Thursday in the Sun

Today dear readers of Wear and Dao the blog, dawned warm and sunny at 23°! Which was rather hot outside on the bench awaiting delivery of a bookcase from the British Heart Foundation in Bishop Auckland. Of course as regular readers will know by now a library at A Place to Be is always in need of good books of a philosophical, psychological nature or enlightening books of any kind although my kind caring friend has suggested that the bathroom and her bed are no place to store them.

Your old blogger enjoyed the freedom that his mobility scooter gave him today and visited several shops as well as the hub to meet up with friends always willing to share philosophical discourse. And for the second course a wonderful omelette made with a goose egg purchased from the local greengrocer made with my own fair hands dear readers as my friend was out for lunch with June another member of the Wheels to Meals team.

A visit in the afternoon from the Angel of Stanhope turned into a bit of a tea party  or should I say cream tea party , with talk of old Wills saying that all the world's a stage with each of us playing a part and the less than kind and caring nurse pondering which of us was the mad hatter ? An enjoyable time dear readers was had by all with the Angel of Stanhope leaving to complete her 10000 steps for the day and your old blogger and friend setting to to fill the shelves of the new bookcase . Not a bad life eh ? Tomorrow a visit from a specialist pulmonary nurse is on the agenda and later picking up the grandchildren with another nurse and a visit to Rise for artisan bread and a healthy supper , and perchance a cake or two .

Wednesday in Corbridge

A bright and beautiful morning in Stanhope dear readers of Wear and Dao the blog sees your old blogger in summer attire  having a short walk from the centre of the village having purchased a gift of a plant for a Polish flower who had invited your old blogger and friend to her house in Corbridge .

Being aware of our capacity to take wrong roads despite hints from Google, Siri , and online maps we decided to make our way on a route we were told would take 32 minutes an hour and a quarter early . The journey across the moors went smoothly dear readers and until we had travelled over Corbridge
all was well , several errors later and the kind help of a stranger who turned out to be the neighbour and friend of our hostess saw us arriving early, perplexing our hostess who had kindly arranged a get together for your old blogger with friends he had first met in Hexham some time ago and had hoped that they would arrive prior to your blogger so as to complete the surprise .

A wonderful gathering it was indeed , discussions of a philosophical nature interspersed with a wonderful meal of smoked haddock risotto with roasted vegetables and trifle for desert . Let's just say dear readers that having had his fill your old blogger took time for a short siesta in the beautiful garden his hostess and husband had spent so much time and effort to make following the grand conversion of a house that will hopefully serve as a happy loving home for themselves and their two boys.

Tomorrow there are plans for a lunch between the kind caring friend and June now organising Wheels to Meals. Meanwhile a team from the Red Cross charity shop in Bishop Auckland are scheduled to arrive with a bookcase for the house ... books being somewhat of an obsession for your bibliophile old blogger!  In the afternoon Gillian the Angel of Stanhope arrives for afternoon tea of fruit scones with jam and clotted cream

Temperatures are set to soar so sitting outside the house is a pleasure. .. Do pop round if you fancy a cuppa .. that is if you're near Stanhope in Weardale, Northeast England dear readers.

Tuesday Solstice ...

Another lovely sunny day in Stanhope dear readers of Wear and Dao,  with a trip to the George and Dragon in Heighington with Wheels to Meals, not as a driver or organiser this time but a customer.  Due to the need to get back early we chose to use the car , many might say we missed out as there are those who enjoy the experience of stopping to pick up grandpa's and grannies from all sorts of crooks and crannies as all part of the social experience.

A long time has passed dear readers since your old blogger last drove the bus and the carer enjoyed her role as passenger assistant and many of those who used to travel with us have taken this life's final journey and others have found other means to combat isolation by choosing to live with others in care home settings.
 
Life goes on dear readers with or without us and new members of Wheels to Meals were evident and appeared to enjoy the experience as they surely should have given the fine menu , your old blogger enjoyed vegetarian lasagne with chips and salad , others near by had fish and chips , scampi and chips and liver and bacon . No meal is complete without dessert dear readers and desserts they were a plenty , Apple pie with custard or ice-cream , chocolate gateau,  banana pie and my own choice Eton mess ! With kindness offered by John a new volunteer driver and Gillian the Stanhope Angel and passenger assistant I'm sure the new members will go on many further outings and grow to enjoy them as much as the old crew once did.

Prior to the Heighington trip we called into the travel agents in Stanhope to ascertain the optimal place to spend a few weeks in the sun in winter. It seems Spain and Portugal are still insisting on all the covid nonsense so Greece looks the best option and Crete to be precise.

Tomorrow we go to Corbridge to visit Marta in her new house and have lunch, philosophy and psychology for the day. Still, that's tomorrow which may never arrive ... who on earth knows the future for sure?   All we have is here and now (Wear and Dao! ), the past has passed and anyway is usually written by the winners and the future is contingent on how we live in the present moment. ..

