![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
So that was 2024
Dec. 28th, 2024 09:52 pmWe whizzed down briefly to Devon before Christmas to see my mother, Pp's goddaughter and her parents and distribute presents.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
Not really a catchup post
Aug. 13th, 2024 10:04 pmI feel like I've fallen enough behind posting that I'm just going to type random things that come to mind.
It poured with rain today, but I walked to Pembroke with Theo anyway, and went to a coffee shop.
( Read more... )
What else have I been doing? I've kayaked across the Cleddau river to swim on the other side a few times, though this summer is cooler and wetter than last, so there's been less kayaking in general.
I took Pp and Theo for a wander along Lindsway Bay to peer at the lighthouse we briefly considered buying when we were moving to Pembrokeshire, and concluded that as we had suspected, buying it would have been a terrible mistake. Another mistake was that days' assumption that the forecast cloud would keep Pp cool enough to go walking: it was waaaay too hot for him.
I went down to Devon to visit my mother at the end of July: I've not been able to go for a while because Rosie wasn't up to the journey and I was worried about leaving her.
It was a good visit, even though it rained a lot there too. We drove over to Widemouth Bay on the North coast and wandered around on a Cornish beach for a change, pottered around Tavistock, and I took Theo up for a walk on the moors. Baked a banana bread with bonus kiwi fruit in it.
I voted in the election, despite my polling card arriving about a week too late.
Oh, and we did take the Celtic Longboat rowers for a Long Row, though not for the planned Fishguard to Pwllheli row, since they weren't able to get a support yacht, which was required for that race. Instead they rowed from Gelliswick to Saundersfoot, which is still a respectable distance and further than we'd been before in the RIB.
It was a bit stressful in the harbour in Saundersfoot, which is a drying harbour with a lot of mud at low tide and not a lot of room to manoever a very long and fragile thing that is the Celtic Longboat. We got our propeller caught on a buoy rope. But it was fine, and probably a good experience of things going a bit wrong.
We'd completely forgotten that Mondays come after Sundays, which was important, because the Castlemartin Firing range is closed on Sundays, but not on Mondays, and we had to come home in the RIB on Monday. So we ended up going a couple miles out to sea to avoid it, which was the furthest we've been out to sea. We probably need a better radio with more range to do that again.
It poured with rain today, but I walked to Pembroke with Theo anyway, and went to a coffee shop.
( Read more... )
What else have I been doing? I've kayaked across the Cleddau river to swim on the other side a few times, though this summer is cooler and wetter than last, so there's been less kayaking in general.
I took Pp and Theo for a wander along Lindsway Bay to peer at the lighthouse we briefly considered buying when we were moving to Pembrokeshire, and concluded that as we had suspected, buying it would have been a terrible mistake. Another mistake was that days' assumption that the forecast cloud would keep Pp cool enough to go walking: it was waaaay too hot for him.
I went down to Devon to visit my mother at the end of July: I've not been able to go for a while because Rosie wasn't up to the journey and I was worried about leaving her.
It was a good visit, even though it rained a lot there too. We drove over to Widemouth Bay on the North coast and wandered around on a Cornish beach for a change, pottered around Tavistock, and I took Theo up for a walk on the moors. Baked a banana bread with bonus kiwi fruit in it.
I voted in the election, despite my polling card arriving about a week too late.
Oh, and we did take the Celtic Longboat rowers for a Long Row, though not for the planned Fishguard to Pwllheli row, since they weren't able to get a support yacht, which was required for that race. Instead they rowed from Gelliswick to Saundersfoot, which is still a respectable distance and further than we'd been before in the RIB.
It was a bit stressful in the harbour in Saundersfoot, which is a drying harbour with a lot of mud at low tide and not a lot of room to manoever a very long and fragile thing that is the Celtic Longboat. We got our propeller caught on a buoy rope. But it was fine, and probably a good experience of things going a bit wrong.
We'd completely forgotten that Mondays come after Sundays, which was important, because the Castlemartin Firing range is closed on Sundays, but not on Mondays, and we had to come home in the RIB on Monday. So we ended up going a couple miles out to sea to avoid it, which was the furthest we've been out to sea. We probably need a better radio with more range to do that again.
