September catch up

 This blog post is a catch up for September so will be a quick overview of activities during last month. You will have to look at my other blogs for the rest of the summer! As I started writing this the rain was falling straight down outside the window as it had done for much of that last week. I've been saying that 'It will do the garden good' for a few weeks now! Here are the main events that we took part in during September: Roy's Rudge Club 'fun day' jointly with the Douglas vintage motorcycle club at the rugby ground at Stow on the Wold; the Arts Society Cotswold monthly Zoom lecture on art and music; the Malvern (Three Counties) flea and collector's market; The Arts Society Cotswolds Zoom coffee morning featuring an introduction to Crannach the Elder and a modern Norwegian  installation artist (I would have to look the name up!). Last weekend but one (just as the petrol crisis hit home) we attended The Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust Members' Festival at Lower Woods, near Wickwar. We also went on a U3A 'Walk With Pub Lunch' in the South Cerney area finishing up at The Eliot Arms. (not on the same weekend!)

U3A Walk by Severn Canal Locks

Roy and I did a car boot sale in Quenington in September which turned out to be our last one. We decided not to attempt the October event because of inclement weather and also because the covid infection rates are going back up, especialy among school age children of whom there are a lot at the car boots. At least he has been able to clear a few things out of the garage that he wanted to do.
We had a meal out with our son and his girlfriend who have now settled into their new house in Bishop's Cleeve - they are enjoying the fact that they can do what they want there now they are not in rented accommodation anymore. We also spent an afternoon at Roy's sister's in Cheltenham where Roy dismantled a garden seat that Sue's late husband had built there many years ago. We tidied the garden and gave her some hyacinths to plant in her small plot. Our garden still has some colour in it some of which is from potted geraniums placed in the flower beds which I will have to take inside when the frosts come, and from yellow rudbeckia and some late roses. The buddlias are almost over now.

Of all these events I can recall best the Gloucestershire Wildlife Members Festival as it was only a week or so ago - the day that the fuel crisis began. We met at Lower Woods which is in the furthermost tip of South Gloucestershire and which is the largest group of ancient woodland in the south west. We had a group guided tour with a knowledgeable local warden who helped us to identify any wildlife that we came across and who explained about ash die back on the reserve. We had a vegan BBQ and listened to some talks about future goals of the Trust - there was some freshly pressed apple juice from an apple orchard on the site and we inspected their small collection of a variety of chicken breeds. There was also an entertainment for the children (of whom there were a lot) called The Muck Show, which I expect I can leave to your imagination. I also remember the walk around Greystones Farm where there is also a small cafe - we were lucky with the weather on both days.

Lower Woods river walk: GWT Members' Festival

Greystones Farm

In my U3A Book Circle we read Michelle Obama's biography 'Becoming' which was much about family life comparing her own childhood to that of her daughters growing up in The White House. I have also read during September:
English Pastoral by James Rebanks (winner of the Wainwright Prize 2021)
Square Haunting by Francesca Wade ( longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2021). It was about five women inhabitants of Mecklenburgh Square in London during the inter war period: Virginia Woolf; Dorothy L Sayers; HD; Eileen Power and Jane Ellen Harrison
Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake (winner of the Wainwright Prize 2021) Fascinating look at the world beneath our feet - fungi and their mycelium/s?
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam (longlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction 2021) Imaginative depiction of an end-of-the-world scenario.
Common Ground by Naomi Ishiguro. A 2021 novel about the friendship between two boys from different backgrounds.

Last week I attended my doctor's surgery to see the nurse for my annual asthma review which enables me to continue my prescription of inhalers which I use every day. At the same time I had a jab for the flu vaccine and a second one, in my other shoulder, for pneumonia (which I have had before) - I had sore shoulders for a couple of days, otherwise I am okay. My health, generably is okay but I am aware that my energy and stamina are not so good as they were so I have to pace myself and not overdo it. Social situations and conversations with others I find especially draining so I have to allow myself the next day to recover. My memory also is not what it once was but as both the kids have left home I suppose that it is not so important as it used to be. Apart from some aches and pains in my knees and fingers for which I take fairly regular painkillers all is well. I suppose I can't grumble especially in light of what other people have to put up with. I have a score of 10.4 for a cardivascular check from two years ago - just a bit higher that they would like as they don't worry about the score under ten. I suppose that means risk of heart attack or stroke. Also my cholesterol level was a little high two years ago also. They tried to get some blood out of my arm last Friday but failed so I have to go back there next Wednesday for them to have another go - this will then be tested again for cholesterol. I am suprised that there is any problem with that as I have been vegan for three years, but I believe that it can be hereditary.
I do a little work on the computer most mornings and process any orders that come in. Our regular Hermes driver must have moved on to other things and since then the collections have been unreliable. I am thinking of trying the Royal Mail collection service - I do not see the need for jumping in my car and driving to the nearest town every time I get an order - that is bad for the environment  and also impossible in this fuel crisis situation.
Anyway those are my little complaints for the month but I hope everything is well for anyone who might happen to read this,
All best wishes,
Julie