Grumble

I caught a bug when I went into hospital to check out the potential blood clot. Now I can't stop coughing and everything aches.

I'm giving up and coming back in the new year.

Hugs and good health to all. 

I Found My Keys

Another quick post, just dashing through.

My leg has been particularly bad so I went to the doctor today. They ruled out the Peripheral Artery Disease but couldn't rule out a clot so I've just been to the hospital for five hours for a blood test and waiting around for the results. I got the all-clear, but it took a while. On the bright side, I got a load of knitting done. 

But I found my car keys. They were in my bag. That is the bag that I had searched many, many times, in a small pocket that not only had been searched but also had been used many times. To show how ridiculous that is...

... and to show how ridiculous it is with the comparative sizes.

I'm blaming the fairies.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Just a Quick Post

I've got quite a few bits done today. It's not like room makeovers or anything, but I chipped away at a few things. I made a start on shortening the curtains. They looked like this...

I'm trying to shorten them without taking the things down as it will be a nightmare to adjust, that is, given my hit and miss, 'near as dammit' attitude, it would be a nightmare for me to adjust correctly. I've got this far...

And I think I'm going to have to reconsider my strategy. I was wrestling with the fabric, but bear came home early and I was using hsi computer chair to sit in while I tried to pin the dratted stuff down. Once it's in place, I don't think it will take long to hem, as I've hand stitched hems before and it's been fine. 

Day Two of making lists has been okay. I've done more than I would have otherwise, but it's not revolutionary. I'm aiming for gradual improvement anyway. For example, I deleted or filed away around four thousand emails today. The 'sweep' function on Hotmail is incredibly useful. I need to tackle at least that amount on gmail and another hotmail account, but they will be slower as they both have more writing stuff which needs to be gone through appropriately. 

Thank you for all the wonderful kind wishes. I'll answer them properly tomorrow, but right now I'm nodding off where I sit and I don't want to skimp on the sincere thanks.

Hugs and good health to all. 

News!

Bear has got an interview with Oxford University! I cannot tell you how proud DH and I are. It's been all him. He's been the one studying and working hard to get there. Now all he needs to do is get past the interview.

I'll keep posting snippets about bear, but I'm going to try and cut back and avoid some details. Bear is going out into the wide, wide world and I don't want anything that I do affecting him in any way. He may be happy to share his daft mother with others, but he may prefer to be more anonymous. I've tried to be respectful about what I post, but it may not be comfortable for him in later years. It will be hard, because there's not much else going on in my life. I'm just going to have to make sure that I have other news. 

And speaking of other news, I've set up a folder to try and keep me on track. I got a cheap one from the supermarket and added some stickers. 

I've put together a hand written calendar and some repeating to do lists and I'm starting again from there. I think it will be useful if I can stick to it.

And speaking of sticking to it, I got a load of stickers ages ago and now I've got a great excuse to use them!

Hugs and good health to all. 

It Arrived!

The nice man and woman turned up when they said, took the old one, brought in the new one, switched the door and left after maybe fifteen minutes. It was wonderful after last time. I didn't want to take a full pic as the walls are in a bad state, but here's a close up.

We use strong magnet hooks on the fridge and hang all sorts of stuff from them. It makes life a lot easier. It's one of the reasons for wanting the size fridge that we got. It had to be small enough that we could leave the herbs and spices on top, but tall enough that we could hang all the graters and colanders and measuring spoons on the door. It's working nicely and I'm so relieved. 

DH made a very pleasant biryani for dinner. To be honest, we both had reservations. Our experience of biryanis comes from Indian restaurants and takeaways. Their biryanis come with flavoured rice, meat and a curry-style sauce. This was just meat and rice that was beautifully flavoured - link here. It tasted amazing, but it didn't feel what we expected. 

Now that the kitchen is put back together, it's been a relaxing day and I've got a lot of knitting done. I'm bracing for tomorrow. Due to a combination of getting deals before they end and needing certain products, I've got a delivery from Tesco and Morrisons coming tomorrow - though thankfully at wildly separated times. I would be mortified if they both turned up together!

Hugs and good health to all. 

Not Chill About Fridge

I rang the people about the fridge yesterday. I confirmed that, yes, I wanted to rebook at the earliest date. The woman then confirmed (on Friday) that the fridge would arrive tomorrow, on Sunday 1st of December. I pointed out that the day after the phone call was Saturday. There was a moment and she huffed that they didn't have any Saturday slots. So, all being well, tomorrow we'll get a fridge that hopefully works. Mind you, the old fridge, that was doing excellent impressions of a freezer, has been working really well since then. Next time we have issues with a fridge, we should just unplug it and carry it around for a bit and see if that works. 

I found a scarf that I'd been knitting and I've continued on with that rather than the blanket I should have focused on. To be honest, it's a nice change and I should be able to finish it soon and then it's one less project outstanding. 

It's just plain knit stitch with fancy yarn - I very much believe in making the yarn do the work.

We went to feed the crows and magpies this morning. DH had heard that crows like cat kibble, or dry catfood. I picked up some inexpensive own brand dry food from Tesco and DH distributed it along with the suet and peanuts. The crows loved it, and apparently the nutrition is good. There was a lot of enthusiastic squawking, some very close fly-bys and it sounded like all out war broke out on the car roof. 

