Birthday month

Another busy month. November is the month of birthdays. Mine is on the 19th and Danilo's on the 24th. For the last few years we have done nothing on our birthdays, in fact we have also been known to totally forget them! However, this year the date, 19th November was in the diary as Danilo was due in court in Puerto Plata on the north coast, for the murder trial. I also had to go to act as interpreter for the client.  At the last hearing the judge ruled that as the client did not have a Dominican identity card, she obviously couldn't speak Spanish. Conversely those that have a DR identity card, cedula, obviously can speak Spanish. There is zero logic in this, but hey ho, I was the appointed interpreter.

So we set off at 5 am, and made it to Puerto Plata with no hiccups. All hearings are given the same time to appear, which is 9am, and you check the list outside the courtroom to see what number you are on the list, to give you some idea what time you will go in. We weren't on the list. On checking, Danilo discovered that they had rescheduled and not told us. The hearing was now moved to December 10. Obviously it was more than a little annoying, but I couldn't be too cross, as the client had brought me mushrooms as a birthday present, and her friend bought me a massive bottle of rum.

Danilo had to wait for some paperwork, so I took the opportunity to go over the road to Jumbo international supermarket, and spend the birthday money mum had sent me.  On entering, my brain injury came to the fore as I was completely overwhelmed, and had no idea what to do, standing in the middle of the shop, trying to work out what to do. Eventually I sorted myself out, and within no time at all I was in paradise. Real steak (to go with the mushrooms), baking potatoes, dips, pitta bread, real cheese, real bread. In addition, I met a lady there who had brought me horseradish, bisto and spices from England. And to top it all, on the way back home, we stopped at Maimon, and Danilo bought me a fish for my birthday!

Birthday presents

The next few days he was away, working on more cases so I stuffed my face with baked potatoes, slathered in real butter and horseradish, rare steak and cream pepper sauce, and a pile of mushrooms. Pure heaven and a total change from mashed plantains and a tin of sardines.

As you know, we have no car, not had for a year or so, but stepson number 2, Alberto has one, so we borrow that when we need to go off on legal work, and usually stepson 1, Dany drives. This is what we went to Puerto Plata in. I sit in the back, naturally, but it is very uncomfortable as someone wanted to make the car higher off the ground, so it didn't hit the speed bumps, and took out the shock absorbers I think. Anyway, the end effect is you bounce all over the place sitting in the back which makes for a very uncomfortable ride. Add to that the radio blaring at full volume - at least it is the news and not terrible music, telephones pinging every two minutes ,and the usual scary Dominican driving, overall it is not an experience I enjoy at all.

Danilo was due to leave to go to Santo Domingo a couple of weeks ago, at night, and Alberto was on the way to pick him up, when he hit a cow. The cow bounced onto the bonnet, hit the windscreen, slid over the roof, bounced off the boot and fell off. It sat dazed for a while then got up and ran off. The car is damaged but driveable, although the windscreen is cracked. The journey was delayed while Danilo went to where the car was and the search began for the owner of the cow, who legally, has to pay for the damage to the car. He was eventually spotted and hauled to the police station, along with the cow, to discuss the settlement.

Then this week, we had another court case to go to, and once again I was the interpreter. This one was in Gaspar Hernandez, even further away,  on roads which were even bouncier. We had planned to leave at 5am but Dany arrived early in the car, as we had to go and pick up Alberto's father in law and take him to the bus stop to go to Santiago as he had hurt his leg. On the way to pick him up we had a puncture and had to change the tyre, so it was all a tad stressful until we got well on our way. Dany uses Google maps and listens to the instructions, so it is now much easier not to get lost.

We arrived at the court house well before 9, and sat outside on the ubiquitous plastic chairs until eventually our turn came at around noon. Danilo was the lawyer for the victim, and I was translating for the victim, but the defense lawyer asked for me to be removed, as how did he know I was translating properly. Danilo said it was because he didnt want the victim to know what was being said! Anyway, the judge disagreed with him, so I stayed, and stayed and stayed. The supposedly 10 minute hearing went on for over an hour, and at last it was over, and once again the case went in our favour. Danilo hasn't lost a hearing yet.

