weather

Feb update

/ Loony Feminist / 2 Comments

Well, I hardly dare even type this, but it does seem as if our new system for getting Netflix on the tv working with the hifi is successful – three times now. I’m not going to explain it, partly because it’s boring, partly because I’m worried that explaining it will break it, or at least stop it working. I have, however, made a note in one of my many little notebooks, otherwise we’ll just forget what to do.

Took some photos in the garden today – very excited about the winter aconite! and planning new plants for when the weather is a little kinder.

The one with all the stones has a story attached. We have a few of the neighbourhood cats come into our garden, and one of them uses the area around the bergenias as a toilet. I have no problem with that, but I do mind that she’s digging up the plants! or at least, digging quite deeply around them. So I have protected them with said stones. We shall see what she makes of that. They’re quite heavy, so I don’t think she’ll be able to move them. Hmm.

Bit Chilly

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That’s what we Brits say to each other, every day, every time we pop out even for a few seconds. Because we’re British and talk about the weather.

We have a smart meter, which is telling us that our gas and electricity is costing us £110 per week. Mm. Not great. I really don’t know how I would cope if I were living on my own with substantially less income. How do people manage? The government is actually providing some help (we’re getting £67 per month knocked off our bills), but it’s not much. We are actually donating that £67 to a charity which sends it to people who need it. I’m not sure that this is working terribly well. It’s only for 3 months anyway, and it’s so much colder now and likely to stay that way through at least January.

Here’s a thought. Why don’t we nationalise gas/electricity, the railways, the Post Office, and pay nurses their due? Huh? All that hypocritical clapping during the pandemic – I was stropping about even then saying Let’s pay them properly, then! And the government is trying its best to make us all hate the nurses with crap like “Putin wants the nurses/railway workers/ambulance workers/post office workers to strike!” What total tosh. Then today we have Sunak saying it’s not fair to pay all these people more money. Ok, mate, you have absolutely no idea what it is to work full time, be exhausted, and still be broke. Not fair? oh please.

Ho hum.

Just recovering from an ME/CFS episode. Spent most of yesterday asleep, and when I was awake, feeling like five kinds of sh*t. Better today though.

We’ve had new beds, carpet and curtains in our bedroom. All went swimmingly until the day after we’d put up the curtains – when the track fell down. We are awaiting new brackets so we can put it all back together. I do need to take up the curtains, though, and am going to remove the rufflette tape from the top and move it lower down, rather than take up the hem. Exciting.

And football! love it! very conflicted about Qatar, though. Only watched a few matches up until today, and we’ll watch the evening kick-off quarter finals (we have a little sleep in the afternoon) and semi finals, and hopefully the final.

Well, that’s it for now. Need my siesta. Mm.

August. Hmph.

/ Loony Feminist / 1 Comment

Well, I got so fed up trying to sort out Pysolfc on Ubuntu 22.04 I eventually installed Ubuntu 20.04, which has a working version of the card game. What a performance. What an absolute performance. But eventually managed it. I think I’ll spare you the gory details, because they’re just not interesting unless you’re a computer nerd like me.

Anyway.

The weather is much too hot again. For me, at least. Various health warnings abound on the news and the weather forecasts. But it’s even hotter on the Continent. God I hate it. But I’m inside, with a glass of tap water, and the fan on in whichever room I’m in.

Also, on the upside, I decided that the coffee coasters needed a bit of an update. Some of them are crocheted and need a wash, but I didn’t have anything to use in the meantime. So I actually got out my crochet hook, my favourite pattern, and crocheted two! Very pleased with myself, because it’s been months and months since I did any crochet at all, and weeks and weeks since I was able to knit. But now I’m feeling a bit more motivated, so may well have a go at knitting quite soon. Maybe when the weather calms down a bit.

Vest top I cast on in January!
Two coasters in my favourite colour

I can’t bear to even think, let alone write, about the shower of muppets currently in charge of the government, or competing to be in charge. Nor can I bear to think about a certain ex-President of the USA who has had his “beautiful home” searched by the FBI. Although I am chuckling to myself that he’s pleaded “The Fifth”, as he is on record as saying why would anybody do that if they were innocent . . . . hee hee hee.

The cat is getting used to being inside all the time. She does cry occasionally, but not very much at all. More of a “song of her people” than her normal “feed me you lazy sod” sort of a noise, but she is eating ok, using her litter tray ok, and sitting on my lap and purring when the mood takes her. Which is most days. Mm.