Cake and celebration
May. 14th, 2024 09:27 pmMy sister is visiting for a week, from Canada, and picked up my mother for a trip to visit us in Wales, since I hadn't been able to go for a while due to flu and Rosie not really being up to the journey..
It was good to see them if only for a couple of days, and we had a good sunny day out to Angle beach, coming home via Freshwater West, then took my sister out for a brief boat trip in the afternoon.
Since it had just been Pp's birthday and two days later, Mum's, I made waaaaay too much cake, and since my sister was among us, I made all the cake vegan and I'm just going to note which recipes I used in the hope that I might actually be able to find out if I want to make them again.
This was the carrot cake: https://theveganlarder.com/super-delicious-vegan-carrot-cake-using-aquafaba/#recipe - Philadelphia vegan not-cream-cheese is very convincing in a cream cheese icing.
And this was the chocolate cake: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/9555948/Chocolate-and-beetroot-cake-recipe.html only I replaced the three eggs with the water from a tin of chickpeas, and made a fudge icing with chocolate and vegan butter instead of doing the beetroot icing. It worked surprisingly well.
I did not attempt to make the cakes sugar-free or low-sugar. It seemed like changing too many things, and anyway, Pp has been pretty successful in reducing his size according to the rulings of the diabetes nurse. I wish I had done as well! Still, the summer lies ahead. I am resolved to swim and walk more energetically, and eat more salad, and (from now on) a bit less cake.
It was good to see them if only for a couple of days, and we had a good sunny day out to Angle beach, coming home via Freshwater West, then took my sister out for a brief boat trip in the afternoon.
Since it had just been Pp's birthday and two days later, Mum's, I made waaaaay too much cake, and since my sister was among us, I made all the cake vegan and I'm just going to note which recipes I used in the hope that I might actually be able to find out if I want to make them again.
This was the carrot cake: https://theveganlarder.com/super-delicious-vegan-carrot-cake-using-aquafaba/#recipe - Philadelphia vegan not-cream-cheese is very convincing in a cream cheese icing.
And this was the chocolate cake: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/9555948/Chocolate-and-beetroot-cake-recipe.html only I replaced the three eggs with the water from a tin of chickpeas, and made a fudge icing with chocolate and vegan butter instead of doing the beetroot icing. It worked surprisingly well.
I did not attempt to make the cakes sugar-free or low-sugar. It seemed like changing too many things, and anyway, Pp has been pretty successful in reducing his size according to the rulings of the diabetes nurse. I wish I had done as well! Still, the summer lies ahead. I am resolved to swim and walk more energetically, and eat more salad, and (from now on) a bit less cake.
2022 DONE.
Jan. 2nd, 2023 11:08 pmThis year my Mum announced firmly that she would really prefer to spend Christmas at home with her cat Pudding and no other company, so after we had popped down to visit for a couple of days beforehand then came back to Wales. It was very nice and relaxing and the quick visit to Devon was handy for going to the Cheese Shop in Tavistock to buy Christmas Cheese.
We had a nice lunch at the Bearslake Inn before we went home. I think my mother enjoyed it:
( Read more... )
The dogs were quite insistent that they could not possibly go anywhere or do anything due to their extreme levels of Woe, but must remain on their princess-and-the-pea layers of comfy beds. They basically stayed in bed apart from brief pee breaks for an entire day yesterday, and most of today too. I was really quite worried about them yesterday, but not quite worried enough to call on the emergency vet on New Years Day and they are much brighter today. Theo has had a little outing to the beach, and Rosie managed to run up the stairs this afternoon.
So, since there were no walks needed yesterday, I planted some rose bushes that I have had heeled in waiting for me to get around to them, and mulched the roses I planted last year with well rotted manure. The new roses are GHISLAINE DE FÉLIGONDE musk roses. They grow to a theoretical height of 12 feet, so should help to clad the wire fences I erected in a great hurry when we moved here and I urgently needed dog containment solutions. In a perfect world I would replace them with 6 foot fences, but I'm not sure I can endure further infestations of builders at the moment. We had enough of them in 2022.
