Day 380 - Good Friday

Day 380...

And today is the start of the Easter weekend, it's Good Friday!

Well as there was no need to be up and about this morning we had a steady morning that saw a lazy breakfast followed by the setting up of the 'Crock-Pot' to cook a Beef Bourguigon for tonights dinner. This was at special request of Molly who has returned home this afternoon after three months away at her boyfriends during this current 'lockdown' malarkey.

The rest of the day has been very industrious; I have been out in the garden once again pulling up weeds, brushing up leaves and just generally having a tidy around. I decided to extend my weeding area to include that of one of my elderly neighbours gardens as we have some communal space that we all look after so I helped by ensuring her area was as weed free as possible.

Simon has spent all day outside with his R2D2 making it look more 'Star Wars' as it has been weathering day! Thankfully we had a lovely dry and sunny day, if a little chilly, but this meant Simon could take his droid outside and make all the mess he liked. It was a full days work to take his R2 from all clean and shiny to looking like he'd seen some action. He also had great fun showing off his build to our neighbours who have seen him creating parts over the last couple of years but hadn't, until now, seen the completed version.

Simon busy weathering R2

Looking more authentic

Hop over to Simon's art page on Facebook for video of the progress today.

Later this afternoon Molly arrived safely home and has been busy unpacking and putting all her 'stuff' back where it belongs. It is lovely to have her back home and glad to have a little normality restored to life!

And now we have beef bourguignon and keto garlic bread to eat before watching this weeks The Falcon and The Winter Soldier!

Take care.
xx

Monday - Day 376

Day 376...

We are back at the beginning of yet another week. 

And our Monday started as most of our Mondays do with a trip to our supermarket of choice to collect the weekly grocery shop. After we returned home and packed it all away we decided to go out for a walk in the sunshine. 

It was rather blustery and cool to start with but by the time we headed home the clouds had disappeared and it had turned really rather warm. We bumped into a friend who was sat enjoying the sunshine with a coffee and a friend and it was lovely to stop for five minutes and pass the time of day.

After a spot of lunch Simon set to designing a small part for his R2D2 build as he needed a piece to act as a hinge for one of the door panels. Once designed he was then able to set it printing while we popped out to see my dad.

We had picked a few things up for him with our shopping and needed to drop those round as well as some ironing that I'd done for him.

Once home again I was determined to enjoy the sunshine and spent a few minutes sat outside with a coffee. Although this did mean that I could see all the new weeds that had appeared since I'd weeded last week which meant the next hour or so was spent getting rid of said weeds. Although this did mean I got to have a chat with a neighbour as we attempted to put the world to rights! I also tweaked some of my outdoor lights as a few of the individual lights were no longer working so I was able to double up the string so that it's no longer quite so noticeable.

Well it turned out Simon has been chatting with his barber today and has managed to secure an appointment for a haircut...before me!! How very dare he?! Although to be fair his hair is probably in more need of a cut than mine as he is back to wearing a hat to keep it under control. I will have to wait until three weeks after Simon to get mine cut, although it is my colour that really needs doing as I am in danger of being almost my natural colour...and the grey that goes with it!! 

Simon has made great progress with the finishing touches to his R2D2 build and was able to sort the hinge problem he was having with one of the door panels. He has a few magnets to put in place to make sure things are absolutely secure and after touching up the paint in a few places we are now ready to make it look all dirty, which I think will be Friday's job when we are next off work.

Man and his droid!!

Talk has turned to what Simon's next project is going to be...there has been talk of a BB8 build but then DJ R-3X (affectionately called DJ Rex) was mentioned. This droid character appears in the Star Tours ride in Disney parks and also in Oga's Cantina in Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. When Simon mentioned that it could house an MP3 player to play all my favourite music I was sold on the idea!!

