Sunday 5th January - Epiphany

Played the piano in church today - we didn't do 'The Thee Wise Men' as we are on a series of 'Being Grateful' which sounds SO less 'mindful' than 'Gratitude' which is what all the self-help journaling/blogging/self-care books and blog posts and what-have-you is full of these days.

Although, it does appear that looking for things small and even smaller, to be grateful for, does seem to increase one's sense of 'joy', not to be confused with mere 'happiness'.

So here's something I scavenged from facebook;

I'm expecting you all to work your way down the list and then you too can all be joyful. (Joke). (But not entirely).(that is, not entirely joking. Give it a go)

On Friday I met up for lunch with colleagues from one of the schools I teach in. They are mostly teaching assistants at the school, and a couple of ex-teachers. 'What a lovely people all they are', I thought, looking round the table. Endless patience and commitment to the children in their care, and some of the children are fairly tough cookies. One of the reasons I have given up class teaching is because of the tough cookies. I haven't the energy or patience for them any more.

We were meeting at a local garden centre, so while I was there I used a gift card from a student to buy a couple of hellebores (Christmas Roses)

I have treated myself to an Almanac for 2020

as a reward for NOT buying any 'this will make you super organised' planners and notebooks. It says that January is the time to buy and plant Christmas Roses, and you can see what colour the flowers will be. We have a lovely pinkish one at the front of the house. I have put these two down the bottom of the garden next to an over-enthusiastic primrose which came into flower just before Christmas. I thought I had a picture but no, so I will spare you that.

The almanac also informs me that I have missed a meteor shower (3rd and 4th) but there is so much haze and light pollution here that we are lucky to pick out Orion's Belt on a good night, let alone stand in the cold watching for meteors at 4 am. And this month's moon is the Wolf Boon, nad there will be a partial eclipse so when it is full moon we might just see it being a bit pink in colour. Pink Wolves... the mind boggles...

The last few evenings have been very companionable. He sat at one side of the table, and finished the Christmas Present u-gears car,

 and has now transferred his attention to a Christmas Present Wentworth jigsaw. The grey tray is a modified tray-table from Ikea, which he has been working on for the last couple of months in order to be able to fit the jigsaw on the surface. The bottom edge of the tray had to be removed, and a channel cut out, as the top-to-bottom dimension of the jigsaw is a few millimetres greater than the internal dimension of the tray.

Thes jigsaws are cut from real wood, not cardboard, and have little 'whimsy' pieces, cut into shapes of birds and people and so forth. They are a pleasure to handle, but surprisingly difficult.

I sat at the other side, and used up half a jar of cloves and an orange that didn't look as though it was going to be eaten up any time soon to make a clove orange (why? Because they were there.)

That photograph is a bit of a cheat; if I give the orange a twirl, you will see that half a jar isn't quite enough to finish the job. I'll have to buy some more tomorrow.

Now, today, Christmas has been taken down and everything is pretty much as it was three weeks ago.
The removal of the tree has revealed the next job on the list;

We bought these curtains from Marks and Spencers back in about 1981 for our last house. They were lined, but the cotton lining rotted away years and years ago, and now the polyester fabric is disintegrating. Thirty-eight years. I think it is time for new curtains, but that means a new curtain rail... watch this space.

What else? I might be thinking of modifying my New Year's Resolution regarding sending bags of stuff to the charity shop. My uncle had a rule; if he bought anything, then something had to go. Buy a new shirt or book? Discard a shirt or book. He lived in a tiny flat so space was valuable.

I wonder if I can do the same - make it even 2 or more things out, for any new thing in? I received four books over Christmas, and two pens. I'll start with the pens - that was easy; none of these work properly anymore and a local school has a recycling bin which might take them;

Have a good week! 



 












 

Sunday 14th April - Palm Sunday Catchup

This is probably the first of a series of posts today in random date order as I try to recall what we've been up to this week.

Both the orchids, which seemed so unpromising when I first received them, have really come up trumps. The little yellow one came from a pupil last year, with a couple of miniscule and unprepossessing flowers, has turned into a thing of delicate beauty. And see below; a couple of leafy stalks are now a feast of white flowers with pale greenish centres and a faint tinge of pink around the edges. 

