5 OS pleasures in your day today - part 3

DigForVictory

Frith - love colleague hosting the Norwegian fanclub, tickles the imagination. You know local banks have gone when you have to get into a car to get to one. "Wormed the cat." Is that a massively understated or a relaxed pleasure?! Bigger son making Best Man speeches? He's a cherished & trusted friend. Oh, my, wet embarrassed squirrel?! Humility really isn't one of their noted features.
ampersand - I worry the shouty & abusive are getting voted in. A Rogation service & the Alma - both are growth. "safe, dry and Doblo'd" is good, a whole reverbed shilling is another good thing!
LaineyT - mum loves watching 'the candles come out' while I'm fascinated by the way each flower changes colour once pollinated. Oh grey vs tape - no contest... Haylage treat, Nexus gifting, layers & Death on the Nile followed by rather cheerful DSS!
DundeeDoll - sorry to hear of the cold (I too) but sunset on river sounds wonderful. In bed with David Attenborough - and why not? Ah piano practice & yes I prefer f to p, mostly as there is no ambivalence about 'did I get the right notes?'. "coffee sitting in the sunshine" - definitely enjoy while you can!
mhagster - stripping wallpaper with the right tech can be almost fun. Aw Haggis & the Pup & next day feeling it... Indeed 'how?!' at the pump! All that swimming, sleeping & then wind-blown-dry laundry. A near haiku, but all the best with 'time off' - you do it differently! Love "a small washing" amidst the walking & swimming & decorating & drying. When peonies do unfurl they go glorious! Might they need staking? All the reading then the library bus, wonderful.
villagelife - filling a skip with greenhouses, an unusual pleasure! "Planted out some seedlings and repotted others" tis the season to commit living hope onwards. "Tea of mussels" - yum!
PaulieHerts - oooh, Paul Carrack, there's a voice!
Highdays - eeep both little fella & sister in hospital but emerging.
Happycas - "not bored yet of daily watering" - while it lasts!
Purple kitten - a fixed laptop?! Well done DH, they're fiendish tight packed together. Caravan being loaded...

OS Pleasures recently (er, the last fortnight, <blush>)
Always good to see politics having a positive effect locally - our hut brings in income as a polling station & our Scouts earn hike badges!
Watching the Attenborough birthday concert, mostly for the iguana chase scene - stunning music & camerawork!
Early to bed, early to rise as Saturday morning is novice band… not been playing 3 months but having so much fun. (And you never know, from a cornet there is a formidable array of brass choice. Even if I am smitten by the tuba’s depth.)
‘Summer-weight’ wool duvet in place & snuggling around me as familiar as the winter weight - now to see if it’s thermal comfort is as good. (Fleece blanket handy in case!) [Not needed.]
Potted on water rooted acorns. If they survive the month, June will see them take up outdoor living & if they survive winter, I’ll have my own oak forest.

Years ago I planted Carlin peas, along with other AngloSaxon crops. Time to cycle the heirloom crop back through the earth, I think.
Youngest’s lament “I got soap up my nose” & apparently it’s my fault. I am laughing so hard…
Charmed that Middleson happily walks me through his savings with a view to coaxing me over to stocks & shares ISA. (Proud mum moment.)
Delighted to get winter duvet out into sunlight for hours before packing it ready for autumn. There’ll be no line drying for a while.
Michael Portillo - a diesel unit train (GB Railfreight Class 66 locomotive 66719 was officially named "Michael Portillo" in August 2025 ) sighted at local station!

Scanned first batch of books for music magpie. Not wildly smitten but it seems a path to removing some books. Decluttering someone else’s library is relatively easy.
Years ago my husband would hide & pop out “pookie!” at me & laugh. Today youngest was quietly stood waiting for me to bustle out when I just spotted him in my peripheral vision & we pookied each other, ending up in hugging laughter & heartfelt admonition.
The weather! Hail, thunder, rain: I meant to introduce the oaklings to rainwater & they got more thsn we bargained for!
Aw, the band want me (rawest novice cornet with a car that I am) to join them at a local hospice fundraiser. I have a lot of music to learn (even just the first note in each bar) in a short time but I have my own ‘pad’ of music & am profoundly smitten.
I stand, kneecap spiking its objection & thankfully walk along to the kettle. I’m as young & fit as I was but it’s a pleasure to still move.

