5 OS pleasures in your day today - part 3

DundeeDoll

hold on in there frith you are a wonderful person deserving of another wonderful person. as am I. we do not need to settle for 2nd best!
1) rain rain rain - mse pleasure, all meetings online so could stay inside
2) everyone's posts
3) the radio - to be able to listen to such a lot of good stuff for free, must be one of mse's pleasures
4) finishing day 4 - still going well :-)
5) a trip to the pub - DrM was supposed to come but didn't, not to worry, a lovely evening with MrG and his wife and others then bus home with another colleague and now in bed with a cup of tea and my book,  2 spaniels and classicfm for company. can life get any better? 

LaineyT

For yesterday,

Heavy rain first thing but later the skies cleared and it was a warm, if breezy afternoon.

Over to see my horse, she was standing outside in the yard when I got there and she called a hello to me. Bit of work done and lots of cuddles.

Capt S came home for lunch.

Took small dog to her hydrotherapy session, I did bring my book intending to read but the comings and goings of animals & their humans proved much more interesting. My little girl came back out looking very chic wrapped up in her spa towelling robe and I had a chat with her therapist, who is also a horse owner!

Hungry so lasagne and salad for tea then we sat down to watch the footie.

mhagster

Hello. 

Early bedtime. Which seems silly as it’s still light but I’ve got a horrid scratchy throat ( that never fully got better from a few weeks ago kurgy) that I would like to nip in the bud as I’ve too much on this coming week. Don’t have time for germs. 

Anyway up early, dozed off again. 

Seriously windy here though dry. So washing hung out with extra pegs to keep it on the line! 

Went as far as supermarket and could see that all of my son’s books have gone. Hope people remembered to donate some coins! 

All caught up on the minimal amount of stuff I watch. 

Worked for a couple of hours script writing.
And just filled my hot water bottles then spilled a hot water bottle thankfully jumping out the way of the hot water! Shut up shop and came upstairs 

DundeeDoll

a lovely lovely Saturday
1) lovely soak in the bath with bathbomb from dd2's xmas pressie - finished my book (Chris Hadfield)
2) litter pick with the boys - I have almost cleared behind the school hooray
3) Norwich Ipswich game with newbie at work from Norwich and DrM - we had toasties and Norwich won which pleased all 3 of us
4) caught the #22 to Craigowl (now I've got my bus pass I'm catching buses to the end of their line, never been to Craigown before) then fab walk back through Clatto Park, Templeton Woods and Camperdown - who should i find in Camperdown but MrG with his lovely dog - they were just getting in the car so I got a lift but rather than home we went to the corner bar to watch the Arsenal game
5) I messaged DrM to say we were celebrating (Luton won, Leicester won, Dundee Utd won) - he joined us for the Arsenal match which was very good. Like i say a lovely lovely Saturday.

Purple_kitten

1 I forgot to get my readings in and they’ve vastly overcharged, I’ve put the actual readings in, but it never ceases to amaze I put them in early it calculates it immediately, put them in late and no, phew thankfully we are in credit, rather than the 600 debit it was estimating.

2 We went out for the day to a local transport show.

3 We found a lovely hidden away tea stand, which was opting for donations rather than the £4 for a cuppa outside.

4 We ordered in and demolished it.

Frith

Pleasures for today (Saturday)

1) Took ages to go to sleep (4am) so went back to sleep after the alarm went off. Then woke at 8.50... Managed to jump up and in the car and get to Park Run just before the runners completed it! So just calmly chatted to everyone and had a cup of tea. My brother (40, hasn't run for years, was born with a dislocated hip) had a go and out of about 300 people, was 13th !!!! Someone there had been contacted by MrU and seemed rather mithered about it, I said we are not in contact and I didn't want to know as long as he was just OK. 

2) Weeded the front garden and took out armfuls of bluebells. There are still lots left. I planted lots of hollyhocks from the old house so they can have a bit of space now. 

3) Used LO spag bol I made yesterday, added a tin of kidney beans and had chilli and wraps for lunch.