Today I went and did a new thing: I went swimming in the sea in the winter! I had been swimming with a local sea-swimming group a few times in the summer (I am not brave enough to swim in the sea alone) but November and December were terribly busy and I fell out of the habit. But today someone I met in the summer asked if I would like to go along, and I thought 'WHY NOT' so I did.
It was terribly cold - not too bad on the legs or body, but my hands took one look at the temperature and burst into frozen pain. I've now ordered a pair of neoprene gloves. They will be handy for kayaking, even if I don't make a regular thing of sea-swimming in the cold.
We had a nice lunch at the Bearslake Inn before we went home. I think my mother enjoyed it:
( Read more... )
The dogs were quite insistent that they could not possibly go anywhere or do anything due to their extreme levels of Woe, but must remain on their princess-and-the-pea layers of comfy beds. They basically stayed in bed apart from brief pee breaks for an entire day yesterday, and most of today too. I was really quite worried about them yesterday, but not quite worried enough to call on the emergency vet on New Years Day and they are much brighter today. Theo has had a little outing to the beach, and Rosie managed to run up the stairs this afternoon.
So, since there were no walks needed yesterday, I planted some rose bushes that I have had heeled in waiting for me to get around to them, and mulched the roses I planted last year with well rotted manure. The new roses are GHISLAINE DE FÉLIGONDE musk roses. They grow to a theoretical height of 12 feet, so should help to clad the wire fences I erected in a great hurry when we moved here and I urgently needed dog containment solutions. In a perfect world I would replace them with 6 foot fences, but I'm not sure I can endure further infestations of builders at the moment. We had enough of them in 2022.
Today I went and did a new thing: I went swimming in the sea in the winter! I had been swimming with a local sea-swimming group a few times in the summer (I am not brave enough to swim in the sea alone) but November and December were terribly busy and I fell out of the habit. But today someone I met in the summer asked if I would like to go along, and I thought 'WHY NOT' so I did.
It was terribly cold - not too bad on the legs or body, but my hands took one look at the temperature and burst into frozen pain. I've now ordered a pair of neoprene gloves. They will be handy for kayaking, even if I don't make a regular thing of sea-swimming in the cold.
Am extremely cosy.
Dec. 27th, 2020 11:12 pm The house is full of food and sleepy hounds and dozing cats. We have eaten way too much, and I'm still gently nibbling on a lump of chestnut and cranberry stuffing. Here are a few photos from the last week or so:
Rosie on a visit to the Koffi Lodge cafe. We were in Tier 1, least likelihood of plague, at that point, so everything was pretty much as normal (we're now in Tier 2, so slightly more serious). Rosies long legs poking out under her jumper and overcoat make me laugh.
( Read more... )
I hope you mostly managed a happy Christmas, if that's a thing for you, so far as possible at the moment.
Rosie on a visit to the Koffi Lodge cafe. We were in Tier 1, least likelihood of plague, at that point, so everything was pretty much as normal (we're now in Tier 2, so slightly more serious). Rosies long legs poking out under her jumper and overcoat make me laugh.
( Read more... )
I hope you mostly managed a happy Christmas, if that's a thing for you, so far as possible at the moment.
Bit and pieces make a post
Sep. 27th, 2020 12:40 am Firstly, we are not in fact characters in a convoluted Victorian drama. The authorities did on Monday disavow all knowledge of Mark's dad's body, but only for a short while and then it turned up, as did his will. This was a great relief. The stress has been declining since it peaked at that point.
We really can't hold a traditional funeral in the current circumstances, and though I'm pretty sure a lot of people would be distressed by that, for us, that's also quite a relief.
It looks like we are still going to be able to move, and won't lose the new house. And someone is coming to see this house on Monday, which is also good. There are going to be stressful things ahead, like how on earth to corral the cats and the whole packing and unpacking thing but surely they won't be insurmountable.
Went over to see my Mum today (in our plague bubble!), to sort out a minor issue with her new Chromebook. Seems to be a good solution so far : we've set it up with a nice extra large monitor since her eyesight isn't so great. Obviously the dogs thought we were over there to get snacks, and were very pleased.
