Congratulations to Lord and Lady P, what lovely news @Priscilla.
I'm spending today catching up with myself, doing some cleaning, answering emails and researching a topic for my philosophy group in a couple of weeks time. I have a meeting tonight of our Councils events group where I no doubt will fill them all in on my Twiining adventures in Germany.
Congratulations and best wishes to Lord and Lady P!
Quite a daunting queue of stuff to be done when I arrived at work, but I finished the last voice file on the stroke of 5 o'clock, which was rather gratifying.
Supper was a pasta concoction with green beans, peas, lemon, garlic, Parm, crème fraîche and rocket, and really nice.
I've got a busy day, a meeting this morning and then this afternoon a craft workshop. I'll be finishing with a meeting of my writer's group this evening.
I hope I can dodge the rain. We had heavy showers with hail yesterday and today looks like it could be similar.
I fancy a nice couple of days away. Or even a day out!
Usual day of admin and marking followed by a tutorial this evening (mental health and lived experience). My last tutorial of the academic year, hooray.
Heavenlyannie, a while back you mentioned finishing up some puff pastry by making wild garlic and cheesy thingies. I loved the sound of it, but haven’t been able to find any wild garlic, so eventually yesterday I made cheese and onion thingies on the same lines.
Oh, they were gorgeous! Thanks for posting about it! Will be making them again soon.
I have just had a rather magical 20 minutes. Yesterday I read that you could improve your sleep quality by going outside in the morning. Allegedly this "sets" your brain into recognising that the day has begun, and makes it easier for your brain to recognise the end of the day, too.
So this morning at 7.30 I headed into the garden with a mug of coffee, and spent 20 mins sitting on a chilly wet garden bench with the "Merlin" app open on my phone. The app registered 16 different bird calls in 20 mins. I was transfixed!
I went for months without going out (3 months in hospital, 2 laid up and I’m now retired), so it’s a change and an effort to get out now. Mrs Sioni encourages me and sends me to our corner shop (LIDL), which is just right, so long as I don’t have to haul too much home.
OTOH, we have a near maintenance-free garden so we like to sit out there.
I do try to get out for a walk every day.Not really going to mange it today, but I have just spent some time in the garden wrestling with the honesty.
I have a busy afternoon and evening. First off I'm going to the re-opening of a restaurant I hadn't realised had closed and then on to the Town Hall for a meeting for the people of the town to meet the Town Council. I'm hoping we can get through the business quickly as I have a ticket (as do quite a few other councillors) to go and see the author Matt Haig at our local theatre.
Cycling to work gets me outdoors in the week and parkrun takes care of Saturdays. On Sundays my morning excursion is limited to a quick (because I'm usually late) stroll round the corner to church. Perhaps I should change to a church further away so I get my morning outdoor fix.
The first thing we do once booted and suited is to walk to the local shop. Apart from any other consideration, we want to give them our business to help them survive - round here, quite a lot of villages have lost their shops.
Piglet, on ye Olde Shippe, I used to be M., and I am still somewhat peeved that I had to change it for the New Ship!
The article I read said that going outdoors should be the first thing you do, to "set" your brain for the day. So, pausing only long enough to make myself a coffee, I headed out with just a jacket on over my pyjamas.
This worked well because it was wet out, and I went in afterwards to have a hot shower and dry clothes.
I go for a walk every morning after my coffee. Not only is it good for my physical and mental health but it also acts as a psychological journey to work, separating out the aspects of my day. If the weather improves I could sit outside for the coffee on the patio but Mochi would be upset not to get a cuddle on the sofa. She is sitting on me now.
I have now finished my assignment marking and teaching for the year. Just supporting my students for two more weeks and then a small amount of exam marking in June.
This evening we are off to the Cambridge beer festival.
Windy (all the time), Cloudy (mostly), but Sun-Shiny (in fits and starts) in Arkland the Mild, where at least it's beginning to warm up a bit. Quite high temperatures are forecast for the Whitsun weekend, but, if so, We Shall Pay For It You Mark My Words...
A busy day, though, with a brief Expotition to the village Co-Op, then back to the Arkland Orfis to pick up a couple of parcels. The much-delayed task of changing the sheet and pillow-cases took a while - fitted sheets are a great boon, but, in a confined space (such as my berth), they appear to be equipped with a Daemon.
