5 OS pleasures in your day today - part 3

mhagster

Good morning…a cold but dry start to the day here and just hung out a washing!

For Thursday

was up early…did a few chores first thing.

Out to work. For a service.

Then went with DD2 to pick something up from marketplace. And when we had just got home and were emptying the car my friend walked by so we had a nice chat…me with a wait a minute as I still had her thank you card in my car!

Then it was c’mon dog…let’s go to the caravan for the night! Got a dry walk…we had a hailstoney walk with DD2 and The Pup before we left!

Early night and then a middle of the night ‘out’ as a doggy was feeling sicky! Me nooooo! As it’s pitch dark ( beautiful stars) and trying to get my boots on and him out at the same time!

Then we had a proper walk at 6am…a pheasant scurried in front of us. I could hear it was close. It was blooming cold but nice.

And had left by 7am and had a lovely drive home…Sun was up.

mhagster

Ha! It’s me again with Friday pleasures!

Up early and had a lovely but chilly walk at caravan. With pheasant squawks and baas and moos and all the noises of the countryside.

Back in, packed and home we came. In time to get some cardboard boxes out the garage for the recycling lorry.

Hospital again with DD2 and loads of spaces today!

Had some lunch and then she went home. And I had a snoozette and woke thinking what day is it, where should I be! It’s okay it’s Friday afternoon and you should be snoozing on your sofa.

Went out and painted the garden table. Three coats over the course of the afternoon. Blooming chilly wind but dry.

Washing dried.

Friend called for a chat.

Then old boss was dropping something off for DD2. I had been painting so hadn’t heard the door but had just came in as she was leaving so saw her and chatted in the driveway.

Frith

Pleasures for today (Friday)

1)Not a bad sleep.

2) Went to the coffee morning.

3).Work came and went. My old manager was handing out free kippers so I had 2 packs for the freezer.

4) Had a barbecue, which pleased smaller son. Lots of wild fowl on the pool this evening.

5) Looking forward to watching Artwmis return later tonight.

ampersand

• 1.Chatting with an Emmäus chicken exposed 20p underfoot as we exchanged Brrrk-brrk-brk'

• 2. Hot shower and hair wash felt extra lovely this morning.

• 3. Excellent cancer awareness talk last night. So glad this time to thank Dr K quasi-publicly for overhearing &'s 'egg in my leg' remark, which quickly lead to BROH+Michael Parry saving &'s leg and life. Yes, I repeat this, but Dr K was grateful, emphasising how rare sarcomas are, with aggressive metastatic spread rates, post-surgery. The importance of early reporting for elimination or further investigation being essential for all cancers is absolute, emphasised Dr K.

• 4. As always, restorative time at Emmaus, but also witness to appalling elderly driver reversing his Berlingo straight into the back right rear of Emmaus's truck! Didn't seem to have a clue about swinging the steering wheel to reverse safely out. All on their cameras, fortunately.

• 5. Rosemary sprigs and feather from Emmaus gardener still in &'s chignon, after good conversation near his chickens and one particular robin who flew down - 'always wants his treats about this time.'🫶#

• Tremendously enjoying Richard Coles' 'Murder at the Monastery'. He writes so well anyway, but perhaps reflecting even more than usual 'aloud' on the page? Elements of catharsis maybe, written as this is after his husband's death.

Behind the distant parking, beautiful, daisies and wild purple carpet.💓

Happycas

Good morning. Had some lovely sunny days lately. Lots of washing dried outside. Lots of pottering in the garden.

Recently.

Met some friends for lunch. Not seen them since before Christmas so lots to natter about. And they had a voucher from Octopus energy for money off the meal ! Always MSE.

Plants in the greenhouse growing like billy-o. Beginners ' luck, I guess. Will have to start planting out soon.

DS and family come home today from America. The photos he's sent show they've had a lovely time but I'll be glad to see them home safe. Irrational I know but there seems to be altogether too much going on involving America at the moment.

Went to a neighbour's funeral yesterday. The chosen hymn was ' How Great Thou Art'. My mum's favourite. Struggled to sing with a lump in my throat😥

Bad night's sleep last night even by my poor standards so maybe a snooze this afto.

Happy Saturday everyone

LaineyT

For the last few days,

As HappyCas says there has been lots of bright sunny weather so much washing dried on line, both sofa blankets are clean & back ready for the chilly nights plus a variety of scarves & hats are now stored away ready for next winter although Capt S is hanging onto his dog walking bobble one!

