Back to old haunts ( Caddington) this am. Mainly cos wife has hair appt at 9am with former hairdresser so methinks I will persuade her ( the hairdresser!!) to cut mine as well .
I'd been contemplating laundry earlier on, but as it's started to rain (much earlier than the Met Office was offering it) I think it'll have to wait.
O the frustration of living in a house without a tumble-dryer.*
Amblage may also have to be put on hold, although I think there may be a supermarket trip in the offing, so that should provide a bit of exercise. As it happens, I had two ambles yesterday - one along my usual route, and another when No. 1 niece arrived with Harvey for walkies.
Also, there's a spot of Iron Ing that could be done - that involves standing up, moving a heavy ironing-board and that sort of thing, so it counts, doesn't it?
* Actually there is one, but it's buried under a load of Stuff in the garage, and S. doesn't like it being used anyway ...
As regards Iron Ing - the thought reminded me of an old song, and this little film shows that Iron Ing can be Fun (if you have some smaller Ings to help you): https://youtube.com/watch?v=NAlevP8JWOQ&t=60s
Yesterday's walk with niece ended up being a stroll to a newly opened café/restaurant for cocktails, which was lovely. So lovely that husband and I have booked back for next Saturday for lunch.
Today I trying to do stuff while waiting for the Department of Work and Pensions to pick up their phone.
I was intending to go for a walk this morning but deferred it and now it is raining. Then I have a supermarket delivery due later on.
Meanwhile I keep chipping away at the gathering of information ready to complete my tax return. I normally do this in July. What happened to July?
Here's a story for you all. We went down to town today, catching a bus at 10.30. When we got off, my wife realised she’d lost an earring. We searched for it in her clothing but concluded that her facemask must have pulled it off. She was saddened because, although not valuable, it was one of her favourite pairs.
We did our shopping, had some lunch and headed to the bus stop. One bus was loading but it was quite busy so we decided to wait fanother which was due (it turned out to be quite busy, too!) Halfway home my wife saw something glinting on the floor near the driver’s cab ... it was her earring! And, as she bent down to pick it up, she saw the butterfly on the floor nearby! How amazing that it was the same bus ... and that she was looking in the right direction ... and that dozens of pairs of feet hadn’t kicked it under a seat or to the back! The bus must have made 2, possibly 3, round trips in the intervening time.
We were shocked though at the number of people not wearing facemasks though, including one man who stood very near us – we asked him to move, which he did with bad grace. Masks have been mandatory for the last week.
BT, regarding lost earrings - some years ago I used to wear a pair of amber drop earrings from Past Times. I came home from town one day and realised I’d lost a earring. I checked my clothes, that it hadn’t come off when I had taken my coat off, but no joy. A couple of days later, I went into town again after a rain shower. As I went along our street, I saw something On the pavement, glinting. It was my earring!
My aunt (great aunt) lost a wedding ring in a field while roguing wild oats or picking stones.
Some years later her youngest son, ploughing the same field, saw something glint as it was turned up By the plough, and it was the ring, unharmed by its adventure.
A very similar thing happened to me Priscilla - also with amber drop earrings from Past Times! Unfortunately the gap between losing one and finding it again was so long that sadly I'd thrown away its partner. I'm glad you were more fortunate. I miss that shop!
My aunt (great aunt) lost a wedding ring in a field while roguing wild oats or picking stones.
Some years later her youngest son, ploughing the same field, saw something glint as it was turned up By the plough, and it was the ring, unharmed by its adventure.
I lost my wedding ring while shaking the church doormat in the grounds. I'm still hoping it will turn up at some point.
My mother lost her wedding ring gardening and 8 years later my dad found it while digging up the carrots.
Just got back from my morning walk (breakfast of wild blackberries). Husband is on a call in the lounge, older son is on a call in the kitchen. I may have to shut myself in the study and do some work.
My aunt (great aunt) lost a wedding ring in a field while roguing wild oats or picking stones.
Some years later her youngest son, ploughing the same field, saw something glint as it was turned up By the plough, and it was the ring, unharmed by its adventure.
