Category: dEAr diary

a chat about my day

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dear diary ~ down in the garden

There was a tug of war going on in my mind yesterday, trying to decide what would be the better task to start on.

I had washed all the cleaning cloths overnight and hung them on the line yesterday morning – nothing feels better than having a line of washed cloths after a good fettle in the house and I did wonder if I should continue with the spring cleaning.

But the garden won, the cleaning will wait.

I intended to set some outdoor seeds under cloches, but dithered as I couldn’t work out a good rotation of the 4 beds where I usually grow the vegetables and salad crops. They are all different sizes, not very big and are a problem if I grow potatoes or two courgette plants, usually one in each of the square tubs.

I dithered too much and then found myself doing something completely different and abandoned the seeds for another day. One of the beds had aquired a self-seeded valerian plant at either end. I removed one of them along with an ancient fennel and marjoram and loosened the soil, removing and transplanting the many self-seeded forget-me-nots, so the bed will eventually accomodate more vegetables along its length.

On Friday when we picked up the car we called at the garden centre and bought 3 bags of compost on the 3 for £15 deal and also a reduced pot of daffodils from £12.99 to £6 and another 3 small narcissi for £4.

I thought I had done well until I came home and at 5.30pm I received an email from the garden centre with their spring offer of 10% off everything from 21st March- I would have saved £2.50 if I had gone the next day. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

It is set to be another glorious day today, warm and still…but doesn’t everything shoot up a few inches when the better weather suddenly appears.

Let me introduce you to our beautiful spring rhododendron named RW Rye after DH’s grandfather who was head gardener at Castle Kennedy garden for a long time and he created this himself along with many other varieties for Lord Stair.

We have the horticultural medal he was awarded. One of the plants he propogated many people will have in their gardens – a buddleia called Lochinch. It has grey-green leaves and lighter mauve or violet blue panicles with an orange eye. Ours must be over 35 years old now and still going strong.

Our rhododendron had become quite leggy and we are tentatively pruning it back each year bit by bit as we do not want to lose it. In the past few years we have had a dose of snow or frost just as the flowers are about to open and they all dropped off unopened. We have been so lucky this year and it has escaped the bad weather hitting at the wrong time and is now in full bloom and being photographed constantly like a top model.

Well, must get on I have a few plants to tend and weeds to remove.

Have a good day and thank you for reading, back soon. x

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dear diary ~ just witterings and a ScrapHappy contribution

As usual we have had a full on week at our house and despite sitting down a few times to write this post – it hasn’t happened until today, and then with a few interuptions.

Last week I had a dental appointment where two of my molar teeth that were problematic needed attention – upper left and lower right molars.  The right hand one had almost lost all the surrounding tooth of a large amalgam filling I had when I was 12 years old – so the filling has lasted well, but not the tooth!  I opted for a repair and it was easy done not requiring any anaesthetic.  I always opt for no anaesthetic unless the dentist knows he might hit a nerve.

The other was a tooth that had become sensitive at some point last year and the previous work done had not cured the problem.  My new dentist at the practice took a different approach to his predecessor and drilled out the original filling and refilled – sadly this has still not cured the problem and eating has been difficult.  I went back on Wednesday and he has now coated the tooth with a liquid resin of some kind, but I am not sure this has even done anything.  I will see what happens tomorrow.

Last Saturday we had a trip up to see my mum.  Working out the best time to visit is proving a bit hard because my sister has just been away for 10 days and next Monday she is going away for 20 days.  Living so far away means I have to spread out our visits evenly to cover the time and I know she will want me to go on Easter Sunday.

It was a lovely day and we pushed her down to the park, she had her toasted teacake and a coffee, then a quick skirt around the perimeter of the park and back to her apartment just in time for the next carer’s visit. We said our goodbyes and then went down the road to Northallerton to have a bite to eat and then see my sister and her husband in their yearly village pantomime – ‘Ali Baba and the 40 thieves’. 

