wagwaan?

New banner and other stuff

Yes, I finally made a new banner. Something nice and summery, I'm sure you'll agree! In honour of Wimbledon lol. 

I took this picture

and was inspired by its summery feel.  

This morning I spent some time in the garden before the weather turns on us. I spent ages grooming the cat with this special rubber brush I have that literally rips the fur from his undercoat. I tend not to do it indoors because the fluff flies everywhere, but outside, with him rolling around in the grass in appreciation, it's not a problem. In fact I'm pretty sure the birds are happy for the fluff to line their nests with. I'm telling you, I could have knitted a ginger jumper with the amount of fur I got off him today. He must be boiling hot, poor thing. 

Then I thought, I know, it's such a novelty to have laundry on the line, I'll take a picture to document it...

I do love my new "soft grip" pegs - doesn't take a lot to make me happy, eh?

OOh while I've been doing this, Marion Bartoli has beaten Serena Williams!  Go Frenchy!!  It was a great match. She just said to the interviewer "beating Serena Williams is like a dream come true". Awww.

What else? Oh yes, here is a rather wonky picture of my new office space (I just can't get a straight one and I promise I haven't been drinking!).

Over the weekend, Claire helped me to bring my bureau down from upstairs where it was in a corner on the landing and I rejigged all the computer bits and cables to set it up. This way, I'm hoping to switch off properly when I've finished working on the PC, by putting the monitor on top and closing the desk flap. The drawers below are also very handy for putting all my bits and bobs from the various projects I have going on at the moment. It'll  hopefully be much neater than it has been. I've put the modern computer desk on Freecycle and I hope someone wants it, or I'll have to dismantle it and lug it round to the Oxfam furniture shop... which is where I got the bureau a few years ago. I'd always wanted one (my mum has one) and when I saw this I snapped it up thinking I'd paint it. So far it's remained au naturel and I think I might just leave it now. I rather like my desktop picture of an m&m heart that I think I blogged ages ago. And I found the perfect place for my vision board too.  It feels all cosy now!

Right, I'm off for a little rest - after I've rescued the clothes: rain is forecast in about half an hour!

The hottest day of the year?

After weeks of rain and grey skies, today is apparently going to be the hottest of the year. And then I think by Tuesday we'll be back to normal, ha ha!   At least the weather was ok yesterday for our stint on the market. It was rather blustery in the morning but by the afternoon the sun came out and it was quite nice and sunny - just in time for my 2pm shift.  It wasn't very busy but we did sell all our good stuff to some discerning buyers. There's still a home chocolate fountain for sale - a bargain at a fiver, I can't believe it's still there. 

The lady opposite us was selling perennials and other plants, and I couldn't resist buying some to fill up the gaps in my garden. I got a creeping Jenny for the name (and for the fact that it covers the ground so weeds don't take hold so much), a nasturtium, a feverfew because it looks like a daisy and an "everlasting" sweet pea plant. Sweet peas last one season but this one will go on and on, although the flowers don't have a scent.  We were discussing gardens and I told her I had lots of weeds (among which my beautiful poppies) and she said as long as they have pretty flowers, she leaves them, so that's my new modus operandi. Talking of the poppies, this is what they looked like this morning before the sun got very hot:

See that blue sky behind the trees? It's wonderful - not a cloud in the sky.  Perfect laundry drying weather too, and it's been a long time since we had any sheets drying in the sun like today.

Well I'm half way through reorganising my workspace (although I had hoped to do this on a rainy day rather than the hottest day of the year) and this was just an excuse to see that I'd got the PC all plugged in correctly after moving it. And lunch is ready so I'll finish up now. Hope you are having a beautiful weekend where you are. 

In the garden

I had such a lovely day in the garden yesterday - first I strimmed the grass (we still don't own a lawnmower lol), then I sat outside reading magazines and enjoying the weather. Claire was at work, the boyf was out too, and it was just me, the cat and the birds singing raucously in the trees.

How do you like my pink gardening gloves? They were a steal - something like 98p...

Getting there...

I'm really pleased with how our Community Centre website is going, and I can't wait for it to go live so I can link to it here. Today I sat with V and went through all the pages to make sure we had all the information correct. It's looking mighty fine. As I don't have a picture to share, here's an oldie. I love love love this picture (that Claire took and I played around with), so enjoy.

