Friday 21st April - I have had some sherry. Expect typos

 The last three days have been heavy on admin, and heavy on zooms; only two extra zooms on top the of scheduled 6 piano zooms and one church house group zoom, but it seems that the effect of increasing numbers of zoom sessions is more than one might think. Still, it's the end of the week, and no more zooms until Sunday (church livestream, not really a zoom, followed by two 'chatty' zooms)

I've written up all the piano lessons apart from the two today. I like to leave a day before I write up the lesson - is that laziness at the end of the day? Or a chance to reflect on the lesson? Or maybe both?

I've written up and emailed the notes from the house group zoom, and printed a set to post/deliver to our non-internet member.

And - this is the biggie - I have started gathering together the facts and figures to construct a tax return... the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth as far as I can manage.

 It's not been all playing the piano keyboard and tapping the computer keyboard. 

I've been watching youtubes on drawing trees;

I finished my sketch-a-day journal on 1st April, and rather than buy yet another notebook, I decided to use my Commonplace Book for the daily sketches. I've had a series of Commonplace Books on the go for a number of years, to note down poems, quotations, etc etc and this particular book has pages which are able to cope with pen and ink, and watercolour (as long as it isn't too wet). 

Just before Easter I bought the companion book to 'Bored Of Lunch - Slow Cooker recipe book', which is 'Bored of Lunch - Air Fryer recipe book'

I had a go at the low-calorie sausage rolls, made with tortilla wraps instead of pastry. They were pretty good - we shared half for supper, and will have the other half for supper tomorrow. The picture shows half the batch. 

I didn't quite understand the instructions so this is what I did; I used half a dozen decent quality sausages (not the low-calorie ones specified), one egg, three large tortilla wraps.

Skin the sausages, and mix the meat with extra herbs if you like. Divide into three lumps.

Beat the egg to use partly as glue, and partly as egg wash (I wonder if milk would be as good?)

Take a tortilla, lay flat and trim off a little of four edges to square it up a bit. Squidge the meat into a long thin sausage and lay near one edge, roll up the wrap and sausage using a generous application of egg-wash to make sure the thing sticks and stays rolled up. Repeat for other two tortillas. 

Cut each roll into bite sizes - I got about 16-18 pieces - glaze with egg wash and cook for 11 mins at 200C. Not bad. I cooked them on silicone air-fryer liner which you can see in the picture - it sits in the basket and saves on washing up.

Some kitting today - the mitre-square blanket. I am slowly re-doing the cuffs of the socks in order to do a stretchier cast off, and that needs brain. 

No cross stitch - I am short on brain power today, and now that I've drunk that glass of sherry the brain power is going fast.

Saturday 15th April - A Good Day for Doing Things

 First of all (and this was a tense twenty-five minutes) I have started the heel of my sock;

Step one was to watch the Arne and Carlos video on how to pick up the stitches for 'the easiest sock in the world' - they make it look so easy...

Like I said, it was a tense time, with many pauses to check a) I was doing it correctly b) that my jaw wasn't clenched c) that I had remembered to blink my eyes d) that I was still remembering to breathe. Eventually I managed to pick up all 60 stitches, 30 on each of my bendy needles as opposed to splitting it between four needles as they do. 

More tension, as I unravelled the contrast thread that I had knitted in where the heel was going to be all those weeks and weeks ago

Leaving the stitches (31 on one needle now - how did that happen? And should there have been 32? Oh well. I couldn't see any dropped stitches anywhere....)

The next problem was 'did I have enough blue sock yarn?' The knitted swatch was a trial for another project, on larger needles, and weighed 1.5g. The little nest of yarn that I had left for the heels was 3g, so not enough for one heel let alone two. The ball of multicoloured sock yarn weighs 24.5g, so that made the decision for me - contrasting heels!

And I'm off!

The heel is going to be the most peculiar shape, as you just follow the instructions for the toe in reverse.

