Bala, I reckon you are right about the garden saying, I only
popped out to do something and a flutter by was there in a minute.
1 I had to get on with a deep clean on the house it took a
while, if anyone’s planning on popping by, todays the day.
2 Used up fruit and created a nectarine and cherry smoothie,
dinner tonight might be me making chicken fillet unhealthy by putting
mozzarella and ham on it.
3 We are watching Those magnificent men in their flying
machines, old cars and inventions means DH is in his element.
4 Another kindle daily deal. This time a starless sea, I
loved the night circus, so we will see. Meantime I am still engrossed in the
other book.
Bit of a lie-in followed by usual saturday breakfast of boiled egg and soldiers.
Over to see my girl, bit of a pamper session with legs washed and feathers trimmed.
Home and Capt S had washed his car which inspired me to do the same, gave the interior a good clean too as lots of straw, horse feed and horse hair in it!
Tea was HM burgers and SP wedges.
Candle lit for a grieving family plus I had news of poorly loved ones so a healing green one for them as well.
1. A clean house. Flowers in vases. I think it makes it far more homely with flowers.
2.. A neighbour called round and gave me her keys for cat sitting services. A good catch up with her. They are going to France to stay with her family and she hasn't been in over a year so looking forward to going.
3. Started watching Virgin River and enjoyed the first couple of episodes.
4. Watched The Lions v S. Africa rugby. It will make the rest of the series interesting.
Yesterday I watched 2 baby seagulls testing their wings on a roof. They were all grey, spotted and downy. Must have been siblings. I got distracted for a few minutes and when I turned back there was only one. The other one must have learnt to fly.
Have a restful Sunday
bala
x
AKA : Bala La Boo & Bala Baloo
According to a lovely poster I am Bala the Brave who wrestled a Tiger. You know who you are.....
DundeeDoll - a cornetto elevenses sounds wonderful! Is it me or does a compliment have more oomph when from another who appreciates all the work? I do love the "birthday problem", mostly as it isn't. Oooh Greek salad sounds up there alongside cornetto! "another glorious day. started with housework and a bath" thank gods for punctuation. "friend’s Last drink before starting chemo" - wishing all involved all strength & health. Outlaws, Botanics & a good curry - splendid! Fresher weather - bliss.
Frith - the only upside of the bank faff is once it's done, it's done. Just 'Argh!' til then. Hurrah elder son jabbed. Them's not hollyhocks, they're Triffids going to Prom! And giving the fennel a nasty look... Himself opines eBay (only just) works as it doesn't pay NMW. Greggs - the things we do for love. "halloumi kebabs", yum! Wow home made ice-cream! It is hard when small people Do Not Take The Hint. So with you, Too Much Heat! What odds niece will try brass rubbing in the pool? When "All the young men baddies look like bigger son", it's time to send a sniffy email complaining of unimaginative casting. I quite see the Teutonic blond ideal is off the menu for a bit but really, there are so many variants to chose from. Did you know about the letters in red in the end credits? (I spend too long on IMDB!) 15 degrees cooler - oh thank heavens...
LaineyT - love the hurtling for the line drying. Small dog presents paw to be clipped and martyred expression!? (Oh my yearning-to-be-dog-owner Youngest, are you up to this?!) "goats cheese & mushroom salad" sounds delicious. Honeysuckle is generous - its green most of the time & it then flowers & smells. First cuddles with GN! Absolutely with you glad to see masks still being worn. Thunder with insufficient rain seems a lot of noise to no purpose. Likewise a lark but have fallen out of 6am habit without the commute. Ah, farm shop. I think a lot of traditionalists when it comes to cricket are prepared to put up with quite a bit to keep the game going. A washed car is admirable.
