My weekend had no such miscommunication. I swam, I sat by the pool, I read. I swam some more and I sat alone, all afternoon. It was blisteringly hot and no one seemed to want to be out in the high temperatures, except the Englishwoman. Admittedly, I did not go down at midday, and I did not take a mad dog! However, I did 'fly the flag' on my way home, as the sun was just too hot, and I put up my umbrella to protect myself. My garden was wilting, and the watering did little to perk up the plants until the sun had disappeared from the sky. Dana had been out for lunch with a friend, and popped into Joe on the way home. He was given the tour of the 'chocolate lab' and had asked Joe if he could buy a couple of bars to bring home for me. Joe had categorically announced "No!" but insisted he could take a few bars for me. Friendship at its very best! We had a lovely evening, sampling chocolate, watching a film and falling asleep! I was exhausted from sitting in the sun and from the assembling of furniture.
The heat was causing everyone to wilt! My trips outside were not often. I have taken a few minutes to check the postbox occasionally, just to get a bit of exercise, and move away from my desk, but there was no such frivolity during the hot spells. The postman drives an electric cart, and whilst there are a lot of 'electric' cars about, his cart has a distinctive sound, so I can usually tell when he goes by. Of course, sometimes I miss him, but my ears were attuned a little more so during the week, so I did not have to make unnecessary trips outside.
Overnight the temperatures did not drop much, and the water was quite tepid. I was debating on what to make for my weekly dessert, and had an idea forming. "You know what I really fancy?" came the comment from my daughter, after she had decided that her scone fattish had reached its peak. "Do you remember those chocolate chip things we used to get? I bet, if you made your lemon cake mixture and didn't add the lemon, and put in the chocolate chips, you could make it taste like those things we used to get". (I added the punctuation, although I am not sure there was any room in the speech!) "And when do you suppose I am going to find time to do that?" I asked, using a conjunction at the beginning of a sentence, which would have caused my mother, the gramma queen, to blush! "Oh you can do it tonight, after your swim", she said, as if it were an order rather than a request. I could have given her the recipe and told her to make it herself, but that is not how it appears to work! Instead, I put my brain into gear, and thought about reorganising my time. It did not take long to realise that I had some raspberry coulis in the fridge, and this would go to waste if I did not use it on something. I could make a lemon drizzle cake for dessert, and everyone knows that the best thing for a lemon drizzle is a further drizzle of raspberry coulis!
I made the mixture for two cakes. The first, the lemon drizzle, looked fine. The second looked good, but when I dropped it out of the tin, it went flat. I was not sure as to why. Perhaps it was the amount of chocolate chips I added, or maybe I added too much baking powder, but it seemed to just flop!
"This cake is amazing," the staff opined! Everyone appeared to think it was just the right taste and consistency, despite it having a dip in the middle. I wonder what I did right? I am not sure, exactly, what I did wrong, to make it happen again!
Grant helped me move the furniture around in the abyss. We moved the new wardrobe on to the side wall, and the smaller cabinet along the back wall. As usual, I had one too many pieces of furniture. Although it looked better that way, it was not going to work! We moved everything back. My exercise for the day had been 'amped up' as when Samantha took the dogs for a walk, she messaged me to say that the postman would not be coming in to get our mail. It appeared our usual guy was having a day off. I saw the truck race by and had to immediately stop what I was doing, and run out and down the hill. In heels was bad enough. The heat in itself was bad enough. In heels and the heat, I came back inside ready to drop! By the time I had pushed everything back to where it had come from, I was just about ready to drop!
"I need another wardrobe", I said, nonchalantly, to my daughter, who was immediately appalled at the idea. I was putting together a chest of drawers, and it was surprisingly easy. I wondered whether I had put something in the wrong place, like the comma in the email. It looked okay but when it came to the end, would it be correct! "Would you like me to finish it, while you swim?" asked Samantha, not wishing to further discuss the prospect of getting another piece of furniture. I said that would be wonderful, fully expecting her to be asleep when I returned. Having taken the dogs for a two mile walk before coming to me, and the temperatures not dropping below eighty, she was exhausted before the day had started. However, I was wonderfully surprised, as I returned to find her rolling in the last draw!
