Prayers ascending and trotters firmly crossed, Sanders!
I had a decently busy day (and finished my last voice file at ten to five ), and felt more tired than hungry when I got home, so I vegged for a bit before having the other half of the SOUP, with some bread and CHEESE, for supper.
House of Games, more vegging and the Grauniad crossword are beckoning.
I did the usual Monday admin, then marked a few essays this afternoon before doing a couple of hours proof-reading the essay and doing the main referencing. Just the bibliography to do tomorrow (after marking yet more essays) and I can submit it.
Lots of plants arrived so that’s something to look forward to.
Tea was gnocchi stuffed with Gorgonzola, topped with Parmesan, which was rather nice. Now having a glass of pink fizz.
I was up and ready by 8 am but the carrier didn’t arrive till 2.30. Two boxes of books now gone.
I spent much time preparing new music for tonight, mainly pieces by Gabrielli ( father and son) plus Lotti, Schütz and others. I am used to singing this sort of music in a much smaller group than our large choir.
At rehearsal we were also given news that Carl Rütti has been commissioned to compose a work for us, to be performed in Autumn 2026. We sang his Requiem last year. He attended in person, so we obviously impressed him.
I have a free day tomorrow so I am trying to decide where to go, as the forecast is decent.
I'm currently awaiting my grocery delivery from Sainz Breeze. It's a huge one this week as we have visitors arriving tomorrow, staying until Sunday. I'll then be doing some more towards getting the spare room guest-ready and heading out to lunch with a friend, then coffee and catch up with some other friends.
We've had a dramatic start to the day. The NE Man, smartly suited for work pursuing his post-retirement interests in his former workplace, put a bottle of milk back into the fridge, and the whole door shelf, which holds the milk bottles, dropped out. The glass milk bottles smashed into dozens of pieces when they hit the floor, and splashes of milk went everywhere. Including the NE Man's trousers, jacket and shirt.
End result - dozens of bits of broken glass in a puddle of two pints of milk and some orange juice, and milk splashed on the kitchen table, chairs, worktop, bread bin...
I've measured and the milk on the bread bin travelled 6ft.
I'm currently looking for a nice podcast to enjoy while I undertake a comprehensive clean up. The NE Man has headed off, looking less smart in his second-best suit.
Having once caught a mug of coffee on a microwave door I can testify that flying liquid has an amazing capacity to travel great distances.
A bright sunny morning here, so once I've had my (carefully removed) coffee and Mr F has gone off to the U3a group on military history, I will hit the garden.
Having once caught a mug of coffee on a microwave door I can testify that flying liquid has an amazing capacity to travel great distances.
As do glass fragments. What a to-do!
Anyone remember those smoked glass mugs you used to get from service stations?*
I took a jug of milk out of the fridge once and, as I put it down on the worktop, the mug exploded into a shower of tiny glass blocks like a car windscreen! I can only assume that I caught the edge with the bottom of the jug and, being obviously toughened glass, it just disintegrated. Really quite scary - and yes, it went a very long way.
I'm here in Heidelberg, it's warm and sunny. The journey here was faultless, no waiting at any point. Car-plane-bus-train-train-car. That's really unusual. We are picking our little five year old granddaughter from kindergarten soon to go in town for shopping, playground and ice cream. That's the joy of not starting school until seven years old - freedom! 🙂
A productive day here, with no breakages. I have put the weekly shop away, taken a walk and indulged in a spot of gardening. Since then I have completed and submitted my essay and done some work, mainly via email. I’m just going to have some lunch before getting down to the usual marking.
Presumably Mrs Rogue does not enjoy the benefit...
Mild and mostly overcast in Arkland the Calm. Pilates has again been survived (a good session this week - my hip flexors are behaving themselves), and a little bit of Shopp Ing has been achieved.
I'm pleased to report that there have so far been no breakages or messy mishaps at Casa Nen. Our visitors arrive tomorrow and this has galvanised Mr Nen into sorting-and-getting-stuff-to-the-charity-shop mode. The spare room is now almost guest-ready. I've been out and about for most of the day.
A very lazy day here. A visit to a Building Society this morning and a snooze this afternoon. I did get the ingredients for dinner on the way home from the Building Society and made a pearl barley and butternut squash traybake.