I lost my wedding ring while shaking the church doormat in the grounds. I'm still hoping it will turn up at some point.
I lost my glasses at church - they turned up four years later!
My lost ring stories (three of them, both involving my grandmother):
She'd been peeling an orange, and put the peelings into the front pocket of her apron to take them out to the dustbin. Having taken her rings (engagement, eternity and a dress ring) off to wash her hands, she put the rings into the same pocket, and tipped the whole lot into the dustbin ... Sadly she didn't remember about it until the dustbins had been emptied, so they were gone.
She lost another ring which turned up more-or-less intact in the tread of someone's car tyre; and one evening she and I were standing outside talking to a friend, and for some reason Granny took off a glove. She wasn't aware of anything amiss, but I felt something hit my foot, looked down and saw something glinting on the pavement. I think the moral of that last one is: if you get a ring that's too big for you, get it altered!
It's another dreich day in Embra, so whether amblage will happen may be a moot point. S. and I went to a garden centre yesterday and bought a planter and a couple of mint plants (the one she'd got a few weeks ago has mysteriously snuffed it - who knew that you could kill mint?).
As I thought it was probably my fault for cutting bits of it off the wrong way for cooking, I'd offered to replace it, and I think it's going to be down to me to replant them in their new home ... in the pouring wind and rain.
I suppose if God's doing the watering, I don't have to ...
We went into the city yesterday and my wife bought a Welsh textbook in a well-known chain bookshop. When we got home she realised it was for the North Wales dialect, not the South - they are fairly distinct. So this morning I went into the city and changed said textbook in the well-known chain bookshop - no problem.
I was extremely cross with three young men on the bus coming home who aggressively refused to wear face-masks. (I did say something about it being to protect others rather than themselves and was met by abuse). I made sure I sat by an open window, as far away from them as possible. Not nice.
Ah, but the BCP (revised on account of ye Plague Year) is strictly ecumenical, and/or interdenominational, suitable for use by Tabernacles, Conventicles, Meeting-Houses, Cathedrals, Quires-And-Places-Where-They-Sing, and Sacred Edifices of all types.
Seriously, though, it must have been an unpleasant experience for you. Alas, the Idiots are always with us.
Sounds as if they deserved a good old-fashioned Paddington Bear Hard Stare at the very least, @Baptist Trainfan . Sorry to hear you had a load of abuse for your pains.
All go here preparing for a visit from son and partner; the first since February! The house is well stocked with soap, hand sanitisers and the like; he has been isolating for a couple of weeks before travelling and we will attempt to social distance as much as is practically possible. We shall dutifully speak to each other sideways on, muttering out of the corner of our masks, whilst hopping widdershins round the room on one leg in an anti-clockwise direction, (or whatever the latest pearls of wisdom issued by our esteemed government happen to be).
'Dreich' hardly covers it. It's as if a day had wandered in from November. We drove to the Morningside Waitrose, which has rooftop parking, hoping there wouldn't be a queue for admission. There wasn't, but the place was a shallow lake.
Briefly encountered an old friend - didn't stop to chat as he was wrangling two small grandchildren while wearing a mask and steaming glasses.
'Dreich' hardly covers it. It's as if a day had wandered in from November. We drove to the Morningside Waitrose, which has rooftop parking, hoping there wouldn't be a queue for admission. There wasn't, but the place was a shallow lake.
Briefly encountered an old friend - didn't stop to chat as he was wrangling two small grandchildren while wearing a mask and steaming glasses.
Dreich is about right for what we had. A good 20-30mph of wind speed away from November weather!
Greetings from the depths of the Aveyron, where we have decamped next to a lake in the middle of the countryside for a week's Proper Holiday. It's much cooler than last week, and very windy, although it will be warming up again from tomorrow on. Captain Pyjamas has been happily making friends with the local cat.
... 'Dreich' hardly covers it. It's as if a day had wandered in from November. ...
That's exactly what I was thinking when I was putting the dustbin out last night - if the temperature had been only a little lower you'd have thought it was more like November than August.
