Tuesday 31st December - Keep Calm and Carry On

 because the year isn't over yet. Today's a working day like any other... sort of.

We woke up ridiculously early again this morning.  It's bad enough that the alarm goes at 6 am (why? Dunno). But when you are both wide awake at 5am (why? Dunno the answer to that either) then the day starts Really Early.

And so it was that by 8 am I had see on the patch for the December collaborative stitching with Ang, (with no clear idea what I was going to do next)

bought some sock yarn (noooooo! I thought I'd told myself not to!)

and stuffed Lily

Lily belongs to my daughter and is probably 30+ years old. For years she went everywhere with daughter. She was in a pretty horrible state when I found her; the fur all matted and dirty, and thin as a rake, as though all the stuffing inside had collapsed. Turns out that was exactly what had happened. After she was washed and brushed, I performed surgery on her middle, and fished out a burst balloon! Not stuffed, but inflated! No wonder she had lost all her squishyness. 

After asking Ang's advice, I took a bit of wadding, pulled it into pieces and pushed it into poor Lily. She's looking pretty now, and pretty good as well. I'll return her to daughter soon.

Then, all semblance of 'normal working day' ceased. I've been browsing magazines on the 'Pressreader' app from our library, which allows you to read all kinds of magazines on your tablet or phone for free. Does your library offer something like it? Well worth finding out.

I've mainly been enjoying this magazine;

There's not a huge amount of content on the page, which makes it a restful read unlike most magazines. 

Some recipes, easy crafts, articles, lots of lovely illustrations and photographs... the inevitable 'hggye' article... worth a browse in a supermarket or newsagent, or a free read on pressreader at the least!

I've saved some recipes, noted some of the ideas, taken on board suggestions for Slowing Down.

Here's their January To Do list, or rather 'could-do' list...

......

My brother and his wife are visiting our father this week. No change,  he's still tired and confused.  The awkward thing is that someone in his bay of 6 bed has got 'flu... we'll just have to see how that plays out.

The corridor outside A and E had about ten screened off beds lined up yesterday and the day before. Poor loves, patients and staff.

.....

I don't think we'll be staying up to see the New Year in. An early night after such an early morning will suit us better! 

Happy New Year, whenever you get there! 

Monday 30th December - all done Monday

 

Yes really, and it feels really good. I made a To Do yesterday (and kept adding to it today) By 4pm everything on the list was done. Oh yes, it feels really good. Oh, yes, I know I wrote that already, but that's because it feels really, really good.

Now I don't have to remember to get these things done, especially the ones with approaching deadlines. Hooray! (Ps; this didn't include my tax return, as I managed to do that in the Summer!)

........

Driving to the hospital this morning the skies were clearing for the first time in days. Patches of beautiful pale blue sky appearing through pale clouds.

At one point there was an extraordinary effect, the clouds appeared corrugated, as the sky in front cleared. The edges of the long, horizontal lines were tinged pink from the early sun. I should have taken a photograph except I was too busy looking at them!

.......

Progress is slow for my father - but it's progress in the right direction.

.......

Strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow....

Sunday 29th December - Trees in Winter (2) / my oxygenated life

It's a bit faint and scrappy but I while away this morning's journey to the hospital jotting down quick sketches of branches and trees as we motored along.

 

The writing says 'every so often thick, oily, chemical tang of aviation fuel fills nostrils'.

It doesn't happen so often now, but it used to be that planes needing to make an emergency landing would jettison their excess fuel over our town. I think they make more effort to do so over the sea these days.

I couldn't understand why I suddenly became so ill walking from the car park to the ward. I was having to stop every ten, six, three paces until I seriously thought BB would have to find a trolley and take me to A and E... It was then we realised that although I had the correct flow rate set on the cylinder for walking, we hadn't switch the main valve on! Quel horreur; my o2 Sat's had dropped to 72%. He turned the main valve on, upped the flow rate and within minutes, literally, I was okay again. Phew. It was though nothing had happened. 

So, onwards we went... I  have to say that this isn't the first time we've done this. Luckily they've been few and not too often, and one thing about pulmonary fibrosis is I do recover quickly.

Father’s hip recovery; 

He has progressed to sitting in a chair; but finds it exhausting. So after a little while he was helped back into bed and we left him to sleep. 

Lead me not into temptation

We pass a gigantic Hobbycraft store on the way to and from the hospital... nuff said... this house does not need any more yarn... at least not until I actually finish something 

(but maybe...)

