Tuesday 31 May 2022

Garden update

We're plodding along with gardening this year, just keeping it neat and tidy but making quite a few changes ready for planting up towards the end of the year.

Peter has ordered his shed/workshop/summerhouse. He needs to make a base ready for delivery the first week in July.

Some time ago I moved all the pots and the green house to the front of the garden which is south facing


All the pots have been weeded and there are a variety of seeds, shrubs and veg planted out.

A new crop of peas and beans and a cold frame with Bougainvillea shrubs ready for planting a hedge in the front garden.  

Living near a school and with cars parking half on the pavement, it means we end up with kids running over the lawn and dogs wandering in on their leads for the toilet. We'll probably have a wall built at some point but for now a low level hedge will do.


Peter has been levelling the back garden for his shed base, so he filled up these bins which I topped with compost and have planted up with herbs and veg.

I've sown some chard and planted tomatoes in pots on the gates which are being left alone by the slugs.

The courgette and cucumber plants weren't so lucky, so I've covered them in netting.

There are plenty of flowers in the garden also and there is more bedding to go in the front once I've weeded and dead headed the spring bulbs.

How's your garden coming along? Do you make changes to it yearly or just keep it neat and tidy?








Saturday 28 May 2022

Week 21 One Daily Positive and Project365

Weekend plans cancelled due to migraine, although I was feeling better by Sunday, I didn't want to risk going too far afield as I had work on Monday morning.

140 Saturday I didn't get much sleep so up at 4am. I did some baking and batch cooking. Head still thumping regardless of medication. We had a lazy morning wandering around Kidderminster and I spent the afternoon trying to thread the overlocker, we had video calls with the grandchildren and an early night.


141 Sunday Walked Bob for coffee, we did a bit of shopping and home to discover Son, DIL and eldest Grandchild waiting for us on the door step. We had a roast dinner, Peter and grandchild did a lot of gardening and filled 3 dustbins with excess soil which I've planted with herbs and veg. After watching endless youtube videos I finally solved the issue with the over locker and started making some bunting.


142 Monday Swimming before work and home to spend the evening in my craft room finishing off some party supplies. We tried to book last minute flights for half term but either nothing available or extremely over priced. We're off to Yorkshire for the week now.


143 Tuesday The builder turned up while I was still in work, we'd arranged 4pm, he said he'd come back, he didn't and we wasted the afternoon waiting for him. I walked the dog, blogged, searched through old photos of the 1977 Jubilee and we spent the evening trying to find a last minute holiday, somewhere. I also did some more sewing.


144 Wednesday I met neighbour after work to collect her mums spare key and instructions for feeding her dog on Friday while they head out to see Ed Sheeran. We took the dog and the kids for a walk, had tea and chocolate and home around 6pm. I spent the evening reading as we had a power cut.


145 Thursday I had a Doctors visit after work as my migraines are getting worse. Beta blocker dose increased and referral made for investigations into double vision. lazy evening at home and early to bed. The road outside our house was resurfaced today.


146 Friday I went swimming before work. Last day of term. Met a friend and walked her dog and friends dog, back to hers for a coffee and a lift home. Evening spent with friend with wine for her, not me and chips for us both.

 
On the blog this week:
What I've been up to in my spare time

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Friday 27 May 2022

Post Comment Love 27th - 29th May 2022 How to thread an overlocker

Welcome back to #PoCoLo with Stephanie from Lifeat139a and I. A weekly linky for any post you've written this week. You Post, Comment and share the Love and we'll return the favour.

I've been busy making party decorations, gardening and trying to book a last minute holiday somewhere.

The cost and availability of flights are sparse and expensive, so we may be off somewhere in the UK this weekend or we may end up staying at home. Either way I'm sure we'll have fun. It'll be nice just to have some time off work.

I've had a bit of a nightmare trying to thread my over locker that has been in for a service. I followed the instructions but the threads kept taking it in turn to pop out the needle. After watching numerous youtube videos, I discovered my error. You thread the upper looper first. Then thread the lower looper and make sure that the lower looper thread sits over the upper looper thread.

Still following?

Then thread the two needles, but there's another step that took me ages to find.

Once everything is threaded take the 4 threads and move them to the left, under the foot. All the videos showed everything being threaded towards the back of the machine.

Finally once I'd discovered the last step everything went very well and I made all my bunting and table cloths in one evening.