SuffolkSue - ((Hurrah the bonds paperwork!)) [Puts pitchfork back.] Dashed ping, but ah garden! Likewise happy memories. Ow, the should-have-been - it stings. Still many good decades, just.
ampersand - saw Bastille Day reminder & grieved. Madame Merle is beautiful! Woollen layers are allies. Splendid attaining of the vertical, no matter how brief. Aw visitor ignoring the cricket?! GreyQueen an advocate of cold steel to prevent recidivism, but her offenders have the unwisdom to be greedy by daylight. L'Empéreur joins you & prayed for person taking steps - pleasures indeed. What a flower! Every faith your olive will appreciate your work. Hadn't realised but OF Course Bumps will have had to be modified. Dash about cack & lost post.
VJsmum - the trousers still fit? Awed & trying not to be jealous, as you enjoy the exercise that makes this possible. Do you find watching ancestor hunting informs your own? I feel "Builder came back to re mastic the bath" could unpack to several paragraphs... The travel is a real test of affection in this weather. Zoom screensharing ancestry - ooh... Happy belated birthday Princess DD! That film is a family favourite - partly integrated into family language. Setting up a bottom drawer/hope chest - excellent. Cold shower sounds very welcome! Hugely deserved passed-viva-luncheon with bonus Eid celebrations. Hurrah DS having a day out.
bala - a picky seagull? Strewth. That's like having a unicorn visit! Bread is reliable... David Attenborough is spot on. Often less than 10 minutes. If anyone requires I do anything I can now say "Bala says to have a restful Sunday" & grin.
Happycas - "Peppa"? Ah. It could have been worse. When required to self isolate, Absolutely make the most of it. Wedding reception therefore portaloo - well, one has to be sensible. Baptiste I hadn't heard of but sounds intriguing. Unexpected bunting through the letterbox - What a treat to deliver! Decorator the right person to get the awkward corners... Ah family beach holiday, shattered parents, sand filled car - flashbacks! It is absolutely no fun to be self isolating & still expected to do the day job, glad DD is released!
mhagster - how is your hand now? A good colleague is a special pleasure. Boiling hot? Argh! 7 straight days in the heat? Awed. First sight of SIL in about 17 months - yes, so wonderful to reconnect. DD1 indefinite lockdown - frustrating. Dead right to eat out & enjoy. And with all work done to stop, don floaty thing & enjoy observing the garden & Rest? Back needed massage, but blimey well done on discount on TV. Then plant rescue & then painting an entire wall twice? In the heat? <Staggers off to refill the decanter. From the tap.> Oh gods, ring. [They do carry such freight.] More plants more domestic things - there are only 24 hours in a day for a reason! Snoozettes are lovely.
Purple kitten - well done with gardening & pottering. Hurrah tidying rewarded with summer sandals. Air-conned car sounds blissful! "magnificent men in their flying machines" - absolutely. Cleaning, Costco & Cox - there's pleasures! The right furniture is a joy. How much of the not coping well is post surgery & how much frank covid concern? We've been having some very careful conversations about the return to the office, not just the how, when, why, but also the fears which are as valid & difficult as the other concerns. I confess I'm a sucker for the clothes & those Moustaches!
PaulieHerts - absolutely enjoy that glorious garden! More photos of honeysuckle to look forward to! Wow, what glorious beach views!
procrastinator - we timed my French Exchange's visit to see That Dress being worn! Still remember her accent on "the Queen Meurm". A poetry course online? Intrigued, & sorry weekends are so hard.
villagelife - Jersey? Glorious! And a good photo of DS & Dad - yes special pleasure. A good book & sunshine - double the fun! Its the children isolating their parents that both reassures & terrifies me. DH not trusted with a needle & thread? Turning up trous not wholly womans work! Wonderful that a consultant says thanks. Hurrah DS! & well done on new job. Neighbour going to France to see family - how wonderful!
Nargleblast - belated happy birthday DS & wow, imagining rock choir giving I Wanna Dance with Somebody their full attention - that will sound (& I suspect look) Amazing! Thankyou for explaining groupchat - hadn't known we could & appalled being unplugged as used for bullying.
OS Pleasures recently
Finished morning class, got request for a lift to the hardware store (handle for the brass tilde I recall from school to shut windows with), & pies. Got back with 7 minutes before next meeting so pie tonight! [‘Man plans, God laughs.’ As for woman plans, well, it’s all more varied. Tilde (on varnished broomhandle) now in my office.]
