Should be better.

I'm still feeling poorly. I'm definitely going to have to consider the possibility of perhaps, if the time is right, getting to a doctor.

The fuchsia is flourishing

It was cut back to the top of the wall. I imagine it will need cutting back again by the end of the year!

I took bear to the dentist. He had no problems, but now that he's sixteen, I'm making him fill in the forms. I'd rather he get used to stuff now than get taken by surprise later on when it's potentially more important and I'm not around to help out. 

And apart from some writing stuff, that's it.

Writing stuff - I posted a book review here. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Still Not Much

I've been staying close to the bathroom facilities today and not much more has been done. 

However I have plans for tomorrow and hopefully will be able to give some more interesting updates, including a pic of the fuchsia which must now be nearly half a metre or 18 inches higher than the wall now - and it was cut right back to the wall. It's got plenty of flowers on it as well. I suspect it's getting a new lease of life and by autumn it will once again be out of control. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Trudging On

I may have to go to the doctor, if I can get an appointment. I'm still feeling quite poorly, so I may not make much sense. Mind you, bear would question how much sense I make on a good day, so I suppose it's not too bad. 

I took this pic while I was waiting for the incomprehensible Tesco delivery. The stuff that was delivered was fine. It's just that the driver's accent seemed to cover most of the northern hemisphere and he spoke really quietly. Bear couldn't understand a word - but he was happy to help me and was very sweet about it.

This is an incredibly bad pic of the honeysuckle at the front. I really regret planting it sometimes. It has beautiful flowers and a wonderful scent. The birds (or possibly the rats) enjoy the flowers and at the moment it's incredibly vigorous. But it seems to always want to grow away from the trellis, it can be picky about which way it grows and it regularly gets near to dying. It would be hell to get rid of, though, so I suppose I need to go out with twine and try and encourage some of the errant tendrils towards the trellis provided.

There was an ambulance and police outside next door but one, with a man strapped onto one of those things that I think they use for neck injuries. I hope that they'll be alright. The dogs were quiet, which was something. 

My new handbag came. It was stuffed with patterned paper and I was almost tempted to iron it and keep it for wrapping paper, but I didn't.

The new bag seems a little fancy for me, and I feel the lack of pockets, but it will do. Now that I have this extremely inexpensive one as a stop gap, I can prowl the charity shops looking for the perfect bag. 

I also spent a few minutes today explaining laundry to bear. In short, I said that he should use a decent detergent, read the label and read the dial on the washing machine. I'm confident he'll manage, and he can always ask me. 

Writing stuff - fiction went up yesterday here and today I posted another article about research here. I had fun with the article on research. I was trying to show that even if you didn't know an area, you could use it as a setting by doing a little research. As I used two characters as examples, I was half imagining their story - I need to get a grip. My 'To Be Written' list is already longer than bear is tall!

Hugs and good health to all. 

Nothing Much to See

I've not really managed much at all for the last few days. Today I thought was an exception. I was up and showered by 6.30am, out of the house around 7am and even had a brief walk in the park. A lot of the pics didn't turn out as it was windy and nothing was staying still!

Proof I was there

Bless - I think these irises are the type that were planted which you commented on

It's obviously been windy. There were bits of branches everywhere and this looked like a tree had fallen and they had had to cut a gap

Although the tree had fallen to allow some fruiting spores of mushroos - with this extremely poor pic

Unfortunately my stomach started playing up badly, so I raced around Tescos, forgot a load of stuff, then came home where I've failed to do much ever since. I'm feeling under the weather, but I don't think that it's anything serious. 

Hopefully I will be back tomorrow with something a little more interesting.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Some Movement

So far today I've written a bit, submitted a short story to be considered for an anthology, started prepping another, washed out the wheelie bin, done two lots of washing, read a little for a review that I hope to post soon, cleared out a box full of relishes (most are fine and just went straight on the table), and called into a shop. 

I went to Sainsburys which is only a little way down the road, but it's a horrible run. The road is full of white vans being driven by young lads who don't care about the boss's van and are belting down between the frequent roundabouts and traffic lights and weaving between the lanes at high speed. Also, I got lost in the car park again. 

Sainsburys doesn't seem to suit me. It doesn't have the stuff that I'm used to picking up at Tesco and I suspect that they may have an issue with their freezers.

