Tuesday 14th April - What day is it?

That was a question posed on twitter (humouroursly, I hasten to add) this morning.

Every day seems like 'today' at the moment...

Although today has already had its moments. We both felt a bit 'hustled through a hedge backwards' by the end of the morning;

The catflap has been playing up for a couple of days. New battery time? No, that didn't sort it. The latch was operating at random intervals regardless of whether there was a cat anywhere near.

Himself spent a gruelling half hour changing batteries, doing factory resets and generally fiddling about with the contraption - uncomfortable work when you are crouched down at cat-flap level. Then we both spent a hectic time trying to re-programme the catflap. The cats are microchipped, and it is this that unlocks the door. So we have to catch a cat (easy, the frst time, just nab it while it is asleep) and then feed it through the flap several times in each direction to register the chip. This gets trickier as you go on. At least He had removed the contraption from the back door so we could contain the cats in the sitting room and work in the warm.

This process proved unsatisfactory. Well, to be blunt, it didn't work - replacement catflap time. Luckily the nearest pet shop had something that would do the job in stock. so He nipped out and returned in triumph.

'Right', he said, a short while later, 'just grap a cat and we'll get this sorted.'

Yeah, well, I'd just started a pre-scheduled zoom session. The first participant was greeted to the sound of extrememly cross cat and both of us making 'persuasive noises' of the 'oh just go through you stupid animal' type. Then, with one hand on the screen and another on the cat the phone went, because the other participant had lost the email with the password for access...

Oh well, we got it done - everything - catflap now installed, zoom call accomplished and password re-emailed.

First thing this morning, when I was still at the breakfast-in-bed stage, and all these excitements where yet to arrive, I watched this tutorial

http://koosjekoene.com/working-with-a-fountain-pen-and-soluble-ink/

and thought - 'that looks easy enough'

and it is;

I drew that while I was waiting for Himself to pause from fixing the new catflap and work out why my connection to the zoom meeting had dropped, and how to restore it.

Later this afternoon, I added to my collection of learing to draw figures

and I'm pretty chuffed with this too. Especially as several art teachers at several schools informed my that I was no good at 'art', and I believed them. I rather think this comes into the same bracket as telling people that they are 'no good at music'. Sure, some people are 'naturals', 'pre-wired' to be able to do it. Like some people (most, actually) can sing in tune, just like that.

Drawing, for me has just been a case of learning how to do it, and then being accepting of the results.

Singing - to an ordinary, everyday standard, is first and foremost about listening to the sound you are making, properly, which often needs to be taught. I'm coming to the conclusion that drawing, to an everyday, ordinary standard, is first and foremost about learing to look at what you are doing, properly.

Like cooking. Read the recipe and do what it says? Learn enough technique to be able to get along?

I'm 'cooking' supper tonight - baked beans on toast, reasonably within my current capabilities. I've also put the last egg to good use - it was a bit too elderly for me to want to eat it boiled or fried, but baked in a cake for an hour and a quarter should render it harmless enough.

Friday 20th March - About Selling my godmother's house

I started a post a few days ago, but abandoned it - why? I can't exactly remember. Maybe there was too much going on to get a clear run at the typing, maybe it was coming out all fed up and whingy? Who knows.

As you know, my godmother died just before Christmas, we had the task of dealing with her affairs, including selling her home.

We've had a stupidly busy week.

Last Thursday, that would be the 12th, the estate agent told us the person buying my godmother's house wanted to on Monday 16th and had we cleared the house yet? The completion estimate we had been given, originally was 'before Easter', so, no, we hadn't cleared the house yet. By a herculean effort, Himself  arranged for the clearance people to book us in for he morning of Tuesday 17th. That same afternoon, the buyer attempted to pay us with a series of 14 - I kid you not - bank transfers, and could we check that they had gone in so they could have they keys that afternoon.

We did make an effort, going straightaway to our bank to see, but by close of day only 2 had gone through, so they had to just possess themselves in  patience for another day.

On Wednesday morning, the ATM showed that the balance seemed ok, but when we requested a printed statement the sht hit the fn. I don't usually use Language, but it seemed that we had been over payed and then had our account cleared out to the tune over several thousand pounds overdrawn. (I regret to say that I used Language, in my outside voice, again, in the bank.) The manager wondered if the unusual way of sending the payment had triggered a money-laundering or scam alert.