I have a mild sore throat but I've had one of those on and off this year, and particularly when I think about the plague, so I'm not 100% sure it's not mostly in my head. Have been feeling a bit weird and down, but not unreasonably so under the circumstances, I suppose. Still feeling about 100% better than I was a couple years back in terms of focussing on the positive and not feeling full of grey fog and despair. Compared to a lot of people I don't really have much reason for either fog or despair, but it appears these things are not rational and probably also somewhat genetic. Hey ho.
So far I have not managed to write anything for Innumerable Stars, but there is still time. I keep oscillating between the intriguing-to-me-but-requires-a-lot-of-r
We really can't hold a traditional funeral in the current circumstances, and though I'm pretty sure a lot of people would be distressed by that, for us, that's also quite a relief.
It looks like we are still going to be able to move, and won't lose the new house. And someone is coming to see this house on Monday, which is also good. There are going to be stressful things ahead, like how on earth to corral the cats and the whole packing and unpacking thing but surely they won't be insurmountable.
Went over to see my Mum today (in our plague bubble!), to sort out a minor issue with her new Chromebook. Seems to be a good solution so far : we've set it up with a nice extra large monitor since her eyesight isn't so great. Obviously the dogs thought we were over there to get snacks, and were very pleased.
I have a mild sore throat but I've had one of those on and off this year, and particularly when I think about the plague, so I'm not 100% sure it's not mostly in my head. Have been feeling a bit weird and down, but not unreasonably so under the circumstances, I suppose. Still feeling about 100% better than I was a couple years back in terms of focussing on the positive and not feeling full of grey fog and despair. Compared to a lot of people I don't really have much reason for either fog or despair, but it appears these things are not rational and probably also somewhat genetic. Hey ho.
So far I have not managed to write anything for Innumerable Stars, but there is still time. I keep oscillating between the intriguing-to-me-but-requires-a-lot-of-r
Bit and pieces make a post
Sep. 27th, 2020 12:36 amFirstly, we are not in fact characters in a convoluted Victorian drama. The authorities did on Monday disavow all knowledge of Mark's dad's body, but only for a short while and then it turned up, as did his will. This was a great relief. The stress has been declining since it peaked at that point.
We really can't hold a traditional funeral in the current circumstances, and though I'm pretty sure a lot of people would be distressed by that, for us, that's also quite a relief.
It looks like we are still going to be able to move, and won't lose the new house. And someone is coming to see this house on Monday, which is also good. There are going to be stressful things ahead, like how on earth to corral the cats and the whole packing and unpacking thing but surely they won't be insurmountable.
Went over to see my Mum today (in our plague bubble!), to sort out a minor issue with her new Chromebook. Seems to be a good solution so far : we've set it up with a nice extra large monitor since her eyesight isn't so great. Obviously the dogs thought we were over there to get snacks, and were very pleased.
I have a mild sore throat but I've had one of those on and off this year, and particularly when I think about the plague, so I'm not 100% sure it's not mostly in my head. Have been feeling a bit weird and down, but not unreasonably so under the circumstances, I suppose. Still feeling about 100% better than I was a couple years back in terms of focussing on the positive and not feeling full of grey fog and despair. Compared to a lot of people I don't really have much reason for either fog or despair, but it appears these things are not rational and probably also somewhat genetic. Hey ho.
So far I have not managed to write anything for Innumerable Stars, but there is still time. I keep oscillating between the intriguing-to-me-but-requires-a-lot-of-research-and-potentially-is-iffy prompt, and the 'just take these two characters you like and have them chat' prompt. I may yet end up with the second.
We really can't hold a traditional funeral in the current circumstances, and though I'm pretty sure a lot of people would be distressed by that, for us, that's also quite a relief.
It looks like we are still going to be able to move, and won't lose the new house. And someone is coming to see this house on Monday, which is also good. There are going to be stressful things ahead, like how on earth to corral the cats and the whole packing and unpacking thing but surely they won't be insurmountable.
Went over to see my Mum today (in our plague bubble!), to sort out a minor issue with her new Chromebook. Seems to be a good solution so far : we've set it up with a nice extra large monitor since her eyesight isn't so great. Obviously the dogs thought we were over there to get snacks, and were very pleased.
