Enjoy yourself in the beautiful minster @puzzler.
As well as having neighbours round we're off to a local village where a lot of the properties are holding an open garden event. I'll try not to come home with too many plants.
Uncomfortably hot again today. Mr Nen went for an early morning run and since then we've been indoors with the windows and curtains closed. There's meant to be a change in the weather tomorrow to cooler with some rain. Can't come soon enough as far as I'm concerned.
Tea will be Very Lazy Curry because that's minimal cooking and heat in the kitchen; probably preceded by drinks and snacks on the patio as it's the last evening Mr Nen and I will have together for a while.
Today is our last in foie gras land. As usual it has been taken up with tidying, laundry, packing and such. Very hot and muggy, which helped with getting everything dry. I don't think the storm's arriving until after we leave.
It was Very Hot here today: 25° when I ambled (carefully*) down to the optician's, and afterwards hence to Tessie's (which is right across the square) to find that (sadly) Villa Maria and Wairau Cove are no longer on special offer, but Casillero del Diabolo is, and it's the next best thing.
I was quite zonked by the time I got home, so I had a snoozette, and then had Tessie's fish cakes with some veggies for supper.
* I'd been told by the optician that they wanted to look at my eyes when I hadn't had my lenses in for 24 hours, so I dutifully removed them yesterday afternoon and ambled along the street today, feeling rather vulnerable; it must be nearly 30 years since I've gone anywhere without them (and then I had David to hold my hand ).
They've ordered new contact lenses for me - more £££
Very enjoyable singing day. Our MD told us that people said he was mad to attempt it
( Bach’s Magnificat) on just one rehearsal, and maybe they were right, as there were a couple of places where we hung on by the skin of our teeth, but it was good fun and mostly surprisingly good.
The soloists and orchestra were all young professionals at the start of their careers. They were all very accomplished.
When I got home I sat in the garden in the shade and finished my book- something I almost never do normally.
The morning in the village at the garden open day was very enjoyable. I didn't buy any plants, but did buy a bag of mixed tomatoes. The gardens were very beautiful, and gave us some ideas, mainly stick loads more plants in and hope for the best.
This afternoon the neighbours came over and we had a very nice time in the garden drinking prosecco and eating snacks. Then this evening we went out to catch the finale of our town's August Bank Holiday festival which was a brass band and a laser show. Very nice atmosphere. The best bit was a baby who was totally entranced with the not very spectacular light show. I enjoyed it far more when I saw how much he was enjoying himself.
Heading to bed to try and finish the book I'm reading. Glad your concert went well @puzzler.
An early start at the Nen Chateau, the alarm went off at 4am for Mr Nen to start on his trip. It was clear I wasn't going to get any more sleep so I've been pottering about and having had breakfast so early it will soon be feeling like coffee time. Then I'm out for lunch with friends.
In other news, it's cooler and we've had a bit of rain.
An early start here too. I have dropped the NE Man off at the airport.
I have Big Plans for the next few days. We have had visitors or been away ourselves almost constantly for weeks. My method of keeping the house tidy when we have visitors is to dump the clutter in my study / bedroom. Alas, my room is currently full of boxes / teetering piles / general clutter. I can't sit in my computer chair until I've moved the stuff on it onto my bed, and I can't get into bed till I've dumped the stuff on it onto the chair.
So redding out my room is this week's project and I am raring to go!
I'm also visiting my cousin this afternoon, and then meeting up with an old friend I haven't seen for over a year.
The Heavenly home also got moving early as a taxi arrived for Mr Heavenly at 4am to take him to Stansted for a short trip to the US. We only got back from Greenbelt yesterday afternoon and he will be back on Friday because he needs to return Master Heavenly the Younger and his luggage to York on Saturday. Exhausting schedule!
Greenbelt was wonderful as usual and the highlight for me was hearing Liz Carr discuss assisted dying as I am a follower of her work as a fellow disability rights activist. She has previously done some work with the OU on modules I teach, including on assisted dying, and this documentary https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001z8wc/better-off-dead
Paul Kerensa discussing the history of religious broadcasting was interesting and great fun (Greenbelt needs more history talks!), and there were some fantastic acrobatic shows and a beautiful dance show (the latter by a dance company owned by friends from our church). No really big bands playing but a lot of chilled acoustic, folk pop, world music, and some very good post-punk on Saturday night on the little stage in the woods.
