- Ventilation system working. Air now seems very fresh. Wish it was a bit warmer but weather has turned really cold.
- Went into town this morning to get hair cut. Had quick whizz round shops buying stuff I needed to make quince cheese which at this moment is bubbling away filling the kitchen with a wonderful smell. If you've never smelt a quince cooking you just have to. (When it said in the 'Riverside Cottage Handbook on Preserving', which I got from the library, that you cook them to a pulp it didn't mention that it takes several hours to get to a pulp.) Felt a bit impatient when shopping because people kept being where I wanted to be & on the scooter I can't just sneak in & get what I want. In Tescos my way was blocked by what looked like a student scrutinising the ingredients on a packet of sugar. I felt like saying: 'It's sugar, that's all it contains - just sugar, now hurry up & move.' But I didn't.
- As I went to cross the road outside Tescos a man was leaning in a car window & yelling 'Why don't you read the Highway Code & give way to pedestrians?' while the man in the car yelled back something along the lines of why couldn't he be a bit quieter. Nice.
- Had a bit of a disaster with the freezer. P had said there was a slot in the door into which you could put ice blocks, I put in an ice block. As it froze it expanded & pushed the door open & everything started to thaw. So a load of our food has had to be thrown out. Is it worth claiming on the insurance? Do they cover idiotic mistakes due to misinformation?
- Quince should be turning pink by now? Why isn't it pink???
Friday 22 October 2010
Quick update
Monday 18 October 2010
The Boys Are Back!
They're back! The long-tailed tits that is, who go off & hide in forests in summer then as winter approaches come back to our fat balls. I affectionately call them The Boys. I love them, they're so delicate & beautiful. I suppose this means it's the end of summer, although yesterday it was quite nice & sunny. There are also a couple of coal tits using our feeder, these are apparently quite rare. I thought they were just messed-up great tits until P put me right.
Saturday 16 October 2010
Church
This is what has happened at our church. Our minister has stopped being a paid minister & has taken a full time job. He feels he has a call to tell people about God back in his old line of work. He is planning to still run the church on an unpaid very part-time basis, most of what was his work being done by the leadership & members of the church. This was a major shock to us all, some people responded positively, some negatively, quite a lot just confused. At the moment we are having a six month trial to see if it works.
As part of this a new Pastoral Care Team has formed of which I'm a member. We're in charge of making sure the sick & needy people get the help they need. The others are a really nice group of people & I enjoy meeting with them but to be honest I feel already a bit over-burdened by it & concerned that a situation could arise which I can't handle. There's also a part of me which thinks 'I'm sick, I need help.'
Anyway we are just going to have to wait & see how it all works out.
As part of this a new Pastoral Care Team has formed of which I'm a member. We're in charge of making sure the sick & needy people get the help they need. The others are a really nice group of people & I enjoy meeting with them but to be honest I feel already a bit over-burdened by it & concerned that a situation could arise which I can't handle. There's also a part of me which thinks 'I'm sick, I need help.'
Anyway we are just going to have to wait & see how it all works out.
Prayer evening
This is what happened about the prayer evening.
Back in April we organised a 'Pudding & Prayer Evening'. This was generally considered to be very successful, well attended, people both had a good time & did some praying. People were saying we should do another one. Settled on a date - October 15th. Advertised it well in advance. Wrote article in church magazine about it. Hardly anyone signed up. I decided to cancel it. Last Sunday had sermon on prayer. At end after quickly whispering to me someone stood up & said we shouldn't be cancelling prayer evening & we would hold a meeting on Friday without any of the pudding or displays or anything. After the service someone came up & said we didn't need displays we just needed prayer meetings & I should organise one a month. Someone else came up & said if we didn't have puddings & displays she wasn't coming. Ok. I went home & planned what we would do - meet in classroom, have maybe a couple of displays, try to stick to original agenda to some extent. Meanwhile without telling me person who had stood up in church sent out email saying it would be in the church & we could pray about anything & she & I would pray with people if they wanted. Arranged to meet her half an hour before meeting. Got there 15 mins late, she was even later & she had key. Struggled to get cd player working & candles lit. About 18-20 people turned up & it went very well & we prayed with several people. Said prayer to finish it then someone stood up & said cos it was in the church he hadn't been able to hear what we were saying & wouldn't it be better to have held it in the classroom? Person who was helping arrange it had to rush off to dinner engagement. Someone said we should do it every week. By then felt exhausted. To my surprise everyone then went leaving Becky & me to switch off lights & shut doors. As Becky couldn't work out how to switch off heating this meant I had to walk back round the church which really was too much for my feet. We then realised that side door had been opened with key in such a way we couldn't shut it so had to summon person back from her dinner to lock it.
