Still Shocked

Fifitr - teeth are much improved, but I'm feeling wrung out. I think it's just the after effects. 

I suppose I was always going to be into football. I don't follow it now, not really. There may be a hint here and there that I support Liverpool (close call that I'm still saying that after the farce of the Super League), and that I watch England.

I grew up on the Wirral, technically in Cheshire but within sight of the Merseyside border. You were Liverpool, Everton or atheist (a few lost souls followed Tranmere Rovers, but we didn't talk about that). Father was a semi pro footballer in the fifties, played for the Army, coached and managed teams and at one point he had the job of going around and scoring referees. You see, back in the seventies and eighties, someone like father would travel to a local(ish) club and observe the referee and to record how they did. I don't know if they do it now. 

DH isn't interested in football, and, to be honest, neither is bear. I think bear is okay with playing football, but less interested in watching. I also like watching tennis. I don't know anything about it, but I love watching it. Again, DH and bear are not very keen. I'm not so bothered about the Tour de France, although I think brother follows it a little. So while I'm happy with the sport being on, I can imagine that Amazon Prime is a real help right now. I'll have to check out that show.

There is a lot more light in the garden. There is such a difference now that those bushes have been cut back. I don't think that they needed to go back so drastically, but at least it's safe for vans now. I suppose it's so severe so that it doesn't need doing again for another twenty years. I really need to get out there, but so tired at the moment. I have the residual energy to go downstairs after this and drag bear's shirts out of the dryer and that's about it. I got a pic of the jasmine earlier. It's travelled around ten or twelve feet and spilled over to around the lamppost.

I'm pretty sure that this is wild mustard. It's a local weed and it's definitely not growing there deliberately but it looks lovely and cheerful. 

Hugs and good health to all.

I Can't Believe It!

 I've just seen the football. England won! They won without extra time and penalties! They actually won!

And it's too early for me to drink as well. I've watched it sober. It's just as well, or I would have thought I was hallucinating. I'm definitely having a drink later.

And they came and sorted out the trees.

Before

Now

They have made a bit of a mess of them. They are seriously hacked back. I don't think it did the trees any good. But I can now get down the street. There is a lot more light coming through as well. I think that the guys that came seriously underestimated how much they would cut back. They took away a large trailer of chippings and still left a pile by the brambles. 

And I have a bot in my facebook messenger trying to sell me something. I've just sent a link to the Curse that the Bishop of Glasgow laid on the border reivers. It's a cracker. I love messing with bots. I like seeing how it works. I am not sure that I entirely believe in the curse, but I enjoy the thorough language. The Bishop was very upset. They don't quite know all the terms I'm using, so I'm having fun. 

Today has been pretty good!

Hugs and good health to all. 

Getting Better

Heather - I never thought of using the sprayer with a wide spray, so thank you! I've now got several promising courgettes and no idea when to harvest them. I really need to get some feed into the garden.

Today has been an odd sort of day. I had a bad night, so tried to get forty winks after the school run, but the postman came. I was a little worried about being too tired to drive, so I topped up with vats of caffeine. Then back to the dentist who couldn't do anything. I still think that they are awesome and the tooth is feeling a lot better. The appointment was at 11am though, so I drove home, then out, then home, then out to pick up bear, then home, then out to the climbing club, then home. Tomorrow I need to be more productive.

On the bright side, bear seemed happy about his exams. He has a couple every day this week. I've offered to take him climbing any day after school to take his mind off things, but I don't know if he will bother. He looked shattered after climbing tonight.

I have so many things to do tomorrow. I'm going to crawl off and get an early night.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Gardening May Have Happened.

Sharon - it's hard putting yourself out there. But you have already shown amazing courage sharing photos and crafts - and you are awesome!

The courgettes have aphids and mildew. I consulted the internet and apparently the best way to deal with the aphids is to squirt fierce streams of soapy water at them and wash them off. I took some pics.

Before

The squirt gun that I bought on an impulse (with a fairly fierce jet for a £2 Tesco special)

The squirt gun after battle

Afterwards. I think I got most of them, but I noticed one or two bewildered ants.