Actually, repeating 'The Lord's Prayer' every day would be a Good Thing to keep one 'on track'. Or even just picking a single phrase to keep in mind through the day.

Saturday 28th December - Trees in Winter

The advantage of having given up driving is that I am now completely free to look at anything that catches my attention. What I am being attentive to at the moment is the skeletal trees outlined against the sullen skies as we drive to and from the hospital. 

Every so often there is a bird, or sometimes several birds, hunched on the bare branches. As it happened, I recently read this poem in a book I was given, '101 poems to learn by heart' selected by Ted Hughes, which describes this. Here is the first verse;

Field Glasses - Andrew Young

Though buds still speak in hints,

And the frozen ground has set the flints

as fast as precious stones

And birds perch on the branches, silent as cones,

The poem goes on to describe the effect of using field glasses to bring the distant view closer, so that he can see the birds without creeping up and potentially scaring them away.

At first I was puzzled by the phrase 'silent as cones', but I then I saw that really was the shape of the birds in the furthest trees.

It's been quite misty, foggy even, these past few days. The clouds have been low enough to shroud the tops of the tallest trees. The way to the hospital takes us past the airport, and usually we can see planes flying low across the road, either about to land or having just taken off. (Maybe not so much today!)

It's a reminder to me that above those thick, dense, apparently unpenetrable clouds the skies are blue and the sun is shining. 

.....

My father is making progress. Slow, but definitely improving. 

.....

Friday 27th December - embracing the 'New Normal'

We are falling into a new routine... visit my father, then... that's where the routine stops!

He's doing OK, very, very tired and still mentally twizzled by all the meds. The physios came today as we were leaving so get him up. I thought it was a kindness that a nurse gave him some painkillers a short while before they arrived!

Kindle have got Nigel Slater's book 'Toast' on offer for 99p. That was a no-brainer. I read a few pages; I want to make it last. The first section is short descriptions of memorable food. I've copied this and added a note;

Still on the subject of food;

Choppy choppy, mushy mushy, squishy squishy, bubble and squeak. The last of the turkey/potato/sprouts sizzling in a pan. Of course the little patties half disintegrated as I turned them, and completely fell to pieces as I served up. But delicious, not withstanding the appearance. 

I've had a hankering for bubble and squeak ever since I was recently serves a 'refined' version; a neat and tidy little round of puréd potato with a little very thinly shredded green vegetable measuring a scant few centimetres across... it tasted of fried baby food, not that I've ever tried such a thing.

I like to think Nigel Slater would have preferred my version! 

Thursday 26th December - Boxing Day, and 'the New Normal'

That's BB's phrase for when we are jolted out of our cosy routine by circumstances. 

For the next few weeks I can see we will be trekking over to the hospital, about 40 minutes away, most mornings. 

We visited my father this morning. Once again he was ready and waiting for his hip operation. Apart from that he was very cheerful and doing his best to make some sense of things in spite of all the mess. And, 

praise the Lord and Hallelujah! (And I mean that seriously)

at lunchtime, we learned that he was definitely having the op. In fact my brother had got to the hospital just in time to walk beside our father on the way to the theatre.

All seems to have gone well and he's back on the ward and had something to eat.

We shall find out more tomorrow. 

Love, hope, peace and joy. And the white candle for Christ, the light of the world

I have eaten a whole packet of caramelised mixed nuts this afternoon while compulsively reading 'We Solve Murders' by Richard Osman. I have my eye on the caramelised pecans next...

And I need to choose which Christmas present book to begin...

Wednesday 25th December - Christmas Day

The fifth Advent candle. Christus natus est... 

Peace on earth and goodwill to all men.

.....

I have discovered that a really good present for someone stuck in hospital over Christmas,  perhaps at any time, is a battery-operated candle. We took one to my father this morning. He's still waiting for the op, hopefully today*. Meanwhile he can 'zone out' just watching the gentle flicker of the candle. He's too tired to bother with books or anything, but the candle seems to be something soothing to watch.

(When we switched it on, a nurse came rushing over, but then laughed to discover it wasn't a real one!)

We stayed for a while until he started dropping off, then came home for a peaceful rest 9f the day.

.......

Ang (Collaboration Stitcher) sent me a book of the sort of poems people always used to recite at Village Hall entertainments. You know the sort of thing, the yellow one-eyed idol and so on.

