So glad you could get out in your garden today @firenze. I hope you can replace anything that didn't like neglect. I'm finding it interesting discovering which plants seem most drought tolerant, it's not always the ones I think would be OK.
Sending you healing vibes, Firenze, and best wishes for your op.
It's the feast of St Swithin today, and - hurrah! - it Hasn't Rained, so according to the legend we shan't have forty days of rain. It's been quite the reverse: after a grey start, by lunchtime the sun was beaming from a cloudless sky, with just a wee sniff of a breeze.
Less breeze here today so it's going to feel hotter than yesterday I think. Like @Roseofsharon , I very much hope we haven't got another 40 days of this. One evening earlier this week I went up to one of the Wiltshire white horses with a few other people; one of them commented on how the grass is tinder dry and ripe for a wild fire and now I can't stop thinking about that .
We are off to the village coffee morning a bit later and then I plan to head to Fairly Nearby Town on some errands and treat myself to a visit to Waterstones. Holing up here to keep cool is all very well but I'm going stir crazy . It remains to be seen whether Mr Nen comes too (which means we'll go by car) or whether I catch the bus (they go every half an hour, it's a great service).
Hugs to you @Firenze ; will be thinking of you particularly next Tuesday.
Earlier in the week we decided as today neither of us had anything planned, something that doesn't happen very often, we'd go out for the day. At first it was a toss up between the seaside and the Peak District, then husband suggested Saltaire. It turns out to be very easy to get to from here, so off we went this morning. Had a lovely day in Salts Mill and then walked along the river to catch the train home from Shipley.
Thinking of you for next week @Firenze.
I too am not happy about 40 more days of this weather @Roseofsharon and @Nenya . I'm fast running out of water in the water butt for my camellias.
Eldest Beaky daughter and her children are currently in the air from New Zealand as they wend their way here to join us all for a special family gathering (more of that anon).
Husband Beaky will collect them from Gatwick tomorrow. I prepared their beds today on the top floor of our town house.....it's somewhat hot up there 😬
If you have any windows up there, I should leave them open from now until your family arrives!
I should probably clarify: I don't necessarily want 40 days of heat, but 40 days of continuous rain isn't very appealing either, especially when you have to walk everywhere!
Tessie's lemon-and-parsley salmon for supper.
I like Tess Coe's lemon-and-parsley Salmon, too - but ours doesn't stock them any more...their Fish and Sea Food section seems to get smaller by the week...
Another warm and windy day in Arkland the Dry, but I didn't feel like going out, so have remained below decks for most of the time. Shopp Ing is called for tomorrow - possibly to Tess Coe, or maybe to the Co-Op. O! the excitement !!
Salts Mill is wonderful. My parents in law lived fairly near it so I’ve been there a number of times over the last few years. I expect it’s been busier since David Hockney’s recent death.
Saltaire and Salts Mill are lovely, though it's been many years since I've been. Is it Shipley or Shipton that's home to Lizzie's chip shop? Some of the best chips I've ever had.
As the resident inhabitant of St Swithin Land I feel like I should be apologising - and for an area where the rivers are so important, the lack of rain is Very Bad News Indeed when we're already so drought-prone.
I would send a 🕯 @la vie en rouge but (like us) you really don't need the extra fire! I will send some refreshing rain instead 🌧 - it does make you wonder what an appropriate replacement symbol for a candle could be, when a candle itself is definitely not what you want.
Saltaire and Salts Mill are lovely, though it's been many years since I've been. Is it Shipley or Shipton that's home to Lizzie's chip shop? Some of the best chips I've ever had.
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Today is forecast to be the coolest day of the week. It shouldn't be going much over 30°, which is a pretty normal temperature for the South West of France in July. TBH, given that we have air conditioning, I'm probably not feeling the heat any more than most of you. It does get boring though, because we end up stuck indoors all the time. The biggest problem is the lack of rain.
This morning we have been to the hypermarket. Captain Pyjamas got to spend his pocket money (he bought some playmobil) so is occupied for the present.
I thought I had seen a weather map with some clouds over south eastern France: I hope it comes to something.
We still have some playmobil which must be at least twenty years old. Along with the Lego of similar vintage it now keeps some of the grandchildren amused.