I have a mild sore throat but I've had one of those on and off this year, and particularly when I think about the plague, so I'm not 100% sure it's not mostly in my head. Have been feeling a bit weird and down, but not unreasonably so under the circumstances, I suppose. Still feeling about 100% better than I was a couple years back in terms of focussing on the positive and not feeling full of grey fog and despair. Compared to a lot of people I don't really have much reason for either fog or despair, but it appears these things are not rational and probably also somewhat genetic. Hey ho.
So far I have not managed to write anything for Innumerable Stars, but there is still time. I keep oscillating between the intriguing-to-me-but-requires-a-lot-of-research-and-potentially-is-iffy prompt, and the 'just take these two characters you like and have them chat' prompt. I may yet end up with the second.
Deep breaths
Sep. 19th, 2020 06:23 pm I need to write this down to get it out of my head.
( cut for death )
Just to make life more complicated still, Pp's dad used a solicitor who was recently struck off for corruption, so his paperwork is probably (we hope) somewhere in the depths of the vast national law firm that took over the corrupt solicitor's archive recently.
And today, though hardly a comparable event, our house buyer decided to drop out. House is 'not for them' apparently: something they could probably have decided before making an offer and having us take the place off the market.
( cut for death )
Just to make life more complicated still, Pp's dad used a solicitor who was recently struck off for corruption, so his paperwork is probably (we hope) somewhere in the depths of the vast national law firm that took over the corrupt solicitor's archive recently.
And today, though hardly a comparable event, our house buyer decided to drop out. House is 'not for them' apparently: something they could probably have decided before making an offer and having us take the place off the market.
Things Occurring (nothing too major!)
Aug. 15th, 2018 06:07 pmOn Sunday, I rang my mother and she admitted she was feeling unwell (unusual!) and sounded rather weak and wambly. So I went round and made butternut squash soup and rolls, and got her to eat a bit of it. She was not looking good, but she had an appointment with the doctor on Monday, so I said I'd come back and take her. Then later, she called to say a friend from her village would give her a lift. Fair enough.
On Monday, I heard there was a dog missing from Tavistock that had been seen wandering around our local lanes here (her home is about 8 miles away AND she had crossed the Tamar!) So I printed out some posters and took them with me on my morning walk to stick up around the place.
Did that, got home to be greeted by Pp in a hurry, telling me that my mother had phoned to ask to be taken to the hospital, and her doctor had phoned after that to make sure we had got the message. Eek.
( Read more... )
On Monday, I heard there was a dog missing from Tavistock that had been seen wandering around our local lanes here (her home is about 8 miles away AND she had crossed the Tamar!) So I printed out some posters and took them with me on my morning walk to stick up around the place.
Did that, got home to be greeted by Pp in a hurry, telling me that my mother had phoned to ask to be taken to the hospital, and her doctor had phoned after that to make sure we had got the message. Eek.
( Read more... )
Alqualonde by moonlight
May. 8th, 2017 01:43 pmCard I painted for my mum's 80th birthday below. She is having something of a Vicar of Dibley 80th, since EVERYONE wants to take her out to lunch but she seems to be being very effective at managing them all and preventing them from all supplying simultaneous lunches on the same day.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
Christmas random photos
Dec. 26th, 2016 06:32 pmSome of the vegan truffles we made as presents. Well, technically the thing on the left is a coconut limeball. But the rest are truffles. We ended up with rather a lot of them left after we had put the gift ones all in boxes. What a tragedy.
I made most of the family Festive Guineapig cards this year (because I started with one card for my sister, who is vegan and a guineapig enthusiast, and sort of got a bit carried away. But I didn't photograph those because I finished them rather late. I really liked them as pencil, but ended up rather rushing the colouring, which is definitely the part of painting that I need to stop and think about carefully. I'm Ok with drawing shapes quickly, but shading and colours are harder.
( Read more... )
I made most of the family Festive Guineapig cards this year (because I started with one card for my sister, who is vegan and a guineapig enthusiast, and sort of got a bit carried away. But I didn't photograph those because I finished them rather late. I really liked them as pencil, but ended up rather rushing the colouring, which is definitely the part of painting that I need to stop and think about carefully. I'm Ok with drawing shapes quickly, but shading and colours are harder.