This one is near the beginning;

The wonderful confusion of poetry quite aptly describes my state of organisation just before Christmas Day!

Somehow, this evening, peace has been restored to my brain.

........

* the op didn't happen today after all. Tomorrow is another day.

Tuesday 24th December - 'twas the night before Christmas

 and I'm dreaming of a white Christmas an early night...

The most important thing is that my father is in safe hands tucked up in hospital. He has damaged his hip, and he will have an op soon to replace the knobbly bit on the end of his thigh bone. They had hoped to do it this afternoon but 'we've had a lot of hip fractures come in the last 24 hours so we need to priorize'. Quite. 

Whatever happens he will be there for several weeks, so we can make plans accordingly. His wonderful cleaner has already gone in with her magical machine and amazing potions and cleaned the carpets... imagine! On Christmas Eve! People are wonderful. 

We've cleared away the leftover Christmas decorations and what ever has not been done, can be done next year.

The hearth isn't as extravagantly tinselled up as in previous years, but I might add some more tomorrow when we get back from visiting my father in the morning. 

This afternoon we went for 'a wee tour' as my mother-in-law would say. I had a last minute card and three gifts to deliver, so we drove round, and then filled up with petrol.

Now we can relax, chill out, maybe pour a wee dram later on.

Thank you for your kind messages and prayers, all very, very much appreciated. 

Happy Christmas Eve to you all.

Monday 23rd December - the last O Antiphon

The Antiphons take us up to the 23rd... I'm not sure what follows on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Maybe I'll search and find out, maybe not.

Today has not been wonderful. We spent the most of the day with my 95 year-old father. He fell in the bathroom, second time this month. Last time it looked as though an axe murder scene had been in progress as part of an am-dram production  - my word, how a scalp wound can bleed...

This time, there was no blood, butvmore worryingly, he said his hip was hurting... by the time an ambulance arrived it seemed more likely that his hip is just bruised, rather than broken. 

He fell again in the afternoon just as the paramedics arrived, and he is now in A & E. We are both at home waiting for more news tomorrow. 

This is where my health situation really bites; I, and therefore BB, have to be so scrupulous in avoiding any chance of getting any kind of respiratory infection. I would dearly love to be there with him, but would need to take a trolley load of oxygen cylinders and also risk all the coughs and sneezes from other people in the waiting area. So here we are and there he is, and we just pray.

So no stitching, no reading, no concentrating on anything. And BB has been running in ever-decreasing circles, so it seems, all day.

23 December – O Emmanuel

O Emmanuel, our King and our lawgiver,

the hope of the nations and their Saviour:

Come and save us, O Lord our God. cf Isaiah 7.14

And from the Order For Evening Prayer 

Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sunday 22nd December - O Rex Gentium, and Christmas stitching

 I've decided to skip ahead with my Corinne Lapierre Advent Calendar to Day 20, missing out about 6 days. I wanted to see if I could complete the Christmas mini-scene in time for Christmas Day...

So this is what I did this evening.  I don't mind the fireplace being a bit crooked, but I don't think I'm going to be able to live with that settee being nearly on its side! I think I shall attack it with scissors tomorrow morning and try again!

There's a lot to add to this scene; about fifteen pieces to cut out and sew, and a fair bit of embroidery as well; plenty to occupy me over the next couple of days. 

.... .... .... ....

 22 December – O Rex Gentium

O King of the nations, and their desire,

the cornerstone making both one:

Come and save the human race,

which you fashioned from clay. cf Isaiah 28.16; Ephesians 2.14

These prayers seem as relevant today as they were all those centuries ago

Saturday 21st December - O Oriens - and December cover story stitching

Ang's parcel arrived this afternoon;

As full of exciting treats as an old-fashioned Christmas pudding. I've taken the photograph sideways on; her contribution is the band of patchwork along the bottom and up the right-hand-side. When the whole piece is completed and made up into a book cover, her Christmas message will be along the edge of her back cover. You might be able to make out the word 'IMMANUEL', meaning 'God with us'. What a lovely word to carry through the year.

The parcel also had a pen, bookmark card and mini knitted Christmas jumper ornament. Just wonderful to unpack all these goodies!

This my piece; it's based on my appliqué Advent calendar that comes out every year. I had some fabric left over from the quilt backings, so cut a square. I then used a bit of green felt from my Corinne Lapierre Advent Calendar and used metallic threads for the decorations. 

