27 NOV 2024 post begun 0739hrs GMT

 

 Dark at 4pm and not light again until 8am the following morning. I usually love this time of year, late autumn is the high point of the year for me. But, not this year because I was dragged unwilling into having to be out and about AND to have to be around a people I have come to view as best avoided at all costs.

Last year I was on 'jury standby' for nearly two weeks. I had to sit by the phone during the day in case I was called, I had to ring the court every afternoon 'after 5pm' to check if I'd been called for the next day. Major pita, frankly and it disrupted my daily routine to the point I was profoundly grateful when the daily check-in phone call informed me I could stop checking in and thanked me for being willing to serve.

My husband and several friends told me I'd likely never have to do that again because usually the interval between being cited for possible jury duty is years and years and I'm close to the cut-off age (70+) to be able to say no if I were to be called again...

 

Yeah huh. Last week I was not only cited to be on stand-by but informed two days later I'd been selected and should be at the court by 0945hrs the following Monday (25th Nov 2024). Oh. Dear. God only knew how many days having to sit in a closed environment with the sort of people who yearn for a return to the days of witch trials, dunking-burning-boiling in oil.

The only 'good thing' about it all was the weather turning balmy (ish, it is NE Scotland after all:) so at least we didn't have to worry about snow-ice-black ice. 

Arrived, checked in, forced myself to keep my mouth shut unless absolutely necessary (locals notorious for unfriendliness to outlanders and in their minds I am that worst of outlanders - a dual citizen with Scottish AND American ties, university educated AND possessing a accent best described as English-Canadian).

Day1 went along well enough. Day2, er, well, by midway through D1 personalities had exposed themselves to the extent many of the other jurors had admitted to prejudice against the accused and their willingness to send him to the gallows if possible. NOTE - we do not have the death penalty in the UK and sadly it is clear most of my fellow jurors regret that.

This despite the fact the Crown failed utterly to prove the case (three charges, first two involving assault with the added 'bonus' of the accused using a knife and the third being about having a knife in public). To make a long story short, the jury was instructed to go ONLY on presented evidence and said evidence was a fail from coppers reports on-scene, 'victim 1 and 2' testimonies, obvious Crown successful attempts to confuse the accused and his defence witness, and an absolute failure to present evidence corroborating the Crown prosecution. 

Meanwhile the defence attorney shredded the Crown's 'case' in every aspect from the inconsistencies of Vic1 and 2 testimonies including several instances of contradicting both their statements to police done 'on the night' AND their testimony in court. 

 

The Crown failed to answer two vital questions - why didn't the police search for a knife on the night (no explanation as to why they didn't) and why weren't the DNA results from Victim1's clothing presented as corroborating the victim's statements?

 

Three charges:

1-that the accused had held a knife to Victim2's throat

2-that the accused had attempted to stab Victim1

3-that the accused had a knife in public

No matter to a majority of my fellow jurors - they came right out on D1 to declare if the accused wasn't guilty, the Crown wouldn't have brought the case. And since the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) had brought the case, the accused was guilty. No further discussion needed. Interestingly, the jury table was split - the eight most determined to declare the accused guilty sat at one half of the table and those of us wanting to hear ALL the evidence (seven of us) were crammed together at the other half (assigned seating but it is worth noting we seven were uniform in our view of things as were the eight down the table).

At the critical point late in the afternoon of D2 when we were deliberating, a show of hands vote was taken - of 15 jurors, eight voted guilty on charges two and three with seven voting not proven (my vote on all three charges) and a unanimous not guilty on one count - which didn't make any sense because if Charge3 was not guilty or not proven the other two charges couldn't have been either.

The entire two day exposure to 'my fellow Scots' reminded me why my G-G-Grandfather maintained ties with Scotland but never 'went home' to live. My great-grandfather did go back long enough to get his engineering training at Edinburgh (then on to Germany for his post-grad training) but also never 'went home', and why his sons and grandsons (including meown da) never did either. The consensus was the average 'teuchter' (local yokel) was thick as mince, determinedly and dangerously so. Honestly? Honestly nothing I've seen in the 15 years I've been home has proved my forefathers incorrect. 

Any road, that's done - onwards to getting the house ready for Christmas 2024!