Went to a “cat cafe” on Monday with my friend Sue. You need to book, and you get an hour. There are ten kittens, all four or five months old, and it was an absolute delight. There are plenty of toys for play with, shelves strategically placed so that they can climb and stay up high, cat scratching posts/trees, and everything they could possibly want. We had a cup of tea and a stroke of a couple of kittens who decided we looked interesting. It was full of mums and children, and not all the children understand you have to be quiet and move slowly around cats, so it was noisy. But I will definitely be back. Maybe not in the school holidays though . . .

Recovering

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So. The fridge is working fine, and the fan oven mysteriously just started to work again all by itself. Strange.

However, hubby’s hi-fi is definitely dead. So we’re getting new kit. No small matter, and he’s very excited about it.

Visited a new cattery this morning. The one we used and loved for many years was Compulsorily Purchased (it’s a thing) because of the HS2 railway. Very sad. So she went to a different one which the cat liked – I can tell because she came back happy and not clingy. That one is now closed because, well, Covid. The owners were a bit anti-social, but the staff looking after the animals were just lovely.

So we had to find a new one. It’s excellent, although the satnav let me down badly. It took 35 minutes to travel 9 miles there, and 12 minutes to get home. But now I know. They have a wooden log in each cat-room, standing on end, leaning into the corner. For a scratching post. Genius! I’ve asked where they get them. Our cat has ruined our carpet. But only in certain places.

I slept for most of yesterday, and half of Sunday, but am feeling a little less shaky and knackered today. Found a nice easy crochet pattern for a shawl which will be good to do when I’m fixed. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/one-row-fishnet-shawl

The weather here in the English Midlands is changeable, to say the least! today we’ve had the complete gamut. Rain, wind, sunshine, cold, warm. British weather, I guess. Sigh.

The planning for the decorating of the lounge has moved up a notch. Waiting for a decorator to come along and quote us. Exciting.

And May The 4th (fourth, if your first language is not English!) be with you all 😉

Miscellany

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Things have calmed down a little.

The garden is beautiful at the moment, and the sun is currently shining.

Went to the knitting group on Thursday with my friend, who isn’t often able to come, so that was really nice. Finished off a small project, but as it’s a gift no photo yet.

The cat came limping up the garden yesterday on three legs, with one leg held high, up by her face. Both hubby and I thought she was seriously injured, until I got up close to her and discovered one paw was stuck through her collar. Easily sorted and no harm done. Really not sure how she managed that though.

Watching the Women’s Football World Cup – it’s just so exciting. Last night’s match, France v USA, was really good. Can’t knit while watching football, though, too fraught.

In fact, not knitting for a few days now because of a swollen and sore knuckle. It’s settling now I’m resting it.

And I’m resting everything today, because the temperature is set to soar. Not as high as in France or Spain, because, well, Britain, but high for us. Anything over about 24C and I’m lounging around drinking cold water in my pjs.

Re-reading Song of Achilles – at the time I was really struck by it and loved it. But re-reading it I have absolutely no recollection of it. Also reading Siege by Michael Wolff. Dynamite. Really enjoyed Fire and Fury too.

This and that.

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I did my ironing today. Nothing remarkable about that, you might think. However, there didn’t seem to be very much. I have promised myself I won’t leave it longer than one week, or else it just piles up so much I can’t face it. But there were four tops and one pair of trousers. Hmm. Odd, I thought. When I packed everything away, I’d dropped a serviette, so thought I’d do that next time. As I popped it into the basket in the utility room, I saw the rest of my ironing. Yeah. What a doofus. Ah well. I did half of my ironing today.

Also re-made the home-made sleep masks, as they were too tight and crunched my ears. That was quite satisfying.

Waiting for quotes for leylandii trimming, willow tree polling and a further leylandii hedge (full of ivy, tree saplings and generally a pain to maintain) digging up at the front (to be replaced with a photinia Red Robin hedge).

Very windy and rainy today. Apparently it’s storm Callum. What a ridiculous name for a storm. It’s like calling it Colin, or Henry, or something nice and kind. Ho hum.

Knitting is going ok. All the Christmas stuff is done (not doing very much Christmas knitting this year, it can be too stressful). Here’s a couple of gnomes, aka wizards. Am now doing myself a “mistake rib” scarf in coral coloured cotton. Mm. Easy to do and looks quite complicated. That’s my kind of knitting. Also here’s a photo of the puffin I knitted.

