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But I'm not being very successful at meeting my goals (hopes? wishes?) for posting. As we reach the end of the year, I'm regretting this more and more. I can't seem to remember what happened and when. This year was such a blur of stress, frantic activity, stress, more frantic activity and then a whole lot of just plain hard work. When worst of it finally resolved (about the end of August), I just sort of collapsed into a pile of Nope. Only to have to get back into another round of hard work (physically hard I mean, which is not my strong suit) from late September through to last week. Ugh!
Here's hoping that 2026 is a little calmer.
Question of the Day:
December 16 - Do you still use post-it notes to remind you of things?
Not day to day, but I do use them to help keep track of project pieces and progress in the studio. Also have been known to use them as bookmarks.
P.S. Looks like we won't be having a White Christmas. We got snow earlier this month, but it's pretty much all melted now. Today's high was +8 C (46.4 F) and I think we actually hit double digits yesterday.
One of my least favourite things. We have two service appointments today, the first is to replace the water meter and we have a window on that from 12 noon to 4:00 pm. The second is a semi-annual home inspection with a window from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Fun times. Not. At least we get it all over and done with in one day. And we have a clean house out of it. Not that we let this place get really dirty, but it's rare for us to do a deep clean *everywhere* at the same time. Okay, we didn't get to the garage, but hey, it's a garage!
It does mean I'm left hanging around this afternoon, don't want to get too far into any project, just in case. So I'm reading fanfic and knitting on the garter-stitch border for the blanket I'm making.
Question of The Day:
November 5. Monopoly went on sale for the first time on this day in 1935. Have you ever played it? Yes, many, many times. Not for ages though now. All our board games got water damaged while in storage after a move.
Catching up:
November 1. In the UK, the 5th of November is Guy Fawkes night, which is celebrated with fireworks. The firework displays and parties usually start this weekend and may continue for several days of November. When was the last time you attended a firework display? It's been ages. Not since the kids were quite young, so maybe 25 years ago?
November 2. Do you have anything you love so much on TV that you record all the episodes? No, it's been a decade or so since we've actually had a TV connection. And I never did really record anything.
November 3. What’s the weather like today? It was cooler (high of just 8C / 46.4F) and mostly cloudy. Fairly windy too.
November 4. Have you ever received a birthday present that was just perfect for you? What was it?
I've had many great gifts over the years, but to be perfectly honest, nothing really jumps out right now. My family always seemed to do better at Christmas.
Zed
P.S. High today will only be 6C / 42.8F and it's completely overcast. Think we may even have had a tiny bit of snow this morning.
P.P.S. I may have jinxed Halloween for our town. Weather was pretty decent early evening, but not long after dark the wind picked up and we had rain! None of which was in the forecast at all. Sorry about that.
It makes sense though. That's about when our search for a new home kicked into high gear. For the next several months most of my online time was spent looking over Thing Two's shoulder as we scoured every accommodation rental site we could unearth. Our original timeline was early April, but in the end we didn't move until first week of June. Thank goodness our previous landlady was flexible (and generous, we didn't pay rent on the last few weeks!).
We were not able to stay in the same town, but where we ended up isn't as far away as we'd considered. We're now 45 mins. from the previous town and 1 1/2 hours from the city (and Mom and Dad + Baby Sis) which is not great. However we were looking up to 2 1/2 hours away, so....!
I'm going to try to get back into posting semi regularly, but we'll see. With the move came some substantial changes in routine and even my physical space, that have made posting a lot less convenient.
Speaking of getting back into previous routines;
Question Of The Day:
October 31. Do you have a favourite aroma you love (a perfume, something baking, a flower etc)?
I have a few. Cinnamon Buns (homemade of course), bacon, really good soup and pretty much anything lime. My perfume is citrus based, predominantly lime. Not one for flower scents as I'm allergic to so many.
Zed
P.S. Not a bad nite for the trick or treaters - calm, dry and above freezing (+9C /48.2F)
This month sucked. Lots of hard, emotionally and physically draining stuff. And it's not going to end any time soon. Baring some sort of miracle that is. Sigh!
In order to distract me from all of that, I'm gonna focus on the 2025 Question of The Day meme.
February 28. Have you ever eaten a soufflé? Do you know how to make one? Yes and yes. Not for a while now though. The recipe I have serves 4 or more and since there's only two of us and soufflé isn't great as leftovers, I don't bother. It used to be a real go to and it's a great vehicle for odds and ends of leftovers.
Questions from earlier this week:
23. What was your favourite toy when you were growing up? A very well loved stuffed toy poodle. I still have it!
24. Have you ever been skiing? Yes, many times. It's been decades though and I wouldn't even try now.
25. The Venice Carnival runs from February 22nd to March 4th. Wearing a fancy mask is a feature of the carnival – when was the last time you wore a mask? Fancy decorated mask? Probably Uni. Medical style? Last time I left the house, so Wednesday, when we ran errands and picked up more empty liquor boxes (they're best for packing books).