Silly pusscat

It's official - Lyle is the softest, soppiest, scarediest cat of them all.  To avoid the other cats of the neighbourhood coming in through the catflap we've had to make it one-way only so he can get out to do his business, but can't get back in. Except he got a bit fed-up of waiting for us to let him in so he found out a way of lifting the flap by digging his claws into the rubber seal round the flap and pulling it up enough to get his nose under, and then he pushes his way in. Oh he's clever, I'll give him that. The OH reckons that if he can learn that, then so can the other cats, but that's where he's wrong: Lyle has the advantage that we've held the flap up for him from the inside, so he's learned how to do it. Naturally, the other cats will push and push at the flap and it won't open inwards, so I hope they'll get bored and go away.

However, this hasn't stopped other cats coming into his territory. In particular a very sweet looking black and white cat. The first time I looked out and saw him (her?) staring straight at me through the window, I "shooed" and knocked on the glass and he didn't budge. I opened the window and waved my arms at him, still to no avail. I had to go out into the garden to shoo him away.  Meanwhile, Lyle was sitting by the back door looking terrified.   

Since then, it's happened time and time again. Lyle sits near the house, and B&W cat sits in the garden facing him. They have a staring competition - it's a stand-off. But Lyle doesn't chase him away, oh no. He holds his ground, but I reckon if B&W cat made a move, Lyle would come running back into the house full-tilt. 

I even wondered if maybe B&W cat was trying to say "I want to play with Lyle", so I went out to see if I could interact with him. He gets wary when I come close, and runs away, so I'm no nearer finding out if my hunch is correct.  He doesn't seem aggressive, as I would expect with a cat who wants to muscle in on someone else's territory. I reckon he knows there's lots of love and cuddles and food in this house, and he wants to join the party!

I'll get a photo up asap so you can see what I mean.....

Wednesday

Yesterday just disappeared in the blink of an eye, without much to show for it. Let me see if I can remember what I did, as I still have trouble with my memory:

Got up around 8.30. Had breakfast of toast, peanut butter & banana and a cup of coffee. 

Read some of my book, which I'm still finding fascinating, whilst cuddling with the cat.

Did some phone calls and emails for Dr O. 

Claire made delicious spag bol for lunch, without prompting (I love my daughter!), so I did the washing up. Put all the dishes away after. 

Folded up the clothes that were washed yesterday and still sitting in the dryer. Took them up to the bedroom and put them away.

Actually stuck my butterflies on pink pages, ready to add to my birthday album.

Took a phone call from the lady at Different Strokes about setting up the first consultation meeting about starting a support group. Very excited to be doing something positive.

Watched Junior Doctors on BBC Three, with Claire. Interesting part about A&E doctors discussing various things that had been found inserted in places they shouldn't have been, if you get my drift. My friend who used to be on reception in A&E certainly had some interesting tales to tell....

Bed by 10.30pm - but then was wide awake at 1pm. Then 2pm. But I think I slept pretty solidly after that.

Well, I had to think really hard to remember, but I got there in the end. That doesn't seem like enough to fill a whole day though, does it? 

I've got to get more disciplined. The OT told me I had to use a calendar to plan out my week and I've not been doing that; rather, I've "gone with the flow". Sometimes that leads to me doing too much and flaking out, so I think it's about time I gave it another try.  

In the meantime, my brave little daffs have started to bloom. They make me ridiculously happy. Took a picture with the ISO ramped right up due to the low light today, and I quite like the grainy effect it gives the photo.

 

I've always equated daffs with England, Spring and Easter. When I was little, in our garden in Pinner there was an area of grass near the swing that used to be a riot of daffodils at this time of year. I used to love the way the grass grew long and the flowers bloomed there.

Well, I can't sit here all day chatting. Must get on.  See you!

 

 

A hint of Spring

Oh it's beautiful out there this morning!  Slightly breezy but such wonderful sunshine. I went out in the garden and picked three daffs in bud and I've popped them in a jam jar with ribbon around it. You migh recall that my garden was blitzed last Autumn, so we have nothing much growing there now apart from these surprise bulbs that have sprung up in places.  

I was joined out there by Lyle, of course, who rolled around in ecstasy on the dusty path, looking for all the world as if he was saying "look at me, I'm so cute, rub my tummy". I, of course, obliged.  I can see that he's out there now, sitting directly under the bird feeders so I expect I won't have any feathered visitors for the foreseeable future...

Can't leave you without a picture so here are some narcissi from a previous year....

Surprise!