Woke up this morning feeling it was really, really good that we had been able to meet together but annoyed that I'd been left to switch everything off & annoyed too that all those people hadn't signed up for original evening.
Somehow all this has made me feel a bit stressed.
Back in April we organised a 'Pudding & Prayer Evening'. This was generally considered to be very successful, well attended, people both had a good time & did some praying. People were saying we should do another one. Settled on a date - October 15th. Advertised it well in advance. Wrote article in church magazine about it. Hardly anyone signed up. I decided to cancel it. Last Sunday had sermon on prayer. At end after quickly whispering to me someone stood up & said we shouldn't be cancelling prayer evening & we would hold a meeting on Friday without any of the pudding or displays or anything. After the service someone came up & said we didn't need displays we just needed prayer meetings & I should organise one a month. Someone else came up & said if we didn't have puddings & displays she wasn't coming. Ok. I went home & planned what we would do - meet in classroom, have maybe a couple of displays, try to stick to original agenda to some extent. Meanwhile without telling me person who had stood up in church sent out email saying it would be in the church & we could pray about anything & she & I would pray with people if they wanted. Arranged to meet her half an hour before meeting. Got there 15 mins late, she was even later & she had key. Struggled to get cd player working & candles lit. About 18-20 people turned up & it went very well & we prayed with several people. Said prayer to finish it then someone stood up & said cos it was in the church he hadn't been able to hear what we were saying & wouldn't it be better to have held it in the classroom? Person who was helping arrange it had to rush off to dinner engagement. Someone said we should do it every week. By then felt exhausted. To my surprise everyone then went leaving Becky & me to switch off lights & shut doors. As Becky couldn't work out how to switch off heating this meant I had to walk back round the church which really was too much for my feet. We then realised that side door had been opened with key in such a way we couldn't shut it so had to summon person back from her dinner to lock it.
Woke up this morning feeling it was really, really good that we had been able to meet together but annoyed that I'd been left to switch everything off & annoyed too that all those people hadn't signed up for original evening.
Somehow all this has made me feel a bit stressed.
My week
This is a summary of my week:
Sunday - complicated situation at church, got beaten by J at Monopoly again
Monday - did washing then sat sorting out paperwork all morning while cleaner came. Had quite difficult conversation in which she said she likes working with me but she feels very anxious because she feels P doesn't like her moving his stuff & she feels all she does is move stuff from one place to another & isn't really getting the place tidy & she hasn't enough to do. The first two facts are undeniably true, not so sure about the second as if she hasn't got enough to do I'd have thought she'd have cleaned underneath the bathroom taps. I'm really sorry she's feeling bad & I really don't want to lose her. The trouble is she sometimes has this tendency to throw things away which we consider useful & to pile things in the loft so they squash other more delicate things. In fact we do go through the rubbish after she's gone. But I really, really don't want to lose her.
J feeling so ill went straight to bed after school.
