Sunday 30th October - The last stitch is in - maybe...

 Ang's postcard project arrived yesterday morning; what a box of delights! There is a cross stitch card with a tiny weeny little postcard for me to hang on my Christmas tree, and a cross stitch kit for me to have a go at - I have never managed to do a cross stitch project before, so that will be something new.

Oh, and, of course, the real postcard;

There were two pieces of stitching for us; one to mark the the death of Queen Elizabeth in September (how low ago that seems now)   

 

and the regular picture for the month. Ang has knitted a little flag - in lovely Autumnal colours too. It has cocktail stick 'needles' to hold the the stitches. Brilliant.

  I have just heard that the Royal Mail Union has called off the strikes planned for the beginning of November, for which I am very grateful as I have spent today finishing my own picture and will be able to post to tomorrow, so at least it will be in the post box before the end of the month. Just.

My sewing box looks like this at the moment, as I have been choosing threads, sewing with them, tossing the unused length back in the bx, scrabbling for the next colour and so on all day.

 Mine is the sort of picture that has no end, so I called it a day at about 9pm. I need to iron it to lift the fixion pen markings, write up the note book, collect up the 'flat present' and wrap everything for the post. Oh, and this time, remember to take a picture first! 

I won't post pictures of what I did until it has had a chance to reach Ang.

This was my previous effort, which I forgot to photograph before I sent it off; I tried to use 'blackwork' patterns to fill in the green leafy bits of the tree; harder than I thought. I am definitely going to think up something easier for this month. (hollow laugh)

This project is nearing the end; just November and December. It has been a lot of fun; I had no idea what we were letting ourselves in for. Whatever will I do with myself next year? 

Tuesday 25th October - Sort of sorted

 Yesterday was a BEAST of a day - at least the morning was.

Arranging flu vaccinations - check the surgery website. It looked as though they were sharing vaccination clinics with one of the other practices nearby, so I rang them (20 minutes on hold) only to be advised that no, if it is just a flu vaccination, not flu and covid, then my own surgery was holding the clinic. Rang my own surgery (20 minutes on hold) and managed to book for both of us.

I would ask those in charge of choosing the 'hold musak' to sit and listen to it for 20-30 mins, and then reconsider their choice - both surgeries had the same music,determinedly upbeat, repetitive, with a vicious backbeat (emphasis on beats 2 and 4). Do they choose it to discourage one from staying on the line?

Never mind. On to order some flowers-by-post for a neighbour. At the point where you are just waiting for confirmation that the payment has gone through, the screen froze... had it worked? or had it failed? I'll know when my Barclaycard statement appears - due any moment - but I think it failed and I'll order them again.

No problem. Next task - renew a subscription which has lapsed. Ah. My login was no longer valid - fair enough - but I couldn't create an account in order to put the order through as there was already an account associated with the email address. I fired off an email to the help desk...

One last task - sort out a query to do with a pension that will become due; it is a bit complicated so I did need to speak to a real person. Hey ho. Three minutes of going through menus, and then - deep sigh - back on hold. The music this time was not as offensive, but after half an hour it was time for lunch.

Lunch was the bright spot of the morning!

I got through to the pensions company after half an hour, and managed to stay civil and polite with the hapless man on the end of the phone, and everything is sorted now. After thanking him for his help, I did suggest to him that he pass on my request that whoever chose the 'hold musak' should sit and listen to it for half an hour.... he was non-committal....

The afternoon continue to improve - weather wise and pottering in the garden wise, so at least I went to bed in a happier mood.

Today I had a reply from the help desk, and following the instructions managed to renew my subscription - hooray!

Just the flowers left - I'll leave that for a while longer as it is not time-critical.

And Breathe - All done....

(10minutes2relax - Simple Beach)

Friday 21st October - What a slug-a-bed!

I didn't wake up properly until gone 8 am this morning, and stayed in bed reading and (should I admit to this?) browsing blogs, the  daily Persephone post, the BBC news website and even twitter. I might be there till, except my phone's battery symbol went red, and then the screen went black.

So here I am, watching the rain scudding across the garden. I had just nipped out to sow some pea seeds when the first drops fell. Still one day will be as good as another.

