Week 34: Washi

  • The most important thing that has happened in weeks occurred! I found my cat-themed washi tape! This means the work todo lists in my Hobonichi Techo are now much prettier, and if it’s ever getting too long I can insert some paws or fish to break it up into chunks. Much better; good light-hearted stress relief.
  • Euro 2020 has started in 2021 and England have played their first game. A friend and I did live text-commentary on our Slack during it, of which the review was “like Mel and Sue had too much limoncello”, which is basically life goals.
  • My daughter was more enthused by the game than I was, and when she realised it was on quickly went off to draw some England flags and cheery messages to help urge them on; apart from being totally adorable, it was clear that she put more effort into her art than the footballers did into the game.
  • Last week we signed up for Which? to review mattresses – this week we bought a mattress from Emma. It arrived in a couple of days in a surprisingly small box (even though I’d been warned to be surprised), and it feels harder than I expected after many reviews said it was soft, but I’m no longer getting out of bed screaming in pain so this is an improvement.
  • I went for a walk in the nearby countryside with the kids and as we approached a wall to look at the cows in the next field, one caught sight of us and left the herd to come take a closer look. I’ve never thought of cows as being curious animals, but this one certainly was. It followed us along the whole length of the field and kept trying to peer over the wall at us, like it couldn’t quite believe we were real. I like to think it dreamt about us that night.
  • It’s still sunny, so this is Good.

Week 34: sunshine

  • It has been hot and sunny! Hurrah! At last a break from the rain and cold and a chance to get outside, take a deep breath and relax.
  • My son no longer has time/energy to go to Scouts in the evening but before we quit officially I want to go back through his Beavers, Cubs and Scouts Facebook group and download the photos with him in (the kids aren’t tagged). It seems that the only way to do this is manually. This is going to take a looooong time.
  • We need to buy a new mattress and so subscribed to Which?. It turns out to be not only extremely well written (the language used is clear, simple, authoritative), but there’s way more material on their site than I’d expected. We’ll only subscribe for a month or so as we kit out the house, but I’ll definitely return in the future when we want to make other expensive purchases.
  • I tried to ride my road bike through a field. This was not a good idea, and it became an even worse one when I hit some hidden rocks and came off. Don’t do it kids – just say no!
  • I am very much looking forward to more sunshine, and getting out on my bike – but on safe roads and cycle paths this time.

Week 33: astronomical

  • I ripped the hell out of my back again. Limping, slow walks, stretches and nurofen are in order.
  • The family were all on half term and so I got some time in the house alone when they went off to visit relatives. Just as I was starting to get used to it, they returned.
  • The return of the family meant the return of The Lunchbox Tyranny – the nightly Making of Sandwiches that strikes fear and dread into everyone who thinks they’ve done all their chores and can safely go to bed.