Negative Test

 Bear's test came back negative. That was a huge relief. Poor kid is still full of aches, pains, sniffles, coughs and a cracking sore throat. We are eating a lot of soup.

DH is poorly as well, with an awful cough. I feel full of cold and completely exhausted. Still, at least I can get to the shops now. I cancelled the online shops I had booked. I think right now that if I can get out, I should, and leave the slots for those who are isolating.

I got a great review from Coffee Time Romance and More. I feel hugged.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Getting a Test

Bear needs a negative test before he can go back to school. Getting a covid test in the UK right now is hard. I logged on to the government website and refreshed every few minutes and that was my morning. Eventually I got a local test for this afternoon. I was a little worried when I saw that bear would need photo ID. He hasn't got a passport or driving licence. I spent even more hours on the phone trying to find out what to do. I ended up taking his bus pass with us, which has a pic, but isn't exactly a guarantee, but fortunately for us, they didn't ask for anything.

I'm losing more and more confidence in my driving. I should have just gone along a dual carriageway, but I didn't have the courage. I ended up going the long way around. Still, it wasn't a long ride and we got the test. Now we wait for the results. I suspect I will be getting more tests along the way. I don't think I'll need one unless I become very ill, as I can stay at home, and DH is now working at home, but school is likely to be another matter. 

We just had soup for dinner. I roasted some tomatoes that were getting past their best and added spices, lots of garlics and a jar of the roasted peppers. I'm going to miss those peppers when they run out. The soup worked, though. Now I am pretty much exhausted and ready to crawl off to bed.

Writing stuff - I'm getting everything ready for October. If all goes according to plan, there will be a supernatural post on my writing blog every day throughout October and I will be part of the October Frights again. It will be around two thirds old favourites and one third new flash fiction, but I hope everyone will like to enjoy it. I've written a little more about it here. 

Hugs and good health to all.

Not Penmanship

Bear is doing better. Of course, we are still isolating as per instructions, so he is doing schoolwork at home and we had to get his prescription delivered. I felt guilty about that. If we have Covid-19 then we need to stay away from people, but it doesn't feel like it. 

I seem to have spent half of today on the phone. First of all Scottish Power rang to arrange a service of the boiler. I cancelled the coverage last month. The people on the phones at Scottish Power are lovely - real sweeties. Unfortunately it appears that despite all my efforts to cancel the dratted thing, it's still haunting us.

Then I was in contact with the school. Isolation ends for bear next Wednesday but he can't go back without a negative covid test. I can't get a test. Trying to work that out took quite a while. 

Then I had to get hold of a prescription for bear that I couldn't collect on account of the whole isolation thing. I know the pharmacy, and they are having issues with their phone system, so that took a large slice of time listening to hold music and ringing back.

Fortunately we had an easy soup for dinner. I bought one of those packs of prepared soup vegetables, just add water and a stock cube. I also added lots of garlic, tumeric, cumin and garlic with a generous portion of lentils. I could probably make it cheaper if I made the effort. I didn't make the effort. 

Writing Stuff - for the last few years I've made a thing about posting every day in October. This year I want to do the same, despite deadlines. I've signed up to October Frights (10-15 October, links will no doubt follow in large numbers) and I've started mapping out what I need to do. I'll be honest, of the 31 posts in October, 20 will be re-posts of stories I have shared before. I hope people will enjoy another look at the old stuff rather than think that I'm cheating (I feel like I'm cheating, but I still like some of the old stuff). The other eleven posts will be new stuff - just little bits of flash fiction and small stories, but I hope lovely and spooky. I've been working it out on pen and paper, and here is a list of the stories that I am like to reuse, if you can read my writing. It's still part way through the organising phase so lots of stuff gets crossed out and added in appalling script. There's a reason I type most things.

If you can work it out, be warned, it's likely to change. 

I have lectured, nagged and encouraged bear to improve his atrocious handwriting. I'd better keep this hidden from him, or he'll know where he got his bad writing from!

Also, I got another good review. I feel so giddy about it - here! 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Not My Birthday

 I'm always a little cagey about putting my birthday online. It's one of the ways that you can lose your identity. However it's required for Facebook etc, so I lied and put today. No-one I know has a birthday to day and I just picked it.

