April ...ing

We've enjoyed a few t-shirt weather days in the past week, amazing. This goes a long way towards replenishing my Vitamin D levels. I could also do with replenishing my energy and empathy levels but this probably needs more than sunshine. As always, I am juggling too many balls, trying not to drop any and hoping for quieter times. 

:: Cooking more regularly because Richard resumed his evening bike rides with the arrival of British Summer Time. Mostly simple dishes but I am also pleased to say that I have mastered cooking a steak. I don't remember cooking steaks before though I must have, surely. I essentially measured the thickness of the steaks and then asked the inter web to tell me how long to cook them on each side for medium (for me) and almost still alive (for Richard). I also made a rather delicious Ottolenghi black pepper tofu dish, using a fraction of the fats suggested. 150g of butter to sauté onions seems excessive. I added yellow pepper and peas for additional colour and fibre. Richard surprised me with a positive comment about this dish.

:: Watching The Brokenwood Mysteries and enjoying it very much. It is a bit like Midsomer Murders I guess, just more modern and set in a town in New Zealand. Definitely more fun than Midsomer Murders (which I have not watched for years)! I like the quirky characters and the accents. I rarely watch a full episode in one go but the plots are easy to remember so not a problem. The third series of the Chelsea Detective is also on my watchlist. 

:: Listening to the radio more than listening to podcasts. I don't have the bandwidth to listen to my favourite science pods at the moment and talk radio provides a less challenging listening experience. I am also listening to books, of course I am. For book group I am listening to "This bright life" by Karen Campbell. Set in Glasgow so feels familiar but a difficult listen because one of the central characters is a young boy in care. I have 6 hours left to listen to with book group tonight... not going to finish, for sure. I am also listening to "Ball Ligthening" by Cixin Liu (not loving it) and I just finished "Celestial lights" by Cecile Pin (enjoyed this very much). Also on my list are the DI Shona Oliver crime novels by Lynne McEwan (solid 3 stars).

:: Accepting the invite for a guest presentation. This will take me to Peebles, in the Scottish Borders. Looking forward to it.

:: Registering for a conference in Montreal in August. I am quite excited. Any tips? I am planning one day on each side of the conference for fun.

:: Despairing over Iris' behaviour. Two successful nighttime "search and rescue missions", missing again at the time of writing, two police visits, lots of lies. We are all sick of it. Except Iris of course, who lacks any insight into their behaviour and couldn't care less. 

:: Sleeping poorly, not helped by the above.

:: Running again, just short distances, to try and dispel the fizzing nervous negative energy (see above). My hip tenderness is a distant memory and I'll try not to trigger another spell of pain.

:: Cutting fabric for four quilts. This sounds excessive but do hear me out. What I am really doing is cutting fabrics for a single quilt made of round scrappy fabric dots. Each dot is made of four quarter circles. You can see an example in the photo above. I have a lot of small pieces of quilting cottons from my many previous quilt projects and I am trying to use these up with as little waste as possible. I cut the pieces for the spots, then cut the remaining fabric into squares for a simple patchwork quilt and rectangles for what is known as a coin quilt (see photo of finished quilt above) and finally into hearts for an appliqué quilt I have been working on for some time (years, one heart a time). If there are any tiny scraps left, I cut these into 1 inch squares, which I have been collecting for years and every now and then turn into a small project, for example table mats. Since there is rarely anyone at home for dinner these days, the above now lives at one end of the dining table, ready for me whenever the opportunity arises. 

:: Watching the slow progress of canal draining, just the one section that includes the aqueduct. It is not really visible on the bottom photo but this drained section is actually on an aqueduct, crossing over the river Kelvin below. Maybe 20 metres high. There is a sharp right turn not seen here that takes you down to the river walkway. It will be interesting to see how they work on the aqueduct over the next few weeks. 

:: Looking for a dog trainer for Frankie. He is way more difficult than Jack and it is quite stressful to take him out for walks because he goes bonkers. Just as well he is tiny because otherwise innocent passer-by's would be terrified. His nickname has changed from Frankie-Pants to Psycho-Frank... in my head only but you get the gist.

:: Loving the warmer temperature, the blossom, birdsong and generally all things nice and beautiful outside. There is something soothing about a blackbird singing his heart out while perching on a wonky aerial. 

:: Looking forward to my birthday next week! I booked the day off because I am worth it.

Thanks for visiting, as always 😊