Just me and Master Heavenly at home today and I have no plans at all, beyond doing more laundry.
It's a pleasant 21⁰ and showery here - perfect weather for me.
I'll be gardening then tidying ready for my brother's visit on Thursday. Him and his partner are staying for the weekend. They are hoping to do the Gorge walk - fingers 🤞 for the weather!
It's not quite lunchtime, but it already feels like a full day. Bad night - up with cramp about 3 am, awake again at 6. Out by 10 to take two buses to another part of town, call in at a good butcher there and buy 5 dinners' worth and a bunch of French garlic. Then to dentist - teeth in as fair nick as maybe at My Age. Then another bus to M&S food, score another bagful of shopping, bus 4 to top of our road (gotta love the free travel). 10+ minute walk, but all downhill.
Lunch in a little, then take up knitting- I'm on the home straight of the second sleeve. Nap highly likely at some point. Sunday's chicken to be recycled into Thai curry later. Then Sewing Bee and bed.
This morning I went into town to do a bit of shopping and to call in at the Town Hall to drop something off. You have to phone ahead as the offices aren't open to the public on a Tuesday. When I got in the lift the postman had obviously given up trying to contact them and left a parcel in the lift instead. After that I went and did a bit of shopping, and was slightly annoyed that it wasn't till I got to the eco refill shop that I remembered I hadn't brought the empty soap dispensers with me. I'l; have to call in on Friday instead.
I've just done a couple of hours of looking at planning applications, and now intend to do nothing much until tea-time.
I thought the Liz Carr documentary was excellent when I saw it a while back @Heavenlyannie. Assisted dying has been discussed at my philosophy group a couple of times and I've missed both of them. I think my views are probably at odds with most of the group so it would have been a good discussion.
I've managed Pilates (not too bad today, but, as my right arm is a bit iffy, I have some homework exercises to do), followed by a visit to Tess Coe. Rain began to fall as I left the shop, but ceased when I got back to the Ark. Whether this was due to good timing on my part, or on that of the Weather Gods, I know not. Paint Ing, this afternoon, is cancelled, because Arkland the Wet is not conducive thereto.
I recently asked Dr Google for advice re foods to eat to improve my energy levels. Among his suggestions were Salmon, Watercress, Oranges, Chicken, Bananas, Brown Bread, and Dark CHOCOLATE (!). I have all of these comestibles in stock, except for the CHOCOLATE, which in the past has tended to give me a headache . I think I might buy a small bar, and conduct a controlled experiment.
Do any of you have any further suggestions as to what I might look at? I don't eat a great deal of Red Meat these days, apart from some LAMB CHOPS once a week, preferring Fish and Sea Food (and the occasional PIE).
I eat quite a varied diet but the thing that has most improved my health in recent years, including my mental health in winter, has been taking a vitamin D supplement (I also take an effervescent tablet of iron and vitamins B6, B12 and C as I am prone to various types of anaemia). So oily fish like salmon and sardines, and eggs, are good for that.
I take vitamin D tablets daily even in summer as I tend to avoid the sun. I take various other meds and can swallow them all easily, but paracetamol, which I currently need, keeps getting stuck.
I don't know that it's anything to do with energy levels, but someone suggested that I take a cod-liver-oil capsule each morning to alleviate Achy Muscles and Joints, and I have to say, I think they were right; I don't seem to be nearly as achy as I used to be. They're not a total panacea, but they do seem to bring an improvement.
Back to work after the Ban Collie Day, and a fairly quiet day. I hadn't taken anything out of the freezer to cobble into supper, so I ambled along to Tessie's at lunchtime and got a bag of stir-fry veggies and a pack of prawns, to which I added a few sliced mushrooms, some ginger, garlic, soy sauce and sherry, and it was rather nice. I have half the bag of veggies left; maybe tomorrow I ought to buy a steak and some black-bean sauce and repeat the exercise?
Glad you enjoyed GB, Heavenlyannie!
Karl - right with you about 27° being Far Too Hot; it was a more bearable 21° at its warmest here, and it very obligingly didn't rain until I got home from work. I suspect my colleague K wasn't so lucky - she was going for a walk round the loch after work, and probably got drenched!
Taking magnesium tablets has raised my energy levels. When I took a break from them as a test, I definitely felt more fatigued.
Looked after youngest grandson E today. He’s finished the library’s summer reading challenge by reading 6 books all by himself. He’s very pleased with his certificate and wooden medal.