This is the real Advent calendar,  hanging on the wall. BB takes a bauble from a pocket every morning and hangs it on one of the assorted gold buttons on the tree.

There are a couple of glass angels, and a glass Nativity scene for Christmas Day.

Looking at the cover story cloths, I reckon there are only two places left. Then, of course, we need to have them up, and add fancy embroidery along the borders between all the patches. I'm really looking forward to that. It's been such a joyful project so far, much smaller in scope and effort than the cross-country collaboration.

......

21 December – O Oriens

O Morning Star,

splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:

Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness

and the shadow of death. cf Malachi 4.2

Very appropriate for the shortest day. 

Friday 20th December - O Clavis David

 Today was spent procrastinating again... but eventually I wrapped all the presents for son and daughter. We are meeting for a present swap this weekend so it needed to be finished. 

Sue shared this Brian Bilston poem the other day 

We don't have a cat, but apart from that this is pretty well how today went...

However I did get everything wrapped and packed ready to meet.

......

20 December – O Clavis David

O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;

you open and no one can shut;

you shut and no one can open:

Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,

those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. cf Isaiah 22.22; 42.7

Praying for those everywhere dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. 

Thursday 19th December - O Radix Jesse antiphon, and other things...

 The tree hasn't changed since yesterday;

Just tinsel, lights and star at the moment. The decorations 'laid out' (in a heap) before the fireplace is exactly the same too!

This morning I settled down with a lemon and ginger tea, my book and my to-do list. I read through the list, and read a chunk of my book, and that was all the Christmas activity I did. 

I dropped one of the dried orange slices into my tea; it did add a nice citrus flavour. 

Meanwhile BB did my father’s shopping, took it round to his flat and put it away, and fixed a ceiling light bulb that had died. 

Did you know that selling fluorescent light bulbs was banned in February 2024? Luckily my father already had a spare bulb in his cupboard. Getting an electrician to come and install a complete new light fitment one week before Christmas Day would probably have been... difficult...

Yesterday evening I added lights to my Corinne Lapierre calendar;

I'm considering skipping forward in the instructions (yes, I have been peeking!) to the bit which is most Christmassy, and then going back and completing the other bits. Why not, sez I. Each 'day' in the booklet is going to take me several days to complete anyway. I'm enjoying the calendar immensely provided I don't feel obliged to commit to the schedule in the booklet.

........

'O Antiphons' day three... (for more information follow this link)

19 December – O Radix Jesse

O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;

before you kings will shut their mouths,

to you the nations will make their prayer:

Come and deliver us, and delay no longer. cf Isaiah 11.10; 45.14; 52.15; Romans 15.1

Wednesday 18th December - bits and pieces, and the O Antiphons

I missed a Christmas Milestone yesterday;

The 7 O Antiphons are prayers that have been sung for hundreds of years at the end of Advent from 17th to 23rd December. The link will take you to the Guildford Cathedral site with more information.

Yesterday's antiphon was O Sapienta.

17 December – O Sapientia

Here's the English translation 

 O Wisdom, coming forth from the

mouth of the Most High,

reaching from one end to the other mightily,

and sweetly ordering all things:

Come and teach us the way of prudence. cf Ecclesiasticus 24.3; Wisdom 8.1

'Come and teach us the way of prudence' is the phrase that stays with me.

Well, I've missed the day, but never mind. I'll put a reminder in my calendar for next Christmas. 

18 December – O Adonai

And for today,

O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel,

who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush

and gave him the law on Sinai:

Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm. cf Exodus 3.2; 24.12

I like the thought of Jesus reaching out to me with an outstretched arm.

.....

Posting of Christmas cards, and also of the December Cover Story Collaboration to Ang was today's most important item on the to-do list. It was the last day for 2nd class post and I am so pleased to have done that. Just email and hand-delivered left.

Yesterday I completed day-number-I-haven't-a-clue for the Corinne Lapierre, all but for 8 white French knots. I added them this morning;

Once I've finished tapping in all my typos in this blog post I shall add 5 lanterns, one small branch and a string of fairy lights. That will be day-sonething-or-other completed!

I tested one of my Nigel Slater potions today, just a tiny sip at the bottom of one birthday liqueur glasses. Mmmm. Prunes and golden raisins in dessert wine. Like a sherry, but not as sweet.

The contents of the potion jars do look a little like medical specimens. I try not to dwell on that thought...

