Still Tired

I'm still tired after driving, which is ridiculous. Mind you, it was even mistier this morning, then I had another lesson (I'm trying to get my skills up) and we went around some seriously awkward junctions. I want to be able to get to IKEA, and anyone who has travelled from Leeds to the IKEA near Junction 27 of the M62 knows that it is a challenge. It isn't as bad as it used to be, where roundabout followed roundabout and if you weren't careful you ended up heading towards Halifax on an unexpected motorway, but it is still complicated with lots of lane discipline. My awesome instructor also took me up some seriously challenging roads, and I was late getting back to set off to pick up bear, but the drive home was relatively okay. My life seems to be all about driving at the moment.

It's strange, though, going out all the time. I called in at Morrisons after dropping bear off and bought ingredients for soup which we had this evening, and I don't need to worry about getting enough bread in to last as I can always pick up some while I'm waiting for bear in the afternoon. I need to get some stuff packed up because I can call in at a charity shop without much stress, and when I get into the garden, such as it is (the lavender is probably still alive, hard to tell), I can take the weeds to the tip. The more I think about it, the more I think it is life changing, and the more I think I can fit in.

Writing stuff - I've been at the flash fiction, here. I don't know what it was about the picture that caught my attention, but it did, and I enjoyed writing it. And now I am off to collapse into bed! Hugs to all.

Photo by Hean Prinsloo on Unsplash

Just Passing Through

My lavender plants are still alive.

I never thought about using foil on the window. Around here, it usually means that someone is growing weed, but it would work for blacking it out. I shall keep it in mind.

Today has been an adventure. I started off by driving bear to school. It was foggy. It wasn't really dark, thick fog, but it was bad enough. I could see more than a hundred metres ahead - just - but it wasn't easy to see what was coming. It didn't really show until we had gone a little way up the road as it was in the countryside, and then I had to find somewhere safe to pull over (allowing for limited visibility) to find where the lights were. I dropped bear and his pal off and then I drove home. That was an adventure in itself. I suspect that I drove most of the way home in the wrong gear and got overtaken by a police car. However the fog was lifting so it was not quite so nerve wracking, especially at the roundabouts.

About five minutes after I got home, the men to replace the windows came. They replaced two windows in the study and one in the living room and the windows look amazing. It's terrifying how much light comes through windows that are actually clean, and I have sooo much cleaning I need to do. It took me ages to warm up afterwards, though, and I think I'm still only just thawing out.

By the time the windows were done, it was time to sort out collecting bear. Instead of collecting him from school, I needed to pick him up from climbing, which was in an area I didn't know very well. I ended up getting there nearly an hour early as I was so worried about parking. I think I will get there that early again as the very few parking spaces filled up quickly and I had nabbed one that was easy to get out of. It was quite relaxing. I just sat in the car and got on with a little knitting. I think I will claim that time as 'me' time. As it got nearer to pick up, the parking became a nightmare and the road got busier and busier. I did some thinking, checked Google Maps on my phone and then bear and I came home a way that I had never driven before, and some of the way I had never been down at any time before. It was awesome, no problem and bear and I decided that it was the best way home.

I am now officially exhausted, so I'm off to bed.

So Much for the Curtains

I've done it again. I thought, 'I can just...' and it never ends well. Today I started on bear's curtains.

Bear is swearing that he can't sleep because the light in the morning and evening is waking him up. I would be more sympathetic if he didn't wake up at daft o'clock at midwinter when it's still dark. Bear has always woken early. I guess he's dealing with high school and hitting the teen years and is feeling the strain so would like the extra help. Today I got out the Doctor Who curtains and braced myself to line them.

The curtains aren't actually curtains, as our windows are 76 inch drop, which doesn't exist in curtain sizes here, and all the Doctor Who curtains I've seen have been 54 inch or shorter. However, most duvet covers are 78 drop, more or less, so with the help of some heading tape I have perfect curtains made from two single duvets (the window is only 46 inches wide). I thought I could just turn the duvet covers inside out, attach fleece, turn right side out and then hang lined curtains.

Actually I did just turn the duvets inside out, do two rows of back stitch at the top and then turn right side out. The fleece hung beautifully after a little trim. Sadly, white fleece does not stop light. They would stop plenty of drafts and add to the body of the curtain, but it would still be just as bright. So I've ordered some proper blackout lining from eBay, which was remarkably inexpensive, and I'll get the curtains lined as soon as it comes.