Master Heavenly decided at 4pm that he wanted a sewing lesson to make a skirt for his girlfriend. He wanted to make a pleated skirt with a zip as that is the style she wears in autumn but I advised a more straightforward pattern for his first attempt at making clothing. We are making a long tiered skirt (no pattern needed) from a pretty cotton lawn with roses on. He has sewn the 3 tiers today and tomorrow he will hem it and sew the elasticated waistband. I taught him on a standard sewing machine as I thought that would be a more useful to know, so he did straight stitch with zig zag edges. It would have been so much quicker on my overlocker! It looks lovely so far, we might make a matching fabric necklace.
The neighbour who was over yesterday has offered to give me sewing lessons. After she left I remembered I'm going to need a Regency style dress for an event next summer. Maybe I'll pop over and talk to her about trying to make one. My son used to do a lot of sewing but not for a while. I think he might take it up again if he ever has somewhere to live with a bit more room.
Mr Heavenly is also a proficient seamster, and when we did re-enactment he made Tudor doublets and hose for himself and our sons. When he repairs canvas tents he uses our old Singer handcrank (we also have an Edwardian treadle in the hallway).
When I moved into my new office/studio I decided that once I reduced my work hours I would do more sewing of my own clothes. So over the summer I have been doing alterations and refashioning and I have some dresses planned for the autumn. I have a several shelves of vintage and modern fabric leftover from my old sewing business to get through.
Master Heavenly decided at 4pm that he wanted a sewing lesson to make a skirt for his girlfriend. He wanted to make a pleated skirt with a zip as that is the style she wears in autumn but I advised a more straightforward pattern for his first attempt at making clothing. We are making a long tiered skirt (no pattern needed) from a pretty cotton lawn with roses on. He has sewn the 3 tiers today and tomorrow he will hem it and sew the elasticated waistband. I taught him on a standard sewing machine as I thought that would be a more useful to know, so he did straight stitch with zig zag edges. It would have been so much quicker on my overlocker! It looks lovely so far, we might make a matching fabric necklace.
How absolutely lovely!
When the four Beaky daughters were little I made clothes for them, often using patterns from a company called "Cloth-kits" where the pattern pieces were printed on to the actual fabric. I also made curtains for our house.
I found it stressful so when our finances improved I stopped sewing and eventually gave my sturdy Jones machine to one of my daughters.
Yesterday I moved the stuff cluttering my room into the living room, and got the carpet hoovered. But most of the day was spent with my cousin and then with a friend I hadn't seen in over a year. We walked along the beach front at Aberdeen - it was lovely.
I haven't bought a brand new garment for 18 months, apart from socks and underwear. All new-to-me clothing is either homemade or second hand. I find it quite satisfying.
Question: given that there was no one here during the whole holidays, how did our floors get so disgustingly filthy? Husband en rouge and Captain Pyjamas went grocery shopping this morning while I voovered and mopped, but tis a mystery how they got so dirty. After that I got all the Captain's school stuff ready. In France you have to provide quite a lot of stuff (all the pens, pencils, rulers etc etc), and then you have to name it ALL. Literally every last writing implement. This year I did at least order preprinted sticky labels with the Captain's name on, but it remains a long and fastidious job.
With regard to household Clean Ing, where does all the Dust come from? There's only Me here, and I don't move about all that much...
A windy, cloudy, and at times Sun-Shiny day in Arkland the Autumnal, though I usually think of September as the last gasp of Summer.
A brief Expotition to Tess Coe was brightened up by no less than three pleasant encounters with the Staff, to wit:
(1) a lovely smile of recognition from the lady who often collects up the trollies in the car park, even though her checkout was busy;
(2) a greeting from the lady on my checkout, who is one of those who always packs for me, and who remarked that I hadn't bought any scented candles today (I have plenty in stock);
(3) a cheerful word from another staff member as I left the store, expressing surprise at seeing me on a Wednesday...
It's not a huge store, but it's not exactly a little corner shop, either.
Lunch is Italian - Gnocci Pesto CHICKEN, embellished with Black Pepper and Parmesan CHEESE.
BTW, thanks for suggestions re food/vitamins - @Piglet mentioned Cod Liver Oil capsules, so I bought some this morning. I used to take them whilst at work, because Achy Knees, but for some unknown reason stopped doing so when I retired. They may not assist with energy levels, but they may well help the Aches to dial back a bit...
