Monday's Musings - 24/2/25

Last week was a very unproductive week for me.  Not sure why but I really wasn't very motivated.  I did hardly any walking (it did rain a lot), missed my keep fit class and had several nights where I didn't sleep very well.

I am determined to do better this week.  I was up a bit earlier today and between us most of the floors have been hoovered and the tiled floors cleaned.  Our bed is in the process of being changed and I'm on my 3rd lot of laundry.

I finished reading a book (The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene) and have managed to slot Heartstone by C J Sansom into a challenge prompt. (Character with red hair - Henry VIII) so I can start reading that at some point.  (I picked it up recently from a local Little Library with the final two of the series too.)

  

I also managed a lap of the lake although I didn't time that well - I got rained on.  It is even more muddy by the lake - we had a lot of rain overnight recently and it's rained again today.

The river which is usually less than a foot deep and flows very slowly is the highest I've seen it and running quite fast.

It was worth the walk though to catch sight of these new offspring:

Not the best photos but there are 4 Egyptian Geese goslings who blend in with the muddy ground.  I couldn't get very close either as one of the parents was making it very clear that I was encroaching on their space!

Last night I finished stitching all the ends in on my blanket so just the edging to attach now.

This is the book I used for the patterns for the squares.  I originally just started doing various squares with odd wool I had and then began organising them into a suitable layout for a blanket.  Thankfully the end is in sight now - it's been a WIP for a long time!  And I really want to try my hand at making a pair of socks.

Anyway definitely a more motivated Monday.  

Some Tuesday Twaddle - 4/2/25

You can have so much fun when you're retired.

I thought I must have blogged about this puzzle before but it seems not.  

It was a Christmas present from my son and DIL who are in the US.  They know I love a puzzle/challenge.  The wooden pieces can, apparently, be arranged around each day of the year.  So far I have managed to complete the puzzle for every day to date.  

Note I said for every day, not ON every day.  Most of them have been done on the day but I've slipped up a couple of times but I do have photographic evidence of all the dates.  Some days prove trickier than others.

When I started out I was thinking "I can do this for a year" but then my other son pointed out that, as next January 1st will be on a different day, to complete every combination would take me until 2031.  However, thanks to leap years it'll be 2035 before I've done all the combinations! (I think - haven't quite got my head around the leap year effect yet.)

Anyway I think a year is long enough for a challenge.  My current run on Wordle is 331 days but my win streak was 247 until one day last week.  Thankfully as that was my highest ever winning streak I wasn't too upset when I didn't get the word.  I'm sure there are some people that have done it every single day since it started but having missed that boat I'm not too disappointed if I miss one here or there.

I may be retired but there are still things that have to be done such as washing, cleaning etc.  Time to change the washing over.

Yep, Tuesday Twaddle.

Is it Monday? 3/2/25

Having blogged almost every day of January, I decided that I ought to try and carry on blogging as much as I can.  Certainly on a regular basis at least.

But what to blog about?  Some days, such as Wednesdays (Hodgepodge), Fridays (Fave Five) and Saturdays (SoCS) are easy - there is a theme or a prompt.  That's what made January easier - Linda kindly supplied us with a prompt each day.

Now I'm left to my own devices I'm having to wrack my brains.  Of course book reviews slot in nicely but I'm not reading a book every day - or even every 2 or 3 days so that will still leave some blanks to fill.

I could write about my day - but the highlight of today was emptying the ironing basket.  Not exactly riveting although I did watch an interesting documentary series on Boyzone while I was ironing.

The weather was a bit bland today too and we won't even go near discussing politics.  I think the world is going mad.

I did look to the BBC website for inspiration and found a mad story about a round egg.  Apparently the chances of getting a round (as opposed to oval) egg are 1 in a billion.  Who compiles these statistics?  And can they be believed when we know there are "lies, damned lies and statistics".

Anyway it seems to me they can't be that rare - one was found in Scotland not long ago and a more recent one in Devon.  The one in Scotland was auctioned and sold for £200.  The woman who found the latest one is planning to auction it too.

Personally I like my eggs cooked - breakfast today was a poached egg on toast with smoked salmon and hollandaise sauce.  It was delicious and a much better use of an egg than keeping it to look at.

