Swagger Inn 179 - It's looking very Autumnal out there, time to get the winter coats out...

[ApricotCrush]

Yet more domestic witterings...

Morning wenches.

The rest of yesterday’s productivity was re-crocheting a hat for one of the little ones because it was too small.

Lovely as ever to see DS1 and his girlfriend. LovelyMIL’s speech and understanding seemed quite a bit worse yesterday though 😔

That sounds like a lot of hard work Helen, clearing brambles and stuff. Hope you’re not too achy.

LetUsCat didn’t need grooming thankfully because he was not receptive to such behaviour. Here’s hoping Floof can be gradually dematted without Fancy suffering any injuries.

Monday beckons.

Have lovely days wenches.

Morning all. Daylight!!!!!!!!!!! It's actually light enough to feed the chickens when I get up, hurrah! Saying that, there's lots of cloud moving in, so it's getting darker as I type, but still - definite movement on sunrise.

On the down side, I ache from the more-active-than-usual weekend. I suspect the calves may be from sporty stuff rather than digging.

Forgot to say that we've got two squirrels who have worked out that they like the rosehips from the rambling roses, so we've been entertained by them recently, hanging upside down and generally scrambling about on very thin and flexible stems.

Have a good day all - everything crossed for a decent Monday all round.

Afternoon. Nice morning, bright but very windy. It's gone dull now though. I probably could have got some washing out but didn't.

Well done Helen with all the gardening, hope the aches have eased. Also well done to HelenDS with the homework, long may it continue. And awww at IdiotKitty and squirrels.

Sorry to hear about LovelyMIL LetUs.

Hope everyone's had a good day.

Evening wenches.

I totally read that as you have two squirrels working out in your garden Helen, so I’m picturing squirrels in gym gear lifting weights, on a treadmill, possibly on a rowing machine. It’s been a stressful Monday 😄

Was lovely this morning, rain all afternoon.

Evening all. Today has been work, and taxi-ing DS, who has had a hair cut - less Thor and more Chris Hemsworth now. I also started on a CJ Sansom 'Shardlake' book - I'm reading them all out of order depending on what the library has in. I think this is the second one. It's good - if slightly confusing due to my time-travel approach to them!

Weather stayed dry until this evening, then raiiiin. <sigh>

DS's homework session yesterday went on until past midnight, so either he started on it early because he realised that he had so much to do, or it took forever because he just kept being distracted by his phone and general boredom. I'll leave you to guess which is most likely <sigh - again>

LOL at squirrels in the gym.

Hope everyone's had a good day.

Morning wenches.

MiniHelen’s approach to homework sounds similar to DS1 back in the day.

I’ve got most of the Shardlake books and have a list <nlt> with me to check when I go into various charity shops. One of the plans for next week when I’m off is to sort my books and update my lists <nto>

It’s actually not dark! Ooooooo! Tuesday though which are traditionally a bit tricky. To misquote Arthur Dent “I never could get the hang of Tuesdays”.

Have lovely days wenches.

Morning all. DS has been dispatched and I have MorningExercise shortly. I would rather do MorningSnooze, on account of staying up late to finish the book. Idiot Me.

It's dry and cloudy outside, no idea what the actual forecast is though... Have a good day all.

Afternoon. Oooo, a lovely day, it felt very spring-like. It's just starting to get dark and there's a pretty sunset between the houses.

We have been out for lunch with DH's sister and her DH. They live about two hours away and we meet in the middle. We haven't seen them for ages, so it was nice to have a catch-up.

at squirrels in gym gear.

Hope everyone's had a good day.

Evening all. Nice weather here too - is this the start of a drought now? (Bloody hope not!)

Nothing of interest to report, though I do have a nice pot of bulbs on the patio looking very spring-like. DS went for a walk with me and insisted he could walk through a field in his trainers, because he is right and what do I know? The field is like the Somme at the moment, and I'll leave you to imagine the state of his trainers. He actually gave up on the idea and retreated.

A BookList sounds like a good idea LetUs - more achievable the THE list . I usually try to remember that sort of thing in my head, which, you know, I may as well try to carry water in a sieve.

Hope everyone's had a good day.

Evening wenches.

It was quite spring-like for us too. Work was aaaarrggghhh.

Family meet up sounds lovely Apricot.

Was going through film channels earlier and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was on. DH has never seen it! Not sure how that’s possible but we’re watching Silent Witness now.

Evening.
That is sad about lovely MIL letus 😞

Love that quote about Tuesdays 😁

Very spring like here too - plenty of snowdrops in the garden and the hellebores are perking up - they have been in flower for a while now but looked half drowned, so hoping for a few dry days now.

That sounds like a perfect way to spend a spring day apricot, better than going for a walk in trainers anyhow! It's boggy enough round here and I'm on relatively high ground, goodness only knows how soggy it is at Helen's altitude 😵‍💫

Morning wenches.

Thanks for kind words re LovelyMIL.

Garden sounds lovely already Fancy. Here’s to some dry days for you.

