Cold and grey here too, but mercifully no sn*w as yet (I don't think there's any in the offing, and am very happy for that state of affairs to continue. Indefinitely).
Work was quite busy - J had been rather productive over the weekend - but I got almost everything done.
Supper was pasta with prawns, creme fraiche and some greens that needed using up, but really rather delicious.
As usual, the snow got postponed to later and later, then cancelled altogether. So much for that.
Dinner was a bowl of Greek yogurt with cashew nuts, some past-its-best pineapple, and orange juice. I've been snacking most of the day. This evening will feature a hot bath and an early night. It's cold here.
We went out to a nice restaurant for Mr Heavenly’s birthday, where I had an oyster as a pre-starter followed by scallops, then halibut and a pavlova to finish. Accompanied by Sauvignon blanc. We walked to Cambridge and back in the fresh cold air.
It’s quite a busy week this week, today is the only one with nothing booked. I am going to make some soup for lunch and get my head round some papers ahead of a council meeting on Thursday, but apart from that I intend being fairly lazy.
We had snow yesterday, the light fluttering sort that didn't settle, so pretty to watch, but causing no inconvenience. DiL said it went on for about an hour, but it coincided with my nap time so I was only looking out of the window for about 10 minutes.
I popped out later to put my chard & sweet potato soup in the freezer - no snow to be seen by then.. A bit chilly though!
Seems colder this morning, but forecast is snow-free. Dry, possibly sunny later
Dinner was savoy, leeks and bacon bits braised in cider, served with mashed potato and followed by rice pudding (Mr RoS had a spoonful of blackcurrant and sloe gin jam in his pud)
Cold this morning. After rather a stressful day at work yesterday, I hope today will be more relaxed. I have volunteered to do some marking cover on a course I do not teach (but is within my specialism). So today I am reading the related course materials in preparation and planning my marking.
We still have the evil East wind, and the icy patches from yesterday have not yet melted, so I decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and cancelled my Pilates session.
It has belatedly dawned on me that I'm one of the elderly and vulnerable people the government is so concerned about (*Heat your rooms! Wear warm clothes!* - assuming that one can afford to heat etc.), and yet only a few years ago Johnson wanted us all to die...
Our wind is also evil and Easterly, however it is also a Good Drying one (and the sun is breaking through) so I've got two loads of washing dancing on the line.
The Icy Patches disappeared a while ago in some welcome Sun Shine, so I essayed a brief Expotition to Tess Coe for BREAD, MEAT, and PILLS (painkillers, to be exact 💊💊💊💊💊💊💊💊💊).
At least I've managed to get some exercise, which I am Resolved To Try To Do Every Day. I could probably have managed to get to Pilates, but it was still treacherous outside until past midday, so maybe it's better to be Safe than Sorry.
A much better day today, some of yesterday’s problems were overcome and I spent the afternoon learning the first part of a new module and planning the related marking.
Tea will be out of date venison which needs using up and some Mexican spiced quinoa which arrived as my weekly ‘surprise’ item with the food delivery. (I pay something like £2.50 to get a surprise item each week).
I've just put the bins out. It's arctic out there, cold enough to freeze the monkeys off a brass ball. My ancient thermometer is currently saying 38F and still slowly descending into the lower ranges.
I think I might have to go out and buy bacon. I fancy bacon, egg, and potato cakes for dinner tonight.
I must have got the wrong memo - I thought Cthulhu was supposed to be the epitome of evil? But he's actually a cute little pink octopus (at least that's what your emoji looks like on my screen)!
It's Quite Chilly (currently 3°) here, but with a reasonable absence of wind, so doesn't feel too bad.
I'm heading out shortly to get my nails unpainted (last hurrah of the green sparkly festive nail varnish) and repainted in a nice, sober burgundy colour. Then because by that time I shan't feel like cooking, a quick pootle over the road to get SCAMPI and CHIPS for supper.
Amazon are claiming they sent a delivery to me last Friday morning and the GPS coordinates suggest it's in a different road with a different house number. It's one of those roads that starts at e.g. 19 and has odd numbers up to about 35, while on the other side of the road they're even numbers that also start at a random point and finish when they get bored. 1 and 2 are next to 19, which doesn't help. I got a couple of strange looks for wandering around peering at doors in the dark as well so gave up and went home.
