Wednesday 19 December 2018

Still hurts

Today is not any anniversary.
It was school's Christmas festivities, which are nice and funny, there is always an elf play and played nativity scene.
I was already leaving, when I walke past one villager, now a proud mom of eight. She had six children and now her little elves are (born premature) home, just in time for Christmas.

I never had Christmas with my two.

My soul is broken and my heart hurts just as much as it did so long ago.

Wednesday 12 December 2018

226 g

That's the weight of brothers's and F's socks. I managed to knit F'S socks from the yarn that was saved from 'Suma's teeths, few more ends than I would have liked.
I was taking care of all the loose ends while cooking red wine. I boiled it from 6dl (almost whole bottle) to maybe a cup? Whole house reeks of red wine and I feel queasy -  I can't drink red wine without getting greally really sick (and that's from few sips). Some time ago I realized I can't drink glögg (alcohol free version) if it's made from juice of red grapes. Even the smell gets me - but it really smells delicious.
I got a bottle of nice red wine from old man's sister, it is intended as tannin primer for my experiments (I have made wood stain from acetic acid soaked rebar bars, pine and spruce needs tannin priming, oak should colour without it). I have still few dls left and I'll try that soon.
But I was actually reducing wine because I was making red wine salt for Christmas hampers! I have been thinking making hampers ready, but thinking doesn't do things.
So far I have: spruce salt, red wine salt, socks, mulled wine, strawberry liquor, choclate, jaffa cakes and stearine soaked pine cones for kindling. I still need the actual hamper (box or something) and a card.

Sorry for rambling - I actually boiled red wine to syrup and it may have had some effect on me.

Monday 10 December 2018

Tell me why I don't like Mondays...

I'm just like Garfield - I don't like Mondays. There's always something off, especially in the mornings.
Yep.
'Suma had to go for a pee at 3.30 am. Raining. Pitch dark. Puddles and no wellies. Back to bed, sleep avoids me. Finally fell asleep only to be rudely woken by alarm at 6 o'clock. Well, 'Suma had no need to go outside, at least there's that.
Yongest ones didin't wake up first time I tried to rouse them from their slumber. Then they didn't have that sweet peaceful morning they usually have. Not funny.
They had forgot to get their clothes ready, so by the time I was supposed to have my cuppa I was searching for a clean hoodie...
Off we went to the taxi, and I forgot to take my phone with me, I only had my work phone which has a very poor signal.Wouldn't be a problem unless I was trying to test sys's new phone. Turns out in the mobile phone shop, while installing new sim to sys's phone, they had actually used ys's info and now sys has a phone with ys's number and ys's phone doesn't work at all. I didn't realize that during the weekend, because we don't have mobile signal at home (not at all) so I was half a mile away from home when I was able to try to call any of the phones... And it was raining and it was still pitch dark. And puddles.

Got to office ant tried to sort things out - only to realize I had left my wallet home so I can't make my grocery shopping on my way home.
At least I had my lunch with me so I can eat.

So, I have to rush back home to pick my wallet and collect kids and their phones and rush back to town to the shop and hope they have right sims for both boys' phones (but I have promised a 21€ compensation). And then drag both boys to buy some food (or milk and cocoa powder we ran out during the weekend).

And it's not even 11 am yet.

Friday 7 December 2018

On the go

Finished sys's socks and got sidetracked with my brother's socks, so ys's socks has to wait. So short attention span... Then 'Suma got jealous and ate the yarn intended for F's socks. Some uncivilized language ensued. She could've eaten yarn with reflective thread - that would've be funny when piles of dog poop would have shone brightly in torch light or car headlights...

We got snow and then we got rain. Normal things. Luckily I was visiting lumber sites when it was only freezing with wind, I still do prefer that to horizontal rain. Only few sites to visit before Christmas! Only to start again in January. And then I have our own forest and old man's disaster zone.

Kittens had their vet visit this week, and for the first time took Pretty Boy with me too. He needed rabies vaccination - I had no idea how he behaves in a car and even less idea how he copes in vets. Sister came to rescue - two crates and three cats exceeds my limits. And then on the next day we took her cat to vets, she didn't want to use their normal vet because she doesn't speak Polish.

D and ys needed new winter coats (surprise! Kids DO grow during the summer!) so I packed 3/4 of my home brood and off we went to nearest shopping hell. Two coats, an elf (for sys who didn't get new coat) one pair of trousers and two huge Toblerone bars. And then we ate sushi! I took the brood to sushi buffet, and oh my how happy ys was! He was literally beaming! I'm not intending to make this as a habit, but to honest it was worth every cent to see him so joyful.

Yes. My children have such a pathetic childhood that even a visit to a sushi restaurant makes them happy.
But that visit also gave me some ideas for ys's gifts, so it was not wasted time at all.

Snowy ground has helped with Suma's walks. She doesn't have to be washed after a walk and we don't need torch to see where the road is. I even manage field walks now without torch - it so much easier if I have only Suma's leach to hold.

I have noticed the tornado has had an effect to our surroundings. We have a military practising/shooting area right next to us (so close we are blurred in Google Maps!) and noise is much noticeable now. There was a pause on their training and shooting while wrecked forests were cleared out and now they have only few weeks left to spend all their money/ammunion for this year... I know after a while we won't be noticing anything anymore, we will get used to it.

Next year I will be working two days a week at home instead of one.  It means more 'Suma walks in the mornings, and maybe more home made meals instead of frozen ships and fish fingers...

But now - it's 3:30 pm and nearly dark outside. I have to go get some firewood, I ahve been feeding my small woodburner while I have been working. Now my work (for today) is done and I should start my house works, laundry, dinner... No cleaning today, because we had visitors yesterday and house got cleaned for them.