Meander round Milngavie

Something that has sustained me during my months of enforced downtime has been following the wonderful bloggers who have so kindly taken us as readers on their daily journeys and special days away. I adore Jacquie, Lucy, Gillian, Louise and so many others who act as tour guide and good friend in sharing their walk or visit. For the time it takes to read their blogpost I am actually there; entranced by their words and views illustrating the panorama and the minuitiae of their journey and not contemplating my familiar but limited view from home.

I am still very frustrated by my limitations and the pain but trying hard to regain my life. To give me a focus, and a distraction, I thought that perhaps the lovely readers who come here might like to accompany me. Its a chance to try Gillian and Jacquie's photo improvement tips. All were taken within sneezing distance of my car but I hope this wont distract.

My friend and I were in Milngavie, which is pronounced 'MillGuy' and not Mill-en-Gavie. Its a pretty and rather affluent town about seven or so miles north of Glasgow and is the start of the famous West Highland Way. I remember it feeling brighter than the pictures suggest but it was raining a little on and off.

 

The middle of the town centre is the start of the famous West Highland Way and is between a Greggs the Bakers and Costa Coffee if you are looking for it! 

and there are even some great benches for the all important photo op before people set off. 

I didn't notice this lady popping up when I was taking this pic 

This is the view of the mill stream that can be seen across from the benches above

 

 

 It is a lovely compact little town with plenty of nearby parking and has a great range of shops for a small place

 

It has a beautiful clock

 

 

 and a statue that I don't ever think I've really looked at before so can't comment on its history or significance

 

Just a couple of minutes from Milngavie town centre is Tannoch Loch. It is a private loch where I would just love to own a home but suspect a lottery win might need to be involved somewhere.

 

Imagine going down your garden, into your dinghy and onto the Loch. This is what a pond in your garden looks like in this area!

This little duck made me laugh as he crossed the loch, went over and woke up his sleeping wifey then paddled off which was most ungallant!

 

 Up above Tannoch Loch are the reservoirs and Mugdock Country Park both of which are very popular walking spots. The reservoir is in the mid-ground behind the trees.

 

On the other side of Milngavie are wonderful views and this is where my cats come to their holiday cattery. It is also where Rangers Football Club have their training grounds but I didn't think to photograph this - sorry! This is Bardowie Loch

 

 

Its is lovely that 10mins form my home there are such gorgeous country views and pretty areas. Glasgow often has a grim industrial type connotation in many peoples minds but no matter which way you go rural settings are available within a very short drive.

 This little swallow made me smile. We once had one fly into our office one hot summer when the velux windows were all open and as fast as he shot into the secretaries office they shot out squawking in horror. Yours truly was yanked from her seat and shoved in to deal with the 'unexpected item in typing area' which consisted of me opening the window and letting him leave.....!

The jolly colours of these tulips just made me smile at the road junction

I love the old fashioned road sign tho' the it looked like a bit of rust maintenance might not go amiss

I really hope you have enjoyed our little trip around Milngavie and that you might join me again the next time I manage out.

Barry Manilow at the Glasgow Hydro and the Tazmanian Devil

If you are just looking for a simple review of the concert you are probably better reading a proper critics review. This is my combined review and personal 'diary' of the event and my attempts at Mother wrangling while using a crutch, not on her I might add!

Barry Manilow is my Mother's lifetime love and would have been my father if she could have gotten her mitts on him, or so she told us! Way back when the tickets came out I had high hopes of being fit and able with my gammy knee just a distant memory. Sadly not the case and I was absolutely dreading this outing from both our mobility perspectives and the first time using this venue. My Mother is now 80yrs old, has survived a couple of life-threatening illnesses and is still living with the devastating physical and cognitive sequelae of them. I love her unreservedly but the use of the popular euphemism 'challenging' struggles to describe her behaviour at times. She also has physical problems with walking distances and worse is that she decides sometimes that she just can't/won't either. Our seats were mid-priced so not on the flat. It would have been ideal to get stalls seats but the only ones left were so far back as a pair of shorties we'd have struggled to see anything.

By now you are wondering what the hell was I thinking!!!! In my defence all I can say is that I thought it was a good idea at the time of booking! Barry Manilow is the only man I've ever seen my Mum swoon about, she is 80yo and he is 70yo so this is probably their last live meeting in Glasgow, I feel eternally guilty as I have not been able to visit my usual 3-4 times a week and we've had to exist on lots of phone calls because of my knee problems, her cognition is so poor that normal things don't stick in her mind but this might, she doesn't need anything so this was a part of her birthday present and I thought it would be lovely to be able to give her this experience.

