Day 869, 870 & 871

Day 869...Friday

This morning started with an increase to my cold shower so I am now at two minutes and forty five seconds! Still got a little way to go to match Simon's four minutes but not doing too bad.

My phone weather app was telling me there was a 74% chance of rain but the skies were blue so we went out on our early morning walk armed with the umbrella just in case...did we need it? Nope!Anyways we did our usual 1.9 miles in another quick 36 minutes and stayed dry all the way round.

My morning was spent catching up on a few odd jobs and having a bit of a clean through before stopping to have a little jigsaw time. Ordinarily I would leave my jigsaw until the afternoon but as it sits in front of some french doors and is in direct sunlight during the mid to late afternoon it can get a tad hot. So today I thought I'd take advantage of the shade and get a few pieces moved around before lunch.

I tried numerous times throughout the day to sit outside and soak up some vitamin D but failed as it decided to rain each time I poked my head out the door, despite my wonderful weather app telling me there was zero percent chance of rain! Mmm something tells me I ought not to pay much attention to this app!

One of the tasks that I have set myself is to go through all the bits and pieces at my mum and dads house and figure out what to do with it all. Myself and my brother have gone through everything and taken anything that meant something to us or could be useful and our kids have done the same. But now we are left with a lot of items that are simply too good to throw away and need to go where they will be appreciated. So this afternoon I made a start...a little start! To be honest I've been putting it off because it feels like such a monumental task and I haven't had the willpower to simply just start but I need to man up and get on with it.

So this afternoon I started with something small; some jewellery. I wanted to go through all the bits that we have and figure out what we actually have and what to do with it. I've decided to keep my mum's engagement and eternity rings although I'm not sure if I'll ever wear them. The engagement ring is quite thin and has some stones missing so would need some restoration work doing to it before it could be worn but I have always loved this ring and am just happy to be able to have it. The other pieces that we have could possibly have belonged to my grandparents as I don't remember seeing them at all but I simply don't know. I think I will be taking them to a local jeweller to get them appraised and see where we go from there.

One item that I'd brought home from my dads house was a christening gown that appeared to be in too good a condition to have been mine but as my brother was christened in hospital not long after he'd been born (he was in an incubator for a few weeks and things were a bit touch and go!) it made sense that it would be mine. So I did a little investigation by looking through some old photo albums, and sure enough found photographs of my christening in early 1968! And I am pretty sure that yes the christening gown we have found is mine! It has a label that is definitely from that time but it's condition is amazing, in fact it looks like new.

The day was rounded out with our third weights workout of the week and today I was focused on arms and shoulders. Really happy with how my workouts are going at the moment as having found some new moves online it seems to have reinvigorated my attitude towards exercise. 

Day 870...Saturday

This morning was a change to our routine as after we'd had a coffee we headed into Derby. It was really nice to actually dress a bit smarter for a change (tend to be a shorts and t-shirt kind of girl) and I was more than a little happy that the denim dress I chose to wear felt like it fitted me much better than it did this time last year so I must be doing something right.

Once in Derby I wanted to pop into Next to see if they had some shorts I've been after; I bought a pair online a few weeks back and decided that a second pair was needed. However they are no longer in stock online and when we visited Nottingham on Monday their store didn't have any and today Derby was no better! Wish I'd ordered a second pair straight away now!

We then went in search of coffee before heading off for a wander around the city centre. It is so sad to see so many shops empty but thankfully the one shop we did want to pop into was still open; Warhammer! Purely for Simon as he needed some model paints for finishing off a couple of prop making endeavours he has on the go at the moment. On our way back to the car we had the obligatory stop by Primark but unfortunately there was nothing that caught my eye.

On the way home we stopped by a DIY store to purchase a piece of furniture panel that we could make into shelves for the cupboards we have built upstairs in our new study/craft room. We had taken measurements before we had left home this morning so knew that the piece of panel whilst big enough to make the shelves that we needed would be too big to fit in the car. So we had come armed with a tape measure, a couple of saws and our calculations of where we needed to cut it! So using a couple of large trolleys as a bench we were able to take a 2.39 metre piece and cut it in half so that it fit perfectly in the car and knowing that each half would make two shelves of differing sizes!

After a spot of lunch we then spent the afternoon spent cutting the wood panel to the correct size for the four shelves that we needed. Although the units we'd bought were Ikea they didn't sell extra shelves hence why we were having to make our own. When we'd looked at the panel online we knew that it wouldn't be quite as deep as the shelves we already had but it was the best sizing that we'd been able to find. But when Simon started to measure up we found out that the piece we'd picked up was actually deeper than the one we'd seen online and in fact deeper than the existing shelves! So although this did involve extra cutting for Simon it did mean that by the time we'd finished we had four new shelves that matched perfectly to the existing ones - win!

The last job was to iron on the white trim to cover up the bare wood edges and while the edges were 'setting' we nipped out to Lidl for some salad stuff. Back home and all the edges were set and just needed a quick tidy up by Simon. 

