To put more of the full facts in proper order I shall need my Filofax. I hope I could glean from that information on the latest dog-sitting Dawn and I did, which I believe was around the beginning of September.
Our arrangements here at the bungalow have changed the past two weeks because of the arrival to stay with us, until she finds a place of her own, of Dawn's daughter, who (to mention a fact readers might not initially presume) is deaf. She has brought with her a flat-load of furnishings and as a result we have less room for swinging cats.
Prior to this we could have managed a certain amount of swinging after we got rid of our three-piece suite (which originated about five years since from my cousin), a hall-stand and a large wardrobe (the hall-stand having been bought as a semi-antique for a vast price from a place in High Wycombe circa 2007 and the wardrobe of 1960s vintage having belonged to my parents). The reason we disposed of our furniture was that we are moving home (sooner or later, I'd better say, rather than 'sometime soon') and not only did we want less to take with us but also those advising on selling houses say that if viewers see the place relatively empty they can more easily imagine their own stuff in. As I say, these good intentions have been rather undermined now.
The laptop I mainly use is no longer kept permanently in the living room, although this morning (unlike mornings over the past two weeks) I have brought it back into the living room. I had been using it in the bedroom but have finally determined that the seating I use in there is truly uncomfortable. In summary, I no longer spread myself about the bungalow, and specifically at night my pockets remain full of the impediments I carry about in the daytime, and my pockets remain in the bedroom. Hence (the upshot) I must go to the bedroom to fetch my Filofax ....
12/10 13 06:09
Saturday 24-Aug-13 my step-son (Dawn's son) and his girlfriend attended a wedding in Swindon, and drove there via Birmingham. It had been arranged that they would drive us to the part of North Nottinghamshire south of Doncaster where most of the family live, on their way home. In the event it was quite late on the Saturday when they arrived here on the northward leg so they stopped overnight and we all travelled to the final destination Sunday morning. What I'm saying is the latest bout of dog-sitting (or I should say distant dog-sitting, as we now have my step-daughter's dog here with us at our bungalow as a form of local dog-sitting) started on Sunday 25-Aug-13. That was August and it was still summer, this brought to my notice (amazement at the passage of time, which I often experience) through the fact that we have recent days needed to put our central heating on.
We were dog-sitting for my other step-daughter, the one who lives up there where I am always on about south of Doncaster. She and her family went to Wales that week (Bank Holiday week) for a camping holiday and Dawn and I held the fort at their home. The two daughters' dogs are different but each lovable in her own way. The one up north is too small to be any real trouble, and we have larked about with her several times already in the past. The deaf daughter's dog is larger and can be boisterous, and these two weeks have covered our first mutual encounter.
Telling a story of what went on the latest week of dog-sitting - late August - should be based on clear memories. Unfortunately my memories are cloudy. We took the opportunity to visit members of my in-law family, I know, as well as a friend Dawn has had from decades past. I must say I enjoy having people to meet up with, a thing we rather lack while we are living in Kingswinford. I have lost contact with the people I knew from my school days (this fact being made certain by my being so little capable of interest in things over a period of decades), and my own family have always lived at a distance. Apart from visiting, that week in August, my days were very similar to my days here: spent shopping at Asda (mainly it is Asda). The main difference is the cafés are fewer and further between in the sticks in north Nottinghamshire.
The holiday-makers returned on the Friday, and we stopped with them that weekend, coming home here on Monday 02-Sep-13. I find I have much clearer memories of that weekend than of the week leading up to it, and I can put this down to more variety and stimulation on the basis of more people in the house.
The thing is, one wants enough unpredictability and stimulation but not too much.
No comments:
Post a Comment