Tbh I think if whoever has it wanted to return my delivery they would have done so by now.
Anyway, on to bacon and tomato toasted sandwiches and a cup of hot tea. My nose will thaw out shortly.
Once again, I am grateful that all my parcels are delivered to the Arkland HQ, whose staff leave a note in my post-box to that effect, so that I don't have to wait in, or traipse to the Pestilential Po Stoffis, as Edward Lear would put it...
Obviously, I need to check my post-box every now and then, although most of the firms I deal with (largely through Mr E Bay) email me when an item has been delivered.
Cold again here tonight, so SOUP is called for, followed by Bed.
I got a couple of strange looks for wandering around peering at doors in the dark as well so gave up and went home.
I got quite a snappy "Who are you?" from someone when I was trying to trackdown a case of wine that had gone AWOL, I'm not very good at being snappy back but I thought that "I live opposite!" was as good as I could get. It got delivered the next day in the end.
Pottered to a friend's house for a couple of hours crafting. Sewed up a rather odd woolly (something between a shrug and a cardigan) while she and another friend searched the Web for costume wigs. These tend to be improbably blond and shiny and described as Renaissance Baroque Romantic Wig (so that's the last half millennium covered). What they want is 18thC, so really needs to be a powdered grey - like this. Which also shows you can never have too many plumes in your hat, which they were also working on.
Despite the cold( but no frost, snow or ice) I have in the last 30 hours walked into town three times, not for exercise but for other medical reasons. This morning the cold caused me to walk at speed so I guess that was good for me. I am currently having my annual medical review. I was not told to bring a specimen so that had to be produced and returned this morning. ( I managed to rip the magic bag in which the tube was meant to be placed.)
I was also recommended to do twice daily blood pressure readings. As it happens, Mr P had bought, but not used, a device for this very purpose. I needed the help of the grandson to set it up ( worse than setting an alarm clock at which I am singularly inept). Whilst he was here, I also got him to put the Christmas tree and decorations box up in the loft. I may have a good brain, but I despair at my lack of practical abilities.
Tomorrow I need to scan and forward various documents so I hope my laptop behaves itself.
Yet to go out but if it’s anything like the past couple of days, brrr! Yesterday I actually wore my ancient, 30 year old coat that got regular wear when we lived across the Channel; nowadays it only gets brought out when the temp drops towards arctic.
Out at the crack of dawn for the MoT and car service. This is going to be an expensive month, what with that and the storm-tossed fence, which my solicitor says I need to split the costs on. I'm also planning new carpets at some point. Now that next door have had new ones fitted with what looks like some seriously thick underlay, the noise level has dropped noticeably, which gives me hope.
I think after about 25 years the current carpets are probably due for replacement anyway. They're the sort of beige that never looks clean, which is depressing.
Didn’t cook the venison last night as it was too out of date. But I may as well had as I appear to have caught the winter vomiting virus and spend the night talking to the toilet anyway. Feeling weak and crap today.
The carpet fitters I'm thinking of have said that if I empty the bookcases and cupboards they'll move the furniture for me.
I may have to get this done in two instalments as displacing and replacing the contents of one or two rooms at a time will be quite a lot for one day, but if it adds extra soundproofing and looks cleaner it will be worth it.
Didn’t cook the venison last night as it was too out of date. But I may as well had as I appear to have caught the winter vomiting virus and spend the night talking to the toilet anyway. Feeling weak and crap today.
Ah, that's shit. You have my sympathy. I'm currently on about day 5 of the third weird bug I've had that's just left me feeling weak and crap. The most frustrating thing is that I get better as the day goes on, feel OK if a bit weak by evening, then feel crap again the next morning. Royally fed up with the thing now.
I have manged to speak to the duty doctor who's booked me in for a blood test next week (though as a regular donor I suspect anything sinister would already have been picked up), who suspects its just a run of What's Going Round This Winter, but I've had enough and I want it to fuck off so I can feel like me again. Sorry, not very AS language, but I need a blart.