My sister was Ali and her husband a dame – they had borrowed a camel from a local theatre group, which was a hit with the children.  All our grandchildren went, Sweetie just couldn’t stop laughing- she loved it and would like to be part of it next year.  Like all good amateur village pantos, lines are forgotten, props fall apart and the actors can’t help laughing as things go unexpectedly wrong!  It was a good night but we didn’t get home until 1o’clock in the morning and I rarely go to bed so late these days.

So it was no surprise that it took me all day to recover – what a good job it was Mothering Sunday and I could take it easy.  I had some lovely cards and flowers and a visit from one daughter with Master Freddie and Baby Chocolate (who carried the large bouquet and ran with it to grandad); we had to persuade him it was intended for me.

I had a nice quiet day and got out my sewing machine to do some mending.  I felt very pleased with myself after I had mended a tiny hole in some underpants for DH, which although were not new, were not that old either.  I also had the hem to resew on a pair of pyjama shorts for him – annoyingly, the overlocking had started to unravel.

Whilst I had my machine out I decided to make the cushion that has been waiting since last year.  I had some leftover blue checked fabric (from making a long seat pad for the outdoor seat) and a cot pillow pad from a duvet set my daughter no longer needs.  I hate wasting things and it has made a very nice cushion. As it is all washable there was no need to make the cushion cover removable so after placing the pad inside and hand stitching the opening I ran a row of stitching all around the edge.   

My next project on the list is to cover the three round cushion pads from Ikea that fit the 3 of the round wooden Ikea stools. I bought 3 reduced soft grey cord square cushion covers in Sainsbury’s (which was cheaper than buying the fabric I needed from off the roll in the local fabric shop). The covers have zips on too so I will be able to reuse these on my altered version. We use the stools a lot when we have visitors, they are stackable but a bit hard to sit on for long periods without a cushion pad.

I am still on with the finances, whizzing through a load of shredding as I clear out old papers and scan the important items onto the computer. It is a long and boring job but will ultimately be worthwhile. On Tuesday we had a trip over the hill to Uppermill to the solicitors to have our wills updated. Another of those financial jobs that has been on the list for a while. It is amazing how so many things have changed since we made ours over 10 years ago and some of it is not relevant now. Once the draft arrives in my inbox it will be another task to check over.

The next financial job on the list is again with the solicitor to make an LPA for each of us for both finances and health and welfare. We know how important these documents are having dealt with both DH’s elderly mum and now mine. Unfortunately, mum doesn’t have a helath and welfare LPA so any decisions about her future care can be made for her by the council or the courts (and if the courts have to get involved it is at great expense – I know this as I dealt with the court bills at work for these type of clients). Mum’s future has still not been decided, the social worker did the assessment and has not got back to us yet.

We need to fit in our passport applications too as they are going up in price I believe in April, DH has just received the driving licence renewal form to complete and return and we are expecting our car back today and then it will need to go for a service and MOT. It was booked in for that last Monday but of course the garage couldn’t do it because it was having the clutch replaced.

DH actually wants to get the car back to check the tyres, lights and windscreen wipers before booking another MOT and sevicing slot at the garage. He can easily change the lights and windscreen wipers himself – we always keep spares – the tyres are cheaper to buy from ATS and are guaranteed.

So the bills are mounting up and we will have to be very careful with our spending for a few weeks and limit any unecessary purchases in other places.

After carefully saving all year to be able to use my pension contribution allowance that attracts tax relief until I am 75 I found out yesterday that my application form posted at the end of February, to make another contribution into my People’s Pension, has not been received by them. That in itself is worrying as the form I sent has my personal details, signature and bank details on it. I got in touch with them this morning and it turns out the information I was given a few times in earlier years that I had to submit this application form each time I make a contribution is incorrect. Someone gave me misinformation – even after I queried it in 2023 because I thought it was odd. I made the transfer of money straight away yesterday morning but I am told the deadline is today (earlier than previous years because of Easter) and it might not be allocated in time to be included in this tax year so I would lose £420 in the government’s tax relief contribution and in effect free money because of their incompetence. I have complained of course.