Next week, when I have a sunny day, I need to spray them with milk and water for the mildew. Fortunately all the street believe I'm insane anyway, so I have no reputation to lose. I think that I may end up with half a dozen courgettes after vast amounts of stress and strain after buying a plant that cost more than the equivalent in courgettes from the shop. I also need to feed all the plants as well. The tomatoes are looking very sickly. As you may guess, I'm not really clued up with gardening. 

Bear has Schrodinger's Cough. Schrodinger's cat is the thought experiment where the cat could be either alive or dead and no-one will know unless you open the box. Bear's cough depends on whether or not there is a doctor's appointment booked. Last week he had an awful, soggy sounding cough. I booked an appointment for Friday. The cough disappeared so I cancelled the appointment. The very next day, the cough kicked off again.

To be honest, I think it's just a cold type thing and not serious. I will, of course, keep an eye on him, but he's in high school where social distancing is something of a myth and the weather hasn't been good. He has exams all next week, so I shall make a fuss of him. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Calm Continues

Fifitr - Bear did once forget to tell us about a performance he was in and I found out from a phone call from the drama teacher on the day. That was a few years ago. I have accepted that I can only guess at half of what he gets up to, sometimes by working out from his school notes that are online. He has exams all next week, so I'll let him off a lot. I was never really interested in drama. I turned up when I thought I should, but the thought of people looking at me filled me with horror. I'm only good at being an extrovert with words, from the safety of a screen. 

Tooth continues, though not so bad today. Also, the sink that was mended yesterday is still leaking, though nowhere near as badly.

One of the reasons I blog is that it helps me look for the bright side. I know that I am lucky, even with toothache. It's good to jog my memory and nudge me to appreciate all that is good. Today has been wonderfully quiet. I've done a little knitting, watched bear play a very calm and quiet computer game and generally hung out with the men. DH cooked dinner and it was good.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Tooth Continues

Sharon - thank you. I have an appointment Monday.

Tooth continues v bad. I'm in bits. On the bright side, my sink is fixed.

Another bright side is that I haven't gone near eBay while on codeine. This is a relief to everyone. It is probably especially a relief to the delivery drivers. Tesco today got the van caught in the branches.

I took a pic yesterday (I think - codeine is hitting hard) and thought I'd share.

If you look, there should be red and white jasmine and honeysuckle, all together.

Hugs and good health to all.

Tooth!

I should be able to get to the dentist next week. Currently in a bad way.

I didn't go on the walk, as it was raining. I called in at the farm shop, however, and got a bad pic of a cute alpaca and some salt and pepper chicken for dinner.

I've been pottering around gently, but I managed a run to the tip before picking up bear. I only had a few bags, but it's twelve days until the black bin is collected again, and I can see it overflowing!

Bear got a gold certificate from school for a good number of positives. It would be great if he had told us this! I only found out because he left a pile of rubbish out and it was in there. 

Fifitr - I forgot to say, I LOVE foxgloves. When I was around six or seven, we went on a holiday and I had a ladybird book on identifying wildflowers. Foxgloves were the only ones around that were in season and I was thrilled to find a few at the back of the caravan site. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

I Had a Walk

Fifitr - I shall share when I try the dehydrator. I'm still unsure that it was a good idea, but I can't wait to try it out.

Wherethejourneytakesme - I think sitting down with a notebook and making myself refer back every half hour or so will be a help.

Bear was in fine form this morning. He was doing his homework in the car. As it was supposed to be online, he worked out the maths on paper then uploaded it from his phone. He said it was fun and really enjoyed it - it was maths! How can a son of mine actually like numbers. Apparently it was trigonometry, and he explained it to me. It made no sense this morning, but this wasn't unexpected. Anything past the times table is beyond me. He left this behind - his idea of fun!

After I dropped bear off, I went for a short walk in the park and got a pic as proof.

Then I picked up some rice from Aldi and came home. 

For some reason I just couldn't get going today. My tooth is very bad again, so goodness only knows what's going on. And celebrating England's win last night probably hasn't helped. 

