A Week Off

I have just had a week's holiday. "Where did you go?" I hear you say. Well dear reader I didn't go anywhere, I had a week at home doing nothing - no clubs, no swimming, no hospital volunteering, no church cafe, it was wonderful.

I know that being retired means I can do nothing all the time, but having always been an active person I wanted to continue doing things, and as we age I think it's important to be as active as possible. However much as I enjoy all my activities it was getting to the point where every day I would wake up thinking, "What am I doing today?" or "What time do I have to be out by?" I was permanently on the go, and I felt very tired. So now I feel rested with a fully charged battery, ready to resume my activities.

I think I will have a home stay holiday more often 😊

∼ Be safe and well∼ 

Polly x

Addiction, Time Wasting or

Excercise For The Little Grey Cells?

I never understood Sudoku, I couldn't see the point of it but last March when I visited my darling daughter in Australia she explained how it worked. I bought a puzzle book and became hooked, and now I have installed it on my phone!

Oh dear, whilst I'm sure there has to be a certain amount of brain activity playing any games, I know without a shadow of a doubt that it is addictive and time wasting! But also fun and challenging!

∼ Be safe and well∼ 

Polly x 

Feeling Sorry For Myself

Well dear reader I am bruised and battered after a nasty fall yesterday. I misjudged a kerb and all ten stone of me slammed down onto the pavement. A lovely young lady came to my rescue and stayed with me until my daughter arrived. The first thing I thought was "I've broken my glasses, that's £300 to replace them"! The left  side of my face took the brunt of the fall and it is a mess. My eye socket is full of blood and around the eye is a kaleidoscope of red blue and purple. My cheek and chin are also bruised. Our wonderful NHS took good care of me with a CT scan which thankfully confirmed nothing is broken. The bruising will go, I have some cream to prevent infection and the eye clinic said the blood will disperse in about two weeks. My arms and legs are aching as well.

It wasn't too bad at first but then I woke up to this.

My daughter said I shouldn't worry about it being an age related fall, it was an accident, and she is right. I didn't feel dizzy or disoriented beforehand, it was just a clumsy accident.

oOo

On a lighter note, last Thursday my U3a group marked the VE day 80th anniversary with a visit from none other than Sir Winston Churchill, as portrayed by Tony Harris.

He told us all about Churchill's life. He's very good.

The hall was packed

The sandwiches and cakes were plentiful and delicious.

∼ Be safe and well, particularly safe∼ 

Polly x 

February

The sun is still low in the sky but daylight hours are slowly lengthening. Since the loss of Rufus I haven't been out for a walk, he was the incentive I needed to get out on cold miserable mornings. But Sunday was a glorious day so I took myself out. I didn't do any of my favourite routes because it would have made me feel sad so I chose a road route alongside the fields. It was a nice walk in the sunshine. And today I joined a Heart & Sole group for a short walk.

I'm always impressed by Mother nature, she creates these darling little snowdrops, so delicate but they survive harsh winds, frost and snow.

I'm hopping between a few things at the moment, a bit of quilting, a bit of art, but mostly work on my Lake View dolls house which is taking soooo long. My current projects are making a TV and an armchair.

Tonight's tea was a jacket potato with beans and cheese and a dollop of branston pickle, always a favourite because it's quick and easy to prepare, and tasty. Another easy, quick and tasty meal is tomato soup with a Greggs vegan sausage roll, Iceland sell them to cook straight from the freezer. I think I will have that tommorrow.

I've just realised the winter clematis didn't flower, it looks ok but this is the first time it hasn't flowered in quite a few years. Perhaps I didn't prune it properly 😞 

∼ Be safe and well∼ 

Polly x

Baby It's Cold Outside

Brrr! It has turned cold here in my part of the UK. This morning in the church cafe I was wearing 8 layers of clothes - bra, knickers, tights, socks, trousers, vest, long sleeve t-shirt, a fleece and fur lined boots! with gloves, hat and a warm coat for walking down and back. If I'm out walking I get quite warm but in the cafe we're only moving to the coffee machine, the air fryer or taking food and drinks to tables. The heating is good but the cold came in every time the door opened when people came in.

At home the central heating is turned right up and soup is regularly on the menu. 

Greggs tomato soup is absolutely delicious with one of their vegan sausage rolls.

I quite like being outside when I'm well wrapped up, but otherwise I don't like winter. I have a few ways of keeping warm though.

I have some lovely blankets and a fleece I made. A blanket over my lap makes me feel warm and cosy

candles help warm the room, and smell nice

 

and a good old fashioned hot water bottle. This lovely one was a gift from a very dear friend years ago. It says "Grumpy and Irrational do not approach unless you have chocolate"  She knew me well, I wasn't often irrational, I was occasionally grumpy when hungry or cold, and I have always loved chocolate.

Dear reader I hope you are keeping warm, or cool depending on where you are.

Polly

x

My Great Mince Pie Survey

Here we are again, my excuse to eat lots of mince pies in the disguise of a survey 😄 I would like to add that I don't eat all of them, my family eat them too.

Aldi's Holly Lane Iced Mince Pies in a shortcrust pastry topped with sweet icing.

I had one of these at a friends house, I'm not a fan of iced mince pies, but it was ok. I wouldn't buy them for myself though.

Mr Kipling Deep Filled Mince Pies in a rich buttery pastry case.

Very nice for a basic pie, and I didn't get indigestion!

Marks & Spencer spiced mincemeat encased in all butter shortcrust pastry.