I have read that you can sow green peas (the sort you eat) and sweet peas now, in a cold frame, so that's my plan. Then you can have seedlings to plant out in the Spring - unless mice, who appear to be partial to any kind of peas, find them first. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Johnny_Town-Mouse

I plan to keep them in the plastic mini-greenhouse (the one which doesn't have any plastic left in the cover), which sits on an old table at the side of the house. I thought I might put cut-up plastic milk bottles over the pots as extra protection;

https://planterspost.com/how-to-stop-mice-eating-pea-seedlings/

I imagine clear plastic bottles would be better, but hopefully the white plastic of the milk containers will let in enough light. 

 

Wednesday 19th October - I'm on a roll! (It won't last!)

 Today is unexpectedly clear, as two of today's four music students have rescheduled.

I'm not complaining! But I will be tomorrow, when I deal with a fairly packed schedule, because that's when they will have rescheduled their lessons. Ho Ho Ho, I should check my diary before I make arrangements.

Thinks are getting done - I have been ordering stuff in anticipation of Christmas. I love ordering presents online or from catalogues; it feels like having a extra presents. When the stuff comes thumping through the letterbox I can have the pleasure of opening and oohing and aahing before wrapping itup and giving it away.

Today's haul was seed packets, and yesterday's was 'The Persephone Biannually' - 

a mix of short stories, reviews, news and the catalogue listing of all their books. Absolutely free; I like to get the paper copy so that I can carry it around and read it in odd moments here and there, although you can download it, or read on-line. The website is well worth a browse...

Monty Don was sowing broad beans in pots on Gardener's World the other day. He says to start them off in pots, keep them outside but protect from slugs and snail, and plant them out at the end of November or early December. So that's my plan. I've also sown some cauliflower seeds in pots, and now my 'greenhouse' - this version (I think it came from Argos originally)

is filling up nicely. It's not a proper greenhouse for two reasons; the cover is plastic, and as the contraption is about 15 years old, the plastic seems to have disappeared so it is more like a windbreak now. Somewhere between a cold frame and the great outdoors.

I've also got sunflower seedlings in it. I'm not sure what to do with these; they spilled over into a tray and started sprouting when I was refilling a bird feeder last week, and I didn't have the heart to throw them out. Can you over-winter sunflowers? Am I going to end up with 6 foot tall plants in the spare bedroom?  

I'm working on my daily step count, which sank to a disappointing number recently. I was even out at 10pm marching up and down the street to get the last 200 before bed.

Yesterday I cleaned the windows in front of my desk - What a difference! But the bend-and stretch and up-and-down-with-the-arms movements are exactly those which I find the most tiring. The bonus was that the step counter (on my wrist) got hugely over-excited by all the effort and awarded me several 100 steps. I accepted them with gratitude. I felt as though I had earned them.

Today I ought to hoover.... yup. I ought to do that. But then there's always tomorrow...

In case you missed yesterday's post, the October Newsletter is there on the pages in the sidebar of this blog. You won't see them if you are using mobile or simplified view, you have to go to the website. It's there for you to print and post to a friend if you think they would be amused to read the bits and pieces, and would enjoy a letter coming through the post.   
   

Tuesday 18th October - Boggle-eyed, but the October Newsletter is complete

 I spent a huge amount of yesterday sitting at my wonderful new workstation. At the moment I so enjoy being in this corner that I look forward to an excuse to settle down to some work, or, for that matter, play.

To my left on the shelves beside me are some sketchbooks, and the tray with paints and brushes. All I have to do is bring an old mug of water and I'm ready to go!

(Those wires and that long shiny black metal arm are to do with using a cheap kindle fire as a second screen when I am teaching the piano)

In front of me is the garden, looking glorious in the sun, the bees busy in the salvia, nasturtiums glowing like  - like - nasturtiums.

So it was a real pleasure, not a chore at all, to sit at my new desk and finish the October 'Print and Post' Newsletter. It is there! In the pages to the right of the blog post. I also got most of the November Newsletter ready; my aim is to put a page up at the beginning of the month in future.

