Come and tell me your dull and unexciting news 30: 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 a link to the prior thread:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5013993-come-and-tell-me-your-dull-and-unexciting-news-29-calmly-through-the-day

Welcome to all regulars, lurkers, and new contributors! Everyone is welcome to join.

Sprouts, cruise sounds great! Good news for your ds!
Death, yikes! Bus travel sounds complicated.

Off to Havoc's soccer this morning. Am a bit apprehensive as I've got something going on with my back this past month causing quite a bit of pain, it had settled for a few days until yesterday. 😬
Sunny here. Supposed to get quite warm.

@Penguinsa ...how are you today after your rollercoaster of a week x

I noticed you mentioned that you r DD was heading off to Venice (?)

Didn't want to say anything at the time at the thread was in't the right place ...

But that is what the boys and I are planning at the moment!
Next year we are going to Venice as our little holiday (and ds 3 big birthday 🎈 🎂!)

I would love to know her do's/don'ts about the trip !!

We have lots of ideas and plans on our group chat...but I get final say !

I decided just Venice and lake Garda ...

Ds1 wanted to include Florence as well ....

I said there are only a certain amount of beautiful buildings I could appreciate in the space of 3 days ...so no ....

Little and often is best ...not all in one go ....and I really want to have a glass of wine overlooking Lake Garda !!

I had one day in Venice! I think this was when I went to Albania and we popped over the border. It was a very hot August day. I loved it. I remember watching a programme with Angela Hartnett and Fred (cannot spell his last name) but they were showing how food is delivered by boat and they have to weave in and out of the gormless tourists with their trollies and the famous coffee place that charges an arm and a leg does not have a kitchen there but somewhere else and they again have to move cakes and stuff on trollies. The cakes looked lush.

I also love Venice Death 😆Just realised Death in Venice, the film / book.

You will have a wonderful time in Venice Bizzey When we have been before we stayed at Villa Edera Hotel on Venice Lido. We always get the vaporetto boat travel card and get the boat to Murano and Burano and potter round those as well as Venice main island. It's really magical. Been to Florence as well, that seemed to be lots of art galleries and cafes, preferred Venice, and we also went to Pisa up the leaning tower, need to pre book that but good fun, just a day there and for us it was via Florence. Italian trains are great especially the fast ones. Rome is great as well, love Colessium and Vatican. And Amalfi Coast. Italy is my favourite European country and Venice my favourite city in it. If you fly to Marco Polo airport you can get the boat in, not sure if need to pre book. I always used to get the £1 Ryanair flights and the 2 euro Ryanair bus though those days have gone.

I am actually feeling fine now, hacked off about operation, but otherwise fine. DD is into Oxford and I am looking forward to new job. I have been back in touch with 2 old colleagues due to references and lovely to catch up and one said he is very jealous. Have just been for afternoon tea in garden with DH and another couple of hours gardening together and now both green bins are full ready to be collected on Wed. I wasn't quite sure at first what to do as had planned just operation recovery but have been doing things for new job, DDs uni, gardening and also cleaned DSs bathroom today.

DD has been punting with boyfriend, his brother, parents and family friend and she is going to his university on his first day with his parents. She is doing her punting job today. Gardening is looking good, always more to do. Neighbours are so happy DD is into Oxford, they are elderly and have been asking all the time. Floof is very happy I am home.

Congrats on results Sprouts and glad you had a good holiday.

Thanks Uman and Havoc. Hope soccer went ok Havoc.

Deathray Yes, one down, and sadly at least one more to go. I have set six traps and will contact the landlord to see if he can get the basement investigated. They use the hot air vents to get around the building.

Venice sounds wonderful, bizzey. Lovely to all go together.

Sending positive vibes about your back, havoc. Being the mother of babies and toddlers can result in all kinds of strain. Hope it's something easily identified and treatable.

We had cloudbursts of biblical proportions yesterday, and it's hot and humid today with thundershowers forecast. I decided to skip the farmers' market because of the stickiness, and I'll probably turn on the AC later. I made a salade Nicoise last evening and still have plenty left over for tonight, thankfully, because my kitchen gets really hot in this kind of weather if I cook anything.

Penguinsa, congrats to your DD on getting into Oxford. When do her classes start?

Havoc, do you have any idea what might have set off your back pain?

Math, can mice really climb up the air ducts? Even with their little claws, I can't see how they would go up the verticle ones. What floor is your apartment on?

