Titbits... and my mistake!

THOUGHTS ON CAPTCHAS. 

I have ranted before about this subject, when I vowed I wouldn’t waste time copying distorted consonants and getting them wrong. Nevertheless there are still some blogs where I want to leave comments and find the style has changed. Now I’m faced with having to prove I’m human by reading and typing ten or more figures just to leave my thoughts on a post. It’s enough to put anyone off.

MEMORY LOSS!

Woe is me and my memory! I completely forgot to show off my new curtains. What do you think?

ONE LITTLE MISTAKE!

I get more things wrong these days. For example, things I type are often littered with mistakes that are unnoticeable to my little eye. I can read a draft several times and still not find a mistake. If I was reading someone else’s work I would spot one a mile off, but not my own. I’ve heard that it’s more difficult to see one’s own mistakes and I wonder if this is a general thing?

One recent idiotic minor error was my failure to spot a mistake AFTER the birthday invitations were printed. I only got the postcode wrong, that’s all, an important factor when asking people to RSVP. Duh! Imagine how I felt when I saw the error, especially as the draft had been checked and rechecked. I blame my other self. Being a Gemini means I have an alter ego, so I if I have to lay blame somewhere it might as well lay it on my other half.

Guess you wonder why I am doing these things so far in advance. Basically, it’s because I have so much else to do and time does have a nasty habit of flying too far ahead. I have this dread of not having everything in order when the big day arrives whereas if I do things in advance I can relax and approach things in a civilised and calm manner. I often wonder how people do it when they have to rush to get things organised yet still make it at the given time. Must be a temperament thing! Still, we each have our own way of doing things ... my way suits me best.

I hate being late in anything. If I make an appointment to meet someone I like to be there early and only start panicking at the arranged time if they’re late. Some people I know couldn’t be early if they tried. A friend told me she tried hard to be early or on time but never made it. That’s a real enigma! Isn’t it just a matter of choosing your timing and sticking with it? No? Okay, reckon I’ll never know the answer to that one. Or understand it!  

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Babbling on.....

BLOGLOVIN’

Okay, I’ve given Bloglovin’ a fair trial and will stick with it until such time as it lets me down in a major way. So far so good except for a few blogs that I cannot comment on through this medium. How frustrating is that? It means having to go back to the old blog roll to load the page and to leave a comment which means frequent switching from one tab to another. However, a system has been devised. All those lovely bloggers who I can’t reach through Blogger or Bloglovin' are now listed on a special bookmark bar, and tuff cookie to Bloglovin’!

JOE

... is doing well. Apart from feeling tired and a bit weak in the body, he hasn’t suffered any of the expected after-effects. He’s finished the first of four programmes so I expect the rest to be straightforward. Sue me if I’m wrong! However, he will be having a further operation (full anaesthetic) sometime in March to remove a stent and widen the neck of the bladder. I’m thinking this could be of great benefit and maybe a BIG improvement on the way the body functions.

WI 

Enjoying the presidency? Hard to say at this early stage but it’s not the same feeling as when I became County Chair. At that time I was in disbelieving mode for several weeks, a sort of ‘this -can’t-be-happening-to-me’ sort of thing. But that was a long time ago, I must move on. I acquired a mountain of paperwork that needed sorting so the ex-President and I got together to do just that. We had a morning session to ‘go through things’ and I have to say it was great. We reminisced and laughed a lot as different papers were unearthed that spoke of happy times long forgotten. Yes, it was good!

CURTAINS FOR ME!

NO, not that sort! I mean new drapes at my office window. Note the word ‘office’. It was an ordinary room until I commandeered it for craftwork and typing and other well known purposes like blogging. It’s a cosy room and when it feels inclined the sun shines brightly. This, of course, raises the desire for occupancy. The curtains play a big part, especially at night when privacy from the outside world is required. On the right is a picture of the old ones, I’ll take a pic of the replacements when they arrive. I absolutely love the oldies, they are so spring-like, but they have to go. Why? Because the curtain-hook style tracking is giving up the ghost and we can't adapt the curtains. We decided on poles and eyelets to make things easier for little ol’ me and that meant new drapes.  It will be marvellous not having to struggle with the opening and closing morning and night.

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CURTAINS!

We’ve acquired new curtains for the lounge.

We took down the old gold ones down when the decorator came to paint and paper our lounge but when we put them back up the darn curtain track broke. Not a serious issue, you might think, but then you hadn’t seen the style of fitting.

The system for hanging curtains was very tidy since the fittings were behind a built on, box-like wooden pelmet. However, once the track broke we were unable to fix it.  No room to manoeuvre, you see, plus neck, spine, eyesight and, in my case, height problems preventing us from fixing curtain hooks in the confined space, let alone repair a kaput track.

 After much thought I we decided the best way forward was to have a pole, with eyelets in the curtains. So while the cat was away this year the mouse set things in motion.

Jim, the fitter, was in shop when I called. When he heard what I was ordering he said to remember that style of curtaining meant we’d have to adjust the ‘fall’ ourselves. Geez, hadn’t I been adjusting the fall years before pencil pleats were invented. How lazy people have become if they can’t adjust a curtain. Anyway, I went on to describe the dilemma concerning the pelmet and he agreed to call round to assess the situation.

