Come and tell me your dull and unexciting news 21: Calmly through the day

[MissConductUS]

I've started a new one. Please join us and share the boring and mundane things happening in your world. It will be calming for all.

Here is the link to the prior thread:

Come and tell me your dull and unexciting news 20: Calmly through the day

Thank you Nydj It was expected but not quite so sudden.

DB waded into the Baltic see - 2°C water temperatur and 10°C outside, but lovely weather.

We got 1” of snow, very windy, but did not lose power. I think the whole bomb cyclone thing must have been inland from here.

Clocks went forward so sunset is at 6.45, hurray!

Sorry for your loss Prok.
I love the look of alpacas they are great pack animals.
Lovely painting love.

Having lazy afternoon here. Cooked a beef roast and invited in-laws. Was yummy.

DS watching the only programme he really likes.

He is starting to have what I can only describe as mini tantrums and head butting. Now I know all the development things I’ve seen, read and researched over the years suggested that at 9 months they shouldn’t do this but he is. 🤦‍♀️😬

I’ve been out filling our green garden waste bins with the old stalks from my Jerusalem artichoke patch - the bins (council) aren’t emptied from November to early March so it’s cause for great celebration when the routine starts up again. Unfortunately I filled up one bin in about 5 minutes (we’ve got 2) and as ever am realising just how much tidying euphemism there is to do in the garden. Several dozen bins might scratch the surface

Anyway, here are some pics of my hellebores in flower…

Beautiful hellebores

I had to google that - Helleboren are Christrosen or Lenzrosen (Lenz = spring). They are lovely. I have never seen them in real life.

I think I'll visit the botanical garden next week - the houses are open again and perhaps I'll see even a few early flowers.

My condolences on your loss Prok.

Lots going on with DS's car this morning. DH was clearing the snow and ice off of the windscreen and one of the wiper blades ripped. Fortunately, there was an auto parts store open in the next town that will replace them for you, so he drove up there and replaced both. DH and DS then removed the old registration sticker that expired on Friday and put the new one on. Finally, DH downloaded new maps to the GPS satnav unit in the car.

It was a bit warmer yesterday than the forecast, so we only got about two inches of snow and a lot melted off the driveway on its own. The winds last night were fierce.

DH and DS have gone off for a shop and I'm getting things ready for dinner. We're going to do steak and chicken on the grill.

All of these flowers are inspiring me, but it's frustrating because it's too early for me to do any gardening here.

I am feeling a bit cranky today has our clocks went forward last night. I am one of those people who do not think Daylight time is a good thing. Our apartment faces Southwest and frankly the Sun still beaming in at 9pm is less than pleasant during the summer.

So I expressed my displeasure by getting up early and walking the dog, then both of us went back to bed.

It is even worse now it starts so soon and lasts so long. We had a referendum but the only choice was stay with daylight savings time all year or not. Sneaky question I say.

Love the Hellebores. We have a small patch of cream ones in our building garden.

Lovely to see the spring flower photos. We have spring flowers here too now, asked DH what we have and he said 'daffodils and a quite a few other unidentified flowers' We inherited the most beautiful garden.

Sorry to hear of your loss Prok Love the alpaca photo.

