hayder's book. Love her writing.

JULY'S READING STATS

Books Read...................... 6

No of Authors.................... 6

New Authors......................3

Male Authors..................... 1

Female Authors.................. 5

Pages Read....................... 2,074

Daily Avg........................... 66.90

Book Length avg.................345.67

Latest reading stats:

Books on shelves at 1-7-16 - 2178
Books added in July - 38
Books read in July - 6

Revised book total - 2210

Pages to read at 1-7-16 - 945,665
Pages added in July - 15,930
Pages read in July - 2,074

Revised total pages to read - 959,521

After our trip to London it has been back to normality today, before I took Karen to work we put the first load of washing on so that it would be ready to put out once I got back. After dropping Karen at work I got back and made a pot of tea and had my cereal before taking the first load of washing out and filling it with the next load and then putting the first load on the washing line. Whilst the second load was washing I read until it had finished, I took the washing out and put the last load on and then hung the second load on the line, this I repeated with the last load.

After putting the last of the washing on the line I did my book stats and book info before reading for a short while. During my reading stints I had a couple more pots of tea and then decided to do the latest bank statements, this took me about forty minutes. After another pot of tea I went online and came onto LT to update my thread with our London trip and to try and catch-up with other threads. Although I took my tablet with me and a couple of books I barely read thirty pages and never touched the tablet as we had such busy days walking around that by the time we got back to our room we were too tired to more than check facebook on our phones.

After doing the bank statements and going online I read a bit more before cleaning the water globes we had put in the plant pots on the patio, this took a while as we had sixteen of them. I just had time for a pot of tea before going to pick Karen up from work, she was quite tired after a week off and a busy few days in London. We are now having a relaxing evening before it is bedtime once again.

>144 Dianekeenoy:, Thanks Diane, we had a really lovely time.

What a great book haul from London!

Lovely book haul, John! And happy anniversary!

Your trip sounds lovely, John! Good book haul, too.

>155 Whisper1:, >156 scaifea:, >157 karenmarie:, Thank you ladies.

Finished book Sixty-Seven last night, Blood in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope. This is the fifth in the Thea Osborne series and finds Thea and her faithful spaniel, Hepzie on another house-sitting assignment in the charming Cotswold village of Temple Guiting. Thea is hoping it will be a quiet run of the mill job and she will have her partner DS Phil Hollis staying for a few days. Unfortunately for Thea a skeleton is discovered at the roots of an old beech tree and Phil Hollis is there at the discovery. Although Phil is a Detective Sergeant he has put his back out and is in no fit state to investigate and so this falls to relative newcomer DS Gladwin. There is no concrete evidence as to who the bones belong to but soon rumours and theories abound and Thea soon finds herself drawn into the investigation and finds that the countryside isn't all that quiet after all.

I really enjoy these mysteries as we have stayed in and around the villages and small towns where they are set and am looking forward to the next one.

Another steady away day for me, after taking Karen to work I made my way home and had breakfast. After breakfast I read for a short while before popping into town to pick up some Surgical spirit, some toe foam and some Red Clover tablets. Unfortunately I couldn't get any Red Clover but Karen has some for at least ten days so that's ok. Once back I made a pot of tea and read, soon it was time for the lunchtime news so I made myself some lunch and had it while watching the national and local bulletin. Once I had finished I decided to do the upstairs housework, once this was done I rang the place where our room furniture is being made to arrange delivery, the five pieces are coming on Saturday. After this I had another pot of tea and read before it was time to pick Karen up from work.

>160 johnsimpson: Hi John! What's red clover? I learn so much from your threads!

Yep, I need to know what red clover is, too, please!

Third vote for details on red clover!

Inquiring minds and all that.....

>161 Dianekeenoy:, >162 scaifea:, >163 karenmarie:, Hi ladies, Karen has been taking Red Clover tablets for about two years as they are suitable for women during and after the menopause. The full title on the box is Red Clover Isoflavones and she takes one a day. I hope this is ok for you lovely ladies, sending love and hugs.

Hi John. I hope you and Karen are doing fine and all is well. Love and hugs!

I loved my visit to Stratford-Upon-Avon some years ago. We wandered along the waterfront. One of the boats had a little sign on the door inviting interested folks to knock for a tour and an autographed book. I couldn't resist. The books was Innocents Afloat and the writer was Jeremy Scanlon. I have yet to read the book but it is a lovely memory.

So glad you had a nice time in London. And, of course, a great book haul. : )

Enjoyed reading the detail of your trip to Uxbridge, London and Stratford, John. It was obvious from the same just how much you enjoyed your time together. I have to say that I have stayed at several Premier Inns on trips to the UK and never been disappointed. They are inexpensive, the staff invariably friendly, the beds are tremendously comfy and the breakfasts are superb. No frills but no spills.

Have a great weekend. The soccer season starts for my lot this Sunday at Queens Park Rangers - I am hoping for a good season as I like the new manager and I think he has made some good signings. He needs a good start though with Cellino being so trigger happy.

>164 johnsimpson: Ah. I took a black cohosh capsule that had something else in it, not red clover though, for a while and got through without too many problems. Thanks and love and hugs back.

>165 connie53:, >166 witchyrichy:, >167 Berly:, >168 DianaNL:, Thank you ladies.

>169 PaulCranswick:, Let's hope Monk get's off to a good start as it would be a shame for a good young manager to fired by a trigger happy lunatic.

>170 karenmarie:, Hi Karen, getting through without too many problems is the main key my dear.

It has been a good and bad last 36 hours, yesterday morning I went and picked Hannah up after we had had our breakfast. Hannah stayed with us for five hours but she was a little bit out of sorts with herself. While I picked her up Karen did some ironing and when Hannah arrived she wanted Grandma to colour with her. When I took Hannah back home Karen went and had a shower and washed her hair as we were going out with friends in the evening.

When I got back I made us a pot of tea and listened to the cricket before having a shower myself. Geoff came to pick us up and we went to their house and then a taxi took us to the restaurant and Newmillerdam. We had a lovely meal and evening with Geoff and Linda and left around 9.30pm. As soon as we opened the door Leo ran out as he usually does, I was finishing a mini cigar and he wanted stroking. Once I had finished my cigar I came in and put the kettle on for my bedtime pot of tea, I poured the water in and then brewed my tea. We were both checking our phones when I decided to have another mini cigar, I popped outside and I heard Leo scrabbling over the back fence and racing to the back door, he went into the kitchen and I thought he was having a quick feed before going out for the night.