Today marked the day when some of England's restrictions began to ease. A day when out of the 1600 plus deaths that we have every day only 23 were 'COVID deaths' and yet we are still in one of the most severe lockdowns and one of the slowest releases from lockdown. We have states in the US like Texas who removed all restrictions and have seen their figures go down. We have countries like Sweden who chose to follow the standard World Health Organisation's pandemic guidelines (as of 2019) and have faired no worse than the UK for deaths but have in fact enjoyed their freedoms and have a strong economy. We need normal back, and freedoms back, but I fear they are still a long way off.

Take care.
xx

Woohoo it's the Weekend

Day 374...

And we have another stay-at-home weekend!

Our Saturday morning was a fairly laid back affair culminating in our usual walk for a coffee...and cake for Ethan. Another 3.6 miles in an hour and ten minutes which brings our total for March to 41 miles walked in 14 hours! 

After a spot of lunch we popped to see my dad; we had a couple of things to drop off with him and it was a good excuse to check-in with him and makes sure he was doing okay. We spent an hour or so with him and gave him another tutorial on how to use WhatsApp in an attempt to get him a little more tech savvy and easier to keep in contact with.

When we returned home our task was to see if we could make some progress on Simon's R2D2 droid build. It was time to assemble the legs and then attach them to the main body. The leg assembly was surprisingly straight forward and took us much less time than I think we were anticipating but the next bit was a little more tricky.

We moved R2 into our living room so that he could be fully assembled in the room that he is going to live in. It was then a case of figuring out just how the legs attached to the body. After a couple of attempts threading bolts through from the leg, into the 'shoulder' section and then into the body we realised that something wasn't quite lining up. Thankfully Simon was able to figure out how all the various pieces connected together which meant that we were a set of bolts missing. But a quick jump online and Simon was able to buy some ready to be picked up from a DIY store just a five minute drive away.

Once we had all the right bolts we were able to get all the pieces connected correctly and with a little bit of balancing and holding into position we managed to attach the two side legs and then the central 'foot'. A little minor adjustment and voila we have a droid living in the corner of our living room...

How cool is this?

...there are still a few details to add and then there will be some weathering as apparently it looks too clean to be in Star Wars!

And with that all done it was time for dinner which was our now usual Saturday night keto pizza which this week included a video chat with Molly and her fella, while Molly helped his mum dye her hair! Random I know, but that did all happen together!!

Today I shared this Mickey with our Disney Dream Girls family on Facebook. This is from Simon's 365 Mickey project 10 years ago...and would you believe it the timing couldn't be more perfect as this is exactly what happens today...

...time to put the clocks forward an hour and spring into British summertime!

Take care.
xx

Snow Day Monday!

Day 313...

And we had our first 'Snow Day' of this academic year! Although I technically don't work Mondays I did have to make the call as to whether we should open or not and then let all our parents know what was happening.

But our first task of the day was to collect the grocery shopping...in the snow. Thankfully we only have to travel about 3 miles to the store but none of the roads to get there appeared to have been either cleared or treated in anyway so it was a very steady journey there and back.

Making our way steadily to the store!

But it did look very pretty...

Once we were safely home and the shopping took into the house we set to clearing some of the paths around where we live. We have a couple of elderly neighbours so along with another of our neighbours we made sure there was a clear path for them to use.

After we had unpacked and put away all the shopping we decided to take a walk out across the fields where we live. We are extremely fortunate to live right next to farmland and have numerous footpaths and bridleways to walk, which have been a lifeline during these past 303 days!.

We managed a couple of miles which took us just under an hour which is slightly longer than it would have taken normally due to walking through snow and across uneven ground...and stopping to take photos of course!

We even came across a family of snowmen!

After a spot of lunch Simon re-organised all of his various tools and supplies that he had accumulated while completing the elecronics for his R2D2 build. He then left R2 plugged in to see how well it worked and suffice to say he was very pleased with the results. Head over to his Simon Phipps Art Facebook page to see a video of R2 in working order. He is now left with just the legs to finish off and attach.

I made a start on my next jigsaw which is another Disney and Christmas combination and I have managed to complete the outer edge...I think this will be the third time I have done this particular jigsaw!

And there we have 'Snow Day' let's just hope that it's not too icy tomorrow!

