I May Have Shopped

I spent a fortune on candles.

But on the bright side, I should be fine for candles until well after Halloween, even though I almost always have a candle burning, especially if there is a chill in the air. I think there's a couple missing from the pic but I can't be sure. Homesense is usually good because it can have some quite expensive brands of candles that are marked down. I'm not sure about doing hauls, because if I need excuses to get out then just picking up one would be a better strategy. Mind you, I'll be picking my times because the car park was overflowing! Annoyingly, the only one where I was likely to keep the jar was the cauldron, and I chipped it on the way home.

I quite like the brass bowl and I may add that to the corner with the fruit. 

I called in to see DH's aunt and had a nice chat. She's a lovely lady who has so many stories about DH's family and she adores bear. Perhaps that would be a good reason to go out - to call in for a chat. She's very elderly and almost housebound. Usually I just phone.

I really had to force myself out of the house this morning, but I did it and it will get easier with practice. Probably one of the next big expeditions will be getting bear a new desk. He has a desk in the living room that is away from things like computers so he can study in peace and without distractions, the corner I showed in this pic the other day.

However the desk wobbles. It's actually a folding table which is great at times like Christmas when it can be put in a corner and covered with treats, but it's not really sturdy. Between us, we've identified a desk at IKEA which costs very slightly more than my candle haul and which should be fine for him. 

The nights are definitely drawing in. I think it's a good chance to clear out stuff ready for the cosy winter nights. I think tomorrow may be a planning day - but we all know how I do with planning. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

I Have Concerns

I had planned to get out today. Storm Agnes was forecast to come through and I thought I would cheer myself up to sit in the car in the rain and knit. Things did not necessarily go to plan. The first issue was that I really had to force myself out of the house. Now I no longer need to take bear to and from school, it's hard to get through the front door. I could come up with a dozen reasons why I shouldn't go anywhere. I went in the end, but I'll admit to being concerned.

When I got to somewhere quiet to knit, Storm Agnes didn't turn up. She was busy causing havoc elsewhere. I sincerely feel for those who have been badly affected, but I felt let down. The flag was hanging down at Oakwell Hall.

But I enjoyed the beautiful flowers.

I parked up in my usual spot, and it looked like the hawthorn and acorns had been picked over. There was a little left, but I think that the wildlife had been busy.

But there were still plenty of hips on the wild rose, possibly because of the hairy bits inside. 

I'm going to have to try and get out regularly, even if it means using the car more. I'm actually quite worried. I think I'm going to have to be tactical about it and plan useful journeys. Still, at least I should get some decent pics out of it.

Tonight I have a drive for half an hour each way in the dark when the wind and rain should hit to collect bear from a friend's house. I am unimpressed.

Writing stuff - I've been writing about my plans for October here where the focus is going to be on my character Kane. On #HazardousToYourSanity, Brie has posted here about how horror movies can be good for you and given a suggested list to try - most of which I'm far too scared to try!

Hugs and good health to all. 

Bits and Pieces

It's been a fragmented sort of day and I haven't been able to settle to much. I had a delivery, and I noticed that Gladys is looking particularly fine.

There was a 'scene of crime' police van outside next door. I've no idea and I'm hiding from gossip.

The car needed a new tyre, and they were lovely. I don't know what I did to deserve how awesome they are.

DH is out at a thing and may not be in before midnight.

I picked bear up around 8pm and failed to interrogate him. Honestly, trying to find out anything about what he gets up to is a challenge. I'll have another go tomorrow when I pick him up around 11pm. All I want is a hint about who he's with and roughly what they're doing. I may have to get stern. From what I managed to squeeze out of him, he's been playing Uno and studying in the library. As the school still isn't finished and they are using classrooms in the University, he was in the University Library and thoroughly enjoying it - and he shared some of what he'd been studying and as it was maths, I'm completely baffled. As it's fresher's week, he was mistaken for a student a few times and shared the coupons he got for half price drinks at a few bars. He thought it was hilarious. 

And I just haven't settled to anything, but at least I got some knitting done while they were fixing the tyre.

Writing stuff - two things on #HazardousToYourSanity. There's a poem by Onyx here which I enjoyed and I wrote an article about the superstitions of Witch Balls here. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Quiet Day

Bless mentioned decluttering the books. I've shared our method before, but I think it's worth sharing again as it's useful if there is more than one person using the bookcase. All the books get taken off, then we take turns putting books back on the shelf. We put back only the ones we want to keep and don't try and second guess if anyone else wants to keep them. It bypasses the 'but I thought that you wanted to keep it' moments.

I let go of a lot of books that had been there for a while. I got rid of books that I felt that I ought to read or that I had been given. It's like I took a moment to give myself permission to let someone else enjoy them. It felt like I'd had some sort of breakthrough or epiphany. By the way, that bookcase looks unnaturally neat. It will have double stacked books and junk all over by Christmas.

This morning I went to the nearest Aldi to pick up some salad for DH. Look what I resisted!

I feel very proud of myself. Of course, then I see a pattern for a shrug that I fancy and I'm tempted to go back but I'll be strong. 

I didn't enjoy the drive. I could tell that it was a little off and I had to go on the ring road which scares me. I managed fine and I'll be at the garage tomorrow, so that should sort it all out. I also need to be a little more mindful of where I park. It was only when I got back to the car that I noticed that there was a dangling branch. 