I could sit outside for the coffee on the patio but Mochi would be upset not to get a cuddle on the sofa. She is sitting on me now.
I'm just hoping that Mochi is some kind of smallish cuddly pet animal.
I think she's Heavenlyannie's cat.
NEQ - it's all very well you pootling out to the North East garden in your PJs, but I'd look a right berk ambling down the High Street to work in my nightie ...
After a somewhat traumatic morning (the heaps of voice files needing my attention were meeting me at the door), I just got stuck in and blattered my way through them (well, nearly all of them). It helped that some of the bosses were at a training session in Edinburgh, so not actually producing anything.
Mixed weather: when I went out at lunchtime, it seemed to be trying to rain, but not really very hard, but when my colleague K went out just after I came back, she got soaked. It's nice now though: sunny and almost warm.
Supper was an orzotto with mushrooms, tomatoes and prawns.
Day 1 of Cycle 3 (motto: More Than Halfway). I'm told the dosage has been reduced, so hopefully not another hospitalisation anytime.
I have largely given up cooking in favour of a twice-weekly shop from W*itrose, consisting in the main of eggs, bananas, cereal, tinned soup, kombucha, smoothies and gyoza. These, and pills are what Mr F and I subsist on. Boring, but simplifies the menu planning.
Mochi is, indeed, a cat. A very pretty dark tortoiseshell, she is 10 years old and we got her a rescue cat 2 years ago. She has obviously had some trauma in her previous life and is anxious and clingy but also very talkative and affectionate. She chirps and trills alongside the meowing.
This evening my local choral society had our final rehearsal for a concert tomorrow, then started work on the next one in three week’s time. I felt tomorrow’s needed more rehearsal time. We are singing songs from the shows, very different from our normal repertoire, at a concert to launch a flower festival.
The next next one is Evensong, even more alien to some of our singers, but they had a good go at getting to grips with learning how to sing psalms.
My meeting this evening was poorly attended which was a shame as we advertised it widely. It was also a bit chaotic as I tried to close it too early so I could get to the theatre on time and failed so I basically had to do my 'thank you for coming' speech twice. I arrived fifteen minutes late, but the organiser sneaked me in.
I'll be in the audience for @puzzler's concert tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it.
Despite some of St Pete's choir being cradle Anglicans, singing the Psalms scares the bejaysus out of them!
I had a much gentler day at work today, and Everything Was Done just before 5 o'clock - happy piglet.
I attempted beef stroganoff for supper, and it wasn't bad. I think more mushrooms and less rice next time.
I caught up with @puzzler at the concert tonight. It was a fun concert of show tunes to celebrate the opening of our flower festival this weekend. It was great to see our very big parish church packed. It might not be the music her choir usually sings but they did a cracking job.
Tomorrow I am going to meet up with a neighbour to learn how to sew a regency gown for an Eve of Waterloo ball I'm going to in a few weeks time.
Mochi may be beautiful and affectionate but she is also a sadistic hunter. She brought a mouse in to play with last night but luckily Mr Heavenly was still up and able to rescue it.
I have finished my teaching and marking (small bit of exam marking in June excepted) so for the next 2 weeks it is a light workload of answering student emails until term ends.
I'm homeward bound after a few lovely days away. Last night was magical with my niece singing and playing guitar on the patio while we drank wine. 🙂
(Great niece, she's only 12 and she's got a beautiful voice)
What joy! A beautiful voice is not to be underestimated. I met Mrs Sioni when we were 15 and she had a lovely, clear, sweet voice. She’s still got a lot of it and does all the descants.
That gown sounds amazing @Sarasa. I'd love to sew something like that but I can't come up with a good reason.
Husband en rouge has gone to foie gras land for the weekend so Captain Pyjamas and I will be on our own. He went because his mother was supposed to be having surgery, but in the event the surgeon was sick so it's been postponed. But he already had his ticket so he's gone anyway.
I dropped the Captain off at school, then went home via the big Lidl and the market. In the "only in France" category, one of the fishmongers sells fish heads for the princely sum of €1 a piece, so I have made fish stock out of a couple of them, and will make prawn risotto this evening. The garden has also been watered, and laundry laundered, because some very hot weather is expected. 29° today, which is already ridiculous for May, and 32° next week
We headed into town to do some errands including buying some material for my dress. It's very pretty, but not full on ball gown bling as the only shop that sells fabric has quite a limited range and I want something that I can wear for other events this year. We had a really nice time, as we went to a Greek cafe for lunch. We sat outside in the shade and listened to a guitarist playing in the square while eating flat breads and dips. It really felt like being on holiday. It does make me so cross when people say our town is dreadful, when there are so many nice things you can do for very little effort.