About to shop, when youngest chirped on a distress frequency - he was wearing not matching trainers! Awed. Socks I’m used to but trainers? And he hadn’t realised?!
Packing to see mum for the first time in 16 months. There’s a Mother’s Day card wishing it “her happiest ever”, written in my first as a mother of two - Hallmark have a lot to answer for. Then there’s the flower arranging comb I pounced on in a charity shop (we’ll buy her flowers to arrange when we get down there) & little box of fluffy Easter chicks she so enjoys - a reminder we kept right on thinking of her and the family Easter traditions even then. A china mug with Eden Project sunflowers (from the tidyings) she liked by zoom. Dad? There’s a bar of chocolate. There’s a box with masks made for my aunt (& never posted!) & a tea towel with a Celtic prayer read at her brother, my uncle’s funeral way back before covid, bought from Belfast duty free as I waited to fly home. So many moments of time, shovelled into a bag for distribution… [Oh, and a clean T shirt. I was packed til my husband suggested it being hot several changes might be called for. I am not good at packing.]
You know how you hum, sometimes, waiting for the computer? Turns out I hum the Star Wars March & a colleague’s unthinking whistle is Ride of the Valkyries…
As I serenely pat at solitaire on my phone, my husband grouches about the decks of playing cards in a drawer less than a metre away. Reminding me of a colleague who snarled at the computer on his desk hogging much of his card playing space… (Within months, I was system supervisor & relocated that machine to another room filled with cheerful young things who promptly to put it to use.)
There is something outside that, from the clanking & rattling, must be agricultural - cars get MOT’ed Not to sound like that. Just it’s on the field by next door so I can hear it but not see it.
Last February I posted about the pleasure in knowing you are minutes away from a mum hug. This [OK, last] weekend, I will have driven 185 miles & 2 brave menfolk to Oxford that they may be seen by relatives, & I get the mum hugs in. There will also be my father & sisters, possibly even a great aunt, but somehow, it’s mum who matters. I don’t want to leave her even to buy flowers - I may brief Youngest carefully & send him off into the wilds with a mask & a treasury note. [Not quite how I planned, but mum happy - that’ll do.] I haven’t seen great aunt since that wild sprint to break the news of the lad & youngest hasn’t seen her in at least 3 years. [Aunt delighted by William Morris print masks & startled I personally made them.]
We’re here! So good to hug, so odd to feel dad’s shoulder bony & mum smaller & even more fragile than I remember. Whereas I much rounder, ahem.
Youngest is twitching about using a loo in earshot of Anybody - grandparents deaf as bricks without hearing aids, us his parents usually snoring - yet he’s twitching.
Photos with great aunt & uncle, group photos with greats, grandparents & aunts, all I need is them flanking the startlingly tall youngest & we’re good for photos. [Done!]
Fascinating chat about funerals with both parents. Much nearer to understanding what they want, even if darned if I know how to get your obituary written by the royal society. One hymn, one aria picked, (better than the previous generation’s “not, repeat not, Abide With Me” & otherwise blank slate, two really excellent orders of service for memorial services filed as worked examples of it done well - makes wedding planning look simple. They each have 2 people to ask unusual Christmas presents from “write a 1st draft of my obituary” before Easter… (Largely academics who appreciate deadlines.)
Book of ‘our first grandchild’ sighted & left strictly in place untouched. A photo album mostly, but I’m not going to wallow in what we have lost this weekend. One sudden violent row with sister quite enough emotional drama.
The first decent pint of tea in 48 hours! Honestly, alcohol can’t touch it for the reassuring, rehydrating, quite simply reviving voom. My parents’ tea is decaff, strong & served in normal teacups (the absolute antithesis of my at home brew, struggle to ‘get it right’ though mum does.)
Car held up distance admirably (a bit over half the length of England), passengers splendidly til we got to the supermarket…
Why is it less than a day after it feels like Months ago? The training load (teaching then studying) and zooming with my family - who are admirably distracted by bread-&-butter deliveries of Miracle Grow!
