Chilling day: take 2

 Wednesday chilling didn't really happen but how about Thursday?

I woke with more pain than usual so that limited my activities, although by mid-morning the pain had largely subsided.  I fancied doing a little cooking so I made soup and froze it, made mayonnaise and coleslaw.  I'd got dwarf beans in my "Waste Not" box earlier in the week so I cooked those and a couple of chicken thighs and made a chicken, carrot and green bean cheesy bake and froze that too.  I find a certain "housewifely" satisfaction when I put meals into the freezer.  I think Mother may have had a similar feeling when she surveyed the fruit she had bottled when I was a child.  

I finished my food prepping around lunch time and celebrated with freshly made soup which was very yummy.  Those boxes of tomato soup are definitely the promise of summer sunshine in mid-winter.

The afternoon was much more leisurely.  I had a snooze.  I knitted.  I did a few puzzles. I had a video call with a friend, and did a WI course in the evening.

I think my legs took out of my control the decision as to whether to chill out.  Thank you, legs.

What happened?

 

A visitor on Tuesday had brought me some flowers so I arranged them.  I have never claimed that flower arranging is one of my talents.  

I had a leisurely time doing puzzles.

Then I had a call from a friend who was very sad so I suggested she put the kettle on and I went to her.  

I had a couple of hours there just listening and came home in need of a snooze.

And somehow I just couldn't relax so I made soup.  A lot of soup.  

I remembered I had two hours of half price electricity so I did the laundry.

Then one friend rang.  And another called.  Then another rang.

So my day of quiet chilling didn't work out quite as planned.  But I am grateful to all my friends.  I felt loved, needed, appreciated. 

And guess what?  There's nothing in my diary today.  I can choose how to spend each and every minute.  😉

And so to September

 

I suppose it's autumn now but maybe we can enjoy summer  a little longer.    I've got plans for September.

Swimming is planned for several Mondays.  I don't want to go when there are fewer than three mermaids so we don't often know before Sunday whether we'll be having a splash.  Today the dip is on!

I've got a fiftieth birthday party to go to.  I'm rather looking forward to this one as there will be three of my cousins plus lots of other relatives so a lot of talking will get done.

I'm booked to lead worship on a couple of Sundays.  

I'm hoping to get my Christmas cards made.  I can't remember when I left that job so late in the year.  I've also been collecting the ingredients for puddings.  The list for those gets longer every year.

I'm hoping to do a few craft classes with the WI on line.  (The picture above was from a course last September.)

And that leaves quite a bit of time for deciding to do something on the spur of the moment.  

The nights are drawing in

 and so are the mornings.   For many years my usual rising time has been around 4am and, although I am trying to push it later, it is still dark when I rise.  It's dark before I go to bed too.  There's no getting away from the fact that winter is coming.  I don't like winter.  I can't get out so easily, the dark makes me feel sluggish.  

So, I try every year to make winter a little happier.  I've got a SAD lamp and that will go on each morning once we pass the Autumn equinox on 22nd September.  I'm harvesting and prepping food from my garden to make lovely soups to be savoured.  I've got ideas for things to make and do.  I'm finding books for those dreary months.  

And I mustn't call them dreary months!  Instead of thinking "I can't go out because it's raining" I could be thinking, "That rain looks like a good reason to have hot chocolate".  Instead of bemoaning the lack of visits from friends I could be rejoicing that I can get on with some of my messier hobbies.  

Great ideas.  Now, where will I find the energy to put them into practice?

The first day of the month

 

December is the most distinctive of all the months but, at least for English children, August is pretty special too.  A whole month of no school stretching out in front of them.  That could either be wonderful or awful, depending on how each one thinks of school.

My schooldays are long gone, but I still have a whole month to enjoy.  Thirty one days to use as I please.

My plans include a little bit of dog sitting.  Holly Dog has sent an invitation.  

I've got three summer schools to attend on line.  That isn't as onerous as it sounds for each is just one hour a day for a whole week.  Two are on Shakespeare and one is hand embroidery.  All are run by the Women's Institute.  I've done several Shakespeare courses before and these two are on Hamlet and Measure for Measure.  

I've got two short courses too, on drawing and journalling.  These are run each month and are very relaxing.  

I'm hoping to swim if my legs are OK.  I miss my mermaid sessions when I can't go.  

I've plans for several meals out with various friends and relations.  Nothing fancy but fish and chips just might feature.  

I've been invited to a seventieth birthday party for a dear friend.  

And in between times I shall relax, knit, crochet, maybe go out for a few days. 

And maybe write a few blog posts too.  

Hi July!

 

A whole new month!  

31 days of blessings!  

744 hours of possibilities!

44640 minutes to live!

And by the end of the month I will have lived through 2678400 more seconds.  

