[FLYING BANANA]

.......................... from London. My niece phoned to tell me that her dad, my brother in law, is in hospital. He fell down the stairs in the house and has badly broken his ankle. Been in hospital, Barnet General, since last Monday and will not be home till this Wednesday. The reason they won’t let home any earlier is the house needs to be cleaned and tidied up before he can come home.

Because of the state of the house Laura has had to get professional cleaners in. My brother in law is a hoarder, he does not throw anything out. All the flyers, leaflets that come through the letterbox he keeps. It has taken the cleaners along with Laura and her boyfriend Ollie 2 days to get the front room, kitchen and downstairs loo cleaned. It has cost Laura £1,000 just to hire the cleaners. But then Michael can afford it.

Laura has also had to hire carers to come in 3 times a day to help Michael once he is home. She was very distraught over the phone not because of the accident but of the stress this is causing her.
Ollie has brought the spare bed downstairs and is in the front room. There is a washbasin in the downstairs loo so he has no need to go upstairs for anything.

I felt quite sorry for Laura. I know her dad can be stubborn old so n so, takes after his father for being stubborn. But his father was never a hoarder and he kept the 4 bedroomed house clean right into his 90’s. He only stopped after he had heart failure then his daughter, Val, took on the job.

The other news from London is that Richard’s ex-wife has passed away following the stroke and then contracting COVID-19. As for Elizabeth she is still breathing on her own, she has not been told the news of her mother’s passing.
No news about Roger, no idea where he is. I have tried his mobile number but the line goes dead after a couple of rings.

Other than that life goes on down here. I’m still going out on my walks, but am thinking on getting an E-bike so I can go that bit further. I’ll not be going on any of the major roads but sticking to the local roads or venturing into the dark side occasionally.
As the weather has been gorgeous for the last week I have been gardening. Put some new plants in, repainted all the trellises and the gate. Decking is still to be done. Hoping to get a sprayer to do that job.

Cars are behaving themselves. Banana’s 17th birthday today.

Hopefully we can meet up at some point in the near future. Till then keep safe.

Thanks for reading.