Wednesday, 07-01-26

Good morning, everyone!  Welcome to Wednesday, a slightly warmer day than yesterday but very much less attractive!

We did get a very little snow in the afternoon yesterday and some more early evening which quickly turned to rain.  It initially froze but that didn't last long either.

(You can hardly see the snow in this clip - it was very fine)

I sorted the boiler out with three boiled kettles - poured over the condensate pipe, I mean, not over the boiler - and when I got home from Groove, the house was lovely and warm again.

Matt has confirmed that the boiler work will start on Monday and that he has plans for the pipe so this shouldn't happen again (unless it's very cold again this week).

I didn't feel super-cold anyway, I used my little fan heater for a while and there was plenty of piping hot water for my bath - or I could have had a shower anyway as that doesn't rely on the boiler.

I had to chuckle at myself.  Do you remember that when I went on the Northern Lights cruise I bought some clothes for the extreme cold.  A balaclava hat, long johns, thermal trousers, etc.

Well, yesterday I wasn't going to walk down to Groove with just legging on my bottom half so I dug out a pair of the trousers and the balaclava.  Those, with two layers under my coat, gloves and a warm scarf meant that by the time we got to the hall I was so hot!!

I'm keeping it all out for next week when I wont have any heating for a few days - just in case!  :-)

Kay came, worked miracles and left.  Bless her, it is so nice to have a bit of help with the housework again and once a fortnight is just enough for me not to feel too self-indulgent.  And she's nice - we get on well.

Did I dismantle the Christmas tree.  Well - er - no.  It looked so lovely and sparkly.  I've not turned the tree lights on this morning because I know me.  In fact, I don't have anything in the diary first thing so it's top of the list.

Also on the list . . .

Changing bedding
Washing, drying and, maybe, ironing
Finishing doing my bedroom

Sorting out the blue room - all the Christmas fabrics go in there and at the moment it's all just over the two beds.  Chaos!!

And this afternoon I have personal training, the first one for a long while.  I really enjoyed Monday and yesterday's classes so it should be good and it is always nice to catch up with Lindsey.

Well, I may not have anything in the diary but I do have a load of dough in Thermione and I need to check how it's going so I will love you and leave you.  Take care, stay warm and I hope that the weather is kind to us all, wherever we are,
See you tomorrow.    xx

06-01-26 and the Last Day of Christmas

'The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.'

Theodore Roosevelt
(Hmm - depends on your definition of 'success' I guess)

Morning, all.  It is very cold outside - I know that because my boiler refused to start and that red light is flashing.  So it's cold!!

It's a known problem to do with the drainage pipe freezing up and, if my boiler had been replaced in the autumn, it would now be OK.  However, for good reasons, it wasn't so now it's cold and never have I been more glad for my warm, fluffy socks, slipper boots and long snuggle hood (with hood up!)
At least I have immersion heat so I will be able to have my usual hot bath!

To be honest, I was half expecting it.  I have dug out the fan heater and, if it's really cold (it isn't that bad inside at the moment really) I can decamp to the garden room.

OK, grumble over!

Moving on - or, rather, back, we actually woke yesterday to a very light sprinkle of snow so almost the first thing I did when I drew back the curtains and realised was brush a path to the shed.  Never get between a girl and her food.

To be fair, it wasn't slippery but it might have been and there's no point taking chances.
I bet Jackie, Chris, Sharon, etc, are thinking 'What????' given the metres of snow they get every winter but round here it is most unusual nowadays.

It wasn't too hard to clear the car and the roads were clear so there were no hassles getting to Lindsey's for circuits.  They were pretty empty too; I thought it would be worse but then remembered most of the schools round here don't start back until today.

Most of the day was spent doing a good old tidy up of all sorts of stuff lying around.  It's still not great but I can carry on while Kay is doing the cleaning stuff so, by midday, all that will need doing is the tree.

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

I gave unto myself . . . 

Another reed diffuser

thirty tea bags

one cross stitch moggy

one Christmas book

my favourite perfume

twenty gnomes to crochet

stuff for my hair

one book to read ................

two smelly soaps

one reed diffuser

warm, fluffy socks

and a Jamie Oliver book

This wasn't an accident - I already had the first diffuser when I saw this one in the Center Parcs shop and loved the scent so I decided to get another one.  One up and one down!

And that's the twelve days all over and past.  😐

Today is Kay-day so by midday I should have a lovely, clean, more-or-less tidy downstairs.  That's such a nice feeling!
Before then, Chris and I will walk to Groove, do class and walk back again so I think by lunch time I will have earned an afternoon with my crochet and books, don't you?

