Hard Week

This last week has been rather hard. The Beloved came home from work on Friday rather exhausted. He was sent to bed for a pre-dinner nap. But the map didn't sort him out, and neither did a night's sleep.

On Saturday evening we saw the out of hours GP, and the Beloved was whisked off to the Emergency Department.

He was diagnosed with cellulitis (and not cellulite as my Mam misheard). After four hours his respiration, pulse and temperature was down to normal levels. It was at this point he was told they'd be keeping him in for a few days.

In the summer, I often see 4am, but usually it's from weakening after a refreshing night of sleep. It was so strange experiencing it from the opposite direction.

I was so tired, yet very much awake, and had no idea how I would sleep. I decided to simply lie down in bed and listen to an audiobook. Although I can't actually remember my head touching my pillow.

The next few days were spent either walking the dog, at work, or in hospital. At each visit I saw significant improvements, and he was discharged on Wednesday.

It was glorious on Thursday morning to hear the sounds of him breathing. It's a fantastic, comforting noise.

I had not realised how tiring all of this would be on me. Thursday and Friday were spent doing the bare minimum, and I'm still tired (as is the patient), but it's going.

Today will involve brownies, laundry and tidying the sitting room.

A Morning To Myself

I have a full program of events for this morning. It started with getting dressed - a very good way to start a morning, and making the bed. Next I started drying the laundry from last night, and I've set aside 3/4 of my rainbow of fabrics for the Sugaridoo Quilt-a-long. They are nicely damp, and I shall iron them dry after walking the dog.

My plan is make dinner (pasta pollo al spinache) before I go to work at lunch time and there's a need for a clean cooker too. 

Six Things To Do Before Bed

Whilst pootling about on Pinterest I cam across a link to "Six Things To Do Before Bed". I was annoyed by all the advertising, but thought the six things were rather useful. In my annoyance, I don't think to save it. 

I've remembered to put on a load of washing, wash the dishes, wiped down the counters, and deal with the post. My bed was already made. And, I've no idea what the last thing thing was. ... Oh! Clean an area of the house. I remembered them all.

Making my bed is part of my morning routine, so it doesn't really belong in the list. I'm going to leave off 'clean an area of the house' until March, just to ease myself into this. Work lunches and clothes sound like more fundemental things to get right.

1. wash clothes 

2. wash dishes

3. wipe down kitchen counters

4. deal with post

5. check on lunches for work

6. check bag and lay out clothes for tomorrow

The Knights of The Talking Hat

I love this image of  Sirs Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart. At it's most basic, it's a photograph of two great friends, but it's two great friends who are portraying tragedy and comedy. It's a cracker of an image, the emotions show, the age and wrinkles, the friendship, but also the way in which they wear their age so lightly. They are little boys having fun.

Whilst thinking about this image my brain took me to a bench in a city park. and these two guys came and sat with me. I wondered if I might be able to turn it into a writing exercise, trying to get down a good description of a conversation with small0ish number of words. This is how The Sirs of the Talking Hat started.

Stormy Seas, but Happy Dog

The weather was beautiful for travelling home yesterday. Today, it's a bit of a mare! Although the sea looked absolutely stunning. We took a walk along Douglas Prom/beach after collecting Ava from the kennels. She loved being back with her pack, and wasn't at all phased by the size of the waves crashing down near the entrance to the Prom parking area. All she cared about was the smells, and being close to her humans.

We collected her from kennels, and she was delighted to see us. She just ran from one to another getting cuddles and expressing her happiness. The guy at the kennels was telling us how beautiful she is, and how well she had behaved. He's been walking her with a husky, and the two were an absolute dream, and never pulled. They enjoyed spending time together, and would sing from time to time. 

