A funny sort of day

I have impeccable timing. Every time I've gone out over the last three days it has started to rain. A bit of a bind when I dislike coats. Driving to Mumbles in the rain I wondered about buying an umbrella in a charity shop. But I hate umbrellas even more.

A funny sort of day today. A sitting-at-the-computer-thinking-I-should-be-doing-something-else but not having the enthusiasm to get up and do it. The weather isn't helping. A cold and, as I said, intermittently wet day. And my bowel screening test arrived in the post.

Actually it could be the three lots of visits I made last week. Took everything out of me. All I really want to do is curl up and read or sleep but that seems an extravagance so instead I waste time sitting at the computer. 

Not entirely wasted. Have ordered some Christmas presents. I saw a couple of things on a website and 'put them in my basket', then I only needed to spend one penny more to get free delivery. Do you think I could find anything else I wanted?

I was hoping to do more Christmas shopping locally but we just don't have the shops any longer. (I know: because of people like me doing online shopping.)

Oh this is a grumbly post!

On the plus side, I am looking forward to my 'therapy' course. I think it may help me on my pilgrimage. It's been a bit stalled of late but I am finding it easier to battle my negative thoughts, and words are still processing in my head.

Later

Have just watched The Thursday Murder Club. Very much enjoyed.

Fringes and friends

I forgot to mention that when I got home and complained to Husband about the forecast being wrong he said, "You should have checked the radar images. I could have told you there were great swathes of rain coming in."

It's a good job I love him.

Anyway, this morning when drying my hair I realised I was starting to look like Davina in Traitors so out came the scissors and chop chop went my fringe.

Every time I see her my scissor fingers twitch. I know she does it deliberately for the show but, oh. Then I remembered a name from the past, Cathy McGowan. She had a similar style.

Isn't it weird? I had no problem digging her name out of my archive but ask me the name of the woman I was introduced to ten minutes ago and no chance.

It's been/being a relaxing few days. Once Tuesday was done I had a clear diary. That in itself is a rarity. Managed to fill it though including visits to see people.

If I'm honest I don't like visiting people, chatting, and being sociable. I inevitably enjoy the visits once I've done them although I have to battle with my brain that says, "You're wasting valuable time." I know I'm not, that communicating and being interested  are an excellent use of time. But try telling my brain that.

I'm sure a psychiatrist would have a field day with me. Speaking of which . . .

A new course is being run in church. It's based on a book called Altogether You, its byline being, Experiencing personal and spiritual transformation with Internal Family Systems therapy. One of the women organising the course invited me on it. She said, "We're running this therapy course and thought of you."

Yes. 

Internal Family Systems was founded by Dr Richard Schwartz on the premise that we are each made up of lots of parts that can be at war with each other. I can relate to that. I want to lose weight but I also want to eat chocolate. So the course starts next Tuesday morning and runs for 4 sessions. It does mean I'll have to miss exercise class (shame) but there's a different one on Wednesdays that I might try. I think it's more pilates than circuits so might be a bit gentler, though I'm sure it'll make my muscles ache.

* * * * *

I told Debra we don't have candy corn here but we do have this happy little fellow!

He's Mistar Urdd, the Urdd being the Welsh youth organisation, and as AI told me, it's in the colours of the Welsh flag, a detail that hadn't registered with me.

Drat you, BBC Weather!

If going somewhere Husband will check the BBC weather forecast; I look out of the window. Today, unusually, I did both. The sky was clear and the forecast said no rain before 11.

I drove to Daughter's for 9 and no sooner had we started walking than it began to rain. And didn't stop.

I got home and the only thing not soaked was my knickers.

Meek abundance

Having bought too much clotted cream for the family dinner on Saturday I was left with a spare pot, and what can you do then except make scones?

I've always used Delia's recipe but they've never been brilliant. Last time I tried Mary Berry's but they weren't amazing either. So this time I gave Paul Hollywood a try. He uses strong bread flour unusually.

The recipe said makes eleven but as I was making them for Zac's I decided to double up, and ended up with an awful lot of large scones!

Not enough cream for more so some were butter-and-jammed, and I'm still left with a boxful, which I'll donate to the friendship group that meets in church this afternoon.

Good scones though. I'll use this recipe again.

Zac's went fine, the only problem being with our swanky new gender neutral toilet. The sensor light in it only comes on if someone stomps about in the room above.

As we were looking at meekness, I read this poem by Stewart Henderson.

Many years ago Sean had funding to commission different artists to create pieces based on the beatitudes. All except this one were paintings or sculptures. The rest are all in storage at the moment.

Fakes and flies

First of all, google the word askew. Just for fun.

Currently preparing bible study for tomorrow evening on Blessed are the meek. And as I write that I'm realising I thought I'd finished my draft only to remember I've not looked at the second part of the beatitude: for they shall inherit the earth.