I ended up going out early to pick up bear as I was worried about traffic. There was an awful incident at J27 on the M62, which is near my route, and I expected jammed roads. Fortunately it was quite clear, so I had a little wander down the road to take a pic of the hat on the post box that I drive past most mornings.

Whoever crocheted this was amazing. I just noticed the tag as I loaded the photo. I shall have to go back and have a look. 

What is wonderful to me (apart from the yarn bomb, which is totally awesome) is that a few years ago I wouldn't have been able to walk the few hundred yards from the car park to the post box. I was fine today, and on the way back I even called in to a charity shop (but didn't see anything so didn't buy anything).

So things could be worse. Tomorrow I am focusing on getting everything ready for the plumber on Friday morning.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Good News

Fifitr - It's still weed central here, and the garden is tiny. Besides, sometimes it's just nice to look at green things even if they aren't planted deliberately. I love the sound of the raised bed. I've been ignoring the writer's courses today. Tomorrow I'll have another look, but I'm taking your advice. I'm already ignoring one non-fiction course. I may write a non-fiction book, about how to fail at housekeeping, but I think it would come under the similar rules for my fiction. 

I think someone has put weedkiller on the honeysuckle at the side. This was fine a few days ago, and now it looks like this.

I'm keeping an eye on it.

I've had a lot of positives happen today. I got the website stuff sorted. I got almost exactly £2 off using coupons in Morrisons and it was all stuff I would use. I've survived carting buckets of dirty water to the outside drain. And bear's t-shirt, that I washed using that thingy gadget, came out fine and I even got out the large ketchup stain. I even sorted out a new phone for my failing main one. Texting is becoming a problem, and it's the main way bear will communicate if he's out. The memory is overflowing, and it's prone to phone battery vampires, but the trouble I'm having with texting is the real issue. I found a reconditioned Motorola on the Tesco eBay site for a reasonable price, so that should be fine. I don't deserve it. The dehydrator came today. I may practice on the petals from the rose bush. I'll have to pick them first thing, though, before the ants and aphids really get going. 

I also went to the hospital for the follow up. I went into hospital a few weeks ago with a suspected heart attack. Today it was confirmed that my heart is fine. This is awesome news. There is still no idea about what happened. I was really poorly afterwards though, so I am a little worried. I think I'll just start managing my stress, or trying to. As I will be watching England play tonight, all bets are off when it comes to stress levels. I took the bus as I was going without bear, and I got this photo on my way home.

It would be great if it was a little straighter.

I keep trying to get nice photos to put on places like WikiCommons and Unsplash as a sort of thank you to the sites for letting me use the images so freely. It's a work in progress.

Hugs and good health to all. 

The Evils of Drink

I've had abscesses in two seperate teeth on the opposite sides of my face since the beginning of May. I'm finally getting rid of the second one, but the tooth that had the first one is acting up again. This means that I haven't taken a lot of drink due to antibiotics and strong painkillers. I've managed to make a fool of myself when I did.

The first mistake was  near the beginning of June, and I signed up to the Writers Toolkit in Ultimate Bundles. Ultimate Bundles is a thing where, for a short time, they bundle together courses and resources under a particular topic. I've been ignoring the 'clutter free home' bundle but I thought I could use the Writer's Toolkit, as I'm struggling a little. It cost a little, but less than the RRP of the courses, and there was a lot of content. If I was going to get it, I had to act or I would miss my chance. It would probably come around again next year, but I'm struggling now. Did I mention about drink being taken? 

There's a lot in the bundle, and I've started signing up to the various courses. I didn't check properly, though, for some of them. Some are short, some are designed for 12 months, some are downloadable sheets and all of them are emailing me. I haven't even managed to sign up to all of them yet and my inbox is already on the point of collapse. I'm becoming more and more bewildered, especially as they are now following up with 'why haven't you started the course?' and 'here is the next part of the course' and 'would you like to buy this other course from me?' I am sinking.