New Techniques

This morning, I was telling Margaret about my Sigma 10 challenge. My Sigma 10 list is:

10 hats 

9 audiobooks listened to 

8 short stories written 

7 new techniques 

6 patterns written 

5 quilts 

4 blanket 

3 cardigans/sweaters 

2 skirts made 

1 guest bedroom created

I have made 13 hats this month, and as of yesterday, I had learned how to do loom knitting. Whilst talking with Margaret I explained I pick up a hook, twist and hook and do stuff. There were a few stitches I could already do, but had no idea what they were called. Margaret helped me put names and stitches together, and she also taught me to work 'corner to corner'. 

That was an interesting one as I was trying, and trying, and thing were looking weird, then suddenly I said "I know how to do it!", ripped things out and executed the stitch perfectly. I don't know what I was doing wrong, nor what clicked, but I can do it now.

Chicken in Mustard and Vinegar

4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1.5 tablespoon wholegrain mustard

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon bbq sauce

4 chicken breasts

1 tablespoon olive oil (for frying)

Mix the vinegar, mustard, oil and bbq sauce in a wide bowl. Add the chicken breasts. Then let the chicken marinade for 4 hours plus. Turn the chicken pieces at least once.

Heat a large skillet, add the oil and cook the chicken breasts. Turn half way through. When the chicken breasts have cooked through add the marinade and cook for 4 minutes. 

Serve with roasted vegetables, or rice, or potatoes.

A Few Hundred Years Ago

This weekend Blackfriars, a restored 13th century Dominican priory, is home to a LARP Kit Fest. I'm not a fan of the latex weaponry, apart from a frying pan! But the handmade items from leather, wood, wool and paper are exquisite!

The highlight for me was the time spent with the Sealed Knot people. I was deeply entranced by their clothes. One guy took a lot of time to answer my questions and was very understanding that I wasn't interested in battle what so ever, but the history of everyday people, what they wore and how they lived was of far more interest. I enjoy historical costuming on YouTube, but this was so much better, being able to interact with people, and to touch and feel the clothing (with permission). One of my favourite items was a black cassock with red cloth buttons. It could be worn as a jacket, or a cape simply by unbuttoning and rebuttoning in a different way.

Just before we left Blackfriars, the Sealed Knot put on a display in the courtyard.  The officer explained who people were, their clothing, ranks etc. When the black powder man started preparing his musket, a couple of the guys cordoned off a section of the courtyard. This was the area they were going to be firing into. The sergeant stopped people from entering the firing zone, and was smiling at them. I barked out 'Sergeant, stop smiling at the civilians, and turn them back!'  He did this, much to my amusement. 

The sergeant came very close to where we were sitting/standing, at the edge of the exclusion zone, and gave us far more information than the officer was bellowing out. One little nugget is that when fired at night, a musket flash can extend to 5m! Another nugget is blacksmiths would sometimes fire a shot at a steel breastplate from 100m, and this would leave a dent in the armour. This was seen as a mark of quality and safety. However, at 50m, the musket shot would penetrate the steel and cause a huge deal of damage to the flesh and bone behind.

At one point I looked at the sergeant and remarked "Sergeant, you are smiling again." He grinned and said he liked us. We were interested in what was happening. I hadn't realised the armoured sergeant was the guy I'd been talking with about clothing etc. 

The Blackfriars Priory is also very interesting. It is a place I will need to visit in a subsequent visit to Gloucester.

February Hatathon

A standard hatathon is completed by finishing 26 hats in one month. This year, I'm going crazy, and I'm attempting a double hatathon. That's right, I'm planning to finish 52 hats this month.

Goodbye EU

It is with great sadness I type, "Goodbye EU". The huge amount of good the UK has gained from membership of the EU has been stripped away by a tiny number of self serving individuals who have dragged many older English people with them. This is a huge, huge mistake, and it was created by lie after lie, after lie. The departure helps only the very wealthy, and robs the average person of so very much.

Leaving the EU has created a raft of problems that will need to be resolved. Not least amongst these are the ways the Irish and Scots have been treated. But this is nothing new. It's just the latest round of dictatorial behavior from Westminster, and England.

Enough! This is making me morose and grumpy. That's no way to start a beautiful holiday Saturday. A bit later, we are off to a LARP fayre! There will also be some time in Cheltenham too. These should be good.