When I got back in Karen was just finishing sending a couple of messages and Leo was laid on his side in the living room, he looked up at me to say give me a stroke. I went to stroke him and as I did so I moved his left front leg and re-coiled in a bit of shock, he had a tear that I could get my thumb in. I called Karen and we got the hibi scrub out to clean the wound and then rang the emergency vet. We explained what was wrong and they said as he wasn't losing any blood to keep him in and ring our vet first thing the following morning.

We rang the vet first thing and got an appointment for 9.20am, I took him down and the vet said it needed stitching straight away although a blood test should be done first. The vet talked me through what would be done and gave me a cost estimate of £280 to £320 and that included any after care. I left Leo with them and they said they would ring by 1pm to let us know how he was. The vet rang just before 1pm and said he was coming round ok and everything had gone well but he had a tear on his right front leg and that had been seen to. When I picked him up they gave me the meds he needed and to keep him in for a few days, this will be difficult as he hates being kept in. When he got out of his cat box he was quite wobbly bless him and he has just about got his balance back now, the bill turned out to be slightly less at £201 and a few pence.

Sorry about poor Leo!!! Hope he heals quickly and is a good sport about being confined inside. : (

I hope Leo is doing al right, John. Have a nice Sunday!

It's always upsetting (and expensive) when our fur kids get hurt. We're currently $400 in for our kitty Inara for a UTI, with perhaps $80 to go if she needs more antibiotics, but she's perky and not in pain so we're happy.

Hope Leo recovers quickly! Happy Sunday to you and Karen.

While you and Karen were in London, I was in Seattle, Washington for a blackberry vacation with my cousins. I had heard stories about my Grandmother and Aunt and Uncle picking blackberries with my cousins in Washington for most of my teen years and I always thought it sounded like great fun. I never indulged in a blackberry trip until now because the fruit is ripe in August, which is prime tourist season when the plane fares are highest. This year I decided to indulge myself and check something off of my "Bucket List."

While I was there we picked blackberries and had Blackberry Cobbler, Blackberry Pie, and Blackberry Panna Cotta with our meals. We also made Blackberry jelly and I had to mail back 8 half-pints of the jelly because I didn't have room for them in my suitcase.

I also had a LT meet-up with Karen and Ellen who are fellow LT'ers who live in the Seattle area. We visited the Amazon Bookstore and then had coffee at a Starbucks close to the Amazon store. I purchased enough books at the Amazon store that I had to mail them back to Alabama because I only took a small suitcase with me and didn't have room. I can't believe I got to visit two Seattle icons in one day! Amazon and Starbucks.

I also got to visit the Pike Place Market which is always a good show. The weather was perfect for me. It was cool compared to Alabama and I even found myself wearing long sleeves. It was so much fun. I will certainly go back an visit again and again.

>173 Berly:,>174 connie53:, >175 karenmarie:, Hi Ladies, Leo has been pretty good at being confined indoors but today he has miaowed pitilessly since around 6pm, just worried that he will get stressed as he is an outdoors cat until it gets too cold or wet. Another reason for getting him out as soon as possible is so that we can have our back door open and windows now that the temperature has taken an upwards turn. I have to take him for a check-up on Monday morning and he has been good and not tried to lick his wounds.

>176 benitastrnad:, Hi Benita, sounds like you had a good Blackberry trip and you are making me feel hungry with all the Blackberry dishes. It is always nice to read about LT meet-ups and you had a double meet-up which is even better. Glad you had a good time in Seattle's two icons but I have to admit they are a bit like Marmite over here, you either like them or loathe them. We watched a programme on the Thursday night of our London trip about waste packaging and for all their good intentions and supposed green credentials they were appalling and didn't seem interested in doing much about it yet they have a lot of wealth and they have not been paying the right taxes over here when we are suffering tough austerity measures and they are hiding earnings and using offshore European domiciles to lower what they think they should pay. I will be honest years ago I used them both but now I don't touch them although Karen has had to order a couple of items via Amazon.

After the bad news about Leo we finally got our Oak furniture delivered yesterday morning, the four smaller pieces came through the front door easily but the bigger unit had to come via the patio doors at the back, I had to move the dining table to give them room to come straight through. Whilst they went for the bigger unit I had to move the car and had to take Leo up into Amy's old room where he made himself right at home. When they had gone I moved the coffee table into position and put the TV unit in position and sorted out the TV and DVD player.

Once that was done I started putting the DVD's on the smaller bookcase unit and then put the CD's on the shelves in Alphabetical order, unfortunately I had the shelves too close and had to sort them out today. Hannah's DVD's are in the TV unit in the space at the bottom. Today I moved the CD shelves down a notch so that the CD's are easy to get out and added the CD's from the kitchen and the three I forgot that were on the dining table that we brought back from our trip. I thought I was going to have to contact them for another shelf but after today's re-organisation and adding the extra CD's we are ok although there is only space left for about another thirty five CD's. Once Karen has sorted out what she wants on the big unit I will take photo's now that our room is finally complete.

Once I had done the CD's I put the shelves on the big unit before watching a replay of last night's action from the Olympics and then switched over to listen to the last day of the third test match which led to an exciting days play with England winning the game just after 5pm. England are now 2-1 up with one Test to play which starts on Thursday. Before long it was time to pick Karen up from work and after a pot of tea I brought the boxes of ornaments down for Karen to decide what she wanted to keep and display and what would have to go. Tomorrow I will remove a shelf from the big unit and lower other shelves and Karen can finally display what she has decided to keep.

#178
I agree about the packaging. Starbucks in particular has been castigated over here about its packaging. The cups they use can't be recycled. Neither can straws. I have been avoiding straws in restaurants for some time and have started doing that when I buy a cold Starbucks drink.

I do have some sympathy for Starbucks because they have tried to use recyclable cups and have not been able to find cups that don't soak through.

>180 benitastrnad:, The problem over here with Starbucks and Costa coffee and Café Nero is that they show the re-cycling symbol on the take away pots but only the thin card wrapper to hold the cup is recyclable and they do nothing to let customers know that they can't be re-cycled. There is a firm that has developed a cup that can be re-cycled but they are all being slow to adopt it. On the show Starbucks said they would increase the amount of money they give customers back for using their own cups from 25p to 50p but after six weeks they abandoned this. Also Starbucks and some other retailers increased their prices when the UK's minimum wage was increased and still Starbucks are arguing about the amount of tax they should pay.

Good to hear Leo is doing al right!

Aw, poor Leo! Here's hoping he's well enough to get back outside soon!

I took Leo for his check-up at the Vets this morning, he is doing well and we have to go back next Monday when he will be signed off, the bad news is we have to try and keep him in until then. I don't know who will be more stressed, me or Leo but I shall have to go out and leave him to it I think.