26 and rising, maybe ok for drinks on the patio later. It’s getting warmer and we’re away until Monday so I hope the garden will be ok: it’s not used to four dry days.
Lovely to see @Sarasa last night at the concert, which went well enough, though a but chaotic.
I’m just back from seeing my sister on her 82nd birthday. She has an incredible memory, reminding me of things only I know about, though not always 100% accurate. Her daughter arrived after a long hot journey and her son who lives locally was popping in later, with the Home putting on a bit of a tea party at 4pm.
I’m going to dig out some summer clothes which will need ironing. I am glad my house stays cool in the front, as the front garden needs weeding.
The natural riverside grasses and other plants here in Arkland the Torrid have to take their chance! 79F, with Sun-Shine (a little hazy at times), and forecast to get up towards 90F next week... Clearly, we are in the End Times, as our fathers were before us...
The warmth is welcome, but alas! I am now one of those Vulnerable Old People, out for whom friends and neighbours are enjoined to look (which they do ). The heat is indeed a tad enervating, so I'm keeping well-hydrated, and have closed the curtains on the sunward side of the Ark this afternoon. A siesta is planned for post-lunch.
<snip>In the "only in France" category, one of the fishmongers sells fish heads <snip>
Make that an “almost only…” as I saw the other day that fish stall in the indoor market in Durham sells fish heads - though I didn’t enquire about the price.
That gown sounds amazing @Sarasa. I'd love to sew something like that but I can't come up with a good reason.
I don't imagine there's much call for celebrating the Battle of Waterloo in your neck of the woods ...
It got up to 19° here, which was nice, and looks to be similar for the Bank Holiday weekend, followed by Stupidly Hot (25°) later in the week.
The office has been abandoned until Tuesday, and I've left an empty in-floor which is a good way to start the weekend.
I hope the current round of chemo is being a bit kinder to you @Firenze, it's a total bugger.
It was lovely to see @puzzler, and from my point of view in the audience I didn't notice any chaos. She's back in my neck of the woods for evensong next month which I've just put in my diary as husband and I were talking about going to a service at the parish church for the music and evensong would mean we could go to our own places in the morning.
Warm here and even though it was a bit windy we enjoyed eating outside. Instead of our usual pasta and pesto we had cajun jackfruit and fries courtesy of the meal box we had this week. We'd usually of had it a couple of days ago, but it's been a busy week and this was the first chance to actually to do some serious cooking since Monday.
Enjoy the bank holiday weekend @piglet.
I've no idea what the temperature was today, but it was Too Hot For Me.
We were off on a bit of an outing, but very quickly after starting I had to discard my cardigan, and then being bare-armed had to stop off to buy some sun screen - for the first time in years, as I normally keep well out of the sun.
After the roasting I got at Hever a couple of weekends ago I thought it wise to start treating my elderly skin with a bit more care.
After going over the road to buy fresh food, I went to an antique fair, mainly outdoors. I kept dodging around to avoid the Bargain Hunt cameras. I caught up with a stall holder I know ( I previously sold some table linen to her which belonged to my mother-in-law. Her husband died shortly after mine. )
I bought an item for my daughter to re-sell at her vintage stall, and an original oil painting for me. I love it. I haven’t decided where to hang it yet. It goes with the colours of the spare bedroom but it will rarely be seen there. It is a seascape, from the Isle of Bute, a fraction of the price I paid for another seascape I actually bought on the island, though that was a glorious sunset.
I am keeping out of the heat this afternoon. Early meal ( stir fry) as I am going to listen to a choral concert in my own church this evening, a rare treat.
There's a statue in Our Town (of a local lad) which invariably sports a traffic cone. I think the Council replaces it from time to time, to keep it fresh...any attempt to prevent a cone being present would be met with outrage, heartbreak, trauma, devastation, chaos, carnage etc. etc., and all the other everyday horrors so beloved by local 'News'...
A warm day in Arkland the Parched, with Sun-Shine and Haze. 83F in Old Weather, and likely to be even hotter on Whit-Monday. I went to the Co-Op earlier, and my car told me that the temperature within it was 39C, which is about 102F, which is silly. Of course, it soon cooled down to a balmy 30C when I set off...windows wide open...