Posted 27th Nov 2024 at 0836hrs GMT

 

 

3 Nov 2024 post begun 1400hrs GMT

 

Wee girl home 31st Oct - newly made big brother saw her arrival as a treat rather than trick and his only 'grump' is Mummy can't carry him to bed or lift him onto her lap owing to the C-section incision.

 

She is incredibly tiny but feeding quite well and her parents are sure she's grown considerably since coming home so they're saying please don't over-send preemie stuff she's going to outgrow by next week. 

 

OK yeah, I'm definitely biased but blimey that little girl is the most beautiful infant! She looks like her mum but also like her paternal aunt at that age - big brown eyes, tonnes of brown-gold hair and LOL (poor Fox and his wife) is so far acting the same sort of diva her paternal aunt did at that age. 

 

She's very alert, eyes focussing and tracking perfectly and she's genuinely smiling at family members - none of that 'oh it's just wind', she looks right at a person and smiles, most of all at her big brother. And LOL, she's already quite skilled at pulling Daddy's beard:)

 

The paediatrician says she's already 'caught up' and is on the upper percentile of her due date group (due date was 15 Nov, Little Miss arrived via emergency C-section early 26th Oct).

 

So far so good, thanks be to God. 

 Weds 30 Oct 2024 post begun 2334GMT

Right, so the UK clocks have gone back but US ones have not. Makes scheduling phone calls a bit tricky especially since newest granddaughter has been in a US Level3 NICU since a half hour after birth. My son is over the moon about having a daughter and walking around in a happy daze while my dil is coping with having to travel two hours to be with the wee lass and two hours back so she can spend some time with their son (just turned three). She had to have an emergency C-section so riding in a car is not her idea of a great way to spend the day. 

Meanwhile the scramble is on to assemble a preemie layette including nappies - say what you will about Amazon but you have to admit when it's crunch time, Amazon comes through. Baby wasn't due until 15th November and was estimated (by the OB-GYN) to arrive weighing between 7-8lbs. The grand and great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, besties have been delivering no end of things - and not one thing small enough to diaper and clothe a preemie. Seriously, Amazon is a life-saver. I am especially grateful I can use Amazon USA from the comfort of my UK living room to send birthday presents and infant supplies.

Meanwhile on my UK home-front, between sending preemie nappies and onesies and sleep sacs to the newest granddaughter in America, I've had to replace ALL my black plastic (nylon and silicone and yeah I had a lot of it) kitchen utensils because the news filtered across the Pond the black plastic material is TOXIC owing to the recycled materials it is made with and that includes the spatulas used to stir a pot of beef stew bubbling on the hob AND stir raisins into the oatmeal biscuit mix, DAMMIT! Black plastic is toxic because hot or cold use, the toxins leach into whatever food it comes into contact with.

I JUST BLOODY BOUGHT THOSE!! OK, what happened was I discovered, two years ago, hand washing my wood spoons was futile, who knew how disgusting wooden spoons are, ffs?! Some bright spark put her wooden spoons that looked spotless in a pot of boiling water and honestly seeing that video nearly had me throwing up. 

Most of my cook and bakeware is stainless steel but my vitreous enamel and My Precious, er, I mean my Cuisinart 5-in-1, have to be used ONLY with nylon or silicone utensils. 

In 2022 I replaced ALL my kitchen utensils with 'black plastic' and thought I was Kitchen Queen 2022. 

 

When Amazon delivers my 14pc set of RED silicone kitchen utensils, I hope to have the decency to avoid thinking myself Kitchen Queen 2024 because bloody hell knows how long it will be before red silicone is found to be as toxic as black. 

Hopefully newest grand will be home from NICU by early next week. She's holding her own, off all the tubes and CPAP and O2 and... She's only lost 2oz since her arrival four days ago, her lab work is good. She was under the blue light for jaundice but should be out from under in a few hours. 

Posted 31 Oct 0022hrsGMT

 

 

10 Oct 2024 post begun 1148hrs BST

 

I'm just about finished with Christmas and winter shopping - feels good although I know we'll be deep in 'the bleak midwinter' and I'll discover I've missed something vital.

