Chaos Continues, but without Pigeons

I'm rattling through, as I forgot about the blog and thought I would remind everyone reading - you are awesome!

There are issues with getting the bathroom finished but optimistic that it will only be another few days and finished by this time next week. It's quite a big job even though the bathroom is only around four square metres (if I've done my maths right) as it needs new walls and new flooring as well as a new bath, new toilet and new washbasin. 

No further pigeon issues, but there are still a few skulking around the pigeon flap. We still haven't got a roofer. 

Bear is spending a lot of time playing computer games. I'm letting him. 

There is so much dust and clutter and chaos at the moment, but it will be better soon.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Dead Pigeons

Cherie - I posted on the wrong blog, then deleted without realising that it hadn't gone on the right blog. As for comments - it's been odd!

Eileen - I'm counting the hours until that bathroom's finished, honestly!

No bathroom people today. However we had pest control. DH has had a lot of problems with the sound of pigeons above him in the roof. It sounded like they were stomping around like line dancers and they never shut up! So he called in someone about a pigeon, who had to go up next door's loft, climb over partitions, extract nests with eggs, chase a load of pigeons out of the pigeon flap and I think not all pigeons survived the experience. 

Here is a pic of a pigeon sitting on what was the pigeon flap but is now blocked off. We now have to call roofers as at least one slate came down.

At one point there was a subdued row of pigeons on the roof ridge looking homeless. It's been wonderful for DH, though. He's managed to have a day of work without being interrupted by pigeon noises.

There aren't so many flowers on the fuchsia at the moment, but there are plenty of buds and some fruit starting to ripen. I expect that the sparrows will see the fruit off.

And It's somewhat worrying that most of the interest in my life comes from a single fuchsia.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Please Hold...

I am having a fail with my blogs at the moment. It's entirely my fault, but posts are ending up on the wrong account. I think I just lost a load of posts meant for here - again, entirely my fault.

But you are all awesome and I hope that all goes well with you.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Could be a Lot Worst

Helen - that is so reassuring!

Bless - thank you! I'm so proud of bear.

Eileen - the picture went to the tip - it was all it was fit for. 

My bathroom wall looks a little like this...

The workmen have started. Things have been brought and taken. It means reduced access to the toilet, which is suggesting that I cut back on the caffeine this week. It's going to be tough. The house is in uproar and the workman have completely ignored my tea and biscuits. I don't know whether I'm coming and going and I am all to pieces. 

Bear has done some revision already. I hope he manages some down time. I think he may have set himself unrealistic targets. I'll just leave him to it for now, but keep a careful eye.

Writing stuff - latest in the Under Dark Hills series is here.

Hugs and good health to all.

Not Sure What Happened

Eileen - DH and I agree that we are lucky to have bear. He has some moments, of course, but he is such a sweetheart for a teenager. We are able to give these opportunities to bear because DH works so hard and I really don't mind running around after bear, and we feel that we are privileged to do that. And I suspect that bear does kind of feel lucky. From the tiny fragments that bear lets slip (I swear I would get more info from the Mafia), his friends' parents are a little more strict and stressy. I don't stress about much stuff with bear. I've had years of dealing with father and uncle. The complications of teenage lifts are a pale shadow compared to what they managed!

Bless - I think the new bow will make a difference. The teacher thinks that it will make an amazing difference. I think it would take a flamethrower/chainsaw combination to give that fuchsia much of a set back. As for the weather - on Thursday at pick up it was 20C (68F). The Brits talk about weather all the time because it changes so much that it's always something to talk about. I'm digging out a sweater later. 

Thursday temperature

Don't you love British weather? It dropped 22 degrees Celsius in two days!

I've been feeling a little stressed about the whole writing stuff, so kept off here. However, bear brought home an amazing report. There are lots of good grades (plus English, there's likely to be an intervention), but the best bit was the attitude to learning. There are four grades to that, 1-4, with 1 being the best, and bear got straight 1s all across the board, even with PE which he had to miss for years. I am so proud of that. 

