Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

As you can see, I'm back from a couple of days sorting at the old house. Oh, and going for a nice long walk and a coffee to help me get my head round an overwhelming job.

Some spending to report:
Data for phone £2.50
Entertainment (coffee) £4.98
Housekeeping (chocolate, flavoured water and sticky buns: and very nice they were too!) £4.10
Pre-trip housekeeping: £11.02

The house is looking much nearer empty. I had a sudden thought about the big box of old horsey magazines I found the other week, and contacted a friend of my sister who's from a very horsey family. She came for a cuppa and chat and was delighted with them! She has friends to share them with. So nice to know they are going to people who will have as much fun looking through them as Mum must have done sixty years ago!

I also found copies of a county magazine and The Countryman from the year I was born (the bitter but fascinating winter of 1962-3), so I've kept the relevant copies, and also one with a photo of Christmas morning milk delivery - a horse and cart on a half-timbered street - from the mid 1950s.

Another find was a leaflet on behalf of the BBC, about the service they provided during the war. Apparently they came under criticism for reducing from several channels to one, which was basically news with some light music added in. TV quality reduced, too. There are well-told accounts of people pulling  a service out of nowhere including as bombs fell on Broadcasting House. Utterly gripping stuff - so I've kept it of course. I think it would have been easier to have somehow brought the big house over here and just moved our stuff in! Mind you, then I would never have got round to clearing as much as I have.

So of course I'm tired again, but not as much as I when I came back three weeks ago. I also heard that I'm back on an afternoon shift tomorrow: the expected morning shift never plays to my strengths.

I haven't got much done since arriving home. It's a day off so I dossed about and practised some French. This is entirely to prove to myself that I can do it (lots of progress has been made!) but I still don't fancy having to carry on a real conversation! I also heard from DS1 who isn't well and it's hard to know how to help. He has another appointment next week. Oh, and DS2 got in touch! As usual he's busy but he has leave coming up and wanted to know if he can visit, and any of the days I suggested for us to go to him are okay - so that's good news.

Sun_Addict

How lovely to find the old magazines. I still have a binder full of my old Riding magazines from the early 70s when I was horse mad.

I know what you mean about the French and having a proper conversation, I’m the same with my Spanish, not that I’m likely to come across that situation any time soon. I may well be fluent next time I get back to Spain 🤣

I hope DS1 can get himself sorted.

Cherryfudge

Sun_Addict said:

How lovely to find the old magazines. I still have a binder full of my old Riding magazines from the early 70s when I was horse mad.

I know what you mean about the French and having a proper conversation, I’m the same with my Spanish, not that I’m likely to come across that situation any time soon. I may well be fluent next time I get back to Spain 🤣

I hope DS1 can get himself sorted.

The majority of these were Riding. Thanks for the good wishes for DS1, it's always hard when someone feels so rough.

The language practice is one advantage of the pandemic, I suppose! I always make resolutions to improve my French if I might need it but now, with nothing on the horizon, I can just enjoy it and that's quite nice. Yes, we will both be fluent by the time we need our languages, let's be positive!

Sun_Addict

A few years ago we went to Bergerac in France. No one there spoke English. My O-level French was thoroughly put to the test. Fortunately I started learning it from the age of 8 so managed to get by - just 😬 Mr SA was totally reliant on me as he couldn’t speak a word of it. I’m not sure if I will ever need to say ‘the owls cooked spicy food’ in Spain though 🤣

Cherryfudge

Sun_Addict said:

A few years ago we went to Bergerac in France. No one there spoke English. My O-level French was thoroughly put to the test. Fortunately I started learning it from the age of 8 so managed to get by - just 😬 Mr SA was totally reliant on me as he couldn’t speak a word of it. I’m not sure if I will ever need to say ‘the owls cooked spicy food’ in Spain though 🤣

I think you're further on than I am - French doesn't yet have a word for 'spicy' though I'm well-practiced in pizzas and croissants!

I can get by so long as I don't have to speak or be spoken to. As you can imagine, one can only get so far by reading, though I'm actually quite good at it. DH likes to watch films in French and I think he has a better ear than I do, so between us we can manage a little more than I can alone. Did it give you a headache doing all the translating? It wears me out.

I wonder if English students also get an unlikely amount of owl activity?  I expect they do! I had something along the lines of 'my neighbour is an owl, he lives in a tree' a few weeks ago.  

Cherryfudge

More spending to report: housekeeping £15.62 (I spend a lot on food, don't I?), hobbies £4.00 as I've finally decided to treat myself to some modelling clay. The dolls' house is still undecorated but who knows, they might get a set of china eventually!

Tonight I'm thankful for a last part of a gift arriving from my sister who's very creative and does lovely hand made stuff. For a new-to-us set of fairy lights that used to go in the old house and are now cheering up the bay window this dull August. For the freebie (out of date!) spices and packet mixes I was given at work recently which lead to sausage casserole this evening.

Also for all the 'old house' things: finding the BBC book, a home for the magazines, meeting my sister's friend, a good walk and coffee out, DH's support, knowing that there's actually really not all that much I want to take home any more, nice buyers.

Cherryfudge

Some spending to report yesterday: nail varnish among other things! I'm not allowed to wear varnish n my hands at work for H&S reasons so I've taken to treating my toes which is ironic as they rarely see the light of day.

Also nearly £8 on foundation: I'm sure it cost half that last time I bought some!

Work was steady away and quite quiet again though we are at a bout 50% capacity. Numbers are being kept down because of the staffing shortage which is now sufficiently acute across the sector that our head of department was interviewed by the BBC about it.

This morning was heavy rain but it's eased now. August! I'm sure this isn't what we usually get? It seems to have been a blanket of cloud so far, bring the end of day forward by at least half an hour!