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Tuesday 24 May 2022

What I've been doing in my spare time

I seem to spend a lot of time sat in front of the TV or on my phone and often come home from work and not move off the sofa all evening. Other times I just feel I haven't stopped and I need a break, but the reality is I have a fairly well balanced week of work, rest and play. (Mars bar advert running through my head now) 

I decorated my chair pod for when I sit and read.

I swim twice a week before work, I walk home once a week (3 miles) and walk the dog almost every day covering 3-6 miles a week. I read daily and had my first crochet lesson last week. I garden, make crafts, sew and enjoy pottering around the garden, randomly weeding and pruning. Whilst Peter cooks most evenings I do enjoy baking and preparing meals also. I've also been making an effort to read more. We read 15 mins every day in school.

I had a crochet lesson, it didn't go well, but I enjoyed it and will persevere. 


Not everything goes to plan though, I forgot the seal on the blender so ended up with milk all over the floor.

Sometimes those 5 minute jobs take for ever. it took me a whole morning to cut out and line the shelves in the kitchen cupboards.



I've a couple of projects on the go involving the sewing machine and the over locker, which is an absolute joy (not) to thread. 

I'm supporting a lot of DT lessons in school and learning new skills in 2 lessons a week sewing and 2 lessons a week in metal work where we're making bottle openers, well I'm not, but I am doing a lot of sawing, filing and preparation work.

I'm working on everything side by side, so nothing is finished at the moment.

Are you working on multiple projects or do you concentrate on one project at a time?


Saturday 21 May 2022

Week 20 One Daily Positive and Project 365 - Migraine

A good start to the week, lots of things planned. I could smell strawberries on Sunday and on Monday my head felt a bit funny, by Tuesday I was sensitive to light and noise and Wednesday my head was hurting. i took my usual dose of medication over Sunday, Monday and Tuesday but the migraine came. I have an appointment next week with the GP to discuss the beta blockers as they obviously aren't working any more.

134 Saturday We went to a boot sale to buy some bedding plants, then onto Worcester on a failed craft trip but successfully bought 6 Bougainvillea shrubs for hedge planting. I then went into town in the afternoon to purchase the material and party supplies. I weeded the pots and planted out my seedlings, planted a hanging basket and had a general tidy.


135 Sunday Peter set off early to play golf for the day getting home at 5pm for dinner. He dropped me and Bob off about 2 miles from home and we walked back via a coffee stop. I finished lining the kitchen cupboards, did the ironing, made some birthday cards and decorations.


136 Monday up early and Peter dropped me at the pool. I started with 20 lengths and adding 2 extra lengths each time I swim, so 24 lengths today. Walked into work and got a lift home. I spent the evening at the neighbours as the little one fell and bumped her head.


137 Tuesday After work I went to my first crochet lesson. They were originally booked for March 2020. Peter cooks every evening.


138 Wednesday Peter took the cat for her annual injections. I came home from work early with an upset stomach and vomiting.


139 Thursday Off work and not feeling well, had a really bad migraine, day spent in bed, no concept of time. School alarm going off all night. Bob kept a close eye on me.


140 Friday Called GP first thing, he called back midday with advise to take 1200mg of Ibuprofen followed by next dose of 900mg aspirin. Day passed in a blur other than constant car doors slamming from 3.20pm till 8pm with the school disco. Video call with both the grandchildren.


On the blog this week:

We've finally got our Sinopharm vaccines from Dubai on the NHS app.



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Friday 20 May 2022

Post Comment Love 20th - 22nd May 2022

Welcome back to #PoCoLo with Stephanie from Lifeat139a and I. We're hurtling towards the middle of the year and my next birthday. I don't know whether to start counting backwards or just celebrate the 30th anniversary of my 21st birthday, what do you think?

We've finally got our Sinopharm covid vaccines on the NHS app which will make travel to Australia this summer much easier for us. 


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Tuesday 17 May 2022

Getting foreign vaccinations on the NHS app. Covid 19. Sinopharm.

I was vaccinated in Dubai in January 2021, just 3 weeks apart between the jabs. I chose to have the Sinopharm vaccine as it was the only one on offer and with me travelling back and forth to Dubai I was concerned that it could become a condition of travel to enter the UAE and I wasn't being offered the vaccine in the UK until March/April 2021 and the second dose date at that time was unknown.

In October 2021 the Dubai Health Authority recommend a booster dose of Pfizer and again 3 months later.