He was then off to Santo Domingo again,it was agreed to drop me off in Santiago, from where I could get two buses home. This time, he said he knew how to use Google maps and he could set it up rather than Dany. We needed to get to what we call the rotunda  in Santiago, which means roundabout. It is where the buses for Mao leave from, and there used to be a roundabout there, many years ago, but it is now traffic lights. For some reason we seemed to end up going around and around Santiago, until we realised that Danilo had put in the location as rotunda and nothing else, so Google was sending us to every roundabout there was. Hey ho. Eventually I made it home.

And finally, I have read three great memoirs this month. All about Africa and all by the same author, Val Poore. I really recommend these, she has a great writing style and I had no idea Africa was the same as the DR in so many ways. Shouting not speaking, friendly and helpful people, issues with water and electricity. Excellent books, and it has increased my knowledge of South Africa by loads.
They are all available on Amazon and would make a great Christmas present!

Lindsay the Paralegal

It has been a busy couple of months. As Danilo is now a fully fledged lawyer, he is working on lots of cases, and making court appearances, together with his all important pom pom hat. This is a picture of him about to go into the courtroom in Puerto Plata.

Many of the cases he is working on involve expats, and so I find myself working as a paralegal, explaining everything to the clients, and acting as a bridge between the two, collecting evidence and statements, translating documents in Spanish to English for the clients, so I can add the role of paralegal to my job description.

When foreigners go to court in the Dominican Republic, by law, if they do not speak good Spanish, they are entitled to a legal interpreter. However, there are few legal interpreters around, and although the court pays them, it is a paltry US$20 a day more or less, plus, they have to wait months and months to be paid. Hence, they often state they are too busy to attend, especially if they can earn more elsewhere on that particular day. But if the hearing date comes around, and there is no interpreter, or they were booked but then don't turn up, the hearing is cancelled and another date set, which can be very frustrating.

Some courts allow the expat to bring their own interpreter, but the interpreters usually charge US$100 for the day. If Danilo is the expat's lawyer, then he offers me free as part of the package! So on top of my other work, I now operate as a free interpreter for the cases Danilo is handling.

As well as working hard as a secretary/paralegal, I am also getting on with book 3, which has good days and bad days, depending on my memory, but is around two thirds written now – well the first draft. I am pleased with the way it is going, so I hope you enjoy it when it comes out – eventually!

As I think I have mentioned before, I am a member of the We Love Memoirs Facebook group, and I will be in the Spotlight on this coming Sunday, 27 October. This means that from 9 in the morning until around 6 or 7 at night, I will be answering any questions the members want to ask me. I did it a couple of years ago, and it was great fun. If you would like to join in, or just listen to the conversation then you can become a member here. It is a lovely group, with great conversation and lots of free memoirs to be won as well.

We are still in avocado season at the moment, and look at these two whoppers we had.

A German PhD student came to stay for a week to interview the locals about getting old in the Dominican Republic, as her PhD is on retirees in the Dominican Republic and she wanted to understand how the locals approach retirement and whether it was different from the expat viewpoint. She interviewed all of my neighbours and each one gave her gift of something.

These avocados were one of the gifts, and she left them for us. Having eaten them, and they were delicious, I am hoping the pits will sprout and grow and in 10 years or so we should have a tree!

Finally, the animals are all fine, and Grumpy Grace, the mangy boxer pup who turned up here nearly a year ago now, is now into selfies!

The sad sad tale of the Guatemalan worry doll

When I was in the UK for Christmas last year, my mother gave me, as one of my Christmas presents, a Guatemalan worry doll. I had zero idea what it was – a tiny tiny doll, in a little sack, and the message on it said that you put it under your pillow at night, and it takes away all of your worries.

On returning home, I put it in the beside drawer and forgot all about it for a few months. Then I found it and did some research.

Worry dolls (Muñeca quitapena in Spanish) are small, hand-made dolls that originate from Guatemala. According to legend, Guatemalan children tell their worries to the worry dolls, placing them under their pillow when they go to bed at night. They then sleep peacefully through the night, and in the morning, their worries have gone. You are then supposed to caress the doll, as it now has your worries, and if you caress it, it stops it being in pain due to your worries.

The story of the worry doll is a local Mayan legend. The origin of the Muñeca quitapena refers to a Mayan princess named Ixmucane. The princess received a special gift from the sun god that allowed her to solve any problem a human could worry about. The worry doll represents the princess and her wisdom.

The worry dolls are made of wire, wool and colorful textile leftovers.  The face is usually made of cotton, or cardboard or clay. They are usually dressed in traditional Mayan style, clothes made with wool or aguayo, a traditional Guatemalan cloth ,and the size of the dolls can vary between ½ inch to 2 inches.