Tomorrow is the start of winter. In September, I looked at the winter weather forecast. The general suggestion was warmer than average. So far we have had snow and it's been really early. I wonder how things will turn out. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Looking for the Positive

We were supposed to get our fridge today, delivered some time between three and five in the afternoon. The poor delivery guys eventually turned up at 7pm and left around 8.30pm, taking the new fridge back with them. We need to have the door reversed because of the layout of the kitchen, and when the nice man did it, the whole thing went wrong. I'll find out tomorrow when we can expect the replacement. 

There were elements of a farce in it, as the guy rang up colleagues who were helpfully suggesting that he bang bits of the hardware on the kerb, even though said bit of hardware couldn't be detatched. 

It does seem like 'normal for me' to have a fridge delivery be a complete disaster. 

Bear still hasn't heard back from a couple of universities and he may not have done enough in his TMUA exam to get into Warwick. On the bright side, he did well at a computer thingy. 

I'm currently shattered and aching and I plan to knit for half an hour and then go to bed.

Also, I've lost my car keys and I've no idea where. We have DH's key, but we're missing mine and I'm turning the place upside down for them. On the bright side, I've got rid of quite a lot of rubbish that I dug out. Still, the keys have vanished!

Hugs and good health to all. 

Plenty of Weather

Bless reminded me that everyone may not know about the Samaritans, especially if you're not UK based. The Samaritans is a charity that works to prevent suicide and to provide a listening, non judgemental, calm ear to people who have to talk. They don't focus solely on suicide prevention but also on emotional support and health. I had a look and they have a page on what they do in schools here, and it's great that they do that. I just worry that bear is in an environment where it's needed. Mind you, he seems to be doing fine so I'm trying not to stress too much.

First thing this morning, the weather was like this.

And the snow was coming down hard. By 2pm, it looked like this.

And there's barely a trace of a snowflake to be found. This evening we are hunkered down in the study. Bear is playing a compute game, and I thoroughly approve, DH is browsing on his computer and I'm dotting around writing, reading and a little research while the wind is rising outside. The storm winds haven't really hit here, but we're nice and cosy and will hopefully stay safe and warm. It feels like different types of weather are queuing to get in, jostling and treading on each others heels. It's supposed to be warm next week. 

I didn't bake yesterday but I did get a couple of bags of inexpensive onions chopped and frozen. They came in handy as the gluten free gravy granules had slipped out of date and so DH made onion gravy. It was absolutely delicious!

Writing stuff - I'm in a magazine!!! It's Connections eMagazine and I have two contributions. The first is about research and the writer and there was a writing challenge which of course I couldn't resist! I didn't get place, but I was included and I had a lot of fun! The magazine is mainly aimed at writers but this issue has some recipes which look very pleasant - I fancy the Viking stew. 

Hugs and good health to all.

Worrying About Bear

I'm not worried worried about bear, but I'm sort of worried. There's all sorts of confusion going on and bear thrives on knowing what is going to happen at school. Unfortunately everything is still up in the air. Additionally, they are having a school assembly with the Samaritans tomorrow and I'm concerned. 

I remember, back sometime in the Stone Age, taking A levels and there is a lot of pressure. There's even more going on in this sort of college because it's people who are planning on going to fancy universities. What is more, it's the sort of college that collects pupils with driven parents. 

We're not particularly driven parents. DH and I tend to trail along in bear's wake only understanding the outline of what he is doing. However, from what bear says, some parents are supportive and some are more like, well, driven. 

Bear seems to be lightly stressed. He likes to know what's being taught and in what order, primarily so he can watch YouTube for lectures, read textbooks and do a few practice questions beforehand. I'm concentrating on keeping him stocked with his favourite food and snacks and letting him get on with it. I listen to him regularly for hours as he works through his niggles about school. He continues to be an absolute sweetie to me. 

But the college is having the Samaritans visit! 

At least there is some recognition that it's potentially stressful and it's better that there are visits from the Samaritans than some sort of tragedy, but I wish it wasn't needed. Bear finishes his exams in the middle of next June and will get the results I think in the second week of August. It's going to be a long haul. 

Sorry About Wandering Away

Ruth - thank you for the hug. I'm sorry that I've not been updating. Part of it is there's not much to write, but also there's loads. 

I went with DH to feed the crows last Saturday. It was a glorious day and the crows, magpies and squirrel were very appreciative.

We had some snow. Bear was watching it obsessively and hoping for a snow day. Before bed, the road looked like this and it was snowing hard.

It was lovely and clear the next morning so bear dragged himself to college.

I've been baking and the Ginger, Date and Oat Cake was a great success. It doesn't have any refined sugar but is sweetened by fresh ginger, lots of dates and two tablespoons of honey. The next attempt was a nice Bara Brith which turned out lovely. This had more sugar in but was very low in fat. If I bake tomorrow, I promise that I'll share.

There have been a few problems at bear's college. One of the teachers has left under something of a cloud and bear said that he'd been told to teach himself two of the modules. I'm fuming, but bear is doing okay so I'm keeping quiet and taking my lead from him.

To be fair, I'm not in a good place for sensible decisions as I had the flu and covid shot yesterday and I'm getting the usual kickback - which is still much better than the actual illness. 

