ringing ears and other news

On my daily pond walk, I am observing an odd pair of ducks. A tufted duck male has paired up with mallard female. I noticed the pair a couple of weeks ago and thought that it was probably a coincidence, them hanging out together but no, they hang out together every day. I wonder if they will breed? A wild trip down the internet rabbit hole informs that indeed mallards and tufted duck can breed. I’ll keep watching the odd pair and update on any ducklings appearing. So far the duckling year is disappointing. I wonder if breeding is disturbed by the bunch of guys setting up camp with their hi-tech fishing gear, up to 5 rods at the time going over and through the reeds. I do resent them, for sure but maybe that is unfair. 

Richard and I went to a wedding this weekend. I rummaged through my wardrobe for suitable outfits confirmed there was none. My wardrobe is primarily casual and I don’t wear dresses much. I had a big clear out early this year and in retrospect, maybe I was a bit too quick to pack clothes up for charity. So I decided to make a dress because this is less stressful than shopping. I chose to make the Ada Dress by SewMeSomething (now trading as Cloth Cutter). It is a simple wrap dress with an A line skirt. I used a sunny yellow linen that I bought at Fabric Godmother. I love yellow and I am confident to wear this colour. I know lots of people don’t, although I am convinced it is a fabulous colour for all people. I also didn’t have any shoes, other than trainers, clunky Kickers Mary Janes, and Birkenstocks. I found a pair of double strap patent leather Mary Janes at Clarks. All in all, a success story, the dress came out beautiful and the shoes were comfortable. It is a dress that is good for all sorts of occasions that can be dressed up or down. Next time I wear it, I’ll take photos. The wedding itself was ok and could have been really enjoyable if the music was not quite so loud. It was impossible to have a conversation. We were a group of friends going together and not being able to chat was disappointing. 24 hours later, I still have a ringing in my right ear, a throbbing headache (I did not drink!) and a sore throat from shouting. 

I need to comment on the weather. It has been glorious for weeks now. I could get used to this! Temperatures are pleasant but not hot, just how like it, with peak temperatures of about 23 degrees. I spent a pleasant hour in the garden, ripping out quilting lines from my old repaired Ice Cream Soda quilt. After repairing the quilt, I decided I wanted to quilt it differently, to make it more robust. A decision I may yet regret because it takes patience and a lot of time to unpick the old quilting lines. 

I completed week 6 of my None To Run running programme. It is fun to be back to running but it is hard to take it slowly to avoid injury after a long time of no running. I am in the walk/run camp, which for me works better than continuous running. Years ago, I completed my first half marathon with 2 minute run/30 second walk intervals. I came in faster this first time than later, when I ran the entire distance. I have no intention of running any races, just go out for fun and fitness. The intervals keep my mind engaged, too.

Iris and I had our hair done, always nice. Mind is short and spiky, Iris’s is a short bob in the making and bright red. We look glorious. 

In other news, Iris was unfortunately unsuccessful with her horticulture apprenticeship interview. While disappointed at first, she was absolutely delighted for her friend to have been successful, which makes me proud of her. We’ll have to sit down and make a plan B. Iris is still on the waiting list for a four college courses but I think we might need to look at transition courses. 

Finally, I made a batch of soap. I was a bit stressed because I thought the saponification did not kick in once I mixed lye with oils. I am quite slap dash with soap making, roughly get the melted fats to the same temperature as the lye solution, then blend it all together with a stick blender. I keep a thermometer in the mix because the surest way to know when the chemical process of saponification starts is when the temperature goes up by a couple of degrees during mixing. The process is exothermic, meaning that heat is produced when saponification starts. Today, the temperature did not increase at all, which puzzled me because the mix looked like it always does. I poured it in the mould anyway and hoped for the best. And I was right, the mix solidified quickly. I later discovered that the thermometer has a temperature hold button, which I must have pressed. Why such a button is useful is a mystery but once I noticed, it made sense. How I had failed to notice this button before is also a mystery. 

And that’s all the news I have! Thanks as always for visiting 😊