4) Did some Arabic.

5) Walked 4 miles into town and back.

6) The football didn't start until 5.30 today as it was being televised. Not a good match at all and I think we will only be one season in this league before being relegated again...

7) Roasted some chicken fillets for tea and made big posh sandwiches with chicken, stuffing and gravy and found some Yorkshire puddings in the freezer so had those on the side. 

8) Phoned my school friend.

DigForVictory

I say, RL has been getting out of hand. OK I should have gallumphed here to cheer immediately (you’ll see) just it’s been full on mostly cheerfully crazy. So when I do get to read, so is everyone else, just they’re posting - & my doings are largely small stuff.

OS pleasures in the last month…

Colleague shared home made tablet from her aunt! [Delicious!]

My acting boss has seen my leave plans & gently suggested I plan an extra week  somewhere. Sweetie! My diary is packed with training - so planning now will mean I can have a nice serene August, mostly answering phones for those who didn’t plan & have to take enforced leave!

Oh Lord. Lady mother & her blasted mobile which is not hearing aid compatible. The anxiety & the slipping cogs, but the lovely carer who will smooth the ruffled feathers. Mum sounded so bewildered thinking she’d missed calls - I’d have leapt into the car & driven for hours to help, but deo g the help is already there. [Even three calls later. Oh my poor Ma, lost amidst mobile technology.]

Wheee, Dillie Keane! What a talent, what a range, what a sense of humour…. Hurrah YouTube. (Hello Dillie’s not that sweary, just unsparing & yet hilarious.)

Good grief, Denby doing an online pop up shop. Hurrah online, no fuel! Clicked off without a single new piece or yearning. Either they’ve changed or I have, or I need to have at least one cup of tea onboard…

Dryly amused by a prepping site email that shows it didn’t have its online sales database wholly backed up & restored smoothly. I regard “

Hi [subscriber:firstname},” as a bit of an oops, professionally!

Intriguinged to learn the plastic barriers with water can justabout restrain a car at 30 but if roadworks last over a week the containers should be filled with sand so they can cope either way with slightly higher speeds

Decluttering email (ye gods, the notes I left myself vary from utterly banal to hilarious) but reсovering memory space!

Eyeing the weather, Monday washday as the rest of the week reliably wet. Not that that’s a bad thing for everything I plan repot, just the dehumidifier will be at work all week, so I need to position various pots intelligently.

Middleson moved the lemon seedling (a hearty 3’ leafy critter now) onto a new windowsill. 

I do love leftover pizza for breakfast.

Show & tell completed in front of several notables - glad to finish those!

Grinned at a bloke dragging a truck of roses “you deliver joy!” Smells better than some others.

Crooned over construction bloke’s steel toecaps & envied his trousers with pockets- all so much more washable than my work smart kit.

Doctors’ surgery down to 2 receptionists & also answering the phone. “Monday was a zoo.” Heroic young woman.

Youngest cheerfully demanded I research helium 6 which turned out to be an unstable isotope - far as I’m concerned helium is an element, a gas we used to play with (ah those squeaky voiced calls) and I refuse to look up just how short a yoctosecond is. Besides, while both of us have enquiring minds, his phone has a much bigger data plan than mine.

I am very glad the lads are on relatively good terms. One wanted to clip his hair, searched for the clippers, came up blank. His brother took them home yesterday & will return them tomorrow. Just argh the fuss hunting. [And now the cheerful trimming of the nape, one brother pruning the other. A sight that strangely fills me with joy at the love & trust & care.]

A good day teaching even if I got to lug, unpack, assemble, power up, wriggle past the passwords, miss the opening reassurances & the detailed coaching in stopping an SQL server (my co-trainer has Much more experience), cheer five novices through hands-on experience that’ll make them much easier to take offsite, then power down, derig, pack each blinking bit, fetch a chair & colleague down, heap the chairs with laden boxes, roll back up to base & lock all the kit away. My new boss was touched to observe that I really enjoyed it…

Asked for a day off (despite my work not being wholly up to date), had it nodded through & will roll south to see (& feed) mum shortly. She’s delighted. [Eating up like a good ‘un & her carer delighted too.]