The dolls are usually kept in bags, mine was in a tiny sack, or some are in boxes, and they often come in boxes of 6, one for each day of the week, allowing rest time, to get over the worries they have absorbed.

They usually come with the following instructions:

Concentrate on your concerns or problems when you go to bed.

Tell the doll what you want them to take away.

Put the doll under the pillow.

Caress the doll’s tummy a few times so that your sorrows don’t hurt it, and in the morning, they’ll have disappeared!

So, I decided to give it a go, and unbelievably I had night after night of worry free sleep. Not that I worry a lot, but any worries I do have, appear much worse at 2 am.

Then, I went back to England, to help mum after her operation, and on my return, Danilo seemed as if he was trying to tell me something and then stopped. In the end, he came out with it. He told me he didn’t know how to tell me this, but when I was in England he was convinced I would die, or the plane would crash. I asked why on earth he thought that, and he said someone was trying to kill me (for a change!). He had cleaned all of the upstairs of the house, and washed the sheets on all of the beds and had discovered a voodoo doll under my pillow, which looked exactly like me.  He had carried out extensive investigations and he could not find who had put it there, and hence, he had no idea who was trying to kill me. But, he had burned the doll, so he was sure the spell was now broken.

Adios, my beloved Guatemalan worry doll. Rest in Peace. Back to sleepless nights for me!

Sorry for the delay

I know it has been months since I blogged, but really it isn't my fault. It is the fault of my brain! I am still having issues, and one of them is an inability to concentrate for a long period of time, and I can't multi task. I knew I should blog, but couldn't bring myself to do it, so just kept putting it off. Anyway here is the long awaited update!

First, and most important, I have started writing book 3. It has been a slow process as writing is not coming as easily as it did before, and it is hard to write a memoir when you can't remember what happened! What I am now doing is not forcing it, just writing when I feel like it, and when I remember things, I write about them. This means it is pretty disjointed but I will pull it all together later - hopefully not too much later.

I have just returned from England, where I went as my 87 year old mother had a hip replacement a month or so ago. My sister took the first shift of a couple of weeks, and then I did the second shift, arriving back home in the DR yesterday. It's a long journey, as I have to get to Punta Cana in the east of the island first, which takes a day on 3 buses, then I spent overnight with a friend and then flew out the following day. Next step is to get a train up to near mother's house, where my aunt and uncle came to pick me up. It was lovely to be back in England again, where I ate like a horse, but also had to do the things which mum can't do, like washing dishes, pushing the trolley round the supermarket, washing and ironing. But it was still a lovely time, although my brain did funny things as usual. Mother told me that bottles go in the blue bin, which is the recycling bin (there is a green bin for garden rubbish and food, and a grey bin for everything else). Idiot me put a bottle of wine in the blue bin, which was half full of wine as brain computed bottles  go in blue bin, not bottles go in blue bin WHEN THEY ARE EMPTY. Also we met up with lots of family members at a funeral, and I greeted my cousin by name, no problem, but I called his wife of 30 years by the name of his first wife. Ooops! I still forget words in both languages but a new symptom is that I have also started using totally the wrong word. For example if I need to go to the shop I say "Just popping out to the cheesecake" or something equally daft.

Still, all my mishaps are not life threatening, so fingers crossed things will slowly improve.

The journey back was even longer as I boarded the train at 6.40 am, meaning getting up at the crack of dawn, and 20 minutes into the journey I had a message from British Airways to say the flight had been delayed by 3 hours. Deep joy not. But we were given vouchers for lunch. £5 for sheep class people, which was me, and £10 if you were in higher classes - obviously they have to eat better than the plebs. Given that a bottle of water was £2.50, there was not a lot left for food. Following 6 hours in Gatwick's non-smoking departure lounge we boarded, only to wait for another hour and then the pilot announced the plane was late as they were trying to fix the water - they couldn't and there was none. No tea or coffee and no water in the toilets, which meant the stewardesses handed out bottles of water each time someone used the loos. I did get a message on my phone when we landed saying sorry. So that's all right then.

The big news is that Danilo has been sworn in at the Supreme Court so is now practising as a lawyer. Hooray, at last. He is loving it and has been asked to join a local practice so he is over the moon.

