I had another driving lesson today and I turned on the windscreen wipers - deliberately! I also just focused on stopping and starting and while I may be getting good at starting, and I seem to have worked out the clutch, I'm still having a few problems with the brakes. But I managed a hill start with only a little rolling back, stopped at junctions eventually (it was a small, empty office estate car park), managed to stop gently several times, went around corners, and generally had a blast. I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying it. The new shoes really made a difference. I can't wait for the next lesson.
I'm now exhausted, so off to bed. Sending hugs and good vibes to all.
Saturday, 7 April 2018
Friday, 6 April 2018
Not Quite Driving
Bear and I spent a lot of the afternoon actively hanging out. He loaded up his Eurotruck simulator and had me practise with the wheel and pedals. It was a complete disaster. I drove in several circles, crashed through a central reservation and ran over a roundabout. I'm better in a real car. We talked about where I could go in the car, what we could do, where I could shop (bear was unimpressed) and we watched (and heckled) some YouTube footage of Plants vs Zombies 2 while I knitted. I bought five balls of the scrubby yarn, thinking I would maybe get one or two scrubbies per ball. I have completely used one ball, I'm currently using two balls (pattern calls for two different strands so I have one ball for one bit and another for the other) and I have two untouched balls left. I have knitted two circular scrubbies, ten heart shaped scrubbies and a soap saver. Bear approves, as they are going to be dumped in the bathroom, used once for a shower/bath and then washed. It seems very logical to him.
Regarding driving, I've booked a block of 28 hours of driving lessons over fourteen days for the end of May. This includes the practical and theory test. This should, theoretically, hopefully, all things being equal, get me to pass my test. Afterwards I can learn to drive. The important thing is that I can get my son and his pal safely to and from their school. Also, I can finally go to car boot sales. And speaking of which, I'd better go off and write it.
For those interested, a while ago I wrote a series of short stories about Steve Adderson and his adventures dealing with elfen, boggarts and all sorts of strangeness. The stories were a response to story prompts and I had a lot of fun with them. I will be adding them to the Tales of the White Hart when it comes out, so I've been tidying them up and I've added a final section where the identity of Steve's father is revealed. If you want to know, the story from the beginning is here. The first instalment of the second section of At the Sign of the White Hart comes out Friday 13 April. And speaking of that, I'd better go and write it!
Regarding driving, I've booked a block of 28 hours of driving lessons over fourteen days for the end of May. This includes the practical and theory test. This should, theoretically, hopefully, all things being equal, get me to pass my test. Afterwards I can learn to drive. The important thing is that I can get my son and his pal safely to and from their school. Also, I can finally go to car boot sales. And speaking of which, I'd better go off and write it.
For those interested, a while ago I wrote a series of short stories about Steve Adderson and his adventures dealing with elfen, boggarts and all sorts of strangeness. The stories were a response to story prompts and I had a lot of fun with them. I will be adding them to the Tales of the White Hart when it comes out, so I've been tidying them up and I've added a final section where the identity of Steve's father is revealed. If you want to know, the story from the beginning is here. The first instalment of the second section of At the Sign of the White Hart comes out Friday 13 April. And speaking of that, I'd better go and write it!
Thursday, 5 April 2018
Candle Carnage Continues
I went out today to reluctantly buy shoes to drive in. The thick soled trainers I wear are no good for feeling the pedals and I can't find the one pair of shoes I own which I've worn three times - to a wedding in 2014, father's funeral and the funeral of uncle last year. I picked up some ballet flats from Marks and Spencers and grumbled at paying £35 for shoes. Unfortunately my feet get so swollen that it's a relatively cheap pair. When I got home bear had five tealights and a scented candle lit. He appears to want to run down the stock.
A lot of the tealights belonged to father. He loved them, often had them lit in his room, and used to light one and just let it burn out overnight as he slept. The thought of that horrified me. I bought a very inexpensive bulk pack for him not long before he was taken ill, so a lot of the 143 (or however many are left) come from that.
Father did not have a good sense of risk. In the days of conscription, he was a regular in the army, in the Royal Engineers whose unofficial motto was 'First in, Last Out'. Father loved the army and took every opportunity for adventure. I believe he did some bomb disposal, though I'm not sure of the details. He was part of the squads sent out to deal with the arms dumps left from WW2 and was in Egypt in the 1950s. We have a hand grenade with a pin in sitting on our hearth which he brought back from his adventures - it had the explosives drilled out long ago, but he liked the souvenir. He would go up ladders even though his knees were bad, and just before his last illness he was wandering about the back of the church, away from where anyone could see him, sorting out the weeds and shredding the nerves of anyone who worried what a frail octogenarian could do to themselves with a scythe in thick undergrowth. When they were discussing his discharge from hospital and deciding whether he would need a nursing home, the nurses and social worker were concerned that father could no longer make a sensible risk assessment after his stroke. I tried to explain that he'd never managed a sensible risk assessment in his life, but they didn't believe me.