The bow got a little stressy as well. It turned up, really well packaged, and bear struggled to use it. For a while I thought we would have to send it back and then drive bear to Manchester and a specialist shop there so bear to try them out before buying. Fortunately bear had a lesson yesterday evening and the wonderful teacher worked out that it was his bow technique so I was spared a trip to the obscure suburb of Manchester over the summer. 

Yesterday was a little odd. I dropped bear off at school and then raced back. I'm clearning out my hoarded bedroom and it's been tough. I'm asking myself questions about whether I really want to keep stuff. So during the day I filled six bags to donate and a lot of bin bags. I also took down the picture that was father's pride and joy - the 3D pic of Liverpool's 2005 team. It's huge and I'm going to wait for DH to take it downstairs. 

Bear finished his Yr10 at midday, but he was doing something with his pals until around 4pm (no idea - they seem to walk around for hours and it's exercise). Here is where it started to get complicated. I had a truly awful drive to pick up bear. I started late, because I was trying to work out what to do about bear's bow. Then I seemed to hit all the problems. It was like a video game - cars were pulling out in front of me, I was tailgated on two separate parts of the run (and not going slow at all!), and had all the double parking - it was challenge after challenge! I was going to drop off the donations at the charity shop before picking up bear, but I got caught out by a closed road and a weird diversion and went through some very strange back roads before I decided to head straight to bear and managed to make the pick up place two minutes before bear got there. The drive home was ridiculous as well and bear agreed. 

I barely got home when I had to head out again as it was bear's violin lesson. Finding parking around there is horrendous and I don't like parking on residential streets anyway. I keep worrying about upsetting the people in the houses. The violin teacher asked me not to come in because of Covid, so I found the local Tesco express and got some cola as I was feeling so tired that I was worried about being safe to drive and needed caffeine. It was interesting having that short walk as I passed one of the golden post boxes - the post boxes that were painted gold in 2012 whenever someone local to that post box won a gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics. After that I waited for bear and had a quiet knit. 

The drive back from the lesson was also a little scary as I went on the 60mph roads and even though it was evening, they were still fast and busy.

Then I realised that I had a boot full of donations plus a Tesco shop scheduled for the next day that I didn't really need and that DH needed an empty boot if he was going to take the bin bags to the tip. So I dropped bear off at home, and carried on straight out to Tesco. There are huge donation thingies where you can leave the stuff so I put the clothes in there, the books on the Tesco charity book table and grabbed the few bits I needed for the workmen. Because I pay £7.99 each month for the Tesco Clubcard plus I get 10% off two shops per month (which can't be carried forward). I used one of those and saved £5, so that was something. I called in at Aldi and then got home around about 10pm and cancelled the Tesco order. I drove over fifty miles and did over double my normal step count. Today I'm shattered and I can barely move. My step count wasn't that much, but it was more than normal, so I'm still recovering!

And I have sooo much to do today. I feel sort of exhilarated, like it's an adventure. There's certainly going to be dust!

Hugs and good health to all. 

Writing Stuff

Cherie - I am desperate for the rain. Bear finishes school on Friday and I think I will give a sigh of relief!

Eileen - we're keeping going here. I would have loved to have seen all those people coming out of the house like a clown car! And how awful to have been packed up into the roof space!

Bless - thank you!

Bear has a new bow. We got it on the advice of the violin teacher as the bow he got with the violin was not great. She described it as 'bouncy'. It was £185, which made me wince a little, but the most expensive bow on the site was over £6,000. I nearly fell off my chair when I saw that! I can't remember what we paid for the violin and bow together but I have a feeling that it was less than the bow as we just got something inexpensive as a starter. I'll need to buy new strings soon as well, apparently.

It's a little cooler today. It's still warm in the house as our house, like most British homes, is designed to keep the heat in. I don't do well in the heat so I have been particularly pathetic. We kept water topped up outside for the birds, but I suspect that the weather has taken a toll. It has affected the fuchsia as the blossoms look heat damaged now, even the buds.

I got two letters telling me that my appointment at the hospital as a follow up to the breast thing was cancelled. They both contained a new date on the same day but not the same time. I think I will get there early. There's still a bit of an issue, but I don't think that it's serious.

And the man came again about the bathroom. I have a lot to do before they get started on Monday and I haven't done any of it today.