Just about to have a late Sunday lunch, had the homemade marmelade on toast for breakfast. Watching Below Deck. Very sleepy all the time but guess may as well sleep whilst I can but second week of this. The chemo starts on 21st. I can get a second opinion but I do have all the data now and the difference is really attitude to risk. No-one also knows where I will be on the scale of 100 women. The guess is I will be around the mid-point so there would be no benefit to chemo and just the risks and women at the very top of the scale die either way with or without chemo but under them there are 6 women that live to pass the 10 years barrier due to chemo who would die in under 10 years if they did not do it. What I have agreed to is the chemo with the lowest long term risks and roughly same benefits as other 2 she suggested. She said risks of this one are 1% sepsis, risk of permanent hair loss, risk of permanent neuropathy in hands and feet and 3 months of upset stomach / feeling like rubbish and no hair and likely peripheral neuropathy, toe and finger nail damage/can come off during treatment. If I get sepsis repeatedly or bad allergic reactions they are likely to stop with no benefits. I did find in some countries they ice hands and feet during treatment and that reduces the chance of peripheral neuropathy/nail damage a lot, don't offer it here and thought I was slightly mad but I will try and create it if they allow me. Seems to be a lot of teeth damage as well from chemos and horrendous dental bills as teeth fall out/damaged and you have to go private to get treated. I have sent a message to my dentist and did have my teeth done in January and my dentist did know a lot about chemo damage to teeth so he warned me as well which they don't do at hospital but know about it on the Facebook breast cancer group. One person was quoted £30k to repair the damage though normally its more like £1-2k if needed. I have swayed both ways on it but most oncologists seem to recommend it in my case when I asked people online though one was interesting in that they said their oncologist did not recommend it and thought only benefit was forcing you into menopause as data showed it benefits pre-menopausal women like me but not post menopausal. But that was based on low risk oncotype scores and mine was high risk Prosigna, my oncologist said I would be a lower category with oncotype, I think intermediate and their is insufficient research data to say either way. But its been 8 weeks now with no treatment and just want to get on with something. Think I may need to do weekly drive through pcrs too, argh.

I’m sorry for your loss, Prok.

We have had a mixed day - on the one hand we cleared a lot of crap out of the garage, got rid of DS’s old bike, and I did a 10k race and got a pb despite getting a bit lost and adding an extra bit onto the course 🙈 On the other hand, DS is grizzly and the dog has just been sick on the carpet. Again. No idea what’s going on with him at the moment, he has been to the vets and even had an x-ray to try and rule anything nasty out, and they found nothing. I’m hoping this time was a case of excessive amounts of deer poo in his diet. DH is not happy and wants to muzzle him on walks 🙈😨

Silkie Wow, you are informed!
I, too, had a warning talk about all the side effects I could possibly have (everything from teeth via nerve damage to cancer) - but, me being me , I ignored all of that and prayed for the best. Everything else would have been too stressful.

Spudlet I hope it is dog poo - dogs seem to like eating shit of all origins. My DM's family bred Alsatians and she had stomach-turning stories to tell.

ChampagneCat went outdoors for the first time today. She was out for approximately 19 seconds and then retreated to lie on the bed in the sun for the rest of the day.

I will definitely make a note that, given a choice, I will come back as a cat

Have also watched the Crufts final. As gun dog people both DH and I were thrilled with the result, and consequently had very little to argue about

I spent most of yesterday giving the kitchen a really deep clean after DD4 told me she had seen a mouse the previous night - 'Oh by the way, I saw a mouse around 1 in the morning...' This is the same daughter who shrieks when she sees any kind of insect indoors... Hoping the traps I set won't hurt Dcat (who sleeps through mouse incursions but loves to investigate traps) and will dispatch the mouse. I also hope there is just one mouse.

In the evening I watched Eurovision entries for 2022 on YouTube. I'm definitely getting old.

Prok condolences, and I hope the cousins will be able to find a way to keep in touch. My own 'second generation' of cousins have a family WhatsApp which helps. Here in the US there are often big family reunions where everyone wears a family T-shirt and enjoys a massive BBQ in a park.

Enjoying the photos of flowers and alpacas. I think Hellebores are sometimes called Lenten Roses here. This has led me to look up the etymology of 'lent' which apparently comes from the Old English for spring.

Travelled back today from a weekend away with family in the countryside which has been really lovely. I'm tired and happy to go back to normality tomorrow though.

Our sweet little guy being very cuddly on my lap. Also clearly begging for a tummy rub.

Sorry for your loss prok

Beautiful photos all! Unfortunately no photo taking opportunities this weekend, was super busy but not with anything particularly exciting.

Here’s to another week!

Lots to catch up on.