In the meantime DH taped some navy microfiber towels over the window. They are awesome at blocking the light and if the tape continues to hold them up then they will do just fine. 

Today has been a useful learning day. I've learned not to try lining curtains with white fleece if I want to keep the light out. I've learned that microfibre towels are remarkably good at keeping out the light. Also, I've found The Librarians on Amazon Prime. It's a series I hadn't bothered with before, but I put it on while I was wrestling with acres of fleece and duvets and I really enjoyed the first couple of instalments.  So it could have been a lot worse.

Now I am off to move furniture and plant pots for the men doing the windows tomorrow. 

I don't have any pics of the curtains, as there is nothing to take pics of so I searched Unsplash.com for pics of curtains and found this, and I thought it was beautiful. I hope you like it.

Photo by Simon Matzinger on Unsplash

Anyone who knows cats knows that those curtains are a whisker away from being shredded but it is a lovely pic.

Online Shopping Fail - Again!

The lavender plants arrived today. I didn't read the listing properly and I thought the 20 lavender plants would be slightly larger than the listing promised.  Here are 20 lavender plants.

I forgot to put anything in for scale, so, for the sake of feeling like a proper blogger, I went out and put a standard mug on the steps. The mug is probably nearly sort of in the same place as the lavender plants but a step higher and a little to the right.

You can see the debris that I still haven't cleared up properly from getting rid of the old lavender. To also help with the scale, here are six of the plants, which I have put for them to get going before I transplant them in the bed by the dining room window.

I hope they do okay. They look quite healthy, are exactly as described, and will be awesome in the bed, if they survive. I don't expect them to flower this year. 

Today I have started making a dent in the dreadful state of the dining room, including the huge heap of ironing. I feel very smug because there is still a day left before the first day of the new term and I know where all the games kit is and I have already ironed shirt and trousers for bear. The blazer has come back from the dry cleaners looking almost fit for purpose despite bear's best efforts, and I've even topped up his dinner money account. All I need to do now is convince bear to sort out his bag and duck from the inevitable panic if he finds some homework he should have done throughout the holidays.

Writing stuff - It's a day late, but here is the latest from the White Hart. Yesterday I also had a really awesome coaching session about writing matters, so I'm feeling hopeful that I can get back on track and be able to share some more stuff, and better stuff.

Yet Another Milestone!

We were up early this morning. The local schools are back, but bear is in a different educational district and on holiday, so we started working in the garden at 8am as we knew that the various neighbouring families would be stirring as they were getting ready for school.

A few years ago, the lavender in front of the study looked like this

It has grown and got very leggy and straggly so I decided to replant it, and as the windows are coming Monday, it had to go now.  Bear pulled out the lavender and I cut and squished it into bags. So we ended up with it looking like this

That is actually the window to the dining room, which I'm keeping covered due to the utter shame I have of the state of the ironing pile in there. The study is above it, 90 inches wide and will need some manhandling to put in, so I'm leaving the bed bare until then. Then bear put down the back seats and I filled the car. That was around ten bags of lavender plants which meant a lot of fragrance, and that, added to the rosemary essential oil, meant that poor Red smelled very herbal. I remembered to take a pic of the air freshener

I was so cold when I set off that I found the heater! And I went to the tip (?dump for those outside UK) by myself! And I reversed into one of the bays! I felt so grown up. Then I went straight to Tesco at Batley, where I picked up some uniform shirts for bear for next year. I had a coupon (from the last delivery, ironically) where I got £5 off if I spent £25. I bought underwear and shirts for bear, shoes for myself and a t-shirt for DH. I also picked up some new and sharp secateurs, and bear has been putting them through their paces. He has decided he wants to dig everything out and start over. I'm fine with that but holding out to keep the yellow rose (which is older than him) and the lilac.

Then I staggered home. Dinner tonight was sausage with pasta. We have ongoing discussions about sausages and the men have decided that the frozen sausages are just inadequate compared to the 'good' gluten free sausages, so I have always had something of a juggling act making sure that any sausages were used up in time. However The Debbie and Andrew frozen sausages passed approval, so we can have those again.