There's a statue of a cavalier and a New Model Army soldier on the roundabout into town. They quite often have added traffic cones.
We're off to watch a bowls match this afternoon. I've never been to one before so not sure what to expect.
Comments
I'm spending today catching up with myself, doing some cleaning, answering emails and researching a topic for my philosophy group in a couple of weeks time. I have a meeting tonight of our Councils events group where I no doubt will fill them all in on my Twiining adventures in Germany.
Quite a daunting queue of stuff to be done when I arrived at work, but I finished the last voice file on the stroke of 5 o'clock, which was rather gratifying.
Supper was a pasta concoction with green beans, peas, lemon, garlic, Parm, crème fraîche and rocket, and really nice.
Visiting my brother and family for a few days. And meeting my five good Northern friends for lunch on Thursday, which I'm really looking forward to.
I hope I can dodge the rain. We had heavy showers with hail yesterday and today looks like it could be similar.
Sadly, you missed the last local train by about 63 years!
True, but it means there's a bypass by our village (it's a town!) which makes the square lovely and peaceful.
I enjoy the bus ride. The scenery is really pleasant and the bus goes past the suspension bridge and the harbour 🙂
This morning I received an email saying it had been dispatched.
Literally five minutes later the postie rang the doorbell and handed it over!
Usual day of admin and marking followed by a tutorial this evening (mental health and lived experience). My last tutorial of the academic year, hooray.
Oh, they were gorgeous! Thanks for posting about it! Will be making them again soon.
MMM
Quiet morning at work, then at about three o'clock got a load of stuff dumped on me, much of which will have to wait until tomorrow.
Supper was fishcakes - I know I seem to have them rather often, but I like them, so why not?
I have just had a rather magical 20 minutes. Yesterday I read that you could improve your sleep quality by going outside in the morning. Allegedly this "sets" your brain into recognising that the day has begun, and makes it easier for your brain to recognise the end of the day, too.
So this morning at 7.30 I headed into the garden with a mug of coffee, and spent 20 mins sitting on a chilly wet garden bench with the "Merlin" app open on my phone. The app registered 16 different bird calls in 20 mins. I was transfixed!
OTOH, we have a near maintenance-free garden so we like to sit out there.
I have a busy afternoon and evening. First off I'm going to the re-opening of a restaurant I hadn't realised had closed and then on to the Town Hall for a meeting for the people of the town to meet the Town Council. I'm hoping we can get through the business quickly as I have a ticket (as do quite a few other councillors) to go and see the author Matt Haig at our local theatre.
Piglet, on ye Olde Shippe, I used to be M., and I am still somewhat peeved that I had to change it for the New Ship!
MMM
This worked well because it was wet out, and I went in afterwards to have a hot shower and dry clothes.
I have now finished my assignment marking and teaching for the year. Just supporting my students for two more weeks and then a small amount of exam marking in June.
This evening we are off to the Cambridge beer festival.
A busy day, though, with a brief Expotition to the village Co-Op, then back to the Arkland Orfis to pick up a couple of parcels. The much-delayed task of changing the sheet and pillow-cases took a while - fitted sheets are a great boon, but, in a confined space (such as my berth), they appear to be equipped with a Daemon.
PIE, CHIPS, n'MUSHY PEAS for tea.
I think she's Heavenlyannie's cat.
NEQ - it's all very well you pootling out to the North East garden in your PJs, but I'd look a right berk ambling down the High Street to work in my nightie ...
After a somewhat traumatic morning (the heaps of voice files needing my attention were meeting me at the door), I just got stuck in and blattered my way through them (well, nearly all of them). It helped that some of the bosses were at a training session in Edinburgh, so not actually producing anything.
Mixed weather: when I went out at lunchtime, it seemed to be trying to rain, but not really very hard, but when my colleague K went out just after I came back, she got soaked. It's nice now though: sunny and almost warm.
Supper was an orzotto with mushrooms, tomatoes and prawns.
I have largely given up cooking in favour of a twice-weekly shop from W*itrose, consisting in the main of eggs, bananas, cereal, tinned soup, kombucha, smoothies and gyoza. These, and pills are what Mr F and I subsist on. Boring, but simplifies the menu planning.