It was warm and pleasant in West Lothian too - it got up to 15° earlier!
After a mixed day of busyness and doing-what-I-do when-I've-finished-everything-else, a nice amble home in the evening sunshine.
Supper was something called "marry me chickpeas"* which popped up unbidden on Farcebark or Google the other day; I thought, "that looks rather nice" and it was. I slightly over-salted it (my besetting sin when cooking), so I think for the second act, I'll add a packet of defrosted prawns, which will probably absorb some of the saltiness.
* I think it's the veggie version of "marry me chicken", which I might try some time too.
This afternoon will be the second meeting of my new Scrabble group, and local choral society this evening.
Spag bol , using pre-made sauce from freezer as it’s quick and easy. Tomorrow I must remember to eat properly at lunch time as it’s choir practice at 6.15. Off to Aldi now to restock.
I used to make a dish that looked very similar to "marry me chickpeas" until Mr Nen declared that "My heart sinks when it's that for tea." Consequently I never made it again. Recently he listened to a podcast about the health benefits of eating pulses and asked if we could "try eating chickpeas." He was surprised to learn from me that he doesn't like them :rolleyes: .
I've been doing Domestic Goddess things since early this morning; the spare room is now guest-ready. Mr Nen has been for a run and will soon be heading for the airport to collect our visitors.
Glad you had a smooth journey @Boogie and hope you enjoy some lovely time with your precious family .
Hope you have a fab few days with your visitors @nenya.
I'm shortly out on a walk with the Ramblers. By coincidence it will take us by the ruins of a church that I visited with my friend who recently died forty, odd years ago. He, my boyfriend (now my husband) and I took our bicycles out one evening to look for stilton cheese in the villages near Nottingham. We didn't find any cheese but we did find this church and drank a fair bit of beer. It was a rather wobbly journey home, but we were young(ish) and foolish.
My wife had an early hospital appointment this morning. Despite it being a 40 minute drive each way in busy traffic, we were home just after 9am which was great.
Another bright blue day in Arkland the Tranquil, though there is some light cloud in the western part of the Firmament.
Neighbours F & T have taken their trailer to the Coal People in the next city, as our Coal Co-Op is stocking up, prior to the Large Order which we normally make in May (taking advantage of summer prices!). The Ark becomes the background of quite an impressive wall of Coal Bags - the Coal doesn't exactly go off, though the Bags do, in fact, degrade over time if left exposed...
With the temperature outside somewhere in the high teens, it seems silly to keep the Dragon going, but I need him for cooking, heating (the nights and early mornings are chilly) and hot water.
Lunch is SCAMPI n'CHIPS. I'm eating much less Meat these days, having somehow moved to Fish or Seafood as a main meal 3 or 4 times a week - tastes change as one gets older, I suppose.
BTW, the problem with Noxious Fumes I mentioned a while ago seems to have been solved. I have noticed a slight smell of smoke here and there in the Ark at times, but the prevailing wind at the moment is a light north-easterly, which means that some fumes are being blown in through open portholes! This only occurs when the Dragon is fed, and the *top gases* are burning off...so the Fumes are soon blown out again, of course.
A long day of emails and marking, with a brief trip into the garden to plant some echinacea into containers and water the previous plantings. But enough done today so that I don’t need to do any marking tomorrow.
I had a minor oparion yesterday using spinal anaesthesia. I asked the sugeon what would
happen if I lost control of my bowels during the operation. He replied that I would be on You tube.
Glad you are in recovery @Telford and I hope you're back to full strength very soon.
The walk was lovely, though my husband didn't remember the ruined church at all and I think one of the pubs we visited is now a private house.
It seems to be a day of plants. Just before we set out some herbs I ordered arrived. When we got home I put them in the greenhouse until we have time to sort out where they are going. I noticed an acer in the corner of said greenhouse. Apparently it is my Mothering Sunday present that I've spotted a few days too early. Then when I came back from the hairdressers there was a rose bush I'd ordered on the doorstep. I'm not sure when all these plants will get planted out as we are both quite busy for the next couple of days.