I've caught up with the wonderful comments on the blog. Tomorrow I want to catch up with the reading.

Hugs and good health to all.

Finally Finished

Bear had his last exam today. I dropped him off at 7.30am for his exam in the morning, but it turned out that the exam was in the afternoon and then he had to hand in books so I didn't pick him up until 4pm. Unfortunately I didn't get his message about picking him up at 4pm instead of 11am until I was next to his school so I seemed to spend most of the day hanging around. Still, I got some knitting done.

I'm going to start catch up tomorrow. I think I may have to take him back on Friday and then for the results on 24th August, but otherwise I'm free of that school run, not to mention the hanging around when things don't work out. 

I'm a little frustrated as I was working well on a piece about Author research and timings and it was flowing really well until I left to do pick up - and I could have had another four hours writing time! It's here, if you're interested, and hopefully I'll do another research piece next week. For now, however, I am going to concentrate on staying away long enough to watch the sewing bee and then crawling off to bed.

Hugs and good health to all.

Another Thing Off the List

The car got a full service and only needed a couple of bulbs changing. This was all relatively inexpensive and I'm glad that it's over. Not to mention that I managed quite a few inches of knitting while I waited.

I think I'll have an early night tonight and hopefully have more interesting things to blog about tomorrow. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

I Can't Wait Until Thursday

Today I had shopping, family phone calls, self imposed deadlines and bear. Tomorrow I'll be out for ages with the MOT and a full, super duper extra service (to try and keep the car running longer). Wednesday is bear's last exam so I'll have the last school run plus I'll pick up stuff to last until the next planned shopping day on Monday. When I reach Thursday, I'm going to plan to catch up. 

I got to Tesco much later than I normally do, which meant it was busier. I think that I'll get up and out as if for the school run on shopping days, just to keep things on an even keel. I spotted this in the car park.

I don't know if someone nearly forgot the baby, but the bottle bank is only about 100 yards away from the trolleys. Leaving two empty wine bottles in a child's seat sends a certain statement, though. 

Aldi was half empty. They get the new special offers in for Mondays but I think storms disrupted some deliveries as there were a lot of spaces in the special offers aisles. The traffic lights at the entrance to Tesco supermarket had gone out as well, which may have also been due to the weather. I don't envy people trying to get out of there at rush hour if the traffic lights aren't fixed. It's a busy road.

Talking of the storms last night, the bump that looked like a blister with the surface of the road was raised was flat this morning. I found out that some people down the road had had power cuts, and there were signs that the roads had been awash all over. Tesco petrol station was coned off and as I know that part of the road next to it floods in normal rain, I wondered if the tanks had been affected by flood water. I won't be getting petrol there for a while, I think, just in case.

This post is all over the place, very like my thought processes. 

Writing stuff - Invitation Accepted Chapter Seventeen is here. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

A Little Rain

I like sitting in the car and knitting when it's raining. It's really good for my mental health, and with one thing and another, I haven't had many chances to do it recently. Tonight, when the rumbles of thunder started, I apologised to the men, grabbed my knitting and zoomed off. I settled down in my favourite car park and it rained with a purpose. I took a pic through the car window (I wasn't opening the window - it was throwing it down)

That was when I realised that while I may have parked on a dry spot, that spot was now in standing water, so I moved.

A view of where I was previoulsy parked. 

After a while, I decided to go home as I was feeling tired. It was just as well, as the roads were running with water. There were a few moments when I was driving through puddles that were deeper than expected and I could feel the car being dragged as one side was in water and the other wasn't. I drove past Drighlington Church and water was fountaining up through the grates at the side of the road. On the opposite side of the road, I swear the water was fountaining up over two feet, and the surface of the road had risen a few inches in the centre, in line with the gushing grate, and it looked just like an enormous tarmac blister. I'm glad I didn't wait, as the roads would have been vile.

On the bright side, I don't need to water the garden. I'm supposed to go shopping tomorrow. I hope that the water has gone down by then.

