So Tired

Sharon - thank you! Daffodils are such a cheerful flower. 

Bless - thank you. I was waiting at the garage when I spotted the rubber band, and I couldn't imagine what it was at first. 

Eileen - I am a sucker for a sparkle.

I don't know what it is, but I am absolutely, utterly and incredibly exhausted. So is bear. It was his first day back at school after the holidays and he started with a test. Poor kid is shattered. 

Two pics that made me smile. I got some knitting done on the blanket for the first time for a week while I was waiting for bear. I was a little early so I managed to add at least another inch.

I didn't take this photo, but it's a representation of something that I did see that made me smile. There is a huge strip of purple crocus along the road on the school run and they looked so lovely. I didn't fee comfortable stopping (busy road) so I have a pic from Unsplash

Image from Unsplash, taken by Ales Krivec

Writing stuff - Today's small snippet of flash fiction is here

Hugs and good health to all. 

Colder

Eileen - I haven't seen any others out, so it surprised me. Parts of the garden (tiny as it is) are very sheltered, though. The picture hunt for circles was a lot of fun. I was trying to look for things a little different, and the rubber band surprised me. The tokens was a weird photo to take. Everything reflected and I got some very odd looks.

Wherethejourneytakesme - always be nice to techs! Making the wordprocessor ping is very minor compared to what they could do. I feel quite blessed with the daffodil, as I haven't seen any others out.

Bless - I don't remember planting this. It's a miniature, so probably about three or four years ago. When we first moved in, there were so many daffodil bulbs that we couldn't plant anything else. We got rid of three binsacks full of them, and they keep going. I've never been able to get rid of the bluebells either, and father tried as well. It sounds weird having them as annuals, but you have those other glorious plants, and I love hearing about your lemon tree.

Lady Ella - I was lucky with the pringle lids because it was in a brightly lit supermarket and not the more difused theatre lighting. Thank you. 

Here's the pic that made me smile.

I love seeing morning light on the windscreen when it is frosted. I had one pic which I used as my laptop wallpaper for a while. 

This is from March 2020.

Bear was meeting his pals, so I gave him an early lift and I had to defrost the car before we set off. It was cooler, but lovely and bright, and bear and his friends wandered around, probably not being much bother, for around 18 kilometers or 11 miles. I picked him up later in the evening and he's gone to bed early.  He has school tomorrow.

For some reason I am beyond shattered, so I will probably follow his example. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

February Photo Challenge - Circles

I followed Eileen's challenge of the month for February with the theme for circles. I had something of a fail. I didn't go anywhere much. There was half term, the car was in the garage or not able to be driven for around ten days total and the weather was foul. But I did manage to pick up a few. I've looked through Eileen's awesome pics and I found it really inspiring. I'll have to look with a broader eye next month, when the challenge is 'beginning with H'. Looking for these things has been amazing for my mental health.

Anyway - my pics.

It's a circular rubber band that I noticed on the pavement. I didn't touch it. I should, however, taken the picture closer.

A thingy in the trolley shelter

A sign, which was optimistic as the cars were flying past it

Decoration on a window

Lots of circles with the tealights - which I resisted buying!

I nearly put this under the 'wheels' category for the scavenger hunt

The pringles lids were a lovely collection of circles.

And this is hard to see, but it's the round tokens that they give you at the checkout to vote where the donations are going.

I definitely want to get more pics next month! I shall be making lists of whatever can begin with H and investigating dictionaries. 

Eileen - thank you so much! 

Nothing Much Going On

Wherethejourneytakesme - those dishcloths are just the right amount of scritchy. I am impressed by your brother - patching up the computers after students tried to prove how clever they were must have been a challenge.

Bless - bear is in heaven. I love knitting these, and I can't wait to put them into service.

Libby - I've found myself looking for things to make me smile, and that has to be the healthiest thing to do. I'm glad you're also getting the benefit. Also - 6-0 and within three points of City. That definitely put a smile on my face!

Cherie - bear was just so grown up! From what I saw, from a safe distance, they were following logical steps and got a great computer for a great price. I don't think I would ever have the confidence, but bear would. Also, you are awesome, and can do all sorts of things.

Eileen - when I listened to bear and my brother, I understood that they were speaking English, but it went flying over my head. They were just so meticulous and happy with it though.

Sharon - I just thought I would put a sort of chatty piece on, and the question made me smile, so I thought I would share. Bear is very happy indeed.

It's been a funny sort of day, so I thought I would put a quick post up. I've been surrounded by lots of stuff happening, so I haven't been able to look at anything that needed concentration. Bear has a fully functional computer with multicoloured lights. Brother came around last night and he and bear put it together beautifully. He also treated bear to a new, larger monitor. Bear has been practically floating. 

All sort of normal here. While I was looking at the desolation that is my garden, I spotted this.

It made me smile, so I took a pic and to heck with the weeds. Hopefully back to normal tomorrow. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Bear Is Very Happy

Wherethejourneytakesme - That is very kind of you. At some point we will run into each other, probably in Tesco! As for the mess, it's not temporary, it's permanent! Well, I'm working on making it temporary at least.