Writing stuff - My writing website went down last night. Apparently the heat affected the servers in London and a lot of different websites went down. It's up and running now, but it gave me a few anxious moments. 

I have been thinking about this for a while. Many years ago, back in 2012, I used Blogger (here) to create a free blog to promote my writing. Then, feeling that I ought to be more professional, I got a fancy Wordpress website with it's own address which I pay for, which is the one that was down last night. I've been feeling a little out of sorts with the website, though the customer support in general has been awesome and they have been very patient with me. I don't think I can justify a paid for site, though. I'm torn because I have the link to the Wordpress site everywhere. I suppose I can edit the links in some places if I decide to switch over. I have a better chance with Blogger, anyway, as I never really understood Wordpress. Mind you, I don't really get Blogger that much either. 

I think that I should sit down with a pen and paper and write out my thought processes and see where that takes me. I'll keep things updated and give plenty of notice. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Meh

 

Thirty Seven Degrees Celsius!

Bless - we're doing our best. Apparently parts of the UK are hotter than some of the Sahara!

Cherie - really desperate for a good long rainy spell. We've had nothing.

Eileen - if I get a good deal on mushrooms, it works out just a little cheaper than buying mushrooms ready frozen. However my experience is that the home frozen ones taste slightly better (which surprises me, but I pick out the good ones to freeze) and they are chopped and not sliced which is how I prefer them for cooking. 

It was 37C (98F) in the car when I picked up bear. I don't have air con in my car. This is less fun than I signed up for.

I'm so hot that I can't remember all that I did this weekend. I remember meeting up with my brother and some of his partner's family (who were awesome), and I'm sure I did other things.

I have been working through a huge heap of overdue washing, including loads of stuff like socks that have sort of got stuck, plus the sorting pile which I'm rewashing because a slug got in there. I hung a load of stuff out, but unfortunately it was flying ant day yesterday and it all got rather unpleasant.

I don't know whether you can see this properly, but I took another shot of the pigeon flap. DH has got in touch with the estate agents renting out the house at the back as we share a house. They have access to the roof space and we don't, so he is hoping they'll let pigeon pest control into it. 

You can just about see the dratted bird perched at the entrance like a bouncer.

By the way, for those who don't remember, our house is in a block of eight, four facing one way and four facing the other, all the side walls being joint and if you knocked through the wall at the back of my bedroom then you would fall through into their kitchen. The roof space hasn't been divided up, so if you can get into the roof space in one house then you can wander up and down and a few years ago some scally used to wait until the police knocked on their door, run up to the attic and then down into another house. One day he did that and ran straight into the waiting police who had worked it out. So while we have no access whatsoever to the roof space, we're quite happy about that. There used to be a car wheel lock on the attic hatch next door. 

I called in at Aldi quickly this morning. The rose of Sharon in their car park was looking very secondhand. The freezers also looked ransacked. The lady on the till said that it was bedlam yesterday. I suppose people were stocking up for today and tomorrow. I'll be glad when this weather breaks.

Writing stuff - The latest instalment of Under Dark Hills is here. I had far too much fun writing it. And, if you are interested, there's an interesting post on my publisher's blog about identity and being your best self here. 

Hugs and good health to all.

Not so Warm for Now

 Bless - I always ask about behaviour. I don't reward grades, I try and reward effort. And I am not doing well with the heat, but hope to get used to it for the next few days. A national warning of extreme weather for the heat has gone out.

Eileen - I don't want to give bear too many excuses. He does so well everywhere else that I don't want him to feel that he has to be perfect. On the other hand, so many teachers in such a short time makes me sort of blame the teaching. Apparently there's an intervention at the start of next term and he has been given a huge stack of reading and exercises for over the holidays. I signed him up for the school, and in so many ways it's brilliant, but I worry that there is so much on him. On the other hand, he doesn't seem to be feeling under pressure, so perhaps it's okay. 

Today has been a funny sort of day. I had a delivery and got some extra mushrooms - which were fine. I managed to fit them into the crammed freezer. It took a little while, but the mushrooms were on offer so I took advantage of the deal.

