5 OS pleasures in your day today - part 3

Purple_kitten

Lovely photo’s Paulie.

DD Oh I would be interested if the embroidered bee’s work, as DH also has holes in the sketchers.

1 We did pop out as we wouldn’t do the crowds of actual Black Friday, but the best I found was walkers crisps back to what they should be a 6 pack at a pound.

2 Pleased the house is clean again, but it took a bit of cleaning this time, the winter sun seemed to highlight every speck of dust and window issues.

3 I don’t think there’ll be any leftover cake after I was going to say tonight, but I reckon tomorrow.

4 I swear the squirrels are close to banging on the window if I’m not on time with the bird food.

DundeeDoll

For yesterday
1) another lovely walk by the Thames to Greenwich, this time to see the Women in the RNLI exhibition (a friend of DD2's is one of the photographed women)
2) then the astronomy photographer of the year exhibition - wow (and both exhibitions were free)
3) a lovely nose round Greenwich market and a quick call into the Oxfam bookshop then we walked home the way we'd come - I do love the Thames
4) a very tasty butter chicken pasta dish cooked by DD2's bf - his signature dish
5) and an evening of chat (though I did keep an eye on the Rangers game - DD2's BF's brother was out in Nice so will have been very happy) 

LaineyT

For yesterday,

Stunning sunrises and sunsets, there is something about a wintry grey sky that really shows them off.

Into horsey town, the busyness is really starting to ramp up around the emporium so plan is to do a couple of biggish shops next week and then avoid like the plague!

DB sent me a piece of writing that he had done as part of a course, great stuff.

Time with my horse and a tidy up of her mane & tail which are both incredibly thick, others on the yard are envious of this but it does take a lot of maintenance.

Mushroom and lentil bake for tea.

DigForVictory

Ye Gods, far too long, but RL keeping on mercilessly. Plus today in Parliament - blimey, the future will be fascinating.

mhagster - may good sleep return soon. Love a planned reading space! It's missing-them season, but you're steering so many families over the choppier waters. Awed that you make time to enjoy the night sky. May there always be nice people on the phone for technical foozles.

Happycas - toys on the floor is one of the underrated pleasures (so long as you can still get back up)

Frith - glad work still interesting, saw the idiot tractor on TV! A sheered key in place? That's frustrating & a bit. Love the idea of little sticky hooks for Christmas lights. Hurrah cs find that will delight brother at Christmas. Oh, toad... <covet>

Purple kitten - haircutting is 90% confidence, delighted to hear Custard is better & vet appreciative! (Belated birthday greetings, BTW!) Ah yes squirrels, not inclined to be backwards about coming forwards.

Highdays - Christmas being catered by the next generation & the one after sorting Uni accommodation - the relief! And then the antibiotics - and the reassurance that the menfolk are coping.

LaineyT - line drying & home cooking, you domestic goddess! Late?! But with a carrot. I do admire the casual made a batch of cheese scones - I lack the talent. Thick hair is a lot of work, but repays it. 

PaulieHerts - stunning Christmas and some ooh & some ah.. water!

DundeeDoll - only right that if the train's late you get the claim in, but for first class, Especially! Love a city farm. Embroidered bees sound Wonderful! Butter chicken pasta, eh? <takes notes>

VJsmum - good to see you back here in this sanctuary from the  rampant commercial festive stuff. Hedgelaying despite the storm? Awed.

Feeling strong? OS Pleasures, ahem, in the last month (I really must try harder)

Mum crooning happily over Good Housekeeping has to be a massive pleasure. I have no intention of living that sort of life but I think she loves it the way I love a nice murder!

I brought the papers from the scout AGM down & she’s intrigued by what all these children get up to! (I’m just awed but accepting, it’s refreshing to see the mayhem from another perspective.)

The home bargains café was slightly busier, so mum was happily people watching in three directions!

Explaining the phenomenon that is Dolly Parton (primarily as a country & western singer but also as a major philanthropist) to mum & resisting the urge to try to play ‘9 to 5’ at a volume her hearing aids can manage.