 Arne, or is it Carlos?, assures us that it will sort of round itself out with wear. I believe every word he says, I think... 

I've also cleared another couple of overdue emails, prepared two more tubs for veg planting and done a good deal of cross stitching.

Now why is everything centred on the page, and refusing to left align?

Wednesday 1st March - One of those days...

when the myriad appointments that were cramming my diary and my head melted away...

At 8am I thought I had 6 zooms scheduled; 4 music lessons, one family zoom and Book Club. Most of other book club members meet together face to face, bringing wine, snacks, cake and other delicacies, but they have kept the zoom component going as I am still not meeting people indoors except for unavoidable appointments. 

From 8 to 9 we did a full inventory of the freezer. We should really do this Every month, but at least there weren't too many surprises (HOW many bags of peas? One, in EVERY drawer?)

From 9 to half past we tidied away the last couple of mini croissants,  along with a cup of coffee.

From 9.30 to 11 I was going as hard as I could at the computer and managed to get the MARCH newsletter posted - it's at the top of the pages list. There for you to print off and post to friends if it is something that they might like. And also for me to print and post to a good friend as well.

11 was the first piano zoom, and I also received a text apology for the last pupil of the day. Just 5 zooms today then!

At 3 I started the family zoom, but ended after 15 mins as no one joined me. I can't say I  minded...

So, by 3.30 I just had 2 piano lessons to go, and now, in 10 minutes,  I shall find out which of my suggestions the book club will want to read.

Today has turned out easier than I thought....

Thursday 10th November - Still on top of things - How long can this last?

Ten days into November and I'm still roughly keeping on top of things.

Admin; writing up and emailing the note for yesterday's piano lessons, posting the notebook for this month's swap (my notebook partner's book dropped through the letter box today - hooray!)  

Housework; washed the windows in the small bedroom which catch the morning light and annoy me when the sun is shining and shows up every mark and smear. The cobwebs were something to marvel at - all due to that big black spider that scuttled into the crevices as my wet soapy cloth came near.  

Sewing for the post card project; it is a minor marvel that I am already part way through this month's design. 

Knitting; I'm suffering from second sock syndrome, you know, the sock I was going to finish last February? I've had a torrid time with it and in the end started again.

Christmas; What?!? I hear you cry! I've wrapped a couple of presents ready for a family meet up in a few days, so save posting them as one is heavy and the other flimsy.

Other stuff; I had a brainwave, and waited until I was alone in the house to explore my plans for a major furniture reshuffle involving me new desk, the ailing Roland digital harpsichord, my stationery trolley on wheels and a small filing cabinet on wheels. I managed to get everything measured, drawn up on graph paper and little shapes cut out for the relevant items before He returned from his work to find - well, it could have been worse. I had managed to restrict myself to paper cut outs, and not physically move anything while he was out.

The harpsichord needs a replacement power supply (Roland don't appear to make that particular one  anymore) and the power strip it plugs in to needs replacing as one by one the individually switched sockets have stopped working so only one is functional. 

So step one will be source the power supply, step two is a biggy, because the lead for the power strip goes BEHIND the tall cabinets to the socket behind the furthest one - there is a hole cut into the back of the cupboard at that point (are you still with me?).

As a gesture towards this, I have given up my wastepaper basket to become a home for all the knitting needles which were in the way.

But now, where shall I deposit all the little snips of paper and stray threads? This is perfect. Youtube to the rescue.

And here are the instructions. If, like me, relentessly chirpy cheerful musak drives you mad, you can perfectly well watch it with the sound off. Although there seems to be a cute little giggling baby on the track at one point.

Monday 24th February - this isn't a totally a-typical day, to be honest

Today I have...

