It is two o’clock in the morning and I am about to go to sleep so do not expect very much.
I have gone out.
I am at Lucy’s house.
I have actually had rather a splendid evening.
I had a day of dashing about trying to make my world perfect and lovely in order that when I come home on Friday, it will be obvious that somebody cares about me. I have hoovered and watered the conservatory, washed everything and filled the hearth with logs so that they will be dry and nicely inflammable by the time I get back.
I will come home to a splendidly welcoming house.
It has been a very full day. I made myself late on my walk by the happy surprise of meeting up with my dog-walking friend, and catching up on several weeks of missed gossip, because I have not seen her since before Christmas, which was a very pleasing start to the day. Then on my return I had the very rewarding experience of actually getting round to several dull tasks that I have not bothered to do for weeks, like making dentist appointments and booking my taxi for its MOT. I do not know why I have been so diligently avoiding these, because they took about ten minutes, cost nothing and made me feel very pleased with myself. I even telephoned British Telecom and renegotiated our telephone service. This did not take ten minutes, but involved a very great deal of scowling at lots of different promising-but-unhelpful web pages, wondering why having a telephone landline is going out of fashion.
I like the landline. It is nice and stable and sensible and does not make my ear hot and I can hear what everybody is saying properly. Also I do not think the Chinese or even our own government are listening to it. They do not bother. Somebody whose job was being nosy on other people’s telephone calls told me that it is mobile calls that they listen to, so there you are, if you are plotting to overthrow our beloved leaders, do it on a landline.
These pages are often full of helpful life-enhancing tips. I hope you appreciate them.
Somebody did listen to my telephone line once, years ago. I kept hearing lots of clicks and fuzzy noises, and once somebody coughed, so obviously if they were a spy they weren’t very good at it. I never found out what they had hoped to hear, but I didn’t get arrested so probably they found out that whatever it was it wasn’t me.
Of course I made myself late doing everything else as well, and indeed, had to give up before I had finished. I had just bleached the compost bin when I realised that time had, as always, galloped away from me, and I was going to have to rush.
I was not coming directly to Lucy’s house. I went to Lancaster first where my friend Kate had cooked dinner for me.
This was absolutely divine. I mean really divine. There was lamb, cooked in a slow cooker, which practically fell apart when you put your fork into it, with couscous, and then crumble and custard for pudding.
It is a long time since I have eaten anything hot, Christmas probably, unless you count porridge, and so I appreciated it very much indeed, especially since it was all so very nice.
The conversation was good as well. Kevin and Kate are the sort of satisfactory companions who have most of the same ideas as I have and so leave me with a smug sensation of being right about everything. This is always a happy opinion, even if nobody else shares it.
In the end I had to drag myself away, and came to Lucy’s, which actually was also very nice. Their fire was going beautifully, and we sat in front of it and talked and talked.
In the end it was bedtime. A man is going to turn up early tomorrow and deliver their new bed so we need to get some sleep.
I am going to turn the light off.
