A Saturday Stroll

I was looking for a synonym for 'Ramble' that began with the letter 'S' to use with 'Saturday' for the heading of todays' posting. Among others I found saunter, stroll, swan and stray but, straying from the 'S's for a moment I was amazed to find that amongst the synonyms for ramble were listed “vomit, spew, honk, roll out, regorge, hurl, trudge, err, upchuck, sick.” In what part of the world does to ramble mean to vomit or be sick, I wondered? Does anyone know?

It's a while since I rambled on and I wouldn't be doing so now but for the fact that for the third night in a row I've been unable to sleep. It's hard to feel guilty at not working at three in the morning so I can have a play, catch up on what my fellow bloglings have been up to and treat (?) you to a ramble instead of a scheduled post.

This week included a trip to the bank (Lloyds TSB wonderful service) where I sorted out my finances and took a few worries off my mind. Partner-who-loves-tea was kind enough to run me over in the car (my bank is still in Liverpool where we used to live) and after having the car washed she did some shopping then waited around the corner from the bank. I was a long time (mainly because of Barclaycard's Delhi branch referring me all over the place and refusing to accept the money I wanted to give them!). I have been nagging Jo about turning off the ignition when just waiting in the car so she did. Unfortunately she also ran the air conditioning, charged her phone and had the lights on. When we came to leave the battery was flat. Instead of suffering a long wait we were treated to the RAC's excellent service. The mechanic was here within ten minutes, started the car in thirty seconds and was both pleasant and cheerful. How great it is when one gets good service. (If I did a thankful Thursday post like GB this week's would have been for good service and what a contrast there was between Lloyds Bank / RAC and Barclaycard.)

On the family front, Mark is in Vienna ordering sandwiches and Helen and Ian have given a home to Sophie -a grey and white cat from the cat shelter.

On the physical exercise front it has all been indoors because of the awful weather, it's been wet and windy. That has also precluded me taking any photos in the garden. I am sorting through the loft and deciding which books to keep then listing which box they are in when they go back in the loft so that I can find them when I need them. I've also been finding long lost items like the leads for the Amiga which I was beginning to think I might have thrown away by mistake.

Some of Richard's old (and I mean old – from the age of about six /seven) Liverpool FC football outfits also turned up in a hidden suitcase. We'd been looking for those a couple of years ago for the young brother of one of his friends. Unfortunately the boy has now outgrown them but at least we now know where they are.

The saga of clearing the loft continues and will probably do so for some time and one of the jobs it is leading to is scanning in all the pictures from my old photo albums (of which there are about fifty six). Here are some from our family holiday in 1995.

We stayed in a listed building in Herefordshire – a marvellous 17th Century farmhouse.

 (How many cameras does a girl need?)

 (We had quite a few night-time excursions looking for wildlife.)

("I'm sure I saw Alice go down here!")

When not climbing loft ladders I've been working on the blogs for Jo's business and generally helping with the paperwork. It's gratifying to see all the courses starting but it's hard work for Jo, not only teaching but preparing all the hand-outs, etc. and still working with her counselling and psychotherapy clients at the same time. I don't think she has had a day off since we got back from Scotland and every day, including weekends, is booked up until Christmas.

Perhaps my best news of the week is that my health has been good so I haven't wasted any time being ill.

I think that's about all my news for this week. I hope your week ahead is good. Mine will be if Jenson Button wins the Korean Grand Prix tomorrow and Liverpool FC beat Manchester United!