A beautiful tribute to a dying man

https://www.inspiremore.com/richard-gill-composer/

This is one of the nicest things I have ever seen. A few days ago Richard Gill, a much-loved music educator and composer, lay dying in his home. His friends gathered outside to farewell him. Go to the link and scroll down for the video. Very touching...

A hard night's day

I'll start typing while I'm waiting for the photo to come through. Both cats stayed out all night and came in for breakfast looking very guilty. Mr Naughty must have had a hard night, as he hopped onto a chair and fell into an exhausted sleep the minute he'd eaten his breakfast! Just look at him, three hours later!

Yesterday Mrs Polly Wolly sat beside the pool and watched me swim for the whole 30 minutes! I was surprised the other day when Mr Naughty stared at me in amazement. Just goes to show animals experience things much like us. For them it was something entirely new, seeing a human in a pool of water, and they just couldn't take their eyes off me!

I mentioned in my last post that I was going to catch up on emails. Well, I didn't. Can't drag myself away from the  jigsaw puzzles.

I've realised that Emma has inherited my discalculia.

Dyscalculia /ˌdɪskælˈkjuːliə/ is difficulty in learning or comprehending arithmetic, such as difficulty in understanding numbers, learning how to manipulate numbers, performing mathematical calculations and learning facts in mathematics. It is generally seen as the mathematical equivalent to dyslexia. It can occur in people from across the whole IQ range – often higher than average – along with difficulties with time, measurement, and spatial reasoning. Estimates of the prevalence of dyscalculia range between 3 and 6% of the population.

I started her with a tutor last week, but she really didn't understand Emma's difficulties, as she's used to tutoring top students aiming to get into selective high schools. I decided I'd do it myself, so every morning Emma comes downstairs at 7:30 and we do half an hour of maths together. Talk about difficult! I can barely do a single thing, so am very grateful everything is explained online. Last year I had a maths tutor myself, but have forgotten everything I learnt and am back to square one.

Hi Sandra! Good to read your comment.

First swim of the season

I don't know where time goes! I cannot believe it's so long since my last post. One reason is that I spend less time at the computer and more time watching Netflix. Last November when Manami moved out, she took the TV, so Philip got a new one, with a 55-inch screen, and that's fine for their very large, open space upstairs. But unfortunately it didn't work, so was replaced by a new one. Then the original one started to work again, so that left him with two big TVs. Recently he brought the second one down to me. My first reaction was how tasteless, a huge screen in a small room, but immediately it was turned on, I loved it!!!! I am glued to Netflix and have watched 'The Crown' twice, as well as absolute rubbish like the worst of the 'X Factor', etc.

The cat story is developing well. From two very scared, non-touchable cats in June, I now have a very cuddly Mr Naughty, who abandons himself to cuddles and caresses as often as possible, and Mrs Polly Wolly, who actually allowed me to stroke her back and tail for the first time this morning. She frequently comes close and even rubbed against my legs yesterday. They are both allowed out during the day and are quite happy to come in for dinner in the evening, and stay inside all night. So far as I know, they don't ever go out of the yard.

I kept my bedroom door closed for months, so there was no chance Mr Naughty could wee on my bed again, but forgot the other day, and caught him asleep on the bed, with no puddle. Since then he comes into my bedroom whenever he wants to and there have been no accidents. In fact, neither he nor Mrs Polly Wolly use the litter tray at all now - they both prefer the garden, which makes life a lot easier for me.

This morning I had my first swim of the season and Mr Naughty looked on in amazement when he saw me in the water! He couldn't quite believe his eyes. I love swimming and plan to hop into the pool every day from now to the end of April. As you can see in the photo, the surrounding trees have thickened up and look wonderful. I usually dread summer, but am determined from now on to convince myself I love it, and will spend uncomfortably hot days in the water, therefore having nothing to complain about.

I've got so far behind with emails that today I plan to sit at the keyboard all day to catch up. We'll see...another distraction for me is the online jigsaw puzzles, and sometimes I do several at a sitting. Try it yourself:  https://thejigsawpuzzles.com