Saturday 30th October - make like an ostrich...

https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/do-ostriches-really-bury-their-head-in-the-sand/

 I've been a bit pre-occupied this week, even though it was half-term and supposedly clear from all engagements (hahaha, remembering the old joke 'if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans').

I've a red spot on my shin, which has been slowly increasing from a small, negligible mark to a circle heading for an inch in diameter. So, back in September, the consultant looked at it while doing a routine rheumatology check up and thought I ought to be referred to a dermatology clinic. 

However, it took four weeks for her letter to reach my GP. They referred it on promptly, but I was getting a little anxious. I looked on the website to discover 'most patients are seen within 15 weeks'. What?!? I rang the clinic 'have you received the referral from the GP?' After a couple of calls, they found the referral and added me to the list. 

Learning Point number 1; it's always worth making a pleasant and non-argumentative enquiry of the clinic admin staff! 

While on the phone I did let them know that I was very happy to be offered a last-minute cancellation - half an hour's notice would be enough. Well, they rand back ten minutes later - was I free tomorrow afternoon? - was I indeed!

Learning Point number 2; it's always worth offering to take a cancellation!

The result is that the malevolent-looking patch is nothing serious; the sort of thing that people with fair skin and spend too much tie in the sun are liable to. Very occasionally the patch can develop into skin cancer, but there's no suspicion of this in my case. I have been prescribed some cream to apply which will make it much worse before it gets better, and 'I'll see you again in about 5 or 6 months.'

I had no idea how much this had been bothering me until we got back home after the appointment, and sagged into the armchairs with a coffee and chocolate biscuit apiece.

So; if you have fair skin, and have been exposed to the sun (I lived in the tropics for a few years), and have a funny red scaly patch on your leg, get it looked at, rather than worrying!

I do tend to play the ostrich game over things that are over-facing me. Like, 

finishing my tax return, (not done)

sorting out the boxes of stuff brought down from the loft which need the keep/chuck/donate decisions, 

working out packaging and posting and customs declaration for parcel to be sent to 'foreign parts'

I'd much rather create a little holder using an empty box and pictures from a bulb catalogue to store my glasses in overnight to stop them falling to the floor when I will tread on them in the morning

 or scroll through twitter looking for jokes

Today, however, there has been progress; the parcel has been packaged up, several keep/chuck/donate boxes have been sorted so that two crates have been emptied and three more bags have been filled for a charity shop run (poor devils - I always feel a bit sorry for whoever is on the receiving end at the shop to do the 'keep/mend/chuck process all over again).

The heap does look a whole lot worse, but it is actually a whole lot better, and will improve further once the parcel is posted, the contents of the green bucket handed over to the charity shop and the orange bag taken to church for adding to the Great Christmas Shoebox Packing event tomorrow. Then we'll justs be down to the blue 'pending' crate, and several crates of photographs. With any luck it will be clear by Christmas...

Oh, and ostriches really do stick their heads in the sand....

Happy Days!  . 

Saturday 23rd October - sequencing errors are creeping into everything

 I tried to make myself a cup of tea the other day - assembled a tray with cup and saucer, milk in the cup ready, boiled the kettle, filled the teapot. When poured the tea I discovered I had forgotten the tea leaves. 

So, I started again; tipped out the watery milk, boiled some more water, ADDED THE LEAVES TO THE TEA POT and carried it through the to sitting room. Fail. I had used the filtered water jug instead of the milk bottle to prepare the cup. At least all I had to do was take the cup back to the kitchen, chuck the water and replenish with milk.

Today, with great determination, I managed to get it right first time, but only by actually verbalizing every instruction to myself, rather like when I am teaching or learning something really tricky - a bit of Chopin, the top of the second page of every Bach fugue I have ever studied.

Kettle. Tea in pot. Cup. Saucer. Milk in Cup. Boiling water into tea pot. Oh, the sense of triumph!

I have been dealing with admin today - writing up lessons from last week and sending out the emails, checking to see which parents have paid me for last week's lessons (none of the ones who are doing 'pay as you go' as opposed to 'half-termly in advance! - I shall remind them when I send out the next half term's emails of dates and information!) 

Half term got off to a good start this morning; Radio 3 (Mendelssohn's Octet on Record Review), breakfast in bed, tie to sketch out some ideas for the Advent project and some company.  

I've been fiddling around with some sketches in the mornings over the past few days before I get up; I'm not sure yet what I am planning to do. Lino prints? One for each day? Or make up a commonplace book using the sketches? Something will occur to me.

Yesterday I forced myself to go for a walk after a couple of lazy days. The sun came out part way round, and I starting picking up Autumn leaves and putting them in my pocket. I realized that I was encouraging myself along rather in the way that you would find interesting things for a grumpy toddler to try and persuade them to cheer up. It worked! Have I discovered my true level of maturity? And does this mean I am wise, or childish? 