Lots of time spent in the garden too, mulched a bed or two, planted up a bit pot of agapanthus so 🤞they flower this year, staked up the broad beans and we are eating the chard.

Got some heirloom tomato seeds but they won’t be planted until later in the month, gardening by the moon phases as per my Almanac.

The smell of the wisteria flowers as you step out the back door.

C dog enjoying the sun too, she finds a sheltered spot as I work and snoozes away.

Gave myself a pedicure and the first toenail colour of the year.

Bluebells coming up around the trunk of the old apple tree.

Cleaned out the water feature and checked it still worked, sparrow squadron immediately flew down to check it out too.

Released a queen wasp from our bedroom 🙈 please find somewhere else to make a nest!

And just like that it was Friday again, treat of salmon for tea followed by a few games of Yahtzee.

ampersand

1. Toulon 22 - Glasgow 19.🏉,❤️+🖤.
2. Watched our🏉Nomads 63 - Ipswich 7.👏👍😃
3. Supported Church table top sale. (Jumble sale next week will be chaotic.) Very pleased with several things,....
4. ....left with young rugby friends en route to 2.
5. Glad I wore extra layers despite the sun. It's been another one of those days, blustery and changeable with rain as well, but & has stayed warm today.

All blessings, stay safe and warm.

mhagster

Up early.

Over to DD2 for a wee while then home at lunchtime.

Put a small load of washing outside. It was the chilliest wind though dry after a very rainy night.

Chat to friend.

Doggy cuddles….he’s feeling a bit poorly.

Frith

Pleasures for yesterday (Saturday)

1)Stayed up until 2.30 to watch Artemis land.

2) Took smaller son to the football and our team won 4-1.

3) Day off work (swapped for last Wednesday).

4) Caught up on Race Across the World.

5) Phoned my school friend.

DigForVictory

Staggers back in nearly a month later. Dear Heavens, it must be spring as otherwise I've racked up a few decades in the last weeks. (Part 1 of 2)