 

Still, all stocked (again) with long johns and janes replaced (imagine that - those clothing items need replacing every five or so years, sheesh!), base layers I think it what we're meant to call them nowadays based on what the invoices call the fleece lined leggings and thermal cotton long-sleeved tee-shirts I've stocked in for Paul and me. New duvets washed-dried-folded-stored (OK, I admit it, duvets at my house need replacing as often as every two years because I wash duvets-covers-etc once a week on a hygienic 60C wash with Dettol AND detergent). Tins of soup for those days I can't face cooking, bags of charcoal for the barbie (so so so useful when power is out but we still need to eat and boil water for cleaning), spare batteries...all the standard winterising preparations done. 

This winter looks to be just a bit more worrying than last - if we're lucky it won't be a harsh winter (but I doubt we'll be lucky, after all, we have a Labour 'government' and that is the most unlucky of all). Many of my kitchen gadgets are now manual as opposed to electric, decluttering is just about finished (for this year any road) and routines are settled in.

All lessons learned during my 'Gulf of Mexico' years - be prepared or face the consequences, lessons my dear Paul once thought extravagant and not really appropriate in the UK...until that first winter I was here (2010-2011) and if I'd not been 'extravagant' with preps we would have frozen and gone hungry and so would the young mum with two under 7yo children we carried through ten days of ice-encased roads meaning fuel and food lorries couldn't make the trek up our glen. 

 

Every year since that first winter I have prepared just as I once did back on the Gulf. This year is no different than previous ones - again I have Christmas-Boxing Day-NYD dinners including trimmings in the freezer and store cupboard. 

 

Harsh or mild, winter cometh. We're as ready as I can make us. The big 'problem' now is how in the bloody hell to cope with the uncertainty this evil Labour 'government' has dropped on all our heads. We Scots thought the SNP 'government' up here at Holyrood was bad and bordering on evil, how gosh-awful is it the UK now has a Labour 'government' demonstrating how evil evil can be?

 

 

8 Oct 2024 post begun 1128hrs BST

 

Life goes on, especially if the event happened thousands of miles away to people completely unrelated to you save by one - I have Jewish ancestry (paternal grandfather).

 

Life goes on even in the face of the utterly indescribable. You listen to the news, you read the news, you fume as most news outlets seek to blame the victim and justify sharp upticks in increasingly violent anti-Jewish attacks 'right here in my own town!'. 

 

The horror you feel as you learn more and know already how savage the terrorists are, it numbs you. As you go through each day you feel contempt for yourself as 'life goes on' and you have to do the monthly Big Shop and laundry and housekeeping tasks and preparing for winter, you ask yourself wth is wrong with me that I haven't cried? 

 

Yeah ok, I pray every night for the survival and return of the hostages, I pray for the comfort of the bereaved coping with the unimaginable even though I know just what unimaginable is 'thanks' to my training (oh yes, I do know just how inhumane Man can be) and I know there is no comfort for what the bereaved are struggling to cope with.

 

I began to think I hadn't quite managed to put my training behind me and regained my humanity the way I thought I had once I was out of it, that training that made it possible to sift through crime scene photos and witness accounts without going mad. I didn't like myself. Because I hadn't cried.

Until I read Alison Pearson's account of her visit to Israel to talk to some of the affected. The survivors, the families, the workers who gathered personal effects (including body parts), the workers who prepared what remains could be gathered. When I got to the part Ms Pearson quotes a mortuary team member who quietly said not even one victim of the hundreds of girls her team tried to prepare for burial could be seen by the grieving family. Not one, not even the youngest of the female victims of a breathtaking savagery could be brought out to aid a family in saying goodbye.

I cried. Quiet, no sobbing, no gasping for breath. But a river of tears I worried would flood the keyboard. I didn't try to stop crying. 

I think inside I am still crying. 

Here in the UK a recent poll indicates a large number of our 18-24 year olds support the terrorists. 

Pro-Palestine marchers block urban streets all across this oh-so-disUnited-Kingdom. Honestly? I honestly keep waiting to wake up to see on the news a 21st century  Kristallnacht has happened. I keep expecting to hear of an atrocity overnight.

The mainstream media stubbornly refuses to report when yet another anti-Semitic attack has occurred, BBC and SkyNews both insist on calling the terrorists 'militants' or 'soldiers', they insist on 'equalising' by reporting briefly on terrorist attacks and the shocking increase in anti-Jewish sentiment (and actions) here in the UK then bigging up 'islamophobic attacks' in a shocking 'whataboutery' as if to justify what the terrorists have done and continue to do. More blaming the victims - the Jews.