After a poor start weather wise it has turned out nice. After getting back from the vets I got Leo out of his carry box and gave him some treats for being a good boy and then ignored him while I got the washing out of the washer and went and put it on the line. Once this was done I popped to Blacker Hall Farm Shop to get some bread and then went into their café for a latte. When I got back Leo was asleep in the dining room, let's see how long that lasts.

Finished book Sixty-Eight just before 6pm, Angels by Marian Keyes. This is the third in the Walsh family saga. Unlike the rest of her family, Maggie Walsh/Garvan has always done everything right and by the book. At Thirty-Three she has a proper job and is happily married to Garv and generally never puts a foot wrong until she leaves her husband and runs away to Hollywood.

In LA she finds life couldn't be more different and soon begins to wonder why she is there. Maggie is on a journey of discovery, from the plain in Ireland to the weird and wacky of LA she takes in some heartache and lots of martinis as she discovers what she really wants in life and why she walked out on Garv. This is a funny heartwarming read from a lovely author.

Not too bad a day and Leo has been very good and not really been annoying about wanting to go out. Karen supervised me while I took a shelf off the large unit and then set the remaining shelves at the right levels. Once I had done my part Karen then put on ornaments and photos that she wanted to keep and tomorrow I should be able to take photos now that the room is finished and post them on here. To be honest the wait for the furniture to be made has been worth it as it has set the room off, it has been well worth the cost and not having a major holiday and I just love it. Got to admit Leo was a bit perturbed but is getting used to a coffee table being in the room now.

>187 johnsimpson: Hi John! Perhaps Leo realizes that he needs to recover quietly and safely.

Looking to pics!

Not too bad a day, after taking Karen to work I got home and had breakfast and a pot of tea before taking a small set top box back as it was faulty and got a replacement. From the supermarket I popped into town to pick up a couple of bits for Karen and then went to Pets at Home to pick up some pet calming spray. Once home I sprayed the areas needed and within ten minutes Leo was calm and then asleep. I popped the kettle on and while it was boiling I took some photos of the living room.

I read for a while with a nice pot of tea or two and then did the upstairs housework. Once the housework was done I needed to use the pet spray again and again Leo was settled. I made myself some lunch and a pot of tea and watched some Olympic action before it was time to go and pick Karen up.

First photo of living room finally complete.

Second photo with an appearance by Leo.

Not sure what I am doing wrong with the photos, all were taken on my phone and when transferred to my profile they were ok but then from profile to thread only the first is clear.

Hi John! Your living room looks great! You must be so pleased with how it turned out. The pet calming spray sounds wonderful. Two of our three dogs are afraid of storms. We use the Thunder shirts which helps but the pet spray sounds like that would help as well.

Looks great John!

>195 Dianekeenoy:, Thanks Diane, we are very pleased with how the room looks and all my writing/book related items are now hidden away in the small unit near the CD unit. The spray seems to have mixed reactions, sometimes when I spray he seems ok and at others he just ignores it. He has been miaowing pitilessly for the last hour but that is because he wants the bathroom and really doesn't like his litter tray. I am just worried that he is getting stressed and at 14 that's not good.

>196 connie53:, Thanks Connie.

Back to normal service, after taking Karen to work I popped into store to do the weekly shopping, we didn't want much so it didn't take me long. Once home I unpacked and put the shopping away and then had some breakfast, Leo was asleep when I got back so that wasn't too bad. I did a couple of small things and then made a pot of tea and went to our bedroom to read leaving Leo to his dreams. After about an hour I came down to make another pot of tea and while it was brewing I went outside for one of my mini cigars. I came downstairs at about 1pm and watched some Olympic cycling before getting on with the downstairs housework, when I finished I had time for a pot of tea and a short bit of reading before it was time to pick Karen up from work.

Hi John! Thanks for sharing the pics of your living room. And thanks for the idea of the pet calming spray - my 16-year old Kitty William has taken to pulling his fur out occasionally. I don't know of it's kitty senility, true stress, or just boredom. Sigh.

We've been enjoying the Olympics, too. I was really upset when I saw Ellie Downie crash down on her neck during the floor exercise, reminding me why I usually don't watch gymnastics. She returned to do her vault, so hope she is fully recovered.

Yay! The living room is done!! Now, your job is to sit down and actually enjoy it. : )

>199 karenmarie:, Thanks Karen, not sure the spray is working all the time though. There have been a lot of falls and injuries during the Olympics so far and some have been horrific to watch. I am enjoying the games though and it is nice to see such wonderful athletes.

>200 Berly:, Hi Kim, the job is done and I am enjoying it and Karen loves it.

I have also been watching the Olympics from this side of the pond. I am not a fan of the Little Girls Gymnastics so don't watch those events, but general I have a quadrennial love fest with these exotic sports.

John, I am of course happy that the track cycling has started and that the Brits look on fire in the events as usual. A few more golds there unless I am very much mistaken.

>202 benitastrnad:, Hi Benita, I have only seen a small amount of gymnastics but have seen quite a bit of other action and because of the time difference the BBC have been repeating the nights action during the morning so tonight's live action from midnight till 4am will be shown from 9.15am until 1.15pm when live action starts again.

>203 PaulCranswick:, Hi Paul, we were a bit tired so went to bed around 10.30 last night but as I was setting the alarm clock I caught the radio button and Victoria Pendleton was on Five live saying that the team pursuit would be on in the next 15 minutes so we put the bedroom television on and I switched the radio off. I thought we were going to be unlucky but Sir Bradley and the boys had got everything worked out and didn't panic and stuffed the Aussies. Following this we ended up watching action and interviews until just before midnight, so much for feeling tired although there was the distraction of seeing Glover and Stanning being interviewed and what lovely long legs Helen Glover has, Steve Backshall is a lucky fellow being engaged to her.

Book Sixty-Nine finished just after noon, The Flood-Tide by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. This is the ninth in the Morland Saga and finds the lovely Jemima Morland and her beloved husband Allen working very hard to bring Morland Place back to its former glory, along the way seven children appear giving heartache and joy in equal amounts.

Charles, the Morland adventurer and botanist has visited America on his travels and eventually emigrates to Maryland in pursuit of Eugenie, the heiress he had met on his previous visit. Charles soon finds himself at the heart of the American uprising against the Mother Country.

Meanwhile, Henri, the family's bastard offshoot pursues his pleasures relentlessly while making a name for himself as a designer. Although he is penniless he finds his niche in the saloons of beautiful Parisien women and meets hot-headed radicals to discuss the new philosophy of freedom.

All this is taking place while revolution creeps closer and closer.

Another enjoyable read in the saga and I have the next 26 and that only takes us up to 1925 and I believe the author is taking it up to the present day.