It's been blissfully quiet here. DS's job search continues, and a friend from uni will visit and stay with us for a few days in September. DS visited him in Pittsburg a few months ago. It's in western Pennsylvania, about a six hour drive, so not a quick trip. DH and I have been discussing when to retire next year. It feels odd to be contemplating not working. DH has discussed it with his boss at work and they've tried to persuade him to put it off, but he thinks they just don't want to be bothered to replace him. He runs the IT department where he works, so it will be a bit of a search.

It's been nice here, August weather to be sure, but not as hot as July. Some of the flowers on the deck are looking a bit tired. But September is right around the corner, so it's to be expected.

Thanks MissC Think she goes there on 7th October and first week is Freshers Week so maybe classes from around 14th October. Most universities start earlier. Oxford and Cambridge have 8 week terms x 3. Though you often stay there maybe 10 weeks a term.

Just a quick post to thank everyone for the kind thoughts. Miss, I have disc bulges in my low back and causes pain down front/back of my leg along with low back pain. Three weeks ago I think I tweaked it trying to adjust baby in carrier. Went for trigger point injections to release the spasm which helped. Yesterday I think the culprit was a very heavy garbage bag full of diapers that I lifted wrong. 🤦‍♀️🤬🤬🤬🤬
Math, t-storms in our forecast tonight.
Bizzey, Penguinsa, Venice sounds fab!!!! 😎
Soccer went "ok" but I took rx pain med & tylenol.
Managed a Costco shop after.
Have got a lovely giant salad waiting for me of chicken, rocket, goat feta, tomatoes, cukes, yellow bell pepper and a lemon evoo dressing. Put together a fruit platter of pineapple, strawberries, blackberries and grapes. And have got massive (Costco, of course) pineapple cupcakes for dessert, so will need a cold latte to go with...🤔🫠
There's a movie playing outdoors in Burnaby tonight, so might try to make it over with dc. 🤞
Got a sleeping baby on me atm which is so lovely I'm not wanting to move... okay, so not a short post after all. 🤭
Hope everyone is having/has had a lovely Saturday.
Miss, you still doing your weekend burgers?
Penguinsa, still doing Wordle etc?
Floof, still playing in boxes? 😊

Sorry about your back Havoc

Yes Floof loves boxes and a sheet of paper to sit on. Don't really do Wordle anymore. Floof also loves a long stick we have with a feather on as a cat game but tonight DH took the stick behind Floof and wiggled the feather in front of Floof and Floof was very shocked this was possible (not the brightest of creatures) but then started playing. He loves cat nuts to be thrown and we have floor beams about 40cm high as very old house from c.1550 so he's like doing the hurdles.

Sorry your back is sore Havoc.

Is your DD excited Penguina?

DS had a play date yesterday and made pizza with his friend.

Miss C mice are incredible climbers and would manage a vertical air duct they can squeeze through homes the size of a penny. How are you feeling about retirement? For my mum and dad it was an adjustment for sure.

@Mumtobabyhavoc

Oooh ouchie! I always thought women should have stronger backs than men because they are the ones who do the most lifting when involving babies.

Feling sad today as one of the porters has died. Not the Phillipino ones but the white guy who had cancer. He was in a hospice last week and has finally let go. He was a great guy and we often talked about bands because we both loved punk! He was such a fighter. He will be missed.

No mishaps on the way to work on the bus this afternoon though I did forget which one I was on. I have a choice of 2 buses to get to work (then I take another). No matter, I soon realised!

Penguinsa, that is a late start. Here freshers week is usually the last week in August, with classes starting after Labor Day in September.

Havoc, have you looked into surgery for the bulging discs? I had a herniated disc in my neck replaced in April after experiencing numbness and tingling in my arm. It worked. I also had sciatica that took a bit of surgery on my lower spine to resolve. I'm very glad I had both. We are still doing burgers on the weekend. Last night DH was about to start the fire when it started raining, so we had to take out from an Italian place instead. I had veal Francese over linguini, which was really good.

Lemons, I know that mice are incredibly agile. I just can't picture how they would use their little claws to climb a vertical duct made of sheet metal. I have mixed feelings about retirement. On the one hand, I'm tired of the stress of working and having to get up early every day. On the other, it's a bit of a leap, as I'm not sure how I'd occupy my time. And while DH assures me that we have enough money put aside to retire, my government pension will only be about half of what I earn now. It's hard to transition from being a saver to being a spender. And we want to redo the kitchen and make some other home improvements, so who knows what those will cost? How did your mum and dad make the adjustment, and what about it was hard for them? My brother retired two years ago, so I'll have to have a chat with him about it.