If the heating isn't on by the time I get back from Groove, I can boil kettles and thaw the frozen external pipe (terrible design hiccup, that pipe is) that is stopping the boiler from lighting.

Better get the day started.  Have a good one, stay as warm as you can and I will see you again tomorrow.  xx

05-01-26 and the Eleventh Day of Christmas

I've just noticed that, in my new diary for 2026, each weekday has some sort of 'motivational quote' that I thought I would reproduce in here because - well, why not?  

Today's is:

Be a first rate-version of yourself, not a second-rate version of someone else.

Judy Garland

Morning, all!  It's another cold one but it's cosy inside which is something to be very thankful for.  Anyone had any snow?  ❄❄❄

I've been working on the maple leaf blanket and thought I'd lay some of the squares together to get an idea of how it will look.  I can tell you two things

1.  It's going to be nice and colourful and

2.  It will be a big one!!!  

I've done more squares than those on show and should end up with twenty so it will be a 4x5 rather than a square like the Quiet Skies one.  

I think the shading works quite well.

Yesterday I spent some time in the kitchen, sorting stuff out, making and baking Lindsey's sourdough loaf and making some bacon and butterbean soup (delicious).  That's about it really - a lazy day before proper, real life resumes - apart from the crafting.  I admit I spent quite a lot of time wielding the old crochet hook!

I missed the first of the new Great Pottery Throwdown; I have it recorded so I will enjoy that today or tomorrow.

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas

I gave unto myself . . . 

Thirty tea bags

one cross stitch moggy

one Christmas book

my favourite perfume

twenty gnomes to crochet

stuff for my hair

one book to read ................

two smelly soaps

one reed diffuser

warm, fluffy socks

and a Jamie Oliver book

I can't really remember getting these but I obviously did.  They might be helpful in weaning off the coffee a bit, you never know.

Lindsey's new six-week block starts today with circuits.  I'm looking forward to it but a bit uncertain.  Exertion is still starting off the coughing but, well, of I have to stop and cough, I have to stop and cough.  Her online classes were a real godsend over the past two weeks, keeping me in the loop a bit after missing the last two weeks or so of the previous block.

Once I am home again, it is Monday so housework day.  As tomorrow is a Kay-day, I will concentrate on getting everything but the Christmas Tree down and away in the boxes.  That includes the festive china . . . the lot!  I'm sad, I love the brightness, but tomorrow is twelfth night so it has to be done.

I will make a yeasted and seeded loaf for Beth - I do her one a week.

And I will work on getting pages set up in the other blog - the first lot didn't work at all and I have no idea why not.  Time to read the instructions a bit more carefully, I guess.

Time to go and do my Facebook stuff so I will love you and leave you.  Have a good day, stay warm and well and, whatever you have planned, may it all go really well.
See you tomorrow.  xx

04-01-26 and the Tenth Day of Christmas

Morning again, all.  How are things your end?  It's been pretty cold here but no snow.  By keeping moving or using my heated fleece, I've not needed to turn up the heating which is always a Good Thing.  

I've noticed the days are getting slightly longer which is cheering.  It's more obvious in the afternoon than in the early morning because I'm drawing the curtains closed later than a week or so ago.  

Lovely!

Yesterday, I did all the ironing, some more washing, an online Groove class and some meal prep, etc.  Nothing exciting.

The coffee machine arrived and I drank more coffee than is good for me trying it out.  :-)  It's good; just one problem - well, not exactly a problem more a niggle.  The maximum amount of water it uses for one go is a bit less than I want.  No worries, I just push the button one more time.  It makes the coffee weaker but first thing in the morning that's perfectly OK.  It's quicker, the coffee is hotter and the water holder is bigger.  And it doesn't seem to grumble when I use my Wonky Pods; the old one used to be a right pain about Wonky Pods.

https://wonkycoffee.com/

On the Tenth Day of Christmas

I gave unto myself . . . 

One cross stitch moggy

one Christmas book

my favourite perfume

twenty gnomes to crochet

stuff for my hair

one book to read ................

two smelly soaps

one reed diffuser

warm, fluffy socks

and a Jamie Oliver book

This one wasn't a mistake.  I want to make it for Beth for next Christmas.  It's a good kit and even has the frame but I might have it properly framed so it can stand up.

I'll ask her nearer the time when I've finished it.

Today is clear in my diary but I will be spending some time in the kitchen.  I have bread to make (the leaven has been - er - leavening through the night and is pretty much ready to go) and I want to try a soup recipe from Pinch of Nom that arrived in my mailbox yesterday.  Bacon and butterbean soup sounds really nice, doesn't it?

