Never Quite Enough Time

  I had believed  that I was pretty much on top of my wardrobe.     Stuff comes in on a reasonably regular basis and stuff goes out but everything coming in is pretty much in line with work and home uniforms that I have fallen into post pandemic.     There remains a sizeable amount that dates back to what I wore for the life I had in 2019.     On the surface that life is pretty much the same save for two days a week working from home, however, it only occasionally requires pre pandemic business wear and there seem to be very few dressy events these days. A friend retired a couple of weeks ago and announced she was getting rid of all her work clothes.    Bold move thought I.     I was certainly not ready to bag it all up and ship it out of the house even if I wasn’t wearing most of it.    Apart from anything else I had found myself a bit bored with the same old ‘smart’ work outfit when needed though having to scru...

  It has been a difficult week to say the least but not without the odd highlight.     I believe they are referred to in society, other than that of the Dowager Countess of Grantham, as weekends. We have an entirely acceptable quote for the new windows so the first part of that plan is underway.    Can’t say I am totally thrilled about the style but it seems Health and Safety is messing with the aesthetic.    The present ones have been in since the late 70s/early 80s and no one has died yet is all I can say.   Strawberry jam cupboard stocks enhanced.    We are at that time of year when thoughts turn to ‘OMG if I don’t get stuff out of that freezer we are never getting this year’s crops in’!    A date and walnut cake was added to the kitchen tally for the really rather similar reason of dates and walnuts having been in the cupboard since Christmas. I have four ‘need to look the part and jeans won’t cut it’ outfit options fo...

  One can only assume the owner of the Ford CMax parked next to me in the supermarket car park has only ever had cars with four doors.     If only as one should never attribute anything to malice which could be explained by incompetence. I took Barrie (Alfa Brera) to the supermarket.    Barrie is very much my car but he is not a first choice for a supermarket run.    The boot is not the easiest to get heavy bags in and out of and really he is a car that suits a proper run out, not a local(ish) pootle.    On this occasion, however, Dilys (Fiat 500) was poorly.    She lost 1st, 2nd and reverse gears just as I was trying to reverse into the drive on Friday so she spent a lonely Friday night parked in front of the neighbour’s house until we could get her into the garage for a pampering session aka S fixing her cross gate cable!    Barrie had been overwintering in the garage so having changed places with Dilys ended up the firs...

I have an all day meeting scheduled towards the end of the month.     It is one of those where the day is pretty much guaranteed to end with a headache.     Worse still there seems to be some suggestion that it may be carried over into a video conference the next day.     That suggestion has not come from me.     As it is the hours for day one are such that I have made a note to pack emergency bananas for the inevitable blood sugar lull when the biscuits run out. There will be a number of attendees.    It has the capacity to be loud, emotional, some playing to a gallery that does not exist and a lot of demanding others listen to viewpoints they would not agree with in a month of Sundays.    At some point someone    (most likely male) will tell someone (most likely female) to “calm down”.    This will not be conducive to agreement.    Someone will try and broker agreement by adopting the tone and vo...

    So there I was steadily reducing my grocery bill and starting to make just a little room in the freezer and food cupboards.     Can’t say it was exactly moving at pace but it was moving in the intended direction.     Then we woke up last weekend to news of an assault on Iran which now appears to have snowballed across the Middle East. As the week has moved on various news apps have started to run advice articles on how to survive a drone strike and what to stockpile/buy now.    As a habitual doom scroller I’ve read the advice as to how to survive a drone strike and concluded that in a direct hit on my house, I’m dead.    That should render obsolete any concerns as to what I may or may not have stockpiled. Why anyone would waste a costly drone on my house (or even find it) is beyond me but certainly no one is going to waste an even more expensive interceptor to avoid such a hit.    I, together with my stock of preserved frui...