It is a bit saddening to think that my Easter Holidays are halfway through - but gladdening to think that there is still next week and a bonus Easter Monday still to come, although all the Bank Holiday Mondays coming up are a bit of a headache when I'm trying to plan the teaching schedule for next term and make sure that the children will be ready for their music exams in June. Hey ho - que sera and all that. I'll take comfort from the fact that the child doing her Grade 1 at the end of last term has passed - hurrah! - and hope that this will be a good omen for the next batch.

We made it to church this morning - hence the palm crosses stuck into the flower pots - I must have a dozen scattered around the house.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Entry_of_Jesus_Christ_into_Jerusalem.jpg

The vicar used this icon of Jesus entering Jerusalem as an illustration in the sermon today; the picture on the screen in church was a bit small so I hunted it down when I got back. I love the stylised landscapes, the man in the tree (Nicodemus? probably) and the child with the very small bit of palm, which the donkey might be about to eat.

The weather has been bright and sunny, but very, very cold. T stayed in yesterday, doing a Christmas jigsaw - so seasonal, in a weird way, don't you think?

I was stuck for a while at this stage

  

Until I realised that the bottom left corner should be the bottom right corner (and the bottom right corner the bottom left, obvs) and then progress became quite rapid.

Not a very Christian subject, but definitely Christmas. We gave this as a Christmas present to my Godmother, and, as usual, she gave it back to us - every time we visit she clears some more from her house. This time it was two jigsaws and a canteen of silver cutlery. She's not very well at the moment; if you are a praying person, say one or three for her. We went on Friday, and are going to see her again tomorrow.

The crochet is going well;

I've decided that I shall make up a number of squares each using an entire ball, and then sew or crochet them together at some stage. I might choose different colourways - why not indeed! They are named after various artists and composers, and somehow Maria Callas is included. I've had to look up Gericault and Boccioni; I hadn't heard of them.

I think it will be a perfect 'portable project'. \Knitting is tougher to carry around because of the needles.

29th December 2018 - Jig-saw time

The Son has shown himself to have an extraordinary talent for 'impossible' jigsaws (no, this is not your opportunity to unload all those horrible jigsaws of baked beans or whatever that you have lurking in dark corners.) Back to The Son; while round at friends the other evening, he more or less finished off an 'impossible' jigsaw; the sort with 750 pieces and no picture on the box. All that was left was a large area of Black.

It was a marvellous sight to see him pick up, look, place, pick up, look, place the puzzle pieces apparently without thinking, like some kind of machine. The last few pieces wouldn't fit neatly; there must have been a mistake earlier on, but we decreed the jigsaw 'finished' so it could go.

I set about a 500 piece 'kittens in a sweetshop' which friends had given me;

  doing all the jars of sweets was quite fun, but then I was left with a few bald patches in the picture and a whole pile of fur. The Son completed all the kittens in fifteen minutes (I timed him).

Good-oh, I thought. About three years ago Someone bought 'The Puzzle That Burned The Turkey'. He and I got it out over the Summer, tried it for a day or so and put it back. It is FIENDISH. So, today the Puzzle Expert is cracking on through it;

Not a puzzle for the faint of heart; no square edges anywhere, and the picture is a fuzz and the pieces are a mass of interlocking snow-flakes, and what look like gnomes and bats. Son and Daughter are further on with it than we ever managed.

We are great fans of Wentworth wooden jigsaws, especially the ones with 'whimsy' pieces. I bought these little 40-piece ones for everyone (including one for me) this Christmas;

           
        

We also bought a larger, Christmas one, which is waiting for the Right Moment, and also one with cats that we gave to my godmother and she has given back to us because 'I never do them twice - you can have it now.'

Jigsaws might well become a new Christmas Tradition.

Wednesday 11th April 2018 - So what does my new car look like?