Sorry so many of you are feeling crap at the moment. I hope you start to feel better pronto.
I've been out for a very nice, if chilly, walk with the Ramblers today. It was a walk round the next town along, mostly on tracks as due to the recent flooding most field paths are very muddy. There is still a lot of water around and the most direct route to the town is still closed.
This evening we're off to the local museum for a quiz evening. I have high hopes we'll do well as the museum specialises in the Civil War and one member of our team is an expert in that area.
Hope the quiz goes well. I have still not visited the Civil War museum, in the strange way that one tends not to visit places almost on the doorstep. Must rectify that.
After a number of false starts when there were “ too many attachments” I finally managed to send all the docs I needed to this morning, though I await confirmation.
As the floods have partially cleared ( there is still a vehicle stuck in a flooded pothole ) on the road to the woodland burial site, I finally managed to visit Mr Puzzler’s grave and found that the plaque I ordered last August has at last been put in place. The FD responsible had not bothered to tell me, but nor have they invoiced me yet.
Local choral society tonight, so a quick meal of spag bol from the freezer- the last of my stock of home made meals. I plan to cook a beef casserole tomorrow in the slow cooker.
( I told the practice nurse that I eat red meat only twice a week, but I underestimated).
Sending Getting Better vibes to all those of you who aren't!
Another cool but dry day here - the sort of weather On With Which I Can Get.
Supper was a risotto with sausages, shallots*, red wine and hazelnuts, and rather good - I'll do it again.
* It was meant to have fennel as well, but I didn't have any - and even if I had, I'd have been left with half of one - what on earth do you do with half a fennel?
Half a fennel? Veg soup. Stir fry. Pop it into a salad. Make the same recipe again and use the other half in that.
Fun day today with the MoT and car service. My car is old and this is starting to show now so £££.
I am also liable for half the costs of the storm-damaged fence in the back garden, which will be £££. Before all this happened I'd arranged to have a tree pruned. ££ or possibly £££. This is shaping up to be quite an expensive month so far. Holding off on travel, eating out etc.
Slice thinly, microwave until just al dente, smother in parmesan, black pepper and butter and finish in a hot oven. Better still, do the same thing with a whole fennel.
Exciting times in the North East household this morning. We are getting our oven professionally cleaned!
I am slightly worried that it is only the burnt-on stuff which is holding our oven together at the moment, and that once it's gone the oven will gently implode and turn to dust.
I don't know how old the oven is - it was here when we moved in in 2003 and not new then.
Take your bets:
a) the North East oven will return to its C20th condition, gleaming and efficient.
b) the North East oven is about to receive a shock from which it will not readily recover.
In other news, our milkman had a special offer to deliver a bag of rock-salt for de-icing paths along with the milk. It was a bit more expensive but a lot less faff than buying it from a shop and having to lug it in and out of the car boot, so I went for it. It arrived this morning, and I can't lift it. A quick google has told me that 22kg = 3.5 stone. I hadn't realised I was ordering 3.5 stone of rock-salt!
On the positive side, I don't think there's a hurry to move it. I think the chances of some passing thief spotting it on our doorstep and managing to run off with it are nil.
On the positive side, I don't think there's a hurry to move it. I think the chances of some passing thief spotting it on our doorstep and managing to run off with it are nil.
Given where you're likely to want to scatter it, the front doorstep seems as good a place as any.
Your oven can't be any older than the one I had in digs in Morningside. I'm pretty sure it pre-dated WW2; the oven had two settings - on and off. To grill, you placed your toast under a metal disc which was heated by gas jets. Except it was so corroded as to resemble something retrieved from a Bronze Age burial.
The weather app on my phone shows a forecast up to 9 days ahead. I will be in the West Midlands at the end of the forecast period.
The forecast for Friday 19th Jan in the relevant corner of the WM is showing a high of -3C and a low of -11C…
Have I missed the announcement of the next ice age?
4C here during the day (Arkland is in the bottom-right hand corner of Merrie England) and -1C at night, but at least it's dry cold...and feels much more like proper January weather IYSWIM. Forecast to last for a few more days yet, but at least Sauron's Fa*ts have lessened in violence, and the Wind is now a more gentle nor'nor'easterly. An Expotition to the Co-Op for luxuries such as SOUP, MEAT, and MUSHROOMS has been safely accomplished, but O! how tired even such a simple task makes me...
