Yup, I Really Can...

I drove for the first time with The Aid in the ear. My, it was loud... and the cat screeching from the basket didn't help any, not to mention the birdies tweeting much louder than any birdie ever tweeted before... But I got there. And back. Without hurting anything or anyone, which is always a bonus! Advo is fine, by the way. His wound is 'healing nicely' and he's finally allowed out into the garden. Problem is, of course, that everyone is now used to having the door opened, so there are queues by the catflap every time I look. It's the first time that Merlin being incredibly thick has been an advantage; he was nutting the catflap madly every day when it was locked, trying to make it open. Now, he just strolls out, but presumably doesn't have much of a headache...

I'm dancing with the depression demons today. They've been lurking in the background for a while, but decided to come out to play. No idea why. So I went and played with some yellow paint, and felt better for a while. Think I'll go back and play some more. And if that fails, I'll have a nap. And if that fails, I'll have a bath with lovely smelly essential oils (lavender and geranium work for me, can't afford rose, sigh). I can live with this; I know the feelings will go away, and I have these strategies for dealing with it. And yellow paint is a new one, must add it to the list...

The image is Autumn Pavane, not terribly seasonal, but it's too cold to go out snapping snowdrops!

I CAN HEAR...

sorry to shout, and all, but it's important! I was fitted for a hearing aid yesterday, and I'm now marvelling at the amount of sound that I just wasn't hearing. The television volume has been lowered by several notches... I don't ask for things to be repeated as often... I can hear what people are saying on the phone... it's amazing! It's also invisible, it hides under my hair magnificently, and unless you show it to someone, they wouldn't know it was there. Hearing impaired? Moi? Not any more!

Of course, there is a small drawback. I do hear sounds that I don't 'need' to hear. For instance, the click of the keyboard is remarkably LOUD, and I have to go out of the kitchen when the kettle is boiling, because the hiss is loud, too... but that's a small price to pay, and I'm assured that when my brain gets used to having all this audio information thrown at it, it will begin to sift out the important things again. Isn't that wonderful?

Poor Advo...

...and poor me, too. Advo, because the vet found that he had a piece of Someone Else's Tooth lodged in his leg, which they tried to get out and couldn't, so he is wandering around the house with an open wound, in the hope that the tooth will dislodge itself. He is therefore not allowed outside. Poor Advo, and poor me, because I've become a slave to the other cats and their whims and foibles. Lemme out mum. Lemme in mum (yes, I know the catflap is opening that way, but I like to see you open the door...). No, really, mum, I do want in...sort of... I'm sure you know the drill. But I'm not feeling well, a tummy upset that kept me up half the night... so this is not a fun game, at all. Grrr. Still, Advo seems to be doing well on it...here he is on the spare bed, looking as if butter wouldn't melt. He was supervising the taking of some photographs for Etsy when I took that particular photograph... Noone would think he was a tyrant in fur...

Well, Yes...

it has been a while. Lots of water has passed under the proverbial bridge. But before I splash about in its depths, I thought I'd give you a laugh. This is the anatomy of a photoshoot, Barnett style.

You see, the photographer didn't really think the light was good enough, but his assistant insisted. (well done, Moira...). And then this happened....

Well, it's hard to get over being self conscious (photo 1). And then when you do, they're not happy...widen your eyes, they said. What...like this...I said? Nooooooo, they said in unison. And don't do that, either. (photo 2)

But when all is said and done, these guys know what they're doing, and I got some great photos (photo 3)! Thanks to the wonderful Mike Arnold and his lovely assistant Moira!

Autumn's Arrival...

reminds me of the kind of cooking I like doing...soups and stews and bread. In the summer, it's too hot for such fare, but I'm sitting writing this and smelling the wonderful scent of a slowly simmering soup (leek and tattie (potato to the non Scots among us!)). Healthy, filling stuff...no fat, very little salt, low in calories; those of us trying to Lose Weight Through Eating Healthily find these things Very Important! Just veg and water. Yum.

Joining the soup pot out of the cupboard is my slow cooker (crockpot). In there, there is diced pork, with peppers, onions, carrots, tomatoes, mixed herbs, smoked paprika, garlic...that doesn't smell bad, either, and it will taste great (she said modestly...).

Bread, though, I haven't made for a while, and it brings me back to the debate...to buy a bread machine, or not to buy a bread machine. I suspect, on the one hand, that if I did buy a machine, I'd use it. On the other hand, it feels a bit like an unnecessary expense (a bit like a yoghurt 'machine', when all you need is a bowl, some live yoghurt and a warm place...). There's nothing like a bit of hand kneading for getting rid of stress... And I do have some lovely bread recipes... And it doesn't take all that long to do by hand... Oh, decisions, decisions... I'm off to stir the soup.

Oops...

I was woken at 6am on Thursday by the words, Happy Anniversary, dear, here's your present. And as usual, I had forgotten. Sigh. I'm very good with birthdays, but somehow the anniversary just falls out of my head every time. Fortunately, I was going into Norwich anyway, to buy some bits and pieces, so got my dearly beloved a sports anorak to wear to the football (he's Chairman of a local amateur team). But I did have to admit that I'd forgotten...or rather, that I didn't realise that it was the 21st on Friday...I don't keep a diary, don't really read the papers, so how would I know...the date doesn't even come up on my computer screen. I do always know what time it is, though.

And for those of you who count, it's our 28th wedding anniversary. Doesn't time fly when you're having fun? My mother stood arranging my collar on The Day and said, I give it six months. Hah. Shows what she knew... and whilst it's possible I just stuck it out to spite her, it seems unlikely, even for me...particularly as she died three years ago!

The photo was taken at an organic farm in the Borders a couple of weeks ago, just to remind me what the hills look like... the view is stunning, though.

It's All Her Fault...

...that Alison woman, her and her partner, Michael. They came down to visit from Scotland, and after a whirlwind of cleaning and a bit of cooking, I got immersed in a whirlwind of sightseeing and Having A Good Time, which involved eating lots, drinking quite a bit and generally having FUN! No time to blog at all...

And now the party's over...awww...and I'm back to normality such as it is experienced here (ie messy, disorganised and full of art. You know you don't clean enough when the thing that you thought was a dried up leaf was actually a mummified mouse...either that, or I'm needing my eyes tested. It was definitely mummified, though; we saw a mummified cat at Lavenham, an exhibit at the Guild House there. Apparently they used to put dead cats up chimneys in ye olden days, to scare off bad spirits and the like. Not sure what a mouse would scare away...probably all visitors in future, if they're reading this blog...

I was also presented with a dead mouse this morning. Breakfast in bed, according to Advo. Time to get up, in my opinion. Yuk.
ps Alison, I told you I would put that photo on my blog...you didn't believe me, did you... hehehe...