Between her valiant carers and myself we got her spruced up and into a nice going out outfit and into the taxi. The Hydro venue has good front door access for taxis etc and has a new multi-storey car park nearby if you can walk that distance however, there are three major venues, Hydro, Armadillo and SECC (Big Red Shed) next door to each other and the roads decend into chaos and become overwhelmed. Luckily our access doors etc were all nearby and my Mum was in good spirits and distracted by everything so was managing the walks. This is the first time she has ever had to walk under her own steam outdoors with me as normally she insists on taking my arm and putting all her weight on me. It was funny as she kept trying to take my arm with the crutch, to help me she declared, but how she thought we'd manage as a five legged entity heaven only knows.

The venue has escalators and lifts so we were doing well until we came to the final stair access to our seats. The seat pitch is very steep which is great for the view however getting there is a nightmare as the polished concrete steps have NO handrails. My heart was in my mouth and it was a nightmare getting her up there. Barry Manilow's fans were not young and there were a lot of scared and unsteady people on the ascent and descents. Luckily the lady next to us had sussed out that if we went up to the next level on the way out there were stairs with handrails which made things a longer walk my significantly safer as the area seating is genuinely treacherous.

Access aside the venue was well laid out and everyone was given a glow stick so when the lights went down it looked like the place was filled with fireflies waving along to the songs. Mum took umbrage at her's and rolled it in her jacket. It made me laugh seeing all these pensioners giving it 90's rave culture with the glow sticks and being totally oblivious to the connotations! You could take drinks and food to your seats but I wondered how I'd manage to carry stuff and if my Mum needed the toilet it would have been a nightmare getting her there and back. Thankfully she refused offers of food or drink as the cold drinks and fast food didn't appeal.

The support act was a smooth jazz saxophonist Dave Koz who was very good if a little loud and he had a good audience rapport going. I love a bit of sax but too much definitely gives me a headache :-) Jazz and Blues are the two types of music I really cant take to somehow but he was ok. There was another long break before the main man appeared and when he did WOW the audience just erupted and the glow sticks went wild. He sang a good mix from his various albums and many of them old favourites. I have to admit to loving Copacabana, Bermuda Triangle, Mandy and New England probably because they were the undesired soundtrack to my youth.

Now I will have to kill you if you repeat this but I've seen Barry Manilow three times now as I have always been the fall guy to accompany Mum. He is a good showman but he's not my cup of tea. However, what I was really struck with last night was what a bloody great performer he is and what a humble and self effacing man. He had a very stiff and uncomfortable looking gait and quite a few of my pics have him leaning to the side like Gourock (the West of Scotland equivalent of Pisa) but I'm not in a position to criticise anyone's gait or limp. He really connected with the audience and you could see he was struggling with some of the songs which, in his youth he wouldn't have, but he really pushed it for his fans. Initially I wondered if he was possibly lip synching but he definitely wasn't and was giving it his all and I felt what a trooper. To be fair he could have come on stage and passed wind and his die-hard fans would have clapped uproariously but this was an expert in his craft in his 70's still genuinely reaching out and connecting with his fans and well done to him.

When he sang 'Looks Like We Made It' someone who may have resembled me (!) became a bit teary holding her Mum's hand and remembering all the times her Mum used to sing this during the hard times and how that same woman has survived. To be there together was a special moment in time and that very blurry picture of our hands is one I'll treasure.

Shortly afterwards the little fan I was accompanying became less engaged and started getting agitated. I noticed she was looking anywhere but at the stage, raking her nails through her hair and rearranging her clothing. She's recently been refusing to wear her bra so I bought her a soft crop top which she somehow managed to wear in the style of a vest and kept tucking it in her knickers which is a testament to the stretch of lycra if nothing else. It was funny when I asked her if she was alright and she asked me if I'd had enough and was I ready to go home as if she was only there to keep me company! She did manage with a bit of prompting and support to stay vaguely on track and was quite settled for the rest of the concert. It wasn't an excessively loud concert but it may have become so for her especially with her poor concentration as she may have forgotten who was singing.

The way out of the venue was less hazardous than I'd feared but when we got to ground level my Mother suddenly went absolutely Bertie and started getting exceptionally belligerent and verbally abusive to me, declaring she wasn't walking anywhere and that was her final word! Reasoning with her only enraged her even more.

