Saturday 14th January, 2017                     1600

I must have eaten too much on Thursday, for most of yesterday I had a bad stomach. I felt a little better by the time dinner was ready but decided to fast the entire day, it has worked many times in the past.

We took the BRT to another China Tobacco shop which is almost at the end of the BRT going west but had no success finding my cigars. Certainly there is no shortage of smokes but at twice or thrice what I am used to paying, I left without making a purchase. The situation will become critical on Monday night so on Monday I will probably make the long trip to Wanda Plaza to see if there are any there, its where Sheila got me some before.

Alice had requested a frittata so I made a huge tray and put spuds, my home made ham, cheese and chilli oil in it. Considering she ate half of it (four eggs worth!) I guess it wasn’t bad. The remaining half I put in foil for her to take on the train, ditto the bread pudding.

When the time came to accompany Alice to town and the train station, I was down in the dumps but I think I hid it reasonably well. It had been nice having some company and now I was being left on my lonesome once again.

The night was cold but we both got seats on the bus. Then of course at the station she went through but without a ticket I couldn’t follow. It worked out that her train left at 2202 and three minutes later I walked into my home. She will arrive back in Wuhu at 0040 tomorrow morning, rather her than me. She has said she would like to come and visit again in the summer but I have a feeling next time she will fly. It should be said that there’s no guarantee I will be here myself then though!

Today I have done nothing and I promised myself I was not going to cook. I chewed over going out for dinner but decided instead to reheat the remaining lasagne. I can shop tomorrow.

Actually, I told a little lie when I said I had done nothing. I have emailed Janet the marks for the class along with my comments. After factoring in additional points for attendance and how active everyone was in the class, Suzy and Sheila were the only two to pass. The rest can only blame themselves for not being bothered, and God help them when they get to Cyprus! If the school thinks I failed the class then so be it, although I can’t produce miracles, had they applied themselves, ample opportunity was there for them all to improve but many preferred to text their friends or play games on their phones instead. I have pointed this out to the school twice now.