I just read that Val Doonican has died at the age of 88. When I was younger I was quite a fan of his, and my Mum used to tease me that I wrote an essay in junior school about him. We were asked to write about our favourite pop singer and I stated that I didn’t like pop music, but if I had to pick someone, it would be Val Doonican. Back then my Father listened to opera and he took me to see a rendition of Madame Butterfly, and Porgy and Bess which I thoroughly enjoyed. He also listened to a lot of Motown and definitely no pop music! I think 88 is a good innings…

Work has been sporadic with me being bored out of my brain on Tuesday and crazy busy on Thursday; so much so, that I didn’t have a cuppa until after 10am! WTF lol. We had some men in the office today testing all the potable appliances. I bet they were sorry they came to my office. They had to test 4 PC’s and a Mac, 40 laptops. 10 iPad cables and a few knick knacks that I keep locked away. They were in my office for ages. I’ve had to sort out app downloads for our iPads, and update the operating software. A man from IT rang me about a problem I was having and I was able to tell him that I’d managed to sort it out and had to explain to him what I’d done. I don’t have an 'i' anything, nor a smartphone, nor a Mac so this is all a learning curve and I was pleased with myself that I sorted it out without any help. He said I was ‘cool’ – blushes slightly. He’s also going to give me a Mac if I get to work on the same campus as him so I can learn more about them. I’m not sure if I should be grateful… lol.

The beginning of the week was so tiresome that I booked Friday off, and now the work is coming in. It’s always the way, but I’ll enjoy the day off anyway. I’m going to go for a nice drive, on my own. Do some shopping, on my own. And depending on the weather, I may do some gardening too, on my own, though the dog does like to help. If I show him some weeds or grass coming up through the patio slabs and tell him he’s a good boy, then he scratches or tugs at the weeds and pulls them out. I kid you not! He gets lots of praise for doing it, and sometimes a biscuit too. I have to keep an eye on him because some flowers are also coming through the cracks and I like that. My garden isn’t pristine, nor should it be so some flowers growing through the cracks in the slabs is to be encouraged, within reason.

As I mentioned on Jenny’s page, the weather here has been ridiculously hot and humid for the UK: 29C on Tuesday, 30C on Wednesday, and 18C by 08.30 Thursday. We’ve had a very small amount of rain, and we’re on a weather warning now for severe rain and thunder from Friday night. Oh I hope so! Last night I slept with the windows open all night which I don’t usually do – we’ve had a bat in the bedroom in 2 previous houses so I find it hard to relax with a window open now. They like me! Scary… The full moon kept me awake a little, and the heat, but I didn’t sleep too badly, all things considered. Later this month we have a second full moon which will be a ‘blue moon.’

Have a great weekend. I’m looking forward to my 3 day weekend. 2 more weeks, and then I’m having a week off. No plans; just going with the flow :)