Busy Day

It’s been from the sublime to the ridiculous today.  Yesterday I was so shattered I couldn’t do anything, today I am shattered because I haven’t stopped.  So far today I have:

• Transplanted plants from the front garden to pots (13 pots, I hope the transfers are luckier than that number.
• Done 2 9kg loads of washing.
• Hung all the washing on the line.
• Painted the front fence – it’s 6 foot tall it was thirsty for paint (yes lots of gardening being done at the moment.
• Cooked a fish pie (which I’m looking forward to eating because it’s in the oven right now and smells wonderful!)
• Been a taxi service for my daughter.
• Written 6 marketing paragraphs.
• Posted a blog and stuck that on social media.
• And now I’m writing this blog.

Apparently, the post-vaccine exhaustion has left me, though I have every intention of doing little more today.  After dinner I am going to have a long soak in a hot bath and then put my feet up with a book for the evening.  There doesn’t appear to be much on TV, so I may binge some more of “Shakespeare and Hathaway”.

Jeopardy

The peace was jeopardised this morning when I came down to sit and write only to hear snarling outside.  Ginge, neighbourhood cat, on the patio facing off with Pearly – our cat.  I opened the door and they split, Ginge shooting down the garden and Pearly straight in to demand breakfast before trotting upstairs to bed.

Given that the weather has cooled down and we’ve had various showers over the last few days, I decided to play a game of jeopardy too – I put the washing on the line.

When I got out there and started putting things on the whirler, I discovered I was actually playing game of double jeopardy.  Some kind animal had left a substantial – well let’s call it a calling card, shall we? – within the whirler’s radius.  So, I had to change the way I hang long skirts and trousers because I do not want them accidently swinging into that.

While I was out there, Ozzie, a neighbour’s cat and frequent visitor to our garden, appears on the fence.  He wanders down to where I’m standing, sniffs the laundry basket and saunters off – straight through the open door and into the conservatory!  Cheeky blighter.  Inside I see him sniff at the kitchen door (also open), but at that point he turned, saw me looking at him, then he ran back out.

I finished pegging out the washing, assuming Ozzie had run off. When I came in, I closed the conservatory door behind me, only to hear a bell tinkling as Ozzie runs out of the kitchen from the direction of Pearly’s bowls and wants out.  I let him go.  Trapped with a scared cat is not a place I want to be.

I did check, and what little Pearly’s left of her breakfast, was gone.

Full On

Today has been rather full on.

Full and heavy day in work, plus getting a lot of washing done, doing the weekly shop and being mum’s taxi – at shorter notice then intended because she got a call from her work saying they wanted her in earlier than the rota said.

And all that after a night when I didn’t get off to sleep quickly because the cat, from her position under the bed was making such weird noises, she kept me awake till gone midnight. Then there was the biggest clap of thunder I’ve heard in ages woke me up – at 02:45! After that the rain came in and the thunder went on, so took a while to get back off. Then I was awake at six even though the alarm didn’t go off till seven. Safe to say there was not a lot of sleep in those hours.

I’ve a list of things I should be doing, this blog included, but this is it for the night, once this is posted, that’s it for me tonight.  Feet up, and early night. Except for the tumble drying to be sorted and the stuff on the line to be brought in.

Yeah, full on day today.

Weird Day

Tried to get some writing done today, as usual that lead to some odd Google searches.  First search was for when was barbed wire invented? Turns out it was 1867 which is great, my book is set in 1875. 

When looking up barbed wire, I saw a link to a gentleman named Gail Borden, and since that’s close to my name (Gail Barden Williams), I thought I’d have a look at him because I’ve never before come across a man with the name Gail (it’s usually Gale for men).  Apparently, he helped plan the cities of Houston and Galveston in 1836 and in 1853 created a process to make sweetened condensed milk. 

The internet can lead you down some weird rabbit holes.

Then this evening I’ve had to google birth dates of Gary Numan and Gary Oldman.  Why? Because a Twitter post pointed out that Gary Numan is 13 days older than Gary Oldman, so I had to check that out.

The rest of the day I was making up chores just so I didn’t write.  I tidied up the corner of my bedroom that’s been a mess since I moved in (20 years ago). I washed down the wall by the bin – it needed doing but didn’t have to be done today. And I put all clothes away, which just goes to show I’ve too many clothes because I can’t get them all in my closet.

Then after a blue-sky morning of getting washing out on the line, we had a sudden and odd thunderstorm so I had to go get everything off the line.  Rain caused flash floods in the area, and thunder rumbled on oddly but we never saw any lightning.

Despite all that, I still managed to write 1600 words, and I’m pleased with that.

Finishing

Today I have been mostly finishing stuff.

I finished the washing, and got it out on the line, were if mostly dried.  There were a few bits that needed 20 mins in the tumble drying, but air drying is my preference where possible.  Of course, now I have a pile of ironing that I haven’t even started. I finished typing up my notes for book 5.  I finished the edits on one of my Locked Books from the proof-reader.  All I have to do now is make it available – one of the more useful things about self publishing, it’s easy to change the text if necessary.

It was such a nice day that I got to spend a fair amount of time sitting in the garden. Which was really pleasant, except that the neighbours had their radio on too loud and their choice of radio station is certainly not mine. It annoyed me so much that I ended up coming in just to be aware from it.  Though in all honesty it was also starting to turn cold, so I wouldn’t have lingered much longer anyway.

In a complete change of direction, jeans are a difficult thing to find with a decent fit, but yesterday I took a chance on buying a new pair from Tesco.  Today I’ve worn them all day, and they are so comfortable.  It’s lovely to find a pair of jeans that fit properly and comfortably.  The fact that they didn’t cost a fortune is also a good thing.

Right well, up for a movie night now. Aliens.  Got my pop. Got my popcorn.  Got my feet up.  That’s all now.

Planted

What a day.

Got up about 08:30 and since it was sunny I put yesterdays load of washing on the line. Then I came in and started the next load of washing. Then I remembered to take the tablets. Actually, on that front, don’t think I’ve mentioned, I’ve added a spoonful of linseeds to my morning routine, it helps with digestion, been doing that a week now, it’s working.

Anyway, while the washing was on, I worked more on my manuscript, then, sent it off to my structural editor.  A month from now I should know if it’s any good.

Next load of washing on, I put a load of bedding plants in pots in the back garden. Carnations, Sweet Williams and Geraniums, but mostly Pansies, large and small flowers.  What I couldn’t get into the pots in the back, I put in the front flower bed I dug the other day.

After that, a trip to Tesco for the weekly shop and a total floor show of a stupid woman thinking that just because she had some kind of letter (I was too far away to hear details) she could go around the shop with her mother when Tesco policy is one person at a time.  The Tesco girl did really well, then letter-woman storms off demanding that the woman make sure everyone else does the same. I looked down the line – no other couples.

Then home, shopping away, cooking dinner (homemade pizza and garlic bread). More dealing with the washing, including having to finish a lot of it off in tumble dryer – it’s sunny outside, but so cold the washing just isn’t drying properly. 

Also today heard of the death of the first person I know personally dying of coronavirus.

Physically a good day, but worries continue.