Tag: general chit chat

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dear diary ~ Monday, Monday…

Monday is always a busy day when I stick to the routine. Sometimes routine goes out the window for many reasons chez nous, but currently, as I continue on my mission to restore and reset, I am trying to get myself into routine mode, albeit a new routine.

I usually strip and wash the bed on a Monday, it seems a good start to the week and means I should be able to get the bedding washed and dried, ironed, aired and put away by the following weekend even if we are subjected to the worst of weather.

I also put the duvet out on the line for a good blow in the fresh air. It was much colder outside to day though with the overcast sky.

Talking of duvets, I had a bad restless night last night after a few frantic calls from my mother during the evening, so I was not up early or feeling my best. She has another paranoia issue again. You may remember the saga of the ‘dead persons duvet’ that began when the carer changed mum’s duvet cover and that night mum got it into her head that the carer had switched her snuggly 180 tog duvet for a thinner one because she felt cold and the top of the duvet had lost its feathers. Of course we all know they don’t make 180tog duvets but mum was adamant hers was. From memory I think hers is a seven or eight tog. And it got worse because then she convinced herself that the carer had switched the duvet for one taken from an empty apartment down her corridor of someone that had died!

You couldn’t make it up could you?

This issue rumbled on for weeks and nothing I said would convince her that the duvet on her bed was still hers. I had to ask the carer to give the duvet a good hard shake from the bottom every day to make sure the feathers hadn’t gone thin at the top and eventually this did the trick and mum accepted the duvet (but was still reluctant to believe it was hers).

Now the latest issue is that the carers are trying to give her some green tablets and one night she felt very sick with them. Firstly, she told me they are the codeine tablets the doctor prescribed recently and then she changes her story and tells me they are paracetamol. Again, like me, you have probably never seen a green paracetamol or codeine tablet – they are usually white. I had to speak to the carer on the phone last night as she was refusing to take anything. I asked him what tablets he had there. ‘I have some codeine tablets which she is refusing, and some paracetamol…both of them are white’ He showed mum the tablets whilst I was on the phone. I told him she always refused the codeine as she says they make her feel sick but she likes to take the paracetamol before bed.

Once he had shown her the tablets as proof they were not green I asked him to put mum back on the phone.

‘ Mum the carer has just shown you the paracetamol and they are white not green’

‘I know,’ she said

Breakthrough…so I thought.

Not quite…. mum then said ‘ I am not taking these paracetamol they want to give me they are the green ones that make me ill’.

And then she added ‘I am not colour blind’

No answer is there!!

After looking through all her case notes on my app, I can only presume that the green tablets are the Doxycycline antibiotic capsules for her rodent ulcer that she has been taking in a morning and only for the previous 5 days. My mum’s head now is such a muddle, but this problem of the green tablets will no doubt continue for a few weeks.

It wears me out and hence the sleepless nights.

I spent the morning after breakfast refreshing the vases of flowers. The lovely bouquet my daughter had given me on Mothering Sunday had not lasted as long as I would have liked, I think perhaps the quality wasn’t there to start with (not her fault though – I expect a lot of these bouquets of flowers they sell for Mothering Sunday are not the best quality).

I saved as many blooms as I could and rehomed them in smaller vases. The pink tinged fluted Art Deco vase in the picture below is one of a pair that belonged to my mum and I think my grandma before her. I don’t use them often but they set off the pink alstromeria and peachy carnations perfectly.

After watering the plants (also a Monday job), I set about tidying the kitchen and wiping out both fridges – we have an undercounter intergrated one in the kitchen mainly for milk and dairy and anything we need to have handy, the other is in the utility room, a free standing taller larder fridge where we store all our vegetables. This means we only need to go to the supermarket once a week and save on petrol costs.

I thought it might be interesting to show you the remnants of the fruit and veg I found when clearing out the fridges and, with two days to go until our next shopping day, the meals I made from them. But that will be another post…hopefully I can write it tomorrow.

We are having a trip to Stalybridge today to see an old neighbour and good friend for a catch up. It will be a pleasant change to have a chat and do some socialising with someone other than my mum over the phone – only 8 calls yesterday, so a quiet day. I am hoping she doesn’t make up for it today and bombard me with calls and issues while we are trying to spend some time with my friends.

Have a good day, thank you for reading and your lovely comments.

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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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meandering ~ Staithes to Runswick Bay

Oh my goodness, we have been back from our holiday now for over a week, and what a dreadful week last week was, not a brilliant home coming.

I had this post about our little trip out to Staithes and Runswick Bay almost complete but never had the chance to proof read and make it live. So before I report on the horrors of last week I will take you back to the holiday week.

The weather over the week got far worse rather than better, so we had to choose our trips out carefully. Sketching was impossible, even from the car, as there was no let up in the rain. On the Wednesday we stayed in the apartment, DH did a lovely little sketch from a photograph whilst I did some writing for the blog post.

Below for anyone interested are a few photos and commentary of our day out on the Tuesday to Staithes and Runswick Bay.

We woke up to more drizzle on the Tuesday morning, but there was little wind which makes a big difference by the sea, so we wrapped up made a flask of soup and a few sandwiches and set off to explore Staithes.

For those who have never been it is the birthplace of Captain Cook and the old village, centred around the harbour, is down a long steep hill.

