A really dull day – 23 October 2026

Thankfully we went to Tesco in the morning and missed most of the heavy rain.

Rain had been predicted for us, but after that early deluge, everything calmed down and we saw very little of named storm Austen. However we did have a continuous drizzle and that’s almost as annoying as rain.

I restarted cutting the fabric for the reversible bow tie. I thought I had it sorted, but now I’m thinking I might try a different version. I don’t want to waste any more fabric and end up with nothing. Maybe tomorrow I’ll do a dummy run with some cheap fabric and photograph each step so I can always come back to it after I’ve got it the way I want it. Assuming that I get it right this time around!

Hazy: I bought a packet of clips (Clover Wonder Clips) that seem to be easy to use for holding fabric layers while you stitch them. Much easier than using pins and less likely to draw blood!

I did manage to get just three photos taken today. The best of a bad lot went to a shot of some red flowers that were hanging from a pot that itself was hanging on the fence in the back garden. It was drizzling and I wasn’t hanging around. That was PoD covered.

Scamp was clearing out the fridge yesterday and found a plastic tub of home made tomato soup. That, and a Fish Finger Sandwich was dinner. The soup was excellent, but I would say that, because I made it! So was the FFS!

It looks like we’re going to have a windy couple of days tomorrow and Sunday with the next named storm, Boelo. High winds and heavy rain. Oh what fun.

Another cold windy day – 28 November 2025

Not a day for going far.

However, Scamp was out early to meet Isobel and Shona for coffee. I was glad to sit at home and struggled with Virgin Media who must be one of the worst companies to get help from. I got so frustrated with their so-called Media Support. I eventually got so fed up with going round in circles, I gave up and went to make a pot of soup instead.

Needless to say when Scamp came home she just typed in the answers to the questions the bot asked and within minutes was speaking to a human, Asif, who, fifteen minutes later had checked our V6 box, diagnosed the fault and arranged a repair for next week. I was in a huff! Ok, ok, I admit I have no patience, especially with Bots, but Virgin are hopelessly bad at giving out help. Asif excepted, of course.

Later in the afternoon I took a parcel to the post office in Condorrat and posted it to an address just outside London. Hopefully it will arrive soon and be magicked away almost instantly.

I’d hoped to get a photo on my walk to Condorrat, but the lashing rain and the high winds made me glad to get back home instead of wandering around the paths or the ponds today. Back home warm and dry was a good enough result for me.

The soup I made, Butternut Squash, wasn’t the best. Both Scamp and I agreed that it wasn’t the best. I’ve made it loads of times and every time it’s been just like the last. The only thing I didn’t add today was chilli flakes and I don’t add very much, so I doubt if they could have made the difference.

A late PoD was a vase of Freesia I quite liked. A tabletop lifesaver at the end of a dreary day.

Hopefully tomorrow will be calmer both weather wise and also for my temper, and we may go to the dance class too.