Update.

Got back to the old Blogger interface but apparently it will be shut down in a few months. My biggest complaint is the size of the photos. How on earth can it be better to have to go into the HTML of each photo and change the width and height measurements instead of having 3 options, small / medium / big ? Even Linas had to admit that was not an improvement. Although Linas moved my favourites over there has still been the fun of having to sign back into some of the pages. I mean who remembers all those user names and passwords? Right now my thoughts about Google Chrome and the 'New' Blogger are unprintable.

Cooler.

Determined to be more active today I went out for my walk out to Okewill despite the high probability of rain. It was much cooler but luckily there were only a few spits of rain and the sun even made an appearance towards the end of my walk.
Walking along the same route each day there are still new sights each time. Since yesterday Andrew Lewis had turned out some calves into this little field. They weren't brave enough to come up to the gate and kept a wary eye on me from a distance. I saw the first ripe blackberries high up in a hedge but I left them alone as they were protected by stinging nettles. Also up in the hedge were the first wild honeysuckle flowers. Not only were there new sights but every now and again, as I walked along I was hit by the sweet scent of the Himalayan Balsam.

Keeping on with my more active mood once I got home I finished cutting back all the alchemilla around the pond. I have hinted that I would like half a ton of gravel as a birthday present so that I can top up the path around the pond but somehow I don't think that will happen.

It wasn't until Linas phoned me that I found out that he had gone into town with Peter (I thought he was having a lie-in). He had planned to get the bus back from town and wanted a lift from the main road. Then he discovered that the afternoon bus doesn't run anymore so as rain was threatening I went and picked him up. I've spent nearly the whole summer slopping around in short pj's only putting on 'proper' shorts & top for my trips to town. (So much more comfortable especially in this humid weather.) Today as I was only driving I threw a hoody on top of my pj's and drove like that.

Showery.

It was quite a showery day today so I never made it out for a walk. Peter went into town for rowing practice and took Linas with him. Linas is a keen skateboarder and I really don't like him skating on the paving around the house. If you saw how much damage he and his brother did to the concrete slabs you would understand. It was a little drier in the afternoon so I sat outside and did some sewing. There were a couple of pairs of Linas' trousers and Pete's rash vest that needed repairs, I also fixed an Indian necklace which is made of glass beads on woven cotton and made some alterations to 2 of the vests I bought last week. I had bought a bigger size as I wanted them to be loose for the hot weather but they needed taking in under the arms. Now I have exactly what I want and that's another few jobs out of the way.

22C

The wonderful weather continues with the temperature at 22C all day. Once again I slept the morning away. Well, I woke and drank the tea Peter made me as he got ready for work, watched a TV programme and then went back to sleep. When I finally emerged from my slumber I had my first shower and hair wash for a week. Boy did that feel good. Although I've a waterproof plaster over the incision (which comes off tonight, ouch), I've preferred to err on the side of caution and wash at the sink.
Then there was nothing to do but sit outside in the sun, or more often, in the dappled shade, read a book and make myself the occasional cup of tea. It was so peaceful by the scree garden with only the sounds of water rushing over the stones in the stream, the buzzing of bees and the occasional huffle of the ponies in the field. Linas drove into town with Peter in the morning and walked back in the afternoon. When he got home Linas made me a nice cous-cous salad with smoked cheese as I didn't fancy anything heavier.

And that has been my very relaxed day.

Missing The Hospital Bed.

No pictures today as I have spent most of my time in bed with occasional walks around the bedroom. I do think that being sent home the day after your operation is more in the hospital's interests than the patient's and another day in hospital would have been better. The main reason for this is the bed. In hospital I was able to maneuver on and off the bed quite easily but when you are so vulnerable you find that the lower height of a standard bed makes such a lot of difference. Also having a memory foam mattress makes it hard to support yourself on other parts of your body when you try to move to a new position. Being able to raise the top of the bed with the electronic controller was also a great help. (I was advised not to play with the controls for the foot end.) Yesterday it was very painful getting in and out of my own bed and moving from my side (when my bad hips become too painful) to my back was quite an unpleasant experience. Today the pain is slightly better, walking about is almost pain free and sitting in an office chair is bearable for a while but I shall be heading back to bed soon.

