Interesting day travelling

This morning Tina came to the bus stop with me and put my case onto the rack. She was off to Scarborough to get the car MOT’d after I left. Really cheery driver which was a nice start to the day. I had about an hour in town before the train so walked to the shopping centre and had a great donut and drink offer at the donut place. On the way back through the station this advertising window caught my eye.

Very bright and cheerful.

Plenty of space on the first train and it arrived in Doncaster a little ahead of time. Had about an hour there too so made my way to the Frenchgate shopping centre. I love it there and they have a happiness/kindness theme going on at the moment.

It was very cold on the station and the second train, when it arrived, was heaving with people and luggage. I had a booked seat but there was nowhere for my case so I stayed in the corridor. The refreshment lady and the guard asked if I was okay and after a few minutes the guard came back and told me there was a seat where my case would go underneath, and she carried it there for me. It says to put small and medium case on the high racks, but even if I could have managed that they were rammed full anyway! Rachel and Skip were both at work today so couldn’t meet me as I was in Peterborough just after two. Took the underpass walk into town rather that hump the case over the steps of the foot bridge. Glad I did as there are great murals along there.

I over zoomed the next photo a bit as the church in cathedral square is having restoration work done.

Would have made for a good picture in focus!

I went to The Works to enquire about a book they had advertised on line, the lady at the till was helpful, phoned her boss and said it will be in tomorrow. There was a Vodafone van in the city centre and they were giving out goody bags, just had to agree to be sent a price list via email. A shopping bag, box of chocolates, a pen and a few other bits, so worth stopping for!

Made my way to the bus station and caught the bus up to the retail park nearest to Rachel’s. Had a cuppa at the Costa and the weather was good so was going to call in at Hobbycraft and then walk to Rachel’s. By the time I had been to the loo it was hailing! Luckily it soon cleared and the walk was dry.

Have had a restful evening but did make 11,000 steps today!

Brass cleaning and demon drivers!

This morning I made up some paste from a recipe on line, white vinegar, salt and flour to make it into a paste. Wednesday morning is church cleaning time and I said a few posts ago that I wanted to tackle the green on the eagle lectern. I started on the tail feathers at the back. I didn’t take pictures but there was a little improvement on the other feathers. Not a great success but not a disaster either. I then thought I would have a quick go at the circular images on the base, this was more successful. The first photo isn’t the same images, but the second images were that discoloured.

There is plumbing work going on in the parish hall and the workers asked if they could leave a skip on our drive. On the way back there were also a couple of cars parked on the drive, not in the best positions. But I suspect the lorry delivering the skip must have hit this very large boulder as it wouldn’t have done a lot for a car! The edge of the lawn was probably one of the cars, in a way a pity I removed the wooden edging!!

I had thought about getting in the garden for a bit but I have been in a fair amount of pain today so decided against it.

About packed and ready to go for tomorrow, going to catch up with friends and family which is great.

Pretty dull day

I went to the shops this morning and was struggling a bit, the knee wants to keep me thinking surgery is a good idea! I am not that easily convinced....

I was feeling a bit tired and off colour, spotted Audrey who used to come to the dot art sessions and suggested we went for coffee. She agreed and we had a drink and lovely natter for getting on for an hour.

I forgot the early picture, through a less than clean window, interestingly the windows have been cleaned today, just before it rained!

I went into the factory shop and got cute sign, good for calligraphy too and some fun cat bowls!

Did think about getting out in the garden for a bit this afternoon but by then it was spitting with rain so I hoovered the stairs instead!

I have started gathering everything together for my trip to Peterborough on Thursday, have already put some splints in the case!

Maybe I will be more energetic tomorrow. Pandora is going outside a lot now and we don’t have to leave the door open, so she is pretty acclimatised now.

Bins!

Not much to write tonight, have been in doing a few jobs around the house and fighting with the ever present need for getting organised! No letter from the hospital again but did manage to talk to the consultants secretary today. The surgery should be early April, I should get confirmation of the pre op appointments this week.

