Need to Raise My Game

Normally I would say that I could talk for hours about nothing at all, and you may have seen that in some of the posts here. Recently, though, I've not felt able to talk about too much. I feel like my words have dried up. It hasn't helped that I'm not going out. I won't be going out much for the next week and a bit either. I'm bound to a timetable, which means that I have to take two tablets two hours after my last meal and one hour before the next meal. By the time I've messed around with all the tablets, I don't want to venture very far. Besides, the antibiotics have had an effect on my stomach and staying near bathrooms seems like a good idea. I need to get better at looking at my world as there are always stories.

I ended up ordering sweet peas for the garden. They'll do for this year, though I don't expect much, and then we can consider what else to put there next spring. The berries on Deirdre are looking splendid.

But Gladys is looking a little subdued. I'll get some more cleared over the next few days, or perhaps bear will, and give everything left standing a good feed. 

Speaking of food, I've been strangely sensible for the last few days. I've had healthy, low calorie meals. Currently our freezer is jammed full, so today I cooked a bag of frozen chicken pieces to make some room. I thought that I'd do a batch so I tipped it all out on a tray and covered with foil as per instructions, then bunged it in the oven. I set a timer to go down and remove the foil after 25 minutes as it said on the bag. Unfortunately, I got confused with the different timers on my phone so I took my tablets twenty minutes early and forgot all about the foil. The result was chicken that was completely cooked throught but somewhat pallid. It tasted fine, so I wasn't complaining. 

I realised, when I took the chicken out, that I was supposed to eat it all within three days, as it's unsafe to keep cooked chicken, even if our fridge is hovering around sub zero. Next time I'll just do half a bag. I had a load tonight with tinned potatoes and frozen peas. It was pretty plain, but low calorie and could be worse. I had Huel for breakfast, which isn't bad for one of those meal replacement shakes, and tomato soup for lunch. I've even been drinking more water. I've got quite a bit of chicken left over so I'll probably use it up over two meals with something like pesto and pasta or I've got some hoisin sauce which I could use with veggies and rice. I need to lose weight, and for some reason, today seems like a low calorie type of day. I hadn't planned to start a diet, and I'm not committing to low calorie tomorrow, but I'll take today's attempt as a win. 

Writing stuff - yesterday I posted Cookies and Carburettors Chapter Nine here. I feel completely inadequate as a cook compared to the main character.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Quiet

Today has been a quiet day - for me. Bear spent an hour in the garden. 

He's in a mood to get things done. Unfortunately he cleared away the clematis. The lad doesn't know much about plants. I'm now thinking what climbers to plant there at this time of year. I was considering honeysuckle, but bear isn't so keen. The berried are poisonous and we are near a primary school. Deirdre, the honeysuckle near the gate, has plenty of berries but they are out of the reach of little ones. Besides, the birds get there first. However anything planted on a trellis would only be a few feet from the pavement on the other side. I did ask for bear's opinion, and his opinion was that I should work it out. 

I didn't give him a proper lift to his quiz night. With one thing and another, I didn't feel safe. The bus he got back didn't get very close to us, so I picked him up from a bus stop that wasn't too far away. I'm off for an early night.

Hugs and good health to all.

Getting Out

I rang the doctor this morning and they persuaded me to go and see them. It was really early in the morning so I drove and there were three spaces in the car park when I got there! I have cellulitis. It's quite bad. I'm on massive doses of antibiotics for the next fortnight. My stomach will hate me. And the antibiotic is one of those where I have to take a dose two hours after the last meal and one hour before the next meal which means I'm messing around trying to time things with meals. I shall be grumpy for the duration. 

The doctor was amazing, though. She was incredibly supportive and encouraging and suggested that I apply for a disabled parking badge. She watched me walk maybe ten yards from the seating to the doctor's office and she had seen enough. I'd considered applying for this as I genuinely can't manage more than a few yards. However, it feels so final, like I won't be getting better. The doctor told me that if I got better, I could give it back. 

I wasn't very productive today, at least, not as much as I would have liked, then I went out to Tesco to pick up the prescription. I was leaning on a trolley for a lot of the time, but I was running on empty after a few stops. Still, I resisted buying these.

Writing stuff - adding this for mischief, eBay is my friend and I even use it for research and you can read it here. 

I Did Not Want This

This morning, I opened the kitchen door and saw a dead pigeon, completely dead and right there in front of me. I did not approve of this at all. I'm sure that the pigeon wasn't keen either, but whatever was in the pigeon had gone off to join the choir invisible and I was left with the remains. I had a full body cringe just thinking about it.

I was so unimpressed. I absolutely did not want to touch the remains, but I couldn't leave it just outside the door! I called bear for moral support (he was less enthusiastic than I was) and got the poor bird's remains onto a dustpan, then I dumped it into a black bag that I had put in a bucket, to make it easier to fill. I tied it tightly and then bear put the remains in the wheelie bin. I didn't want to put it loose in the bin as I thought that it may attract yeurk and the bin won't be collected for another week. 