My Facebook page is the author one. I accept practically all friend requests because, well, it's my author page and it may be someone who likes my writing. I don't update it as much as I should, but I have over four thousand friends on there. Some are awesome people. Some are not awesome people. A mix of over a hundred people have wished me happy birthday. I have said thank you, and meant it very sincerely, but I feel a complete fraud.

Also, I nearly walked in on bear's school lesson. 

So DH will be working from home for the next few weeks, even months. It's worked out well for us, but it will be odd if I'm taking bear to school. Quite a few have been sent home already. I really feel for the teachers. They must be getting frantic.

Just before all this hit, I downloaded an app that checked how many steps I do. I'm not hitting the target. I think I'm going to have to force myself out of the house and see how it goes.

Hugs and good health to all.

About Even

 It's been not quite a win, but not really a fail. I've kept everyone fed, washed some clothes, ironed others, washed sheets (as per cleaning schedule), dejunked the porch (as per cleaning schedule), failed to vacuum and mop where I should (as per cleaning schedule) and could perhaps have done more with the cleaning. 

On the bright side, sort of, my editor is sort of keen on me getting  the next book out, but due to me getting things wrong earlier, I'm on a very tight schedule. And while I don't have to do the school run for the next few days, I do have to supervise lessons. The entries for the next few days may be a little sparse. I will still be sort of mostly following the cleaning plan, though, so I hope I can share some triumphs.

Hugs and good health to all.

Cough Central

 Bless - sorry about that! I've fixed the link. 

Jean - I guarantee that you are not as lazy as I am.

I have, in fact, had a very lazy day. I'm staying on top of the emails, which is satisfying, and we had a nice dinner. It was just breaded chicken with potato wedges and baked beans, but it really hit the spot. It's starting to get colder now, so I plan on making a lot more stews, soups and casseroles.

Poor bear is coughing and fed up. His throat is sore and he's croaking. He is also sniffling and snuffling with lots of sneezing. I haven't been able to get hold of a local test. The only time I came close to get any sort of test was in Blackburn, which is a long drive either on the motorway or across some tricky hills. The thought of a couple of hours driving with bear being so poorly doesn't seem worth it. He's just laughed from the other room. He's reading a Terry Pratchett and enjoying it. I'm keeping a close eye.

Tomorrow's plans are cleaning and writing, with four hours I won't be spending on the school run. I wish I had got the time in other ways.

Hugs and good health to all. 

First Full Day

Bless - thank you for the good wishes.

Fifitr - they stay picky! But I'm hoping to make the most of the time. I have no idea how it is going to work in schools, and a lot of them are going to be faced with the same issue. 

I can't see how it will work. A kid will have symptoms of a cough/cold/flu which overlap with covid, and they have to take precautions. The child will be sent home and have to isolate. I don't know if the parents will have to as well. It's going to be a nightmare for everyone. And I won't be surprised if, once bear is back at school, he gets sent home because of one of his classmates having symptoms so he has to isolate. I can see this being on repeat until the crisis is over.

I'm trying a new cleaning regime. It has to be an improvement on my usual complete lack of structure, effort and focus. I'm sort of following The Secret Slob which is a kind of pared down Fly Lady. I usually have a surge of energy at this time of year and so I thought I would have a go. Today I went through my emails and deleted three thousand in total. The school run could easily eat four hours a day with the way that the traffic has been going, so it's a great chance for me to try and get the house fit for any sort of purpose. I've been trying for around three weeks, with very minor steps at first now building up to some serious actual cleaning. Of course, I've got to clear floors before I can clean them, but I can see a miniscule difference. The isolation gives me a little more time. Of course, I can't go to the tip or donate anything, but I can put stuff ready. I hope I can keep this going, at least until half term. I give up so easily. And I never manage to do what I say I will on here, so I'm taking a risk. But I blog about what I do, and there may well be more about cleaning.

Another YouTube find for me (after Bardcore, which is awesome) is 'Relaxing Music for Cats' which seems to be several YouTubers doing very long playlists of incredibly relaxing music. The only reference to cats seems to be the pic on the video, but I can live with that. I've heard cats 'singing' and I'd rather stick to the chilled piano music.

Hugs and good vibes to all.