I realised this morning that I couldn't remember anything about what a Vauxhall Corsa looks like. Apart from it being a two-door hatchback, and being black. Something like this, maybe?  

anysnapshot.com

In the morning we did a bits and pieces - arranging the insurance for my new supercar, turning up to play for a church service/sing-along at a local home (standing in for the usual pianist; catastrophe averted - I was convinced it was on Thursday, but he was certain it was today - and he was right!)

Then into town to buy mundane essentials missed off the proper list, and to shift the money into the right account, ready to pay, and also a chance to have another look at a black Vauxhall Corsa, parked a few spaces along from us.

Turns out it looks more like this -

thenounproject.com

higher and dumpier than my old car, but plenty of room in the boot for the samba drums and djembe and all the other stuff I load up with in the mornings.

Lunch in town, then home to carry on with the good work - unearthing all the components for a Poang chair which is going to the new flat. In the process we have sorted out quite a lot of ancillary stuff - who knew there was all that lego in the bottom of the cupboard? And empty cardboard boxes and other stuff to sort into charity donation, recycle and chuck-in-the-bin.

We've also finished the jigsaw (and the cheese straws) this afternoon. A slight crisis - one of the pieces was missing;



This is the first time the puzzle has been out of the box - were we going to have to send off to the manufacturers for a replacement?

Turns out there was an easy answer; the piece had fallen onto the chair, and Leo was asleep on it.



It's a very pretty picture, with loads of "whimsy" pieces and trick pieces to add to the interest (and difficulty).



One to do again. It was surprisingly enjoyable, and peaceful, working on the jigsaw together - I foresee the beginnings of a new tradition of holiday jigsaws.

Thursday 5th April - Hello World

Apart from a fruity cold, I am feeling restored and revived after the exhausting efforts of last term - Hurrah!

I've started reading Ironheart by Charlie Fletcher, the sequel to Stoneheart. It's all a bit fast-paced and complicated,  and I would be surer that all will end well if there wasn't a third book in the series. At the moment no-one except the baddies are doing well.

I've knitted a foliage design on the scarf. I'll take a picture tomorrow when there's more to see.

I've learned the hard way that a 300 piece jigsaw is too fiddly for a tablet. I did finish it in the end.

We've beem to the garden centre to buy flowers for some friends, and more bird seed. Feeding the birds has become rather to watch. The expert in the garden centre recommended a slightly different feeder (at £3.50 it was worth a punt) and said the birds liked sunflower seeds best. So that's what we've put up, next to the old one, on a branch sticking out of the hedge.

I've done my 10-line drawing - honestly, just ten lines...

The squirrels have found our older feeder. Number One son caught it in the act. I've done the drawing from his description. Afterwards the pigeons waddle in to hoover up the seed scattered on the ground. The feeder goes from half full to empty in a few minutes.

There's a challenge...

Number One Son was in charge of tonight's meal. Chicken Satay - most excellent.

Monday 2nd April - 'holiday'

Yes, it is in a way.

I've spent most of the time since the end of term in bed. This 'teacher' cold and sore throat and snuffle is not a great problem as long as I stay in bed, drink water and coffee and tea brought up by my ever-loving family, and let time flow through in reading, listening to the radio, browsing on the internet and so on.

I was supposed to be going to a book club tonight and I am disappointed. I've been wanting to join since it started several years ago but it is not until now that I thought I might have the time to read 'proper' fiction and go to the evening meetings. But I have emailed to say I can't make it.

We've also abandoned our plans to drive off somewhere for a few days away, while Son looks after the cats. We were dreaming of finding somewhere to stay with sea views and gentle walks along the sea front from cafe to gallery to shop... but if all I'm going to do is curl up in a corner with a book while the rain pours down outside - well, we can do that more comfortably and more conveniently here at home.

Here's my ten-line picture for today;

Leo the cat is very much enjoying the time I spend in bed. She curls up beside, or on top of me, not really very conveniently. The advantage of using the tablet to draw is no ink, no water pots, no paints, no spills.

Online jigsaws are a good thing to do in bed;

No risk of losing the pieces or dropping them on the floor.

Right, this tablet is down to 37% battery now, so I shall stop here, and read some more of my book instead.