26. Are you a fan of opera? Nope.
27. Do you regularly snack? What’s your snack of choice? With a hot beverage, or just on its own? Not regularly, but when the urge (need?) strikes, I usually reach for something salty. Chips, nuts (peanuts usually-sometimes even a spoonful of just peanut butter) pretzels or even snack crackers. Beverage is usually cold. Often water, but sometimes a beer or even a cocktail (today it was Piña Coladas).
Completely random questions from January and February:
January 6. When was the last time you cleaned/polished your shoes? I honestly can't remember. Probably cleaned a few sandals before putting them away this fall. Don't really have the type of shoes that need polishing.
January 11. How good are you at creating routines for housework? Do you have specific days for doing household tasks? Utter crap and no. ADD/ADHD for the win! Not!
January 16. How often do you eat out at restaurants or cafés? Pretty much never these days. We had to get food while traveling last week and settled for Dairy Queen, which we ate in the car.
January 19. How many pairs of socks do you own? A ridiculous number. I have about 2 dozen hand knit ones in the drawer (and about another 1/2 dozen waiting to be finished), probably twice as many purchased "trouser socks" (thin cotton nylon things) and probably a dozen fleecy socks that I wear with my slippers. Can I just say I hate having cold feet!
January 28. Most countries have at least one example of a long-running soap on TV. Do you watch soaps (have you in the past)? In the past yes, don't watch any TV these days.
February 3. Have you changed your hairstyle much over the years? Have you ever had a disastrous hairstyle? Yes, quite a lot. From pixie cuts (as a kid) to a mullet (it was the '80's) to wild perms and interesting dye jobs to now when I just leave it to grow (currently mid-thigh length after a bit of a trim) and put it up or braid it. Disastrous? See mullet and wild perms and interesting dye jobs (generally self inflicted).
February 7. The Portland Vase, thought to date to the 1st century BC was shattered into more than 80 pieces by a drunken visitor to the British Museum in 1845 (oops!). What was the last thing you accidentally dropped? A roll of tape. Before that a Sharpie and before that a box. We're packing, I'm tired and stressed and that makes me extra clumsy.
February 16. National TimTam Day is today. This day is all about celebrating one of Australia’s most loved snacks, the TimTam biscuit, which first hit the shelves in 1964. Have you ever had a TimTam? Yes, a few times. Several of the grocery stores here stock them regularly. They're fine, for a mass produced cookie.
February 21. Are you worried about climate change? Have there been noticeable changes to the weather where you live over recent years? Yes, yes I am. And I think one has to be a bit of an idiot not to be. Changes are noticeable. Our summers are hotter and dryer (and the resulting forest fires are devastating!) and the frequency and intensity of storms is increasing.
Zed
P.S. Fairly warm today +11 C (51.8 F) and not nearly as windy as yesterday.
One (small) box in now filled with the leftovers from a quilt I'd made for my Grandma. It originally was to be double bed sized, but I ended up making something slightly smaller than a twin. She was moved into a full-time care facility and needed something that would work with a hospital style bed. So, I have enough pre-made blocks and other pieces that I should be able to make at least a throw. Once I get my machine fixed that is. I'm hoping I can arrange for that this month.
Question Of The Day:
January 2. Day two of the new year - have you eaten all the goodies you bought for the Christmas/holiday festivities yet? Nope. We have some snacky/nibbly things left, some of the special drinks and some of the booze. All the cookies Thing Two and I made are gone though. We did give away about 1/2 of what we made, so it wasn't just us eating them!
Zed
P.S. Cold today, high was -13 C/ 8.6 F, but no new snow and not much wind, so that was good.
Trying to start the New Year right. I remember reading somewhere, sometime, that what you do on the first will inform your year. Normally I try to keep this in mind and only do stuff that I want to do/is fun to do, on NY day. Not so much this year. I did spend this morning relaxing, reading (fanfic) and knitting (new blanket for my bed), but Thing Two had other ideas and I spent this afternoon sorting out boxes of craft (crap) from the basement.
OMG! What a blast from the past. I think several of the boxes were packed up for the move into
the first house we ever purchased (circa 1995). Others were maybe from the move after the divorce (so from about 2003-2004) and yikes! That said, Thing Two likes some of that stuff and has made off with a whole bunch of it. Still, 6 boxes have been condensed into one. And that's a good thing.
Question Of The Day:
January 1. The first day of the new year – do you have anything special to look forward to this coming year?
Special, no. Stressful, yes. After 8 (almost 9) years in our current residence, we have to move. Our Landlords have decided to sell (understandable, they never intended to be landlords and they are getting older-well past retirement). But! We can't afford to move back to the city and rentals are few and far between in our town, so it's stressful! On the positive side, we were given 6 months notice and still have 3 and a bit months on that.
Zed
P.S, It did snow overnight and a bit though the day, but not a lot. Just enough to make everything miserable, especially as it looks like there was no snow removal/plowing /sanding happening. Good thing we stayed home! Oh and the high was -11 C/12.2 F
