Football

Wherethejourneytakesme - You must have been within yards of our house and absolute respect for you driving in those conditions. It was really scary and the ring road is a deeply unpleasant drive. I have my own opinions on the football. 

Eileen - bear has to apply to sixth forms and colleges, and will know if he gets in only after he gets his results. As for the power cuts, the chatter that I've heard is that they will initially be for 3 hours at a time. I've made the decision that we can manage with a biscuit or packet of crisps if hunger strikes for that. Notice should be given, according to what I've seen, which gives a chance to prepare. I have that wide mouthed flask, though I'm looking for another one, I have a kettle that allegedly runs in a car (must remember to test) and we have pot noodles and pasta. If all else fails, we have some huel in, which is a meal replacement drink and is relatively healthy. Also, lots and lots of candles. I have so many candles I could probably roast an ox on them!

Bless - I'm watching the USA's progress with interest. The men's game there has come on so much, and they are a powerhouse waiting to happen. 

Sharon - I'm hardly watching anything of the World Cup, although normally I would be absolutely glued to the matches. I struggle to get past the way that Qatar has done things.

When Qatar was selected as a host for the World Cup, England was also in the running. They rolled out Prince William and David Beckham and got a lot of overt support. Unfortunately it is a secret ballot that decides who gets to host a tournament, and Qatar won despite all the promises. Since then there have been a lot of accusations of bribery and foul play. 

I grew up with football all around me. I was around six months old when I went to my first football match. Father was a director of an extremely non-league club and later coached the works team. He played for the Army - not his regiment, but the Army as a whole, including against Juventus in the 1950s, and he played semi pro for places like Worcester. He played his last competitive football match at the age of 50. I don't follow football closely. Bear and DH aren't that interested, and are somewhat bemused by me, but I keep an eye on how Liverpool are doing and the general drift of things.  Normally a World Cup is an opportunity to sit and enjoy the matches when I don't normally take the time. I just can't relax into it, though. It's wrong. So I'm picking up the headlines from the BBC, dithering about watching England (who won with a reasonable game), and feeling very hypocritcal.

I know that when FIFA pick countries to host world cups, they are looking to grow the game. That's why the World Cup ended up in places like Japan/South Korea and the USA when there wasn't necessarily a huge following there. The interest in the game grew from hosting the tournament and you can see the results now as those countries expand and flourish in football. England had all the supporters, and all the stadiums already. And despite the issues at the recent Euros, we have the set up to host these sorts of events. It would be breaking new ground in Qatar and could encourage the game there. I don't think that FIFA and those that supported Qatar realised how dreadful the publicity would be that went alongside the World Cup. And the climate really isn't suited for a game that is about running fast for 90 minutes. 

The weather wasn't too bad today. I did a 'shop' in Tesco. I had two separate coupons for £5 off a £40 spend on homewares. my clubcard, plus my 10% shop. I took the opportunity to replace a couple of baking trays as mine are scratched and battered and the Salter trays were £11, but £5.50 with a Clubcard and then they added to the £40 I needed to spend to get £5 off. I also picked up an extremely non stick bathmat, and three plain white cereal bowls. They are very dull. I was tempted by these.

However they look like I should only eat dramatic and exotic food from them and not something beige with baked beans. I can't imagine a casserole on them, or egg and chips, and certainly not ketchup. 

As it was, I spent a fortune, although the boot was absolutely full at the end and I saved plenty. I got some of DH's favourite flavoured water and a wide selection of chocolate biscuits as requested by the men who had almost run out. I also stocked up on Pringles as the men like those a lot, and at £1.65 per pack, I really prefer to pick them up when I'm doing the 10% off shop. I spent nearly £200, but it was stuff like a bin and batteries and such like as well as basic food cupboard stuff to keep us going until the next 10% shop at the end of December. It also included a hoodie for bear, who has lost his, which was wonderfully and refreshingly cheap at Tesco with the discounts. 

I was glad to get home with it all! I'm starting to build up stocks of the boring stuff as there are mutterings about a cold winter. I always prefer to build stuff up at this time of year. It means that we aren't struggling if we have a day or two of bad weather. Then I can run the stocks down during summer.

I've got a huge list of stuff to do over the next two days, so please send good vibes that I'll get them done. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

It's Going to be Awkward

Sharon - thank you! I don't mind watching rats at a safe distance as they are often cute. I'm not keen on them moving in! If bear gets into the fancy maths college then I no longer have school runs as the bus is frequent, easy to get to and cheap(ish). If he doesn't, then it's two more years of at least twenty to twenty five minutes driving, getting stuck in traffic, setting off early to avoid that traffic and then hanging around in carparks waiting. On the other hand, I lose the easy 'on the way' shopping, the nice walks and the knitting time. I don't mind so much in half way decent weather.