There are fun things on the horizon.

I think I'm going on a tour of an ice cream factory tomorrow.  I say "I think" because the factory hasn't conformed they can cope with us but I can't think of a better place to go in this weather.  

I'm booked to take services three Sundays.  The last Sunday of the month I am going to a farewell service for a local vicar who is moving on.  She has been really good and she will be missed. 

I'm going to a birthday lunch for a friends, a farewell lunch for the vicar I mentioned above and another meet-up lunch with a friend.

My car has its annual check and service which might not sound very interesting but I have a tradition of going to a nice hotel for breakfast with one of my cousins which is lovely.  

I'm hoping to get my Christmas cards made.  I've been hoping to do that since February!

But the month starts with a visit from Jack.  I have savoury ducks waiting for him and bacon butties are on the menu.  

May I?

This last week has made me feel as though summer is definitely on the way!   I have a few plans.

I'm going to stay with Holly Dog for a week.  That's a bit like going on holiday!

I'm taking the funeral of an old friend.  I feel very privileged as she left explicit instructions that she wanted me.

I am hosting a cousins' lunch.  The other three cousins who come all have birthdays in May and June so a rather nice pub meal is my gift to them.  

I have a lunch out and an afternoon tea planned.  These catch-ups with old friends are such a pleasure.

The Monday Mermaids will be splashing.

Jack is coming again before long so that we can get the garden in the best order possible.  

Those are the definite plans but I also have dreams.  I want to sit in my garden and do some crafts.  I want to try some new recipes.  I want to increase my walking.  And I want to dream dreams.

February and March

The number of posts I managed in February wasn't exactly stellar.  Just the one.

For me January and February are usually difficult months and 2025 ran true to form.  Early in the month I woke one morning with incredible pain in my leg, worse than when I was waiting for the knee replacement.  Jim and Sheena, one of my cousins, managed to borrow a wheelchair so I could get to the car, and between them they took me to the doctor.  Strong pain killer and physiotherapy.  I felt more than a little light headed while taking pain relief but eventually everything settled down.

That had eased when I had a "digestive episode".  You don't want/need to know any more.  Except that things were a little miserable for several days until that settled.  

So, my post on being OK (which I wrote between these two incidents) was very necessary and hearing that lots of other people are also surviving by being OK was very comforting.  Thank you to everyone who commented.

I have high hopes for March!  I'm starting the month with eight days dog sitting which is going well.  When I get home I am looking forward to pottering around my garden and making a few plans.  Jack and one of his friends are coming for tea one day so I have to be on my very best behaviour and I have high hopes that his friend will make sure Jack is on his best behaviour too.  

The weather here is gloriously sunny at the moment so I may take advantage of that with a couple of days out.

And with good luck and a following wind I may get a few more blog posts written.

P is for plans

 

I love making plans!  They may not get carried through, but dreaming and working things out and writing them down passes a lovely hour.

I have fairly long term plans (eg go on a cruise), medium term plans (Christmas gifts to make), amd plans for the month to come.

So, what does August hold for me?

I need to have minor surgery (which will be inconvenient) and I need to plan how I can manage any potential difficulties.  I live alone so it is important that I think things through as thoroughly as possible

My garden is looking better than it has for several years (the alterations last year made things tricky) so I'm planning to spend time out there.  (Thank you, Jack.)

For various reasons I need to cut back on grocery spending, so I need to plan meals and shopping very carefully.

I've booked several courses with the Women's Institute on line learning hub.  Some are "crafty", some are to make me think.

I've got just one booking to lead worship this month, but that needs prayer and planning.

And, most importantly, I'm planning on a lovely month.

Anne Frank

"What a wonderful thought it is that some of the best days of our lives haven't even happened yet.” — Anne Frank

I found that quote from Anne Frank when I was looking for New Year inspiration and it brought me up very short.  Anne died in Bergen-Belsen when she was only fifteen and so she was deprived of many wonderful days.  And I feel that I owe it to Anne to appreciate the wonderful days I have.

What wonderful days will happen in 2022?  I've got plans!  I've been offered hospitality in a village in the Malvern Hills for a few days.  I've signed on for several on-line crafting courses.  Don't tell Jack but I've plans for the garden.  And my landlord has a lot of exciting plans for alterations to the house.   

So hurrah for 2022!  And I hope that throughout everything I can remember another quote from Anne Frank.

At Last!

To be replaced with chocolate - please!

 "The letter" arrived yesterday!  I will be having surgery on my knee in less than three weeks.  I will be going as an NHS patient to a small private hospital in Grimsby and I expect to be there just one or two nights.  