And back from a hearing aid appointment, several notches more alert!

The new phone is intriguing but not cooperating with the extra handsets. Drat, but satisfying to wrestle it this far!)

Mum’s pointed out the hedge has a curve that looks like a boat. We’re pleased, we’ve never tried topiary before. (Nor have we this time, it just happened. Mum thinks it needs wiring back upright.)

Good Housekeeping scores the Asda hot cross buns as tasty as the M&S fruited ones. Happily I bought two packets to try! [My research panel opining so long as freshly toasted then plied with cold slightly salted butter - M&S can keep their offerings, just keep the toaster hot & the buns coming…] {Youngest views me eating them cold with cheese as Wrong}

The Home Bargains cafe may not be the venue of choice for discerning social media conscious folk but is relatively MS & the sight of mum happily despatching a chocolate & almond croissant worth several pounds more.

The family has coined a new verb, “twerkling” to describe mum rearranging !!!!!! willow branches in a pot where they’ll roll back into whatever position gravity indicates (and we All know that) but she still climbs up & down a flight of stairs to do it Anyway.

Some days I remember I should set a timer so I get out of Facebook before I lose too much time. Other days something about parenting or old age will just cosh me. Still got friends in there, can’t just abandon it.

Walked into a charity ship & there, calling me, a Denby Ferndale jug scroll basestamped. Some days it would be rude not to.

Lovely colleague phoned with data challenge & I was able to see the problem & sketch out the solution, greatly to her amusement at my direct phrasing. She has the savvy to deliver the unpalatable more gracefully!

Youngest seems to have decided that even if I am trying to ease back on the amount, I still need the fat soluble vitamins of a chocolate eclair. I am just so lucky!

Rousing “vote for me” letter sent to my two lads & I in that order. Clearly not checked the electoral record recently, nor the dates of birth… There may be a place in hell for women who do not help other women but I have a hotspot for those who do not check their data scrupulously.

Family tree climbing & watching the documents between a son given for adoption - there seems to have been acceptance & affection on both sides.

Scouts voting on what film to watch on camp - our young leader is making them run from wall to wall to vote!

Startled at Princess of Wales’ health news but applauding them for getting the minimum information for the maximum “going to be OK”.

Scout camp! So much fun (at the time, so many painkillers after…) [Yet next day, skeleton moving smoothly not held with rusty wire!]

Glorious snoring from one tent. Happy flashbacks.

Unable to recover son with bike issue, (as scouting) apologised & got “Its fine mum, your entitled to your own life” - I’m not sure if I’m amused or shocked rigid. (My views on his spelling & punctuation will be made clear in person.)

One of the leaders there asked how old eldest lad would have been (I had to work that out on my fingers) & pondered what he might have been doing. “Part man part Labrador” - and while I’d like to dispute that, I wholly see where he’s coming from.

While in class I will not be able to answer the phone. Youngest, physically on site but under terrifyingly effective noise cancelling headphones assures me he will respond to thuds on the walls from a stick. This somewhat primitive haptic tech is not going to pass observed by my tutors, but hopefully noone will ring so it’s moot. [A brisk knock on the door is missed, the same effort on the wall is heeded…]

“Tapping at my chamber door” - well, window, at ye gods bank holiday morning - it was a chaffinch trying to fly unsuccessfully through glass. Grinned & went back to bed again as holiday!

Scouts assembling code of conduct & I began doodling a “leaders version”. (No sprouts on camp. Only point & laugh for 1st aid reasons. Always wear thermals on parade. Etc) The young leaders took it up & the resulting code should be signed by us All!

Got to love specsavers - I failed to pick up a pair 2 years ago “we owe you a pair” so prescription sunglasses half price! Seems my future will include cataract surgery (most commonly performed elective surgery on the NHS) in some decades time.

