Wendysday 29th August 2012

Nearly forgot it was Wendysday – we’ve just had a long weekend here so Monday was a holiday – it throws the week out for me.   

We had a lovely weekend though – our usual family camping trip.  The weather wasn’t too bad, it wasn’t up to sunny summer August weather all the time but it wasn’t continually raining so we survived.  The storm on Friday evening was a bit worrying though – we had torrential rain, thunder and lightning and some of the tents got a bit soggy but we had enough sun on Saturday to dry them out.  It’s just a nice relaxing time with the extended family.   

Today will be a mixed day I think – I’m having some damp sorted out in the kitchen so that is a mess at the moment that I will probably have to clean up later.  (Hopefully – may not be finished until tomorrow, although really that is just the start of a lot of messy work in there – ceiling and floor both need to be done next…..)

I have to pop into work.  We had a break in at the school over the weekend so I was there yesterday making sure everything was sorted out.  Today I need to go in and download CCTV data for the police.  Not sure that it’s going to be very useful.  The thieves were very organised – they cut phones lines so that the security centre wasn’t notified when they triggered the alarm.  They brought tools so they could break through two locked doors and obviously a vehicle to transport away all the lap tops they stole.  Just so depressing as it’s the third break in this year.  Each time we have added to and improved our security and yet they still get in!  

After that I’m having lunch with some friends so that will cheer me up.  Next I have a doctor’s appointment.  I have a really sore shoulder and moving it has become quite restricted.  Getting dressed is the worst thing.  Will probably end up just being referred for physio but will see what else she suggest.  It actually isn’t too painful, unless I try to move it too much!   

And then this evening we are going out to eat – I have some vouchers to use at Prezzo that expire on 31^st so tonight was the only night we could really use them and it will be easier than trying to cook in the kitchen at the moment.   

Hmm lunch and dinner out I think on balance it’s definitely Wendysday!

Wendysday 22 Aug 2012

A lazy Wendysday so far.

For anyone new to this blog I came up with the idea of Wendysday back in 2007 when I was blogging on Yahoo 360.  The idea being:

“Nope, not a misspelling.

Why shouldn’t it be my day? Do I only get to have one day a year? i.e. my birthday (yes ok I know I also get mother’s day if the kids remember) but I’m taking over Wednesdays. They will be about me! (No this idea is not very original – I’ve adapted it from other blogs – hopefully no one will mind.”

It started off with information about me and my family or various topics but evolved into was it a Wendysday or not.  I.e. had I had a good day or not.  Some days it was clearly not as I didn’t even get to post a blog.

Today I’ve been busy so far copying blogs from the sinking Multiply site and posting them here on blogger.   They’re on a separate blog page that I will set up properly once I’ve got all the blogs on it and then link it here.  It will take a while as it’s interesting to read back over things I’ve written.  Much of it I’ve just deleted and sometimes I think this page should be Wendy’s Whinge rather than what it is but I guess it’s a balance of both and maybe Waffle-with-Wendy is a bit less offputting.  Just hope no-one comes here looking for recipes!

If my name began with P say Patricia for example I could very easily have Procrastinating with Patricia.  But yesterday I did do two things on my procrastination list.  I boxed up a load of books and took them to a local charity bookshop and more importantly I sorted out ordering a new plaque for the garden of remembrance for my Mum and the entry for the book of remembrance.  Once the plaque is ready her ashes will be put under the rose bush we already had for my Dad and the new joint plaque will be put there.  The entry in the remembrance book will be on 19^th July – that is the day my Dad died so he already has an entry on that date so we decided to keep them together.  It didn’t seem fair on Rebecca to have Mum’s entry on her date of death as that is her birthday and I didn’t want it on Mum’s birthday as we are likely to be away then.

Mum’s birthday is actually today.  She would have been 90 if she’d reached it so it is a sad day but thankfully she is now at peace and I did not want her to reach this milestone.  It would have given us another birthday dilemma of how to celebrate it when she would not have known what all the fuss was about. 