Waiting to be sworn in along with a couple of hundred other lawyers

He also is the lawyer for his first case, which is a murder trial and he is prosecuting and loves every minute of it. Here he is about to go into court - not forgetting his pom pom.

Dogs, cat, chickens are all fine and Grumpy is growing into a beautiful dog. They were delighted to see me on my return last night.

From this...

To this!

The big event in Cacique was that my friend, la bruja Angela married her husband ( well they have lived together for 30 odd years but like most Dominicans they were not married). I was appointed to be official photographer as I am the only person in the village with a camera as opposed to a smart phone. It was a tad stressful as the priest forgot about the wedding so he was nearly an hour late once he was tracked down. He bore a remarkable resemblance to David Ortiz the shot baseball player. The service lasted two hours and people were constantly giving me directions as to where to stand, usually in very intrusive places like right next to the couple as they were getting married. I was literally dragged from place to place by half of the congregation. Here are a few of my (ahem) masterpieces.

Catholic church, Cacique

Artistic photo of bride waiting in air conditioned car - for over an hour until priest arrived

Priest David Ortiz lookalike, bride and groom and witnesses

Amazing cake - no idea if it was real though

The house is now full of goodies which I brought back from England including cheese, chocolate, Branston pickle, Oxo beef and vegetable stock cubes,  Bisto gravy powder, horseradish and Walkers cheese and onion crisps. And even better, when I arrived home, my friend in the US, Grace, had sent me a massive box of goodies which had been topped up by Canadian friend, Robyn, so there was all of that to unpack as well. Loads of clothes, kitchen utensils, chocolate, tins of real tuna and mushrooms and loads more. I will be feasting for a long time!

Think you should all be up to date. If I leave it as long last time, please feel free to nag me!

Animals and books

It has been a busy few weeks and I am pleased to say that my brain is slowly beginning to work a little better. I forget fewer words and have had no more coffee maker disasters.

There is a man who lives in Mao who breeds Great Danes and he wanted to bring a female Dane here who was on heat, to live with Goofy for a while. I said no, Danilo said yes, the dog arrived. She had only just started her heat as he wanted them to fall in love pre-bonking. Goofy predictably fell in love with her - her name was Matari - Lobo was not allowed to be with his best mate Goofy and fancied Matari as well so they had to be kept apart.

Grumpy was upset her boyfriend Goofy was with another woman so it was a stressful time for all of the dogs and me! No idea if Goofy did the deed, but Matari left after two weeks, leaving Goofy howling at the gate for a few days. Dogs are now back to normal - thank goodness.

Sticking with the animal theme. as you know we no longer have water delivered from the local water company into our cistern. So we buy it every couple of weeks from Water Man. You call him up, he goes to the river, sucks the water into his truck, comes to us and pumps it into our cistern. Trouble is, the river has more than just water in it, so this time, he deposited a frog into the cistern along with the water. I only realised when I saw the lid of the cistern propped open with a wooden ladder which Danilo had put in there for the frog to climb out.

Please note, the metal box in front of the WATER CISTERN is the box for the main electrics for the house. Please also note the prevalence of taypee sticking all of the wires together.

I thought this was daft until I Googled and found out that all over the place ladders are put in drains for frogs to climb out and what is more, frogs and ladders are used to forecast the weather as they only climb out of water and up ladders if it will be fine, and if it is going to rain they stay in the water! No idea if our frog climbed out, but the lid is back on.

Remember I said the todys were back - the gorgeous tiny green and red birds. Well they disappeared after a day and Danilo discovered they had unwelcome squatters in their little hole in the base of the tree - a family of tarantulas - mum, dad and lots of babies. He disposed of the squatters and the other day the todys returned! I just hope they stay this time. The female is higher up the twig as she has a little bit of black on her green wings.

Oh and even more news, I am a grandmother again! Ana and Alberto (stepson number 2) welcomed Adriana to the world a month early. Though a little small, 6.5 pounds, she is lovely and Danilo and I went to see her in Ana's mum's house, where Ana is staying for the 40 days she is "at risk". Not sure what she is at risk of, but most all women here have to be with their mothers for the 40 day period with a whole list of things they cannot do - like go outside, look at the moon, and they have to have cotton wool in their ears so the cold air doesn't get to their brains.