I am inundated with offers of help.  I am so lucky!  I have offers to take me to hospital and to fetch me home.  Someone will sleep here to make sure I am OK.  Jack and Annie (my home enhancer) have both offered extra help.  Others will shop, cook and odd-job for me and I suspect I will be checked on so much that I will be lucky if I get any sleep.  

And I am so grateful!  Grateful not just for the offers of practical help but also for the love and care behind them.    I am truly blessed.  

Looking back at January

 I really wasn't looking forward to January 2021.  January is never a good month for me.  The fun and friendliness of Christmas is over and spring still feels a long way off.  Most years I book a bargain break in February to give myself something to look forward to but that wasn't an option this year.  

But I knew January was coming so I planned for it.  I cooked lots of lovely food and froze it to avoid that vicious cycle of not feeling like cooking and then eating rubbish food so I feel even worse.  I invested in a daylight lamp to minimise the risk of SAD.

And January was good.  I really enjoyed the food I had prepared.  I enjoyed the walking.  I enjoyed seeing friends on zoom or just talking to them on the phone.  I planned lovely things to do when I can go out.  I appreciated my home.  I've helped lead worship on-line.  I've been very grateful to all the people who have helped me stay safe.  I've done several on-line craft courses.  

And I have been happy.  Who would have thought that January 2021 would be my happiest January in years?

Joyfully into June

I'm looking forward to June but before it starts there's May to be wrapped up,

It's been a busy month.  No funerals - but two baptisms, I conducted services on each Sunday and two  Sundays I took two services.  This is unusual for me and I don't really like doing it but needs must.

It's been a great month for meeting up with friends for coffee and/or lunch.

I've increased my step count to its highest daily average (over the course of one month) ever.

I've been doing a lot in both the garden and the house.

So what does June hold?

Well yesterday I took my final service in The Kelsey Group before their new vicar starts on Thursday.  Apart from a wedding and one weekday service (no sermon needed) I have no bookings this month and I'm rather looking forward to sitting in a pew on Sundays.

I have a friend coming to stay for a few days and I will treat that time as a staycation for me as well.

My garden is calling loudly not just to be worked in but to be enjoyed.

I've got several lunches, picnics, and board games sessions organised.

Brilliant!

Sixteen days

Amy, my friend from Dorset, will be here in sixteen days for a four day break so I've got to get ready!

You may remember The Project which I started earlier in the month but sad to say I haven't done much of it.  Anyway I got stuck in yesterday and thought I had better report back.

Quite apart from making space for Amy to sleep I want to sort out some of my UnFinished Objects to make it a little easier to actually finish them.  So far I've found some Advent bunting, clothes hangers to be covered and used as presents and a crochet blanket.  My hope is that on sunny summer days I'll be able to feel very busy when I sit on my swing all afternoon!

I've also tried to introduce a little order into my home-made cards.  Finished ones tend to get tossed into a box and I can never find a suitable one when I need one so the stash just grows.  I've now utilised some Amazon packaging to create folders for Birthdays, Christmas, Thank you, Sympathy and so on.  I'll see if that helps.

I've sorted quite a bit to list on EBay - competition prizes, craft materials etc and will get them listed.  That's a time consuming business and lower priority than finding space for Amy to sleep!

I'm hoping to get back in there today and I might take a few photos.  Then again I might not. 

Marching Out and Anticipating April

March has been quite a good month here.

I've been beavering away at my playroom and it is now safe to start on the start-at-one-corner-and-do-it-bit-by-bit tidying.  I had to do the move-it-all-out-and-get-a-bit-radical routine first or I could have had a serious fall!  Anyway, here's the before  and today pictures.

I walked a lot more in March than I did in February but not as much as January so I'm hoping to concentrate on that a bit more this month.  I'm also trying some gentle exercises, some chair based, to improve my flexibility. 

I've revived my other blog with the aim of keeping myself to the financial straight and narrow and I've smashed my target of living below my means by £400.  I'm aiming for savings of £5000 by the end of the year. 

So, now to look forward to April.  Church-wise I shall be busy especially around Easter.  Auntie Hettie will be 94 this month so we are having a small tea party for her.  I've got several meals out with friends.  I shall do a lot more at the playroom and I want a few days out as well.

Bring it on!

Everything takes longer than it did!

Before I started

I've hinted at my Vision 2020 project a couple of times so here's what it's about.  I've often heard the phrase 2020 Vision, meaning perfect sight but I decided that I would go wonky on this one. I don't want perfection!   It just seemed to me that I would like to improve my life in various areas before 2020 gets here.  There are plenty of areas (financial, social, health etc) which I could improve so I've chosen just a few.