Tuesday - felt really rough, lot of pain, got email to say someone at church in hospital, had to make a couple of calls to let someone know, felt better later, managed to cook dinner
Weds - took Mavis to coffee morning where was harangued by an elderly lady over the fact that we had the 'wrong' tune to the Harvest Hymn. Like it's my fault??? Did Becky's washing. Picked up J from chess club & drove in to pick up P & take J to piano lesson
Thurs -am tidied work-top, pm verbally attacked by Jehovah's Witnesses
Fri - tidied, went to doctors for injection & also took Mavis for appointment, she has host of medical problems. Wrote them out as a list for doctor. Worried that some of them may be serious. She's also suffering from depression. Taking her back again next week. Went with P to look at furniture & buy some DIY stuff. Picked up J from half way bus-stop. As soon as got home got into an hour-long phone conversation with someone who used to come to our church who is very unhappy about present situation. At same time made some flapjacks for coffee morning next day. Accidentally put in too much butter. Quickly ate dinner. Went to prayer meeting in evening.
I just sort of feel I seem to be responding to everyone else's needs & demands at the moment. I need some fun.
Sunday - complicated situation at church, got beaten by J at Monopoly again
Monday - did washing then sat sorting out paperwork all morning while cleaner came. Had quite difficult conversation in which she said she likes working with me but she feels very anxious because she feels P doesn't like her moving his stuff & she feels all she does is move stuff from one place to another & isn't really getting the place tidy & she hasn't enough to do. The first two facts are undeniably true, not so sure about the second as if she hasn't got enough to do I'd have thought she'd have cleaned underneath the bathroom taps. I'm really sorry she's feeling bad & I really don't want to lose her. The trouble is she sometimes has this tendency to throw things away which we consider useful & to pile things in the loft so they squash other more delicate things. In fact we do go through the rubbish after she's gone. But I really, really don't want to lose her.
J feeling so ill went straight to bed after school.
Tuesday - felt really rough, lot of pain, got email to say someone at church in hospital, had to make a couple of calls to let someone know, felt better later, managed to cook dinner
Weds - took Mavis to coffee morning where was harangued by an elderly lady over the fact that we had the 'wrong' tune to the Harvest Hymn. Like it's my fault??? Did Becky's washing. Picked up J from chess club & drove in to pick up P & take J to piano lesson
Thurs -am tidied work-top, pm verbally attacked by Jehovah's Witnesses
Fri - tidied, went to doctors for injection & also took Mavis for appointment, she has host of medical problems. Wrote them out as a list for doctor. Worried that some of them may be serious. She's also suffering from depression. Taking her back again next week. Went with P to look at furniture & buy some DIY stuff. Picked up J from half way bus-stop. As soon as got home got into an hour-long phone conversation with someone who used to come to our church who is very unhappy about present situation. At same time made some flapjacks for coffee morning next day. Accidentally put in too much butter. Quickly ate dinner. Went to prayer meeting in evening.
I just sort of feel I seem to be responding to everyone else's needs & demands at the moment. I need some fun.
Technology
I've just picked what's probably the last of the blackberries to put in the freezer. We've just got a new fridge-freezer which is really nice. Our previous one had a freezer which was really too small with flap down drawers. Everything was crammed in so when I opened it it all came tumbling out & I had a struggle to get it back in. This one has drawers you can lift out (& even get back in again) so is much more civilised. The only problem was that although it should have fitted in the gap left by the other one it didn't. Poor P went through a painful process of pushing & shoving similar to childbirth in reverse before resorting to moving the electric socket & shaving a bit off the wall.
It was worth the effort cos it's lovely.
What P is now working on is the heat recovery system. This is a ventilation system which takes the heat out of the air & pumps it back in with clean air. This will mean we won't have to open the windows so the house should be warmer. In theory.
It was worth the effort cos it's lovely.
What P is now working on is the heat recovery system. This is a ventilation system which takes the heat out of the air & pumps it back in with clean air. This will mean we won't have to open the windows so the house should be warmer. In theory.
Blackberries & cake
The cake, I can testify, does taste a bit sickly.
Today I feel not all that well which is possibly partly due to having had a tetanus/polio/diphtheria jab yesterday. This was because when I was blackberrying recently a bramble tore into my leg & I suddenly thought 'When did I last have a tetanus booster? 1985!!!'