I only had a taste as we were about to embark upon Decorating The Tree. It's up, and lit, and tinselled and has a star on top. Tomorrow will be baubles and clearing up day.

Tuesday 17th December - Christmas Milestones

There are a number of milestone to pass on the toad to Bethlehem, or rather Christmas Day. 

Who is doing what and where over Christmas (especially my father) is a November mile post

Getting the Advent calendars to our children is one, also November

The Advent Ring - it's always wonderful if I can set it up before the first Sunday 

This year's is last year's outdoor wreath with electric candles arranged in the centre. So easy.

I have finished acquiring presents for friends and family. I'll need to wrap the ones for my brother's family by Friday,  and our children's before we meet this coming weekend. 

This evening I finished writing the cards to go by post; over 50 this year. This is always a huge block for me... but then I get into the swing it and begin to enjoy it. There were two treats to keep me going; I had a very small bowl of mixed nuts beside me and had one or two every five cards..., and I baked a tray of la-la-land oaty biscuits (that's what I've decided to call them.

There were twenty... mmm.

The original recipe was given to me by a friend, sadly no longer with us. She was so lovely, honest, good... oh dear. Don't get me started... just enjoy her biscuits. Memories can be sweet as well as sad?

Chris's Oaty Biscuits

In one large bowl mix together 3oz each of plain flour and rolled oats and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

In another bowl melt together 3oz butter or marg, 3oz sugar, 1 tablespoon syrup, 1 tablespoon milk.

Tip melted ingredients in dry and mix well. Add more oats if you need to. Roll into about 20 little balls, flatten and bake on greased or lined trays at 150°C fan, 160°C ordinary oven for 20 minutes or thereabouts. 

La-la-land Biscuits 

As above, but use SR flour and leave out the baking powder (because I'm lazy)

substitute granola or muesli for rolled oats, 

use black treacle instead of syrup. 

If using granola reduce sugar by at least half to allow for the sweetness in granola. 

Carry on as for Chris's recipe. 

I called them 'La-la-land biscuits' because in my alternate reality world view granola makes them healthy. Yup.

Monday 16th December - more losts and founds

After yesterday's post was published we watched a little more television  (no idea what now) and then went to deal with the battery operated candles. Not as straightforward as it sounds; the candles come from five different sets and use three different remote controls. Three sets each respond to the remotes they came with, but the fourth set are... different.

One remote switches them off when you press 'off' but another remote switches them back on when you press 'off'. The regular game is seeing who can extinguish all the candles with the least use of the remotes (and the least mutterings of unsuitable language if it is going really badly).

The Game didn't get going last night as we couldn't find on of the remotes... After 30 minute's careful searching we resorted to finding the on/off switch at the base of each of the eight candles. We were NOT happy!

We continued the search, to the extent of checking every waste bin including the kitchen bin. De Nada. Rien. Zip. Zero.

The remote turned up this evening under a small tin beside where it is usually kept. Cheers all round.

This afternoon I bribed myself to write the next tranche of Christmas cards today with a couple of very small home-made biscuits.  They're healthy biscuits, right? After all I made them with granola. (Please don't correct me! I like to spend quite a lot of time living in an alternate reality la-la land where granola biscuits and caramelized nuts are healthy and very good for me...) anyway, where was I? Oh yes, one biscuit for every 10 cards seems reasonable rate to me. 

Once I'd eaten 2 biscuits and written 22 cards (I never knew I could be an over-achiever) I stuck on the lost-and-found stamps which were still where I'd put them yesterday. There were four European cards as well, so I worked out the postage to put stamps on them too... but where were they?

BB had posted a load f cards this morning, and we reluctantly came to the conclusion that they had been swept up and chucked in the post box with the others. My relatives in the Netherlands and France were going to receive unstamped cards with extra payment fees. Oh. Sad face. 

But then! Lookee lookee - there they were! Happy face!

I really can't cope with such an up-and-down life for very much longer. Tomorrow may be the day I decide to lie down in a darkened room and listen to Bach all day.

Sunday 15th December - Advent 3; Joy

This is the Sunday we think about JOY.

I'm always looking for those unexpected joys in unexpected places;

In the church zoom I attend there are hymns and occasionally songs. Today we had one of my absolute favourites, which I have used in many a December class music lesson;

As well as enjoying the hymn I was remembering a brilliant music lesson with one of the most difficult year 2 classes I ever taught...

