A few weeks ago we had another unexpected game of 'hunt the thimble reading glasses'. BB's reading glasses lived in a neat black pouch. We found them long after dark concealed in the door pocket of the car. The previous time we played the game they were discovered ling in plain sight on to of the shiny black printer. Like this;
We just about managed to see the funny side. It had been quite a long and intense rootle through the various accumulations of stuff after we had exhausted all the obviously obvious places.
'No more!' I decreed, and found an equally neat tan pouch for them. That was maybe a week ago.
Today the glasses went missing again. We have glorious light oak floors laid down by BB about 20 years ago, still looking good.
They are a remarkably good match for the replacement glasses pouch. BB is going to put some silvery tape on the case. When he's found it.
I'm so grateful I wrote Sunday's post on Saturday and scheduled it. My neck has been 'delicate' since Sunday morning. This is Day 3 of my list of thirty items (search Nine for November and I've chosen 'tree'. (I'm running out of typing time before my neck spasms.... grrrr)
On Saturday I was fine and we went for a walk to the pond and I took some photographs. Here's the willow tree I'm considering following next year.
My cunning plan is that I will have to walk to the pond (walking is good for me!) to take my picture. What luck that I had a tree all ready to post!
I've done almost no walking yesterday and today. Rather than breaking my step count streak, currently 580 days, I'm afraid I just reduced it from 1500 (I usually aim for 2000) to 250. Hey, it's my target, I can do what I like with it!
Time's up. Need to put this away and move my head around a bit.
That's one of the verses from the New Testament which I hold on to, even if I can't quote chapter and verse. I think there's a bit more to it, but those five words are all I need.
The verse often came to mind when I was with my father. He wasn't religious, and so the Bible was no comfort to him. When he was on his own, he was alone, and lonely. Especially when he was in hospital.
When I've been in hospital by myself, and sometimes really quite scared of the imminent procedure lined up for me (MRI scans, right heart catheters, drug infusions all come to mind) I've hung on to those words. I might not have had flesh-and-blood family-and-friend's hands to hold on to, but I know I've not been totally on my own.
The words came back to me again when I read a blog post recently from a lady whose hospice has had to end its weekly outreach/social meetings (those dreaded funding cuts). This was the only time she could go out and meet her friends there; now she will see her carers twice a day, and that's all. Oh dear.
I put 'send a postcard' right at the top of my Nine for November list in response to her post; many years ago I was asked to make weekly visits to an elderly and frail member of our congregation. My life was overflowing with commitments at that time, and I knew this would be the straw that broke my back.
'Look, Peggy,' (not her real name) I said. 'I know I just can't make that promise. But I can promise to send you a postcard every week, just to let you know I'm thinking of you.'
That worked really well. Occasionally I'd deliver the card in person, more usually I'd stand by the post box outside the school where I was about to start teaching, or before I roared off to the next one, pull a stamped addressed card from my bag, write it and drop it in. I did this for at least four years; I know because when Peggy died her daughter found a tin with over 200 cards inside, all from me.
So, for the first of November, yesterday, I listened to these Bartok folk dance, which I've known and loved for decades.
Today, for the second of November, I shall send someone a postcard. (Or rather I'll write it, and someone - guess who! - will take it to the post for me!)
Oh, the joy of a new month! New starts! An open door to a month of adventure!
Unfortunately it is still the same old me standing at that door, with same old weaknesses (could you pass me another biscuit please? Well, maybe two.. )
but I won't give up trying...
I used to do a 'write a blog post every day' challenge in November which my son introduced me to (you haven't posted in ages!) but since that habit has stuck, I'll need to think of something else.
