12 March 2009
A mixed bag this week as my rhinitis has flared up so I have difficulty seeing clearly despite the eye-drops and the fan has packed up again on my car so it is going to the garage tomorrow to be mended.
Last night I had gone to bed early and having watched something which did not register on television, I dropped off into a dozy sleep. After about an hour when the room was fairly dark a faint luminescence caught my eyelids coming from the bottom of my wardrobe door.
I staggered up towards the glow wondering what on earth I had trapped behind the door and when I opened it. . . the stick-up battery light had unstuck itself, landed on a shoe and switched itself on.
Nothing supernatural in that at all.
A mixed bag this week as my rhinitis has flared up so I have difficulty seeing clearly despite the eye-drops and the fan has packed up again on my car so it is going to the garage tomorrow to be mended.
Last night I had gone to bed early and having watched something which did not register on television, I dropped off into a dozy sleep. After about an hour when the room was fairly dark a faint luminescence caught my eyelids coming from the bottom of my wardrobe door.
I staggered up towards the glow wondering what on earth I had trapped behind the door and when I opened it. . . the stick-up battery light had unstuck itself, landed on a shoe and switched itself on.
Nothing supernatural in that at all.
29 March 2009
We were hoping, and I have been trying not to get too excited about it, to buy the garden behind us which last year had been left in a half-finished state by our neighbour who vanished to Greece and did not intend to come back. I am not going into boring details but the agreement I thought I had with the new owner who is in process of trying to let the property seems not to be a starter, as his views and those of our professional valuer appear to be greatly at odds.
OH spoke to him on Friday morning and reported that he seemed "excited" though not in a good way, having expected us to mail him a copy of the valuation whilst ignoring the fact that he had not given us his address, disagreeing with the valuation and the contention that the loss of this almost perpendicular patch would not adversely affect the value of the house,not liking the patch we had marked out etc., etc., but not getting in touch with us to let us know he was disgruntled.
People are odd. I have been trying not to be upset about it all but it would be so wonderful to be able to open up my garden which has a very odd fence across the back of it but I now feel that it will all not be worth the hassle.
Shame.
We were hoping, and I have been trying not to get too excited about it, to buy the garden behind us which last year had been left in a half-finished state by our neighbour who vanished to Greece and did not intend to come back. I am not going into boring details but the agreement I thought I had with the new owner who is in process of trying to let the property seems not to be a starter, as his views and those of our professional valuer appear to be greatly at odds.
OH spoke to him on Friday morning and reported that he seemed "excited" though not in a good way, having expected us to mail him a copy of the valuation whilst ignoring the fact that he had not given us his address, disagreeing with the valuation and the contention that the loss of this almost perpendicular patch would not adversely affect the value of the house,not liking the patch we had marked out etc., etc., but not getting in touch with us to let us know he was disgruntled.
People are odd. I have been trying not to be upset about it all but it would be so wonderful to be able to open up my garden which has a very odd fence across the back of it but I now feel that it will all not be worth the hassle.
Shame.
1 May 2009
To date, the items which have broken or to some degree stopped functioning correctly over the last two weeks are the up and over garage door (critical in an integral garage) which stuck half open and half closed; my MP3 player which stuck permanently in the "on" position; the squirty mop which has lost it's squirt; my computer (critical to my well-being) which decided to use an anti-virus program download to refuse to re-boot; a cute turtle door-stop struck itself against my foot as I walked past it and it is now minus a leg; my lovely, cordless carpet sweeper's handle has snapped off just where it joins the machine and this afternoon as I was taking my steam generator iron into the kitchen to begin ironing, the iron bit shot off the sole-plate and crashed to the floor. It now spits out water and steam instead of just steam.
Also, my niece is poorly with an undiagnosed tummy problem, my great nephew has had a motor-bike accident and because he was wearing the correct gear he is OK, bruised and battered, his bike is a write-off and he was very upset that at the hospital they cut off his very expensive leather gear thus ruining it!
They say things happen in threes - I wonder how many more threes we are going to have?
To date, the items which have broken or to some degree stopped functioning correctly over the last two weeks are the up and over garage door (critical in an integral garage) which stuck half open and half closed; my MP3 player which stuck permanently in the "on" position; the squirty mop which has lost it's squirt; my computer (critical to my well-being) which decided to use an anti-virus program download to refuse to re-boot; a cute turtle door-stop struck itself against my foot as I walked past it and it is now minus a leg; my lovely, cordless carpet sweeper's handle has snapped off just where it joins the machine and this afternoon as I was taking my steam generator iron into the kitchen to begin ironing, the iron bit shot off the sole-plate and crashed to the floor. It now spits out water and steam instead of just steam.