Jim came the next day. Of course, he would have to dismantle what was there, the pelmet and the wooden base that was secured to the wall, and had been since the house was built, but he assured me the job could be done. Nothing, he said, was insurmountable.

I went ahead, ordered the curtains and paid a deposit (hoping I was doing the right thing) and a date was fixed for Jim to come out and wreck the wall.

He actually made a decent job of removing the pelmet with no serious damage. There were a few holes and the area would have to be plastered and redecorated which meant contacting (with fingers crossed) Rod, the decorator. I didn’t hold out much hope of him being able to do the job when we wanted it done. However, we were in for a pleasant surprise. Rod said he would fit us in with another job in time for Jim to come out and fix the poles. Wow, such co-operation is rare in these parts. It went a long way to renewing my faith in workmen.

Rod did a superb job, plastering one day, wallpapering the next (we still had some of the paper) and painting the day after. Each stage took an hour but of course the work had to dry before he could continue.

Now the curtains are up and the lounge is looking ultra-smart. It’s a pity my iPhone didn’t do justice to the colour of the curtains. The first picture should be a little more yellow and the second should definitely NOT have a pink hue. It’s all down to light, I guess. Oh well, I can’t win ‘em all.

It’s amazing how things fall into place. After the curtain hanging was completed, we turned our minds to the disposal of the old ones. They were dry-cleaned when we took them down the first time, so I put them in two bags.... one in each. Gosh, they were heavy. We decided to look out for charities that also collect curtains and it didn’t take long. In fact, as I was typing this the next charity bag was pushed through the door ... and it specifically asked for curtains. Since one bag wouldn’t be enough, Joe rushed out to try and catch the guy who delivered it and he, Joe, came back with a couple more bags. All we have to do now is put the filled bags outside to await collection. How easy was that? Pretty soon our old curtains will be on their way to providing help for children with cancer. Thank goodness our timing was right. 

That was the week, that was

This week we splashed out for some new curtains, both nets and main. The old nets on the two road-facing windows were made of pure cotton which certain moths took a liking to. I was appalled when I took then down to wash and saw how much they’d eaten, it took me all my time to remove the wires because the cotton threads were so entangled. We live in a fairly narrow road so people in opposite houses are able to see right into the front bedroom. You can see why net curtains are essential. I’d hate to think people were peering at the body beautiful.

We decided to replace the main curtains as well. Not an easy task when all the curtain shops have ceased to exist. I didn’t fancy ordering on line, I mean how can you feel the quality when you buy that way? A friend told me about The Range, a recently opened store fairly near to where we live. We went to explore.  What an amazing place that was, I don’t think there was anything they didn’t sell. The array of curtains was vast, reasonable quality and respectably priced. My Guy is an accountant so he’s acutely aware of costs but he couldn’t believe the prices.

Now for the decorating! 

We have accepted the quote for a professional decorator to do the kitchen, lounge and hall, for starters! Whilst appreciating that these jobs need doing, I dread the upheaval. Wouldn’t it be good if we could move out while the jobs are done?

The lounge is a sunless room and always seems very dark, so we’ve decided to go with white walls. We’ll have the new style anaglypta (can’t remember the name of it) so that future decorating will just be coats of paint. Next in line for the lounge is to change the style of lighting ... ssshhh I haven’t broached that subject yet.

a dish of smothered chicken

Saturday we had our usual lunch out at the Horse and Jockey, an Ember Inns establishment.  I had smothered chicken and himself had the gammon, both served with chips and peas. 


I have just discovered that they now do a take-away service which should make a nice change from the local chippie. Not that I want to go down that route, but it's worth knowing ... just in case.

We have got to know a couple of the barmaids quite well although one of them recently left to return to her homeland, Australia. Chatting to the girl she left behind we discovered that she had been in communication with her friend, using her mobile phone, for free. What?

Apparently Skype isn’t the only freebee phone facility, now smart phone users can download Viber from Apple. The girls talked for an hour and it cost nothing. This is definitely something I must investigate. Isn’t technology marvellous?

Both girls have university degrees in Sport and Social Science and I wondered what sort of work the Australian girl was doing ... would you believe she’s back working in a bar? I come from the old school where people with degrees had plenty of opportunities but it’s not so these days. Seems to me that qualifications are a waste of time; what’s the point of studying hard to get one when there are no jobs available?

Apparently both of them were advised to take on voluntary work, but that is no good when they need money to survive and repay the student loan. There is so much store set on going to university these days. Whereas at one time youngsters left school and got a job, now it is the practice to move on to university. Thankfully apprenticeships are becoming more popular. A much better idea in today’s climate ... work experience as well as earning a wage is far less worrying for our young people.

Picture courtesy of www.sterling-adventures.co.uk

One of the young foxes has taken to sleeping at the bottom of the garden, Last time he was there for at least a couple of hours while a woodpigeon got on with eating his food. Wildlife is so interesting!

I recently downloaded the game Scribe on the iPad, a game which is certainly addictive. Beating my targets has almost become an obsession. You will see in the picture that I have been promoted to Legendary Wizard. Is that something to be proud of, I ask myself, well at least it made my friend jealous.

All week we’ve had attractive skies, thundery looking, yes, but nice to look at. 

That’s all the news for this week. It’s been fun recalling all the things I have done.