I've picked a lot of blackberries this year, we've had an enormous crop. I've made several crumbles & a couple of blackberry puddings, which is like a sweet batter on top of blackberries baked in the oven & yummy. I think I've got a video of our blackberries somewhere.
Today I feel not all that well which is possibly partly due to having had a tetanus/polio/diphtheria jab yesterday. This was because when I was blackberrying recently a bramble tore into my leg & I suddenly thought 'When did I last have a tetanus booster? 1985!!!'
I've picked a lot of blackberries this year, we've had an enormous crop. I've made several crumbles & a couple of blackberry puddings, which is like a sweet batter on top of blackberries baked in the oven & yummy. I think I've got a video of our blackberries somewhere.
Serious about losing weight?
Today P & I started a weight loss contest. Every Saturday we will have a weigh in & plot the results on a graph. This was my suggestion as P is insisting he's losing weight but if he's really losing as much as he says he is he'd be invisible by now. This morning I discovered he weighs a whole 4 stone more than me.
Later this morning we went off to a fund-raising coffee morning in the village. This is what P bought:
Later this morning we went off to a fund-raising coffee morning in the village. This is what P bought:
Thursday 14 October 2010
Jehovah's Witnesses!
I'm sitting here shaking & my heart's beating fast. Why? Because I've just had the Jehovah's Witnesses round & one of them just lost it. It was cos I was asking why the Watchtower had predicted the world would end in 1925 & it didn't so how could they be the one true channel for God's light if they made false prophecies & she started shouting at me. She did apologise but they're only coming back if I phone her. I'm not sure I will phone her. They're taking up so much of my time & while she's obviously a bit rattled I'm not sure I'm getting anywhere. Just have to pray about it.
Wednesday 13 October 2010
Not so sunny
Where's the sunshine gone? Today I feel cold.
Have been watching some of the miners coming out, it's so moving.
J woke me up ridiculously early this morning as he had to hand in some homework before school as he should have handed it in yesterday but forgot & if he didn't get it in on time he'd get a bad half term report. I thought with us leaving early there wouldn't be any traffic but it was just as bad.
Yesterday he had a French assessment for which they had written a passage then memorised it then had to stand in front of the class & say it. J said he was shaking beforehand but some of them were crying & one boy just couldn't manage it. The French teacher this year is pretty scary apparently. She is however raising the standard of their work considerably. This morning I asked 'Don't you have a German assessment this half term?' 'Oh, yes it's today, I'd forgotten.' Quick last minute revision in the car. German teacher obviously not nearly so scary.
There are some people in the village who leave out their windfall apples in a box for people to take. This morning there were some quinces in the box. I took some & am wondering what to do with them. My mum used to make quince jelly, should I try that? Or pickled quince? Or poached quince?
Part of the reason I am getting more into cooking is because I have now got a cleaner so the kitchen is a lot more clean, tidy & organised which makes the whole cooking scene a lot easier. Plus I can just bung everything in the dishwasher afterwards. There are however some stressful aspects about having a cleaner. I'll talk about that another time. Right now I've got to get Becky's washing out of my machine (her's has broken down) & pop a pizza in the oven.
Have been watching some of the miners coming out, it's so moving.
J woke me up ridiculously early this morning as he had to hand in some homework before school as he should have handed it in yesterday but forgot & if he didn't get it in on time he'd get a bad half term report. I thought with us leaving early there wouldn't be any traffic but it was just as bad.
Yesterday he had a French assessment for which they had written a passage then memorised it then had to stand in front of the class & say it. J said he was shaking beforehand but some of them were crying & one boy just couldn't manage it. The French teacher this year is pretty scary apparently. She is however raising the standard of their work considerably. This morning I asked 'Don't you have a German assessment this half term?' 'Oh, yes it's today, I'd forgotten.' Quick last minute revision in the car. German teacher obviously not nearly so scary.