We had a lovely day yesterday, after a relaxing early morning I went to pick Hannah up and was back home with her just before noon, after a quick pot of tea we went for a walk along the old canal to see if the Blackberries were ready, Hannah really wanted to help but although there were a few ready, most won't be ready for another week at least. We made our way home and after promising Hannah that after something to eat I would take her and Grandma to the swings while I went down by the allotments and towards the railway to see if the Blackberries were ready there. After about an hour I got back to the swings with a decent box full of Blackberries and Hannah had had a good time in the park with the swings etc. I took us all back home and we had a drink and Hannah wanted to watch one of the Fireman Sam DVD's. Before long it was time for something to eat and then after a bit of play time I took her home. Rob, Louise and the kids have gone to the caravan at Mablethorpe for a few days and the weather is set fair so they should have a good time.

Leo was fine yesterday even when Hannah arrived but as usual between 6 and 8pm he was really whiney because he needed the pee and /or poo, eventually he went in his litter tray.

Today I have been on my own most of the day, Karen went into Leeds on the train to meet up with Amy, I couldn't go as I was seeing the specialist about my shoulder. I had an appointment for 9.20am but got a letter while we were away to say it had been changed to 1.50pm. After dropping Karen at the railway station I made my way home, Leo was asleep so that was ok. I made a pot of tea and read, after another pot of tea I finished my book and did my book stats before selecting another book. I had time for a pot of tea before going to my appointment, I was seen a bit early and he gave me the all clear, I made my way home and put the Olympics on and made a pot of tea. I did some more reading and then got a text message from Karen saying which train she was getting home. Karen and Amy had a good time and pottered about Leeds, they had a nice lunch and Karen got three cardigans in the sale so she was very pleased. The only fly in the ointment was that Amy lost her cardigan that we had brought back from Madeira, she went back to two shops where she believes she may have left it and they took her details but unfortunately they don't hold much hope out that it will be handed in. Karen told Amy she could have hers as she has only worn it once and it was the same as Amy's.

I do love reading about your daily life. Your living room is beautiful. And so glad that Leo is getting better!

I spent the morning doing a library orientation for graduate students then did a quick stop at the yarn shop to show off my latest finished project. The Olympics has been good for my knitting. I then went home and called a friend whose father is in the hospital and not doing well. THEN, I cleaned my bathroom. I am still finding glass in there from the break-in two years ago, but, admittedly, there is less an less as time goes by.

The students are back in town and the traffic has been horrible today with all the parents helping the students to move in to dorms and apartments. Things are so different for these students than they were for me forty years ago. My parents sent me off to the University with a car and my Dad told me that if I had more stuff than would fit in the car, I to much stuff. These kids are moving in with U-Haul trailers and trucks!

>207 witchyrichy:. Hi Karen, so glad that I am not boring anybody with my daily life. Glad you like our room, Karen has only had to wait twenty years for it to be completely re-done, she wasn't very keen on the old fire surround and we kept getting enough money to do part of it and then something cropped up. I am glad Leo is getting better as his yowls every evening are driving us to distraction, as I write this he has 12 hours before I get him home from the vet in the morning and he can have his freedom, the appointment is for 9am and we will be back home by 9.30am.

>208 benitastrnad:, Hi Benita, you have had a busy day my dear, Karen likes her knitting and now she has her wool in the cupboard at the base of the big unit in the living room she will be able to get back to some knitting. Karen usually fares better when the nights begin to draw in so that is a few weeks away yet and The Great British Bake Off starts again on BBC 1 on the 24th August so that will take priority every Wednesday evening and no doubt more home baking will be done, yum yum.

Our students don't start to go to the Universities until the second week in September here, I remember how much I had in the car for Amy never mind how much she had when she finally came home after two years, it took me two trips.

We have had a lovely day, after having breakfast we set off to go to Ravenscar on the Yorkshire coast, I put some more diesel in the car and we got going but soon came upon traffic getting onto the A64 and then more traffic on the A64 so we detoured off at the Malton turn and went through Malton and then Pickering to pick up the road over the Wolds towards Whitby. As we got to the outskirts of Whitby we then turned onto the Scarborough road to get to Ravenscar, Karen remembered going over 40 years ago and although she told me there was nothing much there her memory and changes had made it just a quick stop. We had a drink in the car and then set off to Robin Hood's Bay, we love this place and surprise surprise there are now three place where you can pick up secondhand books. As I have made no purchases so far this month we ended up with seven books, three were first books in series' so I can now start them. After a pleasant couple of hours we made our weary way home and back to Leo, Leo goes for his final check up at 9am tomorrow and by 9.30 am he will have his freedom back and will no doubt enjoy being out in the back garden.

And the books are...? : )

Happy Monday, John!

Hi John! More trips, Leo doing well, and BOOKS! Could hardly ask for more, could you?

>212 Berly:, Hi Kim I hope this is ok, the full list of books purchased this year is at post 10.

Vanish by Tess Gerritsen
Killing Floor by Lee Child
Die Trying by Lee Child
Murder Underground by Mavis Doriel Hay
When the Bough Breaks by Jonathan Kellerman
Sacrilege by S.J.Parris
Prophecy by S.J.Parris

>213 scaifea:, Thanks Amber.

>214 karenmarie:, Hi Karen, it was a nice day out and Books and a new bookshop making three in this small coastal resort.

A pretty good day, after taking Karen to work I got back and had time for my breakfast and a pot of tea before taking Leo for his check up. I managed to get Leo in his cat box and off we went to the vet's, the vet gave him a good check and said he was healing really well and he could go out. Once back home I let Leo out of his box in the kitchen and then opened the back door and let him out into the back garden, he went for a wander sniffing around and I got on with some small tasks. Once I done the tasks I got ready to go to the doctors to drop some repeat prescriptions off and to try and make an appointment to have my elbow drained again. The doctor who does this procedure is leaving at the end of the month and was booked up but when I explained that it had been done five weeks ago she said she would put me on call back, I left my mobile number as I was going to be out for a while.

From the doctors I went into town to do a couple of things and then went to the DIY store to get a ground holder for the rotary airer, as I left the first store I got the call from the doctors and after a five minute chat she decided it needed doing asap and told me to come at 4.40pm. After the phone call I went to another DIY store and got what I wanted for nearly £7 less than the first place. Once I had got the holder I went to the supermarket to pick up some juice for Karen and told her I might be a few minutes late picking her up because of my appointment. Once I had done all my shopping tasks I made my way home and made a pot of tea while putting the holder in the lawn and setting up the airer. Once my pot of tea was made I put the washing on the airer and Leo came in for a short while before going back out to explore.