In other weather related news, I had a bar of chocolate in my handbag which melted all over the insides. I don't think that I'll be able to get it out - it's right in the seams. It wasn't even a nice bar of chocolate. So when I can go shopping, I'll have to pick up a new handbag. I'm devastated, as I was finally happy with a bag, but I can't see it being anything but an attraction to ants going forward. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Staggering On

The self seeded sweet peas are looking good.

The honeysuckle is also looking good, with the fuchsia and the roses.

One more exam left, that's all! Bear has been spending some time today looking at some maths for A level. It makes him happy.

I had a Tesco delivery today. I ordered three packs of the two vegan, gluten free, decadent Gu desserts. I got two packs and two small tubs of Pringles. My flabber was completely ghasted.

I also got some shiny things to put on the windscreen, but the day has been pretty grey. Not only were they not tested, but I couldn't keep the dratted things on. 

Hugs and good health to all.  

Still Bewildered

I'll update properly later. I'm just feeling so mentally exhausted that I'm not sure what way is up. 

Bear is doing okay with only two more exams left. He's also doing a course online that's something to do with quantum. I've no idea. I have his school shirt in the washer and I will only have to wash it twice more. He may need a white shirt again but I suspect that he will have grown out of this by the end of the summer.

But I finished off that ball of yarn and now I've joined the next - 400g left to go! It's nice and easy to knit and I added a few rows watching the Great British Sewing Bee. I didn't approve of them cutting up crochet blankets at all. My late mother used to make them to donate and they took easily over a hundred hours to make. 

Hugs and good health to everyone. 

What Day is It?

I'm too hot, bear keeps explaining things to me and I have no idea what is happening. I remembered in the nick of time that it was bin day and I've lost track of what is happening where. 

Also, I ended up hanging around, but it was nearly 1pm when bear turned up. On the bright side I got some knitting done and the yarn went from this size

To this, and it's only a few rows left

I had a bit of a read and a couple of short walks as well.

Bear has decided that the extremely inexpensive short sleeved t-shirt is winter weight. I am not sure how a thin, short sleeved t-shirt can possibly be considered winter weight, but bear has his own furnace so I'm letting him get on with it. 

Hugs and good health to all

A Sort of Fail Day

I've not got enough writing or editing done. 

On the other hand, everyone has food, I've washed bear's shirt for tomorrow and I've done other washing as well. I've planted a chocolate mint that I ordered online (which came extremely potbound so I hope that it survives - but it's mint!). Also, I dug out an old knitting project and started it up again while waiting for bear this afternoon. 

The shrug (that's definitely going to be unravelled and re-knitted), is in stocking stitch on needles appropriate to the weight of the yarn.

The project that, as far as I can tell, was abandoned this time last year, is just knit on needles that are bigger than recommended, and is the same weight and fibre content of yarn, both yarns from Aldi (the colours didn't come out well)

I wish I could show how much more it drapes and is softer to 'feel'. I have a few balls to go.

But I think that I'll end up with a great blanket - then I'll re-knit the shrug in the same way with the same needles, though possibly adding a few rows here and there of the twisted drop stitch.To say that it's almost exactly the same yarn, there is a massive contrast.

And today I ran out of jars of pasta bake sauce. I've just gone back through my blog, and at the beginning of March, Tesco did a '3 for the price of 2' on all jars of sauce. I committed heavily and bought enough jars of pasta sauce to last until now at one per week for DH. I also went large on curry, butter chicken and pesto and all of them are running low. The offer came in not long after 5 for the price of 4 on freezer stuff, and that offer has just been again, so I'll keep an eye out. And if it comes around again, I'll take full advantage. 

As it was, DH couldn't have his favourite pasta bake, and instead had quorn chunks with a sweet and sour sauce (and I added stuff like onions, of course, served it with rice). Tomorrow I need to pick up the sauce.

And that's the dilemma. Bear finishes tomorrow around 11am, and has to come more or less straight home because he has a haircut appointment. Do I come home or hang around? If I call in at the shops on the way home from drop off, I'll be lucky to get home by 9.30 and I would have to leave home at 10am to give time and allow for traffic. So I'll be hanging around again. Still, at least I'll get some knitting done.

Hugs and good health to all. 

More Random Than Normal

Tomorrow I'm hopefully going to take time, reply to the lovely, kind comments and catch up. Or possibly the day after - school run permitting...

I finished the shrug. I haven't sewn it together yet, but I don't like it.