Very nice

Marks & Spencer Brown Butter. Cookie dough pastry filled with spiced mincemeat. Very nice but not as nice as Waitrose ones which I managed to get this year, but that might be because the Waitrose ones have cognac in them.

Waitrose Rich Brown Butter pastry filled with glacé Amarena cherry, almond and apricot mincemeat laced with cognac. Absolutely delicious, packed full of tasty fruit.

Waitrose Frangipane with Caramelised Almonds are gorgeous

Greggs, very nice. I went in for a sausage roll and bought just one because I already had others at home. 

co-op Irresistible All Butter filled with rich spiced fruit and brandy mincemeat, delicious.

 Be safe and well 

Polly x

Covid

Last week I was very poorly with a bad cold. On Wednesday a lovely friend who had been talking to my dear friend M phoned to ask how I was, and would I like a covid test kit, as he had two reaching their expiry date. Why not I thought, still thinking it was just a cold, something to do! He brought them round and a little while later there it was - two bold red lines, oh crap. My diary for the week had to be cancelled - swimming, bowls club, craft club, village book club, my stint at the hospital, a U3a meeting, an opticians appointment. They would have been cancelled anyway, I felt so poorly.

And the one I was most looking forward to was a tongue in cheek production of Pride & Prejudice, described as "Creative, naughty and hilarious". I've seen a trailer and it looked very good, confirmed by the ladies that went.

 

I didn't do my stint at the church cafe on Saturday, and another I was really looking forward to was a friend's birthday celebration lunch today which was completely dependant on the outcome of another test which was ..... negative, I did go to the party 😀 and I am feeling tons better.

 

Dear reader I hope you stay well and don't catch any nasty viruses.

Polly x

A Break in the Weather

After all that rain we are now enjoying some beautiful warm sunny days. 

The badgers have been busy again

 

the entrance to their sett used to be in the field, if they continue at this rate they will completely take over the area between the field and the hedgerow!

oOo

A new kid on the block

 

meet Buzz

he is a rescue ex racing dog, and he is so lovely and gentle. When we first met him he was a bit wary but now when we meet his tail starts wagging and he gets very excited.

oOo

Has anyone been watching "The Wives"? The story revolves around three women who are related by marriage to three brothers. It's set in Malta where the couples holiday at a resort together every year. The previous year one of the wives disappeared and is presumed dead. One of the remaining wives isn't happy with that, she is convinced Annabelle was murdered. The more the three wives investigate the deeper they get into the mystery. It was very good BUT the ending was - WHAT, WAIT, who was in the black van; what's with the casino chips, will Charlie be vindicated; will the real villain be uncovered? The cast were all very good actors and most of the script was good, but the ending was very bad, unless a second season is planned.

oOo

The size of my header image suddenly changed so I thought I would be able to use the original image but I couldn't get the size I wanted, I think it has to do with the sizing of the layouts, I've tried changing them but it didn't make any difference. My blog says its custom so I'm not confident to change anything in case the whole thing goes wrong!

∼ Be safe and well∼ 

Polly x

Rufus' Diary

Hello dear reader I hope you are well. Autumn is on its way, daylight hours are shorter, it's dark by 8 o/clock, the evenings are slightly chilly but the days are still sunny and warm.

Crops are being harvested

We're enjoying lots of lovely walks

The bonfire that never goes out is still not out 😄

Polly loves her small patio at the bottom of the garden and now she has created another lovely shady area to sit, under the cherry tree

That whole area behind the recliner was completely overgrown with nettles and weeds which was great for bees and butterflies but when it all died down she cleared it away.

There's a nice cool place for me to enjoy too.

We don't know what this cute little insect is.

A guy in the village is a Naturetrek Group Leader. Now and again he sets up a box in the churchyard to see how many moths visit. There were lots of species, sizes and colours but they didn't all photograph well.

Because I was a rescue the exact date of my birthday is unknown. Polly worked backwards from when they got me and how old they said I was and guessed that I was born in Sep 2012 and so she decided I would share my birthday with her later in the month. I will be 12, I daren't tell you how old Polly will be 😀

∼ Be safe and well ∼

Rufus 🐾

Rufus' Diary

Hello dear reader, I hope you are well.

Well after a dismal start June has finally come through with some lovely summer weather. Still a few clouds in the sky but sunshine and higher temperatures forecast for the next few days. That will make Polly happy.

I look squashed!

Historically Polly hasn't had much luck with hostas, this one was completely eaten by snails last year, she dug it up and put it in this pot "just in case it revived" !! and look at it now, how sweet is this with it's tiny flowers.

 

The countryside is looking good as usual

 

I think this tree is dead though

a few bee orchids are blooming 

The badgers have been busy with this new entrance, that is a large amount of soil that they have excavated. The entrance is the dark area just off centre on the left of the image.

This is their original entrance, the one at the back of the image where the white bag is. Unfortunately we think their underground network of tunnels might have caused some subsidence at the area at the front where the green bag is. A horse riding lady we occasionally meet when she is walking her dog is concerned that horse riders might not see the holes so she has put these sticks and bags in the holes to warn them. But then that probably causes problems for the badgers getting in and out, althought they do have mighty powerful legs and claws.

It's amazing how quickly the ground dries up.

Some horses are still wearing their coats

This one has his tail plaited because it's so

long it hangs on the ground and gets dirty.

I often lag back a long way behind Polly. She says its because after a while I just want to go home for breakfast. I don't often lay down though, you can just about see me in the long grass.

I have to confess though that I do speed up when we're on our way home, and then I'm way ahead of her, all I can think of is breakfast of tea and toast!

∼ Be safe and well ∼

Rufus 🐾