5 OS pleasures in your day today - part 3

FunkyFairy

Hello all, hope you are all well.

My 5 for yesterday are :-

Watching the hail bash down while being all warm and cosy inside.

Finally being able to make a very good sourdough loaf in the bread maker.

Hearing my DS has been shortlisted for a job.

Having a lovely 2 hour nap after a bad nights sleep.

Having a sing along with my DS playing guitar and laughing so much at my out of tune offerings. 

Highdays

Morning all.

Quick pleasures today which will be a pleasure for everyone!

1) I, too, received flowers from hubby - awww - but turned out he had been given them at the radio station where he was doing an interview! Ah well, they are still very welcome.

2) New baby girl news was a good excuse to look at little pink clothes. Having had a boy and all boy grandchildren this made a nice change.

3) To the theatre last night, birthday treat from son and partner, brill seats and a wonderful production, lovely.

4) Think my toning up exercises are finally starting to work a little bit, arms are maybe not quite as batwingy but it's taken months of perseverance. No pain no gain and all that.

5) Lovely and sunny again today and the weekend already. We may be retired but still share in the Friday feeling.

Enjoy the day whatever you are up to.

DigForVictory

Purple Kitten - holding you & your husband close in my thoughts. Confident your ferrets are trying to console you too.

OS

The happy sound of mum scrunching into pizza without cutlery. Youngest trying to stay poker faced when having lost the “civilised” bet. [I told the nice lady at Asda how much mum had enjoyed hers & got an understanding smile “they can be a bit picky!” Youngest nearly whimpered as we grinned, conspirators together…]

After the obeying orders triggering things unimagined & beyond my control, my sisters have shrugged off me being a systems geek. They have also shrugged off me further mending a cushion our Granny embroidered (to mum’s near tearful delight) & replacing a bulb above mum’s favourite reading chair as that’s Not Important. 

At half an hour off midnight, Youngest off on one of his “notorious walks”. He’s either sensible enough to survive or learn. Me to bed anyway, phone charging. (Slept like a log.)

As I go to feed the birds (one of my remote daughter tasks is to freight in fatballs for mum to load the bird feeder with) I observe son has figured “walk the dinosaur” correctly - the foot-tall electric-blue  stuffed furry toy was chosen as the keyring you simply Cannot Lose in a pocket or handbag & the door key stitched carefully to its tail.

Mum was wanting to write to her brother. Happily, she checked with me “is he still alive?” (No, not for decades, mum) “oh thankyou , better to ask you than his wife.” I pondered just when might that be acceptable - returning from the Colonies, (in an earlier generation), or ludicrously drunk. I do wonder who else she fact checks with, as the care team are not solid family & there are a Lot of relatives.

The cat is purring like a tractor on mum’s lap. This sound is worth the exorbitant sums on his vet bills. They’re happy.

Good Housekeeping is discussing the “weekend getaway wardrobe” & I may have misunderstood. I wear what I can get away with at the weekend, my beloved Antisocial Trousers, trainers too battered to be seen in in public but so comfortable, assorted tee shirts that probably belong in a rag bin but I wear anyway etc. Thankful mum loves GH, as a lot of it bewilders me.

As I washed my hands in the ladies, I observed a bored young boy consider climbing on the pipes & encouraged him to climb the wall Spider-Man style instead. His mother emerged somewhat anxious & was assured “I can climb like SpiderMan!” - I left so they could continue the discussion.

As one who spent hours every day wielding a pen in pursuit of examination success, I have a callus on my middle finger. Subsequent decades at a keyboard have not wholly erased it. Youngest, bragging about his “nerd bump” (the language the young speak Does need some help from Google to translate), was startled & somewhat peeved to see the remnants of mine!

The back of the Economist has a Louis Vuitton ad, the sort of thing that sails past my attention but the strap line was ‘la fabrique du temps’. I dived down the rabbit hole of if truth is the daughter of time, what is the fabric of time? (Must be tangible, & the philosophers have their own queue, well away from the astrophysicists). Then decided that it changes, as in leather lost out to plastic as the ‘make useful things out of’ material.