In other news, I've been trying to move more. I washed some bedding, sorted some stuff and generally pottered. I'm looking at ways to make things easier for myself. In another instalment of the inexpensive bag saga, I bought a smaller bag that will be lighter for me to carry and cause less issues for my hip and back.

I got a small coin purse to go in it because my normal wallet is huge. It's big enough to take the coin purse, the shopping list notebook, nail scissors and my phone. I can probably add all sorts of bits, but I'm currently not bothering. It's light, easy to use and I can work with it. I need to adapt things to work with how I am now. 

Bear spent an hour clearing stuff in the garden. He worked brilliantly, but managed to slice his finger with the secateurs and I was able to make use of his expedition's first aid kit. He had something of a fight with the gooseberry bushes. I realised today that babies are apparently left under plants that are full of vicious, long, sharp spikes. It makes me question the stork's judgement.

Writing stuff - Today's instalment from the White Hart is here. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Harehills

I don't know if anyone has seen the news about the riot in Harehills, Leeds. It's the other side of the town centre from me so I was in no way affected at the time. I just find it incredibly sad.

Image from Wiki Commons, taken by Chemical Engineer and used under the Creative Commons Agreement

It's very hard to see places that you know filled with such awful scenes of violence. 

Nothing much has been happening here. I've not got much done. Still, it's crazy warm so I suppose that I can excuse myself. 

After I've finished this post, I'm going to go away and write down lists of ways to get myself moving and keep motivated. I'll share if I manage anything. Funnily enough, my leg hasn't been too bad. However I didn't want to do too much due to the heat! 

Thank you for all the kind words.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Epic Pity Party

I'm struggling to walk and I've had a huge pity party. It looks like it's going to be hard for me to get moving again and I need to look at making my home easier for me to navigate. I'm trying to pick back up, hopefully with something fun and interesting. I've got some knitting done during the football, though I couldn't when England were playing. My nerves got to me and I kept dropping stitches.

Bear is being awesome. He wants to do a long hike in the autumn so he's been doing a few practice walks with his friends. He got all A* in his mocks, and we're really proud of him. 

Writing stuff - I'm not sure where I'm up to in the notices for my writing stuff. You can find the latest instalment from the White Hart here. If you are subscribed to my writing blog and get emails then I'm afraid a load will be coming your way as I am going to post all the chapters from Cookies and Carburettors that are on Royal Road. I sincerely apologise. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

It's Complicated

I've not done enough to warrant taking pics, and I've not done much to write about. However I'll come back with what I have done when my head stops working. Bear was explaining mathematics to DH and I. I think that it was somewhere around undergrad level, but he was talking about derivatives at one point. I'm not exactly what they are but some of them are called 'Snap', 'Crackle' and 'Pop'. I think that says a lot about mathemeticians. I got some knitting done while he was explaining everything. And I found this pic.

Image from Unsplash, taken by Dan Cristian Paduret

Bear seemed to be talking about these sorts of mathematical processes, and he was so happy and enthusiastic that I was loving it. I may not have understood it, but I absolutely loved it.

He also explained complete and incomplete combustion after lighting a candle. The candle is supposed to smell of fresh water and moss. I've not noticed either having much of a scent and the candle smells very faintly green. I won't try that again.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Temperature Issues

I am not talking about the Great British Weather, which is once again unseasonally cool. Instead we have temperature issues in the fridge. You may remember that our cooker caught fire a few months ago. Well, the fridge was bought at the same time and I've been a little worried. Last week it seemed a little warm and food was going off a little faster than expected. I bought a fridge thermometer and adjusted the thermostat.

So far, not so good. The fridge seems to have two settings, regardless of where the thermostat is. It's either so cold that it freezes the salad or it's too warm to preserve the food. This morning the fridge was -2C (around 28F) but I only realised that when I tried to pour almond milk on my cereal and the stuff came out in lumps. I think that the thermostat may be on the blink. 

On the one hand, I can fiddle around and see if I can keep it at a good temperature. The recommended range is between 3-5C (it was 9C the other day). I'm sure I could find a place that does repairs if necessary. On the other hand, we could do with a smaller fridge. We got the big fridge when I needed a lot of space for bear's snacks and lunches and DH was eating different foods then. A smaller one would suit us more and I could use the top as a place to put the pans. I think the first step is to give it a good clean, including the pipes at the back, which is theoretically pencilled in for tomorrow. 

Today hasn't been focussed. Tomorrow I'm determined that I'll do at least one thing that means I take a pic to share on here. Of course, today I'm still recovering from the England match. I try and keep this blog family friendly so I'm not going to say what I thought of the England performance. 

Bear got his results from his mock exams which are the ones that they send out to Universities as a guideline to what to expect from the student. He got A* across the board in Physics, Mathematics, Further Mathematics and Computer Science. I am incredibly proud of him. He's currently planning out his summer studying. I have so much respect for him. I'm also encouraging him to build in time to relax and refresh for what is likely to be a tough year. 

Writing stuff - The latest from the White Hart is here and it's a lot longer than I planned for, but it was the story I heard so I wrote it. I've also written a few bits on Royal Road. If you're interested, here is Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four and Chapter Five. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Garden Fail Continues

I think that the gooseberry bushes have gone over. 