When she eventually took on board that we couldn't stay in the venue and I couldn't, or wouldn't magic her where she wanted to go she stormed off at speed and I struggled to catch up with her! Once outside, we had the same pantomime of 'where are be going, I can't walk, I'm not moving, you'll need to do something'. Same deal until I got her to the little bus shelters for her to sit and stew. There was a Black Cab taxi rank adjacent but the queue was snaked way around the venue so I waited till the traffic cleared a bit and called a local firm.  Meanwhile my Mother was enraged anew as the Taxi Marshall's were chatting with folk in the queue and she took this as an affront that they were all laughing just to get at her, they were talking conspiratorially about her and to see if she could get a rise out of me she tried to tell me they were out to get me too and I should wade in and 'sort them'! Her language and volume were problematic and I had to tell her off on a number of occasions as in these situations she escalates for effect. Visualise an unreasonable and beligerent drunk spoiling for a fight at a taxi queue and that's a good match for my sober but furious Mum with delusions of grandeur and self-centredness.

Things weren't helped by a woman getting someone in a wheelchair into a taxi who decided to back right into my Mum and then complain because my mother put her hand out to protect herself. In this case my Mum was in the right and I had to politely but sternly challenge the woman's inappropriateness. By nature I am a quiet person and as much as I was mortified with having to manage my Mum's outbursts I certainly wasn't going to tolerate bad manners from anyone else and definitely not where these could have lead to an avoidable injury.

The remainder of the half hour wait for our taxi was difficult as I couldn't engage Mum in distracting or pleasant conversation as she sat Lady MacBeth style mangling the plastic bag containing the very expensive t-shirt I'd bought her and muttering vile untruths about everyone and occasionally and loudly making paranoid accusations at those nearby. I realised all I could do was try to ignore and contain her increasingly unreasonable outbursts but I can recall eventually hissing exasperatedly "You are only everyone's first priority in your own head so you'll just have to wait".

Half and hour later our private hire taxi arrived once he could get through the traffic, I apologised to the Taxi Marshall's for her behaviour at the adjacent Black Cab rank and after an absolute battle to get her seat belt on I got her back to her care home and the loving embrace of carers who were not plotting to lob her into the Clyde like I was by this stage. She stormed into the home and when the night carer offered her tea and something to eat she immediately popped on her pleasant chatty face. When I left I tried to kiss her goodbye but clearly I became public enemy No.1 again as I was now abandoning her. You just can't win, and as I said to the carer on the way out 'Clearly no good deed should ever go unpunished' and mine certainly hadn't!

I initially started writing this as just a review of the concert and venue but as I began writing, or more accurately rambling, I wanted to record how my night had really gone. I am not a fan of big crowd concerts at the best of times and I think it will be quite some time before I get over this one. It was done as a kindness, was poignant and special to have been there and hellish by turns but sadly these highs and lows are the reality of loving and being with someone who has a cognition destroying condition. I am always conscious that I am blessed that she is still here with me but that doesn't make her, or more accurately her condition, easy to live with. I wish with all my heart it was different but it isn't and maybe this reflects badly on me as a person. I feel I should say something profound about the role of carer or the person with the disability but the reality is all you can do is try to do your best and try to hang on as the emotional rollercoaster goes faster and faster.

If you've lasted this long, well done and you deserve a cuppa, or a lie down-I know I definitely did when I got home afterwards as my first trip to the Hydro is definitely not one I'll forget!

Blog Hole Resurgence

I have been very remiss in blogging and seemed to have fallen down a big black blog hole in terms of posting. I've still been around and have loved reading your blog posts which have helped sustain me. I love the bloggers I read who tell it like it is - the good, the bad and the frankly funny and it has been great to hear of your lives. Generally I like my own blog to be positive, or at the least balanced, but the effort of being upbeat was just too much when I was tired, sore and disheartened. I know many bloggers are struggling with much worse life circumstances than me but sometimes all we can do is manage what is ours.

My knee is still not great and I have to use my hated crutch but being able to drive a bit further and just getting out under my own steam feels good. I am getting back to work which is a tonic in itself, if rather knackering, but great to be occupied purposefully again. I'm not sure how things will pan out but, finally I have clinicians I trust and a supportive boss so while things are not perfect they are probably as good as they can be right now. It's not been all misery as some nice things and some craft makes have happened too and I'll try to get these written up as posts. So apologies in advance if I end up bombarding you with a torrent of blog posts. Hopefully, not so many that you end up needing a rest from me!

Does wool represent life?