Whisked mum into T shirt & cosy fleece, parked as hi vis bade, collected card with barcodes, followed traffic management to “bare arms from here please”, held coats etc as mum jabbed for flu & Covid, rugged her back up again, got her safe into the car & home & plied with fresh hot coffee & Chorley cakes. In under an hour with lots of smiles & benevolence. Now for her immune system to act on information received.

Aunt visited to deposit complete Jane Austen on me & accepted all the apples we could pick - thick grass had cushioned landing & a traditional walking stick hooked down a few more - very satisfying even if we’re all dreadful at cricket.

Unexpected outbreak of humming Strangler's "peaches" whilst heating soup & sisters & I trying to 'name that tune' whilst humming it confidently…. Shazam couldn’t recognise our version!

Got a photo of cat, draped over mum’s lap, both resting.

Return home “love you lots. Missed you” met with “love you too. Stay out of the kitchen”… Youngest has picked up the Command Tone from his brother. (I barely got to use it!)

“Dark chocolate Guylian?”

“On the office chair please”

“Lends height for the interviews” agreed Youngest. Sweetie! I’ve not made it to interview stage in a while….

Ooops. Someone washed a whiteboard pen with his laundry & is now the proud owner of “antisocial trousers” - functional garments that do not quite meet societal norms. The red pen looks like cooked-in blood splatter & there are two pairs of trous & one T shirt All for indoor domestic usage.

I have left 3 stocking presents, 3 serious Christmas presents & delivered a seasonal jar of home made quince jelly to sundry family. There’s still plenty of scope for it all to go horribly wrong but also breathing space. Knowing I can talk mum straight to a new thick fleece blanket to nap under, or wear as a cloak (Charlemagne would approve - I went for the Big blanket) should she look peaky is reassuring.

Ooooh! Good Omens - there’s my TV viewing to distract from the US election sorted..

The downside of phone support is the adrenaline is second hand & I’m picky about checking colleagues get home safely - so I‘ve done an 11 hour day… still I got various hardware PAT tested on the first day (electrician succumbed to blue eyes & a Proper cup of tea) so results.

More apricot stones to crack. Glad I had them: as in-office nibbling goes, fruit’s fine but Bonio would cause comment.

Called & checked in on mum. Today not being her ‘sound on reading the diary’ day but it’s easy to suggest a nice cup of coffee & a Chorley cake & hear her brighten. When she needs help making coffee, we have problems.

Funny how several meetings make the day feel long. Upside is home & tea & antisocial trousers…

Made babysis laugh by suggesting OnlyFans job interview. Mum on zoom clearly not understanding any of it but pleased to see daughters laughing heartily together.

(I’ve talked about appropriate clothing for work & it’s unlikely-but-just-possible some of my younger colleagues believe I have a wardrobe of custom tailored garments that are dry clean only for my OnlyFans clientele. An idea that has the rest of us giggling rather a lot.)

Babysis told us the Egyptian mummy in a local museum had been MRI’ed - the video showed the little wrapped feet sticking out & the familiar hospital name on all the imagery. I do like non-invasive archaeology!

Email from an American friend who is absolutely hopping with hope for a female President. She’s so focused and clear, I really wish I had put the phone down after reading that!

Seeing reminders about Christmas & thinking marzipan & apricot jam? Both with solid previous for poison. But I love the cake & all the trimmings (just skip the alcohol).

As the American results come through I see today is National Stress Awareness Day. Oh the irony.

Working on some data, I updated an analysis based on the questionnaire I completed then lost then found. (Can I find the paper now? Nope. Edits analysis again.)

Checking dates, amused to see the Queens Funeral Bank Holiday announcement webpage has a strap warning “this was published under the 2022 Truss Conservative government” - not sure that quite upholds civil service neutrality, but it’s amusing me on a gulp-ful day.

Fun to watch folk in hi viz, with lifting platform, putting the head on a streetlight. Not looking wildly impressive by day. (Seriously functional in the small hours.)