Purple kitten - "teeny tiny start to the gardening" only sensible! Dress with long sleeves? Ulp, ferret? "change our bedding, got it washed/line dried and back on" that's a busy, sunny warm day. Hurrah DH winning vs strimmer & not all culinary experiments are right first time. And now Polo - but cannily you get the lacto free cream and an intriguing assortment of fun crisps. The sausage & blanket & hole & gravy sounds wonderful, especially after line blow drying! "I sat outside with a tea just listening really" - a pleasure even in the most stressful times. I think prepping has to be unique to each household, but you do need to have enough food & water & meds etc for everyone for a designated time period. Plus how do you bug out anywhere with a business of ferrets?! Excellent charity shop wins, Ellis Peters & a throw would lure me into a small warm heap. Very right to keep the dance of conversation amongst strangers alive & well, the young need to learn not all life happens on a screen. Marmite run out?! Not while beer is being made, but delivery may be the tricky bit. Forgive me, I misread "Made plans to take out MIL" on first pass...
Broomstick - your DGD showing appreciation of you! "going out without a coat"?! clearly you survived. Ooh, well-trained DS1 trying to lead you astray with books - A Year? "still got the household cleaning things to go" - it will be Such a Pleasure to have that finished. "a fifteen minute detailed monologue about the characters in Winnie the Pooh", and now I am seized with a yearning to hear this myself. Ah well. "Collected the books I'd ordered from the library - like buses, three arrived at once." You may borrow but not buy? Hurrah re-issued cheque, and rearranged dried goods & being led along by an owl & a hare! "haybox heated stew" - as in heated then hayboxed to carry on? (puzzled but game) Awed respects at unpicking a pair of linen trousers that you don't wear to recut and reseam into a pair you intend to!
villagelife - "proper conversation" is a rare treat! "DGD has been discharged"! Congratulations, even if my imagination is pondering from what weapon... "spring wreaths" sound beautiful & bonding. Line dried washing is such a treat. Brilliant to see mum & catch up with some relatives but then let DGD be star of the show! "Hot cross buns for breakfast", followed by away quiz victory - awed. "Phoned my mum on walk back from the bus" - gives you both company even if you're in the cold & wet. Ooh, Tries & Tribulations reviewed brilliantly. No bosses in "made day go more smoothly" - oh yes! Haywards gallery - I must figure how to get mum to the Quentin Blake stuff, she adores him.
mhagster - lavender plants are unusual in that they thrive on informed neglect. "a nice slow morning of just being quiet" - I am profoundly impressed! "some semi glad rags" & my imagination is doing laps. Sat with "blanket and hot water bottles" sounds wholly reasonable. Line drying as So windy -- eep but "a secret wedding on Saturday"!! (Secret from Whom?) "log burner on" - it Is that chilly. Much charmed that daughter pops in for tea & takes a plate home for husband - lucky chap to have married into your family. Yikes, dentist time again. Bleated Happy Birthday! As golly what weather! The app leading to several more rinses of the line drying - ouch. "Temporary filling put in" - every little helps. Sunlight on sparkles is a delight - why we acquired & hung onto a glitterball. Oh gosh, Haggis, but still wagging his tail! Hallelujah, a good night. 14 years, and still decorating eggs as it feels right. Sunrise & moonset - beautiful. Another hospital appointment, but parking! Yikes Haggis, being unwell when there is no cloud cover & no warmth, but starlight. Snoozes in between painting the garden table. Awed! Wind dried washing & ooops poorly Haggis.
ampersand - awesome fungal stumps. "50-ish bread rolls" - I am so impressed! Empty blister tablet packs will now go into a container, returning for the use of, as it was completely news to me - Thank you! Love the stories of raffle-coshing, luck penny, Lent over so Merlot, garage sorting error messages & much happy rugby catch-up chat! Why am I unsurprised that a reverbed nugget is promptly converted into very decent jug for young scientist & rugby friends? Conversations with chickens (& why not), it is never easy but the earlier it is found the more thorough the life after cancer can be (OK a bit location specific but as a basic rule it holds), & Richard Coles reading material? Time to take my Kindle for an Informed Chat. Table top sale pleasing? with forecast jumble chaos?! The advantage of the years is the eye is sharper.
LaineyT - farrier wedding in July? Business must be thriving & overseas events strike me as aimed more at social media than at happy married future. Joyous Ostara & may the honey lemon ginger & extra light help fend off the cold. Extra love to you & brother. Ooh your girl has a new "rather handsome chestnut" neighbour! The Marlow Murder Club has leapt onto my 'to watch' list - Granny used to live in Marlow... Love how C dog is relaxing into making friends, but has found & can return love. Delighted water feature immediately doublechecked by sparrows!
PaulieHerts - much smitten with the gradual moving in! So Much Blue Sky! Honestly, if you weren't firm this is near home, I'd think you'd left the country. Belated Happy Birthday, Mr.PaulieHerts! Will you miss the rental for hosting?!
Highdays - a manic week? The favourite gardens sound near magical, we all need places to steady the soul. Your staircase sounds amazing, almost as much effort as family but as loved & lovely. Yikes, the boiler going is a harsh test of relationships. All is back warm & well & washed?! Plus hot cross buns & Easter Veg, yippee. Did you like the Banksy exhibition? The reviewers are being scrupulous to say its all reproduction, but seeing things in context helps.
topsyturphy - sunshine, friends, food, feedback & even linen! Ye Gods your mum is remarkable example, visiting the US at 82!
Frith - shift at work followed by digging in garden. Shame on me for even thinking bodydump. "Went to the Botanical Gardens to see my niece's poem on display" - only right, & well done all round! "the leaking roof was repaired" - good, so now made good it'll all look civilised as well as watertight? And the prize for loving mother goes to you for "Took smaller son to Aldi so he could choose some beer." Respectful awe at the work going into painting & repainting. Printing sheet music - to keep the piano stoked? Love the idea of you getting a takeaway on the way back from the pub. The Succession theme?! Wow! Lot of accidentals in there, baffling after your fingers have learned scales! "My old manager was handing out free kippers so I had 2 packs for the freezer." Excellent! The Artemis flight has been riveting.
Happycas - rousing cheers with the greenhouse! And repairs after the wind & cherry blossoming in the vase, wow! Glad to hear family home safe & happy. Ah yes, 'singing' when the throat has locked with emotion.
mehefin - a Labrador is a wonderful visitor, but alpacas have a unique presence too!

OS Pleasures recently
Ah Wednesdays. It’s not scouts, it’s music as well, so of course yesterday’s class overran (me a student) and I got back home so late I missed the family zoom & would have been late for my music lesson. Today I appealed for a shorter lunch break so I could get to scouts in time & our tutors cheerfully rearranged how the last section was presented so it was more interactive, more educational & finished earlier.