Real Life starts again tomorrow - The first week of Shimmy and Groove new block starts and, weather permitting, I'm off to circuits.  Christmas was nice but December as a whole was quite chaotic one way and another and I am glad normality is resuming.  It will help my eating too - it's always better when everything else is on an even keel.

03-01-26 and the Ninth Day of Christmas

Good morning, everyone.  Welcome to the first weekend of 2026 and a very cold start to the weekend it is too.  We're lucky in that we hardly ever get snow in any amount but we can get the cold and yesterday, with a bit of a wind, oh, my word!

Thanks very much for all the helpful info about freezers - plenty for me to consider there!  

Alex didn't come over - he has gone down with something that sounds suspiciously like the virus I had, poor chap.  So I had quite a lazy day to myself.
I went to Slimming World for the first time in weeks, what with Edinburgh and then being unwell.  And I won the raffle which happened to be £10 to spend on SW meals, one way of another.  I will perhaps use it in Iceland to try out a few of the new SW ready meals or I might get some 'scratch' food - things like chicken or whatever.  I'll see what is there when I go.

I did a quick stroll round Morrisons and bought four things - a savoy cabbage, some tomatoes, some kefir yogurt and some Philadelphia light and it came to just over £8.  For four items.  Oh, my goodness!
Still no maple syrup!

For the rest of the day I did some washing and drying and chilled with my crochet and my reading materials - including the new SW book and the new magazine which I missed before Christmas - wrapped up warm in my snuggle hood and heated fleece.  Very cosy!

So now it is Saturday . . .

On the Ninth Day of Christmas

I gave unto myself . . . 

one Christmas book

my favourite perfume

twenty gnomes to crochet

stuff for my hair
one book to read ................

two smelly soaps

one reed diffuser

warm, fluffy socks

and a Jamie Oliver book

I didn't think, when I bought and wrapped this, several months ago, that this gift would have been better as a stocking filler.  Not to worry, it's nice having a stack of books to read.

Today I HAVE to get to grips with washing and ironing; that's top of the list.  I also have an online Groove class, the last online class of this season as the f2f classes start again on Monday.  Finally, I think I might be getting head to head with Beth for a chat although it depends on how Alex is really - I'm not risking another bug!

I think my new coffee machine is arriving today so it will be fun testing it out.

And Ernie has not done his duty.  Again, I am not a millionaire, or even £100,000 better off.  Still, £25 is better than nothing < grin >

(Truly, no complaints - I am very aware that it could be a family's weekly food budget.)

It should be a nice day.

Take care,  everyone, stay warm, cosy and well.  See you tomorrow.  xx

02-01-26, the eighth day of Christmas and thinking out loud.

Morning.  It's Friday and I'm still getting my days muddled.  It will feel good to get back to what passes for a normal routine on Monday.

It was a jolly cold night - I was super-grateful for my electric blanket that stayed on all night.  Very cosy!  And this morning we have the thinnest ever sprinkle of snow.  Most unusual around here.  It won't stay around, of course.

OK, all together . . . 

On the Eighth Day or Christmas

I gave unto myself . . . 

my favourite perfume

twenty gnomes to crochet

stuff for my hair
one book to read ................

two smelly soaps

one reed diffuser

warm, fluffy socks

and a Jamie Oliver book

Jo Malone English pear and freesia, bought a while a go and tucked away for now.

Thankfully, I felt a lot more energetic yesterday.  I think the post viral aches and tiredness are finally leaving.  I did Lindsey's online SET without too much coughing and I didn't flake out afterwards.  A great relief.  I'm sleeping better too - three morn9ngs this week I have overslept and had a morning rush!

I got the other blog up and running.  I'll post the link in here for a few days for those of you who said they missed the old one and I am super-grateful for the comments it has already had.  

https://sw-the-med-way.blogspot.com/

Today starts with Slimming World and I'm back on it.  I've gained loads but it is what it is, as I am fond of saying, and now I move on.  New blog, new SW book with all the changes, new year.  

Then Alex is over for his cookery lesson.  Sausage, bean and cheese mini pasties (using wraps instead of pastry) - I have everything needed  and am trying to use up, use up, use up.  I have less than I used to have but still wayyyyy too much!

Thinking out loud!

I got started on giving my freezer its more or less annual sort out a few days ago and finished it New Year's Eve.  There wasn't that much waste, there rarely is, but it did set me thinking about what I really want out of my new freezer when I get it.