Booking up on Linux before class starts tomorrow (me as pupil, hurrah) & thinking some of my decades old programming language skills may help. Or not. Plus the world’s least user friendly word processor “vi” (free to universities, so I typed two theses using it, snarling as I went) may be part of the fun, but I am hoping not. See how we go. (Frozen pea bonnet on standby.) [So far, cautiously pleased!]

Youngest keeps on making me laugh. I got up, eyed the home office & realised hadn’t heard/seen/sensed life. About to panic when remembered it’s a lecture day & he’d left me for study.

Getting my geek back on! Back to grepping stuff after decades and I feel six foot tall & competent, a digital Simone Biles. (I exaggerate only slightly - when data does your bidding, superheroes are sidekicks.) [Ah, the GOAT stands 4’10”, just a graceful 6’ in my estimation!]

Scouts! Fire starters, pancake makers, formidable players of CatAndMouse - handed back with the sugar rush largely burned off & hands washed but definitely smokey. As is wholly right & Scoutly, their parents can insist on soap.

Woke to realise it’s a drying day so shall get the laundry onto the line. Alas sub zero forecast next week so may not do as much gardening as this weather suggests. 

And again my language geek is chortling happily - deprecated again used as it’s meant (guess you really do have to hang out with some approaching pensionable geeks).

Just eyeing the apricot kernels & thinking there’s no harm in half a dozen - that’s primrose path thinking, but fun!

Gods, cousin musing what drives us on (via WhatsApp) & me robustly that’s a bit deep for before the first brew. I stand by the first cuppa can be a near religious experience. (It’s also persuading me to eschew flippancy & claim to run on stubbornness. The lads would say empirical evidence is clear - tea.)

Oh my, trainer saying While & Until loops ‘like brothers’ whereas I see it like parents! we do fun things While we can afford them (like make models, eat ice cream, send a friend a letter) & we do boring things Until we are allowed to stop (like make beds, pick up toys, Hoover the floor etc). 

Aw, two of my fellow trainees are still using the same version of vi (see grouch above) I recall from 3 decades ago & our tutor is appalled & I reassure them it doesn’t permanently damage your sanity. Much. They’re somewhat shocked it’s That Old…

You know you’ve spent several hours sat when you voluntarily fold into downward dog then do warrior poses just so your back & legs know you care…

Friend online announced her last words have a 97% chance of being (some variant on) “you have got to be kidding me”. So far, my near death experiences have triggered variants on “drat”, I must try harder.

QI teaches me about ‘strongly worded letters to vermin’ & I think this is something to have a go at over the weekend. I already have chemical warfare in play (well, I asked the lads) but I like the idea of a strongly worded letter.

Youngest has stripped his bed for washing & in the aftermath, his mattress is acceptable, he’s no intention of trying to reuse the worn & ripped fitted sheet (having found & installed a clean one that “fits better”) & as for the two duvets which have no covers “Ach they can take it up with their therapist”…

Some days I have to accept that engineers may not be mathematicians, let alone able to spell “maths is a nescasairy evil better left to those creatures it entices.“ Yet I wield logic for a living & he’s a mechano-electrical engineer… (I think.)

Just listened to Dolly Parton “if you hadn’t been there” & thought I really hope her husband heard this before he died. And that she has superb breath control for 79.

I was so pleased with myself, getting two lots of laundry onto the line. Youngest fetched then in at five to midnight, ooops.