A pleasant 74F in Arkland the Dry, though perhaps getting up to 80F later this afternoon. The wind has veered round to a gentle northerly breeze, making a welcome change from the easterly Mordor-blast...
Tess Coe has been visited, and I'm pleased to report that FISH CAKES are once more available. I also bought some non-alcoholic BEER which contains Juniper and Nectarine juices, thus enabling me to imbibe at least two of my five-a-day Fruity Things.
Lego has certainly changed over the years - I have several “botanicals” which are practically indistinguishable from the real thing at a distance, and much longer lasting!
Lego has certainly changed over the years - I have several “botanicals” which are practically indistinguishable from the real thing at a distance, and much longer lasting!
Mrs Sioni has a few too!
I had my first Lego when I was five. If anyone thinks it’s expensive now, they should look at the prices for the far simpler Lego of the early sixties. The first generation of roof blocks had been introduced but there were never enough, so most buildings had flat roofs. Still brilliant toys.
I really enjoyed playing with our son's lego and his Brio train set back in the day, far more than he ever did. At the moment I have some Playmobil of a lady in traditional Black Forest dress that I was given when I went there on a twinning event.
I was almost chilly on the way to and the first bit of my journey from the leisure centre this morning. I managed to bag a place at Pilates so I've been twice this week, which I'm sure is very good for me. On the way home I got some wine and the missing ingredients for Pasta all Genovese, so that's tea tonight sorted. Now it is rather warm, but I am looking forward to food and drink in the garden later on.
@la vie en rouge I didn't realise that you had AC, that's not as bad then - but fully agreed wrt being cooped up indoors.
Today I had to sell something at CeX (an exchange store for games, consoles, DVDs etc) and annoyingly they didn't open until 10am - I figured that 10am would be cooler than the afternoon so went then, and now the weather seems to be hitting peak heat so I think I was right. It was a market day in town though, so a real sensory overload. There was an Indian street food van I walked past which smelled delicious and had fresh samosas for sale, but I couldn't imagine eating a piping hot samosa in this weather. I really feel for hot food vendors in the heat! I went to the supermarket afterwards and the shady air-conditioned supermarket was a real pleasure to walk around after being outside in the sun.
@Bishops Finger I don't know if you have a Sainsburys near you (or if this a Sainsburys exclusive) but I picked up some hot-smoked herring fillets for £2.50 with a Nectar card - I think they were £3-£3.50 without a Nectar card, still cheaper than the smoked mackerel. I thought perhaps you would appreciate it!
It does make me wonder why cold-smoked mackerel is apparently not a thing, whether for eating uncooked like salmon or for cooking like haddock. I also never see mackerel nigiri/sashimi like you get with tuna and salmon and I wonder why, as it must have a texture reasonably similar to tuna and salmon.
I took a detour from my usual route home between the bus and home, and walked down a path along the river lined with trees. One of buildings backing onto the river has some escaped planted growing out of the external wall including a massive clump of feral buddleija, and it was lovely seeing it covered in butterflies and also being used for shelter by ducks and moorhens.
Talking of buddleia, mine has gone mad with branches bent low to the ground, so my son has just had to cut some back.
I have been without internet since 7.10 am yesterday until a couple of hours ago and felt really cut off. This was planned as I was changing provider, so knew there would be some time without. I was informed it was available some 13.5 hours later, but not being very capable with these things, I failed to get it set up. Thankfully granddaughter unexpectedly dropped by at lunchtime today and sorted it, then son arrived and sorted the landline and laptop, which proved problematic. All back to normal now thankfully, as I realise just how much I rely on it, not just for useful things but socially too.
I was particularly fed up yesterday as I had a tooth extracted ( only because it has grown out of place beyond the gum). I was restricted in what I could eat and drink, nothing too hot or too cold or that needed biting, so scrambled egg, yogurt, tinned rice pudding fitted the bill. A late lunch today caused a severe reaction from my stomach. I have occasional mild IBS so normally stick to routine things I know are safe.
Meanwhile my daughter went to the hospital at 7 am today for her hand operation, which still had not happened by 2 pm. She appears to be on her way home now at 4.30pm. I await an update.
I don’t have a ticket but had planned to go to a choral concert tonight. I’ll have to see how I feel in an hour or so, and what I dare eat.