Your own bed has a special appeal. Says she lurching off to be unconscious again.
Popped over to mother-in-law’s & was sent to fetch a fish dinner. I had halloumi for the first time, & wow, cheese can squeak! My parents were toiling in the heat in the garden & got a telling-off in stereo by my sisters over zoom - when last I checked, they (parents) were supposed to be sensible!
On the way back, there was a stumper of a vehicle, with signage in Welsh. It was a snow plough, which is absolutely a masterpiece of off-season shopping…
Unwise to give husband a lift as he then demanded a loop around the supermarket, when we didn’t have any bags. Still he’s a happier man with the correct sort of brown sauce (& I have now stashed bags under the back seat).
How strange - just done an online survey about sauces! Pleaded for more car door friendly bottle shapes…
My cousin is a voice actress for Neil Gaiman! Someone in the Sandman audiobook, & her husband several New York voices likewise.
Himself is channelling his inner cat, sprawled in the sun, watching for the delivery van bringing his new Tilley hat. How the old one came to have a stab wound I have no idea but he’s had it since before children & earned the price doing an online interview, so apart from the wait, he’s happy! (With Tilley, to get a replacement as knackered you have to surrender the old one, & Himself is sentimental.)
I’m learning a new skill - Not Buying Denby! Difficult, but having a file of bits on my phone meant I could shrug away a handsome teapot with “got one”! Plus I was massively careful with Every piece & one chip turned out to be 3 (across 5 pieces) so I was able to walk away from the collection without whimpering.
Paused to get Himself’s preferred frozen fish (he’s a picky mortal) to find he’d sloped off to get a French stick for son’s evening meal. Definite ‘eh?’ moment but ‘French bread pizza’ is popular & will mop up various sources of temptation.
The special chirp Middleson makes when he finds the marshmallows I bought last week, that he condemned as inappropriate, and now plans to toast & enjoy with his mates. (It was a very charming apology.) [This morning a not-at-all charming hangover etc. He has the capacity of an eggcup, but keep trying. Youngest fortunately slept throughout.]
Youngest has been ordered out clothes shopping (the T shirts he still fits in are ones clearly familiar from the camping holiday 3 years ago) but to make sure, I bought half a dozen shirts in a buy-3-get-1-free at a charity shop wanting to shift stock. (Bless ‘em still fully covid secure with masks mandatory, limited client numbers & sanitiser at three points - they’re defending their volunteers tooth & nail! Rightly.) Either youngest will go about sharply dressed or I have the fabric to make a strip quilt. I can’t lose, as the quilt is practice and intended for the comfort & wellbeing of his future pup. Just I’ve never made one before. Shrug - it's for a puppy, not a museum!
Health, strength, love & courage to all as have need, masks, sanitiser & horse sense around you likewise and may this astonishing weather ease down a bit before I for one melt...