 

My husband asked me not to put the Chanukiah where the neighbours might see it, he asked me that last year and he's asked me again this year. 

 

We both think maybe WWIII really is about to be declared.

Yet life goes on. Winter is coming and we're bang up in the middle of preparing. I need to buy new duvets, I need to finish the semi-annual declutter. 

I need to stop wondering if bombs will drop on the house or the household supplies will be looted by rampaging marauders...ONE battalion is 1000 troops and over 40 battalions of 'illegal migrants' have landed to the UK shores, taken in fed and housed by our so-called government.

In the midst of all this horror, life goes on.

 

 

Monday 2 Sep 2024 post begun 1039hrs BST

 

Right, let's get this out of the way first thing - I'm now 68 years old and ask, can I now claim to be pushing 70? 

 

ARGH! My microwave corn popping is still completely unsatisfactory (two years after working out how to do it without buying those bag thingies). I gave up yesterday and ordered an air popper. 

 

I love popcorn. Paul loves popcorn. I love Paul. I often wonder if Paul loves me because every damn time I pack and carefully label a box, he bloody unpacks it, scatters my carefully packed and labelled contents hither and yon. Because 'I needed a box just that size'.

 

Which he did in late August 2018 as we packed to move to this house - six years on and I still can't find the air popper. GRRR!

 

So yesterday whilst browsing my Amazon watch list those annoying 'Have you thought about...' and 'You might like...' pop-ups suddenly were not as annoying as the sales prompts were for air poppers. And I realised we don't snack on popcorn as often as we did 'at the old house' because using a huge Pyrex bowl and a silicone cover is not making my Golden Years as nice as I'd hoped and I longed for an air popper.

 

So. So I bought one, should be here tomorrow. Happy Six Year In The Downsizer Anniversary to me. Oh ok, and Mr Lost-the-air-popper. hmph

 

Speaking of the 'downsizer' -- WE MUST RIGHTSIZE!!

 

Trust me. A one bedroom-one bathroom home is TOO BLOODY SMALL for us. 

 

I've been secretly searching for a larger two bedroom (prefer a 3br if I'm honest). I've found two real contenders, one I know Paul would love and I could (grudgingly) make work, and one Paul would not like (at first, I know my husband and I know he would actually quite like this one after a week or so). 

 

I quite like the one Paul would not at first look. It is spacious, has an upstairs 'family bath' and a downstairs 'WC' (powder room to American readers), a decent kitchen and larder (pantry), sits on level ground surrounded by level ground, in a good tax band, close to transport links, and has a very good home report. Oh, and it is priced affordably. 

 

On an other topic, our cat is no longer safe to have crocheted cat blankets. I made him a beautiful 'whisky red' one a couple weeks ago and he has pulled several stitches thanks to his elderly inability to disengage his claws the way he could when younger. He's 19 now - close to 100 translated cat to human years - and while he still is quite surprisingly active for his age and consistently astonishes the vet at his six month checks (he goes twice a year since reaching age years), he is 'showing his age' in a few ways including having to have his noms pointed out to him (eyesight and sense of smell fading) and the previously mentioned increasing inability to retract his claws. I keep those claws well trimmed (he's an indoor cat after taking and killing a neighbour's parrot ten years ago, the vet thinks his robust health is owing to being kept indoors) but claws are claws and even blunt claws can do serious damage to crochet blankets. 

 

I'm digging through the scrap fabric box - it's time to make the cat a quilt blanket. It is Day2 of Autumn 2024 so I'd better get sewing! 

Speaking of Autumn, I think it came in a few weeks ago - the beech tree leaves are turning and beginning to drop, the Japanese Maples likewise turning (but no leaf drop just yet). Two weeks ago I had to turn on the heat and it has been running ever since with Paul's full approval despite the cost of gas heat threatened to go up next month. Autumn blankets (slightly lighter weight than winter ones) have been on the bed since the heat went on as the thermostat is set to lower at 10pm and rise again at 7am. 

Paul has fished his winter slipper boots out of the cupboard, my 'granny mocc' pair are likewise back on the job. 

I don't know if Winter '24-'25 is going to be early and harsh but judging by the early arrival of autumn this year, I've stocked in and begun the annual replenishment of crocheting autumn and winter weight yarn into blankets. No rush to finish blankets, the crochet seems to make my Essential Tremor less tremory so it is all a big win-win, that constant crocheting. 