A very nice walk with the Ramblers today. It's an area I've walked before, but the other way round, so it made it all look very different. This afternoon I have a Teams meeting, followed by a real life one this evening.
I'm waiting for the promised rain to arrive.
We're in the midst of our church Holiday Club each morning this week. My role is marginal but I enjoy it. My wife has had to bow out as her back is giving her trouble.
I usually think of September as the last gasp of Summer.
I've been around people in education for long enough (starting with my father who was a teacher) to regard September as a new season and a fresh start. The hot summer has dried everything up so much it's been feeling like autumn for weeks to me.
On that subject, we've seen very little of the promised rain here. A couple of brief showers this morning and then hot and sunny, though with a gentle breeze which helped the feel of things a bit.
I had a very nice morning Home Alone and saw some friends this afternoon. I also made the happy discovery of one portion of lasagne in the freezer (Mr Nen being away), which will be washed down by the remains of a bottle of red.
When the four Beaky daughters were little I made clothes for them, often using patterns from a company called "Cloth-kits" where the pattern pieces were printed on to the actual fabric. I also made curtains for our house.
I found it stressful so when our finances improved I stopped sewing and eventually gave my sturdy Jones machine to one of my daughters.
I used to make Clothkits clothes for my girls too. It was an affordable way to dress them and I loved sewing. It’s a skill I rarely use these days.
Those clothkits dresses were so long lasting that my sister’s girls wore them as hand-me-downs.
My mum was a very good seamstress; she made lots of clothes for me when I was young, and made such a good job of them that I got her to make my wedding dress, which was lovely.
Sadly I didn't inherit the sewing gene, and was absolutely rubbish at it at school. My limit is taking up the hems of trousers and replacing buttons.
It's been mostly another nice, warm day here, and I think my staying a wee bit late at work (because I had something so nearly finished I didn't want to leave it for the morning) saved me from getting Very Wet. The sun was splitting the trees when I left, but the pavements were sufficiently damp that it was obvious there had been rainfall not long before.
I got a pack of stir-fry beef strips and some black bean sauce from Tessie's at lunchtime and finished up the veggies with them for supper. This however means I've got half a pack of stir-fry beef strips left, so I'm going to investigate the possibility of beef Stroganoff for tomorrow.
Hope Mrs BT's back gets better soon, and that the cod-liver-oil capsules are a help to BF's joints!
I have some vintage ladies clothkits patterns I bought off eBay. These days you usually have to cut your own fabric from their kits, though.
Tiered skirt and matching necklace are completed.
This morning I logged in on my work computer and was pleased to discover that my tutor on my Masters course is the same one as last year. She has written a book on sex in the Middle Ages (the era not the age range) so is interested in aspects of health and social history and a good choice for my dissertation.
Tea was pork chop in plum sauce with stir fried veg and noodles.
Another Clothkits family here - 3 boys in brilliant printed dungarees. I made paper patterns from the kits before I assembled them so that an infinite dungaree supply was possible!
Another Clothkits family here - 3 boys in brilliant printed dungarees. I made paper patterns from the kits before I assembled them so that an infinite dungaree supply was possible!
Now that imo was a genius idea.
Lovely to hear other people's Clothkits stories- it's making me quite nostalgic.
All of your sewing endeavours sound truly impressive!
Today will be Day 3 of sorting my room. I have hoovered and dusted an embarrassing amount of dust, and the paper recycling bin is filling up. But there is still far too much stuff strewn around the living room to fit neatly back into my room.
I have a meeting this morning, but intend to crack on with my room this afternoon.
Arkland the Threatened is surrounded by apocalyptic Clouds, and there are occasional downpours of Rain, so maybe some more tidying of the Ark is called for this afternoon, in lieu of Paint Ing.
The Wheelhouse is tiddly-tidy now, though, and there's more room for me to sit and think. Well, sometimes I sits and thinks, but most times I just sits...
We had a bit of rain in the night, not enough to make any difference to the parched ground. However, it's started again in the last few minutes (having very obligingly held off while I was out and about this morning) so I'm hoping it will continue for a good long period of time. On the other side of the path that runs along the front of our house there's a stream and in all my years of living here I've never seen the water so low - barely a trickle.
I've set myself up with easy meals for a couple of days and am looking forward to macaroni cheese this evening, which is not something Mr Nen enjoys.
We were supposed to have rain yesterday late morning, but it never happened. I'm glad I went round the tomato plants with the watering cans.
