Monday

 Morning, everyone!  It's raining hard outside - steadily too, as if it intends to go on for some time to come.  I have the French window open a little bit to freshen the room but it's none too warm and I will close it soon.

Yesterday, I noticed that at long, long last, Morrisons are delivering in this area - I saw a delivery van just round the corner.  I went online, 'joined' and placed an order for delivery tomorrow morning.  I just want to see how it goes as it would be pretty convenient sometimes.  Too many no-shows or shoddy stuff (like f&v) and I don't have to use them again but I thought it worth a try.

I didn't fall asleep yesterday - how's that for progress.  Well, I might have nodded off for a couple of minutes but that's not at all the same, is it?  And I slept pretty well all night too.  

Today I have one thing in the diary and that's my tuition sessions.  I've been looking up some resources on using commas to avoid ambiguity in writing (you may well ask) and using dashes for parenthesis.  Yes, they really do that in Year five, bless them.

Once that's done, I'm trying a risotto recipe for this evening - roasted butternut squash risotto.  It sounds nice, doesn't it?  I'm going to adapt it to use the lamb stock from yesterday and some shreds of leftover roast lamb as well.  Yum.

Well, it's still raining although perhaps not as heavily as earlier.  I will love you and leave you, as Diane says, and get myself another coffee before getting dressed to face the day.
Stay dry!  xx

Sunday

 Good morning, everyone.  The sun is shining and the windows are open.  It's not baking hot or anything but the air is lively and fresh, not humid as it has been, so lets make the most of it.  A little lamb joint is slow roasting and everything feels Sunday-ish because of that.

I had a 'moment' yesterday.
I was searching through the freezer to find a pot of frozen lamb stock when I came across a container labelled 'turkey stock and meat for Dad's hotpot' and my heart gave a painful squeeze.
After Christmas, Mum always made what she called a hotpot - it wasn't really, it was more a glorified stew/soup - from the leftover meat and stock from the carcass and Dad always declared that it was the best meal of the season, if not the year.  He loved Mum's hotpot.
When Mum stopped doing Christmasses and I took over, I did the same thing and a week or a fortnight after Christmas I would go over for a weekend with a nice bug container of post turkey hotpot.  The last two Christmasses Dad stayed home for Christmas but the tradition carried on.  This Christmas I couldn't get over because of tier whatever-it-was and then lockdown, so the turkey and stock remained in the freezer, intending for some time in a wet summer spell.  But he never got it.
Another little family tradition hitting the dust.  Oh, well.

Yesterday was so exciting, I can't even remember what I did.  The sign of a lazy day.  Today looks like being the same.  I will look over my planning for tuition tomorrow but that's about it really.

I hope you have sunshine too - it is really cheering.  xx

Saturday

 Good morning.  It's a dull old start to the day and rain is forecast so I'm jolly glad I got the washing/drying done earlier in the week.  There's precious little that needs doing today, certainly nothing outside.

Yesterday was pleasant.  Everyone at SW is looking forward to when we can open the social side of things again - tea/coffee, the raffle, the slimmer of the week basket . . . all those little things that had to stop.

Then I went to Morrisons (not quite a shuffle now but my legs were killing me by the time I got home) and I am now well set for several days.  I always have a good supply if cans and frozen stock but it's so nice to have enough fresh stuff in as well, don't you think?

Once home and tidied away, I sat down on my recliner which makes putting my feet up so very easy and promptly fell asleep.  Dear me, this is getting to be a right habit!

Lindsey's massage session was great - I am very convinced this is helping no end.  This morning I was walking more or less normally in terms of the heel to toe action rather than stomping with the foot flat down.  It's still slow, I can't push it much, I'm still resting up most of the day, but it's a good sign.

Today, I am doing very little.  Nothing new there then!  I'm glad I'm not going to Dad's.  With signs of improvement, the last thing I want is to be going up and down stepladders, etc, doing more damage.
So that's about it really.  Maybe you will have nicer weather than is predicted here - I do hope so.  Stay safe and well.  xx

Friday

 Good morning, everyone.  We don't have sun this morning but the forecast looks really good so fingers crossed.  It turned out lovely and sunny yesterday all morning so the clothes dried well.  I might get round to doing the sheets today - let's not waste the good weather.

Apart from that and the usual pottering around, I didn't really get up to very much yesterday.    Life is a bit like that right now.

Today there are three things.  The first is Slimming World this morning, first weigh in after going back (after being away at Dad's not leaving SW), so we will see.  As Morrisons is right by the community centre, I will do some shopping for the weekend before coming home.
This afternoon I have another massage session with Lindsey.  It really does seem to help.
Thursday the cleaners are coming so I must get the place tidied up somewhat.  It's all a bit untidy.

