mustela_nivalis

Reading. Still, uh, not quite exclusively She's A Beast archives. ("Not quite" because I am reading some of the things the links letters link to...)

Writing. Over 11k words. Progress is very very slow but it IS progress. (I'd feel worse about She's A Beast eating my entire brain apart from the fact that a whole bunch of it is extremely relevant, and yet more of it is sparking decidedly useful contemplation...)

Cooking. NEW OVEN NEW OVEN NEW OVEN today used for Kaiserschmarrn (worked just fine) and a new cake recipe from Blackberry Cottage (used settings suggested in oven manual and... it took over twice as long as it ought've to cook). Cannot yet report on what I think of it because have not yet eaten any. Elsewise: ... lots of the smitten kitchen braised chickpea thing?

Other NEW THING: brand new microplane zester. my goodness that was a Life Changing Experience (even if I do think I could probably reasonably have got More zest off that just the very topmost single-pass layer...)

Eating. Of particular note: blood oranges!!! and Decadent Spanish Raspberries, acquired on our way out of the Big Supermarket post-vaccination.

Making & mending. ... ADAM NOW HAS TWO GLOVES. I just (...) need to Weave In The Damn Ends. (Does anyone have a favourite weaving-in-ends guide? Because twenty-five years into this hobby I still pretty much hate every end I have ever woven in as Lumpy and Unsightly.)

Growing. Aubergines hatching! Whole buncha weeding including sorting out the raspberry thicket! When last I made it to the allotment the cherry tree had two bundles of blossom out, and was clearly on the point of Bursting Forth en masse...

Observing. SO MANY baby waterfowl, and, also, A Goldfinch. A friend's tiny cherry tree In Flower! Holly getting Extremely enthusiastic about flowering also.

I think the exhaustion and aches are down to my COVID spring booster yesterday afternoon, but I am definitely planning to not ever Touch A Barbell For The First Time on vaccination day again. (Conveniently, this is an eminently achievable goal.)

SOME GOOD THINGS, though:

1. weekend spring date breakfast, which for me included cinnamon roll and hot chocolate, consumed while watching the goslings experiment with going into water. coot nest #1 had at least six Hatched Squeaking Babies in it (some of them adventurously exploring down the sides of the nest); coots #2 were still Enthroned. AND we saw a GOLDFINCH on the way down the hill!!!
2. braised chickpeas with courgette & pesto continue very good and fairly easy food. the whole I Am Flat meant we Acquired pre-made pesto, and this was an extremely good move. project Eat The Freezer Stash Of Tortilla continues apace also.
3. A has successfully disposed of our old front door, complete with doing all necessary talking to other humans about it. our front hall now contains only one (1) front door and it is in the door frame where it belongs.
4. got raspberries from the supermarket yesterday, as a vague approximation of The Custard Fish Of Civic Responsibility (from the one shop in Chinatown, on the way back from the sexual health clinic to the tube). am enjoying raspberries a v great deal.
5. all three flowers the big white orchid had produced are now in glorious bloom. (still need to work out how to make the tiny purple orchid happier, but.) flowers!

1. Therapist was Mean and got me to do the thing of substituting "I'm excited about" for "I'm anxious about". I Have Signed Up For The Gym, without first fixing my bike, and might even make it there Tomorrow.
2. On the one hand Wagamama have dropped my default order from their menu again ('tis the season!), and on the other they have introduced a gochujang-tamarind-sesame corn "ribs" situation that I am very pleased to have tried.
3. Social wiggles were OUTSIDE because we have achieved LIGHT ENOUGH EVENINGS.
4. I have almost finished A's gloves??? All That Remains is Weaving In The Second Set Of Ends.
5. Lebkuchen And A Glass Of Milk.

Today I have had MRI #1 (NHS), booked follow-up appointment #1 (NHS; in June), and also booked follow-up appointment #2 (private; next Thursday).

( feeeeeeeelings )

But. BUT. I made myself put the allotment keys in my pocket before heading out for the MRI (the allotments are right behind the hospital) and then did spend two hours Communing With Plants (by which I mostly mean "weeding", obviously, which is I suppose a kind of Communion) in pleasant weather, and. And. The cherry blossom is out. Only two clusters of it so far, but -- that's two more than a week ago, and the rest of the tree is thinking really hard about it. The unfortunately sited apple I appear to have inherited is also absolutely riotous. The garlic chives are finally Properly Established. I got to graze on allium and spinach. Small fierce joys, and that.

The fancy bakery had Two Cardamom Buns left when we got there, so I got one of them, and we took our Pastries down to the New River (which is still neither of those things) for the traditional springtime pursuit of Watching The Waterfowl.

Coot the first very obligingly stood up to show us their eggs after really not very much waiting at all, and they are still eggs! No gaping maws there yet. Coot the second was a total surprise to me; I think I'd not been along that particular stretch recently. This one was Not Obliging At All and indeed remained resolutely circular atop its nest, removing its head from beneath its wing only once and only briefly, but we deduce from the fact that it was atop the nest that Orbs Exist.

Pastry course then actually took place sat on a bench just down the bank from a very sleepy pile of Egyptian goslings all huddled up, until they were Alarmed by bread and then gradually heaved themselves up to investigate grass. I remain fascinated by the differences in size evident at this stage of development within the one clutch.

Also; found a bridge hidden in a hedge. Collaborated on iterating toward a solution for a problem. Picked things up and put them down again. Indulged some special interest. Good Job Team.