A Tidy House.

I was too busy in the morning to take any photos and by the time I thought about it the rain had started. Indeed there is a red weather warning out for heavy rain and possible flooding in South Devon. It has taken all day but now the house is tidy and ready for visitors. I keep telling myself that if I tidied up and cleaned on a more regular basis it would look like this all the time but who am I kidding? I had a few extra jobs when first a curtain pole fell down in one of the newly decorated bedrooms. The fittings have been loose for over 10 years because the old plaster & stone wall is not the easiest surface to fix things to so I decided to sort them out while we decorated. Result- when I put back the heavy lined and padded floor length curtains the whole lot fell down. I've used some strong builders fixative to glue the plugs back into the wall and after ferreting around in my store of fabric and stuff that might be useful one day, I found a lilac and blue shower curtain which is not too offensive and very light so that our friends can have some privacy. Next I opened a drawer to find that a microwavable hottie had been discovered by some mice and the wheat filling was scattered about. I also had to spend an hour digging away at the base of a drain pipe in the garden which takes away the water from the bedroom sink. Supposedly to a soak-away which wasn't soaking away so the whole drain was filled with smelly stagnant water. I managed a temporary fix on that and Linas will put in a proper drain later. With all that rushing around I slightly messed up the batch of flapjacks I made and they are a bit crumbly because I used too many oats. So I've melted some chocolate and poured it over the flapjacks to stop them from crumbling. I've also baked a chocolate chunk cake and right now Peter is making a chicken tikka masala for tomorrow night's supper.

Aargh! Another disaster! I went to check on the flapjacks, okay I was going to have a sneaky taste, and I found that the tray had slipped off the pile of plates in the cupboard (everything has to be shut away with our greedy cats), and half the flapjacks had slid off the tray. A nice mess of oats and sticky chocolate over the plates and cupboard. It's all cleared up now and I've put the tray in the freezer instead.

All that's left now is some ironing which I shall do while watching Slumdog Millionaire. A bit of dancing might go on at the same time.

No Sun.

Today has been a bit like a sandwich. I got up early to paint the walls of the pink bedroom and to put another coat of gloss on the woodwork and then when I came home from work I painted a second coat on the walls. Then for the filling of my sandwich I had a treat and met my friend for coffee and some cheesecake, (raspberry & white chocolate), and after that I had a fun afternoon teaching art.

It has been dry today but the sun did not make an appearance until 6.00 by which time I was busy with my decorating and couldn't spend time outside. It's all rush at the moment as I prepare for friends to visit and also try and get as much done as I can before I have my op.

Windy.

The wind has been blowing a gale all day. It's a good thing this rose has the ability to hold onto its flowers through the strongest of winds. I've had a bit of an achy day so I haven't done very much except drive into town to buy some wine for a present for the wedding we are going to tomorrow. I had already bought the wine but then Peter found out that they don't like French wine so I exchanged it for the Chilean version instead.

This morning I tried to sort out my operation date as they had sent me a date which happened to clash with our summer plans. Unfortunately the next slot is not until the end of August as the surgeon will be away on his holidays for all of that time but then I would have to take time off work at the beginning of the new term. So we will just have to try and rearrange our plans or else cancel them.

Yesterday's heavy rain combined with a delivery van squashing my dirt diverter at the side of the road resulted in great gouges washed out of one side of the drive. Fortunately having Linas at home meant that he was able to do the hard work of raking it back up once more and topping it up with extra gravel dug out of the stream. Linas also washed out my collection of wine bottles and sterilised them as we are going to have a go at making elderflower champagne. I have made it successfully before but last year's batch went wrong, not quite sure why. We are going to cork them lightly with new corks and leave them in an outbuilding in case they do explode.

MOT Passed.