I can't think of anything else right now; my brain is still asleep, I think.  Have a great day and stay happy and well.  xx

Thursday

 Good morning, everyone.  We have a bright start to the day here with sunshine, no less.   The sun came out yesterday too which was very cheering and I managed to get two loads of washing out on the line, dried and even ironed plus towels which always go in the tumble dryer for softness.

While sorting out Dad's airing cupboard, I can across a stack of tea towels that had never been used.  They were 'novelty' ones, mostly related to guiding (Mum was a keen Guider) with a few others including a Chatsworth one I have given her ages ago,.  Well, I wasn't going to throw them out so they have now been washed, ironed and in my tea towel drawer.  I won't need to buy any more tea towels for a long time to come, perhaps never now.

Jeff came round and did the usual, bless him.  He does a great job of keeping those weeds at bay.

My time with Lindsey was spent in massage and talk.  Both were very helpful; she's the sort of person you can say things to and know that they will be received thoughtfully and responded to wisely.  She advised me that I ought to consider seeing my GP about my ankles and calves, darn it.  I looked up online and it looks as if they are back to being able to make appointments face to face so I must go down early tomorrow (they open at eight) or Monday and see if I can get an appointment.  They are rarer than hen's teeth so I might have to see the duty doctor and it might take more than one visit to get an appointment but what can you do when you can't use the phone?  

The rest of the day was lazy.  I slept a lot (I'm sleeping so much!) watched iPlayer stuff, cooked and enjoyed meals and generally kept my feet up.

I've heard back from the funeral directors.  They have given me a date so I will respond to them this morning.

Today, there is nothing in the diary, not a sausage!  I have one load of clothes in the machine as I type and they can go out in the sunshine soon so will be dry and ready for ironing before the day is out.  There's a bit of tidying up to do so I will work on that but I need to rest my legs so that's what I will do.

Hoping you get lovely weather and have a happy day, whatever is on the list for you.  xx

Wednesday

 Good morning, everyone.  While is isn't what you would call a fine morning, it isn't actually raining so I will count my blessings and be thankful.
Yesterday was more like March or April than July.  It felt chilly, there were spells of sunshine but more spells of strong winds and lashing rain.  Not a day to spend outside.

I started yesterday with that planned shop to M&S where I stocked up with salad, veg and fruit.  My fridge looks very healthy now.  I spent most of the rest of the day in my recliner, feet up, reading or watching telly and doing a bit of kitchen work in between.  I slept several times (and still slept well overnight) and I think I feel less weary this morning so that's good.

Half way through the afternoon, Chris dropped off a beautiful bunch of flowers which was extremely kind of her.

Today starts off early with Jeff coming round at half seven to work his usual magic on the weeds!  Then, midday, I have personal training with Lindsey.  She knows I will be taking things very easy and carefully and she's building in some massage sessions which really helped last week.

Apart from those two diary things, the rest of the day is for pottering.  A bit of clearing, a bit of studying, some washing and ironing - the usual stuff, in fact.

After an online chat with John, he has decided not to come down this weekend.  There's precious little that he actually needs to come down for - just about everything can be done online.  There are a few things for me to sign but they can be posted down and back again.  Much more sensible than a seven hour drive each way.
I will be going over to Dad's anyway but maybe for a shorter length of time - maybe just one night.  I will see how I actually feel on Friday.  Perhaps a weekend at home might be better for me.

Have a good day, everyone.  If you had the weather we had yesterday, I hope all is well.  If you had sunshine - please do send a bit down this way.  :-)
xx

Tuesday

 Good morning, everyone.  Another wet start to the day and it looks as if it's rained on and off all night.  I haven't been checking the forecast for a while but I just did; it's supposed to dry up later and we might even see a bit of sun.  That would be nice.

Thank goodness, I slept much better overnight.  I do still feel weary but that's fine, that's the way it goes.

This week I am making making myself do not a lot.  It's the first week since I injured my ankles/calves/whatever that I've actually been able to rest them properly and it's helping a fair old bit.  I feel lazy but that's a false feeling - I need to rest up so I am.  :-)

Yesterday morning, Dave came round and now all the old bedding, etc, has gone.  My two really are worth their weight at the moment, bless them.
The only other thing of note was tuition and, thinking about the ankles/etc, I was bad enough to take the car rather than walk.  It's only about five minutes walk down the road but even so, I'm really trying to be careful so car it was.  It was lovely to get back to a bit of teaching.  I had cut down on my students because I wanted more time for Dad so I'm having a bit of a rethink now.  Shall I take on a few more students again or not?  I don't know; I'll think about it.

Today, there is absolutely nothing in the diary.  I need to do a bit of a shop for some fresh stuff and I think I will drive over to M&S because their fresh fruit and veg is such great quality and lasts longer. 

That's about it really and it's time for my coffee so I will stop typing and turn the kettle on.  Have a good day and stay dry!