I treated myself to a gel manicure this morning, and I now have beautiful, dark-metallic-blue nails. And it forbore from raining as I ambled back home afterwards!
After months of nothingness, yesterday brought so much to do and think about, starting and finishing with holiday photos by phone from adult children, and including two lengthy phone calls from friends not seen for 4 months, together with music delivered for a district learning project from one of my choirs, and the first steps towards resuming my voluntary work from home.
That was in addition to my planned quick visit to Aldi just across the road and a bus ride to the bank and back, the first since March.
We were hoping to have our son and family stay over soon, however that's not possible as they would have come from our d-i-l's family in Devon and the rules in Wales don't yet permit that So we're going to meet up at Bristol Zoo instead and I've bought the tickets - here's hoping for decent weather!
The dreichheit continuing, I can't get into the garden (and me with a new fire bowl). So I have spent the morning sewing masks, and now going to spend the afternoon knitting (just a sleeve and a half to go) and watching the Snooker World Campionship.
My Old Mum and Dad used to love watching snooker. They had a black-and-white TV, when snooker was first shown, so the commentator's helpful hints that the red ball was next to the some-other-colour ball were much appreciated.
I used to watch snooker as a kid at my nan’s on her black and white tv.
Lunch was baked Camembert with toast, followed by flat white peaches.
I spent the afternoon doing a big clear out of the room of doom, aka my office/old sewing and craft room. There was 4 bin bags thrown out, mostly vintage fabric from my old sewing business that I really don’t need any more. Lots more tidying to do but it is easier to get near the desk now!
'Dreich' hardly covers it. It's as if a day had wandered in from November. We drove to the Morningside Waitrose, which has rooftop parking, hoping there wouldn't be a queue for admission. There wasn't, but the place was a shallow lake.
Briefly encountered an old friend - didn't stop to chat as he was wrangling two small grandchildren while wearing a mask and steaming glasses.
We in East Anglia are caught in a hair dryer: of boiling hot, drying winds. I'll take your dreich thank you very much.
My Old Mum and Dad used to love watching snooker. They had a black-and-white TV, when snooker was first shown, so the commentator's helpful hints that the red ball was next to the some-other-colour ball were much appreciated.
Ah, dear old Pot Black - used to watch that with my parents, before they had colour TV
For those too young to recognise your reference, it was to the most famous of commentator "Whispering" Ted Lowe's occasional gaffes: "and for those of you who are watching in black and white, the pink is next to the green."
Last night’s tea was a rather nice mild chilli with blue corn chips. Haven’t had chilli for a while and it was very pleasant.
Skip arrived early this morning and we plan on clearing out the shed today so we can put up a new one (this requires some hard work as it is attached to the outhouse). Must check in to work first to see if there is any admin to do for next year.
I think lunch will be the cauliflower cheese pies which arrived with the veg box.
Thank you! I couldn't remember the chap's name, and kept thinking it must have been David Coleman...
I was thinking that one was a "Colemanball" - but it could just as easily have been Whispering Ted.*
* not to be confused with Whispering Bob Harris of Old Grey Whistle Test fame, of course. Feeling old now ...
The dreichness of yesterday appears to have departed (for the time being anyway) - I've just hung out a batch of laundry, and it was warm and sunny without a breath of wind. The Met Office tells me it's 21°, which feels about right, so I think some amblage is in order.
Supper this evening is going to be a bit of a cheat - a ready-to-cook lamb tagine that S. ordered from a local butcher. I hope it's nice - there's still another one in the freezer. It's rather ironic - over the last few days when we had weather imported from November we were eating salads, and now that we're getting some Actual Summer™ we're having a casserole ...
I think I might do a sort of rice pilaf-y thing to go with it - maybe with saffron, raisins and toasted pine nuts. Does that sound sensible?
Last night’s tea was a rather nice mild chilli with blue corn chips. Haven’t had chilli for a while and it was very pleasant.[...]
Sounds like the perfect kind of climate to me: rather nice, mild and (somewhat) chilly. Most pleasant indeed. (As put forward by a multitude of threaddwellers, regularly).