So I had time to eat a bacon sandwich with my son (!) before chatting with mum & sisters then going off to novice music - amazing how the three of us just improve together - I was reaching a high note reliably having heard it played, (and was set homework!)

Then scouts and the Easter egg roll where they roll ten pence pieces & nearest wins. Fun & fundraising! Then “sneak the keys” from under the blindfolded scout, whilst next door two leaders were gently interrogating various scouts so we can tune the next terms activities to ensure at least 7 of those leaving us after summer do so with their Gold Award. Of course we have fun, but the program has badgework with a point.

Our young leaders are amazing - one saw me listening in increasing bewilderment to a process that apparently included something ‘bulbous headed’ & murmured “biology” to me, as if that explained everything. Bless her it helped, I know I haven’t a clue!

And tomorrow last day of training then shuttle data & dehydrator to Middleson & youngest to mum’s for the weekend! Youngest a hero - he listened to my texted whimpering “it’s a beautiful day please dry stuff on the line” & my work shirt has the texture I so love. [Middleson had been, and gone.]

The scaffolding is looking bewitching. That or I’m somehow bewitched by it, how it grows, how it supports life, the different patterns & textures. Now I’m using black & white, the textures are crisper & even more intriguing.

Ah these equal opportunities as cleaners. Tap on the door, “anyone in?” and disappearing on hearing a piping “out shortly!”

The window cleaners use familiar tech - squeegee bucket etc but also harness & single rope technique familiar to me from years ago caving. It’s a nice day for it, for a change!

Oh gods, just looked at calendar. Training then sifting - it doesn’t matter what the weather will be doing, I’ll be shackled to a quiet desk but it’s all developmental experience.

The fire drill wasn’t. We all barrelled out, I played hunt the first aid post (and was found - my intentions were good!) no one needed our skill set, as they were fairly happily gossiping & sopping up vitamin D. On “you may re-enter the building” saw one young lady who had popped to the click & collect for her Zara order!

The M40 was closed southbound but Youngest steered me around the diversion without getting distracted by my language. He wasn’t quite as smitten with my attempts at breath & lip exercises, feeling I should devote All my attention to driving… [Negotiated, I practice solo]

Gosh the penalties of failure to communicate. Youngest now has a very full bag from Aldi, but has already created a cottage pie just awaiting a browning in the oven before being served to a delighted grandparent.

Gurgling slightly at a New Scientist article on the humanoid robot butler. Loving that the fifth question of the options on the market is “what could possibly go wrong?”…

The group chat photo showing proof of life today has mum channelling a young Queen for Cecil Beaton. Gosh, the beautiful posture, even in a squishy chair!

Mum’s book club reading appears to have taken a lurch sideways. I had to look up what necromancy was - it’s not just speaking with the dead but manipulating them for divination… Suddenly, public cornet practice doesn’t seem so bad!

Well, lip gone, some controlled notes and some ye gods higher than expected ones that I held rather than squeaked. Mum, bless her, amused. [Her carer, bless her, also praising beautiful tone having eavesdropped!]

Aw, Youngest scheming to be invisible (if not full in out-of-county tomorrow - family meeting), so batch cooking after the womenfolk have gone to bed. (Then hit Tesco for breakfast at 8.30, me silently applauding!)

New family language term - “a galore of cousins”!

Bonded with one cousin over dishwasher stacking “like a raccoon on meth” (We’re both hand washers by nurture & instinct.)

Yes! Four pots of day lilies routed off to Bath. Another four will travel home with me, demurely beside the cornet.

Youngest quietly heeded my whimper I fancied a magnum but mum’s freezer only has the vegan ones (awkward sisters) & quietly tucked an unwrapped Iceland dupe into my unsuspecting hand. [He left the rest there - I doubt they’ll survive. Leaves joy wherever, that lad.]

Ick. Still pleasure is cornet practice boggled at by mother & sister is done, lip numb, got the high A once intentional the rest as squeaks. Some days it works, other days it don’t, but the only way forward is practice. Youngest is cooking me comfort chicken.

Discussing where bad girls go if good girls go to heaven & sis & I in unexpected agreement that on the whole we thought bad girls had far more fun. And that by staying firmly non-specific, anyone eavesdropping could imagine whatever conduct they deemed suitably inappropriate, saving us time & effort.

