NST September 2020: the turtles do the Hokey Cokey

Toni'sfriend

Still on NSD No 8

Sent Himself to the local shop for milk. It lasts much longer than having it delivered from the supermarket.

Still raining. Gail force winds. Definitely a day for staying in

f0xh0les

Sunny far too hot day here.  3 loads of laundry on the line already. Floors mopped and cleaned and the house tidied.

Leek and cheese orzotto for lunch, with apple crumble or dutch apple pie.  Everyone fed and happy.

Waiting for the kitchen floor to dry,  with a cup of tea, and a lot of men on bicycles.  The 'Have you done your homework yet?' conversation has been had about a thousand times, and so far one of them has finished.  To be fair, only one of them had started. DS 2 did do his own laundry and hung it out on the line. So I am taking that as a parenting win.  He has been handed over the job of his own laundry now.  I am imposing an under 16s only bar for  my laundry services, and even then it is because they can't make enough laundry in a week to fill my massive machine on their own.  DH is exempt from this.

Toni'sfriend

Goodness, f0xh0les, I'm still doing the Boy's laundry and he's 36 and has a flat of his own!!!! Should have been stricter earlier. Sun? There's a gale blowing and a mini monsoon out here.

f0xh0les

23 degrees currently @Toni'sfriend  and 26 for tomorrow. 

Toni'sfriend

F0xh0les - Freezing here and we might need a boat to go out. Actually no - we're not really allowed to go out.

ditty1234

Hi just to say I'm grateful that my ds was so happy going back to uni, dropped him off today. And so scared about delivering my first online teaching session tomorrow morning with new students. I am struggling massively with planning and structuring in general and for lessons in particular. Probably won't sleep much. 

mothernerd

Awake early, talked myself into going into town. Saw swans swimming in the canal and have noted locations of rosehips, 4 willow trees with easy to cut branches to use instead of buying bamboo (a couple have already had a section 'felled' so lots of horizontal branches at knee to waist level. Also nut trees (already had a crab apple in my sights) and lots of greenery for autumn/ winter wreaths and decorations, a very good pallet and a skip with several useful items - may be worth nipping in the shop as they do pvc windows and the ones stacked at the side with probably be chucked in the skip this week - would be cheaper for them to deliver them to me for a makeshift greenhouse (don't ask where I'm going to get all the energy to do these things).

Posted my poo sample (those poor people - they had to write in the instructions for people not to send them 'extra' poo). Knocked on the window to say hello to DS3 and then went round to the back. The weed forest hasn't sprung back but there are several areas in need of chopping back. Took all the link-a-bord planks out from under the garden table (10 + one corner and one straight joint). Have 6 in use here so all accounted for, need to do a count of the joints here as I believe some have been broken over the years, before I order the new ones. I'm intending to paint the old black ones to match/ tone with the new blue ones. Made a quick list of all the garden items I still want to bring here (going to use the bin on the dolly truck and fill with as many other items as I can).

Then went to Will co again. Had done an on-line order but couldn't find my wallet when I got to the checkout page so I decided to go to the store (last Monday they had some of the grey 'handy pots' I've been buying throughout the year, no longer sold online and wondered whether I should get them - available in 30, 40 and 50 diameter and a tall pot which takes up less room than others and a water retaining bit at the bottom). Pots had gone (found them elsewhere later but they are getting ready to disappear that whole section in favour of Halloween and then the elf fest - already had those tins of sweets and biscuits out) but got most of the items on my extensive list including a metal pencil sharpener, 2 buckets (mum has one and it's a mess - been used 2 years on the run for fence painting etc) and a big bag of compost. Sat on their bench to rearrange my trolley then set off for the bridge. Not many people about (only a few shops do Sunday opening - retail parks may be a different story) so a quiet trip but very tiring (sore feet).

Watched Sense and Sensibility and Casablanca and did lots of sewing. Yesterday was a bit fraught, at one point I was doing the 'I will not cry, I will not feel sorry for myself' mantra. Decided to have a break from lavender bags. I'm using up scraps of trimmings and felt that other people didn't want (some thin budget stuff and 'difficult' colours) and none of them went with each other. I don't mind spending a few hours making something 'special' from scraps of leftover fabric, trimmings and other bits but not prepared to spend time and energy producing something that looks 'wrong', During the tidying up (been going for several days now) I did find some part finished embroidered scraps. Although they are a bit complicated I enjoyed doing them and the finishing bits were easy in places. Lots of sorting done but it still looks a mess (won't take much but need to be a bit further on).

Grateful for seeing swans, lots of useful items to forage, getting things done, weather being good (a bit too hot for me)

apple_muncher

Ditty -hope tomorrow's session goes well. Sock it to 'em!

Today I am grateful for a good night's sleep, for dd's ever improving skateboarding skills, for those cycling men (though how they pick themselves up and carry on cycling after some of the splats they do is beyond me!), for reconnecting with an old friend, for chatting with some neighbours.

f0xh0les

Mothernerd, are you walking up and over the bridge that is near the Fireplace Shop?  I always imagine you are, and that the canal is the bit  where all the house boats are.  I might just be imagining it though.

I have just rewatched The Lost Boys with DS3, lovely film. He liked it.  I am going to start methodically watching the dvds we have and reject all those which are rubbish. There is bleep all else on tv at the moment. I  will use my time wisely.

mothernerd

I went via the Pilling street bridge but I turn back along the other canal bank and go as far as Welch mill carpets, then cross Twist Lane (facing the fireplace shop that sells wood burning stones). I came back over the main road bridge (changes from King St to St Helen's road) as I was pushing a full trolley. The next crossing further up (heading towards Manchester) is the Mather Lane bridge and that's the best place to see the canal boats (Bedford St Basin). One of DS2's friends lived on a boat there (I think the family actually owned the basin. His dad used to have the contract for clearing the canal (fishing out trolleys, bikes and once a nearly brand new waste paper bin which he donated to the kids school. They had the boat they lived on - one year they had a sabbatical and travelled all across Europe - and their other boat (the Womble) was a double wide flat barge which he used for clean up jobs and was also featured on television - a police series and in one of the early episodes they were chasing a gang in a car , turned a corner and ended up upside down on a barge (that was Womble).

My grandma lived further down the canal and her friend lived on the estate I walk through if coming back via the streets. Grandma always thought there should be a bridge straight across from the end of her friends street (where I went up the steps onto the canal bank) to the end of Welch mill street - would have saved me a big U shaped diversion this morning. I had to hold on the rail to help pull myself up over Pilling Street bridge as my knee gave way 3 times (it's another bit of me that is going to be arthritis in a few years).