Thursday 30th April
For once watching the morning BBC NEWS uplifting. I stop to watch Captain Tom Moore celebrating his 
100th birthday in his garden, as a Spitfire and Hurricane fly past. Captain Tom is a joy to watch, never short of something to say, grateful for the donations that raised over £130m for NHS charities, following his daily fund-raising walk in his garden, and commenting that, having experienced Spitfires used in anger, it is good to see them used for peace. It is Aldi day, and once again I shop after 6pm, when there is no queue and the shop is quiet. Thanks to Chantal’s trip to Sainsbury yesterday, my shopping list is short. Other customers are polite and friendly, most items are in stock, and there is no queue for the checkout. I am served by the Fastest Checkout Operator in the West, scanning items at a speed that considerably exceeds the rate at which I can pack them. Thanks to the relaxed retail experience, I am chilled-out at the check-out, unlike my stressful experience last week, and calmly pack at my own rate – it is the operator, not me, who is overwhelmed by an increasing pile of goods and he has to stop scanning while I carefully place items in my bags. A short trip to the Co-op fills the gaps on my list, and I choose some nice bottled beer as a reward. While shopping I receive a WhatsApp from friend and neighbour Richard who reminds me that I had suggested wishing Captain Tom Happy Birthday as part of our weekly “Make-Some-Noise-For-NHS” tonight. And so that is what we do, joined by our neighbours on The Lane, singing Happy Birthday To You, both before and after we noisily show our appreciation for the NHS with bells, whistles, horns, saucepans and dog bowls
Technically we live in Oaktree House, but sadly the tree had to go.
We now have a thriving Oakstump at the front of the house.
