Friday, 02-10-26

 Morning, everyone.  Welcome to Friday.
I'm feeling much more like myself now, thankfully.  Just a bit tired but I had a great night's sleep so no whinges today!

I was wondering what I could do for a Christmas craft project this year and I saw this:

This is a screen shot of the pattern which I have purchased after a bit of thought as it's not cheap but it seems very well written with lots of extra advice and I think it is really lovely.

Here's the link to the site where there's a much better, brighter picture.
https://crochetbyluna.com/products/crochet-christmas-wreath-pattern-pdf-poinsettias-pinecones-bells-bow-full-assembly-guide-us-uk-terms

The whole site is worth a look if you like that sort of thing - there's some gorgeous patterns there.

The stitches look easy but the construction will be a challenge and I need to buy yarn as it's cotton yarn, worsted/Aran weight.  However, the individual motifs I can make in my usual DK acrylic, for practise or for little decorations or cards.
And I could go for brighter colours if I wanted.  

Now's the time to start thinking about it so I could start in November.

A bit more spendy stuff.  I'm sure we have all seen warnings about bad weather incoming, other potential national/international disasters, etc, etc, etc, not necessarily all generated by the sensationalist gutter press.  I tend to take these with a pinch of salt but, at the same time, a bit of common sense is a useful thing and, while I have no concerns with shelf stable stuff, I can't find the camping stove I thought I had so I've bought another and some spare cylinders.  You know - just in case.
I can't safely use it indoors but I have a garden room with one side openable - I'd much rather not but we will see.
(I can always use it on summer days - cleaner than a bbq!!)
Now I am wondering if I'm sensible or silly!

Thinking of spendy, I've been looking quite seriously at one of the Jo Malone Advent calendars (don't shoot me all at once, please) but today I woke to a bit of good news from my premium bonds (nothing dramatic but a bit of nice leading up to Christmas) and, suddenly, I don't really want that calendar very much after all.  Weird how a lot of 'wanting' is only because you can't, not because you genuinely want it.
When I go into town to get Beth's present (some Jo Malone perfume - we're both fans), I'll treat myself to one of my favourites that has run out - much more sensible!!  It can be one of my Twelve Days of Christmas gifts to myself.
(and I can get the yarn for that Christmas wreath now!!)
The rest goes into savings, probably into my Jolly Holidays account!  :-)

Wishing you a lovely Friday when everything goes well and everything works out as you want.
Take care and be safe.  xx

Thursday, 01-10-26

Morning.  October is here - happy new month to everyone (that sounds nicer than pinch and punch!!).

Apologies for yesterday.  Wasn't feeling 100%, slept very badly over Tuesday night, just didn't have the motivation.

Yesterday was a bit busy.
In the morning, I took the bus into town for my audiology appointment.  I have been less than happy with the quality of sound offered by my new (and expensive) hearing aids but this is what these follow up appointments are for.  The settings don't always work first time, you have to live with them and then tweak as needed.  The nearest I can get is that the incoming sound was like a badly tuned radio.
Joseph (the audiologist, can't remember his last name) spend a considerable time retuning, tweaking settings, etc, before he started linking the new microphone which was the other reason I was there.  

I've mentioned before that my phone bluetooths direct to my aids and I have a gizmo that does the same with the TV and my laptop.  This mic does a similar thing, clipped on to a speaker's clothing, very useful for guided tours, meetings, etc.
I'd really have liked the next model up which can sit in the middle of a group, pick up all speakers and bluetooth but it was more than three times the cost of the one I bought - and that wasn't cheap, believe me!  Maybe, if tomorrow brings the news that my premium bonds have given me oodles of spare cash . . . 
(and pigs might fly!)

All of this took pretty much all morning so when I got home I had lunch and then had a good sleep.  I needed the sleep because it was the governors' meeting in the evening.
It was a really good and positive meeting and the mic worked an absolute dream.  I was so pleased.  Now to see if it helps in Slimming World group tomorrow.

I sent off my gas readings as always via my account and was greeted by the message that I was paying too much - well, that's not news and by the end of the winter they won't be saying that, will they?  That's surely the whole point of paying a set amount monthly!!  To be fair, because my boiler now only heats water at point of need, I'm definitely using less but that's counterbalanced by price rises.

Today is easier.  First of all, no personal training as Lindsey is away.  Val was coming over for lunch but we have rescheduled as she needs to be elsewhere.  So it is just the coffee and chat with Chris and then I can chill.  I need to - I just feel quite worn out at the moment, no idea why, I just do.  I need to potter, sort out clutter, get my environment looking nice.  That will help a lot.