Meanwhile my daughter went to the hospital at 7 am today for her hand operation, which still had not happened by 2 pm. She appears to be on her way home now at 4.30pm. I await an update.
In my now extensive experience of surgery this is what happens. You go in at say 11 am, lucky if you see theatre before 3 or 4 in the afternoon. In the hours between you have brief visits from the surgeon, anaesthetist, various nurses, each with one specific task. They all ask you your date of birth - which is fine - you want them to be sure before they lat scalpel on you.
I hope your daughter's surgery went smoothly @Puzzler - she'll be glad to be home.
That's useful insight into the workings of a hospital @Firenze ; I'm sure you'd rather not have had to get it from personal experience. Thinking often of you and Mr F.
We went out to lunch with some friends we used to meet with every Sunday afternoon. Now a couple of the group (including us) have moved away so we only meet occasionally and there's a lot to catch up on. Circumstances change... life moves on...
We went to an Italian restaurant where we ate Pizza and I imbibed a mixed fruit flavour Cider along with the extra rocket on my pizza so, like @Bishops Finger , that was several of my five-a-day. With the planned grapes in the shape of wine this evening I've done very well with all that .
We had a very large amount of Lego's big brother, Duplo. We kept it all for possible grandchildren to play with at our house, but Nenlet1 requested it some time ago for the GrandNenling who gets much joy out of it at their house. Mr Nen always builds a tower of it for her out of it when we go, and sometimes she will greet us at the door with the Duplo Grandma in one hand and Duplo Grandad in the other .
Less air movement today so things have been feeling Pretty Hot.
I’m disappointed I was not able to make it to tonight’s concert, but feeling ok now.
My daughter was delighted to have her first meal in 21 hours! Although she had just a local, it was a precaution in case she needed a general anaesthetic ( ? in case of amputation?!!) which thankfully she did not. She has to keep strict rules for a week. I’ll find out what they are when I see her tomorrow.
The forecast is to be a bit cooler this weekend, thankfully.
I recently got rid of the last of the Duplo to a charity shop. My grandchildren want to keep the Lego.
Glad you're feeling better @Puzzler and also that your daughter is the other side of her operation and is still in possession of both hands .
There's a nice breeze today which has meant I've been able to do a bit of weeding in the garden as well as the daily watering. The garden was very pretty in the spring, particularly the front garden, but is much lacking in summer interest so I need to address that for next year.
Domestics today. A load of Wash Ing. Stir fry for tea because Saturday.
Yesterday was The Younger’s graduation in York so we drove up there on Thursday evening. His graduation ceremony was at 9am Friday and his girlfriend’s at 5pm, there was also receptions after both (we stopped around for the second as his girlfriend had won a prize for top marks) and we had lunch out in between. We then drove back to Cambridge for 3 hours so it was a very long day and I am exhausted. We had to go into town to pick up my new glasses this morning and I have no energy left!
I was supposed to be a flood warden signage training this morning. Every since I've become a flood warden I haven't been able to attend any training for one reason or another, so I was pleased that not only could I make today but it was being held in the council offices at the end of my road. I turned up to discover the building was very firmly closed. I've emailed the organisers to find out what's happened. Instead I mooched into town, had a nice chat with a fellow councillor in his shop, which ended with the two of us going round to wish happy first birthday of opening to the bookshop round the corner. I also went to see a new shop that's opened and came away with a nice pair of earrings. This afternoon we're off to a performance of the Messiah in our Parish Church, and maybe we'll head off to a local restaurant for dinner afterwards.
Congratulations to Master Heavenly the younger @Heavenlyannie. Is he staying on to do a masters? It does sound like a long day though. I know how long it takes to get to York by car from here and we're quite a bit further up the A1 than you.
Hope your daughter is well and truly on the mend @Puzzler.
Thank you, he did an integrated masters (as did his girlfriend). They are staying in York and looking for work at the moment. His degree is in electronic engineering with music technology systems and he’s applying for software jobs.
Congratulations to Master Heavenly and his girlfriend! 🎓🎓
Glad to hear Puzzler's daughter is over her op - wishing her a speedy recovery.
It's been a frustrating day here: I was supposed to meet one of St Pete's organists this morning to sort out psalms for the next few Evensongs, but he forgot. 🙃
Then I was meant to meet the lady who's taking up my new dress (who also forgot about our arrangement to meet the other day). As promised, I messaged her at lunchtime to check that we were still on to meet, and she messaged back to say she's in bloody Falkirk!