The only drawback is the cost of post to the US where Fox and his wife are expecting Baby2 (a girl!) the middle of November. I hated not being able to send a hand-crocheted baby blanket for Baby1 three years ago and I am quietly fuming at the cost of post now I have a BabyGirl to make things for, dammit. 

Sigh. At least Amazon USA delivers. Baby1 turns 3yo in October and is getting a ceiling planetarium 'night light' for his birthday (still don't know what to send for Christmas but we'll figure it out in time:). Baby2 is getting Evenflo bottles and two jumbo boxes of newborn nappies (larger ones will be sent when the wee girl puts on some weight) plus winter weight sleep sacks for her 'Welcome to the world'.

 

I remember when Baby1 was born - I offered to send the bottles and sleep sacks but my dil wasn't enthusiastic, preferring those handy disposable plastic bag thingies and stating outright she hated sleep sacks. Also hated onesies and footie sleep suits. I think Fox has her on-board to avoid microplastics (hence glass bottles), and he thinks sleep sacks would make middle-of-the-night nappy changes a whole lot easier (well, yeah!). She didn't sound as unenthusiastic when I asked if she'd like the bottles and sacks, and then, FINALLY! FINALLY my dil actually came out and said what she really really really really needs - nappies in bulk:)

 

Yes, I am a happy Granny to have my dil letting me know what I can send to help her out:) She is such a sweetheart and such a great mother, I want to help any-every way I can to make her life easier.

Onwards into autumn and winter, God willing.

 

 

25 JULY 2024 POST BEGUN 1044HRS BST

 

SIX WEEKS AGO MY GINORMOUS BEAUTIFUL 60L WORKTOP OVEN DIED.

 

I was standing in the kitchen mourning that ginormous beautiful 60L worktop oven and steeling myself to once again having to use the under-worktop unreliable unit. Using the oven thermometer proved it - that oven should be replaced but I refuse to waste money on yet another under-worktop oven I struggled to use owing to low height - I do not bend well, and the awkward placement making cleaning it painfully difficult. 

OK, I admit it, I was crying. That 60L worktop oven was SO SO SO good - all my bakeware fit and it didn't cause my back to threaten to seize up. I loved that oven.

In strolled my husband who casually told me to have a look at the 30L version - on sale - before it sold out.

I love my husband, we have a good marriage now we've worked out all the ways to cope with his Asperger's (and coeliac condition meaning I had to learn a whole new way to cook and bake, gluten free to prevent relapse). But, er, well, he IS full-on archetypal Scottish - I joke to my two closest friends 'He's Scottish, he's not mean (meaning penny pincher to a fault), he's frugal'. 

So for him to encourage me to buy a new oven floored me, nearly.

Any road, I bought that oven before he could change his frugal little mind. Two days later it came through the door and was in use. WOW!

It's been six weeks minus two days with the new, smaller capacity oven. I've had to buy all new baking trays to fit but most of my glass casserole dishes fit as long as I support them on the double-duty drip/grill shelf. The wire shelf isn't robust enough to safely support a fully loaded glass casserole dish so I've learned to put those on the drip/grill shelf. I don't grill on that shelf, btw - ok I tried it once, it was the devil to clean and I foolishly put it in the dishwasher which did not do the shelf any favours. (Lesson definitely learned - aluminium anything should NEVER go in the dishwasher)

I love that little oven nearly as much as I loved the 60L one. It uses less electricity, it is easier to clean, and it bakes/roasts everything actually better than the 60L (that also used not so much electricity but was tricky to get the temperatures right).

 

Life's little challenges, it's all one long adventure.

POST PUBLISHED 1137HRS BST

 

 

Friday 19 April 2024 post begun 1321hrs BST (forgive errors, no time to edit)

 

Right, so a few days ago I looked at the calendar and realised my 50 year high school reunion is coming up in June. Blimey. Fifty years, really?!

 

Right, so the reunion realisation led to the memory of the march along with my classmates (soggy football field, quite ruined my shoes) to drop my folding chair seat to await my turn to be presented my diploma hoping the scorching Southern California sun (omg, blazing down like an oven broiler element) didn't cause me to collapse (stoopid heart thingies). 

