As the month changes to August, it gave me a certain degree of pleasure to flick our calendars over showing 1^st of the month. We have several of those calendars here you turn blocks over to reveal the correct time and date or ‘perpetual’ calendars. After years of not keeping them up-to-date it is now part of my daily routine (or is a ritual?)  It is not that July was a particularly bad month but the 1^st of a month is always a new ‘accounting’ period for me even though money flows in (and particularly out) at various points throughout the month. I needed to write two or three texts this morning which delayed things a little and I am always anxious to receive news of the injured son of our domestic help who is now out of hospital but has a long period of rehabilitation in front of him. He seems to be receiving well-directed care at the moment but as with things like this, one has to love one day at a time. I have made offers of whatever I can do to help which I fear is precious little at the moment but I may be able to offer a little respite care (which I found so valuable when I was looking after Meg). 

Donald Trump is shouting his mouth off revealing how much money the USA is making from the imposition of tariffs and those on Canada are  now at the level of 35%. Of course, this is economic illiteracy of the highest order because the US government does not make any money from the imposition of tariffs – the importers have to add this to their costs and then pass it on to the consumer who eventually pay the price. If the USA can avoid importing a product in the first place and then manufacture a reasonable substitute, then the tariff can be said to have worked. But this ignores the modern realities of manufacturing life where components may cross e,g, the America-Canada several times before being assembled in to the final product such as a car or a. Truck. It is said that car makers in America are distraught at the moment and the new tariffs can only add to the selling price of their vehicles as well as contributing a further twist to inflation but a few months down the line. I keep on telling myself that surely all of this blow up in Trump’s face (as it were) but the moment never seems to come. Whether you like it or not, Keir Starmer seems to have done a pretty good job in limiting the tariff increases for 10% for the UK as opposed to 35% for Canada and 15% for the EU as a trading block. Trump is nakedly using tariffs as an instrument of foreign policy and is ‘punishing’ Canada by daring to suggest that they may recognise Palestine as a state in September (together with the UK, France and several other countries) As it turned out, I spent a really interesting morning but it was just a chapter of happy accidents, actually. Before I went out this morning, I treated myself to watching one of the many versions of the Handel aria ‘Waft her, angels, through the skies‘ and really enjoyed one particular version about which more later. Then YouTube deploys an algorithm whereby it ‘knows’ your favourites so what followed this were a couple of Mozart pieces followed by a favourite piece of Bach. This was so enjoyable,  could not resist the temptation for a little mid-morning concert which really elevated my spirit (not that I was feeling depressed or morose).

To avoid the humidity problem, I folded the small light waterproof into a small compartment in my rucksack and then wandered slowly down the hill. I came across my very good Irish friend and we spent quite a lot of time in deep conversation – he is recovering well from a recent operation which pleases me greatly and we always have things to share with each other. Then I made my way towards Waitrose which was practically deserted and treated myself t the ‘free’ coffee available to card holders. I noticed one of the staff who I know pretty well packing provisions into large brown paper bags and I asked her to talk me through the system. It was, apparently, part of an ‘Uber’ scheme where online orders come into the store which are then selected by the staff and put into a holding area from whence they are collected by Uber staff. I was delighted to have all of this explained to me and the staff were more than willing to let me know how it all worked – a form of ‘Click and Collect’ really. I then made my way slowly up the hill and three quarters of the hill noticed a lady walking her dog who I knew by sight. So I tentatively engaged ger in conversation and of course she had often seen me walking Meg up and down in her wheelchair and we were ‘nodding’ acquaintances. As often happens these days, people see me on my own and make a guess – correctly – at recent events and then extend their condolences before they ask mw how. I am coping with things. She was going off on holiday to celebrate her 50^th birthday so I extended my good wishes and struck off for home. Then I noticed my very good next-door neighbour working in his garden so when and had a chat with him if only to let him know that I was still in the land of the living. I then started to concentrate upon my lunch where I serve myself a portion of ‘oily’ fish (mackerel) which I heat up by the simple expedient of immersing in their packaging in some boiling water and then serve on a bed of salad, coleslaw and some baby tomatoes. Finally, I tried something this afternoon which worked well at the time so I thought I would try again. I have a subscription to ‘The Times‘ and the ‘Sunday Times‘ and I telephoned them to cancel my subscription. When I was asked the reason why, I indicated that I was very happy with the paper but after my wife’s death and reduced family income, I would reluctantly have to cancel my subscription. I was then offered a discount of 50% for the next three months which I readily accepted (as I suspected that such an offer might be on the cards) and in a few months’ time, I shall review my subscriptions all over again.