Bless - I've driven in fog quite a few times now, and sometimes seeing the lights of the car ahead of you is just so reassuring. I'm determined to get proactive for these attacks.

Cherie - the rose absolutely makes me smile. And it's a sort of nag to me. I should hack that fuchsia back to allow it to grow better. The bush is around twenty years old or so. I bought it from a garden centre and it was marked down to something like 50p as it was half dead. It's flourished ever since, even though it suffers from a lot of greenfly. I've always loved it. I can grow things if I put the effort in. I just don't put the effort in, and it's a shame. 

Tonight England play Wales in the World Cup. My father's family are English. There are a lot of Welsh in my mother's family and I got married in Wales because that's where so many relatives lived. And I don't entirely want to watch it because of the way that Qatar has gone on. I mean, every country has their own ways of doing things. But this feels so wrong. I wonder about donating to charities that would support the LGBT+ community there. And I can't get over the number of deaths and lives ruined in the building of the stadiums and infrastructure. I want to support my team, or teams, but I feel very uncomfortable supporting the host. I've been catching the highlights of the England games so far on the BBC text commentary. It seems a little flat compared to watching the game. I'll worry about it at kick off.

I'm sniffling as I've raised dust looking for stuff under all the junk. I got some neck lights last year for the car when I want to knit while waiting for bear and it's dark. There are going to be a lot of demands on the power grid tonight and on a day without wind or sun, we aren't going to get much power from renewables. I think that the powers that be are preparing us for some cuts, so I've been looking those out. Next I need to get entirely on top of the washing and ironing. I also need to make sure that there are plenty of safe places to put candles should we need to. I'm also working on keeping my phone fully charged. Bear is coming home on the bus and it's giving me some extra time. Although I had a nap today after another night of disturbed sleep, panic attacks and nightmares. It's a work in progress.

Tonight I hope to spend time dithering about England v Wales and knitting. When I was looking for the neck lights, I found the wash cloths I was knitting and I can crack on with some of those and get them out of the way. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Weather Continues Scary

Bless - thank you. I think it's going to be an ongoing process.

Sharon - thank you. With the price rises, sometimes I just refuse to buy stuff that I can afford. I just can't bring myself to pay the new price for it. I suppose I get used to driving in rain, wind and fog. The thought of snow terrifies me.

Deborah - thank you. Unfortunately I was on anti depressants for so long that I developed a bad reaction to them. I think this is a long haul.

There is always something good if you look for it. Today I managed to pick up some seriously cut price yellow sticker Tesco finest stuffing and I intend to cook it and have some for dinner tonight with veggies and the rest cold over the next few days. I love stuffing. One Christmas we had so many different types of stuffing and pigs in blankets and sprouts with chestnuts and relishes that we forgot to put the meat on the plate. We didn't notice until afterwards.

Panic/hissy fit feelings continue. I had a very disrupted night. This was unfortunate as I then had to drive bear to school in some of the thickest fog that I had ever encountered. I dosed myself with large quantities of diet cola and was very careful indeed. There were times when visibility was down to something like twenty yards. Then there were clear patches and no trace of any mist, which was a moment for me to catch my breath. 

After calling into Tesco for salad for DH (and unexpected bargains), I called in to the carpark where I've been before to knit and took a few moments. I had a very small walk away from the car park for the first time. It's quite lovely.

Though there are a few interesting looking paths that I will wait for a dry spell to try.

I had a few serious doggy cuddles. I'm not good with dogs (though I am a complete soft touch as most woofers quickly find out) so it was nice to be able to make a fuss of the beautifully behaved dogs. Then I came home through some very peculiar conditions. I needed sunglasses for the first half as the sun was so bright, then I hit fog again and the visibility dropped dramatically. It was down to a few yards on some scary roads. I was glad to get in. 

I took some more pics when I got home. The fuchsia is now looking thin, although the flowers are holding on.

But the yellow rose that has been swamped by the dratted thing is flourishing.

And there was a little mist where we were, but it wasn't so bad. 

Pick up for bear was terrifying! I was so glad to get there in one piece. Of course, the car park was lovely and clear. I watched the rats running backwards and forwards across a stretch of road like they were playing at some sort of game. I didn't catch the rats in a pic, but you can see that it goes between the beck and the 'landscaping'.

They were zooming backwards and forwards like some sort of races. I thought that they looked sort of cute. I wondered if they had been flooded out. The beck is currently low, but you can see that it has recently been a lot higher with the heavy rain we had earlier.