We came home, spent some time on the telephone with the scams and frauds department of the bank, and got everything sorted out. Turned out there was no scam or money-trickery, it just took the payments some time to go through, and there was a glitch in the computer system for preparing a printed statement.

'Give them the keys and let that be an end!' we didn't quite shout down the line to the estate agent. 

The buyer then rang the estate agent to complain that we hadn't cleaned the house properly!!!!!

Deep breath.

When exactly, with this timetable, were we going to arrange for the housecleaning people?

We've spent Wednesday and Thursday ringing all the insurances and gas and electric and so on to cancel all the direct debits, and now, as of this morning, I think there's a possibility that we can shove all the files and papers into a box and Put Them Away.

We were planning to book another river cruise as our just reward as soon as everything was done. Think we'll hold off for a few months yet...

While all of this was going on, I had decided over the weekend that I would stop teaching on Monday 16th March. So I was also rattling out emails to schools and pupils - but that's another story.

Wednesday 15th January - Rain and Wind and Sun

So what have we been up to since Sunday?

It all depended on the weather. Storm Brendan was due, with implications for going to Bracknell to visit my Godmother's house on the Tuesday (strong winds, heavy rain, risk of falling trees and flooded roads).

somersetlive.co.uk

The first change of plan was to reschedule the visit for another time, and the second change of plan was to get on with completing the Probate forms, and deliver them to the Probate Registry in Brighton on Monday. Which we did. The forms were nowhere near as complicated as I had feared, and once we had scanned them in, and assembled the necessary supporting paperwork, the job was just about done. The advantages of actually taking them into the office were

Firstly, I got to press the sort of counter bell that goes 'ping'

from amazon

which is something I've always wanted to do in a real life situation

and secondly, someone answered the bell, went through all the paperwork, checked that everything was present and correct and gave me a receipt. Now we just have to wait.

Tuesday was teaching day. It dawned bright and clear, but Storm Brendan arrived over lunch time and by the end of the school day it was properly and wetly raining. When we went to bed we could hear the wind gusting against the front windows and blustering at the back.

I was unspeakably weary by the end of Tuesday - just waiting around to go to bed - but I did manage to finish knitting the first of a pair of slippers

The sole is dark brown, and the upper a speckly grey

 I need to sew it up. And also, knit up another slipper! I haven't decided whether to make it identical, or use the grey for the sole and the speckly brown for the upper. Need to give it a bit more thought.

We woke up to find a fence panel and a bird feeder from next door (on the windward side) cluttering up the garden, and another panel propped up by a couple of shrubs.

I drove through flooded lanes to my Wednesday school, taught seven pupils (the first four had forgotten their books which would have been more irritating except I've long given up being irritated.) What was rather fun was giving an impromptu djembe lesson to the staff in the staff room - they have a class set of djembes and no-one to teach it anymore. The music curriculum that they are supposed to follow is (in my opinion) dull and (in my opinion) difficult to teach, especially to the older classes. I tried following it one year and abandoned it fairly quickly.

Off to my afternoon school, where I teach a whole class of 7-year-old children to play guitar (no, I'm not a guitar player or teacher... it's a long story, don't ask) was plagued by a faulty fire alarm system so, after two fire alarms in succession (the first happened just before I got there, the second just after the children had all been allowed back in), the head teacher stationed me beside the alarm panel with instructions to press the 'mute' button if it sounded again, and, clutching a hammer, disappeared round the back of the school to...

well, the alarm didn't go off again, and a message was sent round to say that if there was a fire, someone would Ring The Bell.

Amazingly the children settled quickly, and I was able to teach them a new chord.
Unfortunately I taught the new chord incorrectly, but had just enough time to admit my mistake and re-teach. What did I say about being a guitar teacher?

Home, to find N and next-door lifting manhole covers and trying to clear the drains. Again. The blockage from Christmas time hadn't actually Gone Away, just Moved On Down The Drain.

I shut the door to the kitchen to keep the heat on, and carried on teaching piano lessons through the chaos.

