Monday 13th December
Oh dear Jane and Dave, how the hell do you manage to sleep on your bed???
Having sold Pascals Paddocks a few weeks ago and the house they were hoping to buy had fallen through, they were forced to take back one of their rentals to live in. Pascal paddocks with 3-large bedrooms, a study and the usual living area has had to be squeezed into a traditional, fairly small, 3-bedroom house. One bedroom is completely full of boxes, the lounge and kitchen-diner also have their fair share, so space is at a premium. With this in mind, we were invited to use their bed, not only whilst they are away, but when they return we are staying for a further few days, so they would use the blow-up bed; how very kind and considerate, as getting up from the blow-up bed on the floor would be troublesome for us now!!!!
We think we had some sleep but not really sure, one thing we are certain about, getting up was going to be a pleasure!!! They sleep on a waterbed, oh my goodness how uncomfortable; sitting up we hit the bottom and when laying down, the water sucked you in, in fact it was like wrestling with an octopus if you wanted to move about: maybe tonight will be better. Oh yes, there is no WiFi here either; it should be connected tomorrow and we have been asked to stay in to let the engineer into the house sometime between 1200hrs and 1300hrs
Our day was busy; apart from food shopping and dog walking, we headed out to the Apple Store at Lakeside, we wanted to look at replacement ‘phones. The new i phones can use two SIM cards, which for us will be good as we both have a Spanish and an English ‘phone number. Unfortunately we didn’t quite get to the Apple Store, as we popped into Currys PC World and was “seduced” by a very knowledgeable ‘phone specialist who persuaded us he could give us a good deal but first I had to have confirmation my existing contract had ended. I was prepared to buy the i phone outright but his deal over two years looked good but decided to return tomorrow with the relevant information.
Back home and after our dinner we settled down in the lounge to watch TV; “wrong”, no WiFi means no TV so we fell back to our normal pastime when away, we played Crib but it was cold so I went round turning up all the radiators,🤞🤞🤞 that works
Tuesday 14th December
After another uncomfortable “floating” night, and again “rushing” to get up poor Christine had most of her bones complaining. Starting from the bottom, her knees hurt, her hip ached, and her left side shoulder was locked and she had been cold all night: one could say she was “not” a happy bunny, in fact we considered packing up, getting Oreo into the car and heading out to Derbyshire. Martin had already mentioned there was an empty cottage available
As previously agreed we waited in for the engineer to come and get the WiFi on; the appointed hour came and went, no engineer. Late afternoon we exchanged messages with Jane, as you can imagine we were a little miffed having waited in all day for the “phantom” to arrive when Dave suggested I switch the box on anyway. Low and behold, we had WiFi, apparently we didn’t have to wait in after all, Oh dear Jane, poor communication!!!!! Day wasted still thought we would at least have TV, “wrong”, no leads, packed!!!!! Not a very good start to our week’s dog sitting and we were still cold, even though I had turned up the radiators. I eventually found the wall thermostat and wound it up to maximum; now let’s see what happens!!!!
Tonight Christine had had enough of the water bed but before throwing in the towel and leave, tonight she elected to sleep on the couch. Unfortunately by now her shoulder was still very stiff and painful that I had to help her undress, but at least we weren’t so cold!!!
Wednesday 15th December.
Christine had a reasonable night, more comfortable, no cold water, no nausea, less aches and pains, a good result. I on the other hand had an even worse night fighting the “octopus” that was sucking me in every time I moved, made worse by not having Christine to balance the “floatation”; not another night in this bed, it’s the opposite end of the couch for me tonight!!!!!
Today I took the plunge and went out and acquired a new ‘phone contract with the nice man from Curry PC World, well, what used to be the Car Warehouse, but unfortunately our old provider didn’t send the correct code for the swap on time, so we parked the transfer for the day and went off shopping.
Back “home” we were still cold so again wound the thermostat right up, and after a short time; ah that’s better😍😍😍. After dinner we enjoyed another few crib hands before retiring. Their sofa is a in two parts made into a right angle, so we slept feet to feet, both snuggled up in a double duvet each.
Thursday 16th December
Wow, what a comfortable night we both had. Yes the size of the sofas are like being in a narrow single bed but that small compromise was nothing to what we gained in comfort and warmth not to mention the “octopus”, Christine could even move her shoulder.
During the week we dutifully took Oreo out for two walks a day, fed him at the appropriate time and numerous treats and affection but he was one sad doggy. The loss of Doogle was hurting badly not to mention after a couple of days, his “mum” disappeared; one never knows hat goes on in a dogs head😢😢😢.
We went back to Curry PC world and completed everything and now my new iPhone 13 Pro is working with its electronic SIM card for my U.K. number and the Spanish physical SIM card in the slot, I’m good to go and only one device and a contract which has saved me money, win-win😂😂. Unfortunately Christine had to pull the plug as her current contract was still running and she would have had to do an expensive “buy-out”, so a re-think was necessary.
We have decided to stay here as we had sorted most things and as always we can live without the telly.
Friday 17th December
We are heading into London today to meet Andrew and Elton but did not rush as the cheaper day returns don’t start ‘till 0930hrs.
Parking the car at the station was easier than we thought; no doubt fewer commuters due to Covid.
Using our pensioner travel card we got our discounted tickets and boarded the fast train to Liverpool Street. Naturally we were very apprehensive about being on a crowded train but low and behold, our carriage was reasonably empty so we could sit, albeit with our masks on, in isolation. So far so good but we had to get to Marylebone and the tube didn’t impress us so we jumped into the first taxi we found, hopefully no-one with covid had been in there🤞🤞🤞🤞.
This is the first time we’ve visited Andrew in his new flat so had the grand tour. It is situated in the mews behind Harley street, very private a quiet but only a three minute walk to the back entrance of John Lewis in Oxford Street, very central. We went out to “2 Veneti” for lunch, an excellent Italian , thank you for an excellent lunch Andrew. Later in the afternoon Holly returned having finished work, probably till the new year 🥰🥰🥰 and we left just before the rush hour. Again the thought of a crowded train didn’t inspire us but hey, we’re both jabbed up, we wear our masks and at some point we have to get back to normal living. So jumped into another taxi, walked into LiverpoolStation, “ran” to the platform and caught the fastest train, first stop ours😂😂. Fortunately the carriage wasn’t overcrowded and we had two seats away from most folk. Being the fast train to Ipswich, with no commuter stops ‘till Shenfield helped.
Saturday 17th December
Another warm and cosy night, and when they return they are welcome to their waterbed, but they will have to find a third duvet, we’re not giving one up!!!!! Having been in London and on trains etc., we took our lateral flow test, the results were negative, we were so happy; how ever careful one is, one never knows.
Today was sorting last minute shopping and wrapping Christmas presents, walking Oreo and doing nothing much.
Our dog sitting responsibilities end tomorrow, sometime, the “threesome” return!