Mochi is, indeed, a cat. A very pretty dark tortoiseshell, she is 10 years old and we got her a rescue cat 2 years ago. She has obviously had some trauma in her previous life and is anxious and clingy but also very talkative and affectionate. She chirps and trills alongside the meowing.
The next next one is Evensong, even more alien to some of our singers, but they had a good go at getting to grips with learning how to sing psalms.
I'll be in the audience for @puzzler's concert tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it.
I had a much gentler day at work today, and Everything Was Done just before 5 o'clock - happy piglet.
I attempted beef stroganoff for supper, and it wasn't bad. I think more mushrooms and less rice next time.
Tomorrow I am going to meet up with a neighbour to learn how to sew a regency gown for an Eve of Waterloo ball I'm going to in a few weeks time.
I have finished my teaching and marking (small bit of exam marking in June excepted) so for the next 2 weeks it is a light workload of answering student emails until term ends.
(Great niece, she's only 12 and she's got a beautiful voice)
What joy! A beautiful voice is not to be underestimated. I met Mrs Sioni when we were 15 and she had a lovely, clear, sweet voice. She’s still got a lot of it and does all the descants.
Husband en rouge has gone to foie gras land for the weekend so Captain Pyjamas and I will be on our own. He went because his mother was supposed to be having surgery, but in the event the surgeon was sick so it's been postponed. But he already had his ticket so he's gone anyway.
I dropped the Captain off at school, then went home via the big Lidl and the market. In the "only in France" category, one of the fishmongers sells fish heads for the princely sum of €1 a piece, so I have made fish stock out of a couple of them, and will make prawn risotto this evening. The garden has also been watered, and laundry laundered, because some very hot weather is expected. 29° today, which is already ridiculous for May, and 32° next week
I’m just back from seeing my sister on her 82nd birthday. She has an incredible memory, reminding me of things only I know about, though not always 100% accurate. Her daughter arrived after a long hot journey and her son who lives locally was popping in later, with the Home putting on a bit of a tea party at 4pm.
I’m going to dig out some summer clothes which will need ironing. I am glad my house stays cool in the front, as the front garden needs weeding.
The warmth is welcome, but alas! I am now one of those Vulnerable Old People, out for whom friends and neighbours are enjoined to look (which they do
It got up to 19° here, which was nice, and looks to be similar for the Bank Holiday weekend, followed by Stupidly Hot (25°) later in the week.
The office has been abandoned until Tuesday, and I've left an empty in-floor which is a good way to start the weekend.
F&C for supper, obviously.
It was lovely to see @puzzler, and from my point of view in the audience I didn't notice any chaos. She's back in my neck of the woods for evensong next month which I've just put in my diary as husband and I were talking about going to a service at the parish church for the music and evensong would mean we could go to our own places in the morning.
Warm here and even though it was a bit windy we enjoyed eating outside. Instead of our usual pasta and pesto we had cajun jackfruit and fries courtesy of the meal box we had this week. We'd usually of had it a couple of days ago, but it's been a busy week and this was the first chance to actually to do some serious cooking since Monday.
Enjoy the bank holiday weekend @piglet.
We were off on a bit of an outing, but very quickly after starting I had to discard my cardigan, and then being bare-armed had to stop off to buy some sun screen - for the first time in years, as I normally keep well out of the sun.
After the roasting I got at Hever a couple of weekends ago I thought it wise to start treating my elderly skin with a bit more care.
Of course, in Scotland, you wouldn't need to sew a gown, you'd just need to put a traffic cone on your head.
I bought an item for my daughter to re-sell at her vintage stall, and an original oil painting for me. I love it. I haven’t decided where to hang it yet. It goes with the colours of the spare bedroom but it will rarely be seen there. It is a seascape, from the Isle of Bute, a fraction of the price I paid for another seascape I actually bought on the island, though that was a glorious sunset.
I am keeping out of the heat this afternoon. Early meal ( stir fry) as I am going to listen to a choral concert in my own church this evening, a rare treat.
A warm day in Arkland the Parched, with Sun-Shine and Haze. 83F in Old Weather, and likely to be even hotter on Whit-Monday. I went to the Co-Op earlier, and my car told me that the temperature within it was 39C, which is about 102F, which is silly. Of course, it soon cooled down to a balmy 30C when I set off...windows wide open...
We're off to watch a bowls match this afternoon. I've never been to one before so not sure what to expect.