 

Had my flu jab on Monday. Sore arm is all, much better than the flu. Also need blood test for potential polymyalgia, but will do that next week so that the results are not skewed by the flu jab.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Have any of you heard of Lillian Bilocca? I’m ashamed to say I hadn’t until I watched the tv programme with Maxine Peake. She was a brave, difficult woman, who managed to get enough support to make trawlermen’s lives at sea much safer 50 years ago. Here‘s a link to her Wikipedia page. I feel so sad that she had such a dreadful time after she’d achieved her aims (working radio on board, qualified radio operator, full crew on every trawler, proper training for crew, and mother-ship with medical supplies and staff on board). Good for her, say I. The zeitgeist at the time was testosterone-fuelled machismo, domestic violence was the norm, and women didn’t “interfere” with men’s work. Until 58 men in 3 trawlers were lost at sea in a matter of weeks, one January and February. Then Lillian (Big Lil) did interfere. Mm. And made a huge difference. Trawlermen were safer, presumably insurers didn’t have to pay out so much, so often, and the owners , despite the extra expense involved in the “charter”, were better off too (I assume).

 

 

 

 

Despite the lack of rain

/ Loony Feminist / 1 Comment

Our garden has apparently survived. Two months without any meaningful rain. The water butts were empty. I only watered the plants in pots two or three times a week, and any plants that were seriously wilting once a week. I think one of the hydrangeas has died. We shall see next year. But it is/was a new sort of hydrangea which flowers on new growth, rather than only on old growth. I think that might mean it needs more water. So there are no flowers on that now. The buddleias look a bit rough but are very hardy, almost thuggish.

But how pleased I am with the herbs, the rudbeckias and the ornamental grass. That grass was in a terrible state, but with repotting, new compost, and plant feed capsules, it’s recovered well. The hydrangeas are just lovely. Even the pinky-blue one under the willow, which is a thirsty tree, is doing well.

Yeah.

But the lawn looks like yellow matted straw. You can see it a bit in one of the photos. Mm. Lawn man has been today to do things to it, so hopefully next spring it should grow again.

Recent Projects

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From top left: small triceratops to replace lost one, little owl, second little owl, dk cabled hoodie in Bergère De France Ecoton and a clown cushion.

The clown cushion is to help little ones learn fastenings – velcro, press stud, button, buckles, bow and zip. I’ve made four altogether over the past 30 odd years. They are a bit of a faff, but well-loved. The pattern is from a very old women’s magazine, and I have a pdf of it now.

Currently about half way through a shawl called “Worth The Fuss” in Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball Cotton. I’ve knitted through red, orange, yellow and green. I am enjoying doing it. There’s something interesting to do on each row, but it does mean I can’t watch the World Cup football and knit! (much too exciting). A knitty friend said she missed a goal – I messed up the knitting big time! so am taking the opportunity to do a few rows here and there during the day. That’s very unusual for me, but by the time the 7 pm kick off match has finished, at about 9 pm, I’m just too tired to risk making any more mistakes.

Next up is a toy puffin for a grandson who lives in Dublin, Republic of Ireland.

And then something a bit challenging – the pattern is called “Ari” and is intended for Aran yarn, but I’m knitting it up in dark smokey grey cotton (Erika Knight Gossypium) DK. I got the calculator and worked it all out, and have decided that knitting the size which involves casting 90 stitches should work. 90 stitches in Aran yarn would be quite big for me, but 90 stitches in DK yarn should be just over 16″ wide, which is just about right. The other thing I will need to be careful about when marking it up with my highlighter pen is the garment and sleeve lengths.

The weather here is hot and humid (well, hot for the UK!) and I hate it. Desk fans all over the place, ceiling fan in the bedroom, and I’m languishing with cold drinks. My favourite seasons are spring and autumn. Autumn for the colours. Spring for the growth.

Nearly June

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The garden is still a delight. Managed to wash all the pots. There are so many that the empty ones won’t fit in the shed, so they’re dotted around the garden, intended to just look nice. And I think they do.

Also spent a happy morning sorting out my part of the shed. It’s not divided up, you understand, into partitions or anything, but I just tend to use the potting bench, which hubby made for me, and it gets into a real old muddle. Anything else is a bit too big for me to manhandle. Hubby’s bike, the lawnmower, hubby’s workbenches, so that needs to be a joint effort. Before I started work on it there was barely room to get inside.

