Quiet Day

Not much has happened. I'm shattered. I've kept up to the lists and they're really helping. 

I've run out of steam for today, but here's a pic of a Victorian vampire slaying kit that I took when I visited the Royal Armouries

It was probably a gimmick even then but it's fun. 

I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully making sense.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Still Cold

I know that it's not nearly as cold here as it is in some other places, but it's still cold. 

The pics were taken at 11am. I think that I should at least trim Gladys back to the wall now. The flowers are finished. 

I don't think that the car fully thawed all day.

I'm keeping up to the lists. I'm missing some, but on the whole, they're keeping me grounded. It's far from perfect, but it's a start and better than nothing.

I had a Morrisons delivery today. I really wanted the sack of onions at £3.49 for 4kg and picked up a few other things that were on offer. I keep forgetting how bad their deliveries are. The bags are packed by machine so the poor delivery driver has to deal with customers getting bags with the bread on the bottom of a bag and the tins of soup stacked over it. It's so frustrating. I think that I'll just have to drive to Morrisons, which gives me the chance to pick up bargains but ups the chance of impulse buys. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Day Two is Trickier

I'm still working on the whole list thing, and I didn't do so well today. On the other hand, I didn't do so bad. I didn't eat well, but I left the house and went to IKEA. I'd seen a lamp that I wanted for the corner.

It was only £8 and is battery powered and not very bright, but it brings a little light to a dark corner after the crow fell and broke. I called into Aldi as well. They have the Turkish delight that DH likes and I wanted to get some in for Christmas. 

While I was in IKEA, I picked up a couple of frames. One was for a pic of the daughter of good friends and the other was, well, me being odd. 

It's around the size of a playing card, and I thought it looked incredibly striking. The pic doesn't do it justice as it's an iridescent green and gold and I thought that I would hang it somewhere discreet on the stairs. It's actually a card that has the product details from my big lamp I got a while back. 

I missed a few bits from my list, but I'm still optimistic. For example, instead of changing the bath towels when I remembered, I have it on a rotation to make sure that the towels are always fresh. I didn't get the fridge cleaned, but checking the list meant that I had the bins sorted out nice and early. I'm feeling quite positive. 

On another positive note, bear was cleaning out his backpack and said, 'by the way, I got a gold certificate in a computer test.' For him, it's just Tuesday. I was so impressed. It's more than one school and quite a few people took part so I'm really proud. He's been doing this sort of thing since primary school. I used to hear about his achievements from the teachers. He's driving me nuts and making me so proud at the same time!

I also booked myself in to the optician. My eyes feel strained and I wonder if I need new glasses. That may relieve a lot of the symptoms I've been having. 

Writing stuff - a minor note here. I'm starting up with writing prompts again as a way of keeping me writing. If anyone wants to use the prompts, help yourselves. The prompts are here, there are no expectations apart from that you have fun writing and you can take it in your own direction. 

Good First Day of Planning

Some more of my impulse buy yarn came today. I've got this far.

The pattern was on sale and I downloaded for free. You can see it here. It's a very easy sort of top/sweater in chunky, knitted sideways. Apart from the part where I have to pick up a gazillion stitches at the end, it's fairly straightforward and that suits me.

I ticked quite a few boxes today. I didn't tick the 'five minutes in the garden' as it was cold, wet and miserable. I've done a fair amount of online shopping, though. I think that I'm just about done for the holidays. DH and I don't spend much on each other, and bear is getting driving lessons paid for, although we still haven't applied for his licence, so I'm not getting so much for him. I've just got a few bits lined up. And apart from the shopping, I've done all sorts of little jobs that I was just not getting around to, so I'm pleased. Hopefully I'll get a little more done gradually as I go along. I'm feeling sort of good about it. 