We registered our vaccines with our GP on our return to the UK, but they could not be coded onto the NHS. Our GP wrote a letter to confirm they were genuine in case we needed to travelEndless phone calls and emails yielded nothing. Our GP agreed to the booster and recorded it as a booster, he had to over ride the system to do so. We received a call from the NHS team to ask us why we had a booster without the first 2 vaccines, we explained but nothing came of it.

When we had our second booster the NHS were registering vaccinations administered in Europe and certain vaccines in approved countries, but not the UAE. I was also working at the NHS vaccination centre in Worcester so was able to find out this information a lot easier. Our second dose was recorded as our first dose. No call from the NHS at that time.

We had been advised to return in a further 3 months for another vaccination which technically would be a booster and told to have the half dose Moderna as our Sinopharm vaccine was over a year old. We booked through the NHS and were informed we needed to rebook an Overseas appointment and return with our Sinopharm papers to have them put onto the app as long as they were the Beijing vaccines, which they were.

We're travelling to Australia this summer to visit our middle son after 3 years and whilst I'm sure Australia accept vaccine certificates from the UAE, we were a little concerned that might not be the case or may cause some confusion as our Emirates ID cards they are linked to has expired and we would be travelling from the UK.

We're all sorted now, just need to book our flights and check the requirements for travel and PCR's nearer the time we fly.

It's a much easier process now to travel with clear guidelines, unlike the travel I did during covid that changed over night and cost us a small fortune to do.


Sunday 15 May 2022

Week 19 One Daily Positive and Project 365

I'm seriously lacking in decent photos. weekends are good for them as we visit family and get out and about, but during the week it's just work, TV, cooking, cleaning, and time with the cat and dog. When I started One Daily Positive on January 1st 2015 it was to encourage me to get out and about more and to look for something positive in my life. Prior to that I joined in monthly with various photo a day prompts that were themed, so I'm going to see if there are any ones still around to motivate me a bit more.

I'm really struggling with my eye site. I have double vision that comes and goes and have to wear my glasses now for using the laptop. I had my eyes tested a month ago and they said just a slight change in prescription

127 Saturday Finally got our UAE covid 19 Sinopharm vaccines on the NHS app, home for breakfast, washing and dog walk then off to the RHS Malvern Spring Festival with friends for the day. They came back to the house for dinner.

128 Sunday Lazy day as my neck and back are playing up since I returned to work. We walked out for coffee and Bob had some off lead time, moved a few plants from the back garden as Peter has started to measure out for his new shed. Evening spent in the craft room.

129 Monday Up early and off swimming, walked into town for a coffee and off to work. Evening spent with neighbour to congratulate them on buying their first home. Spent some time chasing emails in regards to the sale of the flat.

130 Tuesday The day felt really long at work. I took the car and called in town to do some shopping on the way home. Evening spent sorting the kitchen now it's finally finished after ordering in December, apart from fitting a new radiator, sorting out the boiler cupboard and some tiling and grouting.

131 Wednesday I walked home from work meeting Peter with Bob on the way. Peter ordered the new shed/summerhouse today will be delivered first week in July. I sorted the notice board out.



132 Thursday work, evening spent in front of the TV.


133 Friday Up early and off swimming again. Meeting after work and a lift home. Chip and wine night turned into dinner and drinks with friend and both our husbands. 

More houses being built on my walk to work.


On the blog this week:

Visiting places child free

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Friday 13 May 2022

Post Comment Love 13th -15th May 2022 - Garden Design

Welcome back to #PoCoLo with Stephanie from Lifeat139a and I.

We've been enjoying the outdoors with family and friends. We visited the RHS Malvern Spring Festival last week and attended a Family Fun Day at the local park over the May Day holiday. We're off camping in a couple weeks and will be making the most of our National Trust card.

The new shed has been ordered and will be delivered and assembled mid July, hubby is currently building a base, once that is done I can start to get on with the garden. There are lots of plans in place, material and wood is being collected for raised beds and the wrought iron wagon wheel will be dragged out from behind the old shed before we dismantle it and use the decent wood to build a bin store and a small shed for the garden tools.

The green house and pots are in the front garden with seedlings, mainly veg, growing, so we'll still have tomatoes, herbs and chillis as well as rhubarb, gooseberry and raspberries.

Some ideas from the RHS Malvern Spring Festival





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Wednesday 11 May 2022

Visiting places without kids.

When our kids were little and we used to visit kid friendly places, we noticed lots of adults visiting without kids. From castles, to theme parks to Disney. Not just the younger generation (pre kids) but middle aged people like we are now.