Lots of tea breaks and rests. Lots of spiders, and the odd wasp, which had died, presumably of boredom, but nothing nastier (for instance, dead mice). I threw loads of stuff away, sorted into recycle, the tip (public waste disposal area) and just the bin. Lots of sweeping up. All re-organised and looking absolutely spiffing now. Gleaming, in fact. And it’s stayed that way because I have barely needed to go in for the last week!

You might think that isn’t really gleaming, but compared to how it was before, believe me, it’s amazing. You couldn’t see through the windows for cobwebs and bits of dead insects. Everything’s relative . . . .

Last night, as forecast, there were the most spectacular thunderstorms I think I’ve seen in the UK. It was like pink strobe lightning. Started at 1.30 am, went on till 3.30 am, started again at 6.30 am. Sigh. I quite like thunderstorms, they’re exciting, but really, lying awake all night wasn’t great. So I got up, had breakfast, and went back to bed, where I slept from 9.30 am till 1.30 pm. Much better. More thunder and lightning forecast for tonight. Hey ho. Hopefully it will get the worst over before bedtime. Hopefully.

And so far, despite the heavy rain, the garden hasn’t turned into the usual flattened mush. Possibly because everything is a bit later this year, so instead of lots of poppies, there’s only a couple open. I did have to stake up some aquilegias, but there are loads of those, so one or two smashed ones don’t matter so much.

IMG_20180522_135117864

The knitting is going well too. I’m making a cabled hooded jacket for the 3 year old, and it’s been a bit of a challenge, shall we say, but an enjoyable one. Done the back and one front, and the sleeves and hood don’t seem to have the difficult part of the pattern on, so that should help. Am going to contact Sirdar, though, whose pattern it is, and suggest they provide charts and/or pattern panels even if only downloadable, so they don’t need to print them out. The instructions for each row are a paragraph long, and look like computer code. If I hadn’t been knitting for about 100 years, I would have given up. What I did was put stitch markers either side of the difficult bit, and mark the corresponding part of the instructions on the pattern itself with highlighter. That itself took some doing. But the feeling of achievement will be all the greater when it’s done. I think. It’s double knitting yarn, although it’s a fairly heavily cabled pattern. I’m using Bergère de France Ecoton in a denim blue. Lovely. I’ll sew it up with West Yorkshire Spinners DK in the same colour though, as the Ecoton is a bit lumpy, which is nice for the texture of the fabric, not so great for sewing up. It’ll look better when it’s sewn up and blocked.

IMG_20180524_190204118

Footwear Malfunction

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Yes, I had a shoe problem this week. I have wonky feet. Have had three operations on them and lots of steroid injections. They don’t look particularly wonky, no lumpy bits or bunions or anything, just practically invisible scars. But there is quite a lot of pain.As a result, I don’t do pretty shoes. Almost all my shoes are Birkenstocks, which are comfy, but not terribly elegant. Normally I don’t care about elegant, but this year I thought I’d try something different.

So I bought a pair of flat leather ballet-type pumps from Marks & Spencer. Inside I have put orthotic support things and heel grips. The plan was to wear them if it’s raining or cold outside in the summer, as my summer Birkies are open-toed sandals and look a bit odd in the wet weather. Otherwise I just wear winter-type shoes, which also look a bit odd in the summer.

But the ballet pumps are not comfortable. Really not. So popping out to somebody’s house for a meeting, in the car, would have been ok. However, the day turned out to be somewhat more fraught than just a UNISON meeting. I ended up having to walk what felt like miles in my uncomfortable shoes. To add another little dimension to the whole shebang, I only had a t-shirt on and it was cold and wet outside.

So. New plan. Keep a pair of comfy shoes in the car, for just such occasions. Comfy shoes duly delegated, and will go in the car when my new Birkenstocks arrive. Two pairs – one is a pair of felt type slippers, one is a slightly prettier version (Florida) of the ones I already have (Arizona). We shall see. And the flat ballet pumps will be worn, but only for short periods, and not for any serious walking.

Will also delegate warm jacket to live in the car. Haven’t quite made that decision yet, but hubby is talking about sorting out his wardrobe, so may be able to liberate one of his throw-outs.

Fascinating, isn’t it. Not. Only if you have wonky feet too, I guess.