The one area father was very risk aware was fireworks. He was the designated firework guardian after he moved here. He was very cautious and meticulous about safety. I suppose he had seen enough bangs to be relatively respectful.
The comment from Sarah reminded me (Sarah, please check the reply to your kind comment) that I am a little more safety conscious. I have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen after I set a chip pan on fire and there is also a fire extinguisher in the living room. Years ago, before we lived her and when we first got malevolent cat, she didn't knock a candle from the top of the tv onto the curtains but it was a close call. No candles were ever put there again!
Most of our candles are now put on the iron casings of the gas fire in the living room or the electric fire in the study, and these fires have marble hearths. I've been clear to bear that you can't leave candles on an edge and you have to put all candles out when you leave the room.
Also, bear may have made a list, but I don't think he's keeping it up. He is, however, more organised than I.
A lot of the tealights belonged to father. He loved them, often had them lit in his room, and used to light one and just let it burn out overnight as he slept. The thought of that horrified me. I bought a very inexpensive bulk pack for him not long before he was taken ill, so a lot of the 143 (or however many are left) come from that.
Father did not have a good sense of risk. In the days of conscription, he was a regular in the army, in the Royal Engineers whose unofficial motto was 'First in, Last Out'. Father loved the army and took every opportunity for adventure. I believe he did some bomb disposal, though I'm not sure of the details. He was part of the squads sent out to deal with the arms dumps left from WW2 and was in Egypt in the 1950s. We have a hand grenade with a pin in sitting on our hearth which he brought back from his adventures - it had the explosives drilled out long ago, but he liked the souvenir. He would go up ladders even though his knees were bad, and just before his last illness he was wandering about the back of the church, away from where anyone could see him, sorting out the weeds and shredding the nerves of anyone who worried what a frail octogenarian could do to themselves with a scythe in thick undergrowth. When they were discussing his discharge from hospital and deciding whether he would need a nursing home, the nurses and social worker were concerned that father could no longer make a sensible risk assessment after his stroke. I tried to explain that he'd never managed a sensible risk assessment in his life, but they didn't believe me.
The one area father was very risk aware was fireworks. He was the designated firework guardian after he moved here. He was very cautious and meticulous about safety. I suppose he had seen enough bangs to be relatively respectful.
The comment from Sarah reminded me (Sarah, please check the reply to your kind comment) that I am a little more safety conscious. I have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen after I set a chip pan on fire and there is also a fire extinguisher in the living room. Years ago, before we lived her and when we first got malevolent cat, she didn't knock a candle from the top of the tv onto the curtains but it was a close call. No candles were ever put there again!
Most of our candles are now put on the iron casings of the gas fire in the living room or the electric fire in the study, and these fires have marble hearths. I've been clear to bear that you can't leave candles on an edge and you have to put all candles out when you leave the room.
Also, bear may have made a list, but I don't think he's keeping it up. He is, however, more organised than I.
Wednesday, 4 April 2018
Better to Light a Candle
Bear has Views. He's been grumbling about the lack of order in the candles for a while but today he had to act. Today he decided that he was going to Sort Out the candles.
To be fair, he has a point. There are a lot of candles in the house. There are tea lights, Woodwick candles, church candles, scented candles in tins, etc etc etc. Bear was clear. We need to get some sort of system and work our way through the candles in a logical order.
A few months ago we cleared out the cupboard in the corner of the room and DH and I made a space just to store candles. There were some that had been there since before bear was born and there were some recent acquisitions, as Woodwick Candles' UK website had a few half price just after Christmas and that is a deal worth having. I bought several. I also always request candles for birthday, Christmas and Mother's Day so they can stack up.
Bear sorted them out in the cupboard, counted them and wrote a list. We have 143. This includes multi packs of tealights and a large pack of dinner candles that was an absolute bargain, and quite a few bits that had been pushed to the back of the cupboard and forgotten but it is still a significant number. I think bear took it personally. He has decided that we are going to burn all the ones we currently have before we get any more candles. No excuses. He immediately started lighting tealights. As I type I have the last quarter inch of a Hearthwick candle going, a scented candle in a tin and three tealights - as chosen by bear.