I think wool has become a metaphor for what has been happening since I last posted. It's not been all bad but life has done some serious unravelling and I have no idea if there is a pattern as I cannot see one, I've no idea if there is enough yardage left or whether I'm reaching the end of my rope.

The gammy knee continues to get no better and increasing the functional exercising seems to result in a prolonged period of not being able to find a position of comfort. I just cannot settle and end up trying it in all sorts of positions so much so that I look like I'm doing a one legged tribute to Riverdance.

I am now allowed to drive short distances in the car and so far have made three small journeys, two of which were to wool shops, which shows you where my priorities are! This was wonderful until the third outing on Friday when the power steering began losing all pressure and I had to get the car recovered from the Waitrose car park which has worryingly tricky access, on the upside at least I had access to coffee and facilities while I waited.

The chap who arrived, after being himself stuck in traffic, said he'd have to try to drive my car out which I thought was odd as they knew in advance about the tight access ramp, reduced height and pillars. Thankfully, he managed but the steering needed superhuman strength and when I saw the recovery truck I was gobsmacked as it was utterly the biggest recovery truck I've seen and was able to recover minibuses! No wonder he couldn't get in the car park. The worst was to come as gammy knee and I had to get up the three steps to the cab and even more painfully back down. If I'd known how high and difficult it would be I'd have arranged for a taxi home however, my car and I made it back though my knee suffered quite badly and the weekend was spent in a bit of a fog from the strong painkillers. While this was all very gloomy something nice did happen as my neighbour was watching for me coming home and brought over a delicious big piece of her chocolate birthday cake.

As the car broke down on late on Friday afternoon the breakdown company have been brilliant and arranged to return on Monday morning to re-recover the car and take it to the repair garage. Unfortunately, the repair is looking significantly expensive for the part before any labour and the earliest the part can be sourced from the manufacturer is Friday. So the net result is I currently have neither a pair of functioning legs, nor a set of wheels and, as if that wasn't bad enough, a garage bill that will floor me!

The boiler is, and I whisper this, allegedly repaired, except that when I got home on Friday it had lost some pressure again! My heart sank but after pressuring it up again it seems to have stayed so fingers crossed. My friends have started answering my calls with 'What's happened now?' and begun suggesting lucky charms, white heather and offering to light candles for me. I've said yes to all offers!

World Book Night 2014

I am so delighted and honoured to hear I have been chosen as one of the Givers for this year. The purpose of World Book Night (WBN) is to encourage those who perhaps don't read for pleasure and to share the love of reading and books. On the 23rd of April 2014, 20,000 givers will gift half a million books to their new owners. The only condition of accepting a book is to agree to read it and to either keep it or pass it on as you see fit.

I participated in WBN last year and blogged about my experience here. I spent my time in an Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department and gave my books to patients, relatives and staff. It was a lovely experience for me as the books were really well received and I was particularly touched by how grateful people were. My masterplan had been not to disturb the working of the department but the nursing staff were absolutely stars and keen to help me identify suitable patients to access to offer a book to and to hear more about what WBN was all about.

There were some funny moments too. A nurse and a patient and his wife were convinced I was dispensing Bibles. On finding out I wasn't one was relieved and the other disappointed! The other funny was when I inadvertently tried to gift 'The No1 Ladies Detective Agency' book to two male CID Officers who looked completely scandalised.

This year I plan to do the same in a different A&E department. I have been lucky to get my first choice book which is .59seconds by Richard Wiseman. I thought if I were waiting in a stressful environment I'd want something short, thought provoking and possibly a conversation starter. It also fits in well with the self improvement messages so beloved of hospitals.

I can't wait till I do this again but am pragmatically glad of the delay between now and April. Right now if I lurched in with my crutch and gammy knee I'd get lobbed into triage and mistaken for one of the casualties!

Illuminated Crochet Hook Review

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my last post and here is my review of the 'light sabre' crochet hook.

 

It really does work and has a distinct value when working with dark yarns. I tried it with some very dark navy cotton using a pattern with different height stitches and the need to identify points where slip stiching needed to occur. At first I thought it might be too bright but this was not the case. The shaft is illuminated but not uncomfortably so and lets you see immediately if your yarn has split which is a great benefit early on in the stitch. The light forms a nice sharp beam from the tip and is great for pinpointing exactly where you are placing the hook and also for using like a small torch when checking back how many of a particular stitch you have done when your are working a pattern.

