Bear's Mixed Day

Poor bear.  First he was forced to leave the house to go with us to Tesco.  I needed the click and collect vacuum picking up (again) and this time it was here.  Bear did not approve.  He did not want go out at all, least of all to a boring shop.  Then, to add to the indignity, we forced him to go to the pictures.  Bear told us afterwards that he had not enjoyed a single moment of Doctor Strange.  I suspect that if we had watched it at home he may have enjoyed it more.

And then we nearly forced him to come for a meal out, before DH and I decided we were okay skipping a meal because we weren't really hungry.

On the bright side, bear got to cuddle next door's cat.  I haven't seen such a virulent attack of cat worship for a long time.  The cat is from next door but two, cute as you like and bear was besotted.  Bear was happy, especially when the cat tried to come in our house.  DH was less happy.

Bear is still under the weather - he went straight to bed around 8pm after just picking at his dinner so I'll keep an eye on him.

I loved Doctor Strange.  I thought Benedict Cumberbatch was superb.  He is splendid as someone hugely intelligent and arrogant, and if you haven't seen it and want to, watch out for the cloak.

Learning from the Past

First the important thing

Next, do you remember me talking about seeing a YouTube tutorial about fabric impregnated with wax to use as reusable food covers?  There's a link to one of them here and another here.  You can even buy them ready made, though I didn't find many links about how to clean them.

Today I was ready Dorothy Hartley's book on medieval England.  She was definitely someone who understood the real world, so while she may have spent her life poring over manuscript illustrations and accounts she could also relate to how thatching or drying feathers or cutting bracken fitted into to rural life centuries ago.  According to her, they soaked linen cloth in beeswax to make food coverings over four hundred years ago.

Truly there is nothing new under the sun.

Another Day, Another Mystery Pain

The thing about snow, it is a wonderful plot device.  There are always tracks.  I found these at tea time last night.

It isn't the effect of drips as there is nothing overhead.  So is it rats, starlings or a local cat?

I've done something to my arm.  Yesterday lunch time my arm felt fine.  Yesterday tea time I could barely move it.  I can't brush my hair properly and dressing is a challenge.  I keep having to literally pick my right arm up with my left arm and move it over to the keyboard if I want to do any typing, but I can type.  I ought to be doing some right now.

I've been speaking to someone at father's old church.  I'm doing the bran tub at the Christmas Fair, apparently.  I don't mind, but I have never done a bran tub.  My friend, eBay, has been really helpful with some cheap stocking filler type stuff for kids.  I can get some soaps from my friend as well, but if anyone has any ideas for adult bran tub that are extemely inexpensive I will be grateful

Snow - Not Amused

We have snow.  I can't remember much snow at all last year.  I don't approve of it at all.  There may not be much, but there is still too much for me.  There is snow on the lavender

And I suppose we can say goodbye to the fuschia until spring

I know that anyone who comes from a country where you get actual snow in quantity will be sniggering, but I loathe the stuff.  I haven't got my bulbs in either.

Apparently the Met Office has given a warning that the next few months will be a little colder than average.  This is the same organisation that predicted a BBQ summer (which was a washout) and told viewers in October 1987 not to worry about the wind (anyone remember the Great Storm?).  According to the BBC, 1,200 troops have been put on standby to deal with weather related problems. This has not cheered me up.  

Bear's Reward

Bear did not get a reward for parent's evening as he hadn't been trying.  On Friday he brought home a certificate to say he had been in the Special Book - for working on his handwriting!  His handwriting can be truly appalling and was one of the things that the teacher had talked about, along with general lack of effort.  Bear had worked hard, got recognition, and today a computer game landed.

Bear took some time to work it out, but he is currently settled down with it.  I'm making the most of it.

Regarding reusable stuff, one thing that I perhaps spent more on than is technically justified is two of these - a big one and a small one.

Image from Amazon at a much better price than I got

I use them instead of cling film when covering dishes in the microwave.  I also use them instead of pan lids.  I got rid of all my pan lids, and I was glad to see the back of them, to be honest.  The silicone covers are washable, easy to store, make an excellent seal, rarely boil over and take a lot less space.  I ought to use it more as they are an airtight seal (as far as I can tell) when it comes to bowls of stuff etc.  You can make home made and reusable cling film, but I'm not up for that.  It involves melted beeswax and I am not safe with hot liquids like that.

Sharon - you are on Season 4 of the Arrow?!?  I think I may have got as far as Season 2 (it really was a shocking headache) but we watched another last night and I think I am okay with concentrating on my knitting, looking up for bare chest, concentrating on my knitting, looking up for awesome and implausible action sequence, concentrating on knitting...  It's a strange world where they have awesome computers but extremely limited fingerprint technology.  I really don't think I'm the target audience.

Random is as Random Does

Sharon - Looking back, he has his shirt off a surprising amount of time.  He has also perfected the art of looking Noble while Suffering and Being Misunderstood because of his Secret.  I watched so many, maybe ten, under the headache.  I don't think it would be a problem for sons and husbands to watch it, but whether it's due to the headache or something else, I am left with an impression of Noble Suffering, man without shirt and implausible archery.  I can't remember much plot.  That's okay.  The man without a shirt made up for a lot.

Though to be quite honest, I quite like his look when 'dressed'.

I'm not putting up a picture of him being Noble and Suffering as it depresses me, but you can probably get the idea from laxative adverts.  I shouldn't be snippy.  It's a good show, and (I think - headache) it promotes good values and the action sequences are (apparently - headache) out of this world.  I may not be the target audience.

Bear is not well.  I'm not sure what it is, but he went to sleep on the sofa at 5pm (five in the afternoon, not a typo) and only woke up briefly for dinner.  He was a little brighter this morning and went into school, but I think we need a weekend without anything.  It may well be nothing more than feeling fed up with the season and a growth spurt.

I failed with the home made soup last night.  I hope to be better tonight.  I had misread the recipe and hadn't allowed enough time. Tonight I am prepared.

Something has happened to my one pair of trainers that fit and they are rubbing a hole in my heel.  This morning I couldn't bear to put them on and dropped bear off at school while wearing my slippers.  I can't remember the last time I wore actual shoes, so I shall have to have a rummage to see if I could find them.

It's been a random day so far.  I found a YouTube video promoting reusable toilet paper.  I think this is a step too far for me.  I'll stick to having rags for kitchen cleaning.

Another Day, Another Pootle

I'm on day four of the headache.  It's being giving me problems and today is a lot better, though it still hurts to move.  I haven't been able to do much, not even knit!  I have been browsing the internet.  I did some binge watching of Arrow.  Unfortunately my head was really bad so I have no idea what's happening except an impression of an implausibly amazing bow and arrow and a lot of scenes where the hero has his shirt off.  It could be worse.

Today I found this in the Daily Mail (I really need to stop reading it, but I read so little fiction as it is...).  It is an article about how dreadful wipes are to the environment and what you can use instead.  It even includes baby wipes in the list.  This is surprising.  Not because of the baby wipes themselves but because the article includes a video showing how to curl your hair using baby wipes.  I have seen YouTube videos like this and instructables about reusable kitchen roll, where snaps are sewn onto squares of cloth which can be joined together and then wound around a kitchen roll dispenser instead of using kitchen towel.  I've got a box with ratty cloths in suitable for most mop ups.  I don't think I'm a Martha Stewart type.

If anyone has tried those 're-usable cloths on a roll' type things, are they worth it?