Wendysday 26/9/18

 This is usually me on a Wednesday morning after a day looking after Nathan.

Today's prompt from RDP is inspire. (Click on the image to visit the site.)

Back in the day when I first blogged on Yahoo and then Multiply before ending up here on Blogger I used to do a "Wendysday" post on Wednesdays which started off being mostly (well ok all) about me.  I worked my way through lists of various favourites and all sorts of things.

Looking back the last Wendysday posts were in 2012!  Blogging took a bit of a break after that.  During 2013 -14 blogs were few and far between.  Life wasn't good.  Things have picked up since then but Wendysday didn't.  Then I discovered the Wednesday Hodgepodge that Joyce hosted over at From This side of the Pond 

Sadly Joyce has recently retired the Hodgepodge - life moves on.  We've both gained Grandchildren in the last year or so.  Priorities change.

Today feels like it's going to be a Wendysday though.  It's often known as Hump Day but I've never been good with that term.  To me, things that give me the hump are things that annoy or upset me.  So to call Wednesday Hump Day makes it sound bad.  Of course I understand why people call it Hump Day but when you no longer work it doesn't quite have the same significance.

Anyway back to Wendysday.  It's the breathing day for me between the two days I look after my Grandson Nathan.  I love him to bits and he is so good usually.  I really enjoy looking after him but I need a breather inbetween.  Especially at the moment with a very dodgy knee.  It's improving but slowly.  I want to run but walking is a challenge and stairs are still proving painful.  Wednesday is also the first working day of the week for Nick so I'm home alone.  

It feels like it should be a Wendysday - a day for me to do what I want and not feel guilty about it.  I still find it hard not to feel guilty about pleasing myself and not ticking off the never ending to do list but I'm getting there.

Today I'm enjoying a lazy morning in blogland.  I have some TV shows recorded that I'll probably watch and it's lovely and sunny so I'm definitely (well maybe) going out for a walk.  I've also been INSPIRED to start thinking ahead to next year's A-Z challenge.  What?  Yes!  Why?  I've been selected to write a guest post for the A-Z site.

I've never been asked to do a guest post before so I'm both excited and apprehensive.  After all I'm a blogger who blogs not a writer who blogs or a blogger who writes.  But just putting pen to paper (or composing a blog) makes me a writer and thinking about doing the guest post gave me a few ideas and it also prompted me to think ahead to the next A-Z challenge.  Who knows, if I start now I might not end up flying by the seat of my pants come April!  Deadlines were never my thing.

Ragtag Daily Prompt - 12/9/18 - Feast

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Today's prompt is Feast.  This is rather apt as this week I have been trying to get back into the swing of trying out at least one new recipe a week for my 18 in 18 challenge.  I actually planned for 4 new recipes and so far we've actually had 2 of them and I even remembered to take pictures!  (Although I won't win any prizes for presentation.)

Yesterday we had a mediterranean lamb hotpot and today we had a chicken stir fry.

The lamb dish was delicious and will definitely get repeated.  I also enjoyed the chicken dish but hubby wasn't overly impressed.  Maybe because he actually did the cooking of it.  

I feel like I've gone 2 steps forward and one back as although my leg is no longer in a support I've now gone down with a cold. Consequently I managed to prepare all the ingredients for the stir fry but hubby did the cooking.

I also had a light bulb moment while getting everything together.  I seemed to have mislaid my tablespoon measure.  I hunted high and low to no avail and decided it would turn up eventually.  I was racking my brains as to when I had last used it when I suddenly remembered using it to measure out stain remover powder when doing some washing.  I checked to see if I had left it in the tub and there it was!

I'm not sure (having watched my Mother succumb to Alzheimer's) whether I should be worried that I left it in the tub in the first place or relieved that I (eventually) remembered where it was.

Anyway not exactly a feast but both were washed down with a glass of wine so I'm satisfied.

Ragtag Daily Prompt - 11/9/18 - Orange

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Today's prompt is Orange.

I started off thinking I don't like orange.  Well I certainly don't like oranges and I'm not that keen on most citrus fruits.  Consequently I wouldn't have orange juice with my breakfast.

Then I realised I have these orange cushions in my lounge where I spend a lot of time.