quick hello from Puckrup Hall - last of 3 nights in a hotel!!! Not at all an mse weekend but after 18 months a little relaxing of the purse strings in order for an organised group trip to the 3 choirs in Worcester 1) DD2 dropped mum and me at the station on Friday and the train journey was smooth, including the taxi waiting for us at Aschurch Station. Quick check in, freshen up and in time for start of fabulous talk introducing the three choirs festival from Dr Timothy Bairn, the chair while sipping prosecco - very civilised 2) then a lovely meal chatting to two others of our group - highly entertaining retired couple - actuary and barrister, the former a canary so we talked football 3) Saturday a swim in the hotel pool and a realisation the last time I swam was in Singapore Jan 2020 4) opening service at Worcester - music in church and my first singing for 18 months - brought a tear to many an eye 5) mum and I had lunch in the marquee on college hall green, a tour of the cathedral, a smooze in town then our first concert - clarinet quintets, very nice though strange to be sat non-distanced - we kept our masks on! 6) i persuaded mum that, rather than heading into town for dinner, we should have a cup of tea in the marquee, go to evensong, then back to the marquee for supper (very nice salad) before the evening concert - my beloved RFV with his Songs of Travel and Copeland's Fanfare for the common man were my highlight, but whole programme good 7) Sunday a trip to Harvington Hall and a yummy picnic in their grounds 8) then a choral concert - highlights were the Roderick Williams Shout O ye winds (premier) and Sumsion for me 9) and I bought an expensive (for me) necklace from the craft tent. I don't want to get rid of the lovely one my ex gave me but i also don't want that to be the only necklace I wear. The silversmith said I could have my wedding ring redesigned by a jeweller into a new piece which had never occurred to me - will give it some thought. 9) then an early dinner and a rather more modern concert - Smyth Chrysilla, Gabriel Jackson and Colin Matthews. It was the latter's first full rendition of The Great Journey for 25 years, and Colin was sat in the row in front of me. The piece was 'interesting'. I got told off by the gentleman for using my phone during the performance - i was i thought discretely looking at my programme which was on my phone. The gentleman did not object to others rustling their paper programmes. Sigh. 10) and now I'm enjoying some Olympics having had a super bubbly bath. Home tomorrow, later start - not sure if I'll go swimming as I'll end up of course with a wet cossie.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
1. We brought 2 new hens. They are lovely and one of them has already laid an egg.. Transferring them from box to chicken coop. One escaped - our neighbour was amused watching us trying to catch her. We succeeded in the end.
2. A trip to a supermarket - felt more people were wearing masks than last time I went.
3. Some gardening done between very heavy showers.
4. Made summer pudding which was very good. It has been a couple of years since I made it.
5. Chat with a neighbour and saw her grandson, who is very sweet.
That sounds wonderful DD ,I ,sadly ,know very little about music but some pieces have the ability to move me to tears .
Pleasures 1 Saturday passed ,a few phone calls but was on my own which suited me .
2 Two of his sisters sent me a yellow rose in a pot and 3 yesterday I went to the local garden centre and bought ‘Golden Wedding Anniversary’ rose for my new rose bed (just part of a flower bed being revamped)
4 In a bizarre and delightful synchronicity, the only post on Saturday was the initial report from the Brain Bank ! He had MSA. the specialist nurse and I were right and a senior consultant (not the Prof ) was wrong !Swear he is laughing at the timing . w 5 This may seem odd to some but I find it strangely comforting that,even if we’d known that earlier there is still nothing that could have been done / changed .There is no treatment at all . I was worried that they’d find something that could have been treated if diagnosed earlier ,but there are no ‘what ifs’
Thank you all for your thoughts and wishes ,I could feel it and it helps so much .
Replies
Bala, I reckon you are right about the garden saying, I only popped out to do something and a flutter by was there in a minute.
1 I had to get on with a deep clean on the house it took a while, if anyone’s planning on popping by, todays the day.
2 Used up fruit and created a nectarine and cherry smoothie, dinner tonight might be me making chicken fillet unhealthy by putting mozzarella and ham on it.
3 We are watching Those magnificent men in their flying machines, old cars and inventions means DH is in his element.
4 Another kindle daily deal. This time a starless sea, I loved the night circus, so we will see. Meantime I am still engrossed in the other book.
Bit of a lie-in followed by usual saturday breakfast of boiled egg and soldiers.
Over to see my girl, bit of a pamper session with legs washed and feathers trimmed.
Home and Capt S had washed his car which inspired me to do the same, gave the interior a good clean too as lots of straw, horse feed and horse hair in it!
Tea was HM burgers and SP wedges.
Candle lit for a grieving family plus I had news of poorly loved ones so a healing green one for them as well.
2.. A neighbour called round and gave me her keys for cat sitting services. A good catch up with her. They are going to France to stay with her family and she hasn't been in over a year so looking forward to going.
3. Started watching Virgin River and enjoyed the first couple of episodes.
4. Watched The Lions v S. Africa rugby. It will make the rest of the series interesting.
5. Raspberries from the garden are delicious.
Yesterday I watched 2 baby seagulls testing their wings on a roof. They were all grey, spotted and downy. Must have been siblings. I got distracted for a few minutes and when I turned back there was only one. The other one must have learnt to fly.