Thats the Power of Now dear readers of Wear and Dao.

Monday in Bishop Auckland

Monday 20th June 2022 started warm and sunny and got warmer and sunnier as the day progressed dear readers of Wear and Dao.  Tomorrow's the longest day and shortest night of the year in the northern hemisphere ... the summer solstice.

The day began early as usual, with coffee at 5 and breakfast of porage and toast as the blogger and his kind carer and dear friend planned their day, involving a trip to Bishop Auckland to find book cases at the Red Cross Shop, then to her dear daughter nearby. Returning via the shops for essential supplies, lunch was served of pasta and mayonnaise with peas, sweet corn and smoked salmon as we prepared to sit outside in the sun. A philosopher friend arrived on the off chance of finding us in and sat with us discussing questions philosophical from the Bom perspective ... Bom being the pre-Buddhist religion. Of course Buddhism is well known, Bom less so, so the Dalai Lama is often quoted as the philosopher par-excellence with his simple message "Just be kind, whatever religion (or none) you adhere to".

After lunch shorts and sandals were donned for suntanning then calls made to Age UK re the attendance allowance for the somewhat disabled old blogger. . without success. Supper of scrambled goose egg on toast proved light and nutritious before an early night around 8 ready for coffee at 5.

Tomorrow's the summer solstice and a trip with Wheels to Meals at Heighington near Darlington with old friends arriving for lunch about 12 noon.

Sunday Beamish Brass Bands

Well well dear readers of Wear and Dao , having decided to visit Beamish just for the chance of a ride on the Carousel guess what your old blogger and his kind nurse friend were met with ( The clue is in the title ) yes , a brass band competition , split into three parts with only 1 entry in parts 1 and 3 . The kind judge to ensure the audience did not believe it was a given that the only entry would pick up the trophy gave  a masterful critique both pointing out a few errors and congratulating the band for coming first .

Having waited a goodly time to hear God save the queen , the well known hymn Praise my soul the King of heaven and a stirring marching piece that got your old blogger tapping his feet on the mobility scooter; your old blogger decided to miss the spectacle of 9 further bands in section two in favour of a delicious Sunday Nut Roast Dinner. Believe it or not dear readers the traditional sweet of ice cream was not taken for fear of breaking the mobility scooter following the huge lunch and in Any case her indoors needed exercise not extra calories and so we walked , well when I say we I mean she , up the hill to the shop where goodies where purchased including 2 cakes, one for our friend and neighbour Jules and the other for us ... a rich fruit cake.

Supper at home is pasta sauce from yesterday and dessert fruit cake and ice cream.

Tomorrow there's not much going on except paperwork (passport renewal for her and driving licence renewal for your old blogger).

Such is life in Stanhope dear readers  ... not a bad life at all I'd say!
And so life unfolds as Summer heads for Autumn then Winter when 3 weeks in Tavira is planned ...

Saturday Sojourn

Today dear readers of Wear and Dao the blog, after the usual strong black coffee to spark the engine and porage to fill the tummy plus toast with marmalade and more coffe, your slightly disabled old blogger and his kind caring friend prepared for the arrival of Bill our philosopher friend coming for lunch at 1 with the old  blogger doing the cooking for a change - pasta bolognese with garlic bread by the way - while the kind caring friend had a rest.

The meal was pronounced to be delicious and nutritious and the dessert of tinned peaches with ice cream also. After a cuppa Bill and your old blogger set off in the mobility scooter to buy some goose eggs and other things, whilst greeting friends and neighbours to discuss issues of the day.

Bill departed around 4 having shared the Meaning of Life and the Nature of Reality yet again ... it's a rhetorical question anyway.What's your definition by the way dear readers?

Tomorrow a trip to Beamish Museum is planned with the weather forecast fine and sunny and lots of historical context to put our philosophical and psychological viewpoint in its rightful place.

Thursday at the coast ...

Well well dear readers of Wear and Dao,  what a day yesterday turned out to be. We arrived at Holy Island with the causeway open all day until 1430 so the day to look about the place. After a cup of tea and snack at one of the many eateries we headed up towards the castle and looked round there, then went on to Bamburgh Castle rather Bamburgh itself for lunch at the rather posh Lord Crewe Hotel where we had dressed crab, salad and hand cut chips.

Returning home to Stanhope via the coastal route took just a couple of hours and we were rather knackered to be honest and sun burnt too!

Today the plan was to drive over to Rothbury and Cragside again with a warm and sunny forecast and enjoy the rhodedendrons again, this time with the mobility scooter to assist the kind caring friend who can walk without pushing your old blogger about in a wheelchair.

As usual a delicious, nutritious lunch was on the menu(cheese and onion pasty with baked beans for the old blogger and tuna wrap plus salad for the kind caring friend, and books and other gifts were purchased. Tomorrow Bill the philosopher and friend is coming for lunch to explore more philosophy, the Meaning of Life and The Nature of Reality etc etc ... Let's see how that goes, with pasta Bolognese on the menu!