Went to see senior band play live & gosh, line music. Plus (wow) five trombones lined up between me & the drummer - my body still resonating happily hours later!

Middleson industriously dehydrating trail food (even rice!) ready to send tasting sachets out to fellow hikers. Funnier still him bitching about my dehydrator & scheming to borrow the one I moved up to (he’ll have to repeat All his experiments as newer one has settings & a much better timer).

Just watched the last episode of this season of small prophets & am just delighted & heartbroken & curious & hopeful all at once. (Although I do not want to watch the news.) ‘Yes, No, Forever’, oh my aching heart.

My grandfather’s teddy bear (shared with his sister, who had the bear re-pawed & soled on my birth as dad & siblings had also loved him) is now sat in a chair in my home office monitoring what I get up to. He’s a bit inscrutable, but much loved.

I’m not wholly convinced I should practice when nearly boss-eyed with fatigue, but once you start making excuses it all goes sideways. Anyway, every tootle helps & that I both got to G & the A above & held them suggests I am improving. Now to pass out in a virtuous heap.

Pleasure in completing a training course where of the 13 of us only 4 spoke (& 1 teams chatted asking for a long lunch). Still my Co-trainer will deliver the same course with another trainer on Thursday & I hope that lot of trainees can figure the unmute….

Rewatching small prophets. It’s that enchanting. I love that our hero doesn’t have a TV… oooh and the chanting “sacred solemnities” repeated in different context.

Ooof, snow! Happily not settling but blinking cold. I worry a bit about the lilies but they either survive or they don’t (I’m not equipped to lay on glasshouse & heating) and it’s not enchanting weeding weather!

Cornet lesson & I am right to get another mouthpiece to practice in the car at lights with! Indeed, if I can remember how to read music and get my fingers to cooperate (ahem), I may get migrated to another (novice) instrument as they’re not short of cornets.

New player joining us as wanting to play but not through school so will need an instrument - glorious vast tuba drawn from store to be prepared for his use (& spider & spiderweb removed!) Much chuckling at the spider, & warm welcoming to young player.

Saw Jupiter by the Moon!

Startled a Scout by knowing cards can be protected in plastic sleeves. (Years of being mother of sons, yet Scouts still startled!)

Snuggled under duvet feeling it warm as I rub cold toes together.

Small prophet chanting turns out to be from Sacris solemnis, a hymn written by St. Thomas Aquinas which goes on to talk about the bread of angels. (To be fair, the hymn is about the nuances of transubstantiation - the more I peer into this rabbit hole, the more I admire the complex general knowledge &/or research Mackenzie Crook carries.)

Looking up ‘false spring’ & grinning at “spring of deception”, “the pollening”, “hell’s front porch”, “mud season” etc.

Yeay hey! Youngest pegged out laundry without prompting! I wasn’t expecting that & am So Proud… [Text to remind him to fetch back in after night & temperature had fallen.]

Ye gods, babysis has whooping cough. A notifiable disease, so her medic had extra paperwork.

I’ve a bid on a cornet on eBay mostly so I can share the fun. No idea if it’s playable, has a mouthpiece (dreadful photo!) and it’s one of those questionable sealed for shipping so we can’t answer questions sellers, so if I’m outbid I think Youngest may be relieved! [I lost. Probably a good thing.]

Colleague has cleared vetting! & can move sideways to a role he has been preparing for at last.

I’d not realised the quiet kid from the ministry of ungentlemanly warfare was a Fiennes let alone Hero Beauregard Faulkner Fiennes Tiffin. Shame on me, eh?! But Haysey was part of that crazy entertaining ensemble.

Aww Youngest playing hunt the acrylic paint & neither of us have a clue where the little bottles are. I can remember where we went shopping though. <credit card whimpering with trauma flashbacks> “Don’t try to help, mum” - yes dear. [Much has been found. Oh good.]

Two stints of practice as band tomorrow. New pieces, so me struggling with staves & fingers & breathing. It’ll all come together if I keep trying.

Blinked at a webpage “a guide to dating” & thought logic failure/website sold then checked the second line “Boosey & co” - I’d been curious about how to tell how old a brass instrument is (sawing through & counting the rings not being that reliable for woodwind, after all).

Set up a mug of tea for Youngest - clean mug loaded with sugar & topped with a veiling teabag, beside a calibrated kettle.

