It has felt like a long week since we got back. The intense coverage of the aftermath of the Queen’s death has worn me out, with the increasingly monotonous 24/7 repeats of film tributes about her life. Not being a Royalist, I can only hope all this will come to an end after Monday’s funeral.
Somehow, I suspect it will not.
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The old saying, “I need a holiday to get over my holiday” rings true. Despite a very enjoyable time, it doesn’t really feel as if we are refreshed and relaxed. The few days since we got back have seen us both quite tired, and not really in the mood to get on with anything. As for Ollie, he is still sleeping more than ever, and reluctant to rise from his bed in the mornings.
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There have been a couple of wet dog walks, as the exceptionally dry summer has been replaced by the arrival of a definite autumn. It has felt cold too. Dropping from record temperatures well above 30c to a daytime best of just 14C has been something of a shock. At least we no longer have to have a fan running to get to sleep at night.
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I have put the last of the holiday photos up on the blog, and started to write the remaining photo-prompt stories from photos received in 2020. By the end of the month, I should be ready to start the next fiction serial.
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Just to remind us that Covid-19 is still very much an issue, I received an invitation to book my annual booster innoculation. The first slot available was at the end of November.
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Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope you have a peaceful and enjoyable Sunday.
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I always enjoy your Sunday Musings, Pete. It’s a potpourri of everything. Coming home from a vacation (I know, it’s a holiday in your vernacular) is exhausting. How did I ever do this with two children in tow, and go to work the next day? Bless Ollie, he deserves the sleep. Like you, we have much rain at the moment, and where was it in August? Mowing the lawn is back to twice a week. The temps are dropping, but the flowers won’t quit. Best to you, Pete.
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I remember flying back from Kenya to Heathrow (9 hour flight) and having to go to work as an EMT that night from 11pm-7am. But I was 31, and had lots of energy. I could hardly manage the trip back from the airport now. π
Best wishes, Pete.
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Exactly! It was the same with me. Ah, youth and energy.
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Glad you had a lovely time! With the recent new Prime Minister and the End of an Era coverage, I wonder how you look at the different Britain? How do you imagine her if you had your way?
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She wants to be another Maggie Thatcher, Cindy. They call her ‘Mad Liz’, and I think they have a point. π
Best wishes, Pete. x
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LOL. Oh, boy!
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Looking forward to another new series, Pete π x
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It should be coming soon, Carol.
Best wishes, Pete. x
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I agree, vacations can be exhausting, as with coverage of the Queen! Letβs hope they move on to real news soon! πC
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Had some real news today. Now I know what is happening in Italy, Spain, and Japan. π
Best wishes, Pete. x
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I know it is no consolation, but there has been plenty of coverage of the funeral arrangements here as well, and documentaries about her life and the lot, even though we have (suffer. As you know, I’m no royalist either) our own royals. At least, the will they won’t they (King Felipe VI and his father, the previous and disgraced king, Juan Carlos I) appear together in a picture kept people entertained . (They seated them together during the funeral at Westminster. Call that British sense of humour!) I hope you recover from the holiday. Even when I’ve had a quiet one I also feel tired, and although we won’t blame it on our age, it seems to get a bit harder every year. Stay well!
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Thanks, Olga. The best thing about the TV coverage of the funeral was seeing Boris Johnson and his wife being stopped from queue-jumping and made to stand in a corner and wait their turn. π
Best wishes, Pete.
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Great post π I hope you have a Happy Sunday as well Pete π Anyway, keep up the great work as always π
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Thanks, John. Good to see you back.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I often find myself getting tired a lot easier now than was once the case. I try to blame it on age. For example, I got out of bed this morning not feeling like doing anything at all .. and I did nothing at all until I went to the grocery store. But other than that, things are good. I am so pleased to hear that you had a great vacation.
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Thanks, John. Age undoubtedly plays a role in tiredness.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Hmmm, Iβm all queened out, too
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I have been Queened-out since before I left school, Sue. π
Best wishes, Pete.
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π
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(1) The queen will still be dead on Tuesday.
(2) Flowers are reluctant to rise from a flower bed until you water them. Might I suggest a glass of wine?
(3) Wet dog walks? I assume the dry dogs walk, too, though, right?
(4) What will your next serial be about? A vacation gone astray?
(5) In the U.S., a booster shot is what is sometimes needed to make sure the victim is truly dead.
(6) It’s Sunday already? It’s been a week since I hiked the Fletcher Trail? I need to get out of the house!
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Royals never really die in this country, David. Only the names change.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I have never gotten back from a vacation and felt like I didn’t need another one right away! I don’t know if the monarchy should be reworked or dismantled. I am respectful of the fact she was in her role a long time and many feel like they want to pay their respects. Fine. That being said, I am sure the media coverage is completely over-the-top and you want to hear anything but at this point, and I get that as well.
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Thanks, Bruce. I would like to pack them all off to Disneyland and let them live in a ‘Royal Fantasy’ attraction there. But I am in a minority in this country.
Best wishes, Pete.
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It was always going to be a Queen fest, I feel this all started with Diana when the nation went barmy with all those totally obscene amount of flowers. I had to keep my mouth shut as no-one was allowed to have any negative thoughts about HER. I didn’t mind some of the old news reel stuff at the beginning of this long drawn out national mourning period, but enough! As Sarada says why do we need to follow The Queue and talk to Common People about their brief and boring interactions and Thoughts. I will probably watch part of the funeral procession after it leaves the Abbey because I quite like the military. If only she could have died during one of the lock-downs we could have avoided all of this…
(And just wait until David Attenborough dies)
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There are rumours already that Charles is not in the best of health. Let’s hope we don’t get two in the same year! π
Best wishes, Pete.
