5 OS pleasures in your day today - part 3

DigForVictory

Forgive me? The heat, the classes, the sheer RL getting in the way...

Frith - many happy returns and may the party be fun for you! Black and white currants? Awed. Love to think of you at the piano. Hope you feel the house does you credit after all your preparation. Jelly!

mhagster - always good to know your guest bed is up to standard. Too much heat is just gruesome. Bats are a privilege. A day reading <must not covet> Bedmaking solo is a not-pleasure, but I can't see Haggis managing a hospital corner. Always good to get stuff onto the line. One linen top good, more linen tops better! So impressed at all these rtc things adding up to a magnificent meal

LaineyT - ooh Bendicks from the fridge, a very special OSP I learned from you! Bees are glorious. Up at 4?!Sunrise is very special. Assorted lavender bushes? Photo evidence of a good roll... Love the idea of you understanding cricket together. Amused the chivalrous urge was voiced & not needed! Wield the hoover - awed. 

PaulieHerts - ice lollies are wonderful!

Highdays - preparation for baby visit, oh my. Congratulations on you both being retired - now let the fun begin!

Happycas - if you are responsible for the coolth, I thank you! Avoiding news & celebrating DGD's ball - rightly.

Purple kitten - very right to take it easy. Stunning birdfeeders & oooh “the cat who played post office”!

ampersand - just awed at "8' tall 12-year old surgeon" but glad you drew calm from South Wales. I must reread the Rev! A handwritten thankyou carries extra freight. Aw the Ball season - it's wonderful crazy fantasy that not all children get.

DundeeDoll - community barbecue - they trust you not to poison them accidentally & then Bowie birthday fun!

SuffolkSue - belated happy birthday!

BoP - good to 'see' you again & hurrah Buzby!
weenancyinAmerica - youngsters should be celebrated too!

OS

For all single parenting is tough, I think we got something right when Youngest prefers the sight of deer frolicking to planning venison.

Looking forward to the trooping of the colour. The horses, the music, the uniforms (where else do you see Tudor {or are they Stuart} designs still in proud use?!)…. [And the bangs!]

Ordered a pallet of tins of beans in chilli sauce for sister. Fingers crossed she likes them as 24 tins arrive on Monday. (Truly how Amazon & Morrisons work together is a mystery! As the other beans require a Morrisons order, extra time & a minimum spend.)

Intrigued by the inclusion of a minute’s silence for the air India crash - it’s the Kings’s birthday parade, he can ask for any changes he wants, but I’d be interested to have been a fly on the wall of the mess. As when your commander in chief says “this”, every plan and timing needs to be updated.

Much enjoying the idea of a class chant of “sum es est sumus estis sunt” and suspicions of a cult. In the definite world tap classes are having their VAT rate debated (as a nonstandard school subject) & anticipate Greek jazz class imminently.

Oh dear gods, some days are Long. Still, introduced colleague to Booths & she’s planning to find one after the November pay cheque to spoil her Polish kin with British treats! 

Blimey, trying to help sister with deleted yahoo mail by zoom - complex!

Debating what is a hall, a landing, & if a corridor is inevitably straight. With a side of “leave it switched on!” lest I trip in the dark…

Argh, I may buy some fake “Audrey Hepburn” long black gloves as my arms are risking sunburn on the commute! I do not thrive in the heat.

Seeds left in the fridge to scarify now being slowly brought up to room temperature - I _may_ manage quince seedlings… (four have rootlings)

Four colleagues signed as competent with certain datasets which takes a lot of pressure off me! (Fifth should pass next Wednesday.)

Puttering amok in Costco - tasting sports liquid (can feel it full of virtue & that soupçon of salt that is so unlovely) & being teased for buying a sack of almonds. Still, the chef gets to be picky about his choice of sweet chilli sauce!

Admiring the spires of white foxgloves - now eight where previously I counted five. (Seed saving plans grow…)

Watching Andor in fascination. Middleson peeved that I scrub his loo, seemingly, but happy to show off his new icecream maker (all High protein low sugar stuff) - all tasty cool & filling!

It’s beastly hot, but stepping out of a shower, towelling down & then snuggling under linen is glorious.

Colleague has walked me through a data analysis, figuring information from first principles & I am in delighted awe. There’s publication grade research here.

Chuckling with Nigerian-born colleague over the heat - having yearned for a nice cave to retreat into, I recalled my great grandmothers were missionaries & not only coped in this heat, but did so in petticoats corsets hat & gloves. He recalls seeing first seeing white missionary women & thinking they were what Mary mother of Jesus would have looked like. I asked if they resembled mothers of mercy, as my relatives were awesome & terrific (as in I toddled in awe & terror).

I’m on time for my repeat prescription! (Yes I am that disorganised & generally too darn hot that that is a pleasure.)