Also, my niece is poorly with an undiagnosed tummy problem, my great nephew has had a motor-bike accident and because he was wearing the correct gear he is OK, bruised and battered, his bike is a write-off and he was very upset that at the hospital they cut off his very expensive leather gear thus ruining it!
They say things happen in threes - I wonder how many more threes we are going to have?
8 May 2009
The garage door is at last fixed and we have been issued with a mass of instructions as to how to keep it in good working order. Living where we do there are always an enormous number of leaves, twigs, moss and insects living in and around the garage and house and the plea to keep a garage door inside as clean as possible raised hollow laughter. Why do they think I have a cleaner for the inside of the house? I took all their points on board solemnly and said, yes we would lubricate the runners once every three months and clean the inside with a brush and damp cloth (!)and if it got stuck again would follow their complicated instructions for de-sticking it etc., And we would ensure that nothing at all interfered with the delicate mechanism of the coiled spring which works the whole affair.
Also they obviously have no sense of time as they arrived at 1.32 pm having said they would come in the late afternoon. I love experts.
The garage door is at last fixed and we have been issued with a mass of instructions as to how to keep it in good working order. Living where we do there are always an enormous number of leaves, twigs, moss and insects living in and around the garage and house and the plea to keep a garage door inside as clean as possible raised hollow laughter. Why do they think I have a cleaner for the inside of the house? I took all their points on board solemnly and said, yes we would lubricate the runners once every three months and clean the inside with a brush and damp cloth (!)and if it got stuck again would follow their complicated instructions for de-sticking it etc., And we would ensure that nothing at all interfered with the delicate mechanism of the coiled spring which works the whole affair.
Also they obviously have no sense of time as they arrived at 1.32 pm having said they would come in the late afternoon. I love experts.
19 June 2009
Continuing the theme on toilets - well, nearly - Whilst driving OH home on Friday evening about 6 pm, I drove through a short-cut which is well-used and there was a chap peeing up a lamp-post and although he saw us in the car he did not stop. Within a hundred yards on a fairly busy 40 mph road, there was a young man in the sward at the side of the road, in full view, doing the same thing.
All this in broad daylight with no real attempt to hide either themselves or what they were doing.
Continuing the theme on toilets - well, nearly - Whilst driving OH home on Friday evening about 6 pm, I drove through a short-cut which is well-used and there was a chap peeing up a lamp-post and although he saw us in the car he did not stop. Within a hundred yards on a fairly busy 40 mph road, there was a young man in the sward at the side of the road, in full view, doing the same thing.
All this in broad daylight with no real attempt to hide either themselves or what they were doing.
18 June 2009
The toe continues to improve although OH seems to think he can do more than he can so the swelling does not seem to be diminishing very swiftly; I had to point out that it is less than ten days since the accident and the hospital doctor implied that we could be looking at a two to three week injury so I have been acting as chauffeur which is fine as I love driving.
A spectacular thunderstorm on Monday night passed fairly over here quickly but apparently struck the lightning tower of OH's workplace, bounced on to a telegraph pole and put out the telephone system so I drove him to work that morning as he was determined to get back into the swing of things but it is a difficult drive through various suburbs and coming back I got lost! When I got home I thought that this didn't matter as I could use Sally, who is our SatNav. I mentioned this to OH as I couldn't find her at home and he said he had thoughtfully put this in his briefcase which is now at work!!
I am getting more used to the journey now although yesterday he was in too much pain to go in so worked from home. As his office still has no phone system (major surgery needed) he needed to top up his mobile so we stopped off on the way at a Morrisons to buy a newspaper and put credit on his phone. I, as always, needed the loo and was a bit phased when I entered the Ladies as it was clothed in a very odd, almost ultra-violet light which made my eyes go funny.
Back in the car, I asked OH if it was the same in the Gents and he said yes and that it was to discourage anti-social behaviour. I was a bit puzzled by this and asked what he meant. Apparently, addicts cannot find a vein in this particular light so it means they cannot use the facilities to get their fix in this way. I am so innocent and unworldly!
The toe continues to improve although OH seems to think he can do more than he can so the swelling does not seem to be diminishing very swiftly; I had to point out that it is less than ten days since the accident and the hospital doctor implied that we could be looking at a two to three week injury so I have been acting as chauffeur which is fine as I love driving.
A spectacular thunderstorm on Monday night passed fairly over here quickly but apparently struck the lightning tower of OH's workplace, bounced on to a telegraph pole and put out the telephone system so I drove him to work that morning as he was determined to get back into the swing of things but it is a difficult drive through various suburbs and coming back I got lost! When I got home I thought that this didn't matter as I could use Sally, who is our SatNav. I mentioned this to OH as I couldn't find her at home and he said he had thoughtfully put this in his briefcase which is now at work!!