Take care out there.

xx

Working Tuesday

Day 307...

The first working day of my week today.

And an actual day in work as well. A chance for a catch-up between myself and my deputy manager followed by the usual responding to emails, some banking and then updating some policies and starting to write a newsletter.

Once home there wasn't much else to do except have a coffee and have a little 'me time' by starting on my next jigsaw. As I had sorted all the straight edges yesterday I had just enough time before the natural daylight vanished to complete the outside edge. 

Simon has been making some more tweeks to his R2D2 build as last night he was able to 3D print a part to hold the power supply inside the dome. This evening it was time to attach the new part and ensure that the dome would still rotate which it did successfully. Now my help was needed to ensure that the position of the 'radar eye' was correct; a case of comparing reference photos to Simon's model and trying to get the best match possible!

Plenty of reference materials!

The part in question that needs attaching to the front of the dome

So with the positioning sorted we needed to mark it out with some masking tape before Simon could glue it to the dome...and fingers crossed it holds!

Well I think that's today done, time to sit back and chill with some TV I think.

Take care out there.

xx

Another Lockdown Birthday

Day 281...

And it's Christmas Eve but also in this house it's our eldest, Ethan's, birthday. 

My not so little boy arrived on Christmas Eve, although my due date had been New Years Day. I was admitted following my routine ante-natal appointment with pre-eclampsia and about ten hours later Ethan was born to the sound of carol singers...singing 'Away in a Manger'...I kid you not! And as Simon reminded me today I gave birth in full make-up, freshly done nails and Christmas earrings!

Well the glamourous birth was then followed by five days in hospital while Ethan recovered from jaundice and I waited for my blood levels to get back to where they should be.

Over the last few years we have developed a tradition for birthdays and Christmas of having Mickey waffles for breakfast and today was no exception...

Waffle Maker

Mickey Waffles...served with bacon, sausage, maple syrup and ice-cream

Next we had a delivery...from the dairy I have been using each week for milk and eggs, we had taken advantage of some Christmas offerings and along with a locally made pork pie we also received this amazing looking ice-cream cake...

Inside the white chocolate outside is devilishly chocolate ice-cream and it comes with two little pots of ice-cream sprinkles!! How cute does this look? 

The rest of the day has been spent getting things ready for tomorrow; making apple sauce to go with the pork, remembering to get the pork out of the freezer to defrost and peeling potatoes (which only happens once a year in this house as being low carb we don't usually have potatoes...in fact this is a treat for the kids!!).

Later on this afternoon we went for a rather chilly walk just as the light was fading so we could see all the Christmas lights around where we live. Just a couple of miles but such a lovely festive thing to do.

All wrapped up for a chilly evening walk

And Simon has been making more progress with his R2D2 build by assembling parts and it's beginning to really take shape now...

And as it was Ethan's birthday he had the choice for dinner this evening and he made the excellent choice of Indian take-away from a local restaurant who are having to rely on deliveries at the moment.

So all things considered a pretty decent day.

Take care out there.

xx

Baking and Present Giving

Day 280...

Today was the first day this Christmas break that we didn't have any critical plans that we had to be up and about for so we had our first 'lie-in' of the holidays. Which after a rubbish nights sleep was much appreciated by me.

So after a steady start to the day we formed a plan; we had presents to drop off at friends, my dad to see, baking to be done and more paint spraying for R2D2.

We decided to brave the grey and rainy day and take a walk out to distribute presents and see my dad. It was at this point that Simon decided to surprise me with his latest, and secret, purchase...a Christmas jumper! Now to put this into context I have a number of jumpers and t-shirts all of a festive vibe that I will wear throughout December but this is something that I have never known Simon to take part in. Simon has always tolerated my love of Christmas and puts up with the ever expanding number of ornaments, decorations and lights each year...which also seem to go up earlier and earlier each year. He has always found Christmas to be stressful for lots of reasons but this year is the most relaxed he has ever felt and he decided to surprise me with his jumper as he knew how much it would mean to me to see him joining in the fun. It is, of course, a Star Wars themed jumper which is as it should be for him and was rather appropriate today as I was wearing my Darth Vader Gingerbread Man t-shirt.