There are some people in the village who leave out their windfall apples in a box for people to take. This morning there were some quinces in the box. I took some & am wondering what to do with them. My mum used to make quince jelly, should I try that? Or pickled quince? Or poached quince?
Part of the reason I am getting more into cooking is because I have now got a cleaner so the kitchen is a lot more clean, tidy & organised which makes the whole cooking scene a lot easier. Plus I can just bung everything in the dishwasher afterwards. There are however some stressful aspects about having a cleaner. I'll talk about that another time. Right now I've got to get Becky's washing out of my machine (her's has broken down) & pop a pizza in the oven.
Tuesday 12 October 2010
Lovely sunny weather
We're having such nice weather at the moment. Just like summer all over again.
Both P & J have bad colds. J felt really rough this morning but went into school as he has set his sights on getting an attendance prize at the end of the year. All the lying on my bed groaning that he felt ill this morning meant we left late when we really needed to leave early as he had to put his cookery ingredients into the fridge on the way to form. Despite a bad traffic jam he got in just on time & came home proudly carrying a tray of tuna vegetable bake. This he ate himself tonight while we ate chicken tikka marsala cooked by me for a change! Well with the aid of a jar of curry sauce. I think I did pretty well though & it gave P an evening off.
P also has kept going to work despite being unwell as there's too much going on to miss he says. He's working different hours now - he does 4 long days & then has a day off. This means he's getting a bit more time to work on the house. As a result we now have a little porch so you can ring our doorbell without getting soaking wet if it's raining.
I'm going to have to stop cos I'm tired - too much cooking!
Both P & J have bad colds. J felt really rough this morning but went into school as he has set his sights on getting an attendance prize at the end of the year. All the lying on my bed groaning that he felt ill this morning meant we left late when we really needed to leave early as he had to put his cookery ingredients into the fridge on the way to form. Despite a bad traffic jam he got in just on time & came home proudly carrying a tray of tuna vegetable bake. This he ate himself tonight while we ate chicken tikka marsala cooked by me for a change! Well with the aid of a jar of curry sauce. I think I did pretty well though & it gave P an evening off.
P also has kept going to work despite being unwell as there's too much going on to miss he says. He's working different hours now - he does 4 long days & then has a day off. This means he's getting a bit more time to work on the house. As a result we now have a little porch so you can ring our doorbell without getting soaking wet if it's raining.
I'm going to have to stop cos I'm tired - too much cooking!
Monday 11 October 2010
I'm back!
I'm back in the blogosphere!
I just hope some of you come back & read this again.
I am writing this on our new little ex-display, nice & cheap & also nice & light laptop. This is because our other computer has been diagnosed as having the NVIDIA DEFECT. The Nvidia defect is very, very bad. It means that when your computer was manufactured a faulty chip was put into it & at a certain stage in its life it will overheat & stop working. Permanently. Ours has been temporarily patched together with a blob of solder but it is inevitably going to fail & then that's it. Apparently they already knew this chip was faulty before we bought our computer so we are looking into trying to get our money back.
Anyway I hope you're all well.
I'm not going to write much tonight as had long, tiring & rather stressful day. I'm mulling over a couple of situations & wondering how to handle them.
Will write a bit more tomorrow
I just hope some of you come back & read this again.
I am writing this on our new little ex-display, nice & cheap & also nice & light laptop. This is because our other computer has been diagnosed as having the NVIDIA DEFECT. The Nvidia defect is very, very bad. It means that when your computer was manufactured a faulty chip was put into it & at a certain stage in its life it will overheat & stop working. Permanently. Ours has been temporarily patched together with a blob of solder but it is inevitably going to fail & then that's it. Apparently they already knew this chip was faulty before we bought our computer so we are looking into trying to get our money back.
Anyway I hope you're all well.
I'm not going to write much tonight as had long, tiring & rather stressful day. I'm mulling over a couple of situations & wondering how to handle them.
Will write a bit more tomorrow
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