Monthly Archives: January 2025

n-n-n-n-nineteen. Nineteen

My first blogpost:

Where’s winter?

The whole of England was threatened with dreadful weather this winter. So when snow fell a few weeks back, I was not too bothered by having no time to build a snowman, I thought there would be plenty of opportunity to come. Our drive has a field on one side and a bank with a hedge the other, so if the snow is blown across the field it hits the barrier and drops, several feet deep and we have to dig our way out, all 100 yards or so. In the meantime we walk the couple of kilometres into town for food. It’s the best thing about living at the edge of a countryish village, you’re not remote enough to be really cut off but, with fields in each direction round the garden, you feel as if you are.

Well, it’s not the end of January yet, so there’s still time I suppose. But weeks of ice and blizzards are increasingly unlikely. Lucky I didn’t get around to hauling the sledge out from the back of the shed. But the year doesn’t feel right if I haven’t made a snowman. 

I’m reading ‘The Apologist’ by Jay Rayner. Only up to Chapter 6 but seems promising. Narrator is a restaurant critic, victim of harsh review kills himself by turning on the bread oven and shutting himself in – he goes to apologise to the widow and gets hooked on the headiness of absolution.”

All those years ago, wanting to start a blog but having little idea what to write about, I thought I’d talk about the books, music, films etc that I’d come into contact with. Changed within a day.

Happy blogversary to me.

Old Zs forget?

I went to clear up the kitchen and suddenly I badly wanted a cup of coffee. I hardly ever drink more than one cup a day, that being in the morning. I like it strong and black and the quantity depends on the strength – a double measure, whether espresso sized or a small mug. I don’t think it would keep me awake if drunk later, but I’ll soon find out, it now being after 9 at night.

I didn’t set the alarm last night, though I thought I had. I luckily woke up half an hour before I was due to leave, which gave me just enough time. Except that I couldn’t find my handbag with the car keys in. I searched and I used the Tile app and that said it was out of range. Which was enough of a clue to make me wonder if I’d left the bag in the unlocked car overnight. And I had. I don’t seem to get any less daft. I’ve always thought, if ever I get dementia, no one will notice for a while. I haven’t, by the way, as yet.

Anyway, I still had enough time, even with defrosting the car. And I’ve absolutely set the alarm for tomorrow. Ecat has her annual checkup and vaccination – not until 10 o’clock, but I haven’t brought in her cat carrier from the shed and it’ll need to be warmed up before the little girl can be put in it. It’s cold out there again. The barn cats have made it clear that they’d like to winter in the house, but there’s no chance of that.

At lunch today, we were talking about memories and that, so often, our parents and grandparents don’t tell us things that, later, we wish we had asked. I wish, for myself, that I’d started by putting labels on some of my blog posts, but it’s too late now. No one, including myself, will ever bother to look all the way back for something interesting, though I did write down what I remembered about things my mum told me about family history and so on, as well as my own early memories. I should try to resurrect some of it, perhaps.

Having pressed publish, it occurred to me that I will want Eloise’s vaccination card, so I’ve put it in my bag, which isn’t in the car, ready for the morning. I really haven’t lost my marbles quite yet, darlings, I assure you.

So Sew

I want something to do that takes concentration but not brainwork, so I’m going to try needlepoint again. I haven’t done it for years, because I like counting thread work and the graduations of colour became too difficult for my eyes in the evening. But I’ll have a go and, if it means I have to take time to do it in the day, that’s a bonus nowadays. I’ve no idea what happened to my frame, so I’ve ordered a new one.

I’ve done some of the work, but not all, that I meant to do today. It was the cat, I say plaintively. Without Wink here, she wants to sit on me. It isn’t enough to just be with me, she wants my full attention, including eye contact. She can be quite needy, or manipulative or something. She’s not exactly starved of affection, it’s just her way.

I’ve got to be out of the house in good time tomorrow, so I’ve set an alarm. Usually, I’m awake quite early, but I can’t trust myself completely – if I don’t sleep much in the night, I might drop off around 6.30, when I should be waking up. I go to bed disgracefully early, usually – I still think of myself as starting to bloom at 9pm, but I’m quite often asleep by then nowadays and I feel I’m letting the side down and being old and dull. This isn’t to suggest that other people who go to bed early are old and dull, it’s just not my self-image.

I don’t know what eCat is doing at present, but it involves scratching on my antique rug. I should investigate.

Z & ECat are quiet

ECat and I are alone for the next week. I’ve just dropped Wink off at the station to catch trains down to Gatwick, because she’s going to Spain for the next week – a practice run for her 6-week sojourn in India. ECat gave me a long cuddle when I got home. She spends a good deal of time on Wink’s lap. As soon as Wink sits down, along comes the cat for some love. She’ll be huffy when she discovers that Wink is hardly here between now and mid-March.

I’ve got a lot of typing to do today and tomorrow. Most of it is emails, though there’s work as well. I’ve got responses to Christmas news – that is, not about Christmas itself, but contained in cards. And thank-yous and so on. And I’ve got the last of the decorations to put away, too.

As I’m living in the dining room at present, the room is cluttered. It already had quite a lot of furniture in it, but I’ve added two small tables and three armchairs. There was no room for a tree. I decorated the inglenook surround with swags of ivy and put the crib and some wooden choir figures in the two alcoves at the sides of the woodburner. It took up no room space and looked good, though the ivy dried out quite quickly with the heat of the stove.

I sit at the dining table, mostly, rather than in the armchairs, unless I’m at the computer. It’s quite comfortable and a good place to read, do jigsaws or whatever. Of course, the table gets cluttered too and I have to clear up frequently. I don’t think I’m destined ever to be tidy.