Continental WesShire, apparently, is to have a whole week of 31° to 32°C daytime temperatures, which I find silly, as over here the summer break endeth and we are supposed to be back with the schools - at least no longer that daft, enforced distance learning, with which you can only achieve a part of what we are bound to do: constantly concentrating online simply doesn't work for quite a lot people!
Ach well. - Just having a nice pizza from the restaurant across the road, so that's good.
It's 25 degrees here so we had soup for lunch. It was nice but felt a bit unseasonal.
I'm having a lazy day trying to do some writing and I have a couple of new jigsaw puzzles one of which I'm going to start in a bit.
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It's partly cloudy with a little breeze ruffling the treetops at the moment, so I'll have an amble later.
I was worried I’d said ‘shave it all off’ 😂
But I’m pleased with the result. It’s easy to style too.
Today will be a weeding in the garden day, weather permitting. 🌱
O the frustration of living in a house without a tumble-dryer.*
Amblage may also have to be put on hold, although I think there may be a supermarket trip in the offing, so that should provide a bit of exercise. As it happens, I had two ambles yesterday - one along my usual route, and another when No. 1 niece arrived with Harvey for walkies.
Also, there's a spot of Iron Ing that could be done - that involves standing up, moving a heavy ironing-board and that sort of thing, so it counts, doesn't it?
* Actually there is one, but it's buried under a load of Stuff in the garage, and S. doesn't like it being used anyway ...
https://youtube.com/watch?v=NAlevP8JWOQ&t=60s
Today I trying to do stuff while waiting for the Department of Work and Pensions to pick up their phone.
Meanwhile I keep chipping away at the gathering of information ready to complete my tax return. I normally do this in July. What happened to July?
We did our shopping, had some lunch and headed to the bus stop. One bus was loading but it was quite busy so we decided to wait fanother which was due (it turned out to be quite busy, too!) Halfway home my wife saw something glinting on the floor near the driver’s cab ... it was her earring! And, as she bent down to pick it up, she saw the butterfly on the floor nearby! How amazing that it was the same bus ... and that she was looking in the right direction ... and that dozens of pairs of feet hadn’t kicked it under a seat or to the back! The bus must have made 2, possibly 3, round trips in the intervening time.
We were shocked though at the number of people not wearing facemasks though, including one man who stood very near us – we asked him to move, which he did with bad grace. Masks have been mandatory for the last week.
Some years later her youngest son, ploughing the same field, saw something glint as it was turned up By the plough, and it was the ring, unharmed by its adventure.
Thank you.
I lost my wedding ring while shaking the church doormat in the grounds. I'm still hoping it will turn up at some point.
Just got back from my morning walk (breakfast of wild blackberries). Husband is on a call in the lounge, older son is on a call in the kitchen. I may have to shut myself in the study and do some work.
I lost my glasses at church - they turned up four years later!
She'd been peeling an orange, and put the peelings into the front pocket of her apron to take them out to the dustbin. Having taken her rings (engagement, eternity and a dress ring) off to wash her hands, she put the rings into the same pocket, and tipped the whole lot into the dustbin ... Sadly she didn't remember about it until the dustbins had been emptied, so they were gone.
She lost another ring which turned up more-or-less intact in the tread of someone's car tyre; and one evening she and I were standing outside talking to a friend, and for some reason Granny took off a glove. She wasn't aware of anything amiss, but I felt something hit my foot, looked down and saw something glinting on the pavement. I think the moral of that last one is: if you get a ring that's too big for you, get it altered!
It's another dreich day in Embra, so whether amblage will happen may be a moot point. S. and I went to a garden centre yesterday and bought a planter and a couple of mint plants (the one she'd got a few weeks ago has mysteriously snuffed it - who knew that you could kill mint?).
As I thought it was probably my fault for cutting bits of it off the wrong way for cooking, I'd offered to replace it, and I think it's going to be down to me to replant them in their new home ... in the pouring wind and rain.
I suppose if God's doing the watering, I don't have to ...
(And let’s not even start on the peas, which are being knocked about in their supports.....)
