Thursday 4th Jul

Up early this morning to get breakfast ready for the eldest, who is meant to be off on a school trip to London. Unfortunately she’s not feeling well and we decide she’d better give it a miss. This turns out to be a good decision as at about 8.30am she is sick for the first time. By then Mrs P and the youngest have left, and I’m due to head off to the library. She tells me she’s feeling better and heads off to the sofa with her duvet, and I take the car to the library, just in case. Mid-morning I get a text saying “unwell again”, and so it’s straight home for me - having given my apologies at the library – to be a doting father.

When I get in she looks ok again, and so after a quick coffee I embark on the cleaning before lunch, and after lunch I get stuck into the vacuuming, halfway through which she is ill again. We’ve an appointment at the doctors that I get her to, but when we go to the chemist they don’t have what she’s been prescribed. The next chemist doesn’t either, and they phone round two others which don’t. At this point I have what I hope is a good idea, and we hop back in the car and go to the pharmacy at the local hospital, where fortunately they do have the prescribed medicine.

We get home and the youngest comes in hot and sweaty, as the afternoon has warmed up nicely, though he is still wearing his blazer. Why he couldn’t carry it to help cool himself down a bit I’ve no idea. I get the ironing done, and then make tea. The eldest is passing on tea, but is thankfully feeling better.

After tea Mrs P and I sit out in the garden for a bit. I really do feel that we need to make the most of the few warm summer evenings that we get. I notice at this time that the wheel I repaired on the garden bench has broken again. Who’d have guessed, hey? After an evening perambulation, I notice there is little on the telly after the youngest and I have watched the Tour De France highlights. The dull summer schedules are here. Talking of the Tour, or as the French call it, Le Tour. It is in England next year, and my friend called me to say it passes near to his house, in fact going up a long hill we cycled up a couple of years ago. We took it in low gears extremely slowly, such is our ability. I expect Le Tour will go up it at a rate of knots. Showing why they do it for a living, and why I’m a house husband. By the way in case you were wondering, the car is still working properly today, so far so good.

Yours definitely not cycling for a living.

Jay