 

Whammo, first memory to hit me about that June was waiting to hear back from Garden Grove PD about my academy application. I didn't hear and I didn't hear and I didn't hear back. Ffwd to mid-August and I still hadn't heard.

Which led to deeper rumination on 'what I did the summer after I graduated from high school' and the memories rushed back of touring Sanford University (my step-parents wanted the wine tour and dragged me along claiming the trip was to visit potential universities so they could charge all the expenses to my father), Santa Rosa campus for University of San Francisco, and of course Berkley. 

Which led to recalling crystal clear memories of sitting in a Carmel bay-side restaurant watching a USCG small boat heading out on a SAR...

The rest is history. When I got home from the wine country tour I almost immediately went on an August camping trip with my then very serious boyfriend Gary everyone expected would propose and we would live happily ever after in the married student dorms while he did his med school course and I did my psychology course...

About five days into a 20 day camping trip I knew three things - I did not want to go to Sanford or Berkley or USF. I did not want to marry Gary. I did want to join the USCG because by then I'd given up on GGPD bothering to at least kindly inform me I was not accepted to police academy.

Two years later I was looking for something else whilst on a visit to the step-parents and whoa-ho, what did I find hidden at the bottom of a drawer? The acceptance letter from GGPD dated ten days after I'd applied. The letter arrived to the house but my step-mother hid it, I never saw it. Every now and again I do think about what life would have been like had I seen that letter in time. 

And then I looked at the calendar again and realised it would be the 19th of April in a few days and it hit me it's been 29 years since the OK City bombing.

I was in Guatemala City that day in 1995 watching the nightmare live on television. I can still see the damage to the building, can still hear the sounds coming over the live feed. I remember thinking 'Here's another day I'll always remember where I was and what I saw that day'.  

 

And I remember thinking 'This is the day everything changes', and I was right although at the time I recall thinking I was losing the plot to think the OK City bombing was somehow a global 'game changer' because I hadn't thought that about the 1993 WTC bombing (in the underground car park). But OK City was somehow a very real 'game changer', looking back now, more than anything else to that day, the OK City bombing caused a global dimension shift. 

Seven months later another day I would always remember - 4th November 1995 when live on television Rabin was assassinated. 

As I type this post I have the news on as 'background noise' - currently GB News is reporting two things - late last night Israel retaliated against the monstrous Iranian regime (rightly and with restraint to prevent civilian casualties as they always do - there is NO genocide being committed by Israel and anyone saying Israel is enacting a genocide is insane). And a man claiming to have a grenade with which he intended to blow himself up in front of the Iranian Embassy in Paris. (he's been arrested, his grenade is a fake, and doubtless he will soon be identified as either a mental patient (current code for muslim) or a 'far-right white supremacist'. 

Fifty years ago we graduated from high school. I doubt any of the 566 kids I graduated with 13th June 1974 imagined anything like what was coming in our future.

 

 

Tuesday 13 Feb 2024 post begun 0900hrs GMT

American style pancakes made, American pancake syrup (Aunt Jemima and trust me it was not an inexpensive purchase to make here in the UK!) ready to be warmed. King Cake beignets piled high on the sideboard...

LAISSEZ LES BON TEMPS ROULER! (Let the good times roll!) 

Mais oui, cher! (But yes, cher!)

My daughter has been honing her King Cake skills, sending me photos of beautifully decorated cakes so inspiring I decided to haul out the baking equipment and make our favourite gluten-free King Cake Beignets (cake tends to either be gobbled up in an hour out of the oven OR let to dry out so I make cake doughnuts instead - easy to make more if scoffed quickly OR bagged and put in the freezer should there be a surplus). 

Dinner tonight will be Cajun fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and sweet corn. Beignets for afters. 

Mardi Gras WINNING!

Meanwhile, knowing Lent begins at midnight, I have already suspended my eBay jigsaw puzzle searches - yes, that's right, I am giving up eBay for Lent this year. 

 

I'm not a 'giving up chocolate' kind of Lenten observer, I tend to focus my Lenten sacrificing on genuinely bad habits - profanity, procrastination, and forgetting God loves everyone including (especially) people I could happily never have to cope with ever again.

 

However, I usually do make at least one 'sacrifice' of something best described as 'secret guilty pleasure' and this year it is eBay browsing. Browsing that almost always becomes 'OOOOOH I have SO got to have that!' as an auction bid or a 'buy it now' indulgence. 

