Stormy weather...

I made myself a weak pot of coffee because I was too lazy to open a new package of ground filter coffee. I made do with what was left over in the glass jars and it really wasn't enough. I could tell by the way the coffee smelled when it was done that it was weak, but I prepared for the worst and drank it anyway. Much to my relief, it wasn't as bad as I had feared and it is drinkable. It just doesn't carry the usual punch. An American would find this quite acceptable coffee.

Having completely run out of clean forks and plates and bowls, I finally got around to doing the dishes which I had been putting of. I knew I would get around to them today and had given myself that deadline. I let them soak in very hot soapy water first so I could mentally prepare myself to get ready to do them. I usually do need to warm up to the idea a bit. I can't suddenly do them out of the blue. I have to mentally picture myself doing them and talk myself into it. Then the job gets done easily because I'm less intimidated.

I also changed the bed and found a felt tipped pen under the fleece blanket that the dog had chewed to pieces. Needless to say, the ink had leaked all over the place and I hope it washes out in the laundry. The dog does secretly steal things during the night and isn't over the worst of his puppy behavior yet. When it comes to chewing on foreign objects, he's up there with the rest of them, even if he does have a rawhide bone. He'll simply ignore that if he can find something more interesting and forbidden. He knows that felt tipped pens are off limits. He does look guilty when I find him out. 

I enjoy changing the bed because it's so nice to sleep between clean sheets and it makes me look forward to going to bed at night. I do have my favorite duvet cover and it's being washed now. I think I need to go and buy some new ones and will have to go into town one of these days. Because I don't want to go alone, I will have to talk someone into going with me.  It's more fun to go shopping in someone else's company and to also go sit on a terrace and have a cup of coffee. There's nothing as awful as walking around downtown by yourself with your soul under your arm.

I've done two loads of laundry and feel very virtuous. The bathroom smells very good because of the washing powder and it's a pleasure to walk in there with the laundry drying on the clothing rack. I can't hang it outside because of the showers we are having today. It would smell even better if I had been able to do that. There's a stiff wind blowing and the laundry would have been dry quickly, but every once in a while it rains. It's not cold out and in the living room it is warm. I'm sitting here in a summer top and am not in the least chilled. 

I hope you're all having a good day.

Ciao,
Irene

Is there anything else?

I'm slightly discombobulated from having fallen asleep in my armchair. I had pulled the red fleece blanket over me because I was cold and before I knew it, I had nodded off. I slept sitting up like that for about an hour and woke up completely disoriented. It was a bit of an unusual place to take a nap, after all. I'm still yawning now after a cup of coffee and I'll have to have a second one before I really am awake.

I just peeled an apple for the dog and he ate it with much appetite. I secretly obeserved him eating it. It's so much fun to watch. He takes delicate bites and makes thoughtful crunching sounds when he chews. For a while, nothing in the world exists but that apple.

I've gotten a second cup of coffee and I'm starting to feel better now. I'm not quite as fuzzy as I was. Cups of coffee are so good for my mental health. If tea did the same thing I would drink it but I have not experienced the proof of it yet.

The afternoon is drawing to a close and we didn't see any sunshine all day. It has been dreary and cold. The wind was coming from the north-east today and that usually means it's colder. I've had the heater on for most of the day and even so I've been feeling chilled. I think I'm wearing enough clothes but that doesn't seem to help. 

If I really want to do something nice for myself, I'd change the bed and I think that's just what I'll do. It will be a treat to get under a clean duvet cover this evening. Besides, I've got that new good smelling washing powder and it does make the laundry smell good. It's great to have it drying on the clothes rack. 

My thumb is healing up quite nicely and doesn't hurt half as bad as it did yesterday. I can even use it a little bit if I'm careful. I'm very careful with the new paring knife now that I know how sharp it is. I treat it with the respect it deserves.

The Amstel Gold Race was taking place here this afternoon and there were helicopters in the air making lots of noise. It must have been a madhouse along the route. I didn't follow the race on television, although I usually do every year. I like to watch them climb the famous Cauberg. I've done it on foot many times and it's a real doozy.It does make your legs ache. 

I've got the perfect hairdo today. It's completely tousled but in place the way I want it to be. I achieved this by rubbing it with a towel and then roughly running my hands through it and applying hairspray. I bet I can sleep on it tonight and have it look the same way in the morning. I'll give it a try anyway. 

I hope you're all having a good Sunday. Too bad it's the last day of the weekend. 

Ciao,

Irene

What I should be doing!

I should be rushing around getting ready and walking the dog before I go to the post office, but I've pushed my pause button and am going to sit here just a while longer and enjoy the not so quite start of the day. Why? Because I can and because the dog is lying here beside me snoring and he has already been out for a piddle and my coffee tastes especially good. Besides that, my mood is extremely good right now and I want to keep it that way for a little while longer and not disturb it with aggravating activity yet. I know the post office isn't open yet, though by the time I'm dressed and walk the dog it would be, but I have time yet and all will get done in the end.