Just thinking I should get dressed and ready in case the newest contractor came round to look at the fence, when there was a knock at the door and there he was. And there I was with unwashed hair in night attire.
Anyway he thinks he can do the job for about a tenth of the price the last contractor quoted (!), as it's just a matter of replacing fence posts. And, I said firmly, the trellis panels. Um, he said doubtfully, don't think the landlord will agree to that. Were they on his side? Yes, I replied promptly. Which they were. So we'll see. The merit of that is that once things start growing, you have a 6' fence that keeps cats out and stops neighbours from leaning over pruning your own plants. I will press for this if necessary.
I've also misguidedly sent off for a replacement book for the Amazon one that never got delivered to me. The bot assures me I won't be charged, the confirmatory email says I have to return the copy I haven't received or I will be charged.
Lunch was leftovers special. Drop fine egg noodles into a pot of boiling water, throw frozen peas into a frying pan with a little oil, add grated ginger and garlic and chopped cooked chicken, seafood or whatever you have in the fridge and want to use up, add soy sauce and heat through, drain noodles, add contents of frying pan and you have a hot lunch ready in around 5 minutes.
If you're charged for the copy you haven't received, and therefore haven't returned, I suggest you send them the sum of One Penny (1p) in full and final settlement.
I remember that when I was working for the GLC about 100 years ago, my colleague and I called - on Council business (said he, hastily!) - on a certain Lady in Earl's Court (one of the mansion flats not far from the Exhibition Centre).
She, too, answered the door in somewhat attenuated Night Attire, and, although her hair was indeed a trifle tousled, I failed to observe whether it was washed or not...
Night attire for hair?
There was, once again a Rather Good Sunset here - and having done all that was required of me at w*rk, I actually managed to see a bit of it as I ambled home.
In further fridge-clearing exercises, supper was pasta with prawns (again!) but this time with mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic and creme fraiche - one of my favourite ways of doing it.
Comments
Work was quite busy - J had been rather productive over the weekend - but I got almost everything done.
Supper was pasta with prawns, creme fraiche and some greens that needed using up, but really rather delicious.
Dinner was a bowl of Greek yogurt with cashew nuts, some past-its-best pineapple, and orange juice. I've been snacking most of the day. This evening will feature a hot bath and an early night. It's cold here.
I popped out later to put my chard & sweet potato soup in the freezer - no snow to be seen by then.. A bit chilly though!
Seems colder this morning, but forecast is snow-free. Dry, possibly sunny later
Dinner was savoy, leeks and bacon bits braised in cider, served with mashed potato and followed by rice pudding (Mr RoS had a spoonful of blackcurrant and sloe gin jam in his pud)
It has belatedly dawned on me that I'm one of the elderly and vulnerable people the government is so concerned about (*Heat your rooms! Wear warm clothes!* - assuming that one can afford to heat etc.), and yet only a few years ago Johnson wanted us all to die...
At least I've managed to get some exercise, which I am Resolved To Try To Do Every Day. I could probably have managed to get to Pilates, but it was still treacherous outside until past midday, so maybe it's better to be Safe than Sorry.
A much better day today, some of yesterday’s problems were overcome and I spent the afternoon learning the first part of a new module and planning the related marking.
Tea will be out of date venison which needs using up and some Mexican spiced quinoa which arrived as my weekly ‘surprise’ item with the food delivery. (I pay something like £2.50 to get a surprise item each week).
I think I might have to go out and buy bacon. I fancy bacon, egg, and potato cakes for dinner tonight.
Happily, despite the evil East Wind straight from the Ar*e of Sauron, I find I have some SOSSIDGES to put in a Sanwidge for later this evening.
🌭🌭
Cthulhu is good.
🐙
It's Quite Chilly (currently 3°) here, but with a reasonable absence of wind, so doesn't feel too bad.