Only residents parking is allowed down at the harbour but parking at the top is more than adequate in the winter and free until the season begins in March.

The hill down to the harbour is not for whimps, neither going down or coming back up, but a sturdy handrail is provided to keep you upright. Once down into the village the footing is easier although there are cobbles to negotiate on the roadway. There is a mass of higgledy-piggledy housing clinging for dear life to the hillside, plenty of steps and nooks and crannies…and here and there you come across a narrow ginnel feeding its way through between the houses like a maze.

We questioned whether the houses in front would have been built after the houses behind or vice-versa. Did someone come along and build in front and block your view or did they squeeze in behind? Some of the cottages are almost completely hidden, tucked well behind with no view at all.

There are a modest amount of shops, some we found open, even though it is out of season and hardly any tourists about. We dodged into the sweet shop cum deli for a hot chocolate (best I had tasted so during the week – rich, dark and not too sweet), of course it might also have been the fact that just holding the warm mug helped to get the blood flowing to my fingertips once again.

The whole village is full of cute cottages and like Runswick Bay you can imagine going in a door at the bottom and coming out three houses above you.

After a good wander around we started back up the steep unforgiving hill.

We decided to move the car round to Runswick Bay and sat in the little car park overlooking the sea to have our lunch. There was still drizzle here and quite a breeze, but that didn’t stop the washing going out on the line!

Runswick Bay is one of the prettiest fishing villages, with a series of white washed cottages with red pantile roofs all higgledy piggledy and climbing up into the hillside. It was once renowned as an artists colony and has an obvious wealth about it – quite a noticeable contrast to that of nearby Skinningrove.

It has known disaster in the past when in 1682 the original village was destroyed by a landslide and it is said that no villager died because they were all attending the wake of a man in the only surviving cottage! The village was rebuilt but it has always been in danger of further landslides so in 2018 there was £2.28 million pound award-winning coastal erosion protection scheme put in place to protect the village in future.

Both the beauty and the drawback of the place is that no cars are able to get close to the houses. There is a residents car park provided and I expect for visitors and full time residents alike all shopping and baggage has to be unloaded and walked to the house. Goodness knows how they manage with furniture and appliance deliveries and even worse should any building maintenance be required.

The tight knit walkways are fun to explore as you never know where you might pop out from along the maze of footpaths.

On the Thursday we visited Kirkleatham museum which is well worth a visit to see the story of the steel works that evolved in the area after the discovery of iron ore in the nearby Cleveland Hills in 1850.

It is a fascinating exhibiton – I was amazed to learn that Middlesborough, now a sprawling industrialised town, was once a tiny hamlet with a farming community of only 25 people. It was enlightening to discover how steel is made from the iron ore in the large blast furnances. Those steel framed structures of the plants that you see, comprising of sheds and towers and long runs of pipes resemble a long forgotten theme park. On the outskirts of Middlesborough these old steelworks at the Lackenby works stretch for miles like an industrial wasteland. I am presuming these buildings are still operational but it is hard to tell as there is such a feeling of desolation to the area.

In 1967 the British Steel Corporation was formed as a national company and re-privatised in 1988. Eventually, through its chequered history and demise it has ended up being owned I believe by the Chinese. I thought this sign was quite poignant.

My grandad, and many of my relatives worked in similar steelworks in Sheffield – it was a protected job during the war and he worked long hours and was always in danger of a bombing raid. My dad was a metalurgist and he often went to the power stations as part of his job though I have no idea what he actually did there, I only know he has notebooks full of mathematical equations. He always said inside those large concrete cooling towers they were the size of a football pitch.

There was also an exhibition of textiles in their temporary exhibition space at the museum with some rather lovely textiles on display. I did weaving many moons ago in the attic at the Ramsden Art School as part of my foundation course, and a couple of years later aquired my own table top loom that was going to be put in a skip. The problem with these large looms is that they take a lot of yarn and you require a skein winder. When we downsized from a four storey mill workers house to the house we are in now there was no room for the loom and it had to be sold.

Seeing these lovely exhibits has made me want to have a go again with just a tiny frame.

On the Friday afternoon we spent a couple of hours pottering around Guisborough – a bit of window shopping and a few minor purchases. On the way back, just as the light was going, we stopped to look around Skelton Old All Saints Church….but that is another post another day.

We are now catching up with ourselves after both our holiday and the eventful week we had last week, and given that this is a long enough post for anyone to read I will tell the tale another time.

Although I was trying to make our shopping stretch over two weeks I could not ignore all the items on offer at Sainsbury’s today, so I ended up spending far more that I had intended but I have a well stocked pantry to show for it. I can’t help noticing that some prices have leapt up again and even when on offer the offer now is dearer than it was the time before.

I have my audiolgy appointment tomorrow – I always dread it. The NHS hearing aids I was given are so hard to get used to they make the world seem a very loud place so I am tending not to wear them unless I have to. The audiologist is not impressed by my lack of progress – I know I should persevere but I have to be in the right frame of mind and this period of my life is rather stressful at the moment dealing with my mum seems to make my hearing worse.

You never know I might even manage a comment or two on the blogs I read. I do keep dibbing in and out as time allows but it was half term last week and blogging plus mum plus grandchildren do not sit well together…something has to give!

I will be back soon, thank you for reading. x

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