Chopping up mushrooms can leave some muck behind. You can bet that I checked them after last time, but they were fine.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Another Good Day for Bear

I found a load of comments in the spam folder. There were some lovely, warming, encouraging and supporting comments and I am so sorry that I missed them. I apologise for not replying. They go back quite a few months, so I made the call not to respond to the older ones, but they all felt like hugs and were all very much appreciated. I will be checking my spam folder in future. Thank you to anyone who is kind enough to leave a comment. I reply to all those I see, so those that got no reply were absolutely ones that I missed. I'm sorry. 

Cherie - thank you! I think I will sleep a little better now that it's cooler here.

Bless - thank you! I think that you can get accustomed to temperature, so that what is 'normal' to one person is 'ridiculous' to another, depending on where they live. It's also incredibly humid here, which doesn't help, and our homes are designed to keep heat in. Also, Brits are really good at grumbling about the weather lol.

Eileen - it's really hard because his English score is so low compared to his other subjects. Bear told me that there had been a new head of department and then a resignation of 8 or 9 teachers. I hope that it settles down soon. If necessary, we'll look at tutors. It's silly, but English GCSE is a big deal and if that is low when everything else is high then it could perhaps cause problems. I don't want to take the view that it can't possibly be bear's fault, because it absolutely could. I think he struggles a little with essays. On the other hand, he seems to be able to understand all the texts and make useful comments on them to DH and I. 

It was parent's evening tonight, done online. I think doing it online makes things so much easier. I didn't make an appointment for English, as there will be a new teacher next term and I shall speak to them then if necessary. Apparently no-one, including bear, got above a 5. Bear got some stonkingly good marks otherwise, so I'm not entirely ready to blame him. I worry that I indulge him too much, but I want to be encouraging. 

(as a side note, I got the best grades in the 6th form overall for my A levels, back sometime in the stone age. I got an A for History and General Studies, a B for English and a D for French. That D was the highest mark anyone in that class got for French. When I told my mother the results, her reaction was to complain that I should have done better in French and she completely ignored my other marks. I don't want to be like my mother)

We had appointments with Maths (teacher happy), Physics (teacher very happy), Computer Science (teacher very happy), History (bear did okay but can do better, teacher happy) and careers (happy). I was so pleased because they talked about positive, open, hardworking behaviour and a good attitude. I am more proud of those than his marks (though he did pretty well in the tests - apart from that dratted English!). I shall definitely have to find a good reward for him.

Hugs and good health to all. 

A Good Day for Bear

Bless - I suspect that your version of hot and my version of hot are very different. If you were here, there would be a chance that you would wear a cardigan or wrap as it's currently in the 70sF. 

Eileen - I don't want to give bear excuses, but he has had three separate English teachers this term alone. The teaching has been horrifically hit and miss for English, and DH and I can't help because we don't understand the way that the questions are laid out. I think I'm going to be doing some revision over the summer.

Cherie - I spent a lot of today sitting in the cellar. 

I did a load of washing today - I used the 'fast wash' 30C cycle and just kept putting stuff in the washer and then out on the clothes airer and dryer. I put up a new rotary dryer today - I came second and I suspect that I wasted my money, but any replacement will have to wait. 

One reason that any further spends on dryers will have to wait is that I spotted where the pigeons are coming in to the house. There is a loose tile which the pigeons seem to be using almost like a cat flap. I'm going to have to try and sort it before winter because if it isn't letting in water now, it will soon. And it's right on the top of the roof, which will mean scaffolding - it's over forty feet above ground level. 

You can see the white splash near the roof ridge - that's just below the pigeon flap.

Also my feet and knees feel on fire. I can't move!

But bear had an awesome day. First of all he got his report - he got a really amazing report (apart from English) and totally rocked his Computer Science exam. I am so proud of him. Then we had a violin lesson and the teacher said that she may put him in for Grade 4 later, which is amazing. Bear is loving the violin, and really enjoyed the lesson. I'm sneakily pleased that he may get some grades for music because it can help with university applications. I am also incredibly proud of bear. He hasn't had a lot of violin lessons, but he has really blossomed and practised so much. 

Now I am about to limp off to bed - if I can manage the stairs!

Hugs and good health to all. 

 

Still Wilting

Cherie - I am not doing well in the heat. I hope that it doesn't last too much longer after next weekend.