It doesn't take much effort to press the leaves flat on a piece of kitchen paper and take a rather fuzzy picture of them. They are so pretty by themselves that one doesn't even need to be artistic.

I was also delighted to spot this!  

It is owned by someone living further down our road. He had to stop 'because the fuel pump is giving a bit of trouble'. It didn't seem to take long to fix it - he opened the funny little side access to the bonnet, tweaked the something or other and was going again in seconds.

We reaped the reward of my efforts earlier in the week. Those round red silicone baking dishes fit nicely into the Air Fryer, and I filled the four of them plus the metal cooking pan with macaroni cheese, with added kale, onion, and bacon bits, all topped with breadcrumbs and grated cheese. 

We had the contents of metal dish for supper - it makes quite a light meal for 2 - and the rest went into the freezer. So, one supper meal for each week is sorted. (We eat our main meal at lunchtime these days)

I had tried other containers for freezing the extra portions but they weren't satisfactory, or at least not for reheating in the Air Fryer.

I don't know why it is called an Air Fryer - it is more of a very small, very efficient electric fan oven, coming to temperature in minutes and perfect for two or three people. 

Today is Day 50 of the 'wear the Rowena Swing Dress for 100 days in a row' challenge. I had to wash the front of it on Thursday morning when I discovered some splatters of minestrone soup. Maybe washing the in the hand basin while I was wearing it wasn't efficient or practical or sensible, but I managed, also pressing the wet portion dry between two towels. The fabric dried remarkably quickly, but is a reminder to get on with sorting out an apron.

 

 

Wednesday 20th October - Maybe that was a bit unkind...

The phone rings, and I'm expecting a call that I'm looking forward to. 

'Hello. who's calling?' 

'Hello, my name is Anthony, how are you today?' The voice is pleasant, with a slightly American accent. And certainly NOT the friend who is about to call. So my reply is ungracious and peevish.

'Oh, not as well as I was a minute ago.' That's because I'm peeved that it is a cold caller and not the call I was waiting for. Anthony pauses for amicro-second, and returns to his script.

'I am calling from United Appliances we are conducting a survey into popular domestic appliances it will only take 50 seconds how do you wash your clothes?'

'I, err,'

'Which one do you use Bosch Miele Hotpoint Hoover?' he sounds patient in an impatient sort of way.

'None of them I wash my clothes in the river.' I'm rather afraid that is an untruth. Before he can get going again I carry. 'Look, I'm really not in the mood, why don't you call someone else goodbye'. And I put the phone down to start typing again.

Seconds later;

Knock-knock-knock-knock

The front door.

A youth in high viz with a clipboard mumbles

'I'm from Mumblemumble would you like a quote for getting your paving cleaned?'

'No thank you.' It is taking me an effort to stay even slightly civil.

'Not even a free estimate?'

'No thank you, goodbye,' and I close the door (gently) as he turns away.

Next? 

Knock if you dare....

Deep Breath.

My desk (alias the dining table) is out of control - I have the books from four lessons and the write ups to put away, and I have two or three new projects fizzing around in my brain and I am really, not, in, the, mood!

So maybe my response to these hapless folk working in call centres or tramping round the streets in the cold wind was less than optimal, but I was still more civilized than I might have been.

I am embroiled in Projects.....

The apron project

I made a dress this Summer

and although I'm quite pleased with it, I'm not in love with it. The fabric is rather stiff, and hasn't softened with washing. So, my plan is to turn it into a 'Japanese' or 'studio' apron, those aprons with cross-over shoulder straps that you sort of wriggle into, and all kinds of crafts women wear (especially on The Repair Shop) and look so purposeful in. It should help protect my 100DayDress too.

Seasalt do one for £27.50

Seasalt studio apron

It has taken me several days of eyeing up my summer dress and working out how to cut the back to achieve this, but I think I've just about got it sorted out in my mind. I should be able to cut it in such a fashion as to create one strap all-of-a-piece with the front and back, and then cut a sort of patch to make the other strap. I'll use the hem to do that, and also to make pockets. It will take me several more days to work up the nerve to start cutting. When it has all gone wrong I'll cut what's left into a smaller, ordinary apron and put the Seasalt on on my Christmas List and be happy with that. 

The Spring Bulbs Project

The apron seems a good idea for when my tulip bulbs arrive - I've just had an email to tell me that they are on their way. I've ordered some from Sarah Raven but then I discovered that they would be delayed, maybe, so I ordered some more from Farmer Gracy and these are due by next week. Sarah Raven discusses 'lasagne planting', where you layer up the different bulbs in the same pot and I thought I would have a go. An apron seems a good place to start.

from the Sarah Raven catalogue

 The only thing is that I don't want to have the big patio tubs full of 'gone over' spring bulbs when I want to put something else in. Sooo, I wonder if it will work if I use some tall deep flower pots, and layer the bulbs in those, and then sink those pots into the big wide patio tubs? Then I can lift them out and leave them to their own devices at the bottom of the garden. 

