Recovering

May 4, 2021May 4, 2021 / Loony Feminist / Leave a comment

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 😉

Progress

April 21, 2021 / Loony Feminist / 2 Comments

I am so relieved, and so is everybody I know, about the verdict in the George Floyd case. The thing is, though, it should have been an open and shut case, but because this was a white cop killing a Black man, there was still just the chance it might go the other way. True justice will be when there is no doubt about such things. I guess that for George Floyd’s family there is a kind of closure, but I can’t imagine how I’d feel in their place. Mixed emotions I guess. And cops do not have a good time in prison. I know nobody’s supposed to have a good time in there, but cops – well. Particularly when it’s absolutely crystal clear that a cop is a racist. Hmm. Karma.

I can’t remember who asked, but somebody did, for progress reports on the crochet blanket-to-be. Well, today the osteopath did some gentle work on my poor hand and I was actually able to crochet a (purple) square with hardly any pain. I’m so pleased with myself. So here’s a picture! And there’s enough left on the 50gm ball for one more. Each 50gm ball does two squares. The ones which look pale grey are actually pale lilac.

My friend’s little boy chose a plant for my birthday a few years ago. It’s flowered regularly at this time of year ever since. I have been known to drown these (Christmas Cactus? Shrimp Plant? Schlumbergera?) but this one has survived my ministrations. I sent them a photo so they could coo over it. Oh blimey. You can see all the dust and cat hairs on the mat. Oh well. It’s real anyway.

Windows decided to install, without my express permission, (!) the update it’s been threatening me with for weeks now. I’ve been ignoring the dire warnings, because last time I installed this particular update, I couldn’t print anything until I’d uninstalled it. So I was quite concerned. There was no opportunity to say no, or stop it, so I let it carry on and it took a couple of hours. During which time I crocheted said square.

Then, before I tried printing, I did a full backup, including email and mobile phone contacts, and bookmarks, to two different places, and then a backup to a USB stick of the passwords I’d need should I have to access the network.

I tentatively tried to print, and IT WORKED. Thank goodness for that.

Still downloaded Ubuntu 20 LTS though, and have burned the installation files to yet another USB stick, just in case. You never know.

24th July 2013

July 24, 2013 / Loony Feminist / Leave a comment

First of all, the dratted weather. Hate it with a passion, or would if I had the energy. For the last two days it’s been cooler and much more manageable, after some terrific thunderstorms and plenty of much needed rain.

But before that it was dreadful. The humidity is the worst thing for me. I can’t imagine going out and sitting in the sun. The most I could do comfortably is shower, put on proper underwear, and summer pyjamas – a loose t-shirt top and loose long shorts. Then I couldn’t do anything all day except sit around inside with all the fans in the house going. We do have a ceiling fan which we have been using at night. The first night or two we couldn’t sleep properly because it hums, but soon got used to it.

So I’m really, really pleased that it’s cooler. I don’t care if it rains, the whole country is going brown. Our water butts were empty.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I’ve now learned to knit socks. The first sock would fit either a baby hobbit, or a duck with very fat legs, but I turned the heel and grafted the toe. No seams, did it in the round with two circular needles. Very pleased. I’m going to practise with more sock patterns and different ways of turning the heel. Socks are a small, portable project, and apparently once you’ve worn hand-knitted socks you’re hooked. We shall see.

More crocheting too, along the same lines but trying different patterns.

However, my KnitPro size 3.00 mm interchangeable needles – one snapped while I was knitting. Very frustrating. It’s never happened to me before. I’ve been knitting for over 50 years, and for the last 20 years with bamboo or wooden needles. But KnitPro will replace that set, and I’ve ordered a fixed and an interchangeable HiyaHiya size 3.00 60 cm needle from The Shop.

It’s frustrating because I need size 3.00 mm to finish the front band of the Cardigan of Doom which I’ve been knitting. But I shall put that to one side and do a few small projects in the meantime. I also need size 3.00 mm needles for my sock knitting – but in the meantime while I’m just learning I’ll use bigger needles and not worry too much.

Socks need to be knitted on small needles so that they don’t wear out too quickly and are comfortable. Big needles means big holes between the stitches/rows.

My hands – I’m in real trouble with them. The Tramadol (one x 3 times a day) plus the Paracetamol just isn’t doing it. But I’m at the doctor tomorrow, so will see what she says, and have an appointment with the orthopaedic consultant on 5th August. Also have an appointment with a different guy on 22nd August, for my tremor. Sometimes it’s not too bad, but sometimes I can’t get my food to my mouth, which is why I mentioned it to the doctor.

The cat has had a small adventure too. An abcess just below her eye. She didn’t seem bothered by it at all, although she was a little surprised when she washed her face, and it hurt. So the vet gave her an antibiotic injection and an anti-inflammatory injection, and she’s fine. If a little less pretty than usual.

Hubby is very busy. Labour party, chairing the Patient Participation Group at the local surgery, going to choir and learning to sing. All at the same time. It’s very good. He suffers a little less than me in the heat because of his medication. And he feels the cold worse.

So life is exciting on a small scale, leisurely, and relatively calm.

More projects and stuff.

July 8, 2013July 9, 2013 / Loony Feminist / Leave a comment

The cat needed to go to the vet today. She had an abscess under one eye. It looked like she’d been bitten. The abscess had already burst (on Saturday night while I was wiping it with a tissue!) but she’s had an antibiotic injection and an anti-inflammatory injection too. She doesn’t mind the vet at all, ignores the injection, and is quite keen to explore the surgery. But she hates the car and howls the whole time. Today I sang loudly to drown it out. Worked to an extent . .

I was so excited by the men’s final at Wimbledon, when Andy Murray won, I cried and cried. Wonderful, wonderful match.

The weather is hot, sunny and humid. Mm. Good for drying washing, not so good for people. So we sit inside with the fans blowing cool, and the cat sits in the shade outside.

I’ve done another couple of crocheted granny squares. I try to do one round of crochet each day, and discovered quite early on that I was making a mistake in the treble crochet stitch. So I looked it up in two different sources and am now doing it properly.