So while I am feeling like my head is about to explode, I have to sort out the website stuff (still hasn't been done) and I have a leak in my sink. I think that the wastepipe has become detatched from the sink. I have a suspicion that anything I try will end in tears. I have a plumber coming on Friday, as that is when bear is at home with a teacher training day so I can wait in.

I'm ashamed to say that my kitchen is in an appalling state? There are no dirty dishes or rotting bits of food, and all the perishable stuff is taken care of, but there are piles of stuff everywhere. There just seems to be a lot of shifting around that needs doing, and I suppose this is a great opportunity (while worrying about courses and websites etc) to clear the kitchen. The garden is running away from me, though, and I really want to get some herbs planted. Did I mention the second drink I took in June? That was last night and I have a dehydrator on its way.

Did I mention that I only have a limited time to sign up to the courses? My brain feels like overcooked spaghetti.

I've got some washing done, but I daren't do any more until after the plumber has been because the washer goes out of the same waste pipe. I've just rinsed bear's t-shirt through by hand and let it drip for a little while before bunging it in the tumble dryer and I'm keeping everything crossed. 

On the bright side, I called in to Aldi this morning and picked up some inexpensive flowers. The jug is far too small for them. I shall have to keep browsing charity shops when I have time. And if anyone has any suggestions about getting aphids off flowers in the garden that you would like to cut, I'd love to hear them. 

Hugs and good health to all.

A Rose by Any Other Name

I've only started buying flowers for the last few months, so I'm still working things out. The latest bunch of flowers from Aldi are already wilting (Morrisons and Tesco are usually good for two weeks). At the same time, the white rose in my garden is going to have to be cut back as it's top heavy. 

In theory I could bring in some of the roses. They would look lovely. Unfortunately, they are heavily colonised by aphids. I'm not sure I'm ready for free range aphids in my study. 

Any suggestions welcome.

Father's Day has gone quite well here. Poor DH has to cook his own dinner as I can't cook steak. I managed to find a lemon meringue pie for dessert, one of DH's favourites. There don't seem to be many in the shops and perhaps they aren't in fashion. I should perhaps make my own but I don't have a good track record. The first time I attempted lemon meringue pie was at school. My poor mother was horrified when the list of the ingredients included 'lemon meringue pie mix'. She did not approve at all! If we were going to learn to cook, we should learn to cook properly. I knew she expected a lot from the mix, and the pie looked great. It's a shame I dropped it on the floor during English with a sort of blast radius effect.

The second time I tried lemon meringue pie was also something of a fail. I managed the pate sucre for the pie crust (a bit crunchy, but acceptable) and the meringue was fine. The lemon filling, however, oozed out of the pie with the consistency of thin cream. 

I used to be able to cook at one point, but I seem to have lost the skill. I think I need to find it again.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Copy & Paste

Libby - I hope you managed to get back to sleep after the first thirty minutes, because the rest was grim. I was unsurprised. It would be nice to watch England play a sizzling, exciting, well-crafted game. Father once drank half a bottle of brandy while watching England play, but I don't think it entirely numbed the pain.

Writing stuff - I have two writing sites, Always Another Chapter and At the Sign of the White Hart. I shall be deactivating the White Hart site soon. I'm not sure how safe the Always Another Chapter will be. It's all got very confusing for me. I think anyone who has half a brain could figure it out, but while I'm quite good at all sorts of things, websites terrify me. My mind goes blank. I have the insight of a concussed pigeon. The chat support was lovely, but I'm still not sure what I'm doing. 

I'm trying to think of ways to keep the stories. I was thinking of self publishing them, but I haven't found a reliable way of keeping them free to access. It seems wrong to have to pay for something that was previously free. On the other hand, self publishing is probably the most secure way to keep the stories, as they won't be affected by broken laptops and the company would want to keep a chance to make money from them so would keep them going.

Regardless of what I decide to do, I've spent today copy & pasting story after story. I've got a big master file, plus I'm dividing them into different categories - poetry, darker fiction, chatty stories and such. I wondered about publishing these separately but there isn't really that much in each. They're not really long enough. 

