Shiny Saturday and Sad Reflections

I woke up at about 3.45am and couldn't get back to sleep, this hasn't happened for weeks but I gave up trying and got up eventually and made some tea. 
Last night the phone rang about 8.30 and it was Barry, our friend whose wife Dot died last month.  He sounded okay but I know that is his (like most Aussie men) way, to make out everything is alright when it is far from that.  We talked for an hour and I asked him the questions that Phill didn't or couldn't ask.  Last September Dot pretty well had the all clear and everything looked good.  Then the cancer came back, first in one place, then another and another until at the end it was in her brain.  It was horrible for them both, she'd been through so much only to have it end that way.  I listened and tried to say the right things and told him that I am here for him anytime.  I really think he is still in shock, the end came fairly quickly and took them all by surprise I think.  To make matters worse if that's possible, Dot's 40 something daughter, who has always been a problem for Dot, is trying to get as much out of the situation, financially as she can and wants all Dot's things, mainly her jewellery, even jewellery that Barry gave Dot (Barry and Dot had no children together).  Barry, to his credit, swiftly sought legal advice and has it all sorted out legally - Dot died without a will - but the unpleasantness remains and he was even telling me he had the valuables put away in a safe place should these people try to break into his house!  He shouldn't have to be worrying about things like that, not ever, but especially now, she hasn't even been dead a month.  When I got off the phone I was upset and unsettled and couldn't sit down, I pottered around the kitchen a bit and turned the lights out later than usual and didn't have my usual good night's sleep.  It got me thinking about my own children, I don't have anything of much value, what I did have from my first marriage has already been given to my older children and thankfully Ali has most of it and will take care of it, and hopefully pass some of it down to her own daughter.  Barry said this daughter followed him into the room where the doctor had just told him to prepare for the worst as there was nothing more they could do for Dot, and asked him if her mother had a will!  What makes people like that?
It's another beautiful morning here, I've already pulled the dishwasher apart and soaked the bits in a bit of bleach and hot water, scrubbed them all put them back together and have a cleaner going through it.  I have these cast iron stove support thingies that are a barstard to clean properly and last night I got the bright idea to put through the dishwasher and they came up lovely.  Don't know why I didn't think of it before.  I want to pull the rangehood apart today too and clean the filters and the rest of it.
Yesterday Phill and I had a fifty minute walk and the time flew having someone to walk with, we broke it up with a quick visit to the Newsagent and a peek inside the foyer of the Ex Servo's Club to see the new renovations that have been making a mess since well before Christmas.  It's nice but doesn't look all that different to me, the best part is that people with mobility issues don't have to climb the steps to get in now, the doors open right off the street and there is a lift for them to get up to the club from the foyer.  That's important in this town that has a very large elderly population.  When we got home I grabbed my swimming gear and went down and did six laps of the pool, can't quite swim the whole length freestyle yet but I mixed my strokes and really enjoyed it.
We looked at the outside of a house two blocks further down the hill, it's got four bedrooms and an inground pool and spa in the backyard, as well as an ensuite and walk in robe off the main bedroom (bliss to have our own bathroom!).  But the main reason we want to move is the boat.  Phill has a lot of trouble manouvering it around to hitch it to the car here, down there it's all flat ground and the big double garage opens onto the driveway at the front, not a poky back lane like ours does here.  It's a bit more in rent but from the photos looks nice inside, it's been renovated and has the same heating and cooling as we have here.   We're going to look through it on Monday and if it's what we want, and we can have the dog, we'll probably take it. 
Well the personal trainer just got home earlier than expected so I'd better get out of bed and put on my walking gear.  More later.