Today was supposed to be showery, including a very heavy one at lunchtime. Following yesterday's 'no show' and, with the knowledge that the SWesterly wind frequently takes rain past us on the west & heads up-country, I took a chance and hung out a line of washing.
It was dry by the time that heavy shower was due.
It still hasn't arrived, at nearly 4:30, so I am glad I took the chance - especially as it looks as though there is a lot of wet due to fall on us tomorrow, in a quantity that is unlikely to just pass by.
Climbed Penyghent* with Child#3 aka Girl who didn't whinge too much. Only rained for last ten minutes and was clear at the top so that's a win.
*The mountain we swapped with Wales. We gave them Cnicht, Old English for Knight, which they installed above Porthmadog, while they gave us Penyghent, Cumbric (which is virtually the same as Old Welsh**) for Wind Hill, which we put up on an otherwise fairly dull peaty moor above Ribblesdale.
**Modern Welsh would be Pen y gwynt. They kept gw- while Cumbric often went for g- or go-
Mountains and historical linguistics - what more do you guys want?
Wet here this afternoon but sunny and warm-ish this morning for an outing on the Leighton Buzzard Railway. Mr Bee and I took youngest grandson E and granddaughter N, who enjoyed the trip though E was a bit manic at the end. Think we wore him out!
Quite right @KarlLB - I love a bit of ancient linguistics! I'll maybe pass on the mountain though ...
It was raining (sort of) when I left work, but not really enough to be bothersome; I'd had the wit to wear the lightweight raincoat, which was quite well up to the task.
Supper was an attempt at beef Stroganoff, and while not quite right, it wasn't bad. Definitely one to try again sometime.
I was out early for an audiology appointment, followed by coffee with my lip-reading class, a quick lunch in one of my favourite cafes, and then bookshop shift.
I'm feeling a bit weary and may head to bed early with a book.
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There are many in Wales who'd like to see St David's Day as a holiday.
As well as having neighbours round we're off to a local village where a lot of the properties are holding an open garden event. I'll try not to come home with too many plants.
Tea will be Very Lazy Curry because that's minimal cooking and heat in the kitchen; probably preceded by drinks and snacks on the patio as it's the last evening Mr Nen and I will have together for a while.
I was quite zonked by the time I got home, so I had a snoozette, and then had Tessie's fish cakes with some veggies for supper.
* I'd been told by the optician that they wanted to look at my eyes when I hadn't had my lenses in for 24 hours, so I dutifully removed them yesterday afternoon and ambled along the street today, feeling rather vulnerable; it must be nearly 30 years since I've gone anywhere without them (and then I had David to hold my hand
They've ordered new contact lenses for me - more £££
( Bach’s Magnificat) on just one rehearsal, and maybe they were right, as there were a couple of places where we hung on by the skin of our teeth, but it was good fun and mostly surprisingly good.
The soloists and orchestra were all young professionals at the start of their careers. They were all very accomplished.
When I got home I sat in the garden in the shade and finished my book- something I almost never do normally.
This afternoon the neighbours came over and we had a very nice time in the garden drinking prosecco and eating snacks. Then this evening we went out to catch the finale of our town's August Bank Holiday festival which was a brass band and a laser show. Very nice atmosphere. The best bit was a baby who was totally entranced with the not very spectacular light show. I enjoyed it far more when I saw how much he was enjoying himself.
Heading to bed to try and finish the book I'm reading. Glad your concert went well @puzzler.
In other news, it's cooler and we've had a bit of rain.
I have Big Plans for the next few days. We have had visitors or been away ourselves almost constantly for weeks. My method of keeping the house tidy when we have visitors is to dump the clutter in my study / bedroom. Alas, my room is currently full of boxes / teetering piles / general clutter. I can't sit in my computer chair until I've moved the stuff on it onto my bed, and I can't get into bed till I've dumped the stuff on it onto the chair.
So redding out my room is this week's project and I am raring to go!
I'm also visiting my cousin this afternoon, and then meeting up with an old friend I haven't seen for over a year.
Greenbelt was wonderful as usual and the highlight for me was hearing Liz Carr discuss assisted dying as I am a follower of her work as a fellow disability rights activist. She has previously done some work with the OU on modules I teach, including on assisted dying, and this documentary https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001z8wc/better-off-dead
Paul Kerensa discussing the history of religious broadcasting was interesting and great fun (Greenbelt needs more history talks!), and there were some fantastic acrobatic shows and a beautiful dance show (the latter by a dance company owned by friends from our church). No really big bands playing but a lot of chilled acoustic, folk pop, world music, and some very good post-punk on Saturday night on the little stage in the woods.
