I’m still here

Apologies for the extended radio silence. I am here, I always have been. Lots has been happening but very little of it worth sharing. I haven’t knitted in weeks so have no progress to share there either.

Where was I? Oh, my goodness, March 19th? What on earth have I been doing with myself?

I shall start by addressing the catchup list from my last post:

1. [I prepared the camera to catch the aurora last night.  The weather forecast was ideal and the word on the street was that there would be lower level activity around, visible from these latitudes. We got nothing. Well, not at any of the many times that I went out to check. Even if we had, the lights from the school were so dazzling it probably would have ruined any shots that I could take. Horrible unnecessary light pollution.] There have been a whole load of auroras since then and I have missed them all. In my bed.
2. [The AGA is en route from Biggar, having been picked up by Isbister Bros hauliers yesterday. The plinth is not with it. Various DIY bits are on their way from Kirkwall,but not yet the wall tiles.] The Aga arrived last Wednesday afternoon, as did a supply of building materials from Jewson’s. (More of that later.)  Mr L collected the wall tiles in town last Friday.
3. [The Balti did not get made yesterday as I found myself lacking the energy to focus on a new to me recipe. I boiled up some pasta and made a sauce of mushroom, smoked ham, goat cheese and white wine. Very tasty.] I did eventually make the balti, it was surprisingly good and I have been asked to make it again.
4. [Today we are repeating the Shakshouka as the girls are laying well and we really enjoyed the dish last week. This time I am adding beans instead of potatoes.] NTS Better with spuds!
5. [I sense that I am going to need a good kick up the backside to get a Blip done today. I’m really a bit out of sorts and wanting to be idle just now.] I have been doing well with the blipping and have only 6 more to go to make 50-in-a-row.
6. [The forecast for tomorrow’s eclipse is underwhelming. We shall have to wait and see what transpires.] The weather played pretty nicely in the end. See below
7. [Somehow my table is full of stuff again. I must clear it off before tomorrow afternoon.] It has been clear, full again, cleared once more, refilled ad nauseum. Currently quite tidy
8. [The only knitting done in the past couple of weeks has been ferry sock knitting. I think I shall have no Show entries this year at all.] Not much change there, though I did manage a row and a half on my Denali at Spinning on Monday afternoon this week.
9. [Teddy seems to be enjoying being an only cat.] Yes, he does seem to be thriving, though he is having a problem with his eyes running and may need to go to the vet if I cannot sort it out myself.
10. [Some of my bruises are starting to hurt, particularly the one on my left wrist.] Bruises almost all gone but knee remains painful.

Eclipse day dawned bright and sunny. It stayed that way right up until the maximum was imminent, then it clouded over and rained a little. Yes, of course it brightened again after it was all over.

The next day was beautiful and I was out and about in t shirt and no jacket. When I went to the village to the bottle bank I spared time to wander with my camera and keep myself out of the way whilst Mr L was forcibly removing cupboards from the kitchen wall.

Monday saw me busily weaving in order to complete a piece that I started far longer ago than I care to admit. I needed to be able to remove this piece at a weaving demo that Gill and I did on Wednesday afternoon for the Afternoon Club (Over Fifties)

I arrived home from the demo to find all the Aga bits and pieces in the conservatory. The Jewson’s order was outside on the ground. Amazingly, the local courier delivery had arrived with only one man and no fork lift. It’s a good job it was me that was out and not Mr L because I have no idea how I would have coped on my own. As it was the two of them had to unpack the pallett on the van and bring the bits in, piecemeal.

Instead of having a nice cup of tea and putting my feet up after the demo, I had to help bring the Aga into the sitting room and the timber and boards into the garage before the rain started.

This is what came back from town on the Friday

The weekend saw us cutting off old pipework (water and oil) and capping them off and sealing the old flue.

This weekend we shall start framing the wall ready for the new tile boards. Mr L has five days off so we should make excellent progress, so long as all the required items arrive from Screwfix or Toolbase or wherever.

We have been struggling to get back into the 5:2 regime but this week I think we may have knuckled down properly. I’ll tell you later. We brought tomorrow’s Fast Day forward to today as we shall be doing physical work tomorrow and may get extra hungry. This is all very well but I had to bake lots of bread today because I shall be without an oven for a while. Fasting and the smell of fresh baked bread do not work well together!

That’s us about caught up, I reckon. I’ll try to do better in the coming days but really it’s going to be very busy – and the worst and most boring kind of busy,

Oh, yes, we have a new toy!

Bob the Aga Man from Biggar rang earlier this week. He has had a call from Westray, enquiring about a 4 door Electric Aga. He asked if we knew the person concerned. He must have thought it was a personal recommendation. We are thinking perhaps I have a secret reader. Are you out there? Say hello!

Apparently it is World  Stationery Day at the end  of April. Music to this girl’s heart. Click here to enter Bureau Direct’s competition to win a huge stationery hamper.