Imagine my surprise the other day, while watching the birds on the feeders, to see this fellow hop, kind of sideways, up the garden path:

(image from Google - I wasn't that quick with the camera!!)

I didn't notice a crest, but the rest was exactly right - the striking colour of the body and the stripy wings. I went straight to RSPB.com's bird identifier page, and it confirmed that it was a hoopoe. Apparently, they are sometimes seen as far north as Shetland, but normally only about 100 birds come to the UK every year, and that should be in the Spring. Hmm, global warming at work?!  He really stood out among the sparrows, great tits, blackbirds and wood pigeons.

I'm such an anorak, I know, but I'm not alone. Posy is obsessed!!

It's the little things

Remembering that my word for 2011 is FULFILMENT, I'm reminding myself daily to see beauty in the little things. I love hearing the blackbird sing, and looking at the sky, and hearing a child giggle... Over lunch I spent a good while watching the pesky squirrel on the bird feeder, and realised I had Claire's Ixus here so I decided to capture him in action:

 

What you don't see is the way he eats each sunflower seed and drops the husk on the ground below - I'm going to have to get the broom out and sweep it all up next time we get a bit of sunshine.  I don't mind, but I really would like the birds to come back!

Talking of "little things", do you keep a gratitude journal?  I used to, but even if I don't write it down I say a little "thank you" prayer every night as I get into bed - it's just a habit I have, and it keeps me positive. It's hard to feel unhappy when you are giving thanks for everything in your life, and of course I have something extra special to be thankful for these days, and that is the gift of LIFE. So even on days when I'm down about something, or I'm feeling unloved, or I'm worried about the bills - well, on those days I give thanks even more because in the grand scheme of things we Westerners are pretty privileged, right?  I don't even think you have to be religious to give thanks - just sending up a little "thank you" to the Universe can make you remember that you've got it good. Hope that's not too "New Age-y", it's just my humble opinion.

Moving on.... I had my chair-based exercise class at lunchtime and now I realise it was my last session because next Monday I have a rheumatology appointment that clashes. We're hoping to get more funding so the class can continue, and I'm working with Different Strokes to set up a local support group so we might be able to combine the class with that - it's a work in progress and I'll let you know how it all comes together.

Right, that's me done for the day. Keep smiling :) 

Wish it could stay like this

What a beautiful day it has been. I'd quite forgotten how a little bit of sun could lift the spirits. Although I spent the morning taking it easy, the weather was too nice to stay indoors, so I took myself off for a short walk to the nearest park.

 

Sadly, I think it's going to rain for the rest of the week, so I'm glad I got out for a walk today.

All the Christmas decorations have been put away, and I cleaned downstairs yesterday; all that I need to do now is clean the windows because, boy, when the sun shines you can see how dirty the winter has made them. I took all the cushion covers off and washed them and the throws, and I attempted to clean the slats on the wooden venetian blinds, but it doesn't seem like I made much of a difference - does anyone have a good trick that works? 

This afternoon I'm making a start on the bedroom. I did manage to go through one box of old stuff during the week that has yielded quite a big bag for the charities who make doorstep collections. There's a debate as to how legit some of them are, so the ones who probably aren't real charities I give the rags to, and the nice stuff I give to charity shops.  Apparently there is money to be made in old clothes - it's not just about clothing the poor or Third World countries. I saw a programme on it once.... 

If you know me on Facebook you might have seen when I posted that the birds had finally discovered the bird feeder in the garden. I  might also have mentioned Mr Squirrel. Well, I spoke too soon: it's actually a pair of squirrels and they're a darn nuisance. They eat all the sunflower seeds I put out there. They even got the fat balls out of their nets and took them back off to their nest (or whatever squirrels sleep in). I haven't seen any more birds on the feeder since the squirrels have been invading it. Not cool!

Ooh, I've just looked out of the window and seen that the sky has turned to the most delicate pink towards the horizon. I know from experience no photo will do it justice, but it's rather lovely.  It also means it's getting late and I'd better go and tidy up the bedroom now, so I'll leave you with an oldie. I was listening to old RNB stuff on Youtube, you know, Babyface, Joe etc, and I realised the stuff I was choosing was going back to the 90s so I thought, I wonder if MN8 are on there? And they are!  Take a little trip down memory lane and watch this :)   Tony, the bald guy, is OH's brother. Yes, I'm name-dropping.  I reckon they should do a Take That and re-form as a "man band" don't you?