It is very light and I think it feels roughly the same weight as a 5 or 6mm aluminium hook. It comes with three tiny little battery cells and an easy on off switch. My only concern would be that an acrylic hook and plastic handle may be more fragile than a metal or bamboo hook. I am not going to snap it just for research purposes but it does seem pretty robust and the hook seems well anchored and embedded in the handle.

Just for fun, I did try some stitching with the navy yarn in the dark and yes it is entirely possible to do it, why? remains the bigger issue! If you were trying not to disturb your partner in bed while they were trying to get to sleep or at the cinema  I can only imagine the flashing movements with a small super bright LED torch might still be very annoying.

The real value of this hook, in my opinion, is with dark yarns or when sitting cosily in the evening without the need for a spotlight or increasing the general lighting when working with mid to darker yarns. It would possibly be nice to be able to purchase multiple hooks if they were interchangeable with the handle but that might lead to them feeling loose rather than the robust single unit. I don't have an idea how long the batteries will last as I'm hoping that will be some way off yet.

I bought mine in a 4mm size, as that is probably the one I use most, from Wool Warehouse and they are available from 2.5-6.5mm. There is a little video on the page and apparently, they have been featured in Simply Crochet but it doesn't say which issue. Mine cost £5.99 which I thought reasonable enough to try though when I think about it, all my aluminium and bamboo hooks together probably cost about £6 in total from ebay. However, when I 'saw the light', I had to have it!

In summary - a gadget which works, makes dark crochet much easier, the cost is reasonable if you are only purchasing one or two. I am really pleased with the quality and what this tool adds to my crochet.

I'd love to hear if anyone else has used this or if I've not answered a burning question just let me know.

 

Taking Crochet to the Dark Side

I read some posts recently about Zpaghetti t-shirt yarn and quite fancied making some crochet bowls out of this unusual yarn. It is made out of recycled t-shirts from the fashion industry and is used for chunky projects. I did think it rather pricey but it does come in a humungous centre pull ball.

I'm not sure how it will crochet up but I was very disappointed to see one of the joins was tenuous to put it mildly. It is not worth returning, it as I'll just sew it, but not what you expect.

While I was looking for the best price for the yarn and a 12mm crochet hook I came across an absolute 'I want' toy/gadget/gizmo crochet hook which LIGHTS UP! My excuse is that I only bought it to try it out AND I needed a non- metal 4mm hook AND to make up the order to the minimum cost for free delivery BUT I suspect we all know that none of these excuses tell the whole story.

This is a seriously bright LED which lights up the smooth snag-free clear acrylic crochet hook. It says you can crochet in the dark with it but the point of this is lost on me. Why would anyone in their right mind crochet in the dark?!?!? However, I can definitely see me using it with dark yarns in the living room as a more comfortable alternative to having the spot light on which is very hot and uncomfortably bright with prolonged use. Time will tell whether this was a wise investment or purely a gimmick but I can tell you my new yarn and light sabre crochet hook have really cheered my day up.

The light from it really pin points from the end. 

In other woolly news, I have made my first shell pattern cushion cover thanks to Annette at My Rose Valley. I found her tutorial really lovely to follow as she includes hints and the kind of things a friend would say if helping you in the brackets. 

 

 My other new stitch is the ripple stitch which I've learnt courtesy of the lovely Lucy at Attic24 which was another hand hold, 'sitting next to a friend' tutorial.

 

Both were intended to be made into cushion covers for the dining room chairs. Each one was meant to showcase a different stitch or pattern. I went a little awry with the shell one as although I kept measuring it I've somehow made it too small. It's the whole cushion measuring saga all over again! Not to worry as I now think instead of doing them in all different colours it might be better to keep them in the same colour as this will be more uniform and also showcase the different stitches better.

Still it's no loss what a friend gets, and Magic is definitely not complaining about using it as a blankie until I make it into a beanbag cushion. The colours are actually as the non cat picture earlier.

Great British Sewing Bee Review

Oh, I rather enjoyed this. I'd watched a few previous episodes but not with huge enthusiasm or engagement probably because I didn't actually 'get' proper sewing. Now that I am the proud owner of my very own sewing machine, and took the Sew Confident course with the wonderful Jenny, I actually felt very drawn into this first episode. I am clear that my abilities do not match my standards and I'm unlikely to ever wear anything I've made but I do enjoy making small things.