The picture is poor but the cushions do work well with the colour scheme of the room.  However they are the most uncomfortable cushions ever.  They are just too puffed up.  Most of us remove the cushions when sitting on the sofas.  (We also have a 2 seater with matching cushions!)  So the cushions often end up on the floor or lobbed behind the sofa.

I also decided to inject some colour into my wardrobe recently when I updated it.  I still had a lot of work style clothes and a lot of blue and black.

These found their way in:

As did quite a lot of new things. 

I've yet to wear the trousers as they're quite a heavy cotton and we had such a long hot summer that they would have been too warm for me even though they are cropped.  Then I spent the last 3 weeks wearing a support on my leg which severly limited my choice of outfits.  It was shorts, shorts or shorts!  Not strictly true as I did have 2 pairs of loose trousers that just fitted over the support but thankfully it has been warm enough for shorts.  The weather has definitely changed now though so I will have to get some wear out of those before it gets too cool.

I'm also a fan of these:

I love having fresh flowers in the house and brightly coloured ones especially.

And now I'm off to prepare some of these to accompany our dinner.

Bird - Ragtag Daily Prompt - 8/9/18

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Well the prompt for today made me immediately want to think of something other than fluffy flying creatures.  I'm not into birds and I certainly don't have lots of pictures of them.  I did have a budgie for a pet once but of course, like most pets it predeceased me.

Interestingly, in checking out the slang definitions for bird (to make sure my lateral thinking was correct) I found it means a lot of things I never knew! Some of them I don't want to know but anyway I'm waffling.

The term I was checking out was prison.  Mainly because I feel like I have been imprisioned this week due to my injured knee but I did escape this morning.  A friend of mine was holding a coffee morning in support of Motor Neurone Disease.  Hubby dropped me off and I was able to catch up with some old work colleagues and people I've met before through my friend.  There was a lovely array of sandwiches snacks and cakes but I managed to be restrained.  It's surprising how hungry I still am considering I'm sitting around doing nothing physical so I dread to think what the scales are going to show on Monday.

My daughter picked me up and brought me home so we were able to have some catch up time with  Nathan and both his Mummies.  I've missed seeing him this week so even though Grandpa is his favourite person it was still lovely to see him.  He was looking very grown up today.

So there you have it, nothing to do with birds.  Just a bunch of waffle.  What I do best.

Bark - Ragtag Daily Prompt - 6/9/18

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Today's prompt is bark.  Well the saying goes "his bark was worse than his bite" but in the case of these two that might not be true.

Meet Ness and Joe.  These greyhounds now belong to my son and his wife.  They are quiet in that they don't bark very often although they are noisy when charging around the house or up and down the garden.  They don't do that very often either.  Contrary to what you might think, greyhounds do not need a lot of exercise as they will have been trained to do short bursts of running but at a very fast pace!  

When they first got them they were very quiet and not at all playful.  Now, although they still spend the majority of their time lazing around they are, particularly Ness, more like pets.  They often bring them with them when they visit us and they are no trouble.  Apart from the fact they are big and take up a lot of floor space when they lay down!  They don't curl up like some dogs do - they spread out.

Generally they don't bite but, having been trained to chase a furry object, there are certain things to watch out for which is why they are never off lead when taken out.  Rabbits, cats anything small and furry that moves and they would be off like a shot.  Fluffy toys for the baby are also kept off limits.  We've moved on from baby gates to dog gates!

They have been very good around the new baby in the house though, sniffing around him but mostly ignoring him even when he cries.  Hopefully that will continue as Noah grows up and becomes more interested in them.

Sobriquet - Ragtag Daily Prompt - 5/9/18

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The word for today is “sobriquet” (/ˈsoʊbrɪkeɪ/ SOH-bri-kay) – a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another. Distinct from a pseudonym, it usually is a familiar name used in place of a real name without the need of explanation, often becoming more familiar than the original name.

Well I don't have a nickname.  I don't even have a middle name.  I'm the youngest of 3 and only the eldest of us got a middle name.  Don't ask me why. I don't know.  But as my brother's middle name is Ernest perhaps I should just be grateful.

I don't dislike my name (Wendy) but I hate it when it gets shortened to Wend, especially if the person doing it isn't that close a friend.  My Mum used to do it a lot but of course I didn't complain after all she gave me the name.

