Wake up at 7am, have some breakfast and fall asleep. Wake up again at 9am, to a message from my teacher saying that it’s just the two of us so can we just do 30minutes. I tell her that is fine and say it’s lovely of her to think of me: she knows how dependent I am on my daily exercise class. I’m very happy to have such a lovely and considerate friend and teacher.
“You can’t do half an hour of Pilates – you’re too unfit and too lazy.” The panther says. His enormous teeth are too close to my ear.
“Just watch. I’ll do it,” I say through gritted teeth.
Of course, once I get going there’s no stopping me: at breakneck speed I work my whole body in 30 minutes and teacher is Really Pleased With Me.
The panther sulks and lies with his back to me.
Have lunch, meditate 🧘♀️ and sleep. On waking up I have my snack and then sit in the garden with Fluffball. He goes in just before 5pm. I follow him just as I finish Very Good, Jeeves. At least 3 more Jeeves books arrive tomorrow.
Petunias and geraniums Sunflower 🌻 Morning Glory
Arrive at my bedroom, there is someone covering almost my whole bed:
I squeeze in at the top of the bed
Right. 6.15pm. Bedtime.
Happy Friday everyone!
*1914. By PG Wodehouse. Collection of short stories.
Wake up early but then find that Personal Training isn’t till 10.45am. Talk to my brother on WhatsApp for a bit: it is good to hear his voice.
Personal Training is tough but I enjoy it. Do a mixture of strength – weights, Pilates and planks. I have become much better at planks since before Lockdown, which is one way of charting fitness, my teacher explains. An increase in ability to do planks is a measurable way to show better fitness.
Have lunch, meditate and sleep. Wake up and finish Leave It To Psmith. Am about to start Uncle Fred In The Springtime. This is also in the PG Wodehouse Blandings Castle series of comic novels. I’m enjoying the books So Much.
We watch Episode 1, Series 10 of The Secret Life of the Zoo, which is excellent and includes a baby elephant Anjan who wakes up his mum in the middle of the night to play; a Hyacinth macaw who may have a deadly virus and keepers’ attempt to mate Golden Lion frogs.
Fluffball went under my bed and is now on the windowsill. The panther lies curled up at the bottom of my bed. Every so often he swishes his tail or flicks an ear, just to let me know that he’s just in a light doze and could wake up and start haranguing me at any moment.
Happy Thursday everyone!
*1939. By PG Wodehouse. Comic novel in the Blandings Castle series.
Wake up this morning after another good long sleep. Have breakfast and then at quarter to eleven it’s Pilates. Tough class today but work hard and teacher is pleased with me.
Continue reading Service With A Snile which is brilliant and hilarious. Mum helps me with my bath 🛁. This is a break from my usual bath time which is just before supper.
The weather isn’t nearly as hot today as it has been. It’s twenty two degrees and we sit in the garden for lunch.
Have lunch, meditate and sleep. Watch Cold Comfort Farm which is wonderful. Try and get hold of it if you can or, even better, read the book by Stella Gibbons.
Mum catches Fluffball in and he’s had his supper and is now outstretched across the whole width of my bed. I’m going to have to stretch my legs around him somehow when I need to sleep.
The panther sits on my windowsill: swishing his tail. I think he sees the Fluffball as a threat, which is silly as he’s about six hundred times bigger than the fluffy.
Golden Wedding roseA runner beanTwo more runner beans
Fluffball is now in his favourite spot: curled up under my dressing table. It’s quarter to seven and I’m So Tired. Just need to post this and pull my Tarot card for the day.
Happy Saturday everyone!
*1962. By PG Wodehouse. A Blandings Castle comic novel.
Munro Leaf’s enchanting story about a bull who would prefer to sit and smell the flowers than fight in the bullring was first published in the United States of America in 1936. The book became an instant bestseller and has never been out of print since. The story has been translated into over sixty languages and is now regarded as a classic throughout the world. Robert Lawson’s bold and witty illustrations beautifully depict the city of Ronda in Andalusia, Spain home to the oldest bullfighting ring in Spain.
This book was a childhood favourite of Mum’s as her father, my grandfather used to read it to her in – I realise now – an American edition, since the book wasn’t published here in the UK until 2017. It became a firm favourite of mine and my brother’s.
Talking about Ferdinand yesterday, we couldn’t remember what happened to our copy. Such is the magic of Amazon, it arrives today. Read it, and it’s still wonderful. A heartwarming read for people of any age, recommend buying it for children and grandchildren.
Wake up, and the panther is lying next to me with his head on my shoulder. He opens one amber eye.
“It’s too early to be awake,” he says.
“I have to be up now in time to have my breakfast for Pilates.” I say.
“There’s no point in you doing Pilates” the panther says. “You’re so fat that it disgusts me and you never get any better at it and…”
“Shut up!” I say. “I am getting better at it and anyway I love it.”
He turns his face away from me in disgust.
In the end: it’s just my teacher and me – people are so flaky in the hot weather. We do half an hour of Pilates then and I definitely feel better afterwards. Ah! The restorative power of Pilates!
We go to the cancer hospital for my blood test for this new treatment. Apparently, it will only work if my cancer has a specific mutation. So fingers crossed 🤞 that I do and can have this treatment. Thoughts and prayers welcome at this time. Won’t hear about the treatment until a few weeks have passed.
Come home, meditate 🧘♀️ and sleep. Finish Full Moon and start Service With A Smile. Order the books I’m missing from the Blandings Castle series.
We start watching Cold Comfort Farm which I love. Can only manage twenty five minutes as am so tired.
Sit with Fluffball whilst he eats his supper and now he’s under my dressing table. Just Tarot Card of the Day today and then it’s my pre-sleep-sleep.
