Sunday

Early

Much to my annoyance I woke up earlier than the alarm. The alarm had been set to go off earlier as I was meeting the Captain and the Long-Distance-Lady a little earlier on the beach. The work early featured far too heavily for my liking.

Swim

The water was gloriously calm this morning and the tide was going out so I knew that going up would be slower than coming back. There was very little wind so that wouldn’t hamper me. The water was that nice swimming temperature, cold when I got in but once I’d warmed up, tolerable. Every now and then I would hit a chilly spot of cold water but that was balanced by the warm patches. I swam to the far jetty, I’d not been there for quite a while, had a chat with a couple of wetsuited swimmers who were just getting in and then swam back. I spent most of the swim in a world of my own. It was a very pleasant place to be

Café

We all met up in the club afterwards for warm drinks and bacon rolls. Since the chef has started the bacon role come with a slice of plastic cheese. We all have to remember to order the roll without cheese. This morning the Long-Distance-Lady forgot. We then had a long and detailed discussion about why cheese does not belong on a bacon and egg roll.

Ride

We did have a dinner appointment but that was cancelled. We decided that we would go out for Sunday Lunch anyway. As it was a nice day, we felt that a ride by the river would be perfect way to to work up a hunger. We got on the bikes and took a slow ride down to the brewery.

Brewery

I’d been meaning to visit the brewery for a while but since I found out that they were attached to a Mexican restaurant the meaning became imperative. It tuned out to be a nice little bar with a very large range of beers. As we were cycling, I felt that it was best not to drink too much. I started with a session ale to wash down a pulled pork taco and then moved onto a very strong milk stout and a plate of potato things and guacamole. Loved One had a very small glass of beer. I didn’t know that glasses came that small.

Nap

We wobbled home slowly, weighed down with beer and food. I knew that I would be having a nap the moment I got home.

Gardening

Yesterday, we bought some more seedlings to feed to the slugs. Once I’d re-joined the world Loved One insisted that we planted the seedlings. I could almost hear the slugs putting on their napkins ready for dinner.

Calls

I returned indoors just in time to take the weekly video call form my parents. As usual, the call lasted almost exactly thirty minutes.

Tired

We finished the evening falling asleep on the sofa listening to music whilst dressed in dressing gowns. It had been a long day

Saturday

Ride

I was hoping that no one was going to turn up at the meeting point this morning. Then I could go back to bed. My plan was foiled by the Crash Test Dummy. I quickly modified our route so that we didn’t go too far from town. I wanted to be withing the reach on the emergency services in case he lived up to his name.

Climb

The first part of the ride took us up waterfall gully to see the waterfall. There had been a lot of rain recently and that made it quite impressive

Swoop

I felt that we should do the side road to complete the road. We rode the track to the end of the tarmac much to the annoyance of a magpie. It swooped us both. It was not happy with our presence.

Climb

We returned to the main road and headed for a steeper hill; I like to think that this is the track to the treacle mines. People look at me blankly when I say that. It was a stiff climb but worth it for the views.

Puncture

I hit a stone at the bottom of the descent and knew that I would have a puncture. The tyre deflated rapidly. It didn’t take long to replace the tube, but I could have done without it.

Tea

Crash Test Dummy invited me back to his house for a cup of tea. I sat in his very large kitchen and discussed mountain bikes with his son.

Shop

I had to drop my bike off at the bike shop for a service this morning, so I organised with Loved One for her to pick me up. The timing worked out perfectly.

Pie

Loved One suggested that we should have meat pies for lunch, and I was powerless to resist. We visited a very nice little bakery and picked up some pies and tarts. We brough them home with the idea that we would have them at lunchtime. We had a very early lunch.

Shopping

The slugs have been enjoying the vegetables that we planted last week. We felt that they probably needed dessert. We went to the garden centre and bought some replacements. I had no intention of planting them today

Admin

I had a bunch of paperwork and admin to catch up with this afternoon. Loved One made things in the kitchen and I cursed and swore over various tax documents and the unhelpfulness of the on-line system.

Dinner

Loved One made hamburgers for tea, we decided against having chips because we had had a pie at lunch time. The burgers were very messy as they were loaded with beetroot relish and many other loose ingredients. That made them much more fun to eat.

Drinks

Loved One had invited some of the neighbours around for a drink this evening, I found out about this about ten minutes before they arrived when Loved One was putting cheese on the table. We all sat around the dining room table, chatted and shared a few glasses of wine and beer. It was so much better than watching the telly.

Friday

Morning

I had no intention of getting on the trainer this morning as I had an appointment. I took the opportunity to stay in bed and enjoy not starting the day. The appointment required me to not eat or drink anything, so I felt it was best not to go near any temptation.

Appointment

I had the first appointment of the day. I wandered in and went through the test protocol. I took a pill with a little bit of water, had another sip of water three minutes later and then after ten minutes blew into a bag. Hopefully it will show that the antibiotics a few weeks ago have killed the nasty bacteria in my stomach

Work

Nothing outstanding happened at work today and that was the way I liked it. I still felt tired by the end of the day and the desire to go for a swim left me. I was going to leave early but ended up leaving much later than normal. I had to have a chat with my new underling as he is not coming up to speed fast enough.