My name is Ozymandias, queen of housekeepers, look on my works ye mighty and despair
Took Captain P to the orthoptist's this morning. After lunch I baked bread (no-knead - BTW, how did that turn out @Firenze?) and made compote out of some gigantic monstrous apples that I got in the market yesterday for €1 a kilo. After that I changed the Captain's bed, did laundry and Iron Ing. I even ironed the Duvet Cover of Doom with the crooked seams, which only gets used when we have guests. Captain P and I made this cake to use up some kiwis sitting in our fruit bowl unloved by anyone, but TBH it was only moderately successful. It falls apart when you cut it.
The ‘marry me chickpeas’ recipe is a similar to something I often cook with chicken, what with me having a fondness for garlicky cream sauces with spinach. I might give it a go with sun dried tomatoes. I don’t know what I am eating tonight, I might have frittata again. Hm, perhaps with garlic and cream…
Still on my lonesome for one more night, Mr Heavenly is travelling back from the US tonight.
I hope your recovery goes smoothly and quickly, @Telford.
I am a discombobulated Quine this morning. I got involved with a project in 2010 which I totally love. For various reasons it hit the buffers during Covid, but with an expectation that it would flourish again in the fullness of time. Since then I've been more-or-less single handedly caretakering the project, keeping it ticking over. It did hit a major milestone in 2023 whilst "ticking over." I always use "we" and "us" when talking about it, even though it's effectively now "me" and "I".
Last night I gave a Zoom talk on the project, and one of the questions was: Do you see this project as your life's work? Would you say that it's been your major life achievement, apart from your kids, of course?
I don't see it as my life's work, I see it as me keeping things ticking over. And I certainly don't see it as my "major life achievement"! I wanted to say "No, my major life achievement is..." but I've realised I don't have a "major life achievement"
I am discombobulated. What is my "life's work"? Why don't I have a "major life achievement"?
The NE Man is away for a couple of days, but when he comes back we have agreed that we'll sit down together while I show him what I'm doing, and how I do it, and we'll drill down into where I'd like to see it going, and how that might be achieved rather than just doing enough to keep it ticking over.
I think I've always assumed that at some point I would have a "major life achievement" but it hasn't happened yet.
Is it normal to hit 60 without a "major life achievement?"
North East Quine, full of existential angst
On a more positive note, I am meeting up with a friend today, which will be fun.
As regards "major life achievements" @North East Quine I do wonder if such perceptions are formed by factors such as personality and situation.
I know someone who is both a Theologian and an environmental champion who has made this her life's work and personal practice. She has had many achievements along the way but it is how she lives consistently that is the major achievement imo.
I also know people for whom sport was their complete focus and who would say that winning a certain competition was their major life achievement and other people for whom getting a Degree against huge odds was theirs. And they'd be right- al fabulous achievements.
Some people are driven in focus towards specific goals, others are more fulfilled by consistently offering their skills in whatever situations they find themselves.
Both scenarios, imo as an almost 70 year old, are valuable and important!
I don’t think everyone needs to have just one single major lifetime achievement, though some will. It can be different things at different stages of life that become one’s priority, or if not the priority, a key purpose or important factor / issue for a while.
At nearly 80, my key focus has been education, both my own and that of my pupils, but also family, my faith - and throughout my whole life runs the thread of my passion for choral singing.
My "major life achievement"? Getting to my three-score-years-and-ten (almost) without descending from a loft to wreak violence on an asinine preacher. 😈
Major life achievement is an interesting concept, NEQ. I have done many things I am proud of but calling one an MLA seems tough. Maybe at 61 for me, and 60 for you, our MLA is ahead of us.
My "major life achievement"? Getting to my three-score-years-and-ten (almost) without descending from a loft to wreak violence on an asinine preacher. 😈
That's ambiguous! Do you mean that (a) that is your age and you avoided wreaking violence; or (b) that you have now past that age and eventually did give in to your emotions?
Best not to ask, maybe...
ION, it's a glorious early summer day in Arkland the Elysian, with blue skies and lots of Sun-Shine. Chaucer, of course, wrote about April, with his sweet showers, piercing the drought of March to the root, but I bet it wasn't quite so warm in 1380...
Another of those catch-up shopping trips from which I tottered back with lemons, salami, desserts, a fish slice, small casserole, chopping board, bathmat and two packets of frozen parathas. As you do.