Bother. 

Had family around for dinner on Saturday. First time we've been together for a while and it was lovely. It was a last-minute thing so I didn't get carried away and put myself under pressure as I normally do. I even bought dessert - two frozen pies - from Aldi!

Yesterday had a good chat with Younger Son in Italy while he was out checking his bees, so caught up with all the family news.

* * * * *

Husband and I were talking about AI and deep fakes. He'd been watching a video supposedly coming from Professor Brian Cox, saying some very way-out things. It reminded me of a programme I'd heard on the radio about a fake fly.

The latrine fly was first recorded in 1850 in the collection of HF Loew, a German fly expert. It was encased in amber and was thought to have originated in the Baltic region about 38 million years ago. 

It was bought by the Natural History Museum in 1922 then in 1966 the world-famous entomologist, Willi Hennig, made the first detailed study of the fly and declared it clearly identifiable as the same latrine fly as exists now. Stasis is very unusual in the natural world so for this fly to have remained unchanged for 40 million years was remarkable, and caused great excitement in the scientific community.

Then in 1993 a student of ancient insects was studying the fly under a microscope when the heat from the microscope made the amber crack. The student panicked, thinking he'd destroyed one of the great mysteries of science. Then he realised it was fake.

A genuine piece of amber had been cut and a small indentation made in it. The fly was popped in and the amber sealed up.

It seems probable that it was made by a Victorian forger to satisfy the market for unusual specimens. So there's nothing new about making impressive fakes.

Of course it was called the latrine fly because it liked to hang around urinals. Not so many these days but plenty of them in Victorian times.

* * * * *

I've been sitting here all morning waiting for the cleaner to come. (My old cleaner's starting back after her operation.) I had a good tidy-up in readiness and then nothing. It was unusual because she always messages if something comes up.

Just checked and discovered she's not starting until next week.

And now I am sitting here just browsing and doing nothing. Seem to have stalled. I'll have lunch, that'll perk me up.

Younger Son had rather more success with his cabbage than I did.

Privet and frog

This morning I said, "I must stop saying yes and I must stop having brilliant ideas." The trouble with brilliant ideas is that they inevitably lead to more work for me.

So I went out into the garden and had a brilliant idea.

"If I got rid of that little privet bush I would have more room for a flower bed and there's no point to it being there anyway."

I could have chopped it down but, knowing Husband, thought he might want to replant it somewhere so dug it up.

Husband doesn't want to replant it.

We have several little bushes in odd places in the garden. Like this one.

Anyway, having dug it up I moved on to the front garden to inspect but ended up doing a bit of weeding, and disturbed this little fellow.

I took that as a sign to stop.

Then had to go back to Rough Edges because a man was coming to buy the treadmill. A bargain at £20 and a nice bit of space in the shop. 

A skip a day

Rough Edges is a charity shop for men*, the profits coming to Zac's. Unfortunately we only have two volunteers running it - it's open for just one day a week at present - and they don't like parting with things.

"You could get £200 for this on ebay!" So they squirrel things away in the back room for safekeeping. And keep accepting donations whatever they are. Thus it had reached a point where the aisles were blocked, shelves were piled high, and it was potentially dangerous for customers to come in. So at the trustee meeting last week we decided the shop would have to close because of the risk, and that yesterday would be the last day and would also be a huge clearance sale, a 'make me an offer' sort of sale.

We also hired a skip so we could begin the clearance process, and Sean, Poj, the other trustee, and I were all there to work. We filled one skip by lunchtime so the company came and got it and exchanged it for a bigger empty one.

This is inside the shop, which is comparatively empty when compared to what was supposed to be a workshop. As you can imagine, our volunteers were resistant to the make me an offer idea, and kept checking in the skip to see what we - evil trustees - were throwing out.

I admit there are all sorts of fascinating things there but too many of them!

I contacted the art gallery and they've said they'll have the tiles for workshops. But no idea what these tools are.

This is a Victorian day cot apparently. I've put this on marketplace.

*Charity shop for anyone who likes DIY, cars, sports, gardening, collecting old tools.

Art and Zac's

Wednesday night: art exhibition in aid of Zac's

Josephine Frenkel the artist, who only started painting in 2020, has created some marvellous, large canvasses.

She also runs workshops and some of the art produced by complete novices was on display.

I'm planning to ask her to run a workshop or two for Zac's, maybe one as a fund-raiser and one for our regulars. 

* * * * *

Thursday morning I finally saw the dentist. Not my usual one - I think she must still be on maternity leave - but a dour woman who didn't seem to find much joy in her work. Or maybe I'm prejudiced because she told me I need two fillings! Haven't had a filling for years.

I can either have black ones for £120 and wait until May for an appointment, or have white ones for between £500 and £600 and get an early private appointment.

I can wait.