Writing stuff - I posted a story for the White Hart on the 11th November here. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Not My Best Work

I found the most amazing scarf pattern on Ravelry here. I really, really, really want to make it. However I have too many things already on the go, so I've decided that not only am I absolutely going to use yarn that I already own, but I can have a go only when I've finished the multicoloured blanket I started months ago and the baby blanket I started last week. I plan to look at the pattern every day to give me an incentive to get knitting. I hope to be able to sell the baby blanket, and I was planning to donate the multicoloured blanket, but the multicoloured blanket isn't really good enough. It's been years since I knit something so shaky.

It's supposed to be a column of stocking stitch with most of the blanket in plain knitting. It looks more like a cable in the way it's twisting all over, and blocking is unlikely to help because it's 100% acrylic. I've even got a hole!

And I have no idea how I managed that. I'm usually good at avoiding holes. But I've got maybe a quarter to a third done.

It's around 50 inches across and around 20 inches long at the moment. By the way, the combination of the camera on my phone and the lighting doesn't show the colours well. From the bottom, the colours are red, purple, bright orange and teal at the top.

Anyway, although it's not fit to either sell or donate, it's light, soft and surprisingly warm, so it will be lovely here and I'll work out a different blanket to donate. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Fireworks

Photo by Vin Jack on Unsplash

I didn't take any pics today so used a pic from Unsplash - a site which doesn't seem to show sad roman candles in small, weedy gardens so it's a fancy pic. It was all rather dull until we decided to set off the fireworks tonight rather than Tuesday. Bear was going over what he needed to study and when, and decided that tonight was a better night for him. 

Normally we get an inexpensive assortment from a supermarket but this time I think DH went to a specialist place. This may have been a tactical error. Two of the fireworks fell over, and it was a very small assortment. There were sparks and flashes everywhere! The men took it in their stride but I was a nervous wreck. Tomorrow I'll have to pick up all the unexploded bits and check for scorch marks. 

I'm kind of glad that we're unlikely to have fireworks next year. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

A Little Limp

We didn't do much for Halloween. We were all too caught up in bear's exams, but I managed to peg a few bats onto the string lights. 

They're suprisingly sturdy and would probably hold a heavy load on the washing line. 

It's just been... limp. I've not decorated much, I've not shone at housewifery and it's all been a little... wilted. The highlight of the last two days is when DH unblocked the bathroom sink. 

But October is over. I always feel under pressure to write more, so that's gone. Now I'm starting the run up to Christmas. I had a Tesco delivery on Friday that started the stock up for Christmas. I save my Clubcard points up for this time of year and as I had a coupon for double Clubcard points, I picked up a few small gift items and some candles and used some vouchers to cover them. I need to get the freezer a lot emptier ready for the big day, and I'm absolutely not picking up anything too perishable yet. The coupon allows double points on a second shop, though, and I think the next run should include the extra pickles and relishes that we all like at Christmas. 

The fireworks have been really loud today. This morning, around 10am, it sounded like a load of roman candles being set off in a steel drum. We have some in, which we'll set off on November 5th. Father always set them off with a great deal of ceremony, so our small assortment has become a way of remembering him. It will probably be the last time we light them, though. Bear will almost certainly be at university next year, and we never bothered for just me and DH. I'm going to miss remembering father, but I'm becoming less and less thrilled about how animals must be reacting. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Happy Halloween

It's been pretty lowkey here. Bear had the maths entrance exam for Oxford today. He thought he did okay and is cautiously optimistic. DH and I are just so proud that he's in a place where he could even apply to sit that exam. 

I bought some new mugs last week after DH's favourite was unfortunately dropped and shattered. They look awesome, they're a nice size and they're easy to wash. I still may have made a mistake.

The inside of the mug is a matt black. The mug is mostly used for black coffee. Making sure that they're clean when washing up is a trial! But they are quite nice. I'm just going to give them a good scrub and hope for the best. Also, perhaps look for some other, less dramatic, mugs. 

Writing stuff - I wanted to write a huge and wonderful Kane story, but it got stuck. The characters weren't behaving and I decided that I didn't have time to sort them out so I republished Good Things which is one of my favourite stories. I'm going to continue battle with the Kane story and perhaps I can publish it on Christmas Eve, which is another traditional time for ghost stories.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Good News

I called into the garage as the steering in the car felt off. Bless them, they took the car for a test drive, put it up on the lift and didn't find anything, but they did sort out tyre pressure and took it for another test drive and it was a lot easier. And they didn't mind me knitting while I waited. 

I called into Aldi on the way back. I wanted to pick up some almond milk, and I successfully avoided the yarn. However I picked up some books.

DH has friends in the Netherlands who read English books to their little girl. This is a good fit for her, and they were lovely and inexpensive. 

Otherwise it's been pretty quiet here.

Writing stuff - last but one day of the Kane festival and a new story is here. It's so fun revisiting this character.  

Hugs and good health to all. 

Small Successes

I went to the Post Office. I'll be honest, I managed a few yards to the car, a few yards from the car to the Post Office and then I staggered back to the car. It was painful. But I did it. And there was a fun decoration at the entrance.

I had forgotten that we were so close to Halloween. But I managed to sell a couple of things on eBay. I didn't get much, but I got more than nothing, and I'll take that as a win.

I need to drag out the Halloween decorations, but most of it will have to wait until the weekend - after Halloween. Bear is armpit deep in revision for the various exams he has. To be honest, I'm losing track. All I can do is keep being there for him. I'm stocking his favourite snacks and keeping an eye on him, but he seems to be doing okay. 