Just me and Master Heavenly at home today and I have no plans at all, beyond doing more laundry.
I'll be gardening then tidying ready for my brother's visit on Thursday. Him and his partner are staying for the weekend. They are hoping to do the Gorge walk - fingers 🤞 for the weather!
Lunch in a little, then take up knitting- I'm on the home straight of the second sleeve. Nap highly likely at some point. Sunday's chicken to be recycled into Thai curry later. Then Sewing Bee and bed.
I've just done a couple of hours of looking at planning applications, and now intend to do nothing much until tea-time.
I thought the Liz Carr documentary was excellent when I saw it a while back @Heavenlyannie. Assisted dying has been discussed at my philosophy group a couple of times and I've missed both of them. I think my views are probably at odds with most of the group so it would have been a good discussion.
I've managed Pilates (not too bad today, but, as my right arm is a bit iffy, I have some homework exercises to do), followed by a visit to Tess Coe. Rain began to fall as I left the shop, but ceased when I got back to the Ark. Whether this was due to good timing on my part, or on that of the Weather Gods, I know not. Paint Ing, this afternoon, is cancelled, because Arkland the Wet is not conducive thereto.
I recently asked Dr Google for advice re foods to eat to improve my energy levels. Among his suggestions were Salmon, Watercress, Oranges, Chicken, Bananas, Brown Bread, and Dark CHOCOLATE (!). I have all of these comestibles in stock, except for the CHOCOLATE, which in the past has tended to give me a headache
Do any of you have any further suggestions as to what I might look at? I don't eat a great deal of Red Meat these days, apart from some LAMB CHOPS once a week, preferring Fish and Sea Food (and the occasional PIE).
Maybe it's just my age...
Back to work after the Ban Collie Day, and a fairly quiet day. I hadn't taken anything out of the freezer to cobble into supper, so I ambled along to Tessie's at lunchtime and got a bag of stir-fry veggies and a pack of prawns, to which I added a few sliced mushrooms, some ginger, garlic, soy sauce and sherry, and it was rather nice. I have half the bag of veggies left; maybe tomorrow I ought to buy a steak and some black-bean sauce and repeat the exercise?
Glad you enjoyed GB, Heavenlyannie!
Karl - right with you about 27° being Far Too Hot; it was a more bearable 21° at its warmest here, and it very obligingly didn't rain until I got home from work. I suspect my colleague K wasn't so lucky - she was going for a walk round the loch after work, and probably got drenched!
Looked after youngest grandson E today. He’s finished the library’s summer reading challenge by reading 6 books all by himself. He’s very pleased with his certificate and wooden medal.
When I moved into my new office/studio I decided that once I reduced my work hours I would do more sewing of my own clothes. So over the summer I have been doing alterations and refashioning and I have some dresses planned for the autumn. I have a several shelves of vintage and modern fabric leftover from my old sewing business to get through.
How absolutely lovely!
When the four Beaky daughters were little I made clothes for them, often using patterns from a company called "Cloth-kits" where the pattern pieces were printed on to the actual fabric. I also made curtains for our house.
I found it stressful so when our finances improved I stopped sewing and eventually gave my sturdy Jones machine to one of my daughters.
Today my sole focus will be on sorting my room.
Question: given that there was no one here during the whole holidays, how did our floors get so disgustingly filthy? Husband en rouge and Captain Pyjamas went grocery shopping this morning while I voovered and mopped, but tis a mystery how they got so dirty. After that I got all the Captain's school stuff ready. In France you have to provide quite a lot of stuff (all the pens, pencils, rulers etc etc), and then you have to name it ALL. Literally every last writing implement. This year I did at least order preprinted sticky labels with the Captain's name on, but it remains a long and fastidious job.
A windy, cloudy, and at times Sun-Shiny day in Arkland the Autumnal, though I usually think of September as the last gasp of Summer.
A brief Expotition to Tess Coe was brightened up by no less than three pleasant encounters with the Staff, to wit:
(1) a lovely smile of recognition from the lady who often collects up the trollies in the car park, even though her checkout was busy;
(2) a greeting from the lady on my checkout, who is one of those who always packs for me, and who remarked that I hadn't bought any scented candles today (I have plenty in stock);
(3) a cheerful word from another staff member as I left the store, expressing surprise at seeing me on a Wednesday...
