Being a record of some miscellaneous things and thoughts during the month.
From here on, I don’t guarantee to write something every day, mainly because life is dull and there isn’t always something interesting to record – and I doubt you all want to hear a continual tail of my woes and the weather. However the interesting, curious, strange, and just downright stupid will continue to be noted down. See also the entry for Sunday 17th.
So here are this month’s observations …
Friday 1
What an awful, dull, dismal day. Anyone would think it was November. Oh, wait a minute …
Saturday 2
A really good and positive GP patient group meeting this morning which left me with lots to do and much food for thought.
Sunday 3
We’re surrounded by the Paraffinians! Last night the locals were even returning fire. Why do people have fireworks which do little except sound like artillery fire? Actually why do people have fireworks at all? How can they afford it?
Monday 4
The gardener was here and he filled up the bird feeders. Within minutes there were 7 green parakeets having a party. Meanwhile I spotted a solitary redwing sitting in the ash tree a couple of gardens away.
Tuesday 5
What shall we do today? Oh, I know, let’s have our annual celebration of terrorism.
Wednesday 6
I’m not sure which is the worse example of shooting oneself in the foot: Brexit or another Trump US Presidency. Just never under estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers. Buckle up guys, it’s going to be a bumpy ride, and we may not see you on the other side. 😟😟😟
Thursday 7
I found an odd screw on the study floor. It must be the one I lost out of my ear the other day. It would explain a lot!
Friday 8
Overnight, someone took all my elastic bands out. Very depressed, achy, energy-less and sleepy all day, but somehow I managed to make myself cook dinner. Roll on April.
Saturday 9
I’m completely confused. I have no idea what day it is, and I never have these days. It’s not just that once retired all the days are alike, because it wasn’t always like this. Everything has been thrown asunder by N going to the hospital three times a week – and as one of the days is a Saturday it means that weekends almost don’t exist any more, which throws everything out. This, plus the grey winter weather, is one of the current causes of my depression. It’s enough to drive you insane!
Sunday 10
Oh dear God! It’s bloody Remembrance Day again. Can’t we do away with it? I blogged about my views back in 2015 and 2010 so I won’t bore you all at length again.
Monday 11
Spend some time this morning doing maintenance on the pond, which I’ve been putting off, partly due to the cold and wet, because cleaning the filter and pumps is a wet, dirty job. It was quite pleasant out; dry and not even too cold – although it didn’t help that, as always, I got wet and dirty. Soon sorted with a good scrub up and some clean togs.
Tuesday 12
I seemed to have spent at least half the day trying to sort out and order Christmas presents. I think I almost suceeded, at vast expense, as always.
Wednesday 13
I slept so late this morning that I was woken up by the Rosie Cat coming along to see if I was OK.
Thursday 14
Trying, in vain this morning, to finish the supermarket order but completely stymied because the supermarket website is all over the floor – some bits work; some don’t; and for some it depends on which route you take to what you want. Aaarrrrgggghhhhhh!
Friday 15
What is it that creates “one of those days” when everything conspires, gets in the way, or just destroys itself? There seems no rhyme nor reason, especially when it is happening to both of us at the same time.
Saturday 16
Talk about dereliction of duty. We have an intruder (entire male) cat; he’s a pest and has been around for a long time, although I’m not sure if he’s still the alpha male. Can our three not see it off? Not a chance. Boy and Rosie are each twice his weight and could make mincemeat of him; but none of them work together. No, we do nothing, even when we have him trapped in the kitchen between me one end and Boy Cat guarding the exit through the catdoor. Provost Sergeant would not be impressed.
Sunday 17
This is silly, and I fear getting slightly pointless. There’s so little happening, that there’s nothing much worth writing about. The depression doesn’t help, but it’s more than that. The world’s gone to the dogs in a wheelbarrow and trying to make any sense of anything is only going to make the depression worse. So I might take a break; perhaps write sporadically when there’s something worth writing about – or not if there isn’t. After all you don’t all want to hear of nothing but my misery!
Tuesday 19
Awoke this morning to really large chunks of snow falling from the sky. We weren’t expecting this, it wasn’t supposed to get south of Leicester! It didn’t last and had turned to rain within an hour; but it was quite pretty while it was falling. Snow this early in November is I think fairly unusual. But then everything’s fairly unusual at the moment.
Wednesday 20
Blimey it was cold last night; cold like we’re not used to these days. So this morning a very heavy frost; all the roofs were white. It’s the sort of frost that when I was at school we wouldn’t have been allowed to play rugby as the ground was dangerously hard.