The contestants look like a really mixed bunch that you could warm to and the judges were a nice mix of critical but supportive. I think that is where GB Bake-Off is beginning to fail to keep my attention as Paul Hollywood seems to be so full of himself and I felt his rather biased damning of some contestants and favouring of others to be toe curling. I'm sure some of it was perhaps due to the editing but on the Sewing Bee even the criticisms were simply pointing out flaws but balancing that with praise for what had been well done. I like it when people are nice and hate to watch reality talent programmes which are based on humiliating or bear-baiting members of the public for entertainment. I much prefer seeing the pure joy of achievement in someone's eyes as that is something special.

A lovely point in the Sewing Bee was when Lynda, the lady who is deaf, 'christened' Patrick with his own sign name. I also realised afterwards she is the Mum of the Crafts from the Cwtch blogger and she'd been the originator of the nickname! A year or so ago I took a sign language course at work which I thoroughly enjoyed. Though much of what I learnt has now been forgotten I remain very attached to my sign name which is the sign for Sparkly. This was to represent my jewellery making and a corruption of part of my name which a work colleague misheard and is sometimes used as my nickname. I'm quite sure I have other nicknames at work which I don't know about (!) but at least I'll happily answer to Sparkly. It is an improvement on my last job where I was called Ducky after a place and because I am rather challenged in the height department so my bottom is much nearer the ground than it should be.

I am looking forward to the next episode of the Sewing Bee and was sorry to see Cliff exit himself from the competition. I suspect he fell before he was pushed as he didn't do well in the first two challenges but he seemed like a nice chap. There are a few who seemed to stand out for their abilities in this episode but time will tell whether they last the course as no-one scored consistently in the different challenges.

New Week

Firstly, sorry for the lack of updates and daftness from me over the last week. I haven't had a bad week as such just a not so good one and I've been reading more blogs than contributing. However I will begin to rectify this now.

Thank you to all of my new followers, readers and commenters. I have loved being part of Grow Your Blog and finding wonderful new blogs and am delighted to welcome new followers here.

The gammy knee saga continues to present problems, pain and uncertainty. The limitations and difficulties related to how little I can walk and the lack of independence, control and a fixed end point is really driving me bonkers. This week will be mainly taken up with multiple health appointments which will hopefully not be cancelled on short notice like last week, or involve significant delays like this morning. I find it very hard as I am not getting answers and the conflicting advice of weight bear, don't weight bear, push the exercises, don't push or you'll inflame the joint has left me demented.

Yesterday the boiler broke down so no heating or hot water and multiple calls to the insurer. No one could be arranged for yesterday but they offered a hotel which would have been more hassle than it was worth so we snuggled up and squabbled over shares of the hot water bottle and fleecy blankies.

 Magic claimed the James C Brett Flutterby crochet mat which is intended to become another attempt at a bean bag cushion. Although this is a synthetic yarn it feels gorgeous and hopefully I'll manage to make something that doesn't feel like a rock!

Paw over the nose is always a good heat saving position

Today the chap repaired the boiler but within 10mins it had lost pressure again and fainted. Another round of calls resulted in a part being ordered (?how long for this) but at least the insurers authorised heaters to be purchased. This was after six pm so heaters were ordered from Argos and a new service called Shutl is offered that will bring the items within 2hrs. The cost was reasonable and the hassle minimal (can you see where this is going?) so we ordered it and waited. Then 30mins before the store closed Shutl rang to say 'ever so sorry, been an error, can we deliver it tomorrow'....! Utterly useless and leaving me with minutes to arrange a taxi to go and pick the heaters up myself - hardly hassle free. Luckily the taxi driver drove like a race driver but I ended up having to pay a second time for the heaters and wait for refunds.

I know this sounds like a Victor Meldrew kind of post but it really isn't, as some nice things have also happened. I am fortunate to have wonderfully supportive people around me who make me laugh and keep me afloat and a home that is warming up nicely with the new heaters so really I have much to be grateful for. I received some lovely flowers from friends and colleagues and they have been really brightening me up.

 I should have snapped the middle bouquet much earlier as the blooms are on the way out now but I forgot at the time. 

I read a blog review that lead to me ordering a delicious sugared violet lip balm-a small treat but a favourite flavour. I have a shameful secret in that my all time favourite chocolates are Rose and Violet Creams beloved of Little Old Ladies who carry monogrammed lavender scented lace hankies.

My neighbour popped by for coffee and brought some homemade marmalade which I said I'd have for breakfast. I cracked early and had the nicest midnight snack of toast and the scrummiest marmalade I've tasted in years. That jar is so not going to last long! A benefit of blogging is that I had never even been aware this is marmalade making season. Working full time, many years doing shift work and often being a student on top of working and latterly being a carer as well living in an upstairs flat makes me ashamed to say that the subtle rhythm of seasonal changes have entirely passed me by. Reading my favourite blogs has given me a greater appreciation of seasonal aspects of life and gardening of which I was unaware or oblivious so this is something else to be grateful for.

