Yep! I have managed to avoid it so far but nose running like a tap.
The family has all disappeared, clearing up after the onslaught done, my ironing finished (well mine- H1 has still got his to do), pantomime & prompting over for another year ......
I have finished reading 'The Queen's Vow' and started on a strange but interesting book given to me by D2 for Christmas- 'The Fishing Fleet' a non-fiction about girls who went over to India in search of a husband in the 1700s and 1800s; fascinating how many English men went in the East India Company/Civil Service/Indian Army and how many girls found more men available in India than in England. English families set up in the subcontinent and lived in India for generations never to return till after 1947 and Indian independence. I had a relative who we think (after watching Alistair McGowan's 'Who do you think you are?') may well have been Anglo-Indian.
I am not used to this spare, quiet time and do not know what to do with myself
Monday 27 January 2014
Monday 13 January 2014
Surprise Surprise
At last we have had permission to say we can tell people we were on the television programme 'Surprise, Surprise ' for all the recycling you contribute to charities I donate to. That was the time I blogged about being in London but we were signed up to silence.
The result/reward was beautiful flowers sent regularly- gorgeous but a real Surprise, Surprise!
Everyone seems to be spring cleaning- or Spring organising and hoying stuff out- sorry! that is Geordie for throwing your unwanted things away; I spend my time going to a) the Cancer Research shop with large bags of clothes, books or white elephant stuff for selling for charity b) the local Infirmary with magazines (for clinics) and gift bags (to put patients' drains in), c) a High Street café which is saving used stamps for the local Hospice d) my optometrist's shop with spectacles for Vision Aid Overseas
It will all slow down a bit when everyone finishes tidying up after Christmas. A winter sun sliding low through the window, highlights the dust and clutter; thus the clearouts.
I admit to gallivanting out for meals and occasions and celebrations for births and a Baptism- ooh! and something really exciting arrived in the first post after New Year-an invitation to a wedding. We had so many weddings last year (like buses- there are none then they come all together- probably due to the age of our offspring and their friends) that we did not expect to receive any invitations this year; the babies are now starting to arrive- all surprises- most people seem to be avoiding finding out the gender of the baby before birth- I wouldn't want to know- would you? I reckon life has too few nice surprises these days that boy or girl and their name has to be one of the best left.
Then did I mention our rehearsals for a pantomime?
What little spare time I have I read- currently 'The Queen's Vow' by C.W. Gortner- about the early life of Queen Isabella (and Ferdinand) of Castile (Spain); in the late 1400s.
If I clear out a drawer I might reward myself with a chapter.......
The result/reward was beautiful flowers sent regularly- gorgeous but a real Surprise, Surprise!
Everyone seems to be spring cleaning- or Spring organising and hoying stuff out- sorry! that is Geordie for throwing your unwanted things away; I spend my time going to a) the Cancer Research shop with large bags of clothes, books or white elephant stuff for selling for charity b) the local Infirmary with magazines (for clinics) and gift bags (to put patients' drains in), c) a High Street café which is saving used stamps for the local Hospice d) my optometrist's shop with spectacles for Vision Aid Overseas
It will all slow down a bit when everyone finishes tidying up after Christmas. A winter sun sliding low through the window, highlights the dust and clutter; thus the clearouts.
I admit to gallivanting out for meals and occasions and celebrations for births and a Baptism- ooh! and something really exciting arrived in the first post after New Year-an invitation to a wedding. We had so many weddings last year (like buses- there are none then they come all together- probably due to the age of our offspring and their friends) that we did not expect to receive any invitations this year; the babies are now starting to arrive- all surprises- most people seem to be avoiding finding out the gender of the baby before birth- I wouldn't want to know- would you? I reckon life has too few nice surprises these days that boy or girl and their name has to be one of the best left.
Then did I mention our rehearsals for a pantomime?
What little spare time I have I read- currently 'The Queen's Vow' by C.W. Gortner- about the early life of Queen Isabella (and Ferdinand) of Castile (Spain); in the late 1400s.
If I clear out a drawer I might reward myself with a chapter.......
Friday 3 January 2014
Happy New Year
Happy New Year to you all.
Britain is forecast floods and gale force winds this weekend; I understand that when sun, moon and earth are in line the tides are high- why call them spring when they are not seasonal but two weekly? Is it because the tide level springs high?!
So tonight is a new moon- 3/4th January- and just after midnight is the best time to see a shower of meteors.
Tomorrow night you need to get binoculars out (it will be a very dark night since the moon is tiny) and get a look at Jupiter- you should be able to see four of Jupiter's moons.
The kitchen wall is being stripped of last year's 'remarkables'; so what will 2014 bring? I hope it is a good and healthy year.
We are consuming weird meals as we eat our way through all the ingredients left from the festive season; Christmas and New Year visitors have left us; the beds are stripped and out on the line to dry in gathering winds.
Now I am going to research what a neap tide is- and tackle a basket full of ironing.
Britain is forecast floods and gale force winds this weekend; I understand that when sun, moon and earth are in line the tides are high- why call them spring when they are not seasonal but two weekly? Is it because the tide level springs high?!
So tonight is a new moon- 3/4th January- and just after midnight is the best time to see a shower of meteors.
Tomorrow night you need to get binoculars out (it will be a very dark night since the moon is tiny) and get a look at Jupiter- you should be able to see four of Jupiter's moons.
The kitchen wall is being stripped of last year's 'remarkables'; so what will 2014 bring? I hope it is a good and healthy year.
We are consuming weird meals as we eat our way through all the ingredients left from the festive season; Christmas and New Year visitors have left us; the beds are stripped and out on the line to dry in gathering winds.
Now I am going to research what a neap tide is- and tackle a basket full of ironing.
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