Much amused that the “lady reviver” (of smelling salts) seen on QI can be bought on eBay! Victorian style brass, looks a charming bubble mixture container just with a more severe mixture…

Yoga class & for all our teacher promised to “keep it gentle” in the heat we all managed a bit more stretching than expected 

In pursuit of the “ninepenny rabbit” phrase hazily recalled from the writings of AJ Hall, I stumbled back into her oeuvre & was lost for hours!

Forumite in prepping thread was asked to leave her home by the police at very short notice & (whilst fortunately fine) felt unprepared. I seized this as a nudge from Fate to review my own ‘in case’ tackle & yikes! Out of date data, flat batteries, unconsidered torch - my in case bag on for a swift boost into 2025.

Argh the frustration! There’s an excellent breeze, now is the time to line dry & yet the forecast says “rain any minute”…

Youngest with trolley “releasing it back into the wild” & me replying “it may find a mate & breed” (to the Appalled expression of one eavesdropper who didn’t catch it all & Clearly hadn’t interpreted the last five words correctly)

Vintage QI assures me “lunatics may only vote during their lucid periods”. Youngest whooping for breath, laughing so hard. I paused to give him a suitably ‘disappointed’ glare & Alan Davies promptly suggested they’re tested on entry….  Working from home tomorrow will be slightly more surreal.

My wonderful colleagues vehemently bickering over whether the Hulk is Bruce, David, or even Robert Bruce Banner. As I watched tv before I could afford Marvel comics I thought David but that was seemingly as CBS thought Bruce “too unmanly” & changed the name to David.

Trainees chirpy this morning! Excellent. The silence over teams is horrific as a trainer. Tomorrow we use Visio, which is loads of fun, & all the more so if they’re not on mute so you can hear the swearing…

QI again, I think I’m a hoplophile. (Hoplophobes said to be scared of weapons; me only concerned when they’re pointed at me.)

Watching Andor with Middleson & screaming odds who will survive… and discussing the underemphasised aspects of espionage, how such a high percentage is HR, is persuading people to stick with their hidden beliefs & keep the Intel flowing. Love the show!

Youngest slipping out “to take some salacious laundry off the line”. “D’you know what salacious means?” “It was a Star Wars character.” “Ok, look it up when you get back in…” He may yet extend to lascivious or retreat back into a fortress of solitude.

Colleagues chatting over teams & concerned about potentially distressing a customer - ‘risk of intimidation’ & I reassured them that if I was of the party, I’d mitigate that, by being just over 5’ & transparently benign. Colleague snorted agreement. (Thank you, dear…)

Youngest finally got his uni paperwork sorted so he can get a scruff of his father’s pension. (Man’s been dead three years, I’ve been on his son’s case for about 20 months. Please, kindly Fates, let this dust now settle.)

QI mentioning Nostradamus has the grace to say he has a corking recipe for cherry jam & it’s absolutely true, & I’d go along with his opinion that “And when your Jelly will be Colde and Tight, you will have a Mode and Type of Jelly that you can't have Better Jelly of Cherryes, nor more Excellent in Beauty and Goodness“. (The lad wasn’t given to understatement.)

Yeay my Scouts! One young leader heroically figuring juggling with footballs - I love his patience & his ability to leave his hands in the right place. Then the Scouts did an excellent job on the basics of First Aid. (Although I do not intend to pass out near young E whose technique I found somewhat disconcerting)

It is possible my enthusiasm for 100% linen is getting a little out of hand that I am watching the delivery tracker & the met forecast & seeing how many hours I may get the new-to-me duvet cover onto the line for. I really need to plan how I am going to launder it in winter. The dehumidifier clearly but which room….

Oh my. Youngest planning to go for a walk “I will get dressed first.” Oh good, but is it Performance Art if no one is watching?

God-daughter's wedding approaching so went out & bought a Third dress (all from charity shops) total spends so far under £15 which may meet the "semi formal garden party" brief rather better than the other two. Still, she wore a frock for my wedding, least I can do is make the effort for hers. 

Health, Strength, Love, & Courage to all as have need, plus wardrobe staples than can go from sunshine to showers without obvious challenge. (And what BoP's AI Script would make of that, I rather shudder to think, not least as I lack the technical vocabulary!)

Frith

Pleasures for yesterday (Friday)

1) Not a bad sleep. 

2) Coffee morning where we all chatted and did a crossword. 

3) Sainsbury's for more paper plates. 

4) Picked my friend up from the station at about 5 then another friend from his new flat. 

5) Lots of people at the party including 2 of my friends from college who hadn't met up (with each other) for 10 years! It was warm enough for everyone to sit in the garden. The person who drove the furthest was @ampersand! 

People drifted away until 4 were left by midnight with my best friend leaving after that. 

6) Smaller son and I tidied up and sat around until 2.30a.m.