I'd prefer a frost free one, of course.  That is very important.  When I got this one, quite a long time ago now, the frost free ones were very expensive.  Now they do seem to be more or less standard.
I've decided to go for upright, front opening rather than chest.  In the past I have preferred chests - you can get more in and there's less 'wasted' space but as I get older and shrink a little bit (as you do), getting down to the bottom becomes more of a challenge - I keep imagining head in one bottom corner, little legs waving in the air!  I already have everything organised in bags so it's not such a big organisational change to shelves, is it?

So I've started looking.   Unless you are going for an 'American' fridge/freezer - which I am not - the double door ones tend to be catering standard and very, very expensive!  You can get pretty tall single door ones but I don't want tall for the same reason I'm moving away from chests.

So - maybe I should look at a couple of smaller freezers - I've looked it up and you can put light things on top as long as there's circulation and the air vents are not blocked.  After all, built-in freezers are fitted pretty snugly especially where the top is concerned.

Still pondering, there's plenty of time and I need to have a good look around as I hope whatever I get now will see me out.  :-)

Well, I had better start the day given that I have to be out for SW some time after eight and, yes, I overslept.  Have a lovely day, everyone, stay as warm as possible and, if you have snow or ice, be very careful.  See you tomorrow.  xx

01-01-26, New Year's Day and the seventh day of Christmas

Good morning, everyone.  Welcome to 2026 and a very Happy New Year to you.  However you spent it, I hope you had a really good last evening of 2025
It's a cold, cold start to the New Year.  I will be layering up today.

On the Seventh Day of Christmas

I gave unto myself . . .

twenty gnomes to crochet

stuff for my hair
one book to read ................

two smelly soaps

one reed diffuser

warm, fluffy socks

and a Jamie Oliver book

When I saw this I pounced.  It uses lots of scraps and I have plenty of them.  They also look fun and adaptable and just a little bit bonkers.
Hmmm - I wonder why this book appeals to me so much . . . 

I had a lovely chat with Chris yesterday before heading to Morrisons.  I wanted to leave it until the New Year, just to keep it neat and tidy but really needed a few things so . . . off I went.  Lots of gaps on the shelves and no maple syrup.  They had maple flavoured gunk but no thanks!

Any way, with what I got and what I already have, I am well sorted.

I finished off reorganising the freezer.  Not that I needed to do all that much really, just tidy things up, re-bag a few items and move things about.   Defrost will happen either tomorrow or Saturday while it is still really cold.

I was fast asleep by the time then New Year rolled around so I've missed out on any luck from opening the door to let it in, haven't I?  Never mind, I will manage.

Today, I want to . . .

read the gas meter

do some tidying and dusting

ironing

get the replacement blog up and running - if I can.  It's a bit complicated for a girl of Very Little Brain - how did I manage last time?  I looked things up and it doesn't do what they say it should do so . . . well, I will try!  If it doesn't happen today, really sorry and I will have tried.

At the beginning of January last year I wrote this about my intentions for 2025:

Healthy finances

Healthy lifestyle

Healthy mind and body

I don't think there's any need to amplify on these really, do you?  I have my finances organised, I have those fitness classes, I have some lovely friends and I have various interests and enjoyments.  I will just keep looking out for those opportunities and see any set backs as a way to grow and develop.

Most importantly, I will be me and not a shadow or copy of anyone else.

Now, you might have noticed that I can be quite awkward sometimes.  😉

From the time I returned to teaching having 'experienced' two children and a divorce, target setting became more and more prescriptive, more and more punitive, more and more guilt laden less and less about what the children actually needed and more and more about 'evidence'.

To be totally fair, I taught at a really good school where senior management was lovely, understanding, supportive and helpful - and still is with bells on - so please don't take this totally literally but even so - expectations from 'above' (I mean LEA, Government, OFSTED . . .) weighed heavily.

So, when I finally retired, some of the overwhelming emotions related to 'no more targets' alongside 'no more annual reports' and 'no more extreme record keeping'.

Also - and Infant teachers will relate to this - no more sticking work in books!

So - right now, I am feeling awkward < grin > and I am not setting any new stuff for 2026, targets/goals/resolutions/aims - whatever they can be called.  I am just aiming for the best my life can be at any particular moment, whether it be finance, lifestyle, fitness, family . . . or whatever

And that (said John) is that!

I will rely on my Little Lists to get me through one day at a time, make decisions as they come along  and the rest will take care of itself.

How about you?

Edit:  SW the Mediterranean Way is not live and should be open to all.  Here's the link.  https://sw-the-med-way.blogspot.com/