Dynarod came and eventually cleared it; they'd had a terrible day and the Dynarod man was ready to say that it was the Water Authority's turn, but N charmed him into one last effort which seemed to have done the trick.

not our drain

IN among all this, I dealt with a call from the home prescription deliver service, and N dealt with two requests for taxis. The taxi telephone calls don't bode well; there is a firm with almost the same telephone number as is, but their last digit is an 8. They used to have cards in fancy curly script, and everyone needing a taxi used to get the number wrong, especially late at night. We used to give them the number of a rival firm. Eventually I found out why we were getting the calls, rang the taxi firm and explained why we had been inadvertently sending their customers elsewhere. I think they must have hastily reprinted their cards, because the called stopped. Or else they went bust through lack of custom?

from amazon

Is it still Wednesday? I think it may be - it feels as though we've had a week already.

Thursday 15th November

I'm very disappointed with our government.

I think the cats have got the right idea about this Brexit business;

All the politicians and wunderkinds who promoted Brexit and said how wonderful it would be have all disappeared. Boris and Gove are the worst offenders. They and all the others appear to have taken very little part in working out the terms and conditions for arranging an orderly exit from the EU. All they seem to do is criticise everyone else's efforts without getting stuck in themselves.

'That's not good enough', they cry. 'Make it better'. How? Any suggestions? Answers come there none.

Enough.

Today's music is Mahler's 2nd symphony, 4th movement. Up till now I haven't ever listened to Mahler on purpose. I think of it as heavy, over-crowded, sturm-und-drang stuff. But this, this is ethereal, pellucid, restrained. I listened to several versions - this one gives the English translation of the words of the song. Also, it is played by the Simon Bolivar Orchestra of Venezuela, a world leader in Youth Orchestras, although it is no longer a Youth Orchestra as the players are older now!  (what is going to happen to them now with their new President?).  Anyway, I really enjoyed this performance, especially the lovely, lyrical violin solo which illustrates the broad leading to God.

Here are the words;
 

O Röschen rot!                            

 Der Mensch liegt in größter Not!

Der Mensch liegt in größter Pein!                       

Je lieber möcht ich im Himmel sein.               

 Da kam ich auf einen breiten Weg;

da kam ein Engelein und wollt' mich abweisen.

Ach nein! Ich ließ mich nicht abweisen!

Ich bin von Gott und will wieder zu Gott!

Der liebe Gott wird mir ein Lichten geben,

wird leuchten mir bis an das ewig selig Leben!

Oh Red Rose

Mankind stands in deep distress

Mankind suffers great sorrow

I would dearly love to be in heaven

I came upon a broad path

An angel appeared and tried to turn me aside

Ah no, I would not let myself be turned aside

I come from God and will return to God

My Beloved God will grant me a light

He shall light my way to the life of eternal blessedness

Let's not despair too soon?

The finale is worth a listen too, and it's only a couple of minutes long - a relief as the total length of the symphony is around 90 minutes. 

I'm still not going in to work, although I have been teaching a couple of pupils in the evenings. But I', steadily improving. The weird thing at the moment is that coffee doesn't taste right at all. To bitter. Tea is not much of an improvement. Water it has to be, then.

I'm getting quite a lot of knitting done today; I added a row of hearts to this scarf yesterday evening, and now I am halfway through these birds. I'm having to knit the picture upside down as I am nearing the other end of the scarf. So far I have done their heads and necks. That's those pink bits close to the needles

Thursday 16th November - Where's the fly swat?

Kingfisher 4 pack £2.79 (Amazon uk)

Four for £2.49! Someone must be having the same problem as me! But they don't look anywhere near strong enough.

The Executioner £13.99 (Amazon uk)

Tempting, but maybe a bit overkill. A quick prowl through the Amazon site has revealed a zillion different types of swatters. 

I don't actually have an insect problem. Spiders in the bath can be trapped and thrown out of the window. Fleas on the cat aren't an issue, thanks to modern treatments which just poison the cat's blood, so when the fleas bite the cats they die (the fleas, not the cats). It isn't the season for wasps or flies. So, what is the problem?

Today (and to a lesser extent, yesterday) I have been plagued by people needing me to do things for them when I really don't have time or headspace to stop what I am doing and see to what they want. 

I could go into details, but then.... there might be entirely forseeable consequences.

Suffice it to say that as a result of too many interruptions to complicated sequences of thought and process, I now have various heaps of unsorted photocopies to organise, categorise, file, a collapsed folder of lesson planning to resolve into some kind or order, and a couple of registers to find and mark up before I forget the names that should be marked as absent.

Fly swats. Could that be an answer?