Ever get the feeling you're not wanted? 😬
It is, however, a beautiful day, so I think I'll have an amble down to Tessie's and get in some essentials.
Congratulations to Heavenly the Younger and his girlfriend.
I was rewarded for my decision to go out early to pick up my parcel from the supermarket by a surprise encounter with one of the swans that swim down the stream by my building, and their five now adolescent cygnets. Very fluffy and gangly, which I always think is so cute. One of the items I picked up was my UPF [UV Protective Factor - the equivalent of SPF for clothing and accessories] 50+ parasol, which came in very handy at the bus stop on the way home. The breeze has been noticeable which certainly makes things more bearable.
Congratulations to Master Heavenly the Younger and his girlfriend. Graduations are special.
Sounds like a frustrating day @Piglet ; I hope you plan Much Quaffage this evening to cheer the day up. We'll be having WINE with our tea because - well - what's a stir fry without wine?
I'm doing one of the readings at church tomorrow, for the first time. I'm pleased to be on the rota as I love reading aloud but it's the 1 Corinthians 7 passage on marriage ("Better to marry than to burn with lust") which feels like a bit of a baptism by fire. I saw the person who does the rota this week and (jokingly) commented to her about it - give the Newbie a cracker of a passage, why don't you?
ETA - looking forward to hearing more about your special family gathering @MrsBeaky .
We went to the Antiques Roadshow in Caerphilly Castle today. It was amazingly well organised.
I took my antique perfume bottles which were valued at less than i expected, but it was an interesting morning.
I met up with my daughter today. She was in good spirits, despite the restrictions imposed by the surgery on her finger: until Thursday when she goes goes to clinic she mustn’t drive, mustn’t get it wet so no showering, mustn’t run or do anything strenuous, mustn’t deal with her hens for fear of infection, no gardening, in short, there is little she can do, since running, gardening and cleaning and changing the beds of her holiday lets are her life. She did manage to iron left-handedly.
Her surgery was delayed yesterday because of a road accident so theatres were busy. She read a whole book while waiting. Another patient, who was much further down the day’s list, made a huge fuss about the delay and said she was too hungry so discharged herself.
I managed to re-do my tax return today and got it right this time, though my internet kept dropping out at and I had to log back in at least five times.
My mouth is still very sore and eating still restricted. It is our monthly Evensong tomorrow and I am reading a lesson, so I hope I can manage that.
Sounds like an annoying day @piglet, so cross-making when people let you down.
I know very little about classical music, but to my ears the Messiah in our church this afternoon was rather good. As I was there in an official capacity I had a front row seat. Someone I met in the interval thought my seat was too near the orchestra and choir, not if you have my extremely poor hearing it wasn't't. What was also very poignant was the music group playing was founded by the late wife of my late friend T whose 'birthday' pizza party I went to last weekend. I could imagine him sitting next to me being much more critical about the performance than I ever could be.
Afterwards we went to our town's Vietnamese restaurant which is rather good, I do like the way they do tofu.
Good luck to Master Heavenly the younger and his girlfriend in the job hunt. It's amazing how many people stay in the town they went to university in, my in-laws did, and though I didn't quite, the East Midlands has felt like home every since I went to college in Loughborough.
I did eventually get my dress last night: the Dress Lady was getting a takeaway from the Chinese across the road, so I came out and met her there.
I resisted the temptation to get a takeaway myself, but really only because I'd given her my last cash, and couldn't be bothered going back over the road to the cashline machine.
It's another beautiful day here: it was lovely having post-church coffee in the church garden.
Now chilling and messing about here before heading to Kirkliston for another barbecue. I made some mushroom pâté last night and bought a French stick*, so that'll be something to nibble on while waiting for the BBQ to heat up.
* I'd usually make the bread, but it's too hot to faff about with the oven.
Glad the dress got sorted @Piglet and your daughter is in good spirits @Puzzler .
My reading at the service this morning went well and several people (including the presiding priest) commented with sympathy about what a challenging passage it was, particularly for a first timer in a new place .
This afternoon, for the first time, we went to the Theology Club held at another church in the benefice and it was a really good discussion; plus there was excellent homemade CAKE.