I'm heading out shortly to get my nails unpainted (last hurrah of the green sparkly festive nail varnish) and repainted in a nice, sober burgundy colour. Then because by that time I shan't feel like cooking, a quick pootle over the road to get SCAMPI and CHIPS for supper.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?sca_esv=596939601&sxsrf=ACQVn0-GDaWoN-SwSxmCJYN0OmiS5U9RjQ:1704822626661&q=cthulhu&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwijksSY79CDAxWphv0HHWpaAWMQ0pQJegQIDRAB&biw=1086&bih=523&dpr=1.25
If He chooses to reveal Himself as a cute pink octopus, so be it. It is His Will.
Whether or not He is evil depends on your POV...
Tbh I think if whoever has it wanted to return my delivery they would have done so by now.
Anyway, on to bacon and tomato toasted sandwiches and a cup of hot tea. My nose will thaw out shortly.
Obviously, I need to check my post-box every now and then, although most of the firms I deal with (largely through Mr E Bay) email me when an item has been delivered.
Cold again here tonight, so SOUP is called for, followed by Bed.
I got quite a snappy "Who are you?" from someone when I was trying to trackdown a case of wine that had gone AWOL, I'm not very good at being snappy back but I thought that "I live opposite!" was as good as I could get. It got delivered the next day in the end.
I was also recommended to do twice daily blood pressure readings. As it happens, Mr P had bought, but not used, a device for this very purpose. I needed the help of the grandson to set it up ( worse than setting an alarm clock at which I am singularly inept). Whilst he was here, I also got him to put the Christmas tree and decorations box up in the loft. I may have a good brain, but I despair at my lack of practical abilities.
Tomorrow I need to scan and forward various documents so I hope my laptop behaves itself.
Yet to go out but if it’s anything like the past couple of days, brrr! Yesterday I actually wore my ancient, 30 year old coat that got regular wear when we lived across the Channel; nowadays it only gets brought out when the temp drops towards arctic.
I think after about 25 years the current carpets are probably due for replacement anyway. They're the sort of beige that never looks clean, which is depressing.
Aquariums are our problem there.
I may have to get this done in two instalments as displacing and replacing the contents of one or two rooms at a time will be quite a lot for one day, but if it adds extra soundproofing and looks cleaner it will be worth it.
Ah, that's shit. You have my sympathy. I'm currently on about day 5 of the third weird bug I've had that's just left me feeling weak and crap. The most frustrating thing is that I get better as the day goes on, feel OK if a bit weak by evening, then feel crap again the next morning. Royally fed up with the thing now.
I have manged to speak to the duty doctor who's booked me in for a blood test next week (though as a regular donor I suspect anything sinister would already have been picked up), who suspects its just a run of What's Going Round This Winter, but I've had enough and I want it to fuck off so I can feel like me again. Sorry, not very AS language, but I need a blart.
I'm not feeling any too well today, either, but that may be simply due to the debilitating and seemingly endless *Beast from the East* wind...
No need to go out - the Coal Delivery today was overseen by Neighbour S, who I noticed was wrapped up very warmly (sensible chap).
I've been out for a very nice, if chilly, walk with the Ramblers today. It was a walk round the next town along, mostly on tracks as due to the recent flooding most field paths are very muddy. There is still a lot of water around and the most direct route to the town is still closed.
This evening we're off to the local museum for a quiz evening. I have high hopes we'll do well as the museum specialises in the Civil War and one member of our team is an expert in that area.
After a number of false starts when there were “ too many attachments” I finally managed to send all the docs I needed to this morning, though I await confirmation.
As the floods have partially cleared ( there is still a vehicle stuck in a flooded pothole ) on the road to the woodland burial site, I finally managed to visit Mr Puzzler’s grave and found that the plaque I ordered last August has at last been put in place. The FD responsible had not bothered to tell me, but nor have they invoiced me yet.
Local choral society tonight, so a quick meal of spag bol from the freezer- the last of my stock of home made meals. I plan to cook a beef casserole tomorrow in the slow cooker.
( I told the practice nurse that I eat red meat only twice a week, but I underestimated).
Another cool but dry day here - the sort of weather On With Which I Can Get.
Supper was a risotto with sausages, shallots*, red wine and hazelnuts, and rather good - I'll do it again.