Once again, managed to identify wedding present tumblers as Edinburgh Crystal, serenade pattern. Of the 6 gifted, 2 definitely didn’t survive christenings & 1 of the survivors is on my desk (adding drama to zoom calls). 

Very touched at the amount of Hope on Facebook. Likely the most helpful response. Also smitten with essays by Rebecca Solnit on hope. She gets grief & hope are close.

New colleague, ex Army, and I got a plea to teach him how to book Annual Leave. This is perhaps one of the most innocent & joyful pleasures in the job, so it extended slightly into what else the HR system holds & the unspeakable joy of flexible working hours.

Yoga class - online, but still, I’ve bent & stretched properly for the first time in a while! Now to find out if I can walk tomorrow… (Yes.) [Week after, I was a little overconfident & therefore more pensive next day!]

I’d not realised John Finnemore had a hand in Good Omens (2) - but it is great fun.

Smashing Aunt, knowing I have a fondness for the Lewis Chessmen, sent me a newspaper clipping about their new display in Scotland - so you can admire the equally detailed carving on their backs. (After she’d done the crossword. I do love her priorities!)

Had a hilarious chat with Middleson about cameras & he Hadn't Realised I've been peering in camera shop windows & reading reviews for decades. He just wants a “DSLR for taking landscapes”…. Without understanding focal length, mirrors, sensors etc - his 2nd hand refurbished Nikon D5000 will be fun to play with! (All the more if he’d read the blinking manual!)

Vigorous debate as to where to move Diego the lemon seedling (now 2 years old & sprawling rather) so I can put the Christmas tree in its usual place. Not yet - but Diego is a hefty armful so I’m starting the negotiations now.

Currently dressed in “smart ninja” ready to add Scout shirt & necker & join the parade (probably in the rain) [Yes, thoroughly wet, but not Biblical]. Youngest has fleece & waterproof ready to meet me. We’re chuckling at the number of supermarket staff who see me & mutter they remember parading, or are on duty but colleague will come & wave…

Youngest frisked me for change to “protect him from the bucket rattlers”. Seems he feels it’s wrong to stump past charitable collectors. Some days I miss my husband, & the sensibilities he taught our sons, more than is reasonable.

Good Omens s2 & the two perspectives on Jane Austen…. So much fun!

We just had a power cut. Strangely inconvenient but then amusing, rather like the follow up phone call (I think we’re on a list of some sort, but it seems discourteous to say hop off.) [Argh, the clocks!]

My little teapot at work raising grins even on a Monday. That it has a woolly cosy apparently adds to its charm. (I don’t mention it’s a strip held in place with an elastic band.)

Only Connect! VCM deftly unleashing the imaginations with the closing answer to the letter…

Am I seeing things or does the Only Connect opening graphics have cube shapes, as does Ludwig? (And that suggests have been overdoing OC on iplayer somewhat.)

I’m explaining how you generate & use an index & why. Not every word written is digitised so the young need to be able to turn to the right pages quickly without the internet. 

Ergle, Vetting & the hazy recollection that one year I hadn’t a current MOT, so that needs researching & declaring. All being well, sorted for Easter. At which point, I will up my lanyard game. [Police SAR returned, nothing on file. Onwards!]

Utter sweetie at the local library sorted my library card, access to which? and helped me get press reader working on my phone. 

Studied up on air friers & heat pump driers for Black Friday sale decisions by sisters. (As a lapsed Which? member & user of driers [buy cheap buy twice At Least] I am seen as an authority!) 

Tonight my scouts taste adventure in big helpings - we’re off to a climbing wall (by night, through the fog). They are part-squirrel, gravity’s not a concern, they just leap from hand or foothold on up. While I, older & heavier, take photos & cheer encouragement.

Argh, I’m spending too long peering at primary fources. No wonder my spelling demon is howling - having been thoroughly deprogrammed from American, old English as printed in 1752 is giving me ifsues. 

