Lovely day!

So I am writing this before dashing out to the shops. This week has been good, weatherwise, so I am enjoying the last of it before it goes back to cold, wet and windy (winter's last fling, I hope) next week.

It is the seventh anniversary of the Crafts by Carolyn forum mid-March, and my own fifth anniversary on that forum too!

This calls for a celebration!

So I am offering Forum candy: any members of CbyC who drop by here 12th March will be eligible for a draw on 13th March. Please leave a comment and a means of contact.

Between now and then I will have to get a photo on here so you know what is on offer!! As my family gave me a great digi-camera for Christmass just so I could liven up my life on-line, this will be no bad thing. My birthday is towards the end of March and I will have egg all over (not just on my face!) if I haven't even had it out of the box! Then I will have to suss out how to get the photos on here .......

This last little while has been eventful - my best mate is in the process of medical tests for what is almost certainly cancer, which at best will mean unpleasant medical treatment - for the moment she is easily tired and finds certain things painful and awkward to do. I need to find the right place between taking account of her health and not pussyfooting around, between expressing concern and making a nuisance of myself, and some things I was planning (a joint garage sale as soon as the weather was good enough - possibly in the Easter hols) will have to be put on hold. That is unfortunate (to call it a nuisance wouldn't be right, but it does need doing because I need the space ....)

Well that is the intention for my Lenten observances sorted at least, along with some extra motivation!! (What BBC suit decided to screen the final of Masterchef the first week of Lent, I wonder ..... ???) I'm really glad with who won it because he was a family man and they must have been involved, if only because of the time he spent doing it. It seems they will be part of what he does as a result too, and I hope it goes really well for them.

This year I am not so much 'giving up' for Lent as using what I already have in the freezer - waste not, want not - appropriate in a world where we waste resources while others have not enough. My other objective is to eat more healthily, so less: as I use what I have I can replace it with better. If I can make time to do some cooking, I will be able to avoid the salt in ready meals (how come they do low fat, but never low salt which is just as important?).

Easter should see me with things properly organised and a freezer full of good things to eat, both tasty and good for my health.

Must away!

Woo-hoo!

Went to Vigil Mass last night and didn't have to swaddle myself up! Not only that, but it was still nice later on (not that 'bite' in the air :) Hurrah!

So today I am having a lazy Sunday morning ... For most of my life I have gone to Mass in the evenings - firstly because I had the option and so could do Sunday lunch while the Anglicans went to church, and then because leaving it till Sunday night meant I spent more time thinking about Monday's lesson than Mass, and if I went on Saturday I avoided that distraction!

Best laid plans

A whole week since the last update!

At least you've been spared the blow-by-blow account of the weather (from the North?).

I decided to go into Croydon and take back the trousers that weren't right (especially as it was half term, so no unruly kids :) ) only to find the trams weren't running that far as they were repairing the track ... they did assure me it was due to finish that day, so will be back.

Am trying to find a dustbin (oh, the interesting things that occupy my time!) that I can order on the Internet for delivery (small mobility scooter meets even small dustbin might make for a journey home a little too awkward for comfort!!). How come kitchen bins are only made in a size appropriate to a ravenous family, by the way?? I don't want to keep that much rubbish inside, especially if the weather ever gets hot (!)

At last! (2)

There is better weather forecast, and it looks as though it might stay around long enough to give us a break, for a day or two at least - and then, with any luck we will be able to enjoy real Spring weather (with, no doubt, some unwelcome flashbacks!).

I finished the Maeve Binchy earlier on - an interesting tale with a real twist at the end, though I wish the villain of the piece had got his comeuppance - he doesn't, although he has been rumbled.

Change

It felt relatively benign outside yesterday, so I decided to go to Croydon to replace worn-out trousers, once I had disposed of the rubbish that had accumulated though there being a barricade of snow outside the front door last week.

By the time I was ready to go it had clouded over and by the time I got back it was throwing it down with great enthusiasm - I think the weather sees me coming (or going?) and changes appropriately!! I skipped putting the paper out for recycling as I had intended to do on my return - domestic rubbish I have to have ready, but the recycling I can take to the sites in town if I miss getting it out. I am so glad I have my little heater and can warm up and dry out fairly quickly if I am the victim of such capriciousness. Otherwise, I am glad to say, I have adjusted to the cold a bit and am no longer quite so affected by it.

Nonetheless - I can't wait for Spring! And next time I go to Croydon, I will come back after 4 pm - I coincided with hoardes of schoolkids on the tram, though I had left early enough to avoid the like swarming down the high street as I left - they move like a crowd of locusts and don't look where they're going!!

Friends and foes

Well, it's a case of more of the same (weather) around here!!

Thanks! to the friend who topped up my bread and spread supply - too bad she couldn't stop for a coffee, but the only un-slushy place she could find to park was on a yellow line ... so I gave her the wherewithall to get one in town instead as a little thank-you, with stern instructions to take 20 minutes out and relax .... it is always the busiest of people who find time, and she certainly fits that description. (Two friends rang as soon as the snow fell to ask if I was OK, and I was encouraged by their concern. I don't like to bother people so would only ask if I was really up against it)

The friend I did ask was another who offered and she knows me a bit better so it's easier for her to find what I need. Otherwise, thank heavens for Sainsburys online and other such .... my usual solution, and in some ways more efficient than doing it in person anyway (they can reach the top shelf!) but this time I had mis-calculated on those two items.

Otherwise I am not doing anything particularly exciting - reading by the fire. One of my resolutions in this study-free year was to read some of the many books around the place, so I am doing just that. At the moment I'm reading Lawrence Rees on the Nazis (from the TV series) and Maeve Binchy's Firefly Summer. One can only take so much of the Nazis .... and definitely not just before bed .... The Maeve Binchy will leave a much-needed space on the bookshelf (the other one counts as history so I will keep that).

It makes more sense to read the fiction, though I need to start studying again, as I don't get the same sense of achievement. I've come to the (reluctant) conclusion that I have far too many books, and the priority as regards disposal is the fiction, as unless it is exceptionally good I won't want to read it again anyway. Fortunately I have a new home ready and waiting for it as a local professional sells books from her practice to provide flowers for one of the local Abbyfield houses where she is on the management committee. I get the books out of the house and bring beauty and colour to someone else's life, and that is a most positive thing to do. I prefer to support small ventures like this rather than the 'big fish' of the charity world, and with an ageing population there won't be the resources around to provide the little extras that make such a difference to people's wellbeing.

More of the same ......

I went to Croydon when I did!!

I will not indulge in comments on the weather again; it really would be too samey, and the whole country must know how it feels!!

I am so glad of my little fan heater: I can leave it on low to counter the draughts, and go to sit right near it if I get a little chilly. One thing is for sure: I am not going out in this!! I made the mistake of going out to Mass on Saturday night, thinking it hadn't got too bad, and it was colder than I thought (though not yet as cold as now). So I am not venturing forth again. My little scooter doesn't have the ground clearance or the battery power for thick snow, and it is still inches deep outside. By the looks of it hibernation is in order for the next week .......

Thank goodness for Sainsburys online, John Lewis ditto, and thanks to the two kind neighbours who rang to check I had everything I needed. Now I am off to get nice and warm and cosy again .....

and I seem to have said a lot about the weather!! I'm just glad I am a little better prepared and can sit it out.