I am getting more used to the journey now although yesterday he was in too much pain to go in so worked from home. As his office still has no phone system (major surgery needed) he needed to top up his mobile so we stopped off on the way at a Morrisons to buy a newspaper and put credit on his phone. I, as always, needed the loo and was a bit phased when I entered the Ladies as it was clothed in a very odd, almost ultra-violet light which made my eyes go funny.
Back in the car, I asked OH if it was the same in the Gents and he said yes and that it was to discourage anti-social behaviour. I was a bit puzzled by this and asked what he meant. Apparently, addicts cannot find a vein in this particular light so it means they cannot use the facilities to get their fix in this way. I am so innocent and unworldly!
4 June 2009
I spent yesterday with my big Sis who lives on the Wirral and we went shopping in Chester which was just lovely. As Liverpudlians, Chester was always an alternative shopping place for us and it is years since we went, just the two of us and we made the most of it. The weather was glorious and the walk to the train station is all downhill so that was OK. Walking back was a bit different though! There is a bus which picks you up outside the station and whisks you into the centre of Chester - all for the price of the rail ticket. We had lots of giggles, even more coffees, lunch and shopped till we dropped.
My lovely Brother-in-law had gone to London so we made the most of the evening as well by downloading photographs going back over forty years which had been taken as slides which he had put on the computer. This provoked many more giggles and "What did we look like" comments and eventually when I left to drive home my sides were aching from laughing. What a tonic!
When I went to put my cross in the box this morning, someone there had tried to vote twice, once by proxy and once for himself and the Steward had recognised him and there was chaos in the Polling Station! I sidled out quickly.
Robinson had a bit of a trauma earlier this week. He likes sitting on the patio chairs in the sun (he used to sit on the table but is now too stiff to get up there) and the jackdaws also love to come to visit and wreck the bird-table, having taught themselves how to get at the fat balls in containers meant for the blue tits. One cheeky jackdaw decided to attack Robinson and he rushed indoors with his tail about three inches wide making a horrible noise and he took a great deal of petting to calm down! I did have to chuckle at the thought of such a large cat being scared of the jackdaw and luckily, he seems to have forgotten all about it now.
We have not yet had the promised rain but I can see the clouds building up over the hills but I will be OK as I have at last bought my wellies - I bought some sandals at the same time!
I spent yesterday with my big Sis who lives on the Wirral and we went shopping in Chester which was just lovely. As Liverpudlians, Chester was always an alternative shopping place for us and it is years since we went, just the two of us and we made the most of it. The weather was glorious and the walk to the train station is all downhill so that was OK. Walking back was a bit different though! There is a bus which picks you up outside the station and whisks you into the centre of Chester - all for the price of the rail ticket. We had lots of giggles, even more coffees, lunch and shopped till we dropped.
My lovely Brother-in-law had gone to London so we made the most of the evening as well by downloading photographs going back over forty years which had been taken as slides which he had put on the computer. This provoked many more giggles and "What did we look like" comments and eventually when I left to drive home my sides were aching from laughing. What a tonic!
When I went to put my cross in the box this morning, someone there had tried to vote twice, once by proxy and once for himself and the Steward had recognised him and there was chaos in the Polling Station! I sidled out quickly.
Robinson had a bit of a trauma earlier this week. He likes sitting on the patio chairs in the sun (he used to sit on the table but is now too stiff to get up there) and the jackdaws also love to come to visit and wreck the bird-table, having taught themselves how to get at the fat balls in containers meant for the blue tits. One cheeky jackdaw decided to attack Robinson and he rushed indoors with his tail about three inches wide making a horrible noise and he took a great deal of petting to calm down! I did have to chuckle at the thought of such a large cat being scared of the jackdaw and luckily, he seems to have forgotten all about it now.
We have not yet had the promised rain but I can see the clouds building up over the hills but I will be OK as I have at last bought my wellies - I bought some sandals at the same time!
14 April 2009
This is a sad time of the year for us as it is hard not to look back at the events of last April without remembering OH's Mum and the awful year that followed which has taken it's toll on us both.
We spent Good Friday after a really moving church service at a book fair in Buxton and then had a lovely lunch at the Cat and Fiddle although the weather was a touch inclement and it is always windy up there. Saturday was spent painting and putting up a new computer desk which is wonderful as I have now got somewhere to write and shuffle papers as it is a proper work-surface and the printer is on the top rather than stuffed down a cubby-hole by my knees!