Thursday 21
Yes, it’s Beaujolais Nouveau Day – the 3rd Thursday in November – when we get to taste the first fruits of this year’s vendage. I’ve not bought Beaujolais Nouveau for many years, after a few bad years, but as the Wine Society are stocking it this year (which they don’t normally) I figured it would be worth a try. So a box of 6 arrived this morning; and was sampled this evening. It’s clearly nouveau, but not a bad bit of “blackberry juice” for all that: slightly acid and slightly yeasty as one would expect, but with some flavour too. So with luck this year’s vintage may well be reasonable.
Saturday 23
A wild, wet and windy morning. And the first thing I see: a red kite drifting in the wind across from the west. I then went down the garden to check on the pond; there was an almighty scattering of parakeets and squirrels. And there are fallen leaves everywhere!
Monday 25
A relatively calm, although still breezy, and intermittently sunny day, after a very wild, wet and woolly weekend due to Storm Bert. We must have had a deluge last night as there was standing water down by the pond this morning – the cats weren’t impressed; Boy Cat was seen walking past on the railway sleeper edging of the border.
Wednesday 27
Today a number of amusements …
Friday 29
Up betimes this morning to see a glorious deep pink an gold sunrise which was impossible to photograph from here. This was shortly followed by seven green vultures sitting on a branch (well that’s what the parakeets looked like!).
And so to the penultimate collection of quotes for this year …
The advert said
MONETISE YOUR FOLLOWERS
so he thought
he would respond;
by painting them
in the changing light,
like waterlilies
in a pond.
The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.
[Albert Camus]
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.
[EF Schumacher, Small is Beautiful]
The floor of the House of Commons is little more than a West End theatre.
[DAT Green, Prospect Magazine; 24/10/2024]
Whether a chemical is man-made or natural fells you precisely nothing about how dangerous it is.
[Dr Mark Lorch, Biochemist, University of Hull]
Pay heed to the tales of old wives. It may well be that they alone keep in memory what it was once needful for the wise to know.
[JRR Tolkien]
I don’t have to know an answer. I don’t feel frightened by not knowing things.
[Richard Feynman]
It was not the truth they wanted, but an illusion they could bear to live with.
[Anaïs Nin, (1803-1877)]
If someone has terrible principles, they will at least try to abide by them. If someone has no principles at all, there is no limit to what they’ll do.
[Ian Dunt at https://iandunt.substack.com/p/kemi-badenoch-becomes-tory-leader]
When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.
[Turkish Proverb]
I heard someone refer to their kids as “sexually transmitted dependents”. I had to turn away before my soda came out of my nose. I thought they were called “crutch goblins”.
[unknown]
Meet me at midnight in the forest of my dreams. We’ll make a fire and count the stars that shimmer above the trees.
[Christy Ann Martine]
Suspending belief because you don’t have enough information does not make you indecisive. Changing your mind when better information comes to light does not make you a hypocrite. Deferring to expertise on complex topics outside your knowledge base does not make you a sheep.
[unknown]
The internet causes village idiots to form entire villages made up only of village idiots who have no idea they are village idiots.
[Vlad Vexler]
Here are the answers to this month’s five quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.
Physical Science
Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2023.
In lieu of scary shots illuminated by a bonfire, this will have to do for my monthly self-portrait. There’s no special significance beyond the fact that I was buggering around with my mobile.
This year our Ten Things column each month is concentrating on food. Not necessarily the most common or obvious foods, but hopefully ones everyone will recognise.
Citrus Fruits
The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.
[George Bernard Shaw]
Each month we’re posing five pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. As before, they’re not difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers – so hopefully you’ll learn something new, as well as having a bit of fun.
Physical Science
Answers will be posted in 2 weeks time.
Our look at some of the significant happenings 100 years ago this month.
4. 1924 United States presidential election won by Republican Calvin Coolidge
4. Died. Gabriel Fauré, French composer (b. 1845)
20. Born. Benoit Mandelbrot, Polish-born mathematician (d. 2010)
30. Born. Allan Sherman, American comedy writer, television producer and song parodist (d. 1973)
Things from this month that I didn’t otherwise write about …
Tuesday 1
What can one say about today except “fucking hell!”? Last night the freezer went on the blink, so I ended up cutting our losses and and ordering a new one at midnight. We just hope enough of the freezer stays frozen until tomorrow – not that there is time to do anything with the new one tomorrow! So I slept badly and had to get up early as the beginning of the month is always busy with admin, of various types, not just ours. It went on all day; every job either had to have something else done beforehand, or caused a follow-on job. I was still at my desk at 8pm – tired, hungry an with a headache – when N arrived home very late from the hospital. Now I have to go and cook tea. Happy bunnies are not us!
Wednesday 2
Well our new freezer did finally arrive, late. So it had to be left cooling down for the afternoon while N and I did a session of talking to patients at the doctors. When we got home we had to heave to and move everything over from the old freezer; it was still playing up but everything had stayed frozen. The new freezer is slightly smaller, so a few oddments had to go – well most will be used as we needed to take out stuff for the next 2-3 days anyway, which will most likely include soup.