That was right over the car. I couldn't see any cracks, but I think I ought to be more careful in future.

Writing stuff - The next instalment of Invitation Accepted is here. I can't believe that it's now twenty three chapters and over 58k words. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

We Found Power Outlets

I think it's the dust that's been raised, but I can't stop sneezing and sniffing. This means that this post may be more haphazard than normal.

We moved two of the three bookcases and found a double power outlet. I couldn't believe it! I mean, who can ignore power outlets these days? As I explained to bear, when we moved in, nearly thirty years ago and put in the three bookcases, we had one computer and that was an Amiga 500. That wasn't a bad bit of kit for the time, but it was very different from now. Neither DH or I had mobile phones then, so the other power outlets easily dealt with the lamp, Amiga and electric heater or fan. I can't believe how much things have changed. I'm looking around and this room normally holds a lamp, a laptop, an electric fire, a PC, an Xbox, a printer, a steering wheel/gearbox/pedals for one of bear's games and chargers for phones, headphones, consoles etc. There are also fairy lights. How things have changed! 

That's a very shadowy pic of the outlet that time forgot. Interestingly, there wasn't any sort of fade on the wallpaper. You can't tell which has been in the air for thirty years and which has been behind a bookcase. 

It's more obvious in other places because psycho cat scratched things up. That darker band is due to the trick of the lampshade, there's no difference. One good thing is that bear has a cosy study area without electronics.

Which he is using remarkably regularly. Yesterday DH and I went out to leave him to it. 

Well, when I say that, we decided to go through the books and get rid of a load of them. This produced around half a dozen bags for life full of books and we wanted to donate them. The first choice was the Salvation Army, but that was unexpectedly closed. There was no parking near the closest charity shops to that so, after some thought and discussion, we dumped several hundred books on the small charity bookshelf at Tesco. I daren't show my face in there for a while! I know that we could have sold them, but we really wanted them out of the house so some poor customer service rep at Tesco is faced with our overflow. I have some more stuff to donate, but that will have to wait until after the car has been fixed (again). But we found a nice place to have a hot chocolate on the way back, so that was something.

The tyre pressure light came on again today. It had been fine for a while, but I suspect that there's a slow puncture somewhere. It may be that we need a new tyre or that we can patch this up. 

I really need to sort the garden out as well. The side honeysuckle is still going.

That honeysuckle plant is subtle, but it's been flowering for months now. The least I could do is give it a decent feed. 

Hugs and good health to all

Some Productivity

I am a little worried about Red. My car is driving a lot faster. I joked about one tank of Shell petrol and she thinks that she's a Ferrari, but she's definitely moving faster. There is some grumbling as well when the engine is idling and I suspect that what she really needs is a long, fast run. What I don't feel able to do is take her on a long, fast run. I took her to the garage, however, and while there is a little give in the steering, it's nothing significant and they couldn't find anything wrong.

So I'm going to give a shout out to In 'n' Out in Pudsey, Leeds, because they could have made something up or charged for things that didn't need doing and they didn't - they are awesome.

I've done a little more on that scarf.

We're moving furniture around. It's been a long time coming as the chairs ended up in front of the bookcases which made it hard to get at books and lots of things got lost or forgotten. And there are lots of times when I would have liked a book to read but couldn't get at it because of the chair in the way. However this means emptying the bookcases which are the tall IKEA Billy bookcases and then moving them. They have stood in that position since 1994. It's going to be a shock seeing what's behind it - mainly cobwebs, I suspect. We've already emptied one bookcase and I've found a load of books that I really want to read now and disturbed a lot of dust, although DH was doing most of the moving stuff around. Once it's done, however, it will really improve things. One bookcase is going in the living room next to where bear has set up a desk. The idea is to leave a few shelves clear for him to use for his files of schoolwork. 

Writing stuff - today's post from Hazardous To Your Sanity isn't from me, but it's on a subject that would of course catch my imagination - the Salem Witch Trials. It must have been a terrible thing to live through. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Somewhat Dazed

I had a delivery today and took a pic of Gladys. It's not the usual angle, but the flowers are pretty and she is now almost as big as she was this time last year.

I've decided that I'm only doing some minor tidying in the garden, and that will have to wait until the weekend. I finished up a lot of different writing stuff today and tomorrow is booked. You see, it goes like this. The men at the garage are absolutely lovely, very understanding of a dippy old girl and tolerant of my knitting. The one on the desk always asks me for a cardigan. I don't think that I can manage a cardigan, but I hope to finish a scarf before I get to the appointment at 1pm tomorrow. It's the one row scarf and if I manage to finish, I'll take a pic. 

Bear is stressed at the moment about maths stuff. He's putting himself under a lot of pressure to excel and I just wish I could help him. All I can do is keep him fed, watered, reassured and listened to. He stayed late tonight to study at the library and I suspect that will be happening a lot. 

Writing Stuff - I wrote a lot of stuff that I can't share yet, but it was so many words over so many projects that I feel like my mind has switched off and all I'm getting is static. You can read my post on #HazardousToYourSanity on the Folklore about Gabble Ratchets here and you can read my grumble about my lack of organisational ability on my writing blog here although it's nothing that will surprise anyone on here. The next big thing for me is the October Frights and after the garage I'm going to be setting up for that. 

Hugs and good health to all.