 

YESS! Youngest has the university place he most wanted. I am hugely pleased and eyeing the mortgage sternly. Once that’s paid off I can probably afford the student! So pleased, so proud, so brief moment in corner with handkerchief.

Eyeing an advert for “meeting high quality people” & thinking I suspect the values of that advert are not in synchrony with mine. However I always did prize intelligence.

Youngest eyeing leg of lamb cautiously… we’ve not tried something that big before.

Give me patience. That chaffinch does not keep sociable hours & only remembers the tree one time in seven… Daft & disturbing my sleep, but cute.

Happily disloyally cheering Cambridge winning the boat race (old school friends rowed & loved it). Delighted to see lasses with broad shoulders & solid thighs celebrated & celebrating, a lovely change from the sculpted skinnies usually paraded.

Excellent time gardening. The front is almost weeded, the bay cuttings are repotted & now living outside (Ulp fingers crossed), the hunza apricots set out to start contemplating germination (out of the fridge, they grow in the Himalayas) and the after-effort tea - bliss!

Hurrah! I have managed to resist an eBay offer! Some things are lovely but I really can’t allow myself to ship treats across the pond. It’s ridiculous & there might be duties as well.

If a bird batting on your window means there’s going to be a change on your life, or you need to be careful with money or a dead relative is trying to communicate - how do I reassure the universe I understand university is a big deal, & no longer free, & please stop hurling a chaffinch at my window repeatedly as I can’t translate that?

Just seen Youngest’s slippers. “They work” well yes, they’re Obviously comfortable just they have huge gaps where parts of the sole should be. Held together with loops of sniper tape. I do not sense any intention of cooperating in a hunt for a replacement.

Scout planning meeting & news the Rec has planning permission. How Did that happen? How will we herd our scouts through their athletics badge without somewhere to run 50 metres & fling a cricket ball? Or just play spacious outdoor games? Still, fun through to summer water fight & badgework all planned in. 

Middleson planning a garden shed for a 15’ canoe so is looking for bolt cutters to see what’s in a small locker. The family home is full of wonders but listening to the bolt cutter hunt, it also keeps its secrets. [He found them eventually!l]

Meters read. I may be doing myself in the pocket but these smart things aren’t Reliably smart enough.

Middleson pondering the ethics & philosophy of what happens after society collapses & then has civilisation reinstalled - who judges the actions and if you murder to survive are you a murderer or a survivor? (I think he dangerously underestimates Mothers. By & large, we’re against anarchy.)

“I accidentally made you two cups of tea.” What has Youngest been up to?!

Hazily remembered ‘sparadrap’, checked, ah sticky plaster in schoolgirl French & enchanted to meet ‘pansement’ in the same context - bandages. They sound so reassuring, somehow, as well as exotic. Although from a scout perspective oh panse it’ll probably mean an accident form.

Chatting to mum, she recalled an entire myrtle hedge as part of her Cornish childhood - I have three small plants, if she can find a full sunlight, moist but well draining bit of garden, I’ll move a myrtle south for her.

Coached trainee through data, & factoring & place of supply, a lot of which isn’t quite what we do normally but adds value to the analysis report.

Current (alas temporary) boss sat his driving test & passed, & will be driving his partner to her folks for Sunday lunch. Online cheering!

Annual Leave! Dear Heavens, the to do list but at least I have one, so the days won't just evaporate.

I thought I had a two pound coin but it turned out to be a Magyar coin from Budapest brought back by Middleson as he knows I ‘like weird coins’. (Especially ones with holes in, says she nostalgic for Spanish pesetas - I wore my bar budget as a bracelet!)

If proof were needed that my visual memory is atrocious, the number of duplicate badges I have for my camp blanket is telling. Fun, though.

Health strength love & courage to all as have need, warm layers in case the temperatures shift suddenly & soon the test in what I Haven’t taught the lads starts….

LaineyT

Oh crikes, having to follow an epic DFV post, seriously chuffed that youngest has the University place he wanted, proud Mum moment! 

