Day 886

Day 886...

Before we headed out on our early morning walk Simon spent a little time setting up the 3D printer. He had the print from overnight to remove, which is always a bit of a tricky job, and then the next print to set going as this was going to take most of the day. 

We had a bit of a longer walk this morning managing 3.3 miles in 1 hour and 11 minutes which was a bit of a slower pace due to the picking of blackberries. I think this is the third week we have been able to pick berries when out on our walk and we filled a tub that resulted in 600g of blackberries for the freezer.

Next on the agenda was a trip out to Ikea which we did with a short stop by our local recycling centre as we had a few items that we needed to get rid of. At Ikea we purchased some new everyday cups, three new saucepans and a couple of drawer organiser inserts.

Whilst at the retail park we decided to pop into the sports store Decathlon for no other reason than to just have a look around. As it was we found a couple of 5kg bar weights that will not only work for the bar but will also work as an alternate to my dumbbells. I already use a couple of 5kg dumbbells but find them awkward to hold for a couple of exercises but these new weights are shaped like a steering wheel and will be much easier for me to move about.

New weights, working out this evening

We arrived home and it was time for our first meal of the day...our lunch/brunch or whatever we want to call it and we were both more than ready for it today. Some days the hunger just gets to you!

Then for some reason my mood was just 'off' this afternoon, I didn't know what to do with myself and so we put on some random daft TV programme. I even attempted my jigsaw but couldn't lose myself in it like I would normally. So we decided that we would head down the gym and for me it was an arm and shoulders work out tonight.

Over the course of the day Simon has had great success with not only successful 3D prints but also completing his latest piece of digital art. The only downside he discovered was that he'd painted the details on the wrong piece of his recent R2D2 prints. He'd diligently and carefully added painted detail over the course of the weekend and then this evening realised that out of the two very similar looking pieces he had printed he'd painted the wrong one. Hopefully he will be able to sand back the paint and recover both pieces; just a tad annoying as it was a very slow and precise painting process that he will now have to repeat.

And with that I will see you all tomorrow.
xx

Day 764

Day 764...

Today turned out to be quite productive even with an unexpected trip to Ikea.

First job of the day was to get the ironing pile out of the way which didn't take too long at all. Next it was a trip to Lidl to get re-stocked on some fresh items and take advantage of some of their weekly vouchers.

On the way home I stopped by my dad's house to make sure all was well and see whether there was any post, which there wasn't. I took the opportunity to bring home his digital photo frame which we are hoping to use on Monday as a way to remember him at the gathering we are having to celebrate his life. I had another look around hoping to find some missing pieces of jewellery but to no avail, although I did get distracted looking through a box of very old photos. There is some wonderful moments of history in those photos as they are of my grandparents when they were younger and I am thankful to my grandma for writing names and dates on them all.

Back home and with the shopping put away I decided to see if I could get the new TV set up. I'd just got it out the box when Simon joined me and between us we had it in place and logged into all our various streaming apps in a matter of minutes.

After lunch I decided to embark on making up the set of drawers that we'd bought yesterday from Ikea. I'd got all the various bolts and screws laid out and began taking the different pieces of wood out of the packaging, I got to the very last piece and discovered that one corner was severely damaged! 

Oops, damaged piece!

So there was only one thing for it and off to Ikea I went. Armed with the damaged piece and my receipt it was a relatively straight forward process to get the piece swapped over. Although it did mean that the staff had to open a new package and then try and figure out which panel needed replacing. As it was a side panel we couldn't figure out whether it was the right or left side so I was given both sides to take home and just told to take back the piece I don't need when I next visit Ikea!

By the time I got home I was in need of a coffee and thankfully Simon had put a pot on that was freshly brewed as I walked in the door. Refreshed with coffee I then started the building of the set of drawers that I'd started about an hour and a half earlier! But by the time Simon had finished work it was almost complete and Simon joined me as I was assembling the drawers and so between us we got the job done...

Completed drawers

And with that it was time for a quick gym workout before settling down for the evening.

See you all tomorrow.
xx

Day 763

Day 763...

Middle of the week and this will be a quick post I think!

Today has been spent at home and has comprised of a lot of online research and a lot of tidying and reorganising of cupboards.

We need a couple of chairs for our newly refurbished upstairs room and so I spent some time looking at different options. We would like an office type chair and a stool and we would like them to look at least similar in appearance. But I also don't want the chair to look too 'office like' and we also need to decide on a colour. White initially came to mind and all I could think of was stains and it looking grubby very quickly so then I started to look at greys and discovered just how varied the colour grey could be!