I'm on the sleep in tonight: now pondering putting my sleep in payments into my pension.

Spending:
Toiletries £11.48
Housekeeping £11.09

Things I'm thankful for this afternoon: my red geranium - glorious colour and very enthusiastic! Photo from DD of the puppy exploring Keswick. Managing to get in more than my 'five a day' yesterday. Finding another author to try, ostensibly as a gift for my niece but I'll have to try a book out first!

Cherryfudge

Work was a bit heavy going yesterday and today may be similar - or absolutely fine. Bit annoyed as I think I'm shift lead while I haven't said I'm ready to go back to that. To be honest most of the time I could hack it but DS1'S health is not good and my own mood fluctuates depending on what/whether I hear from him. I'm trying really hard to be mindful and remember that at any given moment he may actually not be feeling too bad. I didn't want the extra stress of shift leads because there's enough to cope with outside of work... DH has just rung the solicitor again to ask her to chase the buyer's solicitors. I heard from the buyer the other day, reporting a bit of progress but we need an up to date report to feed back to the mortgage lender as the delay is costing us and they are now asking for updates about once a month.

Still, while we don't have a completion date, I'm expecting one more visit over there. There are only a handful of things I want/expect to retrieve and most of what's left is things I use while there.

I actually heard from DS2 this morning. He spent nearly an hour resuscitating someone on the ward yesterday which must have been traumatic. However he's planning to come over for a couple of days which would be lovely. I've also heard from the friend in the Tuesday group who is dealing with a family emergency and isn't likely to be back on track for a few weeks. I'm concerned about her as she's so busy caring for people but things are going in the right direction there.

DH is still looking for someone who can fix our gutter! The local information network came up with a few names and this morning he found a possibility. The gutter was replaced a couple of years ago but is the wrong distance from the house so water pours down the bricks - and in the windows unless they are clamped shut! It's not one to try ourselves due to the height and bits of technical know-how.

I had a fun foray into a bit more of the language app this morning: years ago I did a BBC test to see what level my German is, and it told me I was advanced which is odd because I've never had any German lessons, I just find it easy to work out. I tried the equivalent test on the app today and got moved to Unit 2 which is still beginner's skills but not absolute beginner. I think this is what they mean when they say 'related languages': there are enough similarities between the English and German for some to make sense to the non-speaker. Anyway I made progress - my new words include 'Bier', 'Wein' and 'Kaffee'.  

Well DD has asked me to proof-read her dissertation and if I don't get going it won't get finished so I shall disappear for now.  

Cherryfudge

Yesterday's shift went very smoothly - I had plenty of staff (really useful ones!) and thankfully no one was ill and nothing else untoward happened!

When I got home DH told  me the solicitor has got back in touch, having spoken to the buyer's solicitor. The buyers are away this week but will get back to near-final documents for the sale plus a request for the deposit! So we are getting close.

I got on with proofreading DD's dissertation and packed up about 1 am - not really such a good idea as my brain was then too active to sleep. At 3 I got up to make myself a snack and try to reset the body clock. A few minutes later a car alarm went of two doors down! As we live on a quiet street this just never happens. I put some trainers on and had a look but there was no sign of anything going on - mind you any opportunist would have been long gone because of the racket and flashing headlights. There were lights on in the house but no one around so I didn't bother trying to attract the owner's attention. If a car can't do it, there's no point my banging on the door. I heard another neighbour shut a window but no one else was around so I don't know if it was an intruder or an animal or an electrical fault. Anyway I went back indoors and sat up for an hour doing language practice to try to get my brain back into neutral. I was so tired I went back to bed but it still took me a while to get to sleep!

Anyway, today I'm not fit for much but I've tidied DS2's room as he's said he'll be back tonight for a short visit. I also de cobwebbed ceilings: I rescued what we used to call the 'lifesaver' from the old house, basically a fluffy brush on a long bamboo cane used for removing cobwebs and spiders from high ceilings without hurting them. 

I think I really need to make an inventory of things that I still want or know I could give to charity from the old house. I also need to make some marmalade as the collection of empty jars is in the way. I've put some laundry in while the weather is dry and I'm generally tidying round upstairs. DH is working today then has a meeting to do with church followed by someone coming to look at out gutter and if we have room we'll ring the mortgage people with an update on the house sale. Apart from that it's a quiet day. Looking forward to tomorrow which actually i a day off, as in I don't have anything booked except hopefully DS2 will be around so we can spend a bit of time with him.

Things I'm thankful for today: no meeting this evening (will be too sleepy!), possible gutter repairs, discovering flavoured green teas (after a lifetime of not drinking tea these are much more relaxing than my constant black decaff coffees).

Cherryfudge

Things I want to collect or donate from the old house:

Keep:
Remaining kitchen utensils
wartime magazines
wartime leaflets found under stairs
Pink china lady
That donkey from Margate!
Some of the light switch timers
any remaining stationery
Railway magazines?
Some of the glassware
My bedding - to go to my sister's house as I don't need it here and some of theirs has gone missing
Garden tools to go to my sister's
Portiere rod from front door if it can be detached - for my sister who can use it! (Might just buy her one, so much easier).
Lustreware
pyrex plates
1930s plates


Jobs still to do:
Card/gift for lady who has looked after house
check in crawl space under hall which is the only place we've not checked for the missing safe that we still don't know for sure exists!
Label gift for children (I found a box of kaleidoscopes in the house - still in packaging - thought the kids might have fun)

Donate:
Bread bin
Tall glass vase
Cutlery drainer
More ornaments from lounge
Big stockpot found in kitchen
Any other kitchenware still there?
olive holder off back of sink!