The one thing we hadn't picked up when we bought the wood panel were shelf pegs but that was probably a good thing because when we went to order some online we realised that the holes we have were slightly smaller than the standard. But by the power of Amazon we were able to order enough pegs to be delivered tomorrow.

Day 871...Sunday

Today we had a gentle start to the day and with a coffee inside us we headed out for a not quite so early morning walk. We had a lovely 3.5 mile walk in gorgeous weather in one hour and 7 minutes, although this did involve some blackberry picking along the way! 

Our first job of the day was to swap over some light fittings. We had a couple of wall lights that we had bought when we moved into our first house and that had come with us when we moved here a lot of years ago. Suffice to say these lights were showing their age by rocking an eighties vibe pretty well! After taking them down Simon need to fill a few holes before we could put up the new fixtures, so while the filler harden we had some lunch. It was then a simple job of putting up the new brackets and installing the new much simpler sconces.

By mid-afternoon the shelf pegs had arrived so we were able to see if all our hard work from yesterday paid off and thankfully we were able to install all four shelves with relative ease. We now have three cupboards with extra shelf space which is great as Simon is now able to store all his art materials in a much better way to keep all the paper and card flat and clean.

Simon has also been able to spend a little time cleaning up some model parts as well as airbrushing his latest R2D2 3D printed pieces. He was even able to get a little more paint applied to the interior of R2's doors as he puts those final finishing touches in place.

I've been able to catch up with writing this blog and then at 6pm I was able to hook up via Zoom for one of our  Disney Dream Girls Sunday Disney Quizzes! And I think I won which means that I'm going to have to write the next set of questions although our next quiz won't now be until the end of September!

And with that I think I will stop typing and see you all tomorrow.
xx

Day 863 & 864 - Another Weekend

Day 863...

Simon was up and out early this morning for a 7.30am barbers appointment! After he arrived home we had a coffee before popping on our walking shoes and venturing out for a longer walk than normal. As it had been a bit wet overnight we kept to the pavements and headed in the direction of a local garden centre that has a lovely cafe called Piptree Cafe.

It was a 2.2 mile walk which we managed in 40 minutes and then we had the same journey home again. The day was rather grey and looked like it could rain at any minute so we went out armed with an umbrella and rain coats and needed none of them! Typical!

After a bit of brunch we had a decidedly lazy afternoon. It was raining off and on and Simon had his latest piece of digital art that he was desperate to get completed. I had a few online bits to do but then spent the remainder of my time just chilling and watching some TV and some YouTube.

After a very lovely keto dinner of black pepper chicken stir fry we settled down for the evening to watch a couple of Drag Race shows. We had the final of All Stars Season 7 which has been phenomenal to watch and in our opinion the right queen won. And then we started watching the second series of Drag Race Down Under.

Day 864...

The day started a little later than usual and after a coffee we decided that a walk was very much needed. Not sure what was up with me this morning (and the majority of the weekend if I'm honest) but I was struggling to feel motivated and actually felt quite grumpy. I'd hoped that getting out for a walk might have lifted my mood but I'm not sure it made any significant difference. 

It was another grey day following rain over night and again looked like it could rain at any moment, although it was surprisingly warm. We kept to a flatter route and tried to avoid too many wet fields but we still clocked up 3.5 miles in 1 hour and 6 minutes.

While I had the exciting task of updating our online grocery shopping ahead of collection tomorrow Simon was focused on cleaning up his recent set of 3D prints. This involves sanding the pieces to remove any lumps and bumps that shouldn't be there along with smoothing out the lines that appear with a 3D print, followed by the application of a resin filler to fill in the gaps and help create a smoother surface.

I made a start on my newest jigsaw which by the power of Amazon was ordered yesterday and had arrived by late morning. I have still not found the missing piece of my last jigsaw so have packed it away in the hope that it may show up at some point in the future. But today I was able to get the edge completed of my new Winnie the Pooh themed one...

Simon has been able to hook up a special camera to his 3D printer which means that he will be able to keep an eye on the printer from wherever he may be, which as the printer is at the opposite end of the house to where Simon normally works is going to be pretty useful. He can even control the printer from the app that runs along with the camera! It's a nice safety feature to have in case a print gets too hot (although it should shut down automatically) or if it starts to misprint. This way Simon will be able to avoid unnecessary errors and the waste of printer filament.

And then for the first time in like forever we had our Disney Dream Girls Sunday meet-up/quiz. We started doing a weekly quiz on a Sunday sometime in 2020 when the world was going mad and we'd been pretty good at making it a regular weekly occurrence but as life became more 'normal' and our lives resumed it had become harder to find time when everyone was free to 'meet up'. Since out last meet-up it would appear Zoom have reduced the amount of free time you have to chat and so our little chit chat was cut short and we didn't even get around to having the quiz element! But we have put next Sunday in our diaries and so hopefully then we will be able to chat and quiz!

OK, I think I will sign off and see you all tomorrow.
xx

Day 684

Day 684...

Sunday has rolled around once more and as seems to be the theme of this weekend it was another quiet day.

Because we had our grocery shopping to collect this morning it did mean that we were up and about with a little more purpose than we were yesterday.