I'm not sure what I have done today. I'm so tired, I can barely move. Hopefully the bathroom will be sorted soon. 

Bear has not done well in his English exam and his drama mark wasn't fantastically brilliant (still pretty respectable, but not a top mark). I am trying to convince him that one bad mark isn't the end of the world. He's pretty calm, but I'm not letting him frame something that is an actual pass as a failure. It still seems weird to DH and I, as we both found English incredibly easy. It's a good reminder for me that bear is his own person and has different strengths. It's a good reminder to bear that he isn't superman. 

Hugs and good health to all.

Far Too Hot

Cherie - bear seems very happy to be doing it as well. I said that if he finds a job he enjoys then his life will be a lot easier. I hope it all works out for him.

Bless - the school filled the hall with people like the local university representatives and lawyers. Fingers crossed that bear has some decent career guidance in the direction he wants. 

Eileen - I have perfected the 'nod and smile'. But bear seems happy. The school seem quite snobby and not interested in anyone who isn't going for being a lawyer or doctor. Hopefully bear gets better guidance as he goes on.

I do not do well in heat. My hands and feet are far more swollen than I think acceptable. I have swollen feet anyway, and do not need the heat making it worse.

I'm feeling more random than usual. I was dipping into some research and found that there's a burial ground for sale - here, if you're curious. Who buys a burial ground and why? There is a market for genuinely used coffin nails, but apparently not in second hand coffins. They do cardboard coffins printed to look like the Tardis. I am tempted. 

I also found a washing machine that runs off a usb plug. It isn't a very big washing machine, more like a small disc that does ultrasonic things, but I can't help but think that it's a recipe for disaster. I have never known laundry that doesn't mean water everywhere, except an automatic. I also have found the connections on usb cables quite flimsy. I can imagine water getting into the electrics unless great care is taken, but  I quite fancy it, for the cleaning cloths. However it doesn't spin, which is a drawback. 

Also, I need to sort out the place as the bathroom is likely to be started soon(ish). Well, at least this year, probably. 

Today was a little out of routine. I had a hair appointment at 11.30. With the price of petrol and the weirdness of traffic at the moment, it wasn't worth me travelling to and from, so I dropped bear off and then hung around, read a book, knitted, had hair done, hung around, read, knitted and wilted in the heat. I spent some time at the park. This looks cool, but it really isn't. The haircut looks great, though.

Writing stuff - the latest instalment of Under Dark Hills is here. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Not a Good Day

Eileen - bear is usually unimpressed with me, especially when driving. He is fifteen, so this is normal. I see the kids on the school run and they all look about fit to drop. I think it's the combination of trying to catch up after all the lockdowns and a long school year. 

Sharon - DH is looking a lot better, so it's likely that it was a bug. 

I bought some mushrooms on sale. I can't remember the exact price, but I remember thinking - this is it! I froze a load of mushrooms a while ago and I'm reaching the end of those so I wanted to put some more in the freezer. 

I was on my fifth punnet (I never learn) and found a tiny fragment of metallic looking glass in the peels. 

I am almost 100% sure that this was a stray piece that had fallen on the floor and had picked something up when I retrieved the peel. But I know myself. I will never feel safe eating the mushrooms, and I will never feel right feeding it to the men. I've just junked them. If I had bunged them in the freezer, they would have sat there forever.

I'm going to pick up one punnet next and check carefully.

Bear had a job fair type thing in school. It's pretty bold of them, considering his year doesn't have their GCSEs for another twelve months. He was a little disappointed as they didn't have any computing employers, which is what he wants to do. He talked a lot about computers and what he wants to do on the way home. I understood about one word in twenty. I nodded, smiled and completely failed to sound the horn in tricky situations. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Feeling Meh

Bless - thank you! I find my time filling up scarily quickly.

Eileen - thank you! That feels like such a hug. I'm glad that it sounds clear. I hope it is helpful for writers with suggestions rather than setting down a list. 

I have had a foul headache all day. I have an iffy stomach. I am absolutely utterly, completely and entirely shattered. DH is feeling better so we are working on the theory that he has had a bug. I really hope I haven't got it as it flattened him and lasted for ages. On the bright side, not long until the summer holidays.