I had my pot of tea and read and managed to finish another book and then watched some Olympic action. I started my next book and selected another book to be my bedside read. I broke off from reading to do some weeding and pruning in the front garden and then made my self some lunch. After my lunch I read some more and had another pot of tea before it was time to go to my doctors appointment. I was ten minutes early and was just beginning to read when I was called in, Doctor Mac had a look and then drained my elbow, this time getting 5ml of fluid out and hopefully that will be the last time it is needed to be done. When I got back to the car I texted Karen to say I would be able to pick her up on time and went to get her.

Having a relaxing evening now watching a couple of quiz shows and then more Olympic action, especially the track cycling.

Book Seventy finished just before noon, Gunpowder Plot by Carola Dunn. This is the Fifteenth in the Daisy Dalrymple series and finds Daisy accepting an invitation from an old school friend and it coincides with their annual fireworks display on November 5th. But this year amid the festivities her friend's father and a female are found dead, it would appear that Sir Harold has shot himself after killing the female guest.

Could this apparent suicide be murder as Sir Harold was notoriously bad tempered and there was no love lost between him and his children. Things soon change when Daisy and Chief Detective Inspector Alec Fletcher discover an explosive secret and it becomes clear that a trigger happy killer will go to any length to keep it hidden.

Another lovely read with Daisy at the forefront when murder takes place in setting of the aristocracy in the 1920's.

Another lovely sunny and warm day here in Walton, after taking Karen to work I got back home and had breakfast and a nice pot of tea. Once breakfast was done with I popped into town to pay a couple of bills and then got my art magazines and then made my way to the nature reserve in the village to look for Blackberries. I had a good stroll around part of the reserve and found some good patches of Blackberry bushes but I need to go another day with overalls on so I can get further into the bushes to get those out of my extended reach. I made my way back home and one I had washed the berries I made a pot of tea and read for a while.

Once the live Olympic coverage started I made another pot of tea and read in between the action, after a while I wrote up the supermarket list and had a quick read before going to pick Karen up from work to take her to her oral clinic appointment. The clinic was not too busy so we hoped to be on time but she was called in 30 minutes after her appointment time. The Lichen Planus has flared up a little bit and he wanted it photographing so when she came out we went down to the photo department and she was done straight away and then we were done Once home I made us both a pot of tea before Karen made fish and mashed potato for dinner, my favourite. We are having a nice relaxing evening now.

Another steady day here, it was a bit dull and cool when I took Karen to work and then went into store to do the weekly shop. Once home I unpacked and put the shopping away before putting the washing on the line and then had some breakfast. I had a pot of tea and watched replays of Olympic action from the early hours and then did the upstairs housework. Once the upstairs had been done I had a pot of tea and read for a short while and then Amy arrived. I made Amy a drink and we chatted and soon it was time for me to do the living room and dining room, while I did this Amy made us both some lunch. By the time we had finished eating and had our drink it was time for me to go and pick Karen up from work and Amy left for home.

I watched the Women's Gymnastics last night while I knitted and the entry from the UK did very well. A surprise bronze medal winner. She was great and so much fun to watch!

>221 benitastrnad:, Hi Benita, the GB gymnastics team have done really well and Amy Tinkler's Bronze medal was a lovely bonus and she did really well.

Morning everyone.

Morning, John!

>222 johnsimpson: It was a joy to watch Amy Tinkler and I'm glad she was in the medals.

What about that finish in the 100 m women's hurdles! GB was almost in that. It was a great race by Olifi. I think I spelled her name correctly.

>224 scaifea:, Hi Amber.

>225 karenmarie:, Hi Karen, Amy did GB proud.

>226 benitastrnad:, Hi Benita, it was a fantastic race and she did really well just caught out on the dip.

We have had a lovely day, Karen went into work today as a favour but now wishes she hadn't as she didn't get done what she wanted. When I got back home I had breakfast and then another pot of tea before cleaning the kitchen, when I had finished I just had time for another pot of tea and a bit of reading before going to pick Karen up at noon.

When Karen got in the car we set off and headed for Ilkley in the Yorkshire Dales, we got parked up and had a stroll around. First stop was Peter Jones as Karen wanted to look for some art glass for the coffee table but they didn't have anything but she came out with four new steak knives, a new prep knife and a photo frame and the frame was on sale and then they took another 20% off. From there we headed for Betty's tearoom but there was quite a queue so we were headed somewhere else and as we were walking came across Fatface and they had a sale on. We came out of there with two t-shirts for me, a hooded top for Karen and two pairs of socks, one for Karen and one for Amy.

After this bout of shopping we decided we needed to eat, we had a look at a few eateries but because Karen can't eat too much we passed a few by as they weren't serving what she could really stomach, we ended up at a nice pub and had a lovely meal and a drink. From the pub we mooched around the rest of Ilkley before heading back to Fatface to pick up a pair of shorts for me after Karen convinced me that I needed another pair. By this time we were ready for a pot of tea and found a café and had a well deserved drink. Once we had finished our drink we headed to the car and made our way home and listened to the Brownlee brothers taking Gold and Silver in the men's Triathlon.

Big Congratulations to Yorkshire on reaching the Royal London one day cup semi-final after an eleven run win over Kent. Let's hope we can do well on Saturday at the T20 finals day and then pick up our form in the Championship and go on to win a third consecutive title.

Finished book Seventy-One, Invisible by James Patterson. Another enjoyable thriller from Mr P, Emmy Dockery has a nightmare every night, she is trapped in her bedroom with an inferno blazing all around her. The nightmare started eight months ago when her sister was killed in a hose fire and it was written off as an accident but Emmy knows she was murdered. Emmy has no proof but there have been dozens of "accidental" fires across the US over the past year that all seem to be coincidental. Emmy believes that a serial killer is a loose and is being ignored and It is up to her to stop him.

Emmy is an analyst for the FBI but due to her sister's death she is on suspension but that is not the real reason and so she gets no help at work, she goes to the one person who she hopes will help but that is if he will talk to her. The person she goes to is the person she was going to marry until she called it off three months before the wedding. Will her ex help her and can they find proof that the fires are not "accidental"?

An exciting read with a real twist at the end.

The weather has changed and it rained for most of the day, we had a bit of a lie in this morning and after we got up we had breakfast before I went off to pick up our prescriptions and then called to get my cricket paper before going to the Asda to return a kettle that I bought on Wednesday and get a replacement. I got a replacement and also pick up some milk for Karen and a couple of books. Once I had done at the supermarket I called at our newsagents to pick up my usual Friday newspapers. When I got home Karen was doing the ironing before she went onto make some Blackberry jam with the Blackberries I picked earlier.

