Grey.

A grey day that felt so very quiet. It must have been very cold in the night because the washed cover to the dry mop which I'd left outside overnight was still frozen solid in the morning. There's a snow/ice weather warning out for what looks like the whole of the country from tonight but for today there was a noticeable lessening of the snow up on the hills.

No visitors today unless you count the postman who rang the doorbell with a couple of parcels. In the afternoon I cut out the fabric to make another face mask. Apart from the fact that I'm constantly misplacing my favourite face mask both it and my other one could do with being a bit bigger as they have a tendency to slip down especially when I have to talk to people. I've put off making another mask because my fabric box is inaccessible at the moment but then I came across an old work shirt of Peters that doesn't fit him any more. So far I've cut out the six pieces, going for triple layers as advised, and will set up the sewing machine tomorrow.

Being a gloomy day I thought it was time to cook up a saucepan of vegetable soup. In my view all you need to make a vegetable soup is some oil, onions and something meaty, I used chopped up cooking bacon. To this I've added tomato puree, parsnips, potatoes, celery and white cabbage and seasoned with pepper, smoked paprika, garlic and cumin. There's crumbled Stilton to go on top and I'm thinking about stirring in some plain yoghurt when I serve it up. That's a meal fit for a king in my view. I only hope Peter enjoys it too. 

Speedy eating some of the bread thrown out for the birds.

An oystercatcher up on the cliff top.
 

Chilly.

Last night's clear skies gave us stars to wonder at, surprisingly clear despite the street light behind me, and a frosty morning. Most of the day has been bright and sunny, the photo below was taken later in the afternoon when the clouds had begun gathering in.

It's been a good day beginning with not having to get up early after a decent night's sleep. It's too early to say what effect the injection has had. The lidocaine will give temporary relief but if the steroid will have any effect no one could say. However it was a pleasure to spend time relaxing in the cleaned up sitting room with the last of my Christmas chocs and easy tv.

We've had a few visitors today. All masked and at a safe distance of course. One was a chap from the windows company to have a look at the front door which has been proving difficult to lock. Putting a level against it it was obvious that the door is warped. There'll be no problem in getting a replacement but they better use the glass from this one or refund the cost of the window film we put on. The man who came today thought they would be able to reuse the glass though I'm not sure how that will work as they can't leave us without a door while they swap the glass over.

Our other visitor was a builder, now our new builder. The parting from the first builder was completely amicable, indeed the new guy wouldn't take us on if it hadn't been, but the first builder works on his own and had found it increasingly difficult to cope with his workload. Also a friend of his is in ICU with covid so he only wants to do outside jobs. The new guy has a full team and with luck things should move more quickly.

We also had an oil delivery this morning. We still had a third of a tank of oil but you never know when the weather conditions might put a halt to deliveries in this part of the world. Now we've more than enough oil to see us through the worst of the winter months. Being warm gets even more important as you get older.

Looking at the figures the covid situation is worse than it ever was in the first lockdown with the added complication of the new variant being so much more infectious. Over 1,000 deaths today. The whole country is in lockdown and thank goodness schools are closed at last. It was ridiculous that children could be in a class bubble (30 children) or a year group bubble (200 children) with no social distancing or mask requirements. Even if children are less likely to get the illness, there are no published figures - I wonder why? surely they are vectors to carry the virus from their family to the families of everyone else in their bubble? And what about the adults in the schools? I'll be taking extra precautions when I do go shopping, back to wearing safety glasses and fresh latex gloves for each shop as well as the standard mask and plenty of hand gel. We can only hope and pray that we all get vaccinated before the virus changes beyond the effectiveness of the vaccines. 

 

Plastering Done.

A cold day with little wind and a lot of sun in the afternoon.

The plasterers came again today to finish off but not until 1.00. A bit frustrating as I'd been up since 5.30 and ready with the doors unlocked at 8.00 though they sent Peter texts first to say they would be here and then here by lunch time. So for most of the day I was sitting around not doing very much or rather doing nothing except stare at my pc and waiting or listening to the men working. We're pleased with the work they did especially sorting out the lintel above the French doors. Once they left my work began. First I rolled up the dust sheets and put them into a bin bag. They weren't our sheets and were covered in lumps of plaster so out they'll go. Our dust sheets from the sofa and chair had a good shake out in the garden before being put away until my washing machine is up and running. Then after a swoosh round with the flat dry mop it was time to get down on my hands and knees to wipe all the laminate flooring. I didn't want to get plaster dust into the hoover so it was back to old fashioned washing though I dried the floor as I went along. The flooring is supposed to be waterproof but I'm a bit of a worrier about such things. I had to do the whole lot today otherwise we'd be tracking plaster dust back over the clean bits.

                             

 

Chilly.

The plasterers turned up!

The plasterers arrived early this morning, worked hard and by the end of the day had skimmed both rooms and done the first steps on the French doors' reveal. There they're also working on correcting the sloping top edge, something that had become noticeable once the doors were in. Right now it feels even more like a building site in here with the floor dust sheets just pushed to the side and the furniture moved out of the way and covered with even more dust sheets. The bleakness of the sitting room is increased by the fact that I took down the lights from the window, dismantled the tree and put away the cheery cards. I just have to keep reminding myself that it should only be a matter of days until I can paint the reveal around the French doors and then remove all the dust sheets and put the light grey throws on the sofa and chair. That will go a long way to making the sitting room look better.