How did it get so late? 12/2/20

Well I'm determined to try and keep up with blogging regularly but this is going to be a very quick post.  It's time for bed really as I had a very long day with Rory again today.  I started at 8 am as usual but had to wait until Daddy got home (about 7.15pm) because Mummy had a parents evening at her school.  They obviously decided to schedule all their parent evenings on Wednesdays as this is the 3rd one in a row.  Still I shouldn't complain, I can have a lie in tomorrow which is more than Liz can.  Except I can't either as I have to drop the car off for its annual service!

Fortunately the weather was better today and after his 2 hour nap (for which I was very grateful!) I took Rory to the park.  We saw the goslings again and they were on the move today, still looking healthy although I think one is smaller than the other two.  When the sun was out and the wind dropped it was quite pleasant although still chilly.

I let Rory have a swing which he loved.

Yes he is wearing Santa joggers.  They still fit!

He was as good as gold for me, letting me feed him, bath him and get him to bed just before Daddy came home.  It's hard for them on nights like this not to see him when they come home but if he sees them just before he goes in his cot he gets so excited and then it puts his whole routine out.  And he has a good routine.  Once he's ready for bed he has a bottle of milk while I read him stories.  Then he gets a very quick cuddle before going into his cot and usually he makes no or very little fuss before going to sleep.

Fortunately hubby was home before me and had dinner ready just as I walked through the door which was lovely especially when washed down with a glass of wine.  I think I'd earned that!

Mobile phones - Love 'em/Hate 'em?

I don't remember when exactly that we got a house phone but I do remember using telephone boxes and having to make arrangements with my cousin so that she could be in the call box near her home when I rang her.  I think she probably rang me and then I called her back from our house phone.

It was exciting when we got the phone.  Especially as we had two!  One in the hall and an extension in my parents' bedroom.  I think this was enabled because my Dad was a mechanical engineer at a chemical factory and was often on call for emergencies.

Of course house phones have moved on.  We now have four extensions in our home and an answerphone.  Those are portable too so we can move around with them as we please.  Not like that first hallway phone where you would sit on the stairs, freezing in the winter months, and have no privacy from anyone wandering past.  Especially brothers who would do so on purpose, often!  Thankfully both my brothers had moved out before I was having boyfriend conversations.

Then mobile phones were invented! 

I resisted for a long time but of course, like so many others, I gave in and now I wouldn't be without it.  I currently have an i-phone (not the latest model) and I do love it.  But I hate feeling I have to have it as an appendage.  Especially when at home.  Hubby, when ringing from work, will often call my mobile rather than the landline.  Which is annoying.  If my mobile is sitting in the bedroom and I'm in the kitchen we are separated by 3 flights of stairs!  No chance of making it.

Right now I've come down to have breakfast and I've remembered to bring my phone with me but chances are when I've finished and go up to get showered or whatever I'll probably leave my phone behind.  Getting the picture?  Plus not all my clothes have pockets!

Hubby's answer to this predicament is the clue is in the name of the phone.  Not helpful.

Unlike Hubby,  my phone is incredibly helpful.  It makes me get up.  (Well it's intended to do that but the snooze override sometimes defeats it.)  It reminds me of so many things and holds lots of useful information.  It even stops me getting lost as so far we have resisted the urge to add a SATNAV to the car.

I do wonder how I would cope without it but I worry about how intrusive mobiles can sometimes be and how detrimental to our manners.

We were in the supermarket on Monday waiting at the checkout.  One woman was being served.  Then there was another woman and then Hubby and me.  I became aware that the woman in front of us was becoming a bit agitated and then I noticed the customer being served was using her mobile.  It was clearly distracting her and slowing the whole checkout process down.  She continued on her call, which was clearly important to her, while struggling to get her card out to pay and deal with the card machine.  The woman in front of us was becoming more agitated.

Eventually the first woman was done and did apologise for causing a delay.  Fair enough I thought, until the second woman preceded to tell us (after the first woman had gone) that it hadn't been an incoming call.  The first woman had made that call just before she started to get served.

I'm sure we've all been in situations where we've received a call at an inconvenient time but it's been important or urgent and we've had to deal with it.  But to make a call when you know you should be giving your attention to something else?  Like packing and paying for your shopping at the checkout?  Bad manners in my book. 

What's your view on mobiles? Love 'em or hate 'em?