Once all these items have been dealt with I will give a huge sigh of relief.

Well I have bored everyone enough now and it is lunchtime. It has taken me all week to get this post done – I hope to be quicker next time.

Thank you for reading and I will be back soon. x

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dear diary ~ a more productive week

If you don’t know what to say…talk about the weather.

It is wintery – that’s all I can say!

I have found a gap in my time to write this post and now I can’t actually put thoughts onto paper. It has been one of those weeks, where instead of being busy and achieving little, I have done little and surprisingly, achieved a lot.

As I said a few posts back I had planned to look at our finances and paperwork during January and move on to reshaping our health and diet during February.

But February came rather too quickly.

And the paper mountain still resembles a mountain.

I thought I would have to abandon the paperwork task and all I had planned to do in terms of overhauling our finances and decluttering the paperwork to move on and keep up with the original plan, then I read somewhere the other day that there really is no rush to accomplish everything in January and this is the main reason that those well intended new year’s resolutions fail.

This advice has stuck with me and an alternative approach is just what I needed. So the paperwork clearout will continue before I switch to looking at our health and diet.

In the meantime, I can read up on ways to make our diet simpler and healthier. I am sure we will not expire before March through lack of a better diet, and my recent blood test results were good, so I have no reason to rush.

With this updated plan in mind I set about decluttering the files. Not an easy job. I didn’t do them last year and maybe not the year before either. I had accumulated a stack of papers beside my desk and another on the craft table, added to which we brought down a box full of old papers from the loft. The very sight of them each day has done nothing for my peace of mind and other than a kind overnight fairy coming and waving her magic wand I knew they would haunt me until I dealt with them.

So while DH and I have been recuperating from the virus, and the weather has been dreary I made a start on the mound.

Paper clutter is one of those tedious tasks; endless decisions about each piece of paper – toss or file?

Will I need it in future, would I know it was there and could I get the information online if needed?

I know all the advice is to get rid of papers and receipts, but I have been saved many a time because I have kept hold of documents and receipts and could subsequently get a refund or compensation.

So now all the paperwork is suitably sorted and filed away and all the files re-ordered and labelled and the filing drawer is a joy to behold when I open it. The old receipts are shredded and have gone onto the compost heap and last years are packed away neatly in a little box that will be stored in the loft ‘just in case’.

I have a little more packing to do for our week away. The weather has not been good here but it will be nice to have a change of scene and be besides the sea.

I am hoping to do a fair amount of sketching and take my watercolour paints with me. It will feel odd not to have any gardening to do like we had at the cottage. I will miss that and need to get used to a whole different kind of holiday going forward – one that is a holiday and not more work.

We will only be half an hour’s drive away from mum. We will see her on Sunday, but we will not tell her we are staying close by as she will expect us to ‘call in’ every day and that is not what this holiday is about. In fact I have not mentioned we are away because she cannot retain new information now so best not to have that conversation in the first place…for my sanity. Her mind is going sharply downhill now. Everyday she rings as soon as the carer has gone to ask when they will be back. They have a set routine of times but she seems to have lost the ability to understand time now. Five minutes to her is a very long time, so when the next visit is 3 hours away I get numerous calls asking when they are coming.

Once the 3 o’clock visit is over she rings to see who is doing the 6pm one and after they have got her to bed then the calls begin about what is on TV. It is like being in a loop I cannot escape from. I know the holiday will be continually interupted by phone calls but there is little I can do about that – dementia affects everyone around them as much as the person themselves.

DH has made a curry to take with us and some celery soup. We have some slices of nut roast in the freezer that we will pack as well, and I bought a quiche with my Nectar offer. We rarely have anything that is a ready made meal from the supermarket and we hardly eat anything with pastry but I do like a quiche every now and then – it is a shame I couldn’t fit in the time to rustle up a homemade one.