I found these in the depths of the foliage, and they should be green. I hope to be able to get out tomorrow to do a little more. I'm going to get rid of the gooseberries. The men have no enthusiasm for them and their thorns are assertively vicious. 

It feels like a long day. I had a delivery early this morning of a few bits, I got the dead bulb on the licence plate replaced (and the brakes checked at the same time as they still feel a little soft). Then I took bear to his pub quiz and did a little writing before picking him up again. I still feel that I could have done more but the heat was killing me. And yes, the heat is nothing compared to most of the world, but it's very humid and I'm not used to it.

Writing stuff - I've been thinking about the White Hart and the books that I put up. I've got a tentative plan (yes, I know what happens when I plan, but I'm working on it) and I've laid it out here. I'd love to hear what you think. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Too Hot to Knit

It was 26C on our landing, or around 79F and it's warmer than I'm used to. I do not do well in these temperatures. I can feel readers from outside the UK inwardly sniggering, but all but one of our windows face directly south (the exception is the junk room) and our house is built to keep the heat in. I am grateful in December. I'm less grateful when the temperature limps towards warm. And I'm iffy about having windows open in the evening as the neighbours smoke much weed that the smell would stop a clock. So I'm not knitting while watching England. 

As it is, England v Slovenia is unlikely to go down as one of the great classic matches in football history. I remember when father was coaching the works team and he went mad about them standing around and being static. These were factory workers on basic wages and, if I remember rightly, their movement off the ball had a lot more purpose than England tonight. Though, to be fair, this was usually a soggy afternoon in February rather than a heatwave in Cologne. 

Bear had a marvellous time on his Duke of Edinburgh expedition. He's now looking up hiking trails in our area. He's also looking at trails a lot further away and I may suggest that if he wants to travel for three hours each way then he takes the train. He came home without sunburn or blisters, which is apparently a triumph as a lot of his co-hikers suffered. He had a friend suffer a concussion who the teacher had to take to hospital at 1am and there were plenty of wrenched knees and ankles. I am a wreck at the idea of bear wandering around the North Yorkshire Moors on his own, but I can't wrap him in cottonwool. I'll just trust him to take a first aid kit and at least some common sense. All in all, he's really looking forward to the expedition next year. 

I've taken over the hiking washing for bear apart from his backpack liner. To be honest, he doesn't really need me much anymore and that means that I've done things right. He can keep his clothes clean, manage basic meals and has some idea about managing money. That doesn't mean that I won't fuss over him. Of course I'll look out for him and next year I'll be running around after him like crazy as he deals with exams. But it means that he's got a good chance at being a functioning adult, and I'm taking that as a sign that I've done something right. 

In other successes, I've finished the blanket. It's the yarn that I bought in Aldi a few months ago. It's 800g of aran weight knitted on 7.5mm needles (the yarn band asked for 5mm but I wanted slightly bigger and the 7.5mm were handy) and it's roughly 72 inches by 50 inches, or very roughly 183cm by 127cm. I think I cast on around 115 or 120 stitches and just went with plain knit. I kind of like it. I was considering selling it in the autumn, but I like the colours. 

Writing stuff - a brief snippet from the White Hart is here and the latest instalment of Cookies and Carburettors is here. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Bear is Safely Home

Bear is home, without sunburn or blisters. He had an amazing time and I'm glad he went. 

Though he did tell me that there was only one concussion! 

I'll catch up tomorrow. 

A Few Steps

I had to take DH's boots back. He had them re-soled in the beginning of May but the new soles had already split. I found the walking quite tough, even if it was only a few yards. 

I don't know exactly how to get more movement. That sounds silly, but it's hard for me to push physical movement and, as I can't go far, I can see me walking in circles around the living room. I'll share how I go on, but I know that when I was trying to walk more in the park a few years ago, it didn't really get much easier. 

Still, when I got back, I had a chance to take a pic of Gladys, who is producing huge flowers.

I've got rid of some of the wild growth.

And you can now see the very small tree that was being smothered. But this is the next plant that I should get rid of, and I don't want to. It looks so bright and cheerful. 

I've seen photo evidence and bear seems to be having a good time. It's felt a little odd without him here, but DH and I have managed.

Hugs and good health to all. 

But it gets in the way of clearing other stuff and one of the big reasons I need to clear out the plants is that the rats are showing up again and I need to reduce cover for their runs. 

There's Been a Little Rain

There's been thunderstorms and heavy rain.

The water was running down the street like a river. At least I don't need to water the garden. Mind you, I haven't been doing anything in the garden but today I spent a few minutes filling two bin bags with weeds. It barely made a dent. I'll go again tomorrow.

Bear is finally ready (or not) for the expedition and goes tomorrow. Tonight he spent at least an hour explaining something about the square root of minus two. I have absolutely no idea what he was talking about, but he seemed to enjoy it.

I've been concentrating on knitting the blanket while watching the football. I haven't commented on the England v Serbia match so far. I watched it, of course, but I don't think it was perhaps the best example of the beautiful game. I was reminded about something Mark LawrensonMark Lawrenson said. He said that as a player, you had to be able to play, but you also had to be able to handle yourself. He was talking about Celtic v Rangers, a fixture known for sectarian violence, riots and the sort of match that's a lot more rugged than usual, but I think it had the same vibe. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Half a Millimetre

I've been making erratic progress on the hat. I keep getting distracted from the football.

It's 10 inches long, and I start shaping at 12 inches. However I've just realised that the needles were 4.5mm instead of 4.0mm. I don't expect that it will make a great deal of difference but it's annoying. 

The Duke of Edinburgh expedition starts on Wednesday and I shall be passionately glad when it's over. Bear is looking forward to it, but I'll just be thankful when I'm no longer worried if more shopping is needed. He took the backpack in to be checked today and apparently he needs a warm hat. I have never managed to convince bear to wear a hat in literal snow. The frost could be laying thick enough for polar bears and I'd be lucky to get him to wear a warm sweater. Bear has dug out a hat, but I don't expect him to wear it, even if it is cold for June in the Peak District. 

DH seemed to have a good Father's Day. Bear got him a vampire garlic crusher.

DH was very satisfied with the result when he tested it when making garlic butter. 

Writing stuff - The latest instalment from the White Hart is here. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

The Car is Fixed

Around £700 later, with new brake fluid and pads, a full service and an MOT, the car is good to go. I'm somewhat relieved. It's frustrating because the brake fluid change was scheduled to happen with the service and if everything had held out a few days more then it wouldn't have been so unnerving or expensive! Still, the garage (Leeds In n Out who are awesome), got it all sorted. 

I couldn't move very well yesterday after all the extra running around but I'm moving better today. I've not really done much. I've done a load of washing and watched a lot of football. I undid a scarf that wasn't working in yarn that had been thoughtfully donated to me and decided to turn it into a hat. So far I have this.

That's with intermittent knitting during Germany v Scotland and Hungary v Switzerland, a few rows when Spain were playing Croatia and a couple of rows during Italy v Albania. Two by two rib needs far more attention than I'm willing to give when the football is on. Tomorrow I'm switching back to a blanket, at least for the England game. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

I Didn't Crash

I went to get an x-ray on my hip today. I thought about all the different ways to get there. In the end, I decided to drive. On the way, my brakes failed, but in the least dangerous way. I was about to turn across traffic, so I wanted to slow down. Nothing happened when put my foot on the brake. As it was, I had slowed with the gears anyway and nothing was in front of me and eventually I slammed my foot down and the car stopped. Fortunately I was near the hospital and I managed to limp to the multi storey car park. Most of the time, the brakes responded normally but every now and again they were so soft and while it was maybe a few hundred yards or so, it felt like miles. 

I went and got the x-ray of my hip done. It was really quick. I was in and out in a few minutes and had practically no waiting time. As I was finding it tough to walk, I had plenty of time to notice the interesting things around when I had to pause. There's some beautiful art in the Bexley Wing of St James Hospital.

And on the way back to the car park, I noticed this black grass and I was fascinated.

I called out the AA and the nice man in a van turned up quite quickly. It was the same for him as he trundled backwards and forwards. Most of the time the brakes worked, occasionally they were soft and once they weren't there at all. He told me to follow him out of the car park, thinking that the brakes had settled down. They hadn't and I was a wreck by the time I got out. He couldn't work out what was going on. The brake fluid was fine and nothing seemed to be wrong. It was just that the brakes weren't there. I felt like I identified with the car - there's nothing wrong with me apart from not being able to walk. The AA took the car to the garage - In n Out Leeds who are awesome. They hope to look at it tomorrow.

Funnily enough, I'd booked a full, fancy, complete service and MOT for them on Monday. It just goes to show. I'm just glad that this happened today in the relatively flat spaces around St James rather than the steep hills around Mirfield where I was driving around last night picking up bear from his friends' place. 

I took a taxi back and got a pic of Gladys.

She needs to be cut back a little more, but those flowers are enormous. And when I got in, bear had a parcel.

I decided that it was either a sword or a very badly wrapped hat box. 

It turns out that it was a sword. Bear plans on taking it on the expedition (with the teacher's knowledge!) and is going to practice sword fighting with his friend who has a similar sword. At least he's more or less decided on food. Someone is taking pancake mix, someone is taking pasta and bear is taking dessert. This is loaf cake and instant custard. It's going to have to be very well packed.

It's been a long day. I'm not planning on moving much more and I'll have an early night.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Cold for June

The cold weather continues. I'm unimpressed. I feel very down in the dumps and it's hard for me to get motivated.

Bear's preparations for his Duke of Edinburgh continue. I swear that they're never going to end. I think that the only thing remaining is the food which is being discussed with his friends tomorrow. I am so looking forward to him getting out there and the whole preparation thing finally being finished. Then all we need to do is to stash everything away somewhere that we know we'll find it next year. 

I watched the Sewing Bee last night and I was a little lukewarm about it. It seems a little flat. I don't want to be too much of a hypocrite. I can sew anything like as well as the contestants and I still don't trust my sewing machine, but I just wish that there was more that I could drool over. There have been some amazing creations this season, but they seem to have been more spread out. Of course, it could be me as I'm definitely more grumpy than normal at the moment. 