....

Half way through the afternoon I realised that had to get out, even if it was just a walk round the block. The sun was fitful, the wind was determined and cold, but we plugged on, BB  carrying thec oxygen cylinder to make it easier for me. To give the 'expedition' purpose, I wanted to drop a note round to a friend in the next road.

This is what we discovered growing in her flowerbed...

Violets, flowering in December! Oh me oh my!

....

I've at last picked up the Corinne Lapierre Advent Calendar again, and completed Day 10. Day 10! But it's the 16th tomorrow! I'm not going to let that bother me. I'm doing what I can, when I'm able, and enjoying the progress. After all, it's not supposed to be work.

.....

I managed for persuade myself to get started on the Christmas cards, and now have a small pile waiting to be posted. I had bought 50 stamps, but could I find where I had put them? Despair slowly crept in as we searched everywhere...

I remember extracting them from the envelope they arrived in, and putting the packaging in the recycling. Now I was thinking that bin day had been and gone and made, possibly, the stamps had possibly gone with the recycling by mistake...

Then the one unemptied bin in the room caught my eye, and there were the stamps... in the bin!!!

I've put them on the table in plain view. If I lose them again I just have to visit this post on joy.

Saturday 14th December - a little bit of Christmassing...

 As in printing off the address list, and writing one card.  One card? A friend dropped by to give me the cutest little little weeny poinsettia in a little glass container,

 so I hurriedly wrote her a card and handed it to her, with the ink still wet, while I made us coffee. We sat outside and had a lovely batter in the weak sunshine, while a wren - a wren! - was fossicking around ridiculously close to where we were sitting. 

I've also decorated last year's Bloom and Wild letterbox Christmas tree, well half decorated, as sadly half the tree died in the Summer when I let it dry out. It's outside at the front, against the wall, so the fact that half of the tree doesn't exist won't show!

I've just been outside in the dark to take a flash photo!

Friday 13th December - a day off

 Looking back, the past week has been pretty jam-packed. 

Today I coped with a 90 minute zoom, the first of FOURTEEN between now and SEPTEMBER 2025 

Based on this morning I would rate it as 'survivable', although I think I blotted my copybook when it came to the section on 'you can reward yourself for small victories'. I suggested a reward for having a healthy meal with a chocolate... 

Once I finished the zoom I pretty much clocked off for the day and did zilch, zip and rien. nothing.

Almost. I made some experimental granola biscuits... they need a bit more work; too crumbly. That didn't stop me from enjoying 3 of them. In my defence they are very small.

And a couple of trays of dried orange slices from some rather old oranges left in the fruit bowl. I've only just remembered them, so they've had some extra hours in the oven!

(Slice the oranges thinly, about half a centimetre thick, arrange in a single layer on baking paper and dry out in a cool oven - 90°C - for around 4 hours, turning them over every hour. Apparently they last for months in a screw-top jar. We shall find out in time).

No sewing, knitting, reading, Christmassing today.

Thursday 12th December - Real life has its strange moments

 The men, or in other words BB and my brother spent a sweaty half hour transferring the contents of my father’s storage unit from a compact unit to one in the same building that is twice the size... and less than half the price. How can that be?

The original storage company has been bought out, and I discovered that the new unit pricing structure has some oddities. We shall be making some use of the extra space ourself as part of our 'clearing the clutter' plan, so we'll share the cost of the unit. What a saving, though!

My Christmas present from my father arrived today; a flat-packed rose!

It's a 'letterbox' present. They are so clever;

It didn't take long to pot it up. I was able to achieve this without making any mess whill while sitting on the settee, using the cardboard packaging as a tray.

Here it is sitting in a space in the bookshelves. Never hear; the candle is a battery-operated one. In fact it is the candle we gave my godmother for Christmas back in about 2016 or 2017. After she died we brought it back to remember her by. It has a handy remote switch.

She used to say she liked to have it on in the evenings for company. The on/off button on the remote is very worn from her fingers. 

So, two unusual experiences today...

Still no Corinne Lapierre stitching today, but I'm very happy with what I've done on the December Cover Story Collaboration piece today.

This afternoon was completely consumed by a routine cardiology appointment for me. All's well...

Sleep well, everyone. 

Wednesday 11th December - nearly Friday?

 Well, halfway there.

There are various appointments to attend on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week. Each one wipes out half a day, sometimes with travel, and always with waiting and then with 'a nice cup of tea and a quiet sit down' afterwards. 