Happy Friday everyone!
*1936. By Munro Leaf. Illustrated by Robert Lawson.
Mum wakes me up at about half past eight this morning as Liz my Macmillan nurse is visiting. It is good to see her.
Everyone else has cancelled Pilates so my lovely teacher puts on a session just for me. She knows I don’t feel well if I don’t exercise and yesterday’s Barre was cancelled too. It is really kind of her and I work hard.
It’s very hot again today – twenty nine degrees – and sit in the shade in the garden with Mum. We have lunch in the garden and then I meditate and sleep.
Wake up and have melon 🍈, a chocolate brownie and some ice cream 🍨. The coffee ice cream is now finished and I’m not sure when we will be able to purchase more: tomorrow we’re going to Whipsnade to see the animals – yay.
Fluffball just materialises in the garden whilst I’m having my supper, so we capture him and put him inside. He’s now resting under my chair. I’m going to put my fan on, do my Tarot Card of the Day and have my pre-sleep-sleep.
Happy Tuesday everyone!
*2020. By Miranda James. A Cat in the Stacks Book 12.
It’s hot – twenty seven degrees. I’m sitting up in bed with my fan on. Fluffball sits on the windowsill, gazing out. It’s 6.14pm.
Wake up when my alarm goes off at half past eight. Pilates is at quarter past nine and it’s a tough class but I enjoy it.
Have a workshop all day about The Astrology Of Money and manage the first couple of hours.
It’s too hot 🥵 to sit in the sun 🌞 at lunchtime so we all crowd under the parasol ☂️.
Meditate and sleep. Wake up and have my snack and read some more of Blandings Castle.
After supper, I go out with Mum to look for Fluffball and experience that Fear that happens whenever we don’t find him straight away. Hope this won’t last forever. It’s important that he is able to live the normal life of a cat when he’s out. Just can’t worry that he won’t come home. The Fear is acute at the end of the day: it just isn’t there in the morning or lunchtime. Still: I’m rarely as happy as I am now: knowing that he’s safe as I can see him under my dressing table.
We see Caleb the Samoyed puppy again – he’s so adorable and fluffy.
Mum sends me inside as it’s So Hot. She finds Fluffball in the back garden – phew 😰.
The Sea Holly is flowering
It’s half past six. Need to post this and do my Tarot Card of the Day and then can have my pre-sleep-sleep. It’s hot in my bedroom so I’m going to take my duvet out of its cover and sleep inside the cover.
Wake up this morning and do Pilates. Unfortunately, am horribly and violently sick 🤮 in the middle of the class but retain my equilibrium and get back to it. It’s a tough class but enjoy it. My Zoom Barre, Pilates and Personal Training are really keeping me going at the moment.
There seems to be no rhyme nor reason to this sickness: sometimes it’s straight after eating, at other times it’s not connected to a mealtime at all. I’m taking my anti-sickness pills 💊 as prescribed but it’s exhausting.
Have lunch in the garden, meditate and sleep. When I wake up, read Blandings Castle outside in the sunshine. It’s hot: twenty five degrees. Have supper outside too. I keep banging into things and missing my footing. Despite eating a normal amount I’ve become quite weak.
Fluffball is sitting on my windowsill as I write this in bed. He is gazing out over the garden.
We go out to look for Fluffball a bit earlier and finally I meet Caleb the Samoyed puppy who is gorgeous and very fluffy.
Today I do a lot of sitting up in bed and reading. Fluffball is cleaning his face on the windowsill. He’s So Clever.
Fluffball is now under my blue chair, cleaning himself.
I’m just going to post this and then do my Tarot Card of the Day.
Happy Friday everyone!
*1927. By Dorothy L Sayers. The third Lord Peter Wimsey novel.
Wake up after a long sleep at about nine o’clock this morning.
Work hard at Pilates: it’s a tough class but need it as have been feeling stressed.
Have lunch, meditate and sleep. When I wake up, I read Pigs With Wings. It’s so wonderful and funny.
Catch Fluffball in the back garden. This is not very difficulty as he’s rolling and stretching on the paving stones.
It’s a pleasant evening so have lunch in the garden. See lots of baby blue tits and our baby blackbird.
Fluffball has his supper and then comes into my bedroom. He’s now under my dressing table: keeping an eye on me from there.
Am sitting up in bed, writing this. Am sad that the tennis 🎾 and football ⚽️ are over: don’t know quite what to do with self now.
The Olympic starts soon, but I don’t feel excited it: all the athletes from all over the world, meeting to exchange coronavirus variants. Still: I’m bound to end up watching it.
It’s quiet in my bedroom as I write and the fluffy monster sleeps.
I’m just going to post this and then do my Tarot Card of the Day.
Happy Tuesday everyone!
*2017. By James Patterson. Serial killer thriller.
We are watching the tennis recorded earlier: Ash Barty vs Karolina Pliskova. I’m writing the blog whilst sitting up in front of the television – so when I go to bed with my Fluffy, I won’t have to write it then.
Wake up this morning and have my breakfast. Work hard at Pilates but am then horribly, violently sick 🤮. Really need to sort this out: I thought we had sorted it out but it seems not.
Spend some time with Fluffball in the garden: he just potters around sniffing the flowers. He doesn’t seem to feel like being away from us today.
Mum helps me with my bath 🛁.
It doesn’t rain today but it’s not hot.
I had thought that I would feel better since stopping chemo, but that doesn’t seem to have happened. So I’m not sure what to do. So I’m making sure to sit up for a while after meals as I’m supposed to.
Fluffball is in my bedroom now waiting for me so I’m going to join him.
Happy Saturday everyone!
*1996. Martina Navratilova and Liz Nickles. Murder mystery with the action set at the French Open.
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