I've got loads of washing done today, but not much else. I seem to have spent an awful lot of today sitting in traffic. I managed to avoid a collision by the skin of my teeth as well, as a car pulled right in front of me. There was no excuse, I was really visible, at a steady and appropriate speed and had all the right of way. Bear was unimpressed. First of all he was unimpressed at the other driver and he was also unimpressed that I had failed to beep my horn. 

Bear is so tired. I think he is ready for the summer break, in a couple of weeks' time. He hasn't had his score back for Computer Science, but he has done well in Maths and Physics and those are the three subjects that are important to him. He has worked really hard as well, which is the key. 

I have no comment to make on the political situation. I write fantasy, urban fantasy and steampunk. What is going on in Parliament is far too weird for me.

I tried to get a pick of the female blackbird eating berried as I was waiting for bear.

She seemed to be enjoying them a great deal. I zoomed in with my phone, and I don't think it worked well. I enjoyed watching her, though.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Ticking Over

Cherie - no evidence of any remains yet, but I'm worried. Fortunately, I think that they're mainly launching themselves from that fuchsia which is only a few yards from the window, so they can't get up much speed. The sparrows, blue tits and coal tits whizz around at such speed, though.

Eileen - thank you for your lovely comment. I feel completely hugged. I really appreciate your support and encouragement with this. The first in the series is here and there will eventually be six parts, published at fortnightly intervals. I really enjoyed writing them. I am so unused to conversations that they now tire me out. I think I should get back into practice.

Bless - thank you! I've had a quick look online and hanging things in the window can help. However I don't think DH would like that (I'm not sure that I would). I shall have to think of something, though.

I'm not sure what happened to today. I don't seem to have done much. I did the school run, of course, and sorted out food for everyone. I finished off this week's flash fiction and I got some washing done. I took bear to the Climbing Depot, and I was impressed that he went as he quick naps not only on the way into school but also on the way home. 

I took some pics of the white rose today for a change. I really need to get going in the garden, especially with deadheading the roses. I'm leaving the honeysuckle as the birds get the berries, but the roses really need it. The rose is really flourishing, and there are a lot of buds coming. Unfortunately it's not very scented.

Writing stuff - This week's flash fiction is here. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Thonk!

Bless - thank you! Ironing is unfortunately needed here. Bear's school uniform shirts look so much better after ironing that I can't bring myself to ignore them. I don't iron much else apart from pillowcases and DH's polo shirts. 

Sharon - thank you! I took the pic out of the car window as I thought that if I got out of the car, I would spend far too long looking around. 

Eileen - thank you! Sometimes I look at bear and wonder how we ended up with him - he is just so good at the science stuff. I'm so proud. The knee has had a few moments, but hasn't given way again, so hopefully it will settle down.

No news for DH, which is sort of good news. The GP practice have a habit of not telling you anything unless it's bad news. If they don't ring, we shouldn't worry, although we do. As it is, DH is feeling a little better. He's still shockingly run down but is on the upward trend.

I am exhausted. I am not used to driving around, walking around and actual conversations. Today I've got washing done, sorted some clothes for the charity shop (which I dropped off!), caught up with some emails and did a little writing. 

I keep getting distracted by repeated 'thonks'. That's the noise that a sparrow makes when it flies into the window. I'm surprised I haven't found feathered remains as they zip around at Mach 2 as if they are auditioning for Top Gun so they must hit the window at some speed. It's unnerving when they whistle past your ear giving it out because the bird feeder is running low, so heaven knows how fast they are going when they meet the glass. I'm not sure what to do about the window. It doesn't seem to matter whether the curtains are open or not, so net curtains probably wouldn't help. We face south, so there is always going to be a little glare in sunshine. If anyone has any ideas, please share. 

I made dinner after bringing home bear and right now I am just about finished. I am probably going to crawl off to bed soon for a ridiculously early night. Tomorrow I am going to have to do something in the garden. DH and bear worked so hard, it's only right that I keep it up. I may have to include sweeping the pavement outside. The fuchsia is shedding.

It is a little unnerving that one of my biggest topics of conversation is the fuchsia.