As Mr F has had more dental work, it's back to minimal chew dinners. Tonight that's red (very) cooked pork and bear paw tofu.
Hope the aches and pains subside soon @Telford.
Interesting question about life's work @North East Quine . I think mine was facilitating the revamping of a library in a run down area of London and appointing a librarian that changed the lives of some of the children in the school for the better, but others might think differently.
I did an hour's gardening before heading out to my lip-reading class and then, after a quick lunch, to my bookshop shift. A very quiet afternoon so we spent most of it putting the world to rights, while I avoided answering questions about Labour Party policy.
More gardening this evening if we feel up to it, but only ten minutes or so to water a few things and plant out my Mothering Sunday acer.
Perhaps your major life achievement is still to come? Or it might have several components.
I thought mine was when I was age 27 and the youngest H grade nurse (senior nurse) in the UK. But then I had a mental health crisis and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I dropped out of my distance learning degree and had to leave my dream job. My boss thought I was a failure. So much for major life achievement.
I started my career again in a different city, working as a D grade bank nurse - the same grade as a newly qualified nurse - and worked my way up to be a clinical teacher, then a university lecturer. Last year I published my doctorate thesis on how to support online students with mental health challenges, the completion of my own journey and something I now lecture on regularly. It is this that I consider my major life achievement, that I have been able to use my experience to advocate for others in a similar position.
Yoga this morning, then I spent an hour doing work emails before taking the afternoon off and pottering in the garden. Mr Heavenly has arrived home safely from the US and has been fitting some shelves in my office. He is now falling asleep on the sofa.
Mothering Sunday is not only not far off Eostre, but also close (sometimes) to My Old Mum's birthday - 11th March.
She liked flowers for the house, so that was easy, but she also loved Chocolate Creme Eggs. That, too, made present-buying simple around this time of year for me, and very satisfying for her...
Comments
I had a decently busy day (and finished my last voice file at ten to five
House of Games, more vegging and the Grauniad crossword are beckoning.
Lots of plants arrived so that’s something to look forward to.
Tea was gnocchi stuffed with Gorgonzola, topped with Parmesan, which was rather nice. Now having a glass of pink fizz.
I spent much time preparing new music for tonight, mainly pieces by Gabrielli ( father and son) plus Lotti, Schütz and others. I am used to singing this sort of music in a much smaller group than our large choir.
At rehearsal we were also given news that Carl Rütti has been commissioned to compose a work for us, to be performed in Autumn 2026. We sang his Requiem last year. He attended in person, so we obviously impressed him.
I have a free day tomorrow so I am trying to decide where to go, as the forecast is decent.
Overcast and cool here at present.
End result - dozens of bits of broken glass in a puddle of two pints of milk and some orange juice, and milk splashed on the kitchen table, chairs, worktop, bread bin...
I've measured and the milk on the bread bin travelled 6ft.
I'm currently looking for a nice podcast to enjoy while I undertake a comprehensive clean up. The NE Man has headed off, looking less smart in his second-best suit.
A bright sunny morning here, so once I've had my (carefully removed) coffee and Mr F has gone off to the U3a group on military history, I will hit the garden.
Anyone remember those smoked glass mugs you used to get from service stations?*
I took a jug of milk out of the fridge once and, as I put it down on the worktop, the mug exploded into a shower of tiny glass blocks like a car windscreen! I can only assume that I caught the edge with the bottom of the jug and, being obviously toughened glass, it just disintegrated. Really quite scary - and yes, it went a very long way.
*Uncle Google tells me you can still get them.
I'm here in Heidelberg, it's warm and sunny. The journey here was faultless, no waiting at any point. Car-plane-bus-train-train-car. That's really unusual. We are picking our little five year old granddaughter from kindergarten soon to go in town for shopping, playground and ice cream. That's the joy of not starting school until seven years old - freedom! 🙂
Mild and mostly overcast in Arkland the Calm. Pilates has again been survived (a good session this week - my hip flexors are behaving themselves), and a little bit of Shopp Ing has been achieved.
Snoozage now, I think.
I'm pleased to report that there have so far been no breakages or messy mishaps at Casa Nen. Our visitors arrive tomorrow and this has galvanised Mr Nen into sorting-and-getting-stuff-to-the-charity-shop mode. The spare room is now almost guest-ready. I've been out and about for most of the day.
