Wet.

It has been raining for most of the day, sometimes lightly, sometimes more heavily with things brightening up later in the day.

The monotonal grey sky is a pretty good reflection of how things have been today. Nothing serious in comparison to the woes of the world but I will admit to having been reduced to tears. And all by my phone, the new 5G phone to be exact. I'd planned to work through the set-up yesterday when the builders were here but did other stuff instead. As there are only a few days until the return period runs out I decided to calmly go through the instructions which the chap had told me were on the phone. Sure enough I got the phone up and running but was driven to utter distraction by the ***** thing turning off if I looked away or at the pc for help for 30 seconds. And unlike the pc it didn't need a simple shake or touch to bring it back to life but as I'm sure everyone else knows it was a matter of pressing a button, then swiping and finally typing in the password. How does everyone cope with such irritating inefficiency? Nobody would buy a pc that worked like that. I'm quite happy navigating around my pc and using everything on it but smart phones are totally new to me. All Peter could hear coming out of my study were yells of frustration and some extremly bad language. To be fair he did come when I couldn't understand the technical language though half the time he (an ex-IT systems manager,) didn't know what they were talking about either. What is a beta programme and why is it full? So far I've; found out what my phone number is, can make phone calls, downloaded WhatsApp possibly several times but have got no further in joining the walking group's one, picked a ring tone but don't know why it is talking about sim1 and sim2 (Dr Seus?) and changed the background. So it looks like all I would be using the phone for is the very occasional phone call. Hardly worth Peter paying £60 a year. I did think about keeping the phone for a year to see how much I did use it and maybe by then I might see one of our sons who could help me but apparently once you agree to the contract it's for years. So at the moment it looks as if the phone is going back. I can make phone calls and get texts on Peter's old phone though the signal isn't very good. But on the plus side there's no password.

The latest phase of the 'house blitz' did not go too well either. I only had one task to do, remove the silicone sealant along the back of the kitchen sink, clean off the black mould/rot developing under it and apply more sealant. Taking off the old sealant was easy, scraping out the black not so easy. there was only a thin line but at Dingles the old beech kitchen worktop lost a noticable amount of wood next to the sink because of water damage. Admitedly that was over 25 years and I didn't keep oiling the wood but I'd like to keep this worktop in as good condition as possible. Then came applying the sealant and I always forget just how bad I am at that particular job. First, although I cleared the top of the part-used tube of sealant I forgot about cleaning out the long nozzle which had old sealant stuck in it. Lucikly I found a spare nozzle but I don't think I did a very good job of getting it into the join between the sink and the worktop or cleaning up afterwards. 

On a cheerier note yet more tile samples arrived today. There is a new tile centre on the industrial estate that I will go and check out but that's about the only place in town where you can go to look at tiles. Instead I've been searching on-line for the bathroom tiles. I know exactly what I want, white gloss with a little faint grey marbling to stop the bathroom from looking like a laboratory from a horror film. And we would prefer to have large 60cms square tiles though 60 x 30 cms might do. So far all the samples have either had a grey backgound, too dark for a large area with just a small window or a cream background that doesn't look good against the white sink and cupboards. We've chosen the grey speckled non-slip lino for safety and will have the upper halves of the walls in a pale blue (probably). Today a possible contender for the tiles arrived with the latest batch of samples. The one next to the blue below. It has the nearest to white background and faint grey streaks. Next step is to pay for a full size tile as looking on-line some of the room photos show more marbling. Better to buy one tile than find out too late they're not quite what we want.

Off soon for some peaceful singing with the choir. We sing a lot of meditative songs and they are very calming. Our teacher also runs a Taize music group which I may join one day. Taize music 'often takes the structure of a simple repeated melody and is meant to serve as a music centering prayer.' My mother went to Taize several times and I know she got a lot from being there. Often in Latin because of the catholic and multi national congreagations there are prayers in English too. O, Lord hear my prayer. is utterly beautiful.

Better go and dress warmly for the chilly village hall.