languages

Nearly March

/ Loony Feminist / 5 Comments

I am absolutely delighted to report that I have finally found some plant-based “cheese” that is just delicious. It’s made by Cathedral City, and is a very creditable substitute for mature cheddar. It’s wonderful. It’s been 20 odd years since I have eaten anything like it. For many years I managed with goat or sheep cheese, but had to give that up too a few years ago, so for a while now I have had no dairy at all. I’ve tried various vegan “cheeses” but they were all disgusting. Until now!

I made a fruit cake today. It’s very dry. I have put a piece of frozen bread in with it to see if that will help. If not, it’s going in the bin. I baked it for 20 minutes less than the recipe said too. Ho hum.

And here is a photo of a granny square blanket. I could either crochet lots of little squares and then sew them all together, do stripes, or just one huge granny square. So I’m doing one huge granny square. It’s going well. I had decided I’d use up some stash yarn which is not really any good for anything else. Blue, cream, lilac/purple, and I’m doing whole rounds before changing colour. Also waiting to see how the mood takes me before I actually choose which colour to do next.

It’s on hold for the moment (27/2/23) while I do some coasters for a birthday present, but handy to have next to me in the lounge when I feel the need of a bit of crafting without too much brain power involved.

The latest on the “getting the tv to play sound through the hi-fi”: I need to switch the TV and the hi-fi off. Then switch the TV on and make sure it’s in Netflix. Then switch the hi-fi on and make sure that is on the correct source. And it has worked ever since! what a faff though. Quel bazar.

I’ve been getting on with my Duolingo Spanish, and that seems to be going ok. I learn well like that, and am able to pick up on vocabulary, grammar, conjugation of verbs and declension of nouns ok. I do make mistakes, but learn from them. When I’m happy enough with the Spanish, I’ll brush up on my Italian too.

Picking up my new specs tomorrow. Bespoke lenses, FFS, because the double vision has worsened. Quietly excited but also a bit worried, because they were expensive, and there was a problem a few years ago which involved six visits to the opticians before they sorted my new specs out. Hmm. Fingers crossed.

January 2023

/ Loony Feminist / 5 Comments

Well, I’ve been meaning to blog for ages now but haven’t quite garnered the energy. So here we are.

I’ve just finished reading “Spare” by Harry (you know which Harry, don’t you!) It was emotional, raw, honest, and shocking. Here’s the review I’ve written (but Amazon haven’t posted yet . . )

  • This book is a must-read. Harry mostly seems hyper-aware of his unearned privilege, except when he talks about how wonderful it was to shoot game birds . . . I think it is a good thing that he has talked about his family, so hide-bound by their own stupid, cruel rules. The Queen comes out of this best, I think, but even she is not as powerful as we would like to think. He sounds happiest when on active duty in the army until he meets Meghan. The appalling behaviour of the British press is called out here, regularly. And so the poisonous, sneering, disdainful reaction of this press to this book is to be expected, but really, really not believed. If you are thinking about buying this book, but hesitate because of the press reviews, don’t hesitate. Buy it. Borrow it. Read it somehow.

Harry has been gaslit. Is still being gaslit. All the privilege and wealth in the world does not make a person happy, if a vindictive, racist, spiteful group of journalists insist on making your life hell. The paparazzi are a nightmare, just as they were for his mother. And then of course the Palace ignore it, pretend it isn’t happening, and deny anything that would make them complicit.

So there we are. Little rant over. For now anyway.

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, but have picked up my knitting again, just for a few rows every day, sometimes more than once. 20 minutes seems to be enough. Feels nice though.

Also brushing up on my fairly rough and ready Spanish – via Duolingo. It’s very good. Ten minutes a day is making quite a difference. When I’m feeling more confident in Spanish, I’ll have a go at my Italian (which is better than my Spanish, but needs refreshing). I was so lucky to learn Latin at school, and loved it. Did it to A level, along with French. Then at college I did Spanish to O level in 9 months, then when I retired I took up Italian and did that to A level equivalent (ONC 3) in a couple of years. It felt like a domino fall in my head, what with Latin, French, and Spanish. One of my grandsons asked me if I still remember any French or Latin from school. Well, it was 50 years ago, but the answer was “Yes!”

Well, Vodafone is up and running. The only snag, and it’s a fairly small one, is that voicemail isn’t working. We can (and I have) set up voicemail on our home phone, and will have to manage with that I guess. But it doesn’t work when the phone is unplugged. Vodafone seem to think that it is working, so I shall pester them about once a week until they sort it out. Fortunately, it’s free of charge, or else I’d be much crosser. And to be honest, hardly anybody ever uses our landline. But just occasionally, somebody does.

Meanwhile, on Planet Computer, I’ve had to re-arrange our backing up system. It’s too boring (except for computer nerds like me) but I think it should work better now, without the need to buy further (expensive) hard drives. Two NAS drives, three USB external hard drives, and there’s another one of those attached to hubby’s computer. Not pretty, but very useful. I’m horrified at how dusty they are!

The shopping has just been delivered, and hubby is harrumphing about the quality, or lack of quality, of the fresh vegetables. My next job is to see if Marks and Spencers will deliver. And so that is what I will do now.