Sunday evening roast and WINE has been consumed (we drank a toast to Sunday evening and no work tomorrow) and Mr Nen is now ensconced in front of the football.
I had a lovely afternoon (but v. hot - their garden is a sun-trap) with my nearest and dearest, with lots of food and drink ...
... and ants.
Their garden has a flagged patio, and then a few steps up to a raised lawn, and we suddenly realised the steps were crawling with Wee Beasties, some little tiny ones (which I take it were the ants) and some bigger, with silvery wings. None of which I wanted crawling around my person!
There were a fair few scuttling about on the pavement when I went to get the bus home, but I'm glad to say I didn't see any when I got back to Linlithgow.
The bigger ones with silvery wings would also be ants, getting ready to fly off to mate and set up new colonies.
Ours usually pick a day in August, but yours might be setting off early because the weather conditions are right for them.
Ants are important for soil health and also an important source of food for many birds and other animals - no more ants means no more green woodpeckers!
Went off to Aldi early this morning, and while it's still a less autism-friendly experience than Sainsburys or a big Waitrose it was much easier and quieter early in the morning.
In the house I grew up in, there was a big ant nest beneath the patio. Due to some gaps in our skirting boards, flying ant day was an indoor affair, with thousands of them in the dining room. We spent hours stomping on them and sucking them up with a vacuum cleaner.
Given we were walking distance from the local zoo, I'd have liked to have borrowed an aardvark for an afternoon.
TIL that aardvarks and anteaters are not closely related but share characteristics due to covergent evolution. Did you know that swifts are not related to swallows and martins, but are relatives of hummingbirds?? It blew my mind when I found that out. And toucans are effectively specialised tropical woodpeckers.
TIL that aardvarks and anteaters are not closely related but share characteristics due to covergent evolution. Did you know that swifts are not related to swallows and martins, but are relatives of hummingbirds?? It blew my mind when I found that out. And toucans are effectively specialised tropical woodpeckers.
I knew about aardvarks & anteaters, but not swifts/swallows. The one that surprises some people is the humble robin, as it is a member of the flycatcher family, nowhere near close to the tits.
For convergent evolution, the best place to look is Madagascar. There are species of tenrec that fill many niches filled by other small mammals in Europe. And the fossa is, in my view, a wonderful animal that is a mix of various others we are probably more familiar with.
Afrotheria is certainly a wild and wonderful group of animals, one of my favourites due to just how weird it is - I think hyraxes being relatives of elephants and manatees rather than rodents is even weirder than swifts being a type of hummingbird. Robins being old-world flycatchers I know because of explaining European robins vs American robins to non-European friends, with American robins being thrushes (and to me they look a lot like fieldfares - almost as if you crossed a fieldfare with a blackbird). Confusingly, there is a red-winged blackbird that is very common in the US but not remotely related to European blackbirds or any thrushes, but is a kind of grackle.
It's my birthday and my present from my son was a trip to the garden centre to buy a flowering cherry tree. It's absolutely gorgeous with copper brown leaves which look beautiful with the sun shining through.
I have had six new plants from the garden centre this year but only one is still healthy. Two are struggling in the heat and the rest have died. I hope yours live longer. A cherry tree sounds a safe option.
My window cleaner has just been and kindly sprayed the ants with metholated spirits, who he assures me will kill them.
I have spent several days struggling with internet access. My router was replaced which meant outage of several hours, as expected. Then although it was easy to connect my ipad and phone, my lap top and printer did not co-operate for more than a few seconds each time. Eventually I rang the local tech genius who talked me through various things. Lap top was not successful, so then we went on to the printer and he talked me through re-connecting my ipad and phone to it successfully. Having done that, the laptop now connects properly, presumably via the printer reset.
Comments
It's the feast of St Swithin today, and - hurrah! - it Hasn't Rained, so according to the legend we shan't have forty days of rain. It's been quite the reverse: after a grey start, by lunchtime the sun was beaming from a cloudless sky, with just a wee sniff of a breeze.
More salads for supper - too hot to cook.
Thanks for nothing, Piglet. Forty more days of weather like today's would not be something to cheer about.
