1st February: Ten Things of Thankful

Ten things for which I give thanks this week…

1 – The sun is shining!

2 – My daughter, Beverley, is coming round later to do some housework. I say my daughter, but step-daughter, strictly speaking, but after being in her life for 43 years out of 56, I go with daughter. She comes round every Tuesday to spend time with her mother but has gone by the time I get back from work, so I regard this as my time with her and we will sit down to tea and a chat as well as the cleaning…

3 – I can confirm that signs of Spring abound…

These bulbs have been planted for a few years…/
Whereas these ones, and the ones below, were newly planted last Autumn…

And these straggly strugglers, must have self-seeded in a pot of mighty Stargazer Lillies that just get bigger every year…

Shrubs too are preparing their blossom…
And as testament to how little frost we have had (so far – fingers crossed), the Nemetia has survived the Winter outside – which is as well since we have nowhere indoors for them…

4 – I still have a job! Work is calming down – a bit – as I wrestle the details of labelling product under control…

5 – I have stopped beating myself up for not progressing the novel and have decided to stimulate my writing by undertaking the 12 Short Stories in 12 Months challenge. The January prompt was Glow and I uploaded on the prescribed day and have received one positive comment so far. You have to comment on at least 4 stories… My Writing Critique Partner, Nik, in troubled Minnesota (troubled by Trump and not the alleged crime wave) but I haven’t been able to find his story yet amongst the 510 other stories…

6 – This group of supportive people

7 – I have managed to spend some time writing for my April A to Z – I am midway through “C” – who knew there were so many fabrics beginning with “C”…

8 I have been trying out a Continuous Blood Sugar Monitor – a free sample from a company who hope to get me hooked on their product, and indeed, I have ordered a month’s supply to follow on, but at £30/10 days usage, it is too expensive to carry on permanently, and my doctor’s practice refuse to fund it instead of the finger-pricking tests that risk neuropathy of the finger tips at £30/month. So I am trying to learn what I can in a month + and may or may not carry on after that. Here’s what I have learned so far – its very convenient to beable to check my blood sugar, 5 minute by 5 minute, on my phone, if slightly addictive. The experiment has incentivised me to make a spreadsheet of all the carbs I eat and between the monitor and my monitor, I have been able to see what effect carbs have on my body. So not only have I reduced my daily intake to 168 grams per day, but I have been able to hone my meals to slower acting carbs thus avoiding big spikes. I advise anyone who is type 2 Diabetic, to give these sensors a go, even if, like me, it is only for a month – to gain insight…

9 – Weekly washing done and in the dryer or hanging up to dry…

10 – Made it to TTOF…

Have a great week everybody!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

23 November: Ten Things of Thankful

Ten things for which I give thanks this week…

1 – The sun is shining out of an all-blue sky today, in the midst of a run of rainy days…

The beautiful Silver Birches in the churchyard behind our house shining out against the blue…
Shafts of sunlight illuminating the Willow tree, which for some reason, is still wearing its Summer clothes…

2 – My rapper Grandson was up for a couple of days as he had a gig in Leeds and on Friday I cooked a sumptuous vegetarian curry feast for him and his cousin, and his girlfriend, which went down very well with all!

3 – Grammarly believes in the Oxford comma – yayyy!

4 – Barbara managed some housework and washing-up on two days!!!

5 – I have finally finished the list of topics for my A to Z 2026 which will be on Fabrics

6 – I therefore moved on, to step 2 – making some samples of weaving to illustrate the A to Z.

Using a loom made by a toy company in 1957, but which is nevertheless a fully functioning loom, Iprooduced this sample of Plain Weave at bottom, and Twill Weave at top. Twill is what characterises Denim, for example. The eagle eyed crafters amongst you will see that the tension is gradually curving the sides of the piece inwards – rooky tension error… Well it was my first ever weave!
Plain Weave – blue cotton yarn weft on red warp.
Twill Weave.

7 – I have bought a Christmas present for Barbara – in recent years, we have eschewed giving presents to each other on the grounds that we have most everything we might want but this year, I decided to rebel…

8 – Grateful to be doing this gratitude paractice and for all the kind comments it garners…

9 – I have had two poems accepted by GAS: Poetry, Art and Music, which will be published on Christmas Day!

10 – Barbara’s eldest daughter is on a solo trip to Bali for three weeks – she has been estranged for much of the last year, but bridges have been mended and we shall see her at Christmas…

A very good week ahead, to everyone!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter