Another Question

What the jeff am I supposed to do with a trouser press?

So far I am looking at a trouser press, a hifi with no re-sale or donation value, a vast heap of cds and dvds, none of which I can see getting a quick home, and a swathe of clothes.

I am handing over the pink flannelette sheets (ughh!!!!) to former Nice Mr Next Door.  Each to their own, but pink sheets are very high on my yeurk scale.

I disposed of zillion and three tomato sauce sachets which had been carefully harvested from KFC.  I approve in principle, but they have been there over a year.  The same went for the brown sauce and the iffy looking mayonnaise sachets.  I scraped the sugar up and disposed of it with a crusty splat.

Bear has claimed an extremely odd bit of bedding.  It's a little like an old fashioned eiderdown, thickly quilted, but sewn into a sort of sleeping bag.  Father felt the cold.  However he was never that cold in our house.  I do hoard blankets, I can't help it, it's a weakness.  I can now, after some excavation, see where I got it from.

I also need to take in another few bags of out of date prescription medicines.  Last time when I took in two carrier bags full I got a Look.  I expect I will get it again.

I have never managed to get signed up to Freecycle effectively, for some reason I get fails on an epic scale.  I suppose some luckless charity will find some benefit.  If I was a serious gardener I could use the cds to make bird scarers.  I am not a serious gardener.

Actually I just had a quick look on my friend eBay and I found this.  A non electric trouser press recommended for pressing flowers.  Father's may be electrical (and really elderly) but I'm sure it would be fine for flowers, and pressing fabric, and, well, all sorts.  As it had to be left on overnight for a pair of trousers I suspect it would be inadequate and yet still overkill for bear's school trousers.

So, I have a use for the trouser press.  Next!

Another Day, Another Fail

I've just deleted a depressing post.  When all is said and done bear is okay, there is a roof over our heads and food on the table.

Also, three housekeeping books have arrived from Amazon.  My house won't get any cleaner, but I will really enjoy reading them.  They were never going to get my house cleaner - one of them has a cure for the plague in them and another one tells me that young carrots need to be boiled for three quarters of an hour.  I am still looking forward to curling up with them.

The bees are busy and things could be a lot worse.

Even More Bewildered

Witch Hazel - due to my incredibly lax attitude to screen time (apart from at bed time and it had better be age appropriate or bear will regret it) bear has seen some really fun things on YouTube about science and mathematics and now has had an amazing play.  I agree, this is how best to get someone excited about Science.  The maths tutor (who is really lovely) is his treat.  We deliberately asked around for someone who would not try and get bear to reach a higher level or qualify for an exam but for someone who would understand that this was a fun time for bear.

YouTube has it's downsides.  So far I have been bewildered by Pokemon, Skylanders and Minecraft.  Bear will fire off statistics and facts about them at me and I nod, smile and wonder what he is on about.  Now he has progressed to a card game based on football that he somehow watches on YouTube.  I have had lectures about players I can't pronounce.  I have had one sided discussions about the relative points of players I have never heard of.  I am completely and wholly bewildered by another swathe of statistics which I have no idea what they relate to!  My smile is getting a bit fixed.  Fortunately bear has a 'hit and run' delivery so will insist I listen, washing up gloves dripping with foam or poised on the stairs with an arm full of washing or standing with a brush and dustpan in my hands as he rattles off some information which I cannot relate to in any way, then disappears.  I hope he doesn't expect me to remember it.

And if I hear one more word about Christian Ronaldo, I will not be responsible for my actions.

Bear has a wonderful time

Bear had a maths tutor lesson yesterday, but they didn't do maths.  They did science.  Apparently you can use juice from a red cabbage to measure how acid or alkali something is.

Bear loved it, he really, really loved it.  They tore up the cabbage, poured hot water on it and then whizzed it up in a machine.

Bear was amazed as they carefully and scientifically added the contents of mystery containers to see what would happen.  I was mortified he didn't recognise the smell of lemon juice but not surprised he didn't recognise bleach.  I'm scared of bleach in large quantities and use milder cleaners - also I am a rubbish housewife.  He watched with delight as the colours changed in front of him.

By the way, did you know that if you add dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) to something it makes it more acidic.  We watched the colour change and special effects.  It was amazing.  Bear is a very lucky bear.  I am also lucky as the maths tutor was kind enough to let us wait for a while before DH could pick us up.  She is seriously brilliant.

The spooky mist from the dry ice isn't very clear, but you can get the idea.  It rocked!

Unsurprised

Everyone goes through this.  The grieving and the sense of loss.  I feel like I am trying to knit fog.  I am certainly not up for anything intellectually challenging, I found putting tins away a bit of a stretch.  It isn't fun, but it isn't unsurprising.

The first installment of my random purchases made over the weekend have arrived.  It could be worse.  Actually, it could be anything.  Though I am not as bad as Dave Gorman who apparently only realised his eBay issues when a hot air balloon he didn't remember ordering appeared.  I am uneasily aware that this isn't impossible for me.

Bear has been his usual, wonderful self, but I wish I could find the magic button that meant he wouldn't interrupt when I am on the phone trying to understand complicated financial matters through a bewildered haze.  At least bear didn't have company!

I am not sure what I am going to do now.

Apparently it is an extremely inexpensive carrot sharpener.

Is it Bedtime Yet?

Actually, it's around 2pm as I type.  I've dealt with some tricky correspondence regarding stuff for father, cleared out a lot of clothes (father liked nice clothes) ready for charity shop/we buy your old clothes shops, taken a very long call from someone needing a shoulder to rant at, and dealt with two small boys and a computer.

They've played out in the rain.  They've tracked mud in.  They've gone out in the rain again.  They've argued over the computer.  They've gone out in the rain again.  Bear has negotiated hard about which shoes are fit to play outside in the rain.  They have identified the gorgeous cat that bear wanted to adopt as belonging to someone - I suspect that a decision on a cat is deferred rather than just denied.  They have gone out in the rain again.  They have done unspeakable things with balloons while I have been on the phone and have become extremely light headed.  They have now very helpfully posted some letters for me.  I gave them some pennies for the shop while they came out and they came back with industrial quantities of chocolate.  I suggested that they avoided being sick.

I still have serious quantities of father's clothes still to sort through.  The letters were posted with stamps that I found in one of his pockets.  I cannot currently get to the window in father's room, but I am still optimistic.  I was planning to try making a quilt this afternoon (or at least start), but I think I will just hide in the other room.  

Darn it to Heck

Bear is in tears.  He has fallen hard for a cat that is probably around six months old and almost certainly belongs to someone else.  He wants to take it in.  I have reluctantly donated some of our dinner which the cat enjoyed and now bear is making friends.

He really, really, really wants a cat.

I can't wait to see what DH makes of it.  Probably the same as me - we don't want to see bear unhappy, but darn it to heck we do not want the upheaval of a cat/kitten on top of everything else.  It would be helpful if DH and I were not as soft as butter when it comes to bear and very much aware of what bear has been through over the last few years.

I have an uneasy feeling that when bear goes into school and is asked what he did in the holidays he will tell people that he lost a grandad but gained a cat.

Must. Stay. Strong.