The sides have curled in, because it's stocking stitch. As this was from a proper, actual pattern, I didn't expect it, and the way that it's supposed to be finished means that the curled edge would be on display. The yarn band says that the yarn shouldn't be pressed (mind you, it also says hand wash dry flat and that isn't happening). I just don't think that it will work. I'm going to unpick it and re-knit it to a blanket, I think. The yarn is wonderfully warm. I was thinking perhaps something narrower than the 38 inches (nearly a metre) across, but longer, for a type of wrap. 

I've been watching the rats playing in the garden. They're looking pretty cute. As they were nibbling at a mint plant, so I guess they aren't as deterred by it as I had hoped.  

We had a really nice dinner today. It was posh beefburgers with sweet potato wedges and peas. It's not the fanciest meal, but it was so nice, and the men really enjoyed it. 

I'm watching the Unicef Soccer Aid while writing, editing and knitting. I'm feeling more random than normal.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Today I Ironed Brown Paper

I got my 'Heinz to Home' delivery. You can buy a tray of 24 tins of Heinz baked beans for a reasonable price. I think it comes in just under £1 per tin, which is a good deal compared to the supermarket and you don't pay postage for subscriptions. DH insists on Heinz beans, and if that's what he likes then that is what we get in. I'm considering getting Tesco beans in for when it's just me, but I'll worry about that later. 

I topped up after the last delivery, so we currently have 33 tins of beans and our next delivery is 1 August. Bear can easily go through three or four tins in a week just for him. I may need to top up again. The tins come as packs of four in a cardboard wrap, which are then inserted into a dinky, strong cardboard box with some of the brown packing paper, then six of the boxes of four tins are put in a huge, extremely strong box with further packing paper. 

I considered the packing paper. I don't use much paper towel. I mainly use cloths for cleaning and the whole 'drain on paper towel after frying' thing doesn't happen as I don't really fry much. However I do use some paper towel to scrape out the gunk in empty bowls and such, and I think that the brown paper would be fine for that. Besides, it's free and even if you add in the cost of the electric for the iron it's still less than a roll of paper towel. I had the paper left over from the last delivery as well and I thought that I may as well sort it out. I ironed it and tore it along the perforations in the paper.

I plan to pounce on paper coming in and iron it straight away (low heat, no steam). I'm taking a risk putting a plan out there, but I think it is worth going for. The regular Amazon packaging could be stashed as well. I can see me using that for all sorts of things, including Christmas wrapping paper. 

And I finished the shrug. I haven't sewn it up yet, but it's done. I'm annoyed because I was knitting in the car with the yarn in a bag, and I misjudged the yarn. I thought that there was a lot less left than there was. It would have added maybe an inch, possibly two, so perhaps not a big percentage, but still, it's annoying.

I may try some french knitting or that Viking thingy, the lucet, to add to the shrug as a trim. There's about 25g left. I could always just donate it or even throw it away, I guess. 

Bear is continuing to be okay. He spent around an hour explaining the format of the Business exam that he has on Monday, together with all the different points of the curiculum. He felt a lot better afterwards, though, and seems to be fine. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Perhaps it's the weather

Everyone in the house feels utterly worn down. DH is on his knees and today I was almost falling apart. I think I'm just weary of the running around.

I'm definitely feeling low because I bought some laundry thingy. You put a sheet in with an average load of laundry instead of powder, liquid or capsule. I love how little space it takes up and it cost £3.50 (on offer). I just had a quick look at the equivalent to Ariel and it seems fine. I usually use Ariel because it does the best job in my experience and is the least likely to aggravate my skin. I know someone who is allergic to everything including calomine and most antibiotics, and they can only use Ariel. Besides, my mother and grandmother both used Ariel. 

And this is why I know that I'm in a weakened and low condition. I have a stock of Ariel powder, from when bear was tiny and there was an excellent deal. I guess that I have enough powder left for over a hundred washes before I needed to buy more. And I always buy powder as apparently it's better for machines. But show me a gimmick on offer and I need all the strength I have to resist it. I don't have the energy. Still, at least it won't take up much cupboard space.

Bear said that the Further Maths exam today was tricky, and he has another exam tomorrow. Then another week, then one more exam. I'll be glad when it settles down. 