* It was meant to have fennel as well, but I didn't have any - and even if I had, I'd have been left with half of one - what on earth do you do with half a fennel?
Fun day today with the MoT and car service. My car is old and this is starting to show now so £££.
I am also liable for half the costs of the storm-damaged fence in the back garden, which will be £££. Before all this happened I'd arranged to have a tree pruned. ££ or possibly £££. This is shaping up to be quite an expensive month so far. Holding off on travel, eating out etc.
The forecast for Friday 19th Jan in the relevant corner of the WM is showing a high of -3C and a low of -11C…
Have I missed the announcement of the next ice age?
Slice thinly, microwave until just al dente, smother in parmesan, black pepper and butter and finish in a hot oven. Better still, do the same thing with a whole fennel.
I am slightly worried that it is only the burnt-on stuff which is holding our oven together at the moment, and that once it's gone the oven will gently implode and turn to dust.
I don't know how old the oven is - it was here when we moved in in 2003 and not new then.
Take your bets:
a) the North East oven will return to its C20th condition, gleaming and efficient.
b) the North East oven is about to receive a shock from which it will not readily recover.
In other news, our milkman had a special offer to deliver a bag of rock-salt for de-icing paths along with the milk. It was a bit more expensive but a lot less faff than buying it from a shop and having to lug it in and out of the car boot, so I went for it. It arrived this morning, and I can't lift it. A quick google has told me that 22kg = 3.5 stone. I hadn't realised I was ordering 3.5 stone of rock-salt!
On the positive side, I don't think there's a hurry to move it. I think the chances of some passing thief spotting it on our doorstep and managing to run off with it are nil.
Your oven can't be any older than the one I had in digs in Morningside. I'm pretty sure it pre-dated WW2; the oven had two settings - on and off. To grill, you placed your toast under a metal disc which was heated by gas jets. Except it was so corroded as to resemble something retrieved from a Bronze Age burial.
Have you got a barrow you can manoeuvre the bag into, or something on wheels - even a skateboard would do? If so that might be easier.
Decant it into two or more smaller crates or bags?
4C here during the day (Arkland is in the bottom-right hand corner of Merrie England) and -1C at night, but at least it's dry cold...and feels much more like proper January weather IYSWIM. Forecast to last for a few more days yet, but at least Sauron's Fa*ts have lessened in violence, and the Wind is now a more gentle nor'nor'easterly. An Expotition to the Co-Op for luxuries such as SOUP, MEAT, and MUSHROOMS has been safely accomplished, but O! how tired even such a simple task makes me...
Buckets, lined with binbags (the buckets would be easier to carry than a bag).
Anyway he thinks he can do the job for about a tenth of the price the last contractor quoted (!), as it's just a matter of replacing fence posts. And, I said firmly, the trellis panels. Um, he said doubtfully, don't think the landlord will agree to that. Were they on his side? Yes, I replied promptly. Which they were. So we'll see. The merit of that is that once things start growing, you have a 6' fence that keeps cats out and stops neighbours from leaning over pruning your own plants. I will press for this if necessary.
I've also misguidedly sent off for a replacement book for the Amazon one that never got delivered to me. The bot assures me I won't be charged, the confirmatory email says I have to return the copy I haven't received or I will be charged.
Lunch was leftovers special. Drop fine egg noodles into a pot of boiling water, throw frozen peas into a frying pan with a little oil, add grated ginger and garlic and chopped cooked chicken, seafood or whatever you have in the fridge and want to use up, add soy sauce and heat through, drain noodles, add contents of frying pan and you have a hot lunch ready in around 5 minutes.
I remember that when I was working for the GLC about 100 years ago, my colleague and I called - on Council business (said he, hastily!) - on a certain Lady in Earl's Court (one of the mansion flats not far from the Exhibition Centre).
She, too, answered the door in somewhat attenuated Night Attire, and, although her hair was indeed a trifle tousled, I failed to observe whether it was washed or not...
There was, once again a Rather Good Sunset here - and having done all that was required of me at w*rk, I actually managed to see a bit of it as I ambled home.
In further fridge-clearing exercises, supper was pasta with prawns (again!) but this time with mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic and creme fraiche - one of my favourite ways of doing it.