Once we were home we gave Ethan a hand to sort returning a parcel. He'd bought a TV only a few months ago but the screen had started to fail; a line of pixels could be seen vertically and another horizontally. As he'd bought it through Amazon he'd been online yesterday to see what could be done and after running through some potential remedies (that didn't work) they said they would refund the cost once the TV had been returned.

So although we hadn't retained the box it had arrived in we did have more than enough packing materials which meant that between us we were able to pack it up pretty well. Simon and Ethan were then able to take it to a local drop-off point to get it on it's way back to Amazon. Ethan is now free to buy himself a new TV, and I think he could actually buy the same model again for less than he paid for it originally!

The afternoon was then rather quiet. Simon set about uploading the latest home video that he'd captured so that we could watch it through for any glitches. And while that played Simon continued with a little more art and I finally managed to complete my latest jigsaw - phew!

This was the final jigsaw from a box of three...

...now that I have completed them all I will be passing them onto the mum of one of my work colleagues so that someone else can have enjoyment out of them.

I do have a few more jigsaws waiting to be completed, so I just need to decide which one to do first!

And as the afternoon drew in everywhere turned pink as the sun began to set...

...the sky looked amazing and everywhere was bathed in a pinkish glow.

And for the first time in a few weeks it was Disney quiz time with my fellow Disney nerds courtesy of the Disney Dream Girls podcast. I was responsible for setting the questions and will admit that they weren't the easiest of questions, but it is so hard finding questions that will challenge people who I know will be pretty hot on most things Disney. But we had a few giggles and it was just nice to see familiar faces and have a catch-up.

Well that was Sunday, so I will see you tomorrow.
xx 

Day 656

Day 656...

Today was more of a routine kind of day after the hustle and bustle of the festive period.

We started the day with the collection of our weekly grocery shop - yipee! A sign that life is returning back to it's usual routine. Although the service was that bad today that I decided to provide some feedback to the store. I couldn't find anything online that would allow me to feedback to the store direct nor could I find any other means of contacting the supermarket so I resorted to twitter. I always think it's a sad state of affairs when the only means of communicating is by taking to social media. But by mid-afternoon I'd had a response and have now been able to 'direct message' them with some more information...let's see what happens next?!

With the shopping packed away and a late breakfast/early lunch eaten (hence the need to get my grocery shop today!) we decided to head out for a walk. We've missed getting out and about for our walks but as today was another mild day for the time of year, and dry, it was too good an opportunity to pass up. We managed 3.4 miles in an hour and four minutes.

This afternoon I was tasked with looking over Simon's website that he's recently updated; I had a read through of it all to make sure everything read correctly and there were no errors. After that we took a little time out and while Simon drew and I sorted some jigsaw pieces we watched the Disney Christmas Day Parade which was filmed at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

And then it was time to jump online with some of my Disney family for our Disney Dream Girls podcast family Sunday afternoon quiz! Our Sunday quiz started during the first lockdown and had become a regular Sunday occurrence, but as our lives have started to look a little more normal it has been difficult to get us all free at the same time. But today four of us were able to hook up online, have a chat and answer some questions. I actually won although that does mean that I now have the task of setting the questions for the next quiz!

I have an evening planned of 'not very much' that will most likely involve red wine and probably the latest series of Queer Eye!

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 578

Day 578...

After a busy week Sunday has rolled around and it has been a lot calmer than the last few days. We still had our weekly grocery shopping to collect as usual but with that done we had the day ahead of us.

Simon has an art commission that he is working on and is hoping to get completed sooner rather than later so he took some time out to put in a little more work. I decided to get on top of the laundry and managed to get up to date with the ironing.

Molly and Dan headed off down south around lunchtime; Molly will spend the next week at Dan's before returning home for a couple of weeks before she makes the big move down there at the beginning of November.

And with Molly and Dan on their way and Ethan on his way home from his friends wedding we suddenly realised that for the first time in almost twenty months we had the house to ourselves for a couple of hours - weird!

Mid-afternoon we took a trip into Nottingham and grabbed a coffee while we waited for Ethan's train to arrive. He'd had a good night away although I think he was glad to be home as I think the three trains and a bus to get home had wiped him out.

And for the first time in a fair few weeks I hooked up online with my fellow Disney nerds as we had our Disney Dream Girls Disney quiz meet-up! As lives are getting back to 'normal' we have found that getting us all to be free at the same time is getting trickier...never mind the time difference between here in the UK, Germany, California and Canada! And so today it was more of a chance to catch-up rather than partake in a quiz.

And I think that's where I'll leave it for today. See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 536

Day 536...

So today was Sunday and my last day before returning to work after the summer break. And typical of the British weather after a couple of weeks of grey and, on occasion, damp weather the sun decided to show its face and bless us with a warm and sunny day...on the last day of my holidays!!

But no matter what the weather the first job this Sunday morning was, as has become the norm, to fetch the weekly grocery shop...whoop! Next on the agenda was to remove all the masking tape from the bathroom following yesterday's decorating along with some touch-ups where we'd missed a couple of places.