Done a page of 'pothooks' - it seems to be a good way of starting the day
made a list of outstanding tasks
Then I got up...

taught a piano lesson

put in a prescription request

wrapped three parcels, each with a letter, written a letter of condolence, written two more letters to accompany large heavy parcels still to be wrapped.

written emails to eight music students, another condolence rmail, a long 'catch-up' email to friends, acknowledgement of receipt of a book, and a 'thankyou for your email' email

Updated an inventory spreadsheet for work

Read a bit of the Parson's Tale from Chaucer's the Canterbury tales in the course of looking up how to spell 'accidie', and then following up this quotation

Envye and Ire maken bitternesse in herte; which bitternesse is moder of Accidie and binimeth him the love of alle goodnesse.

in which the word is used, in order to discover the meaning of 'binimeth' (it means 'to deprive or take away')

gone through two more of my god-mother's photogrpah albums and dealt with the contents ('keep, send to this person or that person, dispose')

Telephoned NS and I tosee what I have to do about my god-mother's deceased husband's premiium bonds which we found in a drawer; 'no, there are no outstanding prizes for this bond holder, no we can't disclose how many bonds there are over the telephone, you will have to download and complete these forms'

Downloaded the forms to reclaim the bonds and taken a deep breath at the information they require

Discovered that I can get a copy of his will and related grant of probate from the probate office online for the princely sum of £1.50

Emptied another shopping back of stuff associated with clearing my god-mother's house.

Stopped for lunch! 

Afterwards, for relaxation, I

sat and did a few rows of knitting,

made a start on creating a papier mache box (out of a cat food box and some old sheet music) to hold my book and diary and kindle and so on by my bedside table - getting generally gunked with PVA glue is somehow satisfying after all the word-smithing of this morning.

It's three o'clock! I've had a coffee and three chocolte biscuits and am ready to go!

I'll finish the box, teach two more lessons (4pm and 6pm) and then it will only be a few more hours untl bedtime! 

Himself has not been idle - errands and shopping around town, shifting two book cases upstairs in preparation for delivery of a new mattress later this week, emptying a shopping bag of my god-mother's stuff, and cooking lunch. The cats are now vying for his lap; whichever one has got possession finds themselves being 'stared out' by the other one... 

Friday 20th December - Growing up - and O Clavis David

actually, I'm pretty good at folding fitted sheets these days, even king-sized double sheets  - so long as the process works first time. Otherwise I might just tantrum. I teeny bit.

I've been a grownup for quite a lot of today, filling in forms to do with my Godmother's affairs, phoning solicitors for advice, discussing bank accounts, and even completing nearly all of my tax return when it is nowhere near 31st January!

A lot of chocolate is needed to keep going. Fortunately we have a whole big box of Marks and Spencer chocolate truffles which I had bought to take round as part of my contribution to a Book Club Meal, but left at home,turning up with just a couple of falafels and a dish of marinaded tomatoes. So that has left us with plenty of chocolate to add to the daily Advent calendar ration.

Not ALL the wrappers are mine...  

I feel as though I have too many time-critical projects to complete and need to keep track of. I think this is roughly the order of importance now;

Christmas Food Shopping - deadline - in time to cook Christmas Dinner

Christmas Present Wrapping - deadline - in time to open them on Christmas Day

Funeral arrangements - we've set the date for early next year, but before then we need to arrange where to go for eatables afterwards, draft an order of service and choose photographs for said order of service. Actually, I've just sent the draft and photographs off by email. 

We've also got to arrange payment, part in advance, part afterwards, which relies on telling her bank as this is the only thing they are prepared to release any funds for ...see below.... 

Probate forms - deadline - sooner rather than later - this means completing a great wadge of pages of questions to answer, and copies of important documents to gather. We'll take it all down to the registry office, rather than entrust original documents to the Mail at this time of year. 

 

Bank Accounts - set up an account, fill it up with money, and then switch all the standing orders for payments regarding my Godmother's property, BEFORE informing her bank which has told us they will freeze her account once we tell them.

Tell my Godmother's bank about her decease - deadline - sooner rather than later - but after we think we have redirected all the payments.