At the moment, I'm finding the West Lothian climate very agreeable. 🙂
We are off to the village coffee morning a bit later and then I plan to head to Fairly Nearby Town on some errands and treat myself to a visit to Waterstones. Holing up here to keep cool is all very well but I'm going stir crazy
Hugs to you @Firenze ; will be thinking of you particularly next Tuesday.
Thinking of you for next week @Firenze.
I too am not happy about 40 more days of this weather @Roseofsharon and @Nenya . I'm fast running out of water in the water butt for my camellias.
Husband Beaky will collect them from Gatwick tomorrow. I prepared their beds today on the top floor of our town house.....it's somewhat hot up there 😬
I should probably clarify: I don't necessarily want 40 days of heat, but 40 days of continuous rain isn't very appealing either, especially when you have to walk everywhere!
Tessie's lemon-and-parsley salmon for supper.
Another warm and windy day in Arkland the Dry, but I didn't feel like going out, so have remained below decks for most of the time. Shopp Ing is called for tomorrow - possibly to Tess Coe, or maybe to the Co-Op. O! the excitement !!
@Firenze hoping your surgery goes well.
As the resident inhabitant of St Swithin Land I feel like I should be apologising - and for an area where the rivers are so important, the lack of rain is Very Bad News Indeed when we're already so drought-prone.
I would send a 🕯 @la vie en rouge but (like us) you really don't need the extra fire! I will send some refreshing rain instead 🌧 - it does make you wonder what an appropriate replacement symbol for a candle could be, when a candle itself is definitely not what you want.
Skipton, I think.
This morning we have been to the hypermarket. Captain Pyjamas got to spend his pocket money (he bought some playmobil) so is occupied for the present.
We still have some playmobil which must be at least twenty years old. Along with the Lego of similar vintage it now keeps some of the grandchildren amused.
Tess Coe has been visited, and I'm pleased to report that FISH CAKES are once more available. I also bought some non-alcoholic BEER which contains Juniper and Nectarine juices, thus enabling me to imbibe at least two of my five-a-day Fruity Things.
Mrs Sioni has a few too!
I had my first Lego when I was five. If anyone thinks it’s expensive now, they should look at the prices for the far simpler Lego of the early sixties. The first generation of roof blocks had been introduced but there were never enough, so most buildings had flat roofs. Still brilliant toys.
I was almost chilly on the way to and the first bit of my journey from the leisure centre this morning. I managed to bag a place at Pilates so I've been twice this week, which I'm sure is very good for me. On the way home I got some wine and the missing ingredients for Pasta all Genovese, so that's tea tonight sorted. Now it is rather warm, but I am looking forward to food and drink in the garden later on.
Today I had to sell something at CeX (an exchange store for games, consoles, DVDs etc) and annoyingly they didn't open until 10am - I figured that 10am would be cooler than the afternoon so went then, and now the weather seems to be hitting peak heat so I think I was right. It was a market day in town though, so a real sensory overload. There was an Indian street food van I walked past which smelled delicious and had fresh samosas for sale, but I couldn't imagine eating a piping hot samosa in this weather. I really feel for hot food vendors in the heat! I went to the supermarket afterwards and the shady air-conditioned supermarket was a real pleasure to walk around after being outside in the sun.
@Bishops Finger I don't know if you have a Sainsburys near you (or if this a Sainsburys exclusive) but I picked up some hot-smoked herring fillets for £2.50 with a Nectar card - I think they were £3-£3.50 without a Nectar card, still cheaper than the smoked mackerel. I thought perhaps you would appreciate it!
It does make me wonder why cold-smoked mackerel is apparently not a thing, whether for eating uncooked like salmon or for cooking like haddock. I also never see mackerel nigiri/sashimi like you get with tuna and salmon and I wonder why, as it must have a texture reasonably similar to tuna and salmon.
I took a detour from my usual route home between the bus and home, and walked down a path along the river lined with trees. One of buildings backing onto the river has some escaped planted growing out of the external wall including a massive clump of feral buddleija, and it was lovely seeing it covered in butterflies and also being used for shelter by ducks and moorhens.
I have been without internet since 7.10 am yesterday until a couple of hours ago and felt really cut off. This was planned as I was changing provider, so knew there would be some time without. I was informed it was available some 13.5 hours later, but not being very capable with these things, I failed to get it set up. Thankfully granddaughter unexpectedly dropped by at lunchtime today and sorted it, then son arrived and sorted the landline and laptop, which proved problematic. All back to normal now thankfully, as I realise just how much I rely on it, not just for useful things but socially too.