The drive home was equally scary. Visibility was unnervingly bad at the roundabouts and I was glad to get home. I've had a word with bear and said that while the weather is like this, and it's predicted to last at least another day or two, then I will take him to school but he can get the bus home. It isn't ideal, but I think that it will be safer all told. 

I've been chasing ideas around in my head about the panic attacks. They are not exactly new to me, but there seems to be more than usual. I'm going to try a little exercise (very small walk), a better diet (I had a proper lunch of soup today) and to work on my writing. I'm also going to try meditating if I remember. I suspect that it needs to be a sea change to get things to settle down, but we will see. 

Thank you for the kind thoughts.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Bored of This

Deborah - I'm so proud of bear. He told me that he isn't satisfied with his grades and wants to do better! I'm keeping a safe distance and loading up with healthy snacks for him. The Methodist church was so lovely, and the people were amazing. It's hard. A Church of England church up the road has closed as well. It leaves gaps in the community and social fabric, but people aren't going to services and so I suppose that they can't keep going.

Bless - I'm sure that you aren't used to rain there!!! I'm okay with rain on the whole. I'm used to the British weather. Yesterday was a little more than normal. 

Eileen - being fussy is good. I keep plates until they break, so I need to get something that won't get on my nerves after a month. This is why most of my 'china' (pottery!) is plain white. On the whole, it more or less goes together even though my kitchen has plain white tableware from Morrisons, IKEA, Tesco and probably other places as well. That floral set is so pretty, but you need a pasta dish, because pasta dishes are good for so much more than pasta. 

Today has been full of panic attacks. I am fed up with them. I managed to drive bear to and from school, but apart from that I've been a wreck. I may disappear for a day or two as I'm going to try and work out where they are coming from. I am disappointed with myself, to be honest, but at least I got bear to and from, fed everyone, found clean clothes for the men for tomorrow (bear has an open day and then he and DH are going to the theatre), and followed the very limp England game on the BBC text commentary. I'll be glad when this settles down. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

It Rained!

Sharon - I avoid sunshine as I had a very easily treatable and non-threatening skin cancer a few years ago so Vitamin D is a good idea. I have picked up a spray.

Bless - I have picked up a Vitamin D spray so fingers crossed that it will help

Hazel - Well reminded! I've got Blueiron Liquid Supplement which is apparently 100% RI of iron. If I take a dose every other day then it may even out. It won't be a hardship to skip a day - it tastes like overdiluted generic squash! I'll have a look into getting a test - I can't believe that I never thought of it!

Eileen - if you have an IKEA nearby, they do extremely inexpensive china (or pottery at least). The big Tesco I go to has some very pretty plates, as well as some extremely inexpensive ones (which are the ones I usually go for) and I get clubcard points and, with this coupon, get £5 off if I spend £40. I quite like the idea of matching with a friend, though, so I will share pics when and if I buy.

Thank you for all the kind thoughts.

I called in at Tesco again today to pick up some fruit for DH. What with one thing and another, I spent just over £30 as they had some frozen stuff in that I wanted. This meant that I got another £5 off £40 spend. I am now having a think.

It is ridiculously easy to spend £40 these days. It's pretty easy to spend £80. I could do with some plates and definitely some cereal bowls, but that won't come to £40 in itself. At least, the plates and bowls that I would consider won't as I'm not planning on going silly and I'm not buying matching mugs! Included in the offer is stationery (I have all the stationery I will need for the next several years), home accessories (which may or may not include candles), toys (bear would sneer) and Christmas lights (we have plenty, thank you). It also includes textiles but I have plenty of blankets and towels. I suppose I could do with another sheet or two but I don't want to buy something for the sake of it.

I can find the £80, which is probably best done in two separate trips, but I am asking myself whether I want to. I suspect that what I need to do is spend some time going around and having a think about what is on offer, what we need and whether it is worth it. I need to study the small print. Shopping needs a college education these days.

Picking up bear was unnerving. The weather forecaster referred to it as a 'squall line' and it was heavy rain as I went to pick him up. I'm quite used to driving in rain, but this was ridiculous. Water was running in sheets over the road and the rain was coming down so hard that it was bouncing up from the road as a sort of mist around a foot high. I was so glad to get to the pick up - and then the rain just stopped! I was so relieved!

I failed to take a pic today, so here is a pic of a cereal bowl that is tempting me, though I think that it's quite dear at £4.50 for one bowl - link to Tesco shop 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Keeping On

Sharon - thank you! It's hard. I went first thing in the morning to avoid crowds. Of course, you have Thanksgiving going on and that won't help. If anyone does local deliveries, that may help. Sending good vibes.

Bless - thank you! I'm incredibly proud of bear. The tubs of sweeties were on an offer that ran out that day, so I wasn't going to miss it. 