Then we headed off out to Derby for a couple of hours. Our main reason was to pop in and see my sister-in-law who was taking part in a craft fair event in the city centre with her venture, China Petals. A relatively small event with about a dozen or so small art and craft businesses run by a non-profit organisation helping small business to promote their wears. It was lovely to see Diane and have a chat as well as have a look at the other stalls and speak with other artists and makers. We were then able to report back to Molly as it maybe something that she will be looking into doing in the future as part of her Shutter Crafts business.

We then enjoyed a walk around the city centre, stopped for a couple of coffees and had the obligatory nip into Primark to see if there was any new Disney merchandise to be had. Although they had a few bits there was nothing, unfortunately, that took my fancy today.

Back home we decided to enjoy the sunshine in our own back garden with a coffee before setting about laying some weed membrane in our courtyard garden that we are currently in the process of tidying up. And then it was time for our Disney Dream Girls Disney quiz which we have not held for a few weeks due to holidays and more, so it was lovely to see some faces that I've not had chance to chat with for a while.

And that was our Sunday done and dusted.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 501

Day 501...

Well I think this will be a short post today as it is now quite late on in the day and it has been a day spent pretty much at home.

We had a short trip out first thing this morning to go and fetch this weeks grocery shop but once back home we were home for the day and our focus was the garden.

We had started last week to remove a few trees and plants from our courtyard garden and today we decided that we would see how much of the remaining trees we could remove. We started last weekend with three very well established conifer trees and a California lilac bush; all of which had been in situ for about 24 or 25 years and were rather well established!

But with the loan of an axe from a neighbough we (well Simon) started to attack what was remaining of the aforementioned trees. Suffice to say after about five hours hard work we had managed to remove all of the trees, plus their roots and cut down as much as we could all of the branches and twigs to reduce them to as small a pile of rubbish as possible. We are hoping that we can get rid of most of this in our bi-weekly garden rubbish collection, although the bigger roots may need to be taken to our local recycling centre.

I had just enough time to jump in the shower to freshen up before I jumped online for our Sunday afternoon Disney quiz as part of the Disney Dream Girls podcast that I help co-host. I had set some of the questions this week but did pretty poorly on the other questions set!

And that was Sunday...time for dinner and then an evening of relaxing I think.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 494

Day 494...

And we have another Sunday and we had a very lazy start to the day.

But when we finally got moving I had the fun job of completing the online grocery shop ready for collection tomorrow. And while I did that Simon set about a few jobs that needed sorting around the house.

First he is repairing some wood around the garage door and had some expanding foam filler to squirt into the holes. He then decided to look for any more holes that needed filling to make best use of the filler. He found a couple just alongside some guttering just underneath the edge of the house roof...slight issue as by filling in the holes he disturbed a wasps nest!! Thankfully the wasps seemed more confused than angry but I have contacted our 'wasp man' to come out and 'sort' them out!

Next job was to help Molly with a little project she has in mind for her Shutter Studios business that involved resin which Simon is rather adept at using. She has a plan to create some bespoke items with coloured resin that she will then sell under the banner of Shutter Crafts.

Then we had the big job of the day which was to continue with the job we'd started a couple of weeks ago of chopping back some rather well established trees and bushes with an aim to remove them completely. So with hedge trimmer in hand and a pair of loppers we, well mainly Simon, made good progress. We managed to fill two bins and burn a lot of the very dry stuff and although we still have more to do we have definitely made progress.

While Simon did the majority of the gardening I had a little podcast recording to complete. Michelle and I hooked up online to record a special show for our Patreon supporters. And then no sooner than we'd finished recording it was time for our Disney quiz via Zoom, which I was the joint winner of...although this does mean that I have to come up with questions for next week's show!

And with that I am stopping typing as it's late and I need to chill.

Take care.
xx

Day 487

Day 487...

Wow we have had another very hot day again today...not that I am complaining, well not too much! The sunshine and warmth not only makes you feel brighter but is good for your health too.

With a steady start to the day I embarked upon the online grocery shop while Simon fitted our new doorbell which had arrive first thing. Going for a Disney Tower of Terror vibe....

....new door number should arrive later in the week to compliment.

We then took a drive into Nottingham to have one of our urban walks. As Simon pointed out by walking around the city it keeps his hayfever at bay. All too often walking across the fields where we live results in sore eyes and itchy skin for Simon which obviously doesn't make for a very pleasant experience.

So we wandered the streets and grabbed a coffee before stopping outside Nottingham Castle. 

Our view while we sat

Statue of Robin Hood outside the walls of Nottingham Castle

Chill out time...although rather hot and sticky!

We found a spot in the shade to sit, drink coffee, watch the world go by and for Simon the chance to do a little drawing. For a change to late he went for the old fashioned pencil and paper approach rather then the digital drawing tablet he ordinarily uses.

Simon exercising his manual drawing skills

By the time we got back to the car we'd spent almost three hours in the city and managed to walk around 3.5 miles. Thankfully we'd parked the car in a car park building which meant it was nice and cool for the drive home...and with air conditioning I think the car has been the coolest place today.