Whatever happens is likely to be after a spell of the website equivalant of hitting my thumb with a hammer. I really am adrift. But I will share if I make a decision.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Weather Has Changed

Jean - thank you! I wish I could take some credit. 

My mind has been wandering a little (though I'm feeling better) and I thought I would share with you. Chester Racecourse is built on the Roodee, which is land reclaimed from the River Dee over the centuries as it silted up.

Image from WikiCommons, taken by BrianP and used under the Creative Commons Agreement

On the left of the picture you can see the Roman Walls, still standing after over a thousand years. On some parts you could see where the boats were moored when the river was still flowing against them and Chester was a port. I've checked on Wikipedia here and apparently it's the oldest racetrack in current use with races going back to 1539.

The reason that Chester has a racecourse is that the traditional Shrove Tuesday football match was so violent and dangerous that it had to be stopped. The city council banned the football match and set up horse races instead. Mind you, it wasn't football or soccer as we know it. It was more a heaving, violent, lawless scrum that were a hazard to the community. 

And speaking of football or soccer, England play Scotland tonight. Due to antibiotics, I'm going to have to watch it sober. At least I get to watch it. Fingers crossed we get some passionate football tonight, but nothing to get it banned and replaced with horseracing. 

Further Ouch

The dentist was awesome this morning. I didn't really feel a thing and didn't feel stressed. Unfortunately, all the gunk is still around so I am feeling desperately under the weather. 

I tried taking a better pic of the roses.

Please note - this plant has been neglected for years. I also got a pic of the honeysuckle. 

It's the best that this honeysuckle has ever done!

There are a lot of blooms around. If they all set, there are going to be swathes of berries around at autumn. We already have a couple more courgettes set, though I'm not sure if the first one is growing. I haven't watered. Tonight's weather forecast includes a little rain, and there was a little last night, so I'm hoping that the courgettes keep coming. I must remember to feed them.

The irises have pretty much died. I think it was bringing them home in the hot car boot that did it. I may cut some of the white roses from the garden. 

I enjoyed last night's Sewing Bee. I was in complete awe at their achievements. I shall miss it. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

All Things are Possible in an Infinite Universe

Wherethejourneytakesme - I still haven't worked out how to use my phone fully and now it's wearing out! I can see me asking bear for help on a regular basis. It's great when I have to do that. The look of weary resignation as he finds the correct button is hilarious.

Jean - thank you! I intend to have fun.

I'm determined to take pics. Here is the rose that I think father planted, around 2011 or 2012. I've not done anything, not even feed it. I feel unworthy. The rest of the garden is looking a bit limp so I'm hoping to water it tonight, if I'm not floating too much.

It's not a brilliant pic, but I hope that it shows that the bush is full of flowers. I need to have a check for aphids as well, when I'm feeling better.

Tooth continues. I am sort of the opposite of allergic to antibiotics. They don't work very well on me. I always need another course. The dentist seems to feel that I am somehow angling for illicit extra antibiotics and I don't think that she's given me enough. I'm booked in again tomorrow when I hope that she will see that I need more as the first prescription hasn't started working yet. I'm not putting the details. It isn't pleasant. 

Tomorrow I hope to have a pic of the seeds piling up in the garden. Every year about this time, the seeds from the poplars down the roads blow over and it looks like a duvet has been sick in the corners of the garden. Today I was glad that masks were an option as the air was thick with fluffy seeds.

Tonight I hope to watch the Great British Sewing Bee final. I don't have a favourite, but I'm really looking forward to seeing the creations. I still haven't mended bear's blazer, so perhaps that will be an incentive. Mind you, the blazer is looking sort of small and I think that the tear is keeping it more or less wearable. Bear has had a growth spurt!

Hugs and good health to all.

Still Floating

I will be glad when this all settles down.

Today I got a text from bear asking to be picked up at Tesco instead of Morrisons (around three miles different - I just checked). He was also asking to be picked up later. I ended up wandering around Tesco while waiting. I didn't want to buy anything but came out with some thread (I need to sew his blazer when I sober up from the codeine) and some reduced flowers.