October's takes three sides of A4 paper to print. I am aiming to keep each newsletter to around 3-4 sides. My idea is that you can, if you want, print it and post it so someone who isn't on the internet but who would enjoy the sort of chit-chat that goes on in these types of blogs.

The photographs, text and wonky drawings are all my fault work; I don't pretend to be a professional in any other these categories. 

Do please let me know what you think... (and if you spot any typos....!)

 

Monday 17th October - Double Surprise

 I have started the week in the way I probably won't manage to continue. One doesn't like to become predictable, after all.

We've got into the habit of 'Second Breakfasts' - a slice of toast or a couple of mini-croissants or  biscotti if there are any left in the tin.

Today I surprised Himself  with a second breakfast of a poached egg on toast. It was about the same amount of effort as making a couple of slices of toast and marmalade.

Step one. Read the destructions on the oh-so-nifty Joseph Conran microwave egg poacher. Looks easy enough.

Step two. Put a slice of toast in the toaster

Step three. Add water to the egg poaching thingy up to the line, put in microwave to heat for 60 seconds

Step four. Assemble eggs, plate, knife, fork, salt, pepper, butter. It's all close to hand.

Step five. Remove thingy from microwave, add egg, deal with shell, put thingy plus egg into microwave for 50 seconds.

Step six. Butter the toast, put knife, fork, salt and pepper on table, replace butter dish in cupboard and eggs, in fridge.

Step seven. Serve up perfectly poached egg to delighted husband. He needs the calories as he uses them up getting his daily steps and doing this and that around the house all day.

Here's the second surprise (which I haven't mentioned to him yet, after all, I didn't want to spoil his egg.

Step eight. Clean up the microwave after the lid popped off the every-so-nifty-thingy just before then end of the 50 seconds, so that the entire interior of the microwave was sprayed with little fragments of cooked egg white and steam.

I cunningly served the egg upside down on the toast, so the explosion site was hidden - it looked great as I bore the plate to the table!

And as the microwave was still all steamed up inside it was quite quick and easy to clean, while the toast for toast-and-marmalade to go with the coffee was in the toaster.

I still think this is the easiest method so far - in olden days I've done the dropping an egg into a pan of simmering water, suspending a sort of ladle in said pan of boiling water, tried paper pouches (messy) and other microwave egg poaching devices but I prefer this one... I reckon I'll go for 40 seconds next time and let it stand for 10 seconds... I'll let you know how I get on!

All very eggcellent, if a little too eggciting...

Sorry!

  

  

Saturday 15th October - A new workstation!

 I am determined that my new desk/work-station should not be just another part of a 'surface-filing system', you know the one, where every flat surface becomes a place where things can be put until you know what to do with them...

My old standing desk (well, not so old) has been passed on to a friend with a bad back, and we have bought an extremely cheap IKEA table and swivel chair instead. I now sit facing out into the garden to work, distracted by the birds busy at the bird feeder, working in a good light, with a chair/desk combination which fits my needs. Perfect.

There's still a fair bit of sorting out to do - I went through the shelves on the left and threw out nearly 20 years of teaching resources - lesson plans, printed copies of songs and heaven knows what - and just general paper accumulations. 

However, they appear to be as crammed full as ever... 

Likewise the redeployed kitchen trolley to my right,

 but I haven't gone through that with a keep-chuck-give-away head yet; everything is just stacked to clear the piles of stuff that were somehow shelved in the standing desk.

So! Happy, happy me. It has been 24 hours since the desk was put in place, and so far the only things on it are my phone, my laptop, a mouse mat and a mouse. 

Watch this space! 

NOW - AN ANNOUNCEMENT FOR MUSIC TEACHERS AND PEOPLE WHO MIGHT LIKE SOME STORAGE.... I have created a temporary new page listing some remaining music and stationery storage items - A4 plastic sleeves with holes punched in them for ring binders, A4 pocketed storage books, etc and if you want them, comment on the page with your address (I won't publish the comment) and I'll be in touch.   

Thursday 13th October - In memory of Betty - is this a good idea?