Despite the weather warnings for heavy rain it has been warm and muggy all day. The rain which has finally arrived didn't start until I was about to head out for an early evening walk up the hill. I have been teaching all day. Because the Year 2 children will be spending the next 2 days doing maths and literacy SATs tests I planned a fun drama day for today. The children chose simple picture books which they then turned into plays. It was a good exercise in working together even if the end results were a little dire.
My little car went in for its annual MOT test today and didn't have to have too much work done, only some bulbs, new number plate and windscreen wipers etc. I did have to have the handbrake adjusted because I sometimes might possibly have been guilty of driving with it on and the wheels needed balancing after all that bumping up and down our drive. I was feeling quite happy that I didn't have too big a bill to pay but then I got phone call from Linas saying that there have been some slip ups with his benefits and back to work bonus and he is penniless again. Bank of mum will have to step in once more.

Full Of Energy.

I was full of energy this morning and got so much done before I had to leave for work at lunchtime. I think it was a combination of being energised by the bright sunshine, catching up on sleep last week and Peter having to get up early for work so that I had my reviving cup of tea before 6.30. I was then able to put my head down for another half an hour before leaping out of bed at 7.20. Even before going downstairs I had tidied our bedroom, wiped down all the surfaces and cleaned the windows and mirrors. The kitchen jobs were done by 8.30 when I sat down to have my breakfast. A couple of hours of gardening and then it was time to get ready for work. Linas came into town with me to catch the train back to Plymouth. As the afternoon was so nice I took my class onto the field for some sports and then we sat round the big table in the Secret Garden while I read them a story. After school we had a staff meeting, there are so many things to fit into this last half-term including 2 alternative dates for the sports day, a trip to the beach, open afternoons and parents' evenings. I rushed home to record the England v France football match for Peter only to find later that he had heard the result, a draw, and didn't want to watch it anyway. Continuing with my new energised self I prepared a saucepan of vegetable soup and put a batch of flap jacks in the oven. Then I went for a walk up the hill to enjoy the evening sun. As I got up the hill I could hear a tractor in the top field. I approached cautiously because I didn't want to run the gauntlet of the muck spreader which liberally applies muck to the road as well but luckily it was only spreading dry fertiliser granules. However I didn't escape unscathed because as I made my way back down the hill past the tractor which was now in the lower field my legs were stung by the granules even though the tractor was about a third of the way across the field. Back home I worked on a little project for a friend's birthday present. We have agreed that now the 'children' are all grown up we shan't be giving out proper presents for birthdays and Christmas but I think that very small home-made tokens or produce might sometimes be appropriate.

More Rain.

It has been raining heavily for most of the day. My mind tends to close down and I seem unable to think of doing anything when it is like this. That's ridiculous of course as there is plenty to do indoors so today I managed to organise myself to get on with cleaning and ironing.

I drove Peter back into town for another stint as barman at the Beer Festival and this time I popped into a few shops as well. The High Street was teeming with people who had nothing else to do on their extended Bank holiday but go shopping. I took the faulty camping cooker back to the store and got my money back. I had already checked with an acquaintance who is the local trading standards officer and I didn't have any right to claim for extra compensation because we hadn't suffered any harm only inconvenience. I still think that having flames around the top of the gas canister was quite serious. Next time we go camping I'll spend a bit more on a better quality cooker.

A Quiet Day.

It's so good to have all the trees green again even if the sun isn't shining that much today. I've had a whole day at home which has given me time to take things nice and easy. I have spent the day quietly cleaning the kitchen and generally tidying up. The only outside job I've done was to put some string around canes supporting some of the floppier hardy geraniums but I have spent time sitting outside and enjoying the warm breeze before the gentle rain started.

Tresco

Cooking.

The day has been cold, grey and windy so I have spent my time hiding in the kitchen doing housewifely things. While Peter was out on a marathon rowing session I first made some pasta (tagliatelle) inspired by a free magazine. To go with the pasta I made a basic tomato, onion and garlic sauce and after a quick search of the freezer I found some pork which I have sliced thinly and put in a marinade ready to fry and add to the sauce. I also picked a bowl of purple sprouting broccoli to cook with the sauce. And finally to satisfy my sweet tooth I have made some chocolate and caramel shortbread. That's quite enough cooking for the moment.

Peter had a double row as the ladies' crew needed an extra member for their session. They were right out in the middle of the river when they got stranded on a sand bank. All 6 of the rowers had to jump out to push the gig off the sand bank. There were a few cyclists on the Tarka trail who were most surprised to see people walking about in the middle of the wide river.