We would question why on earth someone who is child free would choose to go somewhere full of kids when they don't have kids with them. When we were child free, after household chores, we chose the pub, visited friends and did the grown up shopping ie B&Q, Ikea etc.

We've always avoided doing things on bank holiday weekends and avoided the UK during the summer holidays when the kids were still at home and since they've left home we've gone places on week days and travelled outside of the school holidays.

However I'm now working in a school so now we're limited to weekends, evenings and holidays to go places. We visited West Wales over the Easter Weekend, went to a family fun day in the park over May Day and visited the RHS Spring Festival. We're going camping the week of the Jubilee, but will hopefully be in Australia for the main summer holidays.

Since the kids have left home, we've had spa days, private beach days, been out for brunch, had a game of crazy golf, been to tourist attractions, been to firework display's and seen laser shows and more recently joined our neighbours and friends with their children for Christmas light and garden shows as well as visiting indoor and outdoor play centres as well as soft play for dogs. I've taken Bob to the Lavender fields and Pumpkin Patch, been on doggy play dates and even attended Valentines events and taken Bob to see Santa more than once as well as hold birthday parties for the cat and the dog.

Beach days

Easter egg hunt

Pumpkin Patch

Light shows

So that's why adults go to kid friendly places, it's a lot of fun. It's a chance to explore places properly, to relax and not be running after kids, breaking up fights, amusing and entertaining kids of different ages and interests.

We do however, do things with our kids still, road trips, parties, shopping and meals, but these days they have their children with them and we can sit back, relax and just enjoy being out with them now and not having to take charge.


Saturday 7 May 2022

Week 18 One daily Positive and Project 365

My eye sight is detonating fast, it takes a lot of effort these days to focus when reading. I had several sewing machines to thread in school and really struggled, my eyes were hurting at the end of the lesson. I'm going to have to get a string to out on my glasses so they're always at hand.

With me now working in a school I only have school holidays and weekends to go places, times we've avoided since the kids left home, but now we have started to enjoy visiting a variety of places and actually enjoying ourselves.

Apart from these posts and my weekly #PoCoLo I'm struggling to find things to blog about since we stopped moving around that just might be of interest to other people and I just end up using the blog to complain or offload about things. Can't write freely about family, the kids are adults, if they want to tell their stories then that's up to them, not me, unless it involves visiting them, marriages or births.

I can't really blog about work as a Teaching Assistant, although I did attend a course on Raising awareness of exploitation and vulnerability with West Mercia Police, that has some helpful links I'm going to share soon. The kitchen still isn't finished, no one is that interested in an extension being built, although I will document it when we find a builder and I don't think anyone needs or wants tips on 'what to look out for when buying a camper van' or 'organising a craft room' I think everything to be written has been written already.

120 Saturday Woke with a headache, rearranged our plans, did some ironing, had breakfast and watched last nights soaps while Peter retraced his steps yesterday to try and find Bob's collar, nothing. We drove to Gloucester to take child 1 out for a coffee then onto visit child 2 and family.


121 Sunday Middle child's 30th Birthday today, no celebrating as he's in Australia, gosh this makes me feel old. We went down to Monmouth to take a meter reading and visit a friend. Evening spent round the neighbours.


122 Monday Bank Holiday and a day off work. Walked into town with the neighbours and Bob to the see the Well dressings and other activities going on at Priory Park. Afternoon and evening spent on the laptop in front of the TV.

Video call with child 4 and family.


123 Tuesday Back into work and home to walk the dog, clean the kitchen, do the ironing and watch TV.


124 Wednesday Home via the covid vaccine centre, we're trying to get the NHS app updated so we can travel to Australia in the summer. Need to go back on Saturday morning. Did the ironing, made dinner and got ready for the morning. Peter went out to the pub to watch the football.

Just got to find a home for the basket of jumpers, sort the cables for the new TV and put the mirror on the wall and this room is finished. 

125 Thursday I walked home from work meeting Peter with Bob half way. I did some baking, rhubarb flavoured cakes, from last years home grown rhubarb that I'd stewed and had frozen. Rest of the evening spent watching TV and blogging.

Enjoying sun puddling early evening.


126 Friday Evening with friend and chips and wine.

Bluebells in the garden.


On the blog this week:

I'm irritated by blog posts from people who share tips and links to things they have no experience of. Why do people blog about things they're not doing?

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