I love irises, so when they are £1.74, I pick them up. I don't know how long they'll survive, especially after coming home in the boot, but I know I enjoy them. And do you like the vase? I picked it up off eBay and while it wasn't quite so inexpensive, it wasn't a lot and I thing it's gorgeous (and the men agree).

I deleted a load of books from the Kindle app on my phone to free up space but it's still glitchy. I had a dreadful job texting bear back. I think it's not just the battery vampires, but the whole thing is getting elderly. I shall look for an inexpensive reconditioned one.

The idea of phone battery vampires really works for me. I imagine them living in clock batteries (which last for years in this house, so it's the vampires keeping them going) and then fluttering out at night to prey on unsuspecting Motorolas. I don't charge mine overnight, as there isn't a decent power point near my bed, so the battery runs down. This is nothing to do with reading/using the torch/alarm and everything to do with imaginary predators. Most people are unaffected as they charge their phones at night and the predations are undetected.

Perhaps I should stay off the codeine. It's not even a full dose, just the Solpadeine stuff.

Hugs and good health to all.

This May Make Sense

 I am on more antibiotics and have just taken codeine. Codeine makes me very floaty and I'm currently away with the fairies. Catch up tomorrow. Hugs and good health to all. 

Phone Vampires

Feeling quite poorly. Haven't done much apart from be extremely happy that England won (and had to watch it sober due to painkillers).

Before I go and watch Austria and North Macedonia, I thought I would share my suspicions. My phone is losing a lot of charge overnight. I mean, I seem to amble into the bedroom with a decent amount left and wake up with the phone almost dead.

There are a lot of good reasons for this. The phone must be around four years old, so the battery is on the way out. I read before I go to sleep and the kindle app takes a lot of charge. I'm not sure about how many times I hit snooze, but that has to take some charge. I also use the phone's torch to go upstairs, so I don't put the main landing light on and disturb bear. There are a heap of reasons why my phone is lacking charge in the morning. They are boring reasons. I think that I prefer to say that phone vampires sneak in during the night and suck the batteries. There is no logic or reason to it, but it's far more interesting than the most likely causes.

I suppose I ought to check and see if there are any places to get the battery replaced. It's not too bad at the moment as I can charge in the car (which probably hasn't helped the battery) and I don't really go many places for long that don't involve the car. The rest of the time I'm sitting next to the phone charge cable.

If I really believed in phone vampires, I suppose I could rub some garlic on the case, but I can't be bothered. I still prefer the more interesting explanation, though

Hugs and good health to all.

Things Sometimes Grow

The garden is doing okay, apart from a gazillion ants marching up and down and something has eaten one of the runner bean plants. I'm going to have to call in somewhere on Monday and pick up stuff for slugs, which is the most likely culprit.

Yesterday I left my watering can underneath the bird feeder. Today it was encrusted. I couldn't face cleaning it down (still feeling off) so used the impulse bought can from Aldi instead.

I can't recommend it. It's not very good for watering. The water is hard to direct, the can is heavy and the way the handle is designed digs into your hand. The cheapo plastic and currently encrusted watering can is much better, though it looks inferior. I suppose I could plant something in it.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Second Verse Same as the First

Tooth and ants continue. 

I couldn't concentrate on Turkey v Italy, though I had the commentary on. I've been kicking around some writing ideas and my mind was on other things. I ought to be concentrating on knitting. The Euros, Wimbledon and hopefully the Olympics should be a reason for my stash to reduce. As it was, I was too busy thinking about medieval castles to really concentrate even when I was waiting for bear. Though I did get a rather unflattering pic of a cat that was marking it's territory all around the car park. I'm just grateful that it didn't target my tyres. I really need to raise my game with the pics.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Ants in my Courgette Flower

 Thank you for the hugs. My dentists are very kind, which is more than I deserve. I've neglected my teeth dreadfully.

The title is not a euphemism. 

Above is an incredibly poor photo, and all the black dots in the centre are ants.

