Not a Fail

Not much housewifery got done today, but I'm not taking it as a fail. 

First thing this morning we had a phone appointment with someone medical for bear. It wasn't serious, but was at a tricky time, so I drove to Heckmondwike, had the conference in a car park and then chucked bear into school reception after about an hour of discussion. Then I called into Tesco for an afternoon snack for bear (which he later refused) and while I was there got another phone call from one of bear's medical thingies. I still remembered the washing up gloves, so I'm taking that as a result.

By the time I got home I felt somewhere in the region of terminally bewildered. I still managed a few hundred words, though, so that's something, and I chased up a few more bits and pieces.

I picked up bear, then got home, booked a flu jab and was settling down to work and I heard a massive buzzing. A bee had flown into the window where she had got stuck. I spent the next twenty minutes on edge and hoping that she would see the HUGE gap where I had the window wide open. Their eyes can see a massive range of colours and have an amazing field of vision but they still can't see the dratted fresh air! I was so desperate, I was even considering squashing her, and I hate hurting bees, but I managed to coax her out.

I did an easy dinner and now I am back at my laptop. I'm against the clock on a deadline for a medieval fantasy, I'm begging for reviews for Out of the London Mist and I'm working with the Three Furies editing the sequel set in Sudan. Also, I need to up my horror game and get set up with some new stuff.

Writing stuff - Today's post is another old favourite of min - 'Just in Case'. And don't forget, in three days time there will be the October Frights Blog Hop. 

Hugs and good health to all.

Fail Today, Try Again Tomorrow

I'm feeling the fail. I feel very ashamed. I got some bits done, and everyone ate home cooked food but I've left the dirty dishes. My washing up gloves ripped apart and my hands are too sore to wash up without them. No dishwasher. 

I called in on the farm shop on the way home as bear wanted a snack. I got a sort of pic of an emu.

I'll be brighter tomorrow.

Writing stuff - today's post is here, one of my favourite poems, 'First and Third Saturday'. I'm seriously considering trying it. 

Not Brilliant, But Could be Worse

Today was not a brilliant start to the cleaning campaign. Part of the problem was that I left the house at 7.30am with bear (who finished his homework about thirty seconds before he got into the car) and by the time I had called in at Tesco, Aldi, WH Smiths and Wilkos, it was 10.30 before I got home and I had to leave again at 1.30pm. By then I had called a man about replacing the doors and written a thousand words as well as various bits on the cleaning list. 

I've done some of my checklist. I washed some sheets, and I did manage a little clean. I didn't get anything done in the garden and I didn't clean the mirrors (on Monday's list). Still, we are all fed, there are clean clothes for tomorrow and it could all be worse.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to concentrate on the kitchen. I may make a small dent.

We are getting the front door and porch door replaced, along with the porch windows. They are the next on the list of things that need replacing. Bear is keen for me to re-paint the porch once that is done, but I'm less than enthusiastic right now. 

Writing stuff - Steampunk Explorer have been kind enough to add me to the list of steampunk authors. There are some incredible names on that list, so I'll have to work on living up to them.

Today's story for October isn't the new story I planned, but a snippet from 'Across a Misty Bridge' - Waiting. I hope you enjoy.

Had a little formatting issue, so the photo should be credited to Irena Carpaccio on Unsplash.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Changing Direction

I write about what I'm doing or what I'm thinking on this blog. If I'm doing a lot of knitting, then knitting pops up on these pages. If I am doing a lot of writing, then writing it is. When you read about 'How to Blog' and 'How to Make Money Blogging', it's always about writing what you know and having a defined brand. I've failed at that for years. I have the attention span of a kitten in a feather factory, and I'm afraid my posts reflect that.

Normally, when I post that I am going to do something, the next post contains a few paragraphs about why I couldn't and what happened. But today I'm taking a risk, making plans on here, in the open. I'm feeling fairly determined, though, so wish me luck.The week just past was a fail in housewifery, and so I'm starting again tomorrow. I thought I had better warn you. There may be long monologues about cleaning products.

Years ago, I had a lever arch file and I wrote everything down. I mean, everything. What I spent (too much on yarn), what I did, what I needed to do and when to do things. At the time, I was severely depressed and barely able to function. Writing things down was a lifeline. I'd even break a phone call into separate steps (1. Find number 2. Pick up phone. 3. Find pen & paper. 4. Dial number...). I was in a very bad place. I've decided to try that method again, as it can't hurt even if I'm not in quite so dark a space. I'm buying a new file as the old one is falling to pieces. Also, let's be honest, I like shopping and it's an excuse.

First of all, I'm using the ideas of the Secret Slob, but playing around with them a little. I have a long checklist of things I need to try and fit into the day. I won't fit them all in, but that's okay. I'll just do my best. Second, I've got a separate diary and shopping list (as I showed in poor photographs a few weeks ago). Third, I've a list of things I should really get around to, but I can just add to when they occur to me and I can cross off when I've done them. It's a sort of rolling to-do list but I'm trying to avoid the guilt trip.