It's not a huge store, but it's not exactly a little corner shop, either.
Lunch is Italian - Gnocci Pesto CHICKEN, embellished with Black Pepper and Parmesan CHEESE.
BTW, thanks for suggestions re food/vitamins - @Piglet mentioned Cod Liver Oil capsules, so I bought some this morning. I used to take them whilst at work, because Achy Knees, but for some unknown reason stopped doing so when I retired. They may not assist with energy levels, but they may well help the Aches to dial back a bit...
I'm waiting for the promised rain to arrive.
I've been around people in education for long enough (starting with my father who was a teacher) to regard September as a new season and a fresh start. The hot summer has dried everything up so much it's been feeling like autumn for weeks to me.
On that subject, we've seen very little of the promised rain here. A couple of brief showers this morning and then hot and sunny, though with a gentle breeze which helped the feel of things a bit.
I had a very nice morning Home Alone and saw some friends this afternoon. I also made the happy discovery of one portion of lasagne in the freezer (Mr Nen being away), which will be washed down by the remains of a bottle of red.
I used to make Clothkits clothes for my girls too. It was an affordable way to dress them and I loved sewing. It’s a skill I rarely use these days.
Those clothkits dresses were so long lasting that my sister’s girls wore them as hand-me-downs.
Sadly I didn't inherit the sewing gene, and was absolutely rubbish at it at school. My limit is taking up the hems of trousers and replacing buttons.
It's been mostly another nice, warm day here, and I think my staying a wee bit late at work (because I had something so nearly finished I didn't want to leave it for the morning) saved me from getting Very Wet. The sun was splitting the trees when I left, but the pavements were sufficiently damp that it was obvious there had been rainfall not long before.
I got a pack of stir-fry beef strips and some black bean sauce from Tessie's at lunchtime and finished up the veggies with them for supper. This however means I've got half a pack of stir-fry beef strips left, so I'm going to investigate the possibility of beef Stroganoff for tomorrow.
Hope Mrs BT's back gets better soon, and that the cod-liver-oil capsules are a help to BF's joints!
Tiered skirt and matching necklace are completed.
This morning I logged in on my work computer and was pleased to discover that my tutor on my Masters course is the same one as last year. She has written a book on sex in the Middle Ages (the era not the age range) so is interested in aspects of health and social history and a good choice for my dissertation.
Tea was pork chop in plum sauce with stir fried veg and noodles.
Now that imo was a genius idea.
Lovely to hear other people's Clothkits stories- it's making me quite nostalgic.
All of your sewing endeavours sound truly impressive!
I have a meeting this morning, but intend to crack on with my room this afternoon.
The Wheelhouse is tiddly-tidy now, though, and there's more room for me to sit and think. Well, sometimes I sits and thinks, but most times I just sits...
Lunch is LAMB CHOPS, because use-by date.
My garden smells beautiful and I'm pathetically grateful- it's the simple things that matter most to me it seems.
I've set myself up with easy meals for a couple of days and am looking forward to macaroni cheese this evening, which is not something Mr Nen enjoys.
Today was supposed to be showery, including a very heavy one at lunchtime. Following yesterday's 'no show' and, with the knowledge that the SWesterly wind frequently takes rain past us on the west & heads up-country, I took a chance and hung out a line of washing.
It was dry by the time that heavy shower was due.
It still hasn't arrived, at nearly 4:30, so I am glad I took the chance - especially as it looks as though there is a lot of wet due to fall on us tomorrow, in a quantity that is unlikely to just pass by.
*The mountain we swapped with Wales. We gave them Cnicht, Old English for Knight, which they installed above Porthmadog, while they gave us Penyghent, Cumbric (which is virtually the same as Old Welsh**) for Wind Hill, which we put up on an otherwise fairly dull peaty moor above Ribblesdale.
**Modern Welsh would be Pen y gwynt. They kept gw- while Cumbric often went for g- or go-
Mountains and historical linguistics - what more do you guys want?
It was raining (sort of) when I left work, but not really enough to be bothersome; I'd had the wit to wear the lightweight raincoat, which was quite well up to the task.
Supper was an attempt at beef Stroganoff, and while not quite right, it wasn't bad. Definitely one to try again sometime.
I'm feeling a bit weary and may head to bed early with a book.