November 2023

It’s been a bit of a peculiar month because after trying for 2 or 3 years, David finally left his job at Birmingham and started a new job – with me! I am now his boss. Which has positives and negatives, but the most direct positive to me is that he drives me to work most of the time. I have a chauffeur! I have peaked.

Crochet

This month has been a busy one as I have tried to do “No New Things November” and instead finish some projects. With that in mind, I have made, fixed, finished, (or started):

·       The demon little dolly that I utterly hate and will never share pictures of

·       Two custom orders from my Etsy shop for Freddie Mercury

·       One custom order for an Oogie Boogie man from my Etsy shop

·       My pink and cream woollen gloves. And I’ve been wearing them nearly all month, they are SO cosy.

·       Darned and patched my slipper socks

·       Started the crest for the hoopoe but haven’t finished yet

·       A secret christmas present

·       Woollen socks for me – this was a new make but I wanted woollen socks, I made the heel too tight and have since cut it out to remake

·       A custom order for a bobble hat in West Mercia Search and Rescue colours

I haven’t completed everything on my November wish list but I feel much better about having dismembered things everywhere. December will see me finishing up some more items.

November craft club

 

Cat Life

He so good. He so floofy! He so teenage boy-y. He is adapting to life as an indoor cat as he isn’t allowed out when we’re not here. He has a set of rules. Can’t go out until he has pooped. Can’t go out before we go to work (because he doesn’t come back). Can’t go out in the evening because we don’t want to leave the door open. So he is an indoor cat for winter.

In the bottom left corner, he is hiding.

 

Allotment

Is ticking over nicely. The onions are looking good. A neighbours plot was being cleared so I half inched some slabs and bags of compost. I have topped up a couple of beds and covered them back over, and I have started putting down slabs on the plastic for the new paths. I need some more slabs and then I need gravel to go between them. I had a nigella in flower. I cleared the raspberry canes and sowed some winter hardy spring onions.

 

Exercise

Still trying to walk more at work. Still dealing with a dodgy knee that doesn’t like me walking more at work.

 

Physical Health

D and I worked a Saturday for the festive light switch on and I walked 9.5km. Does that make me an athlete now? Bloomin’ felt like it. I was pooped.

 

Mental Health

Isn’t doing too bad but now we’re on the downward slope to christmas and it is never a good time of year, for either of us. Last year was a whole new level of shite so I am very much hoping to avoid a repeat.

 

Work

Is good, I’m enjoying it. It’s so varied and I have a good team. I never knew how much I didn’t know about toilets. I now carry two mobile phones and a radio because no one can decide which is best to keep in touch across a small town.

 

Money

I had a little extra pay thanks to the government pay award but I forgot it was pro-rata, so I had grand plans to pay off half of the credit card but in the end only had enough money for some firewood. Hey ho. Can’t have it all.

 

Garden

We went and spent Davids leaving present and now I have 2p left on a giftcard. I got a new cherry plum tree for the garden, some decorative grasses to go around the bottom, and some other bits and pieces. Bulbs are coming up already, three months early. I had two sunflowers bloom (BLOOM!!) at the start of November. The new cherry tree has been blessed by Pip and his stinky bumbum.

 

Other Stuff

I had a fancy to make some Chelsea buns and so I did, and that’s that urge scratched for another three years. Only the second ones I have ever made. Much better than the first attempt, but so sticky and messy. And the team I work with now is small so I can’t offload cake the way I used to.

The electrics powering our cooker fell out of the wall and we had to temporarily secure it with gaffer tape.

I have set up a WAGs of WMSAR group as a support and social page for the partners of WMSAR members. I am WAG 1. Wagwaaaaaaaaaaaan. It has entertained me no end.