One evening during the week as I sat down to get my crochet out I managed to knock a cup of coffee with cream all over the living room rug. This meant I had to get the carpet cleaner and steam vacuum out and start trying to get the spill out of the rug which was not easy. However, when I was cleaning and washing out both machines I realised I am lucky to have these tools and solutions at hand and when I looked down there on the floor was a tiny heart shaped water splash which made me smile.

At the end of the month my friend who lives abroad is coming home so that is something to look forward to and when I was out today I picked up a copy of Homemaker to have a read of tonight. I would have read it today but I was not sticking my arms out of the warm blanket for any reason!

So, for a bit of light relief for hanging in this long, I will leave you with a snap I'm also posting on my cat blog as well. This made me laugh for a good half a day before it was pointed out that it didn't say what I thought it did.

Apparently it says Baldi-MAUS and not Hairs!

The Scottish Question

This morning I am asking a Scottish Question of national importance and significance. Obviously, later this year there will be a referendum to determine whether Scotland remains as part of the United Kingdom or becomes a separate nation.

However, another centuries old Scottish Question quite possibly stirs even greater levels of nationalism and reaction on a visceral level and the answer has even been known to split families due to fundamental differences.

What then could be that important. Well, the critical question is 'Sugar or Salt on your Porridge'? You may well laugh, but my family was one of those with irreconcilable differences!

I took a notion to have porridge this week. For me this means the jumbo oats from Sainsburys, double cooked in a ratio of 1 part porridge to 2.5 parts of half milk and half water, served with a tiny sprinkle of caster sugar, some milk and a splash of cream.

 Quite a decadent breakfast but so, so tasty and it has really hit the spot.

Only in adulthood have I become a porridge lover. As a child ours was a salty porridge home and I can still recall how revolting it was. My Mother, and her's before her, used Scott's porage oats, water only and a giant whoosh of table salt squeezed into the pot. It was served loaded with sugar, in an effort to offset the salt, and some milk. I absolutely refused to eat it and my Mother could not even countenance considering omitting or reducing the salt. Later on when she tasted my version minus the cream she became a real fan of it but by then she was on anti-hypertensives and not allowed salt, funnily enough! However, it remains a bone of contention as to this day as she still insists mine is 'too rich', cooked with all cream (!) and that her salted version is both better AND the proper way! See, opinion actually runs that deep.

You'll note I've used two different spellings as this is another hotly contested issue of the 'proper' spelling and even manufacturers can't agree. Most nations have this food in their repertoire or a variant so for anyone who has an opinion and wishes to share their views I actually have two questions:

1. How should 'proper' porridge be made?

2. How should the word be spelt?

Red sat at the end of the sofa tasting the air and wondering if any of it might head his way.

 

Vacuumicide

Well, we've done it again! Yes, the Bissell pet hair vacuum has sucked its last, its motor burnt out by......two fluffy cats and the long haired human being the main culprits. The irony of hair and fluff being its undoing is not lost on me. I took great care of that vacuum, obsessively washing out the filters etc but to no avail. I'm particularly annoyed as the belt also snapped and I bought replacements not realising the whole thing was totally gubbed.

In 2011 I wrote an insanely long and demented diatribe on my history of vacuumicide and the search for the perfect vacuum. The Roomba is still around but its charging station remains missing-in-inaction post house move and the Polti steam vac came back from the dead after I managed to flood the motor with soapy water. Actually, I'd forgotten I'd done this and brought it back into service last week so I could well have ended up with an explosive perm!

This latest search for the holy grail of housekeeping began included an additional need to find something that will not aggravate my damaged knee. I decided I wanted a vacuum and not a sweeper, I wanted cordless this time, bagless, definitely light and with the option of doing more than just flat flooring and with reliable customer service. I was going to add in world peace but I'm not the greedy type!

I read rave reviews about the Gtech Air Ram and their phenomenal customer service. I decided it would be my next cordless vacuum especially as they have now addressed the significant limitation of the Air Ram by bringing out the Multi with the necessary additional tools. It is a considered purchase i.e. expensive, but I was prepared to raid the kitty and buy both with the decider being the persuasive extras of a spare battery for the Air Ram and an extension tool for the Multi if you bought from them direct. However, when I phoned I was told bluntly if you buy them as a pair you don't get the spare battery. I emailed nicely to ask why this was the case and received an auto email to say I'd get a response in 8hrs and nothing else. I tried again, auto reply and....nothing, third time lucky I thought and same deal. So I tried calling again and finally I got an email reply that totally ignored my question. I really didn't get a feel that this was a company who were interested in my business, and their email non responses and lack of interest didn't reassure me that if either broke down I'd get a decent service.