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Groan… π¬
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Back in The Smoke I was offered a Covid-19 top-up within 2 days. Now you’ve got your driving licence you could drive further afield to get a jab!
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I think it depends on the date when you had the last booster, David. I have no problem waiting until November.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Hi Pete, I read an article just now that said people are waiting for us to 10 hours to pay their respects to the Queen and walk past her coffin. You have to hand it to her, she was very respected. If I go away, I never seem to be refreshed at the end of the holiday. Being at home is a lot more restful.
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Thanks, Robbie. Some people waited for 20+ hours in that queue. It became some form of ‘badge of honour’ to have endured the wait.
(Many so-called ‘celebrities’ were able to jump the queue though, and were taken in through a different entrance. Full marks to David Beckham, who queued with everyone else.)
Best wishes, Pete.
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I’m not sure I would have waited for 20 hours, Pete. That is a long time.
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You don’t have to watch it, you know!
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I don’t watch it. I just try to watch some ‘World News’, so become aware that all this stuff is on a constant loop.
I am aware that I am in the minority in this country, and always have been.
Thanks for your comment.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I certainly agree with you on the hoopla of the Queen. I think a lot of her ‘subjects’ here in the US would be shocked to learn she is not the queen of the US.
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I think many people in your country forget that they started a war in 1776 to get rid of a king, Don. π
Best wishes, Pete.
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And now certain people here have started a war to appoint an ex-president a king
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I am glad you had a good holiday but it can be tiring falling back into a normal routine. I have never understood such an extreme elevation of one human being over another. I understand feeling an allegiance to someone but this seems beyond comprehension. Maybe it is the desire to feel part Okay of history. I suppose the monarchy holds a sense of romanticism for some people. I just see the money that could be put to such better use.
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My sentiments entirely, Maggie. Entitlement and Privilege that was gained by armed conquest back in the dark days of history has no relevance in the 21st century.
Best wishes, Pete.
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And the money wasted on all those poor flowers could have done so much more good given to one of her charities. Leave a note in a book of condolences if you must.
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They are going to compost all the flowers and use the compost on the Royal Parks. Another win-win for the Windsors. π
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That’s all right then. Feed the plants. In a week’s time people will be moaning about empty food banks.
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One always supposed the Queen’s passing would be a “big deal” but I never imagined the scope. It must be having a dampening affect on things for you in England. Was going to say I hope things get back to normal after tomorrow, but what on earth is “normal”? The world has become surreal, especially here in the USA.
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I am sure they will be having a constant ‘recap’ of the Queen’s death. Then there will be the antics of the new King to cover. It never ends here, a nice diversion from the financial crisis consuming the country.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I have avoided the news because as an American I care little about the monarchy (I am in a minority)….temps here have gone from high 70s to 95+…our Summer is not over….I am jealous of the lower temps you are having. Enjoy your Sunday. chuq
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Thanks, chuq. I also care nothing about the monarchy, but it is hard to avoid it in England.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Here as well….we have about as much ‘reporting’ as you….that confuses me and irritates me ……chuq
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I hope you, Julie, and Ollie soon recover from your vacation.
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Thanks, Liz. I am sure we will be back to normal next week. π
Best wishes, Pete.
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You’re welcome, Pete.
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We’re all pretty tired of the coverage too.
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Understandable, Peggy. You can imagine just how overwhelming it is here, 24/7.
Best wishes, Pete.
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it seems to be a lot of the same, for hours on end
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It is relentless, Beth. Like only having sugar to eat.
Best wishes, Pete.
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We’ve studiously avoided the whole malarkey.
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I have just been trying to find some ‘News’, but it appears that nothing else has happened since the royal death. Strange that.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Euronews is doing proper news if you have that channel.
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Don’t think that’s on Freeview, but I caught up with some news on Al-Jazeera. π
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I think Huw Edwards needs a medal for being able to waffle on for hour after hour. I don’t know how he does it.
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I think he got a double-first in ‘Waffling and Sycophancy’ at Cardiff University, Stevie. π
Best wishes, Pete.
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The waffling is incredible. How to say so much and in the end not say much at all.
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Don’t panick! You will soon get Queen Truss & her own bunch of tory corgies. Pete will get the job of walking these lapdogs up & down Whitehall & feed them on pigeon droppings in T Square. Yap blimmin yap, we’ll never hear the end of it on here. Mind you we could get some insider gos. Rumour has it (started by moi) that Harry is in fact over there training up to be President of the UK republic.
PS we downunder will watch the funeral starting tomorrow night & all through the night our time. Make sure you all wave out to us. There are enough of our military & media over there & a dozen will be as officials the Abbey.
King Charles the tird has promised us an official visit in dew coarse.
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You might have to wait until Camilla’s broken toe has healed before she makes it to New Zealand, Gavin.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I’m on the fence about the monarchy and watched some of the initial coverage with interest but I am now officially all queened out. From interviewing everyone who’d ever met, seen or dreamt about the Queen to minute-by-minute accounts of The Queue, I am up to here with it. Yesterday’s Thought for the Day on radio 4 was the limit. They described a man going into the coffin Hall and being overcome. A policeman asked if he was all right. ‘I feel as if I’ve just entered paradise, ‘ he said.
Ffs. We turned it off
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I toned down my comments here, but I feel exactly the same, Sarada. I feel as if I am drowning in a sea of sycophancy.
Best wishes, Pete.
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