The Advent Calendar Project

Oh, I start thinking about this every year, but whether I manage to put one together is another matter. Still, it's half term next week, and then there's rest of November. The questions are still not resolving into answers; what form, how, what materials....

Knit myself a chunky jumper

I should take a reality check here - I have a scarf, a tea-cosy and two crochet blankets on the go. 

But a chunky jumper... would that really take so long to make?

The O Antiphon Projects;

This is the one I am actively working on  - a short Advent course for me and some friends... It has more or less come together just today, and I am beginning to rough out the sessions, gather the information and work out how to run it.

And the 100DayDress challenge? Today was day 47. I'm still in love with the dress. I had to do some spot cleaning at the weekend as I discovered an number of grease spots. They cleaned off easily enough.

  

 

Tuesday 12th October - I'll leave the title...

 I'll leave the title because I don't know what this is about, except this and that and the other...

Knitting;

I would have shown you a photograph of the mindless shawl I was knitting, but I overdid the mindless-ness and even I couldn't put up with that many mistakes. So I spent an evening ripping it out and re-winding the yarn (not wool, acrylic) and started again with a different mindless pattern - a diagonal scarf. Part of the problem with the original effort was that the yarn would not move easily along the bamboo knitting needles. I'm now using resin needles and that makes everything more enjoyable. 

I'm putting a marker in the knitting at the end of each day - it pleases me to see the progress... it also helps me know which side is which.

(5.5mm needles, double knitting yarn. Cast on 40 stitches or however many you want. Knit the first and odd numbered rows; for the even rows, K2 tog, knit until one stitch remaining, increase by knitting through front and back of the stitch. Stop when long enough) 

I have also cast on another teapot cosy for a friend. To be truthful, this is the third time I cast on. Somehow I couldn't get past the first couple of rows of ribbing without making an unrecoverable mistake. The first time I thought maybe using a dark colour was the problem, so I tried again with the light blue. Finally I gave in and used the dark colour to make a garter stitch border.

We went round to a friend for coffee in the garden. She always brings at least two kinds of cake and biscuits when she comes round to us, but I didn't have anything respectable to take with us. So I took my kitchen windowsill lettuce leaves.

Taking biscuits would have been coals to Newcastle - she had already made a marshmallow chocolate biscuit fridge cake and opened a packet of shortbread biscuits!

I sowed another trayful when I got home - here they are after five days;         

Today I have planted garlic bulbs, and harvested all the cucamelons. I realise now that they were still unripe when I tried them some time ago. Now, they are slightly crunchy to bite into, with a mild juicy slightly citrus flavour. (The strawberries just happen to be in the picture - they are not from the garden, but waiting to be a part of supper).

The strange black object sticking out of the sugar in the jar is one of several sticks of vanilla that live in the caster sugar. This was something my mother taught me - she always stored the vanilla sticks in the sugar. The perfume when you open the jar is amazing! 

I was baking Nigella Lawson's 'Mine-All-Mine salty chocolate chip cookies' this afternoon and took the opportunity to refill the sugar jars - light brown, dark brown, caster and granulated.

You are supposed to used all the dough to make one giant cookie, or two smaller ones. I made four; leaving out the salt flakes, and replacing the chocolate chips with walnut pieces, because why put salt on your chocolate cookies, and also because of  what was, and what was not there in the store cupboard.  

The consequences of clearing the loft continue. I was very glad to discover not only an apparently unused Parker pen, but also a box of cartridges. It is a slimline pen, so perfect for pocket in the diary/notebook I carry round with me.

McCavity was trying to make the best of the boxes still waiting for attention. That's the box with my 'dolls in national costume' and three sweet little blankets from my doll's cot on top. I think they were hand made for me, but I don't know who made them. Anyway, McCavity wasn't impressed and gave up quite quickly. 

And I leave you with this, from twitter - 

Actually, that verse has been one of the 'hooks' that I have held on to ever since I found out about having systemic sclerosis twenty years ago now, and has helped me stay positive - but every so often someone comes up with an 'inspiration' poster which is more than faintly ridiculous - unless you love dachshunds? 

Friday 8th October - Going, Going, Gone!

 It's been a wonderful week - we have cleared about a quarter of the loft into a neighbour's skip (with their permission - he said we could use it after his builders finished with it)

Such a load off my mind, such a load off the bedroom ceilings. We've still got twice as much to go. 

Public Service Announcement Number 1- don't put all the baby stuff into the loft - make your save/skip/recycle/give away/sell to someone else decisions before you consign things to the oblivion, grime, dust and damp of the loft! 