I am now off for an early night as I am exhausted and I have another round of gardening and tip run tomorrow.

Another Day, Another Milestone

Bear and I went to the White Rose Centre and got him shoes which was a major milestone. Bear seemed fine with my driving, and was okay with me parking miles away from the doors where it was practically empty. I impressed him as I drove straight into a bay and it was wonderful and straight and perfectly within the lines - and miles from any other car.

We had the usual issues with shoes. Bear never feels comfy in the size that they give him. He takes size five in trainers, size five/six in football boots and they wanted him to wear a three and a half. He left with size five, and very nice they look as well. Then we picked up some rosemary oil for the air freshener in the car. I have a sort of clip thing that goes on the air vent which holds little pads and you drop some essential oil on them. I swear I only put a few drops and there is a seriously strong scent, but there are a lot worse scents than rosemary. I may use lemon next. I love the scent of lemon.

We got some refreshments and discussed the garden. I'm going to have to remove the lavender under the study window as we are getting new windows and bear believes it's best to dig everything out and start again. After some discussion, we drove to B&Q, which I hadn't planned on, but managed just fine (and reversed into a parking space! - again, miles from anyone else) and came out with a spade, a small fork, some goggles and a random assortment of plants. Bear persuaded me to pay £1.50 for a very small selection of carrots that would probably not yield the same as the 79p bag from Tesco, if I was lucky. I now have a packed programme tomorrow for gardening early, then picking bear's blazer up from the dry cleaners in Batley, and possibly investigating garden centres. Bear is starting to get Ideas, and I'm happy to let him go for it.

Writing stuff - Today I got to publish an interview with JK Allen, with the launch of 'Heavenfire', the second in the Angelborn series. I have spoken with JK Allen a few times, informally, and she is an awesome and lovely person, and I felt incredibly honoured to do the interview. I look up to her so much. Anyway, the interview is here,

This awesome book is out tomorrow

I need to do more 'writey' things. I was determined to scale back and focus on books, but now that I'm going to be in a routine with getting bear to and from school and without the driving lessons, if I make at least an attempt to manage my time then I should be able to do the flash fiction as well as the instalments from the White Hart and the newsletter (definitely, absolutely, almost certain to come out this Friday) and still find time for the books.

Five More Days

To be honest, I love hanging out with bear, but I will be glad when the Easter Holidays are over. I'm running out of ideas. Fortunately bear has been playing football in the street, binge watching videos on violins, voluntarily practising the piano and keeping himself going with only a few bits of drama. But I need to be getting used to the new rhythm of driving him hither and yon and I need to get some stuff written and I need to be able to make plans without having to work around him.

I was out again today. I'm feeling more confident, but it's early days yet and I need to make sure I don't get too overconfident. Besides, I get nervous on the faster roads. I need to work on that, but carefully. I was looking at a trip to Bolton Abbey and the directions said it was nearly thirty miles each way. I was horrified - how could I possibly manage to drive sixty miles? Then I realised that I had driven a lot further during lessons, when I had driven for hours, and that basically a road is a road. Thank you, Eileen, I think I'm getting a little more confident, but there's room to grow.

I'm still binge-watching Lie to Me (in between bear) and I was a little disturbed to see the disclaimer that the psychologist face reader and obscure and strange plots was fiction. I'm sure that there are some very strange things out there, and that there is a lot of science behind it, but surely no-one would think that it was factual?

Mind you, people are strange and wonderful. I came across another piece about Icelandic elves on the BBC here, and I sincerely felt for the Icelandic Roads Press Officer explaining that yes, they had moved a rock out of respect for the elves. I felt that he got it. That it wasn't about whether the elves were real or not. It was about respecting other people's harmless beliefs and allowing space for a little magic and wonder. We should all do that more.

Writing stuff - I was lucky enough to host a spotlight on a character from Phoebe Darqueling's 'No Rest for the Wicked'. Phoebe is an amazing person and I consider her an authority on steampunk, and so I was thrilled to take part. The insight into one of the characters and the snippet from the book are here.

Phoebe is also working on the anthology, Cogs, Crowns and Carriages, published by Our Write Side and containing a chapter from yours truly and she does some amazing graphics for her work, so I feel incredibly grown up being in any way included. I am going off to bask in being grown up and eat chocolate.