A misquote from Samuel Johnson

 Dear Marmite

It has been over a week since I last wrote to you. I am sure you must be in fine fettle and still enjoying life at its gentle pace. Over here I have been busy but I am not too sure what has taken up my time. The hours morph into days and the days into weeks and all I can think about is how the weather has turned.

As August turned into September we had glorious sun and summer warmth but now that September is turning to October there is a permanent chill in the air and we have had a few very miserable days. It is all we Brits seem to talk about. Even my English friends in France have weather on their mind. So it is not only English gentlemen that discuss whether the weather be hot or cold, bright or cloudy, windy or calm - women do it too.

Whatever the weather, I still go out on my bike. The other day I was nearly blown off it. Pedalling into a high wind was hell. I was well and truly puffed out and all this on top of my daily dip in the pool to boot. In contrast, I went for a two-hour jaunt around the villages with Nasser yesrterday and it was like a summer day when you were not shadowed by trees. 

We are also over the Equinox and that means the days are getting shorter. It isn't quite like Singapore where the sun goes down and it is instantly dark, there is a twilight period so when the sun goes down around 7pm it really does start to get dark around 6:15 and I really do feel that winter is just around the corner - brrrrrrrr.

There is one thing that I do miss from the old days in Britain. That is the weather forecast on tele. Michael Fish, the presenter, wove a tale of fiction about what we could all expect weatherwise the following day. The forecast became as much a part of conversation as the actual weather in those days. 

He even made it as a worldwide celebrity in October 1987 when he said that England was not going to experience a hurricane and then we had a storm that was in effect a hurricane. I wasn't even in the country then. I was living in a part of the world that has a hurricane season. Michael Fish's fame made it to The Bahamas. For a humble weatherman, that is some feat. 

Anyway. the autumn sun is out today and it really does fill me with joy to see it. I think with all my time living away from this misty Isle, I have taken the sun for granted. Now my home is England, I promise never to do so again. 

Despite your very thick, silky fur coat appreciate what you have with Rita in a lovely warm country. 

Take care, Marms... I miss you every single day

Love

XXX

It doesn't add up

 Dear Marmite,

I am seriously concerned. I think my mind is failing me. There are a number of reasons for this and this morning was just one example. I went to the pool to do a 2.5km continuous swim. That is 100 lengths. When I finished my watch said that I had done 3.1km. Now I thought I was counting the 50 laps quite methodically but obviously my mind wasn't on the job. It just didn't add up.

My Chinese friend, Carol, once told me I was good at maths for someone who is not Chinese! That was a compliment. Now I can't count to 50 accurately. This has worried me so I asked Danielle if she thought I was having early onset dementia. 

She looked it up on Google and said there were 10 signs to look out for. However, when she was reading only two were mentioned. One of the signs is when you put things in odd places and forget where you have put them. I like to think of this as a kettle in the fridge moment and I can't remember ever doing this. That doesn't mean that I have never done it though and in itself that could be worrying. 

Marms, in human years you are heading for 100 and so are considerably older than I am. Apart from looking for the most comfortable place to snooze, what else do you think about these days? I expect all your whims and desires are met when you nudge Rita with your paw. There probably is very little to worry about in your life. Do dogs get dementia, by the way?

I am also in the market for a gun. I think this has become quite a popular acquisition as anybody with a gun can say they are grouse shooting ( sorry Margy!  - I won't aim at you). If one has a gun, they can gather in groups larger than 6 in the UK. I reckon a gun for me is especially necessary as my mathematical skills are failing me in my dotage. Perhaps a deerstalker and plus fours would add a bit of authenticity to my excuse! Any thoughts?

I went with Danielle for her 20 week scan last Tuesday. Besides seeing my future grandchild doing somersaults. I was impressed at how much clearer scans are than they were in my day. We are only talking a quarter of a century here and I remember very clearly what prenatal care was like then and how primitive it would seem compared to now.

The bump has a name now. Danielle thinks she is having a boy and I think she is having a girl. I was wrong with every one of my children so it will probably be Billy Bump and not Billie Bump. To celebrate, Richard and I had a bottle of Billy Bosch - a South African white! 

I will have to remind myself not to drop Billie Bump on its head when I have to look after it, or for that matter, forget where I put it down. I thought retirment was going to be easy. Now I am not so sure!

Missing you as always.

Hugs and stuff

Love

XXX

Granny with Goggles

 Dear Marmite

Team Marmite!

I am back in the swim. This is not quite like our swims across Tanjong Beach on Sentosa, or even the little trips across to the small man-made island and back. As much as you used to love a trip to the beach, this is different. This swimming is going up and down the length of an indoor pool for just over an hour. I know you wouldn't last the course. I am sure you could not imagine what this type of swimming is like either.

Our swim at the Beach

Let me try to explain. First of all, because of COVID I have to have a membership to the Sports Centre so that I can book a slot to swim. Places are limited so this involves a bit of planning. I can't pop round to the pool on a whim. I book early morning slots - as you know, I am an extreme Lark in that respect. 

So with a coffee inside me for fuel, I walk the 200 odd meters to the pool, programme my watch to the swimming activity and set off. I have been doing this since the end of July and through August I did enough lengths to get me across the English Channel. My aim for September is to swim a marathon and I am well on my way already. Doing about 2.5km a session adds up.

The lane swimming at the pool is organised so that the fast swimmers head for the lanes on the left and the plodders have about a third of the pool on the right to do circuits. Over time, I have realised that it is my demographic that inhabits the righthand side of the pool. They drift along with their heads high and remarkably keep their hairstyles in tact. Some even wear goggles but never dip their faces near the water. 

The people I share my swim with are usually youngish men. So as a Granny with goggles I set demands on myself to swim as fast as I can. Today I managed to get a sweat up chasing a rather nice young man up and down the lengths.  I am also getting to know a few people well enough to pass the time of day with and the staff who work at the place are really very nice.

What swimming does to me!

In the course of a swim I come across more than 6 people - the new limit for meeting people except if you are in a classroom, at a funeral or a wedding. I have discussed this with a friend and we are thinking of having a "wedding" celebration just so that we don't get into trouble for meeting up with more than 6 people. 

The newspapers say that experts are predicting a difficult winter with COVID and Boris might even have to cancel Christmas! These same experts must also believe that the virus is less virulent at weddings, funerals and in classrooms because more people are allowed to gather in these places. It is clearly a very selective strain that makes it safe to eat out in a pub near strangers but not to share space with close friends.  Faith in the pronouncements of the PM diminished to zero this Dominic's comings and goings yet this man is still in a job. What can I say?

I bemoan the size of my little world. This extends to a pub quiz, food parcel deliveries, doing the Community Orchard gardening, swimming and shopping for food. I know that when I think about my life in Singapore, it is the wonderful people who I count as friends that I miss. Marmite, it is you I miss most.

I don't have that friendship group here in MK. I also know that the life I had in Singapore is no longer what it was. For many of my friends, their time in Singapore is also running out. The place I worked for is shrinking too. Thank goodness for modern technology that keeps me connected to a big world beyond. 

It was lovely being vicariously part of Team Marmite last Saturday! You, Marms were in your element surrounded by old friends.