Eileen - Thank you! I think I'll be relieved when the exams are over - almost as much as bear! I think a lot of people have become more shut in and isolated due to the pandemic. It's certainly been easier to just hide away. As for the churches, twenty years ago I heard an argument that a lot of churches should be just sold off and the congregations rent a hall for services. I remember hearing about a vicar getting tetchy because he had to fund raise for repairs on a twelfth century church and the repairs cost so much that could be better spent on the poor and on the Church's mission. I've been to a few services at York Minster now, and I can honestly believe that it would be better sold off for a museum. I am absolutely devoted to history, but I think that the church, of whatever denomination, shouldn't be held hostage by it. The exceptions are the churches that are being warm places for people in the winter, or hubs for things like the foodbank (like the Methodist Church that just closed) or advice centres. I don't go to church regularly, so I don't feel that I have a right to much of an opinion, but I worry. Of course, you can now follow services from places like Canterbury Cathedral on YouTube...

I am absolutely beyond shattered. I don't know why I'm so tired. I'm starting to take some iron supplements on my own behalf. I shall have an early night while dozing off to some shopping calculations. 

You see, when I got the goodies for Christmas, I got a coupon with my receipt. You get those coupons when you spend over a certain amount, so I don't see them that often. The coupon is for £5 off a £40 spend on homewares. I don't know if it would stack with the 10% off I get some of the Tesco range of homewares due having the Clubcard extra. According to the coupon, it covers plates and I could do with a few more plates. We have three large and two small plates and that may be a little inadequate at Christmas. We also only have three of the deeper bowls, and that will almost certainly be a little lacking when it comes to the various desserts. I may check and see if it covers candles, which will only incite me to shopping. In fact, I think that there's quite a lot included, although no groceries. The question is - would I spend £40 anyway without the coupon. I could easily spend £40, especially as it covers batteries and we have the growing hints at powercuts coming up. I can find the money, though again, it's not that I could but whether I should. I shall have to make some lists. 

And I still haven't started the dratted price book. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

I Heard Sad News

Eileen - I'd send bear around to do it for free! He loves putting furniture together and I suspect that there's a competent handyman in there, given time and opportunity. The goodies are stashed. It was something of a shock because I think I bought less than last year, but it came to so much. Prices have gone up by such a margin.

I went back to the doctor again. I have a huge bag of creams to deal with the eczema and infection. The infected patch is still lingering despite loads of antibiotics and steroids, so the doctor - who was lovely - is trying some different stuff. While I was there, I bumped into someone who used to go to church with father at the local Methodist Church. Apparently, they've deconsecrated it and sold it off. It's quite heartbreaking. 

When father first came here, having moved 100 miles at the age of 80, he immediately wandered along to the church at the end of the street and just settled in. He was instantly part of it. They made him so welcome and were so friendly that it was if he had been there for years. There was an amazing, friendly, kindly atmosphere to the place. After father passed, I used to take sweeties there for his anniversary instead of flowers as it was much more him. It had been a big part of the community for many years, but it just faded. New people weren't going. It just dwindled. I think that Covid put the final nail in the coffin. 

It's one of those awkward truths. People want the church to be there in the background, and they want the history and the funerals and the weddings, but they don't want to take part in running the church. The people surrounding the building don't realise that an elderly lady was responsible for trying to keep things like the boiler working, and they aren't going to show up and help paint things or clean things or work out how to keep the bills paid. I have some pics somewhere, but I'll have to have a rummage. Here's a pic from WikiCommons

So now they can't have the weddings and funerals there. People who want to worship can go to another Methodist Church quite near or the local Church of England, so it's not like a religous desert. It just feels sad. 

I feel a little guilty because while I would prefer to go to Church of England services, perhaps I could have done more. I know I helped out with a few fairs and sales, and I never minded, but I wasn't a worshipper there. But now the place where father had his funeral, and where bear had a birthday party and tried martial arts as a little one, has gone. 

On a brighter note, bear had his results from his Mock Exams. He got four nines (the top mark allocated to the top 5% of results), three eights, a seven and two sixes. By the old grades, his lowest score was a B, and I am thrilled with him. He got nines in maths, chemistry, physics and computer science - all the ones that are important to him. I am so proud. The school had a little presentation. The Ofsted report severely marked down their sixth form (to 'good') and now a lot of the kids are planning on going elsewhere for A levels (like bear). The school are now doing all they can to encourage kids to stay on to their sixth form. I suspect that I will see a lot of fuss made as they try and regain their 'outstanding' status.

Bear is completely absorbed in tests, revision and studying, and I suspect I will be caught up in it too. I hope that we can get through the next few years okay.

Hugs and good health to all.