We arrived home to a freshly brewed pot of coffee (thanks Ethan) and settled down ready for a Sunday evening Disney Dream Girls podcast Disney quiz. This was the first time in a few weeks that we'd been able to get together and although there was only four of us it was nice to chat with some now very familiar faces.

And to escape the heat indoors I am finishing today's blog post sat outside in the garden in an attempt to cool down. Although high temperatures and experiencing menopause are not a good combination!!

Stay cool and I'll see you tomorrow.

xx

Day 452...Sunday

Day 452...

And we have a Sunday.

My first job, as usual, was to update my online grocery shop ready for collection tomorrow morning. It was then time to wave Molly and her fella on their way as they are spending this next week at his house which is about three hours away.

We then had the very glamorous job of taking the car full of rubbish from yesterday's garage clear out to our local recycling centre. And with the car emptied it was back home to start filling it up with more rubbish!

Our afternoon was spent mainly in the garage clearing out yet more stuff and moving things that hadn't been moved in years! We moved the freezer and binned the wood that it had been sitting on and replaced it with some newer pieces that would give a little more air flow around it. Once we'd moved the freezer and the remaining shelf unit we decided to repaint the garage walls. We had picked up some white paint on the way home and in a couple of hours have managed to paint the back wall and about a third of the side walls. Still some way to go but it is looking better already and hopefully when our new storage cupboards arrive we will have a much smarter, tidier and organised garage.

My Sunday was rounded out with our Disney Dream Girls Disney quiz via Zoom and as I set half of the questions this week (Marvel focused with help from Simon) it did mean that next week's questions will be set by someone else.

And that's where I'm going to leave it for today. Time for some drag race on the telly, feet up, wine and chocolate.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 445

Day 445...

Well we started the day very slowly and were in no rush to be up and about. I think we were both catching up on previous lost nights sleep, although mine hadn't been great it was better than it had been of late.

First job of the day saw Simon package up a few prop pieces and calculate the relevant post and packaging costs. With payment received for one of the parcels we were able to drop it off at our local post office when we headed out for a few hours.

We had decided to drive into Nottingham for a little wander about, somewhere different to go for a walk and spend time together. We managed just over three miles and were able to enjoy a coffee as we walked and took in the city. It can be hard to remember that we are still in a 'lockdown' of sorts when wandering around and people appear to be going about as 'normal'. But then you spot the masks and the queues to get into shops; the need to wear a mask when going inside anywhere and then to be faced with having to 'check-in' if you choose to sit-in to eat or drink...assuming you can get in somewhere. On the surface the world looks fine it's only when you scratch that you see all the constraints.

Back home and Simon took Molly out for a drive while I stayed home and updated our online grocery order ready for collection tomorrow. I also made some more progress on cataloging the photos that I had managed to scan in over the last couple of days and once they were done I started on scanning the next lot which was the remainder of 1989!

The day was finished off with our Disney Dream Girls Disney quiz and this week the questions had been set by Deborah in Canada and were all on the brilliant TV series The Mandalorian...and I won! So I now have the job of setting questions for next weeks quiz.

And there we have the weekend done and my week off from work has come to an end.

Take care.
xx

A Slow Sunday

Day 438...

This morning we had a very lazy and slow start to the day as we were rather late getting up.

But once up and about I jumped online to sort out my online grocery order as well as research some questions for our Disney Dream Girls podcast Disney zoom quiz. While I did that Simon took Molly out for another drive; they did the same route as yesterday but we figure the more miles Molly can drive the easier it will get for her and we want to do whatever we can to help her pass her test as quickly as possible

The rest of the day saw Simon continuing to sort more of his 'stuff'; re-organising it all and streamlining where he can. We still have a lot more 'stuff' to go through and need to come up with solutions as to how best store it all. Whilst everything is now organised and in boxes we now need to figure out where these boxes can live. We have a few ideas brewing that include using the garage and having a complete overhaul of the space there, as well as looking into replacing our garden shed with a 'garden room' which would work as an art/craft space for Simon. So lots to think about, lots to plan and in the meantime lots of boxes to live with!

Late afternoon we headed out for a walk across the fields where we live. This was the first time we'd been out for a walk in a few weeks simply because the weather, until this weekend, had been so wet and miserable. But today it was blue skies, sunshine and warm, enough for the shorts to be pulled out from the wardrobe!

And our walk took us past our local alpacas which have all had their winter coats removed and looked very cute. We even discovered that one of them is called Obi-Wan!!

We managed 3.4 miles in and hour and ten minutes and were home in time to make a coffee and settle down for our Disney quiz via Zoom!

It was great to see everyone as it has been a few weeks since we all hooked up online. As I was setting the questions the pressure was off for me. My questions had a bit of a musical theme as we had caught a YouTube film this morning all about a rock band called Halyx that performed in Tomorrowland at Disneyland in the Summer of 1981. A fascinating story and well worth a watch; I just love these sort of stories about Disney, the unusual and often short lived events!

And that was our Sunday.

Take care.
xx

Day 417

Day 417...