The lass, (& her mum) I was chatting with at the concert, has re-joined Saturday novices. Mum sits, listens & crochets, refusing to play, as her father & daughter are cherished!

I made a comprehensive mess of “happy birthday” but the spirit was willing, even if the notes were plain wrong. Since I was engulfed in the band I suspect the recipient knew exactly who contributed the squeak, but forgave all in the unexpected charm of the moment!

Puttered home in sunlight & pondered laundry, had a brew & half a chapter, looked up & it’s snowing! That good drying breeze brought the next season over. <Adds to next home requirement list, car to have 4 wheel capability & a garage that drains.>

Oh the rabbit holes on the Internet & different tenor recorders - Reddit ho, Again! [I lost the auction, and probably just as well.]

Listening to ISIHAC & realising I needed to Google to get one of the punchlines (ahem).

Whee! Spare mouthpiece off Amazon marketplace has arrived & my “in car duck caller” should coax a tone out of a cornet as well. (Deffo easier to get higher but not as mellow a tone and the 5C is bitier on the lip.) Swapped back to my old Kosicup (Boosey & Hawkes sub-brand) & whilst harder work to get the altitude, a better sound!

I inadvertently startled Youngest & was chided for being a ghoul. Which I though improbable bring plumply corporeal but he cited Wikipedia at me! I must reread my Arabian Nights. (I’d thought djinn was neutral if not benevolent - seems the translations of my childhood were trimmed to suit those of tender years. As for Gin, definitely iffy & anyway for grownups, a view I retain decades later. In part as I prefer neat tonic.)

Oh my. Sis sent me a referral to a meditation site & I promptly reckoned that if she’s their ideal contented customer, it’s not somewhere for me. Still giggling several minutes later, as in the same minute was the Royal Mail plea for a sign “I have a dog”. Something for my retirement abode, that sign - buys me an extra minute to get to the door!

Loving the pre-launch chat about the next Moon trip as people have retired over 50 years! I do feel for the astronauts in quarantine but still having to do publicity, but good on them setting the first examples. Things they are asked/been chosen to do "for humanity".

I can feel the practice working as I can hold a note longer, sometimes even when higher, but also the musculature under my cheekbones is letting me know!

Supermarkets will be closed next Sunday for Easter so I need to plan the week after’s shopping more intelligently. Going to see mum is a privilege, coming back to lean cupboards is avoidable foolishness. [Towed Youngest through Meal planning, what’s in the larder & finally along the beer aisle looking for a useful promotion - found, & him clinking back to the car knowing he is appreciated!]

Sunday night planning for Monday morning. Pleasure is bag packed, meals planned & car tank full.

Good to see faces after a week at a screen, share jokes etc (My “duck caller” mouthpiece raising eyebrows but that was expected.)

Tootling on mouthpiece In traffic. Good to feel the buzz, trickier to dry hand.

Sight test & the pleasure is they’re Not going to puff air into my eyes again today. (Youngest has harrumphed off for the time it takes to let an ophthalmologist do their stuff. He’s here for the frame choosing bit, as I can’t see what frames look like without the right lenses.) [Done! The ‘slightly deranged librarian’ will be along in a fortnight, along with another pair that look quite like my usual glasses. Youngest helpful with the ‘no’ Before my hand lands on various frames. He’s definitely not minded to permit ‘the cat look’ on his mother!]

Seems the band is sifting for pool talent - everyone is entered regardless of age instrument or skill but may present their random opponent with a “graceful bye” up to the next round. (I’ll put a pound on the youngest cornet not giving anyone an inch, as while he can see over the pool table, it’s clearly not something his mother encourages. Oops!)

Yee-har! Practice went well & I had more control over the high notes & some over the very high ones. Youngest was in the kitchen & didn’t hear a thing but “glad you’re having fun!” Just I am!

The excitement is racking up about the NASA flight. Such fun, and positive news.

I say Wednesday half term has never been this good - I had a lesson & didn’t abjectly disgrace myself with every bar & then sat in & listened to the rehearsal of new pieces. And the tea break banter & the happy birthday & more new pieces to which I knew the tune so could guess better where we were.

Hurrah the Artemis launch has happened in time & successfully & the inevitable child-like curiosity about what if the loo doesn't work has been raised & sorted. (Although the phrase “donating fluid” will have me giggling for some time, truly a toddler at heart.)