I was so pleased to get a lot of the work done myself and I hope it went some way to cheering up OH who is still very down and although I have still got a bit of gloss painting to do it all looks wonderful. These new paints which are water-based don't affect my chest nearly so much although I am back on the steroids because of the pollen affecting my asthma and we bought one of these paint-pod gadgets which is so quick and gave OH something to work with; it also has the spin-off effect of not using a great deal of paint which is all to the good.
The desk was from Ikea and I was so impressed with their delivery service. There was no way we could have got the desk either in or on the car so bought it on-line and elected to pay for delivery which was not an enormous amount. I had three text messages in the week confirming the day, then the time slot and finally a phone call that they were on their way. All very efficient.
Well, time to go back to see whether my team is going to get through to the semi-finals of the Uefa.
This is a sad time of the year for us as it is hard not to look back at the events of last April without remembering OH's Mum and the awful year that followed which has taken it's toll on us both.
We spent Good Friday after a really moving church service at a book fair in Buxton and then had a lovely lunch at the Cat and Fiddle although the weather was a touch inclement and it is always windy up there. Saturday was spent painting and putting up a new computer desk which is wonderful as I have now got somewhere to write and shuffle papers as it is a proper work-surface and the printer is on the top rather than stuffed down a cubby-hole by my knees!
I was so pleased to get a lot of the work done myself and I hope it went some way to cheering up OH who is still very down and although I have still got a bit of gloss painting to do it all looks wonderful. These new paints which are water-based don't affect my chest nearly so much although I am back on the steroids because of the pollen affecting my asthma and we bought one of these paint-pod gadgets which is so quick and gave OH something to work with; it also has the spin-off effect of not using a great deal of paint which is all to the good.
The desk was from Ikea and I was so impressed with their delivery service. There was no way we could have got the desk either in or on the car so bought it on-line and elected to pay for delivery which was not an enormous amount. I had three text messages in the week confirming the day, then the time slot and finally a phone call that they were on their way. All very efficient.
Well, time to go back to see whether my team is going to get through to the semi-finals of the Uefa.
27 March 2009
The concert last Saturday with my choral society, Bach's St John Passion, was a triumph, the flowers all went down well and I managed to stand at all times when required which was marvellous for my ego and my singing.
It isn't that long ago that I was so stressed about doing the flowers I nearly said I wouldn't continue but obviously practice makes things much easier and this time I really enjoyed doing them. OH was out on Wednesday evening so I had the house to myself and that meant that I had peace and quiet to get on with them so that must be the solution.
OH didn't manage to come to the Mothering Sunday service which was understandable but we enjoyed the christening which was held at our church of the grandson of my friend A and the celebrations went on until the early evening which meant some champagne was drunk! My lovely son bought me an azalea and a funny card which made me chuckle as it was on the theme of Robinson being too cocky. When I returned home around 10.15 on Thursday evening after a rehearsal he had been exactly that.
He had jumped out of the computer room window having been sitting on OH's knee for cuddles on to the flat roof of the garage and as it was dark and he is much more stiff than he used to be, he was then well and truly stranded. He ran to the edge of the garage as soon as he heard my car and yowled in a terrified manner, obviously expecting me to jump up there and bring him down!
By this time I was trying to rouse OH who had dropped off into a deep sleep watching football (!) and he had no idea what was going on. I managed to drop a dining-room chair on to the flat roof and indicate that Robinson should get on the seat and then use the back (fortunately fabric-covered) to get himself near the window so that we could drag him in. His tail was about three inches wide but he seemed none the worse for his escapade. What a silly cat!
The concert last Saturday with my choral society, Bach's St John Passion, was a triumph, the flowers all went down well and I managed to stand at all times when required which was marvellous for my ego and my singing.
It isn't that long ago that I was so stressed about doing the flowers I nearly said I wouldn't continue but obviously practice makes things much easier and this time I really enjoyed doing them. OH was out on Wednesday evening so I had the house to myself and that meant that I had peace and quiet to get on with them so that must be the solution.
OH didn't manage to come to the Mothering Sunday service which was understandable but we enjoyed the christening which was held at our church of the grandson of my friend A and the celebrations went on until the early evening which meant some champagne was drunk! My lovely son bought me an azalea and a funny card which made me chuckle as it was on the theme of Robinson being too cocky. When I returned home around 10.15 on Thursday evening after a rehearsal he had been exactly that.
He had jumped out of the computer room window having been sitting on OH's knee for cuddles on to the flat roof of the garage and as it was dark and he is much more stiff than he used to be, he was then well and truly stranded. He ran to the edge of the garage as soon as he heard my car and yowled in a terrified manner, obviously expecting me to jump up there and bring him down!