Dinner

Loved One made loaded baked potatoes for tea this evening. It was comfort food and I loved it.

Birthday

Today is my mother’s birthday, we surprised her with an unplanned video call. That made her happy but I probably shouldn’t have told her about the cake that my brother was taking over in their afternoon.

Sleepy

We ran out of things to watch on the telly, we put some music on and fell asleep on the sofa, waking briefly to go to bed.

Thursday

Spin

I felt buoyed up by yesterday’s success on the new trainer, so I got up early and did the same route again. For reasons that I didn’t understand the heart rate monitor didn’t connect. It didn’t matter that much; I was still happy cycling up hills in Belgium. I finished my session feeling a little wobbly and sweaty. That, in my mind says that it had been a good session.

Work

The main achievement of today was finally getting the fax machine fixed. As I had expected it had not been connected to the phone line when we moved to the new offices.

Skin

I left work early today as I had an appointment with the skin specialist. Loved One was concerned that the various lumps and bumps on my skin were a result of a couple of severe sun burns and not age. The doctor was very down to earth. He commented on the size of my quads by asking if I was a cyclist and on the size of my arms by asking about swimming. He checked over all the little patches of roughness and discolouration. He couldn’t see anything that should cause concern. I was happy about that and so was loved one.

Dinner

Loved One picked me up from the skin specialist and we went round to happy girl’s house for dinner. She had made a curry and pumpkin tart for tea. It sounded odd but tasted wonderful. We had it with a small salad and conversation about all and nothing.

Home

Although it wasn’t that late when we got home both of us were tired. We felt that yet another early night would be good.

Wednesday

Snoring

I woke early in the morning to the sound of snoring. After a little bit of browsing the internet and a wander round the house Oi went back to bed. Loved One rolled over on her side and stopped snoring but now I could hear the cat snoring. I must have fallen asleep as the next thing I remember was hearing the radio.

Spin

I did get up this morning and get on my new “smart” trainer. Everything connected and soon I was peddling up hills in Belgium. It was fun but I missed being able to watch a video whilst I laboured away and sweated like a horse. I was very sweaty by the time I’d finished.

Rain

It was raining when it was time to go so Loved One gave me a lift to the bus stop. I felt this was cheating and it had the effect of getting me into work earlier than normal.

Work

My day was overrun by meetings and thinking up of things for my new member of staff to do. My to do list ended up longer at the end of the day than it was at the start. I don’t like it when that happens.

Dinner

Loved One had dinner ready for when I got home. She was going to yoga, and I was doing my German class via zoom. Neither of us wanted to eat too late.

German

Today’s lesson was mainly speaking based round the marking of last times homework. I was happy with that as there is a lot of latitude in these types of lesson and I could hide the fact that I’d not got round to finishing large chunks of the work

Tuesday

Spin

I had thought about getting on my new trainer this morning but when the alarm went off, I couldn’t face it. It was probably due to the awful acid attacks I’d had during the night. I’d woken up a couple of times and felt nauseous. I’m sure it was because I’d eaten too late last night.

Work

I had a new member of staff starting today so I had to be all bright and sparkly even though all I wanted to do was hide in my office. At least in the process of failing to get a pass for him I got mine renewed. I now no longer must pretend that I am someone else.

Meal

We had been invited round to some friends of Loved One for dinner this evening. I could have quite happily stayed at home and had an early night. I wasn’t really in the mood to be social. It started with nibbles out on the terrace. I tried very hard to make small talk and failed miserably. The meal progressed indoors to a joint of pork, roast potatoes and a pumpkin salad. I ate far too much and then went back for seconds, forgetting that there was a dessert and chocolates. The dessert was a lovely honey and pastry thing with an Italian name. I shouldn’t have eaten it but I did. As we left I waddled to the car knowing that I was starting to regret the amount that I had eaten.

Sleep

When we got home, I wasted little time in getting under the covers. I wanted sleep and to rest my distended stomach. I felt stuffed and uncomfortable. Loved One wanted to snuggle up, but in the process, she pressed against my bulky midriff and that made me feel gross. Eventually we fell asleep.

Monday

Lethargy

Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t too enthusiastic about getting up this morning. As I’d had a shower after swimming yesterday, I felt that I didn’t need a shower this morning. That gave me a few precious minutes extra in bed

Work

Much of the management team was back from leave today with the inevitable consequence that they wanted to find out what happened last week. This resulted in an excess of meetings that I didn’t want to attend to give people information that they could have read in their e-mails. I didn’t feel very productive today

Watering

Even though the forecast was for rain later in the week, Loved One was adamant that some of the garden needed watering. I wandered round with the hose and watering can splashing water over the drier looking plants. Loved One was busy in the kitchen making dinner.