Practice, after annotating copied concert music, then lying in bed listening to the great colliery bands playing the pieces & hearing where my modest cornet fits in. Challenging but restful - lovely combination!
Thought handkerchief by pillow seemed large - awoke to find it was clean knickers!
Class (me a pupil) went well, at least one point of uncertainty is deeply communal.
Colleague anxious about details of ‘make, model & serial number’ came over near tearful when she unzipped the photos as nice copper helped me take - he lugged & I phone snapped. Now she knows exactly which tech she wants to get forensic on!
Report with various numbers & next step suggestions sent, & recipient charmingly positive about it.

I do like waking up in bed, then lying there reading.
Only picked up a cornet 13 weeks ago. Just enthralled. Then bewildered & irate at myself as it’s my lip & lungs that make either (a) glorious sound or (b) a demented squeak, or worst (a) sliding into (b). [Didn’t make the cut for performance, fair enough.]
Tenor horn joined us played & at the end had the grace to check “which piece were we playing?” as he’d finished 7 bars early. Bless the man, on a slightly twitchy morning, we laughed like drains (as he had been diligently playing a completely different piece, just in the same key.)
A good afternoon at weaving museum, used a mixture of Google reverse lookup, social media & simple lucky timing to identify the approximate vintage of a scrap of embroidered silk. Found in a bags of scraps in a local school decades ago so no provenance but beautifully & frugally worked.
Weaving museum will be open again today (in my absence as I’m preparing for the week teaching through a cold germ) & I suspect some of the conversation will be Eurovision! & whether one point or more or less humiliating than nul.

I have a cold so while I drew up the shopping list, Middleson went all 'public health' on me & took Youngest shopping. The active ingredient I wanted (phenylephrine hydrochloride) they bought as Lemsip, along with a bag of Jakemans lozenges & a box of chocolates! Gosh, they have seriously pragmatic approaches to patient care.
As my skull fills with thick fluid, Youngest is figuring how to make ginger cordial & I have to explain what zest is… I remain hideously fortunate despite this cold. “Do we have citric acid?” (Dear Gods, yes, but I wouldn’t care to guess how old & anyway why add a preservative to a brew I intend to ingest in the next 6 days.)
Miword the Black Harpic really does shift drains! Youngest sent off with it, as a challenge. With “Read the Instructions!”…
The cold means I cannot scout or go to band practice but with shrewdly timed medication still deliver training.
Rewatching Sherlock mostly for the domestic barney that wasn’t quite “ The problems of your past are your business. The problems of your future are my privilege” which just has me swooning a bit. Whilst also unpacking quite a lot about why John is how he is, which a lot of Sherlock stories ignore, using him as narrator not character.

Sis has bought “age defying mascara” & I am nearly falling off the chair laughing (then coughing).

Health, Strength, Love, & Courage to all as have need, plus abundant layers as the weather is being impressively indecisive.

ampersand

Busy, busy - so much of late. Just some osps.

1. Found an unknown2& Tim Winton book of short stories and left it for friend. & has persuaded R to him, with the glorious 'Dirt Music' and she is delighted.
2. Now darkening up on ykw, The Gallops, where new mob. has more or less allowed & to join a zoom meeting@1930h. That's a first!
3. Crochet teddy still being finished - eyebrows, nostrils, smile beneath muzzle done pre-Zoom mtg. Rainbow jacket faffing continues.
4. Some excellent discount Tuesday treats at Food Warehouse delivered to Nexus, where a lovely little hessian sachet bag with provençale motif front was &'s for 20p!
5. Another mixed weather day, but safe, dry, busy, and😋custard tarted.......

