14th - 19th August

Sunday 14th.  Went to 8 am service and did the ringing circuit.  Had to ring at Barnes and Chiswick as made them up to 8 and 6 respectively. Mike played the organ at the convent. Went to Wendell  market on the way home and got lots of lovely Moroccan food from the stall there. Had spinach and feta flatbread for lunch. Fish cakes and salad for supper.  Mike went to Hackney 10-bell practice.  I had a quiet afternoon blogging and adding photos.  Took suki for a walk.  Did some cross stitch in the evening.  Another hot sunny day.  Watched Olympics - quite exciting.  Watched Justin Rose win gold at golf and Max Whitlock win men's floor and pommel golds, but couldn't stay awake long enough to watch more than first set of Andy Murray match. Had to wait till morning to find out he had won gold too.   Finished off the red wine from the lunch last Tuesday.  Still good.

Monday 15th.  Mike went to work in the morning - I saw him off then had a shower and got dressed and took Suki for a walk in Acton park.  Walked up to hygienist for 11 am appointment and picked up some more tablets for Suki at the same time having pre-ordered them (very organised). £90 poorer there and £75 poorer after hygienist!  Popped in to Sainsbury local opposite for some bits and pieces and then walked home.  Trying to add some more exercise to my daily routine as dog walking is rather slow these days - at least round the parks in London.  Did the ironing when I got back.  Finished off the nice Moroccan salad for lunch, and made some veg pasta sauce with a stir fry pack of veg which needed using.  That went in the fridge for later in the week. Sat in the garden with a cup of tea for a while - with Suki lying on the grass soaking up the sun - before going out for the afternoon walk.  Mike went straight to Chiswick from work to ring handbells beforehand with Peter and Richard.  I was going to join them but in the end decided not to do so (I would have got in the way as they were planning to ring minor for Richard) and spent an hour or so practising on Abel, putting in the composition for the peal attempt on Wednesday and ringing various parts.  Went to Chiswick ringing in the evening - Rachel and Brandon were outside when I left the house so chatted to them about the hedge which delayed me a bit.  Rang quite a bit at the practice.  Managed to avoid the pub and went straight home for an early night.

Tuesday 16th.  Took Suki out early this morning as man (Peter) coming to do the hedges at 9 am.  Got back about 8.30 and got breakfast out of the way just before he arrived.  He was very nice and did a great job on the hedge - he did it all by hand rather than using electric trimmers.  It took him 3 hours - I had to leave it up to Mike to pay him as I went out at 11 to Specsavers for a hearing test.  This showed that although I am within the normal range of hearing,  I so have some hearing loss, mainly in the higher frequency.  I ordered some Siemens hearing aids to try out - it is possible to have a 3-month trial and then get a full refund if not satisfied so it seemed a good idea.  Picked up another set of trial contact lenses (again pre-ordered, again very organised!) which I needed because I have to attend a post-trial appointment wearing them and I had used all of the first lot without realising this.  We had more lovely Moroccan food for lunch when I got back - lentil stew and rice this time, with a fresh fig for pudding which I had picked up from the stall outside Sainsbury while waiting for the bus home (yes I know I was going to walk more but it was too hot!).  After lunch I did some more practice on Abel and then took Suki out for a walk. We finished off the Moroccan food for supper - vegetable pie (very thin filo like pastry) and aubergine in tomato sauce.  Delicious. Mike went to a committee meeting in the evening and I had a nice quiet evening doing cross stitch and watching 3 episodes of Dragons' Den! Early night too.

Wed 17th. Another lovely hot sunny day - although Jayne texted that it was pouring with rain in Bovey!  Went to see Keith and took him out to the Co-op again. He really enjoyed it and it was nice to see him getting some sunshine and fresh air and saying hello to people.  Got back in time to have a chat with Svetla.  After lunch took Suki out and then went off to Islington to ring handbells at Peter's house.  I went on the Overground and it was absolutely awful - people pressed in like cattle with many more on the  platforms trying to squeeze on and tempers getting frayed.  The only good thing was that the train was air-conditioned - unlike the tube on the way home.  Rang a good peal of Cambridge Major on 3-4 - only a couple of wobbles.

Thu 18th.  Hot and sunny again.  Mike went to work.  I took Suki for a walk in Acton Park and then went to Zumba Gold (ie zumba for the over-50s).  I haven't been to Zumba since spraining my ankle in March - but I did a session at Butlins and although my ankle was slightly painful afterwards it recovered quickly so I felt that it was not being damaged.  Again today I could feel my ankle afterwards and it was slightly puffy, but was ok.  I enjoyed it - but it was a bit frustrating as there was a stand-in teacher and she changed moves very quickly and it was difficult to keep up,  However it was very full-on, unlike the usual sessions, and we were on the go and jumping around almost continuously.  In the afternoon I practised Cambridge Royal on Abel for a while, and did some catch up blogging, before taking Suki to Acton Park again.  Went to supper with Caroline and Pru in the evening - I had booked a table at Cafe Rouge by the window but there was no record of it in the book!  They really are hopeless in there.  Luckily we were able to sit by the window anyway, which they opened up for us.  Had a lovely meal - three courses - and used my Tesco Clubcard vouchers to defray some of the cost.  Got home and discovered my phone had lost any service - so spent an hour on Live Chat with o2 going through all sorts of questions and answers only to find that it was fixed by turning the phone off and on again!  Why didn't he tell me to try that first and then call back if it was still not fixed!!  At least I now know that my direct debit is functioning properly as he was able to tell me my bill was paid yesterday - although he said there was no direct debit showing on the account!  Aaaargh!!

Fri 19th  At last some rain.  Not very heavy but reasonably persistent at times.  The garden really needs it.  Still very warm though - too warm for the fleece I wore to walk Suki this morning.  Went to Forever Fit class at 1 pm.  Had a mish mash of things from the fridge for lunch to use them up - tortellini, veg and tomato sauce, half a small cheese and onion pastry and some grated low fat cheese. I got a pass out from ringing at Barnes in the evening in order to watch the Olympic Ladies Hockey final - but as it only started at 9 pm I decided to get a lift over to Barnes with Mike and then walk back with Suki.  It was a lovely evening for a walk and it was nice to do a long one.  I logged the route on my MemoryMap App - which worked well.  It was 3.39 miles and took me 1 hour 13 mins.  The hockey final was excellent, with a tense penalty shootout finish which Great Britain won. It was interesting to see the changes in the rules which had come about since I last played. Well worth watching - although Suki seemed happy to sleep through it all!