17 July 2017

Gutted. The 13th Doctor will be a Pathetically Correct female. The 'actress' is a casting choice by the only TV director who ever casts her - go figure that one, eh?

Worse, she's not a very good actress to begin with. Her biggest 'claim to fame' is the character she portrayed (badly by viewer reports including mine - she was so wretched I and many others deliberately blocked out her whiney screeching every time she hove into view). Oh, and her stripping off for full frontal nudity on screen and stage.

Well, BBC has killed off the Doctor Who franchise - the last real Dr Who episode will be shown at Christmas during which the amazing and badly done-by Peter Capaldi 'regenerates' into this PC female. I'll be wearing a black armband embroidered with 'RIP DR WHO' that day and the day the first Jodie Whittaker episode is broadcast.

11 July 2017

MICROSOFT TAKES ALL THE FUN OUT OF THE INTERNET.

Yes, I'm still on the 'back-up' laptop. Grrrrrrr!

On the up side, however, the ever-increasing frustrations at being stuck with this situation for the foreseeable future is I'm getting quite a lot of offline things done now I'm not enjoying the wonders of fast-frustration free 'Net surfing on my MacBook. I'm virtually un-plugged and while it's been a somewhat painful process I do find I'm more productive. (But really, how many embroidered doilies-placemats-table runners-Christmas tree skirts - blouse collars and cuffs does one really need?)

My right side continues to improve  - I can almost reach behind my back now. Very little pain nowadays unless I hold my shoulder in the wrong position or try to lean forward and lift more than 8oz. (IE: I still can't lean down into the back of the pot cupboard to retrieve my stockpots without screaming. Sigh. One day. Perhaps...)

Paul's conditions (Asperger's AND coeliac AND idiopathic hypoglycaemia) have been challenging but we bumble along and 2017 so far appears to be the year we've essentially cracked it. Organising his diet correctly makes a considerable difference; his Asperger's is being so neatly managed now we rarely even notice it (no melt-downs in the supermarket or other high-stress public places, for example, now we know when to shop and when to leave a venue). I keep the fridge and pantry well stocked with gluten-free foods he can snack on at will (yeah, so, I am spending A LOT more time in the kitchen making all this stuff from scratch), and have found good-tasting protein rich foods he can grab when he feels his blood sugar dropping.

About the only food I haven't worked out how to make reliably is bread - and our Paulie loves his bread. So much so he sneaks out to the shops for a baguette to chew down on the walk home, or to the High Street Greggs for a forbidden sausage roll. Which does lead to set-backs in not only his food related conditions but also his Asperger's (that's right, you try holding your temper when months of hard work regulating someone's diet is blown to hell by a Greggs sausage roll cheat and he's sick  - it's nigh well impossible not to point out to him if he'd not cheated his diet, he'd feel well. An Aspie doesn't take well to being reminded of certain things when those certain things are his own fault. He then sulks for a few hours (or days, depending) until we get his diet sorted again.

Autumn is now so close I'm going through all the winter things (clothes, blankets, food stores) - hope to have that done soon so I can get back to the embroidery frame. I tried crocheting and knitting a few things this past 16 months since wreaking my right side and apparently (according to my ex-DIL and physiotherapist) the needed wrist-forearm twist to make stitches is the problem. I think I am creatively satisfied with embroidery but the blanket box and woolly caps hooks by the door could use topping up - not being able to hold a crochet hook or knitting pins is beyond annoying!

Right. The elephant in the room...

Donald Trump is POTUS, Theresa May is (for now, apparently there is some real doubt as to her staying power) PM, and that little nutter in NK can now shoot an nuke-tipped ICBM as far as Alaska. Freedom of speech (and most other civil liberties here in the UK and over in the US, btw) is under attack in so many varied, insidious ways I'm genuinely frightened by what I'm seeing and having to not say to avoid having the very real Thought Polis to the door.

Brussels continues to shoot itself in the foot, Brexit is what the people voted for but the push to stay in the Single Market and Customs Union is quite strong from the cowardly who refuse to understand staying in the Single Market and Customs Union is not leaving the EU...things don't look good and I'm trying to prepare without earning the label 'hoarder'.

Scary times. No wonder I try to focus on what colours embroidery threads to use for another table runner.