Easter veggies laid in to make dishes for lactose intolerant sister & any visiting vegans. Now to hope Youngest has sharpened his chopper, as raw parsnip can put up a fight!

Refilled the fatball holder & small bird gossip had it back on there in less than an hour! [Later heard health risks to small birds and to desist in summer months]

The Easter veg is peeled chopped & becoming vegan cuisine. Mum’s carer is charmingly impressed at my sisterly devotion. (Youngest won’t cook vegan, I’m only just competent at this one dish she does eat. She’s here most weeks, least I can do is feed her.) I’m thankful one of the ovens is still working.

Youngest’s obsidian humour glinting about the one working oven. Gods, the apple has not fallen far from the tree!

Cat eating from the bowl I scrubbed out & filled. He’s not unduly trusting, but then I did haul him off to the vet last trip.

Mum wanted a reminder of how many lords a-leaping & we chuckled at the recipient with all these birds, and then all these guests…

Birthday lunch was successful, in that everyone ate & no one screamed. I count that a pleasure!

Youngest coaxing mum into happily waiting for evening chilli with a “nibbling dish” of jelly babies. Gosh, naming them & biting their heads off is a pleasure….

New tune to learn for cornet lesson - a Welsh tune, possibly a simplified hymn. Unfortunately my mind is sketching in lyrics which have escaped from the limerick section so the rhythm is askew & implications deplorable. Must try harder!

There’s something very satisfying about boxing up leftovers, labelling & dating them & setting them to chill. (I’ll tuck them in the freezer tomorrow so mum can carry on eating grandson’s cooking.) Meanwhile vegan sis critiqued my dish as the parsnip chunks were still crunchy - some people just do not leave things in the oven long enough (but she was hungry!)

My wonderful old flatmate at Uni who’s been cheering me on as I toddle back into music is delighted I’ve found my tribe as when we met I was a lapsed cellist & yet now am clearly brass (& so happy with it!) Ironically we both teach (some of the time) & ‘front row’ & ‘back row’ have clear classroom meaning & map onto both orchestra & brass band worryingly accurately.

Heard a crash, jumped out of bed, grabbed a T shirt & hurtled downstairs to find Youngest packing up his biscuit stash & wincing at my insufficiently-covered-self. As the adrenaline wears off, I do see the funny side!

Gods the text messages Youngest & I send. “Got a tea towel for the knife?”

Thankful we decided against the toll road before the oil war. Also that Easter Sunday traffic was reasonable. (Us on the motorway as most others counting down to the family roast lamb - we did the family meal & bickering yesterday).

There’s something about a blessing in Latin that has extra wallop - that or I just wallow in the history of it. Watching the BBC subtitles team politely refuse to try Chinese & Arabic even for the Pope's Easter Message had me giggling even as I listened to the languages.

This Easter the eggs are chickens’ made into huevos rancheros & devoured joyfully by me. I do worry Youngest is still ‘living with his mother’ etc but he cooks so well!

So many trees just thick & colourful with blossom (despite Storm Dave) even if the municipal cherry isn’t convinced yet.

Eyeing storm names & chuckling slightly at Eddie & Fionualla (as I know two folk who will get some teasing & quietly plan to be in another county if possible.) Almost look forward to Kassia, Lilith & Wubbo (the Dutch are part of the agreed name list).

Just had my first ever bash at When The Saints Come Marching In & the really high note I can only just squawk, no control, no tone, but the rest of it is coming! Says she, having quit practice on a high.

“I shall not say why and how I became, at the age of fifteen, the mistress of the Earl of Craven.” Superb opening line…

Bank Holiday gardening so far consists of cheering on bulbs that dare poke a green nose into the light despite the cold. And taking a few cuttings.

Family tree climbing & a brigadier leaves his money away from son & granddaughters, raising all sorts of intrigued questions.

Why do I have smart meters & yet still do meter reads?

Bumped into the name Arsinoe & chuckling rather. The name means 'uplifted mind' or 'elevated intellect' but the pronunciation is easy to get wrong.

My Bank Holiday religious observances (thou shalt garden) have been observed & I will watch with curiosity to see if the tayberry & loganberry cuttings take. The lilies are doing well, even the rather cramped day lilies. The currant bush out front needs pruning - more cuttings hopes there & I may try yet again with the bay. The lime pruning has survived winter & is budding, I do hope it grows in strength to face the weather as the original can’t travel but a rooted cutting could.