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle.

Yesterday's skip diving got me thinking about how green/thrifty I am in my lifestyle. Having come from a very poor background and then chosen to be a stay-at-home mum I may have had a head start on all those people who are now having to cut back due to the current economic climate. I'm not too good on the reduce part being such a hoarder and always thinking that things might come in useful but I think we come out reasonably well on the other 2 parts of the recycling slogan. Looking around our home I would say that most of the things in it come under those categories. Right now I am going to try and work on using stockpiled food (I got into the habit when we all thought the milleniun bug was going to reduce the world to chaos) we have in the cupboards and rehoming other items that I don't need. Take the sitting room for example, very little was bought new. All the wooden furniture came from my mother's home and she in her turn had bought it all from second hand shops. The sofas came from eBay, the woodburner was bought secondhand, the floor lamp was handed on from friends and the exercise bike from a charity shop. My PC was handed down from Peter and the boys (I'm the bottom of the techno chain in this house), the PC table came from a charity shop and my piano bought from a lady at church. We did buy new wood to make the bookshelves and new fabric to make the curtains which leaves only a few new items; the TV but not the cupboard below, that came with our previous secondhand tv and we simply cut the back off to accommodate the new tv, books & LPs and the light fittings which were bought new as the house had been stripped bare before we bought it. Even Speedy could be considered secondhand, he came from Fred who had taken him in as a stray. We're happy with our re-used & recycled home and I don't think that we would change things even if we did have the money.

And the prize for correctly identifying yesterday's sheep, from the 60 British breeds, as Cheviot sheep goes to Elora.

Photo from the web.

I do think there are some rabbit genes in there somewhere.

No Rain.

The expected rain did not arrive but it has been a blustery day. My plan was to make a windowsill for our bathroom. I had removed the tiles years ago but never got around to replacing them with wood. Unfortunately once I had cleaned up the window frame and made a paper template I couldn't find a piece of wood in our wood shed that was long enough to make a new sill from. So I can't finish that job yet until I buy some wood. As it was dry I spent the rest of the afternoon outside working in the scree garden digging out some of the runners of one of the ornamental grasses that was spreading too far. Peter has been battling with the rayburn again, aparently this particular model is notorious for being difficult to work on. Peter managed to speak to a certified rayburn engineer who gave him a few useful hints and if this latest attemt doesn't work we shall call this chap out. It's still quite cold so tonight we have a wood fire burning so we can watch a film in comfort.

A Rushed Morning.

I was quietly planning my day this morning when the phone rang - Could I come into work this afternoon? I never turn down the chance to work so I had to get on with my jobs a little faster this morning. I hadn't made up my mind what to do about the inside of my built-in wardrobe but in the end, as I knew I would, not only did I wipe everything down but it all got painted as well. I then painted the window sills and the radiator in the bathroom. There was just time to rake up the gravel that had been washed down the drive by the recent heavy rain and fetch more gravel from the stream. Somehow there never seems to be the same amount when I rake it back up and leaving ruts only accelerates the problem the next time it rains heavily. I had to laugh at myself, there I was carting gravel, peasant fashion, in a bucket inside a wheelbarrow because that's as much as I can manage while next door Paul is all mechanical with his JCB digging something out followed by a chainsaw session. I did cut back some hazel branches that were overhanging the stream but my tools were a bow saw and some secateurs. Then it was off to work for an afternoon of the children trying to draw each other's portraits.

A Working Day.

We've had much the same weather again today. Peter spent the day battling with the rayburn. Cleaning it out means dismantling all the parts of the oil burner and scraping off/out the solidified carbon that stops the oil flowing properly. He always ends up by gouging bits out of his hands and the whole process is not good for the joints in his hands. He looks forward to the day we have a 'normal' cooker which doesn't require this kind of maintenance. I painted another wall in the bedroom, twice, and painted the frame of a long mirror with white gloss paint. That gloss paint is a nuisance as it takes so long to even get to touch dry and as someone on a forum mentioned it can take weeks to harden off completely. Not very convenient when you are trying to live in a room at the same time. In the afternoon I gave in to a headache, took some tablets and sat reading in the garden. Because Peter was having difficulty getting the oil valve to flow properly I cooked pasta with cheese sauce on the hot plate served with some sprouting broccoli from the garden.