I'm not posting 'before' pics, because I'm too ashamed. Besides, the 'before' pics in the 'how to clean' blogs always look a little staged and are something like my home on a good day. I may post 'after' pics, depending on how things go. I doubt that it will be a 'I decided to do good cleaning and now, without any hiccups or issues, my house is clean' type post. I'm just promising myself that I will try and that I will post on here to keep myself honest. 

Also, I will try and find the story in things, the fun and the humour, because that's the best bit of life. 

Today has been a good day. We hung out and watched Shaun of the Dead and it was a wonderfully relaxing afternoon. We had the soups for dinner and icecream. I'm going to aim for home made soups from now on, at least until Christmas. I intend to get a few Aldi soups in over the Christmas holidays for easy dinners.

Writing stuff - I got a really great review from Red Haircrow Review. I felt quite nervous approaching them about a review as they are very educated and deal with difficult subjects and content. They have been awesome, however, and really kind. 

As it is October, here is a story on my blog that I've posted before, but I think it is still a good read. 

And brace yourselves for more. October Frights Blog Hop is coming up and not only will I be posting some old and new stories, but there will be a lot of spooky stuff going on. I'll link it here and on my writing blog.

Hugs and good health to all.

Feeling the Fail

 Bless - I love the pic of the kitty. Sometimes I go to Unsplash and just enjoy the pics. I do that on WikiCommons as well. I really respect and admire people who can take great photos (Sharon, I'm thinking of you as well as others here). I love it when I have an excuse to look for a pic. I had a sneak peak just now and found this. It's in the public domain and I could just print it out and put it on the wall. I'm quite tempted.

Verger en fleurs by Monet Public Domain on Wiki Commons

At the moment, I'm feeling the fail. I don't seem to be succeeding at housewifery, budgeting, cooking, time management or negotiating parenting a teenage. I'm even failing at knitting. DH and bear are currently preferring Aldi fresh soups to anything I make. 

Last week was a housewifery fail, but I'm trying to get back on track. I need to clear out a lot of stuff but charity shops are currently reluctant to accept stuff. I'm considering an eBay binge, though I don't know if anyone is buying. DH took a car full of literal rubbish to the tip this morning. Most of it was cardboard. There is a downside to ordering so much from the internet. The packaging is out of control.

On the bright side, bear is doing pretty well with his homework at the moment - at least, according to him. He's putting a lot of pressure on himself, so I need to keep an eye on that.

Writing stuff - Today's post is here, a small, spooky story. 

Hugs and good health to all

The End of the Week

 My internal workings are not playing nicely. I skipped most of my shopping today and instead spent a lot of time in supermarket toilets. I'll be glad when it settles down. This meant that today was spent grumbling and not very productively. 

I was on edge all the time I was waiting for bear, and I think that the dratted yarn is making my hands itch. They are both getting sore. 

Otherwise it could be a lot worse. Bear is currently being incredibly organised with his schoolwork. I am watching from a safe distance as it seems to involve a lot of things like making flash cards and filling lever arch files. This evening he was watching something about mathematics and Kepler, which he seemed to be enjoying but made absolutely no sense to me. I don't know whether it was physics or maths homework, but it was head and shoulders against the rather limp slideshows we had when I was at school.

Writing stuff - Day Two of October, and I've written a short story which is here. I think Kitler is a great name for a cat.

Image from Unsplash taken by Diana Parkhouse

Knitting Time

It's been a quiet sort of day as I have been working on writing stuff. I left to pick up bear just before 2pm. It takes around 25-30 minutes to get to Morrisons at that time of day in normal circumstances and bear doesn't leave school until 3.15. I take the wait as knitting time (coming along quite nicely)

By the time I got near Morrisons, the queue of traffic was ridiculous. More parents are picking up their kids. There aren't enough bus seats, and even if they kids do get a seat, there is a heightened risk of infection. This means that Heckmondwike is gridlocked at school drop off and pick up times. I'm going to have to get there a lot earlier.

This potentially means more knitting time, but I can also take along a laptop for writing, and I will probably have to reschedule my walk to fit between my arrival at Morrisons and bear wandering up. I can probably fit quite a lot of shopping in as well. 

For some reason, the morning run isn't quite as bad, so I can usually drop bear and zoom off to Tesco, Aldi, Lidl etc before coming back and calling in on Morrisons and possibly a few charity shops and a Poundland type store while waiting for bear to finish school.

Or I can go straight home after drop off and sit with laptop/knitting while waiting at pick up. I still need to keep social distancing and appropriate restraint in shops in mind. 

Writing stuff - Today is the first day of October and so I've put up a slightly spooky post here. It's a poem that has been seen before, but I hope you can still enjoy it. There will be a new story tomorrow.

Hugs and good health to all.