New Term

Deborah - I feel for you. At one point I had lists of lists. Now I'm starting to pick one thing and break it down into micro tasks. It sounds really hard with the dogs. Please pass on cuddles to both. I may believe in treating animals as animals, but every pet I have ever come across had their own distinct personality and their own view of the world, just like people. I feel you have to make at least some allowance, just like you have to do for people. 

Bless - I think I found out early on that people are people and have good and bad in them. I don't want to sound like a saint, though. We had some storming rows! I'm donating to food banks in memory of people instead of paying for flowers in church now. I've also donated when people in another country move house and instead of a house warming, I donate food. It feels like little enough.

Sharon - I want allllll the stationery. I don't do scrapbooking, but I've picked up pretty paper and washi tape before now. I can't be trusted at a display of pens. Mum was interesting. She had sixty thousand postcards when she died, all sorted by continent, country, county/department/canton/state, town and even district. Meal planning is a work in progress, but I'm getting a little better. Today I had falafel for lunch and I'm thinking of fish fingers with mushy peas for dinner, all of which are easily cooked, quickly prepared (as ready made) and relatively healthy. I think I will be using my freezer a lot!

Kate - fuchsia jam may be great but the sparrows are beating me to the berries and, besides, I can't be trusted with boiling sugar.

Wherethejourneytakesme - sending so many hugs. And it's not you. I read your blog, and your comments and I am struck again and again at your awesomeness. 

Eileen - Thank you for that amazing hug.

To all - that fuchsia is a thug, but a pretty one, and I suspect that it's supporting a lot of wildlife in its quiet way as there are always a lot of bees and the sparrows have made it a regular stop. I don't know what else is lurking in there. 

Today was bear's first day back at school for his GCSE year. For those not used to the English system - it's big. It's really, really big. It's the exams at the end of the year that determine what he can study after that, and can even affect university offers. If they don't go on to further study, it can have a massive impact on the jobs that they go for. Bear has some good predictions, and is taking it seriously. It's a big, big, big deal, though. 

I dropped bear off to meet his friend in good time with all his kit and correct uniform. Then I went for a very short walk, but I remembered to take pics.

One of the three trees has decided that it's autumn.

I loved how mossy this tree was. I may use it for the photo challenge.

And I thought this was a good pic of the structure in the lake. I don't think I have seen it properly from this angle before.

I also didn't realise that there were fish in there! I don't know if you can tell but it looked like a massive koi and a smaller trout like fish. I don't know how healthy the fish are. The water is like soup and not in a good way. 

The flower beds in the park are still lovely.

Bear came home with news of a school trip to Vietnam. This is a little further than I was expecting. I had breathed a sigh of relief when the History field trip was a day out to a college ten miles away to see a Holocaust exhibition instead of a trip to Berlin. However this is something that they do in sixth form. They talked a lot about things like leadership and being student led. Cost has not yet been mentioned, but, if it's in 2024, they are giving us a lot of time to save up. This is not reassuring. 

I didn't get huge amounts done today, but I got some bits and I consulted with my lists which helped. I've also booked a trip to see the Canterville Ghost at the Carriageworks at Leeds, and marked the date down. 

Hugs and good health to all.