I need to get myself moving now as we’re going camping this weekend and I’ve done nothing to prepare for that yet and I’m going tomorrow!  I also need to have my kitchen ready for some work to be done on the external wall which is starting on Tuesday.

In case I don’t get back for a bit have a lovely weekend especially those in the UK where we have a bank holiday on Monday.

Cross posting

It’s a good thing I’m still on school holidays.  Sorting out all these blog changes is taking up a lot of time!  But it beats cleaning, sorting, decluttering etc that I should be doing plus a few other things I am procrastinating over.  I thought I had got it sussed so that I would just post on Blogger and then add links to my other sites to keep friends in the loop but I’m not sure that Blogster liked that idea.  My first two attempts just seemed to disappear.  Unless in my sleepy stupor (was working on it late) I pressed the wrong button.  Or maybe they didn’t like me blocking all comments on Blogster and getting people to comment on Blogger.   

Anyway it seems I can cross post on Blogster to Blogger – well at least there is a share button that says I can so I am going to give that a go with this blog and see how it works. 

Had a nice day yesterday – my daughter dropped in having been at the V festival (music festival) for the weekend so she was returning things that she had borrowed.  (e.g. tent, airbed, pump…..and that would be a wet tent that we then had to dry off)  Anyway she ended up staying for the rest of the day.  It was nice to have company and we did sort out some books that can now be offloaded.  Good to get the tent dry as well although we will be using it again this weekend.  Hopefully the good weather will hold but there is the promise of showers.  Showers I can cope with, constant rain….no thank you!   

Well going to see what this looks like in Blogger now.

PS  Didn't work too well - just got a link posted here back to blogster.  I want it to work the other way around so I've copied the post here in full.  Will go back to putting links on the other sites.  I like it here!

Getting the hang of things

Well I think I’m settling in to Blogger as my site of choice.  I’ve linked it to google reader and I’m now able to catch up with everyone there and link back to your posts.   

I’ve decided just to post links to my blogs on the sites where my other friends are e.g. Blogster and Ipernity so that you can keep up too.  I’ve enabled anonymous commenting so you should all be able to leave comments on the BLOGGER pages but I have set them to be moderated so don’t panic if they don’t appear straight away.  Just lets me stop any silly comments showing up.  

Not sure how frequently I’ll be blogging once I get back to work, 2 weeks today :(  time will tell.  We have different attitudes to change.  Some people seem to thrive on change and embrace it.  Others like me probably don’t like it too much but you have to get on with it.  Losing my Mum this year has meant changes.  I no longer have to work out when to fit visiting in or getting her washing done.  So life is easier in that respect but there is a gaping hole that has to be filled.  

Grief is a funny thing.  I expected that having felt as if I was already grieving for Mum over such a long time as she was gradually lost to us through the Alzheimer’s that her passing would be a relief, a time to move on.  I was kidding myself if I thought I’d done my grieving.  I know it will get easier, experience tells me that it will. 

Unreasonable or just hot and bothered?

It has been incredibly hot this weekend.  We have recorded the hottest temperatures of the year so far.  Yes it is finally summer but we are still complaining – it is too hot.  Even with all the windows open, fans on etc it is very hot and sticky.  Not much has been done this weekend.  I did manage to read a book.  I did manage to do some ironing when it cooled a little yesterday evening.  But we have not been very energetic at all.  

We Brits are not happy unless we are complaining about the weather it seems.  Well I found something else to complain about today.  I live opposite a large expanse of common land, some of which is used for football.  For some time now a large group of men have been coming over on Sunday afternoons and playing a friendly game.  That’s fine.  Good for them being able to play in this heat.  Trouble is, when they have finished playing they then hang around and socialise.  Only they don’t socialise on the pitch, they come back to their cars and hang around there by the road.  Just along the road opposite my house.  And they are very noisy.  Because of the layout of the houses we can even hear them in the back garden.  