Hugs and good health to everyone. 

Wonderfully Quiet

Bear had two exams today, which I think were Maths and History. He said that he felt really good about them. I really, really, really hope that it isn't misplaced confidence. He's got the good grades in the mock exams, so there's no reason why he shouldn't be getting them now. I got a little knitting done while waiting. I've got this much yarn left, so I'm not bothering with measuring the shrug, I'll just finish it off and call it quits.

Bear was in a good mood when I picked him up. We got home, he got changed and then he went into the city centre to buy notebooks. Bless him, the lad is a true Yorkshireman and does not approve of the cost of things. He wanted some notebooks to set himself up for A levels. He picked up a couple that have numbered pages and contents pages and was pleased with them apart from the expense. I washed his only functioning shirt and have hung it to dry overnight. I'll run an iron over it tomorrow, which won't take a minute.

Bear wanted a good maths notebook but he also wanted a notebook for the course he's taking online over the summer. I'm not exactly sure what's involved but it's free, online and is something to do with Quantum. Bear is very happy about it. I'm just worried that he'll try and explain it to me. 

Writing stuff - I wrote a brief article about considering murder (from a writer's point of view of course) here, and then, after adding a few thousand words to the work in progress, I realised that there wouldn't be a murder like that in this particular story. I was actually quite pleased that the plan for the story was completely out of the window after 5k words. Normally it takes 20k words or more to get things to gel. And the ideas about murder (for a novel, I hasten to add) will still be there for another story. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

I Have No Idea What I'm Doing

This is a normal state for me, but I have no idea what I'm doing. 

We had a new chest of drawers delivered. It's 'new to us' secondhand from the Salvation Army and cost £45 plus £25 delivery. This is what it looked like in the store, as the current resting place is still surrounded by rubbish.

They had some truly beautiful furniture there, but I have no need of it, and nowhere to ut it.

I also had a Morrisons order. There were thirty items, and I think four of them weren't on special offer. I also had a £12 off a £70 shop voucher. I picked up quite a few treats for bear, and I like their frozen meatballs so I included those. I also picked up some tins of their red pepper soup, which I adore. 

The chest of drawers is in place. It's replacing two plastic towers and as it was mainly bear's stuff, he went through it quickly and got rid of most of it. Those towers are going downstairs to hold towels, as the current storage isn't fit, and I'm hoping to get rid of some then. I think that some Dog charities can use old towels. 

I also need to take back a shirt, if they'll let me. Bear has one, sole, single shirt that fits. This means that I will be washing it every day. It has a trace of stain on the shoulder which affects my pride and I went and got an extremely inexpensive shirt from Tesco (with a money off voucher) to tide him over the half dozen times he will need the white shirt. It's too big. It looks like he could camp in it. I hope that Tesco will take it back. I'm fairly certain that other shirts of the same brand and size that fit him are still in the house as I bought six of the dratted things before Christmas, but they are somewhere in his room and I haven't got the energy or heart to keep nagging at him. He's being pretty good, but he is a teenage lad.

Tomorrow he has two exams, so I won't have such a complicated run and I may have some nice knitting time as I wait. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

I Need More Vitamins

I am so tired that any chance of me keeping track of stuff has completely gone. I can barely keep my eyes open. 

And bear didn't help. He asked nicely, but it all got confusing (especially as I was pre-confused already). I dropped him off, picked up the shopping, settled down and got the message that he didn't want picking up at 11am. Please could I pick him up at 3.30pm instead. So I drove home and had a loooong nap as I was so tired that I was worried about my driving. And I forgot the cheese. Still, I nipped into the shop on the way to pick bear up in the afternoon, completely forgetting the cool bag and ice blocks, picked up the cheese and settled down to wait for bear. Who then let me know that his phone was running out of charge but could he be picked up around 4pm or later? I said of course it didn't matter, then hung around, knitting and trying to stay away until 5pm. 

I got us home safely, fed us, then more or less fell into a heap. I managed to finish up the latest instalment of Invitation Accepted (Chapter Sixteen is here) and now I am going to bed.