So by the time you read this we might be fully packed, in the car and headed north. I do hope so.

Goodness, I have just realised we will be coming home on Valentine’s day and I haven’t made a card for DH. Oops!

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dear diary ~ resurfacing in February

Saying goodbye to January and a welcome to February.

After a day or two of feeling considerably yuck, and just when I thought I had shaken off the worst, the virus decided it would linger a little longer. So I had to linger a little longer with it, sometimes on the sofa and sometimes I just gave in went back to bed and slept…the clock round in one instance.

I fully expect this was a reaction to not eating properly or getting to bed at a decent hour for a number of weeks on and off. My body was not going to wait any longer and decided an enforced rest was necessary.

I was disappointed though. At the start of the week, I had planned to embrace my patiently waiting task list, and suddenly and abruptly my plans were cut short as the cold rapidly took hold. At least I managed to go for my blood tests on Friday morning, so not all was lost.

The weather is pretty dismal here; blanket grey skies with an enveloping fog that is always lurking in the background. Drizzle competing with snow, and cold – always cold, so anything bright really stands out like the little red berries on our cotoneaster horizontalis outside the window.

There are other small flashes of colour too – the pretty pale yellow petals of the primulas poking over the tops of the terracotta pots dotted about the garden.

Still I have nothing against January, or February. I welcome the slowing down after Christmas, and like a crab scurrying away into its shell (I am a Cancerian), I love to retreat into my snug, warm home for a few weeks getting ready to emerge when the brighter weather beckons.

In my more lucid moments I have been reading and watching. Reading the Persephone book DH bought me for Christmas‘They were sisters’ by Dorothy Whipple – an engaging read but never expect an absolute happy or conclusive ending with her books, they often leave you with hope that situations might improve for the characters, but nothing more. She tells a good story though.

There is a film too from (1945) I might browse the Talking Pictures channel just in case they have it listed. We are not sufficiently in this century to have a paid TV subscription like Netflix – it would not be a good use of our money. We never had a TV at the cottage in Scotland and I actually preferred not to have one. On our earlier visits we didn’t have a phone or the internet either and were sufficiently cut off from the world to just absorb the peace and quiet. But then the longest we stayed there was only 3 weeks and most often it was only a week or weekend.

I will soon be starting the epic ‘How to End a Story‘ the collected diaries of Helen Garner but not before I have a browse through some of my recent library requests, ‘Unprocess Your Life’ by Rob Hobson, ‘Just One Thing’ by Michael Mosley and ‘The Doctor’s Kitchen’ by Rupy Aujla all in preparation to begin my next project of restoring our diet and health this month.

On the watching side, we have been viewing The Great Pottery Throwdown, Landscape Artist of the Year and the Agatha Christie adaptations on BBC iPlayer. I am also a fan of Art of the Garden on the Freeview Sky channel. I suppose anything with art in the title will always catch my attention.

We are pondering another art workshop, this one being held at a cheese and wine tasting venue in a neighbouring small town of Brighouse. An odd place for a painting and craft workshop (and there is no wine or cheese included) but they are making use of their room whilst it is not been used for tasting sessions. There is a social session and an artist led session to choose from.

Our idea is to jump in the car one day soon and check the place out before committing….and I will sneak in a visit to one of my favourite places – the large independent Boyes department store for a mooch around. You can always count on them to have something that you never knew you wanted and all at affordable prices. And yes, I do keep telling myself I shouldn’t even cross the threshold to avoid any temptation.

So how did my financial review last month go?

I spent as much time as I could in January addressing our financial position and fashioning a new budget for the year using last years figures, increasing them by a 10 or 20% margin to allow for the continually rising prices.

Once all the interest payments from our ISA savings have been accounted for we will be a few pounds richer. It always feels good to see the pounds increase when normally, all we experience, is the monthly decrease of our pension income.