I was supposed to pick up two elderly friends and take them out to lunch near Norwich today, but neither of them is feeling quite well enough to go out in the bleak weather. Having seen the local news just now in the paper, I’m glad not to have been going that way. A traffic accident on a junction I’d have used has closed the road – the cars involved have been cleared and I don’t know how serious it was in terms of injuries, but traffic lights have been damaged and are out of use, so there are diversions. All nearby roads will be in a proper mess. I’ve lit the fire and I’m staying put for the rest of the day – apart from a healthy walk, of course, once I’ve done my typing. Unless it’s raining by then (which it is now). According to my phone, it’s 3ºC out but feels like -8ºC, with a gusty wind. Due to be cold for the whole week, with frosts every night. Can’t complain about a frost in January, of course.

In haste…

I did the outside chores, but they needed to be done again this morning. I’d stocked up for Wink, without realising that I’d used nearly the last of my coal. But I didn’t realise until I got back from blood donor’s and, after fainting a couple of years ago, I do nothing for the rest of the day. Wink kindly fed the outside cats and checked on the chickens and she cooked my dinner. I was, although I’d taken it very easy all afternoon, in bed by 8pm. And, though I was awake for a while in the night, I must have slept for a good 9 hours, maybe 10. Fabulous.

I also checked when I’d be able to donate again after a visit to Mexico. There’s nothing long-term to worry about, so just 28 days, in case I pick up any tropical fever. Though advice is to check again when I’m back, in case there’s been any change in the advice. While I was about it, I went online to the GP website to fill in the vaccination check form. It asks what vaccines I’ve had – not all, but includes flu, polio, diphtheria, tetanus – and the dates. A bit bemused, because I was inoculated against polio and vaccinated against diphtheria as a small child and have no idea of the dates. The rest, the surgery has on my records anyway. Still, it’s evidently read by a real person, so I answered as well as I could and they should get back to me next week. They asked about yellow fever too, I’ve a feeling I was vaccinated before my honeymoon, but that was in 1973, so I’m well out of date. And malaria tablets, which I was able to answer.

Mel gave the chickens fresh water this morning as there had been a frost and I’ve just filled log baskets. I’ve also brought some pouches of cat food indoors, so that the barn cats don’t have to eat cold food this evening. And now, out for lunch.

A new year

A new year, a new Z? Probably not, but I do hope I’ll sort some things out over the next few months. I’ve been neglecting quite a lot since Tim died.

The year started with Wink’s chicken house doing a partial collapse – it’s an Eglu, bought by Rose and Dave a few years ago for her four chooks. Like many things, it’s not as good as it looks at first sight and needs regular mending, nowadays. Wince and I did some running repairs a few weeks ago, but the cover is held in place with some slabs that turned out to be too heavy for the structure to cope with. We’d gone on the website to order a new cover, but couldn’t find one of the same size. They seem to think that just covering the top and part of the sides will do, but that means rain would blow in, just at chicken level. Anyway, I took along some wire and bailer twine on Wednesday and it’s pretty sturdy now. Just a slab at each corner and otherwise the cover is tied in place.

Getting Thelma and Louise in again was another matter. We luckily did the work just before it started raining an icy downpour and had to leave them sheltering under the hedge as they didn’t intend to budge. Later, they ran around, refusing to be guided home, but Louise went back into the open run when she was hungry. Poor Thelma was too frightened and upset to be helped home, but eventually, exhausted, she crouched down to rest and I was able to pick her up. They’d both recovered by the morning and are safe now.

My chickens are fine in their secure house and run. Today, there was a hard frost, so I took some soaked split peas for them and a can of warm water. They’ve also had their mealworm treat early so, although they were standing round looking disconsolate at 8.30, they perked up quickly. No eggs for the last week, though.

We went to Norwich yesterday. As we were going to be there several hours, we went to the Park & Ride. There were hardly any cars there at 10 o’clock, but it’s not surprising that people have taken a couple of extra days holiday, with Christmas and New Year both being midweek. The city centre was quite busy with families having a day out. We met Rose for coffee – she was going to rejoin the library, which she hasn’t used for a few years. Nor have I – I used to use both Norfolk and Suffolk libraries, but have only been going to Yagnub for a while. Encouraged by Rose’s decisiveness, both Wink and I joined Norwich’s. Didn’t have time to browse, as I had a contact lens check to go to.

I’m very grateful for my good eyesight. I never thought of myself as having particularly good eyesight, being somewhat myopic, but it’s come into its own now. I wear one contact lens and can read with the other eye – I’m unaware of only using one eye at a time for short and long focus and, of course, see out of both eyes, but it works really well for me. The optician (I’m not sure of the specifics of all the professional terms – optometrist, ophthalmologist and so on, so just am using an incorrect generic term here) said that my sight is great, both long and short distance. Slightly short sight, I’ve realised, is best in the long term.

After that, we met Ro and the children for lunch. They happily eat pretty well anything, which is lucky. They opted for Nando’s yesterday. As I was so quick at SpecSavers, we got a table soon after noon, which was just as well, because by the time Ro and the children arrived, people were waiting. So, smug and cheerful all round. Wink and I felt pleased with ourselves.

Which reminds me, I need to empty the wheelbarrow, having cleaned out the chicken coop into it on Wednesday (and not emptying it then because of the weather), put the new bag of wood shavings in the shed and then put some in the nesting boxes. Then get in logs. A Z’s work is – well, then it’ll be done as far as outside is concerned.