But I expect all you sensible people out there knew this already.

We have rediscovered hundreds of photographs going back to when - when - we don't know yet, as we haven't been through them.

Public Service Announcement Number 2 - deal with photographs sooner rather than later. Photograph albums. Storage Boxes. And write details on the back! 

Also my old Sindy and Madge (Barbie's best friend) dolls and clothes, a collection of dolls in national costume, books, trinkets, unused wedding presents, cookery books, all to be sorted into crates ready for their next destination. Regrettably that will be recycling or bin for very many of them, but I will salvage and redistribute whatever can be saved.

As you can see, McCavity is deeply unimpressed with the piles on the hearth rug. It's tough, being a cat and having so little say in the running of the household.

It is so true, that accumulating clutter becomes overwhelming in time, and induces a feeling of helplessness at the very thought of doing anything about it. 

Well the skip has gone. I'm regretful about somethings we skipped, embarrassed about others, which should have been recycled or moved on before they were ruined, but mainly relieved that we have made so much progress in dealing with a task that I was dreading.  

Dress day 35

I am still so happy with The Dress! Sixty-five more days to go. I bought some new tights - finally gave in to all the 'wow' reviews of 'Snag' tights and bought some - they certainly live up to the hype. 

Friday October 1st - A week is a long time

 I've been on the new tablets for about three weeks now, and the difference is staggering. It's not just that I can walk further when I do the 6 minute walk test, but it's the whole experience of steeping out along the pavement. At the end of 6 minutes I have walked nearly half as far again, and although I am breathing hard - too hard to talk - I'm not gasping like a fish out of water, struggling to get the air into my lungs.

I can now walk fast enough to keep warm! There's a novelty! I used to make sure I was wearing enough layers in order not to get cold.

The new blood pressure tablets are also doing their job - too efficiently, it seems. Gone are the puffy ankles that I was getting in the afternoon - hurrah! - but I am constantly feeling just a little bit woozy - as though I was in a boat, gently rocking on a calm pond. Luckily I take another blood pressure medicine as well, so, following a quick telephone consultation with the clinic I am experimenting with reducing it over the next couple of days. 

It is an extraordinary feeling, this sudden return to walking freely, no longer preparing for changes in gradients along the almost flat roads around where we live. Going for 'a walk around the block' takes thirty minutes instead of nearer fifty minutes. If I sound excited, it's because I am!

Anyway, enough on that topic - what else?

I have hopefully averted a minor domestic crisis - running out of yoghurt - by making a batch of home-made. Reading the Tracing Rainbows blog today reminded me (that apple loaf recipe looks good too!).

Here's the recipe I use followed by a couple of recipes.

 I now have a food vacuum flask full of the cooled milk and yogurt mixture hopefully doing what it is supposed to do; I shall look inside tomorrow morning. Another excellent topping for yoghurt is brown sugar, the darker the better in my view.

These pages come from a book called 'The Crafty Cook', written by Michael Barry. I have just googled his name, and discovered that he died in 2011; reading his obituary  I find that also had a career as one of the founding members of Classic FM - well I never did. We always watched 'The Crafty Cook' on television. It is where we first encountered Jilly Goolden and her enthusiasm for wine.

The state of the dining room table has been a recurrent theme in this blog; on Monday it became truly spectacular when we woke up to discover the boiler in the kitchen had been leaking overnight, and the work surfaces and floor and under the washing machine were all properly wet. Everything was decanted to the dining room all in a hurry and the engineer called out. Meanwhile the carbon monoxide detector started its plaintive beep - I'm sure that was just a coincidence.

He appeared later that day, took one look, stuck a 'danger, do not turn on appliance' notice on the boiler and started ordering parts. He came back the next day and spent the morning dismantling the boiler, fitting great complicated contraptions and then testing everything. Success - all done and he left by lunchtime taking his notice with him. We couldn't persuade the detector to stop beeping so banished it to the shed, pending the arrival of the replacement.

While the engineer was roaming around between the loft and the kitchen and everywhere in between, I stayed out of the way in the dining room, turned my back on the chaos and did some messing about with the paints. 

If all works out these will be greetings cards, once I have sorted out the splodges of colours using pen and ink. I'm hoping I will have a seascape, flowers, and autumn leaves, but I won't know until I have finished whether I like them. That's kind of annoying, freeing, and interesting, all in one go. 

I'm still doing the 100 day dress challenge... today is day 28. I've put on an extra layer because it's Autumn - just enough to not need a fleecy jacket. 

It certainly makes getting up in the morning simple; fresh underwear, current 'legs' and the dress. I have ordered some tights from Snag tights to make a change. I can't tell when they will arrive because I suspect I mistyped my email address on the order form. I very nearly succumbed to the idea of  the 'care bear collection' and also to the 'duo collection' where the legs are wildly different colours...