And then, on my own account,

My Tax Return - deadline - complete and pay before Jan 31st - at the moment I am locked out of the payroll system at work so can't get some of the details before next week

Send out invoices and accompanying emails to pupils - deadline - 4th January or thereabouts 

This invoicing lark is always good for some confusion - from years of experience I know I am certain to attach the wrong invoice, or forget to attach an invoice, or send out a whole batch with typos and incorrect dates - I blame my artistic temperament (one 'super-spiritual' churchy friend informed me that he thought I had a Gift for administration - at that point he lost most of his credibility in my eyes)

Today's Antiphon

Latin: O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel; qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit: veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis. English Translation: 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.

Wednesday and Thursday 18th and 9th December

Here are the O antiphons for yesterday and today

or you can listen here for the 18th and here for the 19th

We spent yesterday, 18th December, following the Law, as it concerned the death of my Godmother; collecting paperwork from the hospital first thing n the morning, so that we could then go to the funeral directors to start arranging the funeral, go on to her house to check for mail and messages and collect photographs to use at the funeral, and then to formally register the death in order to acquire certificates and an all-important 'green paper' to authorise the cremation.

In the course of all this we ate most of a packet of chocolate Minstrels and half a roll of peppermints (as well as lunch in a one-of-a-kind gluten-free very very healthy-eating cafe which produced an excellent frittata and an interesting three bean chilli and sausage patty - not our usual fare, but surprisingly satisfactory at the time)

It was a long day.

Today was more paperwork and more telephone calls. Oh, and I haven't forgotten it is Christmas - there were the last couple of dozen cards to write! More chocolate has been consumed in the process (purely medicinal, of course).

I've been going through the couple of tins of photographs to choose some for the order of service. Back then, photographs were an expensive, rationed record; the tins are full of snapshots barely two inches square. I have found some wonderful and amusing pictures of my god-mother as a baby, back in the 1920s which have made the whole day worth while.

Going through this process feels like a new stage of becoming an adult - perhaps I'm just a late developer!

Saturday 9th November - Catching up

Catching up on what?

Teaching - 8 piano pupils this morning - because of car malfunction and then half term I haven't seen most of them for a whole 28 days - I counted up the days because one lad had practised the piano every day, scout's honour, which means 7 stickers on my tally chart to add to the previous 5. Since the incentive scheme I run means they get a prize for 10 stickers, he will get first pick of the IKEA finger puppets, the current reward;

It is quite a challenge to find prizes that are cheap enough that I don't mind buying them while exciting enough to be considered acceptable by discerning children.

I feel a bit guilty that one family of three siblings have no idea that I am running this scheme; their mother insists on them all practising every day (which is why the 5-year-old is taking Grade 1 next week, the 8-year-old passed Grade 2 last term and the 10-year-old is already working towards her Grade 4 next term) so they would be hoovering up prizes every couple of weeks. Luckily they will work for stickers - not fussy what sort so long as there are stickers.

I came home from teaching through the kind of autumnal rain which is direct, cold, and uncompromising. The autumn colours are still glorious - beech trees are the stars at the moment. The sycamores lost nearly all their leaves when there were a couple of stormy days last week. Once back, we stayed in for the rest of the day.

I've now got to catch up on paperwork, and also send the next set of emails-to-parents cancelling a day's teaching, as, on balance, we need to visit my godmother again in the next few days. Just to keep things going. The next few months are looking to be the most disorganised ever. Which is saying something.

Oh, and the other thing that is catching up with me as opposed to me catching up with it is the definite beginnings of a sore throat and cold. Which I intend to treat by staying in bed tomorrow; I was supposed to be 'sidesperson' at church (handing out hymnbooks and directing the traffic when it is time to receive Communion) but have managed to get someone else to do it for me. And that will be a time for me to catch up on my sleep too.

Thursday 31st October - Still in Europe

Still in Europe, but for how much longer? I don't even want to think about leaving. It has been such an ill-tempered, badly-thought-out, warped and distorted wrangle from start until - well, it's not finished yet.