We already have the fireworks for Bonfire Night. Father used to be the one that set off all the fireworks and supervised the explosions. He was meticulous. During his time in the army, he was in the Royal Engineers and stationed in Egypt in the 1950s. He was with those who were blowing up the arms dumps in the desert after WWII. He said that when he was training, they started by blowing up tree trunks and worked up. We were all happy to delegate the explosions to him. Now we like to celebrate Bonfire Night to remember him. Besides, this is likely the last Bonfire Night that we'll get with bear, so we may as well enjoy it.

When I was little, I remember my father trying to light sparklers on an electric stove top. It was a new cooker and he bent one of the heating elements as he tried to get the sparklers hot enough to light. My mother was unimpressed. 

Writing stuff - there's another new Kane story here. I'm having far too much fun.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Books

It's been another sitting down day. For some reason, my joints have been loudly protesting. Still, I've been editing what I hope will be the next book that I publish, so that's a step forward. 

I can only do so much editing before I lose focus, so I've been pottering around between sentences. I found dozens of books in my Kindle app that I really ought to get back to, and I need to plan for that. There's also quite a few physical books that I want to read and need to make time for. If I ever work out how to be motivated for that, I'll share!

I also had a rummage around for some recipes. I've been raiding the recipe section on Tesco's website but I felt like a change. I found Cheap Family Recipes and while I'm not sure how up to date it is for costs, it has some very intriguing recipes. I hope to test one tomorrow, but I'm not saying which one in case I curse myself. 

Bear had a great time last night. Then he came home and got on with more studying. It's half term, but he's not slacking off. I need to take a leaf from his book. 

As I was wandering around the images on Unsplash, I found this. 

Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust on Unsplash

There are some amazing pieces from Birmingham Museums Trust on there. I thoroughly enjoyed browsing, and as I had no other pics, I thought that I would share.

Writing stuff - it's another new story with Kane today, and you can find it here. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Thankfully No Pics

There was a dead rat in the garden, and it looked extremely secondhand. DH was wonderful and disposed of it for me. I didn't take a pic.

It's been that sort of day. I'm having something of a battle with the washing machine. It's different from the one I've used from the last ten years and I'm taking a while to understand it. I'm getting outwitted by the manual. One feature that the old machine didn't have is variable temperature. I can finally select long, cool washes. I just need to be aware and not accidentally boil everything. 

I dropped bear off to his party but the steering was feeling off and it was unnerving so I'll have to call the garage. Bear was happy taking snacks. 

Today has been a 'sitting down' day. Tomorrow I hope to have a 'move around' morning and a 'sitting down' afternoon. 

I think that the clocks going back have left me unreasonably out of sorts. I think that I'll head for a very early night.

Writing stuff - another new Kane story here. I'm adding the pic from that story because otherwise this post would look a little bare and it's a pretty pic. 

Photo by Cali Brutz on Unsplash

Hugs and good health to all 

Two Kilograms of Mushrooms

I've been tired all day. Both DH and I seem to be run down and showing signs of being at the end of a viral infection. It's nothing serious, but we're both definitely off our game. We decided that today would be a 'sitting down day'. 

Tesco had a deal on mushrooms and I was running low, so I peeled, chopped and threw 2kgs into the freezer. That should keep me going for a good while. It was quite relaxing. I didn't bother with the radio or anything. Instead I just sat quietly, slowly working my way through and enjoying the peace. 

Bear stayed overnight at the party. I didn't ask him about drinking, but he turned up happy enough and bright eyed and bushy tailed, so I don't think that much drink was taken, if any. Sharon reminded me, so I reminded bear that he could call us anytime, no matter what, and that we wouldn't judge. That he had the app for Uber on his phone if we couldn't get him, or we could order an Uber or traditional taxi for him if he rung us, and that I always had enough money stashed at home to pay for a taxi from wherever he was and would be ready to pay if he rolled up after being stranded. And no matter what, we would have his back. He knew this, which is incredibly reassuring. I've drummed it into him, over the years. No matter what, it's safe to come to us. He seems comfortable with that idea, and I am so glad. He apparently has a party tomorrow and is good with taking snacks.

I felt a little out of sorts, so I decided to try knitting a baby blanket from one of the knitting patterns from Snufflebean. They are really relaxing until you realise on row 21 of 133 stitches that you didn't cast on the right number of stitches and have to unravel and start again. Still, I'd found my knitting notebook so I was happy keeping track of the rows. I haven't had to count rows for ages. I got this notebook before bear was born and I've erratically used it to track knitting with all sorts of patterns. 

My late grandmother tracked her knitting patterns by marking the rows on the cardboard insert that she got with her stockings, and I suspect that my late mother did the same whenever she knitted, but I find a great deal of pleasure using this lovely notebook. I know that I could the backs of envelopes, and in the past I've recycled plenty of them to bundles for note-taking, but I really enjoy this. If I'm canny how I use it, I'm sure that it will last for a good few years more.

Writing stuff - another new story for Kane here. It's been interesting thinking about the character as a whole and I've had quite a few new ideas. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Thank you!

Thank you for all the comments about bear. It gave me a lot of food for thought. I hope that I can include all of my responses in this post. I've studied all of your comments hard. 

One thing that I'm absolutely confident on - bear is not easily swayed by peer pressure. He does not care. There absolutely has been drink at the parties he's attended, but while I suspect that he may have had a drink at last New Year, I don't think he's made a habit of it. Bear is very capable of saying 'no'. 