I received the Vinted sales report for last year – a tidy £171 acquired on clothing items sold. Most of this is actually going to my daughter for the clothes she had accumulated but didn’t have time to sell herself. It is unfortunate she has not yet regained her pre-pregnancy size and these lovely clothes were languishing unworn in her wardrobe. Not all the clothes were advertised on Vinted as I took a lot to the charity shop as well so they didn’t miss out.

But we have yet to have the boiler service (next week), a probably large dental bill (postponed for 2 weeks), and we have a holiday upon us for a week on the North Yorkshire coast. A whole week looking out over the sea…I can’t wait.

Having a quick review of the housekeeping we managed to keep it down to just over £290 for the month, so I am pleased with that. It would be amazing to keep it at that figure every month, but I have to be realistic and I was starting January with a lot of stock in the pantry. Ideally, I would prefer to keep only ‘one in hand’, or ‘replace one as I use one’ but I have to be realistic and being ill, together with the bad weather, I realise I do need to keep the pantry well stocked for the first 3 months of the year at least as it gave us something to fall back on when we couldn’t get to town.

But yes, the coffers are definitely looking good so far this year.

Not being well enough for a trip to town, I did as maybe we should all do (and I know many of you already do) shop local. But really, a tin of non-organic Heinz baked beans £1.77 from the Co-op (I had to read the price label twice), I didn’t even look at the price of the loaf, courgettes and mushrooms, just offered them up at the till and paid by card.

I desparately needed a small present for my friend’s birthday too. The present box is currently empty, so after leaving the doctor’s surgery on Friday I had to find something in the village amongst the beauty parlours, dog parlours and turkish barbers (like everywhere we are short on proper shops now).

I completely forgot about the gift shop along the main street and had decided on a cyclamen from our lovely florist. But when we got there the cyclamens were on display outside and decidedly limp from the drizzle. It is the tiniest shop but she has one or two gifts inside and I spotted just the thing, these tiny mice. I bought an extra one while I was there to keep in the present box. I know my friend will love it as it is the sort of thing she would gift to me.

I delivered it to her doorstep and declined to go inside – so as not to spread my germs.

Of course just lying down not being able to participate in real life for a few days left time for thinking and daydreaming….. and thinking and daydreaming of organising and running our home. Some readers will know that I am very much a fan of Lean and using Lean methods to run my house. It is a system developed by Toyota in Japan many moons ago, and in my mind there are many good things practiced by the Japanese and Lean is one of them. It is a system I used at work with my team to good effect, but it works just as well for running an efficient home.

There are many strands to the whole concept. I will briefly explain:

Streaming, the idea that everything is progressed as a stream that is followed through from beginning to end – cooking, laundry, shopping;

Kaizen or continuous improvement where you look for ways to be more efficient and create solutions to any problem areas;

Muda, meaning waste and this encompasses anything from money, time or ingredients and especially the environment. Reducing this waste is particularly beneficial;

Seiri and 5S; Sort, set in order, shine or clean, standardise and sustain. This speaks for itself – wouldn’t we all love a home that ran itself efficiently by just following a few simple rules;

And lastly, you manage all this with the help of a simple Kanban board a home’s central dashboard if you like.

It is a while since I have really used these principles and I am eager to get back to streaming the management of our home again. Last year and 2024 were ususual years for us with a lot of coming and going with plenty of house selling and buying within the family and, as is quite the case, things move on and my systems and streams need an overhaul.

I have a few more areas of our finances to improve on and streamline before I move onto this months topic – our diet. You cannot have missed the number of TV programs, magazine articles and books all talking about the disadvantages of eating ultra-processed foods and the many advantages of eating well. It is something I researched last year and also signed up to the Zoe programme, started a few years ago by Tim Spector (who is also running the TV programme What Not to Eat). So no doubt I might have a few posts talking about my health journey.

But that is another day another post.

Have a good week everyone, back soon x

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