Over in a dusty corner, in an alcove, I found this Vermont Teddy Bear. It also had a Happy Birthday star 🌟. I did not put that with the bear just yet, to see if Gigi remembers.

Here is the full complement of Gigi’s Stuffies.

What do you do with your junk mail? I let it pile up, remorseful that I haven’t acted on it. Mostly it seems like charitable solicitations, insurance offers, and flyers for tours of the Rhineland, Antarctica,Egypt. Seems like the only place I don’t get a tour offer about is the Gulag Archipelago.

I spent the afternoon, whittling down this pile. It is quite a tedious chore. And there is more to be done. But I’ve just had enough.

I fixed homemade macaroni & cheese,only my recipe is more like cheese and macaroni. I don’t really know much cheddar I grated, but it was a lot. I use light cream in the sauce too. And regular old starchy macaroni, with plenty of gluten. Normally I avoid wheat, but exceptions exists, like for homemade Mac & Cheese.

So it is 1900 Hrs, 7:00 PM. Dinner has been prepared, served, and cleaned up. J is in bed, tired from work, sore also. She appreciates what I do. I found another of her stuffies, put it on the bed. She is grateful for the clean sheets.

I’m watching Kenneth Clark’s Civilisation, the segment on Erasmus, The Reformation, Dürer, Montaigne, and Shakespeare. Next up will be The Counter-Reformation.

My body is aching, yearning for love. It is still a ways away.

Later.

Yes! I went back to sleep after my 0330 wake up. I sat down only to discover that England and Australia had sat down for a spot of lunch. Then, to no one’s surprise, there came rain. England, you know. I surfed around, picked up the latest news on the Catholic clergy sex abuse scandal. I fixed a “clean-out”omelette, finishing off the mushrooms and sour cream that needed using up.

At one point, I decided to change the sheets, including rotating the mattress, no small feat with a queen. Sheets have been changed, bed frame polished, room dusted. Now I sit.

I got tired of J spending $3.36 at Dunkin’ Donuts for an iced tea every bloody day. It wasn’t so much the money as it was the friggin’ plastic cup, she got every damn time that make up 20% (?) of our recyclables. So I saved a lid, found a cup that it would fit and sent her off to work.This is the iced tea, I make for her, that she drinks as the alternative. Fuck that. The iced tea expense is absurd. It is over.

I will swim some time today, if the weather holds up.

Right now I am sitting with no TV on, no music playing, just some insects chirping outside. Lying down and the sheets are clean.

I got bed before. 2300 hrs. I was tired I vacuumed (hoovered,.my favorite term in British slang) the downstairs after dinner. It had not vacuumed in a while. The vacuum cleaner is old and literally sheds parts.

Maybe I will just sit here until I can’t stay awake any longer. Yeah that’s what I shall do,

J has two jobs, one principal part-time job, about 32 hrs a week, and a secondary job, average about two hours per week. She did a call on the second job in Williamsburg and I went with her.

Because of my newly found understanding of her nature, I decided I would dress in “adult” clothes, not the usual jeans, tee shirt and work shirt,with. Crocs© rubber shoes on my feet. So I chose a short sleeve Madras plaid shirt with red and yellow tones, grey cargo trousers that were ironed with an actual crease, and black lace-up canvas boots, the Palladium French paratrooper boots.

My objective was to not look like an over-age college boy or a tourist, since we were going to Williansbutg, a college town and major tourist destination. My objective was to be noticed by her, that I did something different for her.

I think this is all going to come together. Creating a space where she is safe and treasured is my goal.