Many years ago, I used to send a postcard every week to a lonely lady, living by herself, called Betty. I said that I really couldn't promise to visit her, but I would send a postcard every week, and I did, almost without fail, for several years. I would pause beside my car after a hectic couple of hours of teaching highly energetic drumming classes, and, using the top of the postbox as a writing surface, take out a postcard, write a short note, stick on a stamp and pop it in. Such a small action, but more important that I realized at the time. When she died, her daughters found a tin with around around 200 postcards in it....

It brought home to me the importance of a personal contact. I am naturally garrulous, and enjoy reading blogs, following other people's projects and reading about their ideas and adventures.

But suppose I didn't have the internet? There's still the postcard project with Ang, which I am HUGELY enjoying (in spite of having spent the whole morning failing to sew a numeral 2 in my current stitching effort), and I also have a monthly journal/notebook exchange with another close friends.

So, in memory of Betty, my idea is to create a couple of pages of content which people could print off and POST to someone they know who has no internet access, but is the sort of person who would enjoy being in the chatty world of blogs. I'll try and make sure that all the content is copyright free, so no worries about that, and all you would have to do is wait until it appears, print it off, and post it to someone you think would enjoy browsing through it.

Of course, if you were to add a personal note, and maybe even a 'flat present' (Ang and I try and find small and slightly useful gifts to include with the embroidery swap) then now you have the makings of a lovely surprise for someone.

So, my idea is to try and get about 4 sides of A4 paper's worth of print ready. I would welcome your comments and suggestions. I'll let you know when the page has been added to this blog.

Wednesday 12th October

 Hello! It is October - half way through October!

What happens is I forget to blog for a few days, and then there is so much to say that it all seems like too much, so I don't post anything, which doesn't really improve the situation. Ah well. I'm here now.

This is a the ruins of Nymans - a favourite National Trust place for us. We were there on Thursday; a lovely, bright sunny morning. You can go inside the ruins - there is a whole house in there, concealed behind the original walls. We didn't go in this time, though; I'm still 'not going in' (as opposed to 'not going out' - where does that phrase come from?). When I do go round, I always look out for the old television set, placed inside a puppet theatre, so that the curtains can be decently drawn across the the blank screen when it was not in use. Harking back to a time when television was regarded as rather 'modern', and 'not quite the thing for cultured people' no doubt.  

I was rather miffed to discover that I had missed the start of Inktober. Then I realised, of course, that I have been doing a drawing a day since April this year so Inktober wasn't so relevant to me this year.

At the moment I am knitting woolly hats to go into the Shoeboxes for Roumania collection that our church does every year. I've knitted two of these adult sized stripy patterned hats now and am part way through a slightly smaller one in a thicker yarn. I don't know how many more I will get finished before packing day on 6th November. 

The basic pattern is so easy, called 'simple is best', free from lovecrafts.com. It is just all in knit stitch, on a circular needle until you switch to dpns for the last rows of decreases. 

You might be a bit mystified by the 'her time has come' comment at the top of the drawing. There is a sketch to accompany it, but I didn't want to post it; it refers to one of our two cats, Leo (we thought she was male when we named her). We had to take her to the vet on Thursday 29th September; over a couple of days it became clear that her joints were giving her considerable pain, and she was very unsteady on her legs. It was a snap decision (although we had seen it coming for several weeks) that morning. This is how she was spending most of her days for the last month;   

Of course we (and the remaining cat) miss her, but I don't miss watching her moving around so stiffly and cautiously.

Lots of other stuff has happened over the month, fun stuff like meeting up with the 'children' at our favourite farm shop cafe for breakfast last week, and less fun stuff like having the latest Covid Booster - my word, this one is a bit of a shock after the previous versions. Bu we were more or less recovered after a day or so.

I hope you all managed to watch the Young Musician of the Year instrumental and concerto finals; I expect you can find them on BBC4 catchup/iplayer whatever. Well worth it. The pianists would have made this look and sound easy...

My Grade 8 student and I are both 'working towards' rather than 'at the expected level' - to use edu-speak trying to persuade 20 notes in the RH flow seamlessly against 6 in the LH. Brain-bending stuff.

From Chopin's Nocturne in Bflat minor. I seem to remember it featured in a Lewis (or was it Morse?) programme about a girls school being apparently haunted by a murderous ghost...

 Here's Rubenstein's performance - beautiful.