I shall be back tomorrow to complain about bear's shirt. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

It's Getting Complicated

I thought that with bear doing exams, my school run would be simpler. However tomorrow he only has an exam in the morning and will want picking up around 11am. But Monday is a shopping day. I always pick up the salad for DH on the way home, along with his fruit for the week. Plus I need to get in some cheese and I could do with picking up some easy drinks for bear. And while I could wait in the car, the chilled stuff would start to warm up! It can easily be as late as 10am by the time I get home if I've got any shopping to do, which is roughly when I'd start thinking about leaving if I was going to pick him up at 11am because the traffic can get a little strange. And if I'd realised earlier, I could have picked up the shopping at the last minute today, but all the shops are now shut and it will be a pain in the neck to work around if I don't pick up the shopping tomorrow. 

So I'm probably going to pack an insulated bag with an ice pack plus my knitting and hang around until he gets out of the test. It's English Language and I know that he's not as confident for that. I want to be clear that he's got time to hang out with his friends if he needs it, but I also know that he wants to get home for some more study. I can see the next couple of weeks being similar - I'm not going to know where I am or what I'm doing when. 

On the bright side, the honeysuckle is doing well.

I need to take some decent pics.

I'm all at sixes and sevens at the moment, and I'll feel a lot better when I've got a few writing projects out of the way and finish the shrug and the Lent sweater - especially as we are now well past Pentacost!

I also need to take bear out to get his clothes for the school prom. He wants to wear a black suit jacket, black suit trousers, a black shirt and a black tie. I said we could look at renting a suit from Moss Bros as he has already grown out of the suit jacket that he wore to his interview in February. To rent a jacket and trousers from Moss Bros is £119.99. To buy a jacket and trousers from Matalan, albeit a lot less well fitting, is £39 for the jacket and £21 for the trousers - £60 or half the rental. As it's a prom for sixteen year olds, I don't think that the fit of the suit is vital. We can leave it in the wardrobe until he grows out of it and then I can (hopefully) sell it. We can put the money from that towards the next suit he'll need for things like University interviews. 

I know that the clothes from Matalan aren't as good quality as Moss Bros, but he's going to wear it once in a dim light. Bear approves of the less expensive option.

Failing at Remembering

I'm sorry but I forgot to post yesterday. I seemed to have my head in the clouds. 

I nipped out and did some knitting, so I guess that I'm an inch or two nearer the end of the shrug. I was parked opposite a lovely wild rose.

When I say, 'parked' I mean, 'more or less came to a stop'

Thank goodness I've got front wheel drive. It was even worse when I called into the Salvation Army charity shop. The car park was pretty full and I got completely stranded. I ended up parking (badly) head first in a bay and had to do a 73 point turn to get out of it. But I picked out a chest of drawers that should be delivered next Tuesday. This is a blessing as Tuesday is the only day that bear doesn't go in for his exams next week, so it means that I can guarantee to be home. He's in most of the week after as well. After that, apart from one exam, school is finished until September.

Today has been a little more productive. I've been working on some writing stuff, I've posted the first book review in ages, I've done a tiny bit of ironing, dragged the airer into the garden to hang the washing as I've been doing lots of washing today and I've even moved and emptied some of the planters that I'll be needing later. There is washing all over the kitchen and dining room as I'm trying to work out what is what. I'll be changing some stuff around as the current set up isn't working at all. I've also got some tiny sponges in glass Gu dessert jars on the windowsills with a few drops of bergamot essential oil, so it's feeling very uplifting.

Some small sponge shapes came in the post, along with a couple of spiral stitch holders and some yarn that I really, really shouldn't have bought. I haven't taken it out of the pack yet, but it's from Temu and is described as Light Camel Squirrel Cashmere Yarn. I haven't opened the packs, but it looks nice. It's probably not squirrel, and at the price I paid it's probably not cashmere either, but it felt lovely and squishy. I think it's a chunky type yarn and is absolutely going to be a blanket. 

And this is my best attempt at a bee on the toadflax near the kitchen door. You can just see her. The garden is getting better and the sun has really helped my mood.

I wonder how much I'll get done tomorrow. I'm going to start again with the studying on Monday, so tomorrow I'm going to try and clear the washing and ironing mountain (it's lovely drying weather), sort out the garden and write five thousand words. I'll let you know how I get on.

Hugs and good health to all.