Deathray, I'm sorry to hear about your porter. Did he only spend a week in hospice? That's a really short stay for a terminal cancer patient.

It's going to rain all day here, so we won't be cooking out tonight either.

Just started watering the back garden, and the hose split! Luckily it's fixed to an outside tap, so nothing got flooded. It's the second expandable one I've had, and they've both split. I think I'll look into getting a stainless steel one.

Sue, we replaced our garden hoses with these a few years ago. They're indestructible.

Stanley Professional Garden Hose

We've had so much rain recently that I haven't needed to use them much.

Thanks. Does it come with a spray head, or do you know one that fits it?

Miss, I'll be going for an updated x-ray to see if anything has changed - hoping no changes!
Penguinsa, I'm still doing wordle and the other nyt games most days. I usually do them when bf'ing middle of the night.
Floof, good to know you're still easily amused. 🩷
Sue, nice to see you pop in. 😊 I've seen expanding garden hoses advertised on tv and wondered how good they were. 🤔

Having a simple dinner. I made beef meatballs, roasted some baby new potatoes and put a raw veg plate together with hummus to dip.

Spent some time at Granville Island today. Lee's doughnuts put on a block party to celebrate 45 years in business. Stood in line for a free doughnut only to get to the front and the last one had been given away. Went to their shop and bought one. Wandered by tent again and they were giving them away again, so got a free one to bring home. 😁
Made it to the outdoor movie last night in Burnaby. I think it was the best set-up and atmosphere so far.
Pics in next posts.

Outdoor movie in Burnaby:

Granville Island

Block party

I think I need one of those hoses, I use hoselock which is great in that you can buy all sorts of attachments but even their heavy duty range don’t last long enough.
I am a wordle addict, I ask anyone I am with if they have got it today. This generally sends them scrabbling for their phones so I don’t ruin it for them.
Travelling in Italy I was surprised to see double decker trains, not seen them elsewhere. They put us to shame with how clean, quiet, reliable and cheap they were.
I would also be interested in tales of travel in the lake Garda, Venice region, that is definitely on my list. Florence was great but it felt like a tourist attraction, we preferred Luca.

@MissConductUS

Yes it was end of care - no food or drink. He had been so strong.

Miss C - financially my parents had been very smart with pension plans and released a fair lump sum which they used for many amazing trips visiting china india Uzbekistan America Canada for 10 years or so before DF passed away. The thing they found hard was for most of their adult life they had worked and not spent evey moment together it was a huge adjustment for them and they had to get into their own rhythm again.

Block party looked amazing Havoc

Hope your back feels better soon @Mumtobabyhavoc. Loving your pics and have fond memories of visiting Granville Island last year - DH loved it!
@bizzey I love Lake Garda so much - have visited several times and is the one place I would visit again, also would like to go to lake Maggiore.
@sueelleker I find hosepipes very annoying generally, I can never work out the attachments!
Back to work tomorrow, I'm trying to help DS prepare for exam - he is quite despondent as he is worrying if he does a practice paper it will reveal insurmountable weaknesses! That together with AS level results being ok but not stellar he is on a bit of a downer at present.

My older relatives and friends who have retired lasted about a month before they started looking for part time jobs, volunteer opportunities, or set themselves up as consultants. My relatives ended up living twenty years on average from retirement, and while they couldn't have foreseen that, they definitely felt they had more left in them in their mid 60s.

Yes, the mice can climb and also jump. I'm not sure how the air vents are configured in my building, but I know they're old and it's been a few years since they were cleaned out too, so I suspect there is plenty of dirt for them to hold onto, and probably little gaps or holes where they can get in and out, plus ridges where sections of the ductwork join set would provide a spot to grip. My traps are still set and undisturbed. I've closed all the vents, though some don't close fully (very old).

Now that the middle of August has arrived, ragweed pollen has started to make its presence felt. You know it's bad when you sneeze yourself awake.

DD is super excited about Oxford Lemons. Glad playdate was good.

So sorry about porter Death

Lovely pics Havoc

Been to Chatsworth today. Lovely day out with DH.