I felt incredibly impressed that I had managed to get a flower on the courgette plant. I fail a lot with gardening. I looked closer, and it was covered in ants! Apparently ants farm aphids, and I know that the yellow rose has been covered in aphids and ants for years. I didn't expect them to go to other plants. There are faint patches of mildew on the leaves as well, so I need to work out how to treat both. I will start by looking at the old fashioned methods as the ultra modern and expensive weedkiller did nothing and I'm going to have to go back to it again.

Tooth continues. I am feeling quite fed up. 

On the bright side, I haven't been shopping. 

Hugs and good health to all.

Ow!

 Sharon - At least you got a breathing space!

I have another tooth abscess, in a different tooth. They are booking me in for sedation. 

I was very brave. Normally dentists have me in a small puddle on the floor, but today I was too busy worrying about other stuff. The lovely dentist said that instead of prescribing antibiotics, she was packing my tooth with the medicine. My mouth is filled with the taste of cloves and I'm feeling sort of queasy. 

I think I shall just curl up and enjoy the Sewing Bee tonight.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Roadworks!

There are roadworks everywhere! I think I've lost count of them. I can't get into the farm shop because of the roadworks at their entrance. In fact, the quickest run to school, allowing for a different route going home via Tesco (you can't go back the way you came, it's not natural), has something like five separate road works. It only takes twenty five minutes on a bad day (without roadworks, of course)! 

Wherethejourneytakesme - I am glad that you were reminded. Mine are being eaten by something at the moment. I've watered them with soapy water and I'm keeping an eye out. They are looking like this, which isn't the majestic clumps that I remember from my grandmother's time.

And thank you, I feel so hugged by the review. It's given me a real boost. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Could be Worse

Yesterday I made a long list of what I had to do today. I did absolutely nothing of it. This is not a surprise, but I'm finding it incredibly irritating. One of the things I failed to do was pick up some shopping as I forgot my handbag. On the bright side, my offers for Morrisons came in today so the bananas I was planning to pick up will be 10% cheaper. 

I didn't get much done in the garden either. I planned to get out early while it was still quite cool, but it was hurling it down with rain. On the bright side, I don't have to water the garden. 

Another plus was taking bear to climbing. It was quite busy this evening, and it was full of people of all ages and genders, in relatively decent or at least active shape, and often in clothing that was tight or cutaway. It is incredibly useful for me as a writer to be able to describe active people in a wide variety of shapes. I have to be careful that I don't stare or make obvious mental notes. I don't want to make people uncomfortable and I don't want to get banned as a dirty old woman.

Writing stuff - speaking of writing, I finally managed a little more flash fiction over on my site here. And there is an utterly amazing review of  Under the Bright Sahara Sky here. I feel all overcome by it!

Hugs and good health to all. 

Wonderfully Calm

I got the two chilli plants in proper pots today. That is, at least, something. I still haven't sorted out any spinach, but I shall see what I can manage. DH is using a lot in smoothies, so if I can find the space, I may need to learn about succession planting.

Something horrible is eating the red hot poker plants. I'm going out with soapy water tomorrow, in the hope that it will get rid of any insect pests. I'm also considering the aphids. I know things like hover flies and ladybirds rely on them, but they don't do the plant or my garden any favours.

I took a pic of the bed. The plants have been in for over 24 hours and still aren't dead. I'm hoping that the plants will take off and spread. 

I'm now waiting for bear's climbing kit to finish washing. At some point I will find a pair of jogging bottoms that bear will wear and buy two pairs. Currently he has one pair, which look like they are shrinking due to bear's growth spurt. Until I find them, I'm just going to have to keep washing them and hope that they hold out.

I had something of a moment today. I drove out to pick up bear's blazer from the dry cleaners next to Tesco. I thought I would nip in to Tesco first to pick up some coleslaw first, so I wasn't dragging the blazer around the store. I then got caught up in trying to guess if I had everything for bear at school that I paid for the coleslaw and cherries (I only bought one thing on impulse, so I'm getting better) and drifted back to the car without calling in at the dry cleaners. I was nearly home before I remembered that I should have picked up the blazer. At least I got some driving practice in. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

In the Garden

This is a rose on a bush currently overrun by ants and aphids. I thought I had dug it up, but apparently I was wrong. It's been there for years, since I bought it when it was marked down and half dead at the garden centre. It's next to the fuschia that grows like a thug and has to get hacked back when it reaches the size of my car. I'm not sure whether I need a machete or a flamethrower.