Writing stuff - I had the second of my series of articles on research for authors posted here on the site of my publishers Three Furies Press (who are awesome). I feel incredibly grown up. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Proud of Bear

Eileen - I feel hugged. Thank you. Everyone was indeed fed - and everyone wanted different food at different times, and everyone had clean clothes and bear was where he should be. I think I shall take that as a win.

Sharon - if I have any success at all, I will absolutely share!

Bless - thank you. I think I'm going to have to be very firm with myself.

Cherie - I park in an obscure corner of a Morrisons car park covered in the bushes which are dripping with berries, and I don't care if someone sees me picking them. On the other hand, we practically never eat jam, and no-one trusts me with hot sugar, so I'm happy to leave them to other foragers or the birds. 

First of all - bear got 95% in his maths exam and is right up near the top of the class. I am so proud of him. If it was the exam, he would get a top grade. The paper was set out like a GCSE exam, so there's a good chance that he will get a good mark in the actual exam. As someone who can't really get much past addition and subtraction, I am so impressed and proud of him.

I thought I would skip blogging at the weekend, as I thought I had nothing to share. I think I will start blogging at the weekend again, as I found a few things to say.

This weekend a slug got into my clean washing. I was desperately unimpressed. I have to wash it all again. Bear was out on Sunday, and I managed to drop him off at his friends house without getting too lost. 

DH is still feeling under the weather. We're waiting on results for the blood tests. 

My knee went at the checkout in Tesco this morning and I thought I was going to fall. I was mortified. It was okay for the rest of the day, though, so it could be worse.

I got a load of ironing done. I have a ridiculous amount left, but I really shifted a load and bear now has a gazillion and four shirts ready for him. I was able to pare down some stuff as bear has grown ridiculously over the last few months and shirts that were a little big on him at Easter are now looking snug. I've started packing things up for the charity shop.

I caught the bottom of the car on a kerb. I met up with a friend and we were planning on pulling over. It looked like an innocent gravel patch for cars, but there was a hidden ledge. The car has been driving okay, but it sounded awful at the time and I suspect I didn't do the clutch much good as we went down all the back roads near Hebden Bridge and I struggled. But I got this pic where I got caught.

We were on the moors, near a reservoir. 

Writing stuff - I spent some time over the weekend sorting out some of the short stories. I've put a post about it on my writing blog, but here is a pic of some of my writing notes.

There has been paper everywhere. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Unsurprising

Eileen - thank you so much for setting the challenge. I shall definitely work on this month's challenge! Bear is still practising the violin without ever being told, and he seems to be building his own coping mechanisms. I'm letting him find what works for him. The GCSEs are next year, and it's better if he finds something that works for him rather than having something imposed from above. He's much more together than I'll ever be! As for the fuchsia, I absolutely blame father!

Lady Ella - is it like this?

It's in the car park where I wait for bear and I think that it's a variety of mahonia, but don't quote me. I'll try and get a better pic next week.

Bless - I feel absolutely hugged! Thank you! I absolutely need to count my blessings, though I sometimes think that bear managed most of it by himself. Looking at father and thinking about how he would enjoy it made me smile. As for the bargains - I celebrate where I can.

Sharon - thank you! I'm so glad that bear has a physical outlet as well. I think it will make all the difference. As for lists - still failing here!

I utterly failed to do any of the items on my list today. This will be of no surprise to anyone. I think I need to keep to very small targets. When I was badly depressed, I used to break down making a phone call into a half dozen steps. I think I may need to revisit that. 

Mind you, I was distracted. I was thinking about my writing blog, and how it would appear to someone seeing it for the first time. It's very plain, which suits me, but I definitely need to shake a few things up. I thought I could group together the flash fiction in an easy to find place, so that if you hadn't read anything of mine, you could get a good taste away from all the extra bits of reviews, chat, articles and such. 

I have 170 separate flash fiction stories. That's one hundred and seventy. I've reposted some a few times during October over the years but that 170 doesn't include any re-posts. It's 170 separate pieces. I'm trying to work out how to make the best of them. It's a sitting down job, and as my knee went when I was going upstairs earlier, I think a day of sitting down jobs is in order. I'll share when I've made changes. 

Hugs and good health to all.