Taking a break from internet research I started on reorganising cupboards. We had a number of crafting supplies living in a cupboard in the dining area and these needed going through and moving up into our 'new room'. All supplies now have a new home and I have a fairly empty cupboard that I'm sure will get filled sooner or later.

As Simon finished for lunch we headed out for a lovely walk in the sunshine, managing 2.5 miles in 45 minutes.

The afternoon saw more sorting of cupboards as I went through a few drawers and cupboard spaces to see exactly what we had and whether we still needed it or not. Suffice to say there was a pile of stuff that went in the rubbish...not sure why I had kept numerous letter writing pads as all my communication is done electronically or typed as no-one needs to have to read my writing!

We had a few deliveries turn up today as well including the new TV for the upstairs room although we have yet to set it up as this evening we decided to take a trip to our local Ikea. We came away with a set of drawers, two drawer tidy trays, a pedal bin, a wok and a set of felt tip pens!

And that was Wednesday and now it's time to sit and watch this weeks episode of Moon Knight and see if we are as confused as we were watching last weeks show!

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 735

Day 735...

A Tuesday once more and another full day in work.

I have ahead of me three more full days in work which is not my normal contracted hours but at the moment the hours are needed to help transition my role. So today it was another full day of taking my deputy through some of the work that makes up my job. And today it was the ever so exciting (sarcasm here!) and very necessary calculation of fees and the creation of invoices.

It took us a full day to work through everything and yet again re-iterated to me just how adept I have become at these various tasks over the years and simply 'get on and do' without giving much thought to what goes into getting the job done. 

A lot of my work is kind of 'rinse and repeat' and we have decided that the word of today was 'plagiarise'. Because I have been doing this job for a lot of years there are many, many occasions where I simply refer back to previous iterations and plagiarise my own work to create a more up to date and relevant version.

Arriving home I found that Ikea had delivered our new sofa bed and that the coffee was ready and waiting. I did a little more work online as well as deal with a couple of my own jobs before taking a few minutes, with a second cup of coffee, on my jigsaw; almost complete now!

It was then time to head down the gym, but before we did that we had to relocate the new sofa bed from our hallway to our upstairs bedroom...it was a nice warm-up prior to the gym session. With a little brute force and ingenuity we managed to get it upstairs much easier than I had anticipated and it now sits very nicely in the room...

And that was Tuesday, see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 734

Day 734...

We had a plan for this Monday and it involved Ikea!

But first we had to take the mattress that we'd rolled up yesterday to our local recycling centre. With that done and an empty boot we headed over to Ikea.

The plan was to check out the sofa bed we'd seen online as well as looking at various storage solutions and cupboards. First the sofa bed; a little smaller than we'd thought but it was smart and easy to convert from a sofa to a bed and will fit into the room with ease - win!

Second the storage solution. We have a lot of arts and crafts material that are currently living in some clear plastic Ikea boxes and what we needed to find were cupboards, or similar, that these boxes would fit into. So as we walked around we found the same boxes that we have and tried them out in various cupboards and storage units to see where they fitted best. It confirmed that some of the storage we looked at online yesterday was not quite big enough for them but then we found a cupboard that worked surprisingly well. More ideas to take away with us for our planning.

Having settled on the sofa bed we set off to find it in the warehouse section to see what size the packaged version was. Well, we looked at it and tried to imagine it in the back of our car and I don't think either of us thought it would fit. But, after speaking with a store colleague we were told to buy it, try it in the car and if it didn't fit to speak with customer services to arrange a delivery. And sure enough that was exactly what happened. We now have it scheduled for delivery some time tomorrow.

Back home it was time for more planning of our room and more 'SketchUp' designing using the dimensions of the new cupboard that we'd found while exploring Ikea. Thankfully lunchtime came around and gave us a break from planning!

Mid-afternoon we headed into Derby as I'd got a beauty appointment and it was an excuse to partake in a coffee and yet more discussions on the plans for the upstairs room! And when we arrived home guess what we did? Yep, more discussions, more ideas and more 'SketchUp' designs!