Thursday 3
Dear God, the cost of postage is just unreal – and it goes up again on Monday. Today I had to send two tote bags to USA; the package is just big enough that it has to go small packet, and it weighs just over 400gm – so it isn’t large, just annoyingly over size. This cost £15.80 in postage. How on Earth can Royal Mail justify this? By contrast sending a book, also a small packet but just over 500gm withing the UK was just over £3, which still feels too much, but is at least reasonable.
Friday 4
N’s birthday, and I gave her a special present – we went to get our Covid boosters and our flu jabs. But then I cooked a couple of very nice, decent size steaks for dinner – with a brandy, garlic & cream sauce, chips and a fennel slaw – followed by peaches in brandy; plus the obligatory bottle of champagne and a liqueur.
Saturday 5
Absolutely floored. I expect the flu jab to knock me down for 24 hours, but this year it’s also set off an attack of my vertigo/labyrinthitis – which always takes most of a week to resolve. Very unstable on my feet; spent the day in bed; just about OK if I lie flat and still.
Sunday 6
Still flattened, but a bit better.
Monday 7
Now only half flattened, but still struggling with vertical hold and brain fog. Had to cancel my diabetes check-up this morning, and will have to reschedule it. Sadly I also had to cancel lunch later in the week with friends visiting from Japan; really annoying but I’m far from sure my head will be able to travel into central London. That’s the trouble with this vertigo, once it arrives it takes a week to properly resolve.
Tuesday 8
Massive thunderstorms predicted for today, but they didn’t happen. There was some rain, and there was stygian gloom in late afternoon: some of the darkest cloud cover I think I’ve ever seen.
Wednesday 9
Great fun this morning. 06:30 awoke to blue flashing lights. Car wedged(?) diagonally across the road 100m away by a parked white van (I was later told the car had hit the van and done a lot of damage). Police car behind it (nearer us) and further away a fire truck, so it had been going on for a while. No ambulance. Copper and 2-3 firemen wandering about with no sense of urgency. So no clue what had happened. N said later that at 08:30 they were taking the car away. Then about 11:15 there’s a parking attendant putting a ticket on a car which is parked across the boundary between us and next door; whether because he’s parked on the hump, or because the front is encroaching over next door’s dropped kerb we may never know.
Thursday 10
We have some Virginia Creeper rooted at the bottom of our garden – not that we ever see it on our side. It rambles all along the fences at the back of us (the other side of the overgrown alley, and up the far side of next door’s fence – that’s over 30m in length. It’s currently absolutely gorgeous in its autumn red leaves. How can anyone ever want to remove it?
Friday 11
Last evening I rescued a small fruit fly from my apple juice – it was clearly alive, but not very good at doggy-paddle. I lifted it carefully, from below, onto my finger and encouraged it to walk onto a tissue to dry off. It was about 3mm long and clearly black and yellow striped. It sat on the tissue cleaning its legs, its wings, its head and its antennae for several minutes. It was quite an amazing performance to watch, especially as it was previously trying to drown. Then, suddenly – poof! – it was gone. It’s odd how you can feel attached to such a tiny creature in such a short time; I hope it survived for a normal fly lifespan; at least I gave it another chance.
Saturday 12
Why is household paperwork and admin so tedious and time-consuming? I have a routine of doing the not-immediately-urgent paperwork at a weekend, but not having done any last week, today it took me all afternoon rather than the usual hour or less. It wasn’t even interesting or exciting.
Sunday 13
A busy but interesting Sunday. (1) Unloading the last 2 weeks photos from the trail camera there were a number of occasions where Boy Cat was either carefully watching, or actually trailing, the fox as much as to say “I’m just keeping an eye on you to make sure you behave properly in my garden”. (2) I picked our apples. Not a huge crop from our 2 small trees: 20 or so from the Pinova, many small but a couple of a nice size for eating. And just one from the Falstaff which is a good size to eat. (3) We spent an hour or so choosing the photo for this years Christmas card, and getting them on order. Postcards as usual because they make writing cards so much easier: no envelope hassles and no worrying about which card to send Aunt Ethel; plus they’re ridiculously cheap from VistaPrint.
Monday 14
Mmmm. Those apples I picked yesterday are really lovely: crisp, juicy and slightly tart. Much better than anything you buy in the supermarket, and known to be organic too.
Tuesday 15
I actually managed to get done today pretty much everything I needed to. N heroically covered a session talking to patients at the doctors for me after one of the other volunteers dropped out last night. She then had to hot-foot it to the hospital. Meanwhile I sorted out all sorts of other tedious jobs, including taking my keyboard apart to clean it, and starting the grocery order. Why do I always end up falling asleep over the grocery order?