Moving on, moving on...

If anyone comes trick or treating tonight I'm not sure what we'll be able to give them. I've eaten every scrap of chocolate, and we have no biscuits in the house. They can have a carrot - maybe that will help them see in the dark. I'm not a great Halloween fan, and I've never been trick or treating. Aha, I've just remembered - I think there may be some party blowers in the drawer left over from Christmas - just gone to check - yes. Good.

I've been at home all day. Luxury. Although I earned it by sending out invoices to the piano pupils. Then I discovered that I forgot that lessons at one school are meant to be £11 for twenty minutes, not £10. So I have diddled myself out of £25. I really can't be bothered - I made such a mess of last term's invoices that I'll live with the consequences.

The next big thing on the list is The Dreaded Tax Return. Ugh. One of the real pains is that my teaching year is September to July, and the tax year is April to April. I start a new register and folder and everything in September for the school year, and then have to wangle the information across two school years - which means two record books -  to get the figures. That's the bit I did this afternoon. I deserve chocolate.

Yesterday was a Major Achievement Day -  I stayed home then as well, and took on the kitchen floor. The kitchen isn't that big - I scuffled over it tile by tile, doing it pretty thoroughly, including the cupboard doors and the trolleys where the cats sleep and various things are stored.

But then, because I was working at floor level, I came nose to nose with the oven door. I like stained glass as a concept, and would love to have some panels in the house. But maybe not the oven door, even though it had become a pleasant caramel/brown colour, as in a good creme caramel desert topping. Unfortunately it is meant to be clear glass.

And here's some useful information; if you coat the surface of the glass with neat fairy liquid, and leave it to do its stuff, adding more from time to time, the fairies in the liquid will soften up all the grease and a moderately light effort with the nylon scourer will deal with it in a most satisfying way. Even the little hard lumps of brown-ness gave way eventually. See, see, lookee, lookee in the second picture above. Looks like newish.

The piano is looking very clean and dusted - that's because the piano tuner came yesterday morning. However the dining room table has reverted to its usual state of overloaded chaos. Hey ho. We should up-size; down-sizing is never going to work for us.

The triffid grows apace;

That picture is from yesterday afternoon. It was warm enough, just, for me to sit outside in the sun for half an hour with a cup of coffee;

   but I chose the chair that was further away from the triffid, just in case....

And now for 'show-and-tell'

I am immensely proud of having completed six hats for the 'Shoeboxes-for-Roumania' appeal; we will be packing them at church on Sunday.

These are crochet - I learned how to make them from youtube, and even how to start with a magic circle - whoop whoop. Our Canadian friends may notice the similarity between the smallest hat, on top of the pile, and a tea cosy in their possession...



These are knitted. I switched to crochet after making these, as sewing up knitting is not a favourite activity, and knitting them completely in the round brings other challenges when you start decreasing the stitches.

However, that's four lots of odds and ends of yarn used up, gone, removed from the house. Hooray and worth the effort.

Sunday 24th June - It's been a while since I wrote...

Looks like the last post was a long week ago...

I'm in that phase of the term where Summer concerts loom and schedules disarrange themselves. Which is what has been happening over the last ten days. I shall be S-O-O-O GLAD when I have reduced my school teaching next term. Most of the lost income from giving up those three afternoons a week has been reclaimed in piano teaching. Already. That's great, except I haven't actually given up the school teaching yet. Slight mis-match in timing? I should say so!

Which means I am currently teaching 59 assorted lessons a week, and instead of getting irritated when some of the piano pupils cancel, I'm relieved...

Assorted lessons?
46 x Piano, 2 x Recorder, 1 x Samba, 1 x Ocarina, 2 x Ukulele, 4 x Teaching songs for school shows, 1 x Teaching soloists for school shows, 1 x Theory, 1 x Drumming and 1 x Guitar. I think that's the lot.