I was extremely cross with three young men on the bus coming home who aggressively refused to wear face-masks. (I did say something about it being to protect others rather than themselves and was met by abuse). I made sure I sat by an open window, as far away from them as possible. Not nice.
Blessed be he that weareth a face-mask for love of his neighbour...
Book of Common Prayer (revised on account of ye Plague Year)
Seriously, though, it must have been an unpleasant experience for you. Alas, the Idiots are always with us.
All go here preparing for a visit from son and partner; the first since February! The house is well stocked with soap, hand sanitisers and the like; he has been isolating for a couple of weeks before travelling and we will attempt to social distance as much as is practically possible. We shall dutifully speak to each other sideways on, muttering out of the corner of our masks, whilst hopping widdershins round the room on one leg in an anti-clockwise direction, (or whatever the latest pearls of wisdom issued by our esteemed government happen to be).
I actually bought a metal detector for that purpose but, alas, no joy.
'Dreich' hardly covers it. It's as if a day had wandered in from November. We drove to the Morningside Waitrose, which has rooftop parking, hoping there wouldn't be a queue for admission. There wasn't, but the place was a shallow lake.
Briefly encountered an old friend - didn't stop to chat as he was wrangling two small grandchildren while wearing a mask and steaming glasses.
Dreich is about right for what we had. A good 20-30mph of wind speed away from November weather!
I treated myself to a gel manicure this morning, and I now have beautiful, dark-metallic-blue nails. And it forbore from raining as I ambled back home afterwards!
That was in addition to my planned quick visit to Aldi just across the road and a bus ride to the bank and back, the first since March.
Lunch was baked Camembert with toast, followed by flat white peaches.
I spent the afternoon doing a big clear out of the room of doom, aka my office/old sewing and craft room. There was 4 bin bags thrown out, mostly vintage fabric from my old sewing business that I really don’t need any more. Lots more tidying to do but it is easier to get near the desk now!
We in East Anglia are caught in a hair dryer: of boiling hot, drying winds. I'll take your dreich thank you very much.
Here in central Arizona (U.S.A.) it's 106F -- 41C.
For those too young to recognise your reference, it was to the most famous of commentator "Whispering" Ted Lowe's occasional gaffes: "and for those of you who are watching in black and white, the pink is next to the green."
Skip arrived early this morning and we plan on clearing out the shed today so we can put up a new one (this requires some hard work as it is attached to the outhouse). Must check in to work first to see if there is any admin to do for next year.
I think lunch will be the cauliflower cheese pies which arrived with the veg box.
* not to be confused with Whispering Bob Harris of Old Grey Whistle Test fame, of course. Feeling old now ...
The dreichness of yesterday appears to have departed (for the time being anyway) - I've just hung out a batch of laundry, and it was warm and sunny without a breath of wind. The Met Office tells me it's 21°, which feels about right, so I think some amblage is in order.
Supper this evening is going to be a bit of a cheat - a ready-to-cook lamb tagine that S. ordered from a local butcher. I hope it's nice - there's still another one in the freezer. It's rather ironic - over the last few days when we had weather imported from November we were eating salads, and now that we're getting some Actual Summer™ we're having a casserole ...
I think I might do a sort of rice pilaf-y thing to go with it - maybe with saffron, raisins and toasted pine nuts. Does that sound sensible?
Patio cleared of debris, and lots of lobbing of shrubs done.
Sounds very entertaining!
Sounds like the perfect kind of climate to me: rather nice, mild and (somewhat) chilly. Most pleasant indeed. (As put forward by a multitude of threaddwellers, regularly).
Continental WesShire, apparently, is to have a whole week of 31° to 32°C daytime temperatures, which I find silly, as over here the summer break endeth and we are supposed to be back with the schools - at least no longer that daft, enforced distance learning, with which you can only achieve a part of what we are bound to do: constantly concentrating online simply doesn't work for quite a lot people!
Ach well. - Just having a nice pizza from the restaurant across the road, so that's good.
I'm having a lazy day trying to do some writing and I have a couple of new jigsaw puzzles one of which I'm going to start in a bit.