errands

 Monday is now past, it is Tuesday. Breakfaast, the morning Paradise in the small flat with the birds and the breeze. When that is finished, turn on the small garden pump for the water from the old well and water all the plants in the courtyard. The courtyard is not ideal for planting, it is too dark, and it is floored with concrete which makes it necessary to water the plants even more regularly than otherwise,

Water all the vines, and the trees, all desperately reaching for the sunlight twenty feet above. They will have to grow between now and September, and then they will wilt back, all but the trees.

And then return upstairs, and wait, and sleep a bit. This mornings work started at five, sleeping "plein air" causes this, all this waking up to first light and birdsong.

At eight in the morning go down to the place where the car is kept and take it to the filling station. Fill the tank and check the air in the tyres. They all need air, they are on the soft side. That is bad for mileage. Take the car back to the parking spot, avoiding a sleepy looking gent in a sports car who is driving British style around the corner. That would indeed have been a waste of petrol, and two cars lost. The mutt swerved over to his own side of the road before any such mishap.

The new secondhand lens bought yesterday, it has a discrepancy between that which is rangefinder focus and that which is the actual onscreen focus. It is not to be reconciled. This is too bad, it would have been to good to be true. Return it to the shop for checking, They are friendly, and they will check it and speak to the manufacturer to find out about possible causes of this discrepancy, The discrepancy is there with both cameras and is not there with the other lenses. It must be the new lens itself. What a shame! Perhaps it will be possible to do a deal with the repairs, then it will be as good as new again. Maybe, we will see.

And what other things remain to be done now? Speak to the son, he is worried about the car insurance covering his friends if they share the driving on his upcoming trip to Hamburg. Make a serious attempt to speak to the insurance company on the phone, but after half an hours musical fragments and please do hold the line messages just give up it is nerve racking. Go to the motor club and extend the membership to include him, in case he needs assistance on this journey, his first long journey by car. Ask them about the insurance, but they have no idea. The woman is helpful, but she say that every insurance company is different.

After a calming cup of coffee on the way, return home and give the son his papers. Then try the insurance company again. This time it works, and inside five minutes the information is given.

Go down to the kitchen and make a sandwich, then start the dishwasher.

Now it is early afternoon already. Leave the house, go to the hairdressers. She has time, this is lucky. End up with a tight haircut to be combed back for a change. There is enough hair to not make any kind of a combover necessary, ask for trouble combing it back to show off the receeding hair line and all the hairs standing up, She shortens the eyebrows too, that makes it all less shaggy. On the ensuing walk meet the building worker, she is talking to her colleagues. They are all joking and making fun of each other.

Another circuit of the town, and finally, back at home ring up the hospital to check that everything is in order. It is, and there is nothing more to be done until August.

Then settle down to write a postcard, it has to be printed first. At that point discover that the pen does not take well to the back of that fancy paper. With some trouble get the ink to stick to the paper, and then leave the house again and go to the post office only to discover that the machine for the stamps is out of service. Hurry to the department store who have a small sub-postoffice. Arrive there just in time. Buy a stamp and return to the main post office and post the card. It is a thank-you card for the book.

Return home, clear out the dishwasher and make a cup of coffee.