We had a long talk about the whole 'drink' business. Bear doesn't particularly want to drink, especially after seeing how drunk people can behave. I have no problem supporting that. On the other hand, there are a lot of social expectations, and it's expected that a (nearly) 18 year old going to a party with other 18 year olds would bring something with an alcoholic value. I also want to convey to him that when you go to a party, you don't turn up empty handed. It's very likely that bear will be living away from home this time next year, among all the student parties, and I want him to have at least a sense of what is expected. 

In the end, bear took a bottle of white wine (easy to share and unlikely to stain if it's spilled), that was allegedly sweet, seriously inexpensive, and the lowest Alcohol By Volume rating on Tesco website. I doubt that he'll even have a mouthful of the stuff. If it somehow gets sent back to us, we'll use it in a risotto. 

The washing machine arrived. It looks awesome but I was starting with a sick headache and my joints have been very painful, so I'll start working out how to use it tomorrow. The delivery and communications were brilliant. I bought the machine from AO and I bought it online. I got calls the next day confirming the purchase, checking if I wanted a warranty, asking about parking for the delivery van and access and generally making sure that I knew what was expected. I got texts and emails on the day confirming the estimated time and when the van got near, I could track it on a map. The nice men carried it in, removed the old one (I paid for that service), connected everything up and didn't leave a mess. It all went smoothly, which is a nice change. 

Writing stuff - The Kane story today is new! You can find it here. I thought that it was time that he had another outing. And as I haven't managed a pic today, here is the pic from the story.

Photo by Christina Deravedisian on Unsplash

Hugs and good health to all. 

No pics

I still haven't taken a pic of the shawl (which I am wearing) because I'm charging my elderly phone and I know that if I unplug it to take a pic, I'll never remember to plug it back in. The washing machine comes tomorrow and I'll need the phone to be active and fully charged. 

The purple pens have arrived for bear, who is suitably grateful. I may steal a few. I love writing in purple. I try and be practical and sensible and pragmatic, but really I have the soul of an easily distracted magpie.

Bear is heading towards teenage parties again. He has a party tomorrow and then next week, after a lot of revision and an exam, he has some more. He's nearly eighteen, which is the legal drinking age here. I've had some thoughts about that. Bear doesn't seem keen on drink, for which I am pathetically grateful. However, if he goes to a party of mostly eighteen year olds then it's sort of expected that he brings something with an alcohol content. Up to now, he's taken Pringles. To the best of my knowledge, legally he could already drink in the home. He can't buy alcohol, however, and can't drink it at a pub or restaurant until he reaches 18. After that, all bets are off. 

It's hard to know what's the best. I don't want bear to start drinking. However I don't want him to stand out in his friend group. And he won't be invited to many parties if he doesn't bring something that has alcoholic units in, at least to a lot of the local parties. My inclination is to pick up some low alcohol white wine (which won't stain if it's spilled) and trust bear to be sensible. And if he's going to have a moment when he's not sensible with alcohol, now is a good time when he's at home and I'll pick him up from anywhere at any time if he needs me. For me, I'd rather anything stupid happened now rather than when he was at university and away from a safety net. I'd love to hear people's opinion on this. For me, the best course would be that he sticks to lemonade, but what do I know? 

As I haven't taken any pics today, I thought I'd share one that I loved and that seemed particularly suited to this time of year.

Silver Moonlight by John Atkinson Grimshaw

Hugs and good health to all. 

Dithering

There's the usual stuff going on here. Bear is up to his eyeballs in maths revision, the fridge is still temperamental and now the washing machine has failed. I checked up and the darned thing is almost exactly ten years old, so we've had our money's worth. A new one is coming on Friday, but I'm holding out for a few more weeks for a fridge until what I hope will be decent Black Friday deals. 

I keep meaning to take pics of the shawl, but it's lovely and warm and I'm currently wearing it. I've also finished a thick throw/blanket. It's around 40 inches by 52 inches and it's lovely and warm and squishy. 

I knitted it with two strands of dk yarn on 8mm needles and it came out lovely and cuddly. 

I'm also considering another type of blanket. I've got this yarn - goodness knows how long I've had it but I found it when I was thinking about selling stuff on eBay.

It's sold as antibacterial baby yarn and I think it would make a great baby blanket. I was planning on selling the yarn, but I couldn't get the pics to accurately reflect the colour. It's much nearer a salmon pink, though not a true salmon pink, than it looks. I had wanted to knit a baby blanket with it anyway, and Snufflebean Yarn has some amazing patterns. If you buy the pattern from their Etsy store, you get the right to sell what you knit from that pattern, although obviously you can't resell the pattern. Not all patterns allow that. I usually look for free patterns for myself, but I feel that if I make something to sell then I should respect the creator. I can't sell the yarn with a misleading pic, but I could donate it. Or I could knit the dratted yarn into a blanket that may or may not be from a Sufflebean Yarn pattern. I'm still dithering.

(and I have just been interrupted as bear needed a purple ball point pen by yesterday, can't find one and was panicking. Amazon Prime is worth its weight in gold in this household)

If the blanket doesn't come out right, I can donate that to the Salvation Army. I may not be a perfect knitter, but I don't get holes and it will be sturdy enough to wash and withstand wear. 

And carrying on the theme of things going wrong, my phone (which is my camera) is acting awfully clunky. I really don't want to replace it. I'm used to it now and I'm easily confused. 