There are moments when just getting on with it makes you feel stronger. Not panicking when the loo hasn’t cleared but shunting the plumbers snake in & feeling the satisfaction when it works - I stand a couple of inches taller, knowing I did not yell for help but got on with it.

Darn, that Moon! 

Upbraided by Youngest for not being “merciful and quick”. Me not being Gorn & him not being JT Kirk, I think he can take his bedtime hug with becoming grace & not tempt me to tickle him by wriggling.

Tea & cake & exchange of tins & Christmas cake & cards with lovely cousin - we’ll make elevenses at Booths a Thing! She gave me a box of lace trimmed handkerchiefs, cheerfully admitting the charity shop origins & if they’re too small to throw ‘em back. She & I have discussed handkerchieves before - even if they do feel Barbie doll sized to me, I’m charmed & amused.

Darkly amused at adverts for quitting smoking as I stream House…

We have snow! This is a pleasure as dry cold is easier to manage than wet cold - the dehumidifier is under 60 for the first time this year. Getting into the office tomorrow will be not much fun but at least I know where my shovel is. 

Safe into work & permission to leave in daylight. May get back before subzero again.

Running “see say smile”, admired a colleague’s computer wallpaper of small child beaming. It’s infectious!

Scouts! Happily designing decorative patterns for jar lights & getting stuck into paper decorations (already, as they wanted to!) says she with a snowman ready to join the fun in another 2 weeks.

One of our leaders is taking on Thursday scouts now their leaders are stepping back. Bigger noisier lot, but the smart money is absolutely on her both short & longer term.

Must now disengage from all Black Friday stuff - I have the cheap kindle I want. Will check the lads have considered if their Christmas treat plans need timing.

Retired colleague & I snickering over tax news highlights. He doesn’t get them any more so I forward the ones with the easiest quips & potential for misunderstandings & that way I have to read them all but do so cheerfully. He gets to read a few from wherever & thank any deity listening he doesn’t have that hassle!

Sat on the loo, I can hear it raining outside. Back under the duvet, I can’t. How can I make responsible grown up choices with my time?!

Last time that much water ran down the road, Himself was out there shovelling. Recovering the pebbles & gravel washed from the farm track & sparing vehicles’ undercarriages. Today I took the shovel out & scraped up a few more, recalling that “free drive, love!” And the path along the car is slightly thicker.

Son has camera & is experimenting. Mutterings & “ah!”s as he figures out the formidable array of options. Me trying to hide unsuccessfully: “revenge for all the childhood photos”. It’s a formidable bit of kit, he chose well.

Kindle has changed to accept EPUB ebooks. I now have a few years of acquired & converted ebooks  to convert back from MOBI to EPUB… 

“I’ll be in the kitchen. Maybe looking for food, maybe looking for shiny objects I can line my nest with.” Youngest knows how to tantalise me!

Lovely mother of a godfather phoned me for reassurance about inheritance tax changes! I grabbed my phone, speed-read MSE & was able to reassure her. If she’s right about the value of the family home, she has nothing to worry about & she’ll need to be impressively wrong before it matters.

Initial conversion tests of kindle library stack into EPUB format successful. Next to check they load onto the new kindle. The old “plug it into the PC” method doesn’t appear to work, I may have to use Amazon tools… (Tush.)

Hurrah student loan co have finally sent the student some money. He’s trained to accept the fetters of debt with resignation but he briefly has some money to be resigned with!

Boggled somewhat at a headline “can I marry my mother in law to dodge inheritance tax?” (That’ll make for some Fascinating conversations as technically it’s a runner, just, well, cripes!)

We’ve some interesting work, (teams being put together at short notice), towards the end of which we have a visit from one of the Great & Good. Wanting to hear what we do & our views (the usual briefing platitudes). I think I should plan to be out of the office, lest I say something career shortening using the word brewery. There might be a good reason, but the communications are (again) dreadful. The way my boss is twinkling at me hopefully is disconcerting.

That is All Quite Enough. 