Writing stuff - I've started a new story on Royal Road called Cookies and Carburettors. As I'm not brilliant at baking and I don't know a gasket from an oil pan, I may be over reaching. You can read my excuses on my blog here. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Herding Cats

Bear has to get his kit together for the Duke of Edinburgh expedition. He's fine about it and I'm about to collapse under the stress. I've looked over his kit list, and I have doubts.

My brother, bless him, took bear and got him kitted out with the boots, backpack and clothing that he needed. However the list also included things like tea towels and wash kit and that's all down to bear - or me. 

Trying to pin bear down to what he needs to pack and what I need to add to the shopping list is like trying to herd greased cats that have been rolled in catnip. I'm trying to work out if he's got enough sun block, and if he needs a wash cloth, and do they need him to supply washing up liquid and bear is supremely indifferent. The school is doing a bag check and I am so grateful as I am sure that bear has not allowed for an awful lot of things. This includes food.

Bear has airily assured me that they'll be eating things like pancakes and pasta. I have grave doubts about this. I asked bear whether he knew how to cook these pancakes and he gave me a blank look. Pancakes from scratch (the only way I've ever made them) involve things like eggs and milk which aren't easy to cart around in your backpack as you're tramping around the moors. I still haven't had a definitive answer about whether he needs an indiviudual first aid kit and I feel somewhat concerned as you can't always get stuff last minute, especially as I'm still struggling to walk. 

It's three days. I'm going to be a wreck and bear is going to be fine. 

I had an extremely large delivery today. Not only did I have a load of travel size stuff like shampoo (because bear is not going to let standards slip and utterly rejected the combined body wash and shampoo) but there are a lot of offers on gluten free stuff at the moment so I may have loaded up. 

I've no pics worth sharing, so here is an old one of mine from January 2022. I've always liked this contrast.

Writing stuff - I should be doing all sorts of writing stuff but Royal Road issued a challenge with the theme of Grannies and Goblins and I couldn't resist the idea. The first instalment is herehere. Eventually I'll get around to putting it on my blog as well. And this week's instalment from the White Hart is herehere. 

Hugs and good health to all.

Today Was a Win

This may seem strange, but I walked a few yards and I feel like it was a win. 

I was picking up bear but I thought that I would call in a small supermarket type place on the way so that I could pick up some snacks. I wasn't sure that I could do the walking. But I did! I parked a tiny way from the door.

And not only did I manage to get to the store, but I managed to wander around as I looked for the small bottles of diet Coke that I wanted. To me this is an incredible success!

There's not much more going on, but this was such a big deal. I had to share. It gives me hope that I can get moving again.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Long Weekend

Saturday seemed to go on forever. First there was the boiler service. The plumber that does that is very different from the plumber that put in the bathroom, and they are awesome. Of course, the kitchen needed to be moved around so that they could get decent access, which was a nuisance, especially as I'm still struggling to walk more than a few paces. However that was done and dusted easily enough. 

Then there was the performance of bear's bed. Bear has needed a new bed for years but has resisted the change. However I finally wangled consent and booked a delivery from IKEA for a single bed, mattress and underbed storage for Saturday. They let me know that they would be delivering between 9am and 1pm. At 1.30pm I rang to ask if they were going to be very late. The very nice man at IKEA central told me that the delivery was postponed, probably until the next day or so. At this point I channeled my inner ice queen and asked where he thought my son was supposed to sleep tonight, and by the way I had arranged this to fit in with exams. He said he would ring back. And he was a very nice man from IKEA who rang back when he said he would and said that the bed had been sent to a central depot, then for some reason it sent back for the local store to deliver. He explained that he had been told that there was now no room on the van and that the local duty manager would ring me back. The manager didn't ring back. Instead we had a rather flustered delivery at 4.45pm and bear put his bed together. He's very pleased with it.

I've absolutely no idea what the bed looks like in situ as bear's room is still as well guarded as the Forbidden City, but bear is happy and hopefully will get some good sleep on it.

The yarn that I shouldn't have bought came as well.

It should end up as a baggy sweater. I want to try and get it finished in the next two weeks as I'll be back on blankets when the Euros24 starts. 

Writing stuff - another chapter from the White Hart is here.

Hugs and good health to all. 

I Am Cold

Bear has decided that he can't live without the windows open and I am frozen. It's so desperate that I'm about to start ironing in self defence. At least the scent of Deirdre is coming in.

My hip is doing a lot better. I've no idea why it went bad and why it's got better, but there you are. My knee and back are still creaky, but at least I'm moving. 

The garden is so overgrown that there could be a lost tribe hidden in there.

I should try and get better pics. The clematis and white rose are glorious and in need of tying up. But it needs to be sorted out before any lost civilisation decides to expand and take over the local hairdresser. And I don't want to draw attention to any potential camomile dealers. I'm pretty sure that this is camomile.

But it planted itself without an input from me and I don't want to risk making a tea from it.

