"for the happy, the sad, I don't want to be, another page in your diary"

Sunday 25 April 2021

Lots Of Sunbathing

The schools are back, so our morning’s walks suddenly got a lot busier. It’s all too much for MD who spends the rest of the morning asleep, outside sunbathing.

Boris Johnson cancels his trip to India. Which is a good job really, given that foreign travel is banned. As usual he was saying he wasn’t going to change his mind until when, at the last minute, he did.

On Tuesday I have to prove my age to accept a parcel for L. Which turns out to be my birthday present from Son, although the Amazon Prime logo had already given that away.

L gives permission for her author friend to mention MD in her newsletter. So I promptly sign up to her fan page and I am now eagerly awaiting delivery of the newsletter.

She’s allegedly a big fan of his since he rubbed his nose up her shins when she was minding him while L was in the coffee shop. She mistook this attempt to get his haltie off his nose as a loving gesture. She’s promised to not mention him by name obviously because we don't want floods of fans at the door.

On Friday we do our 6:30am 5k run again which goes ok. Later, sadly the weather is nice again so, the evening ball session on the park is ruined by several deer sunbathing on the first field and dozens of semi-naked students doing the same on the second field. 

(Sunday 25th April)

Sunday 18 April 2021

No Running

From Monday pubs (outdoors) and shops (indoors) are open. L’s Mum is straight there, to the shops that is.

L goes for an evening swim with Daughter. You can do things like that now, just not dog training. Meanwhile I have another antibody blood test at the QMC.

On Tuesday we do our evening walk with the dogs to The Crown in Beeston and have a couple of outdoor pints where a drunk is being thrown out as we arrive. We don’t even have to order a scotch egg.

The second-hand Technics tape deck from 1993 that I ordered on Ebay arrives and I hook it up to my Sonos wireless system. It works like a dream and amazingly most of the tapes I have fetched down from the loft all seem fine and play great.

On Thursday I have a telephone appointment with a physio, who sends me a very familiar looking exercise sheet and prescribes no running or cycling for 6 weeks... L says I need a swim but the physio didn’t say that I was allowed to swim.

Although actual running isn’t allowed the physio didn’t rule out run\walk, jeffing, jogging, shuffling or whatever my current marathon training can be described as. So on Friday I do another early morning non-run with L. It must have gone better because this time I am not late for work and seem to have loads of time on my hands. This must be the power of the exercise sheet, which I am following.

Saturday is the Nottingham CheckPoint Challenge in which you have to navigate your way between Wollaton Park, Forest Rec and the University. This is apparently a distance of around 15km but due to our superior local knowledge we manage to trim it down to 12.7km. Due to our excellent route choices I am 11th and L is 12th out of the 43 who did the whole thing or perhaps it was our speed? But don’t tell the physio.

We 'run' for five minutes and then walk for one minute so, physio please note, not actual proper running.

On the same day my brother and his dog start training with my Agility Club.

On Sunday I cut the lawn at my parents, even though most of it had already been done, purely to give the boys a run around. Then afterwards I take my Dad to the Harrington for an outdoor pint. Later L and I walk to the Borlase for a few more.

(Sunday 18th April)

Sunday 11 April 2021

When You’re A Dog

Monday is a Bank Holiday which brings another football game, which this time Derby lose. As it’s a Bank Holiday the weather is miserable and almost everyone but us has a few snow showers. We don’t get them until Tuesday when there are on-off flurries throughout the day and the evening park session is in almost blizzard conditions.

This is after the Lad has his booster at the Vets, who are still operating a draconian system where no one is allowed inside the building, which is in complete contrast to my X-Ray at the hospital last week. The Lad has to go in on his own which he has no problem with as he disappears with the young female vet without even a glance behind. When she returns with him she says how friendly he was and that he tried to sit on her knee when she was typing up his notes. You can get away with things like that when you’re a dog.

I did turn down their offer of the up-the-nose kennel cough vaccine but was tempted to say yes just to see how they’d cope particularly if I sent both dogs in for it. It took three of us to hold down MD last time.

Talking of my X-Ray, my doctor calls to say it shows wear and tear on my knee but to see how physio goes. I already know how it will go.

Meanwhile L’s daily parcels continue to arrive. It’s a good job I am still working from home although perhaps not for much longer. Work have announced a new office return date of 19th April which I’m going to try to ignore.

On Friday L drags me out of bed for a 6:30am run\walk e.g. post the Lad’s breakfast but he isn’t invited obviously. We do 5.5km which L is ecstatic about. Unfortunately it doesn’t do my knee any good and I feel faint afterwards. I should probably have warmed up first. My new physio won’t be impressed. However I still manage to walk the boys although this makes me fifteen minutes late for work.

Friday is also when my parents have their second jab and L’s parents have theirs the next day when I cycle to my parents' again to watch Derby lose again.

Having (sort of) recovered from Friday’s run\walk, L and I do it all over again on Sunday.

(Sunday 11th April)

Sunday 4 April 2021

An Unsubstantiated Rumour

The Lad starts the week by oversleeping by over an hour. The clocks change has clearly upset him.

The next step on the roadmap out of Covid-19 happens and amazingly allowing two households to meet outdoors coincides with better weather. Wollaton Park is packed for our evening walk and the golfers are back out playing.

However we have to cancel dog training again after no confirmation is received about indoor arenas. It’s looking likely that we can’t open before 17th May.

Meanwhile the Arboretum was so packed on Monday it made the East Midlands TV news. After that the council shut both the Arboretum and Lenton Park completely, which was likely to make other places busier. Sure enough everyone went to Forest Rec instead which looked like a scene from Glastonbury. At which point it all made the National news.

On Wednesday the BBC National News were broadcasting live from Forest Rec which turned out to be embarrassingly quiet for them. They’ve probably all moved to Wollaton Park now. I just hope they don't disrupt our ball session.

Wednesday is also when I go for an X-Ray on my dodgy knee at QMC.

L says her latest book delivery should fit through the letter box because it is only one book. It doesn’t and looks suspiciously like two books to me. Then another parcel arrives which isn’t a book or it could be one disguised as running trousers.

Friday is Good Friday and I cycle to Aston to watch the match, which Derby manage to win for a change 2-0. On Saturday I run\walk with L and then on Sunday do the same on my own. There’s an unsubstantiated rumour going round that I might be getting a bit fitter.

(Sunday 4th April)