I suppose it was only a matter of time. You can now get a virtual mobile number & use that for authentication texts, ordering pizza etc, keeping brand marketing texts out of your attention span. I reckon unsubscribe is cheaper but setting up burner (or VIP) number may be reasonable as technology gets smarter. Just of the handset gets snatched, both your numbers are snatched…

If my body thinks I spent too long sat this week, it must be puzzled at a hearty session in the garden where I chopped back last years woods growth for several hours. The lads are now trying to stop me lifting bark chipping sacks as I’m over 50 (!) - my female gardening relatives would laugh so hard, & carry on delegating the brambles to them…

Neighbour sighted with magnificent bunches of flowers, which had me pondering What Had he Done?! He (seeing my curious grin) explained the missus had been at Crufts the last 3 days showing one of the dogs & he was so proud of her. (Shame on me for pondering & well done on Crufts!)

Middleson basking in the sun adamant it’s over 12C (two cars agree!) as he thinks it’s in the 20s. I don’t - it’s warm but I am not incapacitated!

Youngest has clipped himself tidy & summoned me for the neck & ears bits. (Middleson clips his hair so short he doesn’t need a comb & can do his own neck - I’ve no idea how!)

Stillgoe & Skellern - ancient (does 1985 count?!), but still utterly Hilarious. 

Everything packed for start the week back in the office. Youngest herding pizza as I nudge the synapses with Only Connect.

Cheering colleagues on as they start the week, then having a lovely chat with a very cherished & respected colleague who mixed advice & yarns so deftly that I learned much without quite realising! But he can audit SAP which leaves me gazing up in awe.

And as I stagger out of the home office, mumbling about cold pizza, there is the statement “you’re having Bolognese”. Oh Youngest, you bossy young monster. I adore him. (It was delicious.)

Only Connect “they’re just idiots compared to the people in the final”… clearly. This idiot just boggled at the walls!

We’re about to hurtle into another round of “oh my word it’s Tuesday”. Youngest plays a sneaky blinder, gets up, dressed & off to study as I slumber peacefully until my alarm jangles & I lurch towards daylight wondering where the Dickens is he until I realise/ remember/ send a plaintive text. His replies leave me laughing, which is a reassuring glimpse into a potentially increasingly erratic old age.

Youngest & I have extended our range of Yerwot dialogue. He’s been “Staff”, I’ve been “Igor” but we’re branching into hero & villain - “On the bus, surrounded by civilians (so disable your orbital laser, missy)” & I am giggling rather a lot.

Manager being very supportive about a visit which has taken on tentacles. Cthulu takes negotiation!

Zooming with mum, I trot the phone around the Apple seedlings in the windowsill. We both so enjoy evidence of Spring springing! I didn’t go upstairs to the Hunza apricot kernels, but they’re out if the fridge in relative warmth & I’ll pot on another dozen this weekend.

Martin’s difficult conversations - yes. Hm, telling my sons they can make the switch me off decision. That may be ticklish when it comes. Or the subject of obsidian black humour en route. Plus 5 signatories in the right order (?!) ulp.

A good morning in class. There are a couple of trainees who are running silent, but four others piped up willingly which makes everything better.

Tickled at a project to improve Wikipedia photos & how some publicists are against while the stars are “oh, please!” - no serious money for it but press credentials & meeting luminaries seem to help fill that gap.

“When you’re younger, working out is a choice. When you’re older, working out is an absolute necessity” given she’s the face of a VR fitness platform, Jane Fonda would say that. Just to stay mobile, dodge injury & maintain bone density? Will see me wrestling with my sports bra once again… (I’m told working with a resistance band is exercise - oh good, I’ll be getting a chunk of exercise just dressing appropriately!)

“Add a pop of colour to your life” croons Amazon marketing, trying to persuade me to pay for a digital snitch with no visible Off switch. The pleasure is in recalling I am trying to give up Amazon for Lent, along with this sort of blood-pressure-raising nonsense! In fairness these things can be very useful (& indeed have provided solid evidence to courts), just I have no wish for the advantages such a device confers.

Zooming with mum who is happily humming “Mademoiselle from Armentieres” & demanding I look up the words for her. We negotiated I’ll play her a YouTube file next I’m down south!