The bedding plants are now in. I'm sort of hoping that they just keep coming back. If I wasn't so ashamed of the rest of the garden I'd take a pic. There's alyssum on the outside, which will keep coming back if you give it half a chance, and verbena with some marigolds. I'm hoping to be able to just ignore the bed for a few years apart from watering, food and weeding. Father always put in winter pansies, and I suppose if I do that then perhaps next year can be veggies, but the thought of not having to do much is very tempting. The next thing to tackle is planting the two chilli plants in bigger pots and dealing with the bed under the study window, the one that used to have the lavender. I may see if I can get some more alyssum plants to fill in. I love alyssum and you don't see the plants very often.

I also have a small sort of tub thing to plant spinach seeds, but I'll need to have netting. The woodpigeons around here are fierce. Or I suppose I can look into a charity shop for net curtains. When I was a kid, my grandmother grew redcurrants, white currants and blackcurrants. All of these are extremely attractive to birds. Her solution was to hang net curtains over the bushes when the fruit was set, but the blackbirds used to get under the net curtains and help themselves. They had a stand of cob nuts as well, but the squirrels always got them first. I don't remember eating many nuts. 

Bear went to climbing again today. I think that he's had an okay half term. Tomorrow he's decided to work on revision. I'll wait and see.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Sort of Busy

Today has been sort of busy. First we went to physio for bear, then I went with bear to the farm shop to pick up some plants. After that I took bear to the climbing depot where he spent a happy fortyfive minutes. Then I had a doctor's appointment and finally nipped out to pick up the prescription. But between those things, I didn't really do anything.

There's still no evidence of a heart attack, but I'm getting referred just in case. She has also put me on aspirin, but I should have said at the time that I have almost permanent heartburn, so it may be iffy on my stomach. I think my mind hasn't caught up yet. I'm still having a few moments, but I'm managing.

Bear is helping to keep me distracted. This morning, as we had a taxi ordered for 7.30am we had an early start. Bear had an absolute fit as he couldn't find his shorts. I told him that the shorts had been last seen on him heading into his bedroom. He utterly refuted that and went to the physio in jeans (he's doing awesomely). He wore jogging bottoms for climbing but emerged from his room later with the shorts on as apparently of course they were in his room. He has also been driving me scatty about the stationery. These are not bad problems to have. 

I think I shall now settle down and watch the Sewing Bee. 

Hugs and good health to all.

Still Here

Pam - thank you, I feel hugged!

Nothing much happened today, which makes a nice change. Bear has suddenly found a need for stationery supplies. Apparently he has none at all. A quick trawl of various drawers has turned out most of what he needs.

I remembered to put his blazer in to clean. I know that there's only half a term left, but the blazer is an utter disgrace. I dread to think of how much muck will come out. Still, that's normal for teens. 

I'm still feeling a little out of sorts. I have an appointment actually in the surgery tomorrow, so that should be helpful. I wish I knew what was going on, but I strongly suspect stress.

In other news, I have been complaining about the trees coming from Matalan which even got in the way of the ambulance last week. Today I spoke to the lovely manager (they really are nice in the store, I don't like complaining, and it's not really their fault). A contractor has had a look but can't do anything until the end of June at the earliest, because of potential nesting birds. There are magpies, so that is fair enough. I sort of hope that they just prune them. They shelter a lot of birds over there, and it would be a shame to see it go altogether. On the other hand, it would be great if I didn't have the branches scraping the roof of my little mum car. It should have been dealt with a long time ago. 

The lilac has been gorgeous and the scent is amazing. I'm really enjoying it. The honeysuckle is also taking off much more this year. I must remember to feed the plants. 

Hugs and good health to all.