After looking around I found a cordless 2.4kg 2-in-1 stick vacuum which converts to a handheld and, this is the thrilling bit, it has a feature that automatically dehairs the roller and brush. If this works it will  be worth the cost for that alone! I ordered it from Lakeland as, in addition to a good price and obsessive product testing, they have a fabulous no nonsense customer service and a guarantee that says if you are not happy at any time you get a refund. When my first Roomba didn't charge they sorted it quick-smart so I know this to be true. I also love that they monitor product reviews and if someone is unhappy they leave a note saying 'we're really sorry to hear this, we'll be in touch' so I reckoned they were a much safer bet for my money.

It is arriving tomorrow morning and I cant wait, how sad is that? I REALLY need to get out more!

Note: This blog contains my thoughts and experiences alone and no remuneration or incentives are received or sought.

A Year in Books: Various Pets Alive and Dead - Marina Lewyka

I was really looking forward to reading this as I've heard good reviews of it and it has been sitting in my 'to be read' pile for a while. The premise is about a hippy couple who bring their children up in a commune but they tehn grow up to reject this and live polar opposite lifestyles. The parents decide to marry much to their children's surprise and disinterest after all this time.

The dead pet refers to a squished school hamster which the sister blames the brother for. This is not a big spoiler as it happens very early on in the book.

So far, I'm not really finding that it is 'fizzing' along, or that each chapter has a 'laugh out loud' moment as promised. I'm actually finding it rather pedestrian and the characters bland if I am truthful. I started reading it a couple of weeks ago but my audiobook has been more engaging at bedtime. It's not a bad book so far and I maybe just need to get into it a bit more. Time will tell.

Saturday Silliness and some thoughts

Just some stuff that captured my attention this week.

I saw these two in a little place called The Shop of Interest which had loads of quirky handcrafted loveliness. I cannot bear to see real animals used as trophies but this pair are just so cute and no animals were harmed in the process. I've not seen 'woolidermy' done before and there would certainly be no shame in having this pair hanging on your wall.

 On the website the white one is apparently called Cordelia!

 

The pic below is for Ragdoll Mommy as I thought of her and her Apple addiction when I saw this shop a few doors along from the gift shop with the crochet animals. I'm a committedly Apple product free zone which offends her terribly but I thought she'd like this rather witty sign for a repair shop.

It is interesting what you see when you are not driving around and I was even the grateful recipient of the most amazing hot chocolate in Café Wander. The staff were trying out new flavour combinations and made a totally over the top hot chocolate flavoured with strawberry and topped with cream and marshmallows. Once it was made and photographed they asked if I'd like to try it. Not only did I try it but I polished it off and only good manners and a tongue that wouldn't reach to the bottom stopped me trying to lick out the mug. It was heavenly and really cheered me up as my day hadn't gone very well till then as I had quite a bit to think about and I was feeling a bit bogged down.

 

I can't wait until my knee allows me to get behind the wheel again as the loss of independence and flexibility is frustrating beyond belief. However, I'm resolved to find the positives as wandering slowly and looking around rarely to never happens and I'd not have spotted Cordelia and her pal or developed a longing for another of those brilliant strawberry hot chocolates. My default lifestyle setting is haring round like a demented contestant on one of those game shows where you scramble over obstacles while trying to beat the clock. So perhaps some of this period right now is a life lesson in accepting a slower pace, to stop and take stock or as a very wise person keeps telling me I need to be a 'patient patient'.

 

I'm grateful to those who commented on my last post about the pricing in charity shops. Clearly I am very out of touch and a revolution has occurred as they now view themselves as vendors of vintage items with prices to match this vision. This is quite a revelation to me and something that might alter how I donate to, or support. charities.

 

It concerns me when I hear of charities creaming off 'profits' to pay chief executives and fund expensive advertising campaigns or when donations don't actually make it to the recipients in other countries or 'rules' prevent the needy accessing the benefits. It is good if charities can command high prices as the more money that comes in will benefit more people/animals but I do still think high prices across the board must be counterproductive in keeping the stock flowing.



Magic's little shocked face when I told her about the high prices in the charity shops.