A non-Hodgepodge Wednesday post - 18/10/17

No Hodgepodge today as Joyce (of From this Side of the Pond) is taking a well earned break.  Just reading about her schedule often makes me feel tired!

But it's Wednesday and I usually blog today so a post is called for.

It's been quite a miserable day here today after some dry weather.  I actually managed to get my grass cut on Sunday.  It had grown quite long due to the alternating spells of sunny days followed by rain.  Each time I planned to cut it the rain came.  On Sunday we'd had a few dry days so I finally managed to get it done.  It took me ages but I'm relieved it's looking neat and tidy again.  Especially as the weather changed again on Monday.  We didn't get rain and London was fortunately not within the path of storm Ophelia which had devastating effects on Ireland but we did have an eerie afternoon.  The sky suddenly went really dark with an almost red  glow to it which was later explained as being due to sand from the Sahara being drawn over the country due to the storm!

This storm came 25 years after The Great Storm of 1987.  A BBC weather presenter, Michael Fish, said during a forecast on the day: "Earlier on today, apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way... well, if you're watching, don't worry, there isn't!".  The storm went on to claim 19 lives.  It took down the a tree in our garden.  But although it seems that Michael Fish believed the caller was referring to Hurricane Floyd which was approaching Florida at the time, he has never been allowed to forget what was seen as a major gaffe.

Being a wet day today I spent it at home catching up on chores but also finding time for some reading.  My current read is "The Trouble with Goats and Sheep" by Joanna Cannon which I'm enjoying.  It's set in the summer of 1976 which I remember well.  The summer was incredibly hot and we seemed to go ages without any rain and the drought was beginning to be a real problem before the hot spell broke.  I was about to start my final year at school so was at home for most of it.

Hmm looking back over this post it's easy to see why Brits have a reputation for always talking about the weather!

I could talk about Nathan but I haven't seen him since last Wednesday and won't see him until Saturday this week.  Thank goodness for Whatsapp and Lifecake.  Although it's very easy to get caught up looking at all the photos and videos and then realising that dinner plans will need to be changed as there's not enough time left to prepare the meal you'd planned!  Quick cook chicken and bacon with pasta tonight, marinaded pork chops tomorrow.

Unless I get hooked on this little man again

Friday's Fave Five - 13/10/17

Fridays are a time to look back on the week and share our blessings.
If you want to join in or check out the other participants pop over to our host Suzanne's blog at Living to Tell the Story

Autumn is definitely here - we've even had to resort to putting the heating on a few times recently but the leaves are turning and soon I will be moaning about having to sweep them all up.  But for now I'm thankful for:

1)  My Friday Pilates class.  I'm enjoying the torture lol  although it's a "gentle" class so it's not supposed to be too difficult.  I'm still struggling to identify all my different muscles and get them to work but I come home feeling a sense of satisfaction.  It's an hour of "me" time that doesn't feel a guilty pleasure and it gets me up and out early with the rest of the day still ahead of me.

2)  Visas granted for Australia!  This is just an easy online application for a tourist visa but hubby has a couple few minor driving fines from years ago that he decided he needed to declare.  My application was processed almost immediately with a positive response.  His application disappeared into the ether and we waited.  Until the next day!  But all was fine.  Phew! (We've watched the TV shows on Australia's border controls.  They are fussy about who they let in!)

3)  A house with room.  Now that Son & DIL are progressing towards their own home they are starting to accept any offers of furniture from other family members.  I currently have an extra single bed in what is supposed to be my sewing room plus a chest of drawers in the lounge.  I've decided that all works on my house are now on hold until they move out and take all their stuff with them.  Seriously it's not a problem for us (yet) and I'm just so pleased for them that so far things are going well.

4)  Nathan time - I was there on Wednesday again this week.  He still seems to be showing the symptoms of teething but I think it might be a while before any teeth make an appearance.  I got to babysit him while my daughter went to get her hair cut.

5)  Ticking off the to do list!  I haven't made lots of progress this week but the things I have done had been causing me sleepless nights.  Like the visa applications, renewing our travel insurance and sorting out the medical cover and booking in hubby's CPAP machine with the airlines.  Little things but very necessary things.  Oh and our leaking fridge got replaced!  And I ordered Christmas cards.  Thinking about Christmas this early is unheard of for me but I need to be ahead of myself as we won't be back in the UK until mid December from our trip.  Now I'll just have to find time to write them lol.

Hope you enjoy your weekend.  We were at a family gathering for our Godson's 21st birthday last Saturday.  Very busy.  This weekend looks like being quieter.


 

Review: Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body

Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body by Sara Pascoe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was fortunate to see Sara Pascoe at a local venue before she became famous and on TV A LOT.

This book is written in the stand up style I witnessed. Long, funny monologues. But with a lot of science, common sense and personal insights thrown in. It's hard to categorise the book but it's definitely a must read, especially for men. Yes it's written from a female perspective but, as Sara rightly points out, better education is needed on how our bodies work, what makes us do the, sometime stupid, things we do and how our emotions come into play.

It also made me thankful that I've grown up in a developed society although we're still very much a work in progress.

View all my reviews

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 11/10/17

Wednesday's Hodgepodge is brought to us courtesy of Joyce at

From this side of the pond

Pop over there to see other posts and if you want to join in add the link to your Hodgepodge blog post to the Linky List at the end of Joyce's post and don’t forget to visit at least your neighbours on the list.

1. On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your sense of direction? 1=can't find my way out of a paper bag and 10=if I've been somewhere once I can find it blindfolded ten years later.
I’m probably an 8.  I think I have quite a good sense of direction although I did get lost navigating my way through IKEA today lol
When was the last time you looked at/used a map you could hold in your hand? (phones don't count!) 

Not recently but I do still keep a map book in the car and we’ve been on walks where we’ve used real maps – more reliable than the phone signal!

back east, down south, out west, up north

Choose one of these directional expressions and tell us why you chose it.
Up north.  London is often considered to be south so everything else must be up north!

2. Did you do more talking or listening yesterday? Is that typical? Describe your yesterday in one word.
Probably about 50-50.  Typical on a day when hubby was at home and the kids were around for dinner.  Yesterday - marking time.  Sorry I know that’s two words but I couldn’t think of one word to sum up my day of waiting for a new fridge to be delivered – late morning became 5.15 pm.
3. Time, money, water-power-resources, opportunity...which one on the list are you most guilty of wasting? What might you do to change that?
I can be guilty of all those at times although I probably don’t waste too much money and I’m definitely more conscious about wasting resources than I used to be.  I’m working on not wasting time, or feeling less guilty about it when I do.  I’m also trying to be better at saying yes to opportunities.  
4. Did your family take regular vacations when you were a kid? Tell us something you remember about a family road trip from your own childhood.

We tended to just have an annual summer holiday – we often went to a holiday camp by the sea and often that would be with other family members.  I can remember one year travelling in a convoy and one of my uncles, who was definitely a joker, giving us cards with the letter T and P on them.  He told us to hold up the T if we needed to stop for tea and P if we needed the toilet!
5. If you could grow anything you wanted, what would you grow? Why?

I always wanted to grow my hair.  I always felt long hair was more versatile but mine always seemed to get to just past my shoulders and then stop.  These days I’d probably prefer to grow some scented flowers.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

We could be empty nested again by Christmas.  Son and DIL have had their mortgage approved so another step towards having their own place. Exciting times.