Wednesday 16
Did anything happen today? What day even is it? I’m totally lost. Still at least the council came and took the old freezer away. And N’s flowers arrived.Click the image for a larger view
Thursday 17
Well much to my surprise I not only had nothing much scheduled for today, and I got the afternoon off to do … nothing much except read – which is rare! Our Christmas cards arrived, and look lovely – but you’ll have to wait upon the day to see them. On the downside I had a panic attack about what’s happening at the weekend which necessitated a change of plans – I never understand why these things happen; it’s a real bummer!
Friday 18
A lovely foggy start to the day, and the first real fog of this autumn; although not really thick, just enough to block out the top end of the road. I always liked the fog as a kid, despite growing up in the 1950s with the tail end of London’s pea-soupers and not being able to see more than a couple of meters in front of your face. There was always an air of mystery with the fog (even better if there was fresh snow as well), partly down to the restricted vision, and partly the muffled sound.
Saturday 19
Yet again I missed the literary society AGM. I was intending to go, but everything recently has just turned out too difficult: I still have occasional remnants of the vertigo; the depression isn’t any better and triggers the odd panic attack; transport is a pain with the tube here off at weekends plus major roadworks everywhere; and then N isn’t always great when she gets back from hospital.
Sunday 20
A wet and windy day, so nothing doing outside. Instead we used the last of our apples plus a few strawberries and a dribble of peach liqueur to make an huge crumble – enough for breakfasts for most of the week – which turned out very tasty with cream. Managed to slice my thumb peeling the apples – idiot! Cooked some stuffed chicken thighs (with a drizzle of curry jus) in pastry for evening meal – not the greatest success ever, but very tasty and has potential.
Monday 21
Feeding the pond goldfish today I was struck that although it’s clearly autumn (but not yet that cold) they’re still feeding voraciously – and blimey are they getting big and chubby; seriously substantial fish considering they were tiny tiddlers 2 years ago. It’s said that for tropical fish (I don’t know how true this is of carp) that they can survive on 1% of their bodyweight of food a day, and with 3% they’ll grow rapidly.
Tuesday 22
Why do cut thumbs always spring a leak 24 hours (or more) after the event, when you think they’ve scabbed over OK?
Wednesday 23
Comes upon this day, the gardener. Amongst other things he gave the lawn it’s last cut of the year and top dressed it with home-made compost. It looks a mess at the moment, but if the weather stays mild the grass will soon grow through.
Thursday 24
Had a friendly annual diabetes check-up this morning with one of the Practice Nurses – the one I usually see and get on well with. As usual she knows she doesn’t have to read the riot act at me – unlike some of her colleagues – as I know what I ought to be doing and if I haven’t it’s because for whatever reason I can’t. Taking blood the nurse managed to spring a leak around the needle, so I lost a teaspoon more blood than planned – it’s all good fun! She had a young student nurse with her, who got some hands on practice. I also managed to get a message in, really aimed at the student, about not bullying patients but ensuring they have the information and letting them make their own decisions – with some quiet nudges, which is generally more effective. I also managed to make an appointment with the Practice’s physio, to see if I can get some exercises for my back.
Friday 25
Comes the window cleaner. Quick and efficient as always. And he offered that next time he comes he’ll get a ladder up and check some of the guttering.
Saturday 26
We seem to have very few sparrows around; I’ve hardly seen any in the last couple of years. But today, looking across the road, there were sparrows going everywhere – too many to count!
Sunday 27
So the clocks have gone back, and we’re now on GMT again. I wish we could stay on GMT; continually meddling with the clocks is a pain, and totally unnecessary. Unlike in wartime when every useful scrap of daylight mattered, it isn’t needed now and just causes confusion etc. Anyway GMT is our heritage, so as the country is a theme park we need to keep, and show off, our heritage!
Monday 28
Waking up: “Oh it must be 9 o’clock. What?! No, it’s only 8 o’clock.” Stupid brain hasn’t adjusted to the clock change.
Tuesday 29
Up betimes, only to find my morning meeting being moved to Thursday. So I spent half the morning trying to fix up one of our laptops to replace N’s desktop PC – I failed and gave up. Why is Windows so obtuse and obscure? It’s vaguely friendly for the dumb user, but totally byzantine if you know what you need to do under the bonnet: either you can’t or you have to guess the magic incantation. Gah!
Wednesday 30
One of those days where you get stuck in trying to prepare for unpredictable meetings and everything conspires to stop you – so you end up unreasonably knackered.
Thursday 31
After some unexpected preparatory work by a colleague we had a long, detailed and very forthright meeting this morning makes me hopeful that things might start to happen.
I’ll leave you with some suitably Halloween frosty-looking fir cones I perpetrated a few weeks ago!