Sharon - thank you. Automatics are definitely an option

Bless - thank you. A manual or stick shift isn't that hard, once you get the hang of it. At least, not in my experience. But there is definitely something appealing about an automatic sometimes.

Eileen - All the weather can wear you down and it's hard to break out of it. As for computers, I have no idea.

We got a delivery today. It includes a case, motherboard, power supply, things, other things, different things and stuff. Apparently bear understands it. From what has been explained to me, it's like a perpetual computer. He can keep it going by replacing the case, replacing the motherboard, replacing the thing, the other thing or stuff, but only the bits that need to be done at a time. Bear is very, very happy indeed. I hope everything works just as it should.

I've got a little knitting done today. I admit to piling it up so that it looks a little more than it actually is, but here are some dishcloths. They feel great for scrubbing and instead of throwing out the next bit of t-shirt with holes, I may cut it up instead to pair with them for washing up. The double sided cloths keep turning onto the scrubbing side, which makes it hard to wash up some bits. Seeing the sparkly stuff definitely made me smile. 

Writing stuff - There is a chatty bit on my blog called, Do Werewolves Eat Dog Biscuits? Which I think is a perfectly sensible question. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Bewildered

Sharon - I do hope the birds come back. Mind you, the sparrows are like a gang of teenagers outside an off licence, but they are so much fun to watch. You have to be careful that they don't notice, though.

Wherethejourneytakesme - everyone I speak to says that the area of the school run is a tough drive, around Heckmondwike, Dewsbury and Birstall. Every single route that I know, and I must know around a dozen variations, has a tricky part. I hope that it wasn't too bad for you in IKEA. I could do with picking up the veggie meatballs from their food shop, but I'm waiting until after the holiday.

Eileen - I can't imagine how an automatic would work on the hills. There are some seriously sharp slopes around here and if you time it wrong, you have to grind up in 1st. But the thought of an automatic without fuss is very tempting. I would definitely consider having a go.

This post may not make sense. I am feeling strangely tired. Mind you, I didn't sleep that well last night. 

I've got some writing done, then I turned the study upside down. My brother came round to pick up bear. They went out to pick up the pieces to build a computer. They were upset that the place was shut today, so they went online. My brother works with computers, so was talking bear through different motherboards, cases, things, stuff... I recognised the language as English, but I got out of my depth pretty quickly. Bear is utterly thrilled. They really seemed to be having fun, though bear zoned out a bit when brother and I started talking family history. There are some strong characters in my family tree. I mean, seriously strong, scary, stubborn, difficult characters. I often feel that I've let the side down. 

But between a bad night, rushing around trying to work out all the different feeding points, and all the chaos of the study which is all in pieces, I'm shattered. The kitchen looks like it's in special measures. Washing and ironing are overflowing. Also, something weird happened with the porch door.

I had to move a lot around. Brother took an old chest which meant that I had to move a small chest of drawers for the printer to sit on, and I had to empty things and stack things and sort. I feel like I've been hit by a tidal wave. There's so much to do tomorrow. Also, my editor is making, 'are you writing' noises. It may be the change in the weather. I swear the windy weather is wearing me out.

And when we took the chest around to my brother's car, I saw a huge lock of hair on the pavement. It's not that odd as it's only a few feet away from a hairdresser, but it made me think that there should be a story about it. I took a photo, but it didn't come out well. It was an auburn colour and a rather nice curl, around eight inches long. It looked quite dramatic.

Hugs and good health to all. 

I Regret This Picture

Wherethejourneytakesme - When I first got red, I thought I would end up going through the window, seatbelt and all! But they've been done and are a lot softer. I suspect that when they are next adjusted, I will need the P plates again.

Sharon - I have never really driven in snow, but I am far more scared of the thought of snow. I've driven in tough winds before and while I know that it's tricky, it's not so scary as snow!

Bless - thank you.

Eileen - I just had a think about the driving. It's a lot quieter than it was before the plague, but everyone who does the same sort of routes locally says that it is a tough drive. It means that I am confident with all sorts of weird corners, tricky slopes, complicated roundabouts and stupidly parked cars but I'm still afraid of motorways. To be honest, I think I would always dodge driving in a city if I could help it. They all seem to have strange one-way systems with lack of signs. 

Cherie - the taxi driver I had the other day recommended an automatic. I suspect that when I go for my next car, I will use the same rules - go to a safe dealer and pick a car that is the cheapest possible with four doors and room for shopping. Automatics seem complicated.

We had all the rain, wind, snow (as above) more rain, more wind and more rain (thought it's been sunny this afternoon. When I saw this, I went to take a pic and disturbed the sparrows on the birdfeeder. I hadn't seen them for ages and I felt very guilty.

Yesterday the main road near us flooded. I was not surprised. They keep failing to maintain the reservoir that is supposed to hold excess water and then are taken by surprised when one of the main routes to the big Leeds United v Manchester United match was underwater and therefore closed.

Apart from being near a closed road, we haven't been too badly affected and I know how lucky we are. It's half term for bear, so today we stayed in. The weather seems to really have taken it out of me. I feel so tired that I can hardly remember what I did this weekend!

Writing stuff - a little flash fiction from the world of my latest book is here. 

Hugs and good health to all.