Very Lazy Curry for tea.
After a mixed day of busyness and doing-what-I-do when-I've-finished-everything-else, a nice amble home in the evening sunshine.
Supper was something called "marry me chickpeas"* which popped up unbidden on Farcebark or Google the other day; I thought, "that looks rather nice" and it was. I slightly over-salted it (my besetting sin when cooking), so I think for the second act, I'll add a packet of defrosted prawns, which will probably absorb some of the saltiness.
* I think it's the veggie version of "marry me chicken", which I might try some time too.
Spag bol , using pre-made sauce from freezer as it’s quick and easy. Tomorrow I must remember to eat properly at lunch time as it’s choir practice at 6.15. Off to Aldi now to restock.
I've been doing Domestic Goddess things since early this morning; the spare room is now guest-ready. Mr Nen has been for a run and will soon be heading for the airport to collect our visitors.
Glad you had a smooth journey @Boogie and hope you enjoy some lovely time with your precious family
I'm shortly out on a walk with the Ramblers. By coincidence it will take us by the ruins of a church that I visited with my friend who recently died forty, odd years ago. He, my boyfriend (now my husband) and I took our bicycles out one evening to look for stilton cheese in the villages near Nottingham. We didn't find any cheese but we did find this church and drank a fair bit of beer. It was a rather wobbly journey home, but we were young(ish) and foolish.
Neighbours F & T have taken their trailer to the Coal People in the next city, as our Coal Co-Op is stocking up, prior to the Large Order which we normally make in May (taking advantage of summer prices!). The Ark becomes the background of quite an impressive wall of Coal Bags - the Coal doesn't exactly go off, though the Bags do, in fact, degrade over time if left exposed...
With the temperature outside somewhere in the high teens, it seems silly to keep the Dragon going, but I need him for cooking, heating (the nights and early mornings are chilly) and hot water.
Lunch is SCAMPI n'CHIPS. I'm eating much less Meat these days, having somehow moved to Fish or Seafood as a main meal 3 or 4 times a week - tastes change as one gets older, I suppose.
There are still no Pilchards to be had, though.
O! the joys of cooking on Coal...
It's a wee bit cooler here today, but still pleasant; I had an amble over to Tesssie's at lunchtime, and the walk home was again rather nice.
The "marry me" chickpeas was successfully converted to "marry me" prawns, and I think even nicer than it was last night. Definitely one to do again.
happen if I lost control of my bowels during the operation. He replied that I would be on You tube.
Most of this post is true and I am in recovery.
The walk was lovely, though my husband didn't remember the ruined church at all and I think one of the pubs we visited is now a private house.
It seems to be a day of plants. Just before we set out some herbs I ordered arrived. When we got home I put them in the greenhouse until we have time to sort out where they are going. I noticed an acer in the corner of said greenhouse. Apparently it is my Mothering Sunday present that I've spotted a few days too early. Then when I came back from the hairdressers there was a rose bush I'd ordered on the doorstep. I'm not sure when all these plants will get planted out as we are both quite busy for the next couple of days.
My name is Ozymandias, queen of housekeepers, look on my works ye mighty and despair
Took Captain P to the orthoptist's this morning. After lunch I baked bread (no-knead - BTW, how did that turn out @Firenze?) and made compote out of some gigantic monstrous apples that I got in the market yesterday for €1 a kilo. After that I changed the Captain's bed, did laundry and Iron Ing. I even ironed the Duvet Cover of Doom with the crooked seams, which only gets used when we have guests. Captain P and I made this cake to use up some kiwis sitting in our fruit bowl unloved by anyone, but TBH it was only moderately successful. It falls apart when you cut it.
Cheese flat breads for supper.
The ‘marry me chickpeas’ recipe is a similar to something I often cook with chicken, what with me having a fondness for garlicky cream sauces with spinach. I might give it a go with sun dried tomatoes. I don’t know what I am eating tonight, I might have frittata again. Hm, perhaps with garlic and cream…
Still on my lonesome for one more night, Mr Heavenly is travelling back from the US tonight.
It was tasty - but both crusty and chewy. Which is fine by me, but a bit too challenging for Mr F.
Hope all goes really well today @Sandemaniac .