(bear came back in and complained his hands were cold. He is wearing a t-shirt while I'm wearing a t-shirt, sweater and shawl and considering a blanket over my jeans. But he's not cold, it's just his hands so he doesn't need to put on a sweater...)

The two big electrical items that potentially could go next are the freezer and the tumble dryer. I'm watching both very closely. 

So all is normal for here. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Dreams

The planner is becoming more trouble than it could possibly be worth. On one of the pages at the front, it asks me to list fifty dreams. I don't have fifty dreams. I've thought and thought and thought about it, but most of the ones that I come up with are more like a to-do list or are hopes for bear. It's somewhat depressing. Another slice of the dreams that I've managed to jot down are vague wishes. It's like, I feel like I ought to want to travel, but when I get down to it, it's a fairly lukewarm dream. I'm actually pretty happy trundling around here. I don't want a list of how to improve myself - that's not dreams. It's like a pressure to be better, but in a stern way rather than inspiration. However it's helping me narrow down a little of where I want to focus. I'm not risking putting down anything, as whatever I plan on here is immediately cursed, but I'll share if/when anything happens. 

Dinner was awesome tonight. It was a recipe from Tesco - Beef and Root Vegetable Hotpot, which turned out really well. However I think that I got the liquid wrong, and even though I used a casserole dish that was twice as big as recommended, the dratted thing overflowed all over the oven. I am not looking forward to the clean up tomorrow. It turned out beautifully rich as it was thickened with flour and tomato puree and had allspice as flavouring, though I think I'll add a little more allspice next time. Tesco recipes seem to be a little under-spiced. 

It's left me with a lot of veggies left over - I've got a leek, parsnips, sweet potatoes and plenty of onions. I can see a generous pot of soup in the future. It's getting to that time of year, and simmering those veggies up with lentils and plenty of garlic, turmeric and cumin will make me very happy and fill the freezer with good stuff. 

I haven't got any pics from today, so here's one from Unsplash that I think is good for the spooky season.

Photo by Marko Blažević on Unsplash

Hugs and good health to all. 

As Expected

I meant to have a sitting still day. I meant to have a 'keep up with the writing' day. I could possibly go for 'finishing that dratted shawl' day. 

I listed another lot of yarn on eBay, then I went to list this.

And I thought about it. I could turn this into a sweater as I had originally planned. However I wanted to knit blankets. I thought that I may possibly be able to sell blankets. I may as well knit the dratted blankets. I decided against listing yarn that could be turned into blankets and I'm rethinking some of my ideas. 

Of course, the sitting day turned out to be... 

I rummaged in my room and cleared out a load of rubbish. I moved a load of stuff around in the kitchen that should eventually make things a lot easier all round. I hung up all of bear's over-fabric-softener-scented kit to air, washed my bedding and got quite a bit of writing done as well as cracking on with the shawl. I even managed to take the recycling out, though the steps were a significant problem.  

I'll be honest, the pain is wearing me out. That doesn't mean that I can't be awkward, difficult and generally contrary. So, as expected, I've done the opposite of what I meant to do. I wish that I didn't. I don't feel in control of my fate and it's wearing me down. 

Writing stuff - I'm not taking part in the October Frights this year. I'm trying to concentrate on other stuff which may end up on Amazon. That doesn't mean that I don't adore AF Steward and the October Frights Blog Hop and I've written a quick post with links that you can read here. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Unexpected Directions

I nipped out to the Co-op today to pick up some Lurpak for DH. It's his favourite and while I nearly cried at paying the price at a small, local shop, he works hard and he is absolutely worth it. However I jarred my hip quite badly and I've struggled since. DH was very nice but he mentioned that he hears me scream with pain several times a day and perhaps I should do something about it. So I rang the GP. They didn't have any slots, but advised me to ring the NHS advice line. They advised me to go the pharmacy and meanwhile put an ice pack on my back. I told them that the problem was with the hip, but it didn't get me anywhere. 

Meanwhile, according to the very substandard cleaning planner, today is the bedrooms. I leave the men to their own bedrooms and keep to mine, but instead of being sensible and vacuuming and dusting, I dug through the heap of yarn and listed some on eBay. For the first time ever, I was accidentally selling yarn on eBay. I don't feel comfortable sharing the pics I took for the two lots that I put on eBay, and I didn't take a pic of the shawl (progressing nicely), so here is a pic from Unsplash with lots of yarn.

Photo by Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash

I've got all sorts of yarn stashed away, and I've decided that I'm going to only keep the stuff that I love. All this started with the shawl. I bought six balls of yarn for the shawl, but I suspect that I'll only need four. I was considering knitting a scarf, but I have several scarves and plans for some nice ones with the yarn I've rediscovered so I thought that the spares could go on eBay. Then I wondered about the stash sitting upstairs and thought - why not get rid? Any funds can be put aside for bear for when he gets to University. 

Speaking of bear, he sent in his application for University today. It's left him something of a nervous wreck. Tonight he spent his time on practice exam papers for Oxford and Warwick. For those who aren't familiar, bear has to apply to UCAS, which holds applications to all the universities in England. He has to apply for five separate universities who will consider his application and let him know whether they will consider him or not. A university could reject him, make him a conditional offer (eg, he will get a place if he gets certain grades), or make him an uncondtional offer (they will have him regardless of what grades he gets). If he wants to get into Oxford (his first choice) or Warwick (his second choice) then he will need to pass a maths entrance exam. When he took a break I showed him this.