Today because I had front windows open I could hear them in my lounge while watching TV.  Some of them are still there now.  I’m writing this in bed and I can still hear them.  So I have reported them for anti-social behaviour.   That probably seems unfair but I’m not brave enough to go and confront them and ask them to keep the noise down.  I tried to be fair in my report as well, explaining that if they did their congregating on the playing field it would be fine but coming back to the road is not.  

I think I’m definitely turning into a grumpy old woman!

A Downside to the Olympics

I loved the Olympics.  I thought both the opening and closing ceremonies were great if a little (ok, very) GB orientated.  The way our Team GB out performed all expectations (well most of them) was amazing and the atmosphere at the park which we were able to sample was wonderful.

The improvements to our infrastructure can already be felt - our transport links are excellent and hopefully a team that delivered such a wonderful event will be able to ensure we have a legacy worth having in the future.

But - oh yes there is a but.  I've found something to moan about.

The olympics will be affecting our Family Camp this year!  This is not good.  I am not impressed.

For newcomers to this site, Family Camp is our annual get together on the last summer bank holiday - the last weekend in August.  (The Monday is a national holiday.)  We get together a lot as an extended family - there are regular celebrations - baptisms, communions, confirmations, weddings and sometimes, sadly, funerals.  We are a close knit group.  We also always go to a local camp site on the holiday weekend.  We have been going for many years.  There can be anything between 30-40 of us on site at any given time ranging in age from virtually newborns to Grandma in her 80s.  

One advantage of the site is that it is close to all of us - only 30 minutes by car from our house so not a disaster if we forget anything or need to pop home to feed the cats!  It's also served by the London Tube system.

Which makes it a prime location to advertise as somewhere for people attending the olympics to stay!

Yes I know you're saying the olympics are over but the Paraolympics start that weekend!  So not only will we have to book to ensure we have space, we will also have to pay more as the prices have been hiked.

I'm waiting on feedback from other family members (I'm sure we will still go) so I can then book.  Watch this space!

Wednesday 15th August 2012

Well it is Wednesday, and I am preparing a blog, so I guess it must be a Wendysday!

Familiar friends will understand, but for anyone new here, and of course that includes me, Wendysday blogs were something that I started in a former life (Multiply and before that Yahoo 360).  It started off as a means of telling visitors about myself, eg my favourite foods, books etc.  Things I’d done, e.g jobs and so on.

When I ran out of inspiration along those lines it became more of  “Was it Wendysday or not” depending on how the day had gone.

Well today is definitely a Wendysday so far.  Hubby brought me a cup of tea in bed before he left for work.  I’ve had breakfast in bed (although I did go down and prepare it myself) and I’ve been relaxing and blogging ever since.

For newcomers, I’m not usually this lazy, well not often, but I work full time in a school so I’m on holiday at the moment.  Of course that doesn’t mean there is nothing to be done but I had a really productive day yesterday – did lots of chores, shopping etc and the cleaner came so the house is clean and tidy.  I’m on top of the washing so I can spare some relaxation time.

I have a few things on my to do list that are earmarked for today so I will move myself – soon – just not yet.  I have an episode of “Borgen” on my laptop I need to watch before it expires.  I’ve really got into these Scandinavian programmes lately.  I was glued to “The Killing” and then heard about Borgen which is a drama about the political set up in Denmark. 

So I’m going to post this blog, then watch Borgen and then…… hmm maybe I should get up next.  Catch you later.

Welcome & Here we go again!

Welcome to my blog.  I'm a Multiply refugee (and a Yahoo 360 prior to that) so I'm starting over, again!  I've had this account for a while (sett up so I could follow something) but I've never actually posted here.

My multiply friends have gone off in various directions so I'm trying to see what works best for me to keep in touch with as many as possible while making new friends.

No idea how to make things pretty yet - this will definitely be a work in progress for a while!