Lemonsandlemonade those are very cute photos. I get you with the baby carrier killing your back.

ZZTop commiserations to your DH for the rugby. We have Le Crunch to look forward to. Both teams always go all out for that game.

Helena I admire your dedication. That was a full day's work and then some!

Lovefall that's a great picture. If you add a few Easter eggs nesting at the bottom it would make a lovely card. I'll put up a close up for you so you can see the details of the flower head.

Sorry for your family's loss Prok . It must be hard for your DH so soon after his DM. Cute Alpaca .

The French team were so solid in defence Shoes and the Welsh lacked a certain je ne sais pas .

Have you had any cake yet Miss? Did you get much snow? Glorious day here after a bit of a wet and grey weekend.

Champagne I once rode in the back of a police van in Zimbabwe. I was 17 and at boarding school. The school took me to the station to report a theft and the police gave me a lift back. The other passenger had been charged with murder and he was being taken to prison awaiting trial. When I tell my kids stories of my African upbringing they're incredulous.

Hope that you and yours are all OK Silkie.

So much to catch up on that I missed a whole page! Waves to everyone.

Washing is on the line outside for the first time this year.

Morning all, just popped in to share that someone on our several-hundred-strong Teams call this morning accidentally left his camera on, and all he was wearing was a towel! 😂 Poor chap will now forever be known as Tarzan…

Sunbird the thought of your towel-wearing colleague has made me laugh, but it could have been worse - at least he didn’t accidentally put the filter on to turn himself into a cat like that American bloke on Zoom 😂

Makiwa, we did have cake last night. It was delicious. We put a candle on it and sang happy birthday too.

We got about two inches of wet, heavy snow. It was a bit warmer than the forecast, so a lot of what fell on the driveway melted. DS's car was covered in a layer of ice and snow though. It's supposed to warm up considerably this week. Our clocks went forward an hour Sunday morning, which is always disruptive. I think I'm only four hours behind GMT at the moment, which means that MN will go silent later in the evening for me.

I was listening to the Economist's daily news podcast called The Intelligence this morning and they did a story about Tesco giving employees body cameras so that when customers have a tantrum about the price of a box of biscuits going up by 5p they can record it. Apparently, it's worked to reduce the abuse staff has to endure. I can't quite get my head around this. What's happened to the famous British politeness?

I think the pandemic killed it off miss people seem so much less tolerant, understanding and patient these days. I think emotional reserves required for these attitudes have been so far depleted that people are running on empty.

We’ve had to move two classes to remote learning, despite what you would believe from Governmental communications, Covid hasn’t magically disappeared from schools!

Very heavy rain here this morning. We get huge surges of moisture off the Pacific that prompt a "rainfall warning" and are sometimes called the pineapple express as the surge comes from Hawaii. Everything is sodden.

I was entertained by a bulldog wearing a coat and literally refusing to walk. His owner said he hated mornings!

I had to drag our little guy as he kept trying to go back in. It is amazing how much resistance a little dog can generate. He finally did his business then pulled me back in. He absolutely hates rain. He shakes himself indignantly as soon as we are under cover.

I have gone back to bed with some Tylenol in an effort to quiet the joint pain in my sacral area. I think it is time to talk to my GP about it and see if anything can be done. It is tough because I can't take NSAIDs.

Thanks for the picture @Makiwa. I have concluded your lovely double flowers are beyond my skill level with watercolour, but maybe a very loose rendition would work. White flowers are tough as you usually need to mask the area, which is what I did to keep the area white while I painted the background

First time this year when the wind was not icy. DH just went out to a second 'in person with actual humans' meeting in a pup. Yay for him!
Love Lovely little dog and yes, if I had fur I would not go out in the rain either
Miss We usually have family reunion of my DM's family, but the last one was cancelled bc. of the plague. Which remindes me I must find out of the archive in Essen is open again (I do family research).

Yay indeed prok I had a lovely pub evening with my sisters this weekend.

Just been for a run to shake off the day, a beautiful evening here.