On Monday last week I had the second of three annual osteoporosis treatments; an intravenous infusion of zolendronic acid. With a name like that it sounds as though it should cure everything. The actual treatment was a bit of a non-event, and I happily taught all the morning and evening piano lessons. Then, at seven-thirty pm, I just completely ran out of awake-ness, and had to go to bed. Just like that. Extraordinary. But I was fine again the next day, and the rest of the week. So far so good!

Today, the sour dough starter that I have been nurturing for nearly 2 weeks was ready for turning into a loaf of bread. Ta-da!

That worked ok! I've tasted a bit, and it seems to be a sour-dough loaf. I used the make-it-in-a-bread-machine process, as doing it by hand would have occupied most of the day, off and on. The remaining starter is in the fridge, where it is supposed to hibernate, not try and climb out of the jar. I shall have to find a larger container.

I'm still brewing up batches of kefir, so the fridge tends to be full of weird-looking substances, fermenting, or separating, or just in a jar.

The kimchi has gone though. I tried my version, and wasn't that enthusiastic. Then I had a brainwave - let's go to Wagamama and try theirs! We went last Saturday. Now, you can't just go in and buy a single side order of kimchi, so we had lollipop prawns, bang-bang chilli cauliflower, and a main meal each as well. I have to say I didn't like their kimchi either, so I've lobbed the lot into the compost bin. Let's hope the worms like the taste, otherwise I shall find a load of foul fermented sludge in there when I come to extract the compost! I was rather embarrassed when I came to pay the bill - I had intended to give a £4 tip, but unfortunately pressed the wrong button so they only got 4p. at the wrong time. That's a bit of an Oops.


What else to report? Ah Yes. Reports; I've been grumping over the amount of unpaid admin that seeps into my life, courtesy of "the office". Like music reports. Well, I've done them now, only three or four hours time. It's a rubbish system, getting the reports written, countersigned, separated out into individual pupils and emails to the parents and the school, especially for someone like me who is not gifted in the areas of accuracy. I've spent a good deal of the time double checking that the correct report is going to the correct person with the correct email address and the correct parent name... klaxon KLAXON DATA BREACH DATA BREACH but no, I think I've avoided that catastrophe... fingers crossed...

So, another week (or thereabouts) has passed, and I have just four more weeks and two days of this term left. And counting...

Wednesday 29th May - Pages and pages

I've just added a couple of pages, and changed the layout to put them on the sidebar, as they didn't all appear when I had them running across the top of the blog.

It's just so that I can keep track of a few bits and pieces.

The Knitting Project has been there for ages. It's taking a back seat at the moment, as The Tunisian Crochet Project is the front runner. I like it, because the short length of the crochet hook means that it takes up less room for carrying around, and for actually doing the crochet. This is an important factor when sharing the settee, or travelling on a crowded train.

I've been in the habit of writing details, or more recently taking a quick picture using the camera on the mobile phone, of any books that catch my eye with a view to adding them to "wish lists" or using book tokens. But then I lose the pictures or the notes. So now I'm putting them up on a page in the hope of keeping track.

I also make notes of interesting websites, especially ones which might come in useful at Christmas time. And then I can't find the bit of paper. Or the note-book I was using at the time. So, again, here they are. Until I accidentally delete the page. Or whatever!

Wednesday 1st August - Planning the First Samba Course

This has been a real slog through the paperwork, but I think I'm about there now.

Dates - sorted
Venue - booked
Flyers - err; two errors on the first run, so will have to reprint.
Session planning - complete
Public Liability Insurance - sorted (I'm a member of the Incorporate Society of Musicians which provides this as part of the membership package)
Risk Assessment - sorted
Costs - after a lot of heart searching, some research, and several changes of mind, fixed

this image, and the one above, from www.themusicjungle.co.uk
copyright themusicjungle.co.uk

Now all I have to do is hope and pray that some children actually come!