( Read more... )
Piles of paperwork & Grandad's souvenirs
Jun. 19th, 2016 12:16 amI spent several hours today wrestling with piles of paper and the dismal realisation that my younger self was apparently not only thinner and richer than me, but also better organised and nothing like as messy. Oh well. That's entropy for you I suppose. Entropy, and spending all the money on vet bills. But! I have a filing cabinet now, so I am hoping that will go some way towards resetting the 'being organised' drift towards giving up and just living in a sort of nest inside one enormous drift of paper and cat hair.
Shoved underneath a pile of other things, I found a few much older items: surviving souvenirs of a walking holiday that my grandparents took to Holland and Germany when they were thin and young, in the 1930's. They had an English-language guidebook.
Shoved underneath a pile of other things, I found a few much older items: surviving souvenirs of a walking holiday that my grandparents took to Holland and Germany when they were thin and young, in the 1930's. They had an English-language guidebook.
Things Done, Seen, and Visited
Aug. 11th, 2014 12:28 amYesterday, I steamcleaned ALL the mould, removed what seemed like a very large number of arachnids, and repainted the downstairs loo! It may be a small triumph, but I think it still counts as one.
And then today I went to Buckland Abbey with my mother, who fancied a trip out. We found a Tudor board game, which we did not know the rules of, so we invented some rules and played a game. I won, or possibly she did, depending on whose invented rules you choose to go with.
Buckland Abbey have a new Rembrandt of which they are terribly proud. Well, not a new one. A newly-authenticated one. There was a special Rembrandt room where you could see The Selfportrait, and a bunch of reproductions of other self-portraits. I concluded that Rembrandt very much liked to portray himself peering suspiciously at the casual viewer, as if he had been interrupted by a Person from Porlock.
I've been in the Great Hall at Buckland Abbey before, but it had never struck me before just how many disturbing carvings there are in there. All around the walls, distressed-looking people are holding the top of the panelling up, and in one corner, is this gentleman who appears to have been abruptly transformed into a wooden chest, and is not at all happy about it.
( Read more... )( Things seen, or rather, not seen. )Buckland Abbey have a new Rembrandt of which they are terribly proud. Well, not a new one. A newly-authenticated one. There was a special Rembrandt room where you could see The Selfportrait, and a bunch of reproductions of other self-portraits. I concluded that Rembrandt very much liked to portray himself peering suspiciously at the casual viewer, as if he had been interrupted by a Person from Porlock.
I've been in the Great Hall at Buckland Abbey before, but it had never struck me before just how many disturbing carvings there are in there. All around the walls, distressed-looking people are holding the top of the panelling up, and in one corner, is this gentleman who appears to have been abruptly transformed into a wooden chest, and is not at all happy about it.
Was in a medieval mood today, so we went to Cotehele house for an outing. Here is my mum, demonstrating doorways designed for seriously short people only. This would probably be more helpful if I could remember how tall my mother is. 5'1-ish ? Less? Considerably Shorter Than Me, anyway.
This morning as I was returning with the hounds from a morning walk (thankfully, much cooler today than it has been: Oh! the humidity!) I was accosted by a woman waving the implement whose name causes controversy. Some call it a fish-slice, others, a spatula, and I think last time we debated this matter there were other suggestions too. The thing you use to turn stuff in a frying-pan so it browns on both sides. Anyway...
A tall, grey-haired lady, slim and jeans-clad, with intelligent aquiline features, approached me, waving this utensil.
"Is this yours?" she said.
Somewhat baffled and for some reason, feeling rather guilty, I examined the item, and was relieved to see that it was unfamiliar. At least, whatever the dogs, cats, etc may do, the kitchen equipment is not out annoying the neighbours.
"No!" I said
"I found it in the garden. We often find things in the garden. Something brings them. I think perhaps it was from a barbecue," and she looked at me hopefully.
I admitted that it did indeed look like the kind of thing that someone might use if barbecueing.
"The thing is... I've lost a shoe," she went on. "You haven't seen a shoe..? A trainer kind of shoe?"
I shook my head in bafflement.
"Sometimes it brings things, and sometimes it takes them away. I'm hoping that if I can find where this came from, I might find my shoe."
I assured her that I would look out for her shoe, and if I found it, I would return it to her house pronto.
And she went off up the lane, fish slice in hand, looking for her shoe.
