Variety - Z-A Challenge - 6/10/22

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Do you realise it is almost 2 months since you allowed me anywhere near your blog Wendy?

Yes I have spotted that Alice.  But it has been a little bit busy during that time, a week away with family, then a week away with friends in Ireland and of course all the Grandsitting and so on.

Hmm that doesn't account for all of the time.  As usual I'm feeling very neglected.  And I see that you've added a lot of books to your "Read" list on Goodreads.  I'm beginning to think you care more about this "Frieda Klein"* than you do me.

Oh but Alice that was such a good series and I just had to keep reading the next instalment.  But I've read them all now so I'll probably slow down a bit with reading again.

Yes and take up making poppies instead!  I've seen the pattern printouts and the crochet hook being resurrected.  

Well that's part of being in the Knit and Natter group.  And the poppies are quick and easy to do.

Easy to do?  Wendy it took you 3 attempts to get started last night in the pub. It should be called the Natter group because not much knitting was going on.  Well the others there seemed to be busy but you were definitely not concentrating!  The wine probably didn't help.

Oh the wine definitely helped Alice.  I'd had a long day with Grandson Vinny yesterday.  Starting with an 8 am pick up, coping with early morning traffic and then Granddaughter Ella was here in the afternoon too.

And that justifies the wine how exactly?

I needed to unwind.

Well you were unwinding the crochet that's for sure.

Crochet's not as easy as knitting is to do without concentrating.  Or without looking at it.  But at least I'm trying to do something different.  And I've generally been quite productive this week.

Well you've been trying to get rid of things.  I've seen you putting things on Marketplace or booking collections for things.  Not sure why that's productive.  I think the clue is in the word Wendy.

Perhaps proactive would be a better word.  I've got rid of one piece of furniture we didn't need.  Hopefully the other item I've listed will go too and I've booked a collection for the old freezer.  I've also investigated upgrading our alarm system and today I tried to sort out the issue with the Tax Credit office.

That went well.  Didn't appear to get you very far.

No well the ball is back in their court Alice.  You'd think that after 14 years of doing nothing they could write off a debt that they can't even show is the right amount.

Well I think the fact that they started chasing it after 14 years of inactivity shows they're not going to write it off anytime soon!

Maybe not.  We'll have to wait and see.

Anyway Wendy, how is this post linked to the prompt Variety.

You're my variety Alice.  A change from my usual posts.

Hmm, I'd much prefer it if I was your usual or regular sort of post.

Unfortunately we can't always have what we wish for Alice.

Well that's actually a good thing Wendy or you wouldn't be writing this at all.

Alice!

* Frieda Klein is the main character in a series of books written by Nicci French.  For more details see my Goodreads page.

An update on Nick, with Alice 15/8/22

Is that rain Wendy? Oh please tell me it’s raining. I feel like I’m frying at the moment with this heat. 

Yes Alice we have got some rain. At last, although I’m not sure how long it’s going to last for or how much it’s going to bring the temperature down but it is supposed to be a bit cooler for the rest of the week. 

Thank goodness. It’s like an oven in here. 

I know, it has been rather unbearable again. Even during the night temperatures have stayed high. 

Yes it hasn’t done wonders for your sleeping has it? I can tell. 

What do you mean Alice? 

It’s the dark shadows under the eyes that give it away Wendy. And your short temper of course. 

I have been very patient this last week or so Alice. 

Hmm with Nick as the patient? Not sure about that. He seems to be doing much better though apart from looking a bit yellow! 

Yes he is doing a lot better Alice but you’re right, the bruising on his face is a nice shade of yellow now and the bruising on his right arm in particular is pretty gross. 

When do you think he’ll be up to cooking again? That lamb curry you made last week was disgusting. And you haven’t exactly been very adventurous with your meal choices. 

Well the lamb curry was adventurous for me but not sure what went wrong. I was definitely too light handed with the spices. It didn’t really taste of curry at all. I was just worried I’d make it too spicy and I would struggle to eat it. Instead of which it was so bland it was horrible.

 

We have a Hello Fresh box coming tomorrow so that will help add some variety to our meals. 

Yes even you would struggle to spoil those Wendy. 

Well I could try. 

Please don’t. But I would have thought that if Nick is able to play his guitar, which I know he can, he should be able to do anything now. 

That’s a nice theory Alice but the main problem he still has at the moment is fully straightening his arms. The left one’s ok but he can’t get the right one fully straight but that’s not an issue when playing a guitar as you do it with your arm bent. 

Should he actually be playing the guitar then? 

Yes he can – we finally got the letter through from the hospital today and basically it said he should be mobilising his arms as much as possible but of course lifting things would still be tricky so cooking would be a challenge. 

Yes well at least you’re not having to help him shower anymore or get dressed. I didn’t know where to look when that was going on. 

Oh Alice, are you a bit of a prude? 

No I just didn’t need to be a witness to that. You’ve certainly kept to your marriage vow of “in sickness and in health” this last week or so Wendy. 

Of course. You can’t expect everything to be rosy all the time Alice. 

No but I suppose there were some small blessings I mean at least you never had to wipe his a..... 

Alice! I think that is too much information for our readers. 

 

Chatting with Alice - 2/8/22

Did you just do a Hodgepodge post Wendy?

I did Alice. I’ve even scheduled it to post early tomorrow. 

Hmm, but will you get around to linking it to the hosting site and visiting other bloggers? It is a "blog hop" after all. 

Well I’m certainly going to try Alice. 

So you’ll be ignoring me again then. 

I don’t ignore you on purpose Alice but sometimes I’m just too busy to chat to you like this. 

Busy doing what? You managed to get through enough books to write a blog post about. And now you’re on this walking kick with music plugged into your ears so you can’t hear me even if I try to talk to you. 

Well you’ve done a pretty good job of keeping me awake the last couple of nights Alice. 

Oh no you can’t blame me for that. I seem to recall there was a lot of reading going on – certainly the first night. 

Yes well that’s the advice when you can’t get off to sleep – stop trying and do something else, so I opted to read. 

Good job you have all these spare bedrooms so you don’t keep your hubby awake too. 

He’s the one who keeps me awake Alice, with his snoring. 

Actually, when he has his CPAP* machine on he doesn’t snore at all. Unlike you Wendy! 

I never hear myself snoring Alice so I think you must be mistaken. 

Nice try Wendy but you know that I’m right. 

How are you coping with this heat Alice? 

Nice try at changing the subject Wendy but I’m used to dealing with heat – there's so much hot air in your head at times. 

If things are that bad Alice I don’t know why you want to talk to me at all. 

I often don’t Wendy but I know you’d miss me. 

Probably. 

Definitely. Now how about a political discussion Wendy. Which one of those 2 Tory people do you want for Prime Minister. 

Alice! Do you really want to scare my readers away? Anyway I don’t get to vote so there’s no point in starting that debate! 

That’s a relief. I was only joking you know. 

Sometimes it’s hard to tell Alice. 

 

*CPAP machine - used to treat sleep apnoea