Proud grandpa Danilo

Ana, Adibel and new baby Adriana

Alberto with his new daughter

Mother's day is very important in the DR, but this year I had no visits from the kids as Ana and Alberto stayed with the baby and was Adibel's, number one granddaughter,  fifth birthday. Danilo was on a course in the capital and returned in the afternoon, cooking me a massive sancocho for my Mother's Day celebration. We ate sancocho for a week.

Finally, as you know I love reading memoirs and this last month I have read two fabulous books, both brilliant and both different.

The first was by Beth Haslam and is called Fat Dogs and French Estates part 1.

This was my review on Amazon.

"I was attracted to this book as the title mentioned the words Dogs and French – and I love dogs and love France. I was certainly not disappointed. The book describes the author and her husband travelling throughout France house hunting, well, estate hunting, to find their perfect home. They took their fat dogs with them.
The characterization of Beth’s husband, Jack, the dogs, and all of the French people and estate agents they meet along the way is superb. There are fabulous descriptions of the estates and the countryside and you really feel you are sitting in the back of the car along with the dogs. In addition, there are unexpected history lessons about different parts of France as well as interesting information about many of the towns and villages.
That in itself would be sufficient to make a good memoir, but what moves this book from good to great, and even fabulous, is the humour throughout. I started off smiling sometimes, then giggling occasionally and eventually was collapsed with laughter, even snorting at stages. It is so very funny I have not laughed so much in months.
I highly recommend this book, and I know I now have no choice but to read the rest of the series. I must admit I was concerned that they might not live up to my now high expectations, but having checked the reviews on Amazon – they are all five stars as well. Thank goodness! I can’t wait."

There are three more books in the same series so my next task is to get those. Really worth it, pure escapism, some learning more about France, and just pure fun.

The second was by Gina DePaulo and is called Unopened Doors.

My review says: 

"In brief, the author describes how she was victim of a mugging which caused a Traumatic Brain Injury and that in turn led to flashbacks of her childhood and a rape and near-death strangulation when she was 19. She then decides to revisit her attack of some 40 years ago and with the help of a Cold Case investigator she slowly unearths the past.

The book is beautifully written and it goes backwards and forwards between the present and the past in a seamless manner. It is more than simply a memoir; however, it is a detective novel, it portrays life in the USA in the 1960s, and you really do find yourself transported back in time. In addition, DePaulo adds in stories of other victims of violence, rape and murder during the same time period in the same area.

More than a memoir, more than a detective story, overall a truly excellent read. I defy anyone not to enjoy this book, which I was unable to put down as it draws you in from the very first page. In fact, this was the best book I have read in years."

This book really resonated with me, having had a couple of near death experiences and now suffering from brain injury. But even if you have been lucky enough not to have those, I promise you will really enjoy this book.

And for those of you who enjoy reading and enjoy reading memoirs, I really do recommend you join the We Love Memoirs Facebook Group. Why? Because the members are writers of memoirs and lovers of memoirs. There are lots of free memoirs to be won, chats with authors, competitions where you can read memoirs and, the best thing, all of the members are lovely people!

Easter comes and goes

Far too long again since my last blog post – I have no idea where the time goes.

All my brain tests were more or less normal, and I must admit the CAT scan was so impressive. For the price of US$50 you are seen immediately - the receptionist said I looked much better than last time! The results are available a few hours later and not only do you receive a written report but also photographs and a CD with even more photos on it. Here is my brain! Very impressive but Dr. Google was not very helpful in explaining what I am looking at.

Apart from the fact my brain looks like I happy face in some of the images, I have noticed no improvement in brain function. I am told it can take years so I am just getting on with it and adapting where needed. My worst performance is in the kitchen, maybe as it is there I do the most multi- tasking. As I mentioned before, my brain is like the internet – it goes slowly, and sometimes it totally switches off and I go blank – but only for a few seconds. I continue to do stupid things such as forgetting to put the cup under the coffee maker so the coffee goes all over the floor, or forgetting to put coffee in it and end up with a cup of hot water. I even put dried cat food instead of sugar in my coffee the other day. Cooking is a challenge to remember how to actually cook some recipes and I may remember one minute and then forget the next, so now I get all the ingredients out before I start. I have a wooden spoon next to my laptop when I am cooking, so I don’t forget and burn things, and a bag of washing powder when I am washing. I also write lists all the time when something comes into my head that I need to do, so I don’t forget. It is liveable with, just a little frustrating.

It has been a busy few weeks. The bookcase is finished – here is Danilo studying in his cow pyjamas.