Once the jam was ready Karen had the jars waiting and we ended up with six jars full, once this was done Karen went onto make an apple cake and an apple crumble, the crumble was lovely as we had some after our dinner.
Whilst Karen was in her element baking I read and managed to finish another book.

A sunny but breezy morning here in Walton, just been watching the Olympic action from the early hours, Mo Farah you beauty.

>209 johnsimpson: My husband and I live in a very old house so I know all about waiting to get things done! Our big project last year was pulling up carpeting in the oldest section. We were thrilled to find that the wood floors were in good shape. But...we left behind one tack strip on the stairs and every so often (including this morning), I rub my heel against it. Maybe I'll get to it this weekend ;-)

I hope to be picking blackberries myself soon, John.

Our so called best players coming back into the fray didn't help us any in the T20 Blast did it?

Back to normality after the end of the Olympics, after taking Karen to work I got back and had breakfast before putting the first load of washing on the airers indoors as the weather was rather inclement. I put the second load of washing on and then got down to some book stats and notes. The book work took a little while but I was fortified with one or two pots of tea. By the time I had finished it was gone 11am so the next job was to go and get Leo some more food. Once back from the pet store I had a pot of tea and read for a while before watching the one o'clock news.
After watching the news I did the last two bank statements received before making myself something to eat. Once I had fed myself I made another pot of tea or two and read until it was time to go and pick Karen up from work, the weather is to pick up from tomorrow so I may go looking for more Blackberries.

A very warm day here in Walton, 82F, before we get too excited it is only to last two or three days. After taking Karen to work I got home and had breakfast before heading to the doctors about my elbow. After having the Bursa aspirated last Monday it has filled up again but even larger than it was last week, unfortunately they had no appointments so they put me on the call back list. I left the doctors and headed to Church Fenton to do a bit of train spotting. I stayed at Church Fenton until 1pm and I got my call back while I was there, I have to ring the doctors first thing tomorrow morning and they will get me in, they think I might have a bit of infection in the elbow.

Once home I had a pot of tea and then got on with the upstairs housework, it was hot work but I managed to get it done without melting. Once I got back downstairs I made another pot of tea and then did the lawn before going to pick Karen up from work.

Hi John! >236 johnsimpson: It's all relative. Today was the coolest it's been all summer, and it's still 86F at 7:22 p.m. here in central NC (East Coast of the US of A). It's supposed to ramp back up to the 90s over the weekend.

I'm sorry about your elbow and hope it's not an infection.

Sending love and hugs to you and Karen.

We are having nice cool weather with temps around 70 F which is perfect in my books. I hope you survive your heat without melting. Sorry to hear about your elbow. I hope you don't have an infection - and if you do, they can soon get it sorted out with some antibiotics. I've had a few problems with one of my elbows - cellulitis once last year - and this year a bit of an infection. I call it my " reader's elbow' because I tend to lean on that elbow when I am reading. In my case I think that is the cause. :) Love and hugs to you and Karen!

Hi, John! I hope your elbow gets sorted soon.
We're having absolutely gorgeous weather here, for August - 70's and breezy. Perfect.

Our weather here has been HOT! But then it is August and it is always hot. The big problem is the humidity. We have not received the rain that Louisiana did, but it would cloud over each afternoon and a small shower would pass through.

>237 karenmarie:, >238 vancouverdeb:, >239 scaifea:, Hi Ladies, I managed to get an appointment with the doctor this morning and he drained it again. This time he got 8ml out and that is just a week after it was drained and 4ml was taken out, he did say that there is no infection and hopefully this will be the last time it needs seeing to.

I had time after taking Karen to work and then getting home to ring the doctor's to do the weekly shopping before my appointment. Once done at the doctor's I made my way home and got the shopping out of the car and then unpacked and put it all away. Once the shopping had been sorted I had some breakfast and a pot of tea before reading through next weeks Radio Times magazine and then I did some reading. After another couple of pots of tea it was time to get on with the downstairs housework, I am getting used to dusting all the furniture and ornaments etc after months without much in the living room.

Once the housework was done I made myself some lunch and sat and ate it while listening to the cricket on the radio. Before long it was time to go and pick Karen up from work.

>240 benitastrnad:, Hi Benita, it was another warm one again but by the time I went to pick Karen up from work the sky began to darken and it looked like the rain promised would soon arrive. Since we got home and as I type this the rain has not appeared although the sky has been quite dark for most of the time. After seeing the local news and then the weather report it seems like tomorrow will be a washout.

Hi John! Your poor elbow! I hope this effort was the last. Today is supposed to be 92F (33C) here in central NC, USA, but with low humidity. No rain in the forecast for us, but we've had a wet summer and everything is still green and lush. Normally it's getting brown and brittle by now. My husband has had to more much more frequently than normal!

Sending love and hugs to you and Karen.

>243 karenmarie:, Hi Karen, sadly it would appear that the elbow saga is going to continue as it has already started to fill up again, I will let it go for a week to see how far it seems to be going and then the doctors can decide what the next step is, luckily it is not painful but looks and feels funny. Hope you are having a good day my dear and send love and hugs.

Finished book Seventy-Two a short while ago, Wedding Tiers by Trisha Ashley. This is the third in the Lancashire series and sees Josie Gray and Ben Richards growing up in the beautiful village of Neatslake dreaming of a life of rural bliss. When Josie inherits her beloved Grandmother's cottage it seems like all their dreams are coming true.

The village turns into a hive of activity with the return of Josie's childhood friend, Libby Martin, now a wealthy widow. Before long Josie and Libby are hard at work on their fledgling wedding business and Josie is dreaming up all manner of weird and wonderful cake creations. But amidst all this romance Josie's relationship with Ben turns into a nightmare and Josie suddenly becomes love's number one cynic until suave wedding photographer Noah Sephton arrives in Neatslake.

Can hopeless romantic Noah persuade pessimistic Josie to give romance one more go? A lovely lighthearted novel set in a beautiful part of Lancashire, give this series a go and you will get a nice surprise.

Hi John, we are having a late heatwave. Is the weather manageable for you? Love and hugs to you and Karen. xx

>246 DianaNL:, Hi Diana, the late heatwave has been good although yesterday was very wet and cool, the weather is to be a bit mixed over the Bank holiday weekend and then picks up again. Just hope the weather in early September is good as we are going down to Oxford from the 8th for a few days. Sending love and hugs my dear.

