Well I Never …

I have spent most of today doing maths!  I need to get some professional advice on some aspects of the Tick Tock plans but since I currently have no money to pay for that and I am looking for a ‘free’ initial discussion and then a delayed invoice until my business plan can be completed I am trying to do as much as I can so that the professional advice can be a ‘yes/no’ dialogue.

Eventually it will need the full formal consultation but at the moment I need some things so that we can put costs to the plans I draw up and so we can look at possible funding supports and so on.

So I have sat here with my plans and a copy of the Scottish Building Regs for non domestic buildings.

Walking Off the Frustration

So today should have been receiving my order of dog food … it started badly – I slept about 4 hours between traffic queues and then drifted back off after another 4 hours of revving engines only to find when I came to I had missed the Postie – so the packet s/he was delivering will have to wait until Tuesday.  I also had an e-mail awaiting from my Neighbour and I am genuinely pleased that they got to sleep last night having got the generator relocated.

I had breakfast – it was a struggle to be honest – and with the tracking on the dog food order still saying the parcel was in Nuneaton I e-mailed Amazon to enquire.  I did get a reply to confirm it would now not be delivered until Tuesday!  So the dogs and I set off for a mooch during which Pup met his beasts again and Dog coped very well with a rather vocal and full on Gordon Setter.  Then I went to Forfar and walked right round the Loch taking photos as I went:

Where is My Womble Suit?

Today was the day – the wind had dropped and I only had 99 other things to do instead of the usual 101 – oh and the litter pick and bag frame have to go back tomorrow!

Okay that isn’t the rubbish I collected – it is an interesting moonrise this evening just after I finished wombling.

I had to go sign on this afternoon so I did my usual pooch mooch and stuff, had lunch, gathered my evidence and stuff for the Job Centre and got the bus.  Again the driver had no idea how to find the ticket so the wee crib sheet I was given the first time I used by Jobseeker discount card was pressed into service again.  I had to be there and wait to see a duty worker “between 3 and 4” since I would normally have signed on yesterday but was at my training.  I actually saw the chap I normally see and I wasn’t kept waiting – something must have been said because the atmosphere in there is completely different.  I have to go back again tomorrow morning for an Advisor Interview.

On my return the dogs had tea and so did I and then I set off with my bags and litter pick and a craftily adapted milk carton to hold any broken glass I found.  I had collected on bag full when the chap with the geese an ponies wandered along for a chat and then I returned with two full bags and went back on the opposite side of the road returning with a full to the brim bag … and  a prop shaft!

Tomorrow after I have been to the Job Centre and returned my litter pick and bag frame I will sort the rubbish – putting aluminium cans and the plastic bottles in the recycling and I will take some photographs.

So tomorrow will need another early start and I feel like I have a furry golf ball in my throat so off to try and sleep me thinks … come back for the litter photo special sometime tomorrow!

Walking …

I had an appointment this afternoon so we set off earlier than usual for our pooch mooch.  Down the lane and onto the Estate we went and cutting down the woodland path back to the tree creepers bridge.  From here I ventured along the track Johnny showed me the other day and then turned off down to the woods.  This picture is looking back from the woods to where we had walked.

Footprints …

Dont tell me the sky is the limit when theres footprints on the moon.

It seems rather fitting to end the week with footsteps – after I talked about trying on shoes?  We haven’t been out today to leave our footprints around but we must leave thousands of them every week!

Toxic Solution!

Okay well Toxic solved his gift delivery problem today in a most charming and courteous manner NOT.  But first let me start at the beginning  and slot him in to the correct timeframe.

Having needed to traipse to the bathroom a couple of times during the night when I did fall asleep I seem to have managed to somehow twist both hips in the opposite direction to one another – so when I was woken by Pup I was very uncomfortable and it took me  a while to come to and be able to relax the muscles and stuff … fortunately he just shuffled his bed forward in the crate and waited patiently for me!  Whereas last week getting up was easier because it was getting lighter earlier and warmer – the cold has made me want to hibernate again!

Tomorrow I have to go to the Job Centre and have to provide more evidence that I am using their fabulous Universal Job Match.  So this morning I wasted my time capturing the past week’s job data and analysing it in a spreadsheet.  I also added my browser history with evidence of all my job search activity in a typical 24 hour period – I realised that I am keeping wiping the browser history just to keep the computer going so I then don’t have evidence of my activity – so every week before I clear the cache I will take a sample on a different day of the week.

After that I had received an e-mail with some details and an application form to complete – so I started on that.  I also made a copy of the “Back on Board” promotion that Stagecoach East Scotland are running to help people out of work use the bus service for half price – I want to ask for one of the travel cards tomorrow.

Brrrr … Blowing a Blizzard

So before I get on to the cold white stuff I have two mysteries involving black things – and no Pup is not one of the mysteries!  Yesterday when I was out at several places there was a mess like this on the pavements.  The material appears to be some sort of  carbon falling off something that is dragging along the ground – there were four stretches similar in size to this …

The other mystery is a domestic one.  When I came home I slipped my black fingerless gloves off and put them in a pocket – I had a choice of 5 pockets with the clothes I was wearing at the time … but the gloves have disappeared without trace and I am left like some kind of idiot repeatedly checking the same five pockets because it is vexing me!  I have a resolution which keeps my hands warm but I am still mystified by the loss.