After a very busy day yesterday we took things a little slower this morning and enjoyed a lazy start to the day.

The main focus of today was to get Simon's workspace back up and operational ready for work on Tuesday. So although we had managed to get his desk and chair into his workspace he now needed to get everything else back up there and more importantly connected, plugged in and working.

The space he has is up in the rafters and so he has to contend with slopped ceilings and only a couple of double electrical sockets. He has an awful lot of kit that needs to be connected and it is a mammoth, and complicated, job. But he is using this opportunity to make sure he only has what he actually needs and streamlining where he can. This is the ethos that we are taking as we 'put back' our rooms, to take a moment to reflect and ask; Do we need it? Why are we holding on to it? Is it useful anymore? Does it serve a purpose? Do we even like it still?

While Simon battled with technology I spent an hour or so online with my podcast co-host Michelle as we recorded this weeks Disney Dream Girls show. Ordinarily we would have recorded a show by now but what with all the work happening here this week, and Michelle just having moved house, today was the first opportunity we had had. 

We did take a little time out late this afternoon for a short walk; a quick 1.9 miles in about 38 minutes. And we were back in time for our weekly Disney quiz via Zoom...I say weekly but it has been a couple of weeks since we last hooked up so it was nice to see what are now very familiar faces, and this week I won! This does mean that I now get the honour of setting the questions for the next quiz which will have to be in a few weeks time as next week it is Simon's birthday and the week after we are away for the weekend...staying in an actual hotel...for the first time since March last year, which is just ridiculous.

So as we start to see restrictions being eased I spot a cousin on Instagram post her wedding photos...a scaled down affair because of the restrictions still in place, with a comment that they will celebrate with family later in the year...so sad! And then we have the promise from our government that we will be allowed to hug people from different households in a weeks time but that we have to do so 'carefully'...unbelievable we are now being told by our government how to hug each other...I am a grown woman I will hug who I want, when I want and how I want, I don't need politicians telling me how!

And with that I have a martini, a husband to hug and time to chill.

Take care.
xx
 

Busy Sunday

Day 396...

So today was Sunday and it turned out to be quite a busy day...which means this will probably be a short post as it's now getting late on in the day.

But we were up and about relatively early for a Sunday as we had our weekly grocery shop to collect, a day earlier than normal as I am in work tomorrow. We had some shopping to drop off at my dad's on the way home and then it was a case of get everything packed away before we headed out the door again.

Just as we were about to leave I got a message from one of my staff to say that a member of her household had just tested positive for covid with a lateral flow test and they were getting a PCR test as confirmation. This means that my member of staff has to now isolate for 10 days, despite having no symptoms herself, and that in turn means that I will now need to work a full five day week rather than my usual two full days and two half days!

We headed off into Derby around lunchtime and had a walk around the city, grabbed a coffee and then I popped into a local beauty salon for an appointment, but we were still back home for around 2.30pm and decided to make the most of the remainder of the day.

This meant getting on our scruffy work clothes and dismantling some trellis fencing which involved removing two fence panels, three fence posts and the met posts which held the fence posts in the ground. Now whilst I would like to take some credit for the hard work that was carried out this afternoon I really can't as it all came down to the strength and tenacity of Simon. The met posts were well and truly lodged into the ground and it took an enormous amount of strength, ingenuity and lateral thinking for Simon to eventually get them out. I on the other hand, held stuff and made coffee!

We then loaded one of the cars up with items to go to our local recycling centre, which Simon will be able to take tomorrow. I then had just enough time to jump in the shower and get cleaned up ready for our usual Sunday Disney Dream Girls Disney quiz. It was lovely to see everyone, as it always is, and I didn't do too badly...I didn't win nor did I loose!!

And to finish the day we made keto pizza for dinner, drank some red wine and finally put our feet up in front of the TV!

Take care out there.
xx

Another Cold Sunday

Day 389...

So here we are at another Sunday and rather an uneventful one...although no suprise there!.

With nothing particular to do today we decided on a walk out this morning to avoid the rain showers forecast for this afternoon. We walked 5.3 miles in an hour and 42 minutes; it was sunny at times, it was cold and we got caught in a couple of hail showers - just what it should be like in April!! I am really in need of some warmer weather now, if only to make me feel brighter in myself.

We are in this weird limbo land at the moment. Tomorrow we see non-essential retail, hairdressers and outdoor dining open up but all will have with them some form of restrictions. There will be limited capacity in shops, masks will still be needed to go in anywhere and sitting outdoors to have a drink and a bite to eat will require 'checking-in' to 'track & trace'. It all feels just too much. We have had a year of not being able to do anything or go anywhere and with fear messaging pumped at us all the time and now we are just supposed to carry on...but with restrictions.

This is not the freedom that I signed up for. We have 'cases' and deaths as low as they are ever likely to be and yet we are still not able to get back to our normal lives and I fear that those in power like the control they have over us and don't want to give that up any time soon...if ever!