I was particularly fed up yesterday as I had a tooth extracted ( only because it has grown out of place beyond the gum). I was restricted in what I could eat and drink, nothing too hot or too cold or that needed biting, so scrambled egg, yogurt, tinned rice pudding fitted the bill. A late lunch today caused a severe reaction from my stomach. I have occasional mild IBS so normally stick to routine things I know are safe.
Meanwhile my daughter went to the hospital at 7 am today for her hand operation, which still had not happened by 2 pm. She appears to be on her way home now at 4.30pm. I await an update.
I don’t have a ticket but had planned to go to a choral concert tonight. I’ll have to see how I feel in an hour or so, and what I dare eat.
In my now extensive experience of surgery this is what happens. You go in at say 11 am, lucky if you see theatre before 3 or 4 in the afternoon. In the hours between you have brief visits from the surgeon, anaesthetist, various nurses, each with one specific task. They all ask you your date of birth - which is fine - you want them to be sure before they lat scalpel on you.
That's useful insight into the workings of a hospital @Firenze ; I'm sure you'd rather not have had to get it from personal experience. Thinking often of you and Mr F.
We went out to lunch with some friends we used to meet with every Sunday afternoon. Now a couple of the group (including us) have moved away so we only meet occasionally and there's a lot to catch up on. Circumstances change... life moves on...
We went to an Italian restaurant where we ate Pizza and I imbibed a mixed fruit flavour Cider along with the extra rocket on my pizza so, like @Bishops Finger , that was several of my five-a-day. With the planned grapes in the shape of wine this evening I've done very well with all that
We had a very large amount of Lego's big brother, Duplo. We kept it all for possible grandchildren to play with at our house, but Nenlet1 requested it some time ago for the GrandNenling who gets much joy out of it at their house. Mr Nen always builds a tower of it for her out of it when we go, and sometimes she will greet us at the door with the Duplo Grandma in one hand and Duplo Grandad in the other
Less air movement today so things have been feeling Pretty Hot.
F&C for supper, because Friday.
My daughter was delighted to have her first meal in 21 hours! Although she had just a local, it was a precaution in case she needed a general anaesthetic ( ? in case of amputation?!!) which thankfully she did not. She has to keep strict rules for a week. I’ll find out what they are when I see her tomorrow.
The forecast is to be a bit cooler this weekend, thankfully.
I recently got rid of the last of the Duplo to a charity shop. My grandchildren want to keep the Lego.
There's a nice breeze today which has meant I've been able to do a bit of weeding in the garden as well as the daily watering. The garden was very pretty in the spring, particularly the front garden, but is much lacking in summer interest so I need to address that for next year.
Domestics today. A load of Wash Ing. Stir fry for tea because Saturday.
Congratulations to Master Heavenly the younger @Heavenlyannie. Is he staying on to do a masters? It does sound like a long day though. I know how long it takes to get to York by car from here and we're quite a bit further up the A1 than you.
Hope your daughter is well and truly on the mend @Puzzler.
Glad to hear Puzzler's daughter is over her op - wishing her a speedy recovery.
It's been a frustrating day here: I was supposed to meet one of St Pete's organists this morning to sort out psalms for the next few Evensongs, but he forgot. 🙃
Then I was meant to meet the lady who's taking up my new dress (who also forgot about our arrangement to meet the other day). As promised, I messaged her at lunchtime to check that we were still on to meet, and she messaged back to say she's in bloody Falkirk!
Ever get the feeling you're not wanted? 😬
It is, however, a beautiful day, so I think I'll have an amble down to Tessie's and get in some essentials.
I was rewarded for my decision to go out early to pick up my parcel from the supermarket by a surprise encounter with one of the swans that swim down the stream by my building, and their five now adolescent cygnets. Very fluffy and gangly, which I always think is so cute. One of the items I picked up was my UPF [UV Protective Factor - the equivalent of SPF for clothing and accessories] 50+ parasol, which came in very handy at the bus stop on the way home. The breeze has been noticeable which certainly makes things more bearable.
Sounds like a frustrating day @Piglet ; I hope you plan Much Quaffage this evening to cheer the day up. We'll be having WINE with our tea because - well - what's a stir fry without wine?