An old picture from November,  when BB brought the cyclamen in to show me 

This morning's was a routine follow-up at the hospital, not for the hole in his head (literally,  the consequence of his fight with the clothes drier on Friday) but another matter. It was all very encouraging, 'shall I give you a call in six months to see how you are?' asked the consultant. So we left immensely cheered up. Excellent. 

Tomorrow afternoon is my turn, a routine cardio follow-up. 

Then the final zoom appointment on Friday morning. This is the first of the 'diabetes course' that I unwittingly agreed to after the annual GP checkup. I don't have diabetes 2, but I had rather overdone the biscuits and chocolates in the weeks before the blood test. Oh botheration! I suspect the results would have been better if I had managed to exert a little bit of self-control! 

I thought I was agreeing to a couple of morning's of talk and education and booklets, like my friends and my father have done in the past.

 I am Deeply Unimpressed to find it is a 10 month course with 14 sessions,  90 minutes long!!!!! Horrors!!!! At least, being zoom, I can take my knitting. I'm not at all sure I will stay the course.

Anyway, with all this going on, everything except the December stitching took a back seat, so no fresh photographs today. 

Tuesday 10th December - lists...overwhelmed? Not any more!

 Yesterday threatened to become overwhelming. I was faced with a number of phone calls and communications of the type I particularly dread; arranging appointments, chasing medical tests, sorting out things in my father’s flat... those bitty bits which all have to be done carefully so that I get the result I'm after without too much difficulty. 

The first call to my father’s doctor started fairly stickily as you are supposed to request appointments on line. I knew this already, but for some reason couldn't get to the right place on the website this time. I phoned reception and in a   

v e r y      p a t i e n t    v o i  c e    

she took me through the website; then I asked which option I should choose for  a nurse appointment she said 

'oh, in that case you did the right thing by calling the surgery as we don't do those with the online booking system. Would 2 pm today suit you?'. I  was speechless.

 'Are you still there?' she asked. I recovered enough to thank her and confirm 2 o'clock was perfect. Which it was. One task done.

The next call to my own doctor was also a win; the blood test form I needed had pinged into my email before we had finished the call.

One by one the rest of the items fell from my list like nine-pins...

That was yesterday. 

Then there's the list of what I allow myself in terms of snacks and nibbles other bits and pieces through the day.

'Try and eat a handful of nuts every day' the irritating 'Being Healthy' app pings into my phone. (I don't think the handful of caramelised nuts I had yesterday quite fits their ideas of healthy. I won't tell if you don't)

Ping - 'Have an extra piece of fruit'. I usually have some prunes, and today I had a banana and a few grapes.

They don't seem to send messages about Advent chocolates, but one chocolate a day is on my list, also one biscuit and one very small bowl of crisps. Speaking of crisps... I  haven't had those yet today... mmm!

Once I've chomped through that lot during the course of the day then that's that. Until tomorrow... 

I went for the blood test this afternoon. Everyone else seemed to have decided to do the same as a way of filling a cold dreary November day. I was sitting crammed up to the Christmas tree. Was I the only one giggling because it was decorated with red rinsed and red baubles? Very appointment,  I thought.  There was also this cute little gingerbread person made from brown felt and dressed in scrubs. With a dinky little lanyard!

Another task crossed off the list!

Making a start, just a very small step, on the December collaboration is also a very positive step. I always find it difficult to choose and get going, but now I have chosen fabrics and cut them out I'm very much happier! I'll start stitching it tomorrow. 

I've sewn down all the little bits of felt for the Corinne Lapierre piece that I cut out yesterday. There's quite a lot of embellishment still ti do. 'Rules are for sissies ' is my new battle cry... I  really am not going to make myself finish the day's elements just because that's what the book says! Indeed, I welcome the thought of continuing with the Advent calendar all the way into next year!

Monday 9th December - this and that...

 My new very thin paintbrushes were delivered on Saturday but it wasn't until today that I had time to unpack them and try using them. The prompt for this page was about rain; these brushes were ideal. I'm still a bit heavy-handed with the amount of paint and pressure I was using, but with practice...

The white-handled brushes are the new ones, so much finer than my smallest older ones. 

And more Corinne Lapierre Advent Calendar.  I finished yesterday's sewing which was adding the ropes to the rope ladder.