We have record numbers of deaths from cancer at the moment because of undiagnosed conditions and missed or delayed treatment yet we are not hearing the 'news' report that. One cancer charity has said that the amount of money they have lost due to the reduction in charitable giving over the last year is the equivalent of delaying their research and development by 18 months. Something is not right somewhere? The world feels a very strange place to be at the moment, and this does not feel like the democracy we have been led to believe we live in.

So my day has been rather 'down' today, when asked by a friend how I was I responded with 'meh' and that pretty much sums it all up at the moment. I am in a slump, like I know lots of us are, and I am struggling to summon the energy to see the way out of it...to say my get up and go has got up and left would be an understatement.

So with nothing much to do and the weather being rather temperamental I settled down in front of the TV and fuelled with coffee I watched another couple of episodes of The Marvellous Mrs Maisel (just one more to go now) and painted my nails in an attempt to brighten me up. It's the first time I've 'done' my nails in I can't remember how long! And while I got all girly Simon started the marathon watching of the 'Snyder' cut of Justice League...four hours was just too much for me to endure!

And then Sunday was rounded out with our usual Disney Dream Girls Disney quiz and although I didn't win it was a bit of light relief for a Sunday that felt rather 'down'.

Take care, whatever you may be doing.
xx

 

Lazy Sunday

Day 382...

Happy Easter...or should that be Happy Chocolate Day?!

Another quiet Sunday spent pretty much as our Sundays are spent of late. A slow and steady morning with the obligatory handing out of chocolate eggs.

After breakfast I had the usual job of updating our weekly grocery shop online ready for collection tomorrow. While I was doing that Simon was finishing up the art commission he had started yesterday and with a happy client was able to complete it and send it over digitally today.

We then headed out into the sunshine to take a walk over the fields. It was rather blustery but otherwise it was a beautiful day to be out and about and to blow away the cobwebs. We made our way to our local alpacas where the farm now has a small van selling ice-creams and snacks as well as an old red telephone box that is kitted out with a drinks machine. So we helped ourselves to a couple of coffees and left our money in the 'honesty box' and carried on our walk completing 4 miles in an hour and a half...a much gentler paced walk than of late as we enjoyed the scenery and the weather.

Home again and it was time for another coffee sat in the sunshine as we contemplated what to do next. Simon had a couple of odd jobs to complete and then we had some measuring of doors to do. We are hoping to get a new front door but as our existing door is a non-standard size it is proving to be a little problematic but we have an idea that we have now sent off to the company who are trying to source one for us to see if we have a winning solution.

We also had a play around with a new approach to killing weeds...using a heat gun! Now we had seen some products online that 'burned' weeds away but wanted to see how effective they could really be so we tried using the heat gun that Simon uses when prop building to see if the principle worked. And lo and behold it worked, I think we maybe making an investment that will hopefully make weeding easier and gentler on my back!

The day was rounded out, as most Sunday's are, with our Disney Dream Girls Disney quiz. This week Kacy who set the questions had the fab idea of asking all of us who take part the same five questions, we submitted our answers and then today we had to match up the answer to the individual. We had a great time trying to figure out who had answered what!

Our Easter Sunday dinner was then homemade keto pizza - a family affair where everyone could help out and make their own pizza as they saw fit!

Take care.
xx

Podcast, Weeding & Quizzing

Day 368...

We have another Sunday and another quiet day with a slow and steady start.

Michelle and I jumped online late morning to record a couple of shows for our podcast, Disney Dream Girls. We recorded one show for our Patreon subscribers and then just our regular show ready for next weekend. Michelle has a busy week ahead as she is due to move house so we wanted to get a little ahead of ourselves and get a show recorded and ready for release.

Simon and I took one of our shorter walks out over the fields just after lunch and were glad that we wore our wellies as the ground is still a little squelchy in places.

I then decided to do a spot of weeding thinking it would be a quick 15 minute job...over an hour and a half later and the job was done. We have a couple of very old sycamore trees close to where we live and every year at this time we find the seeds sprouting everywhere and they seem to have appeared literally overnight and were everywhere.

Whilst weeding I received a phone call to let me know that my dad has had a couple of falls this weekend which has resulted in him being taken to hospital late this afternoon to get checked out. So we are now waiting for an update from the hospital as we are not allowed to go in with him because of the current restrictions. Fingers crossed everything comes back okay.

Simon has spent most of his day assembling the leg components of his R2D2 build. A case of joining pieces together and then fashioning wooden blocks to go inside the feet on which castors have been fixed. The big job to do next is to attach the legs to the body which is going to be a tricky one as the pieces are quite hefty and there's going to be a lot of having to hold in place while things get attached!!

The day was rounded out with our usual Sunday Disney quiz via Zoom. Michelle was quiz master and all her questions were linked to the man himself, Walt Disney. I managed to get seven points which wasn't enough to win but was just enough to keep me from being bottom...by half a point!

Take care.
xx

Happy Mothers Day - UK!

Day 361...

Happy Mothers Day...well it is here in the UK! Always very confusing that different countries celebrate it at different times of the year. Apparently here in the UK it is always the fourth Sunday in Lent...I have to thank my podcast co-host Michelle for supplying me with this knowledge as I had no idea!