I have read of various lists of prompts on various blogs, and I've decided to produce my own;
1 send a postcard
2 write a letter
3 send an email (chatty, not business)
4 make biscuits
5 make scones
6 make a cake
7 tree
8 leaf
9 seed heads
10 flower
11 child
12 woman
13 man
14 house
15 shed
16 office
17 sea
18 woodland
19 hills
20 parkland
21 Beethoven
22 Debussy
23 Bartok
24 red
25 blue
26 yellow
27 light
28 dark
29 dawn/dusk
30 circle
I reckon I've got nine categories. Nine for November. I'll do whatever I feel like for each prompt; find a poem instead of making a cake for example (fewer calories!), or photograph a tree instead of drawing one. Each one takes as long as it takes; 30 seconds, 30 minutes...
I'm not planning to do them in order, as long as I've 'done' them all by the end of the month I'll be content. Of course I could do some of them several times... the point is to have a list to turn to whenever I feel the desire to zone out and get sucked into playing Freecell
- what a monumental waste of time and brain Freecell is, why do I get so hooked in? 'Just another game, another game, another game'. It has, however, given me an insight into how people become addicted to online slot machines - 'just another game, another game, another game'. I'm more sympathetic to their plight
Well, Freecell has to stop, and mainly because I'm sitting here with such a painful stiff neck - no, don't waste your sympathy on me, please - it's entirely self-inflicted. In a way I'm almost grateful because it's given me the jolt I needed to take action.
Happy November everyone! May the month be full of lovely moments for you.
I'm 'following my tree' at the end of every month, so here's the October photograph. I'm so glad I took the picture on Tuesday; as you can see the sun was shining, the sky was blue... it's like someone threw a switch that night as it has been pretty horrible outside ever since.
The leaves on the tree are only just beginning to turn. The others on the far side of the stream, to the left, are already heading towards brown. This tree has always taken its time, coming into leaf later, and holding on to them longer.
Today we managed to get to the bank in between rain showers. I've been waiting to deposit some cheques but the branch has been undergoing refurbishment so I've had to wait a couple of weeks.
Walking up from where we parked, I spotted this;
It's not a real little dog! (I had to look twice to make sure)
We parked in a quiet road full of the most beautiful houses, it's quite the most desirable place to live, less than five minutes from the centre, but so quiet and calm.
Houses like this;
If you zoom in to the window above the door you will see what really caught my eye...
You would have to be very sure to remember to lower the blind before climbing into the bath!Following a tree
This one, from Ang for the 2By2 collaboration, is perfect.
She created it using autumnal shades of embroidery threads using a speed weaver to make a woven darn on aida fabric. 'A speedweaver?', I hear you ask...
One of these.
I've got one too... they take a bit of practice but you can make neat, intricate, and decorative darns.
She also made me a scissors case for folding scissors. If you nip across to her blog you can read all about how the patch and the scissors case were made.
I put the last few stitches into my 2By2 patches this morning so they will be posted when we go into the town tomorrow.
This afternoon I swiped through 'The Simple Life' magazine on the Pressreader app. My library offers both the Pressreader and Libby apps; Linby let's me read e-books, listen to audio books and read current magazines and newspapers. Pressreader is only for magazines and newspapers but you can read back issues as well. I'd be reluctant to buy Simple Life, but I enjoy flipping swiping through it occasionally.
An advertisement for this patch caught my eye;
Did they design it especially for me?
This morning I mended a hole in one of my gloves. I didn't have fine red yarn to hand, but there was a length of blue and white sock yarn in the basket... ah well, visible mending is the fashion at the moment!
There's an address to send off for the rest of patches...
It absolutely tipped it down with rain all day today. Those rather dreary backgrounds I made yesterday, each one about the size of a large postage stamp, were exactly right...
This is a selection of panels taken from the website. Well worth zooming in.
The artist is Jacquie Parkinson; you can find out more here. Several of my friends have seen the 'Threads - through Creation' exhibition that toured the country several years ago, so I was pleased to have the opportunity to see it for myself. But - this is a different exhibition by the same artist! She has a third series, on the book of Revelation and I think they could be combined in the future.
Each panel, as well as depicting a scene, also incorporates a small frame with a different bird, relevant to the scene. For example, bottom left, there is a magpie - 'one for sorrow'.
I would have liked to have spent longer... we won't be able to go back as sadly it closes on Sunday.
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