Tuesday 12th March

BUNGALOW 

Well, thank you all for the excellent advice about the carpet and the gas fire yesterday! I think we will replace the carpet at some point, and get the fire serviced too.

I've thought of a Cunning Plan;

If the small bedroom and the spare bedroom are cleared first 

duplicate and elderly duvets etc, 

computer bits and pieces, 

high sleeper bed, 

books, clothes and stuff belonging to son and daughter

other stuff of ours

a couple of desks

 we can move into the spare bedroom, sell our king size double which would be too big and shift our furniture out of our bedroom. Then carpet fitting and a coat of paint would be reasonably straightforward. 

GARDENING

it's impossible weather for gardening, and has been for far too long. All the earth in my pots is saturated. I had a brainwave; I can plant my seeds; lettuce and broad beans at least, in paper pots and keep them dry (that sounds weird, I know) in my plastic greenhouse. So I spent some time with a heap of scrap paper and my paper plant pot maker. I have a carrier bag half full, plenty to be going on with, and have managed to ease my impatience to get started.

CROSS STITCH

nothing much has happened except that I have picked out the colours. 

KNITTING 

the poncho progresses. I have to knit to the end of the ball, and I might manage that tonight. Then the sewing up is very straightforward. I'm using 7mm needles so each row uses up quite a lot of yarn.

You know what I said about finishing UFOs and WIPs beforestarting anything new...

Today has been another low oxygen day; a mixture of this admittedly slight cold but also some broken nights. I went up for a bit of a - not exactly a snooze but the next best thing; restful afternoon in bed with a pot of tea and somethingto read and, oh dear, I have cast on some knitting.  

I love the colours of this yarn, but although it is double knitting weight, it is too thin for the mitred square blanket which is what I bought it for. Somehow the dark centre of the yarn cake has been staring at me for weeks as though to say 'what are you going to do about me?' Today was the day I cracked;

 There's a wrap, scarf, whatever, pattern on the purl soho site with the simplest lace-type pattern ever; 

cast on an even number of stitches,

For every row K1 * yarn over P2tog repeat from * to last stitch, K1

That's it. Simple. I just have to learn to love doing purl.

Monday 11th March

 

I read an article about 'popcorn brain' as I was idly scrolling on my phone this morning, and, well, if the cap fits, as they say...

I'd heard of, and indeed used the phrase 'butterfly mind' 🦋 which sounds rather pretty and amusing. But 'popcorn brain' - well, that struck home. It doesn't sound delightful or graceful at all! So I've stuck a post-it note saying 'REALLY?' to the inside front cover of my phone and this tablet in an effort to make me think about how I am using them. How much I'm using them. What I am using them for. If I REALLY? need to look that thing up now, right now, and having looked it up do I also need to check this that or the other as well. Today's gone fairly well so far.

Reading Real Books, rather than kindle on the tablet helps, as they don't seem to have an internet connection built-in. 

BUNGALOW

Although I have a particular bungalow, not even on the market, in mind, my mind is busy with what needs to be done, what could be done, and what we should just not bother with, in this house for whenever we do sell, whatever we do eventually buy.

What do you think? Our bedroom 'carpet' is actually a shocking mismatched patchwork of rugs laid ound the furniture and over the ruins of the original carpet. Under the rugs are now mostly holes in the original cheap nasty carpet, probably going back to the 1970s and very rough gappy floorboards. All the other floors are in reasonable condition. 

Do we just apologise for this one room and leave it to the buyers to fix? Or try and arrange to get a cheap beige carpet put down before we sell? Would a buyer see what is currently there as a deal-breaker or negotiation opportunity? 

And the gas fire in the sitting room. It's good looking, but not been used or serviced for about 10-20 years. This is a very warm house and we haven't felt the need. I suppose the first step might be to get it serviced and see if it is still OK.

KNITTING ETC

I  feel a sort of urgency to clear the decks of various unfinished objects, (UFOs) or works-in-progress.

In order; the poncho; the second sock, including adding the heel to the first sock; the Elizabeth Zimmerman adult surprise jacket which stalled out one summer as it was too warm for that kind of knitting; the giant granny square blanket which I suddenly got bored with; and a large count canvas tapestry cushion cover kit I bought to see if my mother could manage it after her stroke (sadly she couldn't).

I'm aiming to finish the poncho this week, and the socks early in April. As part of sorting out my 'popcorn brain' I am resolutely NOT fishing out the other UFOs this week!

CROSS STITCH  

I've done a bit of charting, in a desultory, scrappy fashion, enough to think 'let's thread  a needle and just go for it'. Dangerous stuff. But that's what I'm going to do!

GARDENING 

I've rescued eight Guernsey new potatoes from the fridge drawer which look as though they have some life in them, and set them to chit.

According to The Plan, I should be thinking about getting started with lettuces, radishes, spring onions, broad beans and potatoes in March. I've sorted out packets of seeds all ready. Now all I'm waiting for is some warmer drier weather.

We've also potted up the mini Christmas tree I was given at the beginning of December last year. It was very unhappy and fed up on the windowsill. We almost see it stretch and sigh 'ah, at last' in its roomy pot in the garden.

Sunday 10th March

 Binge watching 'boxed sets' - watching all the episodes of a TV show - in one go - is very popular. As is reading all the books in a series one after another.

I'm just embarking on the third of the Elizabeth Goudge books about the Eliot family, having read the other two in quick succession over the past few days. I reckon I will have finished it by tomorrow, abandoning knitting, sewing, everything (except food) to give myself up to reading. 

  

This is my second time through; looking at one of my Commonplace Books from 2020-2021 I noticed that I had copied a lot of passages that had caught my attention. I'm reading the books on my kindle, which means that everything I high-lighted last time is still there. This time, there are other paragraphs and trains of thought that I will be noting down. It interests me to see how a book changes focus in the light of multiple readings and the passage of time.