I don't always shorten our kids' names but they have recognised shortened versions and I know they don't object to them being used.  I think diminutives that could readily be names in their own right, e.g Chris for Christopher are ok but can you ever imagine someone calling their daughter Wend?

Although having worked in a school I've seen all sorts of weird and wonderful names.

It's hard with a large family finding original names.  We haven't had any duplicates yet but I can see that we might at some point now that lots of our sons and daughters are having children of their own.  My husband wanted to give our daughter the same name as one of his sisters but I vetoed that idea.  I didn't want her being known as baby or junior.  Having had a tough birth with her it was easy to persuade hubby I should have the final say and she has his sister's name as her middle name instead.

Hubby had a nickname when I first met him.  He's Nicholas or Nick but he was introduced to me as Denis.  Apparently on a visit to some friends of his at uni one of their girl friends misheard and though that was his name.  It stuck for quite a while, especially among his friends.

Another of his friends became known as Simon when his real name was Wilton.  Again I was introduced to him as Simon and for a long time didn't know it wasn't his name.  But on phoning his home and asking for him, his Mother made it quite clear I was in the wrong!  Didn't make that mistake twice. 

My Dad was a similar case.  His name was William John but he was always known as Jack and my mother was always known by her middle name as her first name was the same as her mother's.

The one other person I do remember having a nickname was an aunt (whose name was Iris).  She was often called Molly, or Irish Molly due to her quick temper.  She may have had a quick temper but she had a kind heart and I spent many happy times at her home during school holidays with my cousin. 

Well I'm waffling on as usual.  Perhaps waffler should be my nickname.

Energy - Ragtag Daily Prompt - 4/9/18

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Today's prompt is "Energy" something I don't seem to have much of at the moment.  Thanks for all the well wishes for my leg.  I still don't know if it's fractured or just badly bruised but I'm doing as I'm told and resting it.  Trouble is I'm finding that the less you do the less you want to do.

But it does help with catching up on some reading.  I've just finished Insidious Intent by Val McDermid.  Really enjoyed it but the ending was a bit of a shocker.  Can't say any more as it would be a massive spoiler.  (There was even a request from the author not to reveal it!)

Of course now I've got you all wondering what it was.  You'll just have to read it to find out - or I'm sure if you Googled it you could find the answer.

I love Google and I'm also finding YouTube handy for DIY videos amongst other things.  For example I acquired a VAX vacuum/carpet cleaning machine from my sister-in-law but there was no instruction manual.  Thanks to Google I now have an instruction booklet to hand but frustratingly no energy to carry out cleaning the carpet that needs it.

I'm not good at being patient.  I contacted the Patient Liaison Service today at the hospital as I've still not had any response from the Trauma unit.  They said they would try and speed things up.  They obviously are out of energy too.

(Apologies to anyone new here wondering what this is all about - you can check out the saga here.)

Sequacious - Ragtag Daily Prompt - 2/9/18

Apparently the definition of Sequacious is "inclined to follow" which is pretty apt today.  I was determined to post today but I wasn't full of inspiration so I began by visiting blogs that I follow.  One of these (Mrs Swiss) always used to compose a post based on the (now defunct) Wordpress prompt for the day.  I discovered, however, that a group of like minded bloggers have now set up their own daily prompt site: Ragtag Daily Prompt so I have been sequacious.

We are often sequacious in our lives.  Rules, fashions, protocols spring to mind just for starters.  Of course there are also leaders but sadly I don't count myself as one of those, nor would I want to be.  Look at poor Theresa May.  Who would want to be in her shoes right now?  Well ok maybe physically in some of the nice kitten heel numbers but certainly not in the dancing shoes put to such poor use this week.  I will not post a link for you sequacious people out there to follow for your amusement.  (Google will provide an answer for anyone who might have missed it!)

Then there are instructions.  I'm pretty good at those but again we often fall into two camps.  Those that follow the instructions and those that start to put together flat packs because they "know what they're doing" and then wonder why there are pieces left over at the end and the furniture looks wonky.



One of the things that I don't just blindly follow though are the numerous hoax posts you see, particularly on Facebook, where you're notified of a scam and encouraged to copy the info to all your contacts etc.  I usually try to see if there's any truth to them first and usually there isn't.

Well that's enough following for now, at least here in blogland.  I have plenty to follow on my TV box having been away for a week and I've decided that too much multitasking means I often lose the plot and have to rewind!