It feels really humid this morning round here.  I'm going to have an early bath and then start the day.  I hope your day is just what you want it to be.  All the best.  xx

Tuesday, 29-09-26

Morning, my lovelies.  We have had some very welcome rain overnight - everything is still so very dry and it's going to take months before things are back to normal again.

Yesterday started busy and ended gently.
After circuits, I whizzed home, got changed, etc, and whizzed back out to gather the bus into town where I met Alex outside M&S.  Three quarters of an hour later we had sorted all Alex's Christmas gifts out and I had treated myself (bad me) to some Lush bath stuff and a really nice pair of earrings from an art shop.
Because wbhy not.

This art shop is a sort of collective shop that sells creations by local artists and crafts people and also supports people with challenges that make it hard for them to work.  I think it is run by the local church and I wish I could remember its name!!

After that we had lunch.  In my mind I had something like the M&S cafe but Alex had something else in mind so when I suggested Zizzi his face lit up!  So we went there and it was lovely.  We decided we ought to make this a monthly thing.

Once home, I collected my thoughts and then drove over to Beth with her bread and some tomatoes.

By the way, the change in technique worked for Lindsey's sourdough.   When it is wholegrain, you don't get the typical 'holes' in the crumb; it is more even. Mine is, anyway.  What you do get is the sourdough flavour, the rise and the digestibility!
Lindsey sent a photo to show me and she said it was absolutely delicious.  So that's good!!

Today it is Groove and another quick whizz round to freshen up and get changed before I have to pop into school for a SEND meeting.

Then the day's my own so it's housework stuff because it's much needed!  :-)

Have a good day, everyone, whatever the weather.  xx

Monday, 28-09-26

Really sorry - I wrote this on time and didn't post it by mistake.  Ooops!

Morning, everyone.  Welcome to Monday, so close to the end of the month now.  It's a bit of a dull start and predicted to stay that way most of the day but that's OK.

This is the cross stitch I am working on.  It's a kit I bought at the Sandringham Flower Show earlier this year and quite a challenge.  I don't normally need to tack in the guide lines, just use spatial skills but I did this time.  As you can see, I'm doing the 'twigs' and the berries all round and then there's quite a lot of top stitching for definition.
I'm not great at topstitching but am really enjoying it, all the same!

I got my four loaves baked,  You saw the photo of the yeasted ones which took all morning.  Lindsey's sourdoughs took all day and were baked in the evening.  I tried something I read somewhere and didn't do all the stretch and folds, just a good knead to start with and one more set after first rising.  They've risen fine but I will have to ask Lindsey what the crumb is like.

And I've finished KCSIIE!  Yay! I found that a summary of all the changes was one of the appendices  so I really have finished and I fervently hope I don't need to refer back to it during the year although, in the interests of thoroughness, I will go over the SEND section again, me being the SEND Link Governor.  It's a weight off my mind!

Today is busy!

First of all, there's circuits at Shimmy Studio.  Then it's a quick freshen up and change before catching the bus into town to meet up with Alex.  Beth's birthday is coming up and we're doing some birthday and Christmas present shopping together before we have lunch.  I'm really looking forward to it.

I think Beth has been dropping him a few heavy hints!
I might get a few bits for my own present list too, if I see anything.
Finally, once home (leaving Alex in town for something at the library), I need to drive over to Beth's with some tomatoes and her bread.  I should have taken them yesterday but rather thoughtlessly enjoyed a couple of glasses of nice red with lunch and I have a strict rule about no alcohol if I'm driving.

In the evening, I have some paperwork to look over for a meeting tomorrow but that shouldn't take too long.

If there's time, as all my payments, etc, have been made for this month, I will probably close this month's spreadsheet as see what (if anything) can either go into savings or carry over - probably the latter, what with Christmas spending, etc.

I think that's it.  Fingers crossed I haven't forgotten anything.  Have a lovely day, everyone.  xx

Sunday, 27-09-26

   Morning (just!) everyone.  A bit late this morning as I had a good lie in and have been making bread, both sourdough and yeasted.  The yeasted loaves are in the oven now so I'm keeping half an eye on the clock as I type.
(a good excuse for any typos!)

Isn't this nice?  I love it.  It's the cover of my diary for 2027.  I usually go for a marbled cover - yes, I pay extra for a pretty cover but I do have to look at it all year! - but this time, this one caught my eye.

Yesterday was, as expected, a quiet day.  I did some washing that dried on the line and I need to get that ironed at some point today.  I did some reading and some Governor stuff, continued with my cross stitch and watched more telly that I should really.

We had a beautiful sunset yesterday and that's another advantage of the trees being chopped back.  