I'm doing one of the readings at church tomorrow, for the first time. I'm pleased to be on the rota as I love reading aloud but it's the 1 Corinthians 7 passage on marriage ("Better to marry than to burn with lust") which feels like a bit of a baptism by fire. I saw the person who does the rota this week and (jokingly) commented to her about it - give the Newbie a cracker of a passage, why don't you?
ETA - looking forward to hearing more about your special family gathering @MrsBeaky
I took my antique perfume bottles which were valued at less than i expected, but it was an interesting morning.
Her surgery was delayed yesterday because of a road accident so theatres were busy. She read a whole book while waiting. Another patient, who was much further down the day’s list, made a huge fuss about the delay and said she was too hungry so discharged herself.
I managed to re-do my tax return today and got it right this time, though my internet kept dropping out at and I had to log back in at least five times.
My mouth is still very sore and eating still restricted. It is our monthly Evensong tomorrow and I am reading a lesson, so I hope I can manage that.
I know very little about classical music, but to my ears the Messiah in our church this afternoon was rather good. As I was there in an official capacity I had a front row seat. Someone I met in the interval thought my seat was too near the orchestra and choir, not if you have my extremely poor hearing it wasn't't. What was also very poignant was the music group playing was founded by the late wife of my late friend T whose 'birthday' pizza party I went to last weekend. I could imagine him sitting next to me being much more critical about the performance than I ever could be.
Afterwards we went to our town's Vietnamese restaurant which is rather good, I do like the way they do tofu.
Good luck to Master Heavenly the younger and his girlfriend in the job hunt. It's amazing how many people stay in the town they went to university in, my in-laws did, and though I didn't quite, the East Midlands has felt like home every since I went to college in Loughborough.
I resisted the temptation to get a takeaway myself, but really only because I'd given her my last cash, and couldn't be bothered going back over the road to the cashline machine.
It's another beautiful day here: it was lovely having post-church coffee in the church garden.
Now chilling and messing about here before heading to Kirkliston for another barbecue. I made some mushroom pâté last night and bought a French stick*, so that'll be something to nibble on while waiting for the BBQ to heat up.
* I'd usually make the bread, but it's too hot to faff about with the oven.
I'm still on holiday, so we decided to worship at the Cathedral. Alas! - we never got there, due to roadworks.
My reading at the service this morning went well and several people (including the presiding priest) commented with sympathy about what a challenging passage it was, particularly for a first timer in a new place
This afternoon, for the first time, we went to the Theology Club held at another church in the benefice and it was a really good discussion; plus there was excellent homemade CAKE.
Sunday evening roast and WINE has been consumed (we drank a toast to Sunday evening and no work tomorrow) and Mr Nen is now ensconced in front of the football.
... and ants.
Their garden has a flagged patio, and then a few steps up to a raised lawn, and we suddenly realised the steps were crawling with Wee Beasties, some little tiny ones (which I take it were the ants) and some bigger, with silvery wings. None of which I wanted crawling around my person!
There were a fair few scuttling about on the pavement when I went to get the bus home, but I'm glad to say I didn't see any when I got back to Linlithgow.
Ours usually pick a day in August, but yours might be setting off early because the weather conditions are right for them.
Went off to Aldi early this morning, and while it's still a less autism-friendly experience than Sainsburys or a big Waitrose it was much easier and quieter early in the morning.
Given we were walking distance from the local zoo, I'd have liked to have borrowed an aardvark for an afternoon.
For convergent evolution, the best place to look is Madagascar. There are species of tenrec that fill many niches filled by other small mammals in Europe. And the fossa is, in my view, a wonderful animal that is a mix of various others we are probably more familiar with.
Happy bunny!
My window cleaner has just been and kindly sprayed the ants with metholated spirits, who he assures me will kill them.
I have spent several days struggling with internet access. My router was replaced which meant outage of several hours, as expected. Then although it was easy to connect my ipad and phone, my lap top and printer did not co-operate for more than a few seconds each time. Eventually I rang the local tech genius who talked me through various things. Lap top was not successful, so then we went on to the printer and he talked me through re-connecting my ipad and phone to it successfully. Having done that, the laptop now connects properly, presumably via the printer reset.