Saturday 14th February - 52 tiny changes week 6

What happened to weeks 2, 3, 4 and 5? I had done week 2, but maybe not shared it.

There's more to each chapter than the bald suggestion; I find KDs additional ideas, suggestions on how to implement it, explanations and prompts very helpful. 

Unsubscribe as you go - in other words, unsubscribe from newsletter type emails you are no longer interested in receiving as they come into your inbox. You know the sort of thing; 'subscribe to get 10% off'. Then it's everlasting special offers...

But as for weeks 3, 4 and 5...

'Write it down'; choose a single place for lists and things you want to remember  - note book or phone app or whatever and stick to it. 

'One task at a time'; quit multitasking - it isn't actually more efficient most of the time.

'Mute the background'; either you're watching it, or listening to it, ot you're not. Even if you think it's just in the background, the sounds/music/changes still grab our attention. 

So I'm trying to catch up on these. Either I'm watching a programme or listening to sonething, or I switch it off (unless someone else wants to watch of). No more scrolling or reading or playing games at the same time. (The exceptions are straightforward knitting and simple sewing)

This week it is

'Declutter one surface that you see or use every day and commit to keepingit that way'. Was she reading my mind? I was getting close to The End Of My Tether because of four surfaces in particular. 

The dining room table (perennial one, this). The last time I cleared it in a hurry, I  should add, I did so by piling everything up on my worktable. So now neither were usable. The same could be said of my swivel table and footstool.

I'm now relaxing, with a pot of tea, in a glow of satisfaction and calm having cleated All Four Surfaces. I'm officially an over-achiever! It didn't take long. So why did I avoid doing it before, and will I be able to keep them clear (shaking my head)

These are the 'after' pictures.

Relaxing music

'Somewhere near Cluj' from  the anthology Spectrum2, 

Friday 13th February - flowers, flowers and more flowers

On Tuesday I got some daffodils included in my grocery order;

At lunchtime the postman delivered a little postman from Flowerbee. BB gave me a monthly subscription for Christmas, arriving on or about the 15th of the month. I found a little bone china miniature tankard for the short-stemmed trimmings - I hate throwing them away.

And finally I had a surprise delivery...

There are chocolates as well! The keen eyed might spot there are only eleven roses, sadly one didn't survive the transit. These are already beginning to open up.

Outside has been.... cold and damp...  while we were eating breakfast we watched a mist suddenly appear, rising up from the nearby stream and drifting across the garden, and then just as mysteriously disappering. It didn't start raining until about 4 pm though.

I'm fiddling around with a new poem...

In the grey damp February 

Everyone made moan,

Earth was wet and squelchy

And the sun never shone.

I think it needs a bit of work...

Now for another chocolate

Thursday 12th February - Spring is on the way?

 Spotted in a road a few streets away from us;

I sort of hope the flowers will survive in their new flowerbed. Or perhaps  they can be transplanted if the road menders come to fill the pot hole.

They are are cheery sight on yet another grey day.

Tuesday 10th February - cooking and Shakespeare

 Thank you all very much for your helpful comments yesterday. I shall make notes; you've all given me a lot to think about. I'll reply soon.

It's been an 'interesting' and tiring morning, which means I've been taking it very this afternoon. I had a routine zoom consultation with a consultant at the ILD (interstitial lung disease) clinic to review the results of the lung function tests I did at the end of January. Broadly speaking I have stabilised at this new (lower) level after dipping noticeably at the beginning of 2024, so that's good news.

So, instead of an interesting post, may I offer two wonderful performances of Shakespeare; Dame Judi Dench on a Graham Norton show 2 years ago;

And, most amazingly, Sir Ian McKellen on a chat show in the USA a few nights ago!

They deliver the words with such clarity of meaning. If only I had known it could be like this when I was slogging through Shakespeare in boring, boring English lessons at school...

I loved Dame Judi's book 'Shakespeare,  the man who pays the rent'. It's fantastic to read, even better to listen to as an audiobook. So 'unstuffy', so real.

Monday 9th February - asking your opinion...

 We're in the process of doing a comprehensive cooking area (excuse me for not using the k*t*h*n word as I do not want an inundation of advertising comments from b*ts!). The current arrangement dates back to about 40 years ago and at long last we have the chance for a big rethink.

I'd like to swap out our freestanding induction hob cooker for a separate hob and oven, and I'm wondering if anyone has experience of using a counter-top oven, as opposed to a built in one? It just struck me that this might be a cheaper, and in many ways better option to putting in a built-in oven.

I've been observing how we cook. I reckon I only regularly use two of the hobs, plus the main oven, and the air fryer and microwave. Oh, and the kettle and coffee machine and toaster, of course. We also use crock pot and bread maker a couple of times a week.

What appliances do you like using for cooking?  Which never see the light of day? 

I'm planning to have a shallow pantry cupboard somewhere so that I don't have to delve into the dark recesses to see what tins and packets are lurking at the back, and a carousel for the corner, and drawers  for pans instead cupboards. Any other suggestions? 

Here's the 'March Past of the Kitchen Utensils' by Vaughan Williams.

When I was teaching class music primary schools the children used to love listening to this - it's a great exercise in keeping up with counting the beats, because the sudden loud chords follow a regular pattern of 8s and 7s. (I've forgotten the pattern but it's easy enough to work it out). Once they'd got the hang of it I could dish out drums and cymbals etc and we could all play along, trying to add our own crashes at the right moment! 

 

Sunday 8th February - this multicoloured life

Cilla Black singing  'I can sing a rainbow ' (if you are one of the people who dislike this song because it isn't a proper rainbow, please just, skip past! I happen to like it, and anyway those colours have all appeared in my knitting!)

Every page in my diary this month has complaints about grey, damp, dreary, wet, dreich weather. However if I look back over this week, it has been full of bright rainbow colours.

The slippers I made.

The 2By2 patch Ang did;

This one's Ang's, she sent me a  Ark, which might be more appropriate considering the amount of rain we've had so far this year. We drove over to Midhurst for tea with 'the children' (what do you call them when they are fully adults?) and the River Arun had filled the fields on both sides.

I've persuaded myself to start sewing up my rainbow cardigan. Remember this?

(My original plan was to finish it in time for Christmas...)

I shared this prayer with Ang because I thought it fitted in with our collaborations so well;

O living God, draw all the fragments of my life into the bright mosaic of your love;

weave all the tangled threads of my desires into the tapestry you are spreading, like a rainbow, on the loom of the world;

and help me celebrate the many facets and the dazzling colours of your peace.

 It's written by Julie M. Hulme, no 72 in '1000 prayers' collected by Angela Ashwin.

Ang has posted a truly beautiful version on her blog! I'm very tempted to print it out to keep a copy.

What really caught my attention was the final phrase - 'the dazzling colours of your peace'. Now that is something new to think about; I've always used soft, gentle, pastel colours in my mind when considering the idea of 'peace'.

I'm taking a day or so to think through and consider each line in turn.