We need more books to fill it up, but no doubt they won’t be long coming. He has started his Master’s degree in Criminal Law – which means I have been checking things on line and typing up his assignments so I am effectively also doing a Master's in Criminal Law. The university is the Dominican Open University and he is doing it part on line and part attendance so everything is done via the University website – which is appallingly slow and complicated to follow so it has taken me ages to upload assignments. I think I am getting the hang of it now.

Chivirico and Albert came for Easter week so we had to make habichuelas con dulce (sweet cream of beans), which I still loathe but it is essential Easter fare. Apparently I make the best beans that they, and Danilo, have ever tasted. Thanks to Aunt Clara's Dominican Cooking.

Knowing that they never eat vegetables at home, we had a mainly vegetarian week with vegetable chilli, dips of hummus and baba ganoush and home made naan bread.

Kids making naan bread

We also had Irish stew without meat and served with buttered cabbage. Chiv was amazed seeing that I cooked “salad” as cabbage usually eaten in salad here.

When they weren’t cooking they seemed to be fascinated with the library so it was great to see them joining Danilo in reading.

In the meantime, life goes on as normal. As I am finding it harder to write shopping lists and keep forgetting things we need to buy, Danilo is taking it upon himself to shop without a list as he knows what we need, he says. This was one of his proud purchases last week.

Yes, that is a pig's tail. I cooked it by boiling it in water with various herbs and spices, onion and garlic and then roasting it in the oven. I ate the meatier end (bit closer to the body - and  the pig's bottom) and Danilo had the tail itself. It tasted just like pork - but not sure worth doing again!

Aftermath of The Incident

So here is the update on my current condition. I am still numb and a little swollen on the left side of my face, so I can’t smile and I dribble a bit from the left side of my mouth. It feels like you have had an injection from the dentist and I look a bit like a hamster on that side, with his mouth full of sunflower seeds.

According to Danilo, I am more grumpy than usual, so he calls me Grumpy 2 as opposed to the rescue boxer who is Grumpy 1. I also have memory problems. My brain is working as if it is connected to the internet, and I want to say something but have no idea what the word is – either in Spanish or English, but then, around 30 seconds later the internet comes back and I remember the word.

Given these issues, I went to see a neurologist. There are no appointments here, so the first time I went, he wasn’t there and nor was his secretary. The second time was around 10 am, and the secretary told me I was number 19. But he didn’t arrive until 2 pm, and our last bus home is at 6 pm, so there was no way we could get home. I asked her to put me on the list for the next day. No can do as you can only ask to be put on the list on the day itself.  I had to go the next day at 8 am, to be put on the list for the afternoon. But she said I could phone as well. So, the next day I phoned at 8 am to be told I was number 6, and to get there at 2.30 pm. I did, and for some mysterious reason I had dropped from number 6 to number 8, but at 5.30 pm I got in to see the neurologist.

He said nothing could be done about my face, maybe it would improve in time, but maybe not. He told me smoking was dangerous for my health, and I replied that so was being shot and attempted suffocation and being beaten up. He shut up after that. He told me that I have a Traumatic Brain Injury, otherwise known as a TBI, and to have another cat scan and blood tests which I will do next week. In addition, he gave me a prescription for two anti-depressants. I am not depressed, but am taking the one which helps memory function which is helping a little but have not bothered with the other one, as according to Dr. Google it is for panic attacks, post traumatic stress disorder and erectile dysfunction – none of which I have.

In the meantime, Chivirico came to see how I was, and it was lovely to see him.

I went to see my American friend Grace, who comes to the country once a year with her Dominican husband. That was a lovely break and as usual she provided me with loads of kitchen equipment and baseball goodies for Chivirico and Albert.

In addition, my friend Heather was in the country, helping people in Consuelo, and she hired a car and drove all the way up here to see me. She brought the all-important Cadbury chocolate with her as well.

Grumpy Grace loves her evening cuddles

Danilo adores books, so he is building a book case along the whole of one wall in the living room and at last has put shelves in the utility room so the kitchen will be less cluttered.

Our spirit level has gone walkabout (nothing new there) so we had to check if the shelves were level using a peanut. If it rolled one way or the other, they were not straight. I think it must have been an odd shaped nut as they look a bit wonky to me.

In the meantime, Peggy, a Canadian lady has been staying for the last couple of months. She has around another month to go. Loves cleaning and mopping which is great for me, but we still managed a night out at the local bar!