Honestly, this really happened. I assume, possibly, a fox at work? All the other explanations seem even less likely.
Dogs and Things
Feb. 17th, 2013 08:33 pmLunch with my mother, and my sister, who is just about to move to Canada. Originally they were going to buy a business in Vancouver, but apparently buying a Canadian business from the UK takes forever and involves 9999999 paperworks, so now T has accepted a job in Moncton, which is on the East coast which they have never actually visited. My sister will be moving out there to join him in April, and jobhunting when she gets there. I do hope they like it!
( Goodbye Smudge )( Amber's Op )
In other news, painting of Bedwyr harping for Artos and Cador of Dumnonia is slowly coming together although I do wish I'd put fewer faces in. But I suppose Faces are Good For Me. Bedwyr now has a face that actually looks like a face, although painting a face that is *supposed* to have a weird flying eyebrow and be 'ugly beautiful' is somewhat tough. I had a nightmare last night about a conspiracy of evil harpers. I'm pretty sure this was to do with checking too many harping websites for reference photos.
In the end I used this Youtube video as reference for a small portable harp and positioning the hands. It's not exactly The Great Music, but it is rather lovely.
( Goodbye Smudge )( Amber's Op )
In other news, painting of Bedwyr harping for Artos and Cador of Dumnonia is slowly coming together although I do wish I'd put fewer faces in. But I suppose Faces are Good For Me. Bedwyr now has a face that actually looks like a face, although painting a face that is *supposed* to have a weird flying eyebrow and be 'ugly beautiful' is somewhat tough. I had a nightmare last night about a conspiracy of evil harpers. I'm pretty sure this was to do with checking too many harping websites for reference photos.
In the end I used this Youtube video as reference for a small portable harp and positioning the hands. It's not exactly The Great Music, but it is rather lovely.
Today I have made 4 and a half jars of apple chutney. I still have a lot of apples and some vinegar, onions and sultanas left so I may make some more yet. My attempt to Eat All the Apples has failed : even eating 4 or 5 apples a day the lawn is covered in them.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
This weekend, my mother finally made it home after her broken hip. She's still walking on crutches and the leg is painful - not because of the hip, but because of the original problem that probably caused her to fall over in the first place. She has had pretty good care, I think, which is cheering. Note: if you want to break your hip, August is a good time to do it, because the busy time for hip-breaking is the winter. We still have her dogs, as she is not up to walking them yet. I don't know if they will both go back to her or not, but I'm leaving that decision to her. It's a bit of a pain having four dogs, but worse things happen at sea and all that.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
This weekend, my mother finally made it home after her broken hip. She's still walking on crutches and the leg is painful - not because of the hip, but because of the original problem that probably caused her to fall over in the first place. She has had pretty good care, I think, which is cheering. Note: if you want to break your hip, August is a good time to do it, because the busy time for hip-breaking is the winter. We still have her dogs, as she is not up to walking them yet. I don't know if they will both go back to her or not, but I'm leaving that decision to her. It's a bit of a pain having four dogs, but worse things happen at sea and all that.
( Read more... )
My mother has just called - she's now in a local rehabilitation unit and was hoping to go home next week - to say that her doctor thinks she may have broken her leg when she broke her hip. This is on the same leg, which also still has shingles. I may need to drive her back to Plymouth for another X-ray.
I wish this had been noticed sooner, though I can kind of see that if you are looking at a leg that already has a broken hip and shingles, you aren't going to immediately assume that it's broken as well. Bummitude.
I wish this had been noticed sooner, though I can kind of see that if you are looking at a leg that already has a broken hip and shingles, you aren't going to immediately assume that it's broken as well. Bummitude.
On Thursday...
when we were walking the hounds, we could see the Red Arrows performing in the distance at Fowey regatta. I don't know why this made the news today that one of them crashed seem more close, but oddly, it did.
On Friday...( Read more... )
On Saturday...( Read more... )
On Sunday...( Read more... )
when we were walking the hounds, we could see the Red Arrows performing in the distance at Fowey regatta. I don't know why this made the news today that one of them crashed seem more close, but oddly, it did.
On Friday...( Read more... )
On Saturday...( Read more... )
On Sunday...( Read more... )