We think we may have arrived at a potential solution that actually involves using kitchen units and kitchen worktop. We will be able to have an extensive L-shaped work surface, with plenty of cupboard space, even making best use of what would have been a dead corner space. The worktop would be deep enough, and sturdy enough, to house a 3D printer for Simon as well as being robust enough for whatever crafts we decide to pursue. I think this means another trip to Ikea next Monday to check out kitchen cabinets!

And before we knew it the afternoon had disappeared. So while Simon took 45 minutes on the exercise bike I took the time to calm my mind with a little 'jigsawing'...and relax!

OK, I think that is it for today so I will see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 692

Day 692...

In a change for a Monday we started the day with collecting our weekly grocery shop. And while it was lovely to see a familiar face with the store colleague on duty we still had issues. The app doesn't work, the email link doesn't work and when I phoned through to the number displayed at the collection point that didn't work either! But we got our shopping and it was still preferable to walking around the store to do the shopping in person.

With the shopping home and put away we then headed out once more and this time we headed to our local Ikea. And unusually for a trip to Ikea we came away empty handed but with ideas for the refurbishment of Molly's old bedroom. We had looked up a few bits of furniture online and wanted to see them up close to figure out whether they were what we wanted or not. We have the new flooring going down in a few weeks time and once that's in place we can start getting new furniture. Then we will be able to move our storage around which will ultimately lead to a better way of displaying some of my Disney memorabilia.

The afternoon saw us nip out once more, this time into Derby as I had an appointment. We also found time for Simon to add some more to his latest piece of digital art, I made some pretty decent progress with my jigsaw and later on Simon managed 45 minutes of zone two training on the exercise bike.

Monday done, see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 676

Day 676...

Today has been a very quiet and steady Saturday which started with a much needed lie-in and a lazy start to the day.

We spent the day at home and used some of the time to start planning how we want our new study/craft room (aka Molly's old bedroom) to look. So armed with a tape measure and the Ikea website we set about figuring what we need in the room.

We think we have a plan for how we are going to approach it by sticking to simple, white and practical furniture. We need a good amount of storage and it was a case of measuring up what we have at the moment and figuring out what cabinets would be the best solution for us. Once we have the storage sorted we will then move onto buying a new sofa bed and at that point we will begin to think about the theming/colour scheme for the room. Although I'm guessing that there will be a smattering of Disney in there somewhere!

We had a phone call from the company we are using to update the flooring with a quote for the room and as a result we have now placed an order with them. It's going to be a few weeks before the flooring is in stock and then we will need to arrange for the fitting to take place.

Simon has spent some more time going through our home video to 'capture' it and I've spent some time moving jigsaw pieces around. And that has been our day; very quiet but nice to have nothing specific to be dashing about for.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 589

Day 589...

Today has been a Thursday and it has been yet another busy day.

Me and Molly headed off to our local Ikea first thing this morning with a shopping list in hand. Molly knew exactly what she wanted and having checked stock levels online yesterday she even knew the whereabouts in the store to get all that she needed.

On arriving we were about to walk straight in but we were greeted with an automated message advising us to wait until the light turned green. I hadn't even seen the red/green light system and had actually forgotten that some stores had adopted this system when social distancing was a big thing. But we dutifully waited all of a minute before we were 'allowed' to enter the store, and once inside it seemed to have been a pointless exercise!

Going around the store it was lovely to see that the majority of shoppers had opted to go without a face mask although it still baffles me when I see a couple with one half wearing a mask and the other not?! We had a lovely wander around the store and even managed a little look at all their Christmas bits and bobs.

It was an extremely successful trip as we came away with all that Molly had wanted plus a few bits that I had wanted to pick up and we  also came away with the obligatory packs of meatballs and bags of mini cinnamon rolls...including the special Christmas gingerbread edition.

On the way home we stopped by Dunelm as Molly wanted a shoe rack from there and I had my eye on a new black and sparkly laundry basket. We came away with both plus some stocking filler type Christmas gifts...my first official Christmas presents bought for this year!

After a spot of lunch me and Molly jumped online to get her car booked in for an upgrade to the stereo system. As her car is a few years old the existing stereo is just a radio with CD player without any USB or AUX points so she wanted to get it upgraded. And as luck would have it we found somewhere that not only had the stereo in stock but can fit it for us tomorrow afternoon.

Then I nipped out to the post office as we had a sale of one of Simon's posters to send out and while I did that Molly was able to attach a new sun-visor to her car as it had been missing one. Simon managed to find one online and it had arrived this morning...it's a slightly different shade of grey compared to the other visor but it fits and will do the intended job.