Braving the rain we were able to walk to my dads to make sure he is doing okay and arrange for him to be with us on Christmas Day. We then stopped by a friends house to drop off a present and have a chat - how I miss my friends and just being able to pop by, chat, enjoy a drink, give them a hug and just enjoy their company.

Back home and Molly was all organised ready for an afternoon of baking. We (well I say we but Molly did most of the hard work I simply helped and washed the pots!) made a coffee caramel cake ready for Ethan's birthday tomorrow...

...some Christmas cupcakes (like mini Christmas cakes)...

...and most importantly the waffle batter ready for tomorrows breakfast of Mickey waffles. It has become a tradition over the years that on the kids birthdays and at Christmas we have Mickey shaped waffles for breakfast...with maple syrup...bacon...and of course ice-cream!

While Molly and I baked Simon was in the garage air-brushing more paint onto various parts of his R2D2 build. He is hoping to get all the painting done so that he can start some of the final assembling. This has been a long project that has been done in between work and prop and art commissions and has been a proper labour of love for Simon but it is getting closer and closer to completion.

So for a day when we didn't really have any set plans I think we had a pretty productive day. I am trying to avoid the news as much as possible at the moment. I am aware of more areas of the country going into Tier 4 as from Boxing Day and the possibility of more nationwide lockdowns in the new year but to be honest I am just very tired of it all now. I think for my own mental health I just need a few days without it being the only thing that we hear about. While doing jobs today I have felt fine but without the distraction of things to do I was very aware of how anxious and panicky I was feeling and I think I just need to try and avoid too much news and being overloaded with the same thing over and over again.

Please take care and look after yourselves.

xx

Disney Gifts

Day 279...

So today has been a day of getting jobs done with the first task of the day being to collect the weekly grocery shop from my supermarket of choice.

We saw our usual store colleague, Marky Mark, so it was nice to be able to wish him a 'happy Christmas'. I will admit to this being a bigger than normal weekly shop...think I fell foul of a 'well it's Christmas' attitude while shopping as I'm sure we have more than we actually need!

Packing everything into the fridge was like playing a game of Tetris and woah behold anyone who doesn't put things back in the right place!!

I then had the pleasure of getting all the ironing completed - whoop! Simon has spent the day working on his R2D2 build; a laborious job of masking off all the many, many, many parts ready for spray painting and followed by an afternoon of spray painting all said parts in a silver to get a metal appearance.

The podcast I co-host has created a special Facebook page called 'Disney Dream Girls Podcast Family'; a page where a group of us can get together, swap Disney stories and share what's happening in our lives. This year we decided to set up a 'Christmas gift exchange'; everyone who wanted to join in the fun added themselves to a list and specified whether they wanted to exchange with someone in their own country or from abroad.

I joined in the fun and was partnered with Donna in the US. We chatted online to agree a budget and specify any likes or dislikes. I decided to buy Donna a Disney Key Christmas ornament as she had mentioned she collected the keys and then I included a range of quintessential British chocolate and sweets along with some park maps from Disneyland Paris. Today my parcel arrived from Donna and I was blown away...

The contents of my parcel - just love that Star Wars paper!

...wow! So some Disney socks, well socks are a Christmas must have! A Mike Wazowski clip (which has made its way to Molly's collection of Monsters Inc items!), a Baby Yoda hanging ornament (this is now sitting on top of the mouse droid in our living room...but will stay out all year round), some Jolly Rancher sweets and my all time favourite...Midnight Dark Milky Way...in mini form!!!

There was some lovely Disney tissue paper which has been saved as well as a couple of  leaflets from the Disney Store in the US; one of which was a pop-out hanging decoration..

This is now hanging on my tree!

Such a lovely parcel to receive and this gift exchange has created so many lovely and thoughtful surprises for people around the world; truly encapsulating the essence of giving at Christmas.

And to round out today I best stop typing and go wrap some presents!!

Take care out there.

xx