Bonne nuit - NO! Wretched autocorrect - not 'unit'.

Kia Kaha Arohanui.

Lainey - hope you've seen handsome free Flat Racing preview magazine in emporium. They're along the big shelves beyond the tills.

DundeeDoll

just back from a super weekend in Oban

1. excellent buses from Dundee to Glasgow then Glasgow to Oban (and free so very mse)
2. excellent guest house - shared a twin room with mum - very comfortable on the esplanade
3. Saturday day trip on the Waverley (world's last seagoing paddle steamer) - we steamed round little Colonsay and Staffa - they played some of Mendelssohn when we went past Fingal's Cave, and we got out at Tobermory for a walk along the famous street
4. Sunday we explored the town including the museum and a fab walk through the edge of the witches' wood evensong then an amazing fish platter for two - we had bibs and gloves and implements to crack the crabs' claws - lish
5. and now just back from an amazing night of footie with MrG and DrM - DrM bought me a very nice whisky - 16 year Lagavulin

mhagster

DD Oban is one of my very favourite places as is Mull.

Good morning! Cranked the iPad with enough battery to do this and then check on the latest news!

For Tuesday. Up early.

Went to supermarket. Everything is just so blooming expensive! But I’ve plenty in my freezer so should just use that more! Got a couple of RTC items.

Home and started a list of chores. Hoovering. Bathroom. It was so blooming cold again. Put the heating on for a wee bit and had to hang up washing on clothes horses which I loathe both in the month of May!

Went round to see DD2 for a couple of hours with the doggy boys. The Pup had been for his dog walker walk from mine. So was dropping him off.

Home and sat and read for a long while.

Dinner of gammon joint I’d cooked in slow cooker and I’ll make soup with the remains today.

Chat to friend on phone.

And read and read until I finished my library book.

Admiral_Barbarossa

Just around the corner!

Ohhhh, DfV Shocks and Scares ISA! That bee the weigh, tax man does not get his mitts on it!

PM2DD Save a fortune as Wembley trip is off!

I nows I is bin not around but I has two much work on at the docks. Just had a trip to another docks back inn February! Can yous guess where!

Think I shall bee telling the Harbore Master that he can go and … shortly! See Shocks and Scares above!

On other things, good news will be incoming soon, keep your iiiiiiiiiii peeled!

Buzby is still sending out vibes butt the change on the emoji prevents sending out …

ampersand

1. This is the little hessian bag acquired yesterday for 4 shillings.😁 Love it.

2. Frith's elder son's h-m spoon is back in service again. Lemon and mandarin marmalade to follow.

3. Still in Town of Gown after 3hrs in bank, sorting out Anglian Water mixups, yet again. Bank's H had his own horror story. We exchanged grim details.😁 Compare and contrast....😄

4. Also from Nexus yesterday, this for friend's daughter, who turned 18 last week. It's beautiful.

5. Did & have some leftover champagne, still in perfect order, as well as her black green tea during marmalade prep. this morning? Surely not!😁😋🍾☕

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Mhags - small A5 pkt en route in coming week.

Frith - loved your embarrassed swimming squirrel.😄

mhagster

Can she zoomily write some OSP with 3 % battery?

Up early. Weird dreams. Glad to be up!

Hoovered upstairs and then headed round to DD2. Such a chilly and damp morning!

Rain…so much rain but then the sun did come out late afternoon.

Video chat with birthday boy great nephew.

Chat to sister.

Snoozette.

Frith

Pleasures for today (Wednesday)

1)Not a bad sleep.

2) Spent 5 hours gardening. Mowed the grass, cut all round the edges, weeded and pulled blanket weed out of the pond.

3) Made part baked rolls for lunch then homemade pizza and chips for tea plus apple strudel (yesterday's) with custard.

4) Have come on a work survey with my brother, near Tewkesbury.