I knew from Epiphany (6th January) I would be giving up eBay for Lent so I planned ahead - comprehensive stock-take and carefully budgeted top-ups/replacement of things like blankets, kitchen tools, craft supplies, etc. A few of my items are still in transit but for the most part the house (and my craft cupboard) are now restocked. I have been on a mission to find non-electric household goods, in part to reduce our energy costs but also to mitigate the problems my mild Rheumatoid Arthritis and worsening Essential Tremor causes. 

 

For example, I love a good silicone coated balloon wire whisk - I have several in various sizes. But the arthritis has been 'flaring' more often since having Covid - whisking leaves me with rather painful hand and wrist ache - and the ET has progressed to the point I have had some difficulty keeping the whisks in the mixing bowl. 

Days long browse sessions of several 'foodie' sites plus several discussion threads on my ET forum site tipped me off to an interesting kitchen gadget that acts like a whisk but only requires a light grip and 'pogo-stick' bouncing the tool around the bowl...lol, bouncing this tool just seemed tailor made for a person with ET! 

Oh WOW, where has this been all my adult life??!! So easy to use (as long as the bowl is deep enough:) and no hand-wrist ache. Honestly that gravy recipe has never come up so smoothly as when I gave my new kitchen tool a go the first time. A quick kitchen brush rinse then into the dishwasher had my lovely new gadget back in the drawer next to its brothers (I do buy multiples for spares) for next time.

 

I wouldn't want to try mixing a cake or cookie recipe using this thing but I make a lot of sauces, gravies, and egg recipes so this tool is a marvel of off-grid efficiency.

 

More than anything else, my Lent 2024 observation will primarily be used to pray. I hope you will join me, if not for the entire Lenten period, at least for Holy Week which runs from Palm Sunday (24th March) through Easter Morning (31st March).

Now more than ever the world needs prayer. 

Peace be with you.

posted 0959hrs GMT

 

 

Weds 24 Jan 2024 post begun 0915hrs GMT

 

Well, I've done it - Christmas season lighting is now all converted from battery (OH MY GOSH EXPENSIVE, those batteries!) to solar for outdoors and USB for inside. One only exception is the front window display which will remain a battery powered item but everything else is now solar and USB. 

 

No rush (hahahahahahaha!) but I am looking forward to Christmas 2024, God willing I'm here to see it. The multi-colour solar powered lights for the front garden promise to be the best light display we've had ever - 300LED micro lights means a much larger coverage (ok, yeah, 300 lights doesn't sound a lot unless the reader understands my frontage is two 'postage stamp' beds with the entry door between the two beds). On arrival of the new lights, we charged the solar battery then did a test run - WOW - plenty of lighting to cover both beds AND over the doorway, and bright enough to give a good display without going over the top. Space station crew will not be able to see our lights from space and the neighbours will not have to get a public nuisance order owing to any annoying excess light.

Speaking of neighbours and our annual Christmas lighting, several expressed some disappointment our formerly traditional blue lights on the evergreen hedge went missing this past 2023 Christmas. Our little cottage is at the side bottom of a popular dog-walking lane and they all said they missed the blue lights but understood the cost of batteries has risen so shockingly high as to preclude battery lights. 

 

Rechargeable batteries have always been ouchie-priced but this past year even the cost of non-rechargeables sky-rocketed. The blue lights took a total of twelve AA batteries twice during the lights-on season (Advent Sunday through 2 Feb)...ouch ouch ouch.

 

So Christmas 2023 saw us using a five pack snowflake stake lights - one set of three AA batteries and so far we're on the initial set. OK-ish but not great, the snowflakes can be seen from the lane but just aren't as pretty as the blue lights were. And not at all as cheery as the blue lights were. Everyone, from DH Paul to neighbour dog walkers, said the same thing - 'If ever we needed a cheery Christmas light display, it is this year' and they were spot on. 

I knew there had to be a better way...

The multi-colour set is very very good - great coverage, can easily be seen from the lane, and is quite charming. Did I mention the lights are solar powered? WINNING!

 

We used a 2ft 'snowy' (flocked) tree indoors, another set of three AA batteries to feed a 20LED micro wire string and I had to change out three times to get from Advent Sunday through Epiphany. grrrr! Worse, the battery power light set I used seemed to have too many green lights overpowering the too few other colours. 