Yesterday the day dawned with one of those days which may develop a few thunderstorms which, I must admit, I would rather fancy to clear the air somewhat. We do not seem to have the thunderstorms or the torrential downpours of rain that many of us, and particularly the gardeners amongst us, would really enjoy. I have shopping duties and a haircut to which to look forward today. There is a lot of talk in the domestic media that Keir Starmer has been ‘bowing to pressure’ in the change of stance towards Gaza when the PM announced that Palestine would be recognised as a state at the United Nations General Assembly in September. But given the horrendous, not to say apocalyptic situation in Gaza, one could equally say that Keir Starmer was correctly interpreting the mood of the elected Labour government and of the country in trying to engineer a solution to the Gaza crisis in this way. Perhaps it is forgotten that Britain used to have a mandate to govern in that region before the state of Israel and was itself subject to attacks between 1940-48 as what are now called terrorist group (of ‘freedom fighters’ if you will) were fighting for the state of Israel to be brought into existence. The Israeli government, despite denials is itself shifting its own position by allowing air drops of food into Gaza although it denies that any starvation is taking place. In the same way that international journalists, including the BBC, are not allowed into Gaza to report first hand on the suffering in that troubled region, then the aircrews of the planes giving relief supplies have also been told that they are not allowed to film the destruction on the ground. Nonetheless, film crews embedded into the relief flights have shown us glimpses of the terrain over which they are flying as the cargo doors are open to release the parachuted supplies of aid.. They themselves have reported, and we have seen in a few seconds of video footage, how the whole of Gaza seems to have been reduced to a pile of concrete rubble as the Israeli Defence Force has been bombing Gaza continuously for some 21 months now.

I am always rather pleased to be getting towards the end of one month and towards another one as August is now upon us. At the end of the month, I need to organise a flying visit to Yorkshire to attend a birthday party for my sister at the very end of the month but I am seeing one of her daughters (i.e. my niece) when she is breaking her journey back from the West Country to see me next Tuesday so we can firm up practical arrangements then. Although quite a distance still separates us, it can only be a good thing that I can be in more regular contact with the Yorkshire branch of the family and I can see them so much regularly than has been possible over the years. But I still more than a little sad that an elderly French neighbour of us is certainly moving out of the area to live near her daughter in Cheshire but she had been a good friend to me and her neighbours and often thrown some memorable ‘street’ parties that we have all enjoyed.

My son called around first this morning after his restorative swim. We needed to discuss arrangements for a family meal which is going to be Meg’s four cousins, my son and daughter-in-law and myself so seven in total. We were going to book online so had some debate whether a booking for seven could be made as the relevent website specified a maximum of six. However, we agreed that my son would phone up the restaurant as soon as they opened and, as I suspected, they were quite happy to accept a booking for seven. My Droitwich friend and I have had some communication by text and telephone and we are trying to sort out a time over the weekend when we might meet, albeit briefly. After all, I bottled some damson gin  for her last weekend but forgot to give her a bottle of it. I went off to do my shopping which was unproblematic and after it was all put away, I sat to wait for our hairdresser to call around. Whilst I was waiting, I decided to look at the various versions on YouTube of ‘Waft her, angels, through the skies’ which was played at Meg’s funeral and is always a bit weepy. When the hairdresser arrived, I asked her to indulge me by viewing a minute or of it and she confessed to me that she, too, had had a very weepy morning. Her brother had died as long ago as last December but now having got over the hurdle of probate she was having to sort through hr brother’s clothes and arrange for this disposal. So we consoled each other in our joint weepiness as we both know where the other is coming from. I displayed some of the remains jewellery on the settee and asked the hairdresser if she would like to select a piece. In fact, she selected a necklace that Meg often wore and she could picture Meg wearing it so was very touched to be given it as a present. But I, too,  am delighted because it is far nicer to have these pieces of jewellery in the hands of someone who will remember Meg each time that she wears it instead of it being stuck in the back of a drawer or taken to a charity shop, In the late afternoon, I cut the back lawn but had to dispose of one or two enormous brambles that were invading the space over the lawn. We have a mass of black currents which the hot weather seems to have brought on very one but the cultivars that we have seem exceptionally spiky so actually picking the brambles is quite a difficult task. Tonight, I am having to get myself organised so that I can watch ‘Today at the Test’ which is the final, and deciding match, in the series. The England captain has an injured shoulder and so has ruled himself out of this game but it appears to have been the most successful of the English bowlers against the Indians in this series so this makes the outcome of this last Test match unusually difficult to predict.