In between all of that I'd had numerous phone calls concerning my rings that I'd dropped at the jewellers to be repaired the other day. The upshot of which is that I will be able to pick them up tomorrow but there is a little confusion about the finish on one of the rings...I thought it was a gold ring but the jeweller informs me it is actually white gold and has repaired it as such, so apparently it now has a different finish to what it had...?? Really not sure what is happening as jewellery is not my forte, so I will pop along tomorrow and see for myself; to be honest as long as the ring is intact and fits then I will be happy.

I'd also had my new boots arrive today...a new pair of Dr Martens that were in the sale and were just too good an opportunity to pass up...

...plus the pattern gives me Spaceship Earth vibes (for those of you who don't know what I'm referencing this is an attraction at Epcot at Walt Disney World).

The remainder of the afternoon was spent helping Molly. She wanted to make sure that the storage system she had bought from Ikea would house all the items she wanted. As the system is made up of a series of ready made drawers she was able to test out whether everything would fit in the drawers and part of this was for me to show her the Marie Kondo way of folding clothes. When we'd had our new wardrobes fitted last year we'd discovered the ways of Marie Kondo, the tidying guru, and her preferred way of folding clothes. And her way really does mean that you are able to get more items stored effectively and stored in such a way that you can actually see what you have. The good thing was that everything that Molly has will fit into the drawers that she has bought - phew!

And with that done I had just enough time to grab a coffee before heading down the gym for a little light weight work-out. And with the gym session completed I had a new meal to cook for dinner; a recipe I'd found a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to try called 'Gumbalaya' a mix of Gumbo and Jambalaya that is keto friendly and turned out to be very yummy!

And with all that done it must be time for RuPauls Drag Race UK...see you tomorrow.

xx

Manic Monday

Day 425...

Well the day started off with no hot water. Our boiler had decided to stop working and was displaying an error code. It is a code that we have had numerous times before and last time we had it we said that the next time we would look at getting a replacement.

Thankfully we have a great heating engineer that we use and a few messages and phone calls later resulted in a new boiler to be installed on Wednesday, and by mid-afternoon all the parts had been delivered - wow, just amazing service.

With that sorted we headed out the door to collect this weeks grocery shop, we had a small detour via the local pharmacy to drop in a prescription for my dad but we were quickly home to unload and organise the groceries. Not only had we got our shopping but also a few bits for pre-school as well as some for my dad. He is still waiting for his car to be fixed and is relying on us at the moment to do the essentials for him.

So back out the door we stopped by my dad's to deliver the aforementioned groceries and then we headed off to Ikea. By the time we arrived at Ikea the heavens had opened and we were in torrential rain; suffice to say we parked up and sat in the car until it had passed over. But we had a successful trip bringing home two book shelf units, a new shelf for Ethan and numerous clear plastic storage boxes of different sizes.

Thankfully by the time we got home the weather had cleared up but we did notice piles of hailstones gathered around our front door! Suffice to say our afternoon was then spent assembling the two bookcases, locating them in Simon's workspace and then filling them with books and helmets...we have a Star Wars and art themed collection of books interspersed with a Stormtrooper helmet and a Mandalorian helmet.

Next it was time for Simon to go through the cupboard that used to live in his workspace but, because of its size, it will no longer fit. One bin bag later and lots of clear plastic boxes filled, progress has been made. There is still some sorting to do and then we will need to disassemble and get rid of the cupboard but that will be for another day. 

And in among all of that we have been given a date for our new windows to be installed, Simon helped Ethan install his new shelf and I got caught up on all the ironing! It's been all go!

So today marked another stage in the easing of restrictions; we can now dine indoors, stay in a hotel, hug others and indoor entertainments can open. But as we see these things open up the carrot of the 21st June when all legal limits on social contact will be removed is becoming more and more unlikely. The reporting today suggests that this date may not now happen because of the Indian variant of the disease...despite millions of us being vaccinated, despite the vaccine working against this variant, despite cases being low, deaths being low...do the government ever want us to go back to our old normal? 

The fear has gripped hold of the nation and the powers that be seem to like holding us all in this state of fear. They seem to enjoy the control and the power that they have developed over us. But is this how we really want to live? I don't! I want to see who I want, when I want, hug who I want, when I want, to go where I want, to travel, to go to concerts, to shop without restriction, to live rather than cower away afraid of my own reflection. But when, or if, this will happen who knows?!

Take care.
xx