I knew there had to be a better way...

 

I went looking and discovered USB light sets - well hell, who knew?! BONUS: I found JUST the right set (blue, snowy trees demand something tastefully special) in a number of lights (50LED USB power) that will be perfect for the snowy tree - AND best of all, I found, from the same seller, two more 50LED USB sets to be tucked away for when we want to use the 3ft green tree. One set each 'warm white' and multi-colour with the right number of green (meaning not many, lol!). I'll hang onto the battery sets but the USB ones will be our go-to sets. 

Perhaps to some all this fuss about Christmas lights is silly, I know I had difficulty motivating myself to decorate in or outdoors for Christmas 2023 and I don't anticipate feeling much motivation for 2024, all things considered. The world we live in has become so terribly fraught.

 

But Paul (and the neighbours) nailed it - 'If ever we needed...' - when the entire world teeters geopolitically so dangerously close to the edge, we need cheering up, we need traditions that cheer us up. 

 

Post published 1001hrs MT

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 2 Jan 2024 post begun 0650hrs GMT

 

Good-bye 2023, hello 2024. 

 

Our 'festive season' has another four days to run and so far I have to say despite the turmoil the world is enduring, we (Paul and I) have enjoyed a lovely time. The food turned out quite well, the tree is a proper little stunner, and we even received several Christmas cards - bit of a surprise to have done considering the eye-watering cost of domestic post (price rise just before Christmas card sending season with first class having risen to over £1). Gifts elicited genuine gratitude - he loved his and I loved mine. Winning!

 

The little flocked Christmas tree (2.5ft) went over far better than I'd expected - Paul surprised me no end when he said it is too small and expressed his hope we find a flocked 3ft'er for Christmas 2024. He is as surprised as I am that he likes a 'snowy tree' but like it he does and so do I. 

 

I've never cared for flocked trees before, I only bought this one on a whim when I saw the size and quality priced for clearance. But for a tiny tree, it is a proper little beauty. I dressed it with vintage style glass baubles (none over two inch drop and width) and laser cut MDF wood shapes (reindeer, stars, gingerbread men). Multi-colour lights were very pretty against the 'snow'. Paul didn't care for the mix but said he does like colour on a flocked tree so can we have ice blue next year? 

 

God willing we'll still be here for Christmas 2024 and have decided we'll use one colour baubles and lights plus the MDF shapes (lightly gilded rather than full-on painted). I cobbled together a 6ft silk holly and berry garland to dress the mantel with large gilded stars hanging from the garland and Paul said it was so pretty he hopes we use it every year.

Paul's Asperger's means he's not the greatest company and prefers his Christmas decor to be low-key to avoid sensory overload. 

I don't have Asperger's and prefer the full Father Christmas Grotto look. 

 

As noted in an earlier post, he's scattered my Christmas collection (there are times I really hate Asperger's. Love him, hate the condition) so I had to replace everything plus fight off a strong lack of Christmas Spirit. Apparently he feels I managed the replacing nicely. He's apologised (repeatedly) for scattering Christmas Past but says he loves the way the living room looks this year.

I managed to get the halls decked in a way that satisfied us both. I put on a lovely Christmas Dinner (chicken crowns, stuffing, button sprouts, cranberry sauce and a Yule Log cake) with enough leftover for Boxing Day grazing. New Year Dinner yesterday was a smaller repeat of Christmas (no leftovers and I'm glad - bangers and mash for dinner tonight and I am quite looking forward to that!).

Finally, it was 2200hrs GMT NYE and we watched the GB News NYE Live programme through to sign-off. The GB News show was great, London fireworks 15 minutes beginning at midnight (shown live as part of the GB News programme) was a huge disappointment. Little goblin Citizen Con ruined it with his 'Presented By The London Mayor' drone banners and oh so bloody woke music and voice-overs. The fireworks seemed random, no style or design to the display. All in that was 15 minutes of the New Year we'll never get back.

 

The 7th looms - the day I pack away everything but the Nativity (that stays up through 2nd Feb, Presentation of the Infant Lord in the Temple, and Candlemas). Two weeks later it will be Ash Wednesday and Lent begins. 

 

And now it's the second day of 2024. Hopefully this year will be less fraught than 2023 was - but I'm not holding my breath.