Never Quite Enough Time

I  overdid it yesterday.     Aside from the usual weekend chores and getting ready for the new windows going in I planted peas and broad beans into the garden.     Casting such clouts before even April is out may prove a mistake.     Unfortunately, I’m not sure I was left with much other choice.     It is too early for the high season watering systems to go on, the greenhouse is packed and a number of things are under stress water/heat/sun wise.     I could put the second poly covering over hoops and set up watering that way for some plants in post and seed trays but that can bring its own problems.     As ever it is a balancing act and this is the way I am choosing to balance things in the vegetable garden right now.     Whilst moving the herb pots from under a window, so the new window installers could get access, I tidied a few up.     Since we let the London house go and I do all my cooking her...

The windows are being installed next week, a week earlier than planned.     That was something to do with the girlfriend of the younger of the installers going in to be induced when they were going to do them.     There’s an influencing factor I had not considered! There are pros and cons to this process.    The pros being the windows are going in and this will be another thing off the joint ‘to do’ list for the year.    The cons being (a) our diaries have us working at home for the first two days of this process (I was hoping we might either be away, away or the office, away) there is a degree of disarray (unsurprisingly) and I don’t take well to such disruptions; and (b) this means I have some running around with regard to clearing space near windows and more pertinently getting the monies out of one account and into another from where I can do a bank transfer when the job is done.    If that sounds convoluted, it is.    Nati...

  I finally caved and am switching mobile sim only providers.     Easier to say than do.     Not for the first time this year Vodafone informed me, in this case 2/3rds through the month, that I was running out of data and if I wanted more I could purchase an extra 2GB for a further £13.50.    I am already paying £25.11 a month and it turns out I only    have 2GB with Vodafone.    There’s no wonder I keep running out though bizarrely, for which read naively, I thought I was pretty much unlimited.    I can get 60GB from Tesco (plus the unlimited calls and texts I have with Vodafone) and no EU roaming fees for £13 a month.    So quite why they think I will pay a further £13.50 a month on top of £25.11 a month for just about enough data to see me through a, for me, busy use month is a mystery.   On previous occasions I have just sat out the rest of the month, I have never been a big data user on my phone, g...

Back before Covid I was firmly in the dietary supplements just result in expensive urine camp and all you needed was a healthy mixed diet with everything in moderation. However, in the space of a few weeks from about mid February when stories started to hit about Covid we started taking first Selenium, Vitamins A, C and E then Zinc and finally vitamin D. There were specific reasons behind these choices and in one case it turns out there is no actual evidence to support the supposition we were working on.    Nevertheless we continue to take them and are unlikely to stop anytime soon if only as S’s complaints about his nails stopped very soon after we started. For a variety of reasons I have opened the office a couple of times this week.    This is not unusual but we do have a contingent who start at 8am so it is not that commonplace either.    It does mean that I get the benefit of the early morning conversation as the earlier birds wander in and we do have ...

  So I drafted a lengthy(ish) post last night from the weekend and went to post it this morning and accidentally deleted.     No back up.     That is not getting redone any time soon so suffice to say: The bridge between my parents’ lawns is now in place and the robot mower is doing alternate days on each lawn.    He gets Wednesdays off. The dehydrator is now out of the cupboard and has taken up its growing season position on the utility room counter top.    One loosely packed jar of dried Oregano already in the cupboard.    3 jars of fig jam also in the cupboard.    Those are part of a longer story but I haven’t got time to go into it again!

  All I said was “are we having T-shirts?” In a completely Harold and Hilda move we have, not only T-shirts but sweatshirts, fleeces and jackets for the trip ……and possibly gardening for ever more to remind us of France 2026. We also have tote bags, just because!  Paris chic, these are not, but naff has its place and this year, for us, that place is northern France and the Loire Valley. Just a little more exclusive than a Rolling Stones concert T-shirt!

  So I was watching a YouTube vlog from Early Retirement Wanderlust (ERW) this morning.     They were answering questions about early retirement specifically (1) How do you decide when was the right time to retire; (2) What do you do all day; and (3)Aren’t you worried about running out of money? As always on their channel the vlog presented an upbeat, polished, entertaining, personal perspective which I have, no doubt, will prove both interesting and helpful to many watching who are in the throes of thinking about retirement, early or otherwise. From what I have gathered they retired in their early 50s from teaching careers having made the decision after a truly miserable 2021.    They had gone straight into work from university and started their family early.    As a result they had, albeit reduced, teachers’ pensions they could access at 55 (a few years after they retired) and with buying back a few years they are in for full state pensions in due co...

  The new windows should take 4-5 days to be installed in 3-4 weeks.     Two robins are frantically feeding young in a nest in a box cone outside the dining room window.     I understand from those in the know that this should not be a problem unless they have another clutch immediately after this lot have fledged.     It’s all very sweet but the current windows have been in since the late 70s, early 80s and double glazing is well overdue.     That particular topiary probably escapes the Derby Day trim this year though. Another 4.45am start yesterday which is doing me no good at all.    I’m neither use nor ornament by 3-4pm on the day and it is messing with my sleep pattern and I already do not sleep as well as I used to.    Thankfully, I avoid this next week but the pay off is an additional night away from home and two full days of video platform meeting which, frankly, would probably be better done away from the office b...

  I have no excuse, a friend was extremely happy about the weather forecast when I spoke to her Monday evening but I still packed for the usual (plus for a scrub up appointment).     Scraping ice off the car at 5.15am failed to alert me to a sudden last minute addition, like T shirts or shirts.     The black trouser suit, ankle boots and white silk top for Tuesday’s appointment was entirely appropriate and easily wearable.     No tugging at anything, no painful feet.     No best dressed awards incoming either but it was an occasion when boring yet appropriate would do.     For once it was that business casual wardrobe I actually thought I had sorted a few years back that failed.     Dark wash straight legged jeans, matching coloured crew neck sweater, ankle boots, blazer and silk scarf.     That sweater in 24 degree heat was just wrong.     The blazer wasn’t an ideal addition either but it could be take...