Our shopping trip was quite the effort. Ten days of over a century can really knock one for six, as they say in the cricket world! I do not play cricket, but I know that this heat is definitely 'not cricket!' It would appear that it is not a record, but there have only been five times when the weather has reached this height in June, and for this period of time. I remember the 2008, 2009 and 2011, but the 2025 was a little before my time!
Sauntering had become a way of life, and despite the irritation of those who usually just saunter behind the car as the driver is attempted to back out of the space, this has now become the norm. We were sauntering along with everyone else. We did our generally grocery shop, and headed back. The Indian store had a new supply of 'Smarties' so I bought a few packs, to keep me happy! "You are British?" asked the man who was packing the bags. "Do the Smarties or the tea give it away?" I asked. He laughed. It was almost like an 'in joke'.
Sams was very busy. Sams does have an apostrophe when said in full. Sam's club. I am not sure as to the rules when just calling it Sams. I would assume the apostrophe should be there, as it is an abbreviation and still belonging to Sam. We tend to add an 's' to other places. Costcos, Sainsburys to mention two, but they do not belong to anyone. However, I digress. Sam's (yes, added) was busy. We stood in line, with only two check outs open, and a third was shortly to become operational. "Ladies" said a staff member, who ushered us to the third aisle. A very polite, but rather elderly man was operating the till. We have seen him on many an occasion but he has always been a 'greeter'. Perhaps their lack of staff has elevated him to a cashier, and one is never too old to learn. Or is one? He was unable to take care of a couple of tasks, and was unable to shout for assistance. Instead, he left his post and ran to the supervisor. I do not mean to sound unkind, but am just stating facts. The man was elderly. Running may have been his thing in the past, and I know that whilst I was quite proficient at running in heels when younger, I am a not as fast now, mainly as I am a lot more careful. His running days are over! He shuffled along to the supervisor, and then shuffled back. She stood at the counter waiting for him to return. I bit my lower lip in an attempt not to laugh. It was like watching a comedy show! If anyone has not seen Julie Waters in 'two soups', they should look it up, watch, and then have some sort of idea as to what I am talking about. He was lovely, kind, polite and gracious, but he was very, very slow. "Would you, erm." he said. "No" said my daughter, pre-empting the question. "Would you like to, erm", he continued. "No", came the reply. "Would you like to, erm, would, erm". "No, I do not wish to donate", came the reply. "Okay", was the response. The till shut. "Oh. I need to give you some change", said the employee. One would assume he is still in 'training'. A few years ago, we were at an airport (bear with me) and the flight was delayed for some hours. "I am so glad it is the Austin flight that has been delayed", said the guy at the desk. We looked over at him, questioningly, and he responded, "If it was the New York flight, everyone would be screaming at me!" I thought to myself, "Thank goodness this is the Austin Sam's!" I gave him the exact change, thinking that he would appreciate it. "Oh, I have to give you change for this to open", he said, looking around for the supervisor, (I assume) not quite sure whether he was correct. "I think", he continued. I was happy to give him not the exact change. Our transaction was finally complete, and we should have let the person behind us go to the newly opened till. We wished him a pleasant weekend and went on our way. It was very amusing, albeit at the poor elderly man's expense!
I read and swam, and swam and read. One other person joined me. It was hot, hot, hot. My book, which I had difficulty getting 'into', has turned out to be rather good, although the grammar leaves a little to be desired. (I know, I stand guilty as charged, but I am not charging for a publication!) Punctuation is quite often a little amiss and it causes me to reread the passage several times! However, I have not been offered a free music ad! Neither are there any 'lol's' printed!
My new wardrobe is already in the 'being put together' phase, and I have not, as yet, encountered any errors. (Obviously, they would be on my part, so I am doing well!) I still have to decide where to put everything once it goes back from one room to the other, but that should be fairly easy. Of course, it may not! Perhaps Ikea should give me instructions for the filling as well as the fitting! I would not object as it would be 'perfect'.
Clouds are currently covering the sun, and I have confidence that this heat will break. However, the weathermen are of a different opinion. Perhaps next weekend I will be reporting that I have to stay inside and listen to all those music ads! Perhaps not! Perhaps I will just sit and eat shoots! Perhaps not. Perhaps I will learn a little more about punctuation in ............ another story!
No comments:
Post a Comment