There's two actually.  One is seeing sunsets in all their glory and also I can see the positive impact on my solar panels.  I know I rabbit on about those panels now and again but they have made such a difference to my spring/summer/autumn electricity usage and bills (around £20 per month and most of that is standing charge) and, since the tree chopping, as the days get shorter and the sun is lower, the panels are generating power much later in the day than before.

Don't get me wrong, I love those trees and would never want them cut right down, but I do appreciate some advantages when they have to be cut right back.

The Strictly season has started, of course.  I really enjoyed last night and I'm sure it will feature in my Sunday posts as time passes!

Today is still quiet but there's stuff to be done, all the same.  The aforementioned bread and ironing, of course plus bits and bobs.  I want to finish KCSIE and I'm nearing the end of a book I'd like to finish, maybe in bed this evening.

Finally (no cheering at the back, please), I've just taken Beth's loaves out of the oven.  Don't they look nice.

I use Thermione so it's perhaps all a bit of a cheat, but I mix and knead the sourdough first and remove it to a bowl.  Then I mix and knead the yeasted bread in the same bowl without cleaning it.  The little bit of sourdough really helps to get a great rise.

Better stop and send this as it's now afternoon, not morning.  I hope your Sunday is going really well.  
See you tomorrow.  xx  

Saturday, 26-09-26

 Morning, everyone!  It's the weekend, a few days of comparative rest for some and the sun is ashining brightly.
Thanks very much for all the fish and chips/fish on Friday comments - they were interesting.  

I got a real shock when I stepped on those scales yesterday at Slimming World.  I went, thinking that a maintain would be areal win but, somehow, not quite sure how, I lost two and a half pounds.  That cheered me up no end.

When I got home, I had a message from Beth.  She needed to be round here for one of those eye things where you dilate the pupils first  and couldn't drive afterwards.  So I took here, brought her back to mine and she stayed around until her vision settled again.  It was a good opportunity for a chat and she took some tomatoes with her - three cheers.

While we were waiting in the eye clinic, I got out my Kindle to read some more KCSIE, telling Beth what I was doing.  A lady opposite up laughed and said she'd ploughed through it at the beginning of September and then the new, considerably changed version was published mid-Septemberso she's now having to read it all through again.  Poor lady!
Anyway, I am on the appendices now so nearly there.

I took just a few garden photos yesterday:

The middle bed, the flower bed is looking just like a country cottage garden - crowded and loaded with colour.  Just what I want it to look like.  Not the best photo, I know, but you get the idea.

The tomatoes keep on giving.  They are slowing down now but I am now hoping for no frosts for a while.
And I am looking up green tomato chutney recipes and saving jars!

This was a surprise I only noticed yesterday.
Longer term readers might remember me getting a little fig bush, knowing that the British summer isn't long or warm enough to produce fruit that has time to ripen.
However - just look what I noticed.  Two ripe, nicely squidgy figs!  Yay.
I knew there was a reason why I bought some Serrano ham this week - not quite prosciutto but it'll do.  And while I don't have goats' cheese, I do have some real feta.
Guess what lunch is today!

I'm having a chilled weekend (another one) because next week is quite busy one way and another.

So today I will be menu planning, reading, cross stitching and generally taking things easy.  Nice.
Hoping your day is good too.  xx

Friday, 25-09-26

Good morning, you lovely people.  Welcome to Fish and Chips day - although I don't usually, do you?

It's chilly right now but I gather it will warm up in a while - typical Autumn weather, in fact.

Personal training yesterday was good, as it always is.  I don't have one next week as Lindsey is away, but I have plenty to work on so that's OK.  Lindsey posted a few things about hips mobility and leg strength on one of her groups and they both look the sort of thing I could work with.

Chris and I had a good old natter and I managed to palm off some of my tomatoes!  Hers are pretty much finished now and she bought some the other day so I wish I'd offered sooner.  Not to worry, she knows now.
Kay didn't come.  She's had a really rough time recently and is withdrawing from house cleaning until after Christmas when she will make a decision whether to resume or not.  I have every sympathy for her; life can be very challenging at times.

I'm ploughing through KCSIE.  I set my watch to fifteen  minutes at a time and it's really helped.  I'm now more than half way through and there are a lot of appendices that I don't have to do more than skim read so I'm confident that I will finish it today.  I'm also going to read through the summary of changes (there's quite a lot) which, I think, will be more relevant.

Finally, I had a lovely online chat with friends from the Slim Win group.  We haven't 'met' all summer so there was plenty to catch up on.

Today, being Friday, is Slimming World day.  I haven't been angelic this week so I'm not expecting any miracles - a maintain would be fantastic!  :-)

And no fish and chips.  I'm making Spanish white bean stew which looks both delicious and dead easy!  And healthy!

Have a lovely day and enjoy your fish and chips if that's what you're having.  xx