At least my packages and Christmas cards are all ready to go and all I have to do is pick them up and put them in my shopping bag. It may be a bit tough to ride my bike, because there's still snow outside and it is still freezing. I was standing by the back door when the dog did his piddle and shivered. Of course, he took forever, because he had to investigate everywhere and found one spot in particular very interesting and I wonder if there is a hedgehog there that took shelter. It was too cold and snowy to go out in my slippers to have a look. Every once in a while there is a hedge hog out back that wants to look for spots to hide under and the dog is always very curious when he runs into one.

I started my morning with a big glass of fruit juice, but realized very quickly that it doesn't work the way a cup of coffee does and after half an hour, I very quickly walked to the Senseo machine and brewed myself a strong one, which I drank quickly and which restored me to my senses soon after. Yes, I do need my caffeine or I'm a sad camper who does not function well. I'm a typical Mickey Spillane writer who lives on caffeine and nicotine. I should have lived decades ago when it was still glamorous and I could have been a babe and have had interesting cocktails to drink in a rundown office on the backstairs, with a loaded gun in the desk drawer. Such is my fantasy this morning.

I've very quickly read as many blog posts as possible in the little time I allowed myself to do so, because I was up rather late this morning by my standards and that means that I had a good night's sleep. I slept for at least 8 hours and feel quite spunky now. I don't know what's come over me, but for some reason I'm managing to sleep like a regular human being. I do get up in the middle of the night once, but have enough sense to go back to bed and I hardly remember falling asleep again. I'm very fond of my duvet and roll myself into it as if it were a sleeping bag with only the top of my head showing. I think I would like a heavier duvet in the wintertime, but I'm not cold. I think I would just enjoy the weight of it. I must look into that the next time I'm at Ikea. I need a new duvet anyway. This one is getting kind of threadbare.

I put a whole load of laundry through the machine last night and I would love to dry it outside, but the weather forecast predicts 2C and rain, so I think I can't take the chance, which is really a shame, because there nothing like having your clothes dry outside. They smell so good when you bring them back in and put them away in your closet. The next best thing is when all your clothes smell of your favorite perfume. I've also tried those lavender sachets, but I find them next to useless, as I never have any of my clothes smell like lavender and I think it's all just a rip off. I have thought of putting dryer sheets in the closet and hoping that their scent would make my clothes smell good, but I don't know if they would stain them. Of course. all my clothes also smell of smoke and that is an odor that is hard to get rid off, unless you constantly wash your clothes, even when they aren't dirty. That's the kind of wear end tear I don't need, though.

I just checked my bank account and my money isn't there yet. Luckily, I have cash to pay with at the post office. I do have my guardian angel, I tell you. I am concerned about my money not being there and I will have to make a phone call today and find out where it is.

The dog is becoming restless and is giving me the evil eye. It says, "Come on woman, I need to go out," so I guess I better do that now.


It's still plenty cold out and of course I didn't wear my gloves, so the hand that wasn't in my pocket is very cold. It's -4C and the snow is till just as thick as it was yesterday and nice and crunchy. I don't see how I'm going to ride my bike in it, but I'll worry about that when the time comes. It looks very slippery on the streets where all the cars have driven. I'll have to walk in some spots.

Now that I've been out, the spell has been broken and I feel that the day has officially started. That means I can't sit here much longer, although I can prolong the inevitable a little bit. I haven't opened the blinds yet to let the daylight in, although I will do that soon and watch the sun shine on the snow. I hope the weather forecasters got it wrong and that it doesn't rain today and that I can hang up my laundry to dry. I will tempt fate and hang it out anyway and see what happens.

I haven't got anything planned for Christmas and I think I will just pretend it is a day like any other day, but just a little bit more jubilant. I don't have a tree up, nor any other decorations, except for the sparkly branches in the bedroom and the Christmas cards that are hanging on the living room door. I do enjoy getting and sending cards. That's one tradition I will honor. I'm not going to roast a goose or a turkey and I won't be drinking eggnog. I think I have some Bailey's Irish Cream left that I may imbibe in. I do always think of that as a Holiday drink. It's the smoothest stuff I know.

Well, I'm off to hang up the laundry, so I all expect you to keep your fingers crossed for me for dry weather. Just think, all I want is nice smelling clothes. Oh yes, and money in my bank account.

I hope you all have a terrific day and that you have all your Christmas shopping done, because I would hate to think of you having to do your shopping now.

Ciao,
Nora

Help!

I had fallen asleep on the sofa when I was rudely awakened by the phone. By the time I realized what that noise was, the ringing had stopped and I was too late to answer it. I can never remember which button it is that I push to see who tried to call me, so I don't know who it was. They'll have to call back, but now I'm sort of half awake trying to decide what to do. Do I go to bed and continue sleeping or do I stay up for a while now and go to bed at a more normal time? It's a toss up.

