U3A Week Plus

The second week of every month is my busiest. I have a U3A committee meeting on Monday morning after which I prepare notices for the Thursday general meeting and make sure the website is updated. The longer I’m in the role of chairman the more onerous it becomes, I think people expect more of my and as a typical “people pleaser” I struggle to say no. My 3 year tenure comes to an end in December although I’ve agreed to stay on the committee for at least another year to mentor the new chairman.

This week we’ve had some heavy rain and I did contemplate knocking up an Ark but the house was never under threat unlike some parts of Lincolnshire. The wet weather caused me to stay indoors and directed me to having a clothes clear out. There were shirts that I wore for work and jumpers that I haven’t worn for many years. These have all been bagged up and are ready to go to the Hospice charity shop.

The vegetable plot has had it’s failures. It seems I’m sowing my parsnip seeds too early because the same thing happened last year. None of the seed has germinated so I’ve weeded the area and will resow in the hope that something grows. Gardening is about never giving up.

The dating scene is jogging along but I do find it frustrating. I get “Likes” and “Winks” from people who are several hours drive away. If I don’t take it too seriously and don’t fret when I message a real beauty who then ignores me it can be fun. It was exactly the same as a teenager but then I got blanked face to face. I’m currently in a dialogue with someone from California who spends a lot of time in the UK. She’s a real looker, allegedly owns two ranches and grows herbs for the beauty industry. It’s entertaining and better than watching TV.

Talking of TV – Clive has sent me some of his artwork. This is digital painting that runs on a computer and displayed on a screen on the wall so with the help of Nick the screen is up and the art work arrived on a Solid State Disk through the post. It’s fascinating to watch the images build and change, brush stroke by brush stroke.

I’m anticipating the arrival of my bees next weekend. It’s an odd mixture of excitement and anxiety – a new hobby and no experience; what could possibly go wrong, other than killing 20,000 bees.

My fitness regime continues – two sessions at the gym this week where my personal trainer (I love saying that “my personal trainer”) puts me through my paces until I can do more. My flexibility and muscle tone is slowly improving but I need to eat less between meals, I’m afraid that’s just comfort eating. After a day of gardening yesterday I was out on my bike at 06:45 and completed a 10 mile circuit in 48 minutes. It was indeed a beautiful start to the day and after a shower I had a croissant for breakfast with a large mug of Earl Grey tea sitting outside in the sunshine.