Safe and Awake

Thank you for your lovely, kind comments.

Bless - the fuchsia seems fine and you should have heard the abuse I got from a blue tit sitting on one of the twigs. I was getting serious assertiveness from something that weighs less than a damp tissue. I never realised how tiring queuing could be. 

Sharon - thank you. The fuchsia is definitely in better shape than me.

Eileen - thank you! I managed it somehow and bear had a blast.

Thursday was awful. I don't often take that route as it takes me past the IKEA junction which often gets bunged up at that time. It's where two motorways (M62 and M621) meet together with the Bradford to Wakefield A650. It's busy and it's been a little slower with roadworks but on Thursday there was an accident on one of the ramps on the east side and at the same time an accident on a ramp on the west side. I pulled off into a car park (after a loooong queue) and we had a hot chocolate in Costa. Next time we are in that situation, I think we might as well stay in the car park or cafe, relax and wait for it to clear. As it was, I spent a lot of time while stationary with the handbrake on and the clutch in neutral with my feet off the pedals as I hoped to protect the car that way. 

Yesterday I was so shattered. I had a short nap but basically struggled along. I picked up some brushes and sandpaper for the men who assembled an IKEA table (this one) and are currently painting it with a view to varnish it later. The old table in the kitchen is a drop leaf and I want to put my microwave there. This was inexpensive, I suppose, but cost an extra £15 because I couldn't fit it in my car and had to get it delivered!

I also called in at Tesco yesterday in search of caffeine. I spotted a Yule log for sale.

It looks very pleasant and I'm not sure that I could resist it if I bought it. That's perhaps the thinking because the Yule Log is best before 25 November this year. I think that you can just make it out.

I'm so careful these days when stocking up for Christmas.

Another pic is one I took late at night when I was about to pick up bear. I almost caught the beautiful gleam of rain on the toadflax

It looked magical. 

Bear had an amazing time at the theatre. He didn't get back home until gone midnight and flaked out pretty much straight away. He's spent the day assisting DH in painting the table and something something something programming challenge. I'm scared to ask in case he explains it to me.

Hugs and good health to all.