Scouts! Having an amazing time designing aeroplanes, playing with the phonetic alphabet & writing messages in semaphore to each other (oh the spellings…) Then a vigorous game of hot potato & my hands are still buzzing from striking the syncopated & accelerating beat.

There is a philosophical puzzle about trying to disable your phone’s AI without checking if your phone supports that first. Ooops!

Youngest is 23! How’d that happen?! I’m very blessed. 

The chaps who cook & deliver glorious curries recognised us, even though we went to collect. And were charmed right back when we congratulated them on their trophy for catering football!

Health Strength Love & Courage to all as have need & absorbent handkerchieves, bereavement team phone numbers & enjoying the sunlight with a shawl to hand likewise. 

Suffolksue

Magnificent Dig !

mhagster

Up extra early! 

Chat with niece.
CP. Good walks and painting. 

Beautiful day.
Beans on toast for tea.

Frith

Pleasures for today (Friday)

1) Not a bad sleep. 

2) Went to the coffee morning and played board games. 

3) M and S afterwards and the lady who works there said, "oh, I hope that awful man didn't trouble you again". I was able to tell her it was exactly a year to the day since I last saw him. (He created a scene in M and S once and another member of staff asked if I was ok the next time I went in). 

4) Went to TKMaxx for a notepad and new pens for smaller son's IT course which will start on Monday. 

5) Put my new bird box up in the holly tree. 

6) Vaguely cleaned the kitchen and had crumpets for lunch. 

7) Work meeting and I've definitely got a new job. All signed now. 

8) Did a shift at work. Difficult colleague was a pain but was only there for a short time. 

9) Watching TV now. 

DundeeDoll

so sorry to read your news PK
farewell Jenny, welcome busby PP
been a hellish week at work - every day I've had to take Paracetamol for a headache as the news goes from bad to worse. Higher Education is not a happy place at the moment. We are to cut 20% of our staff!!!! That was Tuesday's bombshell. We don't know how the cull will happen. There has already been industrial action and I'm sure there will be more. So digging deep for 5 good things
1) the team really pulling together - still lots of celebrate
2) my plants in the office are doing very well
3) even DrM texted me on Wednesday to check how things were - i told him really good, Luton got 3 points, oh you mean the uni...🙄
4) one of my colleagues does a labyrinth in the chaplaincy evening of 2nd Wednesday of each month. I finally got to go - it was beautiful - lights low, incense and candles, relaxing music
5) and this morning I sat for 30 minutes in the garden before work
night all

topsyturphy

Pleasures for last couple of days

1. A couple of days off.
2. Good journey home this morning from work.
3. Dog walk with friends.
4. Jacket Potato & Tuna for tea.
5. Portion of home made sticky toffee pudding found in the freezer - eaten with ice cream.

LaineyT

Saw the news re the redundancies earlier in the week and immediately thought of you DD, good to hear from you x

For yesterday,

Got up in time to see the lunar eclipse but cloud cover meant a no show so read my book instead.

Cleaned the cottage and felt better for it.

Saw a Jay in the branches of the apple tree.

Time spent with the beautiful grey one, she seems to be settling ok but is a bit clingy so lots of attention with a long, soothing groom. Chatted to some people who also arrived this week from yet another yard that had closed, helps to not be the only newbie!

Tea was jacket spuds topped with beef stew.

PaulieHerts

Morning all 😊

Some intermittent sunshine yesterday, so washing dried on the line.  Cold out of the sun though and the water that collects on the little table that I use when hanging out the washing was frozen!
Met my sister at the garden centre for cheese scone, coffee (freebie on my loyalty card) and cake 😋.
Bought some primroses to fill a few gaps and add colour.
Posted another Vinted parcel on my way out. It’s going mad for my Birkenstock sandals I put on but no proper offers yet!
We’re supposed to be going for lunch today (postponed from Thursday) but OH is still in bed, coughing like mad, so probably not 😧Have a good weekend everyone 😊