This morning I drove down to the surgery. Normally I would have walked but it was a good opportunity to test the car's starting ability and I'm pleased to report that it started every time. No more worries on that score. The doctor read through all my hospital cardiology reports and assured me there's nothing to worry about though the nightly being woken up soon after falling asleep is a real nuisance especially as then I don't get to sleep for hours. The best part of the visit was getting an injection to see if that helps with my rib pain. On the way back I called in at the pharmacy to collect our prescriptions and then the shop for some milk, potatoes and cherry tomatoes. We're still working our way through all the Christmas goodies so tonight I'm going to have baked camembert on oat cakes (cultural fusion food of my own devising) with red peppers. 

This little house sparrow was happy enough with the fat ball in the feeder which I've hung outside the kitchen window. I don't fill the feeder up because heavy rain washes the fat balls out onto the bush below. While I was waiting (a very long time) in the cold lobby outside the surgery I kept hearing a cockerel crowing. I'm not sure if it was in somebody's back garden or from the zoo which is quite close. There's a big sign on the door telling you to ring the bell once which is what I did and then waited about 10 minutes. I got so cold that my forehead temperature registered 31.5C/88.7F on the hand held scanner when they did finally let me in. Maybe this is a cunning plan to kill off any surface covid before being allowed into the waiting room.

 

Dry.

Dry today and not too cold with less snow visible in the distance.

This morning the lifeboat was out on exercise. A couple of nights ago they were called out at 5.55 pm, five minutes before we sat down to eat our supper though we probably wouldn't have seen much in the dark. They'd been called out to pick up three people who'd been cut off by the tide under Constitution Hill, Aberystwyth. Being a smaller boat it is easier to get inshore than the bigger Aberystwyth lifeboat. Today was just a spin round on the calm sea.

The car battery still wasn't right this morning, it's a new charger and Peter hadn't quite got the hang of it. It's all done now and I could hear a satisfying roar as Peter revved it up. I hadn't been too keen on going into Aber anyway. What if the car wouldn't start when I was in the car park? Yes, we have AA (or maybe RAC) but I bet it wouldn't be before the two hour limit in the car park was up. These type of car parks are managed by separate companies who are notoriously inflexible in their handing out fines. In the end I realised the one item that was forcing me to go to town could be sourced on-line which is what we did. That way I could have a quiet day which included writing up my journal which is now fully up to date. The list of things we've done to sort out the house covered a whole page.

For a short while this evening the snow covered hills turned pink (pinker than in the photos) as the setting sun reflected off the snow.

 

One of Those Days.

I'm still getting a thrill at seeing snow up on the hills. Today's air was chilly and Peter reported frost early on but rain set in and by the time I wandered out to the terrace at 8.00 the only sign was a sprinkle of frost in some of the planters. 

As to the plasterers, well ............... . Once again we were up early and a text from the plumber saying he would see us soon had us convinced they would be with us today. But no, not a sign of any plumber. Aaargh!

By 9.30, before we had given up all hope of seeing the plumbers, I decided to head into town. Got into the car, turned the key and all that happened was a slight moan from the engine before a lot of nothing. I've had enough experience to recognise the signs of a dead battery and to know I wasn't going anywhere. Annoyingly it's a fairly new battery but Peter thinks that leaving the lead for the SatNav plugged in was enough to drain the battery in this cold weather. So he put the battery on charge and it should be fine for tomorrow. I've also put my phone on charge and will make sure I have it with me tomorrow in case I have to phone the AA. I've always said I don't care too much about the look or style of any vehicle I own as long as it gets me from A to B and starts every time. Not doing too well on the second point then.

While I had my coat on I thought I'd walk down to the shop to get some milk as we were running short. Stepped out of the door into freezing rain but undeterred I plodded on. At the shop I picked up a bottle of milk from the usual place and was then charged almost £2 because it was organic milk instead of the usual £1.30. I paid up because I didn't have the energy to go back and see if they had any ordinary milk but I don't think they did. At least we were supporting a local farmer and it wasn't raining for the walk back home.

After such a wonderful start to the day and sore ribs I gave up for the rest of the day and watched tv from the dust sheet covered sofa. Oh, that was after we measured up the back garden so that Peter can order the posts and planks for the replacement fence.

 

A New Year Begins.

Here's wishing everyone a better year in these difficult times. I put this photo (borrowed from the web) on my FB page too as I feel it's so appropriate for the times. Last night I'd gone to sleep as usual, woken up half an hour later (also as usual) and was settling down to watch tv in the sitting room when fireworks began from the beach. Out I went on the balcony to watch the fireworks which were pretty good. There was a small but lively group of people watching from the cliff and they were joined, at a distance by another couple. When the fireworks finished a loud voice from the beach called out 'Happy New Year' which was responded to by the watchers who when they turned around spotted me on the terrace in my dressing gown and we exchanged greetings too.

This morning knowing I didn't need to be out and presentable early once I took my early morning tablets I turned over and went back to sleep. Peter left me to catch up on some much needed sleep.

The air felt cold but the day stayed dry with some spells of sun. I longed to head out for a walk along the beach but instead contented myself with popping out on to the terrace to wonder at the snow on the hills and watch people walking along the beach.

In between standing out in the crisp air I began the task of writing up my notes for my journal. I need to write up both summer and autumn for last year and such a lot has happened in that time. Before beginning I had a look back through the journals, a lovely trip down memory lane. A brief line is enough to jog my memory and send me back to past days. The journals go back 14 years and for me are the perfect way to keep a hold of those memories.

Today I really appreciated having a whole table top to work on giving me room to spread out all my papers though I have to say the view is a little distracting.

Peter had a text from the plasterer saying they'll be here tomorrow. We'll see.