My stubborn me says to stay up and make myself a cup of coffee and have a good time sitting here for a while. My sensible me says to put on my pajamas and go to bed. Tell you what I'll do, I'll put my pajamas on and meet myself halfway.

After I was awakened by the phone, Jesker decided that he needed to go for a walk, so I took my half awake body and went for a walk with him. I thought this might wake me up completely, but it did no such thing and Jesker led the way around the field while I obediently followed him. At least he didn't lead me astray and straight back to the apartment. He could have easily taken me for a long meander through the neighborhood, I would not have protested very much, but he's a creature of habit and keeps turning left until he is home again.

I never did change the sheets on my bed when I said I would, so I will do it tonight and put the dirty ones in the empty washing machine right away, so they can be washed tonight and hung up to dry in the morning. I won't be able to hang them outside, because it is going to rain. But at least I have the resolve now to have clean sheets tonight and just to make sure I do, I'm going to strip my bed now.

There, everything is in the washing machine and it will be churning away in a minute. Now I can't change my mind about changing the bed, I'll just have to do it. It will be my last housewifely act before I go to sleep tonight. Maybe I will also sweep the floors before I go to bed, because I still haven't done those. I'm getting an amazing surge of energy now. That sleep on the sofa must have done me some good.

I remember scrubbing the kitchen floor at midnight when my kids were little and I thought it was because that's when I had time to do it. Or working in the garden at 11 o'clock at night to get some rocks exactly in the right place, in the sense of inches away from perfection. I also used to change the living room furniture around all the time. I would manhandle all the bigger pieces by myself until I got them all in the "right" place and could surprise my family with a brand new lay out, and they would come home and say, "Oh no, not again!" I've completely gotten over that. My furniture has been in the same place for quite a while now.

I also used to paint whole rooms in one day while the kids were at school. If I didn't like the color, I got new paint and painted the whole room with time to spare. I can't imagine now where I got the energy and the muscle power. I used to wallpaper too.

Ah, that was when I was a young and energetic person and I did whatever came into my head. Now I ponder things for a long time before I do them. I take a long time to undertake a project. That's because I know I don't have the mental and physical energy anymore that I used to have. I have to paint my bedroom, but I know it will take me months before I do it and I will want help when I do. I don't see me taking on that project by myself. I will be a broken woman if I do.

I remember in one house not liking a wall where it was, so I took a sledge hammer and a crowbar and removed it. I knew it wasn't a load bearing wall. Those were my "do it yourself days." I hammered and sawed and drilled and did whatever needed to get done to improve the house we were living in then. It was fun while it lasted and we sold it for nearly double than what we paid for it and moved to a bigger and better house.

The house that we worked on so hard, was in a small town in the mountains, we'd call it a village. It was in California, but we got snow there in the wintertime, which was great for the kids, who wore snow suits and snow boots and dug forts in the snow, which was piled up quite high at times. Sometimes we had power outages and we heated the house with a wood stove and our light came from oil lamps. We always had dogs and cats, but if your cat disappeared, you could bet that a coyote got it. They hung around in the woods behind the house at night.

Well, so much for reminiscing. It all started with laundry and I can hear the washing machine doing its work. The fun part is picking out the clean duvet cover. Which one shall it be? I usually pick the one that's easiest to put on, but sometimes I pick the most romantic one, just for me, all by myself. I'm glad I'm laying there by myself in my own bed and I don't have to share it with anybody who has strange habits like sleeping with his socks on or who snores at night, because only Jesker is allowed to snore and he does it so civilized. He has a quiet, gentle snore. I don't think I will ever share my bed again with anyone, except another dog.

I have made my plan. Since tomorrow is Sunday and I can sleep late, I am going to do some chores tonight, now that I'm in the mood for them. I never want to do things during the day, because I always look for excuses not to do them, but I won't be now. It will be a perfect opportunity to sweep the floors and do the dishes and whatever else I can think of, oh yes, make the bed, of course. I won't take the last of my medicines until later when I'm ready to go to bed. Isn't that just grand?

I know you must all think I've gone off my rocker, but I think It's a good idea. It's nice to be up and about when the rest of the world around me is asleep and if I stay up long enough, I can hang up the laundry to dry.

Toby is asleep on the kitchen counter. I ran out of that food in pouches a day ago and I haven't got any new ones. I've got some very good and appetizing kibbles that the cats will just have to like. I am not sponsoring them with the expensive food anymore. They wanted it three times a day! Money still does not grow on trees, although I wish I had a Euro tree on my back patio. Wouldn't it be nice to go pick your daily harvest of fresh Euros every morning and all you had to do was iron them?

Okay, I'm going to work now. Wish me luck in getting a lot of things done. It will be so satisfying. I think I'll do the bed first, just in case I topple over. Nah, I'm not planning on that, really. I feel full of spit and vinegar.

Sleep tight!

Ciao...