I've got so much I ought to be doing. Bear's new bed is getting delivered tomorrow and I'm confident that his room isn't ready to put an IKEA bed together. I'm not completely sure, though, as I haven't been in there for at least four years. Bear likes his privacy and I'm letting him. The bed could arrive at any time from 7am onwards, so I'll need an early night to get ready for the extremely early morning. 

I also need to sort out a corner in the kitchen as the boiler is getting serviced and I like to look as if there's at least some semblance of order. 

I also need to have a rummage through the cupboards and freezer. There are too many packets and tins that could do with either using up or donating, and I can barely shut the freezer door. 

And I keep thinking that it's Tuesday. I have no idea as it's Friday at time of typing. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Same Stuff, Different Day

It's a very boring post. DH continues not too bad, but I'm worried. Bear continues awesome. 

My late mother-in-law died on 27 May 2007. Last night I dreamt of her. We were shopping in Tesco, of all things. There were no crazy messages, just a nice time shopping. It's funny. There were times that we really didn't get on, and I could say all sorts. But she adored bear and, like so many humans, she did her best with the tools that she had. I need to go to Tesco and leave food in the foodbank box to remember her. 

I enjoyed the Sewing Bee, but it didn't really catch me.

It's been a very beige sort of day. I need to try and be more multicoloured tomorrow. It's disheartening to be posting the 'nothing much' posts. On the other hand, me being boring is much easier for the people I live with than me not being boring. 

Writing stuff - yesterday I posted the response to writing challenge number 22 here. It was awesome fun to write. 

I didn't have any pics, so I thought that I'd share this.

Photo by Marko Blažević on Unsplash

Hugs and good health to all.

Bright Day

DH is doing okay and we went to feed the crows this morning. I think that they had missed us because they were almost mobbing the car when we pulled up and they were exceedingly happy to be fed. I suspect that there was more going on than just being fed. We saw some serious squabbling among the magpies, with a few actual scraps, which seemed more about who was in charge than the food. 

When we got home, I took a pic or two of the garden. Gladys is looking good but I NEED to get the poor thing free from the deadwood. I may have to take over from bear.

The white rose is flourishing.

Even the weeds are in blossom.

Our garden is maybe five yards by twenty yards - it's not big at all - but it is full of greenery and life. Even the creeping toadflax on the steps is flourishing.

And while our garden is bursting out, I'm still a little envious of the self seeded snapdragons outside next door's gate.

It's been quietly lovely. I've got quite a bit of knitting done as I watched the FA Cup Final and then Doctor Who, and it's been great to relax. DH has been a little busier as he sprayed out the scratches on the car. Bear has been busier still. He's off for a week now, but he's done a load of homework already and hopes to have finished the large swathe of homework that was supposed to occupy him all week by the end of tomorrow. Then he can focus on the more important things like hanging out with his friends and playing computer games. And also revising as the results he gets from tests in three weeks time are the results sent to the universities he applies to. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Tea

There have been wins and fails today. I've struggled with moving at times, but I've done a tiny bit of ironing and a little sorting out. I've managed to get a pic through the window of the passion flower that's been shamefully neglected and needs tying up to the trellis. I even had proper meals and made enough for left overs for tomorrow. 

Then DH was poorly and I spent a lot of time worrying. It's not up to me to share his woes, though, so I thought I'd share one of my wins. I drank some tea. 

I've been drinking far too much diet cola. It's easy, I greatly enjoy it, and it doesn't trigger any of my intolerances. Even better, I can have a bottle near me and not have to go up and down stairs to get to a kettle. However my impulse shopping had invested in some Aquarius tea from Bird & Blend and I made time to brew a cup. 

It's a loose leaf tea, which I like, and is mainly green tea with lemon and sparkles. 

When I opened the packet, I felt like I was punched on the nose by a very assertive lemon. I carefully brewed the tea for the suggested 3 minutes. 

I think that I'll do it slightly less time for the next brew as it was a little bitter for me, even though I'd added plenty of sweetener. I admit to staging the above photo to try and hide the state of the kitchen. I felt so grown up brewing a speciality tea, then I dropped the teapot lid into the cup as I poured and was back to my normal self.

But once I fished it out, I felt all sophisticated. 

Although a sophisticated drinker would probably have added less sweetener. 

I'm not sure about the sparkles. I saw a glimmer or two, but it mainly looked like sand. 

For me, the jury is still out. It was nice, but it felt very strong. I'll try again for a few drinks tomorrow but brew it weaker. 

Hugs and good health to all.

Another Ouch

Deirdre is doing well.

I took that from the bottom of the kitchen steps as I was definitely staying out of the rain! 

I also checked and I have a round dozen bottles of washing up liquid under the sink. This is not as bad as it sounds. Three of those are the cheap stuff that I use against aphids. The other nine (or eight and a half, really) are from the 'buy four for the price of three' event on cleaning products a few months back. I stocked up to keep me going until the next event, which I think may be in about two months time. Stocking up is good. I'm still well supplied with jars of pasta bake sauce that I got when it was '3 for 2' in the even that usually happens twice a year. I must have made an impression on the computer programme, though, as it keeps suggesting it when I'm checking out a delivery order. 

