Thursday 3 June 2021

Thursday

 Thursday is my one marker day in the week.   All the days more or less merge into one - the only slightly different one being Thursday when the taxi collects me at twenty past nine to be at the hairdressers for half past.   Today being 'cut' day I didn't get back home until half past ten and by the time I had had a coffee and read The Times it was almost lunch time.   I haven't seen the sun at all today - there has been a thick layer of cloud, but now - at seven in the evening, I see the cloud is clearing and there is blue sky.   And I did so wish it would drop just one good heavy shower to water the new plants D my gardener put in.   But no such luck.

I do find that now I have to use Priscilla to walk, people are really very kind.   Today is 'dustbin day' - one week it is the ordinary rubbish bin and the other week it is the garden bin (I have no room  for a compost heap and so pay £22 a year for the compost lorry to call) together with plastic box for glass, tins and plastic containers and blue bag for newspapers and magazines.   In addition they take cardboard boxes.   I think it is an excellent service and because of my age and degree of infirmity they collect everything from the top of my drive rather than the bottom on the roadside.   Priscilla and I go out when the men have been and bring in the various boxes and bags and there is always somebody passing who will call out and offer to do the job for me.   I always politely refuse any help - we have our little routine and don't wish to appear completely helpless.

When I think of all the things I used to do - going out to lunch frequently, going off to meet friends for coffee and such like - my life has diminished somewhat.   In a way Covid and regulations have made it easier for me to get used to it all and now that I can no longer drive a car either I find it is so long since life was 'normal' that I no longer miss it. It is called 'growing old gracefully' I think.

16 comments:

Debby said...

Only you could look at Covid and find the blessings of it, my friend!

CharlotteP said...

We have hoped for rain without luck today, too. Oh well; watering can out tomorrow.
I think many people (myself included), quite appreciated the slower pace of life enforced by Covid restrictions (NOT by the disease itself!) My poor old dog is finding it hard to adjust back to seeing more people, as we did before, so I'm going to have to ease back again for his sake.

EM Griffith said...

My mother (88) has returned to most of her pre-pandemic activities. Her state fully reopened April 30th. She loves seeing friends again, but doesn't hesitate to cancel if need be. The state I'm in will be among the last to reopen. We'll be on our way to see her when it does. Then a nephew is getting married at the end of the month and we'll be able to see my mother-in-law (80) who has just been put on hospice in final stages of kidney cancer. "Normal" is returning with its joys and sorrow, and the freedom to spend precious time with those we love.

Susan said...

Aging gracefully, as you say, is not always easy but you have definitely mastered the art. You manage your days well, call all the shots wisely and do so with elegance and grace.
Very impressive. My late uncle was very much like you and I say this with great fondness.

sparklingmerlot said...

I plan to age disgracefully with dignity!!

Cro Magnon said...

Hot and steamy here yesterday. I'd just got changed for a swim when it changed to cloudy and cooler, so I didn't bother. I don't mind cool water, but I like to come out into warm sunshine.

The Weaver of Grass said...

sparklingmerlot - how do you combine disgraceful and dignified behaviour?

Derek Faulkner said...

It has been a pleasant warm to hot and sunny week but now, Friday, just as plants started to wilt, we have several hours rain forecast, then back to sunny weather again - just right.

Surprised at all those boxes and bags you need to put out. Down here we simply have a green bin for general household waste and a blue bin for re-cycling and so paper, cardboard, glass bottles, tin cans, etc. all go in the one bin. Can't say as I'm a fanatical re-cycler, it's been proven so many times that a lot of recycled stuff still ends up in ground fill.

Sue in Suffolk said...

No wonder some people don't do recycling when every council is different and yours sounds more complicated than most - Just two bins here and a third paid for for garden waste.

Have a good day today

Rachel Phillips said...

Jenny Joseph's poem Warning goes some way in describing how to grow old disgracefully and dignified at the same time.

Ellen D. said...

You do a nice job of keeping busy each day and "aging gracefully" is a good description for you.

Librarian said...

It‘s been hot and humid here two days in a row now, and thunderstorms are forecast just in time for the weekend. That will put a damper on many folks‘ plans for BBQs and other activities, but the rain will be welcome.

Jennifer said...

We had a dreadfully dry May but have started June with a couple of inches of rain. Just in time, too. We were edging into drought status.

Heather said...

I think you are growing old very gracefully. I know what you mean when you politely refuse help with things which you can still do. I feel I must carry on with as much as I can, or I shall be totally useless. It takes a bit of effort sometimes.
Our sunshine returned this morning so I hope yours will tomorrow, though a few timely showers will be very beneficial now that everything is beginning to flourish.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Yes Rachel -- purple is not a colour that has ever suited me!

Not sure what growing old gracefully or disgracfully for that matter means - I shall just continue to do my own thing. Thanks everyone for being here.

thelma said...

I think we should treat life as a series of adventures, fate takes us wherever it chooses. As for growing old disgracefully as long as it doesn't end up in the looney bin - maybe.