Today was an 'easy' day, another 'blob' to be stitched to the lower right-hand part of the tree. However, looking ahead to tomorrow I saw that there are a number of pieces to be cut and stitched, and then details to be added as well! So I have done some preparation by cutting out the pieces. 

I pinned them all onto the felt for safety, but I deliberately hid the colours and placed them at random to keep it a surprise!

Sunday 8th December - Advent 2; Peace

 And how appropriate - to pray for peace, to be thankful for peace. 

After the adventures with my father yesterday and the day before, we are all grateful for peace in our home, and peace in my father's home today. I've been catching up on my Corinne Lapierre Calendar.

All the leaves are done, and the rugs for the rope ladder are in place. I should have added the 'rope', but that can wait until tomorrow. I have had a leetle peek at the next two days ahead; tomorrow is an easy day, but Tuesday has quite a lot to do. My plan for tomorrow is finish today, stitch Monday's and prep for Tuesday. We shall see. 

Meanwhile I am very grateful for a peaceful home, a peaceful life, time to indulge in 'leisure crafts'; a privilege which so many people all over the world, including in this country, this town, and probably this neighbourhood do not have. 

I was trying to think of 'peaceful' books to read; my first thought was 'Mrs Miniver' by Jan Struther, written in the year before the second World War began. Although it is about a time long since gone, the stories are gently, affectionately amusing, depicting a certain sort of life lived by a certain section of society in a certain way. (You do need to be ready for the occasional sudden and jarring reminder that some of the language is now considered patronising and even downright offensive. I doubt Mrs Miniver would still be using these expressions nowadays.)

An alternative might be 'Further Afield' by Miss Read; I haven't read it recently but if I remember rightly Miss Read travels to a Mediterranean Island with her friend Amy, who has concerns over her marriage. Actually, almost any of the 'Village School' series are generally peaceful; I found them so soothing I used to read them when I was overtired or unwell. 

And of course there is always 'the Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle' by Beatrix Potter; you can even have the story read to you on you-tube!

Finally, a slow quiet reading through Psalm 23 ought to be very soothing...

wishing you all a peaceful week...

 

    

Saturday 7th December - Resilience

So, my father’s back in his flat. BB fetched him this afternoon. 

He lives in an 'Assisted Living' block of flats, so the on-site Care Team, who already visit him a couple of times a day anyway, will keep an eye on things. He seems none the worse, apart from a dressing on his head and being pretty tired out.

We'll drop in tomorrow with some clean washing and see how he's doing. But so far, so good...

I've accomplished very little apart from a rather wonky spiced raisin bread loaf in the breadmaker and the Corinne Lapierre Advent Calendar. I sewed the two blobs - top right, top left - from yesterday,

and am most of the way through adding a nest (does that mean there will be a bird or two? Was that a clue?) and surrounding fiddly diddly leaves. 

My very small paintbrushes arrived today but I decided not to have a go with them. 

Tomorrow is another day.

Friday 6th December - not much done

Because too much has happened...

It all started sunnily enough...

I've got into the habit of prepping the day's sewing on the Corinne Lapierre calendar in the morning  and then sewing it in the evenings as a relax way of finishingthe day.. 

This is the only photograph I'm posting tonight. And it's probably as much sewing as I'm going to manage. 

In the morning we made the most of sunny weather to take my (95 year old) father out for a coffee at a nearby farm shop with a sheltered patio area. 

We were a little late setting of from his flat; the wheelchair, specially chosen to fold up particularly compactly to fit in our boot, was still sulking and being cranky. My brother, who has not had as much practice as us, said he had had to 'have a stern word with the wheelchair' to make it fold up on it's last outing, and so I guess it's feelings were hurt and it is still smarting from the rebuke. 

However BB managed to cajole it into acquiescence...

This afternoon has been too full of 'excitement'; my father fell in the bathroom (I absolutely refuse to use the expression 'had a fall', it sounds so geriatric) Although he seems fine, he's managed to cut his scalp on the clothes airer somehow. 

So he's been carried off to A and E, which is very busy as it always is these days. BB followed on in the car, having dropped me home first. They've decided that the best thing is to find my father somewhere where he can sleep, and send BB home. They'll phone us in the morning. 

So I don't think I'll be doing anything else this evening... early night is in order, I think!

Tomorrow we have to see about finishing cleaning the flat... scalp wounds can create an astonishing amount of mess... I WON'T be sharing those pictures!