Bear learned a valuable lesson. He already knew about my shopping habits, but he still has to learn the way of the world. DH brought a surprise home - a tall, lemon scented Woodwick candle. Bear had not had a chance to share his rules. However I was impressed at how graciously he thanked his father without a hint that half an hour earlier he had been laying the law down with a firm hand.
To be fair, he has a point. There are a lot of candles in the house. There are tea lights, Woodwick candles, church candles, scented candles in tins, etc etc etc. Bear was clear. We need to get some sort of system and work our way through the candles in a logical order.
A few months ago we cleared out the cupboard in the corner of the room and DH and I made a space just to store candles. There were some that had been there since before bear was born and there were some recent acquisitions, as Woodwick Candles' UK website had a few half price just after Christmas and that is a deal worth having. I bought several. I also always request candles for birthday, Christmas and Mother's Day so they can stack up.
Bear sorted them out in the cupboard, counted them and wrote a list. We have 143. This includes multi packs of tealights and a large pack of dinner candles that was an absolute bargain, and quite a few bits that had been pushed to the back of the cupboard and forgotten but it is still a significant number. I think bear took it personally. He has decided that we are going to burn all the ones we currently have before we get any more candles. No excuses. He immediately started lighting tealights. As I type I have the last quarter inch of a Hearthwick candle going, a scented candle in a tin and three tealights - as chosen by bear.
Bear learned a valuable lesson. He already knew about my shopping habits, but he still has to learn the way of the world. DH brought a surprise home - a tall, lemon scented Woodwick candle. Bear had not had a chance to share his rules. However I was impressed at how graciously he thanked his father without a hint that half an hour earlier he had been laying the law down with a firm hand.
Tuesday, 3 April 2018
What to Have for Breakfast
I'm reading a reprint of a Victorian book about what to have for breakfast. I am not a morning person. I have never been a morning person. My body can start moving at all sorts of early hours but don't expect much from me before 10am.
When it comes to breakfast I usually have plain oatcakes, but bear has toast, cereal, fruit or something entirely inappropriate in desperation to get something in him before school. I've made him egg muffins in the past, and I'd be willing to do more, but while bear is very happy getting up at the first cough of the sparrow, his stomach doesn't wake up until lunchtime, so I take cereal as a win.
I was actually looking for lunch ideas. Lunch time happens every day but when it's not just me having scrambled eggs or beans I panic. I have absolutely no idea. I also have to cater for a variety of tastes, tolerances and appetites as sometimes bear has pals around.
This book, the Dictionary of Dainty Breakfasts, has a very different view of breakfast. Apparently breakfast should include a fundamental dish which will sustain someome through the morning, like prawn curry (yes, it includes prawn curry for breakfast), but should also include something dainty, like a poached egg, fruit, toast and a drink such as tea, coffee or cocoa. Some of these dishes are very sustaining indeed!
Of course, a hundred and fifty years ago people needed a lot more fuel. Just basic living needed a lot more moving around and more people worked heavy, manual labour. The recipes are detailed, though, and worth a look.
One recipe, for a breakfast dish on a table that should also include fruit, extra bits like bacon, toast, coffee etc, was for chicken with eggs. You reheat cold, minced or finely chopped chicken in a thick white sauce made half milk and half stock and serve it over toast with a poached egg per person on the side. I may try something similar for dinner, soon, as I've done a lot of 'diced chicken with tomato and veggies served with pasta' type dishes recently but I imagine if you make the white sauce with minced mushrooms instead and serve with something like toast or hash browns underneath, it would make a nice change. Just not for breakfast.
When it comes to breakfast I usually have plain oatcakes, but bear has toast, cereal, fruit or something entirely inappropriate in desperation to get something in him before school. I've made him egg muffins in the past, and I'd be willing to do more, but while bear is very happy getting up at the first cough of the sparrow, his stomach doesn't wake up until lunchtime, so I take cereal as a win.
I was actually looking for lunch ideas. Lunch time happens every day but when it's not just me having scrambled eggs or beans I panic. I have absolutely no idea. I also have to cater for a variety of tastes, tolerances and appetites as sometimes bear has pals around.
This book, the Dictionary of Dainty Breakfasts, has a very different view of breakfast. Apparently breakfast should include a fundamental dish which will sustain someome through the morning, like prawn curry (yes, it includes prawn curry for breakfast), but should also include something dainty, like a poached egg, fruit, toast and a drink such as tea, coffee or cocoa. Some of these dishes are very sustaining indeed!