Short working day today. It’s already quite light! Doesn’t half make a difference.

Have super days wenches.

Morning all. It's completely clear this morning, so the sun is a bit blinding clearly visible through the trees, and the chickens are shouting for food. My (your) hellebores are out as well Fancy - I kept forgetting to tell you.

I was saying to a friend yesterday about us all being the age now where parents are a cause for concern. I hope that Lovely MIL is happy in herself.

BoringOfficeJob calls today, like a mournful cry of dooooom. Spreadsheets await.
Have a good day all

Afternoon. Another lovely spring day although it’s clouded over now.

I had a wander round the garden to see what was going on. There’s a lot of brown on some of the conifers which is worrying, although one of them had loads of ladybirds on it sunning themselves. I wonder if they’re new ones or whether they’ve survived the winter. I have no idea of the life cycle of ladybirds.

Hope everyone’s had a good day.

Evening wenches.

LovelyMIL seems mostly okay but also still seems aware sometimes that she’s getting words wrong, forgetting stuff etc, which must be quite frightening for her 😔

So Helen’s got her squirrel gym and apparently Apricot has a ladybird spa 😄

Evening all. Ladybirds hibernate - mostly in our windows from what I can tell, but also just in dead cracks and sheltered spots outside. (I cracked open a window recently and then had lots of bemused ladybirds wandering around the inside of the window until they found a nice dark corner to settle back down in. I saw a brimstone butterfly today seems early even for them. I presume they must be another hibernating species.

Weather has been rather lovely here as well. (Hence the butterfly.)

MIL at this end of things has alzheimers, and though aware, doesn't seem particularly upset - more of a 'I can't remember anything - it's such a bother!' vibe. It must drive FIL a bit demented too (in a non-medical way). We don't see them much though, since they live a good hike away, never visit us, and don't encourage visits from us either so it's hard to judge how bad she is. Other than DH's regular phone calls home where he tells her the same things repeatedly without them sticking.

In good news, it wasn't dark when I left work today!

Morning wenches.

Butterflies are so beautiful especially when you see a lot of them fluttering about.

That sounds difficult Helen re the ILs.

Still dark even though I don’t feel like I’m up much earlier. Sounds breezy though. One lot of roadworks should have finished yesterday, two others - on the same short stretch of road round the corner from the first - are ongoing. And there’s a notice gone up that more start next week, for 12 weeks. Noooooooo.

On that cheerful note, I shall get on with things and try to stop being a misery moaner.

Have great days wenches.

Morning all. Your roadworks do seem endless LetUs I think you're allowed to be sick and tired of them!

Clear and sunny again here - all pale silvery gold, so no sign of this atmospheric Saharan dust cloud we're meant to be getting.

Today involves nothing out of the ordinary (that I'm aware of).

Have a good day all.

Morning
It all sounds sadly familiar letus and Helen fingers crossed that your MILs remain as happy as is possible, but it must be so scary for them 😞

Bloody hot water wouldn't come on again last night, meaning the boiler isn't working again <sigh> am out at a client's all week, so WFH is not convenient - hoping to get an appointment this week so I'm not without heating and hot water until Monday, but that may depend on getting one late today or tomorrow or early tomorrow, so I can at least be out at work for part of the day.

Afternoon. Not such a nice day, it's been raining this afternoon, although I did make a cuppa at 7 o'clock this morning without putting a light on, so that's progress.

Interesting about the ladybirds Helen. Both of our mothers died of dementia, although my DM lived 30 years longer than MIL, not with dementia for that time I hasten to add. It's a very cruel condition.

Oh no, LetUs, not more roadworks.

That's awful Fancy, hope you can get it sorted quickly.

Evening all.

FFS Fancy, what a pain! Hope you've manged to get someone booked in at a convenient time for you.

I got washing mostly dry on the line today, thought it clouded over fairly early. The rain arrived about 4pm. Not much work on so I also got some stuff done in the garden and faffed online.

Hope everyone has had a good day.

Evening wenches.

Wind, rain, wind, rain.

What a bloody pain about your boiler Fancy. Hope it gets a permanent fix quickly.

<squidges> to everywench because of dementia suffering past and present, but also just because.

Bored of complaining about work so I won’t <whispers> it’s so shit

Morning wenches.

Friiiiiiidddaaayyyyyyyyy!!!!

It’s quite light outside and it’s not raining. Hopefully the good news will not end there.

Have super days wenches.

Morning all. It's gone back to cloudy and gloom here, and wet. It's been raining overnight I think, and then still drizzling now.

TFIFriday and all that, I'm looking forward to tomorrow's lie-in

Have a good day all <Paddington Bear Stare at Fancy's boiler>

Well, plumber arrived & boiler was working ok when I left, so fingers crossed this fix is longer lasting.

<re-directs all hard stares from my boiler to Letus's roadworks>

Dementia is hard to deal with - this is 'only' my stepmother so not the same emotional connection as for the rest of you, which must be even harder for you.