On Saturday I bought a sheet of stickers that you can put on wheelie bins, so cut them out and out them on this morning.

Nothing else of interest today, the sky was quite pretty this evening! Will endeavour to do better tomorrow!

Freeport,church and box painting

Darren and I decided to give the boot sale a miss, a good chance it wasn’t on anyway as there was a lot of rain down in the night and quite a bit of flooding in the area. I did think about sitting in the summer house after feeding the birds to see if ai could get some good pictures, but today I couldn’t get both the cats indoors and out of the way! Tried shutting Blue in the summer house with me, but couldn’t get good focus and she was scratching to get out, so gave up on that one. Darren suggested we take a ride up to Freeport and have a look round the Pound Stretcher. The car park there had sprouted some mini lakes!

This afternoon Tina was having an informal church service in honour of love so I went along. Poems, hymns and activities, it was a pleasant hour or so. The eagle in the church looks really green from a distance up like it’s lovely shiny brass base.  I took a couple of photos, it doesn’t look so green close up, so that I can get some advice on the best way to clean it.

Before getting dinner I used a paint sampler pot I bought yesterday to paint the inside of the decorated boxes, and after Throw Down I varnished them. Looks so much better that the light wood colour inside.

Going to watch the second half of The White Horse tonight.

Hull and Fishermen’s Friends

This morning when I fed the birds I took a photo of the funky feeder I got on Thursday, the mini fat ball have been nibbled at but that was probably the squirrels!

This morning I went into Hull with Darren and Tina as they had an appointment. I coloured an illustrated letter yesterday evening and wanted to get a frame as it is for a friends birthday and I want to take it with me when I go to Peterborough next week. So I went in search of frames, not easy as it is a square illustration and not a lot of square frames to be had. Did find a couple but neither were quite the right size. We met up and had lunch at the Panini cafe and then went to The Range on the way home. Darren spotted frames that were just the right size but had pictures in. But they were removable and exactly the right size. Got the letter framed up when we got home.

Tina called out to me that after over two years her church notice board had been redone and her name was now on it! I was going out but she sent me a picture so that I can put in on the blog.

This evening I was off to see the actual Fishermen’s Friends, not the film. Sarah and David collected me quite early in case the weather was bad, so we were in the cafe at The Spa while it was still daylight. It overlooks the sea.

The show was brilliant, they were on stage for over two hours and the harmonies were great, they were funny and a bit naughty too! Took one picture of the dome and just one of the men, we were in the balcony and could see quite well.

Quite late now so off to bed soon.

Gardening and making bird feeders!

I will start with a picture from one of my friends of the sky when she got to work this morning, what a great coloured sky!

This morning, after a delivery and trying to get through to the hospital, I decided to get cracking in the back garden. More of the bed we can see from the kitchen window.

I spent over an hour outside and really enjoyed being out there. I realised that I enjoy tidying the back garden because I spend a lot of time out there and love watching the birds and enjoying the flowers. Working on the front garden is a chore as it is ‘just for show’ for the town and a few are quick to be critical if it is getting untidily. To be fair we get much more positive feedback, but I still don’t enjoy working out there! So I spent quite a time out there and moved a few plants further down. Pleased with today’s effort.

After lunch I made up some more mix with the lard and seeds to fill the coconut halves. Also filled a jar that screws into a feeder and pushed some into the two large fir cones. Tina and I saw some at a garden centre and thought it was a good idea!

They had to go in the fridge for a while to set, than I got them out and took them to the greenhouse. Did hand one of the cones though to see if they take to it!

So a pleasantly busy day only marred by the phone calls to the hospital. As I haven’t had a date yet thought I would phone and see when I am likely to hear. Was listening to music with no information for twenty five minutes the first time and around fifteen the second time. Thought about trying again but then decided to see what the post brings tomorrow and Monday and then try again!

The leg is holding up well considering my level of activity today.

Grantchester later which I will enjoy.