3rd November 2022 Don't be such a grout!

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 Thursday 3rd November 47F/8C. Cloud and clear. Windy again. NOT the Thursday cooking class today. It is every other week and I forgot again!! Idiot!

 It is now seven months since my wife died. In that time I have changed and hopefully improved many things about the house. Yet I have made made it infinitely more untidy. Storage remains a serious problem for such random items. Cardboard home removal boxes are not ideal. They do not stack when loaded with heavy but fragile items.

 In seven months I have gone from having only my wife for company. For literally years on end. To knowing around forty people as regular contacts. Socialising is good. Vital to my survival. Vital to the self-discipline required for looking after myself properly. 

 Though I haven't escaped the constant sadness at the loss of my wife. I still remain in a twilight zone of half-disbelief that she has actually gone. Always glancing upstairs to see if she is seated in the TV chair on the landing. My calling out: "Only me!" When I come back home. Even such negativity is strangely comforting.

 7.15 Light enough for a walk now. Winter jacket I think. The wind makes it feel much colder as the temperatures sink only slowly. I need pockets for my hands and probably a hood.

  I was more comfortable today in my winter jacket. I had the hood up for the stretch into the southerly headwind. This provides a microclimate in front of my face. There were a few glimpses of the sun between dark layers but the cloud is thickening towards full overcast. A crash test dummy was playing with her hair and steering with only one hand. So that she almost brushed me on a blind corner. She should concentrate on her driving. Her one handed hair styling was crap!

 10.45. Returned from a wasted journey to the half hour distant cooking class. Shopped on the way home. I would have had to go out shopping again if I hadn't. I am going to do the tile grouting in the hall. So I bought two large sponges. 

 The grouting is delayed. Two tiles rocked and lifted as I walked on them. The adhesive had adhered to the floor but not the tiles. I was easily able to scrape the floor because the tile cement hadn't fully hardened. Then I went over knocking on all the rest but they seem firm enough. 

 14.20 I have been grouting both before and after lunch. The last step was smearing the excess grouting material with a damp sponge. This brings up the grout to an even surface with the tiles. Where mechanical application may not leave it even. The grout will now be left to dry for half an hour. Before the tiles are wiped off repeatedly with a damp sponge. Which is rinsed in clean water as often as necessary.   

 Dinner was rice with diced chicken and mushrooms. I couldn't find any Ben's medium curry sauce anywhere. So I tried it without. Edible, but rather boring. I added salt to the rice and pepper to the frying pan. I racked what is left of my brains but couldn't find a solution for a sauce. Tinned tomatoes did not appeal in this context.

 

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