By this time I was trying to rouse OH who had dropped off into a deep sleep watching football (!) and he had no idea what was going on. I managed to drop a dining-room chair on to the flat roof and indicate that Robinson should get on the seat and then use the back (fortunately fabric-covered) to get himself near the window so that we could drag him in. His tail was about three inches wide but he seemed none the worse for his escapade. What a silly cat!
9 June 2009
Well, the small things in life in the Songsinger household continue to be a bit difficult.
On Sunday Robinson was limping quite badly and when I eventually managed to look at his paw he seemed to have a claw sticking into one of his pads and we didn't know where it had come from. OH made an emergency visit to the vet last night and he had apparently dislocated his toe! The vet put it right, gave him a pain-killing injection and thankfully all was well.
Sadly, my voice gave out at choir having been OK for the last couple of weeks so I was a bit cheesed off but that might have something to do with not having done any practice at all as I was so busy last week. Then, this morning, OH was off to work having gaily waved at me before setting out down the stairs and the next thing I heard was an almighty crash and rushed to the landing to see him flat out on the hall floor.
Oh, the heart stopped!
He had only missed his footing on the last couple of steps but he was in agony from his big toe. The pain appeared to be excruciating so made an appointment for the Nurse Clinician (whatever that is!) at the surgery for the afternoon, settled him down and cancelled all the things I had planned for that day.
The Nurse Clinician took one look and said off to hospital, so after four hours at A and E his toe was diagnosed as dislocated as well! After X-rays, it was manipulated into place with the help of a gas and air machine and two large doctors and he is off his feet for at least the next three days. Oh joy! Still at least it is fixed and he is a bit more comfortable and I am happy to be able to look after him after everything he has done for me.
Well, the small things in life in the Songsinger household continue to be a bit difficult.
On Sunday Robinson was limping quite badly and when I eventually managed to look at his paw he seemed to have a claw sticking into one of his pads and we didn't know where it had come from. OH made an emergency visit to the vet last night and he had apparently dislocated his toe! The vet put it right, gave him a pain-killing injection and thankfully all was well.
Sadly, my voice gave out at choir having been OK for the last couple of weeks so I was a bit cheesed off but that might have something to do with not having done any practice at all as I was so busy last week. Then, this morning, OH was off to work having gaily waved at me before setting out down the stairs and the next thing I heard was an almighty crash and rushed to the landing to see him flat out on the hall floor.
Oh, the heart stopped!
He had only missed his footing on the last couple of steps but he was in agony from his big toe. The pain appeared to be excruciating so made an appointment for the Nurse Clinician (whatever that is!) at the surgery for the afternoon, settled him down and cancelled all the things I had planned for that day.
The Nurse Clinician took one look and said off to hospital, so after four hours at A and E his toe was diagnosed as dislocated as well! After X-rays, it was manipulated into place with the help of a gas and air machine and two large doctors and he is off his feet for at least the next three days. Oh joy! Still at least it is fixed and he is a bit more comfortable and I am happy to be able to look after him after everything he has done for me.
14 May 2009
Well, the destruction in my life continues! My cleaner broke a little angel which OH had given me for Christmas, I backed my car down the drive and caught the bumper on a plant pot and ripped it and now, this morning, I took a plate from the cupboard and a lovely NT mug rolled out and smashed on the work-top. Am I being targeted I ask myself? I also seem to have lost the ability to type accurately but thankfully the spell-checker sorts that out. The mug was very pretty and had written on it "I'm not bossy, I just have better ideas" which I thought was just right at the time.
I have been struggling for some time with voice problems and having discussed it with a friend got the number of her singing teacher and yesterday had my first lesson with her. It was fabulous as she was so supportive and I feel much more positive about the solo bits I have to do at my next concert. She said that I sounded rusty and thought a spray of WD40 would sort me out!
Well, the destruction in my life continues! My cleaner broke a little angel which OH had given me for Christmas, I backed my car down the drive and caught the bumper on a plant pot and ripped it and now, this morning, I took a plate from the cupboard and a lovely NT mug rolled out and smashed on the work-top. Am I being targeted I ask myself? I also seem to have lost the ability to type accurately but thankfully the spell-checker sorts that out. The mug was very pretty and had written on it "I'm not bossy, I just have better ideas" which I thought was just right at the time.
I have been struggling for some time with voice problems and having discussed it with a friend got the number of her singing teacher and yesterday had my first lesson with her. It was fabulous as she was so supportive and I feel much more positive about the solo bits I have to do at my next concert. She said that I sounded rusty and thought a spray of WD40 would sort me out!