Apologies for the Interruption, Normal Service will be Resumed Shortly.

Well apart from listing frantically in a desperate attempt to stop our overdraft from descending into four-figure territory, this week has been spent mostly flat on my back, in the company of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. (Less exciting than it sounds, believe me)

Yesterday I resorted to my grandmother's TENS machine, so I am pulsing nicely as I write this. It seems to help slightly, but I can't go on like this, so a doctor's visit is in the offing. I wonder if new back muscles are provided on the NHS?

Other than that, I've started a 'no-alcohol' month in an attempt to save money and my liver. A nice glass of wine in the evening all too easily turns into a nice bottle or two...

Saying that, I'm still going to attempt to home-brew this year!

A Catching Up Day...

... for housework, food shopping and all things domesticated. Our hot tap in the kitchen is seized at the moment, so washing up involves a human chain system with buckets filled upstairs in the bath. Obviously this means I've been putting it off. Ho hum, 2 loads down, 1 to go.

Been reading up on composting lately, and discovered you can get cheap compost bins from our local council. Swung by to pick one up, and found they'd actually sold out! Frustrating, as I'm now firmly in 'composting mode', and grimacing every time I throw out a used tea-bag, but great news that other people are becoming interested is reducing the amount of waste they throw out :)

Also found some of the floor in the walk-in wardrobe, which has been less 'walk-in' and more 'walk-on' of late. I still can't fit in most of my clothes, but at least I can now find them.

Ho hum.

Saturday Night at our Local

A slightly unnerving phone call on Thursday revealed that P and I were apparently participating in a 'open gig' style evening at our local on Saturday. Fortunately for all, my contribution consisted of driving P there rather than any actual musical involvement.

It turned out to be a brilliant, if somewhat bizarre night :) The music was excellent, with local musicians all jamming along (in between fag breaks of course), and a fabulous and very merry crowd from Wolverhampton, who had apparently come down for the night (!) to stay in the teepees at the campground. One of the girls had the most gorgeous miniature Jack Russell pup we'd ever seen- only 12 weeks old and an absolute poppet. Sadly she wasn't left unattended long enough for me to slip her into my handbag...

The pub is a fantastic venue, like walking into someone's living room, and the atmosphere is so friendly. There's a definite 70's communal vibe going on there! Hopefully they'll be organising a weekly 'open mic' night, so we may well be back soon...

This May Have Been A Bad Idea...

Arrrrggghhhh I am so sick of this enforced immobility!! Standing hurts, sitting hurts, even lying down hurts! As for moving, it's something I've been trying to avoid :)

So today I thought 'Sod it'. Once the painkillers started to kick in, I went up the yard, fed Rupe, and poo-picked most of the yard (slowly!). On the way home I went food shopping (even slower- why are all the things we needed on the bottom shelf??), and finally took the terrierists out for a long walk. They haven't been out for a while, so went absolutely demented at the sight of their leads- I practically had to sit on Tottie to get her halti on, she just wasn't in one place for long enough. We had a lovely walk, lots of sniffs for the terrierists, and lots of rests for mom!

It was so nice to get out, but I have a funny feeling I'm really going to regret this tomorrow....

Life Before Death

I feel incredibly lucky today. Having finally left full time work, I've begun to realise how much it affected me. While I do miss my colleagues, and some of the customers (!), escaping from the politics, office bitchiness, and management who know nothing about the second-hand book trade, has been wonderful. It's a cliche, but it really does feel like a weight has lifted.

The house is gradually becoming less of a pigsty as there's no rush to get everything done on my days off now. As OH is a minimalist, he's enjoying this too! There's time to cook proper meals instead of grabbing instant packet food or ready meals. The dogs especially are loving me being at home more, and I'll be able to start riding Rupert again (I hope!).

2008 was full of ups and downs, but now I feel I'm finally on the right path. Life is blessed, and I feel so grateful.

Rain, Bread, and Incontinent Terriers

It's grey and rainy here again, which gives the terrierists a great excuse to use the kitchen floor as their very own indoor toilet. Murphy has never liked the rain, and has always tried to avoid going out in it, (altho when you rattle his lead it's a different story) while since we moved, Tottie has been unable to fathom the difference between flagstones outside and tiles inside. The grassy part of our garden is not really terrier-secure, so they're confined to the yard and kitchen (via a dog flap) unless we can keep an eye on them. Puddles all round this morning!!

Popping into the supermarket on my way back, I was shocked to see that even the supermarket cheap own brand bread (which we try not to buy normally) is now 72p a loaf! Since we're now on a strict budget, and don't fancy filling ourselves with preservatives and such, I'm going to give making my own bread a try sometime this week. Baking is one of the many things at which I have no talent whatsoever, but I've borrowed a 'fool-proof' recipe from a friend, and if it's any good I'll post it at some point. Wish me luck!

Lice, Listing...and a Bloody Bad Back

It's my first full week off work, the house is (slightly) less of a state, and I should be settling down to some listing. But no.

I noticed when feeding Rupert the other day that he had a few bald patches from rubbing on the fences. On closer inspection- lice! Now since he's turned out with 6 other horses, treating him with the herbal repellant powder hasn't been doing any good as they just come back. So today it was serious de-lousing time, with Coopers fly repellant plus, and a good insecticide powder for his rugs. A less-than happy horse resulted, but at least it should clear the lice problem.

It took twice as long to do everything this morning, as I've managed to do something painful to my lower back. No idea how, unless it was slipping off a curb yesterday. (Slightly under the influence of some rather nice Welsh ale!). A nice hot bath when I got back seemed like a good idea, until it came to trying to get out of it.

I've given up for today- painkillers, a pot of tea and a pile of Agatha Christie's are the order for this afternoon!

The weather is beautiful here today, blue skies and sunshine, making it feel like spring is really on the way. A few daffodils have come out in time for St David's Day, although nothing in our garden (not surprising really, as it's in serious need of some tlc).

Having recently given up my full-time job, in order to concentrate on e-bay bookselling, it's reminded me that it's going to be even harder than I thought to discipline myself into getting things done...