NST SEPTEMBER 2026

f0xh0les

You have to remember this whole 'showhouse' tidy nonsense was created to keep women in the home after WW2 and give the paid jobs back to the men. They made unrealistic expectations for domestic servitude the norm, then sold 'time saving gadgets' off the back of it, whilst encouraging everyone to consume consume consume! Proto-Feminist Rant Over.

More stuff = more time spent tidying. The same goes for menfolk. More menfolk, more s0dding mess to tidy.

Work was worky, I can't say anything else good about it. I missed out on 2 hours overtime. I am not impressed. Productivity should not be rewarded with less pay. Grrr

So was home early, knocked up a loaf, made a blueberry crumble tart, washed up, heated veg stew, ate with DS1,2,3&4 ( aka The Numbers) and shouted at the TV when Garribaldi went to Z'ha'dum to rescue Sheridan (the total muppet). Iykyk 😂

Gratitudes, free blueberries in the freezer, ys pastry in the freezer, work for this week, got a payslip from new employer for last weeks work.

DawnW

I have felt poorly for a few days but have managed to get some things done, and am feeling better today and going back to work 😊

Actually I was pretty much better yesterday which was good because I collected the GCs from school and gave them their choices of dinner afterwards. One wanted pesto pasta, easy, just cooked some pasta, mixed in pesto from the freezer and grated some cheese. The other wanted tuna pasta, which was a variation on the theme but with different ingredients 😄 I added peas and sweetcorn to both so that they had vegetables. They both had quiche for starter (I had made one earlier) which is a new favourite and also contains vegetables, and one finished off apple crumble from the fridge and the other had an ice cream from the freezer for dessert. Their Mum was pleased that they were full up (and had eaten vegetables) and would require only minimal additional feeding 😂. She had had a meeting after work, and was pretty tired.

OH and I both had tuna pasta too - we will eat pretty much anything. We will have some of the remaining quiche this evening, so an easy dinner tonight 😊

We had much needed rain yesterday. Crop plants in the garden are looking awful, but still producing, so I am leaving them in for now. It will soon be time to have a big clear up though.

In other news I paid a big bill for electrical work, and it looks as though more work will be needed 🙄

grandmanerd

f0xh0les, it was actually to get them back into the home as many women spent the war doing 'men's work - building planes, working the land etc. There werre also support structures such as canteens and childcare facilities which got dismantled very fast and then took us many years to get back (most European countries were faster than us). Child Benefit was introduced as a 'sop' to make it more palatable and media did a great job too. Books, magazines and comics no longer featured girls flying planes and the classic Hollywood film (think Mildred Pierce) women who worked and were successful, couldn't keep a man, their children hated them and they died alone and penniless. I actually liked Kathryn Hepburn and Barbara Stanwyk but my mother loved Doris Day (the screen persona not the real woman) and those women with the breathy baby voices. TV had I love Lucy (screwball mishap always getting into scrapes again very different from the real woman who paid for Star Trek to get of the ground). Rant over (or maybe just paused).

I had a good day yesterday. In the afternoon I completed a survey about the neighbourhood where I live with lots of questions about how rich/ poor I was growing up and prevalence of drinking, smoking, drugs and various forms of abuse. Realised this morning that I missed a couple out - I paused for a while because I couldn't think of specific incidents just uneasy feelings (around my parents friends) but yes those feelings were justified.

I have written a list of 'catch up' items and the list alone is enough to make me tired. However I have started all the tasks (some yesterday) so I'll pick one and do that and see how I go.

Grateful for lovely books, the library (would like to go) and bin men (DS3 came down with a huge bag late on and asked if I thought there was room for it (he sqaushed it in).

grandmanerd

Wednesday 9th September 2026

all from Positively Present

I know someone out there need to see one of these today. Maybe it's you

THE Words Someone doesn't say can be even louder then the ones they do

LOVE has ways of bringing things back to life (Taylor Swift)

SOMETIMES you just have to love someone from afar

FEELINGS don't always have to be mutual for them to be meaningful

f0xh0les

Sorry, @grandmanerd, that's what meant, trapping them back after they had been allowed the 'freedom of work' and keeping them there.

dizzyblnd

the world feels very doom and gloom at the moment and it’s so nice to be able to come and read your updates on here. It really feels like a community.

