How much?

Day 67

I was awake at 5am this morning, worrying about things as usual, and I heard a terrible screeching and screaming outside. I looked out of the bedroom window and noticed a flock of rooks on our lawn!

I sped down to the conservatory and opened the door, frightening them away but they all landed on Richard and Michelle's roof opposite and carried on with the awful racket! I have never heard so much screeching in my life and it must have been the "babies" begging to be fed! I made myself a coffee and kept patrolling the garden until they all gave up and flew away. Heaven knows what the neighbours thought!

Sophie went off to work this morning looking extremely glamorous, wearing a lovely little dress and cute sandals. It's her one day of the week when she can get dressed up for work! When she left, Keith and I drove over to Beckworth as I wanted to get a cake for this afternoon, when I going around to have tea with Michelle and Sue in the garden.

Beckworth was lovely and quiet and Keith and I had a good look at the food and the plants. It was bliss to stroll around in the sunshine and look at all the lovely flowers. I bought three little Alpines to go into one of my troughs and that's all my pots filled now. I am very pleased that my geraniums from last year survived our mild, wet winter so that's saved me from having to buy any this year!

Before going home we called to see Mum as she thinks she has another urine infection, which was confirmed when I took a sample to her GP. While I was waiting I chatted to the lovely Sam who lives on our estate and does the gardening for the surgery. She's really friendly and has two enormous dogs and a whole gaggle of children so she's always very busy!

Back home Keith made sausage sandwiches for brunch and Mike wandered downstairs asking me to check the address of the golf club he had an interview at. We all thought it was a driving range near Tesco, but it was actually the golf club in Kettering so somewhere completely different! It was a good job we checked!

At 12pm we left and drove to the club without any problems. It took us about ten minutes to get there and we were very early! I parked overlooking the clubhouse and the putting green, saying wistfully to Keith that the last time I was at a golf club was Pebble Beach in California...

Mike went in for his interview and Keith and I amused ourselves by watching people putting on the green - is that the correct term? I did envy a couple of women who turned up looking very smart in their golf gear and we watched them tee off in the distance. It was lovely and quiet and the greens looked immaculate.

Mike emerged from the building saying he'd had a good interview and would know by the middle of next week whether he was successful or not. The hours suited us very well as he had differing start times of around 6am-7am and a finish time of between 1pm and 3pm so it would fit in with me when I go back to work.

At about 1pm I walked around to Michelle's house and went into the garden through her gate. Sue was already there as she had been doing their garden, and we sat with a cold drink and delicious cakes and had a really good chat. It was lovely to relax and soak up the sunshine and Michelle's garden was looking beautiful.

I was there until about 4.30pm and went home to phone Richmond Village Care Home. I'd spoken to one of the managers there briefly, just before we took Mike to his interview and I was keen to find out prices for my parents. He said they would have to be split up with my Dad on a floor for frail residents. My Mum could then go into an assisted living apartment but she would be able to see my Dad throughout the day. When he told me the prices, I nearly fell off the sofa - £900 a week for my Mum, not including £20 an hour for carers to make sure she took her medication, plus between £1400-£1500 a week for my Dad depending on his needs! That's ruled that out then!

When Sophie returned from work we sat and had a chat in the conservatory with some delicious crisps I'd bought in Beckworth and then we retired to the lounge to watch 90 Day Fiance with a glass of wine. I still can't get used to the fact that Keith is unable to go to the pub on a Friday at the moment!