I think having the list, but feeling free to not complete the list, has really helped. I think that it's really important that I don't feel the need to be perfect. That has taken a lot of pressure from me. I can see me adding to the list over the next few weeks, but so much of it is stuff that is really small, like checking my bank balance on a daily basis. I can do that as I eat breakfast if I use the app, and it keeps me a little more aware.

Speaking of aware, I'd been keeping the Heinz at Home subscribe and save going. DH really likes Heinz baked beans, so I ordered them direct. I'd planned to skip the next delivery, but I kept thinking that I had time to cancel. However I got a notice to tell me that the beans are on their way. All the other subscriptions that I've had will at least give a warning! I already have a baked bean mountain and I think that it's going to be growing. I've cancelled the subscribe and save and I think that I'll concentrate on watching the sales in the supermarket when we finally run down the stockpile. 

And speaking of supermarket sales, did I mention that Tesco are currently doing a 3-for-the-price-of-two on Yankee Candles and their Naturewick brand. I've found that their Naturewick is pretty good so I plan to stock up emphatically.  

Hugs and good health to all. 

I Finished a Project!

I finished the keyhole scarf that was part of the hat and scarf kit.

It was a close thing. Normally I cast off a row before I need to as I have no faith. This time I ran out of yarn as I cast off.

Fortunately I'd kept the scrap left from finishing the hat, so I joined new yarn for literally five more stitches! There was only a few inches left from the 150g and I'm really happy about it. 

I didn't get out much today. I'd booked a delivery because, according to the weather forecast, it shouldn't be too bad and I went out of the door to get that from the garden. I felt a little bad as I had consulted the weather forecast and today wasn't supposed to be too bad here. This morning it looked like this.

A lot of it had melted by the time the delivery arrived and we gritted the path but I still felt a little guilty. But at least I got out a little and I didn't feel bad that I didn't go out more. 

We spent the day hanging out together and DH and bear made an amazing home made battered fish with baked potatoes and fresh green pea puree. 

I've got the sheets printed off for tomorrow and some notes about plans, so I'm feeling quite good about things. I'll see how I go tomorrow. If I get a tiny bit done, I'll be pleased. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Knitting Happens

A knitting kit was delivered this morning, around 11am. 

It was just under £10, including everything and I'm very pleased with the service. The hat looks like this. 

And it fits very nicely. I'm around 25 inches or around 65cm into the keyhole scarf and I'm feeling quite relaxed about it. The only thing is that I'm using the needles supplied in the kit (and 150g of ostrich yarn and two pairs of needles for just under a tenner isn't bad) but they are short, plastic straights and I keep forgetting where I put the other needle if I'm broken off. 

I just went out to the bin today and not much else, but I'm okay with that. I've been taking it as thinking time as well as knitting. I feel quite relaxed. It's been great to hang out with the men as well. 

It's still quite chilly. Gladys was still frosted at lunchtime today. We have snow and ice forecast so I think it's the end of the season for her, though she's been remarkable. 

Writing stuff - I had a little bit of fiction on Hazardous to Your Sanity here. It was far too much fun to write. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Shopping May Have Happened.

I've done a few bits but on the whole I would say that today wasn't very productive. I managed to do things like take vitamins and cook and wash up, but I've not managed spectacular things. 

I managed to get outside for a few steps when I took a cup of coffee to the poor frozen man who fitted a new dash cam on our car. The old one wasn't working well and kept falling off the window. The first thing this did was fall off the window. I can see keeping the darned thing in position is going to be a job of work. 

Gladys is showing the effects of cold and I'll probably cut her right back after Christmas. 

I didn't get many pics, but I took this of the faint trace of snow and definite clear ice on the step to show why I wasn't going to go far. 

I really miss Marriners Yarns. They had lovely inexpensive yarns that had much less guilt when I gave in to temptation. I was feeling low last night and I may have indulged a little. Yarn is heading my way. This would not be so bad if I didn't have enough yarn to knit blankets for all of Yorkshire. I should create a tracker for yarn. 

Hugs and good health to all.