Of course, a hundred and fifty years ago people needed a lot more fuel. Just basic living needed a lot more moving around and more people worked heavy, manual labour. The recipes are detailed, though, and worth a look.
One recipe, for a breakfast dish on a table that should also include fruit, extra bits like bacon, toast, coffee etc, was for chicken with eggs. You reheat cold, minced or finely chopped chicken in a thick white sauce made half milk and half stock and serve it over toast with a poached egg per person on the side. I may try something similar for dinner, soon, as I've done a lot of 'diced chicken with tomato and veggies served with pasta' type dishes recently but I imagine if you make the white sauce with minced mushrooms instead and serve with something like toast or hash browns underneath, it would make a nice change. Just not for breakfast.
Monday, 2 April 2018
Disappointing Snow
We have been lucky with the weather once again. We did have snow this morning, but it was something of a disappointment. It sort of flopped out of the sky in large, damp flakes that didn't hang around. I know other places have not been so lucky and some passes over the Pennines have been shut.
It feels like a nothing sort of day. We have hung out together and enjoyed each other's company. I've had a phone call to Scottish Power that eventually went okay, but took a chunk of time and I helped DH move things away from the junk room window which is being replaced tomorrow.
We just have so much stuff. I have been resisting incredibly inexpensive stuff we don't need on eBay, no matter how good the deal, because I don't want more stuff. It feels very depressing.
I suppose I'm flat because I've been trying to design a book cover. I have come to the conclusion that I have less artistic talent than potato peelings. It's disheartening. I've looked through resources like Flickr and WikiCommons for inspiration, and I tried to tell myself that it was only because they had equipment that they got their stunning images. Then I saw that a lot of the utterly amazing pictures were taken by phones. The photographers are just extra talented.
btw I wanted to share some pics from io Lagana. You can find her on Flickr here. They are just amazing.
It feels like a nothing sort of day. We have hung out together and enjoyed each other's company. I've had a phone call to Scottish Power that eventually went okay, but took a chunk of time and I helped DH move things away from the junk room window which is being replaced tomorrow.
We just have so much stuff. I have been resisting incredibly inexpensive stuff we don't need on eBay, no matter how good the deal, because I don't want more stuff. It feels very depressing.
I suppose I'm flat because I've been trying to design a book cover. I have come to the conclusion that I have less artistic talent than potato peelings. It's disheartening. I've looked through resources like Flickr and WikiCommons for inspiration, and I tried to tell myself that it was only because they had equipment that they got their stunning images. Then I saw that a lot of the utterly amazing pictures were taken by phones. The photographers are just extra talented.
btw I wanted to share some pics from io Lagana. You can find her on Flickr here. They are just amazing.
Sunday, 1 April 2018
Happy Easter!!!!
We didn't bother with Easter Eggs. Bear doesn't really like the chocolate in the eggs so he gets a game (he is a hard child to bribe). We had lamb steaks for dinner as a treat and generally hung out. My brother called in to show pics of his holiday in Australia. It was so good to see him and his partner. They had a wonderful time and are already starting to save to go back as soon as possible.
Then I had a driving lesson. I loved it! I wish I had learned to drive years ago. It is my third time in the car, I was getting into second gear, turning relatively tight corners, starting, stopping, stalling, getting my hands wrong on the steering wheel, clipping the kerb, going over speed bumps and I set every beeper off at one point as the car started rolling backwards to my bewilderment and I pressed all the pedals twice and stalled. The lovely bpm just got the giggles. She is so amazing, I can't say how much.
For those interested, the latest and last chapter of the first section of 'At the Sign of the White Hart' is up here and the story from the beginning is here. I've added some notes at the end of the last chapter and invited comments. All feedback is very gratefully received.
Then I had a driving lesson. I loved it! I wish I had learned to drive years ago. It is my third time in the car, I was getting into second gear, turning relatively tight corners, starting, stopping, stalling, getting my hands wrong on the steering wheel, clipping the kerb, going over speed bumps and I set every beeper off at one point as the car started rolling backwards to my bewilderment and I pressed all the pedals twice and stalled. The lovely bpm just got the giggles. She is so amazing, I can't say how much.
For those interested, the latest and last chapter of the first section of 'At the Sign of the White Hart' is up here and the story from the beginning is here. I've added some notes at the end of the last chapter and invited comments. All feedback is very gratefully received.
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