Have a restful Sunday
bala
x
According to a lovely poster I am Bala the Brave who wrestled a Tiger. You know who you are.....
I HAVE A GOLD STAR and A MEDAL and a Title !
Health, strength, love & courage to all as have need, masks, sanitiser & horse sense around you likewise and may this astonishing weather ease down a bit before I for one melt...
going to make macaroni for tea.
am all a flutter for when you get your puppy. Can't wait !
bala
x
According to a lovely poster I am Bala the Brave who wrestled a Tiger. You know who you are.....
I HAVE A GOLD STAR and A MEDAL and a Title !
1) DD2 dropped mum and me at the station on Friday and the train journey was smooth, including the taxi waiting for us at Aschurch Station. Quick check in, freshen up and in time for start of fabulous talk introducing the three choirs festival from Dr Timothy Bairn, the chair while sipping prosecco - very civilised
2) then a lovely meal chatting to two others of our group - highly entertaining retired couple - actuary and barrister, the former a canary so we talked football
3) Saturday a swim in the hotel pool and a realisation the last time I swam was in Singapore Jan 2020
4) opening service at Worcester - music in church and my first singing for 18 months - brought a tear to many an eye
5) mum and I had lunch in the marquee on college hall green, a tour of the cathedral, a smooze in town then our first concert - clarinet quintets, very nice though strange to be sat non-distanced - we kept our masks on!
6) i persuaded mum that, rather than heading into town for dinner, we should have a cup of tea in the marquee, go to evensong, then back to the marquee for supper (very nice salad) before the evening concert - my beloved RFV with his Songs of Travel and Copeland's Fanfare for the common man were my highlight, but whole programme good
7) Sunday a trip to Harvington Hall and a yummy picnic in their grounds
8) then a choral concert - highlights were the Roderick Williams Shout O ye winds (premier) and Sumsion for me
9) and I bought an expensive (for me) necklace from the craft tent. I don't want to get rid of the lovely one my ex gave me but i also don't want that to be the only necklace I wear. The silversmith said I could have my wedding ring redesigned by a jeweller into a new piece which had never occurred to me - will give it some thought.
9) then an early dinner and a rather more modern concert - Smyth Chrysilla, Gabriel Jackson and Colin Matthews. It was the latter's first full rendition of The Great Journey for 25 years, and Colin was sat in the row in front of me. The piece was 'interesting'. I got told off by the gentleman for using my phone during the performance - i was i thought discretely looking at my programme which was on my phone. The gentleman did not object to others rustling their paper programmes. Sigh.
10) and now I'm enjoying some Olympics having had a super bubbly bath. Home tomorrow, later start - not sure if I'll go swimming as I'll end up of course with a wet cossie.
1. We brought 2 new hens. They are lovely and one of them has already laid an egg.. Transferring them from box to chicken coop. One escaped - our neighbour was amused watching us trying to catch her. We succeeded in the end.
2. A trip to a supermarket - felt more people were wearing masks than last time I went.
3. Some gardening done between very heavy showers.
4. Made summer pudding which was very good. It has been a couple of years since I made it.
5. Chat with a neighbour and saw her grandson, who is very sweet.
Pleasures
1 Saturday passed ,a few phone calls but was on my own which suited me .
2 Two of his sisters sent me a yellow rose in a pot and
3 yesterday I went to the local garden centre and bought ‘Golden Wedding Anniversary’ rose for my new rose bed (just part of a flower bed being revamped)
4 In a bizarre and delightful synchronicity, the only post on Saturday was the initial report from the Brain Bank ! He had MSA. the specialist nurse and I were right and a senior consultant (not the Prof ) was wrong !Swear he is laughing at the timing .
w
5 This may seem odd to some but I find it strangely comforting that,even if we’d known that earlier there is still nothing that could have been done / changed .There is no treatment at all .
I was worried that they’d find something that could have been treated if diagnosed earlier ,but there are no ‘what ifs’
Thank you all for your thoughts and wishes ,I could feel it and it helps so much .