After a rainy day yesterday the sun was shining today, unlike yesterday when we popped out to Ikea to get a new pouffe for Karen and then went onto Meadowhall shopping centre to get out of the rain we have had a relaxing day today. I went to pick up my usual Friday papers and then had breakfast and after this I put the washing on the line while Karen did the small amount of ironing. When she had finished I made us a pot of tea and then it was time to take Karen into Wakefield to meet her friend Tina. While Karen was in town I got home and just did a bit of reading and listened to the cricket commentary on the radio.

When Karen was ready to come home she gave me a call and I went and collected her and made us a pot of tea when we got home and then we just lounged about taking things easy.

When I read posts like the one above, I hear the old Crosby, Stills and Nash song in my head, "Our house is a very, very, very fine house." Happy weekend!

Finished book Seventy-Three and hour or so ago, Vanish by Tess Gerritsen. This is the fifth in the Rizzoli and Isles series and finds Dr Maura Isles the chief medical examiner in Boston examining the corpse of a beautiful woman who was brought in earlier in the day and put in the frozen lockers until it could be looked at. Dr Isles unzips the body bag and looks down at the body and gets the fright of her life, the corpse opens its eyes. Dr Isles calls 911 and the EMT's arrive and take the now alive corpse across the road to the ER department.

Shortly before the corpse was found to be alive Detective Jane Rizzoli is rushed to the same hospital after her waters break in court where she is giving evidence in a trial. While Detective Rizzoli is waiting for her consultant to get back to her all hell breaks loose and the now alive corpse murders a security guard and seizes hostages including Rizzoli.

Who is this woman and what does she want? Only Rizzoli can solve the mystery if she survives the hostage situation.

This is a superb thriller which is a horrifying tangle of rape, murder and blackmail and brings to the fore the tale of the "Vanished" and who they are. This is one you will not want to put down if you can help it.

Getting closer to reaching my 75th book read this year and hopefully will manage it by the end of the month.

We have had a pretty decent weekend all in all. Yesterday we had a slight lie-in and then had some breakfast before heading off to Junction 32 retail outlet to look at hiring an evening suit for a certain friend known to us all who is 50 this coming weekend. In the end it was better value to purchase an evening suit and Bow-tie, while we were there we picked up a couple of cards for a birthday and first wedding anniversary. Just as we got back to the car the heavens opened and that was the theme of the rest of the day. Once back home I made us both a pot of tea before Karen got on with some baking while I watched the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium between Hull FC and Warrington Wolves. The final was closely fought with Hull edging Warrington out 12-10. After the end of the game I had to pop out for some more baking butter for Karen and that proved a task and a half, I eventually ended up at a supermarket after trying our local shop and a supermarket express store and got soaked leaving the car in the process.

We had a relaxing evening watching a program about the successor to the TGV train in France and then the football show.

Today we had another lie-in before breakfast and then awaited the arrival of Hannah, Robert brought her over just after 10.30am. We had a lovely time with Hannah, just a shame about the weather but she played with her toys and watched the Tiny Pop channel before wanting to watch her Peppa Pig DVD's. Time seemed to race away and soon it was time to take her home. Karen did a bit more baking before lunch and then we all played with Hannah. Tomorrow we are going to do a bit of gardening and go and pick some Blackberries as the weather is to be quite good.

>250 johnsimpson: Hi John, I loved this book, too. It was very exciting and action packed! Tess Gerritsen is one of my many favorite authors. Sounds like you had a great weekend, although a little wet. Hope your week goes great, as well.

Good day, John! I envy you the blackberries. My great-grandmother had a huge blackberry patch at the little house in town that she and my great-grandfather retired to when they left the farm to their son. I remember going to visit and picking baskets of blackberries and eating them fresh and warm from the sun with cream. Yum.

>253 Dianekeenoy:, Hi Diane, I love Tess Gerritsen's books along with a lot of others, we have had a good weekend and I will be posting today's musings shortly. Hope you have had a good weekend my dear and hoping you have a good week ahead.

>254 karenmarie:, Hi Karen I will be posting today's musings shortly including the Blackberries.

We had another little lie-in before getting up and having breakfast, once we were fed and watered I put the washing on the line and then we got our gear and went Blackberry picking. We were going to go to the old pit site which is now a nature reserve but as we were passing a neighbour she told us of another good patch just as we get past the last housing estate. We made our way to the public footpath and took the steps down and turned right immediately and we found the motherlode.

We put our boxes down and I put on my boiler suit and we started picking, the protective suit meant that I could get into the bushes and pick those that get left plus with my height and reach I could get a lot more. By the time our boxes were full we had been picking for about 90 minutes and then we headed home. First thing after we had got out of our old clothes I made us a pot of tea and then Karen put all the berries in a bowl to soak and remove any dirt and other bits.

Once we had had our pot of tea Karen made two chocolate sponge cakes ready to construct Amy's birthday cake that she has asked her mum to make. When Karen put them in the oven I scraped out the mixture left in the bowl and then made us another pot of tea. Once the cakes were done and cooling, Karen put a kilo of Blackberries in the cook pot and a kilo of Jam sugar and dissolved the sugar and then boiled the fruit until it was ready to put in jars. While this was happening Karen put all the other washed Blackberries on trays with kitchen paper to dry them out a bit and once dry she selected the big ones to make a Blackberry Crumble and then put another 500g of Blackberries in a large Kilner jar to make Blackberry Vanilla Vodka, mixing the Blackberries with 200g of sugar and a 70cl bottle of Vanilla Vodka that we had in, Karen had had some of the Vodka previously but wasn't very keen so most was still left. Once the sugar had dissolved it could be gently shaken and put in a cool place, this has to be gently shook every day for 14 days and then left to stand for eight weeks and then the Vodka can be strained out into a bottle. Karen will use the boozy Blackberries for a Crumble later. The rest of the Blackberries were put into freezer bags to be used at a later date, in all we collected 4kg of Blackberries and there are loads left to ripen plus we didn't go all the way along the footpath and i know of other Blackberry haunts.

Once all the baking and making had been done we relaxed in the garden and living room as we were quite worn out

Book Seventy-Four finished this morning, Dishing the Dirt by M.C.Beaton. this is the 27th in the Agatha Raisin series and finds Agatha having to prove her innocence when a love rival turns up dead.

When therapist Jill Davent arrives in the village of Carsley, Agatha is not a fan. Jill is romancing Agatha's ex-husband and finds out somehow of her humble beginnings and is sharing these with villagers. Added to this, Jill is also counselling a woman who Agatha believes is a murderess.

Agatha is not one to keep her feelings to herself and tells all and sundry that Jill is a charlatan who is better off dead but two days later Jill is found dead and Agatha is the prime suspect as she was heard saying she would kill Jill if she persisted in airing her dirty linen. Together with her agency detectives she must prove her innocence to ensure it is not Agatha who is pushing up daisies.