Well my Mothers Day started quite late after a disturbed nights sleep but once up and about I had message from Molly and one from her her boyfriend Dan as well as gifts presented by Ethan but thoughtfully purchased between him and Molly.

The card was suitably Star Wars inspired...

...and gifts were suitably Disney...

I had spotted this bag online a few weeks ago but had never gotten around to ordering it for myself...good job I hadn't!

Can't beat a pair of fluffy, silly, Disney socks!

Simon and I decided to take a walk out this morning as the weather forecast for the afternoon was looking pretty wet. Well we wore our wellies and headed out across the fields; which having had some rain this past week were rather squelchy in places. Just as we headed out we felt a few rain spots and Simon nipped back inside to pick up his umbrella which was put to good use as at one point walking across a field the rain and hail decided to come at us sideways so the umbrella shielded us from it a little. But by the time we headed home the weather had calmed down and the walk home was dry and almost sunny. We stopped off at a small supermarket that did Costa Coffee take-out as all the other local cafes do not open Sundays...the only problem being that the machine was 'out of order'!! This did mean that when we got home, and the coffee had brewed, it was really well deserved and enjoyed. Another 4 miles in an hour and a half, taking March's total to 25 miles.

We then decided to see if we could get a hotel booked for a weekend away. All being well hotels should be allowed to open mid-May so we hopped online and managed to get a hotel booked for a seaside get-a-way not long after Simon's birthday. We also have another weekend away booked in July that was actually scheduled for last July but the hotel very kindly allowed us to keep the booking and simply move it a year forward. At least we have a couple of things to look forward to all being well.

This afternoon Simon has been battling with a couple of pieces of his R2D2 build that just don't want to take the spray paint; this can happen occasionally as grease or dirt can interfere with the ability of the paint to adhere to the surface. But he has one piece that no matter what he does just doesn't want to play...more sanding needed to try again tomorrow. 

The day was rounded out with our usual Sunday Disney quiz, although my scoring this week was pretty naff...although that does mean I don't have to set questions for next week! But it was, as it always is, lovely to chat with some now very familiar faces; names on social media that have now become friends.

Take care, wherever you may be.
xx

Sunday...again

Day 354...

Well today has been one of those days!

I woke up feeling grumpy, irritated and just wanted to curl up and cry. Hormones are just plain rubbish! Your brain logic is telling you one thing but no matter what you do you just can't shift the mood, which in turn makes things all the more infuriating.

But I got on with the day as best I could. There was the online grocery shopping to complete and laundry to sort while Simon did some paint spraying of R2D2 parts.

We took a walk over the fields as it was such a beautiful and sunny day and clocked up another 3.5 miles in an hour and eighteen minutes. There were so many people out and about today obviously taking advantage of the weather and having literally nothing else to do or anywhere else to go.

My afternoon was pretty quiet as I really wasn't in the mood for doing much. I spent some time simply sat outside with a coffee. I read a little, did some research ahead of this evenings Disney quiz and that was about it.

Having our regular Disney Dream Girls Sunday Disney quiz was a little light relief and my online research saved me from getting a really low score. 

But that was the day; a day of feeling 'out of it' and not really in the mood for doing anything which would be hard enough to contend with in the best of times but with the backdrop of lockdown it feels so worthless. We are going through one of the toughest and longest lockdowns here in the UK and I really cannot fathom why...

Take care.
xx

Sunday, Sunday

Day 347...

Another quiet and lack lustre Sunday has rolled around.

The motivation levels have been severely lacking today despite it being another bright and sunny day.

A slow start to the day was followed with the usual Sunday updating of my online grocery shop while Simon did some more sanding of various R2D2 parts.

We took a walk out over the fields and while there were a few spots of squelchy mud the paths were definitely a lot dryer than of late. We managed 3.3 miles in just over an hour and ten minutes. This brought our total miles for February to 61 miles in 20 hours!

The afternoon was spent drinking coffee outside in the sunshine reading my latest book while Simon did yet more sanding!

I then decided to make some keto garlic bread, trying a new recipe out for the first time and I have to say the end result is very yummy, and just a little bit moreish!

And then the day was rounded out with the Disney Dream Girls weekly Disney quiz via Zoom. We had a good old chat and attempted to put the world to rights and somewhere in there were my questions on the film Brother Bear. Next week we will be having questions set by Kacy on the movie Muppet Treasure Island, which is a movie I don't think I've ever seen!

And as we round out today we cast our minds back to this time last year. Simon was in Boston, US, for a video game exhibition called PAX East. He was spending his days in a busy, crowded conference  hall, shaking hands and getting up close and personal with people from all over. He had traveled there and back using planes, trains and the tube in London and all at a point when the pandemic was more than likely 'raging away'. A year on and we find ourselves in this indeterminable lockdown, with our liberties and freedoms taken away. In a world where we find ourselves questioning all the time what we are allowed to do, where we can go and with whom. I thought that we lived in a free democratic society but it feels more and more authoritarian by each day that passes.

How things have changed in a year! Take care wherever you may be.
xx