Health, Strength Love & Courage to all as have need and (if none of the above) extra Sleep!

mhagster

Waves hello at DFV and leaves a list of much less than above 😆

Up early.
Milder this morning.
Chat to friend on her way to work as I got ready for mine. 
Out to work. Has been a busy day, met a family this morning, quick home for my lunch and more importantly doggy’s lunch then back out to meet another family. Who had a very lovely doggy.

Home and wrote second family script as their service is first. I’ve sent it off. It’s very different to my usual writing. 

DD2 picked up the pup…see ya ( yeah probably tomorrow) however I did clean the glass at front door ( again for the umpty thumpth time this week!) 
Had a curry for tea…cooked as I was typing. Sat and watched second episode of Outlander. 

Just brought me, my phone, my iPad, my hot water bottle and a vase of RTC flowers up to bed! 

Purple_kitten

DfV that is an epic post.

1 We shared a Chinese takeaway to both treat and to keep the costs down and there was plenty.

2 I’m very into vintage horror films just now, it was circa 50’s and 60’s but tonight is no exception, by vintage thou tonight is just 1988, which means I’m far more vintage.

3 Two more ferrets to the vets, 2 more lots of antibiotics and painkillers, and we’ve started thinking about taking out some plans with the vets, we need to crunch some figures.

4 The birds are hopefully less hungry but eating more.

Happycas

Good morning.  Too dark to see the weather but its not raining so will be going to DGS football match today.  We're very much fairweather supporters!

DfV - in awe of your post.  It's good to know that things are ticking over nicely, esp with your mum. It would take me weeks to type.a post like that.  Respect!

Highdays - hope things are still moving in the right direction. Embrace being a   Christmas guest.  After years of hosting we moved to the guest category fairly recently.  It's good.  You can always offer to take something  (dessert for me) but otherwise can relax and enjoy.

A quiet week with DH resting after treatment.  Little wander round the garden centre, fish and chips lunch out.  That sort of thing.  But only one more treatment to go then he can get back to normal ready for Christmas.

Slight hiccup Wednesday teatime when our water went off.  It was off about 4 hours and I was just contemplating filling a bucket from the water butt to flush the toilet when it came back on.  But not before the local supermarkets reported panic buying of bottled water.  Toilet rolls all over again!

Had a second trawl through Christmas decorations and found some more to go.  We're going for less but more tasteful this year!

Happy weekend everyone

LaineyT

Waves 👋🏻 to DFV and wowser to that post.
Good to hear that DH is doing ok HappyCas 

For yesterday,

The sun rising above the mist lying on the fields.

A phone call to say that I can pick my new ( to me ) mini up tomorrow ( today ) eek!

Capt S working from home so lunch together.

To the yard and girlie was waiting for me in the corner of her field. As we hurtle to the winter solstice she is ready to come in by 2.30pm and shows the best way to deal with winter is to cosy up inside with plenty to eat ☺️ A little bit of work in the lunge pen then rugged up and in her stable where her hay net was waiting.

Driving home at dusk and in the village a few twinkly lights are starting to emerge.

Frith

Another post lost!

V quick pleasures for yesterday (Friday)

1) Not a bad sleep. 

2) Coffee morning 

3) New charity shop pure wool Uniqlo jumper was worn for the first time and is going to be a favourite.

4) Ordered some more stocking fillers - baubles that match the hobbies of the recipients. 

5) Chess online. 

6) Survived another shift at work. A new colleague started who is very nice. 

7) Watched the Last Leg. 

Highdays

Hello again.

May be AWOL for a couple of days. My dearest pal sadly didn't make it and died yesterday evening, having contracted pneumonia in ICU. She was my last remaining 'proper friend' and I will miss her dreadfully. So sad for her family and so near to Christmas too. 

I will read along, all your pleasures are very comforting, life goes on and good and bad times make up life's rich pattern. My meds are kicking in again and I am slowly getting better - again - so that is a good thing as I am so tired of feeling ill. 

Sorry to sound so down, didn't want to just disappear off the radar again. 

Take care and go steady x