My hip has played up today and I shut my thumb in the door jamb. The combination left me out of sorts when I went to pick up bear, but it could be worse. I suspect it may cut down my knitting as my thumb is sore. Mind you, I got a lot of knitting done while watching Great British Sewing Bee. The difference between the first series and this one is crazy. I can't believe that the first series had 'alter the neckline of a t-shirt' and now it's 'make a different garment from a t-shirt'. I think that the first series was a lot more relateable. 

I'm still not confident with the sewing machine.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Trousers

I can't wear my jeans because my legs are too swollen to fit in the straight legged ones that I've got. In fact, they're too swollen to fit most styles of trousers. I've been wearing a skirt which I dug out from the very back of my wardrobe, and I was surprised that I had it - I don't like skirts. However my walking is considerably better if I wear trainers (sneakers) and I can't wear trainers and a skirt. I mean, in theory I could. I've seen people look pretty good in a trainer/skirt combination. But I can't. The thought of it makes me want to cry. 

It's funny, really. Over the decades, the rules I stuck to as a teen have gently eroded, but the no trainers with skirt is rigid. I bought some fancy (and extremely inexpensive) wide trousers. They're supposed to give a sort of skirt like appearance, like a nineteenth century governess riding across the moors in a divided skirt. They're not particularly comfortable, they are so like a long skirt that they trip me on the stairs and, because they're made of some cheap cotton-type fabric, I have extra sound effects whenever I walk. At least they have pockets. I'm considering my options - which won't include skirts!

I'm not managing to go far, but I'm walking a lot better and I'm cautiously optimistic. 

In other news, I dug out an old cookbook. It's probably older than bear but I thought it might be useful. 

It's got some interesting recipes in there, including one for Bobotie that I may try out, but it has some that I won't be suggesting to bear. For example, there's a recipe for Chicken Chow Mein. The main ingredient in the ingredient list is - a packet of chicken chow mein. I still remember the horror of my mother when I brought the list of ingredients for lemon meringue pie mix home for the cookery lesson. The ingredients included -  a boxed lemon meringue pie mix! 

I have to get better at walking soon. The garden is a complete disgrace. I think I'll see what basics I can manage then I'll have to talk to DH about getting people in to do some work. DH can't garden - even father couldn't catch his attention. His spirit is willing, but he can't seem to see the difference between plants and weeds. Bear is similar. I may be able to persuade bear to prune Gladys, but I never managed to teach him the difference between brambles and nettles so I'm reluctant to let him loose on the garden. I need to have a long think about how things can go on. If I can't do much then it needs to be low maintenance. 

But I'm not having plain concrete - not on your life!

Hugs and good health to all

Another Week Starts

It's been a quiet day. I'm trying to move more, but today hasn't been a win. 

I've been thinking about hygge. From my (probably limited) understanding, you have all the cosy in the winter, but summer needs to be outside and energetic. I haven't got energetic. But I really, really love snuggling down in autum and winter, and if I do that then I need to get the house fit for snuggles during the summer. 

I'm going to have to tackle the clothes heap in the dining room. There's a load of ironing but also a load of stuff to donate or possibly sell. It's sadly a big job that needs a lot of standing. There's all sorts of stuff that needs to be dealt with. I have some old towels that I plan to cut up. I bought one of those mops where you put a cleaning wipe over the head of the mop, but the refill wipes are £3.50 for 12! I plan to cut up the old, scratchy towels and use those dunked in soapy water and wrung out. That means that I have to cut up the towels to the correct size and then run a zigzag stitch around the edges to stop fraying. There is a lot of stuff like that - small tasks that will make things easier and won't take up much energy if I just start them. Then come winter, I can snuggle down and be comfortable. And I need to do the movement, so it's a win-win.

Writing stuff - I'm still lagging behind the writing prompts, but I'm up to Number 21 and you can find today's story here. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Looking Quite Good

I can't remember why I didn't post yesterday. I know that I spent quite some time setting things up to have an easy dinner for us that would generate the minimum of washing up. DH, bless him, made sandwiches for him and bear and I enjoyed my non-gluten sandwich and we ate from paper plates. 

I've also emptied a lot from the cupboard under the sink. Some of it I've ditched because it got splashed with drain cleaner and I just want rid. Other stuff is the result of me failing at housewifery. I have a theory that the better the housewife, the fewer the products. My cupboards were overstuffed! I've kept the washing up liquid and the liquid hand soap along with some bits that were on the windowsill and got rid of the rest. Some of them were extremely elderly. I'm going to restock baking soda, but I have big jugs of vinegar elsewhere and I plan to just replace what I use or buy for particular purposes. The kitchen spray I'm currently using is a cheap one from Tesco and I loathe the smell so I may try making my own. 

At least now I have enough space to store the kitchen cloths. That's even after I've put the washing up liquid and hand soap back. Mind you, there's only three bottles of the hand soap left. I'm finally getting to the end of the great hand soap bargain stockpile from 2018. I'll be using more bars going forward. 

I'll need to get some good disinfectant in as well, I think, or perhaps a good solution of vinegar and soapy water, to clean the windowsill where the plants are. I cut off some of the more heavily affected areas but I want to grow microgreens and coriander on those windowsills and I'd like to sort out this infestation first. 