All my life I have fought a rising tide of clutter and I don't see that changing anytime soon.  I have too many hobbies, too many interests, too much memorabilia to be a minimalist.  And that's not really what I want anyway.  What I need is safety to avoid falls.  What I want is to have things in a state where I can find them, sorted to inspire me to create.  If I can't find things when I want them I might as well not have them.  

I decided that the place to start would be my playroom.    There are unfiled papers, uncompleted projects, things which I have dumped until I have time to put them away, just STUFF!  I thought it would take four or five hours but already it's taken nearly eleven and the end is nowhere near in sight. 

Maybe Vision 2020 will take until the end of 2020!

A Whole New Month!

I think months are great for planning.  There's enough time to accomplish something but not enough time to get bored with the plan.

March has thirty one days and there are still thirty of those to come.  Exciting!

In February I was busy but I didn't do enough steps so getting back on the long and narrow is quite important.  I've hinted at my big project, Vision 2020, before and it didn't get progressed much in February so that needs a shove in the right direction.  I'm thinking about reviving my other blog.    Lent starts Wednesday so I am quite busy church-wise.  

And this post illustrates my problem - I'm full of good ideas and devoid of concrete action

Oh dear!

Update: I've revived my other blog

HWJ & WDFH?

My most important aim this month was to keep my spirits up.  January can be such a bleugh month but this year it really hasn't been too bad.

Sharon did more than her fair share at helping by taking me out for a delicious afternoon-tea-at-lunchtime.  Hard to feel depressed when there's a treat like that.

Mandy hosted her usual card making session.  I say "usual" but we never know what we will be doing until we get there!

I received three comping wins and had the pleasure of sharing them with others.  I've even been over to visit Jack this morning and he and Mrs Jack were glad to get a tin of Quality Street.  

I think I've got a bit fitter by increasing my daily step count.  I've started work on my Vision 2020 (more to come on that one), I wrote eleven blog posts, I've knitted a scarf, I've led worship on three Sundays and baptised two babies as well as conducting one funeral, Annie-the-home-enhancer and Paul-the-gardener have both been and helped me, I've been to Women's Institute and Trefoil Guild, I've been out for several meals and in between all  that the usual round of daily life has gone on. 

I've also got plans for February.  There will be workmen in doing house maintenance and improvement next week.  I've got a short break booked.  I'm going on a snowdrop walk,   I've got lunch booked with friends several times.  I'm going to a book launch.  And there will be the usual round of daily life again.

I might find time to write a few blog posts as well!

View from the plughole

It's a very long time (thirteen days) since I wrote anything on this blog so, as it must seem as though I have gone down the plughole, I think I must report in!

Actually, the plughole is where I haven't been.  January isn't the most exciting of months but it has been OK.  I've been out for lunch SEVEN times!  I was amazed when I checked and counted.  That's included post Christmas catch-ups, a board game session and a wonderful afternoon tea.  

I've been to the Women's Institute and Trefoil Guild.

My average daily step count is the highest it's been since October 2016.  I've managed to work out a figure-of-eight course around three rooms and two tables so I can walk quite a lot indoors.  

I've conducted two Sunday services, one baptism and one funeral.  This is a lot less than I did last month but December I did too much.  I was rather over-tired.  It's hard to admit but I'm just not as young as I used to be.  

I've knitted, crocheted, sewn, made cards and generally messed around.  I've made a start on Christmas presents!  Lovely!

I've done quite a bit of pastoral visiting, written letters and emailed or phoned several people for whom I have a special concern.

And I am happy.  No January plughole for me this year!

(Update especially for Jack's followers.  He's just sent me a poem)

Mary, Mary, quite contrary

How does your garden grow?

Not with silver bells or cockle shells

But with beetroot, beans and brassica all in a row amongst the flowers.

Have a nice day.  And that includes you, Jack.

Plans for January

Now to the nitty gritty of a new month - I can't plan a year but a month is a really good time frame.  Enough time to get something done but not too much time for me to get really bored with a project. 

I'd like a low-spend January but some things have to be paid.   The big spends will be annual subscriptions to two Women's Institutes and one Trefoil Guild.  The car was serviced and MOT'd in December.  Amy-the-Home-Enhancer will come twice and Pete-the-Handyman once.  I'm well stocked with food as I always stockpile a little before the winter.  If the weather is icy or snowy I just don't go out, and while I am very grateful when people will fetch me fresh food, I think I should be well prepared with everything else.

Forty five years ago I went to Nigeria to do VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas).  I was a Chartered Librarian and I went to an area which had been ravaged by the Biafran War and helped set up a School Library Service.  Each week I wrote to my parents.  My mother kept the letters and they form a diary of my doings.  I want to reread the letters and scan them so I can create a book, along with my photographs.  January is the month when I shall make a start.  

But before I do that I have to clear up Christmas decorations and put away Christmas presents.  Oh dear.