A delightful light murder mystery with Agatha Raisin at the fore.

It has been a glorious day here in Walton today, after taking Karen to work I got back and put the washing on the line before having some breakfast and a pot of tea. Once done with breakfast I finished my book before going out to cut down the raspberry canes that had fruit on and leave the canes that will have next years fruit. Once this was done I had another pot of tea and read for a short while before going out to take the old roof spars down on the old coal shed. Once the spars were down I removed some other old timber and then took out all the old screws as I will use these spars as they are in pretty decent condition. By the time I had done this it was time for another pot of tea and then I realised that I had forgotten something this morning. As I made my pot of tea Leo wanted to go out and as I let him out I realised that I should have taken him to the vet for his injections. I rang the vets and apologised profusely and re-made his appointment.

Once I had had my pot of tea I got on with the upstairs housework before having some lunch, after I had had my sandwiches I listened to the cricket on the radio but must have fallen asleep and suddenly woke up at 4.25pm, I had nodded off for about 45 minutes and the last drop of my pot of tea had gone cold. I quickly tidied up and set off to pick Karen up from work.

I cannot believe how quickly the year is going by, the nights are starting to draw in and before long it will be dark before 8pm. In two months time Amy and Andy will celebrate their first wedding anniversary and this time last year things were hotting up, at this point in time I hadn't written my speech or practised it and would not do so for another month.

Hi John! Just catching up here. I was just thinking the same thing, how the nights are starting earlier. My son just started school this week--I cannot believe summer is over. Congrats on breaking into the 70's. 75 is just around the corner!

>260 Berly:, Thanks Kim, school starts again and the nights begin to draw in and before we know it is Halloween then Thanksgiving and then Christmas.

Well, how two days can be so different. Yesterday morning went well, I took Karen to work and then got back and had breakfast. After a bit of reading I did my book stats before having a pot of tea and read another couple of chapters. Once I had finished my tea I cut down this years Raspberry canes leaving the new ones which will bear fruit next year. After the canes I decided to clean out the old greenhouse and took down the bench that I had made many years ago, once everything was done I put the old timbers and old plant pots ready to go to the recycling centre.

The next move was a pot of tea and a bit of reading before doing the downstairs housework and then the post arrived. I had been waiting for a delivery of a waistcoat and bow tie and that came with the post along with two letters. The letters were the same, one for me and one for Karen. I opened mine and got a massive shock, it was from the bank saying that our mortgage had expired and I needed to repay £25,000 as quick as possible. I dashed upstairs to the box where we keep our paperwork and got our copy of the mortgage renewal that we did last September and was to run for 7 years. I rang the number on the letter and explained what I had received and told the lady what a shock it was and that it was wrong, at first she pulled up information and said I had not sent documents back according to the computer, I told her I had and we had received certain ones back. She then delved further and found out what I had said was true and she went to a manager to go even deeper, then she came back and said it was passed but the last bit had not been done and therefore the mortgage had expired when a part had been paid off. She noted down that I had a grievance and asked what I wanted, I said I wanted the mortgage agreement that I had back in place, unfortunately this could not be done and I would have to go through the process again, luckily most things she wanted had not changed. When everything was complete she had to do a couple of things and then came back and said that after she had done the bank stress test I could not have a mortgage unless I paid off part three of the agreement, that meant going to the bank with the details she gave me and pay £1,315.61 and then when that was done she could complete the mortgage for us, this will be done next Tuesday.

As you can imagine I was livid that we had sent all the paperwork required of us and got things back and then an employee had not done the last bit and caused all this anguish. I had not received any communication about this until yesterday when they said I had no mortgage. She said she would give me £75 for distress caused, she was nice and on my side but this is not good enough. This is the second time they have made major errors after we have supplied everything they wanted so I am going to complain to the Banking Ombudsman about how we have been treated. I have banked with them for 42 years, have my savings and current account with them, my mortgage, I have had buildings and contents insurance for years with them, I have had car insurance with them and my credit card is with them. If I had the funds available to clear all my debts with them I would do it immediately and then walk away.

I could not let Karen know what had gone on until nearly 7pm last night and I broke into tears telling her it was my fault as I do not work due to health issues and felt she would be better without me, she had tears and we had a good heart to heart. As Karen said this morning, we woke up we have our health and we have each other and have been this way for the last 34 years and that will get us through anything, she is my treasure, my wife, my lover and my best friend and I could not do without her.

Today has been different again, we got up and before I had breakfast Robert arrived and I took him to the railway station before getting back for some breakfast. After a short while I took Leo to the vets for his injections and Karen did the ironing. Once back with Leo we went to do the weekly shopping. After doing the shopping we got back, unpacked and put the shopping away and then I made us a pot of tea. We relaxed in each others company before having some lunch. Once we had eaten we did the downstairs housework together and then put fresh clean bedding on our bed. Once all this was done we had another pot of tea before it was time to pick Rob up from the railway station and then take Karen to her bariatric meeting. After the heartache of yesterday we relaxed with each other.

The main thing about the mortgage was that by the time we were sixty we would have paid the mortgage off as per the agreement, the new mortgage will run until Karen is 67 but we will still be mortgage free as it will be paid off when I am 60 and Karen 62 as I will be able to take my mineworkers pension and will use a small amount of my lump sum to clear the debt, the only way the mortgage can be issued is this way and Karen was really upset about this but now she knows it is just a different way she is happy.

I am so sorry about this stress in your life. I have had a different kind of stress. Yesterday I had a spot of skin cancer removed from the top of my head. It is rare that women get skin cancer on their head as the hair usually protects it. However, had a growth, but today all that is left of it is a sore head. I have ten stitches where they removed the spot. I had to wait in the surgery until the pathologist report was back, and from that the Dr. was able to tell me that the cancer was definitely caused by sun damage. Probably from childhood. The Dr. warned me that I will probably be plagued by recurrences of this type of cancer so I need to be vigilante about any abnormal appearing spots in the future.

I am not in pain, but my head feels funny - as if it is stretched. The good thing was that it is an excuse to take three days of medical leave.

O, how frustrating, John! Even when they admit that the fault was with them, they still don't clear it up and put things back to the way they were?! That's so very not okay. I hope your complaints to the Ombudsman helps straighten things out, friend. Big hugs to you and Karen.

>263 benitastrnad:, Hi Benita sorry to read of your skin cancer episode, as you say it is an unusual place for a woman. I hope you are resting ok my dear and that your head feels ok.

>264 scaifea:, Thanks Amber.

The new thread is up now.

John's 2016 Thread - A Year of Normality 5.