Bear had views about this.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Mixing it Up

I didn't post last night because I was determined to finish the second part of the shawl, but by the time it was finished, it was stupid late and I just crawled up to bed.

I'll be knitting another square coming vertically from the right hand side of the shawl, so it will eventually be V shaped.

I had one big fail - I washed bear's clothes. He's been washing his own clothes and at one point wanted to use fabric softener. I use white vinegar but I got some Fairy free with an order and left him to it. However he is so overloaded with work at the moment so I offered to do his washing and I added the fabric softener. Apparently he's not been using it and the whole load stinks too much to wear. It's pretty pungent and I didn't use that much, so I wonder if it's fermented. We've washed the load three times, each time with plenty of vinegar, and it's still fairly strong. 

Otherwise I did quite well. I have a 'cleaning planner' which isn't brilliant or even comprehensive, but I'm taking it as a starting point. It may direct me to 'wipe down appiances' but I can ignore the spelling mistake and remember that Monday is the day to wipe things down in the kitchen. This meant that at least some cleaning got done. To be fair, I had to sit down three times while washing up, and I got less than I wanted to get done, but I cleared out a small set of plastic drawers to contain some of the kitchen clutter and generally started making some space. 

I also went to Aldi - and I remembered to take the spent batteries for recycling. Bear uses them for his Xbox controller and gets through a lot, even when studying. This evening he's had equations on two screens and one of those screens is controlled via the controller. I've been meaning to take them for far too long. I picked up the salad for DH and I didn't buy any yarn! I felt that was an achievement. 

I also managed over 3,000 steps. I've managed the same today, just pottering around. They may have been taken in batches of twenty or thirty steps, but they've still been taken. I even took the bin round to be picked up tomorrow. For some reason, someone had neatly set out a load of pans next to the bins.

I wonder about these things. Are they being disposed of? If so, why are they in the pavement and not in the bins? Are they being used by kids to play? If so, why are they left so near the bins? There must be a story here. 

And the yellow rose is still wonderfully scented and Gladys is thriving.

I hope that I can manage to keep going tomorrow.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Less Happy.

Do you remember this box?

The drawers inside had a thorough dusting of mould - like the wood had been soaked, become mouldy and then dried out. I had a look around the internet and followed the directions to spray with vinegar and leave for an hour. The smell was horrific. Then DH made a batch of pickled chillies and I swear that the smell got worse. Then I did bear's washing and by the time I added the fabric conditioner that he likes, I was ready to open every window in the house. I think that tomorrow I'll give the drawers a good wash in soapy water and then another spray. I really want to use them, but I don't think that I'd get much option if I tried to return it (Temu) and I suspect that the cost of returning the thing would be more than I spent in the first place. As it is, the joints and frame of the drawers seem sturdy enough, so I'll see if it can be sorted out. 

I've also done a few loads of laundry and some productive pottering. Mainly, however, I've been knitting.

That's the shawl. It will look coherent when it's finished, but it's currently complicated. You go so far with increasing two stitches on every alternate row, then you split them. I my case I had 122 stitches. I left 61 on an extremely long stitch holder (which I'm terrified won't hold), then knit across the remaining 61 stitches and cast on 60 more. Now I'm decreasing two stitches on every alternate row at the centre of the working part, obsessively checking the stitch holder and have a shape that can best be described as 'odd', or possibly 'eldritch'. Once I've decreased to the end, I'll cast off and then do the same with the stitches on the holder, but as a mirror image. 

I still have the planner but I didn't look at it today as I was obsessing over the shawl. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Steps

I've been having trouble walking. Another problem is that the 'steps' app on my phone has been acting up. I downloaded the Google version and I've started watching it again. 

It's strange. I've been struggling so much over the last few years and suddenly I seem to be doing better, and I'm starting to slowly pick up. For the last six months or more, I've struggled to do more than a thousand steps per day. That's barely moving, and I've been crippled by pain. However, over the last week or so, I've been gradually increasing the step count. The app thinks that five thousand steps are the bare minimum. That's my long term goal, but right now I've been aiming for two thousand. Not only have I managed it for the last few days, but yesterday I managed to get past three thousand. 

This seems pitiful compared to those who run marathons and walk miles and miles daily, but I feel that all you can do is improve, and I'm improving, and I'm proud of it. Today I've barely scraped past two thousand, but I'm okay with that as I'm taking a quiet day after pushing myself a little. Besides, I've done laundry, cleaned a few spots and finely diced and froze a couple of pounds (one kilo) of carrots. As the weather gets colder, some carrots, onions, garlic, potatoes and lentils with plenty of turmeric and cumin makes a great soup that warms in all sorts of ways. 

Bear has been studying maths all day. I keep looking up and seeing all sorts of incomprehensible formulae on his screen. As far as I can tell, he's loving it, but I'm keeping a close eye on him. 

I've been knitting for most of today, and the shawl is coming on nicely. 

I'm almost at the end of the first 100g (4oz approx) ball and I'm feeling good about it. This blog has helped because I was determined that I would have a pic for the blog. I'm coming up to the next stage of this shawl, which will have to wait until Amazon deliver the circular stitch holder. I'll be putting around 70 stitches on a holder, which is fiddly. 