I am off to my aerobics class and coffee with friends, leaving our house guests in the tender care of Mr Nen.
I am a discombobulated Quine this morning. I got involved with a project in 2010 which I totally love. For various reasons it hit the buffers during Covid, but with an expectation that it would flourish again in the fullness of time. Since then I've been more-or-less single handedly caretakering the project, keeping it ticking over. It did hit a major milestone in 2023 whilst "ticking over." I always use "we" and "us" when talking about it, even though it's effectively now "me" and "I".
Last night I gave a Zoom talk on the project, and one of the questions was: Do you see this project as your life's work? Would you say that it's been your major life achievement, apart from your kids, of course?
I don't see it as my life's work, I see it as me keeping things ticking over. And I certainly don't see it as my "major life achievement"! I wanted to say "No, my major life achievement is..." but I've realised I don't have a "major life achievement"
I am discombobulated. What is my "life's work"? Why don't I have a "major life achievement"?
The NE Man is away for a couple of days, but when he comes back we have agreed that we'll sit down together while I show him what I'm doing, and how I do it, and we'll drill down into where I'd like to see it going, and how that might be achieved rather than just doing enough to keep it ticking over.
I think I've always assumed that at some point I would have a "major life achievement" but it hasn't happened yet.
Is it normal to hit 60 without a "major life achievement?"
North East Quine, full of existential angst
On a more positive note, I am meeting up with a friend today, which will be fun.
I know someone who is both a Theologian and an environmental champion who has made this her life's work and personal practice. She has had many achievements along the way but it is how she lives consistently that is the major achievement imo.
I also know people for whom sport was their complete focus and who would say that winning a certain competition was their major life achievement and other people for whom getting a Degree against huge odds was theirs. And they'd be right- al fabulous achievements.
Some people are driven in focus towards specific goals, others are more fulfilled by consistently offering their skills in whatever situations they find themselves.
Both scenarios, imo as an almost 70 year old, are valuable and important!
At nearly 80, my key focus has been education, both my own and that of my pupils, but also family, my faith - and throughout my whole life runs the thread of my passion for choral singing.
That's ambiguous! Do you mean that (a) that is your age and you avoided wreaking violence; or (b) that you have now past that age and eventually did give in to your emotions?
Best not to ask, maybe...
ION, it's a glorious early summer day in Arkland the Elysian, with blue skies and lots of Sun-Shine. Chaucer, of course, wrote about April, with his sweet showers, piercing the drought of March to the root, but I bet it wasn't quite so warm in 1380...
As Mr F has had more dental work, it's back to minimal chew dinners. Tonight that's red (very) cooked pork and bear paw tofu.
Thanks both. Still sore and swollen and I now have a stiff neck. I will struggle on.
Interesting question about life's work @North East Quine . I think mine was facilitating the revamping of a library in a run down area of London and appointing a librarian that changed the lives of some of the children in the school for the better, but others might think differently.
I did an hour's gardening before heading out to my lip-reading class and then, after a quick lunch, to my bookshop shift. A very quiet afternoon so we spent most of it putting the world to rights, while I avoided answering questions about Labour Party policy.
More gardening this evening if we feel up to it, but only ten minutes or so to water a few things and plant out my Mothering Sunday acer.
I thought mine was when I was age 27 and the youngest H grade nurse (senior nurse) in the UK. But then I had a mental health crisis and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I dropped out of my distance learning degree and had to leave my dream job. My boss thought I was a failure. So much for major life achievement.
I started my career again in a different city, working as a D grade bank nurse - the same grade as a newly qualified nurse - and worked my way up to be a clinical teacher, then a university lecturer. Last year I published my doctorate thesis on how to support online students with mental health challenges, the completion of my own journey and something I now lecture on regularly. It is this that I consider my major life achievement, that I have been able to use my experience to advocate for others in a similar position.
Yoga this morning, then I spent an hour doing work emails before taking the afternoon off and pottering in the garden. Mr Heavenly has arrived home safely from the US and has been fitting some shelves in my office. He is now falling asleep on the sofa.
She liked flowers for the house, so that was easy, but she also loved Chocolate Creme Eggs. That, too, made present-buying simple around this time of year for me, and very satisfying for her...
Indeed.