And now for some more photos from yesterday.....

PS The bleach and bicarb was not a magic solution to cleaning the grout between the bathroom tiles. The best results have been from lots of elbow grease applied with an old toothbrush.

Up And Down.

The north easterly wind was still blowing making it very cold so it was a good day to be getting on with my bedroom decorating. Today I had the jobs I hate the most, filling in all the little cracks and tidying up the wall paper. Some bits just needed sticking back but in other places it was better to take off the old paper and replace it. There was an awful lot of climbing up and down ladders and chairs and plenty of up and down the stairs as well as I was using the kitchen table as a pasting table. I was all ready to start when I found that the sachet of wall paper paste was in fact wall filler. This was a bit annoying as I could have got some on Monday. However going in to town gave me the chance to buy some more food for the birds as the feeders were getting low and I also picked up some paint charts. I love the wide range of colours there are and I am quite particular about finding exactly the right shade. I thought it was quite funny that the colour of our bedroom walls is almost exactly the same as the lining paper I was putting up. I need that pale cream colour to match the 'Country Diary' window curtains and the cream wardrobe curtains and bedding so I shan't be making any changes.The sun finally came out in the late afternoon but my decorating kept me busy until 7.00. Peter came home happily looking forward to the Easter break. He has taken some extra leave days so hopefully we should fit in some walks between all his extra rowing. This week he has been on a training course at his work and got 100% in all the written and practical tests. It was all engineering stuff including soldering and should lead to him doing some more interesting jobs instead of being stuck with gear boxes which he has been doing lately, much to his annoyance.

Good Drying Day.

Another fine day. I was so full of enthusiasm that I leapt out of bed at 6.30 and took down some of our bedroom curtains to put in the washing machine. That way I got 2 loads washed and hung out before I had to go to school. This is the first year for long time that the pale daffodils have looked good. They seem to be more porous than the bright yellow ones and as soon as it rains they droop and get attacked by the slugs.
Before heading out to the garden I decided to take advantage of the warm weather and start washing down the walls of our bedroom. Hopefully I will be able to repaint the walls during the Easter holiday. It will be the same colour, cream (not magnolia), but the preparation; washing, filling and resticking some of the wallpaper, is the biggest part of the job and will take quite a while. Especially when it is a slightly messy room that you are living in.
My afternoon was mainly spent doing PE with the children and then I rushed home to do another hour of gardening. I finished off the afternoon by washing my hair and letting it dry in the sun and warm breeze while I read a book. I save an awful lot of money by never going to the hairdresser. If I did have a fancy cut I would still want to run a brush through it and tie it back in a pony tail or plait. If I want curly hair I don't brush it but let it dry naturally and if I want it straight I brush it when it is wet and then finish with hair straighteners.

Good News, Bad News.

It was a good spring day today. Bright but chilly though who cares when the sun is shining. I spent my morning doing the usual housework jobs and still squeezed in an hour of weeding before going in to school for the afternoon.Flashes of yellow are beginning to appear in the garden, the soft yellow of the primroses and the brighter yellow of the daffodils and the celandines. Primroses are also starting to sprinkle the hedgerows alongside the country lanes. I look forward to the time when nature's garden begins to bloom in earnest making my daily drives even more spectacular.
This morning I got fed up of coming home each day and checking the post, half in anticipation and half in trepidation to see if there was a summons for a pre-op assessment. Instead I rang up my surgeon's secretary to see what was going on. Good news - I'm on the first page of the list of people waiting for back surgery. Bad news - due to operations being cancelled as beds are taken for medical cases I may get my op in May or even later. That's at least 30 weeks waiting time instead of the government promise of 18 weeks. I feel a few letters to official bodies coming on as I'm sure the hospital has closed wards that could be used for medical cases instead of pushing out orthopedic patients who are living their lives in pain. (Not me specifically, at least not most of the time but the discomfort and lack of sleep is annoying enough .) Well I've got plenty of time to think who would be the most effective to write to.