I haven't looked over the planner. That's a job for later. I've got a lot that I need to do tomorrow before I make some time for thinking. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Knitting Happens

Thank you, Bless, for suggesting St Anthony - I've found the planner! I haven't looked at it today as that's a job for tomorrow though I'm promising nothing!

I abandoned my current knitting project, which will surprise no-one, and started the shawl I wanted. 

It's a two stitch increase in the centre every other row and I've found it a little fiddly, but it's doing okay so far. I have to concentrate because of the way the increase works, so if I'm watching Doctor Who with the men, I'll have to go back to the blankets. 

I'm not likely to be watching Doctor Who this weekend as bear is studying hard. He's got entrance exams coming up and he really wants to do well. 

It's been strangely productive today. I got a head of celery finely chopped and bunged into the freezer. I've had washing in, done a little wiping around, done a chunk of writing stuff and made a decent dinner that bear practically inhaled. It was only burgers, mashed potato, peas and gravy but it was a really pleasant meal. There hasn't been a big achievement but there have been a dozen very tiny victories.

The tiny chest of drawers has a load of mould in the drawers. I need to spray it with vinegar, so that's on the to-do list. DH suggested staining the inside, and that may keep the mould away once I've done the whole spraying with vinegar thing I'll consider it. I'm making no promises. 

Writing stuff - I decided to post on chapter of Kane's old stories per day in October. Today I queued up all of Kane's stories and it will take me through until October 24th! I'm not sure what I'll do for the last seven days, but I'm sure that I'll think of something. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Another Temptation Failed

I called in at Aldi. I prefer calling late at night as the drive is easier and it's so much quieter. 

The car park was wonderfully empty. I was hoping to pick up some burgers for dinner tomorrow, but they didn't have what I wanted. They had a lot of yarn, though, and it was spread out between paint, halloween decorations and pet toys in a set of sneaky ambushes. I resisted the first section.

Which was lovely, thick, soft, chunky baby yarn. And I resisted the third section which had some very practical double knitting. 

But I failed to resist the second section.

I spent £7.74 on some aran weight 20% wool yarn which will be perfect for a shawl that I've wanted to make for a while. 

I still haven't found the dratted planner. It's driving me nuts.

I've had a quiet day but I got some left over sweet peppers chopped and into the freezer. It's coming up to home-made soup weather and I want to have the ingredients to hand if I feel like it. 

Hugs and good health to all.

I Did Not Resist Temptation

I shouldn't have bought it. I should have resisted the temptation. But I thought that it would be idea for stowing pins, knitting needles, stitch markers, sewing scissors, etc etc etc and it was under £20. I think that it was either stored locally or made locally as it got here quickly and now all I need to do is dig out all the random bits from dozens of bags and boxes and stuff them into one place. It's sturdy enough, for what I want, and it's a good size. I got it from Temu (don't shop on phone) here I only use my laptop to shop on Temu as it as a lot of anti virus stuff on and I regularly clear cookies. 

At least I can't lose it easily. I still haven't found my planner and I think that confirms how desperately I need the dratted thing.

Yesterday I listed all the places I wanted to go today. Hah! I decided that I couldn't risk getting to a supermarket early if I was doing all that walking later, so I got a delivery (and topped up some of bear's favourite stuff). Then I wrenched my hip and my knees are bad as well, so I gave up on the doctor's appointment as I can only manage a few steps at a time at the moment. I was wondering if I would be safe to drive bear to his quiz night, being very clear that a wander around Tesco was out of the question, but bear has cancelled going as he has some serious homework to do. I am never announcing what I'm going to do again. 

But I'm managing to do little bits here and there. I have managed a small amount of pottering around in the kitchen and got rid of some stuff that was serving no purpose. It was a 'potter, potter, sit, potter, potter, sit' situation, but at least something got done. 

Writing Stuff - Tales from the White Hart are being uploaded daily on Royal Road, the second story every written about Kane has been re-posted on my blog and I've put up a little bit of chat to keep up to date. I wrote that I can't wait to find out what I'm going to write next, and that's the absolute truth!

Hugs and good health to all. 

Bad Start

I can't find my planner. And I only did a small amount of cleaning as it's been a sitting down sort of day. 

But I have done some stuff, and I'm feeling relatively positive. This morning I called in to Aldi, but forgot to pick up salad, then this evening I went to fill up with petrol. This was quite scary as the traffic lights at the junction nearest us weren't working and that junction can be tricky at the best of times. There have been a couple of fatal crashes there over the years and I try and stay cautious. This meant that after I'd filled up, I went all around the back streets to avoid the lights and get home. 

Tomorrow is also likely to be a sitting down sort of day. I need to pop out quite early to pick up salad for DH, then I have an appointment for the yearly checkup, then I have the trip to drop bear off for his quiz night which usually includes a wander around Tesco. Usually it's a very small wander, but it's something. 

I also did a load of writing stuff, and that's made me happy. Speaking of which...

Writing stuff - Yesterday I published the most recent instalment from the White Hart on my blog here. Today I re-published the first instalment of Kane's Story (again) which is rather lacklustre of me, but I wanted something spooky-ish for October and I clutched at straws and started re-publishing Kane as he is reliably involved with ghosts. I also put Under Dark Hills on Royal Road here. 

I spent quite some time working on a cover for the story. I'll never be brilliant at it, and I'm not thrilled with the lettering, but I'm relatively pleased with this.

Hugs and good health to all.