DawnW

No work today. OH wants to visit a hardware store in a neighbouring town to buy various woodworking sundries, so I will go with him and look around. I have a small shopping list (non hardware shop items) and will also check out the charity shops.

I also need to make pesto, probably the last of the season, and roast some accumulated courgettes, peppers and aubergines from the garden.

weenancyinAmerica

Think calming thoughts - think calming thoughts.

The heat is not helping - 32.5C. One more day and then it goes down. Trying to get some things accomplished as we are getting rid of car next week. Really hard in the heat though.

grandmanerd

On Wednesday I could barely walk. I decided the most important thing was to get the washing out on the line but this meant cooking and other planned activities did not happen. I did bring the washing in before nightfall but very little else got done. Mrs Builder came on Thursday (should have been Friday but sshe has to work in the shop), Whilst she worked her magic on the kitchen and shower room I tidied in the front room, helped by DS3. He was doing it because his friend was visiting today (she lives in China) and he cleared the couch so she had somewhere to sit.

His presence was partially helpful because I could ask him to bring things to me (a cube box to sort, the trolley and the concertina file). He thought I was making up 'concertina file' as he had never heard the word. However most of his 'tidying' consisted of putting things on the bureau (which I cleared last week) and late on he placed a pile of sorted trays in the space where the cube box had been (my aim was to clear the top of the drawers completely and put the 4 cube unit on top, 4 cube boxes worth of stuff neatly boxed is better than random items stacked there. It may not be their final placement but it gives more space to move things around especially as the bulk waste collection draws near.

Lots went out to various bins. I have nearly filled the top tier of the trolley - it holds all the small items (personal and medical) which keep cascading off the small table. I gave 3 items to Mrs Builder to take home and noticed today that the traffic cone had been collected. I got it as far as the concrete block by the car park entrance last week when I put the bin out for collection but didn't have the energy to take it across the car park to the Civic Square. However it seems to have been rounded up with all the construction fencing. The official opening is tomorrow and there are a number of activities. I'm not sure if I like it or not. The row of trees at the edge next to the car park has not been replaced (they never plant them deep enough and the roots disrupt the paving over the years. The planting looks a bit sparse but I think it's more self-sufficient and the Pete Shelley bench is back.

There are new wooden benches in front of the old town hall building (now the archives) and some interesting curved seating areas on the far side nearest the road but I fear it won't be fun on windswept days.

Today I walked to the library and got more books from the withdrawn section. I had picked some books but when I got to the self-service machine, it said I had to go to the counter. I couldn't face the walk to the bottom end of the library so picked from the free ones which don't need to be checked out. I moved a pile of bedding and random items and unpacked my new booster seat and placed it on my armchair. Then I put all the piled bedding back to prevent DS3 from colonising it.

I had a late afternoon nap as I was in pain and didn't want to take more painkillers. Not sure if I should get knee wraps for support, ask about having an injection (it didn't last long on my shoulder but those few weeks were a great relief) or it may be time for an operation (I'd like to delay that for as long as possible - I'm not resilient enough atm).

The nap helped (+ the arrangement of pillows wth my head and upper body on a gentle slope and my knees to ankles on another triangular wedge pillow). Bags of rubbish, paper, bottles and cans and soft plastics are growing steadily. I'm going to look through my list tomorrow to see if I can tick off more jobs.

Grateful for excellent books (I went to the library as I'm most of the way through the last of 3/ 17 books in a series), shuffling through random piles of paper and stuf producing results (the concertina file is for the mostly domestic things plus 'health' - contact details for all the clinics I need to visit), a therapeutic nap.

Shrewbie

Good morning turtles! just wanted to pop in and say hi. I am here with my pom poms following and cheering you all on… keep swimming!! Lots of love from Madrid xx