A week on from my first coronavirus vaccine shot and, mercifully, no negative side affects have thus far manifested. Thankfully, there’s been no reoccurrence of the fleeting misconception I suffered a few hours after last week’s jab when mistakenly I’d notions of morphing into Scandinavian/British comedienne Sandi Toksvig. A tale I chronicled in greater detail within the narrative A Shot in the Arm.
Like yesterday, due to several more pressing engagements, I’ve not got an abundance of white space available to write today’s prose. Hopefully, though, Wednesday will prove as productive as Tuesday, when I crowbarred in two long dog walks, a pile of ironing, three loads of washing, a 600 word blog, along with a twenty mile round trip to my marital home to pick up some meds.
To clarify, as I’ve retired, I’m not complaining at this workload. Many individuals have equitable daily routines (chore wise) and also fit full-time employment into their day.
One of the two dog walks took place at Temple Newsam Park, which as were over that side of Leeds visiting the marital home, I concluded was an excellent locale to exercise Coco. As my lab/retriever buddy thoroughly enjoyed her wander around the huge estate with its large Jacobean house summit, wasn’t a bad call by yours truly.
The sandy coloured Lancashire lass embracing the Yorkshire way of life by meandering these aesthetically pleasing hills, grassland and forests ba t’at……. Mind you, as she usually departs the home without headwear, maybe I’m overthinking when claiming a lack of hat was her attempt at fitting in with the white rose county’s canine populous.
On her inaugural visit to this historic piece of West Yorkshire acreage, partly designed by renowned 18th century landscape designer Capability Brown, Coco gave a contented wag of the tail throughout. The lab/retriever sniffing her way around acres of new scents and sights, along with wallowing in the attention afforded by ne’er afore seen dogs and humans.
Foolishly, I made yesterday’s journey to Tempsy without car seat covers, consequently my automobiles once grey seating now bears a ghastly brown hue. A colour I believe the Dulux Paint chart describes as ‘Muddy Labrador Paws’. This upholstery tarnishing now necessitating a car valet prior to my planned sale of the aforementioned motor in the coming weeks.
GJ Strachan commences this paragraph after a break to drop off a mixture of clothing and chocolates for my mother at a West Yorkshires hospital where she’s resided for the past month following affliction by stroke.
Coco joined me on the trip to make brown any part of my passenger seat still displayed it’s original grey colour, along with ramping up her plan to impair the hearing in by barking raucously in my left lug hole. On arrival, walking with me to the entrance door of the hospital wing where my mum is currently in situ.
Any passing medical staff at the entrance must’ve been grateful they were wearing full PPE when approached by the lovely lady. This protective gear negating against the well-meaning kisses and slobber from the excitable, yet adorable, labrador.
Coco and my departure following the handing of my mum’s possessions to an affable ward clerk at the entrance; but not before Cokes cottoned onto the medics weren’t gonna feed her.
I can’t read Coco’s mind, but I took to the look of disgust aimed at the doctors and nurses who’d not plying her with a treat to mean “Thank god vets aren’t as tight arsed with dog biscuits as doctors….. Can we go to the vets, I’m feeling a little hoarse”…… Or it may’ve been a little horse!….. My pooch mind reading skills aren’t what they were.
Anyhow, I best leave at this juncture of the narrative, I’m feeling a Sandi Toksvig moment coming on!!