My solution was to take a pair of plan black bamboo socks that I no longer wear – I have several pairs where a hole appeared in a toe or the heel had thinned and they have a tight band on the ankle (yes I know I should have ruthlessly disposed of them but now I am glad I didn’t).  For those of you sitting giggling at me with socks on my hands I did make a couple of little adjustments!  I snipped off the toe at the seam and I snipped a small hole in the heel.  The toe is pulled on to my wrist, my thumb goes through the heel and the leg section is doubled back on my hands so they cover up to the top of my pinky fingers.  Perfect for typing and not tight round my fingers like the gloves I have lost – I am delighted and I can make some more with the other unloved socks.

Now from black to white!  Unusually it was Dog that woke me this morning having allowed me an extra hour in bed.  When I let him out there was snow – I reckon he could smell it and that’s why he was desperate to get outside.  It has gone on all day with mini blizzards blowing right at the back door and it is being brought on a cold easterly wind … Baltic Snow!

The boys have been constantly trying to get me to let them play out but it is far too cold to leave the door open for them.  So by 3 this afternoon Pup was bored … I am having  a physical rest in the hope of finally feeling better tomorrow.  I curled up on the sofa, Dog curled up next to me delighted to snuggle and Pup got up and down, up and down, tail in hot drink, tongue in hot drink, up and down … lick the new iPhone, up and down and up … for 50 minutes.  He finally curled up just in time for me to wake them for their tea!

They did get out in the snow and we did have some occasional sunshine but it never got remotely like a reasonable temperature.  Apart from that I roasted my expensive chicken and watched some video clips of the Gundogs at Crufts yesterday. A very lazy blizzardy day indeed – still work next door was at a standstill … can’t think why!

Feeling Broody …

… did that grab your attention? not me you foolish people … the birds (and possibly the bees?) are starting nesting.  How do I know? well you remember the pictures of my Rowan tree in the snow – it is hollow and every spring it is home to a family of starlings.  I hadn’t given it any thought since I thought it was too soon in the year but wile I was stood in the porch this morning I could hear the garrulous starlings and when I looked there are Mr and Mrs S flying in and out of the hole in the tree.  I assume they are currently renovating and making their nest cosy … they were very relaxed about a wood pigeon and a dove sitting in the tree a little later.  I will have to see if I can set up and get some pictures this year.

Having spent the morning working on a special design for someone and listening to next door’s renovations continue I took the boys for a constitutional.  Apart form Dog yipping at a dog and getting Pup all riled up too it was an uneventful walk apart from Pup eating something disgusting … but while we were out I did see these tiny little snowdrops at the edge of the spinney

On the way back we caught glimpses of  a bird on the ploughed field that we had seen flying on the way down – when it flies it has a very distinctive shape and flight patterns and a hauntingly beautiful call – a lapwing – but I bet you cannot pick him out on here?

Sunbathing!

After I had published the blog post yesterday I had another Blue Skies friend drop me an e-mail which had me rolling on the floor with laughter and feeling warmth again.  I was thinking earlier that maybe I should just define why these Blue Skies friends are so important – it is because these are the people who don’t simply take when the going is good and then make themselves appear busy when times are tough – they are the friends who care enough to make that extra effort when skies are grey.

What does puzzle me though is how they all managed to synchronise themselves to yesterday because none of them know any of the others and some of them had no idea how tough things have been for me the past few weeks … now that is what I find really magical.

Anyway we had more blue skies today and although it was frosty on the ground and stayed frosty in shadow all day in the sunlight it was really pleasant.  Dog and Pup both spent time soaking it up and even I sat down in the sun for a wee while this afternoon.

Bizarre Blizzard

I am still in recovering health mode … you know that bit where after not eating properly for days you cannot decided if you should eat or not, you have forgotten how to be hungry and enjoy food and you get horrid indigestion? … yeah that bit!

So sluggish was a kind way of describing the start to my day … I woke up aching all over and it took me several minutes to sit up never mind disembarking form bed! Pup was not impressed by my slowness.  Dog breakfast done with I made mine; Pup decided he did absolutely urgently need to go out again after all just as I sat down! So my latte was cooling when I picked it up and I looked at the two slices of very expensive ‘soya and linseed’ toast with marmite and felt a bit like “not a good idea” so it sat there going cold.  Eventually I managed most of one slice but the indigestion got worse so I gave up.

I tried to be creative – it allowed me to sit still and not need to think about food and digesting it.  The brief was for ‘brights’ which I struggle with at the best of times and to be honest bright is not my mood at the moment; but others joined in my challenges so I feel I need to be in the other challenges as a participant.  After quite a bit of work I was quite excited with my design apart from a glitchy bit of rendering.