For yesterday,

Trip early doors to farm shop and enjoyed a sausage bap & coffee in the onside cafe. Chat with fella on the meat counter and they now make 70 different types of snorkers, we purchased some Canadian Maple ones as our favs.

Busy morning, made a loaf, changed the bed and generally pottered while Capt S cut the grass, our beloved petrol mower recently went to the great workshop in the sky and he decided on an electric replacement that, whilst requiring a long extension lead and various power source manoeuvres, is much lighter to push up and down.

The garden is really coming to life with the Montana Clematis in flower by the shed, the Rhododendron buds bursting open and pink blossoms on the apple tree, love Spring.

Spent the afternoon at the stables, sorted my lovely girl out and then my friend and I watched another pal work her horse, she has ridden to PrixSt standard in the past ( top dressage ) so kinda knows what she’s doing ☺️

Home and early evening walk with beloved & small dog, blustery but clear and remarkably mild. 

Highdays

Hello again.

Lovely to 'see' you, DfV. Have to agree that leftover pizza makes an excellent brekkie, only bettered by leftover sherry trifle for Boxing Day breakfast. Yum! Delighted that your boy has an offer from the University he most wanted, there are times in our childrens' and grandchildrens' lives when our overflowing pride has no option but to bypass the lump in the throat and seep out as 'happy tears' - the best sort of course. 

Recent pleasures:

1) Lovely and sunny with scuttering white clouds, better viewed from inside than out though as the cold wind is somewhat brutal.

2) Massive pleasure that there are some very honest people in this world. Accidentally left an online and collected order hanging on a shopping trolley yesterday, so busy collecting up all the bags from inside the trolley that neither of us noticed. Totally forgot until in the middle of the night it dawned on me I hadn't seen the bag, assumed it was left in the car but we looked this morning and not there. Hubby drove back to the store and a very kind person had taken it back into the store from the trolley park outside and it was sat waiting. Thank you so much, kind person. 

3) Got a nasty cold from somewhere, but nowhere we need to be and nothing we need to do urgently so sitting in a sunny bay window reading and dozing is on the cards for this afternoon.

4) New tax year so some money sorting done, bit tedious but necessary to make sure either of us would be financially ok if and when anything happens to the other and a list of what's where done for whoever will have to sort it when we are no longer. This will be my bairn and want the job to be as easy as possible for him. The pleasure it it's all done and filed, feeling very virtuous.

5) Hubby has just made me a cuppa and put it by my favourite chair.....

..... so I'm off to drink it while it's hot. Have a good afternoon.

mhagster

Hello. 

Early to bed again for me and my annoying throat. Rubbish sleep last night ( last 3 weeks really) 

anyway usual up early. 

Went for a cheese scone with DD2 
Did a tiny bit of work ( sending draft script to family) 
 Old chairs were picked up on time (hurrah) and when I asked what colour she was going to paint them she said I love them as they are! ( currently pink!) 
Went a drive! Was getting a lesson in something to do with my job. Always grateful for other people’s kindness and help. 

Stopped off at DD2 on way home for 20 minutes. My grandpup was delighted to see me! 

Had stripped my bedding this morning so that was dried and next load went out which was the heavy throws off my bed. So all dried. So wild and windy but thankfully dry. 

A bit of touch up painting. 

Whilst I was painting and remaking bed I popped my tea in the airfryer! So mince round, roast parsnips, carrots and red cabbage and a couple of frozen Yorkshire pudding. 

Did the dishes listening to John Denver greatest hits LP that I have no idea where it came from ( possibly mums?) just a random record pulled off the shelf! 

And nice cuddles with my dog. Felt I was in and out and everyone had dogs so I would have smelled of them! Not in a smelly way just in a “eh where have you been “kind of way asked by my dog! 

And then kettle boiled for hot water bottles when I brought in the last bit of washing. 

Beautiful spring countryside today with lambs and blossom and so many yellow dandelions!