Dinner

Loved One made crumbed chicken breasts this evening. She put a sauce on to the crumbed breast. I didn’t think it needed it as the crumb underneath lost its crunchiness. I am in the minority with this as it seems nearly everyone else I’ve met recently has a sauce. I am living amongst savages!

Sunday

Swim

We had a swimming competition this morning, Loved One and I were taking part and doing some of the marshalling, so we had to be there on time. I wasn’t feeling too good when I woke up. My stomach was feeling gurgly and I was burping frequently. I wished I could take some of my medication to quell the acid, but I couldn’t.

Race

I didn’t feel that the first race went well. I stuck to my normal race strategy of starting slowly and building up. Somewhere in the middle of the third lap I started to feel sick. The feeling didn’t go away. I struggled through to the end, but I didn’t feel good about it. The second race was only half the distance, and I didn’t feel quite as bad. I started to have doubts that the two butterfly events I’d entered were possible.

Butterfly

My next event was a short butterfly, short in long course terms but it still seemed a long way. I had no doubt that everyone else was faster than me, this, for me was just about getting to the end without feeling ill. It seemed a lot harder than it should do but at least I didn’t feel ill. I felt that I could do twice the length. My next event came up too quickly. Suddenly it seemed like a long way. I knew that I could get to the end of the pool but getting back was going to be debatable. I started to feel the pain about halfway back and I was in two minds about giving up. I struggled on to the end and got there two tenths off my nominated time. It was a small win.

Pub

We all went to the pub after the meet. We were one of the first there, so we quickly ordered our food. I remembered that the did a particularly wonderful crispy chicken burger, so I had that. Loved One went for a pasta and sea food thing. I filled in the time between ordering and eating by drinking a Guinness.

Boxing

There was a big boxing match on the pub telly. I watched two very large men attempt to pummel each other into pulp for the honour of wearing a belt. It was brutal and fascinating at the same time.

Nap

Yet again, the creeping tiredness hit me when I got home. I curled up on the bed and slept for two hours. Even I found that excessive.

Dinner

We had soup for dinner as we had had a large lunch. Once finished we went to the computer for our weekly call with my parents. They hadn’t done much so there wasn’t much news

Sofa

We spent the rest of the evening snuggled up on the sofa watching rubbish telly as we were both tired

Saturday

Early

The weather forecast had said that this morning was going to be nice and the evening less so. There was bright sunshine and blue skies when I woke so it looked like the first part of the forecast was correct. It was still a bit chilly setting off for the meeting point.

Ride

There were six others at the meeting point. That’s the most we have had out for quite a while. Today’s ride involved a lot of going up. The first climb was up the gorge. It starts off feeling quite easy and then right at the end gets very steep. Sometimes I get to the top and wonder if it has become easier. Today was not one of those days. The second climb was much steeper at the start and was aided by a fast run up. The moment the momentum ran out it got hard. Then it carried on being hard right to the top. We gathered at the top and talked about the hill being the gift that keeps on giving.

Descent

From here it was a pleasant ride through rolling countryside to the top of the descent. We stopped just outside the local tip for the photograph as it was the least picturesque place on the ride. Then we started the descent. We careered down the winding road taking in the views as the road wiggled round. As we got closer to town it became obvious that no one was going back to the café.

Shop

I called in to the bike shop on the way home. I needed to book my bike in for a service as things are getting loose and rattling. I’m sure I could do a lot of it myself but the among the many things I would need to achieve it, time is something that I don’t have.

Gardening

Loved One pointed out that it was green bin day on Monday and that meant that trimming needed to be done. I didn’t think that much needed trimming, but I still managed to fill the bin.

Sausage

Loved One felt that we needed some new secateurs as our old ones were broken and blunt. To solve this, we had to go to the DIY store. It had been so long since I’d last been there, I’d forgotten about the sausage sizzle. The aroma of cheap sausages and onions wrapped in a slice of plain white bread hit me as I left the car. I was powerless to resist.

Nap

The creeping tiredness hit me when we got home. I had to lie down, I laid down for a very long time. I think that this morning’s ride took more out of me than a thought.

Thai

We met some friends at a local Thai restaurant this evening. We decided to share main dishes between us. I wasn’t overly keen on this as I don’t like mixing dishes on my plate. The others have no such issues, they quite happily put spoonful’s of each dish on their plates and separated them all with rice. Most of the dishes were eaten by the time I’d finished a little bit of the first dish, the rest had been hoovered up.

Friday

Test

Loved One had to go for her test this morning and because of the test she was not allowed to eat or drink anything. I guiltily ate my breakfast and drank a cup of tea before getting ready for work.

Work

It felt like no one was at work today. Most of the management team were on leave and the one that wasn’t on leave came in late. I spent most of the day tying to get spreadsheets to match up. It was an almost fruitless task that fitted the feeling of the day.

Swim

I went for a swim after work. It was a lovely evening for swimming up and down for an hour. I felt a lot better for having swum.

Home

We had a quiet evening in this evening ahead of what promised to be an active weekend.