Cleaning under the sink took quite a lot out of me, but I did it and I'm taking it as a win and as a chance to get moving. The plumber did an awesome job and replaced the plughole and all the bits attached without trying to upsell. This is a different plumber to the one who did the bathroom who I wouldn't allow back over my threshold. 

Today I was determind that it was going to be a knitting day. I did get some knitting done while watching Doctor Who, but as I was determined to only knit, I actually got quite a bit of writing done. It's nice to know that some things never change. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

I Saw a Doctor

The clinic, it turns out, doesn't do hips. A lovely doctor from the GPs office came out and we agreed that it wasn't cellulitis but fluid collecting in my legs causing pain. She has booked me in for a hip x-ray. I'm not looking forward to it. It's open ended, so I can go some time next week and hopefully sort out what's happening there.

In other news, I ordered some bud vases from Temu. They were expensive for me, at £23.67 but I think that they'll be worth it. I got them to put those bottle lights in so that I could put them in the darker corners like the book case. A few have already been stuffed with lights and taken elsewhere but this is the carton (I really need to be quicker off the mark)

The one already on the bookcase looks like this when the lights inside are on.

You can get the lights from eBay or Amazon. They are basically a small string of lights that are designed to go into a bottle and there is a battery and on/off switch in a 'cork'. The cork doesn't really fit in the bottle, but it's not something that bothers us. We can just enjoy the lights. The bud vases that we don't use like this can be stashed for other purposes. They wouldn't be bad as home made diffusers. 

The sink has broken. The plughole has completely given way. A plumber (not the ones that did the bathroom!) is coming out on Saturday. I feel that it may be the first pebble in the avalanche that means that we have to get a new kitchen. I am unimpressed by that idea.

It feels like a very full day.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Sorting Stuff Out

I had a very small grocery delivery this morning and afterwards I decided that the rest of my day needed to be spent sitting down. We also got a clock in the post. It's hung slightly crooked as it needs another nail, and please ignore the dust.

It's the perfect size. We had a clock that father brought with him, but it was going through a lot of batteries and it wasn't really us so I thought I'd invest in another. 

I'm trying to change the layout of my books and that means finding the original files. Not the original original files as I've changed computers twice since I wrote The Forgotten Village but the ones that are actually on Amazon. I couldn't find a dratted thing. I've been spending hours sorting stuff out and I keep finding weird stuff that I forgot - including the start of a really good murder mystery. 

Bear had a map reading exercise today. I've no idea how it went, but he didn't find his way home. Instead I'm picking him up from his pub quiz later. I hope that he had fun. I'm sure that I would have heard if there was a problem. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Tired

I've been so tired today that I can barely move! I'm hoping to get to the clinic tomorrow. If these keeps on, I'll have to hurry before I get better!

My opinion about modern art is that it's usually painted for other artists. It's often incredibly skilled or subtle, but it baffles me. The sort of art that I understand is this.

Image from WikiCommons and in the Public Domain

Or perhaps this.

Image from WikiCommons and in the Public Domain

And the new portrait of King Charles isn't traditional. I suspect that someone who speaks art could tell me a lot more about it than what is obvious to a philistine like me. It has a strange background and the colour bleeding over the uniform confuses me. But the expression shown on the king is something that calls to you. There is a story there, and that's how I define art - does it tell a story and does it make you feel? 

Writing stuff - speaking of stories, I'm catching up and the latest chapter is here. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

More Flowers

More flowers have appeared, this time on Gert.

But I think that there's also some bugs on the plant. I shall have to start looking up pests on house plants. They're just tiny black specks, but I have a bad feeling. 

I've also been knitting and the blanket is coming on wonderfully. It's 32 inches long (around 81cm) and I'm not even half way through the yarn. I had a quick check and it's around 52 inches wide (around 132cm give or take, I just measured on my lap) so it may be a proper sized blanket. As my hip is bad, I'm not taking many fancy pics, but I managed this.

I'm hoping I'll be able to get to the clinic tomorrow. 

Writing stuff - I'm catching up on the writing prompts and the response to Writing Prompt 19 is here. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Unexpected Flower

One of the scented geraniums has blossomed! I need to get them repotted quickly.

The model car is one that bear made back in... possibly 2019. He had just taken the entrance exam to Heckmondwike Grammar and we were worried he would be stressed so took him to pick a toy. He wasn't stressed, but he's still proud of that model.

I had a rummage in my room which is currently more of a heap than anything. If I want to get it sorted, the quickest way I can do that is to finish some projects. I was working on a blanket while catching up with Doctor Who with the men, but I think I need to work harder than that. 

DH made teriyaki fish with fancy rice noodles for dinner, which was delicious. It was followed by a chocolate and coconut dessert type thing which was amazingly tasty. 

And we missed the thunderstorms. I was watching a lightning map and the storm swung right past us. I was really disappointed as I love storms. 

Writing stuff - one of the things I'm currently working on is catching up with the writing prompts and you can read my response to Writing Prompt 18 here.

Hugs and good health to all.