There's a strong theme running through all three books, which is hard to write down in a few words. In the first two books, several of the characters have had to commit to ending a passionate relationship with another person in order to behave in a way that is morally right; to keep their marriage vows, to preserve the happiness of their children. (Although moral and social values do change over time - I wonder if the Wallis Simpson / King Edward VIII business provoked the whole series of books) 

The lesson in the books is that if you wholeheartedly try and behave in the right way, even though you can't feel that way to begin with, you will eventually learn to become the person you are trying to be. It's certainly a different way of thinking to the 'me, now, first and foremost' way that is so prevalent today. 

And - as a musician and piano teacher - I know that constant repetition of the right way of doing things will eventually result in them becoming second nature. 

I have found this repetition of the right way to be true in life as well when I have found myself slipping into impatient, grumpy, lazy, bossy, or unwilling attitudes. 

Because of the strong Christian thread running through the series, they do make perfect Lent reading. And the romance of the story and descriptions of the beautiful houses and countryside are a bonus!

 

Saturday 9th March

A quiet day at home.

We needed that after a fairly busy and 'interesting' couple of days. A couple of my friends have long covid to differing degrees, ranging from years to months. They have all found that restricting themselves to no more than one event per day, or, for some of them, leaving a whole day between each event, is the way to get through while maintaining energy levels. 

There's a lot of good sense in adding in rest days into what might seem at first sight to be a fairly light schedule. Gone are the days when I could teach half a dozen whole class instrumental lessons in several primary schools scattered across the county and still cope with another four or five piano lessons at home, every day, every week!

So today has been one of those empty days in the diary, and I've been grateful. 

I started reading the first of the Damerosehay books by Elizabeth Goudge, The Bird in the Tree', a day or so ago, read the whole of the second one, 'The Herb of Grace' today, and started the third, 'The Heart of the Family' this evening. 

I also played the piano for a while, revisiting some of the old (and easier) favourites. I was pleased at how well I remembered them.

During one of the brighter moments in the day I wandered out into the front garden to look at the wallflowers. Happily the slight dampness of the paving didn't get through my hand knitted socks, (I hadn't bothered with shoes). Himself spotted that eight of the painted pebbles have reappeared on out next door neighbour's front wall, much to their surprise and ours. When did they get there? Who put them there?

I've decided to look at every room in the house and make a plan for decluttering. I'm starting with the bathroom... not much to do there... and the loo... even less! Those are the easy quick wins!

Friday 8th March

 It was a lovely bright sunny day today - to look at from the comfort of indoors! A brisk and very sharp wind swept away any warmth from the sun and swiftly cut through all my layers of vest, shirt, jumper, jacket, hat scarf and gloves to chill me to the bone when I briefly went out of doors.

However an appointment with the dental hygienist forced me out. She's very quick, very thorough, and very keen. In the course of 45 minutes of concentrated activity on my teeth I learned about her new book written for preschool children to encourage them to look after their teeth, why I should brush my teeth three times a day and floss after every meal, and more information about the evils of mouth bacteria than I am comfortable to hear.

I left with clean shiny teeth, ringing ears, and two weeny tubes of toothpaste. It's taken me the rest of the day to get used to my teeth; after holding my mouth open for so long my jaw wont open and close in the same way, and my teeth all seem to fit a bit differently. 

The book cover is finished. I had to add an extra band of patches on either side. I think the quilting had pulled the backing in more than I expected, so the area I originally marked out became too small. The patterned area is now 9" x 16" for my A5 books.

I'm now assembling the book cover; here it is pinned and clipped and part sewn. 

I think this method needs some more thinking about.

The bungalow move thinking is also going on... I keep looking at our bookshelves, trinket shelves, cupboards full of unsorted bedding, the shelves of piano music, the cello, piano, electronic harpsichord, djembe, saxophone, guitar, bags of wool and fabric.... shelves of craft materials... paints, pens, aaargh!

Noooooo! We need to Make A Plan. Or several plans.

Even if this bungalow doesn't come off, there Will be a bungalow move sooner rather than later.

Thursday 7th March

 A day full of events...

After Himself had finished shopping for my father, which also included restocking his fridge, examining a faulty telephone handset, checking out the plumber's work on fixing the loo and deciding how to neaten the finish he'd left, and collecting a biggish box of photographs 'which you might enjoy looking through'

there was just time to have a drink, put a few things in our own fridge and set off to meet some friend at a cafe on the seafront (about 40 mins away).

There was a brisk breeze blowing, but bright sun took some of the chill off, hat, scarves, gloves and thick trousers and jackets helping as well. It was very enjoyable sitting out, and also gave Himself and opportunity to scope out wheelchair access and the condition of the seafront path - both good enough to bring my father on the best sunny day.

Home, for a late lunch of fish and chips (supermarket, not chippy).

I settled down to a bit of book cover sewing. The final patched are pinned into place, and a couple of mistakes have been oversown to fix them

It looks a bit of a riot at the moment, and I photographed it draped over my lap so it's not showing its best. We shall see.

Then a surprise phone call... a good friend of a good friend died recently after being under the weather since November and then progressively more ill until her final few weeks in our local hospice. Her bungalow is in our road... we had said, as you do (or maybe you don't?) that her bungalow 'might be the sort of place that we could want in the future' as I am finding stairs increasingly demanding.  I'm OK for now, but you don't need a crystal ball to see how things are was going.

Anyway, our friend had permission to show us round... it is the sort of place that would suit us very well indeed... suddenly thoughts begin to become more solid... and the amount of work to downsize from 3 bed house to 2 bed bungalow takes on a slice of reality... We even measured a wall... 

We came home from this with our heads spinning...